jordankj Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Well i have a spare tank like a 10 or 20 galllon.Can i just set it up temporarily as a makeshift qt tank and drain my main tank? Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Well i have a spare tank like a 10 or 20 galllon.Can i just set it up temporarily as a makeshift qt tank and drain my main tank? sure..... but i think its time for you to regroup..... Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 sure..... but i think its time for you to regroup..... what do you mean? Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 what do you mean? Get all of the livestock out and take them to the local fish store and get them to hold them or trade them in or whatever. Get some 5 gallon buckets, take one and make fresh salt water and put your rocks in it with a heater (clean it all first, bucket and heater). Drain the tank, ditch the sand and clean down everything the tank walls, your filters, heaters everything. Put in new sand and fill the tank with fresh salt water (not from the rock bucket). Once the tank is full, and up to temperature then take your rocks out of the bucket one by one and dunk them in and out of the bucket trying to rinse as much crap as you can off. Then put them back in the tank. Hopefully this will get rid of 90% of the medication in that tank, if not more. Im not sure how long that stuff will stick around, or if it will get into the rocks but thats why i suggested to rinse them with fresh salt water then discard that water. Then sit back and wait to see if your cycle starts over. This tank NEEDS to cycle again if it has any hope of recovering. Do NOT put livestock in for at least a month or longer. If you dont see your cycle starting you might have to put a piece of table shrimp in the tank. this, sorry Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I agree with the plan nemmy suggested, with the addition that you run high quality carbon for 2-4 weeks before adding any livestock. Also, don't forget a powerhead for the bucket. Actually the powerhead itself will probably generate plenty of heat on it's own for the LR... Link to comment
nemmy Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I agree with the plan nemmy suggested, with the addition that you run high quality carbon for 2-4 weeks before adding any livestock. Also, don't forget a powerhead for the bucket. Actually the powerhead itself will probably generate plenty of heat on it's own for the LR... +1 on the carbon. I guess i always assume people run a good carbon, but considering the situation i should have pointed that out huh. Powerhead would be good if this process takes awhile for him. Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 Well i decided to test my water again just to see where its at.My ammonia is back to zero and everything else is a zero.Do you think its possible since im running 5 things of carbon and one bag of purigen that my tank might have a chance? i did only dose the tank once and did a water change the day after.The BTA still looks healthy and so do my other corals.And yesterday i did get another turbo snail and a few more hermits cause my CUC wasn't sufficient enough for my tank,and nothing has died yet besides my CBS,but he could have already been screwed since the dosing last week. Link to comment
becact Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Here is a very short article on malachite green (the main chemical in the medication you used): http://www.wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm I know it sucks having to break down your tank and start over, but that is something we call "paying tuition" in this hobby. Usually lessons are learned the hard way (ie- the expensive and time consuming way). The danger of not breaking down your system is that the poisonous chemical is now absorbed into your rocks, sand, and plastics in the tank. It will leech out over time. Your tank will never be as healthy as it could be, at least not for a possibly very long while. And if you ever want to try very sensitive corals, they will not do well. There is no test for malachite green, so you will never know if it is gone or not. Personally, I would do everything suggested, plus change the rocks as well. You don't seem to have that many like someone with a huge tank would have, so it won't be too expensive. If you choose not to change the rock, at least change the sand, all the water, and clean the tank and equipment thoroughly. You will be taking a risk of not being able to keep certain kinds of inverts (including corals), though. Sorry to sound so grim, but it's the truth! Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 if your gonna try to stick it out, id at least get rid of the anemone time bomb you got in there. and just run it as a FOWLR for a while.. Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 well it does say that the chemical is easily removed with carbon.Its just a matter of how much got soaked into the sand and rock. Link to comment
nemmy Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 well it does say that the chemical is easily removed with carbon.Its just a matter of how much got soaked into the sand and rock. I personally treat my tanks better than myself. I would drain mine in a minute and replace 100% of the water if the need came up. As someone said above the "ticking time bomb" Anemone shouldn't be in a tank under 6 months old, or be in the hands of someone newer to the hobby. I along with a few others have given our opinion on the situation and you still went out and bought more livestock to put in the tank. If your water killed the first ones buying more is just cruel. Is there a specific reason why you decided not to drain and clean out the tank? Salt to expensive? To much work? This isn't an easy or cheap hobby to have. I mean you no disrespect, I'm just curious on why you decided to not take our advice and then put more livestock at risk. Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 its just a money issue.When i sat the tank up i had a good ammount of money coming in but now its not the same,I know this hobby isnt cheap but i dont have the money right now to go out and buy $200 worth of live rock right now.I guess i really screwed myself over with this tank and im just gonna see how it goes from now.And i know you said not to buy any livestock and im not gonna buy anymore fish or coral,but i needed a CUC badly. Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 can someone at least explain why it is a ticking time bomb instead of just say it is? Link to comment
