OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
Maybe? Definitely wouldn't hurt to try.
If I Only Had a Tank... Weeble's 4 foot 120
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can't hurt to try 
I had a tank crash when I ran biopellets with insufficient skimming
I had a tank crash when I ran biopellets with insufficient skimming
OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
I moved it back right beside the intake. We will see what happens.
fingers crossed!
OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
Also, page 3! Thanks for the conversation and putting up with my ramblings!
OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
The first fish loss today. My mandarin was dead on the sand bed this morning. Both clowns look like crap and my tang is looking pretty rough too. Got a feeling it's not going to be a fun weekend.
OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
No fish, day 1.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Seems too soon in this tank to have so many fish and biopellets running.
Dunno what you'll be doing now, but if possible go slower stocking the tank up next time...consider just adding one or two critters a month and get used to taking care of the tank with them BEFORE adding the next set of critters. (I'm grouping corals, other inverts, fish, et al here as "critters".) And do NOT run anything exotic like biopellets until testing reveals the need for it. Live rock + protein skimming should be it.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-Matt
Dunno what you'll be doing now, but if possible go slower stocking the tank up next time...consider just adding one or two critters a month and get used to taking care of the tank with them BEFORE adding the next set of critters. (I'm grouping corals, other inverts, fish, et al here as "critters".) And do NOT run anything exotic like biopellets until testing reveals the need for it. Live rock + protein skimming should be it.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-Matt
OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
Bear in mind that this was a transplant tank from my 40. The only thing I have added is the tang.
Though generally speaking, I agree with everything you're saying and I tend to follow that method.
Though generally speaking, I agree with everything you're saying and I tend to follow that method.
OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
Not surprisingly, the tang died last night. Dead fish count sits at 2. Hopefully that's the last of them. Only my ocellaris seems to have any problems right now, and I'm hoping that the copper will clear that up.
I'm still seeing spots on the tomato, but he's eating and active in the QT so I'm not overly concerned. The foxface, pair of chromis and the firefish are all doing great. No spots have ever appeared on any of them.
As an update to the earlier post where I said I was going to leave them in place, when I woke up to find the mandarin dead my guilt feelings got the best of me. I felt that, even if I ended up stressing them, medicating them was going to be the best way forward. At the moment, I'm back to the same stock that I had in my previous 40 setup, minus the mandarin. Nobody is showing any signs of stress and everyone is eating well except the ocellaris.
My next decision will come in another couple of weeks, when the triggers are set to come out of QT. I might introduce them to the 40 since the copper treatment will be finished. They're in a smaller tank now and the 40 would give them some much needed room. It also allows me to introduce them to the rest of the fish outside of the DT where territory issues would be more likely.
I'm going to start dosing Microbacter to the DT in order to keep good bacteria in the system and the pellets. I'll still be feeding the corals with Reef Chili every few days, so hopefully that will help to keep the levels where I want them. Fortunately I only have 2 LPS corals in the entire system and my SPS aren't nearly as picky about there being some nitrates and phosphates available.
I'm still seeing spots on the tomato, but he's eating and active in the QT so I'm not overly concerned. The foxface, pair of chromis and the firefish are all doing great. No spots have ever appeared on any of them.
As an update to the earlier post where I said I was going to leave them in place, when I woke up to find the mandarin dead my guilt feelings got the best of me. I felt that, even if I ended up stressing them, medicating them was going to be the best way forward. At the moment, I'm back to the same stock that I had in my previous 40 setup, minus the mandarin. Nobody is showing any signs of stress and everyone is eating well except the ocellaris.
My next decision will come in another couple of weeks, when the triggers are set to come out of QT. I might introduce them to the 40 since the copper treatment will be finished. They're in a smaller tank now and the 40 would give them some much needed room. It also allows me to introduce them to the rest of the fish outside of the DT where territory issues would be more likely.
I'm going to start dosing Microbacter to the DT in order to keep good bacteria in the system and the pellets. I'll still be feeding the corals with Reef Chili every few days, so hopefully that will help to keep the levels where I want them. Fortunately I only have 2 LPS corals in the entire system and my SPS aren't nearly as picky about there being some nitrates and phosphates available.
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OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
Total loss: 3 fish. My mandarin, the clown and the tang didn't survive. Everything else is doing great. I still have 12 days of copper treatment left, but everyone is spot-free, seemingly healthy and eating very well. While I'm incredibly sad to have lost the fish that I did, I'm happy that it wasn't worse.
The up shot of this is that it allows me a bit of time to reflect on stocking. I've avoided wrasses because I didn't want something that competed directly with my mandarin for food. Without the mandarin, I'm considering adding a few different wrasses to the tank.
My timeline as it stands right now:
The tank is running fallow for 72 days, with an end date of November 17th.
The triggers have a few days left in QT, ending on the 25th. They'll be moved to the 40 with the rest of the fish for the remaining DT fallow period. I don't have anything aggressive in the 40, so I have a feeling that they'll just appreciate having a bigger home.
When I have 30 days of fallow time left, I'm going to bring my next fish in to QT. What I don't know is what those fish will be. I'm heavily considering two yellow tangs and a powder blue. I know that yellows have a reputation for being bullies, but I'm in love with the idea of two yellows and a blue. Being able to QT them and add them at the same time should cut down on aggression. I hope. [Edit: The Beard of Knowledge, aka Dowtish, recommends that if I'm going to add tangs that they be last. Makes sense. Wrasses it is!]
My other thought is to rebuild what I had by bringing in a replacement clown and another mandarin, but again that depends on whether I choose a mandarin or wrasses.
The up shot of this is that it allows me a bit of time to reflect on stocking. I've avoided wrasses because I didn't want something that competed directly with my mandarin for food. Without the mandarin, I'm considering adding a few different wrasses to the tank.
My timeline as it stands right now:
The tank is running fallow for 72 days, with an end date of November 17th.
The triggers have a few days left in QT, ending on the 25th. They'll be moved to the 40 with the rest of the fish for the remaining DT fallow period. I don't have anything aggressive in the 40, so I have a feeling that they'll just appreciate having a bigger home.
When I have 30 days of fallow time left, I'm going to bring my next fish in to QT. What I don't know is what those fish will be. I'm heavily considering two yellow tangs and a powder blue. I know that yellows have a reputation for being bullies, but I'm in love with the idea of two yellows and a blue. Being able to QT them and add them at the same time should cut down on aggression. I hope. [Edit: The Beard of Knowledge, aka Dowtish, recommends that if I'm going to add tangs that they be last. Makes sense. Wrasses it is!]
My other thought is to rebuild what I had by bringing in a replacement clown and another mandarin, but again that depends on whether I choose a mandarin or wrasses.
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OP
OP
Defective_Weeble
Salty
Screeching halt? Well, almost.
An update since it's been a bit - The female from the pair of Blue Throat Triggers died suddenly the other day. No idea what happened. They were getting along in the hospital tank with everyone else just fine. Nitrates were a bit high, but otherwise everything else was normal. Chalking that one up to "***".
And now, time to close this build thread. Yep. I'm getting rid of the 120.
Say hi to the 180
An update since it's been a bit - The female from the pair of Blue Throat Triggers died suddenly the other day. No idea what happened. They were getting along in the hospital tank with everyone else just fine. Nitrates were a bit high, but otherwise everything else was normal. Chalking that one up to "***".
And now, time to close this build thread. Yep. I'm getting rid of the 120.
Say hi to the 180
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