Pier Pressure

Well over the last couple of years, Rod and I have BOTH become addicted/obsessed to the fish keeping hobby, both fresh and saltwater. Thing is nobody has any sanity to talk the other one out of buying more stuff. One of these days I will probably wake up, realize we have sold the house, and are actually living in a home made out of aquariums!

I can advise that I have a white caribbean crab and he has the fan thingies on his claws. He lives in an anemone and does not bother my corals or anything. He is light brown and white. Maybe related?

That is some brilliant observation, that is. I think that makes about the most sense of anything I have seen/thought/read so far. Tonight the readings are all good and everything left in the tank looks good as well. I am finding salt a lot bigger challenge than freshwater and I guess all we can do is stay the course and see what happens. I will keep everyone updated. Thanks for the help!

Oh, and Hosstile - no changes were made to water flow i.e. power filters and the temperature was the same in the morning as it was that night before. No lights on before I came to work this morning so I could not check anything out. BTW - the baby demonsoni are doing very well in their new home. At least with freshwater I have a better idea of what I am doing. People do not seem to know as much about salt - I know I sure don't!

I read up on the mass brittle star breeding, too, and note that people who have had the spawn happen have been advised to do lots of water changes. I wonder if that could foul the water right up if you are not doing extra water changes because you are unaware it is going on? I should maybe mention it looked like we have hundreds of brittle stars already. Maybe we have an overpopulation problem? We did another 20% water change today, readings are good and everything left looks good. Even more bizarrely, the firefish just came out of a rock and HE appears to be perfectly fine. Maybe the clown will appear, too? More and more curious. We are totally baffled. Thank you for the replies so far.

Okay I have the strangest thing going on in my 27 gallon saltwater aquarium. On Friday, I bought a flame scallop from a LFS and some odds and ends from a guy on canreef including macro algae, birdsnest frags and a small green polyp rock. The only animal added was the scallop. The tank lights went off at 11:00 p.m. as usual and everything in there looked good. By 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, every fish and shrimp in the tank was dead and the flame scallop was dying. Hermit crabs, snails, anemones and corals all looked okay and so did the algae. Urchin seems okay. Did water tests yesterday morning after removing the fish and seemed to have half-and-half nitrite/nitrate readings (0.3 each so not a lot) and zero ammonia. We thought we must have had a big ammonia spike overnight and proceeded with a 15% water change. After that very first 15% water change, all readings were at trace or zero but brittle stars were all over the place out of the rocks and we could not find two of the fish so we continued with three more 15% water changes throughout the last 24 hours. Salinity, PH, etc. is good and staying the same throughout. The brittle stars that were all out of the rocks yesterday appeared to be breeding - arching up off the rocks and releasing a milky substance into the tank. Today the brittle stars are back in the rocks with just the arms waving out as usual. However now this one big snail seemed to do doing some kind of love dance with another smaller snail and more milky white stuff was released while they circled each other. This is the strangest thing I have ever seen :shock: . Fish that Died - royal gramma, blue yellow tail damsel, midas blenny and blue fairy sided wrasse (false percula clown and firefish have not been found but are assumed dead). The gills on the fish found were puffy with no other signs of distress. Shrimp that Died - cleaner, camel and blood with no distinguishing features to the bodies. What seems Okay - hermit crabs, snails, anemones, brittle stars, all corals, urchin. Even the tiny little critters in the live sand are okay. Water quality has been perfect for over two months before that spike and we are completely baffled. All creatures were added two and three at a time to avoid overloading the filters. We have 30 pounds of live rock, a skimmer and a UV sterilizer running on the tank and it seems to work very well - well, it did until this. Any ideas? I feel so guilty about the fish and shrimp and cannot figure out what went wrong. An ammonia spike would not kill everyone that fast, would it? We usually change out about 25% of the water per week. And if water quality is bad why do the brittle stars and snails appear to be having an orgy? This after the 150 gallon freshwater tank sprung a leak in November and we just got it back on track. This is seeming like more work than fun lately. :cry: Karen

I have a white sebae (sp.?) anemone and a green bubble tip anemone and have not had any trouble with them stinging any fish or corals or anything. The bubble tip is hosting a clown as well as a white carribean crab. As stated - no problems. However, I have only had a salt tank up and running for about five months now so maybe some of the more experienced members have some horror stories to share.

