Catching fish in an established display tank can be very difficult. I have never had much luck with it. I myself have had an LFS employee come to my home and catch the fish I wanted caught. The people who do aquarium care seem to be experts. In my 360 gallon, I've seen them catch a fish in under 15 seconds!
I need serious help ( Urgent West Covina, CA)
- Thread starter MartyTheAchilles
- Start date
MartyTheAchilles
Member
I'm have a guy who works at the lfs and services reefs do it. He said I could try pumping all the water out and back in and we both got super excited at the ease and prospect then had the rude awakening of 350 gallons
Hey Leebca, can you elaborate on the issues with flake flood.
I feed primarily flakes so wondering if I've been damaging the tank and tankmates
I feed primarily flakes so wondering if I've been damaging the tank and tankmates
I always had to transfer fish from quarantine to the display tank. Wild-caught ornamental marine fishes are scared of nets. So I used a plastic bag with small holes in it. (A typical net, but instead of netting, I attached a plastic bag on the wire loop). The fish never saw it coming. I don't think this would work in a big tank and never tried it.
MartyTheAchilles
Member
I'll try it once I get home in a bit. I'm going to go buy the Hanna because I get 10% off at my lfs and then see if the fish forgot in the meantime im the evil net lady. I have clear aquarium bags so that might work
No damage. Have you read through the Fish Nutrition post? There are a few disadvantages to flake foods:
1. They have been heated (some cooked) to dry;
2. They contain wheat and/or soy products; and
3. Their initial oil content eventually goes rancid.
With so many other choices (frozen and freeze-dried) the fish are better off without feeding flake foods.
One manufacturer of flake foods I know makes their fish flake food in small batches, and uses low heat (Brine Shrimp Direct). That takes care of item 1. Refrigeration storage and getting rid of flake foods over 3 months old kinda takes care of 3. But the other one still exists.
I'd choose certain pellet foods over flake, but both are at the bottom of the fish-food list.
discotu
Discotu
You can use a large panel of egg crate similar to a tank divider and corral the fish to one end of the tank, then angle the panel upwards to draw them closer to the surface for netting. Probably need two people for this. Might even be able to keep some of the rock in the tank but less obstructions the better.
MartyTheAchilles
Member
Update: we have a bit of an issue. Lfs guy had an emergency this morning and I'm in a pickle. Called all my friends they are seeing if they can clear the schedule and try to help. Some are out of town so shucks. Called a few servicing companies ( got desperate ) they've all said sounds like a lot of work 7-800 dollars. I really want to try the egg crate or in the dark but it won't work for my fish. Plastic bag either. I've tried everything currently. Does anyone want to volunteer as tribute? I will pay for gas and your time!! I'll even donate my anemones 
MartyTheAchilles
Member
More serious update - caught the black tang and Achilles. Other fish will go. tomorrow or next day. Brought them to my friend Shawn's store where we started determining what's wrong.
I guess we have a deadly duo on our hands of some kind.
to say we were both somewhat emotional would be a slight understatement.
The black tang is blind. Not entirely but somewhat. That's why he's always so sweet and easy going. He can't see to be confused. He's very thin we've determined it's not the food but likely an internal parasite so he's going to treat that.
Marty the Achilles is a little thin but in a lot better shape than our old man.
shawn asked where I buy my rodi and saltwater. I buy from the LFS that to be honest has never seemed careful he asked if I know when they last changed the filter. To be frank I've seem their unit it's in a flooded room with water up to my ankles and dead fish on the floor. Shawn said disease of chemical contamination could have caused the blindness. We looked back on photos the tang went blind this month. He said it could be something we can't test for in the water or the parasite damaging him.
I'm going to take my tank water and some ro and see if I can send it to a water testing lab to run tests on it. I need to know what happened to old man. He ate so good today with vitamins you guys recommended before he left. He's a great fish. Pray to the fish gods for me.
I guess we have a deadly duo on our hands of some kind.
to say we were both somewhat emotional would be a slight understatement.
The black tang is blind. Not entirely but somewhat. That's why he's always so sweet and easy going. He can't see to be confused. He's very thin we've determined it's not the food but likely an internal parasite so he's going to treat that.
