Cucowlr?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[stacy22]

The presence of white spots on your fish lead me to think your case is more parasite than toxin. However, chemical toxicity is something you can always keep in mind when things just don't add up.

What ever the issue is, I hope you can get things worked out. Kudos to you for asking questions and getting help with getting things back on track.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Well, The sailfin, I know had Ich. The fuzzy white mucus looking film on the clowns looked like brook, but dang. What happened to all of the others so suddenly. They showed no signs of anything besides immediate stress and death...

You all are very helpful. Thanks for being patient with me...

 

[snowmansnow]

As far as covering your tank.. There's nothing wrong with it.

I've never covered mine at all.

As far as live rock. Yes you can get away w a good bit less IMO.

There is 60 lbs of PUKANI in my display you see here. It is a 120g

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[thanh386]

I don't like you now snowman. I'm so jealous, that tank is incredible!

 

[snowmansnow]

Thanh386;796671 wrote: I don't like you now snowman. I'm so jealous, that tank is incredible!

I dont like you either.

Now, lets move on . HAHAHA

jk

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Alright... Time to stop crying and get to the reboot...

High priority before re-stocking. Visit and research LFS's. This may involve some trips to Atlanta. Also: What do you all think about ordering fish online?


Here's the plan.
<ul>
<li>Set up 55 gallon office tank
<ul>
<li></li>
<li>Empty water and remove rocks</li>
<li>Fill tank with RO/DI water and cleaning vinegar (Is this stuff safe for cleaning?)

• </li>
  <li>Let run with circulation and skimmer for 1 week</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>Drain Tank, and add refill</li>
  <li>Remove 180 pounds of live rock from 120 DT (ouch!!!)</li>
  <li>Move remaining 3 firefish and engineer goby to 55 gallon office tank</li>
  </ul>
• Perform 4-30 gallon water changes on 120 DT - Only CUC and live rock remain in tank
• Add reef and invertibrate safe parasite treatment to 120 DT
• Let all remain as noted above for 10 weeks with the exception of a couple of coral being added to 120 DT
• Any additional fish will be added to 55 gallon tank for QT during the 10 weeks while 120 DT sits fallow
  <ul>
  <li>Need some advise on livestock</li>
  <li>Scared of tangs now</li>
  <li>Want some reef safe, hardy, peacefulfish that get around 6-8 inches in length. Need some input here...</li>
  <li>Don't want to overload my bioload</li>
  </ul>
• Move livestock to 120 DT after checking water parameters
• Move 50 pounds of Live Rock to 55 gallon office tank (prep for mantis shrimp tank after egcrating the bottom and covering with live sand)

Here is how the tank sits now...

Side View:

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Front View: Pay no attention to the HOB filter. It is empty, and is only there to ensure surface skim is pushed to the overflow for the skimmer.

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Office Tank:

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Is this stuff safe for cleaning the 55 gallon office tank?

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I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for your help, advice, and most of all motivation...

If you see any holes in my plan, please let me know...

Thanks all!!!

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

I also checked the water parameters today, and here is what I found:
11-Sep-12
Ammonia 0
PH 8.2
Nitrate 10 ppm
Nitrite .2
The Nitrite level scares me. What could've caused that, if my girlfriend actually had clean hands when she fed the fish? The only two fish that I couldn't remove when they went missing were the blenny and cleaner wrasse, but, I'm sure the CUC made short work of them...

Thanks so much!!!

 

[kilralpine]

The pictures on the upper part of this page where the firefish and all are; it would appear there is probably a lack of flow back behind all of those rocks that are piled up on the glass.

Edit: Not sure if that's where your trates are from or even if that's the same tank your talking about; but its alot of dead spots im sure.

Edit: Also a few other things that would be good to know:

Do you rinse your food?
What kind of food do you feed?
How offen?
How many fish?
How big is skimmer/brand?
What type of mechanical filtration do you have? filter socks? bio balls? ?

