wait, i jumped the gun on that, the pics you have on page 2 are not amphipods like i said above. the pic on page 3 is tho.
the pics on page 2 are actually a type of jelly fish, and they will seriously irritate your arms if you are working on your tank. there are a few different methods of getting rid of these little buggers, but i beieve all of those methods will effect your snails as well.
you can google them or talk to the LFS (not recomended) and see what method you prefer, but in the end, i think you should get rid of them because they do reproduce very quickly.
WHOA!!! time out here. billy, NEVER… and i mean NEVER!!! add copper to your tank! every invert in there will die, and every invert u ever plan on putting in there will die. and short of a full takedown, scrub, and buyy all new stuff… there is no way to get it all out. (sorry to jump in so aggressively, but we have watched billy build this thing for 4 months now, and i will be damned if i am gonna watch it all crash because someone told him on a forum to add copper for a teeny WHATEVER it is…)
I have never seen more than 1 or 2 on the glass at one time and everything I have read online says that the snowflake ones (which are what i am seeing) will go away by themselves. If it looks like I am seeing more than 1 or 2 on the glass at one time, I will begin to research more what kind of treatments will clear them up. As of right now, I don’t get any kind of irritation on my arms when I stick them in the water, which isn’t very often since you aren’t supposed to be doing that anyway.
Thanks for the info though, and I will be sure to keep a very close eye on them.
As an update, I bought two percula clowns on Wednesday and put them in the tank after acclimating them. They did pretty good for a couple of days but yesterday one of them died. The other one seems to be doing very well and still eating and playing (i think) like normal. I am going to take a wild guess and say that the first one died due to stress only because all of my water tests showed everything at normal levels, and I did take the time to acclimate them correctly. It’s unfortunate.
I think I am going today down to Dr. Macs to pick up a couple of Emerald Crabs and some Mexican Turbo snails. I’ve got some green hair algae growing (not 100% sure its hair algae, but its growing off the rocks and spots on the back glass of the tank, and its green and long like hair) and I want to go ahead and get something to help my cerith and nerite snails take care of it and keep it under control. I think I am also going to get my couple of free coral frags for becoming a member with his shop.
[quote=“matchu627, post:40, topic:1646”]
in which case a simple copper treatment will whipe out most of em.[/quote]
Copper is such a bad idea on so many fronts. You can not use copper on a reef tank.
[quote=“matchu627, post:41, topic:1646”]
the pics on page 2 are actually a type of jelly fish[/quote]
It’s not - jelly fish rarely sit stationary nor would they survive in our tanks.
[quote=“matchu627, post:41, topic:1646”]
you can google them or talk to the LFS (not recomended)[/quote]
You’d be amazed at how many LFS have people working in them that actually know what they’re talking about. Especially since his LFS is Dr. Macs. I’d be willing to bet NO LFS would recommend copper in his tank for anything.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:44, topic:1646”]
You’d be amazed at how many LFS have people working in them that actually know what they’re talking about. Especially since his LFS is Dr. Macs. I’d be willing to bet NO LFS would recommend copper in his tank for anything.[/quote]
MY LFS is actually The Fish Bowl in Dover. Well, that is the MOST local of them anyway. I have shopped at Premium Aquatics and Dr. Macs, but most of my shopping has been at TFB, and I still trust them just as much as I trust most of you all.
Haven’t decided whether trusting any one person in this hobby is safe or not yet, seems like no matter what you want to ask questions about, you will ALWAYS get 4 or 5 answers to the question and none of the answers are normally bad answers, just different ideologies.
[quote=“ihuntinde, post:45, topic:1646”]
Haven’t decided whether trusting any one person in this hobby is safe or not yet, seems like no matter what you want to ask questions about, you will ALWAYS get 4 or 5 answers to the question[/quote]
+100!!!
everyone has experienced one thing or another and dealt with it in a different way than someone else. some better and some not. we have to become our own scientists with these tanks. gather as much info as possible on any given topic, do a little testing yourself, and come up with your own thesis. (guided by others experience of course!!!)
