lotusstar

Thanks for the info mark. I appreciate it.

Tank looks great. I may have missed it but what company built the tank? And what are the dimensions? What is your fish list? That you have and intend to add in the future. Great work.

This is a great thread. Some very good ideas here.

Sweet. Definitely will be following along. I've just started Planning for my 60x24x24 tank. Planning sps as well. How big is the sump? What skimmer are you planning to use? I'm hoping my ATB 840 will be enough for my tank. Going to use a fuge? Or biopellets? Or any dosings?

Jeremy,

This is a great looking project. Very well thought out. Good luck with the recovery of all your livestock. I've enjoyed reading your thread.

Hey everyone.

Quick question for you guys, I am thinking of a new tank but can't seem to find a tank with the dimensions I want so probably will have to go custom. I'm wanting 150ish gallons. 48x30x24 with external overflow ideally. Been trying to figure out a place that can get me a quote from AGE. I tried kingfish, they responded to one email and never to any others i sent so they are out. Any other LFS around Austin that i could try?

If not AGE maybe someone has another manufacter suggestion please? Thanks for the help.

Hey everyone.

I have a 92g tank that I've had for a little over 2 years. The clam I have had for a little over a year. It has always seemed rather happy, it's been growing, the mantle is out and colored well while the lights are on. It's kept itself in the same spot this whole time. My tank hasn't had a single livestock change in the last 6 months or so. Last night when I fed the tank the clam looked exactly like normal, I don't have a lot of corals and this was my only clam so I looked at it quite often. While feeding the tank it didn't look damaged or distressed at all. This afternoon after waking up, I worked a graveyard shift last night, the clam shell was empty and the clam was decomposed. I'm really at a loss because my tank had been doing so well, and I haven't added anything new or had any major swings that would indicate a reason for it to suddenly die. I only have 4 fish, yellow tang, royal gramma, potters angel, and 1 chromis. The only bioload change was my 2nd chromis died about 6 months ago, and I never replaced him. All the other fish have been in the tank about as long as the clam. My paramaters checked out good. I use API test kits, except for my hanna checker for phosphates. All these parameters look consistent with the last several months of log sheets.

PH 8

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

nitrate 2

cal 420

alk 8

mag 1240

sg 1.025

temp 78-80

Phos 0 *hanna checker*

I haven't changed salt mixes, I have a 400w 14k metal halide, bulb was changed at the beginning of february. I'm rather stumped at what could have caused this, i have snails for a clean up crew with a few hermit crabs. None of those have ever messed with the clam before though. I don't know what else to say, anyone have any clues as to what could have caused my clams death so rapidly?

Also water changes are done every other week of 15 gallons, I siphon the sand each week. Water changes are done with 0TDS water with a BRS RO/DI filter and Reef Crystals salt. It's been 1 week since my water change. Should I do a quick water change to get some of this decomposition out? I have an ATB 840 skimmer, and run carbon and GFO in separate reactors also.

Thanks

Excellent. Then I will be able to attend my first meeting. See everyone there. Thanks!

So May 22nd is a Sunday, will the meeting be Saturday the 21st? Or Sunday May 22?

Good video. Can't wait to see the results

Great suggestion Timfish thanks I'll do that to find a bulb.

So thought I would make an update on my murdering status. I haven't killed anything in a couple weeks woohoo. I did the suggestion of setting my QT tank up with DT water to see if it was a water issue. My test fish has strived in the QT for 2 1/2 weeks now and done great. So I doubt the issue is water quality. So back to square one on what's been killing my fish.

I started using garlic to soak food, haven't noticed a difference but it seems the fish aren't as hungry as they used to be. Not sure if they aren't so crazy about the garlic maybe? I've been using it as directed, only 2 drops.

I had a friend who gave me a bunch of stuff when he got out of the hobby last year, one thing i found that he gave me was a UV filter so I'm going to try to hook that up. But I'm trying to figure out what kind of bulb to get, I'm not sure of what model it is and if it's powerful enough.

