My 55 gallon adventure

flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by asp762 http:///t/392546/my-55-gallon-adventure/40#post_3489495
Yeah that's what I mean. The one heater was almost never off. It stayed on even when I placed it on 70F. It's a 65 watt, and it didn't do any harm.
I keep the AC on in order to counter the heat from the two 250 watt Metal Halides and two T5s.
Since I removed the faulty heater, my temp has come down by a noticeable amount and stays at 77-78F.
You may not even need a heater. You can't run the AC in the winter to counteract the MHs...putting a fan blowing on the water surface will blow some of the heat away from the tank...a clip on fan will work great for an emergency cool down. You can get smaller fans...one to push cool air in, and another to pull hot air from the tank. Raising the MHs higher will also help. I have my lights on a pulley system...it also makes messing with the tank breeze.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/392546/my-55-gallon-adventure/60#post_3489548
You may not even need a heater. You can't run the AC in the winter to counteract the MHs...putting a fan blowing on the water surface will blow some of the heat away from the tank...a clip on fan will work great for an emergency cool down. You can get smaller fans...one to push cool air in, and another to pull hot air from the tank. Raising the MHs higher will also help. I have my lights on a pulley system...it also makes messing with the tank breeze.
Good point!
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Since my fish love blended raw shrimp, I decided to try my hand at making some DIY fish food.
I went to the grocery store and picked up some wild caught rockfish, raw shrimp, and frozen broccoli.
I placed three raw shrimp, a few ounces of rockfish, a few pieces of broccoli, an ounce of Marine A pellets, and four cubes of mixed carnivore frozen food, a cup of fresh RO/DI water, and blended it all up. Then I placed the swamp green substance in a mini ice cub tray with about 60 rows of cubes. The remainder went in a plastic baggie and everything was placed in the freezer.
I will have my fishes try out my own brand of marine cuisine tonight.
I wikied broccoli and apparently it has certain properties that bolster the immune system... interesting.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Update:
Excellent news! I believe there is a possibility I have the dreaded Ich.
When inserting the Coral Beauty into my 55 gallon tank, I bumped him on the tank. His eye swelled up resulting in popeye. I believe this added stress caused an Ich outbreak near his eye. The firefish looks like he has something on his tail, but upon closer inspection, I don't think it is Ich.
Yes, In a moment of weakness, stupidity, insert mean word here, I bought three more fish. They are: (a peaceful, parasite eating) Six Line Wrasse, a Coral Beauty, and a Percula Clown.
My hospital tank is not completely cycled yet. I have obviously been caught with my pants down. Ammonia is at 0 ppm, but the Nitrite is above 5ppm in the hospital tank.
All fish are eating like pigs, and I hope this is just my paranoia manifesting a small white spot on my firefish and coral beauty; however, I doubt anybody is that lucky.
Now I might witness firsthand why having a quarantine properly set up and in USE is necessary.
Wish me luck. I knew better, and I still did not set up my quarantine BEFORE adding fish. Derp.
Question:
How many small fish can I fit in a 10 gallon hospital tank? I doubt all my fish can if this is the real thing.
I have:
3 green chromis aka Maximus, Decimus, and Meridius
1 firefish aka Red Hot Chilli Pepper
1 Percula clown aka Forest Gump
1 Six line wrasse aka Skittle
1 Coral beauty aka Lieutenant Dan
This will be in use as soon at is cycled, but I'm don't think it will be ready in time.
Thanks for reading.
 
sweat90lx

sweat90lx

Member
Parameters look good. I am not sure you can put them all in a 10 gallon, but I would put up some dividers if you do.
I seen your firefish name and should have gotten one instead of my 6 line. Hopefully your 6 does not have the same attitude mine does.
Maybe you are just paranoid and everyone is fine and a lesson learned.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Here are some crappy pics. I know it's hard to tell from these pictures. The area in question is around his swollen eye, which was injured as I transported him into the display tank.

