- Joined
- Jul 27, 2016
- Messages
- 554
- Reaction score
- 254
So, I have been in the hobby for about a year and have managed to make most of the rookie mistakes so far. My latest challenge is in my Red Sea Reefer 450 in my living room. The tank is about 7-8 months old, after having dealt with a cyano outbreak, a short lived dino outbreak and losing about 30% of my fish to ick, things were looking nice and stable. Since I was past the 6 month mark, I started populating the tank with some anemones and have had pretty mixed luck.
So far I've added the following:
- 2 rock flowers (pretty sure they are still in there somewhere, since those guys are practically indestructible)
- 5-6 mini maxis (they all seem fine)
- 4 small RBTAs (think they are okay, but one or two may be hiding)
- 2 medium GBTAs (one looks good, the other is looking pretty bad)
- 1 large LTA that died about 3 days later (not sure why)
- 1 yellow Sebae that died after about 3 days (again, not sure why)
- 1 yellow, blue tipped Sebae, been alive in the tank for about two weeks, but looking a bit iffy.
- 1 med green LTA, had it for about 5 days, looking okay, but not attaching
- 1 pretty large Riterri, had it for about 5 days and not so sure about it's health, moving a lot and looking droopy.
At this point I am doing my damnedest to save everything in there. For the past two days the tank has smelled sour and there has been a clear snotty film on the rocks and glass. Skimmer is going nuts. I feel like the slime is being excreted by one or more of the nems. I realize I was not ready for the Riterri, or probably even the Sebaes for that matter. My LFS(s) knew my experience level and sold them to me anyways without much warning. The one who sold me the sebae's was good enough to tell me the other should have warned me about the ritteri...
Tanks details:
RSR 450, Vertex Omega 180, pair of Neptune WAV powerheads, 3x Ecotech Radion gen1 xr30s, JBJ 1/4hp chiller, 25w Emperor Aquatics UV, 2.5-3" sandbed, 75lbs live rock, quite a bit of marinepure bio media, in sump mini refugium, brs gfo + carbon reactor, apex system, dosing pumps for alk, cal, auto water change (1 gallon a day) and NoPox (10ml per day)
Current fish (post ick):
Juv Koran Angel, Yellow Tang, small Blue Tang, Scopas Tang, Lawnmower Blenny, Flame hawkfish, 5 Pajama Cardinals, Marble Wrasse
Water changes:
- 1 gallon per day via dosing pumps
- 10 gallons (10%) once a week
Params-
Temp - 77-79
Sal - 35-36ppt
pH - Normally 8.1-8.3 but dropping down to 7.8 as of late
ORP - Normally 320-360 (330 today)
kH - Typically about 10, got up to 12.4 yesterday so I turned my alk doser off, 11.8 today
Ca - 420-440
Mg - Usually about 1450 haven't tested in a while (prob too high, but never heard of it being a big issue)
Nitrate - Usually about 1, but currently 0
Po - 0.03 Average, but currently 0. Was up to 0.12 yesterday, but I think it was because my reactor was clogging with slime.
Ammonia - Usually don't test after finishing cycle. Currently between 0 - 0.2 (Red Sea test is a bit tough to tell). Figured a dying nem may have given me a spike so I added a bottle of Dr. Tim's and turned my UV off for 24 hours.
My LFS thinks I may have nuked the tank trying to dig a hole for the LTA hoping to get him to attach to the bottom. Any clue what the clear/white slime is? I feel like it might be Dino, but last time it was brownish and my UV got rid of it pretty quick. Maybe the Riterri is nuking my tank?
Any advice would be appreciated. And yes, I know I made a couple poor choices along the way, I am doing whatever I can to fix them.
So far I've added the following:
- 2 rock flowers (pretty sure they are still in there somewhere, since those guys are practically indestructible)
- 5-6 mini maxis (they all seem fine)
- 4 small RBTAs (think they are okay, but one or two may be hiding)
- 2 medium GBTAs (one looks good, the other is looking pretty bad)
- 1 large LTA that died about 3 days later (not sure why)
- 1 yellow Sebae that died after about 3 days (again, not sure why)
- 1 yellow, blue tipped Sebae, been alive in the tank for about two weeks, but looking a bit iffy.
- 1 med green LTA, had it for about 5 days, looking okay, but not attaching
- 1 pretty large Riterri, had it for about 5 days and not so sure about it's health, moving a lot and looking droopy.
At this point I am doing my damnedest to save everything in there. For the past two days the tank has smelled sour and there has been a clear snotty film on the rocks and glass. Skimmer is going nuts. I feel like the slime is being excreted by one or more of the nems. I realize I was not ready for the Riterri, or probably even the Sebaes for that matter. My LFS(s) knew my experience level and sold them to me anyways without much warning. The one who sold me the sebae's was good enough to tell me the other should have warned me about the ritteri...
Tanks details:
RSR 450, Vertex Omega 180, pair of Neptune WAV powerheads, 3x Ecotech Radion gen1 xr30s, JBJ 1/4hp chiller, 25w Emperor Aquatics UV, 2.5-3" sandbed, 75lbs live rock, quite a bit of marinepure bio media, in sump mini refugium, brs gfo + carbon reactor, apex system, dosing pumps for alk, cal, auto water change (1 gallon a day) and NoPox (10ml per day)
Current fish (post ick):
Juv Koran Angel, Yellow Tang, small Blue Tang, Scopas Tang, Lawnmower Blenny, Flame hawkfish, 5 Pajama Cardinals, Marble Wrasse
Water changes:
- 1 gallon per day via dosing pumps
- 10 gallons (10%) once a week
Params-
Temp - 77-79
Sal - 35-36ppt
pH - Normally 8.1-8.3 but dropping down to 7.8 as of late
ORP - Normally 320-360 (330 today)
kH - Typically about 10, got up to 12.4 yesterday so I turned my alk doser off, 11.8 today
Ca - 420-440
Mg - Usually about 1450 haven't tested in a while (prob too high, but never heard of it being a big issue)
Nitrate - Usually about 1, but currently 0
Po - 0.03 Average, but currently 0. Was up to 0.12 yesterday, but I think it was because my reactor was clogging with slime.
Ammonia - Usually don't test after finishing cycle. Currently between 0 - 0.2 (Red Sea test is a bit tough to tell). Figured a dying nem may have given me a spike so I added a bottle of Dr. Tim's and turned my UV off for 24 hours.
My LFS thinks I may have nuked the tank trying to dig a hole for the LTA hoping to get him to attach to the bottom. Any clue what the clear/white slime is? I feel like it might be Dino, but last time it was brownish and my UV got rid of it pretty quick. Maybe the Riterri is nuking my tank?
Any advice would be appreciated. And yes, I know I made a couple poor choices along the way, I am doing whatever I can to fix them.
