3rd Time's a Charm

[Dos Ocho]

How quickly things can change. Noticed my 2 Blennys acting lethargic yesterday. They were their normal selves Friday. Well this morning I awoke to disaster. 1 Blenny dead, the other is dying but he gets bursts of energy every time I try and grab him and hides in the rocks. I expect him to die today. 1 Chromis dead, 1 missing (I looked EVERYWHERE). My thought is he died and is trapped somewhere in the rocks. 1 Chromis is alive and visually seems fine, but didn’t eat much this morning. This SUCKS and whatever hit them did it quick.

 

Did water tests, PH 7.8 (Will test again mid day), Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates all 0. Still wrapping up diatom bloom plus I have some macros so that explains Nitrates. I bumped the temp up to 79, was at 78 or slightly lower. All the snails are good, Zoa and Ricordia good as well.

 

So I expect to be fishless by tomorrow.  Don’t have a QT tank (I will after the sump transfer) and don’t want to treat the display and cause more damage. I think I’m gonna have to keep the tank fish free for months and maybe try again down the road when I have QT procedures set up. 

 

Im still gonna move forward with the sump transfer, macro additions, and inverts. Oddly enough I’m not that in to fish, but I do want at least a few in there. 

 

So so back to the drawing board, but I’m not giving up. 

[pntbll687]

How long did you have the fish?? Does your lfs have a guarantee on live fish?

 

What test kit are you using? Sometimes the API ones are not as accurate as you think. 

 

If it's a sudden die off, they might have had a parasite from before you got them. Were they eating?

 

Did u dose anything in the tank recently?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but just want to help you get to the bottom of it.

I don't think you have to wait months to add fish. Just make sure the tank is handling ammonia, and take it SLOW. Maybe 1 fish every two weeks or so.

[Dos Ocho]

Thanks for the help. I am using API for testing. Perhaps I could get a different kit, but no other life in the tank is affected at this point.

 

My LFS only has a 7 day guarantee and I’ve had them for just under a month. They have been eating fine the entire time. Just noticed the Blennys acting weird yesterday. On Friday, all 5 were behaving normally. 

 

Have not dosed anything or made any major recent changes. In fact I’m gearing up to swap my sump out for a bigger one so I have been purposely leaving the tank alone. I have been adding snails. Some macro from reefcleaners, a Dragon Breath cluster from my Biocube and a shaving brush from my 10 gallon. My cube fish are fine and my 10 has never had fish.

 

added a zoa from my LFS a couple weeks ago and transferred a Ricordia from my cube.

 

the ph was a bit low, but I tested right before the lights came on so im gonna check again mid day. Later today im gonna try again to pull the last blenny and search again for the MIA Chromis. I don’t want to pull the rocks because I put them in before sand and if I move them, it’s gonna stir up so much crap that it may cause more harm. 

 

I’m pretty sure it’s a parasite or disease. But I swear they looked perfectly fine Friday.

[pntbll687]

Definitely try and get another test kit. The API ones are ok, and should only be used to approximate where the tank is at. It's too easy to have more/less water than needed, or miscount a drop going in.

 

Sounds like a parasite or internal disease to me.

 

Some decent sized water changes over the next couple of weeks should have you back where it needs to be.

 

Also, don't feel bad about not having a qt system going. I have a 200g tank and don't have a qt system set up. It's mainly a cost thing. I don't want to be running a system I'm not using, plus I don't really have the space for one either. I temp acclimate, then drip, then right in they go.

[Dos Ocho]

Thanks again. The sick blenny died. Still cannot find the missing Chromis. Just gonna have to rely on pods, bacteria, and my nassarius snail to find and dispose of him. The 3rd guy is alive and behaving normally. Swimming around and exploring the now empty tank. Hope he lives.

 

I guess it’s better to have this happen now than 2 years from now. I’ll be introducing a lot of new, fresh water when I swap sumps. Total water volume will increase by 8 gallons or so. Fingers crossed.

[Dos Ocho]

So I’m not fishless. One Chromis is still alive and seems healthy. Eating and swimming around. Getting a lot of pods now and he seems to be chowing on those too. I’ve decided to name him “The Highlander”. You know.....There can be only one...

 

Still not sure if he’ll live, but I sure hope so. Not gonna think about adding any new fish for a while.

 

Besides the fish death, things are looking good. Zoa and Ricordia are happy. Starting to see a lot of coralline already which I find strange for a young tank started from dry rock and sand. But I’m not complaining! 

