How to add/change water?

[luvsaltlyf]

Hi Kim and Francis!! We got the damsel out, FINALLY! Water quality still looks good but check out the feather duster? The worm is half out?? What does that mean? I just want to be sure all it fine before we got corals. Thanks!

 

[francis]

Originally posted by luvsaltlyf
Hi Kim and Francis!! We got the damsel out, FINALLY! Water quality still looks good but check out the feather duster? The worm is half out?? What does that mean? I just want to be sure all it fine before we got corals. Thanks!
You took your Damsel out? does it mean i should do the same? how did you put your Damsel out luvsaltylyf? should i flush him?

 

[francis]

Hi Kim! Hi Luvsaltylyf!
You're right about the cleaner wrasse, Kim. I don't see him swimming around since yesterday, actually

But the neon blue is still there :cheer:
I will check the LFS if i could make a trade with them, in exchange of the skunk shrimp Do you think the skunk is much better?

 

[kimkissyfish]

Luv, Good Job, was is tough? I chased mine forever! then I flushed it.. LOL I was IRATE at the time. Hmm, As for the feather duster, It doesnt look good, BUT sometimes they will come FAR out of thier worm tube then retract. Take your finger or a turkey baster and blow on it and see if it retracts. Wait a day for two and see what it does. If it just lays there, I'd say it may have died. They dont send out and toxins when they die like anenome's, so dont worry.
Yes Francis, I just cycled my tank with them then took them out! . Some LFS will take them in trade, they are the common "cycling" fish. Cheap and Hardy.. LOL
Too bad about the cleaner wrasse, but hopefully you didnt pay too much for him. How about a dwarf angel, one that is reef safe? I'll look them up and see if I can find one. That would be pretty. Or some Banggi's OR a bi-color blennie, They are IMO one of the coolest fish to watch, they have a huge personality. OR a 6 line wrasse.. they are easy to keep, stay small and are reef safe.
A skunk shrimp should be OK,(check description under inverts on SWF) OR a cleaner shrimp, they set up cleaning stations in your tank to help keep parasites off of your fish, its cool to watch the shrimp clean under the gills of fish...
Keep in touch, hope this helps, Kim

 

[luvsaltlyf]

YEs, get that damsel out!:jumping: I tried for about an hour and then my hubby came home and got him in about 15 min with a net and tupperware :joy: We just took him into our LFS even though I wanted to flush him. The feather duster is gone too, I think the hermits did it. I'm frustrated with my tank right now the numbers are good but the fish are dying? I hope it was just the damsel? I guess I'm cut off from buying anything until it calms down. With about 5 deaths in a week is there anything I sould do or will the snails, hermits and crabs take care of it?

 

[kimkissyfish]

Luv,
How long has your tank been set up again? Also, what are your water readings? Last question, what is your lighting? Seems odd. Maybe you got ich in your tank and now its in your system and making your fish sick. IE: a parasite.
If you have no fish left, try leaving it fishless for a while. Inverts are OK, they wont get or carry ich.
What is your salinity? How often are you making water changes? Sorry for the questions, but seems odd.
You dont have any stray voltage do you, meaning a "crack in your heater"??
I wanna figure this out too...
Kim

 

[francis]

Hi Kim & Luv!
i better check the LFS here for the fishes u've mentioned, Kim
specially the 6 line wrasse:joy:
will there be any consequences if i keep the Damsel? i don't think i can let him go. He's been a pal to me

 

[kimkissyfish]

Francis,
Let me know what you decide on...
As far as the damsel, well you can try to keep him.. what kind is it again, (domino, striped, yellow tail>??) if he is aggressive you can get rid of him then... No sense in getting rid of a fish you like... I wouldnt either.
The 6 line is cool with anything... and easy to keep. =)
Kim

 

[francis]

Hi Kim!
it's a yellow tail. He's the reason why the other yellow tail died. so far, he's not aggressive towards the african clown. Im going to check the LFS this week for a 6 line wrasse and another neon gobby. Im planning to get a skunk shrimp but have to add more LR & LS to my tank. My lobster was madly digging the sands to make his cave. & i don't want to see the skunk shredded into pieces:scared:

 

[luvsaltlyf]

It has been up for about 9 weeks. Here are my numbers:
Ph 8.2, KH 10, NH3 0, NO2 0, PO4 1, SG 1.024.
As for lighting we just have the basic lights, no extra's yet. New heater so no crack in it. New power heads. But guess what I found this morning?? My pencil Urchen eating my emerald crab. They were sitting beside each other last night and here is a picture. He has eaten half of him already!!! Is this normal?

I guess I will sell him back to the LFS too?

 

[luvsaltlyf]

oops jere it is :jumping:

 

[francis]

I think that's not normal. Better ask Kim
Kim,
I read about the long tentacle anemone is best to be placed on the sandbed, for him to burry his base. Mine was on the top of the LR. Is it best for him to be placed on the sand?
It's very lovely to see my african clownfish & the sebae cuddling each other. My wife was very happy to see last night the african sleeping on the sebae like a baby:happyfish . she tooked picture of them, she said she will show those to her colleagues:cheer: . Proud wife ha?

