Susan's RSM 250

[Susan Edwards]

@Chrisfish I love the tank, and it was exactly what I wanted. I found it for a steal on craigslist.

 

[Susan Edwards]

official 6 weeks tank set up and I haven't lost any livestock (aside from snails or hermits) and one chromis who either came to me with an injury (missing flesh on side) or got attacked a day after I put him in my tank)

Did a water change and scraped algae off back wall and turkey bastered other areas. Yuck. Took a while for the filtering to clear the tank. Took off air valve from skimmer and let it settle. Helped clear tank. Just have to keep checking it in case it over skims. Algae looking better.

Cal now at 400
Mag dropped back to 1200 from 1400
Alk between 6 and 7 depending on what RS test kit I used. Will retest tomorrow
Sal: 1.024-5

Will have to decide if I need to dose Kent 2 part tomorrow, or just the alk powder I got at the lfs (yeah, I can make my own and eventually I will). Or just let it sit for a day or two. Xenia still not doing good, torch better--extends a bit by late afternoon. GBTA has come out of hiding of back of rock facing rock, but at least I can see it and feed it. Looks a bit starved but maybe not. Tried to feed it but then noticed it's pooping so it's getting something. I do try to turkey baste brine toward it when I feed the fish.

Watchman goby has a tiny little cave which it defends against the scooter blenny if it comes too close. The goby is tiny so that amusing. Blenny could care a less. Bicolor all over tank but has claimed one pukani with a nice hole for it to peer out from. All three eating.

Am, nitrite/ates all 0, tank nice and clear except after I dose. so except for alk, and maybe mag, all good. Just need to get the 2 corals back healthy.

Have to find out if the goby is too small for a pistol shrimp.He's prob. 1 1/4 inches or so

At 6 weeks I have:
2 clowns
2 chromis
1 scooter blenny
1 bicolor blenny
1 tiny yellow watchman goby

1 gtba
1 clove coral
1 green star polyp
1 xenia (mighty unhappy at the moment)
1 torch (looking better-had been doing beautifully)
1 frag of polyps and zoas

8 hermits
4 trouchas
1 bee
1-3 nasarius (haven't seen more than one at a time in a while)
2-3 cerith (if still with me)
1 emerald
2 peppermint shrimp

going to add more snails, emerald, hermits, maybe a pistol shrimp, and another fish which I'm not saying here as I know what ya'all will say....

 

[Chrisfish]

Congratulations on your 6 weeks.

 

[dbl]

Happy 6 week anniversary.

 

[Susan Edwards]

So, my normal lfs had a huge fire last week--electrical. Fire thru the roof per the news. So we went a bit further to another fish store. Wow. Just wow. huge. And the best selection I've seen yet. Lots of fish, and lots of nice looking corals and wide varieties. And prices among best I've seen. I think it was the owner who helped us--knowledgeable and efficient. I only saw him get 2 of my items and take them to the bagging table. He's talking to us and then suddenly says my box is ready... My jaw dropped. He had conveyed to the other what I needed and they'd gotten the rest all ready without me even aware, never even heard him tell anyone else what to get. I was impressed as it seems to always take forever to get your fish bagged.

So I explained my tank, my concerns. I went with the idea of only getting livestock that would help my tank, not decorate it. So here is what I got

3 emeralds-one is a huge sucker and is plucking entire tuffs of algae already. He said with my 1 and my rockwork, 4 was okay
3 trochus--the 4 I have do an awesome job
3 nasarius--have only seen 1 of the 4 I had recently
2 turbos--wow, there they go, mowing it down....
1 tiger sea cucumber (for my hubby who has been to china and eaten them....)
1 tiny pistol shrimp to go with my yw goby
1 sleeper, gold head goby yellow head, blue line). started sifting immediately
1 Kole Tang to help with algae. He said my tank should be good for a couple of years before I need to find him a new home with lots of open swimming space (I know I'll catch flak...).

