youcallmenny

Edit: pass.

Holy crap, yuck. I appreciate bristle worms but they're still disgusting to my human sensibilities.

Hello everyone! Like the title asks, I'd like to discuss our personal disease/pest prevention. A few months back I finally paid for my own lack of QT and got an ich/velvet outbreak and went from 15 fish to 4 inside of a couple of days. The reason I say it may have been ich when it seems more like a velvet timeline is because I had been throwing fish and livestock in willy-nilly since the start and kind of suspect that I finally tipped some scale and the ich went nuts. Either way, I about wiped out my fishstock due to my own laziness. Bummer. After some consideration I decided that if I'm sticking with this hobby for the long haul, and I am, I ought to get serious about all aspects of reefkeeping. I had already been aware that skipping quarantine was a bad choice and this seemed like a good time to finally get this figured out. I salvaged the last 4 (clowns, pajamafish and a lawnmower) by setting up a 20g QT with some 4" pvc tubes and appropriate gear. My fledgling QT procedure was born and here we are. Fast forward to now and those four were treated with copper and prazi and allowed to chill in the QT for 76 days to wait out the ich cysts. Essentially I fallowed my DT and now the 4 are back, healthy and ready to go. I currently have 2 medium Swallowtail Angels (Thanks Jeff!) in QT beginning their copper. There will be no exceptions to this rule in my system. I ignored these procedures for the first 3 years and paid dearly for it, so I no longer believe that to be a responsible or successful way to introduce fishstock. I hope we can help some folk out with this discussion. What I want to discuss for my own sake is everything else. I know a lot of people don't see this as necessary but for the sake of the conversation, let's pretend it is. There has been enough reports of pest eggs hiding inside of coral skeletons to warrant at least a look at what the hypothetical cleanest procedure would be. Obviously inverts are going to have to sit and stare at the wall for 76 days if we can agree that cysts can live on their shell. There isn't much to be done. How do I keep them alive for 76 days in an unmedicated QT? Any experience here? Then there's the million-dollar question: How do I safely QT coral? I tend to get mostly SPS with a smattering of LPS/Softies if they're really nice. I want to know the most foolproof methodology here. Bayer is on the agenda, but I need the most bulletproof procedures here for using it. Things like AEFW and red/black bugs terrify me worse than the fish diseases. Currently the only thing I have working knowledge of is to do a thorough inspection of the coral before ever considering purchase. I am completely new to dips for coral other than brief Seachem Reef Dip baths. I'd like to hear about these types of products that have the most proven track record. Also I am definitely aware of the problem with being unable to kill eggs this way. Is this going to require dosing or regular coral QT WC's? Let's hear it!

Post pics of your winnings so I can drool vicariously.

The dread pirate Spectra! @Willapa I'm glad I asked! Thank you for your input, its been added to the list and I'll be better off for it. Thank you for the suggestion.

Trust me after the service that stuff just makes me chuckle.

Holy hell Scott... so uh, it didn't fall off after that right? Goddang that's good.

Haha yea helping me would be a longer drive than would be worth it for most of the club unfortunately.

Well, I ordered from a place called 'Shrimp Mart'... Here's hoping lol. Thank you, I must say you and xmas inspired me! Little off the beaten road for reefers but I've really grown fond of the little things after learning about them. I'll update when my colony gets here.

Shipment arrived 2 days late and DOA. :( Now to wait for the replacements. Boo. Here's my tank though. Chaeto seems to be doing well and growing a little. I used acrylic rods and IC-gel to build the little dryrock structure. 5g Marineland Portrait aquarium with internal overflow and return and everything. Pretty fun.

Lol Kim... That's a super killer way to do a black friday sale. Kinda wishing I had open intake on coral but alas, nothing new till the peninsula. Good luck everyone, this sounds super fun!

Oh not at all, that's what we're here for!

Looks pretty good honestly! The only time I see longer is if it's a millepora/pocillopora/stylophora or something shaggy like that. That said, acros do have very long polyps that typically come out at night. Things like phyto, aminos and small particulate frozen often stimulate mine to full extension during the day. They're all pretty different though. Apologies for not having a more acute answer for you.