Hey man, just for clarification- the hydroids that you see on the glass are the ones that resolve themselves due to inability to survive in our tanks. The colonial hydroids that the other guy was talking about typically look like a bunch of brown fuzz, or tiny little feather dusters all crammed together (there are exceptions). Those are the ones that will give you a sting. The ones in your tank will go away, I promise. I wouldn’t do anything to treat for them. You probably just got some relatively fresh live rock. Agreed with fishguy on the no copper rule.
Well I started last wednesday with 2 brand new Percula Clowns from my LFS. Within the first 24 hours, the first one died. Figured it must have been stress, all of my water levels are where they should be, with exception of my alkalinity, which is slightly low (which in turn makes my carbonate hardness a little high), and my salinity level, which my hydrometer shows at 1.021, during my first water change, I put in a higher salinity mix to bring it up to that, but that was before I put the clowns in. I think the water change I am about to do should get it to around 1.024 or 1.025 which is my target. I am using RO water for my water changes. Then this afternoon, my second Percula Clown has died. It wasn’t acting any differently, so I just don’t quite understand why it died. The only thing that changed was that we lost power last night for about 2 hours during the storm. But my water temp never got below 78 degrees and it usually fluctuates between 79.7 and 80.3. I don’t know if the loss of circulation in the water stressed it out? It seemed to eat fine at feeding time. The peppermint shrimp, cerith and nerite snails, emerald crab, and cowry all seem to be doing just fine. So it seems as if the inverts are able to deal. Any ideas on what I should be looking for? Something I am not doing right?
I did about a 15gal water change last Monday and have plans to do another 15gal tomorrow.
did you take your time with the aclimation process? i always use the drip technique with mine. unlike MOST inverts, fish can be really sensitive to ph, salinity, and temp changes. with the drip method, you slowly introduce your water to them over about an hour or two, and discard any LFS water. i bought some clowns from *****, and they didnt last that long either. idk if thats where you got them or not, but honestly, their fish arent the healthiest fish around. i would suggest takin the ride upstate and gettin some healthy fish.
another thing you might wanna ask when your buying them: ask if they are wild, or tank raised fish. obviously, tank raised fish tend to be more hardy because they are used to our artificial conditions. wild fish will usually stress themselves to death within a few days, unless your water is almost perfectly in sync with natural sea water.
Actually the length of time the fish were in the store is a greater factor in survival, but generally only if you’re losing fish within a day or 2 of bringing home. A fish that’s only be in the store a few hours or even a day or two is still very stressed from shipping to the store, then you buy it and bring it home and it goes through even more stress.
Losing a fish after a week could be many different reasons, not the least of which was a fish that wasn’t well to begin with.
And just for the record, inverts are more sensitive to chemistry changes then fish are.
yeah i think these fish had only been in the store for a day or so, and I thought about that after we bought them. The same store i believe still has some perculas, so now that they have had them for a week, I may go back in tomorrow to get a couple more.
As far as the acclimation process, I pay special attention to how I acclimate. When I get fish, I take the bag that I got the fish in and just put it straight in the water, still tied up. I let it sit for about 15 minutes or so, to stabilize the water temp. Then I dump about 1/4 to 1/3 of the water out of the bag and down the sink. That gives me room to add some of my water over the process. I then take the bag and put it back in the water after rolling down the edges so that it will float. Then I take a plastic cup and dip water from my tank out and put a small amount in the bag with the fish. I do this about 10 times over about 30 minutes. The bag should be pretty close to about 3/4 full, with mostly my tank water. Then I do my best to gently get the fish out of the bag with a small net that I picked up from Walmart and put the fish in the bag.
I got that method from Dr. Macs website. He says that you dont have to drip acclimate corals or fish, only inverts since they are so much more sensitive to the water chemical changes. I really think that, in the end, these fish died because they were only in the store for about 24 hours before being switch around again. The stress was just too much to handle.
[quote=“matchu627, post:51, topic:1646”]
did you take your time with the aclimation process? i always use the drip technique with mine. unlike MOST inverts, fish can be really sensitive to ph, salinity, and temp changes. with the drip method, you slowly introduce your water to them over about an hour or two, and discard any LFS water. i bought some clowns from *****, and they didnt last that long either. idk if thats where you got them or not, but honestly, their fish arent the healthiest fish around. i would suggest takin the ride upstate and gettin some healthy fish.[/quote]
Any LFS will have some fish losses, it is the nature of the business. I don’t think it is appropriate to bash a store on these forums. There is no way you could possibly know what was wrong with these fish. His tank is very new and it is quite possible that the tank needs to mature a bit before it will support fish. Just because a tank is cycled doesn’t mean it is ready for fish. Personally I would wait a few weeks before adding attempting to add anymore fish.
