The start and progress of my 72 bowfront reef tank! - Page 8

melev · #**176** 08/25/2007, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ghstrider
Plus, these fish may reside here for more than a month as my blue tang still has about 2-3 cysts remaining so the more at home the clowns are the better.

Why do you feel the need to quarantine new fish if the main tank has Ich in it? Seems kind of pointless to me.

mrbubbles · #**177** 08/25/2007, 11:51 PM

if the main had ich i would qt the fish with ich

ghstrider · #**178** 08/26/2007, 05:55 AM

Well heres my thinking ( i know i know nothing so if you guys with much more knowledge can chime in it is appreciated)...

My understanding is that once the cysts fall off they reproduce in the sandbed and look for a host for up to a month or so. If they do not find one they will die off. So I bought these clowns and if i put them in my main they may get ich so i dont want to do that and if i take my tangs and cards out of my display i will have nowhere for the clowns since i dont want to house them with the semi sick fish. Im hoping that once all the cysts fall off and a month passes that the ich in my tank will have died off and i can then put in my clowns that have been in QT and i will have known after that month that they are not sick and will not bring in new ich. I may be wrong here but it makes sense to me. Please clarify anything i might have said that was incorrect if you are sure of it. It seems alot of people think they know about ich but everyones view is slightly off from the next guy....

Also if im way off my rocker here then suggestions... Remember i dont really want to take my tangs and cards out since they have fought off the ich 2x now and are looking real good and feed right from my hand. I dont wanna stress them by putting them in such a small tank and cause another ich attack. (done rambling now...)

Melev where r u??? lol

melev · #**179** 08/26/2007, 03:06 PM

If there are any fish in the tank, the free swimming ich will latch onto them. There are a ton of threads here on RC about Ich, with diagrams, treatment protocols, and just plain bad information.

If you have sick fish in your display tank right now with ich, and they look better next week, that means the fish have built up their immune system and can fight off the parasites. The new fish coming in (even after quarantine) can become infected by the ich in the system.

This is why I spoke with you about quarantining from the beginning. I don't want to cause a debate in your thread; I just wanted to understand why you felt that the new fish should go in quarantine when your current system shows obvious signs of Ich.

Quarantine is an excellent way to prevent any number of diseases, including Ich. It also allows you to observe the new arrival closely and train it to eat the food you prepare without competition from other voracious fish. But if you main reason is to make the clowns Ich-free and then place them in a tank that obviously has it, I don't see the point.

Linkblaze · #**180** 08/26/2007, 03:41 PM

While I don't have an up and running tank yet, I just got done reading the sections here on Ick. There should really be a sticky at the top of this beginner forum that says: "READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY A SINGLE FISH" and the first thing it should talk about is ick.

From what I read tangs are especially suspetible to ick. You think they are getting better but maybe it's just their immunity or it could be that the parasites are in a different phase of their lifecycle. It could be that they are just hosting (just a couple of spots on them that maybe you can't see or dismiss) and seeding your tank with more ick parasites.

Don't take my word for it, because I'm a total noob, but go to the fish parasite section here on reefcentral and read the ick articles. My take on it is you're going to have to pull all the fish from your main tank and treat them with a fresh water dip followed by hyposalinity. Since you've already got clowns in your QT you're either going to have to set up a second QT or take the risk of infecting the clowns as well.

If they're feeding from your hand, that should make the trusting little suckers that much easier to net

ghstrider · #**181** 09/07/2007, 02:57 AM

Well a bit of an update...

I added an RBTA about a week ago and he appears to have found a good spot (hasnt moved since the 1st day) and ive been feeding him 3-4 times a week (small prawns). I introduced the clowns yesterday with a leopard wrasse (sweet looking specimen about 3"). My leather is looking real good now with great PE and the rest of the corals/fish look good. The hippo continues with his ick outbreak but its mild and doesnt seem to slow him down. Also picked up a neon goby last week who doesnt do much including cleaning the hippo. I am having some mild algae (diatoms, blue-green) but im also having coraline working its way onto rocks, pumps, and the overflowbox.

pics to come

Cozzmolot · #**182** 09/07/2007, 07:57 AM

That is awesome. I'm glad to hear that your tank is doing so well. My tank was doing absolutely amazing until I didn't read up on the Finex heater that I purchased until after it heated my tank to 97.8º. I lost a couple corals and some of the are really having trouble coming through the troubles. I hope you are having an awesome time with your tank. I am having to do tank cleaning today because of some pumps not doing as well they should.

ghstrider · #**183** 09/07/2007, 08:00 PM

Damn Cozz that sucks... On the same topic, I wanted to put a heater to make sure my tank never gets too cold but i never see it drop under 76-77 and once i put a timer on my fan (need it on only about 3 hrs a day or it will freeze my water) Ill be set. Im lucky that my tank stays in a good temp range and the fan will stop it from hitting 81. I cant complain as my setup is doing very well so far (knock on wood). I also made believers out of a few local know-it-alls (friends of mine) that said everything i did was wrong and all would die. In my defense though, I may not have always listened to advice given by everyone but I am on top of my system constantly and havent really let it go south on me.

Havent had time to take pics but check back tomorrow night and theyll be up. should be some good shots too!

ghstrider · #**184** 09/08/2007, 06:04 PM

Here are the pics...

My new Leopard Wrasse (female about 3" and by far my favorite fish). She sleeps in the sand and when the lights come on she comes out for about 5-6 hrs swimming around and picking off the rocks)

Heres my new RBTA w/ her hosting saddleback clown (she wont let the male even get close...)