So that should do me for a while. Next big trip is corals, once the tank is doing a bit better with the ones I have. I was worried my goby was too tiny for a pistol so made sure I got a small one. Goby was in his tiny cave, shrimp floated into the big caverns. Saw the goby watching, start across the clearing, back off several times. Then before bed, right front and center I see a big pit. Hole at bottom too small for anything. Look again a few minutes later and it's larger. A few minutes later, I see my goby. I think they've paired. Kole very wary of me. Sees me and hides. Everyone ate after I got them all in.

My livestock now:
2 clowns
2 chromis
1 bicolor blenny
1 scooter blenny
1 yellow watchman goby and 1 pistol shrimp
1 sleeper, gold head sand shifting goby
1 Kole Tang

2 peppermint shrimps
4 emeralds, 7 trochus, 8 hermits, 2 turbos, 4-6 nasarius, 2-3 cerith (maybe) 2 bumblebees
1 tiger sea cucumber

zoa/polyps frag, green star polyp frag, xenia (not sure for how long) frag, torch
gbta also not doing so good but surviving.
Have some pods arriving via amazon and other food and vitamins and coral foods I've seen recommended on Sunday. Will keep pods in tank until I get refugium set up. A bit nervous thinking about setting it up and doing the plumbing and getting pumps and such. Have a 10 gal and baffles I ordered from ebay and sock holders.

Going to bed one happy camper. Even hubby taking an interest.

sea cucumber

 

[Tahoe61]

Nine fish in a tank that is not 2 months old, this is a recipe for disaster. It's your tank, and you can stock how you like but my best advise is to slow down. The purchase of fish and inverts is not going to help your tank through the normal ugly stage. I truly appreciate your enthusiasm for the hobby but I also want to see your tank succeed and for you to enjoy the hobby long term.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@Tahoe61 I agree. No more fish for the next 3-4 months or longer. I hadn't planned on adding 2 yesterday but lfs recommended the sand sifting goby for my sand. The tang I wanted for algae and okay, just because. I almost don't count the tiny watchman as he is a tiny footprint (no more than 1.25 x .25 wide if that) and yeah he'll grow eventually but the tank will be more mature. I'm watching numbers and vigilant about weekly (every 7 to 10 days) water changes. Still no nitrates. Testing again today.

Tank today is the clearest its ever been, almost crystal clear. The additional cuc has really done a number on the algae. Even the sand now has lots of white. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So far I've only lost one fish and that was due to an injury--not sure if it came to me with it or a fight here but it had a good size patch of missing scales on its side, bigger than a "nip"

hmm, I think the burrow I found last night, and the yellow head, belongs to the sleeper gold headed goby, as the watchman was still in his tiny cave this morning. I'm hoping the tiny pistol shrimp found the yw. I notice the yw goby disappears into the little cave instead of just hiding and watching from it as before. We shall see. crabs out chowing down..

 

[Susan Edwards]

 

[Susan Edwards]

update as I close in to almost 2 months. Had an unexpected surge in ammonia and nitrites and nitrates this week. Nothing has changed. I suspect my tiger tail sea cucumber, which I've not seen since I put it in at end of Jan. has died under the sand somewhere. Yesterday, tank, which is always a bit cloudy, esp toward evening got super bad. Some cloudyness is due to my sand shifting goby... I also added a small bottle of copepods but a lot were dead so not sure if that affected things (I forgot to open the bottle with I put it in the fridge overnight-sigh)

Nitrite: .05, nitrate 5 (actually wanted this number.) Did a water change yesterday (didn't ck ammonia as my alert tag in tank was fine). Tank cleared up a lot.
Today, checked ammonia .03, nitrite.05, nitrate 5 Tank not too cloudy. Did another water change, a bit bigger and added some prime.
after an hour, am 0, nitrite .05 and tank pretty clear.

