If not for bad luck...

[Guygettnby]

If not for bad luck, I would have no luck at all right now. This new tank build had been a complete nightmare. Never experienced a new tank build this stressful and all the enjoyment completely sucked out of it.

Equipment issue's the entire way. New and old equipment breaking or mysteriously stop working. Have had to replace powerheads 3 time's now. 1st set just didn't work, 2nd set amazon shipped with no box and both destroyed, 3rd set I now have to return since the controllers aren't working correctly and 1 pump acting up.

BM curve 9 elite, this company has gone way downhill since my last curve 7 elite. I was shocked how cheaply they now make these things. Even the sicce pump is not what it once was. Getting this thing to skim properly and not go crazy is just stupid. The curve 7 elite i had years ago was a seriously great skimmer.

Decided to try Dr. Times one and only... yea... that was a complete waste of money. There customer service is also complete crap. Ended up cycling my normal way after correcting the issue's.

Kessil refugium light decided to stop working and of course it can't be repaired. 6 months of use and only option kessil gives me is a small discount on a new one.

Icecap gyre controller went out. The screen just went black. The pump still works and is still programmed.

AI Prime 13hd fan broke, easy and pretty cheap fix, but still one more on the list.

The list just keeps going and going. I found a crazy deal on some fish. Decided to take the leap and I knew my tank was cycled, so why not? Yea... my purple tang just got the worst case of ICH i have ever seen in over 20 years in this hobby. was super healthy, crazy active and eating everything. From the looks of it, the tang won't make it thru the night. No chance to even get it into another tank to try and treat.

 

[JohnL]

I'm sorry about your troubles

 

[Reefing102]

Dang sorry to hear. I can’t help with much of it but was the Kessil new? I thought they had a 1 year warranty.

 

[Guygettnby]

Dang sorry to hear. I can’t help with much of it but was the Kessil new? I thought they had a 1 year warranty.

It was bought new, used for roughly 6 month's or less, then I had to break down my tank and store it. I put it back in the original packaging and made sure it was spotless. Tried to use it on my new tank. Discovered that half the LED's wouldn't turn on, the intensity knob barely did anything besides make it flicker and the color knob only worked when put on 100% red.

When I contacted Kessil, I was told those lights aren't repairable and my only option was to buy a new one.

 

[Reefing102]

It was bought new, used for roughly 6 month's or less, then I had to break down my tank and store it. I put it back in the original packaging and made sure it was spotless. Tried to use it on my new tank. Discovered that half the LED's wouldn't turn on, the intensity knob barely did anything besides make it flicker and the color knob only worked when put on 100% red.

When I contacted Kessil, I was told those lights aren't repairable and my only option was to buy a new one.

Dang. Which brand powerheads did you go with?

 

[griss]

Holy carp, sorry to hear about the issues.

 

[Guygettnby]

Dang. Which brand powerheads did you go with?

Jebao MOW series. Have used a ton of their powerheads in the past and zero issue's, but this new line is total dookie.. they are super strong and quiet. If only using 1 of them, they work great.... if you get a good one. They simply will not sync together and it's a nightmare trying to connect them to the app.

I did however buy the Jebao MDP-6500 return pump and am completely happy with it.

I am looking into the maxpect gyre cloud now, but still see abunch of negative reviews. My icecap gyre, worked flawless until the controller screen broke. I will be needing 2 of them, but my budget has gone way over what it was supposed to be.

 

[Guygettnby]

The purple tang made it thru the night. I woke up to see it swimming around like normal. Alittle over an hour later, it's laying flat on the substrate and struggling to breathe. Was in the process of getting a tank ready for treatment.

 

[Reefing102]

Yea I think the screen is a discontinued piece as I can’t find it. Perhaps someone might have it on FB marketplace or eBay - here’s one on eBay (I don’t know if it works) IceCap Controller

And I’ve never used the MOW, but sad to hear about the quality. I run all SLW on my tank and haven’t had any issues.

 

[Guygettnby]

So after a slightly slow day at work and much google. I think the purple tang actually had velvet...FML... fish was completely healthy, active and eating like a pig since bought on Thursday. By Friday evening, it started showing signs of which I thought could be ich coming on. Saturday morning it was completely covered, Saturday evening it had become extremely sluggish, breathing heavy and no longer eating. Sunday morning it was dead.

I had planned on setting up a hospital tank on Sunday and attempt to get it out. This hit so fast and hard though, the fish never had a chance. Over 20 years in this hobby and I have never had this before. Had ich plenty of time's and had plenty of time to treat the fish, but holy crap...

As of right now the other 5 fish in the tank seem fine and show no signs of anything yet. Going to be a complete nightmare trying to get them out with all the rock in the tank before everything is possibly wiped out. The curse of this tank build continues on, the tank just finished cycling a week before adding these fish. Wife is not the happiest camper in the world at this point and with the cost of the fish these day's, im lucky she hasn't murdered me in my sleep yet.

