Adding some new additions to the tank help

[Hootiedablofish]

I was thinking of making another purchase and it may be the last purchase for a long long time to finally complete my 75 gallon setup.

Current occupants are
1 watchmen goby
1 gold midas blenny
2 percula clowns

assortment of corals about 120 lbs live rock 60lbs or so live sand.

Was looking at getting a forktail blenny and maybe a algae blenny but dunno if they will get territorial or not.

Also I wasnted to get some margarita snails but i hear keeping them in a tank higher then 76F they wont last long. I had a lot of snails to start out with but they just keeping falling off the sides and dying before I get a chance and notice them lying upside down. Been getting hair algae and its driving me nuts. We use R.O.D.I water as well as phosban and its still stable at 2.0 or so. Also maybe a tiger pistol shrimp for the goby but not sure. So what ya guys gals think?

 

[molsen187]

i have a pistol and goby pair and they are really cool to watch. you could get a emerald crab to get rid of the hair algae. i had some and the crab got rid of it in about a week. thats just a stop gap though you really want to find out where the extra nutrients are coming from. how often are you feeding? do you feed frozen? if you feed frozen do you rinse the food before you put it in the tank? i have some margaritas in my reef tank and they seem to be doing fine. not sure how they will fair long term. if you don't have any shrimp you could think about a hawkfish they are really cool fish. also if you have a secure top to the tank a jawfish or wrasse would be really cool too.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Also I wanted to get some margarita snails but i hear keeping them in a tank higher then 76F they wont last long

I have margarita snails and keep my tank at 79-81 and they have been doing just fine

The forktail blenny can be semi-aggressive, might get after your other fish, the Sailfin/Algae Blenny would get along fine

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

+1 you could get a emerald crab to get rid of the hair algae.

+1 thats just a stop gap though you really want to find out where the extra nutrients are coming from

Is so easy to overfeed, we all have done it, also might try to run some Chemi Pure Elite if you are just running carbon, it will help.

 

[Hootiedablofish]

I feed twice a day frozen mysis. I just break off a frozen section and put it in a 1/4 cup ziploc locking container with a little bit of tank water and vitality additive as well and refrigerate. I could be feeding to much I suppose but our clean up crew seems crazy.

25-35 nassarius
5-10 Nerite
2 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
3 emerald crabs
1 porcelain crab

used to have a arrow crab and serpent star but havent seen them in a a couple weeks.

Used to have 50 or so nerite with 2 large zebra snails but they just die over time.

 

[lcstorc]

Your phosphates are 2?
If so, that is definitely your problem. Find the source and eliminate it.
My first thought would be to rinse the food. Most prepared foods are packed with phosphates as a preservative. When you take the mysis out, put it in a strainer and run RO water over it to thaw. Then use it to feed. Rinse any/all food before feeding and it will help a lot.
I would also increase frequency and percentage of water changes. No matter how many cleaners you have, the algae will grow as long as you have the phosphates to feed it.

 

[Hootiedablofish]

Yea Im going to starting cleaning the food prior to storing it in the fridge, and I ended up putting my order in on friday. Decided to add a couple Shaving Brushes to plant somewhere in the aquarium.

 

[Hootiedablofish]

Re: Adding some new additions to the tank help..now fish problems

So got home today from working expecting our fish to be delivered tomorrow. I noticed the midas blenny was acting wierd this morning and last night as he didnt come out of his burrow to eat when I fed. Came home and he is dead being ate by the nassarius snails/ peppermint shrimp/ crabs. Im not so sure of how he died but he was our newest addition to our tank being in there for a couple weeks now. We have been having problems keeping newly added fish to our aquarium as of latley. We had come to the conclusion that our drip acclimation must just not be long enough and possibly osmotic shock had killed the 3 other previous bought fish (lawnmower blenny, twinspot goby, baby salfin tang. Now with this death Im just mind boggled. The watchmen goby and 2 percula clowns have been in the tank for awhile now 3+ months and doing fine. Ive also not seen our serpent starfish in awhile, so the only thing I could think of is possibly the fish starving? We feed frozen mysis soaked in vitality and omega one flakes. I dont think I have seen any of the fish go after the flakes so we stopped feeding those about a week ago. Could there not be a great enough variety in diet for the midas lawnmower twinspot and salfin to survive on? I would have guessed with 120 or so lbs of live rock in a 75 gallon tank pods ect would be in there somewhere but maybe those are all exhausted as well. Water parameters are all with in range besides phosphates being at 2. Hoping the 3 shaving brushes that are coming with the order will help with this along with the chaeto we have in the tank as well. Any suggestions are welcome thanks!