Nobby's S-650

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Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I almost had a disaster yesterday with the tank.
I got home from work to find nobody at home, and I noticed the tank making a strange noise. Upon inspection, the water level in the rear chamber was higher than I'd ever seen it, and water was flowing down the 'emergency' overflow tube back down into the Sump. I think most of us run the levels where there is a small trickle of water flowing down that tube, but this was way higher than normal. My first thought was that I hadn't opened the down valve for a while, so maybe there was a bit of a blockage, so I opened the valve for a minute, then re-dialled it all back in. No problem....or so I thought.
I then had to go out and do the usual Dad*'s Taxi Service to pick up Mini Me MKII, and when we got home I walked through the door to see a small puddle of water on the floor coming out from the centre of the tank. My first course of action was to turn off the Return Pump. I then had to find out where the leak was coming from. The first place to look was obviously the Valve on the back, as I had only recently adjusted it. It was the only thing that had changed. That appeared ok, so then I just started feeling around for any signs of water....and that was when I noticed the overflow downpipe connector was very very loose, and water had been coming out from here. The earlier problem where water was pouring down the overflow pipe had somehow come to this.
After I had re-tightened the pipe connector and had wiped up the small amount of water on the floor, She Who Casts No Shadow came home.
"Oh", she says, "the tank was making a strange gurgling noise earlier, so I moved one of the nobs on the back, as I've seen you do!".
It turns out that first she had loosened the overflow pipe connector before she closed the downflow valve too much.The result, too high a water level, water pouring down the overflow pipe, and leaking out of the loosened overflow pipe connection!
There wasn't much water on the floor, but I don't think she realizes how close to an early death she came.
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Can you lot stop this talk your starting to make me ‘uncomfortable’!! Lol

Apex leak detector is what you need for such events!

My wife’s knows the valve is there for when it gurgles, but has never touched it, so far......
 
N

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
SPR said:
Can you lot stop this talk your starting to make me ‘uncomfortable’!! Lol

Apex leak detector is what you need for such events!

My wife’s knows the valve is there for when it gurgles, but has never touched it, so far......
Click to expand...
I do have a standard water leak detector under the tank, but this was really only a dribble and it missed the detector. This one is a bit like a smoke detector and gives off a loud alarm when it detects water.
She refuses to have anything to do with the tank so it was a bit of a surprise to find that she had been screwing/unscrewing stuff. With some people common sense just flies out of the window at times. Surely a normal reaction would have been to ring me?

Is it still illegal to shoot the wife?
 
N

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Hhmmm, I've had a couple of deaths in the last week. First, it was one of the Two Spot Anthias. This was a little bit unusual as I found her floating on the surface. I don't think I've ever had a death where they end up on the surface. The dead body usually falls to the bottom to be eaten by the CUC. After giving the dead body a thorough inspection, I couldn't see anything wrong, no patches, spots, nothing.
The second death was the Brown Powder Tang. Well, I assume it's dead as I can't find the body anywhere! It's just gone, disappeared, MIA. In the last two years I have tried a Powder Blue Tang, and this was the second Powder Brown. None have lasted more than six weeks. I have now decided not to attempt anymore Powder Tangs. For some reason, they just don't survive in my tank.
I have been keeping an even more alert eye on the tank because the Powder Brown had only been there for about four weeks, and I didn't see anything wrong at any point. On Friday it was eating normally and swimming normally, with no signs of any disease at all, and that was the last time I saw him.
I will now do a 90L water change, and dose some Polylab Medic as a precaution.
 
Pancho75

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about it Nobby, I did lost to brown powder tangs in the beginning also and decided not to try them anymore. In both cases ich got them after 3 or 4 weeks. Tangs are very active so if you you cannot find him, he is MIA.
 
