Build and Progress of my RSM Nano Tank

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 41 - Day 283 - Wednesday April 9th - Around 9pm

- I did my weekly water change earlier tonight (3g)

- I added yet another small dose of Reef Builder and tested the water after waiting a long while for bubbles to disappear:

pH: 8.2
Alk: 9.3 DKH

Alk is finally normal. I should have ditched the Red Sea "Buff" since the very beginning.

- Cyano is clearly receding tonight.

- I am always getting lots of Micro-Bubbles after a water change. This usually lasts about two hours, sometimes more, somtimes less. I do not understand why??? Anyone?

[MAXreefer]

Originally posted by LaurentSeattle
Month 10 - Week 41 - Day 283 - Wednesday April 9th - Around 9pm

- I am always getting lots of Micro-Bubbles after a water change. This usually lasts about two hours, sometimes more, somtimes less. I do not understand why??? Anyone?

Laurent,
When I clean the canister filter I refill him with fresh SW this way I have both done at once: Cleaning and water change.
I have also a couple bubbles for a while. Cause is the air trapped in the Canister. Shake him well every couple minutes until it stops.

Michael
MAXreefer

[LaurentSeattle]

Hi Michael,

My Fluval 205 holds about 1 gallon of water and that's not enough for the weekly water change. Therefore, I usually proceed in two steps during the week:

-1- The "classic" 2.5 to 3 gallon water change: shiphooning out detritus and misc stuff out of the tank without touching the canister.

-2- The canister cleaning: and just like you do, I fill it up with new salt water before putting it back to work.

Step 1 produces bubbles consistently, for an hour or two, slowly declining.

Step 2 produces burst of bubbles, each time the canister blurps some air... or is passing some gas...

I do understand what's happening during step 2: Some residual air trapped in the canister is making its way out...

But what is going on when I only change water???

[MAXreefer]

Originally posted by LaurentSeattle
Hi Michael,

My Fluval 205 holds about 1 gallon of water and that's not enough for the weekly water change. Therefore, I usually proceed in two steps during the week:

-1- The "classic" 2.5 to 3 gallon water change: shiphooning out detritus and misc stuff out of the tank without touching the canister.

-2- The canister cleaning: and just like you do, I fill it up with new salt water before putting it back to work.

Step 1 produces bubbles consistently, for an hour or two, slowly declining.

Step 2 produces burst of bubbles, each time the canister blurps some air... or is passing some gas...

I do understand what's happening during step 2: Some residual air trapped in the canister is making its way out...

But what is going on when I only change water???

Understand. I have the 305 which holds more water.

to your water change: It might be the skimmer freaking out as he has to get used to the new "chemical" balance for a while.
I have on my bigger tank a Deltec skimmer which is one of the best and he freaks out for a while when I do a water change. He even stops producing bubbles in the chamber when I put to much food at once in the tank. He is back OK after a couple minutes.
Just a thought

Michael

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 41 - Day 284 - Thursday April 10th - Around 9pm

- I did my canister cleaning tonight, one day ahead of schedule. After 6 days, there was little to clean in there. People yelling about "nitrate factories" have possibly stressed me out a bit too much. I will open that box after 8 or 9 days next time. That was actually a 1g water change. I changed the "polishing" pad in the canister.

- Removed a bit of cyano in the last pocket of resistance.

- Once again, I added a very small dose of SeaChem Reef Builder. About one hour after the water change and dosing, I tested the water:

Alk: 9.6 DKH (Salifert)
pH: 8.2 (Red Sea)

I am now finally in the normal and recommended range. The water is very clear! Very few skimmer bubbles. Nice! I have no theory about whether or not a good ALK has influence on water clarity but I suspect that less proliferation of pest algae is probably helping.

- I also have let Salinity climb up from 1024 to 1025 during the course of the past week, replacing evaporated water with a mix of salt water and fresh water.

- The snails are moving around faster and all corals look healthy.

- I guess it is now time to clean the glass and take a few pictures but that will be for tomorrow...

- Planned for the weekend:

- Replacing lights
- Replacing fans
- Reinforcements for the clean-up crew.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 42 - Day 286 - Thursday April 12th - Around Noon

* I spent two hours this morning removing and dismantling the hood to replace the fans and install new light bulbs.

* The new fans are very very quiet: Good!

* I see absolutely no difference in lighting: Same intensity, same color, same overall look. We'll see later if this makes a difference for the corals.

* After hesitating a bit, I have finally decided to push Alk up to 10 DKH. The doses I have progressively added have not caused pH to go higher than 8.3. This "reef builder" product has done the job quite nicely.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 42 - Day 286 - Saturday April 12th - Around 8pm

* Last post was today, Saturday...

* A trip to the LFS today... And new arrivals!

First the pictures:






After seeing, a while ago, my second firefish beaten to death by the yellow wrasse, I thought that I should bring in tougher guys...

Damsels and dottybacks have the reputation to be quite mean but I hope everybody will behave.

If these three fishes can live together, I will consider the stank stocked.

[Reefmack]

Hi Laurent. I've had my Diadema Dottyback for almost a year now, so hopefully yours will be just as hardy. Let us know how the 2 new occupants do with each other. I don't have a three stripe damsel, but I do have a yellowtail damsel. The Diadema and my damsel will at times "quarrel" but the dottyback keeps my damsel in its place! No actual contact - just an occasional chase. Three stripes may be more aggressive than yellowtails so it will be interesting to see which of the 2 (or 3) becomes the dominant fish in your tank.

[Schwe]

Laurent, are you quarantining the fish before adding them to your tank?

[LaurentSeattle]

Hi Schwe,

I know it is always better to quarantine new arrivals but I do not have a secondary tank.

