Adopted a Tank

[mell312]

Gah!!! New heaters came in today (split the wattage needed between 2 units). Installed one (no point in using both right off the bat because I want to slowly increase the temp to an ideal temp anyways) and set temp at about 75, but there's a 4 number gap between temp markings on the heater so it's hard to be precise. The tank has been bouncing between 72.9 and 74.5 based on the ambient temp in the house. I watched it very slowly creep up and then left the house for an hour and a half and came home and it had shot up to 76.5 and my blenny and goby are not happy one bit. Both are breathing heavy and not very active.

So...went ahead with the canister cleaning (OMG...BARF...it was disgusting) and about a 5g water change. Was hoping the water change might help get the temp back down a little bit but so far no change. I've lowered the setting on the heater and will keep a close eye on it for the next hour. If temp continues to rise I will unplug the heater for the night to make sure it's not malfunctioning and then try again tomorrow when I will be home for an extended time. Praying my blenny and goby settle in and are okay. I've been getting attached to them.

Is 78 the ideal temp for FOWLR?

Can't wait to get rid of the canister after that experience. I can't believe he was only cleaning it every 6 months. I cleaned everything in the tank water I removed and after the first sponge it was so murky I couldn't even see my hand a few inches below the surface.

 

[Mike in CT]

At least your friend new when to get out before the system crashed. When I had 3 kids under 4, my tank maintenance was few and far between, and my nitrates got up there as well.

 

[vic5hands]

78 plus or minus 1 degree

 

[mell312]

To be honest I think the conditions had deteriorated so slowly over time that the fish were tolerating it and he thought they were fine. And maybe they were. Maybe I shouldn't have changed much, but I don't want a dirty looking tank. If these guys don't survive getting the tank back in shape then at least it will be ready for some new ones. But I would rather them hang in there! Our friend will be at our home in a little over a week. Hopefully he doesn't freak at the changes!

Thanks for confirming the temp vic5hands. 78 is what I was aiming to slowly climb to!

 

[Mike in CT]

I was using tap water (fish only tank) and my nitrates were above 200 and I had plenty of fish that lived 10 plus years. My tang did develop hole in the head disease, and I felt really bad so that's what got me in gear. You are definitely headed in the right direction, especially for when you want to add coral.

 

[mell312]

I've never had any nitrate issues in my freshwater tanks and I use tap conditioned with prime for those. Don't plan to do that with this tank Will only use LFS water until things are greatly improved and I want to tackle my own water. But that's last on my list for now!

And no corals anytime soon. My husband can wait! Healthy water and fish first!

 

[vic5hands]

Get your self a RO. You will save in the long run

 

[mell312]

Probably will eventually, but baby steps for now! Thankfully my LFS is in a spot I pass by frequently.

 

[mell312]

Unplugged the new heater overnight to make sure it didn't go up when I couldn't watch it and hoped the temp might slowly drop a degree down to 75 which is what I was aiming for (increasing a degree at a time slowly to 78). But the temps didn't drop outside overnight like usual so my house temp hovered at 75 last night and the temp tank remained steady overnight at 76.4. Planning to just keep it there at this point since its been that way for almost 18 hours now. Figure there's no point in lowering it now.

Everyone has survived the temp increase for now. The blenny is hiding in the rocks. Can't find him right now but did see him move early this morning into the rocks so hopefully he's fine. The goby has been hanging out on the power head suction cups since yesterday when the temp went up. He changes position every once in awhile but that's it. He was most stressed by the move and took 24 hours or so to behave normally after the move so hopefully today is the same for him. Meanwhile the clown is as happy as can be. He obviously is enjoying the warm water.

 

[Feltman]

Not sure if anyone mentioned with a mature saltwater fowler tanks the 2 main things to test for are nitrates and phosphates ph isn't very important in a saltwater tank. At least not until u start dosing for corals.

