So I got more fish!

[Hermie]

This is great. As for the OP's bio balls, or any extra bio-media, what about adding detritivore copepods that can eat any buildup?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

You totally could do a chaeto chamber, but probably not a fuge with that sump. You could make one out of a 10g tank, that’s what I did!

If you google DIY sump designs there are plenty out there!!

Im not going to lie, I don't know the difference between a refugium and a chaeto chamber. Haha.

 

[Bill_Moorman]

A fuge is generally a place where you can put fish who need to be separated from display tank. Like a little safe haven.

Some people swear by them, others don’t. I just use my middle chamber as a chaeto chamber!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

A fuge is generally a place where you can put fish who need to be separated from display tank. Like a little safe haven.

Some people swear by them, others don’t. I just use my middle chamber as a chaeto chamber!

So I'm thinking that I need to exhaust all of the salt I currently have before pursing any corals. Right now I use Instant Ocean and have a little over 100 gallons worth of salt. This will take me about 5 months to exhaust assuming a 10% change per week. This way I won't have to worry about dosing anything extra. I keep looking up pictures of corals and IDK man, they just don't seem to do anything for me. Maybe once I actually get some they will grow on me...no pun intended.

 

[Why-Me]

To each their own, you may just not be a coral guy. No biggie. But you're last statement is true, you may warm up to them.
For me it's the colors, movement, eating, etc that intrigues me so much.
Just think those crazy lookin aliens are animals and eat just like your fish do, some eat fish lol. The biology blows my mind still after all the reading and educating myself I've done.

 

[brandon429]

rinsing your biomedia with tap water wont kill the beneficial bacteria
some get removed in any type of rinsing, even in the currents inside a filter. but the base slicks are there/producing more

perhaps soaking it in refreshed tap water for days might lower (not sterilize) the bacteria count, but not brief rinsing. Too low contact time.


Tap water is an inoculator of bacteria, not a sterilizer. When we make lemonade fresh out of the tap, the little black ringlet gasket at the exit faucet is depositing thousands of colonies of various bacteria, nitrifiers included, into said drink. All the hot and cold running past it didnt sterilize the gasket, it inoculated the plastic with bacteria and bio slicks.

I hear the only way to kill them is with an alcohol additive + salt ring concoction lol but yep rinsing is ok, even tap rinsing.

Old school freshwater aquarists already know and implement this trick in refreshing the old sponge filter weekly/monthly. we don't use our good drinking water for that. Using tank water is ok, but not required.

-whether or not bioballs are needed at all is debatable-

they're needed when removing them would cause a backup in ammonia processing. All they do is contribute to standard nitrification, this occurs even if we don't keep them because surface area in the reef tank is abundant even without bioballs. They're also decent oxygenators (the delivery and pumping/ splashing on and around them is the oxygenation) but again reef tanks are not notoriously low in 02. to use them is not harmful or we'd have never made it past the 90s with live coral.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

@Ghost463 @Fudsey @Kayden Hutchings @Why-Me @KrisReef @Hemmdog @Bill_Moorman

Sorry for tagging everyone. Just didn't want anyone to miss out and I'm excited!

Look who came out to join us today. He acted all cool like he didn't go and hide in the sand all day yesterday.



This little guy was roaming around too. I fed a little bit of frozen mysis shrimp. Puffer and the other fish seemed to like it.



Added 2 Cory cats to my son's freshwater tank as well.



You see these shells underneath the Wrasse? I believe my clownfish uncovered them by flashing in that area as I believe this was here before the new additions. I wonder if they did this on purpose.

I do not believe the Melanarus Wrasse and the Kupang Damsel are fans of each other.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not sure how many fish are in tank (fish look great) but tank appears very white indicating newer tank (just a guess). if so, be careful on stocking heavy and quickly.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Not sure how many fish are in tank (fish look great) but tank appears very white indicating newer tank (just a guess). if so, be careful on stocking heavy and quickly.

You are correct. Tank was cycled for 1 month, added two clowns and a Kapung Damsel. Waited 21 days and added Diamond Goby, Valenti Puffer, and Melanarus Wrasse.

Also I have very weak lighting (9w). So curious to see if I will go through the normal algea stages. No diatoms yet. Should I be expecting any?

Tested ammonia today and it was 0. Also have an ammonia badge in the sump.

My gut is telling me we are going to be OK. Going to try to feed light and mostly frozen only once a day. My thinking is if I make it a full week then I will be OK. May or may not be true but that's just what I'm thinking.

I'm thinking about vacuuming out the sand into a filter sock to get most of the poo out of the tank. I don't think there is very much but still. At least for the first few weeks. You think that would be a good idea?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Not sure how many fish are in tank (fish look great) but tank appears very white indicating newer tank (just a guess). if so, be careful on stocking heavy and quickly.

I'd say the tank is fully stocked? I don't think there would be enough space for anymore right?

 

[vetteguy53081]

You are correct. Tank was cycled for 1 month, added two clowns and a Kapung Damsel. Waited 21 days and added Diamond Goby, Valenti Puffer, and Melanarus Wrasse.

Also I have very weak lighting (9w). So curious to see if I will go through the normal algea stages. No diatoms yet. Should I be expecting any?

Tested ammonia today and it was 0. Also have an ammonia badge in the sump.