However, I checked with the store owner: All his fishes are held in display tanks treated with copper as a preventive measure.

I had to be extra careful: No shipping water should enter my tank. I used about two gallons of tank water for acclimation: almost a water change!

---

Wow! We are now above 50000 views in this thread: Thanks all for visiting!

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 42 - Day 287 - Sunday April 13th - Around 7pm

* A quick note about the new inhabitants...

The dottyback has settled at the bottom left of the tank and the damsel has choosen the right side. No fighting so far. HeShe, the yellow wrasse (named so after his sex change ) does not seem to be bothered at all but seems to avoid the dottyback. Better be safe than sorry...

Both the damsel and the dottyback have voraciously eaten today. Good!

No sign of agressivity towards the shrimps.

Both fishes show no sign of stress or disease. Knock on wood...

If I can find the time I will do an extra little water change early this week.

[Rue]

Glad your tank is doing well for you!

[Rue]

Schwe: Your AmBull looks like my AmBull! Gorgeous!

[Schwe]

Laurent,

It might be a good idea to invest in a small 5 or 10 gallon tank (since you have relatively small fish) to quarantine your fish before adding them. I would hate to see you invest so much time, money and effort into your beautiful RSM only to have an ich outbreak. If these are your last piscine additions, then I guess you're just gonna cross your fingers and hope you dodged a bullet.

I only say this because I learned the "hard way" about quarantine.

Rue,

Thank you! I adore this breed.

[LaurentSeattle]

Rue:

Thanks!

Schwe:

I totally agree with you about quarantine.

However, there is no space left in my apartment for an additional tank. The only exception is maybe the dining corner, but that would seriously compromise the possibility to use this spot as a dining area. Furthermore, if it is in the living room, it NEEDS to look good and I am almost sure that it will end up as a second display tank...

I know, no quarantine is a bit like doing dangerous stunts without a safety net...

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 42 - Day 289 - Tuesday April 15th - Around 9pm

* The newly arrived fishes are doing well. They do eat: Brine Shrimp, Formula1, CyclopEeze: Everything goes...

No real fighting, some chases sometimes, but nothing serious.

I am feeling quite relieved: After seeing my poor Firefish beaten to death, I was fearing the worst with more agressive aquarium "renters".

* I am now convinced that WHERE you buy livestock is UPMOST importance.

My experience so far:

LFS "A": 100% Long Term Success (new guys from here)
LFS "B": 30% Long Term Success
LFS "C": 20% Long Term Success
Online Store "X": 100% Failure, but not enough purchases for reasonable statistics

You probably guessed: I am going to only shop at "A" in the future...

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 42 - Day 290 - Wednesday April 16th - Around 9pm

* Back from work, I found the Pseudochromis Diadema with a bad wound on the side. No sign of illness and most likely the result of a fight against the Yellow Wrasse who looks unharmed at all. The Damsel is too small to fight, for now... At least, I believe so. The Diadema was hiding a bit but went out for food.

* Did my weekly water change one day in advance, the end of the week will be very busy...

* Some cyano is still present here and there, small pockets of resistance...

[mikellini]

Too bad... I thought the strong-arm tactics were going to work. Wrasses can be bullies once they get some size, I'm finding out myself the hard way...

[Reefmack]

Laurent - it sounds like the yellow wrasse may be the cause of all of your fish problems. If it were me I'd take the wrasse out if it's catchable. Even if you could get it out and keep it out of the tank for a day in a bucket, it might lose it's sense of territory and behave better.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 10 - Week 43 - Day 292 - Friday April 18th - posting around 8pm

* Yesterday...

Back from work quite late and found the Pseudochromis hiding in the back of the tank and not willing to go out for dinner... not good.

* This morning...

Found the fish floating on top of the tank. No sign of sickness, but another big wound. Removed the body.

I guess the yellow wrasse is the culprit. Who else? Pepermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp and emerald crab can on only be innocent. The three stripes damsel is very small...

* Tonight...

- I did clean the canister filter. Not much to clean after 8 days. As always, this is an additional 1g water change.

- Alk was already down to 8.0 dkh and pH stable at 8.2. I did another dose of SeaChem "Reef Builder".

---

ReefMack: I really suck at catching fishes. And the Yellow Wrasse is indeed very fast.

Mikellini: The Yellow Wrasse is not that big. The Pseudochromis was about the same size and they have a reputation to be mean... I am a bit amazed because it seems like the 3 stripes and the wrasse are doing quite well together: no more chasing or intimidation postures

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I think I will give up on adding any additional fishes in the tank. Unless anyone has a good suggestion for a hardy one...

[Reefmack]

Laurent - sorry to hear about the diadema

[Reefmack]

Laurent - how about trying a clown or pair of clowns? I don't think you've had one yet? None of my fish (including my dottyback and yellow tail damsel) have ever had any confrontations with my clowns. The clowns are slow swimmers but all of my other fish act like the clowns don't even exist. Clowns are related to Damsels so that might be an option, as it appears your damsel may be working out for you?

[jmp21677]

I know what store"a" is and love that place. I shop there often and was there for the sale this weekend. Pull that yellow wrasse out and put what you want in there. Try a Yash HASA goby with a pistol shrimp

[Schwe]

Originally posted by Reefmack
Laurent - how about trying a clown or pair of clowns? I don't think you've had one yet? None of my fish (including my dottyback and yellow tail damsel) have ever had any confrontations with my clowns. The clowns are slow swimmers but all of my other fish act like the clowns don't even exist. Clowns are related to Damsels so that might be an option, as it appears your damsel may be working out for you?

The clowns are the smallest fish in my 90 gallon and the biggest bullies. They're very territorial.

[Reefmack]

Schwe - I think Laurent's yellow wrasse needs to be bullied and put in it's place!