FishyGurl's 125G Tank Diary!!! =)

[fishygurl]

ok so my lfs hasnt had a ton of experience with jawfish but he said that they cant make a sturdy burrow and so i can clean the sand like i would normally...ive read they can make sturdy burrows especially with thicker sand (not cc but not sugar sized sand) which is what im getting
ive also read if their burrow collapses on them they could get trapped and die, cant they burrow up? is this only in really deep sand beds? if it isnt i am going to be scared about cleaning the sand and the nassarius snails that will probably break into their burrows a couple times
anyone know what i should do? or any suggestions?

 

[kevin34]

Cleaning the sand is a bad idea in a reef. Disturbing the sandbed will cause your water levels to spike. Just let the nass snails clean it. As far as the jawfish burrow goes I have never heard of anyone having their jaw's burrow collapse. And the jaw probably wont let any snails get near its burrow. They are very territorial.

 

[fishygurl]

Originally Posted by Kevin34
http:///forum/post/2600260
Cleaning the sand is a bad idea in a reef. Disturbing the sandbed will cause your water levels to spike. Just let the nass snails clean it. As far as the jawfish burrow goes I have never heard of anyone having their jaw's burrow collapse. And the jaw probably wont let any snails get near its burrow. They are very territorial.
What about nassarius snails i think they might break into a burrow while they are under there cleaning the sand or when they go under do they just sit there and not do anything until they smell food and come up again?

 

[kevin34]

Im not 100% sure but I really dont think a snail could do much damage to a jaw burrow. I have never heard of anything like that happening. And I sure if it does collapse the jaw will be able to burrow its way back out unless the sandbed is super deep.

 

[fishygurl]

k i hope thats right
anyone know any answers to any of my other questions?

 

[fishygurl]

last bump for the night...
again anybody that knows or has any comments on any of the questions or anything else PLEASE POST!!!

 

[fishygurl]

 

[triga22]

Pics?

 

[regina13]

I just wanted to tell you that this looks like it will be a great tank and I will be staying in tune!
Wish you the best of luck!

 

[fishygurl]

Originally Posted by TriGa22
http:///forum/post/2601191
Pics?
The only pics i have at this time are on page 1, i will be posting more pics once i get the custom built sump/refugium and all the other equipment which should be in a couple days

 

[kevin34]

Originally Posted by FishyGurl
http:///forum/post/2598755
ok so i the guys that were originally make my sump/refugium never did call back

so... we got someone else to make one, and it will be done in a couple days

i cant wait!!!

we will also be picking up the equipment that day and soon after we would get the live rock, here are a few questions
Ok i was thinking of having 2 islands of rock and all atleast 4+ inches away from the glass my LFS that is Usually pretty good at info said that this would be bad because it would cause more dead spots? i think the way i want to have it i would be able to get to most of the sand?

Should i put my rock in and let it cure then put it in the dead sand so it doesnt absorb all the bad stuff while the live rock is curing?
Is there anything i can do to the live rock that will remove most/all bad things on it or let me see all the hitch hikers that may be in it? would this kill all the good stuff too? would u do this or just leave it as is?
What should i do with the rock from my old tank i want to clean the pieces off that have some sort of red algae on them before i add them to my tank.
Can i keep anything in my refugium that WONT eat any pods or anything good like that i could just feed it? i think the dimensions are around 16X16X16
Do i need a clean up crew in the refugium? like some snails or something?
I think thats it thanks in advance!!!

As far as the aquascaping goes I think you could just do what you want. Just make sure there is plenty of swimming room and caves. The more caves there are the more you will see your fish because they will feel safer and wont have to search too hard for a hiding place if they are stressed. I cured my rock in my tank and I added it the same time as my sand. Put the rock in first so burrowing fish (especially the jaw) cant burrow underneath the rock and possibly knock your aquascaping over. I dont think you will need to clean off the rocks in your tank now unless the algae is a harmful kind. As far as cleanup crew in the fuge goes I know of people keeping a few hermits in there. They shouldnt eat pods. Hope all that helps^

 

[fishygurl]

ok thanks, i will have to play with the rockwork a lot once i get there, we will be calling the store on tuesday and if they have the sump/refugium we will be getting it along with all the other equipment for the tank then soon after we will order the live rock
i will be cleaning atleast the rock i got from a LFS, that is the only rock that has gotten so much nuisance algae on it, all the rock from SWF hasnt done this =) so i will probably ordering all my live rock from here, but will most likely go pick out a couple pieces from the LFS
ok if i buy all (not alive) aragonite sand do i need any live aragonite sand or will it become live from the live rock?