I'm trying to count my cuc. I think I'm missing several hermits. Hard to do snails with the rocks. Same iwth the emeralds. bta is still alive. Yellow WM might be gone but he is very tiny. He might also be iwth the little pistol shrimp in the big cavern. No idea.

All fish aside from him (and who knows) doing well. Corals that weren't doing so good are perking. They like the nitrates I suspect.

Will check numbers tomorrow. Making more water tonight in case I need to do another wc.

Algae is getting less. Next wc I'll brush off a few more spots on rocks. I try once a day or so to turkey blast the rocks and let the filter suck some out. But no where near as bad. Takes a couple days for the back wall to get thick. When I do water changes, I really scrape that wall. I find it easier to take the magnetic scraper in my hand and just manually clear it instead of the algae cleaning tools.

Of all my fish, the sleeper gold head goby is a kick. Love watching him even though he mucks up the water some. And the kole tang. He loves to dart in and out of all the crevices. He seldom does a side to side run like he'd like more room. Seems content to weave in and out of rocks. But the fish can move with zip when it wants! As can the goby. Those two are very entertaining and they also seem to like each other.

The scooter blenny now knows what a turkey baster is and what it means. I turn off all pumps and he waits for me to squirt him some food. Now I don't quite worry that he's not getting enough. He trained up well. I also love watching him.

So lots of ups and downs, some panicking and fears and lots of enjoyment

 

[Susan Edwards]

Wow, been a while since an update. Just over 2 months now. I'm still having issues with low ammonia requiring water changes--going every other day, using prime and ammonia removers and even added more bio spira to help deal with it. The cause I'm pretty sure is the demise of my tiger tail sea cucumber which I haven't seen since I put it in at the end of Jan. No idea where it is but it has to be the reason for the sudden ammonia issues--even while cycling I didn't have these problems.

Excepting the ammonia, tank is doing good. Tank is clear most of the time--not crystal--but best it's ever been. Gets a bit cloudy by night. The sifter goby doesn't help with the sand clouding either. Algae is almost gone. Have the harder green on rocks, most hair either gone or fairly controlled. when I water change, I pick a spot and and brush or scrub or turkey baster the rocks. Doing the back wall, I use the magnet cleaner manually and scrape the entire back. Glass doesn't get horrible anymore. Notice the snails on the glass more, so leave some for them. I worked at getting the temp a bit lower to assist in that area. Keeping it between 76 and 78 as much as I can now. So I feel like the tank is settling. A couple small patches of algae to deal with. Will keep doing the wc often until tank settles back out.

So far, the fish are doing okay. The Kole Tang had a tiny spot of white on it's top fin, and a few days ago I notice a spot on it's mouth and was worried about ick. I don't have a qt tank yet. Had been using garlic in the food (soak it into the frozen foods as they thaw and freeze dried mysis so started adding to tank water when I do a wc. Today I noticed both spots gone. I use that pinky vitamin stuff too. Hoping the bacteria will deal with the dead tiger tail. I'm afraid to dredge the tank in case I find it and release a whole bunch of nastiness in my tank all at once. But suspect it's under rocks which I can't move without tearing the entire tank apart.

No sigh of my yellow watchman goby or the pistol shrimp--both very tiny. I did the other day see a molted shell of the pistol so am sure its still in the "cavern" and am hoping the ywg is there as well, though I'd think it would come out to eat. I squirt some food into the cavern in case, plus the kole hides there when I feed.

The inhabitants
Kole Tang is a bit stressed with the tank--a bit pale, but eating and acting its crazy self. Wouldn't touch algae hanging from a clip so I rubber banded some to a rock and placed in the "cove" in front of the cavern. Have seen it pecking at it so will add some every day. Emerald crab likes as well. One of my favs (Kole, Scooter, sand sifter)
Scooter Blenny loves to wait for me to feed it on a rock. Eagerly meets the turkey baster. Will still get copepods going for him but he's eating brine and mysis.
Bicolor a kick to watch. It has it's throne on the highest rock and watches everything.
Sleeper Gold Head sand sifting goby is one of my favs. He has his burrow, darts in and out. When out, constant sifting sand. Saw it .spit something out yesterday that was black. Went to look. It was a hermit. Must have gotten too close to burrow entrance and was forcibly removed! I laughed.
2 Chromis. They add some sparkle and flash of color.
2 Clowns both have grown. Not all that interesting--like the chromis--but a tank has to have a couple of nemos

