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BornToHula's 240 Gallon Build


BornToHula

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I'm getting worried about my Rose Banded Fairy Wrasse I moved from the 75 to the 240. I moved him Saturday night and he hasn't come out of hiding since. I can barely see him under a rock and only way I can tell he is still alive is he changes his position every once in awhile. He doesn't respond to food at all.

I think I may have injured or spooked him in the transfer - I used a colander instead of a net and he flipped around some once he was out of the water. It didn't seem too traumatic at the time, but I don't know what else it could be. Everything else I have moved over is doing excellent.

I wonder if its worth moving rock and attempting to get a better look at him to see what the issue is? Whats the longest you have had a fish go into hiding for?

Sorry about your wrasse, that's a bummer. I've lost a few wrasses myself this year. When I moved 2 over from my old tank, they hid in the sand for many days, maybe even a week before coming out and they're still alive (so far) after a year. I can't imagine it got hurt in the colander.
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What fish do you currently have in the display? How was the wrasse doing in QT? I'd be surprised if bouncing around on the colander caused any physical injuries, or at least enough to kill it. Sorry for the loss by the way. This hasn't been a good year for wrasses in general for the club as a whole.

I only had two Sunburst Anthias in the 240 when I moved the wrasse over. The wrasse went direct from my 75g to the 240. He was doing just fine and acting normal in the display.

The only thing I can think of was I did not acclimate during the transfer - but the temp, pH and salinity were checked and were very close to exactly the same. (I believe the temp was the only difference and less than half a degree.)

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I'm getting worried about my Rose Banded Fairy Wrasse I moved from the 75 to the 240. I moved him Saturday night and he hasn't come out of hiding since. I can barely see him under a rock and only way I can tell he is still alive is he changes his position every once in awhile. He doesn't respond to food at all.

I think I may have injured or spooked him in the transfer - I used a colander instead of a net and he flipped around some once he was out of the water. It didn't seem too traumatic at the time, but I don't know what else it could be. Everything else I have moved over is doing excellent.

I wonder if its worth moving rock and attempting to get a better look at him to see what the issue is? Whats the longest you have had a fish go into hiding for?

Sorry about your wrasse, that's a bummer. I've lost a few wrasses myself this year. When I moved 2 over from my old tank, they hid in the sand for many days, maybe even a week before coming out and they're still alive (so far) after a year. I can't imagine it got hurt in the colander.

Thanks for the condolences. Good to know they can stay hidden for awhile and still be alright.

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That's odd indeed. Sometimes you just can't really explain deaths as we only know a myriad of the fish diseases out there and there are plenty more we know nothing about.

Have you had anyone double check your parameters in the DT just in case?

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That's odd indeed. Sometimes you just can't really explain deaths as we only know a myriad of the fish diseases out there and there are plenty more we know nothing about.

Have you had anyone double check your parameters in the DT just in case?

Very true. While he didn't have any obvious signs, it is possible he had a disease and was already in bad shape when I moved him over. The move may have stressed him out enough for him to succumb to it.

I haven't checked the water parameters since Saturday (they were good), but I probably should test again tonight.

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Wrasses are interesting little fish but very sensitive. A lot of wrasses don't move well. Even tank to tank in the same house. I have experienced this same thing myself. I have even had them thriving in QT to just decline in 3 days and die. What I was told by a long time wrasse enthusiast is wrasses don't handle stress well at all of any kind. Some do better then others.

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Wrasses are interesting little fish but very sensitive. A lot of wrasses don't move well. Even tank to tank in the same house. I have experienced this same thing myself. I have even had them thriving in QT to just decline in 3 days and die. What I was told by a long time wrasse enthusiast is wrasses don't handle stress well at all of any kind. Some do better then others.

Hmm, good to know.

I have a Melanurus Wrasse and Social Fairy Wrasse in QT for another week and a half before they will be moved to the display tank. Hopefully luck will be on my side - and I'll try to keep the stress to a minimum.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dosing pumps have been installed!

V9mXzLX.jpg

I'm considering getting another pump to start dosing AcroPower on a regular basis. I've been using it for the last couple of months on the 75g and I like the improved polyp extension it provides.

The coral test frags I put in last week are doing great, so this morning I started moving the remainder of the coral that will be coming over.

Just incase there were any pests in the 75g, all SPS pieces went though a Bayor dip. The Acans went through a Coral RX dip.

ucf6jY9.jpgRg5Bx7d.jpg

Everything is looking good with the exception of the war coral, a vermetid snail did a number on it. We'll see if it can recover.

