Stella's Salty 20g

[stella1979]

Thanks again MightyNanoTank and grantm91 I do live in FL, though I'm about a 5 hours drive away from WWC... That doesn't mean it's out of the question though. Maybe next winter??? It's so much nicer to travel FL in the winter. We'd love to make that trip but want to get our feet wet first and we've got quite a few LFS's close by in South FL. Trouble is that we've no idea who's best but I guess we'll learn that as we continue with the hobby.

I don't like plugs either and would prefer to remove them. What process do you guys use for that? How exactly do you 'pop them off'? I guess it depends on the specific type of coral but I'd love some general ideas. One video suggested a bandsaw but I don't imagine most people have that at home.

A little update on Scorch the firefish... he spent more time out of his burrow yesterday and greedily ate pellets for breakfast. I thought he might jump out because he literally stuck his face above the surface looking for more food! Then last night, he tore up a few mysis shrimp. It's still early yet but he seems to be doing well... My tank is in a high traffic area and he handles the noise and craziness of toddlers quite well. I can't explain his hiding because he doesn't seem scared of us. I guess spending time tucked away is natural for the species. Today was the first time he ventured out before 'lights on', which is at 1pm. Halfway through week 1 with this guy, still nervously hoping for the best.

 

[Nart]

Brute strength of my back teeth generally to remove the plugs. I think grantm91 does the same too?

Kidding. Haha.

Generally, the coral has attached itself on a piece of rubble or they superglue it right on the frag plug. Either way, you will see the dried super glue and that's where I get plyers/bonecutters to slowly pop it off. That way you still have that little piece of rubble or super glue you can use to super glue onto your rock work.

Firefish are skittish by nature. Also, most of these fishes are wild caught, so it had quite the journey and scare before it made it in your tank.
Give him some time, he should come out of his shell more and more once he's used to his new environment.

 

[grantm91]

Ive never actually bought something on one of those frag plugs, like I said I go for the messy frags with variety on, heres some heads off my last frag I bought for £5

The first pic is the majority of what was on the frag now stuck to a decent sized rock in the hope il get a cover, the second pic I put them there because I just wanted to lol, I like them heads and its next to the side I look through. They all came in a clump with rubble and a clam, I used my sharp tweezers and long nose pliers mainly to get them separated and then tacked them in place with my gorilla glue gel super glue. The sharp tweezers are good as you can slide them under the heads, its pretty diy to me and the most fun yet frustrating part of the hobby, I'm planning on getting a dremil to frag my torch and try make the money back that I paid for it next, also maybe a magnetic frag shelf too as I had people asking to buy bits off me from the add of the old tank as I used a pic of it with the stuff in, can't believe how many people want my stuff anytime I've posted anything its gone in a week the hobby is growing.

just some cheap bits that I love

 

[stella1979]

OMG, I wish I were ready for some bad*** corals... WWC has a sitewide 20% off sale with a ton of WYSIWYG for less than $50. There were even a couple of fair priced multi-variety zoa colonies on rocks like grantm91 has mentioned. Sometimes it's hard to be patient.

 

[grantm91]

Why be patient lol? You have seen what my zoas have been through they are hardy, get a cheap multI variety frag and see how you go, I wouldn't encourage you if I thought it could go wrong, id go for it. go on go on go on !!!!

 

[Nart]

Agreed with Grant. As long as you were patient with your tank cycle and it's done. Stock that ishhhh! Just get the less expensive ones in that family so you know what does well in your tank.

Like, in my tank currently. Zoas do okay. I don't get crazy growth. On the other hand, my acans and blastos grow like 1-2 head every 1-2 weeks lol.

I'm almost tempted to drop some cash on a rainbow acan and grow it out in my tank.