Cuc
I've only seen 3 of 4 emeralds but they are hard to find.
2 turbos
narsarius -- not sure how many are still there. At least 3-5 but don't always see them
Trochus--see lots of them--not all
Cerith--not sure if any still alive
Hermits--not sure how many. Not as many as there should be.
2 peppermint shrimps. Supposed to be a pair but they stay away from each other. They are eager for food when I feed now.
Tiger Tail--who knows. Suspect dead and cause of my tank issues

All in all, tons of work, lots of reward. Love to write and watch my fish tank (sometimes I watch too much lol's)

 

[mocibaster]

I would recommend try to have a higher flow in the tank and for the algae you should increase the calcium levels in order to speed up the growth off Coraline algae

 

[Susan Edwards]

@mocibaster I have one wave maker. I do want to get a second for the other side of tank, though that side is a good place to put corals that like a lower flow like the xenia. I haven't tested ca/mg/alk lately as my concerns are for the ammonia and any dosing I do will be affected by the frequent wc's. Calcium tends to run around 350-400, mg around 1200 and alk 7-8, all on the lower end.

I should have updated my corals which seem to be doing better and I finally glued them all down to rocks, except the xenia--wanted to be sure all survived first.

Cloves: Lost the cloves. They weren't all that great--very thin stalks getting thinner, though there were one or two new heads. Somehow detached from frag. I tried to put them in a couple places until I could get some super glue but they've been swept away. Might be in the cavern and if so, they are lost. I've learned to buy a bigger and nicer frag for next time. As they were 5 bucks a head, I got a cut frag with 3. I think in the handling and cutting, they were damaged as they always seemed fragile.
Xenia: seems to be doing better from the issues I had with corals (see other thread in beg. forum). The colony is smaller but not limp and pulsing now, just not as tall
Zoa frag: looks nice. glued down so I can pluck at the algae on it. got a lot off already
Green Stars: seem okay. Not all opening but most now
Torch: extending once again. Not as tall as it once extended. Has tons of new tentacles so it's recovering (partly from run in with my hose for water changes... Got sucked in).

When tank is stable again, I'll be concentrating on adding more corals

 

[Susan Edwards]

i got quite a shock and surprise this week when my scooter blenny started doing his display. I had no idea he was so colorful! The red in his tail was a bit faded when I got him and I noticed this week that it has really popped out in color. Then he started flashing his fins and wow, he's very colorful! He's full of personality--one of my favorite fishes. When I stand next to tank, he comes over and watches me. If I move, he moves. Quite a character. I've trained him to take frozen brine and mysis from a turkey baster. He goes up to a rock and waits and when I start squirting (after shutting off all pumps) a small pile for him, he bites the baster until he gets his food. Now he comes to the glass and lifts all his back fins and does his little dance.

Still dealing with a small amt of ammonia. Read on the internet that using prime etc. will take out the ammonia but the test will still show. I also ordered a new test kit just to double ck things. I've been doing wc's every 2-3 days now, using prime or the like in between. Water is pretty crystal clear now, only cloudy with sand when the goby is sifting. Tank is losing its ugly stage. Still some algae but not much. I haven't even been brushing off the rocks--leaving some of it there for the cuc and what is there is barely noticable, except one tuff in my pukani and it might be a red macro algae. Even the sides and back aren't growing back so fast now.

oh my! My fan worm just lost his crown. I think the snail are irritating it being so close to it. In fact, there is a Nasarious snail crawling all over it, trying to get into it..... Hopefully it grows a new one... Life is never dull with a saltwater tank.

