Newbie setup - 29 gal Biocube and 90 gallon bowfront

[crew]

The clown was definitely not eaten by a shrimp, at least not while it was alive. How long since you last saw him? Do they normally come out in the morning?

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

The clowns are usually out in the morning and before bed. Late last night and this morning one clown was gone. I suppose I could have scared him when I netted the wrasse. My wife says she saw both earlier last night before the qt was set up Guess I will wait and see.

My fire shrimp molted last night, the kids got a kick out of the "third shrimp". I did not know the molted skin retained the brilliant colors.

The wrass survived the night in the new qt. Setting it up was pretty easy, but I did forget that it takes salt. I am glad I got the 10 gallon and may even pickup a cheap smaller 5 gallon tank since the salt cost would be less for these small fish. I figure the salt savings with the next qt setup would pay for the smaller tank.

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[crew]

The salt savings? How often are you doing waterchanges to these QT tanks? I only do a water change on my QT after I've taken a fish out. With pretty much zero bioload, the tank doesn't need it.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Crew;1068401 wrote: The salt savings? How often are you doing waterchanges to these QT tanks? I only do a water change on my QT after I've taken a fish out. With pretty much zero bioload, the tank doesn't need it.

I assumed the tank would be taken down when no fish are in it since zero bioload would cause the good bacteria to starve. I filled the biowheel box with media from my 29 gallon tank and moved a couple small rocks over as well. I have about 8 to 10 times the media required in the biofilter for the 29 to seed it for this purpose. Do I just unplug the qt tank in between fish or do I keep it running?

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[crew]

I just put the biowheel in my sump when the QT is empty and leave an air bubbler in the QT so it doesn't go stagnant. If I want to QT, I put the biowheel back in the QT, feed the empty tank and then test for anything a few days later. If everything is 0, im good to go. I keep my QT tank to only a single fish or 2 so with such a small bioload, it's not usually a problem.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

I assumed the meds used in the qt would cause a problem if the filter is moved to the main tank sump/system. In this case, carbon will clear the meds I have used, but I am assuming some meds would render the equipment and media unusable in the main system since the meds can harm bacteria, coral, and inverts. I have read that copper renders the equipment unusable with coral and inverts. I assume there are other meds that do the same, but I do not know if there are alternate meds that are reef safe for some issues such as ick.

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[crew]

Oh that's true - I didn't think about the meds. Copper is definitely the main problem.

This is where folks differentiate a QT from a hospital tank. If that's the case, then you would probably want to keep the tank running and maybe feed it once a week or something. That's probably your cheapest option.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Is it safe for me to use the same tank for qt and hospital...as long as i am not mixing hospitalized and quaranteened fish at the same time?

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[crew]

I would assume so. Fish aren't the reason you shouldn't use QT or hospital gear in the main tank, so it shouldn't be a problem with a water change.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

You can barely see it in the pic, but that is the remnant of my other clownfish being eaten by my fire shrimp. I have had the clown for less than 2 weeks :_(

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[hzheng33]

SaltWaterWannabe;1068451 wrote: You can barely see it in the pic, but that is the remnant of my other clownfish being eaten by my fire shrimp. I have had the clown for less than 2 weeks :_(

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if the fish was healthy to begin wuth, the fire shrimp wouldn't have bothered it. so I guess the fish was already on the way out.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Quick water check...
Salinity, 1.024
Ammonia, 0
Nitrate, 0
Ph, 8.2
Temp, 78

Not sure where I could have gone wrong here. My target salinity is off by 0.001, but is well within tolerances.

The wrass is still in hospital and doing fine. Main tank contains the following

1 fire shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
5 hermit crabs
10 mixed snails
1 turbo snail
One seemingly healthy clown

Any ideas what is happenning?

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[saltwaterwannabe]

Any ideas would be helpful, I cannot keep losing fish. Below are some pics of my tank...

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[hzheng33]

have you considered the fact that maybe the fish wasn't healthy to begin with? or the stress killed the fish?

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Either are posibilities I suppose. She was the larger of the two clowns and seemed to be fine a couple days ago. The clown replacent will not be a huge expense, but I will have a hard time convincing the wife to let me stay in the hobby if I have to frequently buy replacement fish. One innexpensive loss s not too bad, I just cannot have a lot of losses.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

I ssort of wish it were possible for the lfs to exchange under a warranty like the large chain stores do

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[hzheng33]

SaltWaterWannabe;1068465 wrote: I ssort of wish it were possible for the lfs to exchange under a warranty like the large chain stores do

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I think the large chain store only exchange for freshwater. if you visit a good lfs like premier aquatic, they can do exchange for you under certain conditions

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

That was where I picked it up, and yes, I was in the process of modifying my post to say freshwater. Salt different, I just need to learn without too much waste. I do not know what I could have done differently here, which is the frustrating part.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

SaltWaterWannabe;1068467 wrote: That was where I picked it up, and yes, I was in the process of modifying my post to say freshwater. Salt different, I just need to learn without too much waste. I do not know what I could have done differently here, which is the frustrating part.

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Thanks for the discussion. Trying to help a newbie is hard...lol

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[saltwaterwannabe]

If I did not know any better....I would say there is one more pollyp on the frag I bought with the cleanup crew a few weeks ago. How often do new pollyps typically form?

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