Cycled123 Nano to 180g

[cycled123]

Oh and also I forgot to mention the Sixline is pretty much full grown. We got him from somebody else who was leaving the hobby.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

l am gad you have a nice six line!

 

[cycled123]

l am gad you have a nice six line!

I just hope he stays that way! You never know with any fish. I once had a freshwater gourami that we had for 3 yrs before he decided to one day kill all his tank mates. And I do have African Cichlids that will duke it out sometimes. I figure it's just a risk we take for some beautiful fish.

 

[cycled123]

I am currently drip acclimating 3 Lyretail Anthias to QT. My husband is disappointed we couldn't find more Bartlett's that have been treated/QT before sold. I felt this was important because we would be adding them to QT with Copperband Butterfly.

I ordered off of divers den so they have already been through copper. I'm going to do a hydroplex dip for 10 min and then add to the QT with Copperband. I know it is risk to the Copperband but felt because Lyretails were already treated I would risk it. Copperband is doing great other then he didn't like reef frenzy. So far has eaten live black worms, frozen brine shrimp and freeze dried blood worms. Will continue to try a variety of foods.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Very nice anthias!!

Good job on getting that copperband eating. I have been debating on getting one for my tank.

 

[cycled123]

I wrote this in another thread dealing with ammonia badge and prime but figured I would add here as well. Sadly I lost my Copperband on day 15 of QT. This is a complete description of what I did in QT.
"Unfortunately lost the copperband sometime during the night. I had dosed Prime again last night because badge was light blue/light green again depending on light. I have read and was attempting to follow multiple quarantine articles. This is my second time setting up QT. Last year when I was setting up my nano tank I used live sand and rock though and was told that was a no no. We used Prime a couple times the first week of this QT a year ago but then didn't have to. Only lost 1 fish out of 6 and that was due to an accident and not disease. Never had to dose any meds. Right now I am in the process of setting up 180g tank and wanted to get a jump on QT so I could do a longer QT, and have a couple fish comfortable and ready to go once the big tank was ready. I had an airstone driven sponge filter in my sump of my nano tank for one month and used Microlift special blend as a boost to my DT sump. I set up the QT tank with this sponge filter, HOB filter, jabeo nano powerhead and HOB skimmer (not necessary but was just sitting there from before we had a sump on DT) I also added microbe lift and To Little Fishes BioPronto. QT was set up for 3 days and then added a Copperband and Bartletts Anthias along with Two Little Fishes Bactiv8 and Hydroplex. Bartlett Anthias did not look well when released from bag (Fish store is two hours away). Drip acclimated for 1 hour and then added to QT. Bartlett died the next morning. I never saw anything obvious wrong with it other than breathing heavy and hiding/laying on bottom next to tube. Ammonia was 0.25 or less with ATI at this time, 0 nitrite, <5 Nitrate. Copperband ate and was very active for 10 days. Performed 4 waterchanges during this time but ammonia was 0.5 per ATI so added 2 doses of prime 48 hrs apart along with all the bacteria products. Nitrite still 0 and Nitrate 5. Added carbon to QT day 4. Added 3 lyretail anthias from Divers Den on Tuesday the 19th after dipping in hydroplex for 10min and ammonia badge. (Day 10 for Copperband) Ammonia badge was light green the morning after adding so added another dose of Prime. That evening Ammonia badge was reading in the light blue range so completed a waterchange with treating 12 gal new water. (QT is 20g not sure if I mentioned that) ATI was reading very Green. Repeated this for next 3 days. Badge always reading lt blue or lt green. Copperband was listless and did not eat yesterday and began "piping" at the surface in the evening. Copperband also had a few brown almost bruise looking spots and two white spots on fin. I pulled carbon and dosed 1 dose of metroplex and Kanaplex. Copperband looked to have more spots on fins so changed directions and completed a 12g water change then added 1ml of Cupramine. It was after 11pm and as my kids home Christmas was in the AM I went to bed after observing for about 30minutes. Copperband was dead when got up at 6am. The 3 lyretails are swimming fine and eating. I do not see any spots or marks on them. I added a dose of prime because ammonia badge light blue. Will complete a waterchange once water is at temperature. Now I don't know if I should add Prime. ATI is very green. Should I continue to add Cupramine in case the copperband had something? How should I proceed? I am at a loss... And please if I did something wrong in all this please let me know. I don't want to keep killing fish. This is the first time I attempted to dose any medications in saltwater. I have in Fresh though."

 

[Ento-Reefer]

I know that you are not supposed to add prime or any other water conditioners or ammonia removers with copper in the tank. The mix is toxic to fish. I am very sorry you lost the copperband. Sometimes we do our best and we still lose some fish. I think you were on the right track with the issue being bacterial. The only issue I can think that maybe I would change is adding new fish to qt. After the fact. Maybe the Antias brought something in?

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Also the ATI ammonia test won’t read correctly with copper in the water so rely on the badge.

