Long Time Lurker Looking For Advice

[Josh Kraft]

So I've been browsing but never actually got to post my setup.

I bought a setup from a guy locally, and its been about two months. I've made some changes, added some things, and its been both fun and a learning experience.

First, here is a pic of my tank, right now there is a clown fish, goby, and CUC only. Part of the reason for this is that I got ich in my tank, and am not sure what to do. Do I want to try to "manage" it, or should I QT the clown fish and goby and let my tank go fishless for 3ish months?

The point of this pic is to show the power heads, the tank is a 72 gallon corner bow front. It turns out water movement in this thing is pretty difficult, and I am looking for any adjustments I can make to make it better, or if people think this is okay.

Below is my sump, its in a room behind the tank, it has a large piece of rock I didn't like in my tank, skimmer, algae reactor I built, and an ATO.

This came on one of the rocks that came with the tank. It used to look smooth, and now it is looking spiky (if that makes sense). Look closely at the edges, they look like a picker bush, and used to be smooth. Is this good or bad? Or normal?

My lighting schedule is as follows, it is a 4 bulb running 3x ATI Blue+ and 1 ATI Coral Bulb. Is this too much or too little?
Blue+ / coral on 1.5 hours
3xBlue+/Coral on 8 hours
Blue+ / coral on 1.5 hours

Just a random pic of the anemone and some corals I have.

I am open to criticism and looking to learn, so don't be afraid to tell me what I am doing wrong!

 

[ndrwater]

I think the tank looks great!! The "spikey" on the cabbage Coral means it's happy.

 

[Clarksski]

Why do you think there is ich in your tank?

 

[Josh Kraft]

I think the tank looks great!! The "spikey" on the cabbage Coral means it's happy.

Thanks!

Why do you think there is ich in your tank?

I had a Porci Puffer and another clown fish that were covered in white spots and died. So what I am trying to figure out if how to move forward. Obviously I need to QT before introducing to my display, but now that it is in my tank, it will be there forever right (unless I go fishless for months)? Is it okay to add QT and add new fish to this tank without going fishless to completely get rid of ich, or what do people normally do?

 

[Clarksski]

I'm not sure what your saying.. you want to add new fish to QT but also to the display?

 

[ndrwater]

I try and keep this brief.
Unless you haven't added ANYTHING to the tank and have not had fish for 76+ days, the likelihood that ich is present is (may get flamed for this) 99.99%
Ich has a life cycle that has different stages. Some what we see as ich, or white sugar like spots, another is free swimming, yet another is on a surface like sand, Coral plugs, frags rocks etc. If ANYTHING you purchased came from a system that had fish, you get the probability numbers I mentioned above.
Ich is oftentimes synonymous with stress and or questionable water quality. The analogy I will use is this. If you are run down, exposing yourself to temperature extremes, etc. the likelihood of getting sick increases exponentially.
Same goes for fish. Ich is just there. Succumbing to it has a lot of other factors.
You CAN quarantine to eradicate ich from the system, but it involves the "Tank transfer method"(TTM) as well as going fallow for 76+ days in the display.
The TTM is more stressful on us AND the fish IMO, and not a great option.
Personally I use the " management " method.
That means feed em what they eat, get compatible fish, buy from a reputable dealer, maintain GREAT water quality........ And cross your fingers..

 

[Josh Kraft]

I try and keep this brief.
Unless you haven't added ANYTHING to the tank and have not had fish for 76+ days, the likelihood that ich is present is (may get flamed for this) 99.99%
Ich has a life cycle that has different stages. Some what we see as ich, or white sugar like spots, another is free swimming, yet another is on a surface like sand, Coral plugs, frags rocks etc. If ANYTHING you purchased came from a system that had fish, you get the probability numbers I mentioned above.
Ich is oftentimes synonymous with stress and or questionable water quality. The analogy I will use is this. If you are run down, exposing yourself to temperature extremes, etc. the likelihood of getting sick increases exponentially.
Same goes for fish. Ich is just there. Succumbing to it has a lot of other factors.
You CAN quarantine to eradicate ich from the system, but it involves the "Tank transfer method"(TTM) as well as going fallow for 76+ days in the display.
The TTM is more stressful on us AND the fish IMO, and not a great option.
Personally I use the " management " method.
That means feed em what they eat, get compatible fish, buy from a reputable dealer, maintain GREAT water quality........ And cross your fingers..

