gopens

i am sorry but how do we chat...

QT your fish! Get a rubbermaid tub and a filter, nothing fancy and do water changes as needed. I have a QT tank for my fish and treat with copper (simple acrylic tank), and I have a QT for my corals thats copper free. NOTHIING special, you dont have to go buy a tank, its not for show.

 

If you want to have good success your going to need to get a QT setup, without it if you have any trouble with anything, you will infect others. Kinda like taking your kids to school. :(

thanks for the advice. I am going to set up a q-tank. but how do I get my fish out of the tank. Do i have to tear down my rock work everytime or is there some trick i can use i.e. ACME, lol. Also a heads up, one clown is dead. I am so bumbed out. Its not really the money that bothers me, its the fact i feel i failed at this. oh well. Thanks guys and gals

so are you saying that the clownfish are not treatable and are going to die.

Well I don't know if this matters. but they were not all the same day. I know I made it sound that way. I added the damsels early friday. than I added the clowns mid-day saturday. i figured with them being such a small speciman that it was no big deal. I am not sure what I am feeding them. The LFS gave me some food from a huge foil bag that he uses with his fish. it is green flakey stuff. I feed them 2 times a day with each time being a good pinch worth. i have been reading about feeding them fresh garlic from another board. is there a way i can treat them in the show tank. I am still trying to complete this set-up. i surely don't have the scratch to run out and do a q-tank. i will get some pics up in a bit blaine. i know the rules, lol. Thanks

Well just what the title says. I think i have it. This last Friday, I had a close friend and a LFS owner swing by my house to check my water levels for me (my test kits are on there way via internet). After checking all my levels, he informed me that everything is perfect. All my levels are were they need to be. so I asked what my next step is. He told me if i wanted, I could pick up a few cheap hardy fish and see what happens. So I picked up a couple damsels (sp) and a couple clownfish (I know they weren't all that cheap, but reading some articles on line, they seemed hardy). Lets remember this was friday. Well one of my clowns started showing this white flakey looking stuff on him the next day (saturday). But all fish seemed to be doing great. Swimming around and eating. well yesterday, I looked really close, and I saw a tiny spec of white, on the second clownfish. but again, they all looked great. Well this morning, I got a good look at the damsels and they too have some white stuff on them. All my fish have this white stuff on them, and one of my clownfish isn't looking all that great. he seems week. but all the others seem to be fine. Now, how can I treat this problem, or can I. I have read stories were people will catch there fish and put them in a "hospital tank". that is not an option for me, being when i just open my canopy doors, the fish will swim and hide. thanks and any help would be awesome.

skimmer is running. but i am not sure if its running wet or dry. how can i tell what i am running. also how can i change it...

ok, so i have heard that this process is going to take about 6 weeks. is there anything other than levels need to keep an eye on

light is really just for asthetics during the cycling process unless you got some sort of fuge where a macroalgae would need light. you may or may not get a diatom or algae bloom since your LR and LS is from an established tank im guessing. But lights off may help keep algae from growing too much. Just remember that algae is one of the simplest plant lifeforms in terms of care requirements so even ambient room light may give it enough to grow. plus if you are using ro-di water and your params stay stable you shouldnt see much algae.

so i should keep a light on the fuge even thoughy i only have live sand in it?

ok ok, i think this should be the last post for a few days. it seems i have everything up and cycling now. a couple questions and i will give you guys and gals the rest of the week from reading my threads. so again, my tank is at 78 degress and my salt is .024-.025. i do have cured LR and live sand. what are my next steps. i know i am going to keep checking the water. but from an earlier post, i was told to not leave my lights on during this process (cycling), because not critters to eat the algea. so do i never turn it on, even the sump light, until i put snails and what not in there. i ordered some t5s, so my lighting should be good. so now do i just relaz and make sure my levels are right. now class once you answer this question, you can go home for the weekend (yahoo)

I wouldn't use the test strips. They're not the most accurate thing. I would just drop the extra money on Salifert. They are the most reliable. Why trust your reef to cheap inacurate tests?

I guess if your just trying to test your cycle, they will work for now.

whats a salifert?

If you are sure that it is cured rock, i would still be testing the water, same tests as before, and start with ammonia. The "cycle" you hear people talk about is the build-up of bacteria that breakdown waste into nitrogen gas. first ammonia... then nitrite... then nitrate. Test them in that order. When all 3 test at 0, then your tank is considered cycled. I would test for PO4 as well. If you can detect it, try and get it down low. like 0.1. Not as critical if your only keeping softies as you said before. You do want to kinda stack your rock loose, you want alot of flow around and through it, since it is the biggest filter you have in your tank.

 

Other than that, your in the waiting game now. Just test your water until all of the tests stated before are at 0. And use this time to get to know your tank. How much water do you evap. per day?

do you have a temp flux? stuff like that. I would keep my lights off until you get some snails in there. Make sure your tests are getting close to 0 before you do that. At least the ammonia and nitrite tests.

i hope its cured. the guy selling seemed very helpful and honest. but i could be wrong,lol. i will separate the rocks, but the pic i showed looks like they are tighter than they really are. there is a good amount of gap, but i will do some rearranging. also were is the cheapest place to find disposable test strips. would i only need the 4 that you mentioned. again thanks tons for the help...

Hey gopens... that add on ebay, where you got your rock, says its uncured. So you will still have a good die off, and your sand is going to suck up everything out of it. So since your at this stage, this is what I would do.

 

1. Get a range of test kits... Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and PO4

2. Start testing your water like crazy. every other day. Start with the ammonia.

3. Seriously think about getting a phos reactor and running rowaphos in it while you cycle your rock. you don't want to be dealing with the problems that Nyles and I had, with getting all the PO4 back out as your rock leaches it.

