Help with new 125 gallon build
- Thread starter tassod
- Start date
tassod
New member
You know, i haven't been home when the feeder has gone off the last 2 days so i haven't seen him eat when that happened, but i have seen him eat away at the GHA during the day. I've cut down on my lights 2 hours less a day so i have my feeder go off later in the morning when they come on but i am not home. Its a relief to read this about the foxface cause he has me worried.
SimonSKL
New member
May be you should try to turn off the feeder and just manually feed the fish in the evening for the next couple days and see how the fish eat.
My feeder comes on at about 2p each day when the lights are at the highest intensity so the fish can see the food better.
tassod
New member
Ok, I'll do that. Does your foxface eat the pellets and flakes?
SimonSKL
New member
Here is some info from Drs Foster & Smith about FoxFace:
"The Foxface Lo, also known as the Foxface Rabbitfish, has a very unique body color. It has a mottled yellow-brown body with a dark chest. The face is very light in color and speckled on the lower half. They are a very hardy fish, and are great additions to the newly-established tank.
It may reside in a 125 gallon or larger aquarium. It is a very peaceful species except when housed with other rabbitfish. The Foxface Lo may be housed with more aggressive fish. Its predators will tend to leave it alone because of its venomous dorsal spines. Rabbitfish are generally reef-safe if they are well fed. If not, it is possible for them to nip at and consume some species of LPS and soft corals.
The Foxface Lo diet consists of a variety of fresh vegetables and undesirable species of algae. It does nip and possibly eat some soft and hard coral polyps."
FoxFace is a herbivore so you need to include some sea weed in the diet besides just flakes and pellets.
"The Foxface Lo, also known as the Foxface Rabbitfish, has a very unique body color. It has a mottled yellow-brown body with a dark chest. The face is very light in color and speckled on the lower half. They are a very hardy fish, and are great additions to the newly-established tank.
It may reside in a 125 gallon or larger aquarium. It is a very peaceful species except when housed with other rabbitfish. The Foxface Lo may be housed with more aggressive fish. Its predators will tend to leave it alone because of its venomous dorsal spines. Rabbitfish are generally reef-safe if they are well fed. If not, it is possible for them to nip at and consume some species of LPS and soft corals.
The Foxface Lo diet consists of a variety of fresh vegetables and undesirable species of algae. It does nip and possibly eat some soft and hard coral polyps."
FoxFace is a herbivore so you need to include some sea weed in the diet besides just flakes and pellets.
tassod
New member
Aweome, thanks Simon, I'll pick up some sea weed today. Funny i was just reading this same page when you replied. :rollface:
tassod
New member
Very interesting, also reading more about him it seems like he is acting normally. I did not know they change at night and kind of lay low when the lights are off. I'll be swinging by home soon today and we'll see how he's doing.
I've also been reading some threads on GHA. My goodness, the ordeal people have gone through with this. I'm hoping i dont have to go through all this. One thing i'm going to start on right away is to bring up the MA levels to about 1700.
I've also been reading some threads on GHA. My goodness, the ordeal people have gone through with this. I'm hoping i dont have to go through all this. One thing i'm going to start on right away is to bring up the MA levels to about 1700.
tassod
New member
The last reading i took I had about 1350ppm. Did the calculator on BRS and said I needed about 4258 ml to get to 1700. I decided to divide that up in 4 days so currently dosing (started today) 1058ml per day (7.3ml every 10 mins). Is that ok?
SimonSKL
New member
Raising Mg is not a sure thing in getting rid of GHA but many people found it is quite safe to do so as long as you do it slowly over many days. With your tank being so new and with new fish and new corals, I will do it over 8 days with half the calculated amount. I will also keep an eye on the animals and corals and stop for any sign of distress.
tassod
New member
Wow, that foxface has done a great job clearing the GHA! There was a whole section I kid you not on the sandbed and its totally gone. I saw him eating at it yesterday. Going to manually feed this afternoon. Last night i put in a piece of sea weed on a clip, nobody touched it for 2 hours. He must of been full from the GHA!
tassod
New member
I fed the fish manually this afternoon. Chromis and Clowns as usual loved it and went nuts. The foxface was in hiding mode when i got there so he didnt even come out. I put a piece of sea weed there for him, he has still not touched it from what I can tell on the IP cam. Is he just content with the GHA? Speaking of which, its already starting to grow back on all the rocks I cleaned! I definitely don't want to take them out again to do that, that was a big ordeal. I've ordered a hair algae CUC from reefs2go which i hope helps. The other CUC that I have is still doing a good job. The lawmore Blenny has been going in and out of rocks and eating off of those, i have not seen him come out to eat any food or the sea weed yet. I wish he would start eating the GHA in the back of the rocks, tons of it there.
tassod
New member
Tought I would post a small update. foxface and blenny are doing well and foxface is eating with the other fish now. I decided to do some more investigating on m CA levels as its alwasy been in the back of my mind why they are always reading so high. Well, i picked up a Red Sea CA tesk kit (i have the hannah that i have been using) and it totally proved the hannah wrong. The red sea test came back in the low 300's! My hannah kept reading over 550. I then looked up some videos on how to use the hannah and followed what i found and the hannah came back now with a reading of 305. So needless to say, i'm starting to dose CA now and going to dose about 480ml per day over 4 days. These test kits can sure drive someone bonkers.
SimonSKL
New member
I too was puzzled by the high Ca level as commercial salt mix don't have that much calcium in them. I thought may be your rocks have a high calcium content and will eventually come down. I am glad you have found out it was the testing equipment. The only Hannah test kit that I have is Phosphate Checker and I do all my other tests with Red Sea. How high are you going to drive your Ca up to? 450? Keep an eye on Alk as you increase your Ca.
tassod
New member
Will definitely keep an eye on it. Going to bring it up to 425. Should it be more?
My Alk is at 8.5, I've been running my doser for that at about 20ml per day
SimonSKL
New member
425 is fine as you don't have great consumption of Ca yet. Anything around 400 is perfect.
