I hope I remember how to do this
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Victoria M
5000 Club Member
Check out the thread on peroxide TTM. It has been used on wrasses I am 99.9% sure. I have used it on other fish, and have been happy.Thanks. Sometimes I really wonder why we do this to ourselves. I think all reefers like pain and frustration at least a little. ;Hilarious
On the QT front, I have broken down and am sterilizing by drying out both the medicated QT and the observation/holding tank. I will let them sit empty for at least a week, and then will get them set back up. This was one of the projects that consumed some of my time off this past week.
I am contemplating not running wrasses and some other sensitive fish through copper. On my last setup I did a 6 week observational QT on everything that included 2 rounds of prazi. Then if needed I added copper or other meds to the routine. I may go back to something similar and do a 6 week observational QT with 2 rounds of prazi and 10 days minimum of metro on wrasses and other copper sensitive fish and then do a more traditional copper forward QT on most other fish. Not sure yet, still debating. More to come......
Wow, 45 days of coral QT and still alive! That's an accomplishment. They have finally reached the promise land.So, as promised some actual tank pictures.
I broke out the "good" camera, and felt like a total newb again. I remember now that while I felt like I had gotten to the point of taking adequate pictures before, I never enjoyed that part of the hobby a whole lot. I remembered why trying to take some decent pics of the tank again.
But I persisted and got a few half way decent pictures.
First right and left half of the tank....
As you can see, I moved a few "tester" frags from the QT to the display.
Setosa:
Candy cane frag that my youngest had to have (after I talked him out of the $250 open brain coral)
Tri-color that has browned out in QT:
And Forest Fire Digi:
There are a couple of others as well, but QT was hard on them so we will see how they recover in the display tank before posting much about them.
All corals went through at least 45 days in QT and were dipped and remounted on new plugs before going into QT. This round of QT did not start out well, but I started making sure there were nitrates, phosphates and food in the water column for them and all stopped receding and most started recovering. I think this is a key. The setosa had about 50% receded and made a full recovery. Everything else had either receded or flesh that was looking really pale/dry and the flesh made a good recovery. I have come to believe that dosing amino acids in QT is key to keeping things happy. And don't worry too much about keeping algae completely under control in the QT. Clean it up, but don't starve it out or you will starve your corals out as well.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thank you for the compliment and welcome aboard. It has been a long journey, but for the most part it has been very enjoyable. Hopefully the fun is just getting started.
Thanks Victoria. I will check it out. I have avoided TTM in the past because my work schedule can be unpredictable and having to be ready to move fish on a given day is not always possible, but I may be able to make it work.
Some of them were closer to 65, but I was using the time to try to dial in the QT process and what the corals needed to make it through. I don't know that I have it all figured out yet, but I am getting closer. Did lose one coral in this last batch, but I am pretty sure that was because the nutrients dipped too low, and before I was dosing any amino acids. I will get some more corals soon and then I will either prove or disprove what I think I know.....
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
How about some fish pictures...
Roland's damsel with the mimic tang and an azure damsel in the background.
Scissortail dartfish. Hard to get them in focus for two reasons. They are always moving and always swimming at the top of the water column.
Kole Tang. Yest there really is that much yellow/orange in his tail and fins. One of the most uniquely colored Kole tangs I have ever seen.. Talbot damsel in the background.
Mimic/chocolate tang with a azure damsel in the background.
Roland's damsel with the mimic tang and an azure damsel in the background.
Scissortail dartfish. Hard to get them in focus for two reasons. They are always moving and always swimming at the top of the water column.
Kole Tang. Yest there really is that much yellow/orange in his tail and fins. One of the most uniquely colored Kole tangs I have ever seen.. Talbot damsel in the background.
Mimic/chocolate tang with a azure damsel in the background.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Fish QT and Holding/observation tanks are full of water again. Now I just need to find some fish I would like in stock somewhere. Oh, and at a decent price.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
This weekend I cleaned out the fuge to prepare for an order from algae barn.
I have been waiting in nutrients to come up and chaeto to be in stock somewhere. Nitrates have been testing at 5ish and phosphates have been coming up as well, last week tested at .2. Chaeto never did come in stock so I gave up and ordered some red ogo.
Turned the fuge light up from 2 hrs a day to 8 hrs a day and hopefully this stuff will take off.
Been a long time since I have run a fuge and always ran chaeto before. It will be interesting to see how this different algae does.
I have been waiting in nutrients to come up and chaeto to be in stock somewhere. Nitrates have been testing at 5ish and phosphates have been coming up as well, last week tested at .2. Chaeto never did come in stock so I gave up and ordered some red ogo.
Turned the fuge light up from 2 hrs a day to 8 hrs a day and hopefully this stuff will take off.
