Need help lawnmower blenny !!!

[Tokash23]

T

Thank you yes I’ve never seen an api test kit here . They are hard to find I want one though

Dont waste your money look on amazon get yourself a redsea or salifert kit and never look back

 

[Snake132]

Dont waste your money look on amazon get yourself a redsea or salifert kit and never look back

Ok I’ll do that which is best though ?
I’ve seen seachem ones are they any good ?

 

[CanadianReefer]

I have a vlamingi tang
Powder brown tang
Rolland’s damsel
2 clowns( ocelaris)
2 hermit crabs
2 cleaner snail
1 lawnmower blenny
It’s a 100 galon

Okay. With no corals, I'd suggest that you could do slightly larger water changes to rid your system of old tap water. I'd suggest 10g - 15g every 3-5 days. You'll probably need at least 20 + changes to truly dilute or rid yourself of the tap water. Please make sure that your water change temp matches the tank so it doesn't shock your fish and keep testing to make sure you have nitrates (you.never want 0 nitrates!). You don't want to change so much that you send your system into a mini cycle - this is especially important if your system is newer. It's about finding the right balance and being patient. The process will take a while.

Out of curiosity, why did you decide on a vlamingi tang? They get quite large...

As for white spot being in the tank, if you do start to notice spots again or believe that it may be affecting your fish and you don't want to QT them again, there are a few things that may help. Firstly, healthier fish will fight it off better, so you should add vitamins to their food. I use a combo of selcon, aquaforest fish-v and aquaforest garlic oil (Use the latter sparingly). Secondly, try to maintain pristine water conditions - don't overfeed, keep your alkalinity stable and you nitrates and phosphates to a minimum. In a fish only environment, nitrates under 10 are ideal (corals are more picky). Phosphates under 0.05 will help keep algaes at bay, which helps since some algaes can really eat up the oxygen in your tank - especially free floating algaes. Thirdly, you can try feeding them medication - I combine metro and focus. Lastly, you could try something like polyp lab medic. Really, I think it only helps make things more slippery, making it harder for ich to attach to the fish (it's a water conditioner of sorts - probably helps the fish produce a bit more of a slime coat too).

Speaking of slime coats, since you do not have corals at the moment, you could probably keep your alkalinity a bit lower. The higher the alkalinity, the less slime coat your fish will produce.

Honestly, I'd consider a QT system. I get what you're saying and despite extreme effort on my part, I still managed to introduce ich into my system; however, having the QT allows me to observe incoming fish to make sure they are healthy, eating and free of disease before adding them. Since there are many different strains of ich, for instance, logic dictates that it's best to try to limit additional disease from entering our systems even if it's already present, not to mention that if the fish is eating and healthy before going into the DT, it's less likely to attract the ich already in your system. I can also pull fish out and treat them if something goes awry. The LFS QT process is likely not that great - especially if it's the same LFS that's been giving you the bad advice.

If you think about it, you can buy a 20g package (tank, heater, HOB filter, LED strip and air stone) for less than the cost of your average marine fish. I picked mine up for $80. Just food for thought

One more quick question. Do you have a sump? I note that your landscape is quite minimal, so I'm wondering what you're using to filter your aquarium??

 

[Krzydmnd]

Phew! I didn't see water movement in earlier pics. The rock is what houses the good bacteria for biological filtration so more at the very least cannot hurt. Old school says 1 lb per gallon but that is debatable and dependent on other factors. If you're running sponges in the canister filter are you cleaning them regularly? Do you have any other filter media in the canister?

 

[Snake132]

O

Okay. With no corals, I'd suggest that you could do slightly larger water changes to rid your system of old tap water. I'd suggest 10g - 15g every 3-5 days. You'll probably need at least 20 + changes to truly dilute or rid yourself of the tap water. Please make sure that your water change temp matches the tank so it doesn't shock your fish and keep testing to make sure you have nitrates (you.never want 0 nitrates!). You don't want to change so much that you send your system into a mini cycle - this is especially important if your system is newer. It's about finding the right balance and being patient. The process will take a while.

Out of curiosity, why did you decide on a vlamingi tang? They get quite large...

