Trials and Tribulations of a Reef Aquarium

Aquarium Update and New Fish (6-Line Wrasse)

2011-10-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Meet Julius, the newest addition to the aquarium! He's a 6-line wrasse and very active and quite gorgeous. He loves to hide in the rocks and sleep in the sand but he's always out and about, swimming and darting this way and that. He's a meat eater and, although it's been rumored that his species can be aggressive (mostly to other wrasses), he gets along wonderfully with the gang! He's also known to be pretty hardy (especially for the wrasses). In addition, I've been told they can feast on common pests, such as bristleworms and flatworms. Bonus! I'm very happy with the new additon! Welcome home, Julius!

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/wrasses/SixLineWrasse.php

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+375&pcatid=375

http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=3

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Wrasses/Sixline.php

In other aquarium news, everything is doing quite well. The aquarium recently turned 16 months old. Since the move, I've been having some trouble with hair algae, probably due to a combination of a slight increase in temp (due to increased ambient temp of the apartment) and the death of my sea urchin. I do have plans to acquire a new urchin in the future but it is nice not to have to worry about pieces of coral being hijacked or rocks being overturned!

Also, I've noticed I've had to dose quite a bit lately. I've had to add about 35 ml of the B-Ionic buffers 2x/week to boost alkalinity and calcium. This seems very high for a 75 gallon aquarium. I've always had some trouble keeping my alkalinity high. I know the aquarium is now mature but since I have all softies, I don't understand where the calcium is going. However, all the coralline algae died upon the move. Maybe I need to boost levels until this is restored. Any thoughts?

Until then, here are some pics of the aquarium and gang since the move:

Mr. Roper (male Bangaii Cardinalfish) poses for the camera.

"Hey! Where's the seaweed?" Earl, the lawnmower blenny demands.

--Mushroom City, more than alive and well.

--Hazel, the purple firefish and Felipe, the royal gramma, sneak by, unable to escape the camera.

--Bonnie and Clyve, happy in their mansion, the Elegance Coral.

--Nahla, the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, picks some bugs of Pedro, the bluejaw trigger. Mr. Roper hovers while 2 out of 3 of the Merry Maids (the shrimp), hang out for a chance to help Nahla clean Pedro.

Toby, the Scopas Tang, grazes on everything but the hair algae.

--View of the aquarium, 2 months post-move. Casey, the flameback angel, is also apparent, above the large rust mushroom.

Aquarium Recovery

2011-09-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Shown here is the aquarium at the old place. Strangely enough, it looks almost identical today. It's recovering very well since the move. It's been about 1 month so far.

The elegance coral, which we were most worried about, has grown, yet again. The thing is taking over!

I lost almost all the corralline algae upon the move. I've been religiously checking the calcium and alkalinity levels, both which needed a boost. In addition to using the liquid 2-part buffer (B-Ionic), I also like being able to control the two parameters individually with calcium blocks and an alkalinity powder. I am starting to see some corralline growth return.

I had to add my clean-up crew back again. I lost all my crabs and snails on the move. I added them into two small batches. Some have died off, and I think I've reached a saturation point.

Along the same lines as clean-up crew, I've been having some hair algae issues. Part of it is probably the stress of the move. Also, my temp has increased by a degree since the move (now at 81 degrees). Not to mention the increased humidity of living only a mile from the coast. The biggest reason is probably due to the death of my sea urchin. I've been hesitant to get a new one. For one, I like how my coral and rocks are arranged without having to glue everything down. Plus, I don't want to risk having one die again and "nuking" the whole tank. So in the meantime, I'm back to weekly water changes until everything settles. Not a big deal except I hate hauling tons of 5-gallon buckets of water down stairs. Ah, the joys of apartment living.

All-in-all, everything is good in aquarium land! Can't wait for a few more weeks to go by so I can move into phase 2--getting a new fish. Still trying to decide what to get. Maybe a wrasse...

Moving an Aquarium--No Small Feat

2011-08-23T23:10:00.001-07:00

Recently, I moved to a new apartment. At first, I was devastated, thinking I would have to sell my aquarium, just over 1 year old. It was doing so awesome. Tearing it down would break my heart. Luckily, my fish guy, Mike, agreed to move it for a small fee. It was a lot of work but totally worth it!

--aquarium before the move, focusing on the elegance coral, my favorite part of the whole tank. The clownfish have taken up residence in it, and offer hours of endless entertainment.

--Mike begins to disassemble the aquarium. He bagged up all the livestock carefully, transporting them in a styrofoam cooler. He saved as much water as possible (although I had a huge batch (32 gallons) of freshly mixed salt water ready to go at the new place. He then takes apart all the equipment. With the help of a strong friend and our two trucks, we loaded up all the livestock and equipment. Time was of the essence. Luckily, I was only moving 30 minutes up the street.

--Mike takes apart the plumbing and the sump in the cabinet under the aquarium.

--My precious aquarium empty and up turned on the front lawn!

--Old aquarium water in several 5-gallon buckets, livestock and other equipment in front of the new apartment. We had to remove all the substrate (about 100 pounds) and live rock (another 75 pounds) in order to carry the aquarium down the stairs. Even still, it took the three of us all our might to lift it. I calculated the total weight of the aquarium, water, substrate, rock, and cabinet. It weighs about 2,000 lbs (1 ton). Sheesh!

--Mike setting up the aquarium in the new place. Make sure you have it exactly where you want it before adding water! Having an experienced aquarist was absolutely key. It made the process seamless. After setting the aquarium on its stand in the preferred location, Mike set up the plumbing. Then, the substrate and live rock was added back into the tank. Finally, the water was added back in.

--The tank is running (note how cloudy it is) and livestock are acclimating in bags on top. It was impossible to arrange the live rock exactly how it was before. We did the best we could. We arranged the coral next. Then, the fish were released.

--Finally, the canopy with the lights were set up.

The next day, the sea urchin had lost all its spines and was exuding a thick slime. One of the Banggai cardinalfish had popeye and was lethargic, close to death. The Scopas Tang had one popeye but was still eating. Frantically, I ditched the urchin, performed a large (50%) water change and performed several frequent feedings throughout the next several days. I lost the Banggai (R.I.P. Mr. Roper) but the tang recovered (yay, Toby!).

Little by little, the tank is recovering. I had to restock the macroalgae in the refugium and add all new snails and hermit crabs (most of them died in the move). Also, most of the coralline algae died. I'm performing weekly water changes for now to help the tank recover (and get on top of some nasty, green-hair algae). Thankfully, the worst is over. I will be testing water parameters regularly. The elegance coral, my most precious speciman, seems to be doing great. I also want to spike the refugium with more pods.

Keeping my fingers crossed....so far, so good.

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/j_meek.html
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwater/Ziegler_Moving1.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4442880_move-salt-water-aquarium.html
http://www.algone.com/aquarium-articles/fish-health/moving-your-aquarium

1 Year Anniversary

2011-07-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of catching up to do on the home aquarium start. The tank is officially a year old! It's definitely been a success but not without its share of ups and down. On the whole, the aquarium centers around an equilibrium that cannot be greatly disturbed for sustainability. Today, I'll go into the nitty gritty. Stay tuned for an exciting ride!

First, let's get the stats over with:

Temp 78-79.

pH 8.4

S.G. 1.025

Calcium 520 ppm

Alkalinity 5 dkH (used to be 7-8, although 8 was a fight)

(Why is my calcium good but alkalinity low?)

Ammonia 0

Nitrites 0

Nitrates ~5 ppm

Since Louie and Scooter both disappeared about a week ago, unfortunately, I decay the rise in nirates to increased decomposition. I've never recorded a nitrate concentration before. Returning to small weekly water changes for now will reduce nitrate levels and address the other issues as well (S.G., pH, Ca2+, alkalinity).

Routine Care:

Daily: feed fish, check water levels (fill automatic top-off--Note to Self--purchase larger ATO container!), check temp and lights.

