Oh yeah, that's nothing special, I learned how to do it on Nano-Reef's DIY Forums. It's actually the smallest Aquaclear Filter. The Aquaclear 20, and I just to the basket apart and used silicone to attach the grated looking part to act as a barrier so only the water can get out. I added some the substrate from the aquarium, chaeto, and a submersible light.
Help! Xenia looks really bad!
- Thread starter Devin R.
- Start date
NO, NO, NO, NO!!! while damsels might be hardy, it's cruel to use a live animal to cycle a tank and totally unnecessary and this is an antiquated method. you need to go back to the basics!!
hoaglanddiver
New member
as the old saying goes, friends don't let friends buy pulsing xenia.. that stuff is a scourge upon my tank :-( AT 31" deep I cannot easily "scrape it off",etc.. my best shot is to nuke it w/ Kalk every so often.. Do yourself a favor and ditch it now
mbingha
New member
This is the blind leading the blind. Honestly this is all terrible advise. 1) you do not need a fish to cycle your tank, it's cruel, and if your fish survives the cycle; damsels are mean sob's. 2) Catalina gobies are cold water fish, they won't survive in 78 degree water long term. :banghead:
Okay, but if I used a "live" Aragonite Reef Substrate, with all of the bacteria, and Real Ocean Water from the Pacific. I think the fish will be fine. Just like on that show "Tanked" they literally just plop the fish in immediately after setting up the tank, adding the sand and Nutrisea Water. If they're okay with it, then I'm pretty sure it's fine.
Sorry not to sound rude. :hmm2:
Okay, but if I used a "live" Aragonite Reef Substrate, with all of the bacteria, and Real Ocean Water from the Pacific. I think the fish will be fine. Just like on that show "Tanked" they literally just plop the fish in immediately after setting up the tank, adding the sand and Nutrisea Water. If they're okay with it, then I'm pretty sure it's fine.
Sorry not to sound rude. :hmm2:
criticalencore
New member
If you are going to go with a short cycle I would get a bottle of brightwell microbacter7 or a similar product. Using fish for a cycle isn't really a good practice. You can use a very small amount of clear ammonia or a piece of table shrimp to get the ammonia for your cycle no need to put a fish in poison water.. Xenia has always seemed to grow better in "dirtier" tanks as in like tanks that were more nutrient heavy. Higher po4 and nitrates from big fish taking bug dumps and once xenia gets going it can definetly be worse then aiptasia.
BTW the fish die in a lot of the Tanked tanks I've been hearing. I know for a fact the Friday after the reveal of the Cowfish restaurant tank in Raleigh NC all the fish were gone but a lionfish and a half dead rabbitfish and that was a blot of fish that died...
BTW the fish die in a lot of the Tanked tanks I've been hearing. I know for a fact the Friday after the reveal of the Cowfish restaurant tank in Raleigh NC all the fish were gone but a lionfish and a half dead rabbitfish and that was a blot of fish that died...
Okay, thanks for the advice! Is Nutrafin Cycle the same thing or would you recommend the Brightwell Microbacter7 over the Nutrafin Cycle, because I already have a huge bottle of Nutrafin Cycle that I used in another larger tank that I have, but that one is fish only w/ some live rock. This is going to be my first reef tank so I'm kind of open to any advice at the moment. :worried2:
Really?! I didn't know that! That's so horrible! Why would they basically sell these people dead fish? :sad2:
mbingha
New member
The cowfish may have contributed to the speedy death of those fish, but there have been many reports of all fish dying after the show airs. It's tv, don't assume because they do it that it's right, or even works.
The fact that noobs look to that show for advise is just one of the many reasons I despise that show. Almost everything they do is wrong.
The fact that noobs look to that show for advise is just one of the many reasons I despise that show. Almost everything they do is wrong.
mbingha
New member
Okay, but if I used a "live" Aragonite Reef Substrate, with all of the bacteria, and Real Ocean Water from the Pacific. I think the fish will be fine. Just like on that show "Tanked" they literally just plop the fish in immediately after setting up the tank, adding the sand and Nutrisea Water. If they're okay with it, then I'm pretty sure it's fine.
Sorry not to sound rude. :hmm2:
If you think so :screwy:
Btw have fun wasting time and money chasing problems from doing things in this hobby because "they did it on tv so it must be fine".
Pigpen17
New member
I am down the same road. Just got my first coral yesterday. It never really looked right. It kept getting smaller and smaller. For one, my cleaner shrimp and hermits won't leave the friggin thing alone! I finally moved it to the sandbed under the best lighting and it has remained there un harassed. My PH is low, as well as alk. I thought I would try to buffer. As well I bought a bottle of Kent Marine Essential Elements. I added one dose of each today, and now the guy is just about totally wasted.
<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/user/pigpen_/media/DSC00082.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b71/pigpen_/DSC00082.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC00082.jpg"/></a>
My tank is a new upgrade (30g to 56g) with new sand. It shouldn't be considered a new set up, but it is acting new. It's been running for 2 months now.
Where did I go wrong?
mbingha
New member
What lights are you running and what are your parameters? Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph, ca, alk, mg, phosphate, temp, and sg?
Pigpen17
New member
Well, it is still with us today. That's a start.
They were Sg: 1.024, PH: 7.8, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 20, Temp: 79*.
I tested again this morning after adding buffer and they haven't changed.
My light is a 24"-36" Marineland Reef Capable LED. A toy basically. The tank is 23" high as well. Not helping. My lighting schedule has 7 hours daylights, but yesterday I pumped it up to almost all day to see if the little guy took to it.
I haven't tested for elements. My plan was to stick to easier corals and ease my way into this. One fish and one coral at a time.
They were Sg: 1.024, PH: 7.8, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 20, Temp: 79*.
I tested again this morning after adding buffer and they haven't changed.
My light is a 24"-36" Marineland Reef Capable LED. A toy basically. The tank is 23" high as well. Not helping. My lighting schedule has 7 hours daylights, but yesterday I pumped it up to almost all day to see if the little guy took to it.
I haven't tested for elements. My plan was to stick to easier corals and ease my way into this. One fish and one coral at a time.