 

I built the new sump tonight and planning the transfer for Friday night. That will give the silicone 48 hours to cure. Hoping everything sealed right. The new sump will have a 29” wide fuge which will accommodate all my 10 gallon livestock and the rock in my existing fuge. I’m really nervous about this, but the whole swap shouldn’t take more than 2 hours so hopefully the stress on the livestock is minimal.

 

Couldn’t resist more algae so I placed an order with Gulf Coast Ecosystems which will be here next week. Halimeda sampler, 2 pine cone plants, Bryothamnion, and 2 loose Ricordias. 1 or 2 of the stemmed plants will go in the cube. Hoping to have them next Wed or Thursday. 

 

So.....moving along...

[vlangel]

Your sump looks awesome.  I am sorry for your fish losses.? Thats always tough and you are wise to wait a while before adding any other fish.  I am glad that Highlander is hanging in there.

[pntbll687]

On 2/11/2018 at 4:10 PM, Dos Ocho said:

11 hours ago, Dos Ocho said:

So I’m not fishless. One Chromis is still alive and seems healthy. Eating and swimming around. Getting a lot of pods now and he seems to be chowing on those too. I’ve decided to name him “The Highlander”. You know.....There can be only one...

 

Still not sure if he’ll live, but I sure hope so. Not gonna think about adding any new fish for a while.

 

Besides the fish death, things are looking good. Zoa and Ricordia are happy. Starting to see a lot of coralline already which I find strange for a young tank started from dry rock and sand. But I’m not complaining! 

 

I built the new sump tonight and planning the transfer for Friday night. That will give the silicone 48 hours to cure. Hoping everything sealed right. The new sump will have a 29” wide fuge which will accommodate all my 10 gallon livestock and the rock in my existing fuge. I’m really nervous about this, but the whole swap shouldn’t take more than 2 hours so hopefully the stress on the livestock is minimal.

 

Couldn’t resist more algae so I placed an order with Gulf Coast Ecosystems which will be here next week. Halimeda sampler, 2 pine cone plants, Bryothamnion, and 2 loose Ricordias. 1 or 2 of the stemmed plants will go in the cube. Hoping to have them next Wed or Thursday. 

 

So.....moving along...

The sump looks great!

 

Put a heater in the DT and you should be good to go. The Highlander and inverts shouldn't notice much of a change.

 

Make an outline of how you want the swap to go, then make an extra 20% water for the change over. Extra towels and extra water are a must.

 

Don't just wing it!! I did that, And as expected it was a terrible time. 

[Dos Ocho]

Good Lord it is DONE!!! My new 33 long sump is in place and everything is transferred over!!!! What a project and without a doubt the most stressful thing I've done in my short reefing career!

 

Started this morning by shutting off the light to the 10 gallon to prepare the contents for their new light cycle. Started the transfer at 6pm tonight and I'm just now wrapping up (10:45pm), but the actual transfer only took about 2 hours. 

 

I wanted to take pics every step of the way but i was stressing out and just wanted to get it done. Started by draining the existing 20 long sump as best i could and pulling the bags of rubble and the big rocks from the fuge area. Decided to scrap most of the loose rubble. The new fuge is going to be Caulerpa heavy and that stuff is a PITA when it gets all wrapped up in little rocks. Lost a lot of pineapple sponges but they will be back I'm sure. Did not re-use sand from the 10 or the 20 long fuge. 

 

I knew there would be an issue with the slim gooseneck bases of the Tide Mini and the Fuge light I bought from Nanobox, so i installed a thin aluminum bar behind the sump to attach the lights. It worked out very well and allowed me to leave the rim of the 33 long alone. No plastic rim cutting needed.

 

After removing the 20 long, i installed the 33 long. I used a full tub of Refugium mud as a base. Once the 33 was in place, I hurried upstairs to drain the 10 gallon and remove the crabs, Caulerpa, Dragon's Breath, and most of the rocks. I took my colonial tunicate rock too, of course!! Then i started to fill the new sump. Reused the water from the 10 gallon and the old fuge, and used about 8 gallons of fresh saltwater i made too. I hooked up all the equipment and fired up the return pump. The temp of the system dropped to 75.5 degrees during this whole process but is back up to 77.5 right now. I expect it to be back at 79 by midnight. Salinity stayed stable at 1.025 (my preferred level), so I think all is good. Once i fired up the lights, the Xenia, Anthelia, and GSP all started to wake up and they all seem to be fine. 

 

The crabs started scurrying about and i rewarded them with a full sinking algae pellet for all the stress i put them thru. They are a pain, but i do love the little guys!!!! 

