craigslist special, what a mess! (A lot of help is needed)

[chrispmcgill]

Tonight I go to look at a 29 Cube with livestock( well what I was told). I get there and the tank is a mess. There was a dead clown and a dead mandarin. There is also some zoanthids, featherduster and an Anemone (looks very bad). I load everything up, thinking it has a better chance with me (a newbie) than the neglect it had with its current owner. I test the water she had it in and the ammonia levels were 2-4 ppm and nitrate 2ppm and temp 74.

Not really sure what to do next. I moved the zoanthids and Anemone in a Rubbermaid tub with new saltwater for now.

I have a 75G that is fully cycled (8 weeks news) with one damsel. Any ideas on what i need to do to revive the Anemone and keep the zoanthids alive? Should I add them all thee to the 75G? Any help would be appreciated.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7186/6867784209_975cdd2bf3_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7202/6867780819_07171fac55_b.jpg

[reefreak]

Alot of flow and lighting for the anemone

[chrispmcgill]

ricordea mushrooms..sorry.

[Sherita]

You have already taken the necessary first step by getting them out of the nasty water. The nem will need light and flow, but I wouldn't just blast him with either. Since the tank he was in was neglected, it stands to reason that the lights were probably at least very old, and likely not sufficient. Your tank really isn't mature enough for a nem, but it stands a better chance there than where it was. I would put it in your tank if the cycle is over, and watch closely for light shock (shrinking, bleaching, hiding in the rocks). If necessary shorten your photoperiod for a while, or put some window screen over your tank to cut the light down until the nem adjusts. Your other pic is of ricordia, they are a lower light creature, and mine do not like a whole lot of flow. I would put them on the sandbed in a spot where they won't get blasted by flow, and let them adjust. The zoas, since they have survived this far, are probably a pretty hardy variety. I would put them in the middle to middle high part of your tank, in moderate flow. Watch them for light shock as well (closing up, bleaching, melting).

I would not try to feed the nem for a while, just let him acclimate and settle in to his new home. Good luck with your rescues, I hope they pull through and do great for you!

BTW, be sure to cover all powerheads and intakes with foam, the nem may go on a walkabout and you don't want him to get sucked into the powerheads.

[jrnannery]

Your ammonia is likely high because of the dead fish, perhaps some dead cleanup crew stuff. Then again, the opposite would almost certainly be possible as well. That high of an ammonia level would certainly kill those organisms...chicken or the egg, you know? Best thing you can do from my perspective is to identify all the dead fish, snails and crabs and remove them from the system. Do 20-30% water change immediately, if not more, and then test your ammonia level very frequently. I had an ammonia problem after I introduced all new live sand into an established tank, even with the original live rock, and almost no bioload. I monitored my ammonia level twice a day, which was extreme overkill, but it allowed me to see what was going on. Some days you could see a definite difference in ammonia level from morning test to evening test.

Some folks will tell you change all the water, or pull everything out that is still alive and put it in perfectly fresh clean saltwater. While everyone's experiences differ, I think that might be a mistake. I would prefer to bring my water params back to a normal level somewhat slower, thereby allowing the organisms a chance to adjust to the proper water chemistry. I personally feel you could "shock" the animals, and cause more harm than good. Nature seeks a balance, even in less than ideal circumstances, and animals adapt to those circumstances. They need some time to re-adapt to the proper environment. Get rid of as much ammonia as possible, though as rapidly as possible. Natural balance doesn't apply to poison, I don't think.

Zoanthids are generally pretty tough, in my experience, but I find amemones to be somewhat fragile. Use caution. Those ricordias look good, all things considered, but I think you should take them back to the good life slowly as well. As far as just sticking everything under bright light, remember: lighting is an environmental aspect to these critters existance as well. Adjust their lighting up slowly to alleviate stress. This should help to bring them around. You would certainly use this method to reacclimate acros and other sps. I don't see why it should be too much different for a softy or corallimorph. If you are worried about depriving these animals of too much light-energy and starving them, go ahead and feed them manually...especially the anemone. Raise waterflow gently too. Research the animals. I don't think anemones particualry like strong flow...certainly not direct flow. Seventy four degrees is pretty cold. Get a heater in there and bring it up to 78 to see some good results.

I hope this helps. Remember, these are my informed opinions on what needs to be done, sight unseen. I wish you lots of luck. Also, where in Schertz are you?

[chrispmcgill]

thanks for the info. Doing some more reading, I think its a condy.

jrnannery (http://www.maast.org/member.php?7669-jrnannery)
as far as doing water chances to the existing tank, i have already threw the water out. The water smelt terrible and there were all kinds of CUC dead in the sand anyways. Also, I am off of Schertz pkwy. You live around here?

Sherita (http://www.maast.org/member.php?10647-Sherita)

i think that is what I am going to do this morning. Thanks for the info.

[Bill S]

Just keep a very close eye on the anemone. You don't want to have it die in the tank. If it shows any signs of going, dump it.

Good luck.

