220 Reef system Diary

[Navarre]

The program is called "Sketchup 3d"

I probably wont be using a skimmer as i dont currently use one in this system. However its not beentotally thrown out and it seems mineral mud systema are now being used with skimmers more often.

 

[Fishy411]

U could just use a little prizm skimmer. I dont think that would make too much of a difference.

 

[Navarre]

I do actually have a Prizm skimmer and I have attached this to my 100 gallon to see how it effects the tank. Its actually taking out alot of crap (and this brand of skimmer underskims!)
I will be watching to see what effects it has on the MM system and algae growth over the next few weeks.

 

[technium]

Navarre any updates, im following this thread with great interest. I have FW fish, large oddballs etc but actually really purchased both my 6 x 2 x 2 tank and 8 x 2 x 2 with the intention of converting one of them to a marine / reef system at some point.

I obviously want to have some experience of keeping fish for awhile before I jump into reefs and marine but research alot on these kind of forums as its alot of money to waste and not fair on the fish or corals I keep if I end up killing them off.

Anyway apart from the tank and sump itself what are the costs involved, i.e. live rock, corals, skimmers etc.

I dont want to hijack your thread to feel free to pm me if you wish. thanks again

T

 

[blout]

Any updates on your tank Navarre (not my tank but cant wait to see it)

 

[Navarre]

Sorry for not replying sooner but i have had an appalling new year so far. )

I had an Achilles tang over the Christmas period, unfortunately this died and left its mark by causing a whitespot outbreak in my current tank. This has caused a major crash with many of my fish dying. Purple Mask Angel, Mothfish, 1 Male clown (though this died in a powerhead not to whitespot) Wattanbae AngelMale Anthias.. All dead on Newyears day
No apparant reason for it, i checked water perameters and all were fine with the exception of KH which was a very poor 5. I personally feel that the AChilles didnt adjust well to the new tank (my sg was admittedly high andi didnt know it) and this caused stress and thus whitespot. The achilles died but the whitespot spread to the other fish and caused this many deaths.

At the moment i am battling to keep my Asfur angel and Emperor Tang.. they show signs of the parasite but at the very least they are still eating well.

If this were not enough, the very next day i drove to Grimsby and back (820 mile round trip ) and about 2 miles from home my car engine dropped its entire oil and water contents o the road and promptly seized up

The money i had put aside for the next stage (strengthening the floor) is now being transferred into finding a replacement engine

Dont worry though! The new year is here and now the Christmas decoration are down i am preparing for the next stage (even if i dont have the cash )

As son as there are any developments i will post up i promise

 

[blout]

ive heard of bad luck but it seems you got the lot sorry to hear about your fish i know what its like to lose 1 fish that you love but nearly the hole tank full that must be killing you . I feel confident you will get back on your feet and have a great tank after all thats happend, hope the other 2 survive they should do sounds like they have a great dad

 

[Navarre]

Thanks for the kind words. )

I can accept losing fish whether its due to disease and even my own stupidity if i can actually learn from it.
I just cant seem to be 100% sure what the cause was and this really gets under my skin, (if i cannt pinpoint the trouble then how do i stop it from happening again ) ).
I guess i will never know for sure, I just hope i can turn it around. This new tank cant come fast enough at the moment

 

[blout]

could it of been an ammonia hike from the achilles dieing or do you meen how did the achilles die, i must admit that was one beautiful fish i would love one myself but i dont think my tanks big enough will you get another

 

[blout]

could it of been an ammonia hike from the achilles dieing or do you meen how did the achilles die, i must admit that was one beautiful fish i would love one myself but i dont think my tanks big enough will you get another ps i dont think your stupid you offer some of the best advice on her

 

[RamJet]

I feel for you, if it helps any I just bought a old 1915 farm and have been working on the old section of the home over the holidays. The sheet rock dust managed to drift into the new section of the home and wiped out my sons 2 fresh water tanks and killed all fish and inverts in my 75 gallon reef. Somehow the corals servived, but I sent them all to my parents 90 gallon. Oh, the photo below is the 75 gallon two years ago, I had bought out harbor aquitics of all remaining corals as they had closed the shop. So you can imagine what the tank looked like with an addintional 40 corals of all types in it. I am planning to sell the home in a few months and figured it best to not have to worry about my 75 reef. My 15 gallon got hit also, but with a skimmer built for the 75 gallon on it, it pulled through with out to much of a problem. But things are not back to normal yet. Nothing quite like needing to do a massive water change in all tanks and having all stores closed. I had to just sit there and watch everything as it died.

 

[Navarre]

The initial problem was a number of things as far as i can tell...

I ordered the Achilles to go in the new tank but my local shop was a bit eager and got it far too early. I got a phone call to say it had arrived and could be collected. This was far too early really (Mistake number 1 ) but i didnt like the idea of it being kept in a tiny holding tank so i went to collect it. (Mistake number 2).
When i got there i found they had removed it from the bag and it was now in the tank (mistake number 3) This now meant the fish had to be caught again and rebagged. Now this fish was caught by TMC in the morning and bagged for shipping, it then had a 3 hour drive to reach the shop where it was released and then captured and rebagged again only to be placed into another tank a mtter of 10 minutes later (mistake number4).

Once in the tank it took one hell of a beating from my powder blue (tank was too small for 3 tangs and especially 2 tangs of the same body shape).

Considering the start it had the poor thing did remarkably well and was feeding good! Then over a period of 24 hours my SG rose dramatically due to larger than anticipated evaporation over christmas with visitors and heating being on longer etc. My SG rose to over 1.032 (Mistake number 5)

Im sure this was the last bit that threw it over the edge. Its kindeys failed in the high SG and also a coating of ich appeared. Even though i lowered teh SG and started to treat the tank, the poor thing had no chance to recover and thus it was lost.

I shall be getting another AChilles as its one of my favorite fish and is also a central part of the dinamics i wish for the tank. Iwill not be getting anymore fish until the new tank is ready, this way i have a better environment for them.
Unfortunately this fish just arrived at the wrong time and one by one all of these things helped to reduce its immune system etc.

 

[blout]

I now see what you meen that sounds very stressfull poor fish

 

[blout]

hey navarre i know you had a crap start to the year but how the tank coming on

 

[Opcn]

Oh no! That moth fish was very attractive.

Are you sure that that was a correct reading on the SG? thats alot of evaporation