Hello I'm a newbies newbie a little help needed please

[Greek407]

Hello to whom ever is reading I'm hoping not to make this to long but I could really really use a helping hand.

My name is manole I start my first ever saltwater aquarium the info I know isn't much but here it is..... I have a 180g soft plumb with 2 overflow boxes drilled on each side a 40g sump (as told by LFS) 2 pumps for returns a max gyro 150 powerhead 2 72" led lights (China name brand) with a orbit marine sunsetter controller 2 reactors 1 for carbon other for GFO also about 1" - 1 1/2" of live sand I used previously owned base rock about 120lbs then purchased about another 100lbs or so rock from LFS that came in boxes and has been sitting in store for a month or so not cured or anything ( was told no worries just throw it in anything on it is dead by now being that it's been dryed and sitting for so long :-/ ) also for my cycle I did about 20 lbs cured rock from LFS with the ammonia liquid cycle 3 times in about 3-4 months then waited 3-4 weeks did a 44g water change and added CUC hermits and snails ( note all snails including turbo died within a week ) I acclimated all in bag for 30-45 min. Then scooped and placed in DT for the extra info on CUC. Waited a few 2-3 more weeks and added a few baby fish nothing bigger then your pinky 2 clown a blue tang another tang with yellow rings around the eye area :-/ a dwarf angel and a potters angel that didn't make it longer then 10 days I check my water once a week on Sunday (only time able to) with reef and saltwater test kit and magnesium test kit all levels checked normal 0 for all phos. Between .25 ppm and no more then .5 hard to tell damn colors. Calcium I went from the start at 380 and finally within 2-3 weeks 420 mag. 1410-1380 alk between 9-10 dkh and salinity took about 1-2 weeks to get it from 1.022 to 1.025 and that's my story. Problem I am having is green algae not really big hairs but green on rocks and brown sand also at night with red light I get freaked out with a lot of random critters crawling around not a lot but I notice them and about a handful of bristle worms and last but not least biggiest problem is the clicking :-/ yea clicking I'm screwed I know all my rocks are glued together FYI to make 3 big structures please please please someone help me

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum Manole! :)

Sorry to hear about the issues you have been having, do you have any photos of your set up?

 

[Greek407]

I do but not 2 computer or electrical device smart how would I post or show you ?

 

[Greek407]

 

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[Greek407]

That's everything including understand equipment

 

[monique]

i nlike your rock structure. as far as your snails and crabs go. i killed a few inverts and more then a few snails before i learned to take my time- as in hrs. when you get them measure the salinity in the water they came in. the more off from yours the slower you go. they just cant adjust to the change very fast. i try to take 3-4 hrs to get them used to my water. i use a juice jug with a handle i can hang on the tank then they dont get cold. i hang it in the tank and add tank water 1/8 to1/4 cup at a time depending on how much water cam with them. i add the water ever 30 to 45 min till i have doubled the volume. then i dump 1/2 out and do it again before i take the inverts out and add to my tank. i do not add the water in the jug. this has made a big difference to the servival rate. shrimp, crabs,snails and sea stars cannot be rushed. also try doing this with your fish too. you might find it helps a lot. your water is always different from the water where you buy and just because we cant measure any thing wrong does not mean the fish cant find something wrong. i had the same problem a couple of years ago. i went and bought a 36 watt coralife turbo-twist sterilizer and put a 120 gal pump on it. let it run for about 3 wks and started putting fish in again. they all survived. let it run for a couple months after i had my stock in there and after that i didnt have any problems. i had ick problem that i was to green to pick up on. i run a 265 gal reef tank and you arent getting ick out of that. i find the sterilizer really helped. knocked it down enough that the fish could fight it off before they died. now i run it for a couple of months anytime i add new fish and thats after qt. so try going a little slower with your aclimation and if you think your fish are dieing from a parasite maybe try a sterilizer. as long as the parasite has a free swimming phase it can really help.

