Jacob's Temperate Tank. *ReefBuilders Mention!*

[Jacobnano]

Thanks haha! You are the expert I guess. I just didn't want to send someone something that would die

 

Any ideas on the species of that crab by the way?

[Jamie]

Looks to be a baby red rock crab. Scroll down on this page:

 

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/shellfish/crab/redrock.asp

[Jacobnano]

Wow. I have found tons of baby red rock crabs, usually they just look like a mini version of the big ones. Well thats kinda cool and kind of annoying I guess, they get pretty big and feisty.

[Jamie]

Yep. I hear they can break bones!

[Jacobnano]

Oh yes they can. We usually throw them back if they are in the traps because the only good meat is in the claws on them.

[Jamie]

Make crab bisque! There's no limit on red rock crabs (at least not in Oregon).

[Jacobnano]

Lol. Crap tank ammonia levels are through the roof. Emergency water change time. I lost some stuff

[Lalani]

Keep us updated.

[Jacobnano]

Just did my first 4g one with RO water. Gonna do the second with dechlorinated tap. Lost my cool crab, green star fish, sucker fish, and one tube worm so far. Oh and one other shore crab. Not bad for having so much ammonia I can see it, and smell it.

[Jamie]

Not surprising, considering how much stuff was added all at once. The same thing happened when I got the strawberries. It was very difficult. Basically, the best recommendation I have is this:

 

Set up another tank (or buckets, whatever is available) with fresh mixed sw, as close as you can get to the temperature and salinity of the current tank. Inspect everything in the current tank closely. The things that you think will live can be moved into the new tank. Rinse them with fresh salt water before moving them. Anything that is dead, probably dead, or will not recover, just throw away, it's not worth saving it only to have them die and pollute your tank (for the record, anemones can be very resilient, even if they look like crap, and have turned themselves inside out, save them; everything else that looks bad will probably just die). Then completely empty the polluted tank, wash it thoroughly. Tomorrow, if the water in the buckets/holding tank is still clean, you can transport everything back into the main tank, including the water, then do a 20% water change. If the water in the buckets is getting polluted, transport everything to the main tank, and mix new water to use. I had to do this three times before things finally stabilized. The more proactive and thorough you are with throwing dead stuff away initially, the less work you will have to do later. Good luck.

[Jacobnano]

I can't really have two tanks at one, thats the problem. I am doing basically 50% water changes one after the other, and I have taken all dead things out. Is that enough?

[Jamie]

I'd do at least one 100% wc, but I guess it depends on how much ammonia is in the tank. I prefer to get it all out, as opposed to reducing by half, but depends on how high your levels are. I would also start running some filter carbon if I were you.

[Jacobnano]

Ok I have done two 50% ones now I am gonna do one 100% or really close to it one. I am running some carbon also. I hope this works out. On the bright side my tank will be stable when I go up to my cabin again this fall.

[Jamie]

Hope so!

[horusmachine]

In addition Jamie's advise, I would use Super Bac bacteria.

This should help to re-establish your biological filtration.

I have used this in my 5.5 in the beginning and when I

had ammonia spikes due to adding too many things at

The same time. Believe it easy to crash 5.5 temperate

tank. If you can not find Super Bac maybe Biospira if they

Still make it. If all goes well, you should see a drop in

Ammonia and a rise in nitrites. Maybe in a week or so.

You may even raise the temp a degree to speed the

metabolism up a bit. Good luck.

 

H

[Jacobnano]

Thanks man! I should probably go out and get some.

[moto826]

sweet tank

[Jacobnano]

Thanks!

[Jacobnano]

Well I just finished doing another 100% water change, only this time I took everything out of the tank and put it into a 10g holding tank. I got all of the dead stuff out (there was more than I thought) and threw it away. Then I put new water in the tank, and made a new rockscape that looks in my opinion waaay better. Currently the tank is at 68.5 degrees and cooling (dang mixing pumps warmed the water) so I will soon be taking the critters from the 10g and putting them into the 15g. My water is still oddly cloudy, I am thinking it was because I stirred up the sand bed. I am gonna put some filter floss into the overflow, there is already a bunch of carbon there so those two should help a lot. I think I am going to keep doing water changes daily for a week or so or until I feel its stable. I will try to post pics if the water is cleared up after I add in everything from the 10g.

[Jacobnano]

Ok well its time for a pic update. Well I had a lot of die off but the tank appears to be stable now. I lost my two biggest tube worms and some other stuff. All of my nems appear to be happy except my huge one, He won't attach to the damn bottom so I have to move him to where there is super low water movement, so hes unhappy right now. Anyway, I have a new rockscape that I like a lot more, more room for fish (hopefully a spiny lumpsucker later on) to swim around and a lot more eye appealing.

 

Current FTS

 

Cool nem I need an ID for.

 

And some more shots:

[hlander]

Really Nice!

[Jacobnano]

Thanks!

[Jamie]

Things are looking pretty good. I'm not sure which nem you're referring to. The one in the very center of the pic, behind that duster? I think it's metridium senile, but it's hard to tell in that pic.

[Jacobnano]

The pink/orange one in the center. I only have one of them and didn't even know it was there till I rearranged everything.

 

So you think the new scape is an improvement?

[nebthet]

I think it is... I like the new scape.