Thinking about starting a reef tank again

[Sniperhank]

Those levels are all just fine. I wouldn't worry about doing anything outside of what you are already doing to control the parameters in the water column.
As for the bullying, I would assume that it is what is causing the issues with the firefish and the other clown. A fish won't get sick if it isn't stressed out.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Those levels are all just fine. I wouldn't worry about doing anything outside of what you are already doing to control the parameters in the water column.
As for the bullying, I would assume that it is what is causing the issues with the firefish and the other clown. A fish won't get sick if it isn't stressed out.

Yeah all my levels have been spot on and pretty consistent. So much so that I'm going to buy another nitrate kit to make sure. I NEVER had 0 nitrates in my first tank so I'm just finding it hard to believe that I haven't any signs since the cycle.

You are probably right about the firefish. The weird thing is he used to hide all the time and he actually comes out most of the day now at the centre of the tank. He used to only pop out at feeding time and that was right next to his burrow at the side of the tank. I thought he wouldn't have came out if he was stressed out by the clowns fighting?

Is there anything I can do to help or do I just have to let them sort it out by themselves?

 

[Sniperhank]

There are always reasons behind the behavior. If a fish claims an area of the tank that another was hiding in, then they'd duke it out and one would move.
I would make sure there is enough hiding holes and such in the system. The more places to hide through the rockwork available, the more places to get away from one another and establish their own set territories. This reduces stress and fighting in our closed systems.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Well the firefish lost the battle last night. Woke up this morning and there was a couple of crabs picking away at what was left of him. Gutted!

Just don't know if I should pull all my other fish now and treat them.

The tank I have for qt/ht is a 16gal. I might have to try and separate my two clownfish if I do this. Is copper safe enough to use or is it going to stress or affect the fish too much? I would do hypo salinity but I'm just not sure how much the salinity will fluctuate and how easy it will be to keep it between 1.008 and 1.010

Any thoughts?

 

[Sniperhank]

Copper based medications are safe to use in a QT setting. Just make sure you are keeping an eye on the ammonia/nitrite levels. With nothing to establish a bacteria base, or even if there was the copper would kill it, the toxic levels just rise without containment.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok so I am setting up my HT today. I have a sponge filter, an air stone and a few pieces of pvc in it. I am just going to fill it with water from my DT as today is water change day anyway. Will this be enough to introduce BB or am I better throwing or rinsing one of my filter socks in there as well?

Another question i have is. If I QT fish from now on and ensure no parasites/disease get into my display through fish, can I still introduce parasites/disease through adding coral? For the frag of Xenia I have I used a coral dip. Is this enough to eliminate and disease?

 

[Sniperhank]

You won't be able to keep any beneficial bacteria alive through a copper based medication or hyposalinity. There is also little to no bacteria in the water column itself. You will need to manage the parameters in a QT/hospital tank setup via water changes.
With corals, you can take a similar role to address such things. You would do a coral dip to avoid such things.
At the end of the day, nothing is 100%. But it is usually best to be cautious...though this i best practice, I personally have never QT'd a fish.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

You won't be able to keep any beneficial bacteria alive through a copper based medication or hyposalinity. There is also little to no bacteria in the water column itself. You will need to manage the parameters in a QT/hospital tank setup via water changes.
With corals, you can take a similar role to address such things. You would do a coral dip to avoid such things.
At the end of the day, nothing is 100%. But it is usually best to be cautious...though this i best practice, I personally have never QT'd a fish.

Ok thanks hank

I have set up the HT and caught all the fish and started treatment. I have also ordered a copper test kit online so hopefully it arrives soon.

I bought a fish trap to keep my smaller clown in so the bigger one can't get to him.

The copper treatment lasts 12 days but I plan on keeping my fish in there for a few weeks. Do I just do a bigger water change when the treatment period is over to get rid of most of the copper or do I need do something else?

