220 FOWL Tank Diary

[aquaknight]

Awesome new fish GT! The Bluejaw looks great. Big fan of the skunk clowns. Really underappreciated clowns, all the intelligence of larger clowns, but as peaceful, or even more so then perculas/ocells.
Originally Posted by sean48183
http:///forum/post/2893964
Absolutely ph drops when your lights go out. Little experiment: Leave your fuge light off and test your ph after the lights have been off for 4 hours. Ph will have dropped to around 7.8 I'm guessing. When photosynthesizing algae and corals release O2. When they close up they release carbon dioxide.
That is absolutely correct. Corals, algae, and other microorganisms start to consume CO2 with the lights on and release O2 into the water, raising pH. Running the refugium light on an opposite lighting schedule will help keep levels balanced. A good "swing range" to aim for is .2, ideally 8.1-8.3.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys ! Sean, your right about that Niger, he's no shy anymore, he is always out in the open. Hey Camp, the tank is doing great, I'll have some more pics up soon. Thanks Saka, how is your tank doing-? How are you Aqua-? Those Skunk clowns are a real charm, great color. The Bluejaw is my favorite, always greeting me when I come up to the tank. I also got a Blue Tang, she is doing great. The one problem that I have in the tank, is that it is very cloudy. I can't figure it out. When I look closely at the returns, I can see very fine particles coming out,and some are on the top surface of the tank, in both corners. In the refuguim, I have about 3 layers of carbon pre-filters.Then in the chamber after the cheato, I have about 5 bags of Reef Carbon and 5 Chemi-Pure then right before the final chamber I have a big blue sponge before the pump. I don't have any pre-filter on the Mag 24, could that be it. -? Also when I look down where the cheato is, u can see all of micro bubbles coming from the down pipe, through the rocks. Any help would be greatly appreciated !

 

[rcreations]

Are they micro bubbles or particles? I have the prefilter attached to my Mag return pump and I get no micro bubbles in the tank. I do get some microbubbles in the refugium/sump but those are gone by the time they go through the different compartments of the sump.
btw, why all the carbon and sponges? Sponges are just nitrate factories unless you clean them twice a week and they need replaced often. They don't really provide any benefit and are so much trouble. Carbon again can become a nitrate factory, unless replaced often. In my 150gal I have no carbon at all and no sponges other than the prefilter for my return pump. I just use the refugium, deep sand bed and skimmer and my nitrates never go over 20 and I have an overstocked tank.

 

[aquaknight]

Whoa GT new avay? It took a sec, to realize you posted

Glad the skunks and Blue Jaw are doing great!
I don't run any sponges or bags. IMHO, carbon and phos removers are really only effective in a reactor. Usually they just collect junk on the leading edge like R¢ mentions. Same reasons for sponge, I also don't have a prefilter on my Mag18 return. I did get 2 sheets of acrylic, and lay them over the pump, so it's deflecting the water pouring in. Initially when I switched, all the crap blew out, but eventually got skimmed out and how no more bubbles or random particles floating around.

 

[rcreations]

AquaKnight, that's a pretty good idea with the acrylic sheets. I'll have to try that. I hate having any sponges because even the prefilter just collects junk. lol, I have a whole bunch of hermits (like 10) in that compartment and they're constantly on the prefilter cleaning it. But I don't think it's overly effective... they can only clean the surface, not the junk that accumulates inside the sponge.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey R ! Which pre-filter are you using for the Mag-? Is it the one that came with it-? Thanks for the tip on the sponges, I'll remove them right now. I really thought that the carbon and chemi-pure are good for the tank and it makes the water crystal clear. I just got my UV today, I am about to hook it up now, maybe it will help with the water. Hey Aqua ! I'll see if I can manage to use those acrylic sheets over the pump. Right now it is still very cloudy, I can't even see through the other side of the tank.

 

[rcreations]

I use the prefilter that came with the pump. Works good but I'll see if I can remove it and use the acrylic sheets instead. The less sponges you have the less chance of nitrates building up.
You'll really like the UV. I have one connected and the water is crystal clear.

 

[gtdarock]

Thanks R ! The water is getting clear, I can't wait ! Hey do you guys think I can get a Volitan Lion-? I know I have the BlueJaw and Niger. Is it possible -? I do want to get a Gold Puffer in a few months. Whatever you guys think is best. Here is my stocklist so far:
Bluethroat trigger
skunk clowns- which might be gone with the Lion
Niger Trigger
Blue Tang
2 Yellows and a Purple - Next Month
Emperor and Queen - March
Thanks !