 

[stella1979]

We finally bit the bullet. Corals are in the tank! I wish I could be more patient because I'm hoping these frags will look better in a day or two, but I just couldn't wait to share. We already can't wait for more but have to be patient in seeing how we do with what's cheap & easy first. So, we got GSP, pulsing xenia and zoas. The xenia opened up quickly, looking pretty nice and is already pulsing in our tank. There were also some really nice WWC zoas, (really loved seeing Fruit Loops first hand), but we decided to get a bigger, unnamed colony the first time around, they were green and orange in the store. Hopefully I'll soon get some good pics but here's the best I have so far. We'll get them out of the sand tomorrow.

 

[grantm91]

Lol knew this was the next thing to appear on this thread, nice, in fact perfect choice ! Scorch will be loving the new decor. The gsp is my favourite at the minute I love watching it sway in my flow its like a field of tall grass blowing in the summer breeze. I placed mine on top of the rock bridge I made.

 

[stella1979]

I know what you mean about the GSP swaying in the flow... we're hoping it will grow over a nice portion of a big rock that's in a high flow area.

 

[grantm91]

Also will you feed them? I imagine some liquid based nutrient type thing like what I have would benefit softies massively in a new set up, just because of the lack of stuff floating around but they should grow anyway. That's just what I did at the start as I was worried. I think up some stuff sometimes,,, that salifert just made sense in my mind lol.

 

[stella1979]

Not sure about the food yet... well, that's inaccurate. Yes, we will feed eventually but we don't have food just yet. You know, I don't think I can get the Salifert food in the US. At least it's I haven't seen it in any of the LFS's and find no online shopping results for it. There's plenty more to choose from though so we'll get something eventually. I think the first feeding we give them will just be the top layer of 'shrimp juice', from the little cup we defrost them in.

The GSP is the only piece we got that came on an ugly plug. I'm a little scared about taking it off but we really don't want the plug as part of the scape ya know? Guess we'll be taking a razor blade to our new little beauties soon.

We still never had any diatoms or algae in this tank but I bet it's coming now that we got a little bit of live rock in the tank. Still have some work to do getting those parameters under control, hoping my little xenias will start eating some nitrates.

A little disclaimer... I realize now that previous posts make it sound like we went to WWC in Orlando. This is not the case, just lucky enough to have some dealers down in South FL. We visited a great LFS in Miami today and we can't wait to go back when we're ready for more. They had WWC 'Sunny D' zoas too... beautiful.

 

[grantm91]

Good point about the shrimp juice ! You should see the salifert stuff it just looks like dirty water which is why I don't use it so much, and taking the gsp's off the plug will be a good experience, you could also do something with the zoas if you like, practice makes perfect. Off to a good start though, one of the only decent threads on here I love when a notification is this thread, its developing nicely.

 

[Nart]

Great choices on the frags. They look really nice and healthy.

By the way, all the corals you picked up. They won't really feed on anything directly fed to them. Maybe some healthy amino fats down the line along with reef roids and broad cast feed the entire tank once or week or so. For the most part they are photosynthetic corals (zooxanthellate) that will thrive under adequate lighting and water conditions.

 

[stella1979]

We found our first pest tonight... Caught this little guy floating around when fishing an uneaten mysis out of the tank tonight.


I'm not particularly worried about it just yet. We studied the tank pretty hard to see if we could find more but only this one so far. I'm just wondering what it is? I searched and found some photos of a tank infested with black worms. They were about the same length as this one but they looked thinner and there wasn't much info with the pics I found. Have you guys ever found something like this?

 

[Nart]

I have no idea what that is. Even tried doing a quick search and didn't find anything. I wouldn't be too worried either way.

ryanr maybe he would know?

 

[ryanr]

Hi,
Most worms are harmless, so I wouldn't worry too much... I don't know what you have there, but you might find it here Worm Hitch Hikers

 

[stella1979]

Tonight I'm feeling a little worried about Scorch. I know firefish are a timid species and I wasn't surprised that he went back to hiding most of the time after we added corals. It seemed that he was just put off by all the activity in his previously peaceful home. Today we noticed that one of his eyes has a haze over it, almost looks like a layer of skin covering his right eye. He's also acting a little different... he occasionally dashes into the sandbed rather quickly, almost like he's trying to scratch his belly or something. He hasn't done this a whole lot but he's not out of his burrow a whole lot either. Other than the eye, I see nothing physically wrong.

