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Enos Cabell posted:Well today loving sucks. Got home from work and found that a breaker tripped in my fish room sometime after I was in there yesterday afternoon. My freshwater tanks were all ok, but my saltwater tank completely crashed. Purple tang and red head solon fairy wrasse that I've had for 5+ years both dead, big maxima clam covered in ricordea is probably dead, 30 heads of frogspawn look like they are toast, blue tuxedo urchin is a goner, couldn't find my blenny. Most of the other coral is in pretty rough shape, dunno if any will recover. Only thing I know is still alive is a pair of engineer gobies and an aiptasia eating filefish. Mixing some fresh saltwater now for a big water change, but I'm not hopeful about any of this. Really leaning towards tearing it all down and selling off what I can, but I'm gonna sleep on it at least. I am so sorry. I have been there, and it is horrible.
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Aug 23, 2022 03:55
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Enos Cabell posted:Well today loving sucks. Got home from work and found that a breaker tripped in my fish room sometime after I was in there yesterday afternoon. My freshwater tanks were all ok, but my saltwater tank completely crashed. Purple tang and red head solon fairy wrasse that I've had for 5+ years both dead, big maxima clam covered in ricordea is probably dead, 30 heads of frogspawn look like they are toast, blue tuxedo urchin is a goner, couldn't find my blenny. Most of the other coral is in pretty rough shape, dunno if any will recover. Only thing I know is still alive is a pair of engineer gobies and an aiptasia eating filefish. Mixing some fresh saltwater now for a big water change, but I'm not hopeful about any of this. Really leaning towards tearing it all down and selling off what I can, but I'm gonna sleep on it at least. That's terrible to hear Enos and I feel for you as that's how I lost my reef. I even had a battery backup but apparently the power flickered off and on a ton which caused havoc with anything electronic. One of the maxijets got stuck trying to run backwards and literally melted the pump volute block, dumping who knows what into the tank.
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Aug 23, 2022 04:28
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Thanks for the kind words all. Things are still looking pretty rough, but amazingly I found my purple tang out and swimming around this morning. I thought he was for sure a goner. Still pretty gutted about the rest, and depending on what coral I have left I may opt to go FOWLR for a while to simplify things.
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Aug 23, 2022 18:24
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Enos Cabell posted:Well today loving sucks. Got home from work and found that a breaker tripped in my fish room sometime after I was in there yesterday afternoon. My freshwater tanks were all ok, but my saltwater tank completely crashed. Purple tang and red head solon fairy wrasse that I've had for 5+ years both dead, big maxima clam covered in ricordea is probably dead, 30 heads of frogspawn look like they are toast, blue tuxedo urchin is a goner, couldn't find my blenny. Most of the other coral is in pretty rough shape, dunno if any will recover. Only thing I know is still alive is a pair of engineer gobies and an aiptasia eating filefish. Mixing some fresh saltwater now for a big water change, but I'm not hopeful about any of this. Really leaning towards tearing it all down and selling off what I can, but I'm gonna sleep on it at least. OMG, that's my worst nightmare. So sorry. E: Great news about the purple tang! Looking into a backup generator is one of those things I keep meaning to do, but never doing. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Aug 24, 2022 |
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Aug 24, 2022 16:29
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I think I posted a while back about being on the edge of burning out in the hobby. I think I have a plan to try to get my GHA issues under control and hopefully make me want to look at my tanks again instead of dreading it. I'm going to start with a chemical warfare phase (Algaefix) and hope it doesn't kill any fish/corals/inverts. Once it's killed back I will refresh my cleanup crews and add in-take refugiums to grow chaeto in.
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Aug 24, 2022 16:36
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:I think I posted a while back about being on the edge of burning out in the hobby. I think I have a plan to try to get my GHA issues under control and hopefully make me want to look at my tanks again instead of dreading it. I'm going to start with a chemical warfare phase (Algaefix) and hope it doesn't kill any fish/corals/inverts. Once it's killed back I will refresh my cleanup crews and add in-take refugiums to grow chaeto in. Can you pull your hardscape where the gha is and put boiling water on it? For me this killed it and my inverts happily ate it all in like two days.