Every 2 Days: clean skimmer cup

Weekly: Dose calcium and alkalinity. I dosed with 10 mL of B-Ionic Buffers 1 & 2 today to raise the calcium/alkalinity. This is generally needed about 1x/week. Water changes help too. Alternatively, there are these rad little blocks that you can put in your sump to raise calcium levels. They dissolve as needed and are supposed to be foolproof. However, there is some controversy out there on the "blocks". It is generally recommended to dose weekly.

Feed coral. My elegance coral is a pretty big eater. I sometimes only feed coral every other week since I feed my tank every day. Typically, I feed coral the day or two before a scheduled water change.

2x/Month: 20% water change. Alternatively, I change 10% weekly. Change filter sock upon water change. Remove ~1-5% of old refugium macroalgae to encourage growth Kill any prominent aiptasia

Monthly: More vigorous cleaning of tank during water change to remove algae. Replace activated carbon in media reactor. More vigorous cleaning of protein skimmer.

Bi-Annually: Change bulbs. Clean out powerheads and pumps. Check and clean all equipment.

Onto some sad news: Louie and Scooter in memorium. Both of these fish were my favorites. They were part of the original crew that were first introduced to the tank. Both grew and thrived over the last year. I had begun to take their boisterous, ever-constant presence for granted. When they disappeared, first Louie, then Scooter, it was very sudden, unexpected, and heartbreaking. I have no idea what happened, and I've been racking my brain.

Could Louie, the yellow coris wrasse, have jumped from the tank? Perhaps, but I've searched everywhere, including the floors, overflow, filter sock, sump, refugium, and pumps. Plus, my dog didn't find anything, and there was never a smell. Unlikely. Could something have eaten them? What? I haven't seen anything, I don't have anything that would eat something that big (Louie) or slimy (Scooter, the scooter blenny, is covered in a thick film of mucous and generally distasteful to other carniovores) Could they have both starved to death? Also, unlikely because I watched them both eat constantly. They both loved Cylop-eze but they became omnivorous over time. Both loved picking at the live rock. Plus, I have a refugium. Could the refugium have crashed? I still see a healthy population of pods, so, again, unlikely. Could Louie have buried himeself in the sand? Not if he was healthy. He was big and active, quite used to swimming around, out front and center all day, and running the show. If he had become weak or ill, he would have buried himself in my (deep) sandbed to die.

Unfortunately, I will never know. All I can do is follow my procedure for tank care after unexpected death of a fish. Check all water parameters. Perform a 15-20% water change. Watch remaining fish carefully. (Note: Entire tank readings are normal and fish and coral look delightfully happy.) Wait at a least a month before adding any new inhabitants to allow tank to return to homeostasis.

I miss you guys, Louie and Scooter! Ironically, they used to "hang out" together. They are probably up in fish heaven right now, feasting off the live rock. Louie as a baby. So tiny!

Louie all grown up (about 2x the original size!), hovering over Scooter (also doubled in size). In addition, Scooter's colors darkened to a purple/brick-red.

Louie teasing Scooter, as he often did. They loved hanging out.

Scooter proudly showing his huge dorsal fin. So that's why they call you a "Peacock Dragonet"!

Current Inhabitants:

Fish

Pedro--bluejaw trigger (not as shy as he used to be; very friendly; I call him "the sherrif".)

Casey--pugnacious flameback dwarf angel who has decided my open brain coral is dessert. However, she doesn't touch any of my other corals. She's quite striking and her beauty has earned her the right to be a diva.

Felipe--royal gramma (shy but plucky)

Bonnie & Clyde--mated pair of captive-bred clowns (Oscellaris).

When they were babies, I couldn't tell which one was Bonnie but now, it's pretty obvious (the larger and more aggressive of the 2).

Toby--Scopas Tang (shy and great algae eater. A quiet beauty)

Earl--lawnmower blenny (great algae eater. colors have become more vivid and size has more than doubled since I first got him! He's quite a character, jumping around and banging his head against the rocks.)

Hazel--purple firefish (shy but starting to come out of her shell. She loves hanging out in "mushroom city", the more quiet, lower flow part of the city).

Mr. & Mrs. Roper--both actually are males; an unlikely pair of Bangaii cardinalfish. One became dominant, and they comfortably (albeit begrudgingly) coexist in the same tank.

Nahla--bluestreak cleaner wrasse. She's makes up for her smallish size with amazing speed and dexterity. She eats just about anything, and it shows in her rosy, round belly. Not shy at all, she enjoys hanging out with Pedro and pecking at my hand and arm when I clean the tank.

Inverts

Purple Collector Sea Urchin:

nocturnal and great algae eater. Some complain that these guys eat all their corralline algae. I have a ton of coralline algae since I first introduced him. Sure, he eats it but he also spreads it around and helps it grow. He does sometimes abscond with a coral frag that hasn't been securely fastened to the live rock.

3 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp:

The Merry Maids, Merry, Marie, and Marty. These guys are my favorites! They are quite tame, and jump all over my hand and arms when I'm cleaning the tank. They are great at cleaning up messes! In addition, they set up cleaning stations (Merry's Car Wash) and give Pedro, Toby, Cassie, and other fish vigorous scrubbings.

Coral

Mushrooms (all types and colors. They thrive in "Mushroom City", the low-flow, quiet corner of the tank. Back there, they are growing like weeds.)

Toadstool

Elegance Coral

Frogspawn

Zooanthids (various greens and reds. They prefer lower flow sections of the tank).

Button polyps (beautiful greens and reds, growing rapidly, it enjoys weekly feedings).

Pink zoanthid colony that thrives in a high-flow section of the tank where nothing else grows. Here it has tripled in size.

Daisy Polyps

Xenia (colony no longer pulsing but still healthy appearance and some (although slower) growth) Clove Polyps (Clavularia)

Leather Coral

Red Plate Coral (likes high flow, high light)

Now for the best part!

The pics:

1 year later: my aquarium

Right-hand side of aquarium (Bonnie & Clyde, Leather, Button Polyps, and Pink Zoanthid Colony shown here)

Pedro, the bluejaw trigger, hanging out in his favorite feeding spot.

Side view of aquarium. Bonnie & Clyde and Felipe say hello. Toby also present (Scopas Tang). Also shown, frogspawn, clove polyps, daisy polyps, and clam (front, center).

Casey, the flameback angel (left), and Mr. Roper, the Bangaii cardinal fish (right) make an appearance.

Elegance coral

View from left-hand side.

Button polyps!

Cassie popping to "haze" Hazel (hence the name) in Mushroom City. Toadstool on right-hand side.

Daisy polyps

Boo! (Mr. Roper)

The shrinking violet, Mrs. Roper, hiding under the elegance. Toadstool, zoanthids, and 'shrooms also visible.

Toby, showing off by clove polyps.

On a final note, look what I found in the aquarium! Tiny sea stars! I looked them up. They are Asterina Sea Stars. They are only 1/4" in diameter and most likely hitched on some live rock. They are considered omnivores and enjoy detritus, coralline algae, and in some cases, coral. They reproduce asexually. Keeping them is quite controversial. Some complain about attacks on coral or rampant proliferation. Others sing their praises as beneficial parts of the clean-up crew, hallmarks of good aquarium husbandry, and nutritious food for harlequin shrimp. Since I've only seen 2-3, and they seem to be helping, not hurting, thus far, I'm going to keep them and just watch them. They're pretty cool little guys!

Asterina Links:

ht t p://w ww.3reef.com/forums/inverts/asterina-starfish-45802.html http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/ac/feature/index.php http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm

Our Trip to the Atlanta Aquarium

2011-05-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/

Atlantic sea nettle jellyfish

On an impromptu trip to the east coast to visit family, we had the chance to see the George Aquarium in Atlanta, one of the world's largest aquariums. I had always heard cool things so I was stoked to check it out. I only had my crappy little camera phone (see pic above). It was amazing. Don't forget your (flash-free) camera!