Patience is one of the hardest things to learn in this hobby, but it will pay off in the long run.
[quote=“Ento_Reefer, post:55, topic:1646”]
His tank is very new and it is quite possible that the tank needs to mature a bit before it will support fish. Just because a tank is cycled doesn’t mean it is ready for fish. Personally I would wait a few weeks before adding attempting to add anymore fish.[/quote]
I am not sure I quite understand. Everything I have read says that once the tank has cycled, and all of the chemicals are back to zero, it is ready to go. My inverts are all doing extremely well, the snails are laying eggs, and the peppermint shrimp has been in there the longest with no issues. I feel my tank is ready to support some of the basic starting fish, like clowns. I don’t think I am ready to start putting corals or anything like that in, not until I can get rid of the green hair algae, and some of the red cyano that I believe is starting to attach to the back glass. The only thing I think I need to do is begin adjusting my alkalinity. It is a little lower than what true seawater is, but I have not read where that affects fish at all, unless it is drastic. I have even read where people have extremely low levels of alkalinity and have fought trying to get it up to a more normal reading, but have been unable to do so, but they had no problems with fish dying.
Regardless, I do not think this has anything to do with my LFS. I just think these two fish were extremely stressed out. First off, they quite possibly could have been on the shipping truck a little longer than normal, since I checked twice on tuesday and the truck was several hours late. Secondly, I took the fish and introduced them to another tank, within 24 hours of my LFS getting the, so just as they were getting settled in to their new digs, they were getting shuffled off to a new house, and new water. From this point on, I will make sure to just ask my LFS to hold the fish I want for about a week, and then come back and pick them up. I am sure they will do that for me.
LFS bashing is no good. Tank maturation isn’t the issue here, though. I’ve cycled tanks with perc’s back in the day and not lost any. Probably stressed from the trip. Clownfish are the goldfish of saltwater, they are bred/captured in big numbers, knowing that many won’t make it. Watch the fish at the store for a bit, like yo said. I miss out on all kinds of good stuff because I won’t buy when they’re new. The locals gobble them up the day they come off the truck. I hope some of them make it. I know some wont.
dude, im not bashing anyone, idk if you guys just have an issue with me cuz im new, but everytime i post a COMMENT or my own OPINION on this site, you always jump in my face about it! whatever guys, you win! im outtie. buy your fish from wherever you want to, i was only tryin to help!
[quote=“matchu627, post:58, topic:1646”]
dude, im not bashing anyone, idk if you guys just have an issue with me cuz im new, but everytime i post a COMMENT or my own OPINION on this site, you always jump in my face about it! whatever guys, you win! im outtie. buy your fish from wherever you want to, i was only tryin to help![/quote]
By the way, I am not a dude
I don’t have any issues with you at all, but you did bash a LFS. Go back and read your post. I don’t like to read negative comments about stores on forums. Take it private. There aren’t many decent stores these days and I think we need to support the few good ones that are trying to make it in these hard economic times. JMHO.
[quote=“Jocephus, post:57, topic:1646”]
LFS bashing is no good. Tank maturation isn’t the issue here, though. I’ve cycled tanks with perc’s back in the day and not lost any. Probably stressed from the trip. Clownfish are the goldfish of saltwater, they are bred/captured in big numbers, knowing that many won’t make it. Watch the fish at the store for a bit, like yo said. I miss out on all kinds of good stuff because I won’t buy when they’re new. The locals gobble them up the day they come off the truck. I hope some of them make it. I know some wont.[/quote]
If I just lost the first fish I put in my tank I would wait a bit before trying again, but this is just me. I agree it could be just that the clownfish were stressed by shipping, but a just cycled tank will also likely have shifting water parameters until everything has a chance to stabilize. It takes some time for a new aquarists to get into a regular routine maintenance schedule, and get comfortable with all of the equipment and testing. I agree that tank raised clownfish are hardy, but wild caught are not. This is just what my experiences have been.