4. Water change, water change, water change.... hopefully your using RO/DI water, as the water in southern oregon is supposidly (sp?) the worst around. (haven't tested it, but have heard from a bunch of reefers )

 

5. I would restack my rock so that it is as loose as possible. You want water seriously moving around, under, over and through the rock, to get all the nasties out of it.

 

6. Every week take the rock out of your tank, and swish it HARD in some fresh saltwater to get the detritus out of it as it cycles.

 

Hopefully you won;t have to do all of that, but as I said, that add does refer to it as "freshly imported UNCURED live rock.

that is true that the auction does say uncured. but i paid him a few more dollars and he sold me cured stuff right out of his personal 600 gallon tank. all of its cured accept 1 little piece. so being that this stuff is cured. should i still do all the things you mentioned? thanks

Damm that's a lot of rock!!!!! What about lighting?????

my lighting or the guys lighting with the LR?

A picture Finally!!!! between4-5 is good PH 8.1-3 what did you do about light???? It's lookin gooooood

 

Was the rock aged, from a tank when youu got it???? In a tank?

yeah it was aged in a tank. this guy had like 3 600 gallon tanks with live rock. isit good that it aged in a tank or bad?

yeah that pic doesn't really show how awesome the tank is doing. the water was still cloudy from mix around the rock and sand. thanks for the replys on the recommended tem. no the salt level question. what is the best level. my meter show a bracket between .021 and .023. now i have been told to go even higher like .024 and i have even heard .025. whats your thoughts on this...

I couldn't believe the deal i got today. i was looking at buying some LR on ebay today. when i came across a guys auction that had it for 2.30 a pound. i thought that was a good deal, being i have seen it for 5.00+ dollars a pound. then of course the shipping would be 50.00+. I was getting ready to order some when i noticed he was from grants pass, oregon. WOW, that were i am from. so i called him, and he said to come on over. all my pieces are cured accept 1 little piece. tons of awesome colors on the rocks. oh and the best part. no shipping charge and no die-off... so it should be cycling pretty well right now with the LR and the live sand. what temp are you guys and gals keeping your tank at. i have heard around 76, but i have also heard 80. mine is currently at 79. anyways, i think the tank is looking good...

see, ya'll made me second guess myself. i was thinking i was wrong. but then BAM!!!! went to the website. there it was halfway down the page in a black cabinet, just like the one i have. oh and i provided a website.....

http://www.marineland.com/news/newsletter/nl_101502.asp

Haven't done any testing' date=' I think Rich is the guy to ask, I have read ALOT about them, and for a new system, VHO or T-5... i'd use T-5... just more options, more light. I'm going to use them as supplement for my 2x250 PFO on my 72... by the way Gopens... did you have a custom bow built or something... I thought that it went 46, 72, and then way too big for my house if you have the same tank as me, its a 72... 48"x12"x26"[/quote']

 

mine is an 80 gl. well atleast that is what pet country is selling them as, lol. but i am sure it is because it took almost 100 gallons of water to fill (with the sump). so hopefully i didn't get screwed.

Yes' date=' But I am not the one to ask about t-5, I just know MH, now really, visit with the fam, and post's pic's. It will help all to see what your working with, Including the INSIDE Of your hood[/quote']

 

 

cool, by the way you have a PM. thanks

Now don't even tell me ya have no tape' date=' for what you do!!!!! 30-34 is custom tall, get it from bottom tanh frame to same on top. Both of mine are 30" T But again, not normal( ok i set myself up with that last statement, no comments needed)[/quote']

 

lol, oh i have tons of tapes, but i am at my moms for dinner right now. you might be right, 30 inches might be a bit high. but i was measuring from the bottom of my tank to were the lights would be hanging from on my hood (wich is about 10-12 inches above water). so if i am understand this correct, i might not even need a MH. i can just run some good normal lights? but don't the MH make everything really stand out in the tank...

how tall is your tank

to be honest i am not exactly sure. i would say close to 30-34 inches..

Well for those who have been following me today. i think i have fixed my skimmer loudness problem, or so i hope. Now that i have water running, i need to get some ideas about lights. so i know i need to know what i am going to put in it, so let me explain my problem.

I want to do your common fish (tang, clownfish, critters and what not). i alos plan on a few months down the road adding a few soft corrals, maybe 4-5 to add color. Its not going to have 35 corals like some have in there tank. Which does look cool, but thats for my next setup this spring (fingers). my aquarium is a 80gl bow front. My friend has a 4 bulb set up in his 80 gl but does not have a metal halide (sp?). he said it would not fit. but i like the look of the 4 bulbs in his tank. my question is can i add the 4, 4 foot bulbs now in my tank, than add the MH later? i don't think i will be able to. So do you think a 2 bulb set up would work now, than add the MH in a dew months. also i am looking at ordering my lights tonight via website, so if anybody can recommend a brand and maybe even a model number that would be awesome. this whole thing is finally coming together. but now i am broke. thanks to all for there help. i am snapping shots of this procedure and will show them shortly

ouch, tuff crowd this morning, lol. yeah i can get a pic up in a bit once i get home. i might need help with posting it. oh it made by a company named octopus. i am at work and i can still here it. thanks ya'll

well i finaly got the tank up and running last night. everything seems to be doing very well, accept a minor leak in one of the plumping pieces from my sump. but my question is do i have to run my skimmer 24 hours a day. the reason i ask is because, well, its loud as hell. the actual pump itself is quite, but the dripping water is load. i have a friend of mine that runs is like once a week. not that might not be good. i was thinking of putting my skimmer on a timer, that would run from like midnight to 6-8 in the morning everyday. any thoughts, thanks guys

it is a glass aquarium. now the back paint i have is Krylon indoor/outdoor black paint. would this work like the infusion does?