Acer new 150 build

[acer]

The Drama is part of this Crazy Hobby. If you don't expect some "drama"- your not being realistic.

 

[mta_morrow]

Yup. Stuff happens and things show up dead. It's all about customer service in those unfortunate cases and how your case is handled. John at reef cleaners is a class act and always makes things right. That's why so many people recommend him.

 

[acer]

Yep, I emailed him before I was even sure what would survive. He emailed me back and said he was sorry, gave me instructions, etc. Some of the small snails amazingly survived. I took pictures of the dead, but he still refunded the whole order. I will reorder as soon as it warms up.

 

[acer]

Well, i got about 1/3 of my $ back, not the whole order as I originally thought. But i guess that's fair. Of course, could have been avoided if the package had proper heat packs to begin with.

 

[acer]

Update:

Bluethroat is QT for five weeks now, no signs of diseases. Ready to transfer to display? Hate to medicate if not necessary. He is still shy.

Had to change my rockwork around due to hair Algae issues on a few rocks. Took those infested rocks, after strubbing/scrape, then put them in fuge where no light will hit them. Then took clean rock from fuge and put it in display.

 

[acer]

Update- today was the scheduled day to take my Blue Throat trigger that has been in the QT tank for 6 weeks and put him into the display tank. Yesterday noticed he was even shyer than usual - he always immediately came out of the PVC as soon as I put food in the tank and fed voraciously. But yesterday he didn't - but he did eat , and today I found him dead. So here the question = WHAT HAPPENED?? checked the ammonia and nitrate= both zero. HE never acted like any trigger I had ever seen- none were ever shy like this guy. So was he sick the whole time and/or never recovered from the ice cold trip he had 6 weeks ago upon purchase and the poor communication with the Seller, ups not ringing the doorbell,etc. Should I have treated him with meds even though he ate well and no sign of disease? I am at a loss.

Frankly , I have never had good luck with the QT scenario and have always had better luck with just good observation at the store and not buying any fish that I am not confident in. However, with the new tank I figured I would be extra careful so set up a new full tank setup for a QT = 40 cube tank, hang on skimmer, programmable wave pump, etc. Did water changes diligently, etc. - spend more cash to a " higher grade seller" and ended up with not a single fish going into the display.

So, I guess next step is to buy locally and medicate fully immediately and do the program of hypo salinity .... OR just say forget it and not add more fish.

 

[eleet]

That sucks! I have a stupidly simple qt. I do 2 doses of praziquantel requardless. I only do copper or cp if I see symptoms. Sorry to hear about your guy

 

[acer]

Yesterday took everything out of Qt and wiped it off. Mounted electronics over and behind QT as I was going to do before I got surprised by the fish order appearing on my doorstep without warning 2 months ago. Will let QT sit dry for a week then decide on what fish(s) to try next.

 

[acer]

Picked up a frag pack which was delivered today= 8 sps frags= sour Apple, teal stag, a blue turacki, pink birdsnest, waynes reef, tri color, purple acro, purple tip. Nothing rare, but some nice stuff. Had to rearrange some stuff.

 

[acer]

Spent an hour yesterday picking/sifting my substrate of hair algae.

Did testing today

Alk= 8.12 dkh
Phosphates= .043
Ca+= 500
Nitrate= zip
Ph= 8.1
Temp= 80
Salinity= 1.024

Looks good right.

lol my Mg+ is 500. What!!

 

[JaimeAdams]

You mean your calcium, not your Mg+being 500, right? What is your magnesium. I take it that with that calcium level you are using Reef Crystals?

 

[acer]

They are both 500. Yes reefcrystals salt. What the heck... How can i have 5oo mg+. According to reef calculators i need about 2.4 gallons of mg solution. Maybe my Salifert kit is messed up. It is not expired.

 

[hybridazn]

I never test for mg, last I checked (probably over a year ago lol) it was around 1300. I use red sea coral pro and never had an issue with keeping up with mg with just water changes.

 

[JaimeAdams]

They are both 500. Yes reefcrystals salt. What the heck... How can i have 5oo mg+. According to reef calculators i need about 2.4 gallons of mg solution. Maybe my Salifert kit is messed up. It is not expired.

I would pick up a new test kit tomorrow and measure your mag again. I figured reef crystals because that is what my calcium is at using it.

 

[acer]

yep- figured I could stop in to Adams ( reef gallery) , Elmer's, or Somewhere else local and get it tested for a few bucks to see if a new kit is needed , or if I messed up or what? will also retest.

 

[acer]

OK , feel better. Retested Mg and reads now 1350 - I must have messed up the test somehow.

The PO4 is still a bit high - explains the hair algae issue. Must still be that one bag of sand that was stupidly dirty as I am really not overfeeding ( 1x/day). I guess I could have some leaching as the rock is reused- but I did soaking in bleach after acid bath - then dried in sun for over week.

 

[eleet]

Well that's much better! And in my experience, even after an acid bath, old rock will still leach a bit, just not nearly as bad.

 

[acer]

running GFO since I set up the tank. SO, looks like I may have to do that phosphate treatment that participates out the po3 and let the filter socks "catch " the precipitate. Cant remember what that product is called.

 

[eleet]

Landamum chloride?

 

[eleet]

Lanthanum chloride. Wow