Red Sea in the Mojave...the Final Hours

[dropped]

Yea looking good mate! those new tanks are pretty nice.

[vegasgundog]

It's looking nice!

The bird netting is an interesting idea. How big our the holes? It's looks a bit bigger than what I'm using

I just measured them, I thought they were smaller.....they measure at 3/4 inch. I hope it will be small enough. It only cost me 10 bucks maybe lessential at Home Depot.

[niQo]

I just measured them, I thought they were smaller.....they measure at 3/4 inch. I hope it will be small enough. It only cost me 10 bucks maybe lessential at Home Depot.

It's a good price, but probably won't keep the smaller fish in the tank. I think mine is 1/4"

[vegasgundog]

I was wondering if it was to big. I looked everywhere local for smaller netting. Quarantine fish have three more weeks, so I got time to play.

[dropped]

BRS Stock a smaller grade of netting i think.

[vegasgundog]

Ordered the 1/4 clear netting from BRS last night, just in case...

[RIP Sebastian]

Everytime I see this thread has an update I yell "RED SEA IN THE MOJAVE" and my parents just look at me.

[vegasgundog]

The whole family in quarantine. About another 2 weeks I hope. I've been treating with metroplex every other day for a week and a half after the Leopard wrasse showed signs of flashing. Not sure if I should wait longer than 2 weeks or not.

 

[jbrfish]

Nice family, there gonna like there new home. That must be a mated pair of Firefish?....

Red Sea Reefer aquariums are nice, I have the Red Sea Reefer 170, for almost 5 months now.

Following along!

[vegasgundog]

Nice family, there gonna like there new home. That must be a mated pair of Firefish?....

 

I watched them for quite some time at the fish store and they never strayed from each other. In quarantine I have observed some interactions that remind me of my pair of clowns, minus any aggressive behavior in the beginning. I certainly hope they are a mated pair and am keeping my fingers crossed.

[vegasgundog]

This is Mr Grumpy and Bob. Bob is my wife's favorite resident, in fact she named him. Good thing for Mr Grumpy, Bob is not very quick. Or hungry. Bob likes a piece of shrimp now and then.

 

[vegasgundog]

Feeling very anxious about taking the fish out of quarantine. They are doing so well I hate to stress them out. It had been four weeks and three weeks of every other day of feeding metroplex in frozen food. When I started that I noticed a couple possibly flashing. I haven't seen any signs since.

 

Today's project, finishing up a new screen top. I originally used bird netting but after input I decided I didn't want to risk the large holes so I ordered the smaller clear from BRS.

 

 

[vegasgundog]

Oh boy.

 

I hoed and hummed......my wife finally said if your not going to put fish in the big tank, don't buy anymore. So using a clear specimen container, it took me 2 minutes to catch everyone in quarantine. Im so hoping it's been long enough.....

[vegasgundog]

It is done, 1 and half hour later....

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone is pretty chill, especially the rainford goby. The lepord wrasse dove under the sand under the rocks. The tailspot a little more tentative but he just found a perfect hole.

 

The purple firefish, no big deal. We will see in the morning....

[vegasgundog]

Well it's morning in the red sea and everyone is out and about. I thought I wouldn't see Dot the lepord wrasse for days the way she dove in under the rocks, but she's swimming out and about. The watchman came out for a few minutes and went back under rocks. Everything's going well so far.

[ninjamyst]

great looking tank! jealous of the leopard wrasse. is it a blue star?

[Astinus]

This is Mr Grumpy and Bob. Bob is my wife's favorite resident, in fact she named him. Good thing for Mr Grumpy, Bob is not very quick. Or hungry. Bob likes a piece of shrimp now and then.

 

Nice looking Fish, what is he?

[vegasgundog]

Nice looking Fish, what is he?

 

Hes a starry blenny. Has an amazing personality.

[RIP Sebastian]

Well it's morning in the red sea and everyone is out and about. I thought I wouldn't see Dot the lepord wrasse for days the way she dove in under the rocks, but she's swimming out and about. The watchman came out for a few minutes and went back under rocks. Everything's going well so far.

 

Hooray! Happy fishies!

[vegasgundog]

great looking tank! jealous of the leopard wrasse. is it a blue star?

 

Just the standard I guess, or black spotted.

[niQo]

Good choice on the netting, it's just not worth the risk!

[vegasgundog]

I have been doing weekly water changes and cant seem to get the nitrate below 10, it stays around 15 maybe closer to 20. I have a hard time with the Red Sea test kit, causes me to take a guess.I just did a 20 gallon water change hoping it will bring it down from yesterday. Lots of water changes are going to break the bank with the salt mix. The rsm filter sponges are huge and I think they are the nitrate bombs that sponges are said to be. I see no way of replacing them with filter floss that wouldnt have it sit deep in water. I pull them out weekly and rinse them thoroughly we will see if this works for now. I may end up sumping this thing sooner than later if I cant keep up on it.

 

Has anyone used Red Sea NO3:PO4-x? Im wondering if it would be viable option that is safe?

 

In other news, everyone is fitting in nicely, except Dot. I have not seen the leopard wrasse all day.

[Astinus]

I have been doing weekly water changes and cant seem to get the nitrate below 10, it stays around 15 maybe closer to 20. I have a hard time with the Red Sea test kit, causes me to take a guess.I just did a 20 gallon water change hoping it will bring it down from yesterday. Lots of water changes are going to break the bank with the salt mix. The rsm filter sponges are huge and I think they are the nitrate bombs that sponges are said to be. I see no way of replacing them with filter floss that wouldnt have it sit deep in water. I pull them out weekly and rinse them thoroughly we will see if this works for now. I may end up sumping this thing sooner than later if I cant keep up on it.

 

Has anyone used Red Sea NO3:PO4-x? Im wondering if it would be viable option that is safe?

 

In other news, everyone is fitting in nicely, except Dot. I have not seen the leopard wrasse all day.

I do use Nopox..Recommended by my LFS...it Works!...I would ask ur LFS for exact directions for use..it is very strong.

I only use 1 ML per 30 gal.

[vegasgundog]

Haven't seen Dot in nearly a week. I was feeling sad but everyone else is doing just fine, except the rbt which did not like that the tank should have been nuked by my stupidity of dosing wrong with magnesium and bringing it up to 3600 not 1350...... anyway.....I thought the rbt maybe had a full belly and needed to poop after a Dot meal. So when I couldn't sleep at 4 am I went creeper on the rsm. I saw something that made me think oh no a dreaded predatory flat worm was moving across the sand.......

 

 

And it's Dot.

[vegasgundog]

My heart is sad, Dot is on her way out. I thought it was strange she wasnt covering herself fully. I just found her in the corner almost upside down. I have her in a net and she is breathing very hard. I dont see any signs of disease other than she seems emaciated. Before I moved her from quarantine she seemed to be eating prepared foods with the others just fine. But she has been gone for a week and perhaps starved during that time. I dont know if there is anything to be done at this point.