Some serious questions, please

Update.

Mandarin seems to be doing fine, he/her is roaming around the tank more and discovering other areas. Still looking pinched but continually pecking at the rock, I guess it will take a while for him to put on weight. His/her tail has grown back the damage it had from the LFS so this has to be a good sign. I have not seen him take any frozen foods, which is a shame. I say him/her as I have not seen any display action, its been very coy and has not shown the full fins as yet. I seen an other 3 at a different LFS and noticed that mine is very un colourful, there is no colour on the big fins they use to stabilise themselves. Maybe this is due to it not being 100% settled, happy and under weight.?

I now have a refuge in the sump with cheato and caulerpa prolifera, wonder mud (HOW MUCH!), sand and a little live rock. SO I am looking forward to tons of pods and a new chemistry in the water from the greens.

I will be looking for a mate, onse this one is happy and I find out if its he or she. I am told that the females are hard to get.
 
Males have two part dorsal fin with a large anterior flag on the fin. The females are a bit less flashy, and have a blunted dorsal fin.

Hope this helps.
Aaron
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15219103#post15219103 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dogstar74
Males have two part dorsal fin with a large anterior flag on the fin. The females are a bit less flashy, and have a blunted dorsal fin.

Hope this helps.
Aaron
Click to expand...

Thanks Dogstar

I wonder if I do indeed have a female as the fins are not so flashy as others I have seen. As soon as I see some life in the sump and the mandarins belly going the right way I will be looking for a mate.

Can I just say this to the "only put one fish in per year, after its been running for 2 years and only after 1000 water changes" brigade. All fish, all coral, all inverts are doing great, flourishing and looked non the worse for the two blooms they just went through. Happily I report the bloom is subsiding so the tank is starting to look very nice. I will post pics when I get the chance. I might have taken a chance in some eyes with the stocking levels, but it was not without very very good advice from people with many years experience, and beautiful tanks.

But I am interested in what you might have to say about the fact that everything in the tank is doing great (bar the mandarin who was not good at the LFS). I even have a clam thats is very happy, its anchored its self to the rock its on. I think I has been correctly advised from the very start and this might be testament to the quality of the;

Salt
Rock
Skimmer

After all that is all there is.

And in my humble opinion I think THE most important thing is very good flow, I dont just meen blasting and turning over the water 50 times per hour. I ensure there is good flow and that the water is getting changed through out the whole column, top to bottom and round the whole tank. I am turning the water over about 18 times per hour, which I know is considered quite low in certain circles.
 
I got a spotted mandarin about 3 weeks ago and QT'ed him until yesterday. He was eating the dry Cyclop-eze powder-size granules in the QT tank. Try that, as it worked for me.

Otherwise, you sound pretty dismissive to the rest of the good advice you've gotten so far. I agree with everything that has been said in the effort to help you. There is always much more to know, even if you have a friend or two with a really big tank. We all have a friend with a really big tank.
 
Just wanted to say that the thing I HATE most about this forum is the ability of the people on here to voice their opinions when all you want are some answers.

Yes... the books say there is a right way to do things but no one knows all the specifics... whos, hows and whys of what has gone on in your system except for you.

with that out of the way... Dude, my advice... go out and buy a couple bottles of trigger pods. Pour one bottle in the tank. Set up a refugium or a separate tank connected to your tank... heck your sump for that matter... somewhere that has water to allow the pods to reproduce without being eaten but that flows into the display tank. Pour one bottle in that. Keep the other bottle in the fridge and dose the tank with it a couple times a week. Give the sump/fuge/extra tank about a month or two for them to breed well and viola... your mandarin will have food.

another suggestion if you don't have the $20/bottle that it costs here in the us for the pods... go get a floated guppy breeder thing... it's clear, it has slits on the side and it floats. Go buy some cheato (macro algae). Put the cheato in the floater and the cheato will stay in there out of the display tank and the pods in the cheato will multiply and find their way out of your tank.

I did the same thing... saw the fish, liked the fish and bought the fish... knowing it would be a picky eater. Had a tank less than six months old. I used both methods above simultaneously and over a year later my mandarin is fat and happy.

as for the cyano... it grows in low flow areas and feeds on nitrate and phosphate. Several options here as suggestions only... do what works for you. First, you can turn lights out for three days and feed fish only once per day. On fourth day... turn lights on several days and feed as normal. If it is not completely gone, or begins to grow again... repeat process in cycles... three days on, regular feedings, three days off, feed once a day. Another option is slime away. From what i understand it treats the tank, kills the stuff and doesn't harm corals. Personally, i've never used it but some say it works. Another option... what i do is buy some nitrate absorption pads and some phosphate absorption pads and put them in my filter for a week or two. To remove the food supply is to remove the slime algae. And... what I also do is keep macro algaes in my sump. If you don't have a sump... you can do the cheato in the guppy thing (a two fold helper) or with my bubble calepura, i take little zip loc bags and cut small holes in the sides and attach the bag inside the upper level of the tank.... as it grows roots out of the bag, i keep it trimmed back to my tastes... but it doesn't get all over the tank that way.

hope that helps... happy reefing man!
 
You say you would like to hear about what people think of your success..I would not consider what you have added as success until at minimum a year or two down the road. Two weeks or so of keeping thing alive is not yet success..fwiw..your amonia..nitrate spike may be a week or two off and then may cause all kinds of trouble. Your mandarin soon to be 2 will more than likely suffer..but as I say we all make choices..
 
:o

..I would not consider what you have added as success until at minimum a year or two down the road.
Click to expand...

