IM EXT 50 - photo dump!

[Arkayology]

Neurological issue could make sense perhaps but if the midas blenny keeps flashing.. could have more than one issue.

Most flukes do not show in a freshwater dip. I believe it is just 1 kind if my memory is intact.

You might be right. I've been wonder if there are two or more diseases going on too. The blue cleaner goby is always on the fairy wrasse picking something off. It was on the flasher wrasse cleaning as well before it died.

 

[Arkayology]

You might be right. I've been wonder if there are two or more diseases going on too. The blue cleaner goby is always on the fairy wrasse picking something off. It was on the flasher wrasse cleaning as well before it died.

I just checked out the UNWD thread over in the disease forum. There a few videos of fairy wrasses doing the exact same thing that mine is doing. Seems like there is nothing I can do. The flasher wrasse was not behaving this way though - it was scratching on rocks and hiding, so probably different.

I hate to do it but I might have to euthanize the fairy wrasse soon. I will probably wait a few weeks before adding any new fish just to see if there is something still in the tank that is attacking the remaining fish.

 

[Arkayology]

Midas blenny is now dead with no obvious signs of disease. So that is all three fish that I added three weeks ago dead. It was eating fine today and swimming around without any issues but I found it dead on the sand tonight. I did notice today that the blue cleaner goby has some white spots on it - I'm thinking it's velvet but I will get a picture tomorrow and post in the fish disease forum to see what people think. I have Copper Safe and PraziPro ordered and the QT tank is mixing saltwater as I type.

 

[TheWB]

Midas blenny is now dead with no obvious signs of disease. So that is all three fish that I added three weeks ago dead. It was eating fine today and swimming around without any issues but I found it dead on the sand tonight. I did notice today that the blue cleaner goby has some white spots on it - I'm thinking it's velvet but I will get a picture tomorrow and post in the fish disease forum to see what people think. I have Copper Safe and PraziPro ordered and the QT tank is mixing saltwater as I type.

I just read through your whole thread and I’m enjoying your progress. Sad to hear about the recent troubles though. I went through something similar recently and lost a few fish. I’m no fish doctor but the combo that finally seems to have stabilized my situation was two full courses of prazipro in the display 8 days apart as well as only feeding medicated quad flakes from Everything Aquatic for 14 days. Kept the uv and skimmer off for most of that time and used an air stone. I hope you find a solution that works.

 

[thelonereefer1]

I have this same tank. I debated one XR 30 vs two XR 15 and ended up with 2 XR 15

I ordered a Tunze Osmolator 3 for my ATO. I loved my Osmolator so thought I would give the new version a shot. I also ordered an IM universal heater controller and x2 BRS titanium 100w heaters.

For other equipment, I'm thinking about getting a Simplicity 120 skimmer. Still unsure about flow - maybe x2 Icecap Gyres or x2 MP10s. I do think I will be giving the Hydros controller a shot, so the gyres would be controllable with that system.

Lighting - I want to get a Radion xr30 pro. I am just unsure if one is enough for a 30x24x16 tank that will be SPS dominant with clams. Thoughts?

i have this exact tank and went through the same debate. I ended up going with 2 XR 15. Running them at 55% I get very decent spread starting around 300 6ish inches below the water. I don’t mind the look of two light fixtures vs one personally, which I wasn’t sure about initially

 

[Arkayology]

I have this same tank. I debated one XR 30 vs two XR 15 and ended up with 2 XR 15

i have this exact tank and went through the same debate. I ended up going with 2 XR 15. Running them at 55% I get very decent spread starting around 300 6ish inches below the water. I don’t mind the look of two light fixtures vs one personally, which I wasn’t sure about initially

How do you have them mounted over the tank? One challenge when deciding lighting was how I was going to mount the fixtures due to the overflow location on the 50Ext.

 

[TheLegendaryBarlowe072]

Sorry to hear about your fish troubles

 

[Arkayology]

Sorry to hear about your fish troubles

Thanks. I will probably do an order from reefbeauties in a couple weeks and QT everything. I think that my tank is just living with ich from now on. That's fine with me as I think most tanks do. I feed high quality food and keep good params so i'm not worried.

 

[TheLegendaryBarlowe072]

Thanks. I will probably do an order from reefbeauties in a couple weeks and QT everything. I think that my tank is just living with ich from now on. That's fine with me as I think most tanks do. I feed high quality food and keep good params so i'm not worried.

Have you considered UV? It would help keep ick populations down.

I want to pick one up just for water clarity, and I still have some diatoms. But they are not real bad and will fade with time. Plus I spent this months reef budget on a hydros controller lol

 

[braaap]

Thanks. I will probably do an order from reefbeauties in a couple weeks and QT everything. I think that my tank is just living with ich from now on. That's fine with me as I think most tanks do. I feed high quality food and keep good params so i'm not worried.

Most tanks don’t live with Ich. I’ve never had it. 20+ years of reef keeping. I quarantine all my fish and recently I’ve been buying all my fish from Dr Reef and the. Quarantining them.

 

[Arkayology]

Have you considered UV? It would help keep ick populations down.

I want to pick one up just for water clarity, and I still have some diatoms. But they are not real bad and will fade with time. Plus I spent this months reef budget on a hydros controller lol

I've never run UV. I've been very successful in the past. I'm not sure if I really need it?

Most tanks don’t live with Ich. I’ve never had it. 20+ years of reef keeping. I quarantine all my fish and recently I’ve been buying all my fish from Dr Reef and the. Quarantining them.