As for white spot being in the tank, if you do start to notice spots again or believe that it may be affecting your fish and you don't want to QT them again, there are a few things that may help. Firstly, healthier fish will fight it off better, so you should add vitamins to their food. I use a combo of selcon, aquaforest fish-v and aquaforest garlic oil (Use the latter sparingly). Secondly, try to maintain pristine water conditions - don't overfeed, keep your alkalinity stable and you nitrates and phosphates to a minimum. In a fish only environment, nitrates under 10 are ideal (corals are more picky). Phosphates under 0.05 will help keep algaes at bay, which helps since some algaes can really eat up the oxygen in your tank - especially free floating algaes. Thirdly, you can try feeding them medication - I combine metro and focus. Lastly, you could try something like polyp lab medic. Really, I think it only helps make things more slippery, making it harder for ich to attach to the fish (it's a water conditioner of sorts - probably helps the fish produce a bit more of a slime coat too).

Speaking of slime coats, since you do not have corals at the moment, you could probably keep your alkalinity a bit lower. The higher the alkalinity, the less slime coat your fish will produce.

Honestly, I'd consider a QT system. I get what you're saying and despite extreme effort on my part, I still managed to introduce ich into my system; however, having the QT allows me to observe incoming fish to make sure they are healthy, eating and free of disease before adding them. Since there are many different strains of ich, for instance, logic dictates that it's best to try to limit additional disease from entering our systems even if it's already present, not to mention that if the fish is eating and healthy before going into the DT, it's less likely to attract the ich already in your system. I can also pull fish out and treat them if something goes awry. The LFS QT process is likely not that great - especially if it's the same LFS that's been giving you the bad advice.

If you think about it, you can buy a 20g package (tank, heater, HOB filter, LED strip and air stone) for less than the cost of your average marine fish. I picked mine up for $80. Just food for thought

One more quick question. Do you have a sump? I note that your landscape is quite minimal, so I'm wondering what you're using to filter your aquarium??

ok you are right that is what I will have to do
So rodi. Water changes until my tank is clear of the old water .
And I’ll be sure to do it slowly
Oh and one more thing my tank has had 0 nitrates since the beginning
Idk why I see loots of bubbles from the sand bed and I think that my bacteria are converting it very efficiently into nitrogen gas everyday the sandbed has bubbles under it .
and I already feed sparingly and wirh varied menu I have lots of food frozen and fresh food . I will look in to vitamins too . Yes I was considering a qt but would that be a separate tank what are waterchanges like for a qt and would I have to cycle that too . Won’t adding medication cause it to crash ?
And kinda didn’t get it
Would a nano cube work o saw one recently I think it was a 15 galon

No sump but planning to upgrade as I’m moving house soon the tank I will get will post pictures of it ha a sump and is much better

 

[Snake132]

I

Phew! I didn't see water movement in earlier pics. The rock is what houses the good bacteria for biological filtration so more at the very least cannot hurt. Old school says 1 lb per gallon but that is debatable and dependent on other factors. If you're running sponges in the canister filter are you cleaning them regularly? Do you have any other filter media in the canister?

I’m planning to add more rock just a little more . Uhm yeah it comes with bio balls and my hang on has stones too

 

[CanadianReefer]

O

ok you are right that is what I will have to do
So rodi. Water changes until my tank is clear of the old water .
And I’ll be sure to do it slowly
Oh and one more thing my tank has had 0 nitrates since the beginning
Idk why I see loots of bubbles from the sand bed and I think that my bacteria are converting it very efficiently into nitrogen gas everyday the sandbed has bubbles under it .
and I already feed sparingly and wirh varied menu I have lots of food frozen and fresh food . I will look in to vitamins too . Yes I was considering a qt but would that be a separate tank what are waterchanges like for a qt and would I have to cycle that too . Won’t adding medication cause it to crash ?
And kinda didn’t get it
Would a nano cube work o saw one recently I think it was a 15 galon

No sump but planning to upgrade as I’m moving house soon the tank I will get will post pictures of it ha a sump and is much better

You've not seen nitrates in your water?

Hmm. How long did you cure your rocks before adding fish? Did you seed the rocks with denitrifying bacteria?

As for your other questions, if the medication has bonded to the food, then no, it won't crash the system. Seachem focus helps it bind.

A 15g cube would work great

 

[Snake132]

This is the one I will upgrade to

 

[CanadianReefer]

I

I’m planning to add more rock just a little more . Uhm yeah it comes with bio balls and my hang on has stones too

Might I suggest adding marinepure to your canister or HOB filter? It gives the bacteria lots of surface to bond to and works great for minimally landscaped aquariums

 

[Tokash23]

Ok I’ll do that which is best though ?
I’ve seen seachem ones are they any good ?

General consensus around the forum is like i said red sea or salifert not sure of seachem i have never used those. Or if you can afford it hanna checkers are a nice option from what i hear but i have never sprung for those im too cheap

 

[Snake132]

I ju

You've not seen nitrates in your water?

