Nobby's S-650

[Nobbygas]

Monday update: Since dosing the Polyplab Medic, still no fish have died. Things are looking good, although the Orchid Dottyback still doesn't look too good. I've been dosing it for twelve days and I am going for the full twenty day dosing schedule.

I did make an attempt to use the cheap plastic cups to replace the socks, but it was a complete failure. I think the cups were too narrow at the bottom, even with four holes. So, I will look around for some 'proper' filter cups.

 

[SPR]

Monday update: Since dosing the Polyplab Medic, still no fish have died. Things are looking good, although the Orchid Dottyback still doesn't look too good. I've been dosing it for twelve days and I am going for the full twenty day dosing schedule.

I did make an attempt to use the cheap plastic cups to replace the socks, but it was a complete failure. I think the cups were too narrow at the bottom, even with four holes. So, I will look around for some 'proper' filter cups.

Glad to hear all is going well and I agree to follow the dosing instructions otherwise there is no point. There will be a reason is says continue dosing and I bet failures are often because people are not doing this, or stop half way through and things come back.

I still can’t believe nobody sells throw away filter socks......

I’ve been looking and can’t find anything other than solid brackets which don’t look any good for our systems.

 

[Nobbygas]

Thursday update:
So, what do I think I know?
I know I lost two fish, that were healthy when I left them. The Kole Tang died and disappeared, presumably eaten by the CUC. The Regal Angelfish had been dead for two days before I got home, so identifying what killed it was near impossible. Other fish, like the Yellow Tang and Orchid Dottyback, were showing signs of Velvet. Light spots on the fins, and small spots on the body with that 'dusty' look that goes with Velvet. It was NOT Ich.
I've been dosing the Polyplab Medic for fourteen days now. So still another six days to go to complete the cycle. No further fish have died, and no fish are showing signs of Velvet. All of the 'dusty' coating and spots on the fins have gone.
I drastically increased their food quality/intake. I've been feeding frozen every day, and mixing Ginger Root Powder into it as well. I also bought some Fauna Marin Ultra Marine Soft food. I cannot get Vita Chem over here, and this was recommended by the LFS. This was also mixed into the thawed frozen stuff. I also put some Seaweed in every other day. The frozen was a mixture of Krill, Plankton, Mysis and a generic mix. Once a week I also have been putting a bag of live Copepods into the tank.

Now, we know that the Polyplab Medic only works on the parasite when it's in the free swimming stage. Hopefully, by upping the food quality/intake I have strengthened the fishes immunity enough for them to fight off the parasite. Maybe the combination of the Medic and the increased feeding has worked.

The increased feeding regime has pushed up the Nitrate, from about 2ppm normally to about 10ppm. This doesn't worry me. A few water changes will correct this.

Has the parasite been eradicated? I don't know is the honest answer. I will only find that out over time.
Has Polyplab Medic worked? There is still another six days left to dose, but at this point I have to say, "yes", as no other fish have died. No corals or Inverts have been affected by the Medic. My current bottle of Medic will be nearly finished after the twenty days, so I have already ordered another bottle......just in case.

What do I do if the problem returns? If that happens, then that will show that the Medic has just temporarily stopped the advance of the parasite. I will try something else. In reserve I have some Ruby Reef Rally.

 

[Pat24601]

It’s interesting, I’m having a problem with Marine Ich at the moment too. I’m going to do a post on it later.

As I was researching solutions, I think the two display tank solutions I liked from a research standpoint were polylab medic and seachem metroplex.

Now, in my case, I have a tank that’s super easy to break down and take fish out of. So, I’m trying the tank transfer method. It’s working well so far and seems to avoid some of the pitfalls of setting up a hospital tank...except you need a fully cycled tank to keep the fish in for a couple of months while your DT is fallow. But, I have that.

My greatest fear is that my kids are going to screw up the transfer tanks and I’m very serious it’s a high risk in this case. I’ll let you know in about a week if they screwed it up.

It’s very interesting to follow your experience because you are doing what I would have done and so by proxy I’m kind of taking your experience into mind for my future benefit.

BTW, my LFS maintains that even if you take the fish out and treat with copper, 99.9% of us hobbyists really can’t truly eradicate the parasite at a microscopic level. So, they think that’s a false goal. Generally, they recommend display tank treatment and trying to get your fish to survive the outbreak unless you have a CYCLED hospital tank set up and are very comfortable with it. Even then, they think the stress in the fish often outweighs the benefits of a hospital tanks. It just kind of depends.

I’m kind of going against their advice and doing TTM because I think it’s best for my unique circumstances.

 

[Nobbygas]

Best of luck Pat. I've stripped down my tank in the past, and I'm never going to that again. I reckon that I probably killed more fish by putting them into a Hospital Tank than if I'd left them in the DT. Copper cures, but it also poisons the fish. A little too much, and your fish is dead!