Been a long time since I have run a fuge and always ran chaeto before. It will be interesting to see how this different algae does.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Also got a replacement pump from Sicce on Monday to replace the SDC 9.0 that had wuif running. They sent me a whole new pump, controller, power supply, everything, not just a motor block like I was kind of expecting.
Took a little bit for the warranty process, but it is nice to have a company stand behind their product and even go above and beyond what is necessary.
Took a little bit for the warranty process, but it is nice to have a company stand behind their product and even go above and beyond what is necessary.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
This happened this week.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
So it has been a while since I have posted an update.
I lost all but the clown in that last round of fish that I had posted. I believe it was velvet that took them out. That batch of fish was ordered from the regular live aquaria site, but the clown was shipped from Florida rather than California where the other three fish came from. The three fish from California all went from eating and acting fine to dead in less than 48hrs, and I was not able to get copper ramped up in the QT quick enough to save them. I was able to save the clown and it has paired up nicely with the larger clown that was already in the display.
I do have a couple of fish that have just come out of the medicated QT to the observation/holding tank. I will try to get pics of the the falco hawk and the diamond goby and post them later.
I ran another batch of corals through QT for 45 days somewhat successfully and moved them to the display a month to 6 weeks ago. Since going into the display they hadn't done much and if anything were losing ground. This has been rather frustrating. The other thing that I have still been struggling with is getting the fuge established. The batch of red Ogo that I had ordered from algae barn kept getting overrun by hair algae in the fuge. No hair algae in the display, but it kept overgrowing the fuge. Even trying to clean it out every week I ended up with less and less macro and more and more hair algae.
So, I was talking with a buddy, @JimC, and a lightbulb finally went off for me. I have run tanks in the past with a fuge. My last tank I used carbon dosing and no fuge. I have started tanks with all dry rock. I have started tanks with all live rock back when you could walk into a LFS and actually purchase live rock.
My last tank before the almost 3 year break was a 150gal that was up for 7 yrs+ but was started with all dry rock and dry sand. I was keeping and growing acros in that tank less than 3 months after it was filled with saltwater, less than 2 months post cycle. The biggest difference between that tank and this setup was that I carbon and bacteria dosed from day 1. This tank I was trying to run a fuge. I have run a fuge in the past, but every tank I ever successfully ran a fuge on were started with live rock and not with dry rock. With this realization I decided to make some changes to how I was running the tank.
So, 2 weeks ago (04/11) I started dosing vodka and ordered some MB7. Started seeding doses of MB7 a week and a half ago(04/14). I have not had any more decline in coral health since then, and some are starting to slowly color up and regain some lost flesh. The water has also been extremely clear since starting this regiment. Final observation from the first two weeks of carbon dosing is that the hair algae in the fuge has been melting away to a sludge. Not completely gone, but definitely on the retreat. These are all things that I would expect, but good to see everything kicking in so soon.
Current water params are:
NO3-- 1.5-2ppm (salifert)
PO4-- .15ppm (hannah)
I will keep updating as things progress. I will try to get some pictures of the tank later in order to keep document the progress. Sorry for the long, wordy update, but figured this was the best way to document the latest developments.
I lost all but the clown in that last round of fish that I had posted. I believe it was velvet that took them out. That batch of fish was ordered from the regular live aquaria site, but the clown was shipped from Florida rather than California where the other three fish came from. The three fish from California all went from eating and acting fine to dead in less than 48hrs, and I was not able to get copper ramped up in the QT quick enough to save them. I was able to save the clown and it has paired up nicely with the larger clown that was already in the display.
I do have a couple of fish that have just come out of the medicated QT to the observation/holding tank. I will try to get pics of the the falco hawk and the diamond goby and post them later.
I ran another batch of corals through QT for 45 days somewhat successfully and moved them to the display a month to 6 weeks ago. Since going into the display they hadn't done much and if anything were losing ground. This has been rather frustrating. The other thing that I have still been struggling with is getting the fuge established. The batch of red Ogo that I had ordered from algae barn kept getting overrun by hair algae in the fuge. No hair algae in the display, but it kept overgrowing the fuge. Even trying to clean it out every week I ended up with less and less macro and more and more hair algae.
So, I was talking with a buddy, @JimC, and a lightbulb finally went off for me. I have run tanks in the past with a fuge. My last tank I used carbon dosing and no fuge. I have started tanks with all dry rock. I have started tanks with all live rock back when you could walk into a LFS and actually purchase live rock.
My last tank before the almost 3 year break was a 150gal that was up for 7 yrs+ but was started with all dry rock and dry sand. I was keeping and growing acros in that tank less than 3 months after it was filled with saltwater, less than 2 months post cycle. The biggest difference between that tank and this setup was that I carbon and bacteria dosed from day 1. This tank I was trying to run a fuge. I have run a fuge in the past, but every tank I ever successfully ran a fuge on were started with live rock and not with dry rock. With this realization I decided to make some changes to how I was running the tank.
