Victoria

Can't update the topic - sorry! All that's left is the metal halide light + ballast

Thanks!
Victoria

UPDATE

• The extra light bulbs, couple rocks, and a cool hunk of wood for BioCube are gone
• BioCube is pending pickup
• Medium glass tank (15? gal) is gone

Still available

These have been in the garage for ~ 4 years, so not sure about how good the silicone still is, not leak-tested

• Medium glass sump (20 gal)
• Custom acrylic refugium (24-ish gal)
• Also have a metal halide light and a smaller light. Not sure if they work, both have been in the garage for 4 years as well.

These are in the alley behind my house in Cedar Park, and posted on Craigslist as well, so it's pretty much first come, first served.  

Thanks!
Victoria

All free- all used, and the BioCube definitely needs to be cleaned out

• 29 gal BioCube with stand, heater, extra light bulbs, couple rocks and a cool hunk of wood - has been inside and in-use for 8 years, should not have any leaks or issues, not sure how good the lights are, tho

These have been in the garage for ~ 4 years, so not sure about how good the silicone still is, not leak-tested

• Medium glass tank (15? gal)
• Medium glass sump (20 gal)
• Custom acrylic refugium (24-ish gal)

Also have a metal halide light and a smaller light. Not sure if they work, both have been in the garage for 4 years as well.

Photos and address here: https://austin.craigslist.org/zip/d/cedar-park-free-biocube-tank-fuge-sump/6898556978.html

Thanks!
Victoria

Hey all -

Thanks a ton for the feedback. Did get a refractometer and salinity wasn't out of range (1.026, but there's been a bit of evaporation over the past couple days).

Not to be all excuse-maker-y, but I sliced my finger Monday night and haven't really been able to get into the tank (stitches) all week, so no major heroic efforts have been made at this point. Have been dosing daily with Vitamin C and Garlic, and feeding selcon-soaked anything they 'll eat. Mandarins are both fat and happy with a no progression of the skin loss, the butterfly's ich is down to a dull roar and the gramma's the only one looking like the ich may be winning. However, she's still eating and can't be netted, so I figure she's still holding her own.

I wasted a chunk of change on the Dr. G's and no-one will eat it. Plus, you have to be all hyper-vigilant about removing the uneaten food as it's not invert safe. One thing I will never be accused of is hyper-vigilance.

Here's the part where I become "that girl", but I'll just be honest - I'm not going to do a hospital tank. My life is crazy-busy-stressful and I just don't have the wherewithal to run *another* tank. I actually just took the DIY'd refugium I designed and built offline because it's more trouble than it's worth at the moment.

I'm putting a moratorium on additional fish, will pull the gramma for a freshwater dip if I can catch her, and watching the mandarins like a hawk (as I'd put them in the now-disconnected sump if they seemed to need extra TLC). If/when it's under control, and I want to add fish, I'll just do it when I'm at the BF's for the weekend and he's all like "you should get that, I'll QT it for you" I kid, because he's going to read that and be all "d*mnit, Victoria, you need to take care of stuff yourself" and it'll make me happy. (For reals, tho, I'm putting a moratorium on everything until I get to a place where I can add fish the right way.)

Thanks again for the help - and sorry for disregarding the great advice

Thanks, etannert!

Agreed on the refractometer, but really didn't think there was a problem with the hydrometers ... they were always within a .001 or .002 of each other, so figured I was good. Then I lent them to the BF because none of his salinity stuff was lining up, and between all of his stuff and my two, he was all over the 1.020 and 1.028 range. Took a sample to the 'dome and realized how far off *mine* were. So, refractometer on order, will be here Tuesday

No invert or coral issues. The Condy 'Nem isn't as robust as it's always been, but I think that's cause the dumb thing parked itself in front of the refugium return and gets blown all around. Corals are actually growing, tho some of my zoas are on the smaller side.

Thanks, Bio³ ....

Did not run carbon after the deworm ... was just a few rounds of PraziPro and I didn't see anything die as a result. Not saying there wasn't some worm death, but all of my bristles and fans are still alive.