 

[Nobbygas]

Let's talk lighting.

I'm using the standard Red Sea settings for my HD26's, but I get the impression that they are a bit too bright? Anyone else use those settings, and if so, have you adjusted them at all?

 

[SPR]

Let's talk lighting.

I'm using the standard Red Sea settings for my HD26's, but I get the impression that they are a bit too bright? Anyone else use those settings, and if so, have you adjusted them at all?

I’ve always used the Red Sea settings other than I go blue around 7pm as I prefer that.

I think people can do whatever they prefer but I neither know or wish to know to much about lighting and am trusting the Red Sea scientists on this one. I am an ‘marine aquarist not a lighting technician you know! Lol

And as you can see my corals are really struggling!

 

[Nobbygas]

I’ve always used the Red Sea settings other than I go blue around 7pm as I prefer that.

I think people can do whatever they prefer but I neither know or wish to know to much about lighting and am trusting the Red Sea scientists on this one. I am an ‘marine aquarist not a lighting technician you know! Lol

And as you can see my corals are really struggling!

Yeah, I trust Red Sea to get it right.........but they still seem a bit bright for me. Maybe I just need more corals to throw more shadows?

 

[Nobbygas]

So today is the final day (day 20) of the Polyplab Medic treatment. I believe twenty days is the maximum, and if the use of Medic is continued beyond twenty days, it can start to have a bad effect on the tank......Unless someone can tell me otherwise?
All the fish look healthy. There are no bad signs anywhere. Has the problem been fixed, or is it still there? I don't know. Have I managed to build-up the fishes immunity systems sufficiently? I don't know.
So, I will now just leave the tank for two or three weeks, to see if everything is indeed hunky dory. I suppose I won't really know until I add another fish into the tank.
Here is the frustrating thing. We all want to control our tanks. We measure/monitor all the vital parameters. With just small changes, we can control those parameters, bringing them up or lowering them. We spend a fortune on equipment, these lights those lights, this filter that filter etc, but when it comes to a disease, we haven't got a clue. We are basically stumbling around in the dark. Yes yes, I know, we should all create a Hospital Tank and treat that way, but even doing that is no guarantee of success. Just read the various forums. QT everything before it goes into your tank, but this does not guarantee anything. Put all fish into a HT and treat with Copper, but this does not guarantee success.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the identification and treatment of disease in the aquarium is the one area that needs improving the most in our hobby. With disease there is nothing to measure. There is nothing to control. In reality, the only way you can tell if the treatment is working is the lack of dead bodies. It shouldn't be like this.

If there is any good news to emerge from all of this, it's that my prized Zoa colony, that was destroyed by the Regal Angel before it shot off it's metabolic coil, is still alive and has at least twelve small heads/flowers/polyps/whatever you call them growing.

Anyway, it's high fives time to Polyplab Medic. I don't know if it has solved the problem, but I do know that I haven't lost a single fish since I started the medication, and fish that were showing symptoms of illness now look healthy, which in my humble opinion, makes Medic a winner.

To use a popular military term, it's now "hurry up and wait" time.

 

[SPR]

I’m glad to hear it’s all hopefully working out for you, and the Polyplab Medic seems to have been successful from what you have said. I’ve got a pot on standby in case I ever have any issues anyway.

The only fish I’ve lost have died very quickly without any symptoms, so I assume the cause is either problems caused in transit or maybe intimidation by other tanks mates. I don’t know.

The other problem we have, and what you’ve mentioned before, is actually catching a fish if you see some kind of disease to treat it. With full blown reef systems if the fish doesn’t want to be caught you have little chance getting it out. And even if you do it may die from the stress. And to be honest I don’t really want to, or can’t be bothered to mess around doing hospital tanks, hypo salinity, copper,....

We are now in 2018 and if I have any issues I will use the modern reef safe medication for whatever problem I can identify without hesitation, and non of this chasing fish or tank wrecking!

PS it was a zoa eating Royal Angel, you’ve forgotten it already!

 

[Nobbygas]

Yep, that is the way to go. Catching fish like Clowns or Tangs is pretty easy, but when it comes to Anthias/Chromis/Wrasse etc it's damn near impossible.
In reserve I have the Ruby Reef Rally and it's sister product Kick-Ich for if the Medic didn't work. I think it's like everything in Reefing, some things work for some tanks, and it doesn't work for other tanks, for whatever reason ! Some people have said Medic is a waste of time and didn't work, while others have claimed success with it.

The next question is do I get another Royal Angel, or do I get more Zoas? Only one, but not both. As my initial aim was a fish tank with some corals, I think the Royal will win. It's such a beautiful fish.
First off, I will get some Anthias. They are quite hardy, and this may sound harsh, but they will be the 'test' fish to see if there is anything still lingering in the tank, but it has to be done at some point.

