Sharkey18

I have a coral beauty in QT. A few days after arrival developed white spots. I lowered sg to 1.009. It has been at 1.009 for 3 weeks and the white spots are almost all gone. How much longer do I leave her in hypo? until all spots are gone, a week after all spots are gone? then how long after I SLOWLY start to raise sg do I keep her in 1.025 QT? Thanks! Laura

I would love to do these! I am a noob and would love to see some cool tanks and be able to ask some questions! I work Saturday but could Sunday's Annandale is great for me! Thanks for suggesting it, Laura

Thanks! Laura

What is the best thing to use to cut pieces of acrylic to use as sump baffles? Laura

I have a lawnmower in QT right now who is a voracious hair algae eater.. I am putting algae covered powerheads from the display into the QT and he seriously strips them clean in a few hours. I got him from Pristine Aquariums in Alexandria and as of last week they still had some from the same batch. I can wait to get him in the DT. I am running out of algae covered things to give him!!! Laura

Hi all, I am getting ready to set up my 90g. I bought a used tank stand and Metal halide lights off craig's list. I also bought my 54g corner used but it can pre plumbed with EVERYTHING.... I didn't have to do anything. (except make tons of mistakes with water chemistry and livestock). Can anyone recommend a specific vendor who will take the time to talk to me about plumbing, pumps, ball valves, in-lines etc. I really want to plan it all out and set it up all at once but there is so much to learn! Thanks! Laura

Hi all, I need some advice on disease in my QT. I bought a coral beauty and lawnmower blenny at the LFS on 2/23. Looked good at the store. Placed them in my QT at home. Within five days, the angel had some white spots. Assumed ick, started lowering sg. Has been at or a little below 1.010 since 3/6, so about 10 days. I check the salinity by refractometer twice a day and do every other day water changes. Have also been feeding food soaked in garlic. Temp: 79 -80 SG: 1.009 to 1.010 0 ammonia and nitrate The blenny is not showing any signs of disease. The angel is still quite covered in white spots but they are definitely different spots. Original spots on tail and dorsal fin are gone, replaced with 20 new spots. Is eating and swimming well. My questions: 1) should i be doing something else. It's only 10 days in hypo, so i know it's not long enough to kill all free swimming stages. Should I add copper, freshwater dip, add UV?? 2) Does anyone accurately diagnose? What if it's velvet or something else? Can I get a sample and look with microscope or is that likely to cause too much fish stress. Is there another way to accurately diagnose? 3) Should I remove the blenny to yet ANOTHER QT? (In the future I will only QT one fish at a time. Noob mistake.) This is my first experience with using a QT, (after killing all my fish in display by NOT using a QT) and it is a learning experience. Thanks so much, advice is appreciated! Laura

Cyanobacteria make bubbles.

I just went through the same thing. My coralife digital started to read a little strange. I replace it with a new TOM digital which read 3 degrees different from the coralife. I then dropped in 2 good ol glass thermometers. They read the same. Three degrees higher than the digital. I then purchased a Hanna temp / pH probe and it reads like the glass thermometers. I'm done with digitals. I now use glass and hanna. Be really careful. I thought my tank was at 79... it was at 82! Also just because a digital is reading 32 at close to freezing, doesn't mean it is accurate at 80. Always use 2 sources, if they don't closely agree... something is wrong. Laura

Yeah, the little one didn't make it through the night. darn. The other two look fine. Thanks for the help. Laura

Hey everyone, I recently bought three fish, 2 lawn mower blennies and a coral beauty. They all went right into QT. Day after i got them the angel had a single white spot on its tail which is now 4 white spots on the tail region. I have been doing daily water changes and lowering the salinity. This morning was down to 1.017. By the end of the night I hope to have it at 1.010. Reading are by refractometer. The smaller of the two blennies was lying on the bottom tank tonight, not moving much. I'm able to reach in and grab it. The larger blennie still seems fine. My question is can blennies tolerate hyposalinity? Could the hypo have caused the issues with the smaller blennie? he was also getting harrassed by the larger so that might be it. Any insight appreciated. I now have the sick blennie in a QT of the QT....this is getting crazy.... Laura

Recently switched to T5's, but am having some trouble with too much light for some zoas. Plus the fixture I bought is too large for the tank. Definitely something I'm still working on. 6x39W Nova Extreme Pro T5HO 3-10k/3-460nm Actinics

Full tank pic

Hey, Just wanted to say thanks to everyone at WAMAS who has helped me over the past year. I have learned so much here. This is a pic of my one year old 54g corner tank. Wouldn't have made it this far without all the help!!!

Thanks, I'll try it!

I have never been able to add pics in a post. To add a pic it asks for the url. Where do I find the url for pics on my computer? i need to host them online first? I use a mac with iphoto. Don't know if this complicates things. Laura

Wow, the culprit is too MUCH light. Accidentally left the white lights off while out of town last few days and the un-happy zoas are a little better. Cool. Thanks for all the feedback. Corner tanks are such a pain to light properly. Looks like I am moving corals again and heading to the DIY lighting forum... Laura

Thank everyone. I think coralhind might be on to it as well. I recently upgraded from CF to T5. I have moved some things around and get various results. My corallimorph mushrooms were definitely getting too much light and are happier now that they are lower. But I have one hairy mushroom that is shriveled up no matter where it is. i am more concerned about my zoas though. My AoG and Pinks are doing well, but eagle eyes are not happy nor are blues. I am going to keep playing around with location but every time i guess wrong i lose another polyp.... ;( Some polyps even detach from the rock and I find them rolling around the gravel. I moved stuff before I left town on Saturday so I'll see how it looks tomorrow when i get home... assuming no out of town disasters.... ned to get home before the snow! Thanks for the help. Laura

Tank is exactly a year old. I dose strontium and molybdenum according to the bottle. I stopped dosing iodine since I don't test for it. (Of course I don't test the stront. or Molyb. either. ) Laura

Read the articles suggested by Jon. Ich is a highly researched infection and the lifecycle is well established and understood. If there is no host for the parasite it can only live so long. There is no reason why ich needs to be "Always present" unless you are not willing / patient enough to allow the tank to be totally decontaminated. My tank was empty of fish for 10 weeks before I added any new ones. The new clowns and wrasse are fine. Now I have a newly purchased coral beauty in my QT with white spots on its tail. It will remain in QT for 6 weeks AFTER all signs of infection are gone. (Hyposalinity and every other day water changes). yeah, how much do I want that fish in my display? A lot. But I know I need to wait. Last time all my fish died. Once you read the research there is no guessing or opinions. laura