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Aug 24, 2022 16:41
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I'm actually in the midst of a power outage right now. I ordered a solar powered pond aerator with AAx2 battery backup, after reading things earlier this week, just deployed it. Probably overkill for the surface area and bioload+ plants but after reading about that better safe than sorry  Bulky Bartokomous posted:OMG, that's my worst nightmare. So sorry. We live in hurricane country now, I have the generator in the shed, waiting on some parts for the breaker panel to finish the install Right now hurricane season has been the quietest it's been in 30 years so harbor freight is running fire sales to dump their excess generator stock, you can get a whisper quiet inverter generator 3600 watts for well under $999 right now, that'll run all your aquarium stuff + fridge + microwave no problem
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Aug 24, 2022 18:49
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How long would my outdoor goldfish be ok if the power was to go out and I was to vanish? This hoard of baby fish seem to be growing up fine without any feeding, could my adults survive off algae and whatever grows in the pond naturally? They love their pellets but I imagine they could switch to foraging in the pond? They mostly ignore the algae at the moment and simply beg for pellets and salami whenever they see me.
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Aug 24, 2022 19:43
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The big ones will eventually go but that pond would probably have a forever population.
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Aug 24, 2022 22:00
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Power came on long enough for the pond pump to cycle the whole pond probably 2 times, power went back out. Very happy with my solar powered air pump with battery backup so far. Also bought a USB powered one I can run off a battery bank or laptop. Probably overkill for so few fish in so many gallons but the alternative sounds awful Edit: also a third goldfish has appeared from the brick labrynth! So I guess I only lost just the one
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Aug 24, 2022 23:16
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poo poo my nitrates are high. Probably from that goddamn krill that no one ate. And probably because of various stress in life, I keep loving up my salt mix so it's always low, like 1.020. So I have to add a few spoons of salt at a time, wait for it to dissolve, and test again. Hoping to get a 5 gallon change done tonight. My serpent star is not looking so great, has white marks along the bases of his legs.
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Aug 25, 2022 02:05
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If it's a star that frequents tidal pools it should be very tolerant of salinity swings. I'm going to start my chemical algae offensive with Vibrant. It was supposed to be a bacteria based solution but the main water chemistry guy on Reef2Reef proved it was the same chemical algaecide as AlgaeFix for over double the price. Pretty funny reef scandal. Anyways I will use it up since I have it than I'll pick up a bottle of AlgaeFix. I used to have one but I dumped it out after reading the warning label. Not crazy about using it by I'm desperate at this point.
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Aug 25, 2022 13:28
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VelociBacon posted:Can you pull your hardscape where the gha is and put boiling water on it? For me this killed it and my inverts happily ate it all in like two days. It's all on live rock and coral so unfortunately that isn't an option. It's everywhere.
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Aug 25, 2022 13:30
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:It's all on live rock and coral so unfortunately that isn't an option. It's everywhere. I feel your pain, I had a pretty intense GHA problem a few years back and it slowly started creeping back within the last several months. It's insane how quickly it can grow and just dominate a tank. Not sure how your system is setup, but if you have a sump it makes manual removal a bit easier. What I did was run a regular gravel vac from the tank into a filter sock holder in the sump, but left the return pump going. That way you can siphon continuously without actually removing any water, as long as your return pump can handle the extra flow into the sump. Then you just start pulling GHA and let it go right into the vac to get trapped in a sock. I've had it setup like that for hours at a time on mine while pulling GHA, really helps a lot.
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Aug 25, 2022 13:40
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:If it's a star that frequents tidal pools it should be very tolerant of salinity swings. I have no idea where he came from. Maybe I am not filling the cup I use for salt right. It's about half a cup per gallon for saltwater, right?