I hope this is a mechanical injury and we're definitely going to keep an eye on it. I am not keen to treat with any meds or baths so we'll just have to see how he does. I do believe in medicating if you can be fairly certain of a diagnosis. In fact, I have a rather large fish med cabinet due to going a little crazy trying to treat our goldfish recently. To be clear, I have no plans of treating or medicating any fish. I am just wondering, have any of you ever medicated a salty fish? How do you feel about fresh water baths? In my experience, baths can be so stressful... The last bath I did was for a sick guppy. It was only a weak epsom salt bath but he went downhill so quickly afterwards. I felt like I quickened his death by inducing stress.

Anyway, sorry for the essay guys. I've had some pretty sad Freshwater experiences lately and I'm feeling sad again at the thought of Scorch possibly being sick.

 

[grantm91]

Ahh no! Hope he's ok he's an awesome fish, lscorch makes me laugh lol, only had 2 fish die on me prematurely a spiny eel and a betta, never really had a sick fish, one of my female silver dollars had fungus on the side the other day from a bash I would never usually salt bath but it was getting bigger, gone now its just a scar, but that's all Ive ever done hopefully I never have to do anything medical to my fish. I should really learn more though as I'm pretty ignorant to fish sickness probably because my tanks are full of beautiful healthy specimens but its not the point, it can happen to anyone.

 

[Nart]

stella1979 Generally, I treat proactively than reactively, just because they are wild caught, you never know what they carry. At this point, just keep an eye on it closely and treat reactively. One thing though, don't treat with corals in the tank if you do have to medicate.

It happens stella. Not much you can really do, but hope for the best.

 

[stella1979]

After my recent Freshwater disasters I decided to start pre-treating as well. I don't know why I didn't do my research into this for Saltwater fish before getting Scorch. My plan for future Freshwater fish is to do an in-bag bath with methylene blue while they acclimate. Then, I will treat with a round or two PraziPro, (praziquantel), while in QT.

I learned a bit about meds recently. Here's what I've read and/or been told -

Methylene Blue is a mild sedative, so it calms fish and somehow promotes better breathing. It is often used as a prophylactic treatment for stress, usually prior to moving the fish. It is also an anti-fungal and an anti-parasitic, so can treat mild fungal problems as well as parasites like ich and velvet. Methylene blue will kill beneficial bacteria so should only be used as a bath or in a filterless hospital tank.

Praziquantel is an anti-worm treatment. I've read that it will treat skin flukes, flatworms, tapeworms, turbellarians, liver worms, as well as schistosoma, (a blood infection caused by worms). It is known to be a gentle medication that does not stress the fish or harm the tank's cycle.

I know that M. Blue is used with Saltwater fish but I am unsure about praziquantel. More research is needed. Just this morning I read a very informative Saltwater post on another forum. That person suggests using the M. Blue in a Freshwater bath for 30-60 minutes. They state that the Freshwater will also aid with the destruction of parasites and flukes. Then with certain fish, (Tangs were mentioned, though I won't be getting one of those), a copper treatment was recommended during QT to be sure Velvet is not transferred.

As a novice, all these treatments scare me. But, I lost a lot of Freshwater fish recently and I do not want to go through that again. If you don't mind sharing, I'd like see what your proactive treatment is like MightyNanoTank ? ryanr , if you have the time I'd love your thoughts on proactive treatment as well. grantm91 , I'm so glad that you've had luck so far. I wish I never had to medicate either. Unfortunately, experience is the best teacher.

 

[Nart]

Hey Stella - I haven't had to treat my Saltwater fishes because my LFS does it for me. So I don't have any experiences with that.

The method my LFS uses is a bare tank with PVC pipes. They treat with an anti-parasitic and de-wormer and keep them in the QT for two weeks.
None of the two LFS I go to do any baths or anything like that.

Sorry - I'm not too much help here.