I have three F1 females breeding. The colony is down to seven because I had to get rid of some males. First time breeders are bringing about 12 - 15 babies, but the most experienced mom is up to 20 - 25 per clutch. We strip the mom after about a month and put them into a breeding net. We have not lost any even if they are still partial eggs when we strip. We have to do it sooner rather than later because good luck catching baby yellows in 150 gallon tall tank! I have about 20 right now that are only about 1/3" long. Congratulations on your new babies. They get brighter yellow as they mature.

We stripped her (25 babies), put the babies into a breeder net in the 33 gallon and then moved the mom back into the 150 gallon with the rest of her colony with no problems. New to Alberta, if you read the post from the beginning you will see that we already got a new tank and just finished moving the livestock back into it.

Conclusion to the Tragedy: We did not end up cycling. It is now a month later and all water parameters are where they should be. We just used the "gunked up filters", seeded the new sand, and every time we did water/filter changes in the smaller tanks we put the old filter sponges and old water into the new 150 gallon tank. As of last weekend, we have moved everyone who belongs in there back into the 150 gallon. The F1 electric yellows must not have minded the 33 gallon too much as one of them had a mouthful of fry when we went to move them back! Thank you for your comments and help during this difficult time. We were SOOOO close to giving up the hobby!

Beautiful shots, finaddict! What kind of camera did you get? We picked up an FZ7 Panasonic but have not had time to figure out how to post the pictures yet. Wait until you see your old "little reef tank"! I read that those sun corals are really hard to feed. Are you finding that is the case? You guys have the coolest tanks!

Hey, thanks! That was a great site. The closest thing this stuff resembles is the sponge, though it is light pink and not blue, and there are tentacles hanging out of the stuff. It almost looks like cotton candy and I am thinking maybe it is some kind of sponge. I will research the sponges further. Thank you again.

Darn bubble tip is certainly not living up to its name! Its foot is smushed up against the back of the aquarium, just in the middle of the glass. It seems to be happy and looks really cool up there so I might just leave well enough alone for now. I really have to take some time and learn how to post pictures with the new camera! Upon furher examination of the cottony growth, it seems to have a pink tinge to it. It also seems to be spreading. I am hoping I do not have some kind of weird bad creatrue happening.

Hey, everybody. As some of you know I bought Finaddicts 28 gallon saltwater aquarium in November. I added 30 pounds of rock from a very established tank (several years) and things seem to be going well. A couple of questions: 1. I have this "moss" kind of stuff growing on the live rock (sorry I have not figured out how to post pictures yet). It looks like white cotton growth, and has long white threads hanging out of it. There are what look like little "worm holes" in the cotton growth. Does anyone know what this is based upon this poor description? 2. I bought a green anemone for my clown to host in. It is supposed to be a bubble tip but I do not think it is as the feeder tubes do not seem to "bubble out" like they should during feeding. When at rest, this thing is bright green, and when it is feeding it turns a kind of rust colour and of course the tentacles get longer and thicker. Any idea what kind of anemone this is? 3. Also regarding the anemone, it is eating well and moving all over the tank, and has a white Carribean crab as well as the clown hosting in him. My light is 110 watt PC and I have heard this is not enough light for aneomes. Now I note that the aneome has worked his way about 2/3 of the way up the back of the aquarium and his top tentacles sit right under the flow input. Is this due to lack of light, or does he maybe just like it there because he is getting a lot of food in the flow? Any guesses from the knowledgable people of this forum would be appreciated! :bow:

I have one emerald crab in with hermit crabs, snails and some shrimp. He does not bother anybody - he just picks away at the rocks all day long.

Hey, guys. Sorry to leave you hanging but things have been busy. We got the tank moved out and the replacement tank moved in. PetSmart also replaced the stand as we were unsure if the stand was meeting up with the tank properly. We got the play sand and the tank is now full of water, sand, and Rod is just adding decorations. We will start moving fishes tomorrow. They seem to be doing alright in the 33, other than causing the water to boil everytime I walk by because they are hungry. It will not be a pleasant Christmas for them, but what can you do? We will add the smaller fish first and work our way up to the big ones, adding just a couple a week or so. Does that sound good or does anyone else have other ideas? Thank you so much for all of the advice. I am going offline now to help with the tank decorating but will try to check in soon.