I am still questioning the way I have reacted with the group of fish I have in qt. Right now. I think I may have jumped the gun and added the copper too soon out of fear of velvet. Honestly I haven’t had to treat many fish myself in qt over the years. I have been fortunate and have had mostly observation with 2 rounds of prazi pro for the majority of the fish I have kept over the years.

I hope the anthias do well for you.

 

[cycled123]

I agree I won't add fish to existing fish in QT again and I may have had some residual prime with the copper. I think I may have jumped the gun with that to. For some reason my QT is not cycling. I am doing my best with daily 12g water changes and am hoping I keep these lyretails alive. I hate loosing fish!!!

 

[cycled123]

Lyretails still doing ok. They are not eating very much though. Just a few frozen brine. They don't go after the black worms or mysis. I put some mastic in over Christmas but it doesn't look like they touched it. I am still having ammonia issues in QT :( I can't get a handle on what is causing all the ammonia and why bacteria is not keeping up. I do have nitrates though so bacteria is doing something. I am not going to medicate unless something very obvious is going on. I did not use Prime with yesterdays water change because I wanted to see if that makes a difference.

On another note we settled on Reef Octopus Varios 8 return pump. Mostly because it has a better head rating at 5ft then the Ecotech M1 and can be controlled by apex. I also ordered sand. Went with 2 bags Tropic Eden dry mesoflakes, 1 bag dry miniflakes and 1 bag live reef flakes. Not sure if 110lbs is going to be enough but as I couldn't decide on sizes I figured I would start with this and if we need more I would know what I liked best.

I think we have everything we need to get the tank started except the tank!

 

[Ento-Reefer]

I bet you will have enough sand depending on how deep you wanted it. I used Tropic Eden also, the Tonga mini and the reef flakes. I used 120 lbs and I got a 1-2" layer. I rinsed it really well, about 10-15 minutes per bag in a 5 g bucket. Sounds like you are ready to go. How much longer till you get your tank?

 

[cycled123]

How much longer till you get your tank?

I don't have a date yet just "mid-January" :(

 

[cycled123]

Bad news! My lyretails died in QT today :( I think of uronema. We finally got tank fully cycled with 0 ammonia and all 3 were eating well. Yesterday one had a small red spot on side and another had a white patch. Started Metroplex, kanaplex and furan-2. Today all had larger red patches. 2 are now dead and 1 is on the way out. This was fast and furious. Once the last one dies (I think it is inevitable at this point) I will bleach the QT and all equipment used. It sucks because I just finally got the QT cycled correctly and now will have to start completely over. I'm also really hoping I didn't inadvertently infect current DT and the cycling rocks. I was careful but you never know.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Really sorry you lost the Anthias.

 

[cycled123]

Well the lone anthias is still swimming but has a large red spot. I will continue treatment and see what happens. I'm not real hopeful though. On a more positive note the sump is done! My husband was able to finish gluing the panels last night. He says thank god nobody will see his terrible silicone job, so don't look to close!! lol. 50g total water volume with an approximately 25g fuge, large skimmer chamber and 2 sock holder. Also ordered an aquaponic growing light from amazon for light. Will see how it does for growing Chaeto and other macroalgae.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

I think your husband did a great job!!! I love how much room you have in your sump!! I am planning a fuge also, I just can’t decide if I want to go cryptic or lighted.

 

[cycled123]

I think your husband did a great job!!! I love how much room you have in your sump!! I am planning a fuge also, I just can’t decide if I want to go cryptic or lighted.

If I want to add a cryptic zone I have room to do a small one next to socks or slightly bigger in skimmer chamber. I definitely want a lighted area for macroalgae and pods though. I hope to have several pod feeders down the line.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

If I want to add a cryptic zone I have room to do a small one next to socks or slightly bigger in skimmer chamber. I definitely want a lighted area for macroalgae and pods though. I hope to have several pod feeders down the line.

I am trying to figure out how I can do both in the space I have available. I am shopping for a decent grow light on Amazon. Are you going to start your fuge right away or wait until your cycle is over? I have always added mine about 3-6 months in, but I am not sure why I should wait.

 

[cycled123]

I am trying to figure out how I can do both in the space I have available. I am shopping for a decent grow light on Amazon. Are you going to start your fuge right away or wait until your cycle is over? I have always added mine about 3-6 months in, but I am not sure why I should wait.

Going to start right away. Was even debating starting now before the tank but hubby vetoed as we would have to drain it to get in the stand. This is the light I went with
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0748D2SMB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1ent
I'll keep everyone updated on how it does

 

[Zack K]

For future Reference When dosing copper NEVER add an ammonia reducer as it will turn toxic Fast! I believe that was mentioned above but I wanted to restate it. Also, by the way it sounds, you shouldn’t have had problems with ammonia. Were you measuring with the Badge or the test kit? The test kit will read inaccurate 100% of the time with copper.

Great looking sump! Glad it turned out nice for you. Good luck with your build.