DKoKoMan's 150g Reef Tank

[iamfrontosa]

i don't think the stress would cause this many fish to die. Must be something wrong with the water. But you test seems to be okay.

[Myka]

Have you tested nitrite at all? If there was ever a reading other than "0" it would have pointed to an ammonia spike that you maybe missed.

You should have asked on here for pointers before you transferred. At the very least, you should have left the new sand out until everything was moved over and settled in for a couple weeks. I wouldn't have setup the new tank with all new water (sound like that's what you did). I think you made a few small "mistakes" that added up and are causing some sort of water quality issue - I suspect some kind of bacteria problem. Add to that the stress of the move, and then being in the cloudy water in an unfamiliar setting and I think it was too much. When a tank transfer is done well you will not see an ammonia blip at all.

[DKoKoMan]

I did test Nitrite and it was "0" but that was after I got home and woke up after work. I may have missed a potential "spike". Tested last night, Nitrate read 20ppm and 0 ammonia. I definitely think the fish got stressed from the move and the water quality. I definitely made the mistake of putting the sand in early, LR and clouding up the water.

As far as water goes, I was able to put 75g+ of the water from the original tank in to the new setup. That being said there would be 50% new water and this may have contributed to an imbalance in the bacteria. I definitely saw detectable ammonia (short period) but that definitely reflects on the recent losses.

I will just stay positive and expect to see further losses unfortunately... thanks Myka for the information. Anything helps to try and put my finger on the root cause.

[DKoKoMan]

Lost my black clown fish today I feel bad as my orange clown is all alone now. I'm just dreading the days moving forward if I continue to lose fish.

[amberc12]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Lost my black clown fish today I feel bad as my orange clown is all alone now. I'm just dreading the days moving forward if I continue to lose fish.

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope you get it figured out! Chin up it will get better, positive vibes sent your way

[DKoKoMan]

Thank you for the good "ju ju". Once the carpet installers are finished on the basement stairs I will venture down to the tank.

[DKoKoMan]

Well it's been a couple days and everything appears to be mellowed out now (no more fish losses *knock on wood*). I have been testing everything regularly and I'm not seeing any spikes. I plan on doing 20% WC bi-weekly and I will be setting up my doser soon! For now I have been manually bumping my Alk & Cal with 2-part.

Got this bad boy delivered yesterday

Glamorca Gyre-Flow Pump









So far I have just switched it on constant mode at 10% until I can find time to tweak it and run through the different settings. I briefly had it on the pulse setting. And it was making a large wave across the tank toward the overflow. Once I get the gyre dialed in I may need to get some frags!

[DKoKoMan]

Well I finally picked up some local chaeto and placed it in the fuge. I took the time to "seed" the fuge with a bottle of Reef Nutrition Tigger Pods. Hopefully this gives it a bit of a jump start. I am waiting until the LFS has a shipment of DrEco - Eco Matter to add some diversity to my Refugium. I am hoping to see the chaeto ball get some growth, the light is currently on a timer for 8 hrs reverse light cycle (12am-8am). Here is a quick photo of the fuge.





I also took the time to finally mount the pump controllers on to the back wall. I was able to mo My one of the two power bars and clean up the wiring as well. I picked up some "L" brackets from Home Depot for my dosing pump to sit on. Unfortunately I haven't had time to calibrate and get the dosing pump online (soon I hope).





I am still looking for commercial or "strong" magnets locally for the wood skirt I will be placing around. I haven't been able to find any (HD had some weak ones). If anyone has suggestions please let me know

Last but not least, finally got a hold of a decent sized Powder Blue (I have saw these guys in other tanks and fell in love). So welcome "Blueberry" as my wife has already named him. Sorry about the lame iPhone photo, I have yet to learn how to track and take a better photo of the fish

[amberc12]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Got this bad boy delivered yesterday

Glamorca Gyre-Flow Pump



So far I have just switched it on constant mode at 10% until I can find time to tweak it and run through the different settings. I briefly had it on the pulse setting. And it was making a large wave across the tank toward the overflow. Once I get the gyre dialed in I may need to get some frags!

Nice, I got the same ones How do you find the noise level?? Mine seem pretty loud especially compared to my old one, hoping it might just need a break in period...but maybe I just happened to get lucky on the quiet one....
Set-up is looking good!!

[DKoKoMan]

Thanks Amber! The gyre makes a hum as it pushes the water (only running on 10% continuous). I to am hoping that once it breaks in it becomes a little quieter or at least from the build up lol.