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jmike
12-02-2014, 04:14 PM
So I'm feeling like a bit of a noob. I bought a few fish 3 days ago (small flame angel, six line wrass, chalk bass, bi-colour dottyback and watchman goby all 1" and under), 8 snails and some SPS acros and LPS this past weekend as a bit of a spur of the moment as a sale was on at the LFS.

Not planning on adding anything to the tank I did not have my QT (10g) up and running before I brought my new additions home. I have a bag of biomax balls/cylinders and some HOB filter sponges primed ready to go in the sump to keep some media loaded with bacteria.

Once the critters were home I did a 4hr drip from the DT while I setup the QT. Once I had everything running I used water and some sand from the DT with the cycled media and 70% new water 30% DT water to fill. I then switched the drip over to acclimate from the QT water.

I added the SPS/LPS, snails and fish to the QT and most seemed to be doing fine but the ammonia was still creeping up. I used prime and stability and have been doing 30% water changes (up to twice daily with RO/DI, SG 1.023) to keep it down but I hit 1.5! I Had some cloudy water too over the first night.

The SPS were visibly stressed and the hammer was closed complete and in my haste to save them (and not lose $200 worth of frags) I rinsed them and tossed into the DT as they were visibly bleaching. I did Coral Rx dip them and rinse before adding to the QT. The corals were looking excellent in the LFS but were very white and not looking good after the first day in the QT. A cursory inspection of them revealed no visible bugs or nudibranchs, the dip did remove a small crab though. One thing I did notice upon transfering to the DT and the water in the QT is the SPS are producing quite the smell.

I want to be strict and keep them in the QT but I feel I may have overloaded the bio-filter capacity in the tank. I also added a small piece of LR from the sump to help.

I have now lost a few of the snails and have been plucking them out as they croak to keep them from adding to the NH3 problems, the others arent looking good either. The fish seem to be doing okay, the chalk bass is looking sluggish and hiding/not out swimming but not visibly struggling to breath. The wrasse is the only one acting strangely as he is rubbing the tank bottom often and has one white dot on his tail on each side, but it looks like this could be part of his rear eye spot, but it's hard to get a good look at him with the cloudy water.

I'm going to keep up with the 30% WC and dosing of stability and prime as directed (if it even works) and restrain from moving the fish over prematurely. It feels like I might be doing more harm than good keeping them in the ammonia farm and i've already moved the corals so the quarantine has been broken.

I guess I'm just looking for some approval or something I'm doing the right thing or making rash decisions. Doing my research online it seems you can find answered on both sides of the fence, depending on your confirmation bias to which answer you're looking for. I dont want the snails to die either but im concerned they could transmit something to the DT ($ snail vs. $$$$$ DT).


Specs:

The DT is a 120g, 45g sump, 8 54w T5 HO Tek Light, 150lbs LR, Sand, Ca Reactor, Skimmer, GFO, Carbon, All paremeters in check, SG 1.025 @ 25C. 1 yellow tang, 2 ocilaris clowns, 5 BG chromis, snails and hermit crabs. Had a lawn mower blenny but I havent seen him for a few days and I think he might have moved onto the big reef in the sky, which is sad as he was doing really well, eating and very active/interactive.

QT is a 10g (small I know, but it's what I have), HOB, heater, PVC pipe for cover, biomax balls in the filter and in the tank bottom in the flow areas, air stone and now a piece of LR. NH3 was as high as 1.5, now around 0.5. SG 1.023 @25C

CM125
12-02-2014, 05:39 PM
How long have both been running? was everything good until these additions?

jmike
12-02-2014, 05:47 PM
How long have both been running? was everything good until these additions?

Yeah the DT was all good and has been running for 8 months. Had some issues with RTN on some SPS but the calcium reactor seems to have made the surviors happy.

The QT was a short notice setup but the biomax and sponges have been aged as long as the DT has been running.

The LFS said most fish have been with them for a while (except the watchman goby - 1 week) and the corals have been there for a bit too with no issue.

