The Moorish Idol Thread
- Thread starter zfunk007
- Start date
Skynyrd Fish
Member
Z- Now that I read a little more an 80 will work nice. The rubbermaid tubs are awswome. Are you going to plumb one of them in for more fuge area. Maybe for growng calupera? Just a thought. I used to pay for the hobby by selling about $50 worth a month back to the LFS. The tank that produced the calupera was by far the cleanest I ever had, I hardly ever had to clean the glass.
Skynyrd Fish
Member
OUter Bank- I agree with you mine eats small snails, or anything that thinks about moving in the tank sand bed.
ReefGeekster
Premium Member
WOW! Mine does the same blows sand around looking for food that may have settled.
zfunk007
Premium Member
Welp it's about 2:00 in the morning and I am officially warn out! But we made some great progress today. I'm sad that I lost some of my favorite fish, but this project is for the greater good. And most importantly for me, my Idol is still alive and well.
Here are a few more pictures of the progress:
Skynyrd Fish, I am using a 100 gallon rubbermaid sump for this system. You can see it in the above picture sitting on top of the 210 gallon tank. I cylconed eggcrate into a square in the middle of the sump where I will house the bio balls and my skimmer and other various pumps will go on the sides. I'll post more pictures of it later once I have it plumbed.
In this second picture you can see that all the tanks are now cleared off and my dad and I redesigned the cinder block stand that the tanks will be sitting on. That long stretch is for the 2, 210's and the higher cinder blocks you see on the left hand side are for the refugium. I decided to try something different and designed it so that my refugium will drain right into both of my 210's. I think it will work great. We will see...
The plumbing starts tommorow....
In the mean time, my Idol is exploring his 150 gallon rubbermaid container. And like I said, I'm sure he likes it more than the tank he was in because it is 40 gallons bigger :lol:. I'm just so glad he is ok. After my tangs and wrasse died I got worried. But I realize now why they died and how I screwed up. I guess this sort of thing happends sometimes when your moving fish around...
Welp, bed time, another long day tommorow. And more updates. Hope everyones Idols are doing well.
Here are a few more pictures of the progress:
Skynyrd Fish, I am using a 100 gallon rubbermaid sump for this system. You can see it in the above picture sitting on top of the 210 gallon tank. I cylconed eggcrate into a square in the middle of the sump where I will house the bio balls and my skimmer and other various pumps will go on the sides. I'll post more pictures of it later once I have it plumbed.
In this second picture you can see that all the tanks are now cleared off and my dad and I redesigned the cinder block stand that the tanks will be sitting on. That long stretch is for the 2, 210's and the higher cinder blocks you see on the left hand side are for the refugium. I decided to try something different and designed it so that my refugium will drain right into both of my 210's. I think it will work great. We will see...
The plumbing starts tommorow....
In the mean time, my Idol is exploring his 150 gallon rubbermaid container. And like I said, I'm sure he likes it more than the tank he was in because it is 40 gallons bigger :lol:. I'm just so glad he is ok. After my tangs and wrasse died I got worried. But I realize now why they died and how I screwed up. I guess this sort of thing happends sometimes when your moving fish around...
Welp, bed time, another long day tommorow. And more updates. Hope everyones Idols are doing well.
zfunk007
Premium Member
I think I figured out why. I was using one of those water pumps from Home Depot that you attach a regular hose to. Well I bought a new hose by Goodyear. It was a black rubber and I'm thinking maybe it had some sort of toxin in it because my water parameters checked out perfectly but it killed all my fish overnight.
I came down this morning, my Broomtail was dead, Regal Angel was dead, Striped Parrotfish was dead and my Moorish Idol was swimming around looking very stressed out (yes he actually out lived all my other fish, a testament to how durable these fish can be). So I immediatly took him out of the 150 gallon holding tank and put him into my last established system (my invertebrate system for my business). He lasted about 3 more hours and then died. I sat and watched him take his last breath and then buried him and the others in the back yard. I took the Idols favorite rock that had sponge growing on it and put it on his grave (I know I am being rediculous, he's a fish, but a fish I loved and was attached to).
