Dez' Tank Journal

[Dez]

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

Hi Dez,

I've been following your thread; you've done a great job. What I think would be causing it is the salt that was put away for years. My guess would be that some of the minerals chelated or something crazy and are now in the water, killing fish. Think heavy metals.

I'd do a massive/emergency water change, followed by another (dilution is an itch), and one more for good measure. Then try a damsel...

I am fighting cyano (still ayoung nano), so I hear some of your frustration.

all the best

Here's the thing though....the 5 year old salt was new and still sealed. Do you think the salt has a shelf life? Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out. The fish store maybe thinks it might the be 5 year old rock that was 'cooking' leaching something out. We'll see in a few days I'm sure. Thanks for the comments. PS, do you like the aragocrete that I made as my closed loop intake (remember I came to your place and picked up that cement?)

[lastlight]

Worst case you replace the rocks and salt Dez! Sucks but that'd be a garantee! I need to see this one mature please power through!

[Dez]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Worst case you replace the rocks and salt Dez! Sucks but that'd be a garantee! I need to see this one mature please power through!

Ha ha, do you mean worst case remortgage my house? That'd be another $2000 in stuff. I probably spent that in electricity trying to keep that stupid rock alive. Should have dried it out....but who knew it would take 4 1/2 years to get the tank up.

Well....I've even stopped really updating this thread. I should put up pictures of the skimmer running at least to show some progress when I get home.

Thanks for the encouragement Brett (to spend more money that is).

[subman]

You can't stop now; it will be worth it when you figure it out!
(plus this is my favorite tank journal 'selfish ')

I would be worried about the salt as wells and I have no actual scientific facts for this but just a feeling. I know you'll figure it out and the guys at Marine Aquaria are awesome keep the faith it WILL get better!

[Dez]

Originally Posted by subman

You can't stop now; it will be worth it when you figure it out!
(plus this is my favorite tank journal 'selfish ')

I would be worried about the salt as wells and I have no actual scientific facts for this but just a feeling. I know you'll figure it out and the guys at Marine Aquaria are awesome keep the faith it WILL get better!

YES - BIG PROPS TO MARINE AQUARIA. I've known the owner since he was in high school. He's gone above and beyond for me. He's opened the store later at night just so I could get a bulkhead and plumb my tank. Last night he personally came to my house to pick up the "test" fish because I didn't want to kill it. He was closed but made a special trip to pick up the fish and bring it to the store. He has given me beer at the store (it was a plus 32 day last week). He has taken in my dying damsels. He even offered his freshly mixed store saltwater so I wouldn't have to wait for my R0/DI to fill. I declined cause I didn't want to take advantage of him. I know I could get some stuff cheaper online, but I like supporting local vendors. I know that he's worked his @$$ off to get to this point and taken on a lot of debt just to cater to us hobbyists.

Thanks for the comments about this build thread. Hopefully I'll get outta this hole and maybe you'll be able to see the tank in person one day since you are in Edmonton.

[Dez]

Alright, despite the setbacks here are some pictures of the other progress that has been happening. Last week I set up my skimmer - nothing special, here are the pics.

It's an old PM Bullet 3 skimmer.


You can see the auto top off in this picture, it's nothing fancy. That Kent float valve came with the sump. It's hooked up to my RO/DI. I do have an electronic ATO system and I might use it but I'd have to find time to make an acrylic float switch holder. I don't know if I want to get fancy with all these extra backups. We'll see how I feel down the road. This works for now.


For some reason everybody always like the foam pictures.


And I got an Aqua Controller III so I hooked it up tonight. I love it. I can control my pumps and heaters down in the basement from upstairs. I wasn't gonna get a controller but I picked this one up for cheap with the two DC8's. Endless possibilities. I'm not a computer guy so it took me a little while to program it.


Under the stand:


In the basement:


Other updates. My 40 gallon frag tank is full of fresh salted and heated water, so tomorrow I'll go and get another fish to see if it's the salt that's causing my problems. Enjoy.

[Richer]

Originally Posted by Dez

Here's the thing though....the 5 year old salt was new and still sealed. Do you think the salt has a shelf life? Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out. The fish store maybe thinks it might the be 5 year old rock that was 'cooking' leaching something out. We'll see in a few days I'm sure. Thanks for the comments. PS, do you like the aragocrete that I made as my closed loop intake (remember I came to your place and picked up that cement?)

I don't think its the 5 year old rock. The rock I got from your cooking tank for my nano has been in there with a tailspot blenny for over 2 weeks and the fish is still going strong. I'd lean more towards bad salt.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Richer

I don't think its the 5 year old rock. The rock I got from your cooking tank for my nano has been in there with a tailspot blenny for over 2 weeks and the fish is still going strong. I'd lean more towards bad salt.

Good point Rich, I didn't even think about it that I gave you some of that rock. Well, I got another test fish today and it is not labouring or breathing hard at all and seems well. There is no rock in the tank though. So now I could probably safely put rock in with him. I'm thinking some big water changes and I should be okay. Whatever was leached in there should be diluted somewhat by now. I mean, I used the same water to change half the water in my mantis nano tank at work and the mantis is going strong. We'll see I guess.

[Navarchus]

Do you feed your skimmer via the return pump?

[lastlight]

Glad to hear this fish is still going strong. I really can't see it being the rock either. Does the tank with the fish in it have the same salt tho?