75G Office Tank (1 Viewer)

nels0nico · Jan 30, 2019

So, this office tank is the offspring of my first home project (info. here)

I have transferred:

20 lbs. of live rock;
10 gallons of water;
live sand;
original 2 clown fish;
original yellow tail damsel;
small Rasta and Circus Circus zoa Frags
heater; and
2 Tunze 6015 pumps.

I purchased and installed:

hang on pump/filter (Aqua Clear 110);
hang on skimmer (Xyclone PS-370); and
48" Fluval SEA marine & reef 3.0 spectrum LED light fixture (really nice).

My current goal with this tank is to have a low maintenance tank, similar to this tank seen on YouTube:

I know I'm probably a long ways away from that, but that's the plan for now. It seems like the tank on YouTube achieves low maintenance through hardy soft coral that thrive on high nutrient levels. This is the idea, but who knows what kind of tank this will turn out to be.

Right now, I'm looking for live rock and livestock. I'm going to enjoy the aquascaping! I'm slowly filling the tank with water. I'm at about 30 gallons right now and plan to add 5 gallons every week or so until I reach the top of the tank. I figure that this, along with the water and live rock from my old tank, will reduce the effects of any cycling that the tank has to go through.

I'll be searching through the forum for tips and suggestions. As always, any help is appreciated. Thanks all!

Picture:

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webster1234 · Feb 3, 2019

In my opinion, I'd just fill it up and get it cycling. I can't see where slowly filling it up is going to benefit you in any way. In fact, it could prolong the establishment of your beneficial bacteria since you won't have any filtration going other than your power heads. Power heads do a good job of moving the water, but not oxygenating it. That is what your skimmer does, as well as the falling water through your filtration system. Water has a good amount of surface tension that hinders gas exchange and you need to break that surface tension by disrupting the surface area.

Cody · Feb 3, 2019

webster1234 said:
In my opinion, I'd just fill it up and get it cycling. I can't see where slowly filling it up is going to benefit you in any way. In fact, it could prolong the establishment of your beneficial bacteria since you won't have any filtration going other than your power heads. Power heads do a good job of moving the water, but not oxygenating it. That is what your skimmer does, as well as the falling water through your filtration system. Water has a good amount of surface tension that hinders gas exchange and you need to break that surface tension by disrupting the surface area.

I already texted him the other day and told him exactly that. I think he has it up and running by now.

nels0nico · Feb 3, 2019

webster1234 said:
In my opinion, I'd just fill it up and get it cycling. I can't see where slowly filling it up is going to benefit you in any way. In fact, it could prolong the establishment of your beneficial bacteria since you won't have any filtration going other than your power heads. Power heads do a good job of moving the water, but not oxygenating it. That is what your skimmer does, as well as the falling water through your filtration system. Water has a good amount of surface tension that hinders gas exchange and you need to break that surface tension by disrupting the surface area.

Cody said:
I already texted him the other day and told him exactly that. I think he has it up and running by now.

Thank you both for your counsel! I finished filling it up yesterday. Stabilizing with bottled bacteria. Running skimmer tomorrow.

Next livestock additions I’m planning are:

a clean up crew from reef cleaners;
a few zoas;
an elkhorn; and
a forest fire digi.

I also want to add a BTA soon enough.

And going to order about 80lbs. of base rock (reef cleaners as well) to compliment my 20lbs. of live rock.

Now that I’m writing all this I feel like I’m moving fast...

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nels0nico · Feb 14, 2019

I may have ich in my new tank. My clown has white spots and has had them for about a week. I have a 10G QT setup, and want to start copper treatment (copper power). I’m planning on taking all three of my fish out and doing therapeutic copper in the QT for a month, then waiting a couple more weeks and transferring fish back to DT. IDK.

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nels0nico · Feb 15, 2019

nels0nico said:
I may have ich in my new tank. My clown has white spots and has had them for about a week. I have a 10G QT setup, and want to start copper treatment (copper power). I’m planning on taking all three of my fish out and doing therapeutic copper in the QT for a month, then waiting a couple more weeks and transferring fish back to DT. IDK.

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I read @Tenny post about his battle with velvet and it sounded scary and super involved.

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nels0nico · Feb 15, 2019

Duplicate Post - Deleted

Luman01 · Feb 15, 2019

What’s your temp at?

nels0nico · Feb 17, 2019

I raised my temperature on Friday to about 82F. I did this because I put in some ArcReef Coraline Algae in a Bottle.

