Loop hole?

[Mordie101]

Please read..

So my LFS didn’t follow my order request of spacing it out around a month or so and ordered my entire stocking list at once and won’t hold them for longer than a few days.. I’ve managed to divide the fish into groups to add to temporary tanks.

I have a 16g biocube that’s been running for about 8 months.

I have my new reefer 250 that’s been running about 2 weeks cycled.

I have a 30 gallon Rubbermaid tub that I’m gonna add 20 gallons of water to.

The list includes 2 wrasse 1 flasher and 1 Christmas. 1 diamond goby these will go into my 16g biocube for the mature sandbed and just sand bed in general.

I have 2 dwarf angels that will go inside the Rubbermaid tub.

I have 1 royal gramma 1 Midas blenny and 1 mandarin goby that will go into the reefer. The reefer has been seeded with pods and another package of pods getting here Tuesday just in case. Plus some inverts that I have to pick up as well..





Can I buy a bottle of bacteria to put in the tanks to help with not getting ammonia issues? Essentially I am able to cycle a tank within days after adding something like turbo start but I’m worried about this many fish.

That’s 3 fish going into a 16g tank that’s 8 months old.

2 fish going into a brand new quarantine type system that I’ll use a small marine block and a filter sock placed in the system for bacteria.

And 3 fish added to the reefer 250. It has 3 fish already that have been settled in.


If I added some bacteria to each of the tanks would that give me a better chance? The plan is to do daily or every other day small water changes in the 16g and the tub.

Any opinions?
Any concerns?
Any advice?

 

[Katrina71]

I have used Bio spira with the blue tab on the label after adding new fish and multiple corals. Never lost anything.

 

[mort]

Is there a reason why you actually need to buy them all at the same time? I know you gave them the list and it was there mistake but have you paid for them? If you haven't I would just explain that you want to add them over a period of time and if they aren't happy with it then they probably aren't someone I'd want to support. There aren't anything on your list that's hard to get or hard to sell, so I'd make sure you are comfortable with what you are adding. I know bacteria products do work but I've always been of the opinion that we get a healthier and more stress free tank if we take our time in adding things.

 

[Mordie101]

Is there a reason why you actually need to buy them all at the same time? I know you gave them the list and it was there mistake but have you paid for them? If you haven't I would just explain that you want to add them over a period of time and if they aren't happy with it then they probably aren't someone I'd want to support. There aren't anything on your list that's hard to get or hard to sell, so I'd make sure you are comfortable with what you are adding. I know bacteria products do work but I've always been of the opinion that we get a healthier and more stress free tank if we take our time in adding things.

I have paid for most of the fish already, I’ve tried talking to them about holding them for a few weeks and they aren’t able to due to upgrades in their systems. It’s really the only store that I trust in a few hours radius and I’m very skeptical about buying online.. I’ve tried to come up with a route to get everyone accommodated for and my goal was to be able to safely add them at my own pace, my plan is to keep the fish inside the temporary tanks and add maybe 1 or two every week or so until they are all in the reefer 250.. I guess I’m just nervous due to never setting up a temporary tank and never dealing with this many fish. I was wondering if maybe this could give me some peace of mind considering I’m not at my tanks all day to monitor and I work 12 hour shifts.

 

[Mordie101]

I have used Bio spira with the blue tab on the label after adding new fish and multiple corals. Never lost anything.

Thanks for the input! I’ll look that up and see

 

[Captain Quint]

Please read..

So my LFS didn’t follow my order request of spacing it out around a month or so and ordered my entire stocking list at once and won’t hold them for longer than a few days.. I’ve managed to divide the fish into groups to add to temporary tanks.

I have a 16g biocube that’s been running for about 8 months.

I have my new reefer 250 that’s been running about 2 weeks cycled.

I have a 30 gallon Rubbermaid tub that I’m gonna add 20 gallons of water to.

The list includes 2 wrasse 1 flasher and 1 Christmas. 1 diamond goby these will go into my 16g biocube for the mature sandbed and just sand bed in general.

I have 2 dwarf angels that will go inside the Rubbermaid tub.

I have 1 royal gramma 1 Midas blenny and 1 mandarin goby that will go into the reefer. The reefer has been seeded with pods and another package of pods getting here Tuesday just in case. Plus some inverts that I have to pick up as well..





Can I buy a bottle of bacteria to put in the tanks to help with not getting ammonia issues? Essentially I am able to cycle a tank within days after adding something like turbo start but I’m worried about this many fish.

That’s 3 fish going into a 16g tank that’s 8 months old.

2 fish going into a brand new quarantine type system that I’ll use a small marine block and a filter sock placed in the system for bacteria.

And 3 fish added to the reefer 250. It has 3 fish already that have been settled in.


If I added some bacteria to each of the tanks would that give me a better chance? The plan is to do daily or every other day small water changes in the 16g and the tub.

Any opinions?
Any concerns?
Any advice?

