My 55 gallon reef project

[picassoman]

The problem with that return pump is that your overflow won't be able to handle that much water pushing through it unless you have a 2" bulkhead. Depending on a standard one inch bulkhead that is put on most tanks you looking at getting 600 gph max and it will sound like niagara falls. I Would get a smaller one aroung 700-800 gph, the pump itself will run quiter and cost you less money to run.

 

[picassoman]

Oops don't know what happened there!

 

[dcombs44]

I'm assuming that guy was posting on the wrong page?

 

[dcombs44]

A quick update. My fish are coming around nicely. I discovered a small problem that has immediately improved my entire system. My EuroReef skimmer had sucked in some bubble algae, and wasn't able to skim properly. (My overflow chamber is like a bubble algae refugium, but the display is bubble free. Yay emerald crabs) I wasn't getting much skimmate lately, and that of course was why. I've been getting almost a full cup per day for the last three days now, and my lps and zoas have really come around since then, and of course the xenia is growing like crazy.

The fish are looking better. Fins are slowly healing up, and they continue to eat like pigs. I plan on adding a new fish in the near future, probably after it cools off a bit. It's supposed to hit 106 here in central illinois today. I'm thinking about a mandarin. My tank has been established for almost 4 years if you consider that the rock has come from my old 3 year old 29 gallon, and my fuge is thriving. I think I'd be more than able to provide for the needs of one. Thanks again for all of the help everyone. I'm so glad everyone made it through the ordeal. Unfortunately, so did a few flatworms.

 

[melev]

Why don't you siphon out the ones you see before they can increase in body count?

 

[dcombs44]

I actually have some fresh salt water mixing to do just that while doing a small water change at the same time. I hope to do it tonight. Thanks!

Marc, my LFS has three green mandarins that are very beautiful. I think they've been in the store for a couple of weeks, but are in a tank that is lacking pods. Their stomachs all look a bit pinched. What are your thoughs on survival if I were to get them in my tank with a good pod population?

 

[melev]

I just picked one up myself because it was gorgeous but in a system that I felt was lacking. The owner seemed surprised when I mentioned it was hungry because he feels the system is full of pods. My point was that the tank the fish was in was not, and the only way that mandarin would get a meal would be to move it to the other tanks that have pods visible in them.

I ended up buying it instead.

If your tank has a lot of pods and a refugium (or pod piles at least), I think one would be fine in your tank. Try to avoid buying other pod eating fish to avoid excessive competition.

 

[dcombs44]

Good deal. The fish were desparately searching in the store's tanks, but they openly admitted that they needed to be sold to be fed.

My fuge looks better than ever, so I'd like to think we're good to go. Do you recommend quarantining a mandarin? I've heard that they can't contract ich, but I didn't know about any other parasites. I suppose if I quarantine, I could shake off a bunch of macro from my fuge to keep them fed while in qt. I just know that they need a meal fast.

 

[melev]

I don't recommend quarantining mandarins. They already are hungry for who knows how long. Their oily skin helps them avoid getting infected with ich, but it is possible unfortunately. I'd say it is reasonably safe to move it directly to its new home, and that is what I've always done.

 

[dcombs44]

I got my mandarin last night. A nice looking female. Drip acclimated for about an hour and a half. She seemed to start searching immediately after I placed her in the tank. Lights were out shortly after. I get off work a bit early today, so I'm anxious to get a couple of pics posted. I hope I've got plenty of pods for her. I did a bit of rock and wall searching last night, and I saw 10 or so copepods, which hopefully means there are plenty more where that came from. I just took a quick glance with a flashlight in hopes to see some with my not so great eyes. I also took some macro from the fuge and shook it out in the display. Hopefully I'll come home today to find her picking her way through the live rock.

 

[dcombs44]

Melev,

Do you think that it's neccessary to feed phytoplankton in order to keep my pod population thriving.

 

[melev]

Yes, I would say that it helps a lot. Copepods feed in phytoplankton, and well-fed pods would logical reproduce better than starving ones.

 

[dcombs44]

Here's the best pic that I can get of my new mandarin. My clown was in the middle of rearranging her sandbed, so it's a bit blurry. I have employed melev's mandarin diner in hopes that she'll eat frozen and pellet food. Wish me luck.

 

[ludnix]

Maybe it's the picture but it looks really starved, hopefully it will find enough good in your tank to recover from the LFS.

 

[dcombs44]

She's got a bit of a pinched belly, but i'm hoping she can find enough pods in my tank to fatten up.

 

[dcombs44]

Well, I ran across some good luck today. I was given a truck load of reef stuff from a fellow reefer that's leaving and getting out of the hobby. I got a few powerheads a magdrive pump, a dual 175 watt MH ballast with the reflectors and bulbs, a couple good chunks of live rock (some of which I can't use), various mushrooms and polyps, a couple of nice leathers, and a ricordia rock with about 8 polyps on it. I also picked up a shrimp goby and some species of damsel that I will probably give away. Oh, and a nice looking Coral Banded Shrimp that I may try to sell to the LFS for some credit.
I've got peppermints that eat aptasia, so I don't want him going after them.

The goby needs some fattening up, so he'll remain in my qt tank with some of the frags that I don't want and the extra rock for the time being.

 

[dcombs44]

Melev, here's another question for you. I posted a separate thread for this, but I'll ask you here as well.

When a mandarin pecks at a rock, does that always mean that they are finding food, or do they sometimes misjudge and peck at nothing?

I ask because my mandarin seems to always be pecking, but I want to be sure that she's actually finding stuff when she pecks.

 

[melev]

Who knows? The food they eat is so tiny, I never see what they get. I've sat there and watched closely and never saw what, if anything, it got.

Then again, pods are tiny and we are inches away. The mandarin is right on top of them.

 

[jnarowe]

I would guess that they peck when they see something to eat, and that is a good sign. I wouldn't assume that the fish is retarded right off the bat. It usually takes time to come up with that assessment. :

 

[dcombs44]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10534491#post10534491 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
I would guess that they peck when they see something to eat, and that is a good sign. I wouldn't assume that the fish is retarded right off the bat. It usually takes time to come up with that assessment. :

speaking of retarded, I've decided that my yellow tang is actually a mimic tang. He now follows the mandarin around attempting to peck at the rocks.