New setup: problems you're going to run into: FYI

Sk8r · 07/12/2008, 07:58 AM

1. salinity bounce: water evaporates. You need an autotopoff unit to bring in fresh ro/di water. It's not good for your tank to let this go on.
2. hair algae. Phosphate comes in with live rock, sand, dry fishfood, and most of all---from tap water. Cure: use only ro/di from the start; use a fuge or phosphate reactor, and get hermits and snails to eat it (looses phosphate into the water) If you use tap water even with a fuge you will probably fight this stuff forever.
3. red slime. cyanobacteria. Not algae. Bacterial. The power of your skimmer is important in dealing with this stuff. Underskimmed tank and especially with window sunlight reaching tank---it will happen.
4. ich. Parasites. Quarantine your fish. The one you don't can cause you to have to pull ALL fish and keep them in quarantine for 6-8 weeks.
5. Pests. Hydroids. Flatworms. Something that arrived on a specimen rock or with live rock gets a little foothold and finds conditions in your tank wonderful. Flatworms are no fun: learn what they look like and deal with them early if you ever spot on. Other pests involve too-happy snails or little starfish (population run wild). Try to get something to eliminate detritus (#5) and watch your tank chemistry over all.
6.detritus. get something to eat it: a yellow watchman, a fighting conch (50 gal tank), a black-white brittle star, diamond goby (100g up). Micro hermits. Nassarius snails.
7. and slowly, over time, your lights will expire: they don't burn out. After about 6 months, plan to replace them. You'll see a little red slime, a little nastiness, etc. Time to replace lights.
8. The 'bloom.' Something, either an algae (bubble algae/vallonia) or a pest: anything that over-reproduces is finding it loves your tank and has no natural check on their reproduction. You may have to find something that eats it but that won't starve or eat things you don't want it to eat.
8. the dreaded Mystery Mess. The tank has vague problems. Accumulated bad habits and their results---lack of water changes, etc over time. Buildup of phosphate (mystery decline in corals, water quality)....the cure can be as bad as a re-setup, with all your stuff in quarantine; possibly can be fixed with a good general testing, balance of water, and addition of wave generator type stuff to improve flow...problems are many; fixes are many.
But what you scant early does come home to bother you.

Kind of a downer list, for people with shiny new pristine tanks, but forewarned is forearmed. Particularly the lights are a sneaky problem. SO is a ro/di filter expiring. Get a TDS meter and use it.
Test weekly. Keep a log, so you can see trends. Do all that well, and you're now beyond a novice reefkeeper.

rickofco · 07/12/2008, 08:23 AM

more good stuff as always sk8r thanks.

Sk8r · 07/12/2008, 08:25 AM

Thank you.
Natch, it's all stuff most of us have run into.

fattyratrat · 07/12/2008, 08:38 AM

why do you say diamond goby 100 gallon plus? I've never heard that, and it is kindof strange consitering how small they are.

Sk8r · 07/12/2008, 08:56 AM

You would not believe the sandstorm that little guy can raise. The diamond and the engineer gobies are just nonstop. Unfortunately, too, particularly the diamonds are pretty monofocus in their eating habits. They eat everything in the sand and then slowly starve to death in spite of most everything their owner can do---including trying to hide frozen food in the sand. They're just best off in a large tank where they will neither run out of food nor greatly disturb the sandbed.

The yellow (and probably other) watchmen are pretty laid back fellows. They always emerge from their burrows with full bellies, but they do get tired and just sit and watch things. One is good for a 20-50: they grow to a little over 4". One plus his shrimp is going to move a LOT of sand on his own, and he's a LAZY digging goby. Best of all, there's not much a yellow watchman WON'T eat.

Zestay · 07/12/2008, 09:23 AM

hey sk8r . think a diamond goby will fair well in a 90 gallon?

Sk8r · 07/12/2008, 09:43 AM

Zestay, probably it will. It's an approximation, variable according to the 'richness' of the tank, sand, etc. Gotta pick a guide number, but it's of course got individual variance.

fattyratrat · 07/12/2008, 10:06 AM

I have a diamond in my 60 gallon, and he doesn't really cause that many problems. He does eat all day, but it never causes a problem in my tank (and it is 1 ft tall so a sand storm would be easy to make). As for the food thing. He eats along with everyone else. When i feed frozen brine and mysis, he eats along with everyone else, and if dry pellets fall to the bottom he sucks them up quickly. Maybe I just got lucky and got a calmer dry food eating diamond goby? I plan on moving him along with me when I change to my 40 gallon tank.

Sk8r · 07/12/2008, 10:37 AM

You got lucky: and that's good. So many of them starve--it's very sad. And people get mad at them for disturbing their sand/rockwork. You can't depend on being as lucky, and I'm delighted to hear a happy story regarding these much-missold little guys.