Well it is my plan to QT all fish now. Although the guy at my lfs said even if I keep my tank fishless for 7-8 weeks I will still have the ich parasite [emoji44]

 

[Sniperhank]

You will follow the medication instructions. It will need daily testing to see where the ammonia/nitrite levels are at. You will need to do water changes anytime you find detectable levels of ammonia or nitrite as it is toxic.
When it comes to ich, the need to go fallow can last some time. The life cycle of ich is only ever seen in the third stage, as a cyst. The other two, where it lives in the sandbed and then is free swimming looking for a host aren't detectable to the human eye.
A 6-8 week period is needed to go fallow to ensure that all of the parasites are no longer in the system...though with that said, healthy fish won't get sick either.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Thanks again hank. Just 1 more quick question for now. I just dumped some water out of the HT tank into one of my water change buckets. I rinsed the bucket with ro water when I was finished using it. Will this be ok still to use for water changes? Or could using it to do water changes in future affect my coral and inverts in my DT? I know I can't get copper in my DT but would that be enough to crash my tank?

 

[Sniperhank]

If I remember correctly, drinkable water grade plastics are labeled with a 2. If it is, things like copper shouldn't be able to leach into the plastic.
Most 5 gallon buckets that you can pick up from anywhere from Lowes to your local hardware store sell these from my experience. The buckets that most of our salt mixes come in might be this grade as well...though I don't really recall that fully.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

It's been a while since I've been on here. I've been kept on my toes with this ich outbreak!!

I'm week 5 into my 8week fallow period for my display and have lost 3 fish. First the firefish due to ich then the little clown due to bullying/ich and then a green chromis. I'm not sure what happened with the green chromis to be honest. To tell the truth this HT is driving me insane! I'm constantly mixing new salt water to keep up with the water changes and the extra tank and mixing bucket is taking up too much space haha! I've just got to remember that it will be with it in the end.

Anyway I had a visit to my lfs today to try and lift my spirits up regarding the hobby and I came home with 3 new frags. I'm not good with the names of corals but I think I have an acan, a mushroom and a euphyllia of some kind? Here are some pics so please tell me if I'm wrong. The euphyllia hasn't opened up yet but it has just been introduced and it's lights out time now. Hopefully I can get a better pic tomorrow

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Oh and also. When I was dipping my coral one of these appears from the wood work. Any ideas as to what it's is?

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Here is a better pic

 

[Sniperhank]

Looks like you got yourself what was called acan lords. I don't recall what the scientific name was changed to...but it isn't an acan...though still commonly called this due to the name just changing.
The other two is a green ricordea and then a frog spawn.
How are the fish doing?

 

[Sniperhank]

Oh and also. When I was dipping my coral one of these appears from the wood work. Any ideas as to what it's is? View attachment 301296

That is a pod. They are helpful members of your clean up crew and additional food for your fish. This is what things like mandarins eat specifically. They eat one every time they 'peck' at the rocks...which can tally up into the thousands a day.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Oh right cool. I didn't think pod were that big. I never put them in the tank but looks like I should have.

The clown fish and green chromis seem to be doing fine. No more sign of ich on the clown and there was no sign of it on the chromis at all. They have 3 weeks left in the HT tank. Been feeding them every other day and been doing daily water changes. It's been a battle but I'm almost out the other end.

Thanks for the ID. Is there anything I should know about these coral or is it just a case of keeping my parameters in check? I wasn't going to buy the acan (or not acan haha) or frogspawn but I couldn't resist and the lfs said the were relatively easy to keep

How's ur build coming along

 

[Sniperhank]

Weekly water changes with ro/di water to keep parameters in check. They are medium light corals. The frogspawn in general will like a little bit of flow to have the tentacles moving around some.
As for the 'acan lord', they were reclassified as micromussa's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromussa_lordhowensis

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok cool. Just done some reading on them and found that sometimes clownfish like to host the frogspawn. Is there anything I can do to stop this happening if my clown decides to try this when I reintroduce it to the DT?

Also the frags are still on plugs until I find a place they that they like in the tank. Eventually I want to fix them permanently. Can I just carefully take them off the plugs with a knife and superglue them to a piece of putty then stick them to the rock or is there a better way?

It's actually nice to have something to look at in the DT again. Although I have still been watching the cuc it makes it a lot more enjoyable and a bit more colourful than before.

 

[Sniperhank]

Clowns will do what clowns do. There isn't a way to stop any behavior like what would normally be with an anemone, but can occur with things like the frogspawn, clams, areas of the sandbed...
Some people remove coral from frag plugs, but I do not. What you described should work. I just have a diamond boring bit and drill holes in pieces of rock.