JapanReef - 450 gallon In-Wall system
- Thread starter NexDog
- Start date
- Status
Thanks Melev, and it feels goooood. All corals look great today so out of the woods on the acclimatising I hope. I posted in the SPS forum and I think I got some positive IDs......
(1) A. vermiculata
(2) A. nobilis or yongei
(3) A. tumida
(4) A. horrida
(5) A. valida
(6) A. nana
(7) A. humilis or monticulosa
A quick note on the Anthias in QT. The water in the bags was 1.020 so I acclimatised them at 1.0175. I feed a mixture of frozen brine, baby brine and mysid soaked for 15 minutes in Selcon and they went crazy for it. I then fed my usual mixture of flake, Formula 1/2 pellet, Omega One spirulina flake and some over fine and not so fine flaky stuff all soaked in Selcon as usual and they all went for it too. Some of it was spat out but they seem keen to try anything. The PBT also ate well. I was worried abhout teh Anthias as I hear they can be tough to get eating but looks like these guys will be fine.
When they were first released into the quarantine tank the Powder Blue was being a bully. Not too agressive but really showing his sides and fins. The Anthias really school together when this happen and was quite funny seeing them grouped together like that. Hence this pictue I posted yesterday:
But the PBT just had to establish that he was the boss and today they are all swimming around fine. It's going to be quite interesting to see how the other fish react when I introduce them after the hypo is finished. My Yellow Tang is very peaceful but I think that's because he knows he's the current boss.
Anyhow, Will drop to 1.013 today and then down to 1.009 tomorrow. I'm going to be keeping a real close eye on this QT cycle. Last one was such a disaster and these fish I just refuse to lose.
When they were first released into the quarantine tank the Powder Blue was being a bully. Not too agressive but really showing his sides and fins. The Anthias really school together when this happen and was quite funny seeing them grouped together like that. Hence this pictue I posted yesterday:
But the PBT just had to establish that he was the boss and today they are all swimming around fine. It's going to be quite interesting to see how the other fish react when I introduce them after the hypo is finished. My Yellow Tang is very peaceful but I think that's because he knows he's the current boss.
Anyhow, Will drop to 1.013 today and then down to 1.009 tomorrow. I'm going to be keeping a real close eye on this QT cycle. Last one was such a disaster and these fish I just refuse to lose.
Spiffman - yea, and when I catch it, it burns my fingers. 
enamdjd - yep, as long business continues to go well, what the heck. I'd hate to have to run this tank on a budget!
Marc, I'm slowly starting to hate hypo, especially after my last disaster. The fish look great but all fish I get look great and many develop Ich in QT. So I'd rather not take the risk and if possible, keep the display free of Ich. But like I said, last cycle with 6 fish was a disaster. Lost the CBB right away, the 6-line jumped and the PBT and Longnose Hawk just died. But I believe that is because I let water quality go down the toilet and I didn't look after PH levels. At the end the flame angel had a white face which I believe was due to a prolonged exposure to low PH levels.
This time I'm going to be looking after it better. I'll be siphoning out uneaten food every night, doing water changes every week like clockwork, making sure the Remora is skimming well, running carbon and I've just ordered a UV steriliser too.
BUT! This shop has the most excellent livestock. Corals are stunning and fish look so healthy but I just don't want to risk it. But (again) if this hypo cycle turns out to be a disaster I won't be doing it again.
enamdjd - yep, as long business continues to go well, what the heck. I'd hate to have to run this tank on a budget!
Marc, I'm slowly starting to hate hypo, especially after my last disaster. The fish look great but all fish I get look great and many develop Ich in QT. So I'd rather not take the risk and if possible, keep the display free of Ich. But like I said, last cycle with 6 fish was a disaster. Lost the CBB right away, the 6-line jumped and the PBT and Longnose Hawk just died. But I believe that is because I let water quality go down the toilet and I didn't look after PH levels. At the end the flame angel had a white face which I believe was due to a prolonged exposure to low PH levels.
This time I'm going to be looking after it better. I'll be siphoning out uneaten food every night, doing water changes every week like clockwork, making sure the Remora is skimming well, running carbon and I've just ordered a UV steriliser too.
BUT! This shop has the most excellent livestock. Corals are stunning and fish look so healthy but I just don't want to risk it. But (again) if this hypo cycle turns out to be a disaster I won't be doing it again.
melev
Well-known member
Here's the deal: Just run the tank without going to hypo, to see if they even have a disease. If they do break out, then you start hypo.
Since you typically don't have a good bacterial colony growing in a q-tank and especially a hospital tank, water changes have to be done more than weekly. Maintaining good water quality is key. As you probably know, I've been treating a couple of seahorses for the past 5 weeks, and it is a lot of work. Feeding, siphoning out waste, verifying water quality, boosting pH as necessary - definitely daily tasks.
I do hope your livestock will do well. Anthias need to be fed 3x a day, so be careful not to pollute the q-tank too badly.
Since you typically don't have a good bacterial colony growing in a q-tank and especially a hospital tank, water changes have to be done more than weekly. Maintaining good water quality is key. As you probably know, I've been treating a couple of seahorses for the past 5 weeks, and it is a lot of work. Feeding, siphoning out waste, verifying water quality, boosting pH as necessary - definitely daily tasks.
I do hope your livestock will do well. Anthias need to be fed 3x a day, so be careful not to pollute the q-tank too badly.