I never had ich or any other disease from 2009-2015. This is a first for me. I guess I will start QT'ing fish. I guess I'm just repeating what others say lol. I don't see the ich spreading from the blue cleaner goby to the other three fish that are left in the tank. We will see how things go in a few weeks. Worst case I can fish them all out and QT.

 

[Arkayology]

I'm returning the Milwaukee digital refractometer. I just don't trust the readings. :confused-face:

I picked up a purple bonsai and a ORA Pearlberry frag at the Mason/Dixon Frag Swap yesterday. I also got some zoas to fill in space in the lower part of the rockwork. I will get some pics up when I mount the frags into place.

I got a bottle of AFR as well as some TM Balling mix. ALK is at ~8.5 dkh, Ca is at 420ppm, and Mg is at ~1160ppm. I'm working on getting the Mg up a little bit to >1,200ppm.

 

[Arkayology]

I got Hannah Alk, Ca, and Phosphate testers for $30 used. They didn't have any reagents, but that isn't a big deal. I just used them for the first time today and I got 7.7 dkh (same as my Salifert test), 470 Ca (Salifert says 430), and .03 Phosphate (Salifert says .02). What a score.

I'm looking to get a Lubbock's fairy wrasse, McCosker, and a yellow coris wrasse for the tank. I will have to order online as I have not great options for LFS in my area.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but now that I have used the Tunze Osmolator 3 for 3 months, I can say that I absolutely love this thing. It is as reliable as my old Osmolator but without all the added wires and controller. It is super easy to set up and use.

 

[Arkayology]

My monti setosa is looking really pale and my purple bonsai has some STN. Very little PE. I added some new SPs frags from a local friend today. The Setosa is growing, but the new growth is super pale (it is growth, not STN). The numbers:

Nitrate: ~5-3ppm (fairly stable, always <5ppm)
P04: .06 (Hannah) and undetectable (Salifert) (fairly stable, always <.06ppm)
Ca: 420ppm (Salifert) (stable, 400-450ppm)
dkh: 7.7 (Salifert & Hannah) (consistently 7.7 dkh)
Mg: 1140 (Salifert) (chronically low)
1.025 SG (stable)
78 degrees F (stable)

I cannot get the Mg to raise using my Tropic Marin balling Part C. I added 50ml /day for over 2 weeks and it didn't budge. I stopped with the Mg a few days ago because I think it could be contributing to poor coral health. I am wondering if my Salifert test is bad or not very accurate. Any suggestions?

Also, would you trust the Hannah over the Salifert P04 test? I am getting very little film algae growth, so I wonder if my nutrients are bottoming out. I may start dosing P04 to see if I can get coral health to improve.

 

[reef-rc]

Your parameters seem within the ballpark, except for Mg as you mentioned. I don’t have experience with the Tropic Marin Balling method, but I do know it takes A LOT of magnesium (I use Magnesion) to raise my Mg. It does seem hard to overdose on Mg, and anything below 1500 is acceptable.

I wonder if dkh could be higher. It might help your sps.

 

[Arkayology]

Your parameters seem within the ballpark, except for Mg as you mentioned. I don’t have experience with the Tropic Marin Balling method, but I do know it takes A LOT of magnesium (I use Magnesion) to raise my Mg. It does seem hard to overdose on Mg, and anything below 1500 is acceptable.

I wonder if dkh could be higher. It might help your sps.

I will ask a friend to do an Mg test to see if they get the same reading.

I was wondering that too. In the past, I ran my tanks at 8.5 dkh. I wanted to see if a little lower would have an impact or not. As long as it is stable, it should be OK I would think. What do you run your dkh at?

 

[reef-rc]

Range: 8-9 dkh (closer to 9)

 

[Arkayology]

I've come to the conclusion that my nitrates are WAY to low - <.01ppm. My P04 is around .03-.06 consistently, but I think that the tissue recession and lack of PE that I am seeing is a result of my Nitrates bottoming out. I feed a lot of brine shimp, PE mysis flake, veggie pellets, and seaweed, but there is a lack of coral food. It could also explain the issues I am having with my maxima clam - it is not really extending it's mantel despite my attempts to relocate to correct for lighting and/or flow issues. The derasa, however, is growing like a champ and is on it's way to doubling in size within three months (it was only about 1.25'' when i got it, but still!) STN from the base of the purple bonsai continues with some burnt tips, montipora setosa is losing color and possibly tissue (hard to tell).

I have bottles of NeoNitro and NeoPhos being delivered today, so hopefully I can right this ship. I had problems in this area with my last tank.

 

[Arkayology]

All of these Black Friday deals!

 

[Arkayology]

So, I had some issues over the last few weeks. My salinity was at ~1.024, which is the result of my refractometer being inaccurate even with calibration. I got a Tropic Marin floating hydrometer and have slowly brought it up to 1.026sg. I also had an issue with P04 and nitrates bottoming out, so I got some Brightwell NeoNitro and NeoPhos to add as needed. The setosa, purple bonsai, and pearlberry are not looking great. I may lose them. I added new frags a couple weeks ago: red planet, oregon tort, red robin, and hawkins echinata. The clams are doing better now with more nutrients in the water and a higher SG. I also added a small tomini tang. I still plan to add a lubbuck's wrasse, leopard wrasse, and maybe another McCosker's flasher wrasse. I know some might think this is overstocked, but it will be fine.

Red Planet

Rainbow BTA I got for free from a local

Oregon Tort

The derasa clam is growing fast!

11/27/24 FTS

New Hydros Launch and Minnow installed. I have a collective with the Launch, Minnow, and WaveEngine LE.