Full tank shot

And heres a video!

http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w...t=MOV03413.flv

JDRACO · #**185** 09/09/2007, 09:10 AM

ghost it looks great

thejrc · #**186** 09/16/2007, 01:55 AM

I have the same tank, and the same stupid stand where nothing will wedge in there (built fuge out of 15 high and used other side for equipment). It's a great tank though.

I would highly recommend the aqualight for this setup, but definately spend the extra 20 bucks or so to hang the thing from the ceiling. I use an aqualight 4x65 with lunars, and added a viper 70W clamp on MH which sits right next to the overflow box on the long side, excellent light coverage and the corals love it, it leaves the far left (short side of the overflow) free for lower light corals.

I've also found that flow is a bit odd when it comes to the bowed front, I plopped a powerhead against the overflow wall on the long side, and have my aqua C remora skimmer along with another smaller (maxijet 400) on the short side. I yanked the bio media out of one of my canisters and tossed the spraybar along the long side and have excellent tank turnover between those and about 400GPH in the sump. Since the sump is mostly fuge and I'm trying to encourage pod propagation I keep flow relatively low there.

While the bowfront wasnt my first choice, I got a great deal that I couldnt pass up and I will say now in retrospect the general shape of the tank lends itself to aquascaping, the overflow box will annoy you at first when placing rock but after a while you will find it helpful for support and in just the right place!

ghstrider · #**187** 09/23/2007, 12:51 PM

havent posted in 2 weeks so ive got some updates... First off the clowns are gone (traded them for a small pair of percs that ill get soon...mine were too aggressive and bit my blue hippo). My leopard is doing great and is eating frozen foods and even nori! I have not noticed any signs of ich in over a week easy and my fish look super happy. Coraline has spread over the ph's and my rocks are looking good with a decent sign of coraline growth (i think at this pace im about 3 months from full coraline coverage). I had one death since the tanks been running (besides 2 or 3 snails at the beginning) and that was the suicidal jump of my neon goby. He even jumped thru my eggcrate grill that covers my tank in the canopy.

As for my new additions since my last post... I have a bi-color dwarf angel (hasnt touched a coral in the 4 days hes been in the tank so lets keep it that way!).

Yesterday I decided to take the plunge and get the fish ive been wanting since i put this tank together... A gorgeous copperband butterfly about 3" long. He is eating off the rocks and live brine so now comes the test of getting him to eat the frozen stuff...let us pray!

I will post some pics tonite or tomorrow for sure!

Eddy

rcerulli · #**188** 09/23/2007, 01:39 PM

looking good, here is a pic of my 72 bow that i setup a few weeks ago, fishies are in hypo atm for ich treatment (from my previous tank).

ghstrider · #**189** 09/27/2007, 04:47 PM

here are some pics....

A full tank shot

My Copperband Butterfly (he is eating frozen food and even nori!)

My bicolor angel

The RBTA fully opened

My ricordeas (left side tank shot)

And last but not least my rubimarginatis wrasse (pink margin wrasse)

I love that new wrasse!! Next on my list is a mystery wrasse!

MR PALM BEACH · #**190** 09/27/2007, 05:18 PM

Tank Is looking pretty sweet, you did some nice aqua scaping In there.

ghstrider · #**191** 09/29/2007, 09:20 PM

I am considering a mystery wrasse... I would like some opinions on this fish especially with whats in my tank now. I am also planning on putting in a small pair of percs after the mystery is in the tank. Opinions? Anyone have a mystery in their tank? Does he play nice? Thanks in advance!

Eddy

ghstrider · #**192** 10/02/2007, 11:37 AM

I did it... I bought the mystery wrasse and he's currently getting used to the tank and his curious tankmates. He is in hiding for now since he went in last night but im hoping he will be out and about later today or tomorrow. Once he comes out i will make sure to post some pics.

ghstrider · #**193** 10/02/2007, 07:32 PM

Here he is...

And here is a video from today...

melev · #**194** 10/02/2007, 11:56 PM

He's pretty.

NickSmi · #**195** 10/03/2007, 01:40 AM

Awesome tank, did you order your copperband or buy it at an LFS?

AtlReef · #**196** 10/03/2007, 02:29 AM

WOW I love the rics rock

ghstrider · #**197** 10/03/2007, 10:26 AM

Marc, thanks man... i couldnt resist and now im just hoping the rest of the tankmates take it easy on him like they did with the pink margin...

Quote:

Awesome tank, did you order your copperband or buy it at an LFS?

I got him at a LFS in miami and he was eating live brine so i took him. hes not a great eater in the tank and has regressed a bit but he is ok. he does eat frozen foods here and there but i think it will take time with him. He is very active though and likes to be seen.

Atl, thanks for the kind words... The "ricordea hill" is by far my favorite coral in the tank. It actually has about 4 separate pieces ranging from 2" to 7" in size but the bottom yellow and blue and the top lemonades are my favorites.

wachuko · #**198** 10/03/2007, 10:42 AM

Wow! Beautiful setup!!

wachuko · #**199** 10/04/2007, 12:45 PM

Here is my setup... keep in mind we started this past Sunday...

A few photos from yesterday...

Please keep us posted on the progress of your aquarium. I showed your thread to my wife last night and we were amazed of how much you have done on this since May when you started. Simply amazing...

We had our tank some 6 years sitting in a corner

db_triggerfish · #**200** 10/04/2007, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
No need to apologize.

To feed the goni, I would suggest turning off the pumps so the food falls on that coral and doesn't get whisked away. Just be SURE to turn the pumps back on 15 minutes later (set a timer to remind yourself).

How often should they be fed?

Thanks,