 

So a lot of stress but in the long run, it was the right decision. Gonna let everything settle overnight and run water tests in the AM to make sure all is well. I have 4.5 gallons of fresh saltwater ready for an emergency water change if needed. But I am confident everything is OK and excited to move forward with my setup. I'm pretty exhausted so a little bit of relaxing then bedtime for this guy!! Enjoy the pics, and more updates to come! 

 

Oh, and since i was upgrading things, I upgraded my ATO reservoir from a 5 gallon bucket to a 20 gallon Food-Safe tote. Figured I'd be loosing more water from evaporation, and the tote was only $25 so what the hell. Go big, right? 

[Dos Ocho]

Morning is here and all is well. The system is showing no ill effects from the transfer last night. Next step, algae order from GCE this week. Perhaps a new coral or two next weekend. 

[pntbll687]

Nice!!

Glad it went well and everything is looking good.

 

[Dos Ocho]

Quick update. The system is doing very well. Earlier this week I transferred a Cyphastrea coral and a Duncan from my crowded Biocube to the 40. Both are doing well.

 

Got my order from GCE tonight and put it all in. The 40 is dark now, but I took some sump shots. I LOVE having a nighttime tank to look at. I put some flame algae scraps in the sump. We’ll see how they do. I also scattered some Hypnea around the sump and added a small coil of Chaeto too. It’s all about biodiversity!!

 

I don’t have nearly the pod population in the fuge as I did in the 10 gallon, but I see enough critters that survived the transfer so I think their population should increase in the next few weeks and months. 

 

More to come, enjoy!!

[Dos Ocho]

Hello all. Some changes to the 40 over the last week. The Highlander Chromis is still alive and well. The new algae is doing well. Bought a large clump of Bryothamnion and put the scraps down in the sump. I wanted to put it on the flare light side, but ended up putting it on the tide side. Just looked better plus it catches more current and sways around a bit more. I picked up a Halimeda sampler too, which contained a nice variety of calcified stemmed plants. Picked up 2 Pinecone algae plants and received 3! 2 went in the biocube and 1 in the 40. The plan going forward is to have red algae as a backdrop and green stuff up front, although that will probably change over time! 

 

I had GCE throw in a couple loose Ricordias just to see how they would do. Couldn't pass them up @ $4 a piece. They are in a low flow area resting on some rubble rock and seem to be doing good. They lost a lot of color over the 3 day trip to my house, but are slowly regaining it and they both plump up quite a bit during the day. I like them!!

 

I picked up 2 new Zoa frags. A Fire and Ice and some kind of cool neon green fella. I will let them take over their respective rocks which will look very nice in a few months. The addition i am most excited about is the Rock Anemone Garden i started! Got 4 of the little guys at my LFS. Not the super flashy ultras i see everywhere, but a nice variety IMO and i really like them. The white and brown one walked all around a rock in his garden his first night and ended up settling right where i put him originally!! Guess he just wanted a quick tour of the grounds!! The others pretty much stayed put, not moving more than and inch or two where i dropped them. I'm going to start target feeding them after they have had a week or two to get settled in. 

 

Only bad thing happening is turf / long hair algae. I knew it was going to happen, my Astrea snails from my cube had some on their shells when i added them. Not in plague proportions by any means, certainly manageable. Just gonna have to do manual removal to keep it under control. I have a water change scheduled for tomorrow and i'm going to start running GFO and Carbon. Going to start with 1/2 the BRS recommended amount and go from there. I hope as my new fuge gets settled it should help up top. The Caulerpa is really starting to spread since the transfer and i have a lot of other macros too. Just part of the reef tank fun!!

 

I have an order of corals from Cultivated Reef coming Friday. Assortment of Ricordias, Clove Polyps, and a Neon Green Nepthea (my centerpiece coral). Pretty excited about that. After they go in, looking for possibly a Corky Finger for one of my main rocks to round out my coral selection. No plans for much coral after Friday. Going forward I will only be picking up more algae and rock anemones. 

 

Been thinking a lot about fish too, but no immediate plans. Still have to clean up the old 10 gallon and prep it for a QT tank. My thought today was 2 Cardinalfish then way down the road (Mid to late summer) try my hand at a Mandarin? Just don't know if my system is big enough or ever will be to support one without constant pod seeding. We'll see. 

 

Pix will be in the post below. Enjoy! My girlfriend got a real grown up camera so I'm going to have her try and take some good pix of the tank this weekend. May be the end to crappy iPhone pix!!! 

