Cleaning

I have a 125 mostly fo but with lr and some corals, lately the water has been dirty looking - not really cloudy but a lot of particles floating around. I cleaned the sponge in my sump and watched a bunch of bugs go down the drain. Is there a better way to do this so I dont lose all my bugs, I know my gobies love them and I dont want to lose them all. But then again, if they are in the sponge they probably won't end up back in the tank again anyway, right? I am planning on putting sand, lights, etc. in it someday but as of right now it is empty. I am just hoping that the stuff floating around only looks bad but isn't bad for the fish. If any one has an opinion it is GREATLY appreciated! 

Thanks for your help! I want to start a refugium, I am just a little nervous - there is a lot to do it seems to me - lighting, type of sand, etc etc. I am sure I will - just want to make sure I know what i am doing first. Will taking that sponge out make the tank worse(dirty)? I do have fish that need the Pods ( bugs) so I guess I should take it out. Thanks again you for your help!

Ryan,

Easy for you to say - knowing my luck I would get the wrong sand and make nothing but a mess! I would probably have to change things around a little bit - there is not a lot of room right now for anything - the pump that runs it is HUGE! Probably a stupid question but if you have the right type of fish (sand stirrers) is it still necessary to vacuum? I have a leaf wrasse that goes around digging holes, a yellow wrasse that sleeps in the sand and I have a yellow head also.  I am also not using carbon, is that bad? Sorry for all the ?'s 

Not everyone vacuums their gravel. I don't, but I just mentioned it for the sake of those who do. If you have sand stirrers, I wouldn't worry about it. As far as sand goes, there are many choices, but personally I don't think it has to be a difficult decision. Some people use "Mud" of some sort, but I've always just used whatever was cheap, and worked.
Carl, I apologize, I should have used the word "captured" instead of "trapped."

Edited by Ryan Willden

Geofish, How are the filtration improvements coming along?

To recap from my visit, what I thought would be useful:

1) Garlic food for ich, ASAP
2) Sponges on overflow and powerheads
3) Granular Activated Carbon in overflow box
4) More circulation
5) Remove detritus from sump
6) Stronger pump in sump (think about getting an Iwaki or other pump and connect it to that bulkhead on the sump that is currently plugged. Cutting out part of the stand so that the pump would sit in the right hand section is not a problem.)
7) Remove bioballs and convert sump to an RDP Refugium (Read the last 2002 SeaStar for info about RDP Refugia)

This is a lot and will take some time to accomplish, I know.

Please feel free to call me whenever you have a question.

Mark 296-1563

P.S. Your reef tank will need more water movement soon or it will begin to flounder. An RDP refugium will help there too.

Edited by Mark Peterson

Mark - I was treating for ich  from the start with garlic - but I guess it wasnt enough - I lost both of the Angels. Although i am not convinced ich was the problem. What is your opinion on pet stores having copper treated tanks? I have heard it can be useful in certain situations but that long term it is bad for the fish. My other fish are doing fine - I had Rick (From the Sea) test my water on Friday and it was fine. I added those sponges, another powerhead and the carbon right after you left and by morning the "green" water was almost clear. Yesterday I cleaned out and rearranged the sump and the pump seems to be working a lot better(cleaning the sponge probably helped, too!) I also added another filter (probably easier ways), Emperor-type to help with oxygen - when it sits out of the tank a little bit  it makes a lot of bubbles! Like I said there is probably an easier way but at the time that was the easiest. Thanks a lot for your help and any more advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Carl - Is no-ich reef safe? I add garlic to their food but if I have another outbreak it would be nice to know what works and what doesn't if garlic isn't strong enough at the time. Thank you for the advice!

Ryan,

Thanks for the advice, I am not sure if the water quality was ever that bad. The water was on the green side and had a lot of particles floating around but I don't think it was bad enough to kill the fish. They both died yesterday and I had my water tested Friday and it was fine. When I put the first Angel in my Sailfin didnt like him very much so I put the Sailfin in the other tank but maybe the damage was already done. When Mark was here my corals were acting funny but after making the changes I made after he left they have been fine and my other fish are fine - I have a Powder Blue in there and I thought they were on the picky side when it comes to water quality. Like I have said I am new at this so any information I can get is very much appreciated 

What is your opinion on copper? I am not sure what happened so I am trying to go over everything so this doesnt happen again.

On the lighter side I also have a 75 gallon reef and my BTA split last night - my clowns are very happy they keep going back and forth

Geofish, I don't want to hurt your feelings and sometimes I am wrong about some aquariums, but it does not surprise me that you had deaths in that tank. It looked to me like the conditions have been poor for some time. Your fish are living on the edge.

The water conditions that we usually "test" are less than half of the things that must be considered in keeping the tank healthy. (Just because Bill says your water looks good, doesn't mean the tank is healthy.) The statements that Ryan made above regarding water quality are excellent but are the tip of the iceberg with regard to your big aquarium.

One of the major situations is that your tank is way overcrowded for the limited filtration capacity you currently have. So many big fish and so little biological filtration and poor circulation. Since you have noticed improvement with the things you have changed so far, it would be good to keep going with improvements.

I also mentioned above that the other tank, the reef tank is not going to stay looking good without some better circulation and filtration. This is serious information and I offer it with the understanding that most people want to do things their own way and in their own time frame. I suggest that you take a good look at other aquariums and compare them to yours and learn from what others do and say about aquarium keeping.

You have made a good start. Keep on learning and developing your aquariums in order to make them long lasting healthy environments.

geofish wrote: Carl - Is no-ich reef safe? I add garlic to their food but if I have another outbreak it would be nice to know what works and what doesn't if garlic isn't strong enough at the time. Thank you for the advice!

Yes, it is reef safe. I have had to use it twice and it really helped by providing an immediate reduction in the parasitic affects on the infected fish. I have seen no adverse effects on my corals.

Ryan, I completely agree that ich is directly reflective of a poor environmental condition. I disagree that it is always due to poor water parameters, but often this may be the case. Both times that my livestock's immune systems were lowered enough for ich to become apparent it was due to the stress of a move. Setting up a new tank or adding new fish to a system is a very traumatic experience for them and at times can contribute to lowered immune systems and susceptibility to ich.

Hence, I fully agree that a healthy tank is an ichless tank. But, just in case it is good to know that there is a bandaid available that can save your fish. JMO

Ryan W., .

I guess I misread and I apologize for misquoting. We do agree 100%... on this! . I guess I need to read a little slower next time.