We checked out the coral reefs first (Tropical Diver). I think we spent 10 minutes at the first tank just staring in awe at the teeming numbers of angelfish, butterflyfish, and anthias swimming actively about the reef in the first tank. We spent a long time gazing at the garden eels, japenese spider crabs, jellyfish and seahorses before nearly having our minds blown by a giant aquarium covering the entire wall and ceiling of a stadium-sized room (aerated by waved action). The next 20 minutes were spent identifying several species of tangs, surgeonfish, groupers, sweetlips, anthias, and several other amazing species of Indo-Pacific reef fish impossible to keep in the average home aquarium (including the largest, fattest mandarinfish I've ever seen). The only reason we finally dragged ourselves from the room was there was lots more to see. In addition, we were all sort of dizzy from sensory overload and needed a breather.

The next exhibit didn't help with the dizziness. In the Ocean Voyager section, we encountered an aquarium the size of several football fields. An octet of scuba divers enjoyed the view from the inside of the tank. We were mezmerized by happy groups of sting rays, skates, and manta rays, somersaulting on the surface. A few hammerheads, razor sharks, and sand sharks swam about with huge, protruding fangs, sending shivers down my back. Four enormous whale sharks the size of two school buses side-by-side peacefully swam in lazy laps. My mouth hung open for so long that my jaw ached. We left with cricks in our necks, eyes glued upwards, as we exited on a moving sidewalk through a long tunnel where we could watch the gi-normous fish swim above.

Finally, we moved onto the Coldwater Quest were we were oohed and aahed by 4 large, yet very adoreable beluga whales from the arctic waters of Russia and Greenland. There smiling faces and social butterfly personalities reminded me of dolphins. I also delighted in the African penguins, frolicking in the water and cuddling and preening in mated pairs. Maybe true love does exist afterall. One woman shook her keys for the penguins, who delightedly swam in frantic zig-zags, chasing the shiny object. She put her keys away, only to have the penguins jump to the water's surface, squack, and flap their wings, splashing water to beg for the keys again. They were hysterically entertaining and unbelievably adoreable.

Be sure to visit if you're in the neighborhood!

Help! Power Failure!

2011-05-02T16:41:00.001-07:00

Last night at midnight, as I was typing away at the computer, the entire house suddenly went pitch black. The deafening silence buzzed in my ears. After Travis and I made sure no one was trying to break in, I realized it was a major SDG&E issue (not that anyone in customer service would admit it or even apologize). When I woke up this morning and the power was still not on, I panicked. Help!

After consulting with the local aquarium stores, I was informed that most fish and inverts will be okay as long as the power outage is 24 hours or less. The main problems are: sudden drop in temperature, depletion of oxygen from the water, and build-up of nitrates from waste (not to mention changes in pH as a result from oxygen depletion, the lights being out, nitrate build-up, etc.).

First, the temperature. Even on a hot day, because water is so good at cooling, the temperature will drop. My temp went from 78 degrees to 72 in 12 hours. I wrapped the entire system in blankets and a sleeping bag, paying extra careful attention to the top, where the aquarium loses most of its heat to ambient air.

Second, oxygen. For $11, I purchased a battery-operated air pump, connected it to the tubing and air stone and dropped it into the tank. For my tank, I used 3 (2 would have probably been fine). They also sell rechargeable, back-up air-pumps that only go on if there is a power outage (like if you're out of town). I picked up some of those as well.

Third, nitrates. Don't feed the fish. That helps prevent excess waste.

Finally, this experience has made me consider looking into a back-up generator for future problems. They can be pretty expensive; however, Home Depot rents them out by the day.

Power is back on and aquarium is running smoothly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Tank Update

2011-02-21T19:57:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile. The tank is now officially 8 months old. And I have to say that's it's been a success. I've had to fight with some algae problems and a few deaths but on the whole, it's been a very rewarding process.

Okay, first the bad news.

In the last 8 months, these were the losses the tank suffered:

baby regal tang (ich)

helfrichi firefish (ich)

2 royal grammas (1 got lost in a rock; the 2nd wasn't healthy to begin with)

2 shrimp (most likely eaten by my bluejaw trigger)

red-headed goby (most likely eaten by bluejaw trigger)

trimma goby (most likely eaten bluejaw trigger)

(Note: At this point, I stopped putting very tiny specimens in the tank since Pedro (the bluejaw) thinks it's food for him)

Linksys Starfish (don't ever buy these either unless you have a very large, stable tank)

Flowerpot Coral (don't ever buy these; they last 3 months, tops)

Featherduster Worm (lasted about 1 week, fled it's tube and was never seen again)

Ornate Leopard Wrasse (this broke my heart; he was gorgeous and peaceful but eventually starved to death. I later learned this is common with this type of fish. Not good for beginners due to their specialized eating habits. Most likely, my tank just didn't have enough copepods on the live rock to sustain the poor guy.)

That seems like a long list! Live and learn. On the other hand, there's a lot of good news too. Here are the successes:

Pair of clownfish (now sexually mature). I got Bonnie and Clyde as captive-bred juveniles. They are all grown up and the OGs of the tank.

Pair of male Banggai Cardinalfish. I was hoping Mr. and Mr. Roper would be a Mr. and Mrs. but it was not to be. However, the tank is large enough that both are happy. The dominant one definitely chases the weaker guy around but the smaller one has lots of hiding places (particularly the Elegance Coral). I actually tried to net the smaller guy out and give him to a friend for a better life but that was a disaster. So they are here to stay.

Yellow Coris Wrasse (Louie). He has at least doubled in size!

Scooter Blenny (Scooter). He has also grown and often displays his peacock sailfin. He's my favorite fish. I thought he wouldn't survive since he feeds on copepods and I got him only a month or two after my tank was set up. However, I think the refugium has sustained him very well. In addition, he now feeds on whatever I put in the tank.

Royal Gramma (Phillipe). 3rd times a charm! I always wanted one for the tank. Hardy, peaceful and beautiful, my tank just wasn't complete without it. I lost the first 2 to bad luck but Phillipe is here to stay.

Lawnmower Blenny (Earl). He helps with my algae problem but is also fascinating to watch. He likes to eat by smashing his head violently against the rock to decimate the algae, attacking his food.

Bluejaw Trigger (Pedro). I know I shouldn't have a trigger in my reef tank but of all the triggers, he's the most peaceful. Although he's my prime suspect in the disappearance of some of the smaller denizens, he gets along really well with everyone else. Plus, he's just awesome! One of my favorites.

Flameback Angel (Casey). Another one I shouldn't have in the reef tank. I've spotted him nipping the open brain coral a few times but other than that, he leaves the coral alone. He's a punk though, chasing everyone around (especially anyone new). Most everyone else just ignores his pugnacious attitude.

Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Nahla). She wasn't expected to survive in captivity. Often these guys are fussy eaters. However, she bucks the stereotypes. She's a voracious eater and quite spunky, often stealing shrimp right out of the Buejaw's mouth! She also loves cleaning everyone in the tank, including my arm when I'm doing housekeeping chores.

Scopas Tang (Toby). A great algae eater with a unique shape, he's similar to the ever-popular Yellow Tang but much more peaceful and a better algae eater.

Purple Firefish (Hazel). She's the newest addition to the tank. An easy keeper (eats meat), colorful and peaceful. She's getting hazed by everyone in the tank right now (hence the name) but seems to be settling in well, thanks to plenty of hiding places in the live rock.

3 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. (The Merry Maids). They molt about once a month and lay eggs constantly (they are hermaphrodites). They also clean everyone in the tank (including me!). They've grown quite large, no longer a bite-sized snack to tempt Pedro. Definitely a favorite.

Purple Collector Urchin (Spike). He was added to help clean the algae from the tank. He does a great job although I do feed him seaweed every now and then. He can wreak havoc at night (he's nocturnal), carrying any coral that's not adhered with epoxy away on his back. I learned this the hard way.

Clam (Libby). I never knew they came in such brilliant colors! She decided she wanted to stick herself onto the bottom of a rock with her foot. I had to rearrange the rocks a little for better viewing. She's pretty awesome. Eats phytoplankton.

Elegance Coral. This has thrived despite all warnings against success in an aquarium setting. The largest resident of the tank and the most eye-catching.

Xenia Coral. No longer pulsing or growing as rapidly as it once did, however, it still claims a large territory on the rock.

