Somethings wrong with Elvis

[MatthewLaw]

WOW this is quite a post!

My only suggestion is to maybe purchase (2) HOB filters (biowheel 350); this is assuming the cannister works without any issues. I would also suggest leaving those last two pieces of rock in the tank since if you leave them outside, they will die. At least if you leave it in the tank it will provide some 'safety' for the fish.

How are Elvis and Chong (right?) doing? Does he seem really stressed? I would suggest adding a few air stones / air wands.

[t1gerbee]

WOW this is quite a post!

My only suggestion is to maybe purchase (2) HOB filters (biowheel 350); this is assuming the cannister works without any issues. I would also suggest leaving those last two pieces of rock in the tank since if you leave them outside, they will die. At least if you leave it in the tank it will provide some 'safety' for the fish.

How are Elvis and Chong (right?) doing? Does he seem really stressed? I would suggest adding a few air stones / air wands.

if she leaves the live rock in the tank the drop in salinity will kill the rock and create an ammonia spike...

if rock has to die, let it die outside of the tank, not in it.

[edmlfc1]

I can't do biowheels either. It would throw salt creep everywhere. My canister is only a year old so it should work fine. I've never had a problem using the rena's. I kept this one in case of emergency. Glad I did. I think I have 2 hob's but I will have to dig them out. The problem with that is the eel. My tank is tightly sealed right now so I will have to figure a way to reaseal it using the hob's or caniser. I have a couple of powerheads in the tank. The oxygen level is around an 8 so that's not a problem. I have a test kit to keep an eye on it. I'll be testing my water everyday to watch for amm. spike. I know it's going to happen I just don't know when. I'm ready to do massive water changes daily if necessary. Still waiting on a reply from pq. I'm not in any hurry to put the canister or the hob's on the tank. Once I get the sg down to 1.009 I won't have any good bacteria left anyway. The tank will go through a cycle. Once it's down after 8 weeks when I start to raise it again I will do it at .002 a week so that I don't loose any new bacteria and start another cycle. Once I get it back up to 1.020 I'll start adding the lr back into the tank a little at a time so that I don't stress the fish too much. It's a long way off so I'm not even worring about that part yet. I might just move them out for a day or two put the sand and rock back let it settle down then move them back in. I just don't have a large enough qt to keep them in for 8 weeks so I have to do this backwards. So far Elvis and Chong are handling this like little troopers. Chong's belly was a bright white this morning. He's my alert meter. If his belly starts to stay black I'll know somethings wrong. Elvis is not very happy with me right now but he'll get over it. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[edmlfc1]

Forgot to mention: No airstones or air wands. Elvis likes to chew them. I had an airwand in there and he shredded it, I put an air stone he ate through the hose and broke the stone into little pieces. It took me almost 2 hours to get all the floating pieces out of the tank. He's likes to taste everything. I had to move my heater out of the tank, I was afraid he would chew the cord. I even put protectors around the cords of the powerheads just in case he wanted to chew that. I don't want to come home to fried puffer.

[t1gerbee]

elvis is sooooooooooooooooooooo naughty!

Seems like you have your head round the whole thing now which is great. It's not that difficult once you get your head round it, just daunting to start with

I did the same, bringing the SG up by 0.002 a week, saves the tank recycling AGAIN.. and doesn't take that many weeks to do it.

Great that you have a 'belly alert system.' Everyone should get one.


With big water changes and slight reduced feeding you may not get the spike, but definitely check daily just to make sure.

You are doing brilliantly,

[edmlfc1]

Thanks I appericate the "Ego" boost.
Just got home and took a pic of Elvis and Chong:

[edmlfc1]

Something funny and sad all in one: I'm changing water to take the sg down so that means I'm pumping fw into the tank. Elvis came right up to the hose and just swam through the fw. I then grabbed the hose and started pouring fw all over his body. He really seemed to be enjoying this. He would just float right there and let me run the water all over him. After he had enough he swam off. I know all about fw dip on sw fish. Well this was like a fw dip without leaving the tank. The sad part: I think he was trying to get some relief from the cyrpt. I feel so bad for the big guy. I hope he got the relief he needed. He sure was enjoying his fw shower.

[yunachin]

Bless his heart...I hope he gets better.

[edmlfc1]

In the picture above that's not Ich that's sand. His slime coat is extreme right now and any floating sand just sticks to him. It looks horrible but I promise it's sand. You can hardly see the ich on his body but it's very visible on his fins.

[Pufferpunk]

I wouldn't add anything to keep your LR cured. Ammonia of any kind is goling to kill off the creatures in there. They'll produce they're own asmmonia.

[t1gerbee]

I wouldn't add anything to keep your LR cured. Ammonia of any kind is goling to kill off the creatures in there. They'll produce they're own asmmonia.

but surely the rock is used to being in a tank full of bioload .. and suddenly it's in a tank full of nothing but fresh salt water? Won't it need feeding a little to stop it dying back?

[t1gerbee]

Thanks I appericate the "Ego" boost.
Just got home and took a pic of Elvis and Chong:

How chong doesn't have an inferiority complex i'll never know.

It must be like living the the 'BFG' (Big friendly giant.)

[edmlfc1]

If it was the other way around and Chong was the big one and Elvis was the small one. It would be like living with the Jolly Green Giant.

[edmlfc1]

Sg down to 1.014 and here comes the cycle. Amm. .5, nitrite 0, ph. 8.2, nitrate 5.
Going to dose with prime and do another water change tonight.

[blondenblue]

I was wondering if adding seachem stability would help with the cycle and keep your levels stable????