Here is a video of him doing his thing

 

[Susan Edwards]

Okay, it's been a couple weeks since I visited. Here's an update. It is interesting to see how "ugly" my tank was in some of these pictures! I seem to have the ammonia back under control, and no nitrites and nitrates around 5. I'm still testing everyday and if there is any ammonia, I use prime or a ammonia remover. Today, none! Yay! The bacteria cloud is gone, and my tank is nice and clear now and has been for well over a week. Most of the algae is gone. Just have to clean the glass each day. And there are a couple pockets of hair algae but the rocks are not all covered anymore! I do have another outbreak of cyano, prob. because I finally have nitrates? I had none for a long time and the death (I think) of the sea cucumber sent my tank into another cycle. After several weeks of wc's every day, then every two days, the tank seems to be settling once again. I'm still keeping a close eye though and will keep using prime for a while. water changes now to keep nitrates down.

I read on another forum that using the nori adds to the cyano, so I'll stop for a few days to see if that helps. I rubber band a folded up section to a rock for my tang. And the sand sifter and emeralds also appreciate it. I also cut the lights down to 9-10 hrs and will feed once a day for a while. Also adjusted the return nozzles to see if changing the flow will help and the wavemaker is on steady instead of bursts.

All the corals are doing well now. They seem to like having some nitrates, esp. the xenia and the torch.

Fish Updates:
2 clowns and 2 chromis doing well. Normal.
bicolor blenny has his spot and defends it.
golden head sand sifting goby busy always.
Tang was turning pale. Added the nori/algae strips (not nori brand) seemed to help. Hesitate to not use for a couple days but need the cyano to go away!
scooter blenny a crack up. He wants a female. I'm assuming the one I have is a male
The only fish I can't account for is the watchman goby. Nor can I account for the pistol shrimp. If they are in the deep cavern, I can't see them. Need to get a mirror on a stick and see if I can see them. I did see a molted shell that had to belong to that shrimp so I hope they are in that cavern. But the ywg doesn't come out to eat. I do put shrimp from the turkey baster into the cavern in case.
2 peppermint shimps and emeralds all doing well. Only see 3 of the 4 emeralds.
All the corals now seem okay. Starting to think of adding some more corals now. Torch is extending and has lots of new growth.
The gbta is still hanging in there. Moved again, under the shelf. Bleached out and not looking good but it isn't where I can try to feed it or care for it. I blow stuff from the turkey baster to it but it doesn't eat. Hoping the garlic and vitamins in the food help it a bit....

Some reflection in upper left hand corner. There isn't anything brown peeling away.... Cyano on sand in back right corner and on rock

Mesh bag covering the wavemaker is now clean too

 

[Susan Edwards]

Still a bit of an issue with low ammonia, no nitrites and nitrates 10-20.
Battling the cyano. Working to get nitrates down.
Everything seems ok. Kole tang has white spot on fin so upping the garlic. Got rid of it last time. No quarentine tank

Decided time to set up a refuge. That should help with the nitrates. Going to call a lfs that is a bit of a drive and see if t hey can ship me some macro algae. For now I'll put it in a soap dish with sucktion cups in display tank. Kole can pick at it and it'll help the nitrates until the refuge is going. Picked up a 29 gal tank yesterday and ordered a stand. will be able to set up the 10 on bottom for a quarentine or might pick up a 20 for that.

29 gal complete. Assuming I won't need the bio wheel filter so that can go for the quarentine. Came with led lighting. Now to figure out the plumbing...

