Lynn's Fish Room

[lynn.reef.nerd]

On 6/19/2022 at 8:55 PM, JRollman said:

Moving with reef gear is never easy, glad you are staying patient. 

 

I'm probably the most impatient person 

 

On 6/19/2022 at 9:35 PM, DaJMasta said:

I may have been mistaken - it seems like interceptor is recommended for red bugs and the less common black bugs on acropora, but not necessarily acropora eating flatworms.  It's a flea medication, and though I don't know how available it is, supposedly people can get it by showing a vet proof of infection and having them write a prescription (it has been a documented treatment, so they aren't likely to deny you if they are willing to hear you out).

Looking around at things, though, it comes recommended from a local expert to do a standard coral dip repeatedly - daily, then every other day, and gradually lower frequencies, and for 6 weeks.  While labor intensive, it would be a pretty straightforward way to address the problem without special equipment: https://coraleverafter.org/?p=598 (Method 2: Coral Dips section)


Good luck with the power woes.

Thank you. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

So this happened ....

 

 

Went and stole a giant sump from @Slug A & @LiVEWiRE. 

 

I made @Modbox360 come over on her weekend to help me plumb it. Elle loves coming to my place now  

 

It measures 30x47x32 and hold over 200 gal of water.  This thing is super heavy and is a beast!!! I love it! 

 

It also has chambers for 6 HUGE filter sock. I think I can fit my westie inside of it. Back to cleaning filter sock for me. 

 

 

Thank you Derrick, Todd, and Ellie for helping me get this thing ready and running! 

 

Next task, figuring out how to get the skimmer working. I bought it used and it definitely missing some items that I have to source somehow. Got to love metric parts .

[RW09903]

What's your total volume of H2O in the she shed currently?  Hope everything is on the up!

[lynn.reef.nerd]

9 hours ago, RW09903 said:

What's your total volume of H2O in the she shed currently?  Hope everything is on the up!

 

Hey Ron! I think I am close to 500 gal but with rocks and everything I would say closer to 400 gal. 

[YHSublime]

That does look like a big sump! 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

On 6/24/2022 at 10:15 AM, YHSublime said:

That does look like a big sump! 

 

It's definitely bigger than I thought it would be. Pics don't do it justice. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Got the first electric bill with all items running. My average is around $500-600 a month in electricity. Definitely need a second job.

 

 

But at the end of the day, I can at least relax and enjoy some outdoor relaxation.

 

[YHSublime]

Woof. That's a lot of electric, lol. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

On 6/30/2022 at 2:00 PM, YHSublime said:

Woof. That's a lot of electric, lol. 

yeah.... but I am also not surprised. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

I dropped by House of Tropicals to picked out some mollies for the system.
Since the Velvet issue, I lost a lot of my fish and can't get myself to pay the prices for fish these days, Mollies seem to be the alternative. They are also great algae eater so win-win.

I did a slow drip for about 5 hours to get the salinity up to 1.012. The next day they seem to be doing well and eating. There are a few that I am worried about because they are not as active. Hopefully they will make it through. I might have added too much microbacter 7 and it caused a bit of a bloom. Goal is to get them to 1.026 within a week or so.

 

 

 

[WheresTheReef]

Sorry to hear about your fish and all your challenges. Glad you’re still pushing through it all. I feel like this hobby is like survival of the fittest. Always something!

 

I was actually looking into acclimating mollies this morning. I did it a long while back with black mollies to test for velvet, post fallow period, after it wiped out most of my fish.
 

Not sure if I’ll do it again anytime soon. Jake Adams has this video that I watched where he talks about his experience with the survival of different species being better than others. 
 

 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

1 minute ago, WheresTheReef said:

Sorry to hear about your fish and all your challenges. Glad you’re still pushing through it all. I feel like this hobby is like survival of the fittest. Always something!

 

I was actually looking into acclimating mollies this morning. I did it a long while back with black mollies to test for velvet, post fallow period, after it wiped out most of my fish.
 

Not sure if I’ll do it again anytime soon. Jake Adams has this video that I watched where he talks about his experience with the survival of different species being better than others. 
 

 

Thank you! I will definitely watch. I just picked a pair of each one they had at HOT. 

 

This hobby is definitely a pain but it has kept me from going full mode depression for years now, so it makes it super hard to let go. If it wasn't for my husband this past few months encouraging and helping out with the fish shed, I think I would have quit a long time ago. Definitely need family support! 