[chrispmcgill]

update:

Everything has been in the 75g for a few hours now. They appear to me a lot happier. Please let me know if you see something I am missing.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/6870566215_bd19ae9a52_b.jpg

Just saw these, not sure what they are:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/6870563713_be42e5502b_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/6870558511_2f599d43b8_b.jpg

[jrnannery]

The mushroom on the right appears to be fading/melting. Keep an eye on him. Other than that, looks good. Is this the extent of your inhabitants at the moment?

So, what size tank are you working in, how are things going with it, what kinda stuff do you plan on putting in there, what equipment do you have hooked up, etc. Standard 'meet the neighbors' questions.

I live at 1103 and IH35N. Pretty much right behind the Walgreens there. FSU lives in the same neighborhood (Riata), and Scream 311 lives out here too, I believe. I think there are at least four others here in the Schertz/Cibolo/Selma/Universal City area. Lotsa love in the immediate area.

[tony]

Just keep a very close eye on the anemone. You don't want to have it die in the tank. If it shows any signs of going, dump it.

Good luck.


agree

and good luck!

[tony]

I live at 1103 and IH35N. Pretty much right behind the Walgreens there. FSU lives in the same neighborhood (Riata), and Scream 311 lives out here too, I believe. I think there are at least four others here in the Schertz/Cibolo/Selma/Universal City area. Lotsa love in the immediate area.

im in the burbs of selma

[Sherita]

The ric on the right is certainly stressed. Could just be because it's been moved, or it could be on the way out. As small as they are, it won't hurt your tank if it does melt away.

The unidentified "things" are trash palys. You might want to get them out, they will spread like wildfire and can be a bear to get rid of later.

The nem certainly seems to be happy. If he doesn't like where he is, he will walk to where he wants to be. Which will most likely be exactly where you do not want him to be. He looks good, nicely inflated, reaching for the light. All good signs. The rics (except for one), look good, not shrivelled or sucked up.

BTW, the melting ric does not need a reason. One of mine just poofed, and it's been in my tank for a long time. Sometimes they just do that, so don't get too worried if just the one ric croaks. Mainly I would keep an eye on the nem, since he can really do a number on your tank if he dies.

[chrispmcgill]

The mushroom on the right appears to be fading/melting. Keep an eye on him. Other than that, looks good. Is this the extent of your inhabitants at the moment?

So, what size tank are you working in, how are things going with it, what kinda stuff do you plan on putting in there, what equipment do you have hooked up, etc. Standard 'meet the neighbors' questions.

I live at 1103 and IH35N. Pretty much right behind the Walgreens there. FSU lives in the same neighborhood (Riata), and Scream 311 lives out here too, I believe. I think there are at least four others here in the Schertz/Cibolo/Selma/Universal City area. Lotsa love in the immediate area.

I have some red and maroon mushrooms in the tank too. This is my first shot at saltwater and I open to any suggestions to make this work. The tank is a 75G that had 48" Coralife PC fixture. The fixture stopped working a few days into the initial setup. So now i have it rigged up with a 150MH 3 T5 24W Actinic and 1 T5 24W 10K. I also have an older Aquarium systems PS (would like a reef Octopus 150) and an attempt at a 20L sump (VERY Loud and needs to be rebuilt). I would be more than happy to show anyone that is in the area a newbies setup.

I have wanted to have a saltwater set up since I was 12 and I finally have it. Too bad I feel like I am reacting more than I would like and feel lost half the time. :)

[chrispmcgill]

The ric on the right is certainly stressed. Could just be because it's been moved, or it could be on the way out. As small as they are, it won't hurt your tank if it does melt away.

The unidentified "things" are trash palys. You might want to get them out, they will spread like wildfire and can be a bear to get rid of later.

The nem certainly seems to be happy. If he doesn't like where he is, he will walk to where he wants to be. Which will most likely be exactly where you do not want him to be. He looks good, nicely inflated, reaching for the light. All good signs. The rics (except for one), look good, not shrivelled or sucked up.

BTW, the melting ric does not need a reason. One of mine just poofed, and it's been in my tank for a long time. Sometimes they just do that, so don't get too worried if just the one ric croaks. Mainly I would keep an eye on the nem, since he can really do a number on your tank if he dies.

The trash palys are on the same rock as the nem. Should i wait until the nem moves, take the rock out and burn them? Or is there something better I can do?

[jrnannery]

So everything has pretty good light. Make sure your bulbs are new-ish, and you should be golden, I assume. +1 on the trash pallys. If you can afford to, just get rid of the rock. Unless you want to be adventurous, I wouldn't mess with bryopsis, pest anemones, or trash pallys. It's not bad enough that they spread so readily, but they will seperate from the mat and walk/float off. Best not to have to worry about them.

Plans for the tank? Don't worry about doing anything wrong. Experience is the best teacher. Be a good pupil. You can always find advice here as well. Just make sure you ask for advice before you act.

