Salt, water tank problems

[JNalley]

ohh okok my bad. and what??? a moray eel??

Yes, one guy in the group put a Moray eel in one, and people in the group were cheering him on. Only a small minority (myself included) spoke up.

 

[eliaslikesfish]

Yes, one guy in the group put a Moray eel in one, and people in the group were cheering him on. Only a small minority (myself included) spoke up.

sheesh, that’s upsetting.. It amazes me how some LFS are just interested in getting your money or they themselves aren’t knowledgeable about their own livestock..

 

[JNalley]

sheesh, that’s upsetting.. It amazes me how some LFS are just interested in getting your money or they themselves aren’t knowledgeable about their own livestock..

Yep, it starts with the LFS. The other problem plaguing this tank is that loads of beginners buy it because "It comes with everything you need" and a ton of hobbyists avoid it for one reason or another (I wouldn't have it as my main display tank, but it was good enough for my toddler to have as a nightlight). So in groups dedicated to the tank, you generally have the blind leading the blind. It's unfortunate.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi, how is everybody doing? I have a quick question and I personally feel like this is some thing urgent but hopefully somebody could fill me in on the details. So long story short, I noticed my fish was acting a little weird when I got home from work and I also noticed these white little dots. I can also provide a picture of it. But it’s like dots and like a granny sand Look on the outer layer of the fish. Personally, I have no idea what this is and or what to do I would say about an hour later I think my fish is like in the last stages of its life because it’s just like flopping to the bottom then swimming back up to the top, but struggling really hard to do that and would just flop right back to the bottom

Sorry - this was totally missed. The Hepatus shows velvet and the yellow is/was very thin. Tank size not ideal but not the issue. If any fish are left, you will need to treat with the coppersafe you posted in pic.
Place fish in Quarantine tank and treat with Coppersafe at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off
A quarantine tank can be as simple as a tank from a second hand store or a starter kit from Walmart which most of the needed essentials.

 

[KingVinny]

I appreciate you guys telling me all this, but I already put the copper safe product in the main tank because I kind of overreacted a little bit because I wasn’t sure at first if the parasite was in the actual tank itself for only in a fish like that’s the only best for I can describe it, so I overreacted I took my cleaner, shrimps out and my fire red shrimp out and I put them in my separate tank because I do know the copper safe can and will kill them so I have a feeling I kind of screwed myself now because I know I have to keep the copper safe a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks in the tank at a certain level that is correct right and tomorrow, I have the copper tester coming in and the copper remover that goes in a high flow area of the filter area when everything is cured, and I have to keep the copper level between 2.25 and 2.5 correct I know it’s gonna be a bit of a pain to take out the copper after but I have no problem dealing with that and the only reason why I kind of freaked out about this whole situation is because I originally had a tank that was running operational for about a year year and a half more or less, but then I moved and I had to start all over so I ended up getting a Fluval flex tank for a good price it was already used but the person had a mantis shrimp in there but the tank was fully cleaned out fully cleaned to the best of the person. I know that had it and I also did a little bit of cleaning to it to and then I got some bio balls and carbon and, chemi pure elite And then I was waiting on a UV sterilizer that’s the thing I was talking about. It’s a filter what a light but tomorrow I also have a BulkReefSupply UV filter coming in. It’s supposedly a lot better than the one I currently have how true is that? I honestly don’t know, but I am willing to give it a shot at this point, but the only issue I ever encountered in my first tank was a massive allergy outbreak that I actually got under control and I never had another issue after that but I started this tank and I just got too many issues. It’s probably like you guys said that my local fish store , kind of messed up big time and they just wanted to make a small profit off of me. I mean to be fair I know a decent amount just to get around in the aquarium community but I have a lot to learn. I am not doubting that one bit and they always read up on articles and stuff like that to expand my knowledge on aquarium stuff , but if there’s any other tips and tricks that you guys can share with me, I will much appreciate that and I do also appreciate you guys sitting here typing something up for me and helping me through this tough situation that I’m really in but also I did get a protein skimmer that I was running day and night after the first month But I also found out that’s also part of my issue because I was reading something up on an article where I should only run it for eight hours a day no more no less I wish my local fish store told me that because I did tell them I was going to get a small protein skimmer from Fluval by They obviously don’t know what they’re talking about but also I was reading. I should keep my temperature around 81° to help kill off this parasite and turn the light off but I only run my light for about six hours a day currently right now after the situation happened because I was also reading that exposure to light can help the parasite in some type of way. I’m not sure if that’s fully entirely true but I wasn’t taking a chance so I went ahead and did that, because I’m also noticing some type of buildup on the bottom of my corals not sure if that’s just a coral doing it sting or if it’s actually a parasite leaching onto it if somebody can explain that to you, that would be much appreciated to and also what didn’t help me is I didn’t get my quarantine tank set up ASAP when I set up my new tank so I was kind of behind on that so I didn’t even get a chance to put my new fish in a quarantine tank for a week or so to make sure they were free of any type of parasites or stuff like that but like I said, this is all a big learning experience for me. I know enough to get me around but not enough to deal with certain situations but I am looking to get a 70 gallon tank in the wall eventually when my basement gets finished, but I have a little time for that, so I was trying to make best use of what I have , but thank you again guys I do appreciate your help and if you have any other tips and tricks, please feel free to reach out. I try to read this every day or they come on the site every day to see what you guys say and stuff like that.