That is a good suggestion. Already have moonlights so wouldn't be difficult. Thanks

Robb. Thanks for the support on the qt/dt advice. I actually had bought a small 20g tank I was going to set up as a beginner tank for my sons. So it's filled now with DT water and a few lbs of LR I had in the DT and have moved my test fish over. Feel like it's a sacrificial lamb but so far it seems rather ok with his new home.

Timfish, thanks for helping scientificaly rule out brookynella. It really didnt seem to be one of those strains or ich and the like because those diseases have fairly pronounced symptoms and I do really spend a great deal of time in front of the tank and didn't see erratic behavior, loss of appetite etc which is generally characteristic of those diseases.

Uronema, that's one that is new to me. And sounds quite possible as you mention it's quite to become fatal and can survive in fallow environments. The quick onset is really the thing that has me so puzzled. Lights out at 11pm when I'm heading to bed. I don't have a light timer so it's always me doing the lights and the fish seem perfectly normal. Then by 9:30-10 or so the next morning it's death city.

Let me ask a follow up to the Uronema, i promise I will do some of my own research into this. What are some possible cures? If there is one, would the garlic help that was mentioned? And is that like garlic extract I can purchase at a grocery store? Since you

Are a proponent of UV would a sterilizer help eradicate this? Also you recommended

What seems to be a rather large sterilizer. Is the "bigger the better"? What about the sterilizer hydor linked to and recommended?

And lastly, to answer the question about fishless tanks. Yes when the dt was fishless for 2 months the QT was fishless for 1 month. Then I bought fish to sit in qt a month and then be ready to move to the DT after the month QT. The qt has sat empty for quite a long while. At least it feels that way. I think that answers most of the questions. I appreciate it.

Brian, I've sadly gotta agree with you. I have surpassed murderer to serial killer.

Jestep, That's a great idea that I can do right away. Change my QT water to DT water and see if that does anything. I'll do that right away.

Let me ask this. You guys have mentioned garlic, which I've never used before. I usually feed a mixture of flake, pellet and even some frozen a few times a week. Maybe I should start soaking in garlic, is this just something I can pick up at HEB or some grocery store maybe? Is it garlic extract? Or is it something I need to get from the LFS?

My wife pointed out that I've changed all the equipment. I let the tank sit fallow fishless for a couple months and have even restarted the whole darn thing from scratch but I've always used the same rock and sand. Is it possible that the rock and sand could be leeching something that kills the fish? I siphon the sand every time I do a WC, which is 15g every other week. Is it possible my LR could be to fault? If so why does it only kill fish and not corals which are supposedly more finicky?

I'm also not too terribly concerned about the chromis deaths. At 4$ a piece I had always heard that they tend to kill each other off until they are down to the strong. That's why I started with five expecting to get down to 2 or 3 good ones. I'm more concerned with my other fish deaths, some fish that I've always heard were relatively hardy fish and indeed kept without incident on tanks in the past. Could my tank be the culprit somehow? The LR? I've never had a clownfish die and now I've killed 7 or 8? Same thing I had never lost an angel and now lost a coral beauty and a couple flames.

I really appreciate the help guys.

Ok so looks like I will try to find the reef safe ich treatment. I've seen and treated ich in past tanks. The only thing that's confusing about this is the fish do not show signs of disease. When I've seen ich before the fish obviously showed disease. Everything I've read and seen in tanks before is when a fish is sick it's apparent. Fish stop eating, swim erratically etc, in these cases my fish are all eating fine as well as swim fine. Don't rub rocks, don't seem to breath heavily. I spend a fair bit of time just staring into the tank, usually at least an hour a day except for weekends. So I think it'd be hard for me not to notice the onsets of a disease when these outward symptoms.

Timefish. UV. I gotta admit I hadn't thought of that route. I always heard it was more of a snake oil thing and killed as much good as bad? I honestly don't know that. I know very little about UV so will have to look into that. Will be tough explaining to the wife why I need to drop more money on a tank that kills fish.

I am a bit confused however how my problem would be compounded by the chromis? They've lasted longest at about 6 or 7 months maybe? How could they be compounding tank issues? Thanks for your help.

