Help me with my 37 Gallon

[amphiprion]

Hi,
As I have mentioned before, while I am waiting on my 200 Gallon Reef Ready tank, I recently obtained a 37 Gallon Tank which I will convert into Quarintine Tank, but for now, setting up as if this is my Reef Tank. Certain situation might back up the 200 Gallon arrival
Anyway,
I hooked up a UV Sterolizer and a Hang on Protein Skimmer/Filter (w/ rio 600), heater --all of these came free with the free system

So, I added 15lbs Reef Sand and a Liverock 11+ lbs chunk (just bought). Although I made my share of mistakes, I thought things were going pretty good until I discovered a tiny crab's deadbody right next to Liverock

I would care less if I didn't discover the tiny guy (really tiny)

I did some testing and here's the situation

pH (in my scale 85, is it 8.05 ?)
Temperature (Range | oC | oF): 79-82oF
Specific Gravity / Salintity (g/g | ppt):
1.024
Ammonia (ppm): (Less than 0.25) 0
Nitrite (ppm): 0

--This test kit also part of the free package, but I will get a good test kit tomorrow.

Can/Should I take any action right now? Or should I wait and see? Also, should the light be on continously or turn it off after 8 hours or so?

Thanks for your help/

Amphiprion

 

[davelin315]

It could be that you saw the crabs exoskeleton and not a dead crab. When moved into different water, crustaceans will often shed their exoskeleton within the first day. It's difficult to tell on a small crab whether it's a body, or if it's just a shell, though. Otherwise, just leave it alone. Your water sounds fine, so either your tank is already cycled or it's about to start. The only thing that is wrong is your pH, although I don't know what the scale you are using is, but it should be around 8.3 (which will fluctuate a tiny bit).

 

[freedom75]

Have you lost anything other than a small crab. There could have been somthing wrong with him before you put the tank together.Is your skimmer pulling anything out of the water

Freedom

 

[amphiprion]

No fish or anything yet. Just went and bought the Liverock as I fell in love with the shape of the rock and the tiny guy came with it (I'm sure) . Because my sand is not LS (just reef sand from LFS).


Thanks

 

[White-Queen]

Aren't inverts also susceptible to changes in salinity? Maybe just moving the rock from one tank to another stressed him enough to kill him. Or it could be just his shell from shedding. Dunno, just a late night ramble.

Angela <><

 

[amphiprion]

Well, he's gone...vanished! I woke up and decided to check him out again (I guess his death didn't let me go to sound sleep

Perhaps he got eaten by something else, drifted away or something. I have no fish or other live stock (that I'm aware of) other than the liverock with its organism. And I know that he was upside down and didn't move for hours at all

 

[amphiprion]

By the way, somebody please tell me if I should turn off the UV Sterolizer? I only have it going because it came with it and I put together to run it

Oh yes, last but not least...what should be the ideal Temparature be? I have it on 76-78

 

[JohnD]

FalsePerc -

I know it may be hard, but don't get to wrapped up in the loss of the crab. Dave and Freedom are right on track. I too "lost" a shrimp right after acclimating him to my tank. I saw it's shell. A couple of days later I saw him at feeding time. Give the crab a week to see if he turns up.


Your ph seems a little low.

If you got a UV sterilizer, you can use it. I had a UV unit on my 55FO. Changing the bulb was a real PITA. I always managed to break the quartz sleive. I guess I used it for about a year. Then I found out the manufacturer discontinued my model. To the trash it went.

The trick with a UV is to get the water flowing thru the unit at such a speed as to provide sufficient time for the UV to kill the pathogens. I do not believe it will rid a tank of pathogens, only keep them at a low level.

Of course, it you feed sparingly, do not overcrowd your tank and do frequent partial water changes, you accomplish the same thing - provide a health environment for your criters.

HTH

 

[Rich-n-poor]

i doubt you lost the crab. My wife always comes to tell me i had a crab die when she sees their exoskeleton on the sand so i start counting and sure enough they are all still there. They shed their skins as they grow which then quickly disolve or are eaten by other organism. even my anemome crab has done this once just a few days ago. i would suggest buying a couple of lbs of live sand from an established reef to seed your bed as this will cycle your tank faster

 

[Rich-n-poor]

my guess is that mush you found was your rotting damsel what color was he? the same as the mush ? if so get it out before it polutes your tank any further but its hard to tell without further info

_________________
gremlin plant

 

[amphiprion]

he's Blue with yellow tail .... no, if he was dead, I would have seen his dead body (unless he's inside the liverock somewhere dead.... looked all over for more than an hour..

 

[amphiprion]

I added 3 Damsel Fish yesterday. But today, I discover there's only 2. I looked and looked..but he's no where to be found. Picked up and looked Live Rock (only have one 11 lbs piece, but he's no where to be found

Now, even if he's inside a whole, I wonder if I locked his way (as I did not recall which way liverock was sitting ..duh

Also discovered some really tiny warm ... dark blue (almost black) color weired fungus on liverock (mashroom like, but not mushroom... not even algie looking)

Here's new test

pH 8.5
NH3 NH4 1.5 mg/l
N02 <0.3mg/l
Salinity 1.025 (little less)
Temp 78 degree

 

[amphiprion]

Somebody suggested that I might have Mentis Shrimp...

