Sharkbait’s 40 Breeder Upgrade

[Sharkbait19]

I was able to get a replacement gramma and cardinal, but no wrasse or goby were available. I decided to add a new firefish to the replacement order as well. Apparently they were having issues with their royal gramma batch at the time I’d ordered it. Hopefully the new one is from a much healthier group.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Following along!

 

[Sharkbait19]

The new royal gramma and firefish seem to be doing very well, though the new gramma is TINY!! Much smaller than any I’ve had in the past.
The Hawkfish and the blenny are doing well too, though the blenny seems to be having some problems with eating. While it’s active and takes the food I put into the tank, he is extremely thin, likely due to the limited amount of algae to graze on. If it continues like this, I’m not sure if he’ll make it through 30 days…
The new cardinal is doing fine as well, though I’d like to see it swimming around more and getting more food. Haven’t began medications on any of the tanks yet, as I’d like to make sure they’re all eating enough food first.

 

[Projects with Sam]

The new royal gramma and firefish seem to be doing very well, though the new gramma is TINY!! Much smaller than any I’ve had in the past.
The Hawkfish and the blenny are doing well too, though the blenny seems to be having some problems with eating. While it’s active and takes the food I put into the tank, he is extremely thin, likely due to the limited amount of algae to graze on. If it continues like this, I’m not sure if he’ll make it through 30 days…
The new cardinal is doing fine as well, though I’d like to see it swimming around more and getting more food. Haven’t began medications on any of the tanks yet, as I’d like to make sure they’re all eating enough food first.

if you have a nori clip for the blenny it may help him out

 

[Sharkbait19]

if you have a nori clip for the blenny it may help him out

I have put nori loose in there and he didn’t seem too interested - do they only really respond if it’s clipped?

 

[rmorris_14]

I have put nori loose in there and he didn’t seem too interested - do they only really respond if it’s clipped?

Don’t know the answer but I’ve seen people recommend rubber banding it to a rock.

 

[Sharkbait19]

The Blenny seems to be eating much better now, and is looking much less thin than before.
Some pictures of all the new fish:

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

The Blenny seems to be eating much better now, and is looking much less thin than before.
Some pictures of all the new fish:

Bangaii's are one of my favorites, but never had much luck keeping them. Would love to be able to breed them in my aquarium some day!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Well, today’s the day! I’m going to be removing the sandbed today and doing a deep clean to hopefully remove this ongoing issue. I’ll keep you all updated on how it goes! I’m also moving the Blenny into the DT early, because it is not eating much in quarantine and appears to be on the same track as the other two. It’s otherwise healthy, and I hope getting it into a tank with constant food supply will help it out.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Well, today’s the day! I’m going to be removing the sandbed today and doing a deep clean to hopefully remove this ongoing issue. I’ll keep you all updated on how it goes! I’m also moving the Blenny into the DT early, because it is not eating much in quarantine and appears to be on the same track as the other two. It’s otherwise healthy, and I hope getting it into a tank with constant food supply will help it out.

I must have missed it...what issue are you having?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I must have missed it...what issue are you having?

For years now, I’ve had issues keeping all but the hardiest corals alive or thriving. It’s been a combination of problems - high phosphate, low alk, poor lighting, and hydrogen sulfide. After fixing the first 3, I thought I was set and things really took off, and then I messed up the sandbed trying to catch my coral beauty angel and lost a lot of coral. Pretty much every time I have to mess up the sandbed something either dies or everything really closes up and looks like it’s going to die.
I’m hoping that by pulling a lot of the sand out and clean up what’s left I can put those problems behind me.

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

For years now, I’ve had issues keeping all but the hardiest corals alive or thriving. It’s been a combination of problems - high phosphate, low alk, poor lighting, and hydrogen sulfide. After fixing the first 3, I thought I was set and things really took off, and then I messed up the sandbed trying to catch my coral beauty angel and lost a lot of coral. Pretty much every time I have to mess up the sandbed something either dies or everything really closes up and looks like it’s going to die.
I’m hoping that by pulling a lot of the sand out and clean up what’s left I can put those problems behind me.

So are you going BB from here on out then?

 

[Cthulukelele]

Another help is things that aerate the sandbed like pistol shrimp, sea cucumbers, and nassarius snails. Idk what I would do without my tiger tail cucumbers

 

[Sharkbait19]

I plan to remove most of the sand but still leave a bit - I have a lot of nassarius snails and a pistol shrimp who still need the sand, and also would want a haliochoeres wrasse in the future.
Most likely I will go bare bottom on the left side of the tank (where nothing seems to stir the sand) and leave some on the pistol’s side (which is always spotless).
I’m afraid to do cucumbers - are they as hard as sea stars? Is the expelling guts thing a myth?

 

[Cthulukelele]

I plan to remove most of the sand but still leave a bit - I have a lot of nassarius snails and a pistol shrimp who still need the sand, and also would want a haliochoeres wrasse in the future.
Most likely I will go bare bottom on the left side of the tank (where nothing seems to stir the sand) and leave some on the pistol’s side (which is always spotless).
I’m afraid to do cucumbers - are they as hard as sea stars? Is the expelling guts thing a myth?

I've heard they're technically still a risk, but I've had them for 6-7 years with no issues. 0 maintenance. One of the only things to survive the crash almost 2 years ago. I probably have 3-5 feet of tiger tail cucumber in the tank.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Essentially water quality almost physically cannot be an issue, but if they get sucked into a pump and diced that can end poorly. Tiger tails don't really roam though once they're happy. They attach their base to the bottom of a rock and and stretch out to where the sand to clean is. You'll know where they're anchored as a large pile of sand will accumulate there and naturally disperse outward

 

[Sharkbait19]

All done! I’ve attached some pictures during the process, as well as a before and after shot. It’ll take some time getting used to the new scape, but I think it offers much more space for future coral purchases.
Unfortunately the goby was MIA during the entire process, which would put him on the list of fish that mysteriously vanished…

Before:

After:

I’ll have to get some better pics once everything clears up some more. I left sand at the edges but the middle where the rocks sit is completely bare. I really hope that this is what the tank needed to start thriving again. Based on the strong rotten egg smell that arose during the process, I definitely think that hydrogen sulfide was the prominent issue at play.

 

[Sharkbait19]

As I predicted when doing a total overhaul, there has been significant dieoff. Lost two corals and both urchins, and the damselfish is gone. I feel really bad that I put them all through this, but I knew the risks. This reset is more about the future of the tank, and making sure that nothing like this ever happens again. In hindsight, I should have set up an empty quarantine tank to temporarily house the fish and more delicate inverts for a few days.

 

[Projects with Sam]

As I predicted when doing a total overhaul, there has been significant dieoff. Lost two corals and both urchins, and the damselfish is gone. I feel really bad that I put them all through this, but I knew the risks. This reset is more about the future of the tank, and making sure that nothing like this ever happens again. In hindsight, I should have set up an empty quarantine tank to temporarily house the fish and more delicate inverts for a few days.

Its your hobby! do it your way! I just did similar getting a bunch of sand out of my sump!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Seems the abundant dieoff has kicked off a bacterial bloom and mini cycle, which explains the still-cloudy water and unhappy corals. I will say that in spite of all the troubles, it’s been quite a while since the water actually smelled like a proper reef tank and doesn’t appear with a yellow tint.