Cool. I really like the looks of it, so a trip to Home Depot or Target is in order. For a 150 gallon aquarium - how many pounds of sand do I buy? Is it heavy enough to hold down really BIG plastic plants? I had no luck with real ones in my cichlid tanks - eaten full of holes within a couple of hours. Karen

We have the 33 gallon with lots of seeded gravel, as well as a 20 gallon in the same shape. We also have two filters running that Rod is saying are just "gunked" with bacteria so the seeding should not be a problem. We measured the tank and it will fit into our Jeep, so it will not have to be outside for the trip to Chinook. Rod lined up some guys to help out Monday evening so everything is worked out. Here's to an uneventful move! We are going to change the bottom to sand while we are at this. Where is a good (aka cheap) place to pick up some pool sand, and what kind should I get?

Hey, Neil. I was hoping I could do a replace right away thing but that is not going to happen - and I see what you are saying - all the bacteria is dead and I have to start over. I called PetSmart and I guess the replacement tank is available but I have to bring the old in and pick up the new - they have no delivery service whatsoever. Kind of choked because this tank is just under two years old. Oh, well - at least they will replace the tank. I called a courier company and they charge more than the tank is worth, if you can believe it. We are going to try to line some people up this weekend. We are going to hopefully line up some buddies to help out. Shai, that is an awesome suggestion - I wish I would have thought of it many hous ago! Pretty much wrote off the bacteria - we are cycling water in big garbage cans at the moment hoping for the best. Mr. Chickets, your heart is huge but that is asking a lot of anyone. Busy season - and moving that aquarium is a hugely mean feat!

It is really hard to find help during the busy Christmas season. I am hoping I can arrange something through PetSmart as a two year old tank has no business springing a leak! We did not transfer our filters to the 33 gallon as that would cause a title wave. We have a very well established Rena XP3 on the 33 and lots of mature gravel. The gravel in the 150 gallon is still wet and the filters are full, so if we can get this transferred today I am hopeful we will be okay. I will keep you updated regarding having the tank delivered. Thanks again for all your comments!

Well, I contacted PetSmart and though I am not a member they told me as long as it is one of their Top Fin tanks it is covered under a lifetime warranty even without having the receipt! How cool is that? Now the problem I have is finding someone to move the old tank out and the new tank in as the sucker is a couple hundred pounds and Rod got into a car accident earlier this year and his back is messed up. Is there a service or something I can pay to take the old tank in and deliver the new one? When I called PetSmart they told me to call back in the morning and talk to the manager, but that they do not normally do any type of delivery. On the upswing the "bio load" seems to be doing okay in the over-filtered 33 gallon. I did not feed and I will not feed until I get this tank thing straightened out. And then what about cycling? I do not want to put my F1 electric yellows through a cycle! Thank you for any and all advice. This forum rocks.

I contacted PetSmart via email this morning and will see what they say. I cannot find the ##@%$$ receipt for the tank, but I know the approximate date of purchase and it is a custom Top Fin that only PetSmart makes so I shall see what they say. Man, I am exhausted. Up most of the night cleaning up the mess. You have never seen the nightmare of this hobby until a tank blows up, and when it is 150 gallons, well, you do not want to even imagine! I will keep you updated. I find the support on this forum to be awesome! Thanks everyone.

Thanks, guys. We will contact PetSmart and see about warranty on the tank. Two years old and leaking is unbelievable. I just have to see if I can find the damn receipt for the thing. I think the crew is doing okay in the 33 at least overnight. Nobody seems overly stressed hours later. I am not going to feed them to try to keep levels down. On the upswing, Connie, the salt tank is fine - except maybe for the trauma suffered by the fish as they watched the levels of water in the 150 drop! Anyway, back to disasterland. The basement is mostly tiled so no permanant damage I have found so far. Furniture is okay. I shall keep you updated! Thanks a lot, Trooper. We will keep that in mind. Hopefully we can just replace the tank tomorrow. You were just posting as I was writing that last one!

Hi, all. So when we got home from work our 150 gallon freshwater aquarium had sprung a leak and has now been emptied. We think that it is on a seam, but the huge question is what do we do with all the livestock that was contained in the 150? We have everyone stuffed into a 33 gallon that is overfiltered but not to that extent. By the way, the tank is two years old, bought at PetSmart, and has a lifetime warranty. Hope I can find the receipt. What can I do to ensure the fish stay healthy? Any tips or tricks on tank blow outs? Thanks for any advice you may have. At this point I feel like burning the place to the ground and starting over. :cry:

Wicked is right! How many did you pick up? Do they get along with everyone? New as I am I think that the last one is a firefish... -roll-