 

[kimkissyfish]

Ok Luv,
Yes, the pencil urchine does eat meaty as well as algea. But I have to think maybe the emerald my have been dead already? The spines are used to stun its prey. They DO need to be monitored with corals for future refrence.. They also need a lot of live rock or should I say prefer it. I dont like anything in my tanks that can HURT ME..LOLOL
Your readings seem fine.. so I am BUT, your tank is still on the new side. Have you tested your NITRATES? I didnt see that listed. I am a total blonde when it comes to the abbreviations.. LOL I think you posted amm & nitrITES are 0, thats good.. maybe the urchin is the culprit. Being that the tank is kinda new, the urchin may have gone for the other inhabitants because of "lack of algea" for him to dine on. Now that the damsel is out too.. what do you have left for fish? Don't add anything and see how your tank does for a week. Keep posted.
Francis, thats so cool. can you post the PIC? I wouldnt worry about moving your anenome. If he has attached himself to the rock, he must be happy there. anenomes tend to wonder around a tank when they don't feel "settled". Also, due to your lighting right now, you want him as close to the light as possible.
seems like everything else is going well.... Keep us posted... I wanna hear what you put in there and how it's going. Just dont add too much too quick. be patient. =)
Hope this helps, Kim :cheer:

 

[francis]

yeah sure! ill send u pics of them. Yesterday i've bought and added LS to my tank together with a tomatoe clown & 1 firefish. After adding the firefish, i noticed the lobster started chasing the firefish but he can't catch the firefish

Then i proceed to clean the LS, then added it to the tank. And... that was the last time i saw the firefish

The tomatoe seem to look good to me. I just hope the firefish have just manage to see a better hiding place for him.
The LFS cannot accept the lobster back to them in exchange of the shrimp. But, i will still push it hard! i cannot just flush the lobster. He's the most expensive animal in that tank i'd bought
...i'll send u pics of the african & sebae. Those guys really makes smile

 

[kimkissyfish]

Geesh Francis,
Dont worry, things will even out.... How much did you pay for the lobster? Maybe you should just bring it back anyway. Ask the LFS maybe for a discount instead of a full refund. BUT, I would be ADIMENT.. because they sold you something that is murdering your livestock.
I hope your firefish shows up!!! I love them, they are a coool fish. maybe you could put your lobster in a nursery inside your tank just too see how everything does without him free in the tank. I mad my own nursery for my sea horse fry that would work really well for ANYONE.. I will try to describe it. You will have to make it.. it is STRONGER than the ones you buy that are made of netting.. Actually, I will pop a pic of it , its in the basement.
Get a plastic 1 gallon golfish bowl
cut off the bottom
sylicone on a piece of plastic seperator material, (cut in size and shape of the bottom you took off)
punch a few holes in the sides
cover with the seperator mateial, sylicone it on
clip on inside of tank (at top)
attach a small filter (mini filter) and use a piece of airline tubing and run it from the OUTTAKE of the filter into the top of the Fish Bowl. This is for circulation in the nursery.... new water goes in and the old water goes out the bottom. It is a nice way to protect anything in your tank, frags, fry, ect... nothing can eat through it. and the bottom is sturdy so you can add a piece of rock or something for it to hide under.
Hope this helps, Kim

 

[kimkissyfish]

This one shows the bottom

 

[kimkissyfish]

This one shows the hole I punched in to top/side for the airline tube for circulation..
KIm

 

[francis]

That's very kind of you showing procedures of making nursery for my very kind lobster i thin k i'll do that if the LFS really can't take the lobster back or atleast give me a discount.
thanks again Kim!

 

[kimkissyfish]

NO PROBLEM!!!
Kim

 

[francis]

Hello Kim! How are you doing? hope your doing alright. I've added a couple of new liverock into my tank & the biggest mistake i think i did was buyign a carpet anemone. It's so beautiful & i can't resist to left the store without him. While roaming inside the tank, i saw him once had touched the sebae

. so, we immediately removed the sebae from it's location. But after that, the sebae seem to be unhappy. About the LIVEROCK...i think it didn't cured it well. I've cured it for a month, do a 100% water on the first 2 weeks. 50% water change on the third week. And on the last week, after checking the parameters (is good) i did a 100% water change again. I've added the cured liverock last friday afternoon. Then last night i saw my baby sebae, from where my african clown hosted it. :jumping: ...was dying (melting)

And the long tentacle was also doing the same...dying

I immediately remove the two anemones. Then after a water change last night (i removed a galon of water from my tank & added up two gals) i saw my lobster at the back of the liverocks...DEAD!

it seem the world is on my shoulder last night. Then, i removed the lobster's remain... While busy placing the dead bodies on the bags, something came into my mind. What if/i think the lobster only MOLTED?! :jumping: and yes! the lobster only molted!:jumping: :cheer: :jumping: The lobster's body i saw was only it's skin!!! All the family members rejoiced after learning the lobster only molted!!! Right now they seem to look good, i told my sister to monitor the fishes. I just hope nothing follows the poor anemones and i'm not going to buy anemones at the moment.