As I'm almost at hypo now I think I'll just continue. On my last (disaster) batch I waited 2 weeks before dropping to hypo and it took that long for the Ich to show on the Flame Angel. In the end they were only at hypo for 4-5 weeks but I think 4 weeks might actually be enough.
I have two sponges in there that have been soaking in my sump for a month or more. I'm hoping this will be enough bacteria to keep the denitrification under control. I might even throw a couple of chunks of LR in there. I've put LR through hypo before and you just need to catch it after two weeks when the stuff dies off, scrub it off and put it back - stinks but works.
Didn't realize they had to be fed that often. Better go feed them now!
I have two sponges in there that have been soaking in my sump for a month or more. I'm hoping this will be enough bacteria to keep the denitrification under control. I might even throw a couple of chunks of LR in there. I've put LR through hypo before and you just need to catch it after two weeks when the stuff dies off, scrub it off and put it back - stinks but works.
Didn't realize they had to be fed that often. Better go feed them now!
melev
Well-known member
Don't hypo live rock. Just do more water changes, it is your safest and cheapest solution to maintaining good water quality. If your q-tank is 10 or 20g, just have 50g of saltwater mixed up to make those water changes a breeze. I've been keeping a barrel of saltwater ready every week to deal with all the 5g water changes (50% at a time).
OldmillXxX
Premium Member
Marc, what do you do to raise the PH in a QT? Without the need for high calcium and such, I'm sure you're not dripping kalk.
melev
Well-known member
All I add is a small amount of baked baking soda premixed in a cup of RO/DI water. It is easy to overdose, so a pH meter would be really important when doing this. For the 10g hospital tank, I'm using maybe 1/8 tsp or less.
For the display tank, it can be 3 to 6 tsp to raise 280g worth of pH up.
Btw Nexdog, I don't see the value in hypo for 5 weeks as you seemed to indicate you performed. I'm not a fish expert, so I'll defer to those who are, but from what I've read, quarantine should last 3 weeks minimum. If the fish looks healthy at that point, active and eating, it should be safe to add to the tank. If it breaks out in disease, you can work with it in quarantine or move it to a hospital tank to deal with hypo. In that situation, it would be a glass box, water, PVC pipe, airstone and perhaps a HOB filter. Then as soon as it is healthy, levels should be raised back up to normal to avoid causing internal damage to their organs. As far as I know, hypo only needs to be performed for 21 days.
For the display tank, it can be 3 to 6 tsp to raise 280g worth of pH up.
Btw Nexdog, I don't see the value in hypo for 5 weeks as you seemed to indicate you performed. I'm not a fish expert, so I'll defer to those who are, but from what I've read, quarantine should last 3 weeks minimum. If the fish looks healthy at that point, active and eating, it should be safe to add to the tank. If it breaks out in disease, you can work with it in quarantine or move it to a hospital tank to deal with hypo. In that situation, it would be a glass box, water, PVC pipe, airstone and perhaps a HOB filter. Then as soon as it is healthy, levels should be raised back up to normal to avoid causing internal damage to their organs. As far as I know, hypo only needs to be performed for 21 days.
OldmillXxX
Premium Member
Thanks Marc. I thought of baking soda and was aware that it can raise PH very quickly. I am in the market for a PH monitor and hope to purchase by the weekend.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
jeffbrig
Premium Member
Tim, keep in mind there's a difference between baking soda and baked[/b]baking soda (aka washing soda) as Marc mentioned. Baking soda lowers pH in the short term, which can be problematic in a tank where the pH is low to begin with. It will promote a long term rise in pH due to increased alkalinity. Washing soda, on the other hand, creates a short term rise, as well as a long term increase in pH.
Marc, to defeat ich, you need 28+ days in hyposalinity after the last visible trophant drops off the fish. This guarantees that the parasite completes its reproductive cycle and dies in the free swimming theront stage.
I strongly advocate performing this treatment with all new fish purchases, to avoid introduction of the parasite into the display. Once an outbreak hits the main tank, you need to remove ALL of the fish for treatment and keep the tank fallow for 4-6 weeks to ensure die-off of the parasite.
Also, it takes a lot longer than 4 weeks to cause damage to a fish's internal organs (it's the kidneys you worry about). My achilles tang spent over 6 weeks in hypo and is no worse for wear.
This is a great ich reference page:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
Marc, to defeat ich, you need 28+ days in hyposalinity after the last visible trophant drops off the fish. This guarantees that the parasite completes its reproductive cycle and dies in the free swimming theront stage.
I strongly advocate performing this treatment with all new fish purchases, to avoid introduction of the parasite into the display. Once an outbreak hits the main tank, you need to remove ALL of the fish for treatment and keep the tank fallow for 4-6 weeks to ensure die-off of the parasite.
Also, it takes a lot longer than 4 weeks to cause damage to a fish's internal organs (it's the kidneys you worry about). My achilles tang spent over 6 weeks in hypo and is no worse for wear.
This is a great ich reference page:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
OldmillXxX
Premium Member
Thanks Jeff, I missed that initially.
Chemistry, the one class I wish I would have paid more attention to. See, you really do use this stuff later in life!
I'll be telling that to my kids in a couple years.
Chemistry, the one class I wish I would have paid more attention to. See, you really do use this stuff later in life!
I'll be telling that to my kids in a couple years.
- Status
Similar threads