Really did the PraziPro as I had seen what might have been a fluke on the male mandarin a while back, and as I had never QT'd or dewormed, figured it wouldn't hurt. Truth be told, everyone looked a lot better when following my usual approach of benign neglect than when I started actively "taking care" of the tank.

Have been doing garlic and Vit C daily for awhile now, and soaking most foods in selcon. Problem is, the mandarins and butterfly are pretty spoiled on live blackworms, so it's hard to soak *their* meals.

Going to grab a hang on back and some carbon this afternoon, and keep up on the water changes. Thanks a ton for the feedback!

VV

Thanks guys!

No GAC. I do run a reactor with GFO.

(Edit to add: I have a UV sterilizer on order, but am not running one currently. Also adding: water changes have been in the 50% range over the past month as I've dewormed a few times. Typically I do 15-ish% changes every week or two)

Been testing water all along and it's tested perfectly. I've dewormed a couple times, so wasn't running a skimmer for about a month, but kicked that back on earlier this week. Oddly, now nitrates are at 20 where they'd been at zero for weeks. <shrug>

Today's parameters:

Salinity 1.022

Temp: 77*

Nitrites 0

Ammonia 0

Nitrates 20

Phosphates >.25 (not 0, but not a true .25)

pH 8.0 (tank lights've been off since midnight, fuge light's been on since 9 am)

KH 9 (161)

Ca 520

Didn't test Mg this a.m., but typically that's around 1300.

Kids know (way) better than to touch the tank, and have been gone since 8/8, so while they're always on the short list, suspect-wise, I'm not inclined to think they put something in there.

Was definitely going to freshwater dip the gramma, who seems the worse for wear, ich-wise. But with the mandarins affected - and how they're affected - it makes me think there's more than ich going on? And the chromis being unscathed is just weird to me ....

Hey there -

I've got something odd going on in my tank ..

Been battling ich for a bit (I'm learning my "I don't QT" lesson the hard way ... much like all my other lessons), but nothing too bad. Then added a couple yellow clown gobies that broke out in like warty-looking skin after being in the tank. Fine. Lesson #2. They died, then I lost the black sailfin and tailspot blennies that'd been in the tank for awhile. And the lawnmower I'd gotten recently. Also lost the neon cleaner goby that'd always been infested with ich (not sure if he cam with it and I just didn't notice or if he picked it up from the raccoon butterfly that came via mail order with some ich.)

So the remaining fish have been in the tank thru it all: the raccoon (still has ich, but is fat and healthy otherwise), a maroon clown pair (they look great), a royal gramma (slowly getting dragged down by the **** ich), a blue-green chromis (completely unscathed by this all, which is really odd to me), a redfin waspfish pair (they're fine), and a spotted mandarin pair that are slowly losing the skin on their heads ... male's still fat and active, female's lost weight and isn't super active. Also her tail-end seems to not stay down - like it's floaty-er than her head.

Water parameters? Friggin great, chemistry-wise. Temp does fluctuate a bit (and can swing 5-6 degrees on really hot days - which I know sucks. Working on that part.) Salinity is a question - both hydrometers give different readings, and neither aligns with what Aquadome reported from their refractometer. But they've been a constant, so whatever they're "off", the tank salinity has been "off" by that all along.

I'm honestly not sure what to do now. Yes, I screwed up by not QT'ing, but if there's something bad in my tank, taking the mandarins out to treat 'em just to put 'em back in a sick tank seems kinda pointless. I do have inverts and corals, so that impacts how I can treat the tank. Honestly, I'm cool losing the corals to save the fish, if that's what needs to happen, but would prefer that not be the case.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Do I pull all the fish and QT the lot of 'em? Nuke the tank and accept the coral and invert losses? Give up entirely?

Thanks for reading this novel if you made it this far!

Victoria

This girl.

I'm (impatiently) waiting for tomorrow's arrival of Henry, the soon-to-be-love-of-Henry(etta)'s-life.