Hmm. How long did you cure your rocks before adding fish? Did you seed the rocks with denitrifying bacteria?

As for your other questions, if the medication has bonded to the food, then no, it won't crash the system. Seachem focus helps it bind.

A 15g cube would work great

i just bought live rock and added it and it was ok
For nitrates I will have to look in my notes but since the cycle ended I have had 0 readings for nitrates every time I checked. only once it was at 1 which was a week ago

 

[CanadianReefer]

If you have 0 nitrate, but are showing signs of ammonia and/or nitrite, then it actually sounds like your system has not fully cycled.

Since you have fish in there already, are you able to purchase marine colony or a similar product? We need to get those nitrates up a bit !! If you grab some marinepure balls or blocks and seed that, it will really help speed things up.

 

[Snake132]

General consensus around the forum is like i said red sea or salifert not sure of seachem i have never used those. Or if you can afford it hanna checkers are a nice option from what i hear but i have never sprung for those im too cheap

I’ll probably go with Red Sea then I only went with this peice of crap jbl testlab marine because it was the only complete one that had at the lfs I didn’t want to buy individual ones I see Red Sea has a pack with no2 nh4/nh3 and no3 ph and kh all in one so I’ll go for that

 

[Snake132]

I

If you have 0 nitrate, but are showing signs of ammonia and/or nitrite, then it actually sounds like your system has not fully cycled.

Since you have fish in there already, are you able to purchase marine colony or a similar product? We need to get those nitrates up a bit !! If you grab some marinepure balls or blocks and seed that, it will really help speed things up.

I can get jbl denitrol I used that in the beginning until the bottle was empty

 

[CanadianReefer]

If you have 0 nitrate, but are showing signs of ammonia and/or nitrite, then it actually sounds like your system has not fully cycled.

Since you have fish in there already, are you able to purchase marine colony or a similar product? We need to get those nitrates up a bit !! If you grab some marinepure balls or blocks and seed that, it will really help speed things up.

Btw, even if it had initially cycled, if you added several fish at once, it could send your aquarium into a mini cycle because your denitrifying bacteria may not have been able to keep up with the bioload. This would be especially pertinent with a minimalist landscape.

 

[CanadianReefer]

I

I can get jbl denitrol I used that in the beginning until the bottle was empty

I would suggest it as your first step. As your nitrates increase (let's say between 5-10), then you can start your small water changes to get rid of the tap water. Priority #1 is making sure that there is enough denitrifying bacteria to keep up with your bioload.

Do you have access to marinepure balls? If so, add them (or the blocks) so you have more surface area for the bacteria. They could go in your sump or HOB filter.

When you have nitrates showing, let me know what your ammonia and nitrite readings are and we can go from there. I will help you as best I can

 

[Snake132]

Btw, even if it had initially cycled, if you added several fish at once, it could send your aquarium into a mini cycle because your denitrifying bacteria may not have been able to keep up with the bioload. This would be especially pertinent with a minimalist landscape.

Yes I was very careful I added them slowly not all at once aha so i

I would suggest it as your first step. As your nitrates increase (let's say between 5-10), then you can start your small water changes to get rid of the tap water. Priority #1 is making sure that there is enough denitrifying bacteria to keep up with your bioload.

Do you have access to marinepure balls? If so, add them (or the blocks) so you have more surface area for the bacteria. They could go in your sump or HOB filter.

i can get the marine pure I do have this in the HOB (see picture )
There is also ceramic ring things in the canister
It’s almost 6 months strange the bacteria has not grown I don’t get it .
I’m very worried now . I thought everything was going well ......

 

[CanadianReefer]

Yes I was very careful I added them slowly not all at once aha so i

i can get the marine pure I do have this in the HOB (see picture )
There is also ceramic ring things in the canister
It’s almost 6 months strange the bacteria has not grown I don’t get it .
I’m very worried now . I thought everything was going well ......

Don't panic just yet. How about this... can you test your levels for me today and tell me what they say?

How low do your test kits go for testing nitrate? I'm not familiar with that brand...

 

[Snake132]

Don't panic just yet. How about this... can you test your levels for me today and tell me what they say?

How low do your test kits go for testing nitrate? I'm not familiar with that brand...

Hahah I was just testing for nitrate to show you while you were typing that give me a sec 4 minutes left for the results ;Cat
Lowest reading is <0.5

 

[Snake132]

Don't panic just yet. How about this... can you test your levels for me today and tell me what they say?

How low do your test kits go for testing nitrate? I'm not familiar with that brand...

((((( this is what I always see