07/12/2008, 07:58 AM	#1
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	New setup: problems you're going to run into: FYI 1. salinity bounce: water evaporates. You need an autotopoff unit to bring in fresh ro/di water. It's not good for your tank to let this go on. 2. hair algae. Phosphate comes in with live rock, sand, dry fishfood, and most of all---from tap water. Cure: use only ro/di from the start; use a fuge or phosphate reactor, and get hermits and snails to eat it (looses phosphate into the water) If you use tap water even with a fuge you will probably fight this stuff forever. 3. red slime. cyanobacteria. Not algae. Bacterial. The power of your skimmer is important in dealing with this stuff. Underskimmed tank and especially with window sunlight reaching tank---it will happen. 4. ich. Parasites. Quarantine your fish. The one you don't can cause you to have to pull ALL fish and keep them in quarantine for 6-8 weeks. 5. Pests. Hydroids. Flatworms. Something that arrived on a specimen rock or with live rock gets a little foothold and finds conditions in your tank wonderful. Flatworms are no fun: learn what they look like and deal with them early if you ever spot on. Other pests involve too-happy snails or little starfish (population run wild). Try to get something to eliminate detritus (#5) and watch your tank chemistry over all. 6.detritus. get something to eat it: a yellow watchman, a fighting conch (50 gal tank), a black-white brittle star, diamond goby (100g up). Micro hermits. Nassarius snails. 7. and slowly, over time, your lights will expire: they don't burn out. After about 6 months, plan to replace them. You'll see a little red slime, a little nastiness, etc. Time to replace lights. 8. The 'bloom.' Something, either an algae (bubble algae/vallonia) or a pest: anything that over-reproduces is finding it loves your tank and has no natural check on their reproduction. You may have to find something that eats it but that won't starve or eat things you don't want it to eat. 8. the dreaded Mystery Mess. The tank has vague problems. Accumulated bad habits and their results---lack of water changes, etc over time. Buildup of phosphate (mystery decline in corals, water quality)....the cure can be as bad as a re-setup, with all your stuff in quarantine; possibly can be fixed with a good general testing, balance of water, and addition of wave generator type stuff to improve flow...problems are many; fixes are many. But what you scant early does come home to bother you. Kind of a downer list, for people with shiny new pristine tanks, but forewarned is forearmed. Particularly the lights are a sneaky problem. SO is a ro/di filter expiring. Get a TDS meter and use it. Test weekly. Keep a log, so you can see trends. Do all that well, and you're now beyond a novice reefkeeper. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/12/2008, 08:25 AM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Thank you. Natch, it's all stuff most of us have run into. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/12/2008, 09:43 AM	#7
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Zestay, probably it will. It's an approximation, variable according to the 'richness' of the tank, sand, etc. Gotta pick a guide number, but it's of course got individual variance. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/12/2008, 10:37 AM	#9
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	You got lucky: and that's good. So many of them starve--it's very sad. And people get mad at them for disturbing their sand/rockwork. You can't depend on being as lucky, and I'm delighted to hear a happy story regarding these much-missold little guys. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/12/2008, 08:23 AM	#2
rickofco Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: co Posts: 134	more good stuff as always sk8r thanks.

07/12/2008, 08:38 AM	#4
fattyratrat Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 278	why do you say diamond goby 100 gallon plus? I've never heard that, and it is kindof strange consitering how small they are.

07/12/2008, 08:56 AM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	You would not believe the sandstorm that little guy can raise. The diamond and the engineer gobies are just nonstop. Unfortunately, too, particularly the diamonds are pretty monofocus in their eating habits. They eat everything in the sand and then slowly starve to death in spite of most everything their owner can do---including trying to hide frozen food in the sand. They're just best off in a large tank where they will neither run out of food nor greatly disturb the sandbed. The yellow (and probably other) watchmen are pretty laid back fellows. They always emerge from their burrows with full bellies, but they do get tired and just sit and watch things. One is good for a 20-50: they grow to a little over 4". One plus his shrimp is going to move a LOT of sand on his own, and he's a LAZY digging goby. Best of all, there's not much a yellow watchman WON'T eat. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/12/2008, 09:23 AM	#6
Zestay Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: gainesville, FL Posts: 1,622	hey sk8r . think a diamond goby will fair well in a 90 gallon?

07/12/2008, 10:06 AM	#8
fattyratrat Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 278	I have a diamond in my 60 gallon, and he doesn't really cause that many problems. He does eat all day, but it never causes a problem in my tank (and it is 1 ft tall so a sand storm would be easy to make). As for the food thing. He eats along with everyone else. When i feed frozen brine and mysis, he eats along with everyone else, and if dry pellets fall to the bottom he sucks them up quickly. Maybe I just got lucky and got a calmer dry food eating diamond goby? I plan on moving him along with me when I change to my 40 gallon tank.