Whoa... Quick google search nixed that one. Good catch! It isn't going to be complete either, more like covering ~75% I think so this is an important thing. Poly-carbonate just doesn't do that?

In your opinion, do you think two bathroom fans in this small room with so much water is sufficient? Is there a better option? I have that 150g stock tank for the sump but I plan on cutting some acrylic to cover as much of it as I can. I figure since the tank upstairs is uncovered and the skimmer is big, oxygenation shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully covering it some will cut down on evaporation and salt creep down there. That's good info. There's probably an accessible water line. There's no rush here and I like money and tools so that works out. This is easily going to be the biggest challenge here the more I think about the water lines are actually at in relation to this room though. That's ok, that's what this thread is for!

Don't get me wrong, I've got a garage full of hand and power tools. At the last house we bought it on foreclosure and I had to learn how to fix a lot of things. I redid all the floors in the entire house, redid the kitchen etc etc. Point being I hear ya on the myriad of crap that comes with each task. I was a bit vague I suppose but point being is that I am really grateful to have people like you to ask specific questions of when the time comes. My original plan was to have two identical pumps sitting side by side, both plumbed but behind seperate valves. One would run and one was going to be off. It would have been identical to what you have set up I think except for running both at once which is a brilliant idea. No worries on the cost on this one, pumps are not a piece of gear to play with in this hobby; though what is, really? Congrats on your journeyman Vance! That's a huge step and I say more power to you! No pun intended. Thank you for volunteering your experience. The biggest question I have at this juncture is what pdxmonkeyboy was already starting to bring up. This house is HUGE and has a few things tying up bonus circuits like the jacuzzi. The main panel is full and has no more breaker slots. I don't anticipate a crazy amount of draw from this room as I'm not trying to go ballistic down there but there is only one plug in the room currently. Is this going to require a submain? @pdxmonkeyboy Feel free to hop in on this too, wasn't trying to skip what you said about it but felt I'd address it along with Vance. If so, how labor intensive is it really? 14 hours for you might not translate to me very well. You seem more versed in these things than I am. I'm not ignorant of electricity, in fact I was educated heavily on a lot of basics in the military (AC/DC, electronics math, component level electronics from caps to cathodes) and am sort of handy. I've zapped myself more than a few times to boot. Is this seriously in my scope of ability? I need to not kill myself or burn down my home, those are about my only constraints. Definitely a great discussion! Well, I need input here. The room is in the garage so the floor is cement. Ideally I want a drain and a waterproof liner where the floor meets the wall. However, garage floors slant towards the door. What can I do? Tile it to tilt appropriately? Can I even have a drain put through the floor without the pump? I have no idea what is feasible here. Ironically plumbing is definitely the area of all of this I have the least experience with. The only experience I can speak of actually is what we I've done with PVC on my reef. Also a utility sink needs to be run which means splicing off exisiting lines I assume? No idea where to even begin on that one... edit: two writing classes this term and goddang I write a lot of words... apologies for the wall of text everyone.

I will be a little later. So much valuable experience here and I'm stoked for all the input.

I'll respond at length later but just so we're clear, I remodeled a huge amount of our last house. It's just electrical/plumbing that skeeze me out. I'm glad you guys brought up the contractor thing though because that's exactly what I've been experiencing. Guess it might be time to learn!

Same actually. Good context to our tanks I suppose; very fitting.

Now that you mention it I think I do remember the other part of what I heard. The part about not wanting to drill through hardwood? Haha ah well.

Ah, that totally makes sense. I think I'll go that route. Great suggestion!