The moral of this story is, do your research and make sure you use CLEAN hoses and pumps before you go pumping water out of your tanks. All I wanted to do was give him and my other fish a better home and now I have sucessfully executed just about every one of them (except for my mated pair of convict gobies who are apparently tough as rocks). Not only that, but all of my live rock is now ruined because they are intoxicated by whatever killed my fish. So I'm going to have to buy new live rock as well
. Back to square one...
I think what I am going to do is move my tank setup story to another thread since my Moorish Idol is dead. I will start a thread that is dedicated to that and I will start over, get another Idol from that guy in Hawaii and this time have a great home for him from the start. Maybe I can get him to catch me a mated pair....
O well, I am upset but you live and learn. Fish are fragile creatures and you have to cover all your bases before you go moving them around. I guess I'm a careless fool... Hope you all are having better luck with your Idols than I am.. I'll be around.
I came down this morning, my Broomtail was dead, Regal Angel was dead, Striped Parrotfish was dead and my Moorish Idol was swimming around looking very stressed out (yes he actually out lived all my other fish, a testament to how durable these fish can be). So I immediatly took him out of the 150 gallon holding tank and put him into my last established system (my invertebrate system for my business). He lasted about 3 more hours and then died. I sat and watched him take his last breath and then buried him and the others in the back yard. I took the Idols favorite rock that had sponge growing on it and put it on his grave (I know I am being rediculous, he's a fish, but a fish I loved and was attached to).
The moral of this story is, do your research and make sure you use CLEAN hoses and pumps before you go pumping water out of your tanks. All I wanted to do was give him and my other fish a better home and now I have sucessfully executed just about every one of them (except for my mated pair of convict gobies who are apparently tough as rocks). Not only that, but all of my live rock is now ruined because they are intoxicated by whatever killed my fish. So I'm going to have to buy new live rock as well
. Back to square one...I think what I am going to do is move my tank setup story to another thread since my Moorish Idol is dead. I will start a thread that is dedicated to that and I will start over, get another Idol from that guy in Hawaii and this time have a great home for him from the start. Maybe I can get him to catch me a mated pair....
O well, I am upset but you live and learn. Fish are fragile creatures and you have to cover all your bases before you go moving them around. I guess I'm a careless fool... Hope you all are having better luck with your Idols than I am.. I'll be around.
zfunk007
Premium Member
Yeah I can't believe how bummed I am. I was practically in tears this morning taking my dead fish out of my tank. My Broomtail and Idol were my favorite fish and they were my pets. To me no different than a dog or a cat. They relied on me to care for them and feed them everyday and they responded like pets do. So seeing them dead to me was no different than any other pet. Just as heartbreaking...
I have for the moment just about lost all motivation for this project. The whole purpose of this giant upgrade was for my Idol and Broomtail. Now that they are dead it's hard go back to work. All of my live rock is sitting on my deck in the back yard soaking in fresh water and my tanks are ripped apart and the fish are dead. I guess after this day is finally over perhaps I'll feel better and like going back to work on it...
I have for the moment just about lost all motivation for this project. The whole purpose of this giant upgrade was for my Idol and Broomtail. Now that they are dead it's hard go back to work. All of my live rock is sitting on my deck in the back yard soaking in fresh water and my tanks are ripped apart and the fish are dead. I guess after this day is finally over perhaps I'll feel better and like going back to work on it...
ReefGeekster
Premium Member
Sorry for your loss, My Idol just turned 1 year of me taking care of him/her I can feel the pain. Once I was outside spraying weeds and not thinking and for some reason stuck my hand in the tank.... lucked out nothing happened.
There is another Idol out there with your name on it just waiting for a good home and the next one will benefit from mistakes in the past.
There is another Idol out there with your name on it just waiting for a good home and the next one will benefit from mistakes in the past.
Z- sorry about your mishap, I saw that hose when I was setting up the 210, and was close to using it.
could you just use hevy chemical filtration on the rock to try to save what ever may be left on it? Carbon etc? My first tank, I ordered over $200 worth of discus, without having the filtration required, and pulled an all nighter trying to save them when the ammo spiked. I still lost more than half of them.
