Prime's 75 gallon build

[.OptimusPrime.]

Looks normal. Just about every tank I've ever setup goes through various algae blooms as it matures. I would think you could start to add clean up crew now if you haven't already - maybe wait until it gets a little more. Either way no rush. Now that algae is starting they should have something to munch on.

 

Yeah, thanks for the confirmation. I definitely want some more build up before I add any kind of CUC.

 

My only concern was that the bloom seemed to be almost completely gone by Sunday afternoon, and wasn't sure if that is normal or not.

 

I want to grow some chaeto, in preparation for the mandarin that I want to keep. I plan on keeping it either in skimmer or return chamber with some kind of filter so the return doesn't get clogged.

 

Is there anything special about chaeto I should know?

 

The footprint will probably be small, so I don't know how well it will grow. Will a shop light from Home Depot be enough light?

 

Does the chaeto have to be completely submerged in water 100% of the time?

 

I assume the pods and such inside..eventually get sucked in thru the turn into the DT to feed said mandarin/fish or will I have to grow some in the DT?

[trockafella]

You are ok to add a CUC at this point.

 

Try to keep your cheato away from the skimmer/pumps

 

Nothing special to know about it, its easy to grow

 

I use one of those metal clamp lamps with a CF bulb (5700-6500K), works great, thats all you need

 

Yes it needs to be submerged all the time, I like some flow around mine

 

Pods will grow there and make there way to your tank

* another good way to get pods is take small rock rubble and make little piles, you can make them anywhere. You might even wanna make a couple little piles out of site in the DT as well..

 

Mandarins will seek out pods in your DT

[.OptimusPrime.]

Well since you mention I should keep my chaeto away from the skimmer/pumps, I guess the little rock piles is my only way to go.

 

I only have two chambers (skimmer and return) at 7" baffles might be hard to keep submerged and clog free, since I've seen/read this stuff grows like weeds.

 

I assume the rock has to be Live? or can I use some dry and add something like "pods in a bottle"?

 

Googled what you mentioned and saw this, which is probably what I'll end up doing:

 

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-pod-condos-92373.html

[trockafella]

Have you considered a HOB refugium. You can hang it on your sump (i would make a little stand for extra support).. Cheato is IMO more beneficial as a means of nutrient exporting more than pod populating. Also, I have seen a few HOB refugiums for sale on here recently.

[trockafella]

It doesnt have to be live rock, it will become live. When I get frag plugs I usually cut the bottom part off and throw them in the sump. I have a corner full of them and little rock rubble etc..

[.OptimusPrime.]

For a HOB refugium wouldn't I need to raise the water level of the sump to overflow into the box??

 

If not, I'll start searching the FS section :D

[trockafella]

Nope. It has its own pump to feed it and a return tube at the end. Start searching my friend! Ask Jan, she had a couple for sale.

[Cliff Puckstable]

Lmk if you need some cheato. I have a bunch and need to trim it back some.

[.OptimusPrime.]

Can anybody ID this stuff growing on the LR??

 

I hope its not GHA...

 

[Cliff Puckstable]

Looks like diarrhea.

[.OptimusPrime.]

So Jan was kind enough to ID this stuff as bryopsis...FML

 

Its taking over the tank...Its on the walls/sand bed/rockwork, everything. (more pics to come, just to get an more positive ID)

 

Taking advice, I will raising my Mag levels using Kents Tech M to hopefully kill this stuff off.

 

My only concern is that I have livestock and a CUC coming in later this week.

 

Will raising the Mag to 1500-1700ppm have any side effects on fish or snails/crabs ??

 

I don't have any corals so nothing to worry about there. I will have chaeto in my HOB refugium, but have read the high Mag levels wont hurt the chaeto.

 

Is there anything I need to watch out for?? Is there anything else I can do to kill this off??

[.OptimusPrime.]

Ok good news first so I had some fish come in on Tuesday afternoon...Sorry for the quality of the pics I know they are terrible. Lighting is poor and so is camera.

 

 

Blue Dot Jawfish

White Cheek Tang

Yellow Goby

Tiger Pistol Shrimp - Sorry no pics of him..

 

Jawfish:

 

 

 

White Cheek Tang

 

 

Yellow Goby

 

 

 

Now for the bad news..since Tuesday night I had not seen Tiger Pistol or the YWG, I figured they were shy and scared and just hiding in the sand somewhere.

 

I did not see either of them when I fed yesterday morning and night. Figured they were still getting their eat on just behind the scenes where I couldn't see.

 

Last night before lights out I caught the goby inside a little cave inside the rock. He came out and was swimming around I thought everything was good. Came back 30mins later to an hour..goby was dead under the rock inside his cave...fished him out checked water parameters..everything looks to be ok.

 

No Ammonia - took the body out as soon as I saw it to avoid any spike.

No Phosphate

Salinty is 1.025

No Nitrite

Nitrate is between 5-10ppm on the color chart

pH was between 8 and 8.3

temp of tank is between 78-79

 

Everyone else looks to be healthy and swimming around except for the jawfish which just likes his like little cave in the corner of the tank (which I am ok with, he does stick his body out and eat when its time and is actively digging in more sand as I type).

 

Still no pistol shrimp sighting...so I assume that is dead as well I just haven't found a body.

 

Is there anything on the YWG body that might help identify what happened? or do fish just die sometimes regardless of normal parameters?