 

[stella1979]

Oh no... Scorch's eye looks better today and I haven't seen him 'shake' or dart into the sand like he was doing yesterday. I was so hoping that he was on the mend. Upon close inspection, a moving worm-like thing is visible under his gill plate. I guess this means gill flukes?

I am almost positive that whatever this is came in with the corals. We did a Bayer dip on them but found that small black worm in the water column on the same day we added the corals to the tank. This sucks!

Edit: After some research we decided to dose the tank with PraziPro. We don't take this lightly but everything we read prior to dosing stated that it was safe for reef tanks. Two worms immediately became visible on Scorch, one on his gill plate and another right at the top of his head. Tiny white things... the started wriggling like crazy, spasming as we expected. After a while one seemed to come out of the fish and before we could even think of extracting the little monster, Scorch ate it! At least we can physically see the worms spasming and dying. The bad news... GSP and xenias closed up very quickly, as soon as the med went in. The zoas didn't react as badly, they tightened up just a little but the xenia looks positively limp. We know we're taking our chances here, just hoping for the best. Meanwhile, I feel like a jerk because we have 2 QT/hospital tanks but I am currently using them both for my Freshwater community tank.

 

[Nart]

Are gill flukes visible and black though?

Very unlikely that it made it through your bayer dip. Your firefish probably had it to begin with and is not just showing up.
Oh no - you decided to medicate the tank with the coral frags in it? Most corals can't handle most of the fish meds out on the market.
The GSP should pull through after the medication. Those things are like weed.

 

[stella1979]

Thanks Nart... I really appreciate your advice and know that I went against it to medicate with frags in the tank. It's all my fault and I really feel like a jerk. We actually have 2 QT tanks but both are being used for Freshwater right now and that's on me.

Tiny white things, (flukes), are visible on the fish. The black worm that was mentioned was another of the ones I pictured previously and was found on the sandbed.

I know there are much better ways to deal with things like this and I will not medicate a fish in DT again. I am embarrassed to have done so but wanted to share in the spirit of honesty. I read a lot of posts by people saying that this med (PraziPro) was safe for reef tanks. It doesn't feel safe so far but we'll see how it goes.

Lights are not on yet today so I'll update again later. As of now, GSP is still closed up tight, xenias are looking a bit better but still a little tight and limp, (prior to meds, xenia looked nice and full even when lights were off). Zoas are looking pretty normal right now... hopefully they open up nice at lights on time.

 

[Nart]

Stella - it happens to everyone.

When I first started my 15G, I threw in some Seachem Paraguard. Bad move on my part even after researching that it was a 50/50 chance. I watched 3 of my corals melt right in front of my eyes. So so sad. The 3 corals were something like dragon soul favia (beauuuuuutiful favia), meteor shower, and Duncan. The Duncan ended up bouncing back after several weeks. I almost gave up owning corals all together, because I had just dropped like $75 on these frags only to watch it die infront of me.

I digress. I think most likely your corals will bounce back given the right conditions. Don't move them around and just leave them there.
Looks like you should set-up a QT tank going forward for new fishes and corals. The LFS you go to might not be too reliable. Or better yet, make the trip to WWC probably would save you the headache of a QT tank over time. Just a thought!

 

[stella1979]

Short term update: 18 hours after dosing PraziPro - Scorch already seems much better. I can't see any fluke/worm spots around his gills or head. His activity seems to be back to normal too, he's spending more time out of hiding like he was doing prior to all this. I can't say for sure that the corals brought this in... it is likely that he just began to show symptoms around the same time. I'm glad he seems back to normal.

The frags look ok, not their best, but probably as good as the day we brought them home. The GSP seems fine, the little weed that it is. The zoas seem most unaffected by the meds, I can't see a difference in them at all actually. The xenia seems to have fared the worst. It opened up and even pulsed a little when the lights came on. It still just seems weak. Prior to meds this frag looked like a tiny little pulsing bush, like it could hold itself pretty stiff against the flow. Today it just seems thinner and is blowing around in the flow, which is exactly how it looked upon initial introduction to the tank. I'm still nervous but think it might pull through.