 

[JNalley]

That's a massive wall of text. I read most of it, but a lot of it was kind of incoherent.

I wouldn't bother with the UV Sterilizer, there's no real good place to put one in this tank anyways, they're mainly used to fight off parasites and kill certain bacterial blooms, and keeping the water clarity high.

For water clarity you can just run carbon (which is in Chemipure so you're good)

For Parasites, now that you have a quarantine tank, you're less likely to introduce them to the tank anyways.


As for removal of copper, I hate to say it, but if I was you, I would ditch the sand and rock. I don't trust that copper hasn't been absorbed into it and will leech out slowly over time. If you don't completely remove it, you'll never be able to have inverts again, so for me, I'd rather be overly cautious than buy some new CUC and watch it all die.

The skimmer thing has some merit to it... But mine runs 24/7... The only time it's off is when I feed frozen food, do a water change, or when I am taking it down for maintenance/cleaning. I would bet that most reefers are the same, skimmer just runs 24/7. That's not to say that there isn't any merit to running it only 8 hours a day, but for me, the benefits of keeping it running (great gas exchange and nutrient export) outweighs the savings you get by only running it 8 hours (saving electricity, maybe letting it be more efficient since it's letting organics build up first making them easier to strip).

If I think of anything else I'll reply again. Best of luck to you

 

[KingVinny]

I owned a flex previously. That skimmer is absolute trash, get yourself an IceCap Nano or one of the Tunze ones as soon as you are able. Over 20 years in this hobby and I couldn't tune that skimmer properly to save my life.

When you say UV Light, I assume you mean a UV Sterilizer... a tube looking object that water flows through? To be honest, if that's what you mean, there's not really any room for a decent one, coralife makes the twist, but the bulbs go out on that thing ridiculously quick and it's just not worth it. A UV Sterilizer is also not really a necessity.

However, if you're talking about a tank light that contains UV, you can run 2 AI primes on the tank and they're much better than the stock lights.

As far as the Velvet goes, it's in the tank, but you can run the tank fallow for a period, keeping the fish in the quarantine, and the velvet will eventually die off because it doesn't have fish to attach to. But getting copper out after the fact is a bit more of a chore.

As far as the number of fish, a good rule of thumb is a maximum of 1" of fish per gallon of aquarium. So for that tank, I'd say a maximum adult size of 30" total. You can see these numbers on Live Aquaria or on Bluezoo Aquatics pretty readily while putting a fish list together. Now, that's not a hard rule, it's more of a guideline. I had 13 fish in my tank without too much of a problem. But I also had other places I could put the fish if I ever noticed any aggression due to overcrowding (there never was any).

So with the light situation, I bought a Fluval marine 3.0 that I can control from my phone and make presets and change different spectrums of light to me. I think it’s very useful and it’s good, but I only currently have one in the tank.

 

[KingVinny]

Sorry - this was totally missed. The Hepatus shows velvet and the yellow is/was very thin. Tank size not ideal but not the issue. If any fish are left, you will need to treat with the coppersafe you posted in pic.
Place fish in Quarantine tank and treat with Coppersafe at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off
A quarantine tank can be as simple as a tank from a second hand store or a starter kit from Walmart which most of the needed essentials.

Ok sounds good I appreciate it

 

[JNalley]

So with the light situation, I bought a Fluval marine 3.0 that I can control from my phone and make presets and change different spectrums of light to me. I think it’s very useful and it’s good, but I only currently have one in the tank.

The one is good enough for a softie and LPS only tank. You only need the second one if you're going to also go with SPS in the tank.

But, I will warn you, that tank with the lid runs REALLY warm, so if you get into the summer months, and you let your house warm up, your tank is going to be consistently about 7-10 degrees above the rooms ambient temperature. I got a kraken lid and some AI Primes and never looked back specifically because my house is hard to keep cool in the summer.

 

[KingVinny]

That's a massive wall of text. I read most of it, but a lot of it was kind of incoherent.

I wouldn't bother with the UV Sterilizer, there's no real good place to put one in this tank anyways, they're mainly used to fight off parasites and kill certain bacterial blooms, and keeping the water clarity high.

For water clarity you can just run carbon (which is in Chemipure so you're good)

For Parasites, now that you have a quarantine tank, you're less likely to introduce them to the tank anyways.