I watched this scary YouTube video where they "dispelled ICH myths" one of them being that raising the temperature does not kill ICH. They explained the parasitic life cycle and said that the only way to really kill ICH is to take out all the fish and leave them out until the eggs die. The fish also have to be treated via TTM or copper. But then, my LFS (who I trust) sold me Kordon Copper Aid and told me to raise the temperature, and not to worry about it because everyone has ICH.

There seems to be a big disparity between LFS knowledge and what the web says. For example, R2R says that Kordon's Copper Aid is too weak and not effective; and YouTube says that raising temperature is a myth. So, IDK what to beleive. Lol.

I don't have any coral right now, so I may just treat my DT with the Copper Power. Taking fish out and doing separate water changes in QT seems like a lot of work. I have a yellow tail damsel that will probably be almost imposible to catch now that I have rock work up. I don't want to break tank down... We'll see though. I already have the QT tank up and running.

Otherwise, the fish seem fine though. Other than the big clown having white spots (which are dying down) they seem very healthy and happy. They always eat, and show no other signs of sickness.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. Here (link) is the copper treatment guide I am thinking of following.

webster1234 · Feb 17, 2019

Never treat your DT with copper unless you never plan on having any coral in there ever. The copper will absorb into your rocks and will stay in there. It will slowly leach out over time killing any coral you will ever put in there. If you treat your DT with copper, be prepared to throw your rock away or just have a fish only tank.

Also...because copper is absorbed into your rocks, you will be unable to tell how much copper is in the water, and how much has been bound up in your rocks. Therefore, copper should only be used in bare bottom QT tanks.

nels0nico · Feb 17, 2019

webster1234 said:
Never treat your DT with copper unless you never plan on having any coral in there ever. The copper will absorb into your rocks and will stay in there. It will slowly leach out over time killing any coral you will ever put in there. If you treat your DT with copper, be prepared to throw your rock away or just have a fish only tank.

Also...because copper is absorbed into your rocks, you will be unable to tell how much copper is in the water, and how much has been bound up in your rocks. Therefore, copper should only be used in bare bottom QT tanks.

And this is why Marsh-Reef.Org is the best. Thanks, @webster1234. Any suggestions on how to get the damsel out?

webster1234 · Feb 17, 2019

teeny hook and fishing string.....or you can try a trap. If you feed only there, and if he gets hungry enough, he is likely to go in there.

nels0nico · Feb 18, 2019

webster1234 said:
teeny hook and fishing string.....or you can try a trap. If you feed only there, and if he gets hungry enough, he is likely to go in there.

Haha! Thanks! The temperature is up to 84 in my tank. Fish seem fine. White spots almost all gone. Cycling QT. I will likely try to net all three fish sometime soon and place in QT with a slow ramp up to therapeutic levels of copper for 30 days. Then, I'll transfer back to DT.

In the meantime, are inverts safe to put in the DT? I want to home that SRBTA and some zoas and other pieces I have pending from @Cody

webster1234 · Feb 18, 2019

You are really supposed to leave your tank fallow for 90 days, just to make sure all of the pests are dead. 30 days isn't long enough. Some could sneak through. And you can add anything that isn't a fish. Only fish can host ich.

nels0nico · Feb 19, 2019

Are there any foster homes for fish while the DT is fallow?! 90 days is quite a long time.

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nels0nico · Feb 21, 2019

Temperature at 84; no more white spots. Could I have been confusing something else with ICH? Could the fish just have been stressed from tank transfer?

nels0nico · Feb 21, 2019

Here's an article saying heat does kill ICH: Using Heat to Treat Ich in Freshwater Tropical Fish - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

@Luman01 so much info. out there.

Luman01 · Feb 21, 2019

nels0nico said:
Here's an article saying heat does kill ICH: Using Heat to Treat Ich in Freshwater Tropical Fish - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

@Luman01 so much info. out there.

Yea there sure is a lot of info, since I don’t like to qt, although, I may set on up, to test my Patience, I use the heat method, worked every time for me, and when I get a new fish the first week I raise the temp up to 83, then back down to 81. And I feed with garlic to boost my fishes immune systems. As far as qt, I stopped doing it cus, all my fish would die faster than it did just throwing it in my display.

nels0nico · Apr 1, 2019

Photo Update:

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nels0nico · Jul 2, 2019

Picture Update:

P.S. I have a HOB filter on the left half of the tank. If I move it to the right half of the tank, do you think that will disturb the BTA? A significant amount of the flow comes from the power heads; I am not sure if moving the HOB filter to the right half of the tank would cause a different flow that could disturb the BTA.

Solved: will move skimmer to right half, instead.

@webster1234 @Cody Please see your progeny.

75G Office Tank (1 Viewer)

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