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

I was concerned about the dead spots behind the rock as well. I currently have 1-200 gph powerheads at each side of the tank blowing between the rock and the rear glass. Hopefully that will be fixed when I move some of the rock to the 55 gallon.

I do rinse the food before feeding. I thaw it out, and pour off the residuals.
I feed twice a day just as much as they can eat in 5 minutes to keep leftovers from staying in the tank from overfeeding.

Currently, 3 firefish and one engineer goby.

I am running a reef octopus bh 200 that is rated for 125 gallons. Only 100 gallons fit in the tank with all of the live rock.
No sump right now. I was building one from an additional 55 gallon tank when I had the crash.

Thanks for the reply kilralpine...

 

[kilralpine]

All of that seems fine except the powerhead flow, 1-200GPH x2 isnt enough for a tank that large. I have a 75G that is roughly that size and I use a 1100, 750, 550 and sometimes I still think it could use some more flow. Maybe you have more dead spots than you would think given your flow rate?

 

[rdnelson]

I woule expect the nitrite and nitrate levels are due to the deaths in the tank. As you said, you were unable to get two of the dead fish out therefore, as the CUC takes care of them you will have some amonia which the bacteria have consumed but it is still working on the nitrite (hence the small level present) and has raised the nitrate.

 

[snowmansnow]

AtlantaMFR;796816 wrote: Put a refugium in that sump and fill it with chaeto and run the light 24/7 - I tend to overfeed to make sure my 70+ crabs get a bite to eat and my nitrites are at 0 and nitrates stay between 2-4. My last clown that died stayed in the tank and was consumed by the crabs with 0 spike. My tank is about 8 weeks old with a skimmer that is too small (upgrading this weekend hopefully) and I test it everyday.

I respectfully disagree with the above. With the advent of efficient skimming fuges are, I believe, becoming a thing of the past. For growing pods I can see the advantages, but for nutrient export.... eh... not so much.

___

On another note, I had noted that I had a lot less LR in the tank... HOWEVER it is a different kind of rock. It looks like you have some fiji in there.. or fuji.. cant remember... That rock is basically small boulders with some holes in it
Good stuff, but it is very dense and it takes a lot of it to make a structure.

I'm not saying do it... but you MAY consider some pukani. look for pukani dry rock at bulkreefsupply. It is not a dense rock and has a LOT of coverage / pound. Its also very easy to shape to the exact form you want..

that way you go from stacking rock to BUILDING a structure exactly the way you want it.

Just some thoughts.

B

 

[bulkrate]

2nd (or 3rd?) the flow issue. You're going to need at least one other powerhead to get decent flow in that 110. Maybe a pair of MPx0's (if loaded/lucky on CL) or a Korralia wavemaker controller + a couple of evolution PH's (if less so) would help. You also may be overdoing it with the live rock... typically I see folks doing well with 1:1 or even slightly lower ratios provided the rock's one of the more porous types. I also have no idea what you're using for filtration (been reading along, may have overlooked it in your posts...if so, sorry). You'll need a mix of mechanical (floss/sponge/sock) and chemical (usually at least carbon, or somthing more excotic depending on need) to keep crud from building up and leading to chemistry issues. It may also be a good idea to check for any stray voltages in your tank coming off submerged equipment...usually not an outright fish killer, but it is a stressor and will make any health issue worse over time.

As for the fallow period, yeah it sucks but yah gotta do what yah gotta do. Good husbandry's the only thing in this money pit of a hobby that keeps costs even somewhat in line. Even if stocking coral's not of interest, consider adding some interesting inverts so that the tank's got something going on while you wait for it to be safe for fish. You can add a second cleaner shrimp, or a group of porcelain crabs (caribean collected species like galathius and sayana actually come out of the rockwork fairly regularly!), or just a variety of hermits to get some activity.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

kilralpine: Sorry. I probably wasn't clear. It was late, and I was performing a vodka dose on myself. I have 2-950 koralia powerheads in opposite sides of the upper-mid section of the tank as well...

rdnelson99: Sounds like my livestock loss may have caused a mini cycle?

