New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great!

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

.5 ammon. is not good. Keep a close eye on it and don't add anything more. It sounds like you have a cycle starting again, lets hope it stays mild.
A 10 gal. is not in my opinion big enough for tangs or angels. They tend to pace back and forth. A small tank can stress the fish in itself. I like atleast a 29 long as the smallest size for QTing and that also depends on the display tank size. You can't use a 29 if the display tank is 400 gal. and you are going to be getting fish 6" long to QT in it.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Just an update on this, I check the A this morning before I left for work and it is back down to almost 0 ( coloring in test kit is a little off of the 0 but not quite to the .25 ), Nitrite hasn't changed, and Nitrate is 60 ppm.

As far as I can tell nothing died, but the damsel looks as if he were covered in ash. Is that a sign of some disease or problem caused by the ammonia?

I've noticed he seems to lose some of his color at night and then after the lights have been on a while he brightens back up, but I just want to make sure that is normal and he's not going to die on me.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Can you post us some pics?

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

I won't be going home until 6 this evening, but I'll take some pictures then.

Like I said, he seems to change colors according to when the lights are on or off, almost purplish when the lights are dim, and a brilliant blue when the lights are on.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

don't know if it is related, but I have read...

the Blue Damselfish has the ability to darken its coloration to an almost black color and then return to its electric blue color in a matter of seconds... part of his defensive mechanism

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Alot of fish change color when lights go out and they go in their hole for the night, nothing wrong.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

I didn't get a chance to take pictures last night, I didn't realize that water would evaporate as quickly as it did ( 5 gallons in a week, and I was told that's really not that much ), and because Pet Country's RO machine was broken I had to drive to NSA to get some water.

Thanks to Scott and Robyn! They were extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and patient with all my questions.

And I don't know if my test kit is messed up or what, cuz now the ammonia is down to nothing, the nitrite is still nothing and the nitrate is down to 40 PPM.

As soon as the budget allows, I'm going to buy some new testing supplies.

Any suggestions on what brand is best?

PS "Boom" ( that's the name my daughter gave our damsel ) is doing fine now, back to normal color, eating like a pig, and swimming everywhere.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

I have had good luck with API test - they are a good price & work well - Salifert Test Kits cost more & many really like them.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

It is very possiable you just had a small spike of ammon., that is why I suggested adding just the 5# of base rock to begin with. It sounds like the spike was small and things are quiting down. DON'T add anything more for atleast a couple weeks to let the nitrates catch up.
Api kits are very good for the basic three ammon., nitrites, nitrates, I would use Salifert or Lamonte for the other tests. Go slow

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

I didn't intentionally not listen, I just didnt have a choice, I bought the 10lbs in one rock. After this weekend everything is good to go. I'm thinking about taking out the damsel and taking him back to LFS while I don't have as much rock in the tank. I've heard they can be quite the little terrors to remove from a tank.

Any thoughts?

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

If you don't want him in the future, now is the time to remove him. A blue damsel in a 75 is fine though, if it was a small tank that you were going to have other small fish in he would be a problem. Blues and yellow tails are some of the more agreeable ones to have. As far as that goes any fish is hard to catch in a tank with a reef, traps work best for some but some won't go in a trap, so don't add anything you don't want and when it comes to especially tangs and angels you have to add them in a certain order to avoid outright warfare.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

only 2 damsels allowed. 1 is the green or blue chromis, and the other is the sargent major. and the later is only when you have a School of them. in single they can be a bit nippy... there are a few rare exceptions but not many and only under optimum conditions, such as cover, biomass and time of arival. Patients is a vertue. wait for that fish that realy stimulates your passion for the hobby. Its worth it...

i dose vodka when i see the nutrients start up. Seven days or so of dosing and all is well, providing i fixed the problem. it can nuke 80% of ammonia and nitrite in about 12 hours and the rest very rapidly. Only use it in case of emergency, Fix the problem Instead. It wont hurt anything and works quit well. If you have suffient circulation and good husbandry you wont need it...
Over feeding is a Common cause of nutrient spikes even for advanced reefers , but they also have a Broad knowledge of how to deal with it... and dont forget about the Cleanup Crew, cant say enough about them...
Good Luck.
madcat

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Not all are, but lots are... not my favorite fish. No bully fish allowed in my tank - all fish must play together well or the bully gets banned.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

I've never had a problem with talbot damsels, i've put them with just about everything in the store and no bullying at all.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Here is an update, we have taken the azure damsel back, and replaced him with a pair of yellow striped maroon clowns. Here is a picture of the male. Don't have one of the female yet, and it took almost 65 pictures to get one that was close to in focus.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Great pic - beautiful clown !

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

thanks!

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

New pictures added to my photo gallery! Check 'em out!


Photo Gallery


PS if you aren't getting the new pictures, clear your browsers cache

for Internet Explorer go to Tools -> Delete Browsing History



for Firefox go to Tools -> Clear Recent History

or Hold Ctrl+Shift+Del


And here is a link in case you are having problems with that gallery

http://www.classyconceptdesign.com/reef/img/clowns/

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

New pictures with lights!

Here are a few pics of our tank with the new lights we got last week.

 

Re: New Build From Extablished System, Advice would be Great

Great pics thanks for sharing ! Wow the lights really made the clown fish look different in that 1st pic !