My first saltwater tank - IM Nuvo 40

[00Dan]

Well things aren't looking too good -- my lack of QT facilities may be biting me earlier rather than later. I saw the royal gramma flashing against the sand a couple times, and on closer inspection found that no one wants to see.

Thoughts or opinions on diagnosis?

 

[ichthyoid]

Likely cryptocaryon or amyloodinium infection. I like quinine phosphate, but that would take a Hospital tank to do right.

Many would also recommend metronidazole blended with Focus. See here for more info -

Seachem - MetroPlex

www.seachem.com

 

[ichthyoid]

And a little garlic to help it go down (helps keep the fish eating).

 

[00Dan]

Likely cryptocaryon or amyloodinium infection. I like quinine phosphate, but that would take a Hospital tank to do right.

Many would also recommend metronidazole blended with Focus. See here for more info -

Seachem - MetroPlex

www.seachem.com

I happen to have metro and focus on hand; I'll mix it up with some frozen to feed tomorrow.

In the meantime I dosed 3.5 mL of H2O2 in the tank after the lights went out (approximately 1 mL/8 gal). The other fish are asymptomatic at this time and the gramma is both breathing normally and eating. Anecdotal evidence on other forums suggests the peroxide can keep external parasites at least at bay long enough to figure out a more permanent solution; I intend to use it while I research what my treatment options are (particularly in terms of hospital tank logistics if it comes to that).

 

[00Dan]

No spots on the gramma this morning but I still witnessed occasional flashing. Otherwise he was out and eating normally. All the other fish are asymptomatic. I ordered a Jebao dosing pump from Amazon that will arrive Saturday; I plan to set it up and continue dosing peroxide for a 4 to 6 week regimen. I'll assess at that point the effectiveness of the (highly experimental) hydrogen peroxide treatment and move forward from there.

 

[00Dan]

I ordered a Jebao dosing pump which came in today; I have it calibrated and set up to dose peroxide every eight hours. I also got a large cleaner shrimp (credit for the wrasse that died shortly after purchase); it went in after a 30 minute drip acclimation.

The gramma has been swimming around the tank all day and ate fine when I fed frozen laced with metro and kanaplex today. The other fish are all asymptomatic. Based on the experiences of other people who have attempted peroxide dosing I added a bag of carbon to one of the rear chambers just in case there are any undesirable products of the peroxide breaking down inside the tank.

 

[00Dan]

Only update as of recently is I added an Innovative Marine Aquashield 11W UV sterilizer to my right overflow chamber. In combination with the peroxide dosing the velvet is being kept at bay, although I can confirm it is indeed velvet after seeing a resurgence of symptoms due to a lapse in dosing from a dosing pump setup error. The sterilizer is too small to adequately control pathogens by itself however there is known data that hydrogen peroxide reacts into a hydroxide radical when exposed to UV, as I understand it. Anecdotal evidence on another forum shows this to be reef safe and perhaps more effective against certain pathogens.

My own experience thus far is that I am seeing no adverse effects, and time will tell if it is sufficient to fully knock back marine velvet or if it just controls it.

On a different note, my frag plugs are becoming an algae farm. I've tried scrubbing them and giving them additional Coral RX dips but it just keeps coming back. Any suggestions for this? I could maybe look at removing the monti cap and the birdsnest from the plugs at this point but the zoas I have are still too small to easily do so.

 

[00Dan]

I’ve decided to move this tank to a different house. With the move I have the opportunity to catch the fish and properly treat a confirmed velvet outbreak (plus a potential brook infection) in a separate tank. I cleaned out a spare 26 gallon bowfront this afternoon and bought a Seachem Tidal 55 and an Aqueon 100W preset heater for it. I’m making water for it as I type this; the goal is to have the fish caught and moved into the “hospital” tank either Sunday or Monday. I have a bottle of FritzZyme 9 and the Tidal came with Matrix so hopefully the bio filter will be able to keep up. I have Cupramine and Metroplex on standby for once the fish get into the new tank.

As for the Nuvo 40, at this juncture I think I’ll move it as is with coral and inverts in place, running fallow while the fish are being medicated. Optimistically thinking, I plan to use this time to let it establish some more and try and kick some of the algae to the curb.

A question for those who have done it, would it be more effective to bag the fish and put them in a cooler or should I consider using a five gallon bucket for all four? How about the rock, bucket with water or just bucket and enough water to keep the damp? Would you leave the sand in the tank during the move or scoop it out, and if removing it would you reuse or replace it? The drive is from Midtown to Acworth so not terribly far.

 

[00Dan]

After an eventful tank breakdown and move I have it semi-reassembled. The tank has sand, rocks, and water while I slowly sort through all the accessories and get the electrical panel set up. The fish are in a sterile tank with some mollies at the moment; they're being observed to see if copper is necessary for the velvet outbreak (its part of an experimental treatment I'm trying, I'll post more later depending on the outcome). The inverts are in a holding tank so for now I'm not in a huge rush to get this tank habitable again, especially since I would need to go through a fallow period anyway.

In the meantime I did take the opportunity to try a new aquascape - feedback is welcome. The branch rock is being used as a biofilter in the invert's holding tank at the moment; still deciding if I want to add it back to the display.

 

[00Dan]

It's been a while since I've updated this and I've been busy. I lost the royal gramma but I got my pair of clownfish and the blenny through a full copper treatment for velvet. I've added coral, an anemone, and even a live sand/mud mix from Hawaii to the tank.

As is the tank is settled in and doing well. The anemone (a rainbow bubble tip), despite only being in the tank for about a week, has already split. Most all of my coral has been growing steadily (with the exception of a zoa frag that just doesn't want to take off). I also have two whitespotted pygmy filefish in QT currently.

I'll post up to date pictures and a current configuration list later this weekend.

 

[Trizzino]

It's been a while since I've updated this and I've been busy. I lost the royal gramma but I got my pair of clownfish and the blenny through a full copper treatment for velvet. I've added coral, an anemone, and even a live sand/mud mix from Hawaii to the tank.

As is the tank is settled in and doing well. The anemone (a rainbow bubble tip), despite only being in the tank for about a week, has already split. Most all of my coral has been growing steadily (with the exception of a zoa frag that just doesn't want to take off). I also have two whitespotted pygmy filefish in QT currently.

I'll post up to date pictures and a current configuration list later this weekend.

Look forward to the pictures.

 

[00Dan]

Okay this got away from me. Here’s a top down picture I took during a water change a while back.


The other picture I want to share I took last night when I went to peek at the tank after lights out, and I must say I’m quite pleased.


livestock is still just the clowns and a blenny; unfortunately the filefish proved sensitive to ionic copper and both perished in QT.