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N

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
It's a funny thing, fish disease. We really don't know much about them, and we don't really know how to treat them.
I have a few theory's based on my own experiences. I personally think Ich is in every fish. Could it be like Cancer in humans. It's there, and in many cases nothing will happen, but in some people 'something' triggers the cancer, which then becomes a living thing that grows and kills the host? Some fish, just like people, just need 'something' to trigger the disease. I often hear that Powder tangs are 'Ich magnets', but is it just a case that they have a lower trigger threshold than other fish?
I've also noticed that the older more established fish don't seem to get re-infected. It's the newer fish that seem to suffer more, but if those newer fish get through one attack, then they appear to be bullet-proof to further re-infection.
As for treatment, I don't subscribe to the 76 day fallow thing with the fish being poisoned by copper in a hospital tank. Have you ever seen an LFS shut shop for 76 days while their tanks lay fallow?
I rend to follow the line practised by Paul B, where it is up to the fish to fight it out. Feed very well, and hope they pull through. If they do, then great. If they don't...well.
If I see any problems then I do dose Polyplab Medic. Some say it is snake oil, but I have my theories on that too! First off, every tank is different as we know, and secondly there must be various strains of Ich, some strains stronger than others. It's the way nature works. Personally, I think if you dose something like Medic early on, then it can reduce the effects of the infection. If the strain is allowed to develop and grow stronger, then Medic probably won't work.
How do I feed well? Normally the fish get frozen every day, with some dried seaweed about three times a week. Every couple of weeks I buy some bags of live food, like Californian Black Worms. I can enhance that by purchasing even more live food to supplement their diet. I also mix in some Ginger Powder and also feed an enhanced dry food like Fauna Marin Ultra.
So, my way of dealing with this is to treat early and feed well. It is then up to the fish to develop their immune systems to cope.
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Nobbygas said:
It's a funny thing, fish disease. We really don't know much about them, and we don't really know how to treat them.
I have a few theory's based on my own experiences. I personally think Ich is in every fish. Could it be like Cancer in humans. It's there, and in many cases nothing will happen, but in some people 'something' triggers the cancer, which then becomes a living thing that grows and kills the host? Some fish, just like people, just need 'something' to trigger the disease. I often hear that Powder tangs are 'Ich magnets', but is it just a case that they have a lower trigger threshold than other fish?
I've also noticed that the older more established fish don't seem to get re-infected. It's the newer fish that seem to suffer more, but if those newer fish get through one attack, then they appear to be bullet-proof to further re-infection.
As for treatment, I don't subscribe to the 76 day fallow thing with the fish being poisoned by copper in a hospital tank. Have you ever seen an LFS shut shop for 76 days while their tanks lay fallow?
I rend to follow the line practised by Paul B, where it is up to the fish to fight it out. Feed very well, and hope they pull through. If they do, then great. If they don't...well.
If I see any problems then I do dose Polyplab Medic. Some say it is snake oil, but I have my theories on that too! First off, every tank is different as we know, and secondly there must be various strains of Ich, some strains stronger than others. It's the way nature works. Personally, I think if you dose something like Medic early on, then it can reduce the effects of the infection. If the strain is allowed to develop and grow stronger, then Medic probably won't work.
How do I feed well? Normally the fish get frozen every day, with some dried seaweed about three times a week. Every couple of weeks I buy some bags of live food, like Californian Black Worms. I can enhance that by purchasing even more live food to supplement their diet. I also mix in some Ginger Powder and also feed an enhanced dry food like Fauna Marin Ultra.
So, my way of dealing with this is to treat early and feed well. It is then up to the fish to develop their immune systems to cope.
Click to expand...
I agree completely with all of this.

Can’t really say much more, so well said that man!
 
Pancho75

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
Nobbygas said:
It's a funny thing, fish disease. We really don't know much about them, and we don't really know how to treat them.
I have a few theory's based on my own experiences. I personally think Ich is in every fish. Could it be like Cancer in humans. It's there, and in many cases nothing will happen, but in some people 'something' triggers the cancer, which then becomes a living thing that grows and kills the host? Some fish, just like people, just need 'something' to trigger the disease. I often hear that Powder tangs are 'Ich magnets', but is it just a case that they have a lower trigger threshold than other fish?
I've also noticed that the older more established fish don't seem to get re-infected. It's the newer fish that seem to suffer more, but if those newer fish get through one attack, then they appear to be bullet-proof to further re-infection.
As for treatment, I don't subscribe to the 76 day fallow thing with the fish being poisoned by copper in a hospital tank. Have you ever seen an LFS shut shop for 76 days while their tanks lay fallow?
I rend to follow the line practised by Paul B, where it is up to the fish to fight it out. Feed very well, and hope they pull through. If they do, then great. If they don't...well.
If I see any problems then I do dose Polyplab Medic. Some say it is snake oil, but I have my theories on that too! First off, every tank is different as we know, and secondly there must be various strains of Ich, some strains stronger than others. It's the way nature works. Personally, I think if you dose something like Medic early on, then it can reduce the effects of the infection. If the strain is allowed to develop and grow stronger, then Medic probably won't work.
How do I feed well? Normally the fish get frozen every day, with some dried seaweed about three times a week. Every couple of weeks I buy some bags of live food, like Californian Black Worms. I can enhance that by purchasing even more live food to supplement their diet. I also mix in some Ginger Powder and also feed an enhanced dry food like Fauna Marin Ultra.
So, my way of dealing with this is to treat early and feed well. It is then up to the fish to develop their immune systems to cope.
Click to expand...
Amen!


