What Happens With No Maintenance For A Month. The Gallery Episode 31

[@eaglescout1974]

I can see why you don’t have time for maintenance. You have been pumping out a ton of videos for BRS. Very nice to see. Your videos have some of the highest production value I have seen on KZbin. Keep up the great work. 👍

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Super kind of you! Three videos a week is a lot for me to be honest!!

[@juliarumpler6567]

Sorry for your loss. It’s always heartbreaking to loose any of our animals we care so much for. I love your little Toby Puffer. Such a little cutie ❤️.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Thanks. And I love my little puffer! So curious and friendly!

[@tycarter88]

Great video!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Thanks!

[@ianstuart1766]

DUDE!! You have a male Valentini! I’ve never seen one in person other than the one i have! You can tell by the colors behind the eye. A female doesn’t have them. So awesome!!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

I thought it was a female! I see what you mean about the eyes, but I was also looking at the underside for these grey stripe thingies, and I don't see any! He/She has such a great personality!

[@fishpony1211]

We are all guilty of sometimes slacking on maintenance. Life happens. The tanks look overall great and once you do all the water changes everything will be fine. GL

[@MyFirstFishTank]

:-)

[@federicomanglavite9897]

How do you use the Hanna Phosphate URL with the Autoaqua SmartStir? The variability of that checker's results drive me mad!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Instead of shaking the vial, you just leave the top off, put the magnetic stirrer into the vial, place it on the machine, and let er rip! Super easy, I love it!

[@federicomanglavite9897]

@@MyFirstFishTank fantastic, do u let it stir for the full 2 minutes with the Hanna Phosphate URL / Phosphorous? do you leave the stirrer in the vial when you put the vial into the checker?

[@xisotopex]

what did you do with that gorgonian you snapped off the plug?

[@Scott-cy6zv]

I just setup a 38 gallon FOWLR tank and it’s 2 days short of 6 weeks old. I have had 2 baby captive bred clown fish in it for a week and a half. Over the past week I’ve noticed a areas on my live sand and on my Marco rock there’s brown Diatom algae formed. Is there a way to get rid of the algae without stressing the fish? I was told not to do a first water change for 8-9 weeks as beneficial bacteria will be removed from the tank. I’m asking because Matt your the Einstein of reefing and I trust your input. I hope I’m not failing or ruined my new tank :(. Information is MUCH appreciated!!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Sorry for such a late reply! I use a turkey baster and gently blast it. That seems to work for me!

[@eluroable]

You got flatworms in the seahorse tank and didn't dip the macro algae befores putting it in to the other tank D:

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Yep, you are correct. To be honest though, I really don't work hard to keep all of my tanks separate from each other. Probably, no wait, definitely would be best practice, but just too easy to cross contaminate during water changes and such that I don't worry about it.

[@xisotopex]

how much does the phyto affect nitrates and phosphates?

[@Mamamiaia-2015]

Hey, like you I live in Southern California, and yes at one time I lived in Palm Springs are like you. I was wondering if you knew of any earthquake proofing tanks? All I can find is ways to proof the stands. I think that that would be a great topic.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Hey there fellow socaler! Earthquake proofing is a fantastic topic, and one that I know nothing about when it comes to tanks. I'm just trying to think about it right now. You are right about being able to attach a strap to the stand, but the only thing I could think of for a tank would be some sort of brace that was wrapped all the way around. I'd worry that if you somehow attached one of the back panels to a stud, it might just rip it off and destroy the tank. We just had a small earthquake last week and I thought about what to do. I've sort of just thought that if the big one hits, then there is just nothing I can do but pick up the pieces and start over, but maybe there is a way.... I'll keep researching!

[@ozzman31982]

My puffer loved eating the red ogo macro algae. Maybe yours will eat the gracilaria

[@MyFirstFishTank]

That's cool... So far mine isn't, but I'll be curious to see!

[@RobBoryckiGolf]

Matt even with meds. And qt and all kinds of other things. Sometimes fish get sick just like we do and with doing everything we can. Sometimes we loose them. You did your best

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Yeah, agreed. No idea what happened but hoping it was a one off! Thanks for the support!

[@abyankabir1910]

Hey there, I was just wondering what is the difference between MicrboBacter 7, MicroBacter Start XLM and MicroBacter Start XLF. I just wanted to know what is the difference between these three products and which one to use. I want to mix them, but I want to know what is the difference and which one I should use to cycle the tank. I will also dose this once a month whenever I do a water change. So please let me know which is better.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

That is such a good question, and one that I've looked up several times! I can never remember. But here is what I know. Microbacter 7 is a great all around strain of bacteria. Good for weekly dosing to help keep your biofilter strong. Microbacter Start XLM is a stronger strain that is mean to help get the tank cycled originally. and Microbacter start xlf is for freshwater systems. Hope that helps.