Took the LiveRock out and kept it out for 10 minutes or more and only tiny spider like crab came out. I don't think he can kill the half inch damsel. I put him right back in (he's very very tiny)

Only fish I had was 3 damsel and other cannot eat this one (as they are half inch long as well.

I did not see anything else.....

If he is inside the liverock and dead and I cannot find him... I guess my amonia level will jump sky high

Any suggestion?

 

[Anonymous]

Take a deep breath...In with the good, out with the bad...Sorry, but you're stressing way too much.

And the headaches haven't even started yet.

The dead crab was more than likely just the crab's exoskeleton. They shed it in one piece and it looks just like a whole dead crab. Just like spiders - ever find those dead spiders all wrapped up? It's just the exoskeleton but it certainly looks like a whole spider. And yes, just like Rich, I have "dead" crabs pointed out to me all the time. I leave the exoskeleton in there and it's in pieces and picked clean by the next day.

You could have (and probably do have) all kinds of weird things living inside that one piece of live rock. There very well could be a mantis shrimp in there that will make a meal of the damsels. Or that mush you found could have been the damsel - the decay process starts immediately and works surprisingly fast. I lost 2 small clowns (about an inch) within a week of each other (they were unhealthy from the start) and they just completely disappeared. I never saw them dead, they were just gone - and I do not have a mantis.

Check out your tank at night - but don't stress! There are all kinds of things that you'll find at night but not during the day. The best way to do this is with a flashlight with red acetate over it - they can't detect the red light and don't run away. I believe mantis shrimp work at night too, so if he's there, that's when you'll find him.

Relax. This is supposed to be fun.

[ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: tangirl ]

 

[amphiprion]

tangirl,
Thanks for all the good words and I am calming down. As you know, I kept the rock outside (on a towel) for more than 10 minutes, but no Mantis (but a spider like tiny crab came out). That was probably the creator of my exoskeleton: p

I released him right back. I won’t believe it for the world that he could eat or kill a damsel: D

For last couple of hours, I don’t see another damsel

but last time he was missing and I found him hiding in a hole. I think he's doing the same.

Just bought 40 lbs Florida (Tampa Bay Rock) and before I put those in, I would like to take the existing out again and check it out thoroughly. Florida rocks are filled with lives (I discovered 4 feature duster like coral/algae, 2 clams (camouflaged and look like rock), bunch of different type snail and other weird looking stuff.

I hope my light isn't too low as I have only two florescent (actinic) lights only. I guess I need to consider getting a Halide Metal set.

Last but not least, I wonder if a black (may be dark purple), fungus looking (as if I slammed a pledo on a rock) is algae or something else. Will be taking picture hopefully to show you guys what I'm talking about.

Regards
p.s. Unless I'm sure I am not dealing with a dangerous creature and remove it, I am not getting my favorite (CLOWN)

Clown

 

[Rich-n-poor]

ok now that we are calmer the damsel was blue right the fungus was dark blue almost black right ? i hate to tell you but do the math 3 fish-1 fish =2 fish and one similarly colored fungus.
I had a coral beauty that i found the same way all fungus colored but still barely recogniazable.
the bad news is your a murder.......the good news is damsels are cheap ! ROFLMAO
now really it is not unusual to lose a fish especially when a tank is new perhaps a piece of rock shifted and trapped him have you checked the levels in your tank ?
_________________
Honda CBR900RR

 

[Anonymous]

Aw Rich, that's not right - LOL! You're going to go and get the poor guy all upset again. Calling him a murderer and all. Or her, sorry.

 

[amphiprion]

Hey..I didn't do it... I swear man

Sorry to confuse, but that fungus color algie was already there when I released three damsel (Just mentioned that at the same time in my previous email)

I moved the rock around a lot, but he never came out. Yeah, they are cheap...I bought 3 for 12.99 . I am just nervous about not knowing what happened to that fish (so, until then, I cannot add future fishes)

 

[amphiprion]

Bad news

My Damsel were not eating...., so I left for work to change Water when I return.

I notice that one of the damsel is on its side but as I try to approach him, he swim and went inside liverock (now almost 50 lbs)

Did a Water Check and Amonia (NH3 and NH4+) was 1.5 and PH 8.1 (may be 8.2). Decided to do partial water change with Water from RO/DI unit (he came up two time to breath and then died shortly (really felt bad as I saw him dying in front of me but couldn't save him

Did water change after removing his dead body (around 5%)...went to sleep as it was 3AM already and I had to go to work real early this morning. I will do another testing.

Second guy is not eating still. One thing I notice that my water flow probably too much for them. He can hardly stay still as water tries to drift him away. (I have 4 power head ..very tiny (not very powerful)

That's my sad story...

 

[jimmy n]

Hi,

Your problem is pretty clear. You added livestock before your tank was done cycling. Then you added 40 lbs of liverock, and restarted the cycle. Ammonia is extremely toxic to fish, even cheap ones. Your damsels are falling victim to your cycle.

My suggestion would be to wait out the cycle, and then add livestock. With the addition of your fish and one missing carcas, your cycle is probably well on its way. Don't do anything more, don't try more damsels, don't add a clown. Just wait and test your water until ammonia is at 0, nitrates are at zero and nitrates are down to a liveable level.

You'll be fine, just slow it down.

Go ahead and use this time to upgrade your protein skimmer and lights.

Jim