200G IM EXT (First tank ever)

[Grallster]

Yeah. Something is wrong here. Have you been feeding the bacteria in the tank while it was fishless? I’d add bottled bacteria.

 

[vittpsu21]

Yeah. Something is wrong here. Have you been feeding the bacteria in the tank while it was fishless? I’d add bottled bacteria.

sorry I should clarify, the tank had 3 fish in it for the past 5-6 months, and I was feeding them daily. So I went from 3 fish (2 clowns + 1 royal), and added the 4 pj's + 1 firefish

thats why this is so confusing to me

 

[vittpsu21]

Big day here, I finally felt comfortable enough to buy my first 3 lps. Picked up a Duncan, candy cane, and hammer. Have dipped and placed about an hour ago at this point, the Duncan is already opening most of the way!

After a few months of stable numbers I felt like it was time, hopefully I was showed enough patience! My first fish went in September 18th of last year so at this point the tank felt like it was in a place that it could safely handle this! Assuming all goes well I would in 3-4 weeks loved to pick up a few more lps, but we will see how this goes first!

 

[vittpsu21]

I will need to give it a few days, but already think the hammer is getting a bit more flow than it will like! But we will see!

 

[vittpsu21]

little updated picture 48 hours in, looking happy, still goign to give it more time...

I do think the duncan is where it will end up and a snail or crab flipped it last night so I may glue that one down if I wake up again to another fall lol

this truly might be my favorite type of coral

 

[UncommonSense]

little updated picture 48 hours in, looking happy, still goign to give it more time...

I do think the duncan is where it will end up and a snail or crab flipped it last night so I may glue that one down if I wake up again to another fall lol

this truly might be my favorite type of coral

Just wait a few months, until it’s REALLY settled in… It will start inflating substantially more!

(Frogspawn at 5-ish months):

 

[vittpsu21]

yeah I am really excited, my tank is about 5months old at this point I think (or something near there) I have tried to go as slow as I can, do things properly (had aptasia added peppermints they ate it). Trying to let the tank handle itself as much as I can. But this tank is finally starting to round the corner to the fun part!

I will say, the first qt batch went fairly well, this new batch I put in with wrasses has been tough. I lost 3 wrasses already, currently the filefish and the solaransis are in there doing pretty ok. But man is the QT process disheartening sometimes

 

[UncommonSense]

will say, the first qt batch went fairly well, this new batch I put in with wrasses has been tough. I lost 3 wrasses already

Oof! Was there any indications of aggression?

 

[vittpsu21]

Oof! Was there any indications of aggression?

no, so the first one bit the net when I xfered it... I cut it down as much as I could but couldnt' get it off, he passed the first night (freak accident is how I marked thi sone up)

second one ate fine...seemed like all was ok, but 24 hours later he was gone

third one was fine for 4 days, then I turned on the QT light and he freaked out for 3 days and could never calm down, finally passed away last night...

filefish and Solaransis seem great to me currently behind me just swimming around and doing their thing

even added an ATO to the qt because I didn't like the salinity swings that were occurring while I was gone for work for the day etc..

 

[vittpsu21]

no, so the first one bit the net when I xfered it... I cut it down as much as I could but couldnt' get it off, he passed the first night (freak accident is how I marked thi sone up)

second one ate fine...seemed like all was ok, but 24 hours later he was gone

third one was fine for 4 days, then I turned on the QT light and he freaked out for 3 days and could never calm down, finally passed away last night...

filefish and Solaransis seem great to me currently behind me just swimming around and doing their thing

even added an ATO to the qt because I didn't like the salinity swings that were occurring while I was gone for work for the day etc..

New Solaransis (same batch from the same lfs) got put in about 2 days ago now and hes doing wayyyy better. Thinking something just didn't go right with that particular fish, really don't know!

Unrelated, I posted in another thread but I am still in search of some kind of replacement for these balls in my sump

if you remember, my sump has 3 containers with holes in them so it kinda limits my options (RFS)

I have continued to just order these but I kinda have to replace them every 30 days and its not the most fun. Would love a better long term option, not sure if socks would work better here, or some kind of other media that wouldnt' fall through the holes. Really I don't know

 

[UncommonSense]

New Solaransis (same batch from the same lfs) got put in about 2 days ago now and hes doing wayyyy better. Thinking something just didn't go right with that particular fish, really don't know!

Unrelated, I posted in another thread but I am still in search of some kind of replacement for these balls in my sump

if you remember, my sump has 3 containers with holes in them so it kinda limits my options (RFS)

I have continued to just order these but I kinda have to replace them every 30 days and its not the most fun. Would love a better long term option, not sure if socks would work better here, or some kind of other media that wouldnt' fall through the holes. Really I don't know

It isn’t uncommon to get bad examples of fish!