[@abyankabir1910]

@@MyFirstFishTank thanks a lot!

[@CalcioFan4Ever]

Man, i tried keeping up with 5 tanks of various sizes and i finally threw in the towel. Its just too much for 1 dude to keep up. Now im going down to 1 salt, 1 fresh. That i can just throw all my time and money at

[@MyFirstFishTank]

that sounds completely reasonable!!

[@JRam3504]

Nice growth of your macro algae! Would you mind sharing what you dose, how often, and how much? Thanks in advance!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Thanks Jose. So currently, I only occasionally dose Brightwell Aquatics Chaeto Gro. But I don't do it very much, maybe only once a month. I used to dose daily, but I was having slightly raised no3 and po4, so I stopped. The lights and the nutrients from the seahorse poop seem to be sufficient fertilizer for this tank!

[@RogueAquariums]

Sorry to hear about your sea horse. 🙁 It’s especially frustrating when you don’t know why it died. Hopefully it’s not bacterial related. It’s not fun when your behind with your maintenance on the tanks. 😉

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Thanks Darren!

[@yengthao9207]

late reply but I've been loving the content Matthew. Have you thought about making stickers for your logo? I think it would be an awesome idea in the future.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Thanks Yeng! I actually do have stickers! Do you want one? Send me an email with your address, just as it is written on an envelope, and I'll send you one. contact @ myfirstfishtank .com

[@yengthao9207]

@@MyFirstFishTank I would Love one thank you so much, I'll contact you right now. Thanks Matthew, will be putting this on my fluval evo, just started as well :)

[@tylerneal5390]

So why do some brands of sand dry rock and the bottled bacteria say you can add all your fish instantly on day 1 of set up? how is that possible if your tank is brand new why do brands say that is it true or false?

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Well, that' a much bigger discussion. You probably could add one or two small fish that don't mind a small amount of ammonia. Adding the fish and the bacteria at the same time gives the bacteria the food it needs to cycle the tank. But if not done right or done too quickly or with the wrong species, it can stress out your fish big time.

[@uffnstuff]

Google red field ratio. Not so much the amount of nutrients but the balance of them. You'll have dose nitrates to lower phosphates and vice versa. GL

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Okay, so question for you. I know virtually nothing about the ratio, except 16 to 1. So if my ratios are out of whack, how does increasing nitrates help the over all tank? Because this could be a game changer for me! Thanks!

[@franciscoa750]

Last year i had a really tough time and i neglected my tank for several months, no maintenance no nothing, i seriously have no idea how everything survived. But now im back in track praise Jesus 🙏

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Yeah, we all have those times in our lives. So glad to hear everything survived!

[@stevenpavan327]

We need a new personal video from you!!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

I know, I'm the worst! Maybe next weekend? Been breaking down tanks and setting them up and it has been taking my weekends!

[@shawncloutier1720]

Sorry about your seahorse

[@MyFirstFishTank]

thanks shawn.

[@mathewstreet]

As you have to make other videos and this channel gets left behind, you should do like daily blog style without too much editing as fragboxcorals does.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

Yeah, that is solid advice for sure! I usually do minimal editing, but I was just in the mood today!!

[@mathewstreet]

@@MyFirstFishTank I liked this video a lot. I hope you do more

[@CalcioFan4Ever]

My phos has been .50 for a year..... Guess i need to fix that xD

[@MyFirstFishTank]

No, if your tank is good, and doesn't have a huge amount of nuisance algae, nothing to worry about at all!

[@bigmuvver]

😭

[@HCBCHEMISTRY]

No offense bro, but I wouldn't let you take care of my systems if your tanks look like that with no corals and your anemones ain't doing so hot. Sometimes I go more than a month without a water change and my tanks are rockn n rolln.

[@MyFirstFishTank]

I hear ya… good thing I don’t do this for a living right? 😁

[@jril3982]

Wait. You have a guy who takes care of the tanks? But you don't have a real job.lol. You just make videos and do tanks. So your no longer a hobbiest then?

[@MyFirstFishTank]

I do have a guy who helps with the tanks five hours a week. Makes my life much better! :-)

[@traceyxxrose7454]

Your thumbs nails… I just can’t watch because they’re so ridiculous lol