Speaking of frags, I'm not very happy with our zoas. Yeah, I know, the LFS has them in the best light but man they just look kind of brown here at home, kind of like the ones that we could collect on a snorkeling trip. At the store they were the color of orange sherbert. Also, we're just starting so maybe they will color up better in time??? I don't know. I've still got a lot of learning to do so I'll treat these zoas as a learning experience. Then, who knows, I am in FL and I can't wait for the time when I feel comfortable investing in some higher quality frags.

Can you believe we just missed the FL Frag Swap? I was just checking out JoshPorkSandwich's zoas and found out the swap was just over a month ago. Oh well, we'll be more prepared for next time I guess.

 

[Nart]

So glad to hear he's doing better. Are you going to run some carbon to help soak out the meds?

 

[stella1979]

Yes, we will run carbon but... eek, the fish needs one more treatment because the med does not harm eggs. A double dose is recommended to kill what may have hatched since the initial dose. It's still scary but that's what we're going to do. Second dose is tomorrow and carbon will go in on Thursday.

We won't be getting anymore fish until the QT situation is sorted out so this should be the only time we med the DT.

In other news... I found a great looking aquaculture farm that is less than an hour away. I think she generally ships but the website says that you can visit by appointment. Looks like she's got some good stuff too so maybe we can visit one of these days. If we weren't putting meds in the tank I would've made contact already... she has a fire & ice zoa frag I like for $10! I'm sure there are more of these types of sellers around here, and I like the idea of buying from them instead of a high turnover LFS.

 

[grantm91]

That's what its like where I get my frags the guys balling its like a big house with his reefing shop on the back, the frags are amazing, fish are pricey and he sells all the kit you could want, he has crossers and stuff he must have a good bit of money, best kind of places to go IMO.

 

[stella1979]

Second dose of PraziPro just went in... hardly any reaction from the corals this time. It was added slowly both times, but this time was extra, extra slow. Also, the first time I poured it into the surface flow from the wavemaker. This time I poured it into the downward flow from the HOB. I think that's what made the difference, the corals may have gotten a stronger 'hit' the first time.

No immediate reaction from the GSP or the zoas... the xenia remains the most sensitive but it was so much better this time, just a very gradual, mild reaction rather than quickly closing tight. GSP did start to slowly close up a bit later.

We'll get some carbon in the tank in a few days and then we're hoping we can shop for something colorful next weekend... maybe another zoa frag or perhaps.... an RFA.

 

[Nart]

So glad to hear things are okay.
I vote RFA for the next coral. They are so neat. Just remember the acclimation method for RFA. Just let them sit out dry for 10-12mins to expel water and they are ready to go in your tank.

 

[Nanologist]

Loved reading your thread! Wish I would have found it sooner, but thanks to you finding and posting on my 10 gallon build I made it here!

Scorch looks awesome and hopefully those parasites will leave him be from now on. I actually plan to get a firefish also since it's about the only thing that can go in a 10 gallon and they do well solo.

I know you're concerned about getting unwanted hitchhikers from live rock, but imo the things that come with the live rock are well worth it! I've only had the 1.5 lbs. in for a week and I'm still finding new snails, starfish and bristleworms. Even though there's about 6-8 tiny aipstasia on one of my rocks it's been really exciting seeing what pops it's head out next. I'll be dealing with them before I get coral anyways, but for now they can enjoy the cycle.

 

[stella1979]

So glad you're here ! I loved reading your thread too! FishLore Reefers forever! You made me grin more than once there... particularly the gf's flip flops. She's not the only one who prefers to be almost barefoot.

Scorch has been a great little fish, though he annoyed me over the weekend. Looks like he's suddenly a picky eater. He refused the last few feedings of dry food but ate last night's mysis like a champ. Sigh, that's all I need, another picky eater. I guess I shouldn't complain, could be trying to feed a mandarin fish.