Marty the Achilles is a little thin but in a lot better shape than our old man.
shawn asked where I buy my rodi and saltwater. I buy from the LFS that to be honest has never seemed careful he asked if I know when they last changed the filter. To be frank I've seem their unit it's in a flooded room with water up to my ankles and dead fish on the floor. Shawn said disease of chemical contamination could have caused the blindness. We looked back on photos the tang went blind this month. He said it could be something we can't test for in the water or the parasite damaging him.
I'm going to take my tank water and some ro and see if I can send it to a water testing lab to run tests on it. I need to know what happened to old man. He ate so good today with vitamins you guys recommended before he left. He's a great fish. Pray to the fish gods for me.
discotu
Discotu
Looks like you're on the path to recovery. Best of luck! Once you're through this let's talk about making water yourself. I can't imagine you're buying and lugging rodi/SW from your LFS for a 300g+ tank? If you're still going to QT some fish at home you'll need it sooner rather than later unless you have another reliable source for water. It's not that hard to setup and is more economical and logistically easier than buying from a LFS.
MartyTheAchilles
Member
I've been lugging nearly 40g sw and 30g ro every week for a year. We actually have an rodi unit that a friend gave me I think that does 100gpd but I haven't set it up yet just due to the backwash. Our city has crazy water usage regulations ( typical California stuff) so I just want to do it right. I know this sounds "presumptuous" a bit but I've never been super happy with lfs sw mix especially the brand they use. they use instant ocean nothing wrong with it but i notice i have to dose much more using that then when i use the red sea red bag or the pro bucket. The sanity isn't really consistent so I always have to mix ro into it and if I don't my salinity will jump to like .28 and I'm not going to do that. So I'm more than happy to using this as a point to start. In the mean time as we set up I'll just start buying water from the person treating the fish. he uses red sea and I know that works well for me. You can totally call me out if you see no difference in salt mix quality I'm probably imagining things from the price.
I use Red Sea and have been for quite some time. I have never experienced any problems with it. My local marine fish store supplies saltwater and they use Red Sea.
Instant Ocean was (to my knowledge) the first pre-mix for saltwater back in the 1960's (1964-66 I believe). Then, it came with a bottle of trace elements to be added once the saltwater was mixed. Since then, many new mixes came about and Instant Ocean modified its mixture over the years. But, honestly, I always thought they were a 'catch up' kind of salt people, rather than the 'innovative' makers.
Current Instant Ocean is not considered for reef tanks containing SPS corals by many people in the hobby. Now Instant Ocean sells "Reef Crystals" for reef aquariums which the hobby also holds in low esteem.
Instant Ocean was (to my knowledge) the first pre-mix for saltwater back in the 1960's (1964-66 I believe). Then, it came with a bottle of trace elements to be added once the saltwater was mixed. Since then, many new mixes came about and Instant Ocean modified its mixture over the years. But, honestly, I always thought they were a 'catch up' kind of salt people, rather than the 'innovative' makers.
Current Instant Ocean is not considered for reef tanks containing SPS corals by many people in the hobby. Now Instant Ocean sells "Reef Crystals" for reef aquariums which the hobby also holds in low esteem.
MartyTheAchilles
Member
So it's not in my head!!! I knew I wasn't crazy
MartyTheAchilles
Member
I did it the opposite way around honestly. I started with red sea and due to me doing water changes and buying sw they use instant ocean so I wonder if any of the red sea is still left
discotu
Discotu
i thought water restrictions were lifted? In any case, i hate wasting water too so i route my RODI waste water to my pool and/or my outdoor plants. I think as long as you're not draining it down your driveway no one is going to complain. regarding SW, there is a possibility that the LFS is using less than optimal RODI and isn't mixing properly, but salinity "consistency" isn't due to the salt . It's affected by how much water is added. (if you wanted to get technical you could argue that you could get different levels of salinity for a fixed amount of salt by weight and water by volume btw different batches of salt and btw different brands but the difference are negligible, at least to me). I have to constantly check and adjust my salinity for every batch of fresh SW i make. Sometimes i start from scratch, sometimes i still have anywhere from 5g to 20g left in my mix container when i fill with RODI and sometimes i don't top it off all the way. Because of these variables I use this calculator to figure out how much salt to add for my given water volume, currently salinity and target salinity.
