Best Practices And Procedures for Avoiding Large Tank Crashes and Disasters?

[dennis5546]

wanted to share this website I came across today that looks to be something that will come in very handy for me in the future.

FishDB - The aquarist's source for aquatic information

I am loving the fish compatibility function they have, in that it actually looks at specific fish against other specific fish. It is not the normal Puffer/Wrasse compatibility, it allows you to do a Dogface Puffer and Flasher Fairy wrasse and if they are compatible, it also allows you to check against inverts and coral.

In addition it also allows for you to build a virtual tank online that will allow you to add your entire tank, and then if you are thinking of getting a new fish, you can run a quick check against all the fish, coral, and inverts you already have in the tank.

I thought this was super cool, and wanted to share!

 

[robf]

wanted to share this website I came across today that looks to be something that will come in very handy for me in the future.

FishDB - The aquarist's source for aquatic information

I am loving the fish compatibility function they have, in that it actually looks at specific fish against other specific fish. It is not the normal Puffer/Wrasse compatibility, it allows you to do a Dogface Puffer and Flasher Fairy wrasse and if they are compatible, it also allows you to check against inverts and coral.

In addition it also allows for you to build a virtual tank online that will allow you to add your entire tank, and then if you are thinking of getting a new fish, you can run a quick check against all the fish, coral, and inverts you already have in the tank.

I thought this was super cool, and wanted to share!

Thanks Dennis. This site has the potential to be huge. I can't wait to spend more time with it. BTW. You used to be really big into breeding fish when we were kids. Is this still a passion for you?

 

[dennis5546]

When I did fresh water I found it challenging to breed theAfrican cichlids Fish but not now. Now I’m only into the reefing and limit myself to one tank. The challenge with any reef tank is trying toachieve perfection, which few accomplish. I just bought some new Halidereflectors (Hamilton Cayman Sun Reflectors) that have glass lens to keep thefish from splashing the bulbs. The water splash from the larger fish, wouldcrack the bulbs thus bleaching out the corals.

 

[robf]

The challenge with any reef tank is trying to achieve perfection, which few accomplish.

True. It's less like creating a perfect piece of art and more like mowing the lawn or gardening. Like the lawn....the tank isn't static. It's a constant game of balance. Its never quite perfect but sometimes its darn close. Balancing takes monitoring, patience, time and effort. For my system at home (since this one is still being built) I have days when my tank is optimal (or as optimal as my testing accuracy) and other days when I'm fighting some parameter or piece of gear. In the meantime, the corals keep growing, the fish keep growing, critters spawn and reproduce....some die, etc., equipment breaks or gets plugged up. It's never static. In the end, I guess that's what the hobby is all about. The trick is to develop a system that fits your life and the time/money you are willing to spend and still get satisfying outcomes....a tank that makes you smile. You definitely achieve this balance. The proof is the years/decades in the hobby spent with a tank that is close to your goal of being perfect and minimal time when its a PTA.

 

[Arrivalanche]

Holy crap this is looking like it will be amazing!

 

[robf]

Holy crap this is looking like it will be amazing!

Thanks for the encouragement. This project is coming together nicely however it's been a long road of building and modifying the system to get to this point. Currently, I still need to install lighting and water changing/top off systems to the coral tank and to set up the QT tank. I recently built the stand for the QT tank but still need a skimmer and UV sterilizer for it. Most folks don't skim or use sterilizers on their QT tank and I won't while medicating or while any medications are still present in the water column but these fish will spend quite a bit of time in this system and I want them to have proper filtration while they wait for clearance. The fish will spend at least a month while in "observation". I dread the QT phase more than any other as this is the most frustrating and loss prone time for the fish.

 

[robf]

Here's a quick pic of the QT tank....

After the initial stocking I can no doubt scale back to a smaller QT though this tank will come in handy in an emergency.

 

[dennis5546]

Any day I expect to see pictures of fish.

Dennis

 

[dennis5546]

or maybe a frag or 2

 

[robf]

Any day I expect to see pictures of fish.

Dennis

Had a setback. We followed manufacturers guidelines however we overdosed prazi-tastic and killed the 5 fish in qt. QT is something we need to get better at. On Wed I will try again if I can find some fish that I want at my LFS. As far as corals are concerned. I'm still awaiting my Litemeter III dosing pump from Spectra Pure. Regardless, I have 2 fish in my tank at home that are ready to be transferred to my display here at work. I wanted to wait to transfer these fish until after the smaller fish are settled in because its a Vlamingii Tang and I'd rather introduce it after the smaller fish are already in to avoid aggression issues.

 

[dennis5546]

I have never used medications to pre treat the fish, instead I have the LFS quartine the fish thus reducing the risk from me to the LFS. Most LFSs will hold fish for a week (after purchase) to ensure they are in good health. Do you have any frags in the display tank.

Dennis

 

[robf]

I have never used medications to pre treat the fish, instead I have the LFS quartine the fish thus reducing the risk from me to the LFS. Most LFSs will hold fish for a week (after purchase) to ensure they are in good health. Do you have any frags in the display tank.