I'm not very worried about hitchhikers, I know I'll experience that one day and I sure wouldn't mind a little brittle star like you have. We hope to get most of our frags on little chunks of live rock and recently got a couple small pieces with the zoas and xenia. All that dry rock was mostly for ease of scaping and saving some pennies. Speaking of hitchhikers, have you heard of killing aiptasia using lemon juice and a syringe? I think we'll try that route when the day comes.

 

[Nart]

stella1979 you can try to pellet train him maybe a month later after you know for sure he'll make it in your system. Basically you will only offer pellets daily till he accepts lol. But honestly, feeding frozen is a lot easier for me. With pellets, especially if they don't eat it and gets stuck in your rock, will leech more excess nutrients than a tiny piece of Mysis shrimp. I try to mix it up with frozen and pellet/flakes, but I try not to exceed more than twice a week with pellet/flakes.

 

[Nanologist]

Speaking of hitchhikers, have you heard of killing aiptasia using lemon juice and a syringe? I think we'll try that route when the day comes.

Yeah, I'll have to try that next week. I was going to try and remove some manually during the weekly water change yesterday but they are much smarter and hard to find than I thought possible! As soon as I turned off the pumps they all retreated into hiding and they're all too small to see once they're hiding. I even had pictures of where they were on the rock but once I had it out and tweezers ready to pluck at them I couldn't find a single one!

I'll have to go with the syringe tactic and leave the pumps running, lights on and everything to get them while they're out.

 

[stella1979]

Sorry guys, it's a long one... felt like sharing tonight.


So, I have this GSP right? And it's the only frag I have that's on a plug. I know I have to get it off of there but I've been so hesitant. Particularly after dosing the tank, I didn't want to touch it. In fact, I have a hard time touching coral at all, which I know is silly.

A little explanation is required... I grew up in Key Largo, FL where we have a national marine sanctuary, John Pennekamp State Park. I snorkeled a lot and eventually did my first dives there many years ago. If you'd like, google up Christ of the Abyss, that was where I did my certification dive. I was lucky. I went to elementary school very close to the street entrance into the park. We took field trips there regularly and learned a bit of marine science, even in very young grades. In high school... the biggest classroom in the whole school was one of the science labs, devoted to marine biology, It was basically a Saltwater fish room with all types of local fish, sponges, corals and inverts. The ocean is part of the landscape and after school activities involved little boats, searching for urchins and octopus, and petting little lemon sharks among the mangroves. We used swim down the canal that was behind the house, which led to a little cove and then the Atlantic. It was a wonderful place to grow up and I am thankful for the memories.

So, here's the thing... I can't even say how many times I heard this exact phrase growing up, "You never touch the corals. If you touch it, it will die." Ha, we know that's not true but I guess it had an impact when I was young because I am so reluctant to touch the beautiful corals. I have loved and revered coral for my entire life. Our reef has also been dying my entire life. Sadly I've seen this first hand.

Anyway, I'll get that GSP off the plug soon but will probably wait until it's been med free for a while. We're excited to move ahead soon. Scorch is still only eating shrimp, but wouldn't you know it.. I was remembering my earlier research incorrectly. I thought firefish were omnivores but nope, carnivores they are. Silly me.

 

[grantm91]

You are so lucky! All I have is you tube videos where the clown fish have voice overs like mother and child hahaha, I will be doing some googling to get a feel of what that's like, on the gsp I don't want to encourage you too much to do a Jason voorhees on one of your first little frags but if you look what I have done to mine and they have been cool with it, I've had some out of water for 15 mins. Totally worth it to re-model my tank. I used to be so cautious but the more moving and fragging I did the more resilience I seen and just pushed it and pushed it, the softies are hardy if you ask me.

 

[Nart]

Do not touch the corals stella! Kidding
Just be gentle, careful, and try to practice safety with gloves and googles. Some softie corals squirt when pressed too hard.

 

[grantm91]

Lol just spent a good half hour on youtube, you are very very lucky, the closest I have to that is the shopping trollys at the bottom of the water resivoir we used to jump in, I grew up in Manchester England.