 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
Ich can be caused by stress of new additions, change in params, even too much messing around in the tank. I would not recommend putting them all in the 10 gallon tank. Its not cycled anyway and I think all of those fish in there is going to cause them more undo stress.
I am not sure BUT I don't beleive a fish can get popeye from being bumped. I think popeye is an infection like a bacteria based one. I am not 100% though.
That picture does not look very swollen or like popeye, IMO.
I would (if it were my tank) feed the critters good food, pop a little garlic in their food, make sure the params are good and see what happens. If the fish become less stressed, I believe the ich with go away. It does reappear from time to time but as I understand it, if there is ich in the DT, and there is now... It will never go away. That is why people always QT and treat it before it gets in the DT. Some people even fresh water dip every fish in order to kill every parasite before it gets into the DT.
You can't treat in the reef and you can't treat the reef itself. If it's just ich, Its in the rock/sand now (I think) so its in the DT... I don't think it's that big of a deal. It sucks but that is why you QT first.
Once your reef is all up and running, a ways down the road, get a couple of cleaner shrimps. They will take care of the little parasites and stuff.
If you have the ability to QT, wait for it to cycle through and start putting things in QT before they go in the DT... Then you will have less worries.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi, I just want to clarify something...Ich is not a disease, it is a paraite creature.
A tank full of healthy fish can perhaps fight off the parasite and not appear infected, a new fish is stressed and more likely to get infected because immunity is down. Once a stressed fish has been exposed, it gets the parasite cycle boosted and it's possible by shear numbers capable of killing all the fish in the tank. Some believe garlic will help boost the fish immunity and help it fight off infection and survive ich.
Once the system is infected the only way to be rid of it is to keep the fish tank free of fish for 6 to 8 weeks, to allow the parasite to die without a host. Inverts can't get infected so they don't allow the parasite to thrive, cleaner shrimp will only pick off some adult ich off of the fish, but the free floating baby stagers are alive and well...as long as there is a fish for the parasite to live from, the system will remain infected.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Flower, if it is not ich, should I consider removing all fish from the DT for 8 weeks to kill any possible ich and keep them in a quarantine tank for that time period? I realize this is ass backwards, but does it make sense?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by asp762 http:///t/392546/my-55-gallon-adventure/60#post_3490204
Flower, if it is not ich, should I consider removing all fish from the DT for 8 weeks to kill any possible ich and keep them in a quarantine tank for that time period? I realize this is ass backwards, but does it make sense?
If it is not ich...why stress the fish by moving all of them? Set up a hospital tank for the sick fish and treat it. Beth is the one we depend on as the fish doc around here...she can help you figure out what is wrong. Never treat the DT, always move sick fish to a separate tank to treat.
Moving fish is hard on them, remember it's their whole world you are messing with...and I wouldn't do it unless there was a need to do so.
I looked at your picture...a little booboo that doesn't get infected will heal on it's own. It just won't look as pretty for a few weeks. If the fish is eating and swimming and the booboo doesn't look worse relax and just keep an eye on it. As for in the future, use a QT it will save you lots of heartache.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Thanks for the good advice sweat90lx, Flower, and rlablan.
I really appreciate y'all taking the time to help me out.
The Coral Beauty appears to be getting better each day. This is without a doubt the most shy fish in my display tank, but lately he is becoming more and more brave and willing to grab food outside the confines of his live rock cavern. All the other fish are doing fine, and the only aggression in my tank is between my three green chromis during feeding time. They get into a feeding frenzy and nip each other, but no real injuries thus far. The six line minds its own business as does the coral beauty. Hopefully their temperament does not change in the coming months.
I'll keep updating. Thanks.
 
lol

lol

Member
The tank is looking pretty good so far. Watch that angel for nipping at corals! If it doesn't - you just scored big time!
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Thanks.
The coral beauty hasn't nipped YET. I am not adding any more corals until I know for sure. All the corals I have were given to me by a friend, so worst case scenario I'm not out any cash and I could take them to the LFS to prevent their demise should the coral beauty get hungry and decide to chow down on it. The six line has eyed the LPS, but he moves on and has actually been munching on parasites from what I can tell. He has cleaned the coral beauty at least four times already.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
Update.
5 gallon water change. I am getting so good that I didn't even spill a DROP! I wish I could say the same for oil changes. LOL I was covered in oil the other day. That damn drain pan... ahem... the fish are doing well. My Percula Clown aka Forrest Gump never sleeps; he's kind of an odd fish.
It's almost boring when everything is going so smoothly, but I should be grateful that no major calamity has befallen my water world thus far. The Coral Beauty is acting completely normal. Whatever the hell that means. Well, he is eating constantly. I am keeping a close eye on his eye.
All the fish have gotten along rather well. My coral beauty is a wuss. My six line wrasse is a sweetheart... for now. Nobody has nipped a coral... yet.
 
asp762

asp762

Member
I'm going to build a sump sometime this month. I will be using an external overflow since my tank is not drilled.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top