With the management method, do you still QT at all before adding to your display?

 

[ndrwater]

Nope.
I know the risks.
That said, I was a buyer for a LFS before going overseas to run a collection station exporting fish and corals back to the US.
Granted that was a long time ago, but I know what to look for beyond the white spots.
I am not suggesting you don't quarantine, in fact the opposite. That said, I believe that some of the prophylactic quarantine practices used today possibly cause more stress and therefore harm than the good we get by doing it in the 1st place.
I have seen 1st hand how some countries handle and ship fish (not my operation) and trust me, the last thing some of these fish need is more stress...
For me, choosing a good, healthy, eating, not thin, fish from a reputable dealer is 95% of the battle. Making sure you can and will feed the fish what they eat and have compatible tank mates will go a LONG way to success.

 

[Josh Kraft]

Nope.
I know the risks.
That said, I was a buyer for a LFS before going overseas to run a collection station exporting fish and corals back to the US.
Granted that was a long time ago, but I know what to look for beyond the white spots.
I am not suggesting you don't quarantine, in fact the opposite. That said, I believe that some of the prophylactic quarantine practices used today possibly cause more stress and therefore harm than the good we get by doing it in the 1st place.
I have seen 1st hand how some countries handle and ship fish (not my operation) and trust me, the last thing some of these fish need is more stress...
For me, choosing a good, healthy, eating, not thin, fish from a reputable dealer is 95% of the battle. Making sure you can and will feed the fish what they eat and have compatible tank mates will go a LONG way to success.

This brings up another question I have. When I feed, should I be turning off my power heads? Right now i am using pellets for my clown, and occasionally throw in a half cube of frozen mysis. When you say what they're supposed to eat, is there a good place to find this info?

 

[ndrwater]

Personally I leave the powerheads running. Just me though. Kinda depends on what you are feeding. If it's just the fish IMO they'll be fine with the extra flow..... Unless whatever you are feeding immediately goes into the overflow.
As for what they eat, there are a lot of generalities. There used to be some really cool books available like Dr. Burgess Marine Atlas of Aquarium Fishes. I used to just flip through it to see what they had listed for diet, range, size, minimum tank recommendations etc.
I don't think they still print them because everything is on the internet now, but a simple 6 or 7 symbol chart below each fish allows you to see at a glance all of the stuff I mentioned.
I know you can still get some older ones on Amazon for next to nothing.
That, and ask. A good LFS is more than a place to buy filter floss. Being able to talk to a knowledgeable staff person is worth his/her weight in Ecotech products.
Lastly, if you have a local club, I'm sure there would be many people willing to help out.
Or here of course... R2R really IS the best forum out there. Lots of people looking to help.

 

[fishbox]

Hey brother,
I'm glad you decided to dive in and share your tank and ask questions. Trust me when I say that lurking will only get you so far as every tank is different. But it looks good man. Looks like a nice start.

In regards to the possible ich. I'm gonna say that it can be beneficial to get a positive ID before taking action. Get us a close up pic of the spots. I never use to QT fish cause I never had an issue and you'll find a ton of people who just get lucky like that. However I recently got a copperband butterfly that started showing after a week of being in the tank. My 1st thought was ich. I got super depressed thinking my display would be fishless for that long but I was prepared to do what it takes. Well after posting pics, it turned out it wasn't the case at all. It was something called lympho. Which turned out to be kinda not a big deal. I didn't have to remove my fish nor give them any special meds besides vitamins. I will never not QT a fish or coral again but the point is that I could have spent unnecessary time and money treating something I didn't even have. Your fish could suffer more or die while trying to treat a misdiagnosed issue. There's several things those white spots can be. So try to get pics man.

Now let's talk about your flow concerns. First, you say that flow is difficult in that tank but you're not telling us what the problem is. Are you having too much flow, too little flow, is there dead spots, or is the sand blowing all over the place? From the looks of the pic, it seems you have 3 pumps in the display plus a return line from the sump? Is that correct? What pumps are they? We need more info on this brother.