Frogspawn. Easy keeper. Loves to eat.

Open Brain Coral. Not thriving as much as I'd hoped. It might do better with more frequent feedings.

Leather Coral. Has at least doubled in size.

Daisy Polyps. Easy keepers, fast growing, not aggressive. A real joy after the flowerpot debacle.

Various mushrooms. Has grown exponentially. Are very colorful and wonderful.

Various zoanthids. They have been growing rather slowly but finally are growing and finally thriving.

Plate coral. The first SPS I've introduced into the tank. Hasn't really taken off yet. I think my tank is definitely more of a softie tank. Just not enough light (and no interest in adding more light, based on temp issues and very high electric bill).

Clove polyps (Clavularia). Very hardy. Looks like a cross between xenia and daisy polyps. Very cool!

The Heater Works! (Phew)

2010-12-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

It's been unseasonably cold in San Diego. Great time to make sure your heater works. I turn my heat off at night. I woke up and went downstairs, shivering. It must have been 50 degrees. Turns out, I left the fireplace open with the flue open all night. It was ridiculously cold in the house. I immediately ran over to the aquarium, sure that all the denizens would be frozen into little cubes. I checked the thermometer: 78. Phew!!!

Don't forget to make sure your heater is working!

R.I.P. Flowerpot Coral

2010-11-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

It happened so quickly! Here's a pic of this gorgeous, large coral from just last week. It did fantastic for about 3 months. I noticed a few polyps on the bottom that had started to retract the beginning of this week. A few days later, they were covered in gloopy, yellow, snotty, slime. Ewwww! The next day, the slime had grown to encompass half of the entire coral. In no time of all, it had transformed from "flowerpot" to "mucous ball". We were forced to pull it and say goodbye. I'm bummed but we kind of expected it. Flowerpot (Goniopora) coral has a very low success rate in the home aquarium (less than 10% make it past a year). http://www.dallura.com/reef/goniopora/goniopora.html

There's a huge, empty expanse of rock ready to be filled with something else. I'm leaning towards Daisy Polyps. They're hardy, easy to keep, and grow quickly. Plus, they're peaceful as well.

http://www.fish.com/item/daisy-polyps/LF703044/

I also really like Galaxy Coral but they have really aggressive sweeper tentacles. I don't want to accidentally kill neighboring coral!

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/lg_stony/galaxy.php

Pictures! (As Promised)

2010-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some pics of our recent additions. As soon as I can get a good shot of the feather duster worm and plate coral, I'll put those up too.

Purple Pincushion Sea Urchin ("Spike"):
I absolutely love this guy. He's always crawling around and eating algae. He has thousands of little feet waving around between his spines. Very cool to watch!

Spike under the blue light. Note all the shells and rocks on his back (why he's sometimes called a "Collector" or "Pincushion" urchin).

Up the back wall to clean up algae! I never clean the back wall, allowing a little algae growth for my vegetarian critters. I also stuff a big kelp leaf in the rocks once in awhile. It breaks into little pieces and the fish go nuts.

Taking off with a clump of zoas (Lily). I quickly put the coral back. No coral was harmed in this photo. Spike sometimes gets a little "carried" away with his cleaning. Ha ha!

Scopas Tang ("Toby"):

He is sooo beautiful. I'm happy to have a tang in the tank again! I went with the Scopas tang since they are peaceful, smaller than other tangs, hardier than other tangs, and voracious algae eaters. They are similar to Yellow Tangs but less aggressive and a titch smaller.

Casey, our Flameback Angel, is hazing poor Toby, the new guy and low on the totem pole. Casey chases him around a lot at feeding time. It's not constant though and Casey tends to settle down aggression-wise with time (he used to pick on a lot of tankmates when first added; he's mellowed out over time). Luckily, Toby doesn't seemed too phased by Casey's bullying.

Toby is eating well--loves kelp and plankton. I've been trying to fatten him up; he's super skinny!

Toby, our Scopas Tang. I love the pale cream-brown, tiny stripes and white spots! Plus, his eyes can change color (from brown, shown here, to yellow). His fins are gorgeous too, like sails. Under the blue light, there's lots of blues and magentas that come out under the brown color. Who says this is a drab tang?

Casey bullying poor Toby.

Red-headed Goby ("Tiny Tim"):

Tiny, hardy, and reef-safe, I couldn't resist this little guy. This was a true test of how peaceful our tank is! He's less than an inch long and could easily be picked on or eaten by several of the fish in the tank. Not to fear, no one bothers Tiny Tim. He loves to hide in the rocks but is usually out front and center! He's not nearly as shy as I thought he would be. He grabs tiny pieces of meat floating by at feeding time.

Isn't he beautiful? Red head, yellow eyes, blue stripes, and see-through body, wow!

Tiny Tim darting in and out of rocks. He is sooooo cute!

Felipe (the Third), our Royal Gramma:

Surprisingly, we had bad luck with our first 2 royal grammas, despite their reputation for being very hardy. I think third time's a charm! We just love the royal gramma. He's hardy, peaceful, and strikingly colored. Felipe is always out and about, not nearly as shy as the others before him. Our tank just didn't feel complete without him.

Stay Tuned...

2010-11-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

I have LOTS of pics coming soon. Stay tuned for pics of our recent additions:

1. Spike, the Sea Urchin

2. Feather Duster Worm

3. Tiny Tim, our adoreable, miniscule Red-Headed Goby

4. Kobe, our new Scopas Tang

5. Montipora Plate Coral (our first SPS addition!)

Our tank is doing really well. We've had some minor things here and there, but overall, everything is awesome.

1. Algae update:
It took a few weeks to see the reduction in (hair) algae growth after reducing the light and feedings. We're now feeding only once a day and the light period has been reduced to 8 for the days and 10 for the blues. However, combined with weekly 20% water changes, addition of a sea urchin and some more snails, and vigorous scrubbing with a toothbrush, I'm happy to report that I'm winning the battle. I'm hoping to be able to cut back to 20% bi-monthly changes in the next few months. Mostly because, weekly water changes are A LOT of work!

2. Strangely Low Calcium and Alklanity Readings:
After our local go-to aquarium expert (Mike) said to start checking our calcium, I noticed it was low. It's always been on the low side anyway (calcium 420 ppm and alkalinity 8 dkH). I began adding the Bi-Ionic 2-part buffers to boost levels. Following the directions and adding conservatively (10 ml each for our 75 gallon tank), nothing happened. At the same time, our Elegance and Open Brain Corals began to look a little withered. I have been finding it necessary to add 40 ml each 3x a week to keep levels at 8 dkH and 440 ppm (calcium)! That's just absurd. Mike said I should be adding maybe 10 ml per week, if that. However, upon adding buffers, I noticed our coral perked up (the Elegance and Brain). I also saw an increase in coralline algae growth. The only thing we could think of is that we perhaps used distilled instead of RO water. We have been going to the grocery store and filling our buckets with the vending machine out front, instead of going to the LFS for RO. Maybe the Albertson's vending machine dispenses distilled? Back to the LFS for all our RO. No more second guessing.

3. Other Minor Happenings:
The Open Brain Coral appreciated being relocated to a lower flow area in the tank on the open substrate. It took some moving around in "mushroom city". Our low flow section of the tank is now densely populated; however, the Brain loves it. He blossomed, opened up, and expanded his tentacles almost immediately.

I replaced some of the old, nasty macroalgae in the refugium with fresh, new green stuff. Every week, I had been pulling some old out to allow room for new growth. This worked well for several months. Over the last several weeks, I noticed less growth of the macroalgae but unfortunately, rapid growth of the nasty, red microalgae. However, upon close inspection, I spotted a dense population of pods (they look like little bugs! Gross!). Not wanting to disturb them, I only removed a fraction of the old macroalgae before adding a ton of new. I think this was a good move. I now can safely say that it's good to replace the macroalgae with some new every 3 months or so.

I absolutely LOVE our automatic top-off dispenser. No more twice daily water top offs! Plus, it maintains a more stable salinity.