Mudfish Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Perhaps you should switch to something less demanding, maybe plastic model building or something. There are many rewarding hobbies. You don't seem prepared for this one. Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 anemones are one of the more light demanding, water quality demading, tank nukers we attempt to keep. they can decide to wander around and get shredded by equipment, or just plain die im sure there is more to it, but its easier to say get rid of it before something bad happens.... i say get rid of it b/c your already struggling. while you try to recover from your losses and comtamination, you want to try to keep a hit and miss animal? its just a suggestion....its your tank, your money....at least with a LFS trade in you can get something back for it....if it dies and adds more crap to your tank, it could possibly take stuff out with it.... Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 Perhaps you should switch to something less demanding, maybe plastic model building or something. There are many rewarding hobbies. You don't seem prepared for this one. gtfo if your not going to help dick. anemones are one of the more light demanding, water quality demading, tank nukers we attempt to keep. they can decide to wander around and get shredded by equipment, or just plain die im sure there is more to it, but its easier to say get rid of it before something bad happens.... i say get rid of it b/c your already struggling. while you try to recover from your losses and comtamination, you want to try to keep a hit and miss animal? its just a suggestion....its your tank, your money....at least with a LFS trade in you can get something back for it....if it dies and adds more crap to your tank, it could possibly take stuff out with it.... i see,i guess ill just take everything back i can to my LFS and tear my tank down and start over. Link to comment
farkwar Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Anemones have nematocysts which have vesicles filled with toxins. When an anemone dies all of those toxins are released at once. In addition to the bioload in the tank because of the death. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Perhaps you should switch to something less demanding, maybe plastic model building or something. There are many rewarding hobbies. You don't seem prepared for this one. I wouldn't go that far... This is a common mistake. Costly to remedy, but once you do it can lead to some great learning experiences. Keep doing large water changes and running lots of carbon for the next few weeks and I think you'll be fine. There is no way you're going to be completely rid of it unless you replace everything and basically start from scratch. But there is a point at which the amount of chemical in your system won't be enough to do any real damage. I don't have enough money to go out and buy new stuff, so I tend to assume that most other people don't either. If you're worried, just let it sit and cycle for longer. There is absolutely no harm in that. I probably would return the anemone though. Or maybe trade it to a local reefer for some other stuff and/or help with your tank. If the anemone dies, your tank could crash completely. When anemones die they can release toxic substances into your tank (strong digestive fluids not to mention other toxins), on top of that, once they start to break down they do so very quickly and unless you're there watching the tank at the right moment chances are it's going to put lots of ammonia into your tank in a very short time. They're strange creatures as well in that sometimes they dwindle away, yet other times they die quite suddenly for no apparent reason (maybe you've heard the term "nuke" on some of the forums?). Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 run it as a FOWLR for a couple months w/ lots of carbon if the fish seem ok, then try a cheap coral, like a xenia, if it thrives, then you can try other stuff..... i like xenias for this application b/c they will let you know right away if something is jacked up in the water...and if it dies, then you know you got to wait longer, or start over compleatly... alot of folks hate xenias b/c they are so prolific, but i always keep one just as a "canary" in my tank Link to comment
Chaostheory Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Mudfish is right, when I started cycling my first tank I didn't even put a damsel in for a month and a half. Then after a couple months I started putting in the bioload. When I was at four months like you, I had three damsels, chaeto in the sump, a couple of mushrooms that came off of the rocks, some dwarf hermits, and some mexican turbos. And the tank I have is a seventy gallon tank, not a thirty. So I am able to have a tang. It is downright cruel to have a tang in a thirty gallon tank. I was 12 at the time when we got that tank too, If a twelve year old was able to understand that if you through crap in something unstable it's going to crash, why can't you? The tank is doing good right now, I got's me a snowflake eel and a lion fish. And that's my two cents. Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 well i actually have xenia and kenya tree and a open brain coral in there right now and they are still doing fine.And i dont have a 30 gallon,its a 56g. Link to comment
nemmy Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 well i actually have xenia and kenya tree and a open brain coral in there right now and they are still doing fine.And i dont have a 30 gallon,its a 56g. Really its the length thats an issue, i dont know where he got 30 gallon from, maybe he meant 30inches? A 55 is 48inches, a 30 gallon is 36, your 56 column is 30 inches. Tangs are distance swimmers, they need the length. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 The tank is doing good right now, I got's me a snowflake eel and a lion fish. You got's ? Link to comment
jordankj Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 Really its the length thats an issue, i dont know where he got 30 gallon from, maybe he meant 30inches?A 55 is 48inches, a 30 gallon is 36, your 56 column is 30 inches. Tangs are distance swimmers, they need the length. yea i understand,they're so beautiful though =[ Link to comment
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