qucik help please

[spieszak]

I just want to follow up on this this morning. As far as the tank goes, everything looks normal now, skimmer still doesn't have a head though. I basically did 35 gallons worth of water change on what I normally calculate out to be 80 gallons in 'actual' water volume. (nothing exact about that calculation, its just what works best in the calculators if I ever have to bump up alk or cal.. so it has to be close I would think) I also replaced carbon and ran about twice what I usually do when I did replace. I didn't note it before, but I almost immediately turned my power heads and locline returns so that they were breaking the surface and dropped in spare power head that was pointed up, in case part of the issue had to do with lack of oxygenation. I took GFO offline because I was out of fresh saltwater after the 35 gallon change, and I usually rinse the new with the water I am taking out. It will go back online with the 15 gallons I made up yesterday when I do that change sometime this morning. I could probably skip that change altogether given how things look, but I'd rather err on the side of caution at this point. I was going to do that change last night, but decided to wait on that because things settled a bit, and I wanted to give the water a chance to warm and clear. I mixed fast trying to get it ready, and while it was mixed, it still had a bit of cloudy to it the last I looked. Also, another 15 on top of the 35 would have brought it to 50 gallons, and I had already done almost half my calculated volume, so the corals and fish who did fine through all of it were probably happier for no more activity.

Known losses are 1 peppermint shrimp, some pods and mysid. I don't have any good way to know if the other peppermints made it through, as they hide most of the time... and I'm not sure I could have given an accurate count to start out with.

To my comments on RPS all out. I am in NO WAY blaming the dip, and my choice to possibly switch is because of my inability to have a coral ready QT tank at all times. I keep a fish QT/HT running constantly and its not likely I will set one up for corals at this point. My fish QT/HT runs at a low specific gravity because most vendors keep/ship fish with lower numbers, and I only bump it up as I'm preparing to move fish to the DT. It also only has t8 lighting, and its not that frags couldn't handle that for a day, but between that and the lower salinity, I wouldn't really be comfortable with frags in there. Given that, my lack of ability to be able to use it as advised means that its not likely a good idea for me to continue using it, unless/until I set up a separate coral QT. It has worked well for me up to this point, so if I were asked to review the product, it would all be positive, with the caveat of ensuring you follow the directions from the website, and not the bottle. (unless the bottle has been updated to include the instructions from the web site)

 

[spieszak]

If things continue to look OK, its likely I won't post updates, so a big thanks to anyone who responded. It was a crappy day to have something happen as a lot of folks who spend time here were at the swap, so 'quick help' was going to be tough... so to each that took time out of an other wise likely extra busy day, please know I appreciate responses not only for the responses, but for knowing there was little time in the day to actually give them.

 

[Blue Lip]

There are a lot of coral dips available. Many of the pests we encounter in this hobby are easily removed. Some are very difficult. AEFW (acropora eating flat worm) is one of the difficult pests to eliminate. Flatworm exit will not work on this type of flatworm. They are practically invisible & many people don't know they have them & wonder why their coral is dying. Coral dips tend to kill this flatworm but leave the eggs unharmed. The eggs can take up to a month to hatch. If you don't have acropora then most dips should be fine. If you do, rps all out is the only dip I know that will kill the eggs. You might be able to use a bucket for quarantine. Use water from main tank & consider it a water change. Use your reactor for carbon. Forget about the lights, corals will be fine for a 24 hour period. After 24 hour, put corals in tank & put reactor back in sump with fresh carbon. Toss old water & your not maintaining a seperate coral qt tank.

 

[spieszak]

You might be able to use a bucket for quarantine. Use water from main tank & consider it a water change. Use your reactor for carbon. Forget about the lights, corals will be fine for a 24 hour period. After 24 hour, put corals in tank & put reactor back in sump with fresh carbon. Toss old water & your not maintaining a seperate coral qt tank.

^That is a good idea, and something I will consider. Thanks.

 

[Gryphon]

I use Coral RX, but then again, I only have LPS and softies

 

[BARRON]

Good to hear things are better.

 

[spieszak]

thanks. its feasible i overreacted a bit, but also quite possible that without having reacted the way i did that the losses might have piled up.

best news is the husband finally understands now why i keep so much make salt/top off water around. not that he ever made a big deal about it, but more that it finally makes sense to him that its just something you really need to have on hand

 

[1guydude]

I've used seachem coral disinfect and revive. I think two lil fishies makes revive, not sure.
Both I just use a cap or half cap and put all the coral and most water in a bucket. Some of the bag water I use to rinse but usually its light rinse ,if any.
In the tank it goes.
Glad it cleared up for u.
D

 

[spieszak]

I've used seachem coral disinfect and revive. I think two lil fishies makes revive, not sure.
Both I just use a cap or half cap and put all the coral and most water in a bucket. Some of the bag water I use to rinse but usually its light rinse ,if any.
In the tank it goes.
Glad it cleared up for u.
D

Did I read that right.. You rinse with the bag water? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?

I spotted at least one peppermint last night, so, at least I didn't kill all of them. Could have been the quick change, could have been an over reaction. Either way, I'm glad I went the safe route. When I think back, I do remember one of the peppermints almost immediately checking out the new favia... I have no way to know if that is the one that know I lost, but seems feasible....curiosity killed the shrimp?

I haven't decided what I'm going to do about dips yet. Since I just grabbed frags from the swap, it will likely be a bit before I get more, so I'll likely do some more research on what is available.

 

[1guydude]

Idk. Never thought of it. I prob should rinse with my water but....I usually don't even do much rinsing.
Figure it is on the coral.mostly, it should die off when I set it in the dip.for 1min or so and stir it around.

Most of the coral I get, comes from a souce I trust...water wise if that makes sense.
Lol.
D

 

[Blue Lip]

I have a few types of dips. Look for the warning & caution directions as to what coral types the dip is not good for. Unfortunately many dips don't tell you the active ingredient. Melafix will get AEFW off acropora. If dipped in a white container, you will be able to see them in the container. If you find them you can then go to rps all out. I haven't had red bug, but that is another horrible pest to infect your tank.

 

[spieszak]

multiple dips worry me. I mean, like you said, we really don't have a good idea what is in this stuff, so, mixing them after just rinsing seems sketchy.

realized yesterday that I have a 5.5 gallon tank with a HOB and a marine land led (the reef ready, which isn't an awesome light, but its a pretty shallow tank), that I have just kind of let sit around. Even have some nano power heads that I cycle through for the work pico since I can't really clean that one at work. I'm going to clean it up and getting it going, throw some egg crate in as a frag rack . With no fish and maybe just a couple pirated snails, it should work just fine as a coral QT, at least for post dips. I had it set up at one point, but it crashed when I had to head back east when my Dad was sick, and my husband was really confused about the top off instructions (came home to basically a half empty tank) I'll just have to find a way to resist the urge to stock it. (And even as I typed that I was thinking about getting a clown goby for it....man, its really hard to fight the addiction)