 

[Nobbygas]

Although......My trusted LFS (quarantines fish before selling) has a nice Solon Fairy Wrasse and also a nice Yellow Wrasse...............Tempted, and it's Friday.

Now what about Friday? I tend to do most of my fish buying on a Friday. The reason being is that I can use the weekend to keep an eye on the new addition(s), as working shifts, it's not too easy to do during the week.
I'm also thinking about getting an Anemone, as my Clowns are trying to make one of the Hammer's their home, and the Hammer doesn't like it. If it continues I'm worried they will kill it. I've moved the Hammer in question twice to different parts of the tank, and the Clowns follow it !

 

[Pat24601]

Sounds cool. I’d give it a try!

 

[Nobbygas]

Pah, I was thwarted on my trip to the LFS by the Friday afternoon traffic! It was bad, so I gave up and went home.
In the meantime I have moved the Hammer yet again, and I was attacked by the Clown for my efforts ! So far, she hasn't found it.

 

[Nobbygas]

I'm probably not alone in this, but over the years I've gone from Freshwater (250l) to Saltwater 60l and then 110l tanks. Now I have the S-650.
During this time I've built up a myriad collection of bits and pieces. So I've decided to have a clear-out and put the stuff on Fleabay. Hopefully, the money raised from flogging off the unwanted stuff will pay for another fish (or three). Off the top of my head I will be selling the C-Skim 1800 (hardly used), an Aqua Medic T Controller Twin (hardly used), an Eheim Surface Skimmer, an Eheim Professional External Filter, a Tunze Nano 9002 Skimmer, and I'm sure I'll dig out a few other bits and pieces when I start digging into my 'tank collection' in the cellar.

 

[Nobbygas]

Oh, and I managed to get to the good LFS yesterday, and while there a Leopard Wrasse (Diamond Wrasse?), a Yellow Tailed Wrasse and a Baby Regal Tang all jumped into some bags to come home with me.
The Regal was eating within twenty minutes of going into the tank and swam around without any hassle from anyone. The Yellow Tailed disappeared straight away into the sandbed, and the Leopard swam around for a while, had a bite to eat, and then disappeared into the sand !
The LFS also had two smallish Blue-Throated Triggers (male and female). I thought the female looked a bit poorly, as her fins looked slightly damaged. I also felt that the colours of the pair were a bit pale, so I didn't buy them. However, I will continue to watch them, and if I see a general improvement over the next couple of weeks, then they will come home with me, as long as some other fool doesn't buy them !

 

[SPR]

When I purchased my pair of Blue Throat Triggers i had been watching them at the LFS for 2-3 months. During that time the LFS had separated them at one point as they thought they had been fighting. This is why i didnt buy them for quiet a while and luckily nobody else did.

After a period they were put back together and so far i havent had and issues other than them chasing each other like their going to murder each other but they never do and they have spawned a few times. Its probably fish play!

It might be worth putting a deposit on them if shop will let you subject to them being healthy in x weeks or something

Just remember they probably aren’t a true pair unless they’re from someone else’s tank and they have been together a while. Otherwise they could be just any male and female put together and hence possible fighting

And they could do some serious damage if they wanted to to other inhabitants. Oh and be prepared for them to rearrange the rockwork to their liking for their nest!


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[Nobbygas]

"other than them chasing each other like their going to murder each other" - Sounds like me and She Who Casts No Shadow !

 

[Nobbygas]

When I purchased my pair of Blue Throat Triggers i had been watching them at the LFS for 2-3 months. During that time the LFS had separated them at one point as they thought they had been fighting. This is why i didnt buy them for quiet a while and luckily nobody else did.

After a period they were put back together and so far i havent had and issues other than them chasing each other like their going to murder each other but they never do and they have spawned a few times. Its probably fish play!

It might be worth putting a deposit on them if shop will let you subject to them being healthy in x weeks or something

Just remember they probably aren’t a true pair unless they’re from someone else’s tank and they have been together a while. Otherwise they could be just any male and female put together and hence possible fighting

And they could do some serious damage if they wanted to to other inhabitants. Oh and be prepared for them to rearrange the rockwork to their liking for their nest!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When I was in the shop only the Lady was there, and she doesn't speak any English. We can only go so far with my crap German I shall go back on the weekend when 'Frank' is there because his English is good and I can then ask him a few questions.

 

[Nobbygas]

Earlier, we were mumbling about looking for Filter Cups to replace the socks. These are a bit pricey, but I think they will work. Are the filter socks in the Reefer Series the same size as the socks in the s-650?
http://www.littleocean.co.uk/shop/crud-catcher-high-flow.html