As far as your T5 lighting goes I will let someone else comment on that as I use LEDs.

Oh also you don't mention it here but you and I both talked about it in a private message. You mentioned that you're. chaetomorpha does not look so hot and you were getting slime algae in your reactor. With this being a new tank that hardly has any fish I bet that you're having those issues because you do not have enough phosphate or nitrate to support the chaetomorpha and the film algae is out competing it.

 

[Josh Kraft]

Hey brother,
I'm glad you decided to dive in and share your tank and ask questions. Trust me when I say that lurking will only get you so far as every tank is different. But it looks good man. Looks like a nice start.

In regards to the possible ich. I'm gonna say that it can be beneficial to get a positive ID before taking action. Get us a close up pic of the spots. I never use to QT fish cause I never had an issue and you'll find a ton of people who just get lucky like that. However I recently got a copperband butterfly that started showing after a week of being in the tank. My 1st thought was ich. I got super depressed thinking my display would be fishless for that long but I was prepared to do what it takes. Well after posting pics, it turned out it wasn't the case at all. It was something called lympho. Which turned out to be kinda not a big deal. I didn't have to remove my fish nor give them any special meds besides vitamins. I will never not QT a fish or coral again but the point is that I could have spent unnecessary time and money treating something I didn't even have. Your fish could suffer more or die while trying to treat a misdiagnosed issue. There's several things those white spots can be. So try to get pics man.

Now let's talk about your flow concerns. First, you say that flow is difficult in that tank but you're not telling us what the problem is. Are you having too much flow, too little flow, is there dead spots, or is the sand blowing all over the place? From the looks of the pic, it seems you have 3 pumps in the display plus a return line from the sump? Is that correct? What pumps are they? We need more info on this brother.

As far as your T5 lighting goes I will let someone else comment on that as I use LEDs.

Oh also you don't mention it here but you and I both talked about it in a private message. You mentioned that you're. chaetomorpha does not look so hot and you were getting slime algae in your reactor. With this being a new tank that hardly has any fish I bet that you're having those issues because you do not have enough phosphate or nitrate to support the chaetomorpha and the film algae is out competing it.

I thought I had dead spots, but I think I may have too much flow. I have 2 - M1200 movers on top, and 2 smaller pumps closer to the sand (they came with the tank), and the return from the sump on top.

Here are some pics of a goby in my tank. I am going to tag @Humblefish since I see a bunch of people tagging him in regards to diagnosis and treating.

 

[Josh Kraft]

Here are some more pics, I uploaded them to a gallery script so this doesnt get so cluttered.

http://lmxvii.net/tank/sickfish/

Notice the speck on the tail of the flame angel

 

[Humblefish]

@Josh Kraft What I see on the Flame Angel's tail looks like Lympho: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Can I see some pics of the goby under white lighting?

 

[Josh Kraft]

@Humblefish that same link above should have more pics of the goby

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish that same link above should have more pics of the goby

I just went back and looked, but still can't tell anything definitive.

Check out this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-difference-between-ich-velvet.315957/

It shows the difference between ich & velvet.

 

[Josh Kraft]

Would you say it's one of them? If that's the case, should I pull all my fish (clown, mandarin, flame angel, goby) into a QT and medicate? Would a 20 gallon handle those? How do I keep the goby and mandarin happy in a QT?

Thanks in advance

 

[Ashish Patel]

How do I keep the goby and mandarin happy in a QT?

Thanks in advance[/QUOTE]



Lots of LRS food and lots of hiding space

 

[Humblefish]

Would you say it's one of them? If that's the case, should I pull all my fish (clown, mandarin, flame angel, goby) into a QT and medicate? Would a 20 gallon handle those? How do I keep the goby and mandarin happy in a QT?

CP is your only option because of the mandarin. However, does he eat frozen or pellets? If not, there's no way he'll survive 76 days in QT.

 

[Josh Kraft]

He doesn't, could I keep the QT stocked with pods from the LFS?