ZEOvit/200G Build Journal - 34G Solana

GreenSpottedPuffer · #1 03-08-2009, 07:51 AM

Pretty sad night...almost. Got home from the hockey game tonight to find my Harlequin Tusk on the ground! I knew right away it couldn't have been too long since he was flipping around a bit and in a puddle of water. I grabbed him and dropped him back into the tank--within 10 seconds he was begging for food.

I NEED to get my new mesh top built tomorrow. I am going to do what I have done in the past. Aluminum window screen with window framing. The top goes on all night until light on. I will take the top off when the lights go on if I am home. I work from home (beside the tank) and am home most of the day. If I go out, the top goes on. When I come home, it can come off. Not ideal but loosing fish to jumping is not an option.

I have no idea what happened but he gets super freaked out for a few seconds at lights out. He darts around and he has splashed a few times. I am pretty sure this is what happened.

Anyways...he seems fine. I don't think he was out of water more than a 2 minutes max. The lights had turned off less than 2 minutes before I got home. Thank god we didn't for that extra beer after the Canucks big win

On another note, I tested nitrates and got 0. Had to test again since I didn't believe it. Tested 4 times. LOL. 0 each time.

I have been feeding 5 times a day heavily to deal with ich and am shocked I have 0 nitrates. I think I am a real believer in ZEO now.

25 well fed, fat fish (8 large ones) in a 200G tank, no refugium, VERY minimal LR and 0 nitrates. Gotta be the ZEO! Corals are starting to look pretty nice too the past week

wisesam · #2 03-08-2009, 08:11 AM

So it's not a sad night after all.
Your fish survived the suicide attempt, nitrates tested 0. And the tank is doing great.

Delphinus · #3 03-08-2009, 08:20 AM

Yeah, indeed, how horrible.

Seriously though, glad you got there in the nick of time. What are the odds ... and man I hate losing fish to jumping (or escaping as in the case of eels). What a sucky way to go. I can't believe I lost my canary wrasse when I had eggcrate on the tank .. did he have a one in a million shot and fit through the squares just right? Or did he have enough inertia to lift the eggcrate up, pass through over the glass, and the eggcrate just fall back down onto the tank? Guess I'll never know. (And yes I know I've complained about this a lot and yes it was a year ago but yes I really do obsess over things like this. I want to know so I can take steps to ensure it can't happen again!!)

I like your idea of a cover when unattended although that's something I see not working for me for very long. I prefer something permanent that I can circumvent just enough for ease of feeding, like a little flapper hole I can open up to get my hand through..

GreenSpottedPuffer · #4 03-08-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisesam

So it's not a sad night after all.
Your fish survived the suicide attempt, nitrates tested 0. And the tank is doing great.

...AND the Canucks beat the Sharks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Yeah, indeed, how horrible.

Seriously though, glad you got there in the nick of time. What are the odds ... and man I hate losing fish to jumping (or escaping as in the case of eels). What a sucky way to go. I can't believe I lost my canary wrasse when I had eggcrate on the tank .. did he have a one in a million shot and fit through the squares just right? Or did he have enough inertia to lift the eggcrate up, pass through over the glass, and the eggcrate just fall back down onto the tank? Guess I'll never know. (And yes I know I've complained about this a lot and yes it was a year ago but yes I really do obsess over things like this. I want to know so I can take steps to ensure it can't happen again!!)

I like your idea of a cover when unattended although that's something I see not working for me for very long. I prefer something permanent that I can circumvent just enough for ease of feeding, like a little flapper hole I can open up to get my hand through..

Yeah, yeah...I said almost

It was more like a wake up call to get my screen top done asap.

Very lucky not to go for the beer...me turn down a beer? So weird. I guess after spending like $50 on disgusting, over priced hockey game beers, I wasn't in the mood.

The mesh works well and is super light and easy to remove or replace a few times a day. It does block a lot of light though. So it doesn't work as a permanent solution. It works for someone like me who is home all the time. When it is over the tank, its just simply like a cloudy day. No big deal.

If I left the house for work each day though, I would have to come up with something else. I would most likely do the same thing though but light the tank starting at 4PM or whenever I got home.

Many of my friends in Florida used to go with nighttime photoperiods because of heat issues in the day. I used think it was kind of cool.

spoot · #5 03-08-2009, 08:32 AM

Why no try building one of those nearly clear mesh tops from reefcentral? Would be a lot less hassle than having to put the screen on everytime you leave.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #6 03-08-2009, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spoot

Why no try building one of those nearly clear mesh tops from reefcentral? Would be a lot less hassle than having to put the screen on everytime you leave.

Nah, I just dont like them. Its no big deal for me. I get into routines very easily. I don't see it as a hassle at all.

When I looked into the clear mesh in the past, I also couldn't find it anywhere.

EDIT: Although I guess making it out of the clear mesh would be great as long as its still easily removable. Same idea but may as well use the clear mesh if I can find it somewhere.

Jack · #7 03-08-2009, 04:16 PM

Do both halides turn off at the same time?

GreenSpottedPuffer · #8 03-08-2009, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack

Do both halides turn off at the same time?

No, he is fine when the first one goes off. Its the second one that freaks him out.

Lance · #9 03-08-2009, 04:48 PM

[quote=GreenSpottedPuffer;396836]Pretty sad night...almost. Got home from the hockey game tonight to find my Harlequin Tusk on the ground! I knew right away it couldn't have been too long since he was flipping around a bit and in a puddle of water. I grabbed him and dropped him back into the tank--within 10 seconds he was begging for food.

Holy Crap! Lucky or what? What could have been a disaster was in reality a pretty good night for you: Tuskfish OK, 'Nucks beat the Sharks, nitrates at 0, corals looking good. Must have been the "Lucky 7" in the date yesterday. Don't push it though, get that cover built!

Mrfish55 · #10 03-08-2009, 05:06 PM

While your out getting materials for that cover, stop and get a lottery ticket! luck like that don't last long.