petere1989
New member
can't wait to see your new shipment. I'm glad to read your tanks coming around and doing ok! Your tanks one of my favorites that i've seen. keep up the good work!
My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics
- Thread starter slief
- Start date
slief
RC Sponsor
Thanks Peter! Your kind words are very encouraging and very much appreciated. Stay tuned, I expect to be posting an update tomorrow morning once I get the shipment. I should be home acclimating around 10:30 and pics will follow as soon as I get rolling on the process.
slief
RC Sponsor
Sadly, things didn't work out very well for the shipment. 4 of 5 boxes arrived on time. Half the fish didn't make it. They were packed well and we even used heat packs but the water was in the mid to high 60's when the shipment arrived. I suspect they sat outside last night when they transferred through Salt Lake City. The one box that is missing is stuck in a sorting facility by the LA airport which is about 45 miles from here. It happens to be the box with the Vlamingi's. I am hoping fed ex can locate it and get it to a location that I can pick it up from but they are saying that may not be possible and if so, it would be delivered tomorrow. At this point, I don't expect the Vlamingi's to make it either. Very sad.
What survived thus far is the clown fish, two diamond gobies, 1 mandarin goby, some other goby that I think is a wathcman, a six line wrasse, a small reef lobster, a small shrimp which I think is a harlequin, the corals which are all small soft corals, a feather duster that I think is alive and a gorgonian of some sort along with some small hermits and bristle worms.
Very very sad. Fed ex will reimburse for the shipping or at least some of it. Lost were a pair of flame angles, a bicolor angel, a couple wrasses, another goby of some sort, a cardinal and likely the Vlamingi's.
Due to the major temp differences that they had to acclimate to, I put all the fish in the refugium and setup my 14 gallon tank. I will watch the remaining fish for the next few days to see how they do. If they appear sick I will either bypass and isolate the refugium which is setup with valves that allow be to completely isolate it from the display and sump or move them to the 14G tank which I just set up with tank water, new dry sand and some live rock from my sump. Also added some MircoBacter to aid in any potential cycle.
Major bummer. I was really excited and now all I can think about is more casualties and that missing box.
What survived thus far is the clown fish, two diamond gobies, 1 mandarin goby, some other goby that I think is a wathcman, a six line wrasse, a small reef lobster, a small shrimp which I think is a harlequin, the corals which are all small soft corals, a feather duster that I think is alive and a gorgonian of some sort along with some small hermits and bristle worms.
Very very sad. Fed ex will reimburse for the shipping or at least some of it. Lost were a pair of flame angles, a bicolor angel, a couple wrasses, another goby of some sort, a cardinal and likely the Vlamingi's.
Due to the major temp differences that they had to acclimate to, I put all the fish in the refugium and setup my 14 gallon tank. I will watch the remaining fish for the next few days to see how they do. If they appear sick I will either bypass and isolate the refugium which is setup with valves that allow be to completely isolate it from the display and sump or move them to the 14G tank which I just set up with tank water, new dry sand and some live rock from my sump. Also added some MircoBacter to aid in any potential cycle.
Major bummer. I was really excited and now all I can think about is more casualties and that missing box.
slief
RC Sponsor
Missing box was located and delivered to a fed ex office close to my office. One of my employees ran over there to pick it up for me. I had him open the box to check the fish and sadly the two Vlamingi's didn't survive either. What a tragedy. The only thing I can do is get FedEx to eat the freight charges as they don't offer claims on live fish.
I feel terrible for the guy who shipped them to me. He travels a lot and his tank maintenance person moved so he wanted to find a good home for them. Sadly, things didn't work out like planned. They were packed well and to no fault of his own, the fish took the toll. Time will tell how the remaining fish do. The 6 line wrasse seems to be fine as does the Mandarin, two Diamond Gobies and the watchman goby. The clown is swimming around but I think it's still in a bit of shock along with the Lawnmower blenny. Fingers crossed that these ones survive.
I feel terrible for the guy who shipped them to me. He travels a lot and his tank maintenance person moved so he wanted to find a good home for them. Sadly, things didn't work out like planned. They were packed well and to no fault of his own, the fish took the toll. Time will tell how the remaining fish do. The 6 line wrasse seems to be fine as does the Mandarin, two Diamond Gobies and the watchman goby. The clown is swimming around but I think it's still in a bit of shock along with the Lawnmower blenny. Fingers crossed that these ones survive.
slief
RC Sponsor
I figured I should post a bit of an update. Things are going well for the tank. I ended up with six surviving fish plus a few other things that are thriving from Wyoming shipment. Frankly, I am surprised anything made it based on the cold temps alone. The survivors from the shipment are one percula clown fish, two huge diamond goby's, one watchman goby, one six line wrasse and one green mandarin goby. All are healthy and in the display tank now. Also survived is one sea urchin, a reef lobster, a harlequin shrimp, a handful of small soft corals and some hermit crabs.
