(Funny how, when you aren't looking for one, every store in the valley has a half-dozen... until you want one, of course - then you can't find a single specimen  )

 

Anyway, I picked up a Spotted Mandarin from BirdWorld on Saturday. I'd say it is only about 1 1/4" long, so kinda smallish, but it seems to be doing OK in the 37 tank. The Bicolor blenny is not harrassing it, and the Banggai Cardinals totally ignore it altogether.

 

Good news is that it is almost constantly pecking at the rocks / gravel looking for food.

 

Bad news is - so far - it does not appear to be equating the (super-plentiful) planaria with food...

 

Hopefully it will come around and start chowing down on those *&^%!!!  flatworms... if it does, then I will end up with one heck of a fat Mandarin - cause I got a ton of flatworms!

 

 

 

 

 

Mark is correct on this... and, under normal circumstances, there is no reason to change out such large volumes of water. A water change of anywhere from 5 - 20% per month (depending on tank size and bioload) is sufficient.

 

Now, in my case, I am thinking of doing this to help me address multiple issues all at once.

 

I want to reaquascape, remove several fish, swap out my sump, and do some scratch repair on my 225g acrylic tank simultaneously.

 

I will have an abundant supply of heated, circulating, previously mixed SW prepared. I will have a large (54g) heated tote that I will partially fill with 'old' water out of the main tank to use as a holding tank for all my LR and corals - thus keeping any air exposure to an absolute minimum; maybe a few seconds at most.

 

Once the LR has been removed I will drain the tank down to maybe 6" of water left. This should make catching all the fish rather easy. I will have a second heated tote of 'old' water prepared to hold the fish.

 

I used these techniques when I tore down my old 125g tank and transferred everything to the 225g. I suffered zero losses to livestock doing it this way; even the sponges on my LR were fine.

 

With the tank now almost empty, I can work on the scratch removal without getting soaked. I will use a underwater / reef-safe kit to ensure no harm to the livestock.

 

I will them swap out the sumps. I don't need to do any plumbing changes, so this should not take very long to accomplish. Once the hardware is all in place, I will begin refilling the tank with the 'new' water. I guess I could simply reuse all the 'old water', but I am sure it is fairly depleted of trace elements, etc. as I have not done a WC since, uh.... October

 

When everything is in order, I will catch the fish out of the tote and place each in a poly bag - just like you get when you buy a fish at the LFS. I will then re-acclimate the fish to the tank to avoid shocking anything. The fish that I am thinking of parting with I will put in the sump, for easy retrieval once new owners are found.

 

I figure this to be a 5 or 6 hour procedure, total. Since my live sandbed will be totally undisturbed, and I will be returning several hundred pounds of very healthy, super-covered in coralline LR back into the tank, I do not anticipate any kind of nutrient 'spike' or bacterial bloom.

 

Once completed, I'll give myself a week to get my new Calcium reactor dialed in, and then -

 

time to start piling on the corals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would not advise this. The sudden change of a lot of water can shock the entire tank. Also, the draining of that much water exposes LR to the air, placing it at great risk to death and die-off.

 

In my experience, small gradual changes are best. I'd do no more than a 20% water change. It is just the right amount of exchange to make an improvement and yet not shock the system. You may actually be surprised at the large positive effect a simple 10-15% water change can have in this situation. Then, as you resume approximate monthly 10% exchanges your tank will respond favorably.

 

I'm not really saying this to Bob, because I believe he already knows, but I wanted to be sure everyone reading it understands the negative impact of big water changes.

 

I remember your Scooter from the last time I visited your home

 

Really a very pretty fish in its own right...

 

Maybe I'll try the fish trap. If I catch that 6 Line I am going to sell it because it is too large (IMO) for the 37... it is close to 3" long; really one of the larger 6 Lines I have seen.

 

Plus, it is not very tolerant of other wrasses or bottom feeders like mandarins or blennies. I tried a Mandarin in the 225 before, but the 6 Line harrased it relentlessly... by the fourth or fifth day I had to give the Mandarin away, I thought the 6 Line would kill it for sure.

 

In any event, I am still going to do a big WC on the 225 (somewhere between 150 - 200g) because I have been really very, very lax on caring for the big tank over the winter... I want to get it back in tip-top shape for spring. I am going to get a few of the brute cans on wheels like you have to make things easier.

 

I am also getting a Calcium reactor setup from Corey Price next week, and am going to go with a new (plain old glass) sump. I have to get new 400w MH bulbs, a new UV bulb, change out the prefilters and the DI resin on the RO unit. I am thinking about a new carbon / phosphate reactor, and maybe even a skimmer upgrade.

 

Once most of that is done I am going to concentrate on ALOT more corals; specifically Acans, Blastos, and similar along with a good amount of SPS... with the Ca reactor I think I can better handle them than before.

 

 

 

Bob if you want to use my fish trap to catch your 6 line without dismantling the tank let me know.

 

I know most people haven't had good luck with scooter blennies in small tanks but if they have a good rubble pile and no other carnivores it can be done. I had my Scooter in a 20 gallon tank for 3 months and now in my 55 gallon frag tank for about 5 months and have never had to feed him. He just lives off the pods and is big fat and happy. He's my favorite fish. This pic was taken right after I moved him from the 20 to the frag tank.

 

I am thinking of getting a Mandarin to rid my 37g tank of flatworms. I'd rather try that first instead iof the chemical fix.

 

I have a large (2.5") 6 line in my 225 that would be perfect for the job, but I'll never be able to catch it short of removing all the LR and draining the tank

 

 

Would the spotted (psychedelic) Mandarin or the Green Mandarin be a better choice - or does it not really matter which species?

 

Anyone seen any good ones at a local LFS lately? I figure I'll pick it up this weekend

 

I also figure that if the Mandarin does the job and rids the 37 of all the flatworms, then I can move it to the 225 if it looks like it is not getting enough pods, etc to sustain it in the 37.

 

P.S. - I also do actually plan to do a large water change on the 225, remove the LR temporarily and catch the 6 line (and a couple of other fish) at that time... maybe in a couple of weeks