 

[mell312]

Nitrates are through the roof which is what I'm working on getting down through water changes, cleaning the canister filter out and actually replacing the filter tomorrow when the new one arrives. Haven't been able to test for phosphates yet.

Unfortunately I think I was wrong about the blenny. I guess I saw something else move. He's under a rock where I can't get a good view, but I believe he has passed. Feeling like a fish murderer. Will have to get my husband to help me move some rock around to get to him this evening if he hasn't moved. Will just keep trudging forward to get the tank to where it should be so that it is safe once I'm ready to add new fish.

 

[Dr. Phil]

Feeling like a fish murderer.

Don't feel too bad we have all had setbacks... Don't get discouraged, with a little work and time it will turn around!

 

[melypr1985]

Don't feel too bad we have all had setbacks... Don't get discouraged, with a little work and time it will turn around!

Ditto. It's not your fault the tank got into that condition and your doing the best you can to clean it up. You'll get there, no worries.

 

[mell312]

I told the friend I got the tank from what was going on. He said he checked the heater before breaking the tank down and it was working, but there was no thermometer on the tank so who knows what temp it actually was. So maybe the temp drop did impact them and maybe they hadn't been living at that temp for awhile like I thought. Either way the fish have been on a roller coaster ride with the move. We will get there. Positive thoughts only! Heading home in a few minutes and hoping to see some improvements in the goby.

 

[mell312]

First off...thank you to all who have offered help and guidance so far. Y'all rock and I can't tell you thank you enough. I do think my blenny is gone, but going to keep my head up and keep moving forwards.

Filter and water are being dealt with and my next concern is the sand substrate.

We want to add more sand. First off, I assume live sand is our best option? Are hitchhikers a concern with live sand the way they are with rock?

Second...should I remove what little sand is currently there or just add on top? The current sand is littered with coraline scrapings (and we've got plenty more to scrape) and contains some algae. There is maybe at max 1cm of sand currently there.

And regardless of whether we remove or keep the old sand...should I do it before switching filters or after or does it really matter?

 

[Feltman]

Doesn't really matter. You don't really need anymore then that. If u want a deep sand bed I'd suggest researching it first. If u do add more use a pvc tube to put it directly on the sand bed so it doesn't cloud ur water up as bad although there will always be some clouding. As far as hitch kickers ull get some but most I've seen that come in with sand are good not bad.

 

[melypr1985]

Definitely get wet live sand in the bags. You can layer it over the old stuff, but this tank has had such bad care for so long, I would siphon out the top layer along with all that doo doo before layering the new stuff on top. Just so you dont have anything rotting under the sand. Best to be safe not sorry. As mentioned above use the pvc pipe to get the new sand directly to the bottom without clouding the water.

 

[mell312]

Thanks! Did a water change last night and will do another Friday and siphon the top layer off at the same time. Will likely be early next week before I can get my hands on some sand.

If I get a piece of PVC pipe from Lowes or Home Depot is it usually clean enough to go into the tank or should I wash it somehow first?

 

[Feltman]

Thanks! Did a water change last night and will do another Friday and siphon the top layer off at the same time. Will likely be early next week before I can get my hands on some sand.

If I get a piece of PVC pipe from Lowes or Home Depot is it usually clean enough to go into the tank or should I wash it somehow first?

Just rinse the pipe in some rodi water which is a good practice for anything that enters ur tank.

 

[mell312]

Filter has been changed. Put some of the coral from the canister into the Aquaclear. The extensions for the intake tube maybe go half way down the back wall of the tank. Thinking I need to either steal one from my freshwater tank or buy another or make my own.

Went to town scraping as much of the coraline off the tank as I could. Been doing a little at a time but wanted to try to finish as much as possible before I siphon the top of the sand tomorrow.

Removed the dead blenny yesterday, but the temp is back where it should be. The clown is still as happy as ever (other than the constant attacking me when I scraped coraline) and the goby appears to have recovered and is getting back to his normal behavior.

No drop in nitrates yet. Praying I start seeing improvement after my next water change tomorrow.