AtlantaMFR: Sounds like sound advice. One question, though. I've heard that the lights should be on opposite schedules instead of 24/7 in the refugium. Have you had any issues with the chaeto effecting your DT water adversely?

SnowManSnow: Interesting take. You and AtlantaMFR have given me something else to research. Fuge vs. No Fuge...

BulkRate: I'm definetely glad to hear for the second time that I have too much live rock. With as much as I have, it was almost impossible to do any aquascaping without filling up my tanks floor surface. Some will be transferred to the 55 once this is all complete. I have a reef octopus bh 200 skimmer running 24/7, and it's doing a pretty good job (i think). I have to empty the cup about every 3-4 days. I was running carbon in my hob filter, but removed it with the scare of HLLE. I had it wrapped up pretty tight, to prevent tumbling. I was scared of the floss or sponge as I have read it is a nitrate breeding ground. Do you think I would be safe with just the socks, carbon, and skimmer?
The tank won't be completely void of life. Unfortunately with the exception of the few fish left living, my CUC is the only thing left living. I have 4 peppermint shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 large turbo snail, about 20 small hermits, 20 small snails, 1 emerald crab (is he reef safe?), 1 porcelain crab, and 1 pincussion urchin.

Thanks again all!!!

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Gotcha. I'll bet you have some happy pods. They are living a worry free life with all they can eat.
It is my understanding that chaeto doesn't require any special reef lighting. Can you confirm?

 

[rdnelson]

CedzAquAddiction;796837 wrote:
rdnelson99: Sounds like my livestock loss may have caused a mini cycle?

Yes and no. LOL The term cycled is really incorectly used in my mind. It isn't a matter of "My tank cycled and now it no longer has to cycle." The cycle continues endlessly. A better way of putting it would be "My tank has ESTABLISHED a good cycle and now continues to cycle." In other words, the cycle is waste decaying and creating amonia, one type of baceria consuming the amonia and creating nitrite, another bacteria consuming the nitrite and creating nitrate. That cycle goes on endlessly in an established tank. So, what you are seeing is a little higher amount of amonia which the bacteria needs a little more time to consume.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Gotcha... With further checking in the near future, nitries should be back down to zero, or would I need to do water changes?

Also: I cleaned out the office tank last night in preparation for the remaining fish.

This weekend, I get to break down the 120 DT to get the fish. That should be fun. Removing and re-positioning 180 pounds of LR to catch 4 fish. LOL. I'll set up a fish trap for a couple of days first to see if I get any bites...

 

[rdnelson]

There are some other ways to remove nitrates but the best way is with water changes. When you do regular water changes you are exporting the nitrate and other nutrients. The new water you put in replenishes the trace elements as well as the CA. In most cases, with only a little coral you will not have to add anything other than the new water. As the amount of coral you have increases you may need to supplement the CA to keep up. Regardless, water changes are the one sure thing in this hobby. You can reduce your headaches tremendously by keeping to a good schedule.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Well..... Speaking of water changes... I picked this up today. Thanks so much for all of your advice and motivation. I'm gonna fight the good fight. Eventually, this hobby will cut me some slack...

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[cedzaquaddiction]

AquariumAddiction: You have a good point, and share my conflict. For now, I'm going to continue to get my hardware from my LFS, and possibly get some livestock from elsewhere just to rule it out. My LFS gives good advice, so I will patronize them where I can.

As for my progress, I have been running the vinegar and water for a couple fo days now, and it may have cleaned too well, or made a mess for me to clean up. There is absolutely no leftover algae at all, on the walls, but, it has collected in a slimy mess on the bottom of my tank. It has been a FW tank and a reptile tank for about 15 years now, and I wanted to ensure I've cleaned it well. Time to clean up the clean up. LOL...

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