It's been a while since I had diamond goby's and boy do they stir stuff up. I don't have much sand left in the tank as I have gone almost all bare bottom but what sand I do have, they are meticulously moving around to create their homes under the rocks. There is enough sand for them forage in but it's located mostly in the center of the tank under the bridges and caverns. Any detritus I have in there is slowly but surely being kicked up into the water column and collected by my filter socks. I have a pair of 10 micron socks along with a pair of 200 micron socks in the sump which along with the diamond goby's are doing their job in helping me export the detritus.
I also added 3 more bangai cardinals and a sea hare this last Thursday. My ORP is back to normal levels at 350 too.
So far since the disaster, I have not lost a single fish that I have put in the tank which is a real good sign. The tank is once again active and colorful with all fish healthy and eating well.
My current fish count is as follows.
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
1 percula clownfish
1 lemon peel angel
1 naso tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
1 flame angel
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
1 mandarin goby
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 reef lobster
1 sea urchin
plus some snails and hermit crabs and all the corals.
Coming next week will be two more flame angels and maybe a cow fish. I'm on the fence about the cowfish. Also looking to get a couple small vlamingi tangs and a new mimic tang but that is still more than likely a few weeks out as I have to find some good ones. I think that will about complete my fish collection other than maybe a handful of other small fish and schooling fish like anthias and or chromis. I also plan on adding several more cleaner shrimp and a couple coral bandit shrimp. I need to grab some more salt from my LFS today and if they have any shrimp, I will likely pick up a few.
I will probably post up come pictures later today after the lights have been on for a while.
It's been a while since I had diamond goby's and boy do they stir stuff up. I don't have much sand left in the tank as I have gone almost all bare bottom but what sand I do have, they are meticulously moving around to create their homes under the rocks. There is enough sand for them forage in but it's located mostly in the center of the tank under the bridges and caverns. Any detritus I have in there is slowly but surely being kicked up into the water column and collected by my filter socks. I have a pair of 10 micron socks along with a pair of 200 micron socks in the sump which along with the diamond goby's are doing their job in helping me export the detritus.
I also added 3 more bangai cardinals and a sea hare this last Thursday. My ORP is back to normal levels at 350 too.
So far since the disaster, I have not lost a single fish that I have put in the tank which is a real good sign. The tank is once again active and colorful with all fish healthy and eating well.
My current fish count is as follows.
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
1 percula clownfish
1 lemon peel angel
1 naso tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
1 flame angel
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
1 mandarin goby
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 reef lobster
1 sea urchin
plus some snails and hermit crabs and all the corals.
Coming next week will be two more flame angels and maybe a cow fish. I'm on the fence about the cowfish. Also looking to get a couple small vlamingi tangs and a new mimic tang but that is still more than likely a few weeks out as I have to find some good ones. I think that will about complete my fish collection other than maybe a handful of other small fish and schooling fish like anthias and or chromis. I also plan on adding several more cleaner shrimp and a couple coral bandit shrimp. I need to grab some more salt from my LFS today and if they have any shrimp, I will likely pick up a few.
I will probably post up come pictures later today after the lights have been on for a while.
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slief
RC Sponsor
I had to run to the LFS to get a couple cases of salt yesterday. They had 3 coral bandit shrimp that I couldn't resist. Home they came!
Also Jim released a new LA Fishguys episode which covers some recent upgrades on my tank and updates as well.. Most of it was filmed prior to the disaster. He's doing his episodes in a new format. There are 3 parts on my tank within the video and they are scattered between other subjects so you will have to skip forward if you don't want to watch the entire 50 minutes.
My current stock list as of today.
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
1 percula clownfish
1 lemon peel angel
1 naso tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
1 flame angel
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
1 mandarin goby
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
3 coral bandit shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 reef lobster
1 sea urchin
plus some snails and hermit crabs, small starfish and all the corals.
