- Joined
- Apr 20, 2020
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- Location
- Lower Mainland, B.C.
Hi,
I am afraid to re-stock my tank at this point. I've had no luck with it at all. I am clearly doing something wrong and I am going to lay it all out there, with the hopes that somebody could help me turn this around so it stops being a huge emotional pit of sadness. This is a long post, so thank you for bearing with me.
The hardware:
25g Innovative Marine Lagoon with original Mighty Jet pump. I run it with both socks. I have some bio balls living in one sock in case I need to jump start a cycle in my QT tank. I have a small bag of carbon sitting in the back. I run a IM NuvoSkim protein skimmer. I have a bubbler sitting next to the pump intake in the back. I also have a Current USA 6004 power head. It runs at 90% with a bit of the flow breaking the surface tension.
Lights:
I have the Current USA Led IC Loop lights. They are on from 0900-2030. Daytime is R75 G29 B100 W65 and night times are R75 G09 B75 W65. I do not run moon lights. I have no idea what the PAR is.
Chemistry:
Kh 7
Calcium 400
Phosphate 0.25
Ph 8
Nitritre 0
Nitrate - test ran out so I have to get a new one
Ammonia 0
Magnesium off the chart high
Temp 78
Salinity 1.025
Livestock Current:
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Red Legged Hermit Crab
1 Blue Legged Hermit Crab
3ish Astrea snails
Zoas:
Blood Suckers
Rastas
Blue Hornets
Pinwheels
some unknown one
Nirvana
2 Green hairy mushroom
2 brown hairy mushroom
2 hammer
some unknown palys
bullseye mushroom
a jar full of green mushroom frags that are grounded until they attach them selves to some sand so I can put them on frag plugs and re-home them but they are being jerks about it.
clove polyps
For the most part all the corals are small colonies.
There are also bristle worms and spaghetti worms in the tank. Under the nirvanas I noticed last week were some small bubble algae growths and I will be removing those this weekend.
Maintenance:
Week 1:
Clean glass, stir sand, tidy up (like empty the skimmer) and fuss with stuff (like scrub the skimmer).
Week 2:
Clean glass, stir sand, tidy up and do 20% water change. I use RODI water. I use instant ocean reef crystals.
I don't have a TDS meter for my RODI system, COVID is making getting equipment difficult to get (for a reasonable price) in Canada.
Food:
1/4 a frozen mysis cube a day and reef roids, as per the directions, every fourth day.
History of the Tank:
I set this tank up in February and it took until April to complete the cycle. I had at the time a 10 gallon system that I had been running for a year without any issues.
When I put my fish from the 10g in to the 25g is when all the issues began. My Bengaii Cardinal died the next day. My Shark Nose Goby passed the day after. It hurt, he was a family favourite. He would dance for us when we approached the tank.
In July I got a Yellow Watchman Goby, an Orchid Dottyback, and a Sapphire Damsel. They came from the LFS in hypo salinity and had to be slowly acclimated over five days. I also a few weeks later got a Kenya Tree, most of the zoas and a Pom Pom Xenia. In August I got a peppermint shrimp.
The dotty back disappeared, sometime at the end of August, after two months of being in the tank. The damsel started with a spot on his head, which looked like a scratch, I treated it with melafix and it was looking better. A month or so after that treatment it started hiding and breathing rapidly but showed no other visible symptoms. It lasted a week before it died, two and a half months after being put in the 25g. The Kenya tree, zoas and Xenia did exceptionally well in the QT tank. There was some aptasia so they were in there longer than usual. That is when I got the peppermint shrimp who made quick work of that. The Kenya tree disintegrated within a week of being put in the 25g. The Pom Pom slowly shrunk, it was starting to grow again but I bumped it's rock while doing a water change one day and it did not like that. The next day it was gone, about a month after being put in the 25g. The peppermint shrimp passed away this morning, after three months of being put in the 25g. The yellow watchman goby is the only one still alive and I have to say, I am worried given the track record I currently have.
I am looking for any ideas as to what I can change to make life better for my creatures. At this point I am not going to get any more livestock until I understand what needs adjusting and have it adjusted.
Thanks in advance. As always, I appreciate all the advice that this forum had provided. One day, I hope I'll have enough experience under my belt to help other out here too.