Meet Henry: http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/detailed_image.cfm?ddID=197499

He'll be shacking up in the RSM with Henry(etta). And they are going to get married, and have waspfish babies and I'll have a whole family of these adorable, no-swim-bladder-having wobbly fish

Henry already eats frozen brine (yay LiveAquaria peeps!), and Henry(etta) eats frozen bloodworms and live blackworms, so they can teach each other a few new tricks. And then hold fins and swim around together like my target mandarin pair.

Pics tomorrow when he gets here. If I could get away with it, I'd seriously take the day off to wait for him. Maybe I'll put Henry(etta) in a goldfish bowl and she can hang out by the window to wait for her beau.

+1 to Aquatek and RCA. Never seen 'em at the Dome of Fishy Business.

Well, he doesn't sound like much of a threat, then - I'm fine with snail loss now and then, and I don't keep softies, so he can stay. Especially because they sound like complete and total pains in the a$$ to catch!

Awesome I'm setting up a 65 this weekend, since it will probably be moved in a few months to its permanent location it will most likely be fish only (famous last words) and te fuzzy will be its first inhabitant when it is cycled! Victoria, did you do something to convince it to eat blood worms or did it just do it?

Ooo - cool!

Fuzzy just started eating bloodworms on his own. To be honest, I'm a super lazy reef keeper ... I tried using a feeding stick to get him to eat something other than live ghost shrimp, but he wouldn't do it. Greg and Renee over on lionfishlair have a great how-to on getting all of the stingy guys onto frozen, but again- I'm lazy. So I just set up a ghost shrimp tank and buy like 20 at a time.

Then one day, I was feeding his tankmates live black worms and he hit a few. So after a day or two of that, he started eating frozen bloodworms. I do soak 'em in Selcon, but I don't know if he cares or not. He still eats the ghost shrimp, but I'm thrilled he's broadening his palate a bit

I feed live blackworms ... everyone in the tank loves 'em. Blennies, gobies, mandarins, even my waspfish will swim up to grab the wriggly worms out of the water. Even got my fuzzy dwarf lion eating black worms.

I'm a big fan of live feeding - I do the newly hatched brine and larger brine (gut loaded on those guys), and ghost shrimp for the lion.I'm still feeding frozen and some dry, too. These guys get a ton of choices.

This dude's been living in the same rock for I have no idea how long. He spooks at the slightest movement and he's wicked fast. Professor Google suggests that it's a Eunicid worm, but there are way more pics of worms that *don't* look like my freaky friend than there are pics that do. Anyone know for sure what it is?

(Ignore the crappy hair algae ... I've got a lawnmower on order )

I've got a fuzzy dwarf (named Fuzzy, of course), and he's in a 29G with a spotted hawk, a blue damsel, snowflake eel and a purple lobster. Yeah, it's a little small for all that, but I was assured when I got him he'd be fine there.

He's been a model citizen (so far), and has been punked by the damsel and the eel without any real reaction other than swimming away. He follows me around and I swear he wags his tail like a dog. I adore him

I got him in the beginning of June, and *just* this week, he started eating something other than live ghost shrimp. First it was blackworms, and today he ate frozen bloodworms. (Pretty sure I clapped and said "good boy, Fuzzy!" when he did it.) He's really an awesome little fish, and he'll ultimately be the reason I get yet another tank so he can grow to his full fuzzy potential.

Thanks a bunch Roland - the frags were all happy and feeding last night, and they look awesome!

Great meeting you both!

Pretty sure they're all in the scorp family.

Honestly, Henry's been a model citizen... he's got a few sort-of-hidey holes he likes, he's completely passive and really only moves to nail live black worms and frozen mysis at the speed of light. Otherwise, he kinda wobbles around on the sand, since he's got no swim bladder.

He's been punked by pretty much every fish in the tank - even Eric the sailfin charged him, open-mouthed, to make sure Henry knew he was low man on the totem pole.

I've also realized Henry's probably technically a Henrietta, but the beauty of fish is they don't know or care what you name them, so he's staying Henry. If anyone mocks him, well, it's at their own peril.