CM125
12-02-2014, 05:58 PM
sounds like a mini cycle in the QT, hard to say, but 10G is very small. Im not a huge fan of QTs really, or bioballs for that matter. I may not be the best person to advise you. But ammonia creeping up is always bad, and 8 months is pretty new from a DT standpoint, may not be established enough for what your adding.

jmike
12-02-2014, 06:42 PM
yeah I was on the fence about adding this much too. The LR and some sand was carry over as I bought the tank used and we kept the rock cycled up. It was previously running for about a year and was premium fiji rock or something like that to begin with. The DT never did cycle (that i noticed) and was ready to rock right from the first fill.

If everyone's looking healthy I may just move them over sooner than later. The QT tank seems like more of a problem stressing out otherwise seemingly healthy fish, but ready online guides keep stressing the importance of quartining new arrivals that's why I went this route.

Thanks for the replys anyways.

Slyguy00
12-02-2014, 07:34 PM
Id say its more than old enough to handle what you added. I started adding sps to my tank after 4 months of it being setup with no issues. I think it is your quick qt setup causing you issues. I personally don't qt anything, just dip and throw in my tank. Might not be the best advice but has worked for me so far.

jmike
12-02-2014, 07:50 PM
Might just do that from now on with the corals; do a good dip and inspection. Hope they pull through. Too bad, a guy trys to do the right thing but ends up nuking a few things in the process lol..

I thought the QT would be cycle free as much biomass as I added. Live and learn I guess and plan my adding of stock to have the QT up and ready.. I might just keep it going to have it ready anyways.

Oh well just money and some poor creatures life i guess.. :( Im a bad fish dad haha.

Slyguy00
12-02-2014, 07:51 PM
Happens to the best of us. Thats the only way to learn. Hope it works out.

CM125
12-02-2014, 08:04 PM
yeah I was on the fence about adding this much too. The LR and some sand was carry over as I bought the tank used and we kept the rock cycled up. It was previously running for about a year and was premium fiji rock or something like that to begin with. The DT never did cycle (that i noticed) and was ready to rock right from the first fill.

If everyone's looking healthy I may just move them over sooner than later. The QT tank seems like more of a problem stressing out otherwise seemingly healthy fish, but ready online guides keep stressing the importance of quartining new arrivals that's why I went this route.

Thanks for the replys anyways.

I Have never quarantined for that reason...

Id say its more than old enough to handle what you added. I started adding sps to my tank after 4 months of it being setup with no issues. I think it is your quick qt setup causing you issues. I personally don't qt anything, just dip and throw in my tank. Might not be the best advice but has worked for me so far.

Some people have luck with newer tanks, others don't. But I agree, I have had pretty good luck without a QT

jmike
12-03-2014, 02:06 AM
Well all is seeming well in the QT, water is clear and ammonia is back down to 0.25 or less. The fish are much more active so I think I'll keep them in the QT for the next while as originally planned. Keeping up with a 20-30% WC each day. The LR I stuck in there I think was the key, too bad as it cannot go back in the sump now.

The SPS are another story, have a feeling one of them is nuked and the other isn't looking promising. The LPS seems fine tho.

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49381_zpsf2126393.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49381_zpsf2126393.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49401_zps47c5d539.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49401_zps47c5d539.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49421_zps557e779e.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49421_zps557e779e.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49411_zpsdc3b4982.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49411_zpsdc3b4982.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49431_zps0322368c.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49431_zps0322368c.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49441_zps72628119.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49441_zps72628119.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49471_zpscfc1ed93.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49471_zpscfc1ed93.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49481_zps841d125d.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49481_zps841d125d.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49501_zps32655900.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49501_zps32655900.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49491_zps731d4640.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49491_zps731d4640.jpg.html)

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/jmikec57/IMG_49451_zpsbd032b59.jpg (http://s283.photobucket.com/user/jmikec57/media/IMG_49451_zpsbd032b59.jpg.html)

CM125
12-03-2014, 09:27 PM
I still stand by my comment that SPS do way better in mature tanks. Just my .02

trilinearmipmap
12-06-2014, 12:16 AM
Usually I add max 1 fish every 3 or 4 months. But live and learn