crvz's hole in the wall

[crvz]

alright, I've caught all the fish with the exception of the canary wrasse. That may be a long-term project, as he has no interest in swimming in either the fish trap or a net. I keep losing sight of him when he buries into the sand, which I think he does under a rock.

The rest of the fish seemed to be getting worse with the ich, so I think this is the right move. I've started diluting the salinity in the stock tank (where the fish are being quarantined), so hopefully I'll see some improvement in the next week or two.

 

[110galreef]

crvz....do you have a cleaner shrimp or two? These really seem to keep fish ich free given a happy environment and stress free.

Drum & crvz....I am personally a big fan of a QT for fish. It seems as though it is one more traumatic step for fish to stress them out furthur. If you recieve healthy specimines and your tank is suited then you should be fine. Chased at fish place, bagged, shipped, QT, then Chasing them from the QT tank and then putting them into a New (DT) system,.... seems skipping the 2 QT steps could help them

I have never QT'd fish on my last 110g tank that was ran for 5 years and NEVER had ICH or fish issues. I even had 3 good size tangs, that many of which out grew the tank & had to go back to LFS, and various others were swapped in. little fish quarrels occured for a few days & then all was fine??

But this is another debate that I think can go either way on 2 different yet similiar setups??

 

[crvz]

I do have 2 cleaner shrimp in the main display, but they didnt really seam to be doing much. The blonde naso would hover around them from time to time, but to no noticeable benefit.

 

[Padrino]

You guys planning to go to MACNA this year? Id love to finally meet you guys

 

[crvz]

You guys planning to go to MACNA this year? Id love to finally meet you guys

Nah, I'm a deadbeat. You don't want in on this. And as it turns out, I'll been in kauai that week. Too bad for me, I guess.

 

[psteeleb]

Nah, I'm a deadbeat. You don't want in on this. And as it turns out, I'll been in kauai that week. Too bad for me, I guess.

nice - planning on bringing anything back?

 

[drummereef]

Yeah, mail me a Potter's Angel while you're there.

 

[crvz]

I continue the pursuits of hypo, with some success. I think I waited too long for a few of the fish, but we'll see.

I also finished up a few things. I installed the second return on the display tank (now running two mag 9.5s), and I added floor sensors around both the display and stock tank. Should either leak, the return pumps and other sump stuff will shut off. This is really to mitigate sump leaks or plumbing leaks. If the tanks themselves leak... well, I'll know about it by the alarm from the floor sensors, but there may not be much to do about it. If nothing else, it's one more capability for insight. I've also got the ATO on the stock tank all figured out, so hopefully the hypo treatment can continue with no fluctuation in salinity (I've got that tank down to right at 1.009).

Big picture wise, I'm a little disappointed in the setup thus far (in terms of livestock, mechanical, electrical, and structural design is meeting expectations). I didnt hope to have so much issue with fish disease, obviously, but I think I was also ill prepared for moving everything so quickly. I should have spent more time allowing the rock to set up, as the long stringy brown algae could have impacted the tank in ways that I didnt appreciate at the time (much like Brett has suggested, as it may have led to the demise of fish that like to pick at the rock). I still don't know what that is, and it is blooming a little once more, but I feel that it may have poisoned fish that inadvertently consumed it. So, I'm back to waiting it out another couple months before adding more fish. These are all good lessons learned, but I'd preferred them not to be learned the hard way.

 

[drummereef]

I agree Chris, the brown algae stuff really impacted my fish as well - as you know. Don't know if you've noticed any gill irritation along with the Ich but that's how it affected my fish. Seems like the stuff let's off toxins into the water column as well as to those who consume it. Nasty stuff. Hopefully things will get back to normal and the fish will beat the illness now that you are set up for battle. Good luck!

 

[ludiNano]

How's ur tank going I miss the updates?

How did/are the fish holding up with the hypo?
And what about all those gorgeous coral?

 

[crvz]

The tank is doing alright. Most of the corals are doing ok... all of the LPS are doing very well, but a few of the SPS are not looking great. I think it's a combination of light (I increased the photoperiod of the MH from 3 to 5 hours per day) and the Marco rock. It's taking a very long time for that base rock to cure properly; I'm going through a number of algae cycles and it's causing issues.

A few of the fish are doing very well. The purple tang has handled hypo well, which was my biggest interest. Unfortunately, the blonde naso did not make it.

 

[ludiNano]

Is this your first time going with a base rock?

Would u had used a different base rock givin the chance?

 

[crvz]

Is this your first time going with a base rock?

Would u had used a different base rock givin the chance?

nope, I've used base rock in the past, but it was a no-name product that didnt have great shape. It worked well, though. I wouldnt say I would go with something else, but I would have planned for its use differently. I would have been much more active in curing it.

