How the heck do you catch fish??

[Madonia]

I am in the process of moving over my livestock to my new tank which just finished cycling (ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10, woohoo!). I currently have 2 chromis that are doing great that I added 1.5 weeks ago.

1st question: is there a specific order in which to move my livestock? Fish first? Or CUC first? Does it matter? I won’t be moving my corals over until the tank starts showing me signs of coralline algae growth.

2nd question: how do I catch the fish with so many obstacles in the way? I have a crowded 32 biocube that’s filled with expensive SPS

I’ve tried to catch fish in the past with no luck- I spent hours trying and I failed.

tips are appreciated!

 

[James M]

Try catching them at night time..a couple hours after the lights have been on.
I would wait till the ugly stages of the new tank to add CUC so they don’t starve

 

[Madonia]

Try catching them at night time..a couple hours after the lights have been on.
I would wait till the ugly stages of the new tank to add CUC so they don’t starve

I haven’t kept the light on so far while the take is cycling. When should I be turning the lights on?

 

[Tired]

Bottle trap with ventilation holes. Only leave the trap in for a few hours at a time, so they aren't trapped in it for too long.

Generally speaking, a tank should have CUC added when the tank is cycled and algae is established, and fish can be added (slowly!) whenever it's cycled.

 

[James M]

I haven’t kept the light on so far while the take is cycling. When should I be turning the lights on?

I would turn in one once you get fish in the tank

 

[Tired]

Do you have ocean live rock in there? If so, I would have those lights on already, so all the stuff on the rock can stay alive.

A quick warning; chromis don't work in groups. Multiple chromis in a tank pretty much inevitably leads to them killing each other as they mature. They're OK as babies, then hormones kick in and you get problems. If you want a shoaling fish, look into threadfin cardinals.

 

[Madonia]

Do you have ocean live rock in there? If so, I would have those lights on already, so all the stuff on the rock can stay alive.

A quick warning; chromis don't work in groups. Multiple chromis in a tank pretty much inevitably leads to them killing each other as they mature. They're OK as babies, then hormones kick in and you get problems. If you want a shoaling fish, look into threadfin cardinals.

No. I have real branched Tonga rock that was given to me dry. No life on it for years likely.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Just put the rock in the new tank for now, let some bacteria get going in there and ghost feed. If you have rock in your current sump, move that over and it’ll give you a huge head start.

Instead of doing water changes in the new tank with new water, put water from your current tank in.
So for example, take 5 gallons out of your current tank and put the end of your siphon hose through a felt filter sock to remove detritus. Drain 5 gallons from your new tank and replace it with the 5 gallons you just drained from your current tank. Refill the old tank with new saltwater just like a regular water change. This method kickstarts your cycle and adds a lot of things like copepods (more if you don’t use a filtersock) to your new tank.

After you start seeing algae growth, move over some snails. Continue ghost feeding and you can put in your hermits. At this point you can also introduce your large shrimp (if you have one) if you make sure it’s getting food (feed with aquarium tweezers).

Test your water by throwing in a frag of an established colony you already have. If the frag does well, I’d say you’re good to move a few cheaper colonies, and if those do well, move your expensive ones.

After you disassemble the aquascape from your old tank, catching the fish are a breeze

 

[Madonia]

Do you have ocean live rock in there? If so, I would have those lights on already, so all the stuff on the rock can stay alive.

A quick warning; chromis don't work in groups. Multiple chromis in a tank pretty much inevitably leads to them killing each other as they mature. They're OK as babies, then hormones kick in and you get problems. If you want a shoaling fish, look into threadfin cardinals.

 

[Madonia]

Just put the rock in the new tank for now, let some bacteria get going in there and ghost feed. If you have rock in your current sump, move that over and it’ll give you a huge head start.

Instead of doing water changes in the new tank with new water, put water from your current tank in.
So for example, take 5 gallons out of your current tank and put the end of your siphon hose through a felt filter sock to remove detritus. Drain 5 gallons from your new tank and replace it with the 5 gallons you just drained from your current tank. Refill the old tank with new saltwater just like a regular water change. This method kickstarts your cycle and adds a lot of things like copepods (more if you don’t use a filtersock) to your new tank.

After you start seeing algae growth, move over some snails. Continue ghost feeding and you can put in your hermits. At this point you can also introduce your large shrimp (if you have one) if you make sure it’s getting food (feed with aquarium tweezers).

Test your water by throwing in a frag of an established colony you already have. If the frag does well, I’d say you’re good to move a few cheaper colonies, and if those do well, move your expensive ones.