Actually, I only consider it a success if the fish dies of old age :D

At a year old you are on your way to success and it would seem that you are keeping it fed and healthy but a mandarin should live at least ten years, probably much longer but accidents happen.
Good luck.
Paul
:cool:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15226725#post15226725 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
:o



Actually, I only consider it a success if the fish dies of old age :D

At a year old you are on your way to success and it would seem that you are keeping it fed and healthy but a mandarin should live at least ten years, probably much longer but accidents happen.
Good luck.
Paul
:cool:
Click to expand...

I agree! But most don't think in those terms..;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15223135#post15223135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by geminianspark
Just wanted to say that the thing I HATE most about this forum is the ability of the people on here to voice their opinions when all you want are some answers.
Click to expand...

Really? Well considering there are NO absolutes in this hobby it is pretty much ALL opinion. About the only things people have standards on is water quality. Types of fish, compatability, tank size for those fish, feeding, lighting..... is all a matter of opinion. He is getting answers, just doesn't seem to be taking them in the spirit they are given imo.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15224382#post15224382 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ohiomom
You say you would like to hear about what people think of your success..I would not consider what you have added as success until at minimum a year or two down the road. Two weeks or so of keeping thing alive is not yet success..fwiw..
Click to expand...

I am not suggesting I am "a success" I am simply giving the facts of my experience so far in the last 5 months of keeping a reef tank.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15224382#post15224382 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ohiomom
your amonia..nitrate spike may be a week or two off and then may cause all kinds of trouble. Your mandarin soon to be 2 will more than likely suffer..but as I say we all make choices..
Click to expand...

Not sure if you meen ammonia/nitrite spike, if so, I thought there was only one of these in the early stages, which the tank went through.?

It is interesting that you guys in the US do seem to have a big thing about cycling the tank for a very long period. I wonder if this might be due to the quality of the rock some of you guys use? I have always bought top quality cured rock that has been well and truly seasoned and full of life.

Everyone seems to have there own ideas which is great to read and take from it what you feel is sensible. Opinions sometimes have to be taken with a pinch of salt, and if you are not able to have your opinions questioned then you need to keep them to yourself. I have gleaned some good advice from this thread which I believe I have acknowledged already, but thanks again guys.

Aquarium success? not really sure how that could be measured. Having a healthy tank, with happy fish and blooming corals?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15228098#post15228098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fingers68


Everyone seems to have there own ideas which is great to read and take from it what you feel is sensible. Opinions sometimes have to be taken with a pinch of salt, and if you are not able to have your opinions questioned then you need to keep them to yourself. I have gleaned some good advice from this thread which I believe I have acknowledged already, but thanks again guys.
Click to expand...

Not sure who that is directed at and how that is meant to be taken, but if it was me..I have said nothing offensive nor have I said anything that should have deemed as an absolute..as I said we all make choices and all suggestions are opinioned based and when posting on a board you are asking for people to NOT keep their opinions to themselves but whatever and goodluck...

p.s. by adding that many fish you will more than likely see another spike..
 
Directed at everyone, and you can take it with a pinch of salt if you like, it is just common sence. Just beacuse someone has an opinon does not make them correct, does it?

Can we please dispence with the ideas that people are being attacked and get back to something constructive.

I am interested in your suggestion that the fish could cause another spike, how does this happen?
 
If the bacterial populations are not high enough in number, then there is a chance of ammonia (and then concurrently, nitrite and nitrate) building up faster than it can be removed by the nitrification process. For bacteria populations to be high, there needs to already be a substantial amount of organics introduced and broken down as ammonia, nitrite to begin with.

So, low bacteria populations = another spike, as the bacteria grow and reproduce to "catch up" with the new bioload. 21 fish is a major bio load and a major change for the tank to adjust to.

I think that anyone reading these posts can take that away from this conversation. Fingers68, on the other hand needs advice on how to minimize this spike and deal with the outcome of placing so many fish at one time, especially a sensitive species that's a picky eater like a mandarin.

I believe that those tho are providing this warning are doing so to prepare fingers for the worst-case (and entirely plausible) scenario and also warning others who contemplate adding 21 fish at once. I believe we all wish him well, and that his fish make it through this difficulty.
 
I believe that those tho are providing this warning are doing so to prepare fingers for the worst-case (and entirely plausible) scenario and also warning others who contemplate adding 21 fish at once. I believe we all wish him well, and that his fish make it through this difficulty.
Click to expand...

Exactamundo
 
OK this is getting ridiculous,

When have I said I added 21 new fish to a totally new system?

30 kg of live rock is 4 months old covered in coralline from my old running system,
16 kg 2 years old covered in coralline.
Sand from my old system.

10 fish were from my old system. none of which are over 2inch

I have added a further 11 small fish, all are under 2inchs, 4 are under 1inch.

I have over 800 ltrs of water in the system.

Other than the mandarin, I believe there is nothing for me to worry about, in the slightest. I would not have added the fish other wise.

I mean please, is this not getting a little irrational and slightly missleading?.

I meen hey, going by some of the advice here my tank sounds doomed, maybe I should empty it, take all the stock back to the shop, and start again.?

Like I say there has been some good advice, and there has been some comical anouncments considering the tank has not been viewed nore being aware of the full facts.

Typical internet forum really, take with a pinch of salt.
 
in my experience the mandarin i got was easily trained to take in frozen food. put him in qt for about a week and within two days he was eating the food i prepared for it.

i should try to get another mandarin and see if this works again.

...i knew a guy who introduced 100+ fish into his system at once. i personally didnt agree with him doing so, but his tank pulled through.
 
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