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by FishyGurl
http:///forum/post/2603393
ok thanks, i will have to play with the rockwork a lot once i get there, we will be calling the store on tuesday and if they have the sump/refugium we will be getting it along with all the other equipment for the tank then soon after we will order the live rock
i will be cleaning atleast the rock i got from a LFS, that is the only rock that has gotten so much nuisance algae on it, all the rock from SWF hasnt done this =) so i will probably ordering all my live rock from here, but will most likely go pick out a couple pieces from the LFS
ok if i buy all (not alive) aragonite sand do i need any live aragonite sand or will it become live from the live rock?
No you do not NEED any "live" sand. The live sand you get in bags is not all that live anyway. IMO the best thing to do if take a cup full out of a tank that has been setup for awhile and add that with the dead sand

 

[kevin34]

Any updates?

 

[fishygurl]

ok i havnt been on much but we have gotten our sump/refugium in and over the next couple days i will be painting my tanks back black and getting the rest of the equipment

 

[hefner413]

You can paint black, but you can also use black nylon sheeting. I got a roll from my local sign shop and think it looks awesome. Very easy to install - just spray with soapy water and squeegie bubbles out. I got a couple pics in the beginning of my 180 thread when I was applying it.

 

[fishygurl]

ok havnt really kept you guys updated ive been busy even tho school is over... so anyways we got the sump/fuge as i think i said earlier.. we painted the back of the tank black (we had some black paint lying around) we got i think almost all the equipment (still dont have lights for the fuge)
a guy came out to look at the tank so he knows what all pvc and other parts to get for it to be set up and ready for water

he will be coming out tomorrow to hook up the tank, clean some of the rock in my other tank along with take out most if not all sand and fill the tank around half way full of water
we ordered 100 pounds of rock yesterday 50 pounds from swf.com and the other 50 pounds is dry rock (marco rocks) they should be coming in 3-4 days or so i think
but ya im excited i cant wait to get it running!
as far as quarantining what fish do you think need to be quarantined.. do you think the jawfish need to be quarantined? do they really catch ich? i thought these have the different scales more like firefish if so can i not quarantine them?
How long do i have to quarantine fish? and do you think its neccessary for all fish?
thanks in advance!

 

[hefner413]

All can get ich. And even when quarantined, there isn't a guarantee that you won't end up with ich in the display. Some people quarantine for only 3 wks and some do as long as 6-8 wks. I guess most recommend atleast 4 wks.
Using a QT isn't a must, but you do take a risk without it. Shoot - I didn't want to put my 5 inch blue tang through the stress pf going in my 10 gal QT, so I put her straight into the DT. It never even got one spot. So overall, you can be safe, lucky, or sorry.

 

[fishygurl]

ok so the guy came over last night and was going to set up the tank but then he realized he bought a couple things of the wrong size so he will be coming over again tonight.. he got some of it hooked up
anyways i was just thinking i still dont know exactly how fish get ich.. lol is it a stress related thing? or does there have to be some trace of it already if so how does ich form? i am assuming its not just stress related since then quarantine tanks would be of no use so how do fish get ich?

 

[hefner413]

that's a huge debate. Some people say that it's in most all fish and comes out with stress, and others say that it has to be introduced. In some ways I think both are right.
My take - it's a parasite, and yeah it's gotta be introduced. A fish may have it for it's entire life, but you never see it because it's immune system is strong enough to keep it at bay. THus, you might have it in your tank and never know it b/c your fish's immune systems overcome it. But once a fish get's sick or it's immune system is compromised, then ich will be seen if it's in your tank. If it's not in your tank, it won't be seen even after stress. The only true way to get rid of it is with meds/hypo/ and going fishless (no host).
I had it in my 55 and did hypo and I got rid of it entirely. I transferred my blue tang to my 180 gal and never saw a spec even though she was stressed.
Regarding QT - you hope to catch ich before you introduce it. If the fish has the parasite, then likely the stress of the trip will bring it out. Some people even treat all fish while in QT regardless - by doing either hypo or meds. Some would say that this is overkill, but once you've had ich, you want to do all you can to never see it again.