 

[stella1979]

Yes, I have been lucky grantm91 . Thanks for spending some time seeing my 'hood. I have to say though, I love history and all that is old and grand. I sure wouldn't mind making a trip across the pond someday.

It is legal and accepted down here to go collecting in the wild. Free zoas & Florida Ricordea you would think, but honestly, putting gas in the boat is more expensive than buying corals. Also, it's been hard watching the reef decline. I could never take wild corals from the ocean around here.

A lot of people work hard to bring it back though... If you'd like, google the USS Spiegel Grove. It was sunk as an artificial reef on Dixie Shoals in 2002. A truly amazing project. The USS Duane and USS Eagle are wrecks down here too but in deeper water. Bulls sharks and 600 lb. groupers out there. Grouper = Yummy! My favorite fish to eat but those huge guys are full of worms.

 

[grantm91]

Wow they righted it under water that is amazing going to look more in to that, no wonder you have a sw tank its part of your heritage as mad as it sounds, it makes sense lol.

 

[stella1979]

Uh, yeah, that kind of felt like an embarrassing mistake back in the day but now it feels like something to be proud of.

After lights on time today I noticed the tank looking cloudy. I initially assumed it was due to the PraziPro, which was dumb because it should have happened days ago if it were from the med. I guess we're having some type of bacterial bloom. pH has been 8, which was not as high as we want, but has now dropped by 0.2 to 7.8.

Scorch is acting funny. He seemed to twitch a couple times this afternoon. He went to his spot and I expected to see him at dinner time. Nope, he wouldn't even come out after I used the tweezers to wave a brine shrimp in front of his cave. I was just starting to feel good about his chances but now I'm worried again.

Ugh, I don't know what we're doing wrong. Just ran a full test and all is within normal range aside from pH. We still have low nitrates at 5ppm but that's nothing new.

MightyNanoTank - Do I remember reading that you use a buffer for your ATO water? If so will you please share some detailed info on that? Like what product you use and what made you decide to start doing that.

As always, any thoughts and/or suggestions are welcome. Thanks guys.

 

[Nart]

Stella,

If the parameters are fine, don't worry too much! Everything will be fine and fix itself as long as you stick to your weekly water changes. I am curious though, when you mix your saltwater, is it cloudy when it put it in the tank?
The pH difference is not alarming at all, so don't go chasing the perfect number. Your pH will fluctuate throughout the day, so it's not a huge deal. Most of the test kits we have, has an accuracy of +/- 0.5 PPM and then not to mention the human factor. So, don't go buffering anything just yet.

As for the buffer, I used Seachem's Marine ph buffer. I have since stopped using the pH buffer since I started using Seachem's Kalkwasser. I noticed my pH doesn't drop too much anymore, it sits around 7.8 - 8.3 range throughout the day.

 

[stella1979]

Thanks MightyNanoTank I know better than to use pH adjusters. I guess I'm just not happy that we've never seen it over 8. The freshly mixed water is not cloudy though we are going to be changing salt. Just received our bucket of RedSea salt yesterday.

So when you were using the marine buffer, it was for raising or stabilizing pH? I'm imagining that you used it because you had a lower, or more fluctuating pH than mine. I will not be buffering anything, just curious as to why and when it may be needed. I am quite comfortable using SeaChem buffering products for fresh water. I use Alkaline Buffer to raise the KH, and Replenish to raise GH in my replacement water. With the Saltwater tank I hadn't imagined using anything like this but was curious when I read that you had done so.

I guess I'm a little freaked because the GSP responded badly to whatever was fogging up the tank yesterday. By yesterday evening it was completely closed up, which has been unusual during lights on time. Anyway, carbon went in a day early and I'm glad it'll be soaking up meds. Probably will do an extra water change today too.

 

[Nart]

When you receive your RedSea salt, if possible, do like a half half mixture of your old salt and new salt mix. I made the mistake of doing a 100% salt solution change before and my corals didn't seem too happy about it. My LFS also told me the same too afterwards when I told them about my salt change.