 

[kjr_trig]

Looking good.....I would avoid the Lion, you have a few potentially Lion bullies on the list, the Triggers, the Puffer, and the Angels all have the reputation for being hard on Lions....Considered an Eel?

 

[gtdarock]

Thanks K ! So I still have those floating particles on the top of the tank. I still can't figure it out. I put the prefilter on the pump,but no change. Do you guys think it could be coming from the powerheads -? Maybe because they're blowing over the rocks -?

 

[rcreations]

Do you have enough surface agitation?

 

[gtdarock]

Hmmmmm....... I might sound like a newbie but what do you mean by agitation -?

 

[rcreations]

I meant light turbulence on the surface. Most dissolved solids in the water rise to the surface. Which is why the overflows skim the water surface, that's where all the organics are. Try pointing a few powerheads towards the surface to create turbulence and not have any dead/calm spots.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey R, you are right about the dead spots. I am working on getting the powerheads pointed at the right direction. Thanks again. Also I wanted to know if I have my skimmer set-up right.
I have the skimmer and pump in the second chamber of my refugium,also the return is in the same spot. I was wondering if that is ok-? So in other news, which I hope I don't get flamed for. My girlfriend cousin,broke his 350 down and got rid of most of his fish. He knew that I wanted a Emperor and he gave it to me. I was a little reluctant, because I feel that I wasn't ready for him and it also is messing up my stock list order. So I took him up on the offer, had him QT, and is in my display doing great. He's eating pellets and algae sheets. I know he needs many different types of foods. So far I have Mysis,Blood Worms, Krill,Silversides and Enriched Brine shrimp. I have Vita-Chem, Marine C, Selcon and garlic. I was wondering if it is ok to mix all the formulas together when feeding. Also this ruins my chance of getting an Queen Angel too, I might have to remove him when I get the Queen. I heard some people, would shut there light off for a few days when adding another angel to a tank with an establish angel, can that work-? So I am a little worried about my hippo and starting to see some fading on the Emperor. I took some pics, I think it might be HLLE. The emperor looks like he has white blotches and the hippo has them in black. Should I double up on the vitamins -? I also heard that it could be stray voltage-? I don't have a grounding probe. I am very sorry about all the questions, I'm just stuck right now.

The pics are below, thanks guys !

 

[rcreations]

The white blotches on the Emperor are from stress. That's what they look like when they're stressed out. You just have to figure out why it's stressing... could be any number of things: water conditions, new home, fish picking on it, stray voltage and so on. Vitamins help, but I wouldn't overdo it. Just use them like it recommends on the bottle.
For the skimmer, I think having it in the same chamber as the return pump is gonna make it very difficult to control the micro bubbles. Otherwise I don't think it's bad.
I have a grounding probe in my tank, always had one. But opinions are split between having one and not. Works for me.
Btw, I like your emperor! You can still add a queen angel, just don't wait too long. But I think you can add one in one month.

 

[aquaknight]

Originally Posted by RCreations
http:///forum/post/2922371
Btw, I like your emperor! You can still add a queen angel, just don't wait too long. But I think you can add one in one month.
Agreed

If anything, consider one of a different size, a juvi or a medium sized (for a Queen) adult.

 

[rcreations]

Juvi Queen Angels are great! They're so cute and it's really neat to see how they change colors, plus they are not agressive at all when they're small. At least mine wasn't. She started getting a little agressive as she got bigger, after she completely lost her blue stripes. If you buy one in a week or two, you can keep her in QT for 3 weeks, then she's ready to go in the DT.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys ! Thanks for the input as always. I guess the Emperor is stressed out. He doesn't breath hard, and eats like a champ, and the water is fine,even the Nitrates are 0.I guess it gotta be because of the lack of vitamins. Can I combine all the vitamins when I am soaking the food-? On the grounding probe, where do I put it -? And how much do I need. Also, are the black spots on the hippo the same problem as the emperor. The emperor is about 4-5 inches, should I get a bigger Queen or a Juvi-? Thanks !

 

[rcreations]

Yeah, Emperors get that white blotchy look when they're stressed about something. Not sure about the hippo, I'm not familiar with these fish.
I bought my ground probe from the LFS and I have it in the main tank. The reason I didn't put it in the sump is because when I do a water change, I cut off the flow between sump and DT. This way the probe is always effective.
I would get a juvi Queen Angel but don't get one smaller than 2.5" Very small ones have a very high mortality rate. 2.5 to 3" is the perfect size.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey R ! Thanks, I work on the Emperor. I'll get the probe tonight. Yea I had bad luck with small angels. I am hoping SWF.COM get some soon.