[JJKK]

Jake Adams had a new video 2 days ago where he has some mollies still in his tanks.  Watching it, I thought that the orange one could belong in a reef tank.  Hope all of yours make it through the transition.  Here's the video referenced:

 

 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

9 hours ago, JJKK said:

Jake Adams had a new video 2 days ago where he has some mollies still in his tanks.  Watching it, I thought that the orange one could belong in a reef tank.  Hope all of yours make it through the transition.  Here's the video referenced:

 

 

 

Thanks! 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Mollies were a success (somewhat). 18 went in to acclimation process for about 1 week and I only lost 2. TBH, I think it was from aggression and possibly ammonia in the tank. I think next time I will try and only do a few at a time.

The sad part was losing about 6 of them when they went into the tanks. I tried my best add a powerhead in the acclimation tank, but they still had a lot of trouble with the flow. I plan to get more in the next few weeks.

The wild clown I picked up from a local hobbyist on Humble.fish forum did very well in QT and just went in the main system and met his new mate. I got her from a coworker who broke down his tank and she has been a lone for a very long time. They bonded within seconds! I'm pretty happy with the results.

Sorry for the horrendous picture. Last minute

 

My husband did make some covers for the frag tanks. This is great because now I don't have to think about all the cord mess I have under there. Why fix a problem when you can just hide it ... right?
He used velcro to keep them up. So it's easy to remove and do what I need to do underneath.

 

After months and months of try to source parts for this skimmer, it's finally on and running!!! Except my nutrients ended up hitting close to 0,0 and now I get to deal with dino .

 

On the good note, the Aquabiomics order for the WAMAS meeting came in! I'm super excited to see all the results that we have in the DMV area. With such a big community here, makes me wonder what the diversity is like.

 

[Origami]

Looking good, Lynn! I acclimated mollies to my frag tank many years ago. They will readily spawn and, if in a main aquarium, often wind up being a food source for other fish in the tank. That was the only batch that I did that way. I stopped keeping mollies because it just looked weird to me to have freshwater fish in the same tank as tangs and other reef inhabitants. But the dichotomy was sorta cool while it lasted. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

8 hours ago, Origami said:

Looking good, Lynn! I acclimated mollies to my frag tank many years ago. They will readily spawn and, if in a main aquarium, often wind up being a food source for other fish in the tank. That was the only batch that I did that way. I stopped keeping mollies because it just looked weird to me to have freshwater fish in the same tank as tangs and other reef inhabitants. But the dichotomy was sorta cool while it lasted. 

Thanks Tom. I didn't really think about Molly either but the price of fish has gone off the roof. I wanted something that are utilitarian (algae eater) that doesn't cost an arm and a leg right now. I was also afraid of my nutrient level since my skimmer issue was taking a very long time to remedy. It would be ideal to get some bristletooth in the future. Just need to figure out a economical approach. 

[lowsingle]

Glad I had a chance to get caught up on your journey……that sunset was beautiful 

 

Darren

[lynn.reef.nerd]

8 hours ago, lowsingle said:

Glad I had a chance to get caught up on your journey……that sunset was beautiful 

 

Darren

Thank you!

[lynn.reef.nerd]

After waiting since February for the State and County to approve, we are finally starting our pier!!!

 

 

FYI: that is my dog drinking water ... not me ...

I didn't realize how long it takes to put in those columns but after 1 week, we only have 6 in  . Probably will be a while until everything gets finish.

[DarStar301]

WOW, time to get a boat.

[lynn.reef.nerd]

13 minutes ago, DarStar301 said:

WOW, time to get a boat.

I would love to! But unfortunately, the house had a lot more issues than we expected and the fish shed build drained us pretty badly. 

 

Maybe in a few years  . My husband has a kayak .... that should be good until until then 

[DarStar301]

Question, you said you are on well water. Is your DI resin crushed by your CO2 in the well?

[lynn.reef.nerd]

1 minute ago, DarStar301 said:

Question, you said you are on well water. Is your DI resin crushed by your CO2 in the well?

 

YES! My anion depletes very quickly (< 200 gal). I was talking with Tom @Origami about doing an ATI test to see if I really need the anion or not. I don't remember the specifics that he said and don't want to provide wrong answers but hopefully he can explain a bit better.

[YHSublime]

Wow, you're a really loud water drinker!

 

I didn't realize you were that close to the water either, that's really nice! I agree it's time for a boat!