Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

Well, I knew I’d have to deal with a cyano outbreak most likely when I started up the 75. I’m finally getting it now.

I’ve got more rock in the sump than in the tank currently. If I find that phosphates haven’t risen any in there I’ll add some of the rocks from my 10 gallon tank which have pods and other life in and on them to the sump in exchange for the some of the rock that’s in the sump currently. I’ll also add some of the rock from the sump to the DT and add the chaeto to the DT to help with any excess nutrients.

I won’t move too much rock from the sump into the DT because I want the pods in the rocks from my 10 gallon tank to colonize the rock in the sump without the threat of predation.

I’m happy to say I found two brittle stars in my system today. That gives me hope that there are more that are hiding since it’s daytime still.

 

[Goaway]

I can’t believe I forgot to tag you. I’m sorry about that. Your input means as much to me as everyone else I’ve tagged and everyone who follows my build thread. I hope I didn’t forget to tag anyone else.

You are right. I didn’t think about the different nutritional needs of younger vs older tangs. I was told the tang has been in the 75 for years. Whether that means 3 years or 10, I don’t know yet. I’m going to find out ASAP though.

I assume there’s a very high chance this fish will die early especially if it didn’t get the nutrients it needed while it was little. Even so I want to give this fish the best and longest life I possibly can. Thank you for posting this!

Thank you also for thinking of Kathy. She needs all the prayers and support she can get right now. She appreciates it as do I.

Also, when you find out if it's a yellow belly hippo, or just the blue, that also matters. As yellow belly hippos are smaller in captivity vs the blue.

We will keep kathy in our prayers. Best of wishes for you both!

PS. Good luck on the cyano. I really have no tips or tricks. It comes and goes.

 

[Fishy888]

I forgot to mention that the tang will have plenty of food choices. It’ll have pods of all kinds, molly fry, algae that grows in the tank, nori, NLS sinking pellets, and my DIY frozen food which consists of a mixture of several different types of fish and shellfish, and broccoli, cauliflower, and peas.

@Goaway do you think this tang can grow if it’s nutritional deficits are fixed now?

 

[Fishy888]

Also, when you find out if it's a yellow belly hippo, or just the blue, that also matters. As yellow belly hippos are smaller in captivity vs the blue.

We will keep kathy in our prayers. Best of wishes for you both!

PS. Good luck on the cyano. I really have no tips or tricks. It comes and goes.

Cyano does come and go for certain. It’ll go away soon enough. The tang is just a regular hippo tang. No yellow belly.

 

[Goaway]

I forgot to mention that the tang will have plenty of food choices. It’ll have pods of all kinds, molly fry, algae that grows in the tank, nori, NLS sinking pellets, and my DIY frozen food which consists of a mixture of several different types of fish and shellfish, and broccoli, cauliflower, and peas.

@Goaway do you think this tang can grow if it’s nutritional deficits are fixed now?

Depends on age and size. in all honesty, they really don't stop growing. Growth slows down at a certain age. I do not know how many years it takes for a tang to reach their potential size. You may have a chance, but if this is stunted growth, not likely going to reverse this. Can't even reverse HLLE.

 

[tbrown]

I can’t believe I forgot to tag you. I’m sorry about that. Your input means as much to me as everyone else I’ve tagged and everyone who follows my build thread. I hope I didn’t forget to tag anyone else.

Don't feel bad! Nearly every time I tag people for something I add a disclaimer "Sorry for whoever I didn't tag, too many people that I can't remember everyone."

 

[tbrown]

@Goaway do you think this tang can grow if it’s nutritional deficits are fixed now?

It probably will. Mine was stunted but healthy in the 75, doubled quickly in the 125 with the same diet basically.

 

[Goaway]

It probably will. Mine was stunted but healthy in the 75, doubled quickly in the 125 with the same diet basically.

That's good to hear. It does depend on severity and age. Hopefully, nothing extreme. It's a hippo and not a naso tang. I'm sure the fish is in no serious condition either. Just, no idea what small means to some.

Example of stunted growth that wont be fixed. This is extreme. It's from an older video on youtube. I'm sure no one wants the link.


Ps, before anyone says "that's a unicorn tang". It's still in the naso family.

 

[Fishy888]

That's good to hear. It does depend on severity and age. Hopefully, nothing extreme. It's a hippo and not a naso tang. I'm sure the fish is in no serious condition either. Just, no idea what small means to some.

