Winterfell Reef - A 100 Gallon Journey

[Hexadron]

That video was great, looking forward to see new FTS and pics

[kOZality]

Dtum this tank is amazing! I am definitely following along. I like how you post video updates, I was wondering how you were posting those stats from aquatic log? Were you just taking screenshots? Keep up the great tanking!

[dtum]

Dtum this tank is amazing! I am definitely following along. I like how you post video updates, I was wondering how you were posting those stats from aquatic log? Were you just taking screenshots? Keep up the great tanking!

Sorry, which stats are you referring to? Thanks.

[Hexadron]

Sorry, which stats are you referring to? Thanks.

 

You're back! Updates?

[dtum]

You're back! Updates?

Ah, where do I even start...

[Hexadron]

Ah, where do I even start...

After January 13th, 2013 would be a start... Haha! Okay we'll cut you a break, how about what's up with the tank now?

[dtum]

Well, it has been a few months since my last post. Last time I've shared my tank status was sometime in January and since then thing have been only improving, rapidly... until a series of unfortunate events have occurred and let's just say there's a lesson to be learned here.

The Winter is Coming! And what a winter it was.

 

My inhabitants were doing great in January, I kept adding fish gradually, every one or two weeks taking a trip to a few of my local fish stores and picking a fish that would caught my eye. Nothing aggressive, everything by the book and pretty much all of the fish were doing extremely well. My yellow tang was feasting on nori, fish were all happy and even a pair of anthias that looked quite beat up when I purchased them have become brave enough to be swimming around the tank. Corals were growing a fair bit, and I kept adding more of them regularly.

It was paradise, it was the best of times... but something was amiss. I just had to turn it up a notch. I've always wanted a second tang and had my heart set on a powder blue tang. Knowing its reputation I decided not to get it, but instead to go with the hippo blue tang, then changed my mind and chose a kole tang... then changed my mind again, and again, and again. After two weeks of hard thinking I've decided that it is the powder blue that I needed to have, so I did visit 5 different stores and finally, after having observed one particular individual for over an hour, have purchased that fella and brought it home.

At home I gave it a freshwater dip - first time experience for both the fish and myself, I'm sure. That was nerve wrecking and to this day I have no idea how people do it. Anyways, the dip went well and the fish was doing pretty good on the second day and was doing extremely well after a week.

This is my tank at its best:

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/tumanov/media/Winterfell%20Reef/DSC01552_zps390a54e0.jpg.html'>

 

And then it happened. I noticed just a few white spots on the powder blue. Don't panic, I told myself, let's do some research. After some research I've increased the dosage of garlic I was giving the fish, increased the feedings and kept up with the water changes.

But it got worse. And the next day even worse. And a week later I started noticing ich on my other fish, including the yellow tang.

 

Ok, what's next? I skipped the step of quarantining the fish, but I'm going to right that wrong - I went ahead and bought a 40 gallon breeder, prepared some sponge filters and let it all seed in the current sump. 10 days later I've moved all the fish from my reef to the quarantine tank, a very painful process that took a few hours. Needless to say that all of my aqua scape was mangled and no matter how much I tried I could not put it back together the way it was. Oh well, I think that the new scape is even better.

 

A few more fish died just before I've moved them over, and then I had to endure 2 weeks of seeing the rest of my fish slowly dying. This was heartbreaking to say the least. The last fish to give up were the yellow watchmen and cardinal. That was not a good day.

 

Since then I have dismantled the quarantine tank. Bought a second one and then started them up again. It has been two weeks since the new cycle had started, one tank is already fully cycled and I'm waiting for the other one to get up to date. Then I will start getting new fish and quarantining each and every one of them.

 

I never thought it would happen to me, it seems to be a thing that not too many aquarists that I know do, so I figured I'd wing it. And I came close, very close. But here it is. Hope that others will learn from this.

 

Here's a shot of my secondary quarantine tank (no copper treatment will be administered in it, hence the live rock).

 

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/tumanov/media/Winterfell%20Reef/DSC01759_zpsfebb5a1c.jpg.html'>

[dtum]

After January 13th, 2013 would be a start... Haha! Okay we'll cut you a break, how about what's up with the tank now?

Thanks, I've just posted an update.

[Hexadron]

I am so sorry to hear of your troubles with the fish. If anything - like you said, hopefully this will help others. I know I for one won't be taking a chance with fish or corals. Thanks for sharing.

 

Even though you did everything else by the book - quarantining is such an important step, especially when you stock multiple fish.

 

Lesson learned - albeit a hard one at that.

 

How's everything else doing?

[dtum]

I am so sorry to hear of your troubles with the fish. If anything - like you said, hopefully this will help others. I know I for one won't be taking a chance with fish or corals. Thanks for sharing.

 

Even though you did everything else by the book - quarantining is such an important step, especially when you stock multiple fish.

 

Lesson learned - albeit a hard one at that.

 

How's everything else doing?

