Iceman's Cobalt C-Vue 40

iceman14555 · Aug 1, 2020

Update inbound!!!

The tank is doing well, did a little spring cleaning today. Cleaned the undesirable stuff out of my media baskets, did a wipe down, did some skimmer maintenance, and cleaned up my refugium. Pulled a huge piece of pom pom out of my fuge and stuck it in the display.

Also, picked up an emerald crab today and a feather duster. Should be getting a fish next week, the LFS said they're getting a big shipment in.

iceman14555 · Aug 1, 2020

Here's a daytime photo, just after feeding.

iceman14555 · Aug 6, 2020

Update!!!

Got a new tank inhabitant today. A Melanurus Wrasse. I decided to go a different route with my fish and ended up getting this guy. I decided that I am only going to do a total of 5 fish instead of 6. Here is a stock photo of what he looks like, I'll try to get a real photo as soon as he comes out of the sand. He's slightly ticked and stressed out from acclimation.

Also, I will be picking up a second AI prime sol tomorrow and finalizing my lighting setup with two of the Sols instead of the three lights I have now. I just feel they are super easy to set and forget, making things easier on me, since I don't have a ton of time to dedicate to the tank with my work schedule and all.

iceman14555 · Aug 8, 2020

Well, sad news today the Melanurus Wrasse did not make it. The only thing I can think of is he got too stressed during acclimation on Thursday and never recovered. He was a perfectly healthy fish from the LFS, he had been there for a few weeks, and was doing very well. When I drip acclimated him on Thursday, he was not very happy, I did use stress guard, but he did not calm down. He hid in the sand all night.

Yesterday, he seemed to be doing ok, he was still very skittish and was mainly hiding behind the rockwork. Today he was alive when I went to feed the tank, but was still hiding in the rocks. When I went to check on the tank after the feeding period, he was belly up under a rock.

I'm going to get another one tomorrow and use a larger container to acclimate and drip for longer this time.

My other fish seem to be just fine. If anyone has insight as to what may have been his demise please let me know your thoughts.

jcolliii · Aug 9, 2020

Sorry to hear about your fish - losing one always sucks. How long did you drip him for? How big a salinity difference is there from your tank to the water he came out of? I always check the salinity of the water they come in - it gives me some guidance about how long the acclimation should take. How big do those guys get?

iceman14555 · Aug 9, 2020

jcolliii said:
Sorry to hear about your fish - losing one always sucks. How long did you drip him for? How big a salinity difference is there from your tank to the water he came out of? I always check the salinity of the water they come in - it gives me some guidance about how long the acclimation should take. How big do those guys get?

I dripped him about 30 minutes, but he came from the exact same store as my other three that are fine. Based off the couple of websites I did research on, the Melanurus can get up to 4.5 to 6"

jcolliii · Aug 9, 2020

I was always under the impression that wrasses were among the more delicate species that need slow acclimation. I just added a fairy wrasse to my tank and I dripped him for 2.5 hours - but there was a pretty substantial difference in salinity - he came in water than was 1.020 and my tank runs at 1.025. Not sure if that was what happened to your guy or not, but I would suggest a longer acclimation. Not too sure about how rapidly melanurus grow, but a 6" fish in a 20 gallon might get problematic down the road if they're rapid growers - just something else to consider.

iceman14555 · Aug 9, 2020

jcolliii said:
I was always under the impression that wrasses were among the more delicate species that need slow acclimation. I just added a fairy wrasse to my tank and I dripped him for 2.5 hours - but there was a pretty substantial difference in salinity - he came in water than was 1.020 and my tank runs at 1.025. Not sure if that was what happened to your guy or not, but I would suggest a longer acclimation. Not too sure about how rapidly melanurus grow, but a 6" fish in a 20 gallon might get problematic down the road if they're rapid growers - just something else to consider.

Some of them can be quite temperamental, but the melanurus is one of the more hardy of the species. Before I had any idea of what I was doing in this hobby, I had a six line that I literally got and threw in the tank, he lasted for well over two years, until I had to take the tank down and sold him. I see your point though.

most of the research I've done indicates the fish does grow rapidly, they average about 4.5" with the larger ones getting to 6". The LFS owner is a friend and wouldn't sell me the fish if he didn't think my 40 gallon wouldn't be enough for it. Though most stores online list a a 40 as a minimum others 50.

iceman14555 · Aug 9, 2020

Well, Bo the 2nd as I've named him, is in the tank. This one seemed to have a much better acclimation. He even stayed out in the open for a minute after I put him in. He is now somewhere in the sand, but I expected that. Hopefully tomorrow, he'll be out and about.

iceman14555 · Aug 12, 2020

Here are some new pictures, the new guy is doing way better that the other one. He's eating, swimming all over the tank and even hanging out with the clowns.

iceman14555 · Sep 3, 2020

Been almost a month since my last update.

Not much is going on with the tank. All inhabitants are healthy and happy.

However, I am facing an ongoing high nitrate issue. The nitrates are still off the scale on my red sea test kit, and was showing around 80 today on my API test after a water change, granted I know they aren't that accurate.

I've continuously been dosing nopox, I run seachem de-nitrate in the sump area, and I've even started dosing seachem prime to try and keep them down. They just keep getting higher, not sure what else to do, except maybe add some turbo start again to boost my bacteria. My water is 0 TDS, and I only feed once per day. So I am not sure where the nitrates are coming from.

Other than that, everything seems fine. Any help/advice is appreciated.

iceman14555 · Sep 7, 2020

iceman14555 · Sep 27, 2020

Update time!

The fight with nitrates battles on. Now a random Cyano outbreak has started, can't imagine where it came from all my rocks were clean. Yesterday, I replenished some of my snail population. I also added my final fish. A Potter's angel! He is being very shy right now, and he didn't seem to eat anything (at least that I noticed) today when I fed the tank. Hopefully, he'll perk up and start eating after getting used to his new surroundings. Pics to come.

iceman14555 · Sep 27, 2020

iceman14555 · Oct 6, 2020

Here's a few more pictures of my potter's, here's now eating everything I put in the tank and seems to be doing very well. Here's also become friends with the melanurus wrasse.

iceman14555 · Nov 20, 2020

Not much going on with the tank. However I haven't been seeing much growth in anything. I don't have any corals, but not even the coraline algae has been growing or any healthy green algae.

I think I found out why. The suction cup on the coralife digital thermometer I had attached to the tank gave out without me noticing. Well not sure how long it was sitting inside my sump area, but it was looking enough for the battery to explode and rust. I'm extremely thankful none of my fish or invertebrates have died.

Now that it's out of the tank, I should start hopefully seeing a healthy turn in the livestock.

iceman14555 · Dec 3, 2020

Here's some pictures from the other day. No changes in livestock or anything exciting.

GlfFxtrtYnky · Jan 23, 2021

I have the 18G C-Vue and I had a question about your refugium. How are you lighting it? I am trying to see if removing the black film that covers the back of the tank is an option.

iceman14555 · Jan 23, 2021

GlfFxtrtYnky said:
I have the 18G C-Vue and I had a question about your refugium. How are you lighting it? I am trying to see if removing the black film that covers the back of the tank is an option.

I have a submersible light inside the compartment. It's made by Tunze.

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