Cycled123 Nano to 180g

[cycled123]

We are down to 4 fish: Trigger and the 3 dartfish RIP Marlin the clown, Lenny the blenny, Coral the royal gramma, Sapphire the damsel, and Mary the wrasse who were all with us for over a year. And all the new comers documented through out this thread. I'm so discouraged. I thought we were doing things right. We may be tweaking our fish list a bit now that have to start over. We will for sure get another lawn mower blenny and sapphire damsel for there benefits to the reef, and royal gramma for its beauty. I want another wrasse but will probably get something bigger. My husband is now debating if he wants tangs at all just because of how aggressive and disease prone they are. I'm ok leaving them out but I like the movement they bring. What are some larger hardy active reef fish?
Several of our SPS did not like the whole removal process and are dying from the base up. Everything parameter wise is stable. Since we have to keep tank fallow we have added a few pieces more. (horn coral, favia, acro, 2 acans and sun coral) We are debating buying a bunch of coral and use the DT as giant coral qt and resest the 76 days. Just not sure with currently loosing several sps and we go on a 10day vacation in one month. A neighborhood teenager is watching our dogs and cats. We have not taught him any tank maintenance or feeding yet. This is the first time we are leaving longer then a 3day weekend. I will probably just have him broadcast feed with reef roids and coral frenzy 3-4x while we are gone. The biggest issue is going to be the ato. Our neptune ato is soooooooo touchy (alarms at least daily and often multiple times daily) I'm thinking of scrapping the thing and just programming the apex to add a set amount of water 4x/day. I'm not sure how to actually program it but know it is possible lol.
The 37g tank was doing so well until I started vodka dosing. I lost all my pulsing xenia, clove pollyps and kenyi trees don't look well. And there is a slime on the top of the water. I'm debating stopping the dosing. Anemones are doing the same. I laugh at the rose bubble tip. We never know which side of the rock it is going to be on. It doesn't move its foot but stretches out the rock in different directions. We get a new "look" to the tank on a daily bases because of this.
I guess that is all for now. The tank sure doesn't look the same without fish

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Really sorry to read of your troubles lately. Anyone that stays in this hobby long enough has had times like these. You will bounce back. I hate losing fish so I know how you feel. I think feeding the tank while it is fallow is a good idea because you dont want to let your nutrients drop to zero and starve your corals. I hope you enjoy your vacation and everything goes well with the tank while you are gone!!

 

[ReefWithCare]

I would stop adding stuff to the tank and focus on getting rid of the disease and treating the surviving fish. Stop thinking about adding corals and what fish you want in the future. Best of luck. Save your money on corals and get some good QT practices in like procure a supply of CP from your vet.

 

[cycled123]

I'm sorry dreaming of what can be is my way of staying engaged in the hobby! I have been in the fish keeping hobby long enough to know this is a set back not a stopping point. My vet or anyone I have called will not prescribe CP. We have QT'd all fish. This most likely came in on coral. We are now exploring options for coral QT. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. But I'm still going dream and write about it! This is just as much my journal and thought processes as it is my contribution to the reefing hobby. I personally would rather see a true build thread with the up and downs that befall EVERYONE in this hobby and offer words of encouragement then read one that is all roses and only updated once in awhile. Thanks for reading along and for everyone who has offered suggestions and encouragement!

 

[elisa h]

I'm sorry dreaming of what can be is my way of staying engaged in the hobby! I have been in the fish keeping hobby long enough to know this is a set back not a stopping point. My vet or anyone I have called will not prescribe CP. We have QT'd all fish. This most likely came in on coral. We are now exploring options for coral QT. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. But I'm still going dream and write about it! This is just as much my journal and thought processes as it is my contribution to the reefing hobby. I personally would rather see a true build thread with the up and downs that befall EVERYONE in this hobby and offer words of encouragement then read one that is all roses and only updated once in awhile. Thanks for reading along and for everyone who has offered suggestions and encouragement!

