Calgary Stores, Stocking Questions, and preparing my tank for Mandarins

[mikeclarke]

Hi there,

My 100 gallon tank has been left decimated after a big ich outbreak. My sps, zoas, softies, all look okay. All I have left is

-1 clown
-1 foxface
-4 pj cardinals
-1 starry blenny
-2 cleaner shrimps

I had and lost
-the other clown
-yellow tang
-kole eyed tang
-emperor angel
-royal gramma
-goblin goby

I'd like to get another clown as they were fun to watch together and I really liked the emperor angel. I have only been in the saltwater hobby for 2 years so I am a bit of a newbie. Does anyone have any suggestions on what fish I should get, what people suggest for qt procedures (I have a 20gal qt tank), and importantly where to get the fish.

I would one day like to get mandarins and I would like to make sure they don't survive. I have a 50 gallon sump in the basement but I've read that you really don't get many copepods that transfer from the sump/refugium back upstairs. So what should I do?

I am coming to Calgary next weekend and would like to get some more fish (and obviously qt them this time). What fish would people suggest? What store(s) should I check out? I live in Fernie and it is about 3 hrs away.

[jtbadco]

There are a few things you can do to assist with getting Mandarin gobys to thrive.

First, having alot of good intricate LR in the DT is essential. You need lots of little cracks and crevices for the copepods and amphipods to reproduce in.

You can assist this with little 'rubble piles' located throughout the DT as well.

You can also build a small 'cryptic tank' or sump/refugium above the tank and gravity feed the return into the tank.

Also, adding some type of small live foods to the tank may assist in stocking it with lots of Mandarin food (ie Tigger pods, etc)

I also suggest looking into ORA captive bred Mandarins. They are raised on prepared foods so are more likely to thrive in a home aquarium.

There are probably lots more things that more experienced reefers will add. Hope this helps

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by mikeclarke

Hi there,



I would one day like to get mandarins and I would like to make sure they don't survive.

Du'oh! Hope thats a typo

^^^ I was about to say the same.

[NanoCat]

I assume that your outbreak was many weeks ago so that the new fish don't just get sick when you put them into your tank.

I would suggest if you ever purchase a Dragonet that you try to teach it to eat prepared foods like brine and mysis enriched with vitamins. I purchased a Dragonet locally at Oceans and placed it in a breeder net within my tank for 3-4 weeks during which time. I used a feeding tube twice a day or more to offer at first brine shrimp and then slowly mysis. Once the Dragonet was eating regularly I let him into the dt and the proceeded to feed him with the same tube everyday.

He now has learned to take even more of the frozen food I feed to the display and hunts the tube when it goes into the tank. I do leave a large pile of food in front of him because they are slow eaters and other fish and crabs may try to steal it from him.

You can also make a feeding den for the Dragonet to help with this. I don't have much trouble with this as I only have one clown fish, tail spot blenny, and some hermits that will steal from him.

When I purchased him his sides were caved in a little and he was starving but now he has fattened up a lot and bulges at the sides more. I is definitely a good idea to have a fuge with pods as some will make it into the display and you can shake some out into the display as well when you do maintenance but if you can train you Dragonet to eat prepared food it would go a long way. It is not a guarantee that every Dragonet will take to training and an Ora Dragonet would probably be best but it is possible.

not sure if you have read this article:
http://coralmagazine.coverleaf.com/coral/20111112#pg51

and also here is a link for a few ways to train Dragonets:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...&#entry3360190

[mikeclarke]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

Du'oh! Hope thats a typo

Whoops. Yeah, I would like it if they survived.

My ich has been gone for a few days and now it will be two weeks when I get new fish into the qt tank. I couldn't catch the sick ich fish so they stayed in my display tank.

Where is a good place to get more marine fish and what would you all suggest getting? When they are in the qt what would you treat them with and how long would you leave them in there before transferring them to the display. I will transfer display tank water to the qt tank (40% weekly) while they are in qt.

[Leah]

The ick is still in your tank.

[NanoCat]

I believe you need to wait 8-10 weeks without sick fish in the tank before the ick would be considered gone. So I would wait longer.

[Leah]

The ick will not go away without leaving the system fishless. The ones you still have in the DT will still have it and it will probably return.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by NanoCat

I believe you need to wait 8-10 weeks without sick fish in the tank before the ick would be considered gone. So I would wait longer.

That time frame assumes no fish at all, sick or otherwise. Adding new fish, even after quarantine, will likely result in one or more getting ich, starting the whole process over again. If you're going to quarantine, get the existing fish out, add them all to QT, treat for ich, and after waiting 10 weeks, add them back. Or don't waste time QT'ing the new fish and hope for the best. Which, IMO, is a bad plan.