Our tank temperature dropped for the first time. Thank you cool fall weather! NOTE: Now that it's fall, don't forget to check to make sure your heaters are working! I was happy to see the little light indicator blink on our heater in the sump. Our temp is 78-79 for the first time (It was 80-81 over the summer). I can finally turn off the 3rd fan in the sump to save some energy (our other two are in the canopy by the lights and are temp regulated).

4. Tank Reports:
I'm happy to report that 2 out of 3 of our cleaner shrimp (the Merry Maids) are pregnant! Yes, they have millions of little eggs on their abdomens. Yay! That's a sure sign of a happy tank.

I've also spotted growth in our mushroom coral. I've been a little disappointed with the zoanthids. They're healthy but not growing as quickly as I expected.

The xenia is the one coral that's not doing so hot. Ever since moving around the rockwork (which caused the loss of our first Royal Gramma, Phillip) a few months ago, the xenia, which had been growing like a weed, suddenly stopped. However, it was still fully opened and pulsing. I could deal with that. Now, it's been wilting and pulsing very weakly. Maybe it has something to do with our odd water parameters (although xenia doesn't really care about alkalinity and calcium so much since it's a soft coral, there may be other trace elements it needs that the water is lacking which I haven't measured). I hope relying on the LFS RO water fixes this.

Stay tuned for pics!

Spike, our Purple Tuxedo Sea Urchin

2010-10-06T10:50:00.005-07:00

The algae problem seems to be s.l.o.w.l.y. going away. I'm still doing the 20% weekly water changes (at which point I vigorously scrub all the algae away with a toothbrush and much elbow grease) but it seems like less and less algae re-emerges each week. I only feed the fish once a day now. They seem to have adjusted just fine. In addition, the lights come on later in the morning (I don't get to look at the tank until evening anyway) so the total light period is shorter. Less food and less light = less nutrients for algae to grow. In addition, I added a few more snails and...... (drumroll, please)

A sea urchin!
These guys are the ultimate janitors of the saltwater tank. They are omnivores and eat any debris and algae left gumming up the tank. In the wake of the sea urchin's path is a blinding white streak of clean rock. It looks like someone took an army knife and scraped the rock clean! I LOVE it! Sea urchins are the "canaries" of the saltwater aquarium. At the first sign of less-than-perfect water quality, they begin shedding spines. If your sea urchin looks sickly, it's time for a water change. STAT! Some can quickly outgrow the tank and become predatory so do some research before selecting a species (from what I've read, pencil urchins are not reef-safe while the ones with long spines live on reefs in the wild and do well in aquarium settings as well). In addition, they love ALL algae, including coralline algae that we all work so hard to grow. Keep in mind, you may need to supplement your urchin's diet with seaweed to keep him from eating you out of house and home.

Spike is a Purple Pincushion Urchin, also called a "tuxedo" or "collector" urchin, since it gathers debris on the tops of its spines as it plows over the rocks, walls, and substrate, looking for food. He is really fun to watch. He crawls over everything with thousands of little feet! I absolutely love this guy.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/aboutjanitors/a/aa052899_3.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/category.cfm?c=16+1910
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/echinoderm/Purpleseaurchin.shtml
http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=4879

Tank Update

2010-10-06T10:50:00.004-07:00

I've noticed more algae growth as of late. Sigh. Looking back at my notes, I think I'm feeding too much and the lights are on for too long. Plus, 20% weekly water changes are starting to take its toll on me. That's a lot of work!

Problem: Algae Growth
Solution: Feed less and reduce lighting period.
How:
The fish are used to getting fed once a day. I don't want anyone turning into Mr. Hyde and gorging on cleaner shrimp so I'm reducing slowly. First, I'm feeding them less, period. Second, I feed them just a pinch of some dried food in the a.m. This makes it easier to cut this out. The next step is to begin "forgetting" a.m. feedings. I'll skip every other day the first week, then every two days, the second week, etc. until I'm no longer feeding in the morning.

To reduce the lighting, I will also do it slowly so as not to shock the fish and coral. In addition, I want to shift the lights to turn on later in the day so they can stay on later at night (when I get to see them). I'm tired of not being able to look at my tank. Evenings are the only chance I get! To do this, first I'll begin by having the lights switch on 1 hour later in the morning. Right now, the blue lights are on 12 hours a day, and the white lights are on for 10. I am going to aim for 10 for the blue and 8 for the white (and if that doesn't work, then 8 and 6). My goal is to have the blue lights come on at 1:00 pm and then turn off at 11:00 pm (the whites would be on from 2-10). I have to shift slowly. Maybe by 1 hour a week until I get it right.

Other tactics to reduce algae would be to add a few more snails. Worst comes to worst, I can always drop in a sea urchin!

Postscript:
Phil didn't last very long (the new Royal Gramma). He was very small and very shy. Basically, he was too scared to eat. The other tankmates would feed, and he hid in his cave. He wasted away until one morning, I discovered a cleaner shrimp eating his carcass. Nothing left but a skeleton. Sad.

A Peaceful State of Homeostasis

2010-10-06T10:50:00.003-07:00

I need to upload some new pics. After the tragic loss of 3 fish, a shrimp, and a starfish, all within a week or two, for no apparent reason, the tank is finally returning to normal. We love eating breakfast by the tank. I drink my coffee while watching the fish eat. I've finally gotten into a routine of regular tank maintenance. It's still a lot of work but not as overwhelming as it used to be. Over the weekend, we even picked up a new shrimp and a new royal gramma to replace the ones we lost. The tank seems so much livelier with the new additions! Pics are coming soon.

Here's a list of tankmates:
1. Bluejaw Trigger (male)--Pedro (very cute, peaceful, shy little guy, although we suspect he may have had something to do with the loss of one of our cleaner shrimp after molting).
2. Phil--new Royal Gramma (after the loss of Phillip when I removed all the live rock in a futile attempt to catch a Banggai). He's so small! He loves the caves and nooks and crannies in the rocks. I hope he grows up to be nice and big!
3. 2 Banggai cardinalfish (both males; ugh). The Ropers (Mr. & Mrs. even though they're both guys). One is dominant and still chases the submissive one around but the tank is large enough and has enough hiding places that Mr. Roper doesn't get picked on too badly. These guys hide a lot and don't like the bright reef lighting.
4. 2 mated Clownfish (Oscellaris). Bonnie & Clyde. We got these guys as babies (captive-bred). They are the friendliest in the tank, and always come out to say "hi". If you open the canopy, you can hand-feed them! They are finally maturing into sexual differentiation. The male does a "shimmy" dance to entice the female. Bonnie mostly just chases Clyde around but I've seen her fiercely defend Clyde from more aggressive tankmates. No saltwater tank is complete without a pair of clowns!
5. Yellow Coris Wrasse. Louie. This fantastic guy is very flashy. He is a late sleeper and often goes to bed early as well (or when scared), which is in a secret hiding spot in the sand. When out and about, he loves to show off and is quite active. He likes to bounce off the live rock! He also picks at the rock for food all day long. He particularly likes to steal tidbits from Scooter (scooter blenny) just to annoy him.
6. Scooter Blenny (aptly named, Scooter). He's my favorite! This guy is very personable and especially hams it off for the camera. He makes it a point to hop over to me and say hello every time I'm tank-gazing. He hops on the live rocks all day long, picking at it like a hummingbird. I was afraid he wouldn't do well in my new system but we added a refugium, and since then, he's doubled in size! In addition, his colors have darkened and reddened into gorgeous spots. I would love to get him a female one day.
7. Lawnmower Blenny, Earl. This fat, happy little guy spends all day chomping away at algae. He always has a mildly grumpy look on his face. When we tank-gaze, he'll pause to peer at us curiously before aggressively attacking his next patch of algae.
8. Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, Nahla. Although these guys often fare poorly in aquariums, we're keeping our fingers crossed. Nahla is fat and happy and verrrry friendly. She cleans all the fish in the tank, especially Pedro, Earl, and Scooter. She also eagerly attacks any meaty food I put into the tank. She has a nice fat belly on her. My favorite thing she does is to chase the rag when I wipe down the aquarium glass. She must think the rag is a big fish for her to clean!
9. Flameback Dwarf Angelfish, Casey. This guy is so brilliantly colored and renowned for algae eating. I took a chance on him, hoping he wouldn't pick at the coral. So far, so good. I keep him well-fed, and that seems to work well. He's definitely a pugnacious little fellow, however. He chases anyone away from his "territory" in the rocks but everyone else seems to just ignore him. With time, he's been settling down. Chill out, dude!