Example of stunted growth that wont be fixed. This is extreme. It's from an older video on youtube. I'm sure no one wants the link.


Ps, before anyone says "that's a unicorn tang". It's still in the naso family.

Thankfully the hippo tang looks nowhere near that bad. The only thing is that depending on finances these next couple of months the hippo tang may have to be in the 75 for a couple of months but no more than three months, and hopefully within two. I actually have a plan in place though to procure a 125 minimum and if something happened that would keep me from getting a bigger tank I would give it to someone who had a proper sized tank. That said it’s highly unlikely that will happen but I need to have a contingency plan for all scenarios. I just don’t want the fish to suffer any more than it has to.

 

[Fishy888]

I took a picture or two of the nem and corals today.

It turns out that the GSP may not be as dead as they looked. There are new stolons developing. I kid you not, the mat was flat without any stolons so I figured it was dead. Thankfully I didn’t scrape it off. I’ll get a better picture tomorrow.

Things are looking good in the run up to “Dory’s” welcome (to your new) home party. Tomorrow I’ll test the sump’s water for phosphorus. If I like the numbers I’ll do the rock exchanges I posted about.

 

[Fishy888]

I’m finally getting some time to catch up on everyone’s build threads. I’m waaaaaayyyyyyyy behind. It has been hectic with everything that’s been going on but things are winding down a bit, and Kathy and I are getting caught back up on everything from household chores to errands. Again thank you for all your help and support during this crazy month between Kathy’s surgery and the blowout of the cube. Kathy appreciates it too. I hope you all have a great rest of the week.

 

[tbrown]

I’m finally getting some time to catch up on everyone’s build threads. I’m waaaaaayyyyyyyy behind. It has been hectic with everything that’s been going on but things are winding down a bit, and Kathy and I are getting caught back up on everything from household chores to errands. Again thank you for all your help and support during this crazy month between Kathy’s surgery and the blowout of the cube. Kathy appreciates it too. I hope you all have a great rest of the week.

Mine has a LOT of TLDR.

 

[Goaway]

Mine has a LOT of TLDR.

Less wurds, moar pickturs!

Yes, all on purpose. I feel like the mass of people I speak too, (outside of those I actually know...) are 5 yr olds who were given a keyboard. So now, if I ever plan on replying to some random thread, I will pretend I am talking to a 5 yr old and prep myself for a tantrum of the ages.

 

[Fishy888]

I decided that tonight was the night. Tonight I turned my nem’s rock around so we could actually see it. I fed it tonight along with my duncans.

Since we ran a bunch of errands today and I’m starting to come down with a head cold I’m going to test the sump for phosphorus tomorrow. I did put a cheap freshwater low power LED light on the sump for the chaeto today. I was going to put the chaeto in the DT but, since “Dory” this way cometh (after QT), I think I’ll just let the rock get colonized by micro life and let the tang have plenty of swimming space until I can get a larger tank.

Anyway here are some pictures I took about an hour ago, just after the nem and duncans ate.

 

[Fishy888]

My friend is going to get the fishes today. Among them is the hippo tang. I’m also getting some GSP, a favia frag, and a lepto frag. I’m not sure if I can pick them up today especially if she offers to QT the hippo.

Even if she doesn’t QT it I likely will because I know hippos are ich magnets. I’ve been researching QT regimens for a while. The thing that worries me about QTing the tang is that most regimens call for 14 to 30 days. I have the 20 gallon bins I used for curing the rocks I got several months ago. I also have the sump. Even though it’s a 30 gallon sump it just seems like it would be too cramped.

The hippo tang looks healthy in the video I saw of it. I wonder if doing a QT on this tang might have the exact opposite effect of what one would expect from a fish in QT. Will I stress it so much that, even with treating the fish in QT, the tang would come out of QT less healthy? My friend has a bigger QT tank than any I have. if she decides to treat it when she treats the rest of the fish I’ll take up her offer.

I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I’ve wanted a hippo tang for years. I’ve already started the hunt for a 125 gallon or higher tank. Unless I get an insanely good deal though it’s going to be a month or two, possibly three before I can buy one. It will happen though.

My animals are looking good. I haven’t added sand to the DT yet. GHA is growing on the bottom and on the rocks but it’s not that thick yet. Between the mollies and the hippo I don’t expect the GHA to grow like crazy.

