Some new fish...

[danorth]

I will try it and report back. I may try the force feed method too where I hold the fish in the tank and force mysis into its mouth, but not too rough, just enough.

For the harem, I don't think they'd mind the 29 for the time needed. I also don't think there would be a problem doing 2 now, then 2 later, flameangel88 would be the one to ask. One just has to be bigger I believe.

 

[danorth]

http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i287/reeftankpix/?action=view&current=89d4d756.pbr


His tank I think.

 

[Recty]

And so do they all start as male and one changes to female, is that how it works? Or the other way around? And as long as one is noticeably bigger than the others, that one will be the dominant sex and the others wont change?

I've never yet successfully force fed a fish. The only one I ever tried it on was a harlequin tusk that wouldnt eat for 4 weeks and it was either get it eating or die. I held him gently in the water with a rag and poked food into him mouth with a shishkabob stick, I could get it past his teeth and hold it in there, but as soon as I let him go he would thrash his head around and spit it out. He died the next day after I tried that, but I dont think I killed him, maybe indirectly through stress but he was getting real skinny and going to die anyway.

 

[danorth]

Yeah, a tusk has big teeth! I'll try the hold and feed today first with mysis, then the clam. Last will be the live rock. Perhaps it needs to see other fish eat. So many choices....

I believe it just takes one being larger than the others by a good amount, and the others just figure it out, but again, pm that other guy.

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

Yup, thats flameangel88's tank, gorgeous! He has another tank too, a 125g which has a bunch of other nice fish.

I would add the flames all at once, how many were you thinking? I was going to do it, had a LFS that had 6 flames, I was going to get atleast 3 plus my one from my reef. The thing that is stopping me is my eel, he has eaten two 2" damsels in my FO tank, there still is a damsel and clown that he hasn't eaten yet. I don't know, kind of risky. I definitely won't do a harem of flames in my reef, that is just asking for it, I got lucky with one leaving everything alone. I would QT them all at once, but in each 29 QT tank, put eggcrate to divide them up. That way they can get used to having another flame around them without any damage. Then add them all at once to your display. Dan and I can't do it, Recty, your our only hope!

 

[barbianj]

Recty,

Do you plan on using carbon vs the Cuprisorb to remove the copper?

Also, I contacted Seachem and they told me "Since Prime is a reducing agent, we do not recommend using
water immediately treated with Prime while dosing
Cupramine. We recommend waiting 48 hours after dosing
Prime to the replacement water before adding it to your
main tank."

 

[Recty]

We will see, I am still waffling on the flame angel idea. They are a pretty little bright fish, but it would probably limit me on ever being able to add any more fish, especially small angels.

Yes, I'm planning on just using carbon to soak up the cupramine, I havent really even looked into cuprisorb at all.

I see that Cuprisorb is able to be regenerated... how do you go about doing that?

I received pretty much the same statement from Seachem a couple weeks ago when I was asking, let me see if I can find that email...

"Prime will stay in your tank for 48 hours, so it will be safe to dose with Cupramine after two days of using Prime."

I dont really use Prime much anyway, so this doesnt really effect me much.

 

[barbianj]

I believe the Cuprisorb is regenerated with muriatic acid. I don't use Prime, either, but they only give direct advice about their own products. Any water conditioner that reduces heavy metals should be treated like Prime, wait 48 hours after use. Surprisingly, my LFS has the Cuprisorb, so it's there if I need it.

 

[Zoom]

Recty

Recty

You still have the skimmer running ?
What is the ORP now with the copper in the water.

 

[Recty]

Re: Recty

Re: Recty

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15122662#post15122662 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
You still have the skimmer running ?
What is the ORP now with the copper in the water.

Nope, I'm not running the skimmer while the cupramine is in the water. Seachem support said that even if I had it turned down real low so it wasnt collecting anything, it would still be knocking organics out of the water and since cupramine is a organic chelated copper, it would be messed with by the skimmer.

So I just put in a big bubble stone to help make up for the skimmer.

My ORP as of 5 minutes ago reads 319... not bad at all and pretty standard for my tank when I'm not injecting any O3.

 

[Zoom]

Re: Re: Recty

Re: Re: Recty

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15122961#post15122961 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Recty
Nope, I'm not running the skimmer while the cupramine is in the water. Seachem support said that even if I had it turned down real low so it wasnt collecting anything, it would still be knocking organics out of the water and since cupramine is a organic chelated copper, it would be messed with by the skimmer.

So I just put in a big bubble stone to help make up for the skimmer.

My ORP as of 5 minutes ago reads 319... not bad at all and pretty standard for my tank when I'm not injecting any O3.

I don't know how you do it, the 65 gallon QT never goes above 210 with the ORP meter probe cleaned biweekly with Vinegar for 15 minutes .
I get 285/295 in my reef tank with no ozone.
But if i don't clean the probe after two weeks the ORP start to climb up fast.
Do you clean the probe often ?
May be I'm doing something wrong with my ORP meters .

