Help with new 125 gallon build

CUC arrived although my 2 emerald crabs where DOA. Didn't have any acclimating instructions so i floated the bags for 15 mins then i just put them in directly. Most are moving although i wonder is some others are also dead cause i dont see movement.
 
You probably shouldn't have done that especially with the water that cantained the dead animals.

What I ususally do is to fill a small bucket with a quart of tank water and put the animals in. Then I slowly drip tank water directly into the bucket using an airline tubing with a small valve that controls the drip rate. I would let about a gallon or so of DT water into the bucket over 45-60 min so at least the animals will be at room temp. I then use a pair of tweezers and start putting the live animals into the DT one by one. That way I know which ones are dead so I can claim credit later. I never let the water in the shipping bags enter my DT tank.
 
You probably shouldn't have done that especially with the water that cantained the dead animals.

What I ususally do is to fill a small bucket with a quart of tank water and put the animals in. Then I slowly drip tank water directly into the bucket using an airline tubing with a small valve that controls the drip rate. I would let about a gallon or so of DT water into the bucket over 45-60 min so at least the animals will be at room temp. I then use a pair of tweezers and start putting the live animals into the DT one by one. That way I know which ones are dead so I can claim credit later. I never let the water in the shipping bags enter my DT tank.

I didn't put the water the animals came in the tank. I knew not to do that, what i did is I cut open each bag, netted them all and then put them into the DT.

There are some that are still not moving, mostly the large snails, the seem to be just sitting there but everything else is roaming around starting to pick at the algae.

The tank is level BTW.
 
Now that we know the tank is level something is keeping the water from entering the overflow. If your overflow grille is like mine, there is a bottom inlet and a top inlet. There is constant water flow thru the bottom inlet into the overflow. What you may not see is water going thru the top grille. The same thing happened to my tank but at both corners. Letting water entering the top grille is an important skimming function. What I did was to cut off some of the teeth from the top grille so water can enter the overflow unrestricted. If the water level is right at the top grille but not entering the overflow, you may want to give it a try.

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The grille is identical to mine. Actually its not that water is not entering at all at the top, it is. I just thought there would me more flow or it would flow in quicker. It just seems like it does on the right side more than the left. Just did a water change. Going to have to get used to how much saltwater i need to have prepared, was a bit short so i had to make a few extra gallons on the spot. I'll try to post a video later or tomorrow of the flow.
 
Well, I don't know after seeing the videos why the the left side has so little flow compared to the right side. The grille seems to be seated well. The only explanation is the left side is slightly higher than the right. I don't have any suggestions other than to remove some of the teeth on the top grille like what I did to facilitate the water to come across. Also put your Vortech in wave mode can help push some more water into the overflow. Increase the flow to the tank may raise the level a little and may help.
 
Ok - going to LFS for next fish, clowns. Is it the same procedure with the Methalyn blue fresh water dip? Also what's the best way to remove hair algae ? Just pull it off?
 
Ok - going to LFS for next fish, clowns. Is it the same procedure with the Methalyn blue fresh water dip? Also what's the best way to remove hair algae ? Just pull it off?

If you can manually remove them that's the best way. Treating your tank with any chemical is the last resort. The rocks may be leaching phosphate which may be the cause of the hair algae. Check your phosphate level. It is likely to be zero or almost zero if your GFO are working.

What kind of fish are you getting? Percula Clowns?
 
I actually got oscillaris clowns, they look awesome. I'm floating them right now in the freshwater bucket getting ready for dip
 
Here are some pics of my new pair of clowns:

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They did well in the methalyne blue fresh water dip and seem happy in the tank. All levels still good reading 0 on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Recallibrated my ph probe also and currently at 8.16. Going to start getting my dosing solutions ready. Simon, how much would you say is my total water volume including sump minus rocks and sand?
 
Beautiful fish! You will enjoy them for years to come. With your 40 gal sump I believe you have between 150 - 155 gal of water minus rocks and sands
 
Here is a pic of what I did for my auto feeder, thanks Simon for the idea as i've set it up similar to yours. I'm using the funnel that came with the uinit.

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Is this too much below the water surface?

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Does it matter if some of the flake food does not float down and stays floating within the funnel?

It really is a nice auto feeder, seems well built and very accurate in dispensing amount of food.
 
Food will eventually sink into the water also fish will swim up to the funnel and get the food from there.

Yup, you're right...they did exactly that :lmao:

On another note, what do i need to do to maintain my fuge? Chaeto is really starting to grow. Is a fuge something that i really don't pay attention to or is there a maintenance schedule to it?
 
Excellent question. We usually don't do much with the fuge, especially the rocks and sands in there. If the Chaeto gets too thick or turning white (dying), you may want to thin it out so they have more room to grow. Otherwise I just leave it alone. You will soon notice a lot of pods moving around in your fuge. They are good things and can be source of food for some fish like Mardarin Dragonet.

How are the fish doing? Did you replace the Chromis that was missing?
 
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