Today I’m going to do a partial water change so I have lots of RO/DI to make. I’m going to clean the front glass today but I’ll leave the algae on the other panes. It might actually help whatever pods I have left to repopulate the rocks. The algae will also be free fish food.

 

[Fishy888]

My friend got the fishes yesterday and they were so stressed out she skipped the QT. To be honest I would have done the exact same thing. I knew deep down looking at the video that these fishes wouldn’t have survived QT. That said, amazingly, I couldn’t se a single dot of ich on any single fish, even the darkest colored fishes.

Today I’ll find out how my fish is doing. I’m holding out hope that it’s doing better than I have any right to hope for. I’m also prepared for her to tell me it didn’t make it. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt how meticulously she cares for her animals and I would trust my animals’ care to her all day any day. I can only say that for a precious few others; and I know she’ll do whatever it takes to get the fishes through this to the best of her abilities.

Regardless of whether or not I can get my fish today I need to do the water change I’ve been putting off. Today’s looking like a good day to get the RO/DI water made up and the water mixed up. I also need to top the sump’s water off. I might get the chance to work on the side cabinets a bit as well.

When the 90 gallon cube blew out on me and it took me a week to get the 75 up and running; I thought I was going to lose many if not most of my inverts. I certainly lost some. Fortunately I know of at least four brittle stars that made it. Even though I easily lost 2/3 of my bristle worms I still have a decent number of them left. I still have both species of amphipods. Both species of asterina made it through. Even the sponges made it through for the most part. That whole thing could have gone much, much worse.

 

[tbrown]

My friend got the fishes yesterday and they were so stressed out she skipped the QT. To be honest I would have done the exact same thing. I knew deep down looking at the video that these fishes wouldn’t have survived QT. That said, amazingly, I couldn’t se a single dot of ich on any single fish, even the darkest colored fishes.

Today I’ll find out how my fish is doing. I’m holding out hope that it’s doing better than I have any right to hope for. I’m also prepared for her to tell me it didn’t make it. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt how meticulously she cares for her animals and I would trust my animals’ care to her all day any day. I can only say that for a precious few others; and I know she’ll do whatever it takes to get the fishes through this to the best of her abilities.

Regardless of whether or not I can get my fish today I need to do the water change I’ve been putting off. Today’s looking like a good day to get the RO/DI water made up and the water mixed up. I also need to top the sump’s water off. I might get the chance to work on the side cabinets a bit as well.

When the 90 gallon cube blew out on me and it took me a week to get the 75 up and running; I thought I was going to lose many if not most of my inverts. I certainly lost some. Fortunately I know of at least four brittle stars that made it. Even though I easily lost 2/3 of my bristle worms I still have a decent number of them left. I still have both species of amphipods. Both species of asterina made it through. Even the sponges made it through for the most part. That whole thing could have gone much, much worse.

I've got a rack that I pulled because it was loaded with bubble algae. It's been freshwater soaking for nearly a month now and still has sponge on it. Crazy how somethings literally just need water to survive.

 

[Fishy888]

After talking to my friend we both agree it’ll be best to let the fish have a week or so before I go there to get it. It’s doing really good so far although no doubt it’s stressed like the other fish she got. The fishes were only fed flake food. She has the new fishes eating brine shrimp but they aren’t eating any frozen food or nori yet. The hippo tang is three inches long and three years old. It was actually in a 180 and not a 75 the whole time. My friend has it in a 75 currently. The tangs in her larger system would probably bully it to death if not outright eat it.

 

[fishguy242]

Looks good...

 

[Fishy888]

I’ve begun making more water today in advance of a partial water change. I’ve got to clean the glass and top off the sump.

I’ve started looking at 125 gallon tanks. It’ll be a few weeks at the earliest before I upgrade. There are two 125s I’ve been eyeing. Neither are drilled however. My hands are far too shaky for me to even try drilling whatever tank I end up with. Hopefully someone local will be able to do that for me. I don’t know what the going rate is these days but I expect it would be $50 to $100 give or take. Less would be great but I want to make sure I get someone who’s a reefer, who knows what they’re doing, and who cares about the work they’re doing. I’ll also be looking for something reef ready and local. I don’t want to have to drive more than an hour or so considering how bumpy the roads around here can be.