www.hamzasreef.com
You mention you're not happy with IO and having to "dose more" VS Red Sea. It looks like you have mostly LPS and not necessarily heavily stock at that. what parameters are you checking/testing and what are you having to dose more of? I know IO Ca levels are lower than "reef" specific salts but it should be plenty fine for what you have especially if you're supplementing/dosing
For what it's worth I used IO back in the day and never had a problem that i could specifically point to the salt. I am currently using and having good success with Reef Crystals and have an SPS dominated tank and dose 2part (TM hybrid balling). Interestingly, i recall reading some people/vendors using IO/reef crystals exclusively because it IS the most consistent salt batch to batch. Not sure how true that it is. Bottom line everyone will use the product they're comfortable with and feel they're getting the best results from. Could i get better results from using a more expensive salt? Maybe, but im not is a rush to switch.
How's the QT going?
Direct Salt Addition Calculator
Aquarium calculator; Estimate the amount of solid salt required to raise salinity to a target level.
www.hamzasreef.com
You mention you're not happy with IO and having to "dose more" VS Red Sea. It looks like you have mostly LPS and not necessarily heavily stock at that. what parameters are you checking/testing and what are you having to dose more of? I know IO Ca levels are lower than "reef" specific salts but it should be plenty fine for what you have especially if you're supplementing/dosing
For what it's worth I used IO back in the day and never had a problem that i could specifically point to the salt. I am currently using and having good success with Reef Crystals and have an SPS dominated tank and dose 2part (TM hybrid balling). Interestingly, i recall reading some people/vendors using IO/reef crystals exclusively because it IS the most consistent salt batch to batch. Not sure how true that it is. Bottom line everyone will use the product they're comfortable with and feel they're getting the best results from. Could i get better results from using a more expensive salt? Maybe, but im not is a rush to switch.
How's the QT going?
MartyTheAchilles
Member
The fish left in the tank are doing surprisingly well currently. Im going to be catching either today or Monday. I still need to get the brute going for the copper consistency and my friend is picking up the ammonia hanna from his wholesaler.i thought water restrictions were lifted? In any case, i hate wasting water too so i route my RODI waste water to my pool and/or my outdoor plants. I think as long as you're not draining it down your driveway no one is going to complain. regarding SW, there is a possibility that the LFS is using less than optimal RODI and isn't mixing properly, but salinity "consistency" isn't due to the salt . It's affected by how much water is added. (if you wanted to get technical you could argue that you could get different levels of salinity for a fixed amount of salt by weight and water by volume btw different batches of salt and btw different brands but the difference are negligible, at least to me). I have to constantly check and adjust my salinity for every batch of fresh SW i make. Sometimes i start from scratch, sometimes i still have anywhere from 5g to 20g left in my mix container when i fill with RODI and sometimes i don't top it off all the way. Because of these variables I use this calculator to figure out how much salt to add for my given water volume, currently salinity and target salinity.
Direct Salt Addition Calculator
Aquarium calculator; Estimate the amount of solid salt required to raise salinity to a target level.
You mention you're not happy with IO and having to "dose more" VS Red Sea. It looks like you have mostly LPS and not necessarily heavily stock at that. what parameters are you checking/testing and what are you having to dose more of? I know IO Ca levels are lower than "reef" specific salts but it should be plenty fine for what you have especially if you're supplementing/dosing
For what it's worth I used IO back in the day and never had a problem that i could specifically point to the salt. I am currently using and having good success with Reef Crystals and have an SPS dominated tank and dose 2part (TM hybrid balling). Interestingly, i recall reading some people/vendors using IO/reef crystals exclusively because it IS the most consistent salt batch to batch. Not sure how true that it is. Bottom line everyone will use the product they're comfortable with and feel they're getting the best results from. Could i get better results from using a more expensive salt? Maybe, but im not is a rush to switch.
How's the QT going?
in terms of my tank. I have mainly lps and a few smaller sps frags. I would say the coral I have the most trouble with is probably my larger acan colony or some of the trachys I have. I'm sure my tank isn't too dense
In terms of dosing more it's kh and calcium mostly. I maintain kh at 9 and calcium at 460-480. My calcium is the first to drop.