Everything will be back to normal before you know it. Just focus on the corals and the fallow period will be over in no time. I agree you should add corals you know you want now and reset the fallow period to avoid having to qt a bunch of coral afterwards. It’s so disheartening to see velvet come in on a coral! I may start qting them also! I don’t know why anybody would think you can’t plan ahead on future fish. I think it’s fun researching different species and deciding what’s best for your tank. Good luck!

 

[cycled123]

I just won a bounce mushroom from Blue Line Coral!!!! I entered the drawing and participated in the live sale. I think 164 is my new lucky number!!! At the sale I incidentally bought 5 different mushrooms. I love softies I also got a dragon soul favia, button coral, sunny-d zoas, goni and 2 bubble tip anemones. I can't wait until Thursday

 

[cycled123]

Lots of new coral! My husband ordered a bunch of zoas and palys from cultivated reef to what I already ordered from Blue Line Corals. I'm not going to complain, lol.

I'll start with the bounce mushroom. It's tiny but gorgeous! This is not something I would have bought on my own but I am so happy I won it. Thank you Blue Line Corals Unfortunately it came off of its plug during shipping I reglued but it was still a bit loose so I got creative. I drilled a hole in a plastic Easter egg and stuck the plug in. It allows it to get some flow but not be blasted. I'll probably let it grow like this for awhile until it gets bigger. Right after shipping and reglueing it was a bit stressed. Looks much better now but it's hard to get a picture in the cup.


Bubble coral- My daughter and I wanted white, my husband wanted green. He won this round.

Ricordia


Palys and Zoas (Sunny D, Blue Hornets, Cornbread God of War, Dragons Eye, Armor of God, Fruit Loops, Pink zippers, Scrambled Eggs, Utter Chaos and Sun Burst)


Current FTS of 37g Anemone tank with new orange/peach anemone. One nem didn't make it through shipping so I have credit to use. My clowns swim everywhere but are currently hosting a power head. I hope maybe one of the anemones will host them eventually.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Very nice selection of corals. I want some blue hornets!!

 

[cycled123]

Jeez its been awhile since I updated. We went on a 2 week vacation to Florida and I've been forced/mandated to work like a mad women once returned. Our trip included a visit to Georgia Aquarium, snorkeling in Destin Florida and a stop at Living Reef in Orlando Florida. Georgia Aquarium is definitely worth the trip. We also did the behind the scenes tour which was worth the extra cost. We enjoyed snorkeling so much we are thinking of getting the entire family scuba certified before we go on our planned Hawaii trip in 2 years so we can really explore. Living Reef was an awesome shop with lots of unique to us coral. We could have easily bought way way more. They held our order for us and shipped it after we returned home.

Reef tank at Georgia Aquarium

Whale Shark at Georgia Aquarium

Sampling of fish seen Snorkeling

Oops we may have blown the vacation budget at Living Reef


Unfortunately trip wasn't without mishap tank wise. We came back and half our plates were gone. Just skeletons left. The dosing pump got an air bubble and alkalinity dropped. I also suspect the conch buried one of the plates because one was almost completely covered in sand. We are still working to bring alk back up slowly. One lobo is also angry with the alk drop. Everything else is doing ok. Just not seeing much growth. The four fish in QT are eating well and showing no signs of velvet. They survived copper tx and the neighbor kid accidentally feeding coral food to the QT fish tank everyother day while we were on vacation. I thought my instructions were clear but all the salt tanks got reef roids. Have cloudy water/algae bloom in the fish only QT but the fish seem no worse for wear. Next time I will post specific instructions on each tank instead of one big note.

Just set up 10g coral QT last night. I forgot to take pics though. I also purchased more coral. I went to pick up a used light for the coral QT from one of my local coral sellers and he is moving soon so was getting rid of most of his stock for excellent prices. I went a bit over board. Good thing I have been working lots of hours. My husband says I need to stop buying zoas but I can't help myself, lol.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Great update. I was wondering how your tank was doing. Vacations are always risky, but a little algae is not so bad. Sorry the plate corals didn’t make it through. I still don’t know what I am going to do this fall when I take mine.
The Georgia Aquarium sounds like a great place to visit. Glad you had a great trip.

