Reefer_Madness

Or Loch Ness. Those two are hard the distinguish. Underwater elephants actually eat peanut worms. [emoji12]

Yep. Exactly what happened when my 50ml went out. It went out slowly though. I noticed my ph dropping, so I started checking my alk everyday. It was low so I upped my Kalk dose rather than checking my doser. Eventually with my superior sleuthing skills I realized my corals can't be absorbing that much Kalk. It only took me a month to figure it out! Haha.

Conch for sure. Haha. Or a buried elephant. Looks like a trunk.

I've had a couple of BRS dosers go bad over the last couple of years. Generally if you hear the gears turning that means it is either bad or about to go bad. It has been my experience that the sound is not the gears turning. It is the fine teeth slipping. I've gotten good life out of them, but don't notice they are not working until I start testing parameters. Each one I have taken apart and found the same problem. Worn out teeth. Keep an eye on your parameters and listen for your dosers. Just my 2 cents.

Guess I'm going to have to make one.

Does anyone know where I could get one of these 40g breeder sump retro kits?

Symptoms: Temperature of tank had some big swings. Couldn't figure it out. 400w of heat in 120g All of a sudden I started getting HA. Parameters would good and hadn't changed anything Started smelling a hot smell. Wasn't insulation burning. Couldn't track it down. Strange smell but couldn't put my finger on it. One day it got really bad. Wife started worrying and made me dig into it. After thinking about it and turning off each piece of equipment individually to try and find the issue, I realized the smell was steady but seemed to get worse around the same time each hour. Feedings happen at the 15m mark and Kalk goes in at 30m. I disassembled my doser, feeders, and lights looking for a smoking gun....nothing. Figured it may be my skimmer. Took it out and checked it. Nothing. Took out each heater and smelled them. Nothing. Then it dawned on me that I have checked everything but my built proof DC6000 Waveline return pump. It couldn't be that tho....I was wrong. When I put my arm in the return pump compartment my are came out with some kind of oil spots. The oil smelled just like the bad smell. I reached down and started feeling around the return pump inlet hole. The inlet was plugged with a piece of plastic. It had obviously been restricting flow and burned out the pump. Completely my fault. So...I went and bought an Ecotech Vectra M1 return pump. Just turned it on. Very nice pump....and it doesn't stink!!!

I've been using the Smart ATO for a year and a half now. It's really nice. It's magnetic, so be careful not to knock it off.

Nice!! Looking really nice!!

I wonder how you are going to get to the screw heads that are on the left......up next to the front acrylic....

I don't know. I think they may have fixed those problems. I had a Vertex 130 for a while and loved it. It is a very tight sump like you said and we all know it ain't going to look that pretty for long. I'm sure maintenance guys will love that sump. It will need to be cleaned all the time to make it look good.

That's my wrasse in the QT tank. Normally he swims all the time. Now he is just sitting on the bottom and sometimes he turns sideways like he is dead. But he is alive and has been for 3 days.

One more question. How should I expect the fish to behave? Initially they act panicked and then the slow down and act like they are dying. Check out the Christmas Wrasse in the video. FYI the white dots are on the glass not on Saint Nick. https://vimeo.com/148792642

Ok I'm back. Here's what I have setup: 10g tank with salinity at 35 PVC fittings for hiding places (no rock or sand) Small cheap Deep Blue LED gooseneck 50w heater set to 78. Cupramine at .3 Turan 2 dosed per directions. Fluval Power Filter with the carbon removed. It has a filter sponge and BioMax bio rings. I soaked the sponge and rings in Dr Tim's One and Only for a couple of hours. Powerhead circulating water Ph is increased to 8.2 to match tank. Ammonia wheel to watch levels I have an air stone, but it looks like I am getting enough O so I'm not using it. Ok. Now what? I know to do water changes with the same parameters and medicine as I am taking out, but how often? Not sure since this is a non-cycled tank. Do I just wait for the ammonia to increase and knock it back down with a WC? Next question is about the copper/Cupramine. I read that it degrades with time. I understand that to mean I need to re-dose. Common sense would say I should just test and watch my copper levels, when it goes down, just add more. Is that the correct way of thinking? Or should I just do a 50% water change every X amount of days and make that my re-dose? Input on a regiment would be appreciated greatly. Also what copper dosage is "therapeutic"? I'm at .3 now.