All great questions Colin. I do water changes about every 2 weeks. 15g. QT is cycled. I left the qt up for a long time had some lr in there to help fish feel more at home. I do weekly water changes on qt when there is something in there. Parasite in the qt I kinda doubt because its been put up and taken down and Restarted a few times. I would thing the parasite would kill off the fish in qt if that were the case then right? I'm not sure what toulne eating is? And I originally blamed my lfs for fish deaths. I live in Temple Texas so have very sad stores here. So I bought some fish off live aquaria and have bought several from aquatek and river city. I haven't bought from the lfs in this area since discovering aquatek and river city. I like those stores far better.

Hey everyone,

Let me start off with a few basics. I bought a 92g corner tank May of 09. So few months shy of 2 years. The tank was already an established reef and came with several fish and corals. The tank came with a blue tang, maroon clown, coral beauty angel, and something else that I can't remember. About July I bought another fish, believe it was a poor man moorish idol. Introduced it to the tank and all seemed well for a month then one day everything was dead. The previous night they all ate, next morning everything was dead and covered in a stringy translucent gel. So disappointed and had no idea what killed them I let the tank sit for a couple of months. I was advised to run it fallow for 6-8 weeks so I did 8 weeks.

In the mean time I set up a QT tank, also something I was advised to do. Nothing elaborate, just a simple tank that was easy to maintain. I bought a pair of clowns that sat in QT for about a month, seemed great, eating wonderfully. Introduced them into the 2 month fallow tank and they ate great for about 2 weeks, then next morning dead. Covered in the same translucent goo. So I let the tank sit empty for another 6 weeks or so, by the way. Tank isn't empty this whole time, the corals were in the tank. Nothing hard, soft corals, frogspawn, mushrooms, some leather coral, all of them have done very well, polyps extended, and look awesome. After about 6 weeks I add 5 chromis, they kill themselves off down to 2 in QT, then these 2 go into the DT about a month later. These seemed to do fine so I added another pair of clowns, they did well for a month or so, added a flame angel. Then a couple weeks later, angel is dead and clowns are dead.

I've gone through several fish, probably a total of 4 or 5 clowns, 2 flame angels, royal gramma, poor mans idol, powder blue tang, coral beauty angel, a couple other supposedly "easy" fish to care for. All the fish have gone into QT, made through a month or so of QT fine, eating great, then I acclimate them to the DT. My acclimation process is pretty much what live aquaria acclimation, not the drip but the bag and adding water every few minutes. The fish always make it about a week or 2, eat fine, and then the next day will be dead. In March of 2010 I figured I was cursed so I sold off the corals I had, which strived through out all my fish deaths. Sold them all and started over from scratch, drained, rebuilt the whole tank and started new. I let the tank cycle for about 6 weeks, then added my "test fish 1", we name all the fish, and that was his name since everyone was tired of naming fish that were just going to die in a couple weeks. He did great, so about 6 weeks later I added another batch of chromis, 5 that killed themselves down to 2. These are still in the tank. I added a clam, and some soft corals, leather, frogspawn, and mushrooms. I bought a pair of clowns, both died after their time in QT. When they made it to the DT they died. So I ended up buying another flame angel, this lived for a good month in the DT, so added a powder blue tang and a clown, these seemed fine in the DT as well. Then added a yellow tang, powder blue and the yellow were a bad idea. Yellow killed the blue, that was my bad. Then one morning everything except the 2 chromis and yellow tang were dead. I attribute this round of death to a voltage leak from the return pump.

So I replace the return pump and have yellow tang, 2 chromis, then I buy a pair of clowns. 1 dies, 1 is living. A couple of I then buy a flame angel and a potters angel. I was told to introduce them together to minimize aggression. They appeared very healthy so I didn't QT them, the only fish I haven't QT. I'm rather disenchanted with QT anyway since I QT everything and it lives then after it makes it to the DT it dies. So I didn't QT. They are both eating, then 2 days later the flame angel and clown are dead. Still have the yellow tang, potters angel, and 2 chromis.