Thanks for the suggestion Holly! I'm happy I have such a wonderful community to consult over this. The pump question has strangely been stressing me out and I kept convincing myself I would need 2 x Vectra's or something else crazy. I just have no experience with bigger pumps is all. It's definitely making it more fun for me already. Passion shared and all that. Oh??? I thought you had said your sump was in the basement. Was that the old system? Stay tuned Sean, you know I value your input! You brought up using alternative pumps to what I was thinking at the last meeting and it's got me to this point so that's great. Hi! I think we've seen each other around at meetings but haven't had a chance to chat yet. I hope to see you at the holiday party, I'd love to pick your brain a little bit if you're ok with that. Here's some specifics: The understair is actually in the garage. The house is huge and kind of interesting in that it's finished basement sits halfway between the garage and main floors. The basement is a 4th huge bedroom that will always be used so it's kind of off limits. Also if I didn't hire someone my wife would remove parts of my anatomy. She knows as well as I do that I am in no way qualified to give a room like that the 'ok'. It's not that I'm helpless, it's just lack of experience and a strong desire that it is all done right (or as close to as is realistic) the first time. Really if I had to put my finger on it, there's less than a dozen tasks that even need to be done. Primarily among them is the plumbing line, the electrical line, the drain and the sink. Those are the things that are absolutely, completely out of my ability. Then there's the framing and drywall which anyone can do but I am not good at it and frankly would rather just have that done. I have bad lung damage from Iraq/Korean DMZ and gypsum dust doesn't play well with me without a ventilator. Besides, experience speaks volumes and all. At any rate, I've been watching your own progress and I'm sure you're a wealth of relevant information if you don't mind sharing. Thanks Jeremy! I would highly value either one of their opinions and advice. Sounds like reeflo wins the vote so I'll do that. I think I'd like to keep the pump internal if at all possible, either in the sump upstairs or down, depending on the severity of the final project. I expect more power usage, that's a big jump for the water but the DC pumps generally cannot cover that distance from what I can see in their specs. Sub panel maybe if I go full out. Otherwise it's only going to need to power <10 devices downstairs. The issue here is that this giant house has already filled every single breaker slot so a submain is really my only recourse. At any rate, I'll be sure to use interrupters. Thank you for that, that's exactly the technical expertise that I need to hear! I do not use an APEX. I use no controllers other than myself, float valves and timers. I don't know why. I have plenty of scripting/coding experience but I have enjoyed the simplicity so far and it doesn't cause me any grief. There will probably come a day though. The dual pump idea is mandatory for sure. Running both at once is an interesting idea though that I would probably like to discuss more. Why not just run one and when it dies switch to the other? Just curious if you sense any difference in these two scenarios. Thanks again for the advice!

Hey everyone! I'll be starting my fish room hopefully at the beginning of the year but wanted to tap this community for advice. Anyone have a basement sump? @albertareef I'm sure you'll have some contributions here. Next question is what would you guys and gals advise I do for the construction end? I'm sort of handy and have tools but am not any kind of carpenter. The plan is to find a reputable GC and plan it out with them but my main concern is that they will likely have no experience with fish rooms. I'd be willing to hire someone off here if they want work in Salem and are bonded/insured. I need to clear the space out a little but I'll post pictures of the area. Basically it'd be converting a Harry Potter understair room. Knock the main wall out and extend it 3-4 feet, add a door, ventilation, wash tub, floor drain, reroute a cable run, add a socket or two etc. I plan on heavy ventilation but don't trust my own lack of know-how around shutting up that much water in a closed area. The sump is a 150g stock tank that will live down there full of rock. Moisture barriers and such are beyond me. A big concern is that the garage has tall ceilings (~16') and I could use ideas for what kind of pump I'm going to need to get the water upstairs, be it internal or external but definitely not interested in DC controllable types. Luckily the fish room should be more or less right under the tank. Anyways, this is coming and I'd like to start my conversation with you all! It's either this or a slightly less extreme compromise of putting water barrels in the room and a sink and just using it for water making/changes and pumping RO/DI water into the reservoir. This would mean I'd just be using the sump that comes with the tank for filtration which isn't a bad choice either. Certainly the cheaper one.

That first split is the best. Yay for your clowns and nems!

Really nice! Why does that wrasse in the last picture look like he got a grainy filter ran over him a few times? Is that the giant Naso you got at C&C at the meeting there last year?