Honestly sounds like a decent plan and I'm sorry your LFS cannot house these until all is ready but I understand them not wanting the liability of doing so.

If you left them to sell and order the same on the system ready basis would you be comfortable? If not it sounds like you have a Plan B or even a Plan C for your conundrum.

I do somewhat have more concerns for the dragonette having plenty of food as I'm sure you do. I feel with proper planning as you have done it will be a challenge but doable but IMHO the timing of adding as not to overload the additions would need to be spaced longer than we may think.

What are the current parameters on the tanks and other vessels for temporary housing?

The small WC's will help a lot. Do you have plans for any kind of flow and filtration on the tub? And maybe egg crate to help keep some from possible carpet surfing?

Please keep us up to date on how the plan is going.

 

[Gareth elliott]

For the mandy, perhaps instead of trying to succeed in seeding a tank quickly of pods use @Paul B brine feeder. When i had fw pipefish i kept 4 brine cultures going each started a day apart. So that i always had brine shrimp. I like brewing sanitizer(oxyclean basically lol) for sanitizing the bottles in between. I also kept 2 cultures of scuds(fw amphipods) going.

 

[Mordie101]

Honestly sounds like a decent plan and I'm sorry your LFS cannot house these until all is ready but I understand them not wanting the liability of doing so.

If you left them to sell and order the same on the system ready basis would you be comfortable? If not it sounds like you have a Plan B or even a Plan C for your conundrum.

I do somewhat have more concerns for the dragonette having plenty of food as I'm sure you do. I feel with proper planning as you have done it will be a challenge but doable but IMHO the timing of adding as not to overload the additions would need to be spaced longer than we may think.

What are the current parameters on the tanks and other vessels for temporary housing?

The small WC's will help a lot. Do you have plans for any kind of flow and filtration on the tub? And maybe egg crate to help keep some from possible carpet surfing?

Please keep us up to date on how the plan is going.

I absolutely will keep up to date in my build thread and I’m going to maybe make another thread because there’s no much written on forums for my particular case haha..

I too was concerned most about the dragonet. I seeded the tank with pods almost a full week ago and I ordered another batch from algae barn to put into the tank as soon as it gets here. I have also started my Refugium that will house pods also.

I have a small heater and a power head inside of the tub, I removed the rock work from my 16 gallon biocube and have it sitting in the tub to hold until I decided whether to sell/re use it for later.

I haven’t tested the tub water considering I decided to try this last night before bed and just scrambled a few things together. I got a large air stone to put in as well.

For bacteria I was going to add the chunk of marine pure block and a filter sock from my 250 into the tub.

in the biocube I have a filter that’s been in there for about 2 months. I also have a small heater and power head but it’s a AIO system so it’s got filtration and a pump.

For the parameters they are all stable at 1.025-1.026 salinity, 8.2-8.4 ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-10 nitrates. For both systems. The tub I will test when I get off work today.

The known “jumpers” will be added to the biocube because it has a lid ie: the two wrasse and the goby.
the dwarf angels will be added to the tub due to space. My plan is to treat it like a QT tank and have some pvc pieces for hiding and then just basic materials.
I will probably add the dwarf angel fish first just due to them having no immediate filtration other than daily water changes.

The goby and wrasses will stay in the biocube as it has a sand bed for the goby to sift through and wrasses to hide in. I also will put some pvc pieces inside of it for hiding..

For feeding I have nori, pellets, some phyto plankton, and reef frenzy and a batch of pods and live brine shrimp coming in Tuesday from algae barn.

The biocube and 250 have a population of pods and phyto so I’m hoping that this will help with feeding and stress levels.


The LFS and petco do not stock ammonia badges so I’ll be testing daily and probably more than once a day when I’m not at work.

Thanks for the response Quint!

 

[Mordie101]

For the mandy, perhaps instead of trying to succeed in seeding a tank quickly of pods use @Paul B brine feeder. When i had fw pipefish i kept 4 brine cultures going each started a day apart. So that i always had brine shrimp. I like brewing sanitizer(oxyclean basically lol) for sanitizing the bottles in between. I also kept 2 cultures of scuds(fw amphipods) going.

I have a batch of live brine incoming with the second batch of pods from algae barn hopefully arriving Tuesday. I will seed both my display and the refugium with them both in hopes of getting the population growing.

But I will look into those! Thank you!!

 

[Captain Quint]

I absolutely will keep up to date in my build thread and I’m going to maybe make another thread because there’s no much written on forums for my particular case haha..

I too was concerned most about the dragonet. I seeded the tank with pods almost a full week ago and I ordered another batch from algae barn to put into the tank as soon as it gets here. I have also started my Refugium that will house pods also.

I have a small heater and a power head inside of the tub, I removed the rock work from my 16 gallon biocube and have it sitting in the tub to hold until I decided whether to sell/re use it for later.

I haven’t tested the tub water considering I decided to try this last night before bed and just scrambled a few things together. I got a large air stone to put in as well.