 

R.I.P - Steve the YWG

[.OptimusPrime.]

Update:

 

Everything is still alive and healthy (from what I tell/can see anyway)

 

CUC from reef cleaners is alive and kicking...snails, snails, and more snails!

 

Black clown seems to be showing submission to the orange one (what ive read - the clown shivers/convulses showing submission to the female) Correct me if im wrong.

 

The female is definitely the orange one. Getting alot bigger than the B/W,

 

Tang seems cool. Constantly grazing the rocks and eating.

 

most interesting fish so far has to be jawfish...always moving sand around making mounds and holes everywhere. seen him tryin to jump a few times. Good thing i got a net

 

Still no sign of the tiger pistol shrimp..no dead body..no molted skin..nothing so i dont know what to think about that.

 

Think some cleaner shrimp would be a cool addition.

 

Which one would be better...scarlet skunks? peppermints? or blood reds?

 

Can I keep a sexy shrimp with the others once I get my anemone?

Edited March 27, 2012 by .OptimusPrime.

[Cliff Puckstable]

I like skunk cleaner shrimp. They give great manicures.

[smallreef]

sexy shrimp would be okay as long as you already have the anemone for them to hide in...if you get other shrimp they could chow down on them being they are so tiny...

[.OptimusPrime.]

I would like to start getting my tank ready now for corals down the road (figure another 4-6 months)...outside of getting a mg/alk/cal test kit to test the initial levels of each and dose accordingly.

 

 

I want to get into the habit of dosing for this such as necessary as early as possible so it becomes routine maintenance.

 

I understand that the levels will fluctuate as I have no corals now and adding them will require more dosing.

 

is there anything else I can do? Anything else I need?

[smallreef]

dont worry about dosing just yet... go a month or 2 with testing to see where your normal levels are....I didnt look up what is your lighting...

[.OptimusPrime.]

I have a tek elite 6 bulb fixture. Bulbs are front to back:

 

Blue+

Purple+

Blue+

GE6500K

Blue+

Blue+

[.OptimusPrime.]

Come home this morning to find my blue dot jawfish on the bottom of the sandbed....fished him out..tested water parameters..everything was fine but i did at 20G change anyway...

 

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 5ppm

Phosphate 0

Temp 78

Salinity 1.025

 

 

When I fished out the jawfish it still had sand in its mouth..so I dont know if that means he choked?? if thats even possible or what. Don't know what killed it..maybe ich..but it never showed signs of spots..it was always active and digging holes and eating.

 

I was told it was still alive last night. I was only gone one day.

 

The male mandarin has ich spots now.

 

Haven't been able to see/find the female one yet...hoping its still alive...

 

Clowns and tang are present hungry and accounted for. Showing no spots surprisingly.

 

Probably time to get that QT tank set up....

[.OptimusPrime.]

Update:

 

Turned over all the rock work...seen only one mandarin in the whole tank...no dead body inside the tank.

 

Nothing in the overflow or sump...Couldnt have jumped since there is a net. No bodies around the outside of the tank.

 

Update #2:

 

Found out there was a mandarin missing since yesterday...both were in the tank on Friday night when I left...

 

What gives?

Edited April 22, 2012 by .OptimusPrime.

[hypertech]

If a mandarin has ick spots, its not doing well. Mandarin fish are generally pretty resistance to ick. With a newer setup, its going to be hard for a mandarin to find enough food. So, unless you know and saw it eating frozen, it was probably starving out.

 

MIA fish is not unusual. A small fish can dissappear pretty easy with no sign especially if you have a decent clean up crew.

[.OptimusPrime.]

If a mandarin has ick spots, its not doing well. Mandarin fish are generally pretty resistance to ick. With a newer setup, its going to be hard for a mandarin to find enough food. So, unless you know and saw it eating frozen, it was probably starving out.

 

MIA fish is not unusual. A small fish can dissappear pretty easy with no sign especially if you have a decent clean up crew.

 

I have a fuge and its filled with pods and there are what I can only assume are copepods all over the DT glass (little white specs which look like what is in the fuge). Both mandarins were constantly grazing the rock work/sand pecking. Just in case I was adding a bottle trigger pods every 2 weeks to make sure they had enough to eat. Only had them a month so just two bottles worth.

 

I have no idea if they even took to the trigger pods, but since they were constantly pecking, I just assumed there was enough to eat and the population of pods was reproducing fast enough to keep up.

 

Guess not. I really was hoping to rule out starvation.

 

As far as CUC..its all snails...large/medium vibexes and ceriths.

[.OptimusPrime.]

Mandarin didnt make the night.

Tang and b/w clown are covered in spots.

 

Tang didn't eat this morning. Which is highly unlike him. He isn't swimming around the tank and just hanging around on the bottom left corner on the sandbed. Highly doubt he is going to make it through the day.

 

 

Consider this a lesson learned.

[Ryan S]

Sorry for your losses. Are you going to remove all fish/wait for them to die and go fishless for 12 weeks so the ich runs it's course in the system?

[.OptimusPrime.]

Trying to save the fish at the moment. But if they die then yes, I will be going fallow for 12 weeks and let the ich runs it course while I set up my own QT tank.

 

However, I've read that ich can live on the pretty much anything even the shells of snails. I have a ton of snails.

 

What do I do about those?