Coral and Other Inverts:
1. 3 Cleaner Shrimp, The Merry Maids (Mary, Melvin, and Melanie). I love these guys. They're pretty and are great at housecleaning. They even clean the fish! Plus, they lay eggs from time-to-time, feeding the fish! Actually, Melanie, our new addition, came in with thousands of little, tiny eggs attached to her legs. Way cool!
2. Various zooanthid frags (4 pieces)
3. Various mushrooms (all sorts of cool colors!). 4 pieces
4. Leather coral
5. Toadstool coral
6. Xenia (growing like a weed)
7. Elegance coral (so far doing great)
8. Frogspawn
9. Open Brain Coral (so cool)
10. Flowerpot Coral (so far, doing great)

We also have a number of snails and hermit crabs, the clean-up crew!

I measure tank stats monthly (although I check the temp, pH, salinity, calcium, and alkalinity weekly). Our water chemistry has been verrrry stable. Yea!
Temp: 81
pH: 8.5
Salinity: 1.024
Alkalinity: 8 dkH
Calcium: 400 ppm
Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates: 0 ppm
Phosphates: 0 ppm

Tank Maintenance:
Daily--Fish get fed 2x/day (a variety of meat, kelp, spirulina, and freeze-dried Copepods (Clyo-eeze), in the form of frozen, pellet, and flake food).
Empty skimmer cup.
Wipe algae off glass with magnet.
Check water levels in automatic top-off container.
Check to make sure light timers are working correctly.
Observe overall fish and coral behavior and health.

Bi-weekly--LPS corals and button polyps are fed with a turkey baster (meaty foods like mysis shrimp, crab meat, and oyster and prawn eggs). The elegance coral, brain coral, frogspawn and button polyps go nuts for it. Weird and wacky stuff to watch coral feed. I have to feed the fish right before so they don't steal the coral's food.

Weekly--20% water change (20 gallons). I'm trying to keep up on the algae growth in the tank so my water changes have been fairly aggressive as of late. Simultaneously, I thoroughly scrub the algae off the glass, substrate, rocks, and powerheads. I also change the filter sock and test any water parameters needed. Calcium and alkalinity buffers are added as needed.

Monthly--In addition to my weekly water change, I swap out the activated carbon in my media reactor. My cleaning is a little more vigorous, focusing on pumps, motors and other equipment. Thorough test of water chemistry is also done.

So far, this has worked well for me. I choose to feed my tank pretty heavily. It works so far because of superb filtration equipment and aggressive water changes. Another option would be to feed less, and change water less. But I like seeing fat, happy fish!

Seahorses at Birch Aquarium

2010-10-06T10:50:00.002-07:00

Greg and I visited the Scripps Birch Aquarium (http://www.aquarium.ucsd.edu/) a few weeks ago. The trip made me hungry for a tour of the nation's greatest aquariums!

My favorite exhibit were the seahorses. I've never seen seahorses before. I didn't realize they came in so many shapes and sizes! They truly are magical wonders of the ocean.

Did you know?

Seahorses are the only species on Earth where the male carries the unborn young.

A seahorse can consume over 3,000 brine shrimp per day (they love copepods and mysis too).

They are fairly defenseless and poor swimmers, preferring to hide among grasses and seaweed near reef beds (which they cling to with their tails).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/sea-horse/

The Medicine Cabinet

2010-10-06T10:50:00.001-07:00

Here's a brief overview of what to stock in your fish medicine cabinet and how to use it, should your fish become sick:

Cupramine (copper medicine)
What it Treats:
Ectoparasites like Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans), Marine Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum), and Gill Flukes.
How To Use It:
Use 1 ml (stock is 10,000 mg/l) per 10.5 gallons for final concentration of 0.5 mg/l
Add once and leave for 14 days
Use a test kit (from same manufacturer) to measure copper levels
Therapeutic at 0.2 mg/l and toxic at 0.8 mg/l
Advantages:
Cupramine is safer than other copper medications (copper sulfate, chloride, citrate). It's less toxic to fish and also does not precipitate out of solution. There's no risk of fluctuating copper levels. In addition, it's more effective than chelated copper meds.
Notes:
Removable with carbon (this is why you always remove your carbon filter before adding meds; to remove meds at end of treatment, just put the filter back)
Do not add more unless test copper concentration with test kit (from same manufacturer)
Do not use with any other medications (reducing agents, like formalin, increase copper concentrations to toxic levels)
Links:
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Cupramine.html

Formalin (37% formaldehyde)
What it Treats:
Parasitic infections, particularly hard-to-treat Brooklynella (Clownfish Disease)
How To Use It:
Use as a bath
1 ml of 37% solution per gallon water
Make sure temp below 80, pH 8.0-8.4, and vigorous aeration with airpump included.
Treat 45 minutes 1x/day for 3-5 days
Notes:
Formalin is pretty toxic (it's a carcinogen; wear gloves). In addition, it sucks oxygen out of the water. Temperature and pH affect formalin toxicity (above 80 degrees, it takes out even more oxygen). Be sure to use vigorous aeration. Methylene blue is often used in conjunction (it helps the fish get more oxygen).
Links:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine-fish-care-health-disease-treatment/25290-formalin-treatment-marine-fishes.html
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ichparasiticdiseases/ht/treatbrooklynel.htm

Methylene Blue
What it Treats:
Fungus and some external protozoans like ich
How To Use It:
add 1 tsp of 2.3% solution per every 10 gallons (3 ppm final concentration) in QT for 3-5 days; only one application is needed
use water change plus carbon filter to eliminate methylene blue at end of treatment
Notes:
Methylene Blue is an oxygen transporter for fish, increasing ease of respiration (great in conjunction with formalin since formalin compromises oxygen)
Can be used in conjunction with some medications (check manufacturer's instructions carefully)
Not effective bacterial infections, flukes, or brookynella
Removed by AmQuel at high concentrations
Links:
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/methylene_blue/index.htm

Malachite Green
What it Treats:
Treats ich, fungus, and other external parasites (gill flukes)
How To Use It:
use 1 tsp per 10 gallons
as a bath: 1-2 mg/l for 10 min or 0.5 mg/l for 1 hr
Notes:
Often used in conjunction with formalin
This is toxic stuff! Use caution.

De-Wormer (Praziquantel)
What it Treats:
Tapeworms, roundworms and other internal parasites
How To Use It:
Can use as a bath (1 tsp per gallon) in QT for 5-7 days
Often mixed with food
Links:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/37765-de-worming-marine-fish-super-pooper-snooper.html

Antibiotics
What it Treats:
Bacterial infections (pop-eye, bladder infection, fin rot, etc.)
How To Use It:
Add to QT water per manufacturer's instructions and/or food
Notes:
Start with broad spectrum antibiotics, ones that kill both gram-negative and positive bacteria.
These include:
Neomycin
Chloramphenicol
Nitrofurazone based products
Skin absorbed kanamycin sulfate based antibiotics (Kanacyn/K-Mycin)
Try a product like Spectrogram (Aquatronics) or Maracyn One, followed by Marcyn Two.
Other Antibiotics:
Tetracycline
Sulfathiazole
Metronizazole (treats protozoan and anaerobic bacterial infections in fish as well as dinoflagellate infections)

Note: Many of these chemicals are toxic to humans. Please wear gloves and handle carefully.

Links:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine-fish-care-health-disease-treatment/18893-stocking-marine-fish-medicine-cabinet.html
https://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/pic/article.cfm?N=2004&aid=1338

Primer on Common Marine Fish Illnesses

2010-10-06T10:31:00.001-07:00

We've gone over how to do a freshwater dip and how to set up a hospital tank. But what about the meat and potatoes? What does a sick fish look like? What diseases do fish get, and how do we get rid of them?