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Aug 25, 2022 15:10
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Enos Cabell posted:I feel your pain, I had a pretty intense GHA problem a few years back and it slowly started creeping back within the last several months. It's insane how quickly it can grow and just dominate a tank. I don't have a sump on any of my tanks. I have converted my old Eheim Classic Cannister into a portable aquarium vacuum cleaner for exactly such situations. The main problem is that in the reef tank my clowns bite the poo poo out of me the entire time and the GHA is really healthy/strong at holding onto the live rock. I think the Vibrant may actually be working in the FOWLR though, as I've been using it in there longer. In the tank it pulls away from the rock much easier. Cowslips Warren posted:I have no idea where he came from. I have only ever used Instant Ocean so I can't speak for all brands, but yes, with IO it's 1/2 cup per gallon. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Aug 25, 2022 |
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Aug 25, 2022 19:15
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Cowslips Warren posted:I have no idea where he came from. Yes, but use a calibrated refractometer to check
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Aug 25, 2022 19:43
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Oh yes, I actually have two calibrated ones, so I can double check my readings. Clean them off with RO water in between every check.
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Aug 25, 2022 19:54
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Cowslips Warren posted:Oh yes, I actually have two calibrated ones, so I can double check my readings. Clean them off with RO water in between every check. I just wipe em off on my jeans :-/ Be careful with calibration solution though, buy it from BRS or a LFS, or someone else reputable. I bought some off Amazon that was *way* off and I would've been in deep poo poo if I hadn't been suspicious at how much adjustment was needed and checked against the old calibration solution.
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Aug 26, 2022 01:43
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DeadlyMuffin posted:I just wipe em off on my jeans :-/ How often do I need to calibrate? I miss the days when the old plastic arm was accurate enough.
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Aug 26, 2022 02:09
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I just look at RO/DI in mine and as long it reads 0.0 I feel like I'm good.
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Aug 26, 2022 03:05
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Cowslips Warren posted:How often do I need to calibrate? I do it every time because it's easy. You shouldn't need to tweak it much at all. I find the refractometers way easier to use than the old plastic arms, but ymmv Bulky Bartokomous posted:I just look at RO/DI in mine and as long it reads 0.0 I feel like I'm good. Get some 35ppt calibration solution, it's cheap and you'll be way more accurate. 0.0 is too far off as a calibration point imo
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Aug 26, 2022 03:21
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:I don't have a sump on any of my tanks. I have converted my old Eheim Classic Cannister into a portable aquarium vacuum cleaner for exactly such situations. The main problem is that in the reef tank my clowns bite the poo poo out of me the entire time and the GHA is really healthy/strong at holding onto the live rock. I think the Vibrant may actually be working in the FOWLR though, as I've been using it in there longer. In the tank it pulls away from the rock much easier. I'm not a reef tank expert, but depending on what exactly the algae is growing on consider using an oral syringe to directly apply the algaecide to the algae when dosing the tank. Turn off all pumps/wave makers/etc. first, then give the algae a squirt so it soaks in a higher concentration for a few minutes before turning everything back on. I also need to stop being lazy and do this to finish off the remnants of green spot algae on my hardscape.
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Aug 26, 2022 03:31
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My beloved rabbit snail disappeared nearly three weeks ago. At first, I thought maybe he was just doing the thing rabbit snails sometimes do where they nap for a day or two, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Days pass, and I get a bit worried, so I start poking around in the plants to see if I can find him. No joy. Finally when I did I water change last week, I did as good a hunt for him as I could since I was doing a decent substrate vacuum. The tank is well planted, so I couldn't see everywhere, but he's a big snail. Anyway, I've been assuming he died somehow, and my tank wasn't the same without him cruising around. I've been checking for him any time I walk by the tank, and today it took my brain a second to register that he was indeed actually there, poking around like nothing happened. Where has he been for nearly three weeks?  Every rabbit snail care sheet says they sometimes just don't move for 24-48 hours, but there's nothing about vanishing for weeks. I'm delighted though 
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Aug 27, 2022 18:27
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Enfys posted:My beloved rabbit snail disappeared nearly three weeks ago. Is there a spot where he could have escaped? I've found mystery and nerite snails outside of the tank many times, even on top of the lid. The red racer nerites in particular seem to be the worst for escaping.