 

[barbianj]

That's odd that their support told you not to run the skimmer and their website states that "A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment." I had not been using my skimmer until this last weekend. I did not notice any change in my copper level because of the skimmer. The copper still decreases each day because of the LR, but very little.

 

[Recty]

Re: Re: Re: Recty

Re: Re: Re: Recty

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15123047#post15123047 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
I don't know how you do it, the 65 gallon QT never goes above 210 with the ORP meter probe cleaned biweekly with Vinegar for 15 minutes .
I get 285/295 in my reef tank with no ozone.
But if i don't clean the probe after two weeks the ORP start to climb up fast.
Do you clean the probe often ?
May be I'm doing something wrong with my ORP meters .

I bought like 5 of the packets of ORP calibration liquid when I bought the ozoner, I still have 2 left, I could calibrate it again but really, I dont see any point to it as it's always pretty much spot on.

I dont clean my probes every two weeks, for sure... more like every 2 months. I just dip it in vinegar water for a couple minutes then scrub it with an old toothbrush I use for "tanky" tasks. Never seems to make a difference. I would think I was doing it bad or not cleaning it enough, but it calibrates correctly with the liquid so I know the probe is working.

There are a lot of variables that affect ORP readings. One major one seems to be flow and I have tons of it, plus lots of small cascading spots in my drop to my sump, so the water gets really charged with oxygen. That is my only guesses as to why mine is consistently high.

When I feed, it drops down a little bit, but within a couple hours it is picked back up to 300+ and sits there most of the time. It raises and drops though I've noticed since I dont actually have it injecting any ozone.

 

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15123055#post15123055 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barbianj
That's odd that their support told you not to run the skimmer and their website states that "A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment." I had not been using my skimmer until this last weekend. I did not notice any change in my copper level because of the skimmer. The copper still decreases each day because of the LR, but very little.

This is a direct quote from the email I received from Seachem support...

"When you are using a protein skimmer, regardless of whether or not it is collecting something, you are effectively knocking something (in the case of skimmers, organics) out of solution. Since Cupramine is a unique organic copper, you may see diminished efficiency when using it in this manner. However, in all likelihood you will still be able to do this while having effective copper in your system, but again you will probably see diminished effectiveness. I personally would not do this method or recommend it, but you would not be harming anything to try it, and if you are not seeing results, then cut the skimmer off."

It made sense to me, so I went ahead and turned my skimmer off.

 

[barbianj]

I don't doubt what you are saying, Recty. It makes sense, and Seachem has great technical support. I started my skimmer up only because I started to see a little ammonia, AND their website says that they recommend using one. Punks.


Q: I am treating my 90 Gallon tank with Cupramine. I've removed the activited charcoal and carbon and I turned off the UV and the Ozonizer. Shoud I turn off my Protein Skimmer? A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment.

 

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15123324#post15123324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barbianj
I don't doubt what you are saying, Recty. It makes sense, and Seachem has great technical support. I started my skimmer up only because I started to see a little ammonia, AND their website says that they recommend using one. Punks.


Q: I am treating my 90 Gallon tank with Cupramine. I've removed the activited charcoal and carbon and I turned off the UV and the Ozonizer. Shoud I turn off my Protein Skimmer? A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment.

Hmmm, as always, it's hard to sense tone over the internet I wasnt meaning mine to sound offended at all, I just wanted you to know what I was told.

So the HLLE is progressing at a steady pace. In just one day, I can already see a big difference, the pores are much bigger and more numerous. I think I might stop the copper treatment soon if this keeps up.

He still is a pretty fish, but it's starting to ruin his face.

 

[kirkaz]

Ugg, that's no good, sorry to see that, another tough decision to make it seems.

Some excellent photography there though Recty.

 

[Recty]

I went ahead and took pictures of the other fish... the lens lets me get closer than the human eye can see so I can see problems before they get bad.

The raccoon looks totally clean, no HLLE manifesting.

Both of the small angels are starting to show HLLE though.

The majestic doesnt look bad at all, but definitely starting some...

The blue face is worse than the majestic but not as bad as the emperor. The blue face is also the only one of the angels that is showing it down the lateral line as well, instead of just in the face area.

Arg, how annoying.

The tangs are fine, so that is good I guess.

 

[barbianj]

I didn't think you were offended at all, we just had conflicting info. What you were told seems to be more correct, and if so, they should update their FAQ.

My Emperor has quite a few holes as well. The Blueface has some, but not nearly as many. I thought about stopping the treatment early, but I think it has to continue. The Queen trigger finally ate today. She was enticed by the brown garlic seaweed. Then I tried scallops, which she loves, but it seemed like she could not see or smell them, so I ripped a long, thin piece of seaweed, soaked the end in water so it was sticky, then wrapped a piece of scallop inside. I got her to eat a 3/4" piece of scallop and a bunch of seaweed, so I feel better about that. Her color is very good, she just looks in a daze.

 

[Recty]

Yeah, I'm not sure what to do... I dont want HLLE to progress to the point that it is permanently disfiguring to the fish, I know that much.

I also dont want them to die of ich...