 

The first week was very interesting and unusual - coming up to a tank and not seeing the fish was weird and a bit refreshing, no one is scared of you, you can observe corals without any fish in your way and it felt surreal.

Now it feels super boring, 2 months and no fish in sight. And I have not yet even started quarantining any additional fish. Oh well, this hobby is all about patience.

[disaster999]

im loving that quarantine tank...i would somehow find a way to turn it into a second display tank haha

[Hexadron]

im loving that quarantine tank...i would somehow find a way to turn it into a second display tank haha

 

I was going to say, dang, that's a nice looking QT!

[Paleoreef103]

Acanthurus tangs are ich magnets. At this point I'd be super nervous to ever add one to a tank of mine even though I've been dreaming of an Achilles tang for as long as I've been in this hobby. Sorry to hear about the tank and best of luck with the recovery!

[dtum]

im loving that quarantine tank...i would somehow find a way to turn it into a second display tank haha

That was exactly the plan to sneak another reef into the household.

[dtum]

Acanthurus tangs are ich magnets. At this point I'd be super nervous to ever add one to a tank of mine even though I've been dreaming of an Achilles tang for as long as I've been in this hobby. Sorry to hear about the tank and best of luck with the recovery!

I personally think that the powder blues are the best indicators on whether you have ich in your tank or not. The fish already could've been suffering with ich on their gills and I just did not see that.

[dtum]

Here is my thinking about the fish: I've already gone through the process of filling the tank with all the fish I wanted and knew were suitable and I've learned a thing or two about it in the process. I must admit that part of my is quite glad that I get to start again, even though I feel very sorry for the fish I've lost.

So, here's a quick recap of my experience with particular species of fish in the tank so far:

• Yellow tang - one of my favourite fish, certainly the showpiece of the tang and was very well mannered
  

• Powder blue tang - it certainly was one of the most beautiful fish in the tank and he behaved quite well, but he'd move a lot quicker in the tank and I could see some potential problems in the near future with it
  

• Ocellaris clowns were great, Royal Gramma was super nice and is still one of my most beloved fish
  

• All the small gobies that I've enjoyed in my nano (including fire fish) were not very visible from afar, one had to come up very closely to see them
  

• Dispar anthias turned out to be extremely shy, different variety next time
  

This time around I'll be making a few adjustments to my stocking plan. Some may consider my list a bit on the aggressive side and it might be, but I've got a really good skimmer and an aqua scape that should enable fish security, and after all it is just a plan. I'll keep adding the fish slowly and monitoring the situation, if something will not work I'll adjust accordingly.

Here is my stocking plan:

• Yellow tang - a must
  

• Blue hippo tang - although considered tacky by some, I do like the fish a lot and have never kept it. I'll probably will have to part with it in a few years (or just get a bigger tank!)
  

• Melanurus wrasse - I need a wrasse in my tank and if there'd be a single one, I'd go for this colorful fella
  

• Pair of ocellaris clowns - every reef needs a pair
  

• Copperband - I want to try it with this fish, not sure I'll succeed but I'll try
  

• Trio of anthias - either blue-eye or bartlett's
  

• Green spotted mandarin (at least six months from now)
  

I think that this is it, this is my list. If the tank will still have at least some more room I'd add a fairy wrasse in there.

I plan to go steady, quarantine every single fish and be checking all of the water parameters and aquarium status with each step.

A pair of tangs has already been purchased for me and are being quarantined by a friend. They are both small, so although they'll be the first to be added to the tank I think this should not affect any new fish I add.

[dtum]

The two fish I've introduced into my tank are a hippo tang and a yellow tang. The aquarium remained fishless for over two months, so I'm glad to see some movement in there (shrimp don't quite count).

Enjoy the video as well:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/PPlIpXQq6MQ

[Hexadron]

Thanks for the update I was just about to say "We need a video!" But looks like you got that covered. BEAUTIFUL!

[najluni15]

Amazing looking tank!

[JamesHL88]

Haven't seen this tank in a while. Wow it really developed nicely. Very colorful.

[aquaticlog]

Winterfell Reef is at 9 months now. Just as it takes this long for a baby to develop, it took all this time for the tank to go from bare dry rock to what it is right now.

The tank is doing great and is slowly getting to the much needed stability. pH is quite solid, but recent alkalinity demands have dramatically increased. I've added a Kalkwasser reactor to my ATO and have made a number of improvements to the whole setup including a frag rack and a salt mixing station.

I've gone over some of the changes in this video. http://youtu.be/x9PgvTsDngg'>

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/x9PgvTsDngg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Reef Fever]

looks great, tried looking back in your thread to see but what grain size sand did you use? My new 50x24x20 should be here in the next few weeks

[Lalani]

Wow, fantastic tank!

[aquaticlog]

looks great, tried looking back in your thread to see but what grain size sand did you use? My new 50x24x20 should be here in the next few weeks

I went with the SeaFloor grade, I think it is next size up from sugar fine. I really like it, since it is small grains and yet it never gets moved around even with all the flow I have in the tank.

[BattleAthletics]

Name change?