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Aug 27, 2022 19:07
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He wasn't on the lid. I considered that he might have escaped, but it would have been very difficult for him as there's only one small gap in the lid for wires, and it's mainly a tangle of pothos roots (I checked and he wasn't in the roots either). He's not exactly a lithe creature with his three inch shell. I had searched all around the aquarium in case he had gotten out as I didn't think he'd survive if he fell onto the tile, but there was no sign of him outside the tank. He's currently back to his usual antics of climbing rocks and falling off them, so I can only assume he went on his August holidays and is now back to work 
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Aug 27, 2022 19:41
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   Are these small little white dots snail eggs?
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Aug 27, 2022 21:38
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Rythe posted:
Yes they are, or at least that's how they look in my tank.
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Aug 27, 2022 21:50
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Well that's annoying, time to kill them all or find a fish that eats baby snails...
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Aug 27, 2022 22:19
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If they are nerite eggs they won’t result in baby snails, nerites need both brackish water and male nerites for the eggs to be viable and it is unlikely that you have both of those in your tank.
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Aug 28, 2022 01:23
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Stoca Zola posted:If they are nerite eggs they won’t result in baby snails, nerites need both brackish water and male nerites for the eggs to be viable and it is unlikely that you have both of those in your tank. I know people get pretty bent out of shape about them, but mine ended up melting away after a few months. I like nerites too much to be put off by their eggs. They keep the glass so drat clean.
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Aug 28, 2022 04:40
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I am beginning to hate Coraline (encrusting) algae. I mean, it's pretty on the rocks, a nice bright purple, and it prevents bad algae growth, but then it gets on the glass. I have chronic pain, and that poo poo doesn't want to come off without a hard scraping with a (tank-safe!) steel mesh sheet. And I mean scrubbing. It's way better since I moves to a glass tank, since in the acrylic I couldn't scrub without potentially scraping the tank, and it's growing a lot slower now with two filters running, but... I really am beginning to hate Coraline algae (on the glass). Yeah. Might be grumpy because my hand hurts.
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Aug 28, 2022 15:54
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Have you tried a razor blade?
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Aug 28, 2022 16:43
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Do uv filters work for saltwater aquariums? I have a UV stage in my pond pump and there's so little biofilm on my pond liner, and the water is so clear I'm concerned my snails will starve to death
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Aug 28, 2022 18:08
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Have read that asterina stars eat it, but I can't find them anywhere. I just want some small scavengers!
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Aug 28, 2022 20:36
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Stoca Zola posted:If they are nerite eggs they won’t result in baby snails, nerites need both brackish water and male nerites for the eggs to be viable and it is unlikely that you have both of those in your tank. That's great information, I appreciate it, I'll clean off the glass and not worry about anything else.
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Aug 28, 2022 20:43
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Cowslips Warren posted:Have read that asterina stars eat it, but I can't find them anywhere. I just want some small scavengers! I can mail you some if you'd like, I have tons of asterina stars in all my salt tamks
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Aug 28, 2022 20:46
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DeadlyMuffin posted:I can mail you some if you'd like, I have tons of asterina stars in all my salt tamks I would love that but it's like 100* daily here, probably not so safe.
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Aug 28, 2022 20:49
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Cowslips Warren posted:I would love that but it's like 100* daily here, probably not so safe. Remind me when it cools down  This is from the side of the tank I'm sitting next to, they are quite abundant
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Aug 28, 2022 21:29
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Remind me when it cools down That's the nice stuff to balance the posts of loss in here.
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Aug 28, 2022 22:17
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