 

[cycled123]

As we are almost done with our fallow period (day 65) we bought fish for QT A serpent star, 2 sapphire damsels, a lawn mower blenny and a mandarin dragonette. I read that the dragonette doesn't tolerate copper so we will just observe for now. I did a 10min bath with hydroplex before adding to QT. The mandarin is the fish I have been waiting 1.5 yrs for. We decided to get her before adding any other pod competition. There has been a pod explosion in the DT during this fallow period so hopefully all goes well. I will attempt to get her to eat frozen too. The others we got for "cleaning" purposes. The serpent star is currently in the coral/invert QT. The trigger and dartfish are doing great in seperate QT. No flashing, spots or other signs of disease. 11 days until we can put them back home.
Coral/QT (filter sock is used from anemone tank to help establish bacteria)

Serpent star scuttled across tank when I turned on the light to take above picture. Got a quick pic before he hid again

 

[cycled123]

Some pics of my new friends
First my red mandarin dragonette. She is eating pods and frozen brine. Once in awhile a pellet or two.

Mini pod farm to keep the mandarin happy. The sponge wont sink, lol

Finally found a red and white anemone crab that I have spent months looking for (diver's den)

Expensive but awesome. After 2 weeks no more aiptasia! Berghia nudibranchs from M2O reef.

 

[cycled123]

We have fish in the Display again! Moved the survivors (trigger and 3 dartfish) back to the DT. They are doing well.
Also moved the starfish over. Unfortunately don't know if starfish is going to make it. He has lost the tips of 3 legs. I'm thinking the QT in was just to new. After reading humblefish's coral and invert qt article decided to see if we could save him by moving to DT. Humblefishs article basically stated starfish can't carry ich/velvet. We dripped acclimated him for several hours then rinsed with tank water. Hopefully he can pull through but I have my doubts.
We also got some new fish for the 40g QT. A female trigger, a scribbled rabbitfish and a marine betta. Original Marine Betta was DOA from diver's den but we got another one at local LFS. (Live aquaria refunded our money without issue.) We saw the marine betta at the LFS when we got the fish for 20g 2 weeks ago and luckily they still had him. This particular one doesn't seem that shy. He hung out behind the rock but would come out and cruise the tank too. He hasn't ate for us yet but was eating in the store. We've only had him a few hours though so I'm not concerned. He does not hide from the other fish in QT and has picked a corner with some plastic plants to hang out in but is not hiding. The other two are eating well. The rabbitfish swims all over, the trigger hides other than feeding time. We will slowly start copper dosing this tank. The 20g QT we are just observing for now. You can't use copper on Mandarins so we will observe for at least 30 days then move the mandarin. We then will treat the other fish with copper.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

It is nice to see your fish back in the display!!

I need to get some of those aptasia eating nudis. Despite my best efforts a few have made it into my display. I have used the nudis in the past with other tanks so I know how well they work!!

I keep thinking I can get rid of these few with the aptasia X, but every time I inject one, 2 or 3 seems to take its place.

 

[cycled123]

It is nice to see your fish back in the display!!

I need to get some of those aptasia eating nudis. Despite my best efforts a few have made it into my display. I have used the nudis in the past with other tanks so I know how well they work!!

I keep thinking I can get rid of these few with the aptasia X, but every time I inject one, 2 or 3 seems to take its place.

We started with aptasia x too. So glad we got the nudis. It's taking time but little by little there is less.

 

[cycled123]

It has been an up and down week. The ato sensor on the 37g went out (we think?). The sensor started beeping at random times and we couldn't figure out what was going on. It appeared to be working as the sump level wasn't changing. Cleaned sensor and tubing with vinegar (and while I was at it also took apart power heads and cleaned those too). Well the next night it decided to dump the entire contents of the ato container into the tank. Never beeped. Luckily did not burn up the ato pump as it was dry when my husband got up. Salinity dropped from 1.025 to 1.022. Luckily the clowns or the anemones appear to be no worse for wear. Time will tell. The porcelain crab usually hangs out in the watermelon anemone. The clowns still host the powerhead and want nothing to do with the anemones.