 

[drummereef]

Sorry to hear about the Naso Chris, bummer. I agree, my rock has given me a headache in more ways than I can count. I like the fact I don't have any nuisance pests but the algae cycles / dinos are about to drive me crazy.

 

[tegee]

Same here...used dry rock on my new build in March 2010. Tank was banging away and sps's were doing awesome. Until the 7-8 month mark and tank hit a wall with MAJOR cayno outbreak for a 3-month period that took out half my sps collection. Then take went on the rebound until recently having a very minor GHA bloom. But getting through it with 15-20% weekly water changes and hand picking when needed.

If I had to do it all over again I would have cycled my tank/rock for a 6-8 month period with nothing but fish and maybe a few coral.

Oh well.....good luck with your tank.

 

[110galreef]

Sorry to hear about the Naso Chris, bummer. I agree, my rock has given me a headache in more ways than I can count. I like the fact I don't have any nuisance pests but the algae cycles / dinos are about to drive me crazy.

I have had great luck thus far with my BRS dry rock and all I did different from the start than you I belive was dosed micrBacter7 for the cycle and a few weeks after that. Then stopped completly andnever had issues other than a small GHA ordeal about 10 weeks in, but a lawnmower blenny and urchin solved in in a week. No issues since then.

Same here...used dry rock on my new build in March 2010. Tank was banging away and sps's were doing awesome. Until the 7-8 month mark and tank hit a wall with MAJOR cayno outbreak for a 3-month period that took out half my sps collection. Then take went on the rebound until recently having a very minor GHA bloom. But getting through it with 15-20% weekly water changes and hand picking when needed.

If I had to do it all over again I would have cycled my tank/rock for a 6-8 month period with nothing but fish and maybe a few coral.

Oh well.....good luck with your tank.

Ut Ohh....I am just about at month 7!! I hopefully stay clean! My tank too has been near perfect.

Tegee, did you see your Nitrate or PO4 start to rise before things got nasty, or was it very sudden? Also did params still stay ideal yet you had the outbreak?

My PO4 has been steady at ~.01-.02 on the Hanna HI736 and nitrates have been 0.

Were you runnin GFO, carbon or biopellets? Dosing any bacteria at the time or from the start?

 

[tegee]

I have had great luck thus far with my BRS dry rock and all I did different from the start than you I belive was dosed micrBacter7 for the cycle and a few weeks after that. Then stopped completly andnever had issues other than a small GHA ordeal about 10 weeks in, but a lawnmower blenny and urchin solved in in a week. No issues since then.



Ut Ohh....I am just about at month 7!! I hopefully stay clean! My tank too has been near perfect.

Tegee, did you see your Nitrate or PO4 start to rise before things got nasty, or was it very sudden? Also did params still stay ideal yet you had the outbreak?

My PO4 has been steady at ~.01-.02 on the Hanna HI736 and nitrates have been 0.

Were you runnin GFO, carbon or biopellets? Dosing any bacteria at the time or from the start?

I don't want to hijack this thread, so I will keep it short.....

Nitrates and Phosphates have always been low (not zero) and I do run GFO and I am not a big believe in dosing bacteria and/or bio-pellets so I can not intelligently respond on that end. I am a big believe in the KISS philosophy and the jury is still out (IMHO) on the bio-pellets and there use in our hobby.

All other parameters have been died nuts because of religious 15% weekly water changes....which is key when going sps dominant.

HTH........

 

[crvz]

As is typical when work is slow... I've been thinking more about my tank. This week marks two months since I've been running QT, and the few fish I have still look pretty good. I intend to move them back to the display this weekend, then I'll have to think about what new fish I might want to get into the QT. We'll see, I've got lots of ideas.

I'm also thinking more about the skimmer upgrade. I'm leaning towards one of the super reef octopus models, but we'll see. I gots to get the money lined up first.

Corals are looking better, after having lost many acros months ago. They're quite pale, which I'm attributing towards lack of nutrients. So these last few weeks I've been dumping a pinch of cyclopeeze in the tank. I also increased my photoperiod from 3 to 5 hours (on the MH), which seems to be helping. I think with another 3-4 months, continued maintenance, and we'll be in a lot better shape in terms of corals. The rocks are still taking their sweet time, with a few batches of hair algae and numerous batches of bubble algae, but I'm expecting that to be a wave as well.

 

[yoccm]

I'm also thinking more about the skimmer upgrade. I'm leaning towards one of the super reef octopus models, but we'll see. I gots to get the money lined up first.

I LOVE my SRO XP 5000 Internal!!! The thing in a beast and two weeks in it is already chugging out the nog!!

 

[110galreef]

Have the XP 3000E on my setup and works great. I don't seem to get a lot of stuff, but do get very dark stuff. I don't have a huge load , may be part of it.

PO4 has been near perfect at about .01-.02, so the skimmer must be working. But I have only been doing 2 week ~ 10% WC's (30g). I think I am going to start weekly 20g WC's and see if the corals react positivley.