 

[Guygettnby]

Yea I think the screen is a discontinued piece as I can’t find it. Perhaps someone might have it on FB marketplace or eBay - here’s one on eBay (I don’t know if it works) IceCap Controller

And I’ve never used the MOW, but sad to hear about the quality. I run all SLW on my tank and haven’t had any issues.

I have used a ton of different jebao powerheads in the past. They were all actually really decent, but this new model is a completely different story and I could never recommend this model to anyone.

The cost of trying to replace the controller on that icecap most likely wouldn't be worth it. Would probably be a better option to just put that money towards a new one. Thanks a bunch for looking around. I think ebay was where I had seen a used controller also a few weeks back.

 

[Guygettnby]

How long does it take before velvet drops off of the fish? He came with this and it all happened so fast. I simply don't know enough about velvet. Is it falling off the fish quickly right from the start?

Out of curiosity im curious how quickly it would actually infest the tank, attach to another fish and start to multiply.

 

[griss]

How long does it take before velvet drops off of the fish? He came with this and it all happened so fast. I simply don't know enough about velvet. Is it falling off the fish quickly right from the start?

Out of curiosity im curious how quickly it would actually infest the tank, attach to another fish and start to multiply.

Let's if @leebca and @Dr. Reef can chime in here.

 

[Guygettnby]

Let's if @leebca and @Dr. Reef can chime in here.

Would be interesting to know as nome of the other 5 fish that were introduced at the same time are showing any signs of anything. Tang showed signs for about for alittle over 24hrs before it was removed from the tank. Wasn't completely dead when I took him out and into another container. Does velvet drop off that fast or could I have been lucky enough to remove it before infecting the rest of the tank? Or is velvet something that is constantly dropping off instantly?

I'm really not very educated on marine velvet and so far my research has not come up with the answers im honestly looking for.

It has been almost 7 days since they were all introduced into the tank. I'm still working on getting everything together to even try to treat them all.

 

[SantaMonica]

Times like this, equipment wise, is why I like reef ponds. Almost nothing to break.

 

[leebca]

The life-cycle of Amyloodinium ocellatum (Marine Velvet) is very well documented. There are several factors which influence the rate of its life-cycle. They include but not limited to temperature, salinity, water quality, and pH. Also some fish will developed resistance or immunity to the parasite over time. However, the fish usually dies before this happens in an aquarium. The immunity was shown in lab experiments where the fish had minimal exposure to the parasite over time.

If a treatment is used, the proper use of that treatment varies with they type of treatment and how it affects the life cycle. For instance hyposalinity v. copper treatment.

If no treatment is used including the tank transfer method, then the parasite goes through its full cycle in 15-22 days. Keep in mind that they are not 'synchronized' with each other so the parasites are in different stages at different times making it look like it never goes away.

Regarding newly acquired fish in a QT--ALL fish should be copper treated (IF they can handle copper); ALL fish should be de-wormed. Hold in QT 6 weeks.

 

[Guygettnby]

The life-cycle of Amyloodinium ocellatum (Marine Velvet) is very well documented. There are several factors which influence the rate of its life-cycle. They include but not limited to temperature, salinity, water quality, and pH. Also some fish will developed resistance or immunity to the parasite over time. However, the fish usually dies before this happens in an aquarium. The immunity was shown in lab experiments where the fish had minimal exposure to the parasite over time.

If a treatment is used, the proper use of that treatment varies with they type of treatment and how it affects the life cycle. For instance hyposalinity v. copper treatment.

If no treatment is used including the tank transfer method, then the parasite goes through its full cycle in 15-22 days. Keep in mind that they are not 'synchronized' with each other so the parasites are in different stages at different times making it look like it never goes away.

Regarding newly acquired fish in a QT--ALL fish should be copper treated (IF they can handle copper); ALL fish should be de-wormed. Hold in QT 6 weeks.

Can I use this tank as a hospital tank and add the copper to it? Leave the rocks and sand? I don't care about anything in this tank as it is extra and going to be killed off anyhow. I will be removing the coral and anything else living before that though.

 

[Guygettnby]

I was thinking that the mature tank would supply me all the beneficial bacteria to help combat ammonia and such. The copper in the tank should kill the velvet, but still it be ok with the sand and rocks? Will it still work with those in the tank?

Fish going in the 40g will be the following.
2 clowns
1 splendid dottyback
1 silver belly wrasse
1 foxface

All fish are still rather small. The wrasse in worried about with the copper of course, but still take it slow ramping it up.

 

[griss]

Any inverts/corals in that tank will be killed by the copper treatment. So, if you could move them to another tank that would be good.

 

[Guygettnby]

Lights just came on and fish are now showing some signs. No spots that i can see, but rubbing on stuff and alittle breathing heavier. Not sure i can get them all out, but will try. Chances are that everything will be dead soon. Sad this is a brand new tank and these were the 1st additions. Always learning more in this hobby, good and bad. No matter how long you have been in the hobby.