Mayhaps all of us Cib-iversal-Live Oak-a-Schertzians should get together and do some frag swapping and tank critiquing. Could be beneficial.

[Sherita]

The trash palys are on the same rock as the nem. Should i wait until the nem moves, take the rock out and burn them? Or is there something better I can do?

I usually just pick them out with tweezers. If you get right down close to the rock you can usually stop them in their tracks. Some folks will also squirt some kalk paste on the spot where they were after they are removed, just in case. I made the mistake of thinking they were cool early on, I had to dry the rock to get the multitudes of them OUT of my tank. They are like stickers, once they get a foothold, almost impossible to get rid of. You've only got a few, now is the time to get rid of them :)

[Sherita]

Oh, for the first year, you will probably spend more time reacting than acting. It comes with the territory. Once you get more comfortable with reefing, it gets a lot easier.

Don't sweat the shrooms. They are just about indestructible. In the event of a nuclear explosion, there will be a coyote, a cockroach, and a mushroom still standing.

[chrispmcgill]

Thanks for the info. I might just turn this into a build out thread.

I added 2 1200 maxi jets circulation pumps today. There is a LOT of flow now and they have caused a little mess of debris/detritus in the water. Is there a such thing as too much flow? I had to move the nem and it does NOT like all the new flow.

I also removed the trash palys with tweezers too. I will keep a close eye to see if reappear anywhere else.

BTW i joined a group buy for BRS if anyone wants to join in. I am getting roughly 10-15% of a variety of items. If you are, please let me know ASAP as I will be ordering either thursday or friday of this week.

[allan]

One other method of getting rid of the trash palys is to pull the rock out and rub them off furiously with a towel. I've had a lot of luck with this method, although it does stress other organizms in the rock. I've a large colony of acans that i've pulled out numerous times to rub those things off. I guess, in light of the previous statement, it isn't the most effective method of getting rid of them. But I tend to leave it in there when the little guys start coming up a few weeks later. I should repeat the process.

[chrispmcgill]

Update: the nem is doing very well (as far as I can tell). I added some more flow to the tank yesterday and it didnt like it. I woke up this morning and it was larger than it ever was and appread happy. I feed it a piece of shrimp and it ate it right up. Here are some pics I took this afternoon. The ricordeas appear to be getting more color to them too. Its hard to tell but I think the melting ricordea is doing better too. I did notice that my maroon mushrooms didn't open up today....I am guessing its the added flow.


I am also starting to see a few aiptasia and majano pop up in a few places. I will need to take care of that quickly. Peppermint shrimp the best?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/6884278431_ee13702f13_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7046/6884282439_30d4f62cc1_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7046/6884284255_f363b044ee_b.jpg

[jrnannery]

It all looks fantastic, bud. Yeah, that ric should make it. Great work.

Edit: Hey, yeah. Peppermints will definitely do the trick. Just be patient. Took mine a week to find the aptasia in my tank, and it was gone the next day. If you end up needing to borrow two PROVEN aptasia eaters, let me know.

[chrispmcgill]

thanks for the offer. I would hate to somehow kill them while I had it though. From what I have read, they are not the most hardy. Let me know if you ever want to meet up, I would like to see your setup.

[jrnannery]

Sure thing.

[chrispmcgill]

Pick up a few things today. Got some Eagle Eye Zoas and a Galaxia from a maast member. They look great. I think I am going to have to move the zoas a little further down the tank. I think I have them in a little too much flow. They are currently around 8in from the surface of the water. Here is a pic: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6889457665_89829ccd5d_b.jpg

I have the Galaxia on the bed they seem to be doing well too. The only thing I have noticed is they too might be getting too much flow. Half of it is wide open and the half where the flow is coming from is not open. You can somewhat see it in the pic. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7041/6889456073_c2916a7243_b.jpg

I also got a pair of ocellaris clowns. Now if I can only catch those striped damsels. I caught the blue damsels already and gave it to polly's pets. Any damsel wranglers out there? http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7182/6889459105_430333ec1c_b.jpg

Here are some pics of the whole tank. Sorry the water is a little cloudy, I was moving some rock down to the sump. I am wide open for any suggestions you many have. Especially on the aquascaping...i just cant seem to get it to look right.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6889461977_99219f99e3_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6889463467_cfdcdcb4db_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7055/6889464065_3532f24fb7_b.jpg


Im in the market for a better protien skimmer. If anyone is selling a reef octopus let me know. Also I would like to update to CREE 3w led lighting. I know there is a TON of info all over the web but does anyone have first hand experience with them? Or have them currently set up?

[Big_Pun]

do you plan on making your light?

[chrispmcgill]

not sure...still looking at a few options. I have been following this tread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2110092&highlight=3w+cree since December. This is the one I have been leaning towards. I would get 2 of them http://www.ebay.com/itm/140647717867?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 I think that would be enough coverage for my standard 75G. I am also looking at some DIY sets at http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/ or something like this http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/90--LEDs--DIY-Dimmable-Kit.html

Do you have an LED set up?