[Dos Ocho]

[vlangel]

Wow, really nice.  I had to catch up on the whole transfer but you did great.

With a 33 gallon sump I am thinking when the pods recover you should be able to have a mandarin.  I recently just added a pair of mandys to my tank and a pair of cardinals. I will let you know how the mandarins do.

[Dos Ocho]

I saw that! Saw you also had some fish problems too. Sucks losing the little guys. I’m always following your build!

 

im hoping my pod population explodes. I’m already seeing a lot, mostly in the display. I just remember my 10 gallon looking like it was snowing because of all the pods in the water. Hoping enough survived to build back up the colony. I am going to get more macro soon. Just waiting for certain choice varieties to become available. 

 

I wish my LFS would carry a wider variety. Ordering online makes it so I feel I have to get a lot to justify shipping. I’m wanting some more Caulerpa, Red Grape Caulerpa (I know, not a real Caulerpa), and a few more stemmed algae. Possibly some Gracilaria as well. LA Reefs has some cool varieties too, just most are out of stock. 

 

For now, it’s just a waiting game and I’m focusing on controlling the turf / hair algae. 

[Oracus]

Love the Tool posters

[Dos Ocho]

Cam De Leon is the artist. Very cool stuff. Of course got into his work because of Tool. Huge fan. Can’t wait for their new album. Any day now...?

[Dos Ocho]

Received my coral order from Cultivated Reef Friday. A few Ricordias, Green Nepthea, and Clove polyps. That should be about it for now. All are settling in well. I have a nice Ricordia garden started! They are very cool and look great in their calm corner. Will probably get a few more down the road. More yellow and purple if i can find them. The Nepthea is destined to be the huge centerpiece of the tank. It came as a very small frag, but already the polyps are extending and I'm sure he'll be a good size coral in 6-8 months. Added 1 more Rock Anemone but he moved behind a rock and i can't get a good pic of him. You'll see him when i get around to taking some top down shots. The other nems found their place and are doing well. 

 

My LFS had some cool cup caulerpa and gave me a strand for my fuge. The fuge is really starting to come to life. I see a lot of pods crawling around again. Also have spotted 2 - 3 small bristle worms too. I added 2 ceriths from the display to help clean the glass and stir the sand. The algae is growing, Xenia and GSP are taking off, and the main Anthelia colony is sprouting 6 new polyps!! I'm mostly excited about the pod population bulking up since the transfer. The display is showing a lot more too. 

 

I have 1 more order coming Tuesday. I really want to attempt a couple more fish, so i ordered a Court Jester Goby, and a Yellowline goby from Live Aquaria. Got a piece of Red Grape Algae, a Porcelain Crab, and a couple Trouchus snails to round out the order. I have my old 10 gallon cleaned up and ready to go for the fish quarantine. Planning on 3 - 4 weeks before they go into the display. Very plain setup, 2 PVC pieces and a MarinePure ball from my Biocube for filtration. Worked well last time i used it as a QT, so don't expect problems this time. I have a bottle of Seachem ParaGuard to use to treat the little guys if they show signs of illness. This LA order will be the last additions to the system for quite a while. Spring is slowly coming and i have a ton of projects and work to do outside, so i need to get this tank into maintenance mode. I'll see how it progresses and make more stocking choices come summer. 

 

My debate now is the stringy turf / hair / bryopsis algae. It does not seem to be getting worse, but it is there. Not in plague proportions, IMO. I have been manually removing as much as i can. It started growing on the back wall on the flare light side. But my snails seem to either eat it or remove it from the wall as they make their passes. This is my fault, i introduced the stuff from my My debate is flucazonol. I have enough left over from dosing my biocube and deciding if i should hit the 40. I had great success using it in the cube, and it did not harm the macros i had in there at the time (Chaeto, Shaving Brush, Dragon's Breath), so i think most of my algae would be fine. My big worry is stuff i did not have in the cube (flame algae and Caulerpa). If it were to kill the caulerpa, i'd be in a lot of trouble. There is a lot in the sump and if it were to die it would bomb the tank with nutrients and possibly crash the whole thing. Plus this tank is what i call quasi-new. New in terms of time but i did add an 8 month old established system to it so that should have brought some kind of stability. 

 

If i treat the tank, i want to get it done before the new fish are ready to go in. Just nervous and trying to think it through. I have been moving fast on this tank too which also is cause for concern. I'll think about it and do more research for a week or so, then decide. 

