Mayja's 90 Gallon Reef Experience
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StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Patience and persistence will prevail. Chemicals should be a last resort IMO.
+1 ^ don't overfeed is a huge key & I would go lights out for a few days before any chemical solutions
ReefApprentice
Well-Known Member
Chemicals are a last resort!they can nuke a tank if not used correctly.As nano says not to overfeed and to tone down the lights.improving the cuc could also help( snails and hermits)
Right now, I feed every other day. I make sure to use either pellets in a floating feeder ring so they don't float away, or I'll use the turkey baster and spot feed. I should update you guys on my total cuc. Here's where that's at:
10 red/blue legged hermit crabs
10 nassarius snails
3 Mexican turbo snails
3 peppermint shrimp
1 sand sifting star
and god knows how many stomatella snails and micro bristle stars
In the last week, I did two 10% water changes (about 20 gallons total) after siphoning this crap off the sand. No dice. As of 8:30pm EST tonight, lights are off until Wednesday the 27th at 8:30pm.
My new powerhead will arrive tomorrow. I'll install that tomorrow night to help with flow too.
10 red/blue legged hermit crabs
10 nassarius snails
3 Mexican turbo snails
3 peppermint shrimp
1 sand sifting star
and god knows how many stomatella snails and micro bristle stars
In the last week, I did two 10% water changes (about 20 gallons total) after siphoning this crap off the sand. No dice. As of 8:30pm EST tonight, lights are off until Wednesday the 27th at 8:30pm.
My new powerhead will arrive tomorrow. I'll install that tomorrow night to help with flow too.
like using antibiotics to treat colds, it can make it more resistant in the future... proceed with care & good luck
I'm trying out Chemiclean, which is not supposed to use antibiotics in their formula. We'll see how it works. Just added it to the tank today. Now I wait 48 hours. Aside from the cyano, everything else has been doing well. One of my candy cane heads has grown a second mouth and is beginning to split! Too cool! My mushroom is almost covering the entire frag rock. My perculas are getting that cool black coloring.
But, it seems that I have lost one of my peppermint shrimp
. I've only seen two coming out for feedings lately. I have no idea what happened to him. Plus, while I was sick all this past week, my husband purchased my green chromis to cheer me up. He acclimated them and everything while I watched (heavily drugged) from the couch. I wouldn't have added them yet, but he wanted to surprise me (awww). I told him next time to please ask before looking at my livestock list and adding fish. Still, they seem to be doing fine. I've got five of them (originally had six, but during acclimation I noticed one had a nasty red spot on its side and I sent it back).
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Dont write off shrimp as a loss too soon, when they molt they can disappear for up to a week or so.
Thank you so much for those encouraging words. I really needed to hear something positive.
I posted the exact same post on my local forum and another member responded with the following: "You spent $230 on a powerhead...when are you going to purchase a skimmer - or did you already and I missed it. If not, you're playing with fire." What the frak?
There's no need to be harsh or judgemental. There are plenty of aquarists who do not use skimmers and have balanced ecosystems. For the record, I do not have any more excess algae growth. Not on my glass, rocks, or substrate. The cyano treatment is coming along nicely.
Sorry... needed to vent.
And, btw, one of my peppermint shrimp did molt recently.
JoeCanada11
Member
I agree I have seen many succefful skimmer less systems especially of the bioload is medium to low and very regular and frequent water changes are done. It's all a matter of exporting nutrients.
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Success with or without a skimmer depends on your attentiveness to changing water conditions.
Im not planning to use a skimmer for my new setup, but i wont argue that a skimmer does not have its place in our hobby.
It certainly has proven beneficial more often than not, when well tuned.
Im not planning to use a skimmer for my new setup, but i wont argue that a skimmer does not have its place in our hobby.
It certainly has proven beneficial more often than not, when well tuned.
Down to 4 green chromis. Boo! I came home to a feeding frenzy with hermit crabs, shrimp and snails. I only saw the leftovers, but my count was only 4 by the evening's feeding. You know, I saw that one too... hiding in the rocks and breathing a little more than usual. I figured he was just getting picked on by the others. Didn't realize how bad off he was. Bummer. That third peppermint shrimp still has not surfaced either. I'm still hoping he's just hiding out after his molting.
Did a 10% water change to clear up any possible ammonia spike. I did a mixture of Instant Ocean regular salt and my new Reef Crystals. It dissolves so much faster!
Boo! I came home to a feeding frenzy with hermit crabs, shrimp and snails. I only saw the leftovers, but my count was only 4 by the evening's feeding. You know, I saw that one too... hiding in the rocks and breathing a little more than usual. I figured he was just getting picked on by the others. Didn't realize how bad off he was. Bummer. That third peppermint shrimp still has not surfaced either. I'm still hoping he's just hiding out after his molting.Did a 10% water change to clear up any possible ammonia spike. I did a mixture of Instant Ocean regular salt and my new Reef Crystals. It dissolves so much faster!
Another chromis is getting beat up - badly. I came home last night to find that one had three large red sores. He was not breathing hard. He was swimming around actively. He ate like a boss. He did get picked on a bit by two of the other three. Everyone else in the tank look and act normally.
What is going on??? I have a 90 gallon dt. There is PLENTY of room! Rock scape has plenty of hiding spaces. Water parameters are zero across the board for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. No excess algae. No cyano. Coralline algae growth is awesome, so that tells me my calcium is good. Corals are happy and growing/splitting.
So depressed and dismayed.
What is going on??? I have a 90 gallon dt. There is PLENTY of room! Rock scape has plenty of hiding spaces. Water parameters are zero across the board for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. No excess algae. No cyano. Coralline algae growth is awesome, so that tells me my calcium is good. Corals are happy and growing/splitting.
So depressed and dismayed.
Sorry you are having such a bad time with your Chromis Mayja. I can only tell you that I learned with my 135gal. fish only (18 years ago) that I did not want ANY damsels in my tank this time. It seems to be their nature to fight. They are beautiful & I wish they didn't but I don't know of any damsels that I'd trust to remain peaceful in my tank. I hope you don't lose them to aggressiveness.
StirCrayzy
Well-Known Member
Chromis have a tendency to slim the pack down to just a couple fish.
i hate to say, this seems close to normal behavior for a small group of them.
This same scenarios happens in many tanks i have followed, excluding the 200g ish tanks, where schools of 5-10 were perfectly content for years.
Sorry for your losses, hope they settle down and relax a bit soon.
i hate to say, this seems close to normal behavior for a small group of them.
This same scenarios happens in many tanks i have followed, excluding the 200g ish tanks, where schools of 5-10 were perfectly content for years.
Sorry for your losses, hope they settle down and relax a bit soon.
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