The new LA Fish Guys video:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gaRNQm22FPg?list=UUL4n5cLsJHvCY_3TLM3Gn1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Also Jim released a new LA Fishguys episode which covers some recent upgrades on my tank and updates as well.. Most of it was filmed prior to the disaster. He's doing his episodes in a new format. There are 3 parts on my tank within the video and they are scattered between other subjects so you will have to skip forward if you don't want to watch the entire 50 minutes.
My current stock list as of today.
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
1 percula clownfish
1 lemon peel angel
1 naso tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
1 flame angel
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
1 mandarin goby
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
3 coral bandit shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 reef lobster
1 sea urchin
plus some snails and hermit crabs, small starfish and all the corals.
The new LA Fish Guys video:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gaRNQm22FPg?list=UUL4n5cLsJHvCY_3TLM3Gn1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
slief
RC Sponsor
Just started another LaCl dose. The dose I did last week dropped my phosphate levels way down. My PO4 is currently at .13 and was at .30 before the last weeks dose. Last week I ended up dosing 5ml of LaCl in 1 liter of RODI. Today I am dosing 2.5ml of Lacl mixed with just ender 1 liter of RODI. Drip rate at 1 drip per second into a 10 micron sock which will be changed out as soon as it starts to back up. Doing it this way insures there will be absolutely no cloudiness in the water from percipitate and no risk to my fish.
Todays dose should bring my PO4 level down to about .03 - .04 which is about where I want it. I will also change out my GFO once I am done with todays dosing which will take about 5 hours.
Todays dose should bring my PO4 level down to about .03 - .04 which is about where I want it. I will also change out my GFO once I am done with todays dosing which will take about 5 hours.
slief
RC Sponsor
Just finished my PO4 treatment. According to my Hanna Phosphorus Checker, my PO4 levels are now down to .07 from .13 when I started early this morning. I will test again in a few days when I get more regent packs and tentatively plan on doing one more 2.5 ml LaCl drip treatment to get my levels to my target of .03.
Man, the ups and downs of reef keeping - not to mention parenting! Amazing job recovering your tank like you did. I do not keep nearly enough mixed water on hand to have responded like you did. Love that LemonPeel. I have one in QT - at least, I think I do as it spends all it's time hiding - and am conflicted about whether to let it into my DT or not. If it is not well behaved I will never be able to catch it.
slief
RC Sponsor
Fortunately, my reef keeping has had many more ups that down. In the 20 or so years I've had this particular tank, there are only a two downs that I can recall. One was an ich breakout as a result of a fast temp change that resulted from a large water change with water that was too cold and the other was the bleach incident. Both we devastating to my fish population but fortunately the tank recovered well in both cases. I consider myself very lucky in the bleach incident as I could have lost everything. Fortunately, the tank is back to it's old health and oddly, many of my corals look better than ever. Go figure.
My lemon peel has been fine as far as my current inhabitants and corals go. I did try to introduce another one that was much smaller along with a tiny flame angel a week or so ago and it didn't work out well for either. The new lemon peel got pummeled by the other one. The current lemon peel was hell bent on killing it as soon as it was released into the tank. Fortunately I was able to get it out after it stuck itself to my recirculation pumps intake strainer. The little guy is now living happily in my refugium although I will likely be finding it a new home or moving it to the tank at my office. The little flame seems to have disappeared. The lemon peel didn't seem to interested in the new flame so it could have been a case of attrition or it could be that the lemon peel decided he was out too.
Sometime in the next few weeks, I will likely add another large flame or two. Probably two as that should help ease the transition of the new fish and confuse the lemon peel.
Thank you very much Abdullah! I'm liking your build as well and will be following it!
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slief
RC Sponsor
Some new fish arrived today. 9 to be precise.
I got Two larger Flame Angles which I hope can coexist with the existing Flame Angel and more importantly the Lemon Peel. I chose a pair of larger ones figuring they would confuse the Lemon Peel.
I also got 4 more Bagai Cardinals, One more Mandarin Goby, a small Vlamingi and a large Lieutenant Tang.
Lieutenant Tang acclimating in the bucket
The other 8 fish acclimating in my Acclimate XL
I got Two larger Flame Angles which I hope can coexist with the existing Flame Angel and more importantly the Lemon Peel. I chose a pair of larger ones figuring they would confuse the Lemon Peel.
I also got 4 more Bagai Cardinals, One more Mandarin Goby, a small Vlamingi and a large Lieutenant Tang.
Lieutenant Tang acclimating in the bucket
The other 8 fish acclimating in my Acclimate XL
