Lost an Angel, Now a Tang - Page 2 Post 2

[noteworthy]

Hello.


Well I bought a half-black angel last saturday, acclimated it by matching temp.. then added half a cup of water over a two hour period. I put the fish in and everything was fine.


The fish had been active and everyone was getting along. It was swimming around when my wife was feeding it and eating like normal. Anyway She left and 10 minutes later when I left I walked past the tank and saw it laying on the sand dead. No heavy breathing.. no loss of appetite.. Rest of the fish are fine.



I have the following in the tank.

2 bar gobies
2 damsels
1 yellow tang
1 cc starfish
2 cleaner shrimp
2 crabs
3 snails

When I first added the angel it was chased a little by the tang. Then it stopped after two days. No aggression problems. The damsels have left everything alone. Is it possible the tang beat up the angel and knocked it out? I was in a rush to leave but I didn't notice it breathing. The fish was also pretty stiff.

$50 dollars flushed down the toilet

 

[zenn]

how big is your tank?

 

[noteworthy]

55 gallon it was pretty full on bioload with teh angel and yellow tang

 

[zenn]

i'm not an expert but i'd say it could have been that he was just over stressed and died. Then again, your tang, damsals and gobies are pretty hardy and might have survived an ammonia spike that killed the angel. Not sure. Sorry for your loss.

Oh, and you're probably right about the angel being a bit much for the 55g. you were probably maxed out with what you had before you added the angel.

 

[noteworthy]

I'm such an idiot. I didn't follow the directions on my nitrate test properly. I didn't figure it was off too much because I have a skimmer. I redid the test and it was off the charts.. 150+ - Just changed 15 gallons, cleaned out the canister filter and all pads/guards on powerheads. Now I have a reading of 20 on nitrate. I'll do anotehr change this weekend. I knew something was funny when my tangs tail was mis-colored. Serves me Right.


My skimmer has just stopped getting gunk as well. It's a seaclone 100. El Cheapo. Any other mods I can do to help it? Right now I drilled a hole and put a tube in the intake with an airstone. It worked great for a few months. Now it isn't gathering anything. Not foaming enough.

Should I toss this thing out the window or can I salvage it?!?

 

[quarryshark]

I would highly consider an upgrade, but there must be other factors for your nitrated to be that high.
How often do you feed and how much? How often do you do water changes? What other kind of filtration are you employing such as LR?

 

[noteworthy]

Usually do a change once a month.. real small 2-4 gallons. I haven't cleaned out my canister before.. it has been going about a month and a half. Filter turned the water I rinsed in it black. Should I do a 33% change once every two weeks? once a month?

I have 30 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of base rock I added about a month ago. Also 30 lbs live sand 20 lb regular sand.

 

[seve1]

I would consider doing 10% change every 2 weeks (I did in my 55 and had good water quality) and definitely would upgrade the skimmer.

 

[quarryshark]

I would consider doing 10% change every 2 weeks (I did in my 55 and had good water quality) and definitely would upgrade the skimmer.

Agree, plus consider doubling the amount of LR at least. The best natural filtration you can get.

 

[greenmaji]

My skimmer has just stopped getting gunk as well. It's a seaclone 100. El Cheapo. Any other mods I can do to help it? Right now I drilled a hole and put a tube in the intake with an airstone. It worked great for a few months. Now it isn't gathering anything. Not foaming enough.

Should I toss this thing out the window or can I salvage it?!?

Ive been looking into DIY skimmers and mods lately..
Ive seen alot of complaints about the seaclone (and some complete overhalls of them on other forums).. It would take alot of modifcation to make it a great skimmer but.. I think it could be done.. you might want to search around for skimmer mods for it..
Ive seen a reserculting DIY needle wheel mod. for the seaclone 100 (dont ask me to find it because that's one fast moving forum and Ive lost it, or the moderators there removed it for cloging up bandwith)
they basicly put the seaclone on top of a pvc main skimmer housing, plumbed a reculating loop for the needlewheel (took water from the bottom of the main housing and pumped it right back in just above that level on the other side), fed about, in your case 75gph (power head with a ball valve on the output) into the main housing up closer to the riser cone, and put a pvc gate valve on the output to fine tune it.. the closed loop was powered by a mag 5 with a needle wheel modification on the impeller (he drilled out a circle from one of those flat plastic type horse brush, and put a air line into the input water line with a air controll valve)..
greef.. thats about as good an explination I can give for what I read.. sorry if thats tough to follow..

 

[noteworthy]

The tang's tail had looked like it was bleeding before I was able to change the water. I changed quite a bit and he cleared up for 3 days after that. Today I found him dead. I noticed some labored breathing but I think this was the effect of the previous water before the change. I'm going to do a change every week for a while I guess.


Do I really have to let the new water mix and sit for a long time? I usually mix it in after 30 minutes. I do 3 gallons at a time with my little bucket. Add the water to bucket, dechlor, salt. Mix it all up with my hand then test the water.

 

[tecwzrd]

Do I really have to let the new water mix and sit for a long time? I usually mix it in after 30 minutes. I do 3 gallons at a time with my little bucket. Add the water to bucket, dechlor, salt. Mix it all up with my hand then test the water.

It’s best to mix for 24+ hours so everything settles IMO. Personally I let mine mix for 48+ hours before adding. Make sure the temp is within 2 degrees of your tank using a submersible heater.

I would recommend using a PH to mix and recheck your SA afterwards since it can change from the first time you add your salt mix.

You also might want to seriously think about investing in a RO\DI if you haven’t already as your tap may be a source of NO3 along with other hazardous minerals/phosphate.

I do 5 gal changes every week most of the time but lately I’ve been so busy I’ve been doing 15 gal changes each month on my 55 gal.

Lastly I would upgrade to a better performing skimmer like the Aqua C Remora Pro
http://www.aquarium-supply.biz/ordering/protein_skimmer_remora.htm

Or the Turboflotor 1000
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...4RS&ref=3312&subref=AA&GCID=C12188x003&ctt=60

 

[Guest]

Should I toss this thing out the window or can I salvage it?!?

Yes, it'd toss it. Seaclones are POSs. Coralifes' superskimmer and Aqua Remora make good products. Good luck!

KG

 

[steve r]

it takes at least 24 hours for salt mix to properly mix and stabilize.

steve r

 

[noteworthy]

Thanks for the info. What would you say is the maximum you should let saltwater sit without a powerhead?

 

[quarryshark]

You can store it for quite a while (weeks). Just make sure you airate it before doing the water change.