We added the mandarin, lawn mower blenny and 2 sapphire damsels to the 180. We treated these guys with 30 days of CP and 2 weeks observation. Never saw anything concerning. The mandarin ate alot in qt but is still is skinnier then when we got him. We were feeding pods (added from my culture which actually appears to be working), brine shrimp, pellets, reef frenzy and butterfly mix. He ate it all. Hopefully being in the display will help fatten him back up. I think part of the problem was the QT is in our bedroom and my husband and I sleep opposite schedules (I work 3rd shift). The tank light was only on for about 5 hours a day, so only about 5 hours of eating. We added the fish to the display just before lights out but the mandarin was already picking at the rocks. The female (we hope!) trigger, scribbled rabbitfish and marine betta are done with CP but we didn't want to add to many fish to DT at one time. We will add them in a week or two. We ordered a quoyi parrotfish from DD that is arriving today. Most people say they are reef safe. We shall see. As my husband says we can't grow SPS anyway, lol. The hardest thing looks like getting them to eat and long term success. I'm willing to give it a shot. It sounds like most come with internal parasites. My plan is to start course of prazipro (and metro if needed) and then copper while in QT. Crossing fingers X.
Here are few shots of the tank

Lost a lobo this week. It started to not open all the way for about a week and then bailed. The plates are all pretty much gone too. As far as we can tell this is still a reaction from the alk drop from when we were on vacation and low magnesium. I finally seem to be getting it back to being stable. Mushrooms, zoas and euphylia are doing great. Acans and favia look ok but are not really growing. I'm thinking of getting an ICP test done to see if something else is going on. The tank is really only 6 months old even though we cycled rocks before setting up tank. Most days I think its just new tank issues but who knows? Unfortunately the coral QT is not doing the best. I think the setup is just to young. We lost one zoa, 2 sps and bleached a favia. Everything else is holding on but not thriving. Debating if we are going to pull some things at day 45 or wait the full 72. (thanks Humblefish for opening up that debate, lol) Really Really Really don't want to get ich or velvet again though.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sounds like you are being smart and patient with the fish. Sorry about your coral and Alkalinity woes. Cheers to a steady recovery.

 

[cycled123]

Decided to send off a water sample to ATI for ICP analysis. Coral is just not growing good and figure it couldn't hurt to see if we have something else going on besides alk issues. I will of course update when I get the results back.
We got a Quoyi Parrotfish in Qt. He is eating great so far and is not shy. I started him in prazipro and feeding metro/focus. Will start copper next week. These fish are apparently prone to internal parasites so started that first. He sure is beautiful! Pic does not do him justice

I got these silicone ice cube trays to create cubes out of all our packets of food. I am mixing brine, mysis, reef frenzy, emerald entree, butterfly mix and our club food. Basically covering all types of food for all our fish into one cube. Plus it will be a uniform amount. But boy does it stink thawing it slightly to get into the tray!

I also put up some decor from our trip next to the tank. I found the shelf on etsy and couldn't be happier

I guess that's it for now besides did a major water change on the QT coral tank. We are having major algae issues in that tank

 

[cycled123]

Sounds like you are being smart and patient with the fish. Sorry about your coral and Alkalinity woes. Cheers to a steady recovery.

Sent off sample of water to ATI just in case. Hopefully the slide stops soon!

 

[cycled123]

Introduced the 3 remaining fish done with QT. Unfortunately did not go so well with the trigger. I added the female trigger to an acclimation box as we have a male. She escaped somehow while I was sleeping. When I woke up the male had her by the tail and was continuously attacking. I caught her and separated but she was pretty beat up and died this morning

The Marine Betta is doing great! He is out and about early morning and evening and picked a sheltered overhang to spend most of the day in

The scribbled Rabbitfish is doing ok. He is pretty skinny. Any tips to fatten him up? He doesn't seem to really like Nori (There is nothing wrong with his eyes its just how the picture turned out)