A sick fish displays obvious changes in normal behavior. Erratic swimming patterns, listless behavior, lying on its side, dull or pale color, loss of appetite, rapid breathing, and white, fluffy patches on skin, gills, or body, all of these are signs of a sick fish. The earlier you spot the symptoms, the better a chance you have of successfully treating and healing your fish!

Why do fish get sick?
Stress. Simple as that. Stress weakens the immune system making the fish more susceptible to disease. Stress comes in many forms including:
1. Shipping and transport.
2. Introduction to a new tank.
3. Poor water quality or sudden changes in water parameters (salinity, pH, temperature, calcium, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates).
4. Poor nutrition (not feeding enough or the right kind of food).
5. Boistorous, aggressive tankmates.
6. Poor enivronment, e.g. tank too small to meet space requirements of fish.

Common Fish Illnesses:

PARASITIC:
1. Cryptocaryon irritans (Ich)

This is an obligate parasite (meaning it cannot survive without its host) with a complex life cycle often introduced from new fish, coral, or live rock. ) (It's actually a ciliated protozoan). Tangs and surgeonfish are particularly susceptible. Death can result in a few days.

Symptoms first appear as tiny, white specks on the fins, body, and gills (like salt). The fish may itch against rocks and substrate (called "flashing"). As the infection advances, the gills are compromised, and breathing is impaired, causing rapid breathing and listless behavior. Secondary bacterial infections also often occur. Some parasitic copepods can produce identical symptoms.

Although a very common disease in saltwater aquariums, it is easily treated if caught early. In addition, a cured fish often develops an immunity to recurrent infections. Hyposalinity for 4 weeks in a hospital tank is the best treatment. Other treatments such as formalin and copper are also effective but they are pretty toxic to the fish and must be used judiciously.
Ich Links:
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/ich.html
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2003/mini1.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ichparasiticdiseases/a/aa_cryptocaryon.htm

2. Marine Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum).
Symptoms are similar to ich but instead of punctate white spots, the fish has more of a white powder covering its body, almost like its been dipped in powdered sugar. Caused by a parasitic algae (actually a dinoflagellate). Symptoms start off with labored breathing. Powdered spots occur later. Because it attacks the gills first, marine velvet is more serious than ich. By the time you see it, it may be too late. In addition to powdered spots and labored breathing, swimming may also be erratic. Fish may also rub against rocks and gravel. Death can occur within two days of symptoms. Hyposalinity is not effective for this parasite. Cholorquine diphosphate (also used to treat malaria!) is a good treatment (5-10 mg/l for 10 days). Metronizazole will also treat dinoflagellate infections. Copper, formalin, and freshwater dips are also common treatments. As always, these chemicals are toxic invertebrates, micro-/macro-algae, and nitrifying bacteria.

Marine Velvet Links:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/sp/feature/index.php

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=83
http://www.aboutfishonline.com/articles/marinevelvet.html

3. Black Ich (Turbellarian)

Also called Tang or Surgeonfish disease because it is often seen on Yellow Tangs. Like ich but black spots instead of white. This disease is actually caused by turbellarian flatworms from Paravortex genus. This disease is not as quick-killing as Ich or Marine Velvet but needs to be treated to prevent secondary bacterial infections from occuring. Treat with freshwater dip followed by formalin bath and recovery in QT tank.

Black Ich Links:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa041701.htm

4. Brooklynella (Clownfish Disease)Worst of the parasites. Often seen in wild-caught clownfish. This is a cilliated protozoan that can reproduce asexually, spreading much faster than Ich or Marine Velvet. Attacks gills first, which makes breathing difficult. First symptoms include rapid/labored breathing, thick, excess mucous secretion, color dulling. Lethargy, loss of appetite, cloudy eyes also occurs. Toxins secreted from protozoa cause open ulcers gills and skin. Death can occur in 12 hours if not treated immediately. Remove to QT tank and perform daily baths in formalin. Other treatments, like hyposalinity, freshwater dips, or copper, are not effective.
Brookynella Links:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa041701.htm
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/brookynella.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/brooklynella.htm me_6_1/brooklynella.htm http://www.fishvet.com/Brooklynella.htm

BACTERIAL INFECTIONS:

Most, if not all, occur as secondary infections due to another infection, poor water quality, wounds from aggression, or some other form of immune-weakening stress. Sensitive fish such as angelfish and butterflyfish are most susceptible. The type of bacteria that cause fish illnesses varies widely from Pseudomonas, to Vibrio, as well as Mycobacteria. General symptoms include bloody patches or streaks, skin ulcers, lethargy, dull color, loss of appetite, bloated belly, swollen eye (popeye), cloudy eyes, rapid breathing, or disintegrated fins (fin rot). Without treatment, fish will eventually die from infection. The best treatment is to remove fish and treat in QT with low salinity (1.012; eases stress of fish while preventing secondary parasitic infections) and wide-spectrum antibiotics (food and water). Gel Tec is an antibiotic in food form and Maracyn 2, a sulfa drug that fights gram-negative bacteria, is also a good choice. Erythomycin is also commonly used. As with all illnesses, be sure to perform frequent water changes to manually remove the bacteria from the sick fish's environment.

General Links on Bacterial Infections in Marine Fish:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2160&aid=584
http://www.aquaworldaquarium.com/Articles/TonyGriffitts/treating_marine_fish_for_bacterial_Diseases.htm http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa042801.htm

1. Fin Rot

Tattered, infected fins often secondary to a wound caused by nipping or fighting. Poor water quality exacerbates infection. Common bacteria that cause fin rot include: Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, and Flexibacter. Treat with antibiotics, as indicated above. http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/tailfinrot.php

2. Popeye/Cloudy Eye

Cloudy or swollen eye which often results from infection after eye is scrathed. With frequent water changes and good water quality, infection often goes away on its own. 10% oral Baytril (enrofloxacin) is a recommended treatment in QT.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa053001.htm

3. Vibriosis

This is one of the more aggressive bacterial infections, killing in as few as 5 days. Symptoms often include red spots or streaks on bottom of fish that can ulcerate and bleed. Other symptoms also include lethargy and loss of appetite. This bacteria attacks the GI tract. Treat as with all bacterial infections (isolate fish in QT and treat with antibiotics followed by a big water change in main tank).
http://www.helium.com/items/1655919-aquarium-fish-vibriosis-causes-and-treatment
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Vibriosis

4. Fish Tuberculosis

Use extreme caution as the aquarist can be infected. This infection is caused by a Mycobacteria. Symptoms include loss of appetite, lethargy, pale, ulcers, emaciation, and overall poor health. Treat in QT with erythromycin.
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Keefer_FishTB.html
http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/170/
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/tbc.php

VIRAL DISEASES:

Lymphocystis:

I covered this extensively in a previous post. Basically, it causes red or white cauliflower-like lumps on the fins and body of the fish. There is no known cure (just like the common cold) but symptoms are mild, and infection often goes away on its own with time. Use methods to boost the fish's immune system. Frequent, small feedings of rich food and ensure the water quality is pristine.
http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/09/help-sick-fish-lymphocystis.html

Flukes and Parasitic Copepods:

Other things that can plague your fish include parasitic flukes and parasitic copepods. Symptoms will be similar to ich (white specks, itching against rocks, excess mucous, etc.). These parasites interfere with the fish's breathing (by destroying the gill tissue). Treat with a potassium permanganate bath (10 mg/L for 20-30 minutes).
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/flukes.php

Parasitic Internal Worms:

Often caused by roundworms, tapeworms, or flukes, most fish have some type of worm infestation by the time they reach your aquarium. De-worming ( praziquantel, for instance) in a QT is highly recommended. General symptoms include dull color and slow wasting away despite increased appetite as well as the classic long stringy white poop that is often seen hanging from the fish.
http://www.algone.com/aquarium-articles/fish-health/aquarium-worms