Ah - sorry, I forgot to clarify, it was to stabilize pH. It was weird, it would go from a solid 8.3 at the beginning of the week and then I would test same time daily and saw it drop by like 1/2 PPM each day, to 6PPM. But this was when the IM25 tank was new, so it may have been trying to stabilize itself, whatever it was, it's fine now.

Carbon was rinsed in RO water before going in the tank yeah? How much carbon did you use?
What I found from talking to the guys at my local club, they only use 1/4 of the recommended amount or no carbon at all. Pretty much they only use when something is off with the tank. Otherwise, they said it can strip your tank water too clean, which your corals may not like.

Yeah, do a water change, and double check your tank's salinity. Did you happen to check Ammonia/Nitrites just in case as well?

 

[stella1979]

Sounds good with the salt plan, thanks.

Carbon was rinsed in RO water and it is a pretty small bag, I'd say no more than 1/2 cup as we're out of larger media bags. Carbon was part of the end-plan when we decided to med the tank and it will only be there for a few days. I'm also of the mind that carbon should only be used when necessary, so it is hardly ever in any of my tanks.

Yep, tested everything... all is OK with parameters. Only pH and Nitrates are less than ideal but we'll get there. You know, I couldn't say how but Nitrates are lowering on their own in the tank. Due to the med plan, we have not yet started with Matrix, (which I know wouldn't help right away anyhow), yet the nitrates have been falling between water changes. I'm not complaining, just curious as to how that's happening. Because, I can't imagine that we have any anaerobic bacteria growth yet. Hmmm

 

[Nart]

Stella - I am curious, what Nitrate test kit are you using? and what's the nitrate at?

It's soo hard to get an exact Nitrate reading. Often times if I see it as below 5PPM I am good. It's really hard for me to tell the difference between a 0.2 PPM and 0.5 PPM color chart on my Salifert.
I used to use API and that was a toss in the dark with 5PPM and 10PPM.

 

[stella1979]

We're using Red Sea and doing dilution tests. I get the SO irritated with nitrate tests... I got the Salifert so I could use it for Freshwater and cracked the dang vial. So, I had to buy it again and shipping takes awhile for it.

 

[Nanologist]

I loved John Pennekamp State Park! Was the first place I ever went snorkeling to view the reef. I was living in Islamorada for 8 months for work. Oh, how much I miss going to Key West on the weekends. Especially miss those authentic key lime pies and fruit farms/stands everywhere. I made a Key Lime Pie recently using Nellie & Joes' which impressed my girl's parents but I knew it was just a shadow of the taste from fresh squeezed key limes. It's still great to use when not living anywhere near the FL keys though!

I keep it in my fridge at all times! Usually just make mixed drinks with it.

 

[stella1979]

YES!!! greenbonsaI Now, if I'm remembering correctly, you are a, or have been a chef right? I'm wondering if you've actually ever juiced a key lime... it's not fun. A few weeks ago I juiced about a dozen of them and still didn't have 3 oz. of juice! Then I broke out the Nellie & Joe's.

If I may stay off topic for a bit. There is a local business, the Key West Key Lime Pie Company. They put little display cases in all kinds of stores around the Keys, even in gas stations. The best summer treat??? They cover a slice of key lime pie in dark chocolate, insert a popsicle stick and freeze it! Oh my... it's been too long since I had one of those. They ship folks.

Anywaaayyy, the tank was less cloudy yesterday and Scorch is back to being a bit more active, but there's something going on... The GSP doesn't like it because it didn't open at all yesterday and is still closed this morning.

Yet, we were so excited to go shopping this weekend. We're pretty disappointed in our zoas coloration at home and want to get some more color going on. Last night I made the mistake of contacting a local seller, (ReefGardener), who has three items I'd like to get, (more zoas, a ricordea, & a branching hammer.) I thought that it might take a week or two to get an appt. Not the case. She's willing to see us today or tomorrow. Probably a bad idea to pick up 3 new frags while we're dealing with these issues though huh? I do know better, I'm just afraid I'll miss out on a couple of sweet deals if I wait.... sigh