For bacteria I was going to add the chunk of marine pure block and a filter sock from my 250 into the tub.

in the biocube I have a filter that’s been in there for about 2 months. I also have a small heater and power head but it’s a AIO system so it’s got filtration and a pump.

For the parameters they are all stable at 1.025-1.026 salinity, 8.2-8.4 ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-10 nitrates. For both systems. The tub I will test when I get off work today.

The known “jumpers” will be added to the biocube because it has a lid ie: the two wrasse and the goby.
the dwarf angels will be added to the tub due to space. My plan is to treat it like a QT tank and have some pvc pieces for hiding and then just basic materials.
I will probably add the dwarf angel fish first just due to them having no immediate filtration other than daily water changes.

The goby and wrasses will stay in the biocube as it has a sand bed for the goby to sift through and wrasses to hide in. I also will put some pvc pieces inside of it for hiding..

For feeding I have nori, pellets, some phyto plankton, and reef frenzy and a batch of pods and live brine shrimp coming in Tuesday from algae barn.

The biocube and 250 have a population of pods and phyto so I’m hoping that this will help with feeding and stress levels.


The LFS and petco do not stock ammonia badges so I’ll be testing daily and probably more than once a day when I’m not at work.

Thanks for the response Quint!

You have an excellent plan in place, good sir.

 

[Mordie101]

You have an excellent plan in place, good sir.

Just nervous and I guess was looking for other opinions on the matter.

Do you have an opinion on the added bacteria for ammonia and nitrate possible issues?

 

[jsvand5]

From the sound of it you aren’t planning to quarantine. So since they are all small fish, I’d put the all directly into the Red Sea tank. Aside from the mandarin for that one you should just not buy it until the tank is at least 6 months old.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Since you aren't QTing your fish I would just put them all in the reefer and use bottled bacteria there if you need it.

 

[Mordie101]

From the sound of it you aren’t planning to quarantine. So since they are all small fish, I’d put the all directly into the Red Sea tank. Aside from the mandarin for that one you should just not buy it until the tank is at least 6 months old.

Since you aren't QTing your fish I would just put them all in the reefer and use bottled bacteria there if you need it.

I’m worried about the over load of ammonia and such.. this way I can spread it out over time and add as needed. The mandarin I’m worried about but I’ve got food and more food in bound for it.

The bottled bacteria was for me adding 1-2 fish a week until they are all in.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

You will likely have ammonia issues i. The new rubbermaid and the 16gal anyway. If you use bottled bacteria ro pro etc it anyway ,may as well do it in the reefer.

Also, I would find a new lfs. No reason they couldn't just put those into stock and order your fish when you are ready.

 

[sfin52]

You have a great plan. Have you tried Amazon for badges. Two days and they will be on the doorstep.

I agree with bacteria will help with ammonia and nitrite issues.

 

[jsvand5]

I’m worried about the over load of ammonia and such.. this way I can spread it out over time and add as needed. The mandarin I’m worried about but I’ve got food and more food in bound for it.

The bottled bacteria was for me adding 1-2 fish a week until they are all in.

I think you are worrying about an ammonia problem that isn’t likely to be a problem. They are all small fish. Just feed lightly for a couple weeks and I think you’ll be fine adding them to the Red Sea tank. Just check the ammonia daily and do water changes if necessary. Always good to have Prime on hand as well but if your tank is cycled like you mentioned I don’t think you’ll need it.

 

[Mordie101]

I think you are worrying about an ammonia problem that isn’t likely to be a problem. They are all small fish. Just feed lightly for a couple weeks and I think you’ll be fine adding them to the Red Sea tank. Just check the ammonia daily and do water changes if necessary. Always good to have Prime on hand as well but if your tank is cycled like you mentioned I don’t think you’ll need it.

What do you mean by a prime?

 

[Mordie101]

You have a great plan. Have you tried Amazon for badges. Two days and they will be on the doorstep.

I agree with bacteria will help with ammonia and nitrite issues.

There is an LFS about 2 hours away that I’m going to call in the morning to check..

 

[Mordie101]

You will likely have ammonia issues i. The new rubbermaid and the 16gal anyway. If you use bottled bacteria ro pro etc it anyway ,may as well do it in the reefer.

Also, I would find a new lfs. No reason they couldn't just put those into stock and order your fish when you are ready.

In the rubber maid I’m putting a filter sock and some marine pure block to hopefully help combat that. I’m also going to use some water from the biocube that’s been running for 8 months I also decided to put a few pieces of rock from that tank in there to hopefully also add bacteria. My plan was to spread the small bottle between the three tanks.

As for the LFS this was a pretty hefty mix up, they are in the process of upgrading their tanks, I think he misunderstood my order or something I’m not quite sure I thought they were specific. But if you could see the LFS around my area you’d know why I choose them and choose to stay even from this... some people just shouldn’t sell animals is all I’m going to say..