It won't be quite as tall a set up as the tank so no gravity feeding back to display as I'd hoped. So prob. can gravity feed to refug and pump back. I have the accesory for the rms for the chiller. Plan to use return pump 1 (side where accessory hook up goes) to go to chiller then back to display to avoid adding a second pump to that chamber. I'll post a list of questions in a separate post on the forum

 

[Susan Edwards]

Okay, after much research, I've come up with 2 possibles for plumbing for my refuge. There is a thread on this in the main forum I believe. I'll try to post link. Here's a brief bit:

My DT tank is a RSM c250 66 gal, the refuge is 29 gal and should be a good addition, and large enough (more than 50% of water volume which I estimate at 46 gal) to be useful.

dt is approx 37" long.
From end of tank to Wall approx 34"
From end of tank to front of refugium 20"
From floor to top of refuge: 50"
Main tank just under 60" with top of sump 4 inches lower

They sit kitty corner from each other. See pic at end of post. Here's what I've come up with. Need feedback.

#1. build up my stand with concrete blocks so the refuge is slightly higher than the sump in the main tank. This allows me to use a powerhead pump in the main sump to the refuge. And then an overflow box back to the display tank.

#2 Keep refuge lower and try to figure out how to put an overflow on main sump (all in one) to drain into refuge and return pump back to main tank which means I need to partition off a sec. of refuge for the return pump

I've read that the first option is less prone to floods, because if the pump fails, no additional water is supplied to the refugium and only a small amt of water will continue to empty to main tank until overflow box is empty. But what if the overflow box fails on the refuge. Wouldn't the main tank keep pumping into the 29 gal refuge? And really flood?

I'd like to go with option 1 as I can get pods into my main tank without going through a pump.

Also, when I add a chiller, can I tee off the pump in the sump and split the water so most goes to the chiller and then some to the refuge who only needs 30 gal per hour flow rate. Hoping to get everything ordered and get the tank set up.

Will set it up as a separate aquarium until I get plumbing done so it can start cycling. Plan to do a water change and use half that water to start it.

 

[Susan Edwards]

still battling cyano from all the tank issues with ammonia and now high nitrates. That is the main reason for getting the refugium going: to have macro algae. Ordered some chemi clean, have several airstones ready (not sure how many I need for the 66 gal tank and will pull all media out. Might pull the ceramic rings too as I hear they contribute to nitrates? Or do I need them for the good bacteria in the sump.

No fish loss. Lost one emerald crab. Not sure if food is drying up but I put in algae sheets rubberbanded to a rock once a day.
Corals all very happy and recovered. I think they like the higher nitrates. Green star happy, xenia fully recovered and grown. Thought I'd lost it. Gbta still hanging in. Looks like it's gonna go any day but it has for 2 months.... It might have actually gotten a piece of mysis shrimp yesterday. Wasn't open enough for me to try to feed it today. Water clear. Algae mostly gone, or very little left, only the cyano to bring back the uglies.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Refuge against wall. quarentine will go below. Is a 10 gal tank but I think I want to just get a 20 or even another 29

 

[5280Reefer]

When I 1st got into the hobby, I also rushed my tank and had all I mean all the same issues. The main thing now is to not add any more fish, inverts or coral. let the tank stabilize do your weekly WC don't worry about testing calc and mag atm IO is good salt or RC same company, all salts are good stability is the key. I just read your whole thread, I was worried that you added too much CuC, you have to thing that once the job is done they will starve and die. This will in turn create more ammonia->nitrite->nitrate, slow and steady wins the race. You don't necessarily need a refuge at this point your dry rock has not established its anaerobic bacteria deep with in the rock to take out a portion of the nitrates, rest we tank out with weekly, biweekly, monthly WC. Some people use carbon dosing to help with nitrates but at this stage of your tank its would only complicate things . This is one big reason why people that use dry rock take a long time to cycle tanks and even then add 1 maybe 2 fish depending on tank size every 3weeks to a month this way you allow the tank to establish its colonies. You have been putting tons of love into your tank witch is awesome many people by now would have quit haha( I almost did), your work will be rewarded just keep up on the maintenance. This all is just my 2cents following along cant wait to see this gem!!!

 

[Susan Edwards]

@Newtoreef thanks for your visit and kind words. Good thing I'm a stubborn sort of gal!