-m
I am afraid to re-stock my tank at this point. I've had no luck with it at all. I am clearly doing something wrong and I am going to lay it all out there, with the hopes that somebody could help me turn this around so it stops being a huge emotional pit of sadness. This is a long post, so thank you for bearing with me.
The hardware:
25g Innovative Marine Lagoon with original Mighty Jet pump. I run it with both socks. I have some bio balls living in one sock in case I need to jump start a cycle in my QT tank. I have a small bag of carbon sitting in the back. I run a IM NuvoSkim protein skimmer. I have a bubbler sitting next to the pump intake in the back. I also have a Current USA 6004 power head. It runs at 90% with a bit of the flow breaking the surface tension.
Lights:
I have the Current USA Led IC Loop lights. They are on from 0900-2030. Daytime is R75 G29 B100 W65 and night times are R75 G09 B75 W65. I do not run moon lights. I have no idea what the PAR is.
Chemistry:
Kh 7
Calcium 400
Phosphate 0.25
Ph 8
Nitritre 0
Nitrate - test ran out so I have to get a new one
Ammonia 0
Magnesium off the chart high
Temp 78
Salinity 1.025
Livestock Current:
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Red Legged Hermit Crab
1 Blue Legged Hermit Crab
3ish Astrea snails
Zoas:
Blood Suckers
Rastas
Blue Hornets
Pinwheels
some unknown one
Nirvana
2 Green hairy mushroom
2 brown hairy mushroom
2 hammer
some unknown palys
bullseye mushroom
a jar full of green mushroom frags that are grounded until they attach them selves to some sand so I can put them on frag plugs and re-home them but they are being jerks about it.
clove polyps
For the most part all the corals are small colonies.
There are also bristle worms and spaghetti worms in the tank. Under the nirvanas I noticed last week were some small bubble algae growths and I will be removing those this weekend.
Maintenance:
Week 1:
Clean glass, stir sand, tidy up (like empty the skimmer) and fuss with stuff (like scrub the skimmer).
Week 2:
Clean glass, stir sand, tidy up and do 20% water change. I use RODI water. I use instant ocean reef crystals.
I don't have a TDS meter for my RODI system, COVID is making getting equipment difficult to get (for a reasonable price) in Canada.
Food:
1/4 a frozen mysis cube a day and reef roids, as per the directions, every fourth day.
History of the Tank:
I set this tank up in February and it took until April to complete the cycle. I had at the time a 10 gallon system that I had been running for a year without any issues.
When I put my fish from the 10g in to the 25g is when all the issues began. My Bengaii Cardinal died the next day. My Shark Nose Goby passed the day after. It hurt, he was a family favourite. He would dance for us when we approached the tank.
In July I got a Yellow Watchman Goby, an Orchid Dottyback, and a Sapphire Damsel. They came from the LFS in hypo salinity and had to be slowly acclimated over five days. I also a few weeks later got a Kenya Tree, most of the zoas and a Pom Pom Xenia. In August I got a peppermint shrimp.
The dotty back disappeared, sometime at the end of August, after two months of being in the tank. The damsel started with a spot on his head, which looked like a scratch, I treated it with melafix and it was looking better. A month or so after that treatment it started hiding and breathing rapidly but showed no other visible symptoms. It lasted a week before it died, two and a half months after being put in the 25g. The Kenya tree, zoas and Xenia did exceptionally well in the QT tank. There was some aptasia so they were in there longer than usual. That is when I got the peppermint shrimp who made quick work of that. The Kenya tree disintegrated within a week of being put in the 25g. The Pom Pom slowly shrunk, it was starting to grow again but I bumped it's rock while doing a water change one day and it did not like that. The next day it was gone, about a month after being put in the 25g. The peppermint shrimp passed away this morning, after three months of being put in the 25g. The yellow watchman goby is the only one still alive and I have to say, I am worried given the track record I currently have.
I am looking for any ideas as to what I can change to make life better for my creatures. At this point I am not going to get any more livestock until I understand what needs adjusting and have it adjusted.
Thanks in advance. As always, I appreciate all the advice that this forum had provided. One day, I hope I'll have enough experience under my belt to help other out here too.
-m