My gut is telling me we are going to be OK. Going to try to feed light and mostly frozen only once a day. My thinking is if I make it a full week then I will be OK. May or may not be true but that's just what I'm thinking.

I'm thinking about vacuuming out the sand into a filter sock to get most of the poo out of the tank. I don't think there is very much but still. At least for the first few weeks. You think that would be a good idea?

You should be ok. Just stocking quickly can impose a load on a tank and send it south. I have 31 fish in my 360g and it was over the course on 15 months. Feeding moderately and keeping up with maintenance will allow you no surprises. Filtration is important to keep parameters within norms. lighting is more critical with corals than fish only but good lighting will bring out the colors you are missing under standard light.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

You should be ok. Just stocking quickly can impose a load on a tank and send it south. I have 31 fish in my 360g and it was over the course on 15 months. Feeding moderately and keeping up with maintenance will allow you no surprises. Filtration is important to keep parameters within norms. lighting is more critical with corals than fish only but good lighting will bring out the colors you are missing under standard light.

I agree, I actually read a lot of the tank emergency threads and TRY not to make the same mistakes. I know it only takes one parasite, or one sick fish in general and things can go downhill very fast. Like total losses, bleaching and resetting. I'd probably literraly cry if that happened to me but I know it is definetly a possibility. No ammonia spike yet after 24 hours, just need to take one day at a time in the short term. Friday is my water change day so looking forward to that. Also can't wait until I get my nyos nitrate tests in to see exactly where I am. Will take an API nitrate reading tomorrow to have an idea. 0 from the test and sump badge today as far as ammonia goes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I agree, I actually read a lot of the tank emergency threads and TRY not to make the same mistakes. I know it only takes one parasite, or one sick fish in general and things can go downhill very fast. Like total losses, bleaching and resetting. I'd probably literraly cry if that happened to me but I know it is definetly a possibility. No ammonia spike yet after 24 hours, just need to take one day at a time in the short term. Friday is my water change day so looking forward to that. Also can't wait until I get my nyos nitrate tests in to see exactly where I am. Will take an API nitrate reading tomorrow to have an idea. 0 from the test and sump badge today.

I use Nyos and they are User friendly

 

[Cruz Mc5]

I'm thinking about vacuuming out the sand into a filter sock to get most of the poo out of the tank. I don't think there is very much but still. At least for the first few weeks. You think that would be a good idea?

Wouldn’t you want the sand a little dirty for your Diamond Goby?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wouldn’t you want the sand a little dirty for your Diamond Goby?

Dirty, not necesss but sand-yes. They sift for uneaten food and make their little caves

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Wouldn’t you want the sand a little dirty for your Diamond Goby?

Dirty, not necesss but sand-yes. They sift for uneaten food and make their little caves

Not sure, I was kind of thinking the same but then he eats a few bites at feeding time like everyone else. Honestly from what I see so far my sand looks clean already. Lol. Not sure if I should feed a little heavy as I'm being cautious as to not cause an ammonia spike. Thinking maybe target feeding a little. Possibly trying to stash a few pellets (or frozen food) for him in the sand. But not sure yet.

 

[Dom]

My thinking was well let's try to add as many in one shot to minimize risk.

How does this minimize risk?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

How does this minimize risk?

My thinking is this...(by the way I am fully aware that thinking is probably flawed).

So let's say I add one fish at a time...Each time I add a fish it likely comes from a different batch at the LFS, and different batches from other parts of the supply chain. This, in my mind, increases the probability that one batch of fish was exposed to any number of parasites and/or toxins.

As far as introducing the fish to my DT, I guess it more shifts all the risk into one big event instead of spreading it out. What I don't want to happen is to add one fish 6 months to a year from now and then it wiped out my whole tank due to a parasite. If it's going to happen let it happen now before I invests months into getting attached. My thinking is that if the fish survive the first month they are likely going to survive for many more months and hopefully years. Now that I am fully stocked 2 months in, there is very little chance of a parasite being introduced from an external source, since I will not be adding any more fish. That being said, I know the possibility is good that the parasites are already in the fish/DT and are suppressed rather than elimimated. I know that prophylactic QT may be the safest protocol as far as reducing risk in the DT, but at the end of the day we all have to do what we believe is the right thing.

I don't really to care to over analyze risk mitigation at this point, but rather see how things go and continue learning and finding out works for me.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not sure, I was kind of thinking the same but then he eats a few bites at feeding time like everyone else. Honestly from what I see so far my sand looks clean already. Lol. Not sure if I should feed a little heavy as I'm being cautious as to not cause an ammonia spike. Thinking maybe target feeding a little. Possibly trying to stash a few pellets (or frozen food) for him in the sand. But not sure yet.

Instead, easy to add more than to remove. If they can clean up the food quickly, do add another small portion then stop until next feeding.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Instead, easy to add more than to remove. If they can clean up the food quickly, do add another small portion then stop until next feeding.

Yeah, that's usually what I do. Hardly any food hits the floor by feeding and pausing. Feeding and pausing. Rarely do I get to the point where the fish ignore the food. I try to feed just before that point and even less now to try and reduce the risk of an ammonia spike. But if I do this then not much will be in the sand for the goby to find but I suspect this may be OK. But I am only feeding once a day so maybe I should do twice?