 

In any event, enjoy the pics! 

[vlangel]

You have some really cool algae that I haven't tried.  I will be interested how the pine cone algae does.  It's pretty cool.  I'd like to get a shaving brush and maiden fan too.  "So many macro algae and so little space," she laments!

[Dos Ocho]

5 hours ago, vlangel said:

You have some really cool algae that I haven't tried.  I will be interested how the pine cone algae does.  It's pretty cool.  I'd like to get a shaving brush and maiden fan too.  "So many macro algae and so little space," she laments!

When the time comes, KP Aquatics has shaving brush and fans pretty much always in stock. I highly recommend the Halimeda sampler from Gulf Coast Ecosystems too. The beauty of those algaes is once they get established, they send up new shoots once the main one starts to die. I have a field of shaving brush in my cube from 4 plants I bought in April. Always love seeing where they’ll pop up next!

[Dos Ocho]

Got some fuge shots tonight too. I’ve been gradually switching my mini tide to favor the white light over the blue for the Caulerpa. I’m currently at 65% White, 45% Blue for the mid day setting. Gonna bump up the whites a bit more over the next few weeks. The Caulerpa loves it and the corals don’t seem to mind. The fuge light side is doing well too. LOVE my new cup Caulerpa and the reds seem to be fine too. I dropped some Hypnea clumps on top of the rock on that side and they have taken hold and started to grow. I’m sure I’ll have some red grape scraps to throw in there Tuesday. Also seeing spots of coralline on the rock as well. Reef Cleaners dry rock is excellent and will be my only source for rock in the future.

Couldn’t be happier with my display fuge. Starting to see some good pod population increases too.

 

On a side note, after thinking about it all day I’ve decided to dose Flucosanol to help curb the pest algae in the display. Planning on dosing Wednesday after my water change. Nervous for sure but it did wonders in my cube. Hoping for the same in this system. 

 

 

[vlangel]

Your sump is looking good.  It seems that your macros have settled in pretty well.

 

Thanks for the tips.  I have been thinking about ordering from KP Aquatics and GCE for some time now.

[Dos Ocho]

Dosed flucozanol Tuesday night. Starting to see some effects, but I remember it took a while for it to work in my cube. I’m probably gonna have to do back to back does. All my macros are fine so far. Kinda mad that I let it get this bad, but so it is. Looks like I’ll be fighting this stuff for a while. 

Got my liveaquaria order. Picked up a couple fish, couple trochus snails, a porcelain crab, and some red grape algae. The algae came on a huge chunk of rock that I didn’t think looked visually appealing so it went in the sump. 

The crab is cool. He’s a tiny fella that I’ve named Bigfoot, because he hides a lot and I have brief sightings of him!

The new fish were the highlight of the order. A yellowline goby (Pac-man) and a Court Jester goby (The Joker). Both are in QT and will go in the 40 at the beginning of April. Pac-man settled in quick and is eating like a hog. The Joker was very timid at first and didn’t eat for a few days. He’s perking up a bit and I saw him eat a bit and poop this morning so hopefully he does well. Both are beautiful fish that will be a great addition to the tank.

That’s about it. I’ll have tank pix once the algae gets under control. Not really proud of how it looks right now. Hoping it’s looking better in 3-4 weeks. 

[jesseatam]

3 hours ago, Dos Ocho said:

Dosed flucozanol Tuesday night. Starting to see some effects, but I remember it took a while for it to work in my cube. I’m probably gonna have to do back to back does. All my macros are fine so far. Kinda mad that I let it get this bad, but so it is. Looks like I’ll be fighting this stuff for a while. 

Got my liveaquaria order. Picked up a couple fish, couple trochus snails, a porcelain crab, and some red grape algae. The algae came on a huge chunk of rock that I didn’t think looked visually appealing so it went in the sump. 

The crab is cool. He’s a tiny fella that I’ve named Bigfoot, because he hides a lot and I have brief sightings of him!

The new fish were the highlight of the order. A yellowline goby (Packman) and a Court Jester goby (The Joker). Both are in QT and will go in the 40 at the beginning of April. Packman settled in quick and is eating like a hog. The Joker was very timid at first and didn’t eat for a few days. He’s perking up a bit and I saw him eat a bit and poop this morning so hopefully he does well. Both are beautiful fish that will be a great addition to the tank.

That’s about it. I’ll have tank pix once the algae gets under control. Not really proud of how it looks right now. Hoping it’s looking better in 3-4 weeks. 

Awesome fish! Are both those little guys captive-bred?