I'm sure this time line doesn't make sense I tried to remember things as best as possible. But it's honestly been over a year and half of fish death after another. About 10 years ago I did have a 50g and I never once killed a fish. I didn't use RODI water or a skimmer. Just a wet / dry and tap water with the drops. Now I have an RODI filter, 0 TDS water, I run GFO, and carbon in separate reactors that are changed monthly. I do regular water changes. I test often, 10 years ago I never tested my water except for SG. Now I test constantly, everything and can't keep a fish alive to save my life aside for a couple chromis. It seems like a 92 g is destined to only maintain 3 fish? The baffling thing to me is my corals and clam are doing splendidly. They are visibly growing, look great, polyps extended. I've always heard fish are easy corals are hard, but for me it's been the exact opposite. I can keep a few corals but and am sure I could add more. But fish are impossible? I"ve taken my water to several fish stores to have it checked out and I always get the same response. "water looks good". I'll attach my parameters, which vary rather little. My fish deaths seems to come in batches, they always make it through QT great, then usually a couple weeks to a month in the DT and they are dead. Always the same way, they are active, swimming and eating great the night before, then they just show up dead covered with this slimy translucent goo, looks like from the movie abyss, the water column. At one point I was told I had a hitch hiker killing things, so I was told to set cups in the tank and try and trap things, which I did for weeks on end, never once with any results. Doubt that would be the case though since I've left the tank fallow multiple times and rebuilt it totally once. I'm clueless, I'm just a fish murderer and frustrated as you know what. I love this hobby but I'm infuriated at this.

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 0-5ish

ph 8.0 - 8.2 depending on how long the lights have been on

cal 460-480

alk 7-

all these are tested with API, tests are not expired.

Phos I test with a Hanna checker....0.0 even though I get little patches of algae.

I am in a constant fight with algae. I originally had an API test kit that I tested phosphates on. I could never read the colors well enough to figure out if I had .25 or .5 but definitely had some. I've always had a very brown sand bed, I siphon it every other week when I do my water changes. About 15g on a 92g tank, and within a few days the algae comes roaring back over the sandbed. I thought flow was the issue and having dead spots, so I upgraded by powerheads to the point I have sand blowing around but still get lots of algae growth. So also just before buying powerheads I invested in a Hanna Checker, I figured surely it would show my phosphate levels reliably. Each and every time I test with the checker it shows 0.0 phosphates. So it's an absolute mystery. Also since I bought the tank, May of 09, I have used a BRS GFO reactor, and change the GFO monthly. I seem to be destined to have a brown "hairy" substrate no matter what I do. Also I only use 0 TDS water from a RODI unit I purchased. Another issue I thought it may have been was a subpar skimmer, it was an ATI BM skimmer but the cup was cracked so didn't know if that was affecting it's performance. So about 6 weeks ago upgraded to an ATB 840. So not a perfect candidate for what you are looking for since you want someone registering high on the phosphates, but man am I frustrated. Anyway, good luck! I've watched several of your videos recently since discovering them. Very informative and fun to watch too.

I would like the watermelon frag if it's still available. Thanks!

Jason

Tried to PM you but it wouldn't send. I'd like to buy a big frag also please. Let me know please if they are still available. Thank you.

Jason

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions on the flow for my tank. I just ordered tunze, a 6105 and controller, a 6065, and a 6045. Hopefully those 3 will give me sufficent flow and enough randomness to be successful with SPS. Thanks again, everyones help was very much appreciated. Good luck!

Dajmasta,

Thanks for the suggestion. Not crazy about wave boxes as the ones I've seen always seem rather obtrusive in tanks less than a couple hundred gallons. As for rock work you bring up something I hadn't thought too much on in regards to flow. My rock structure is somewhat of an atoll I guess you could say. Makes a U along the side walls with just 1 rock in the center. The atoll structure has several little caves and nooks but is not very tall. The tank is 24 inches but the rocks at their highest is probably 14 inches but most stay low around 10-12 inch. The look I'm going for I guess is a lot of corals low in the tank with open swim room above the structure. Now when you say keep the flow parallel are you suggesting the higher flow pump blowing "over the reef" and creates turbulence after hitting the glass and reflecting downward?

All this has been most helpful, I really appreciate it.

Hmm pbnj, ive never heard of that. Ive heard of sea swirls at least but not this. I will however remedy that and look into it today. Thank you very much for adding yet another option to me but at least maybe one that will work.