I've been in and out of the tank a bunch since adding him- I just work on the opposite side and he lets me do my thang. I'm going with "he knows I'm the nice lady that brings him food, and would never poke the hand that feeds him", as that's the most rational way to approach reefkeeping

Attaching a couple more pics, one of cutie-pie Henry, and one of Eric looking really scary while he's talkin' smack to Henry

Ha - I just read this on the lionfishlair forums:

"I've wondered about peeps buying a "cute little waspfish" not knowing that they have one of the more potent stings in the scorp world."

^ That's sooo me! Everything else I was reading wasn't quite as dire. Still, he's far too cute and cool to give up, just need to puzzle a bit out to come up with the optimal setup. I think I sense a new topic coming up: help me arrange these fish in the best groupings

Thanks y'all!

I like messing with my tank, too, so it'll be an exercise in caution, for sure. He's pretty easy to net (way easier than the hawkfish, fo sho), so if I were getting in there for a massive re-work, he'd come out and chill in a bucket for a little while. For day-to-day stuff, tho, I'll just make sure I know where he is before reaching in. And avoid his side of the tank!

V

I have a 29G BioCube that we lovingly refer to as the Death Tank. Current denizens: a spotted hawkfish (Crankypants), a purple lobster (Rock Lobster, what else?), and the newbie, a blue damsel (Lightning). There's also Rob Zombie, the snowflake moray, that disappeared for months only to resurface in the back rubble chamber of the 'Cube, and apparently loves living there and won't come back.

I wanted a new fish for the tank, and fell in love with a cute lil' waspfish at Aquadome. I thought: "Yeah, they're all kinda jerky in the Death Tank, but no-one will eff with him - he's venomous"

Sigh. The spotted hawk is apparently a much bigger d*ck than I ever gave him credit for. He chased the lil wasp down and even rammed him while he was cowering under a rock

So, into the Happy Tank the wasp went. It's the 65G RSM stocked with a bunch of pretty mellow fish. He's a tiny little guy, and still pretty timid (thanks, Crankypants), but has found a nice cave with some swim-thru action to hunker down in. He's eating live brine, blackworms and mysis like a champ, and even ate a pellet. I'm calling him Henry for now, because he makes me think of Henry Rollins.

I'm furiously researching, as he's sharing a tank with a sailfin blenny and target mandarin pair that all hang out on the bottom, There's a tailspot blenny too, but he's not a fan on hanging out on the substrate. There's not a ton out there on these guys, tho. Best I can tell, as long as the sailfin and tail-spot are larger than Henry, we're good. Especially if I keep everyone well-fed. But I haven't ruled out a tank re-org at some point, either (maybe nano-ing the hawk and the lobster and taking them to work, then shacking up the wasp, eel and damsel in the BC). Would love to hear about anyone's experience keeping these guys in a peaceful tank ...

If you're still with me, meet Henry - he's super-cute!

Thanks, y'all

This pair are really great eaters: newly hatched brine, adult brine, cyclopeze and blackworms are all staples for them, in addition to foraging all day long for 'pods. I really don't want to get into breeding 'em, cute as they are, as my approach to reefkeeping isn't exactly ... well, "retentive". But it's in the back of my mind, as is getting a flowerpot for my goldstripe maroon clowns, who also seem very interested in continuing the species.

VV

Gotcha .. so I need to snag the eggs if I want fry. Well, maybe one day, but with as often as they Lambada, I won't be killing myself to snag 'em tonight.

But with as cute as the fry are, I'll probably give raising some a try ...

So, I've got a really cute target mandarin pair, and they've recently taken to doing to forbidden dance now and then. Got a look at the female tonight and she's fat. Like in an expecting way .... but that isn't how they do it, is it?

@Patrick - thanks

Yeah, I hear ya on the fish in the pod love shack. That's not a gotta have, and if logic dictates it won't work, I'm cool with just the happy little pods and a few hermits/snails in there.

@Capt. Obvious - fine. Rubble added. Happy now?

Reimagined the 'fuge a little to better accommodate the skimmer return (it's a HOB). Better? Wall between Skimmer pump and water/skimmer "in" will be lower than that between the return and the water/skimmer "in", so the flow "in" from the tank and back from the skimmer will go over rubble.