So, 2 weeks ago (04/11) I started dosing vodka and ordered some MB7. Started seeding doses of MB7 a week and a half ago(04/14). I have not had any more decline in coral health since then, and some are starting to slowly color up and regain some lost flesh. The water has also been extremely clear since starting this regiment. Final observation from the first two weeks of carbon dosing is that the hair algae in the fuge has been melting away to a sludge. Not completely gone, but definitely on the retreat. These are all things that I would expect, but good to see everything kicking in so soon.
Current water params are:
NO3-- 1.5-2ppm (salifert)
PO4-- .15ppm (hannah)
I will keep updating as things progress. I will try to get some pictures of the tank later in order to keep document the progress. Sorry for the long, wordy update, but figured this was the best way to document the latest developments.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
I did break out the camera and take a few pics today. Have not had time to run them through anything to make the necessary adjustments to make them veiwable, but here is a FTS from today.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Never got around to posting the pics of the corals from the other week. I will post them now, just so that the progress can be seen.
Warning, if you like pretty corals, the following pictures are not what you are looking for. I am posting so that I can document the progress of the recent changes I have made in running my tank. These changes are documented a couple of posts up.
So, without further ado.
Warning, if you like pretty corals, the following pictures are not what you are looking for. I am posting so that I can document the progress of the recent changes I have made in running my tank. These changes are documented a couple of posts up.
So, without further ado.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Couple of updated photos with the phone from this week. Corals are really starting to color up.
Also added a couple of fish to the display in the last few weeks.
Diamond Goby
Falco Hawk
Together
Also added a couple of fish to the display in the last few weeks.
Diamond Goby
Falco Hawk
Together
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Corals continue to color up in the display and overall things are going well. Finally had to fire up the dosing pump set up. Still letting calcium fall a little, but need just a little alk supplementation to keep levels stable.
Got the camera out over the weekend and shot some pics.
Full Tank Shot:
Random group shot:
Clowns:
And finally for now the new diamond goby and falco hawkfish:
Got the camera out over the weekend and shot some pics.
Full Tank Shot:
Random group shot:
Clowns:
And finally for now the new diamond goby and falco hawkfish:
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
I had intended to post some coral pics this week, but the end of this week got crazy. How about I post some now.
Setosa: I had debated not keeping any montis in this tank. Guess it is time to make a decision on that idea before this guy completely encrusts down to the rock.
As the setosa started making its comeback there were polyps that appeared in the middle of seemingly dead skeleton. No living flesh to be seen around it. Shows the resiliency of these animals we keep.
Granulosa:
This acro is coloring up nicely as well:
And a couple that are on there way to recovery, but still have a ways to go...
Setosa: I had debated not keeping any montis in this tank. Guess it is time to make a decision on that idea before this guy completely encrusts down to the rock.
As the setosa started making its comeback there were polyps that appeared in the middle of seemingly dead skeleton. No living flesh to be seen around it. Shows the resiliency of these animals we keep.
Granulosa:
This acro is coloring up nicely as well:
And a couple that are on there way to recovery, but still have a ways to go...
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thanks. I really need to get some updated tank pics. Haven't been on here a whole lot recently. Overall things are going well with the tank. Added a couple more fish and quite a few frags. I'll try to get some pictures soon.
How is your big tank doing? I will have to bounce over and check your thread.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Didn't have time to get out the good camera and take pictures, but I did snap a few with the phone. Not the best quality, but here is how the tank sits now.
Full Tank shot:
As you can see, I have a bit of algae, but it is slowly going away. It popped up when I had most of the macro in the fuge section die off and I have been slowly ramping up vodka dosing to bring everything back in line.
Couple more closer up shots...
Left Side:
Center:
Right Side:
Full Tank shot:
As you can see, I have a bit of algae, but it is slowly going away. It popped up when I had most of the macro in the fuge section die off and I have been slowly ramping up vodka dosing to bring everything back in line.
Couple more closer up shots...
Left Side:
Center:
Right Side:
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
So I had a couple of fish given to me by a good friend who had to tear down his tank. Thanks @JimC for the genorisity.
I have had them for a couple of months now. QTed them, and they have been in the display for a few weeks. The gem is an absolutely gorgeous fish.
There were originally two anthias. Unfortunately one of them developed a bad case of popeye 4 weeks into QT and never recovered despite my attempts to medicate. Bummed about that, but so pleased with the anthias and the tang that did make it. Very healthy fish.
I have had them for a couple of months now. QTed them, and they have been in the display for a few weeks. The gem is an absolutely gorgeous fish.
There were originally two anthias. Unfortunately one of them developed a bad case of popeye 4 weeks into QT and never recovered despite my attempts to medicate. Bummed about that, but so pleased with the anthias and the tang that did make it. Very healthy fish.
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