One of the things I think many experienced reefers take for granted is how they subconsciously observe fish for natural behavior, and can notice a fish that’s a bit “off” without even really knowing why half the time! (That is to say, it’s a practice thing!)

Regarding these odd proprietary balls, would it be viable to run filter floss in the same locations? It’s a bit easier to manage than filter socks if you just discard and replace it during maintenance!

 

[vittpsu21]

It isn’t uncommon to get bad examples of fish!

One of the things I think many experienced reefers take for granted is how they subconsciously observe fish for natural behavior, and can notice a fish that’s a bit “off” without even really knowing why half the time! (That is to say, it’s a practice thing!)

Regarding these odd proprietary balls, would it be viable to run filter floss in the same locations? It’s a bit easier to manage than filter socks if you just discard and replace it during maintenance!

I actually JUST had someone suggest this in another thread...

https://www.coralvue.com/klir-fleece-filter-di-4-v2

they are apparently 4" holes... that being said they still are collecting some of the end of this ugly phase for sure lol

 

[vittpsu21]

little nasty atm :P

 

[UncommonSense]

I actually JUST had someone suggest this in another thread...

https://www.coralvue.com/klir-fleece-filter-di-4-v2

they are apparently 4" holes... that being said they still are collecting some of the end of this ugly phase for sure lol

Ah! A fleece roller! there are numerous versions of these, and you can definitely get them in 7”!

little nasty atm :P

Haha I’ve definitely seen FAR worse!

 

[vittpsu21]

It isn’t uncommon to get bad examples of fish!

One of the things I think many experienced reefers take for granted is how they subconsciously observe fish for natural behavior, and can notice a fish that’s a bit “off” without even really knowing why half the time! (That is to say, it’s a practice thing!)

Regarding these odd proprietary balls, would it be viable to run filter floss in the same locations? It’s a bit easier to manage than filter socks if you just discard and replace it during maintenance!

this is probably so true, I really dont know what I am looking at, I do try to ask them how long the fish have been there, I figure longer is better since they are less likely to crash when I get home and into QT

 

[UncommonSense]

this is probably so true, I really dont know what I am looking at, I do try to ask them how long the fish have been there, I figure longer is better since they are less likely to crash when I get home and into QT

Absolutely!

I like to get fish that have been at my LFS for a few weeks at least, ideally confirming that they look healthy and fat, then requesting to see them eat to confirm they have a good appetite for commonly available foods!

— historically, most of my attrition after the first month has been due to picky eaters that slowly waste away (it didn’t help that I tried my hand at keeping Discus for a while…)

 

[vittpsu21]

My LPS are all looking happy today about 3 days in though, so that’s been nice.

Still think it might end up being too much flow for hammer but we will see in a week or two before I glue. The snails keep flipping the Duncan and it was happy so I did glue that one down already

 

[vittpsu21]

So today I took the time to add a really small pump to my refug. I messed with it a lot but really couldn’t get the chaeto to tumble like I wanted. FWIW without this pump the whole refug was pretty much zero flow…but any ideas or feedback on improvement would be great. Live rock has been in the sump forever, with my end goal always being to have a thriving pod population for mandarins way later. Improving nitrate export would just be a bonus!

I microdose phyto and have since the beginning and also seeded many many pods three times!

 

[tritonpower]

New Solaransis (same batch from the same lfs) got put in about 2 days ago now and hes doing wayyyy better. Thinking something just didn't go right with that particular fish, really don't know!

Unrelated, I posted in another thread but I am still in search of some kind of replacement for these balls in my sump

if you remember, my sump has 3 containers with holes in them so it kinda limits my options (RFS)

I have continued to just order these but I kinda have to replace them every 30 days and its not the most fun. Would love a better long term option, not sure if socks would work better here, or some kind of other media that wouldnt' fall through the holes. Really I don't know

I have the same sump. For the 1st few years 3 filter socks changed once a week will be fine. I like the saltwateraquarium.com socks better than the BRS socks. As your fish grow larger then you will need to change the socks twice a week. Takes a couple minutes. If you order enough of them, you just throw them in a washing machine with vinegar or bleach once a month. Super easy.

 

[vittpsu21]

alright well we came home to some new life in the tank, only additions to the display I have had are the 3 lps which I dipped) and the 2 emeralds, so not too sure how he got in or even what he is? google search says maybe a asterina starfish? idk? It is very hard to get a focused picture on this guy tho because of his size and the stuff behind it lol