I know the feeling. But you learn from experience, and after that, I got an eheim wet dry and never had any problems since, I still use that same canister wet dry on my system (I just clean it out every week) I actually find it easy to clean since the media is all in baskets.
I will probably be getting some more sand to pour on top of what I have now in the 210 to make the sand be even deeper, to combat nitrates.
Anyway, my lsat MI used to blow the sand around looking for stuff as well. But that one died. I was peaved since that thing would eat about anything I put in the tank. The new MI does not search around in the sand for food, and is picky about what it eats. Its beenn eating a lot of live clam on the halfshell. It and the butterflies love it.
Anyway Z once you get sand, rocks, etc in those 210s you will be off and running again. What are you planning for filtration anyway. What is your setup gonna be like. You mentioned the sump and hooking the two tanks together.
could you just use hevy chemical filtration on the rock to try to save what ever may be left on it? Carbon etc? My first tank, I ordered over $200 worth of discus, without having the filtration required, and pulled an all nighter trying to save them when the ammo spiked. I still lost more than half of them.
I know the feeling. But you learn from experience, and after that, I got an eheim wet dry and never had any problems since, I still use that same canister wet dry on my system (I just clean it out every week) I actually find it easy to clean since the media is all in baskets.
I will probably be getting some more sand to pour on top of what I have now in the 210 to make the sand be even deeper, to combat nitrates.
Anyway, my lsat MI used to blow the sand around looking for stuff as well. But that one died. I was peaved since that thing would eat about anything I put in the tank. The new MI does not search around in the sand for food, and is picky about what it eats. Its beenn eating a lot of live clam on the halfshell. It and the butterflies love it.
Anyway Z once you get sand, rocks, etc in those 210s you will be off and running again. What are you planning for filtration anyway. What is your setup gonna be like. You mentioned the sump and hooking the two tanks together.
zfunk007
Premium Member
Thanks for the sympathy everyone. It's a new day now and I feel a bit better. I am going to continue work on my setup. Like I said I am going to start a new thread in a different section about my tank setup because I don't think it belongs here anymore since my Idol is dead.
chisel - I already took all the rock out back of my house and soaked it in fresh water, so I'm sure it is now officially dead rock. I'm going to let it air out quite a bit and I might use some of it once I feel it is clean. But I'm going to have to get more live rock and just start over. I just don't feel safe using it after my fish dropped dead like that.
I built a wet-dry filter of my own out of a 100 gallon rubbermaid container and I am using an 80 gallon refugium that is going to drain directly into my 210's. It will be an interesting setup.
Back to work... keep updating on your Idols everyone. Keep the spirit alive.
chisel - I already took all the rock out back of my house and soaked it in fresh water, so I'm sure it is now officially dead rock. I'm going to let it air out quite a bit and I might use some of it once I feel it is clean. But I'm going to have to get more live rock and just start over. I just don't feel safe using it after my fish dropped dead like that.
I built a wet-dry filter of my own out of a 100 gallon rubbermaid container and I am using an 80 gallon refugium that is going to drain directly into my 210's. It will be an interesting setup.
Back to work... keep updating on your Idols everyone. Keep the spirit alive.
ReefGeekster
Premium Member
After losing a couple of special fish a few years past, I dug a deep hole in the flower garden in the back yard planting some really nice flowering plants over them knowing they'll always be there giving back to nature....
Skynyrd Fish
Member
Z- Sorry to here it. DON'T LET THIS STOP YOUR PROJECT. My Idol IMO, is alive because you started this thread. The info I learned from you and the other members was helpful. Go Drink some bevarage of choice, and finish your new systems. My Idol is a fish my girlfriend brought home out of the blue. I thought it would be dead in a few days. But he's great. Keep us posted on your new system.
i've had them for 2 days now and have tried 2types of spectrum pellets and formula2 pellets and mysis but no luck so far.
there's also some sponge in my tank on some rocks but i cant tell if they've tried any of it yet.
any ideas? do you think maybe they need a little more time? what else can i try?
there's also some sponge in my tank on some rocks but i cant tell if they've tried any of it yet.
any ideas? do you think maybe they need a little more time? what else can i try?
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