Also, do any of you iphone users have any tips for taking pictures of reef tanks? All my pictures are very blue.

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Bleh.... After losing the rose banded fairy wrasse using a colander to transfer the fish, this time I went with a net while moving the longfin fairy wrasse from the QT to the 240.

Somehow his tiny teeth got hooked on the net and I could not get him out of it. I cut the net and was able to use tweezers to free him, but I don't think he could breath with the net stuck there and perished. The whole ordeal was maybe 4 minutes, just goes to show how fast a good situation can turn bad sad.png

I wish there a place to buy fish disease free. I'm tired of killing my fish during transfers and QTmad.gif. I just want them in the tank and be done with it!

Keeping acros alive is a breeze compared to the fish!

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That sucks I'm sorry to hear that. I still use a colander Or one of my acclimation boxes. The acclimation boxes with a hinged lid and holes in the bottom are best. You can use it to catch the fish as well as move them over and if need be leave in the acclimation chamber in the DT tank.

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That sucks I'm sorry to hear that. I still use a colander Or one of my acclimation boxes. The acclimation boxes with a hinged lid and holes in the bottom are best. You can use it to catch the fish as well as move them over and if need be leave in the acclimation chamber in the DT tank.

Thanks. I think an acclimation box will go on the shopping list. I have heard they are a good idea with wrasses anyway.

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The last fish are moved from the 75g! (Clown pair and Black Cap Basslet) I still need to move over an anemone for the clowns, I have 5 in the 75g but am just bringing over one. Its getting blasted by a powerhead now but its being stubborn.

I've also placed some of the coral onto the rock.

I realized I haven't ever taken a picture of the length of the tank...

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Can you tell where the pistol shrimp's lair used to be? No telling how many snails he killed down there!

s6ENpXY.jpgzNLd7fh.jpg

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That sucks I'm sorry to hear that. I still use a colander Or one of my acclimation boxes. The acclimation boxes with a hinged lid and holes in the bottom are best. You can use it to catch the fish as well as move them over and if need be leave in the acclimation chamber in the DT tank.

Thanks. I think an acclimation box will go on the shopping list. I have heard they are a good idea with wrasses anyway.

They are a good idea for wrasses. Right now I have 2 synergy reef fall out shelters. They are nice. They are a bit delicate assembling and you must follow the instructions. One they are assembled they are decently sturdy. I have ordered a couple elite aquatics acclimation boxes and they should be in any day now. One thing is the reef synergy no longer come with holes in the lid, the holes make it very easy to turkey baste food right to the fish. A set of true acrylic drill bits should be in every DIY reefers tool box. I use mine frequently. This is the set I have. I think I found them for around $30. https://www.amazon.com/Norseman-Acrylic-Point-Drill-Black/dp/B003BQOFFQ?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top
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That sucks I'm sorry to hear that. I still use a colander Or one of my acclimation boxes. The acclimation boxes with a hinged lid and holes in the bottom are best. You can use it to catch the fish as well as move them over and if need be leave in the acclimation chamber in the DT tank.

Thanks. I think an acclimation box will go on the shopping list. I have heard they are a good idea with wrasses anyway.

They are a good idea for wrasses. Right now I have 2 synergy reef fall out shelters. They are nice. They are a bit delicate assembling and you must follow the instructions. One they are assembled they are decently sturdy. I have ordered a couple elite aquatics acclimation boxes and they should be in any day now. One thing is the reef synergy no longer come with holes in the lid, the holes make it very easy to turkey baste food right to the fish. A set of true acrylic drill bits should be in every DIY reefers tool box. I use mine frequently. This is the set I have. I think I found them for around $30. https://www.amazon.com/Norseman-Acrylic-Point-Drill-Black/dp/B003BQOFFQ?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top

Awesome, thanks for the info.

I have a few sheets of 1/4" cell cast acrylic laying around, I may try to do a complete DIY acclimation box.

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I was outsmarted by the anemone. I had a powerhead blasting on him all day and he barely moved. Turned off the powerhead around 11 to sleep and when I wake up he is on the other side of the tank already attached to a new rock!

GVQGlyG.jpg

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I'm having a weird thing where my calcium uptake is almost zero. I've had to actually turn off the dosing pump. Any ideas of why this may be?

My alkalinity uptake is about 1.2 dkh a day. All the corals seem very happy, just not using up any calcium.

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I bought a new Red Sea calcium test kit to compare it against my also brand new salifert test kit.

Results are:

Red Sea: 425ppm

Salifert: 455 ppm

Not sure why the large difference, but the Salifert kit has read 455 - 460 the past 4 days. I'm thinking it may be reading high.

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