It’s about reefing!
 
chickenjohn

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
Nobbygas said:
It's a funny thing, fish disease. We really don't know much about them, and we don't really know how to treat them.
I have a few theory's based on my own experiences. I personally think Ich is in every fish. Could it be like Cancer in humans. It's there, and in many cases nothing will happen, but in some people 'something' triggers the cancer, which then becomes a living thing that grows and kills the host? Some fish, just like people, just need 'something' to trigger the disease. I often hear that Powder tangs are 'Ich magnets', but is it just a case that they have a lower trigger threshold than other fish?
I've also noticed that the older more established fish don't seem to get re-infected. It's the newer fish that seem to suffer more, but if those newer fish get through one attack, then they appear to be bullet-proof to further re-infection.
As for treatment, I don't subscribe to the 76 day fallow thing with the fish being poisoned by copper in a hospital tank. Have you ever seen an LFS shut shop for 76 days while their tanks lay fallow?
I rend to follow the line practised by Paul B, where it is up to the fish to fight it out. Feed very well, and hope they pull through. If they do, then great. If they don't...well.
If I see any problems then I do dose Polyplab Medic. Some say it is snake oil, but I have my theories on that too! First off, every tank is different as we know, and secondly there must be various strains of Ich, some strains stronger than others. It's the way nature works. Personally, I think if you dose something like Medic early on, then it can reduce the effects of the infection. If the strain is allowed to develop and grow stronger, then Medic probably won't work.
How do I feed well? Normally the fish get frozen every day, with some dried seaweed about three times a week. Every couple of weeks I buy some bags of live food, like Californian Black Worms. I can enhance that by purchasing even more live food to supplement their diet. I also mix in some Ginger Powder and also feed an enhanced dry food like Fauna Marin Ultra.
So, my way of dealing with this is to treat early and feed well. It is then up to the fish to develop their immune systems to cope.
Click to expand...
Nice post Nobby
Agree with most of it except the going fallow bit, lfs do not need to go fallow as they do not have corals in their fish tanks so can use medications and treatments which would kill corals.At home in our reef tanks we can only use medication which is so weak to avoid harming corals that it is not effective enough on fish, hence the need to take out all the fish to a separate tank to treat the fish properly.
When the fish are treated and cured (if possible) what is the point of putting them back into a dt which still has ich present only to catch it again, that's why in a reef tank you need to go fallow to kill the ich present in the tank as medication isn't strong enough because if it is it would destroy your corals.
 
N

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Soooo, what has been happening in my tank recently.
First off, the Skimmer. Twice in the last few weeks (including yesterday) it has gone totally ballistic! I mean foam pouring out of the two little slits on the top and cascading down the sides, for no reason whatsoever ! Why do they do this now and again?
Next. After I reported the deaths of the Powder Brown Tang and one of the Two-Spotted Anthias, about ten days after that I lost the other three Two-Spotted Anthias, all on the same day! I came home from work to find all three dead on the bottom of the tank. There were no signs that they were ill. As I was already dosing Medic I continued with that, and just upped the dosage a bit. Since then there have not been anymore deaths, and all fish are looking healthy. At this point I was basically examining them using the magnifying glass ! Strange.
Next, the Blue Throated Trigger. As reported previously, the Female transitioned to a Male, complete with Yellow edges to the fins (top and bottom), the Yellow tail, and even a hint of the 'blue throat'. However, it really looks as though she/he is going back to being a Female! The Yellow edges on the fins have practically disappeared and the tail has taken on the distinct Brown colour of the Female. Is this even possible? I don't think I've been mistaken about anything with the fish. I do feel sorry for the original Male as he's never sure what he's going to wake up next to every morning !
I also realised recently that my CUC are being 'eaten', and the main culprit appears to be the Pastel Green Wrasse. So I went out and bought an extra ten Narcissus snails. After the usual prep I put them in the tank, where they proceeded to tunnel down into the sand.......and I've not seen a single one since ! In the past I usually see them sliding up the glass to the top, and then releasing themselves to fall down in a heap back onto the sand, but this lot, nowt! The Turbo Snails seem to be ok as long as they are either on a rock or on the glass. It's if they try to make that crossing from the rock to the glass across the sand, and that's where the Wrasse will get them. The Wrasse will pick them up, turn them over, and then eat them! I don't need to replace these as they seem to be breeding ok and I reckon I have more turbo snails in the tank that I placed there originally.
I still cannot get my GSP to grow and it does look rather sad. The same can also be said for two Leathers I have. They never extend their Polyps, but their 'bodies' are getting fatter. Oh, one other thing, the RBTA has split! I have never had this happen before, but it has split. Neither of the two pieces have moved anywhere yet but I shall obviously keep an eye on them.
 
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