It takes its toll on you. So, I have my 10g QT setup with Furan 2 and Cupramine (.3) Two Wrasses in there. Having trouble catching the Dartfish and Chalk Bass. Fast suckers!! I have a trap in the DT now so I will probably catch them tonight or tomorrow. I feel Like Elmer Fudd with my string attached to the door.

I just want to thank everyone that has responded with positive words and advice. I didn't write back to everyone individually, because I am kind of at a loss for words. Killing my reef buddies is not a good feeling to have. I know they are just animals but they all had names in my tank and personalities. RIP Foxy (One spot foxface) Scooter boy (Mandarin) Gator (Cherub Angelfish) Bonnie and Barnie (Bicolor blennies) Grandma (Royal Gramma) Sassafras (Royal Flasher Wrasse)

Just saw my Assessor come out of a rock! He looked healthy and no symptoms that I could see. Typically he doesn't hide though and he's been hiding for about 4-5 days. There is no way I'll catch him with a net. Picking up a fish trap tomorrow. Couldn't catch either of the Chalk Bass tonight. That's the other reason for the trap. One CB was letting a cleaner shrimp pick at him. Both are acting/looking normal though and eating. Not hiding......except when they see the net!!

Is pH something I need to worry about?

Marco - No no. I'm not much of a chemical guy. I especially don't want to mix them, plus I did some research. Basically the rule is that you only use copper. Don't mess with the salinity. Don't use Prime or any other chemicals other than antibiotics. Apparently the Prime intensifies copper/Cupramine and basically poisons your fish. If my ammonia gets high, I will do a water change with exactly the same parameters as I am taking out (minus the bad stuff). Thanks for the heads up though.

Yep, your list is correct. Couldn't catch the Chalk Fish. I stopped feeding them, so tonight they will be hungry......I'll be waiting with a net. I don't have a Copper test, so haven't tested the water. I just dosed per the Cupramine bottle's "1st dose" directions. Going to pickup a test kit tonight. Havent' got the antibiotic yet. I'll pick that up tonight as well. Salinity 35 Temp 78

Is it possible that I have had this MV in my tank for a long time? I haven't put fish in my tank for quite a while. I few months back I introduced two Bali Picasso Clowns that I was very excited about. They were tank raised and QT'd prior to putting in my tank. They both died within a couple of days. They had white dust on them that looked just like the pictures I see for Marine Velvet. I dosed Prazipro thinking it was Ick. I lost a McCosker Wrasse and bi-color blenny just after, but the other fish seemed to pull through. They all had a little white dust on them. During that period, I was adding corals to my tank. I did not dip all of the corals I put in my tank. Is it possible that the MV has been in the tank for a long time and the fish that lived were actually just fighting it off successfully? Marco - You asked about equipment changes or anything like that. Well, I have one thing that happened. It could have triggered the outbreak....maybe. Last week, I was doing some sump cleaning and accidently left my return off over night. The next morning the temp was 67. I raised it to 73 immediately then back up to 78 later that day. Could that temp swing have put enough stress on the fish to trigger the outbreak? Just a thought.

Foxface is dead. Everything else is alive. Did forget to list one fish. I have a Purple Dartfish that is alive and looks un phased.

My Foxface is alive and seems to be acting a little better. I put her in the QT 2 days ago with Cupramine. She is still not eating but she did look at food today. Marco - you asked about strange behaviors. A couple of fish did act strange just before their deaths. The clowns, which were always together, separated and stopped eating. My two bicolor blennies, in two different tanks, folded themselves in half and started trying to bite their own tails. All the rest just died.

You appear to be right on the Marine Velvet diagnosis. My dead fish looked like the pics I see on Google.