As for removal of copper, I hate to say it, but if I was you, I would ditch the sand and rock. I don't trust that copper hasn't been absorbed into it and will leech out slowly over time. If you don't completely remove it, you'll never be able to have inverts again, so for me, I'd rather be overly cautious than buy some new CUC and watch it all die.

The skimmer thing has some merit to it... But mine runs 24/7... The only time it's off is when I feed frozen food, do a water change, or when I am taking it down for maintenance/cleaning. I would bet that most reefers are the same, skimmer just runs 24/7. That's not to say that there isn't any merit to running it only 8 hours a day, but for me, the benefits of keeping it running (great gas exchange and nutrient export) outweighs the savings you get by only running it 8 hours (saving electricity, maybe letting it be more efficient since it's letting organics build up first making them easier to strip).

If I think of anything else I'll reply again. Best of luck to you

And I’m sorry for the very long paragraph but I just wanted to explain my full situation to you guys, so we can better understand where I’m coming from and more or less to see how it is in my shoes if that makes sense but once again, I’m really sorry for the long paragraph, but that was the best way for me to tell you from a to Z

 

[KingVinny]

The one is good enough for a softie and LPS only tank. You only need the second one if you're going to also go with SPS in the tank.

But, I will warn you, that tank with the lid runs REALLY warm, so if you get into the summer months, and you let your house warm up, your tank is going to be consistently about 7-10 degrees above the rooms ambient temperature. I got a kraken lid and some AI Primes and never looked back specifically because my house is hard to keep cool in the summer.

I know I definitely get that. I would do an external light like how you’re saying, but the only issue is right now where I have this tank it’s like the center of attention when you walk into the house so I try to keep it nice and neat and tidy a little bit so I’m gonna have to make do with the best situation I can

 

[KingVinny]

That's a massive wall of text. I read most of it, but a lot of it was kind of incoherent.

I wouldn't bother with the UV Sterilizer, there's no real good place to put one in this tank anyways, they're mainly used to fight off parasites and kill certain bacterial blooms, and keeping the water clarity high.

For water clarity you can just run carbon (which is in Chemipure so you're good)

For Parasites, now that you have a quarantine tank, you're less likely to introduce them to the tank anyways.


As for removal of copper, I hate to say it, but if I was you, I would ditch the sand and rock. I don't trust that copper hasn't been absorbed into it and will leech out slowly over time. If you don't completely remove it, you'll never be able to have inverts again, so for me, I'd rather be overly cautious than buy some new CUC and watch it all die.

The skimmer thing has some merit to it... But mine runs 24/7... The only time it's off is when I feed frozen food, do a water change, or when I am taking it down for maintenance/cleaning. I would bet that most reefers are the same, skimmer just runs 24/7. That's not to say that there isn't any merit to running it only 8 hours a day, but for me, the benefits of keeping it running (great gas exchange and nutrient export) outweighs the savings you get by only running it 8 hours (saving electricity, maybe letting it be more efficient since it's letting organics build up first making them easier to strip).

If I think of anything else I'll reply again. Best of luck to you

Also, I’m not sure if you seen in that giant text I had about the coral thing I just want to get your opinion on it

 

[KingVinny]

And also, I probably just had too many thoughts to get out, and probably didn’t make as much sense as I wanted to be, as it was in my head

 

[JNalley]

I know I definitely get that. I would do an external light like how you’re saying, but the only issue is right now where I have this tank it’s like the center of attention when you walk into the house so I try to keep it nice and neat and tidy a little bit so I’m gonna have to make do with the best situation I can

Sure, totally understandable. Just be prepared to have to keep the house at or below 75 degrees in the summer, especially with that second light. Because at a room temperature of 75 degrees, your tank will be between 83 and 85 degrees which is quite high for our little marine critters.

 

[KingVinny]

I know the ideal temperature for a tank is between 78° to like 80°, correct?

 

[JNalley]

Also, I’m not sure if you seen in that giant text I had about the coral thing I just want to get your opinion on it

"because I’m also noticing some type of buildup on the bottom of my corals not sure if that’s just a coral doing it sting or if it’s actually a parasite leaching onto it"

I am not sure, without a picture it's hard to tell what you mean here

 

[JNalley]

I know the ideal temperature for a tank is between 78° to like 80°, correct?

Yep. You only go 83-85 if you're trying to kill off Dino's or something like that. 78-80 is good, I run my tank at 81 personally, but that's because it's hard to keep my house cool in the summer, so...

 

[KingVinny]

 

[KingVinny]

And Yep. You only go 83-85 if you're trying to kill off Dino's or something like that. 78-80 is good, I run my tank at 81 personally, but that's because it's hard to keep my house cool in the summer, so

Yes, the high temperature is only to kill that and it’s only temporary in a minute. Everything is gone. I’m loving it back to its normal temperature.

 

[JNalley]

I wouldn't be able to answer, those are soft corals, something I have no experience at all with... I can say, they don't look too healthy to me, but again, I have no experience with them. They look like the ones I see in petco all the time and they just look dreary...