 

[Greek407]

Sweet thank you for the compliment on my aquarium and the advise. Any suggestions on what I can do about the clicking in my aquarium being that it may be either or mantis or pistol I have to say I hear it but can't see it found one random small hole in sand bed by rock work but can't see to clearly being it on the side of the tank I know there is something in there cause it's dark in color as far as I can tell but I'm thinking he or she is not alone and could be multiples not sure but the click and my online reading is definitely Freaking me out being that I would like not to lose any fish or have 180 gallons of water in my living room from a broken glass :-/

 

[Greek407]

I am sure to try your method on the snails though cause I'm really really getting sick of all the small green looking slim on my rocks and brown rice looking sand bed I know good microbacteria will take time long long time to start to take over my rock work and back glass so I'm still researching what I can always add to help the good against the bad algae grow always running gfo and carbon change it monthly

 

[monique]

a kole tang[bristletooth with yellow circle around the eye] is great for that. of all the tangs i have had the bristletooths are the best for keeping the rocks clean. they never stop scraping them. as for your clicking- if its a pistol shrimp buy him a shrimp goby. very interesting relationship to watch. starve the tank for a wk. put a decent size piece of bait on a length of fishing line a couple inches from the entry hole after the lights go out. park your arse in a chair with a dim flashlight and watch. may take a couple trys but you will see whats in there. if he doesent hit the bait pull it out and try the next nite. if its a pistol shrimp you will find evidence of tunelling all around the rock he is under. i have 2 shrimp gobys and 3 pistol shrimps in my tank. never killed anything yet. if its a mantis you will have set a trap. dont add any fish if thats what it is til you catch him cause you are just buying him expensive food. if you get any more rock run it through a qt til you know theres nothing in there you dont want.. you have your rock in 3 seperate piles so it wont be to bad to block that section of the tank. a piece of plexglass cut to the width of the tank makes a great wall. then you only have to rip that one section apart. if your fish are just disappearing-no body then i would bet on the mantis. i have never had that pleasure. good luck. let us know what happens. ps- its very unlikely you have to worry about what ever it is breaking the glass. i would be more worried about getting sliced if it turns out to be a mantis. pps- also one of the stores i shop at started keeping their fish water at 1.17 salinity instead of 1.25 to help cut back on parasites. so i really have to be slow and careful with my aclimatization. you might find you have that problem too. you will find your fish die 2-3 days later if so. they basically die of shock

 

[Greek407]

Ok thank you for the info I will have to try it out and see what it may or may not be I haven't lost any fish yet it has been about 2-3 weeks since I have actually started noticing the clicking whatever it is it has to be very very small still so I'm going to wait tell either he or she gets bigger to notice or the other part that I will not like at all " a fish ending up missing " I am going to go to my LFS today and ask them to see what there salinity is set at for a test result. P.S I really hope I will not have to try and remove any structure out of my tank being I have coral already glued on them and the fact I weighed each piece dry before I put them in with help from a friend and they are 85-90 pounds each :-/ FML.

 

[monique]

if its 90 lbs dry weight you can add 25 lbs water weight. funny- i have never heard my pistols clicking and i see them all the time. once you find out, if it turns out to be a pistol shrimp try putting a shrimp goby in there. if it bonds to the guy in the rocks then you will have an entertaining little pair.. i like the yellow watchman goby. he stays out a little more and he is a pretty fish. plus he will want to stay where the food is and usually the shrimp follows which will bring them more to the front of your tank.

 

[Greek407]

I really really hope that's what it is I will be screwed if it's not a pistol shrimp and it's a mantis shrimp but being that I will never see the pistol shrimp when should I think about the watchman goby ?? I already have a paired sand shifting gobies

 

[monique]

should not be a problem. the sand sifters do not bond with the shrimps. i put 2 shrimps in my tank. one at each end. one with a blackfin{cryptocentrus pavoninoides} and the other with a yellow watchman{cryptocentrus cinctus}. well the shrimps paired and now the 2 gobys live together with the shrimps in the same burrow system because the shrimps wont separate and the gobys wont leave their shrimps. but when i moved i found a another one in there so i guess the shrimp spawned and one managed to survive. he set up shop at the other end of the tank so i am going to see if i can get him a fish friend. you will see your shrimp a lot more if he has a pet. he feels a lot safer and will follow his goby out of his tunnels a bit as he excavates. the fish will duck in and out of the burrow and they will want to be out where the most food is available and the shrimp usually goes where the fish does. as far as feeding goes, my gobys eat whatever floats by and they like new spectrum sinking pellets[1 mm]. every once in a while i squirt a few into the shrimp tunnel for the shrimps but one i have had for aprox 5 yrs so they are definately finding food. that one shrimp is the toughest little bugger. he has survived one tank wipeout do to heat, and 3 total crashes since i have had him. why he is still alive is beyond me