Chey's 120g Tank :)

So an update is past due. Got a cleaner goby, to keep parasites in order. He found his way to my return pump and to his death. Knocked my nitrates through the roof because I had no idea what happened to him. I still need an impeller for my skimmer. Just did a massive water change due to that. I am going to increase from 3/4 inch pvc to 1 inch as I substitute my overflow for Todd Sail's design. I am also taking the 3/4 vinyl hose on my return and increasing that to 1 inch as well so it can hold my loc-line diffuser. Or just hard plumb it when I can. My goal is to hopefully not only make it safer, but increase the flow through the tank, while not boring holes into the sand.

But in the end this has definitely been 10x harder than it needs to be and still is. As you can see by the picture I now have this red algae making its rounds through my tank, most likely from the death of the small goby. I have enlisted the help of some hermit crabs since my poor starfish cannot keep up with the algae on the panes, and keep the sand in order. Not only that but I've lost my job mid-way through so I can't quite buy any new anything. The only thing keeping me chipper is that I got the cute banded watchman before losing my job while I could afford him. (who is putting the firefish in his place to not be a jerk, or by his little "turf")

It's just been especially rough, I am getting to the point where I may have to rehome these guys and break everything down. Plus I have done everything wrong from the get go it seems, my sump is literally a 30 gallon tank with the skimmer on one side and my return pump on the other with a line of pvc hanging over the side with a suction going. I am not having any micro-bubble problems, it just feels and looks like this sad setup to me. I just feel so defeated, I keep the fish I have now well-fed and strong, but I guess I just dont have enough of a handle on the "environment" to really do much else. I especially don't want to be at the point of having to break down. I don't really know anyone in my area that is well qualified to rehome them. Or any saltwater neighbors for that matter. It just been very, demoralizing to say the least. But I figured I best at least keep you guys in the loop.

My equipment:

2 Hydor Koralias
1 Aqueon 1250 pump
1 Aqueon "Quiet Flow" : AQ1700 return pump
1 SCA-303 Skimmer.

 

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate issues.

Hang in there and do what you can with what you have it should turn around.

If worst come to worst look for a local reefing group to take stuff off your hands.

Most of your issues sound like newer tank syndrome issues, give the system more time, just go slow.

For the records, cleaner gobies are of no value for the common parasites we see in this hobby. Cleaner gobies are not a treatment for Marine Ich, the most common parasite. It's a fish I would avoid expect in larger aquariums.

You're in Tucson? Where are you buying your fish? There are some great help guys in Tucson that would be able to provide some assistance and guidance.

 

Petco and Fishy Bizness. Well most of the fish have been from the petco, my newest watchman was from FB. Honestly they have always been extremely nice to me from the start, but I guess I always feel so intimidated. Not like "omg space bubble" but more like "im okay, let me crawl in this nice corner of your shop and let me watch the fishies all day and be invisible" I am not quite sure how else to explain it. It's the same with all shops. I guess more of a fear of asking for help idk lol I best not go Dr Phil on myself.

As far as help goes, I live smack dab more of the Tucson Mall area. Like I said prior I KNOW there are people in the hobby around here, I've personally met 3, the couple who gave me my beautiful tank, and one person who I got my pumps from. (That's not including shopkeeps, because I don't know whether or not they have a tank outside the store....) But I would hate to have someone drive miles and miles away just to be like (highly exaggerated) "GIIIIIIRUUL there is all kinds of wrong going on with yo tank" and me not quite being able to do much about it. lol

 

I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling defeated. Corailline has great advice. In terms of one thing you could benefit from is - everyone was new in this hobby at one time or another. We've all been there and are very happy to help new people in this hobby that we love. Please don't get intimidated in a shop, find a reputable shop and try to let go of your shyness and talk to them! If someone asks questions, that is a customer that a good store wants, someone that is being conscientious to do things right and willing to take their time and learn.

I have been in this hobby for a LONG time and I just recently have a setup with a sump because I find it very difficult to understand plumbing and such.

so, hang in there and don't feel like you've lost the battle if you decide to close shop for now until things are more stable financially. If you decide to stay in the game, you can keep your tank running with a low bioload by doing just regular water changes until you're able to get someone to help you get things running correctly. If someone doesn't respond to your questions or inquiries in a helpful way, that is not someone you want assisting you anyway. Ask questions, get to know the staff in the LFS, come out from the corner - and don't worry about coming across as a newbie because you are as we all were at one time.

 

Cleaner gobies? Aren't they under 2 inches, and are readily captive bred?

 

Yes I was referring to a Cleaner Wrasse, as that is generally the fish that new hobbyist buy thinking it will keep their fish parasite free.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles Chey. Your skimmer situation reminded me of a contest I saw recently on another blog. The guy that won had a simple setup with a skimmer in a sump with no baffles. Just a skimmer on one side of the sump and pump on the other. His tank was full of great corals. He rarely tested the water and only did water changes once or twice times a month. I don't remember what his fish stock was like, but I think it was fairly light. In the article below is also an example of tanks that run long term without any kind of skimmer or carbon, ect. : Feature Article: Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
I think you have more than enough to have a great tank. As Corailline said a lot of what you are seeing may just be typical new tank stuff. Sending positive vibes your way.

 

Thank you everyone, I am sorry to vent on what is suppose to be my awesome thread. Time for that to get back on track! So as good news, SCA will allow me to purchase just the impeller for 20$ with shipping included. (woo!) I have still been keeping the skimmer going. While the skimmer isn't working at it's 100% it still can get some nasty crap out. I got some netting for my intake to prevent any further fish loss until I can make a better (and more legit) overflow. But look at this GORGEOUS GOBY (im falling for all the little guys :sweethear )

It's name is Godzilla.. YUP he is well deserving of it too, when I first saw him I didn't think he was a banded goby, but he is! Boy is he PHAT! His head is bigger than my thumb! I also got a couple of jumbo green Chromis because my ultimate goal for this tank is energetic, but relaxing and they definitely fit the tank. Since the gobies would hide and it would look like there were no fishies
There will probably be some Banngai Cardinals in there too. But not now since I only had coupons enough for those 3 x.x

OH and since you can see my lovely sandbed, I made the mistake of mixing sand types. So on the right is what I started with, fine "arag-alive" live sand which I should have stuck with. Buuuuut no dummy me saw lower priced aragonite sand. Which is where the red algae has claimed as it's territory. Also on a good note speaking of said scourge, the rock on the left the "goby mansion" as it has come to be -.- is now clearing up! I don't know if it was from me putting it closer to a powerhead or if my hermits were that awesome.

 

Glad to see you bounce back chey. Real interesting about the cyano only on the one type of sand. Did you say the sand in the left is more fine, or what is the difference?

 

It is actually more course. I guess the way to explain it best would be the aragonite on the left is like cat litter, where as the sand on the right is powder fine like corn starch. I will link the brands I used.

The already live sand I used -

CaribSea Arag-Alive Bahamas Oolite Aquarium Sand

The aragonite that has the algae. -

CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand

I am not saying they are bad just to clarify, I love how the oolite (I guess it's called) looks more so than the aragonite, but then again it may be from all the cyano making it look bleh. But it is slowly going away (HUZAH) But yeah (fair warning I say "but yeah" a lot, sometimes even spacing out afterwards and loosing thought zzz) the oolite blows around a lot more, but that's mostly from my poor return setup. It just bores right to the bottom. The rocks and the other powerhead are my poor attempt at trying to detour the current away from the sand but alas, I am no Mother Nature, or Poseidon for the matter but it has helped some.