Dennis

We've collected a few corals. They are currently growing in our at home display tanks. These corals have been growing for a long time in these tanks. Some I've owned for over a year. Currently we have a few more fish in QT. This time around we are just observing for the first 6 weeks. We dissected the fish that died and while most were clean a few were riddled with parasites. Some had strange black spots on organs and intestines. I am not an expert here but wonder if this is hemorrhaging. Were some of these fish brought to the surface too quickly or did they fly before they were full decompressed? I don't know the chain of custody. I'm pretty picky about this part of the process because I want to avoid diseases and I'm willing to risk it though I know some fish just don't quarantine well and I expect losses. Also, I'm not in a hurry. I prefer stocking slowly as I enjoy taking my time. It's all part of the hobby. I don't get on a soap box to fault anyone who decides otherwise because lots of tank owners have good success trusting their LFS. As my tank gets more and more specimens the cost of mistakenly adding a sick fish becomes greater and greater so I'd prefer to have a solid QT protocol that I've developed and gotten in the habit of following. That said, losing the first batch was perplexing as we followed the manufacturers guidelines for Prazi-Tastic to the letter however the fish might have been overly stressed and not ready for the meds. Every fish I introduce will get some amount of quarantine and I'll probably at least treat everything for internal parasites because I have no way of knowing if they are carrying anything. My LFS does not have the ability to isolate and quarantine my specimens properly. In the store there are a lot of other fish in the system though they do run low copper on these tanks.

 

[dennis5546]

Rob

You should have some nice size frags now.

Dennis

 

[robf]

I have added a few pictures of the tank and the upgrades i am making to my fish quarantine system. I am putting my quarantine system in a back room in my basement. I didn't clean up these pictures so please forgive the chaos.

My Quarantine System. A 40 breeder and a partitioned tank with sump skimmer and uv sterilizer

My hospital tank.Tupperware sump and skimmer.

 

[Mike J.]

Been following this thread from the beginning; I think I already commented once about it's amazing how much more time it takes than you think it will.

Also, agree with you 100%; I would never trust someone else to quarantine fish for me.

 

[robf]

Been following this thread from the beginning; I think I already commented once about it's amazing how much more time it takes than you think it will.

So true Mike. When you add the learning curve to time spent with family, work and the rest of your life sometimes if feels like you are building something on quicksand .


Also, agree with you 100%; I would never trust someone else to quarantine fish for me.[/QUOTE]

 

[robf]

Rob

You should have some nice size frags now.

Dennis

Dennis. You would think but my collection is pretty modest. I wish it were otherwise but I do have some decent unidentified acro that I hope will color up better, a pink digi, and a purple stylo and a strawberry shortcake that I think I'll put in. I'd like to put a few large stags on the lower rock shelf. I have a friend who has a large green slimer and purple stag. They do grow fast so I need to make sure I put them where they can grow.

 

[dennis5546]

Rob I was checking on your build status, do you still have the tank running?

Dennis

 

[robf]

Rob I was checking on your build status, do you still have the tank running?

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

I do. I haven't posted any pics lately but I should. As far as the systems are concerned everything is working pretty well. The system has an automatic water exchange system and top off. Lights, pump, heater, chillers, etc are controlled via apex. I have about 10 fish in it. But something is still not conducive to coral growth. I suspect it's a light related issue but it might be some kind of nutrient issue. All of the corals I've introduced have either died by RTN or bleaching or they fall into being either washed out or brown. I test only calcium, alk, mag, phosphates, nitrates and ph. Phosphates are testing zero and nitrates are 2ppm. Calcium, Alk and Mag are all testing normal and as important not varying much. My lights are suspect. I have 3 400 watt metal halides on a light mover (ushio 14k's) that I had set up to run off the apex season table so the hours vary. I think the photo period (almost 11 hours in the summer) is too much for these bulbs so I've lowered it to 8 hours. In addition I have 2 4ft reefbrite led strips that attach spanning the tank. I wish I had 4 halides instead of 3 as I get a lot of shadows at the end of the tanks as the lights move back and forth. I ordered a Kessil 360 narrow (30 deg) tuna blue pendant. If this looks good I'll add 2 or 3 more of these to supplement the halide pendants. I'd like to only run the halides about 4 hours and run the tuna blues to give more light near the 20k spectrum and to give me a more gradual ramp up/down. I've gotten swamped at work and haven't had a lot of time to post updates. The system has been up and running a little over a year. I'll keep at it and eventually I'll get the corals to thrive but sometimes new tanks have issues. Because I started with dry rock I may be missing some unidentifiable biological element such as some kind of bacteria or zoo plankton that is needed for the corals. It's really hard to say. I get no shortage of opinions as to what it might be. Without access to a barrage of tests it's not at all certain what the problem is. Bottom line, I introduced a bunch of sps frags that arent doing well.