After you disassemble the aquascape from your old tank, catching the fish are a breeze

I do not want to add the rock from my current tank because there is bubble algae. I don’t want to risk introducing any unwanted algae species I currently have.

my new tank I added dr. Tim’s and within 9 days was cleared of ammonia and nitrite.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I do not want to add the rock from my current tank because there is bubble algae. I don’t want to risk introducing any unwanted algae species I currently have.

my new tank I added dr. Tim’s and within 9 days was cleared of ammonia and nitrite.

Bubble algae is easily cleared with vibrant or emerald crabs, the diversity of bacteria from your current tank is invaluable. I really do recommend putting some established live rock in there just to help with biodiversity.

 

[Tired]

You are going to get a pretty whopping ugly stage, I'll warn you now. Algae will come in on frag plugs, and pest algae will run absolutely wild over all that pretty empty space. You'll have to wait awhile for non-pest algae to get established and help overtake it. IMO you should go ahead and put the lights on now, so you can get the ugly stage started with. The sooner you let algae grow, the sooner your non-pest algae gets established to outcompete it. Make sure to keep nutrients up.

How much bubble algae do you have? Manual removal might get rid of it, if there isn't much.

 

[Madonia]

Bubble algae is easily cleared with vibrant or emerald crabs, the diversity of bacteria from your current tank is invaluable. I really do recommend putting some established live rock in there just to help with biodiversity.

I’ve heard emerald crabs will eat corals, I didn’t know they will eat bubble algae

 

[PicassoClown04]

I’ve heard emerald crabs will eat corals, I didn’t know they will eat bubble algae

That’s the main reason a lot of people have them is for bubble algae. Since you have SPS, I would go the vibrant path since the crabs can eat SPS if they get hungry. 1 mL per 10 gallons 1x a week should be more than enough to stop bubble algae from infesting your new tank

 

[Madonia]

You are going to get a pretty whopping ugly stage, I'll warn you now. Algae will come in on frag plugs, and pest algae will run absolutely wild over all that pretty empty space. You'll have to wait awhile for non-pest algae to get established and help overtake it. IMO you should go ahead and put the lights on now, so you can get the ugly stage started with. The sooner you let algae grow, the sooner your non-pest algae gets established to outcompete it. Make sure to keep nutrients up.

How much bubble algae do you have? Manual removal might get rid of it, if there isn't much.

I have since added additional dry rock in addition to extra biofiltration in the form of porous balls similar in texture to bright wells bio brick.

the bubble algae seems to be growing on all rocks at this point in my established tank in small patches. I’ve tried manual removal at one point but it was a poor idea. It’s past that point.

 

[Madonia]

That’s the main reason a lot of people have them is for bubble algae. Since you have SPS, I would go the vibrant path since the crabs can eat SPS if they get hungry. 1 mL per 10 gallons 1x a week should be more than enough to stop bubble algae from infesting your new tank

I did research vibrant in the past but heard a few horror stories. But also positive stories. Perhaps I’ll try it.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I did research vibrant in the past but heard a few horror stories. But also positive stories. Perhaps I’ll try it.

I’m doing it right now, I have some higher end Sps like red planet and Walt Disney, they are doing great with it . My clam, anemone, and goni are all fine too.

 

[Madonia]

I’m doing it right now, I have some higher end Sps like red planet and Walt Disney, they are doing great with it . My clam, anemone, and goni are all fine too.

I’m doing it right now, I have some higher end Sps like red planet and Walt Disney, they are doing great with it . My clam, anemone, and goni are all fine too.

Looking nice wow. have your nutrient levels changed at all since starting vibrant? I’m assuming they would potentially deplete. I already have super low phosphate/nitrate. Nervous I’d bottom out

 

[smacbride]

I’ve moved several times over the years and the best way to catch your fish is to remove the rock unfortunately.

 

[Tired]

Additional dry rock is great, but does nothing for the uglies. The only thing that entirely stops the uglies is starting with rock that already has non-pest algae established. Live rock is a blank canvas, and pest algae thrives on new places it can run wild, without competition. The non-pest algae is all the slower-growing stuff that needs time and nutrients to get established.

I assume you're going to get rid of the bubble algae rock after everything is transferred, right? In that case, I'd suggest you move everything over to the new tank (slowly! Very slowly!), then, when you have just the rock in the old tank, try Vibrant. Then it can't hurt anything if it fails or goes catastrophic.