Sasha T
Member
This is regarding my new 60G system, it's been up and running since the end of January. I used dry rock and dry substrate, with RODI water, a slice of shrimp and bottle bacteria to kick things off. Over the past two weeks I've been adding inverts, and I currently have a dozen nassarius snails, a few astreas and half a dozen cowries and "mini" brittle stars (the hitchhiker kind). They all seem to be doing well, inching their way across the glass and rocks or crawling around the macro algae in the refugium. I have a piece of GSP that WAS brown and healthy in my old system, and is now green, healthy and spreading. The rocks are starting to have spots of green film and hair algae. My A/Ni/Na readings are 0/0/24. BUT...
I've tried adding in a tail spot blenny. Twice. In both cases I've drip acclimated them, one for 30 minutes, one for an hour and fifteen. Both times they take to the rockwork and start doing their little "in and out" dance, nipping at the algae. I watch them up until I go to bed and they seem fine. Wake up the next day, and they are on the sandbed. The first time it was suggested that it was "bad luck". Now it's happened a second time...
I'm very frustrated (two trips out of town for two fish). At this point the only thing I can think of is to get a "cheap" marine fish like a chromis, or marine switch a molly to see if they succumb as well, but... So frustrated, especially since my first system went up quicker, with less planning, and no issues at all.
Before I consign another fin friend to an untimely death, any suggestions? From what I've read, having healthy snails discounts most potential toxins due to their smaller bodies, I have the system running with a full macro algae refugium as well as water agitation so a lack of dissolved oxygen seems unlikely. The hour drip acclimation should have eliminated any acclimation issues, I even lowered my salinity to 1.023 for the second try just so it wasn't as big of a jump.
I've tried adding in a tail spot blenny. Twice. In both cases I've drip acclimated them, one for 30 minutes, one for an hour and fifteen. Both times they take to the rockwork and start doing their little "in and out" dance, nipping at the algae. I watch them up until I go to bed and they seem fine. Wake up the next day, and they are on the sandbed. The first time it was suggested that it was "bad luck". Now it's happened a second time...
I'm very frustrated (two trips out of town for two fish). At this point the only thing I can think of is to get a "cheap" marine fish like a chromis, or marine switch a molly to see if they succumb as well, but... So frustrated, especially since my first system went up quicker, with less planning, and no issues at all.
Before I consign another fin friend to an untimely death, any suggestions? From what I've read, having healthy snails discounts most potential toxins due to their smaller bodies, I have the system running with a full macro algae refugium as well as water agitation so a lack of dissolved oxygen seems unlikely. The hour drip acclimation should have eliminated any acclimation issues, I even lowered my salinity to 1.023 for the second try just so it wasn't as big of a jump.