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/37765-de-worming-marine-fish-super-pooper-snooper.html

Other Diseases:

Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) Disease:

This mysterious disease most commonly afflicts tangs and surgeonfish. It's cause is unknown, and there is no cure. Symptoms include discoloration and pitting of the head and lateral line. Basically, the skin or gills around this area begins to disintegrate and waste away. Poor nutrition or poor water quality is thought to contribute to causing this disease. This disease doesn't otherwise negatively affect the fish at first but, over time, can worsen and cause listlessness and lethargy in the afflicted fish.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/headlledisease/a/aa040901.htm

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/HITH-HLLE.php

Links:
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/sw/
http://www.aqua-fish.net/saltwater/?marine-fish-disease
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/diseasetrouble.htm
http://www.saltwater-aquarium-online-guide.com/fish-diseases-and-treatments.html ases-and-treatments.html
http://www.tropicalfishexpert.co.uk/SaltwaterFishDisease.html
http://www.fishlore.com/Disease_Saltwater.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/infectio.htm

How to Use a Hospital or Quarantine Tank

2010-10-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'm a big believer now in a quarantine tank. It allows your new fish to rest and de-stress before putting him in the new tank. It also prevents introduction of new diseases to the entire tank. In addition, if your new fish shows symptoms of illness, your quarantine tank can easily become a hospital tank, without worrying about killing coral, live rock, and other inverts, which are sensitive to every treatment used to treat fish disease. Never again will I bring a new fish home and "dump and pray"!

Equipment Needed:

Small glass aquarium (10-20 gallons; bigger is better)

Thermometer

Heater

Simple sponge filter

Air pump

PVC pipe or other clever places for your fish to hide

Simple lighting (just to see your fish)

Separate fish nets

What You DON'T Need:
Live Rock
Substrate
Activated Carbon (if using medicines to treat illness; the carbon will just remove the chemicals)
Fancy, expensive filtration
Expensive lights (just enough to see your fish)
Remember: If you have to treat with chemicals, all the nitrifying bacteria will be killed. This is why it's good to have a few back-up, fully cycled sponge filters in your sump.

How to Set it Up:

It's best to set it up and keep it running alongside your main tank. You don't want to put a new or sick fish in an aquarium that hasn't fully cycled.
Add a pinch of fish food to start the cycling process.
Put it in a quiet, out-of-the way spot, like the basement.
Keep the sponges for your filter in your sump so you always have a fully cycled filter, ready to go (4-8 weeks).
Acclimate fish before introducing them to hospital/quarantine tank. Acclimate again before introducing them to main tank.
Check pH, temperature, and ammonia levels constantly. Especially ammonia. Have extra saltwater ready to go. You may be doing daily water changes to get rid of fish waste since filtration is not as good as your main tank (also necessary if dosing with medicine). Chemicals that detoxify the ammonia, such as Algone, can also help.
Please only treat/quarantine one or two fish at a time.
Observe your quarantined fish closely. Inspect for signs of illness or disease. Quarantine period should last 21 days.
If used as a hospital tank (when medicines or hyposalinity is employed), follow directions verry carefully and monitor closely.
If used as a hospital tank, disinfect afterwards. Rinse everything in 10% bleach, followed by copious rinsing in tap water afterwards until no trace of bleach remains. Don't forget to disinfect nets!

Links:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/atj/feature/index.php
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i4/quarantine/Quarantine.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QuarMarFishes.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/443671/diy_hospital_quarantine_for_saltwater.html?cat=53
http://forums.saltwaterfish.com/wiki/quarantine-or-hospital-tank
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193730

How to Do a Freshwater Dip

2010-10-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Bessie, here, is demonstrating how to do a freshwater dip.

Why Dip?
This is a very effective way to remove external parasites, like ich, flukes, or marine velvet, from the fins, gills, and body of sick fish. Many people also use it prophylactically on new fish. Personally, since I am planning on quarantining new fish in the future, I will avoid the extra stress of a dip unless the fish shows signs of infection. However, for a sick fish, I will not hesitate to dip. Although it does subject the fish to additional stress (not good for an already stressed fish due to illness), the pros outweigh the cons. It can often turn a fish around overnight.

How Does it Work?
Fish are complex, multi-celled organisms. Parasites are not. Fish can withstand low salinity; their bodies are equipped to handle it. In fact, since their cells are actually a specific gravity of 1.015, their bodies have to work pretty hard to prevent water loss and dehydration in a salty environment (e.g. 1.025). (This is one reason saltwater fish are so sensitive to water quality while freshwater fish are not. Saltwater fish are constantly drinking! Freshwater fish are not.) In fact, in a fish-only system, maintaining a lower specific gravity (1.020) can fight parasites and strengthen fish since their cells don’t have to work as hard. Anyway, parasites are simple one-celled organisms and simply don’t have the equipment needed to fight osmosis. When you dip a fish in freshwater, osmosis causes the water on the outside of the cell to flood inwards. Whereas the fish cells have mechanisms to prevent this, parasites do not. The water floods in, the cells swell, and then POP! They burst. No more parasite. Ewww!

Freshwater dips causes parasites to explode!

Equipment Needed:
1. Net
2. Bowl with lid (to keep fish from jumping out)
3. RO water or decholorinated tap water
4. Heater and thermometer
5. pH meter, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate; raises pH), vinegar (drops pH; shouldn’t need if add baking soda slowly)
6. Airstone or air pump for vigorous aeration
7. Medication (optional; e.g. nitrofurazone (bactericide), antibiotic, methylene blue, formalin, etc.). Read instructions carefully. Many medications are very toxic to fish. For instance, formalin sucks oxygen out of the water and can suffocate your fish. (I learned this the hard way.) Methylene blue is the best since it actually increases the amount of oxygen available to your fish while killing parasites and bacteria simultaneously.

Procedure:
1. Rinse all equipment, nets, and containers to be used with RO water to be sure no traces of contaminants or detergents are present.
2. Mix water. Use RO water or dechlorinated tap water. Heat to 2 degrees above tank temperature (water will cool before use). Match pH (will need to raise pH to make it more basic) by adding little baking soda and stirring. Repeat until desired pH acquired.
3. Add medication (follow instructions carefully).
4. Aerate vigorously with air pump or airstone for 45-60 minutes (longer better).
5. After checking water parameters once more (make sure temperature matches; too hot can actually remove oxygen from the water), you’re ready to start. Remove the fish carefully with a net and put them in the bath for ~5 minutes (I’ve read anywhere from 1 minute to 30 minutes. Less than 2 minutes is probably ineffective. More than 10 minutes may be too stressful.) Continue aeration throughout treatment.
6. Carefully put fish into hospital/quarantine tank.

Notes:
Use of a few plastic colanders that fit inside bowl used for dip ease stress of fish because less netting is needed.
Medicines are very toxic to inverts and coral. If fish will be housed with inverts, make sure to do a 2nd short dip, or “rinse”, after medicated dip in 2nd bowl (with matching temp and pH).
Dips can be repeated daily, as needed. (Because dips are somewhat stressful, if repeated dips are needed, you may consider treating the sick fish in a hospital tank via hyposalinity and/or daily water changes.

Links:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/hyposalinity/ht/ht_fwbath.htm
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine-fish-care-health-disease-treatment/18887-freshwater-dip-marine-fishes.html
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marine-fish-care-health-disease-treatment/25290-formalin-treatment-marine-fishes.html
http://www.bestfish.com/tips/052099.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dips_baths.htm

R.I.P. Chantal and Elton

2010-10-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Ugh. It's been a very bad week for our aquarium. Three fish dead in less than a week. Phillip died due to my negligence (I took out a rock with him in it unknowingly, and he asphyxiated...presumably). Chantal died from ich. Elton died from ich and my failure to adequately oxygenate the hospital tank. Hard lessons learned.

After waking up one morning and seeing ick covering Chantal's eyes and Elton's fins, I resolved to do a freshwater dip. I added an ich treatment containing methylene blue and formalin for increased efficacy. I scooped them into the container with the ich treatment for 1 minute, followed by another dip in just freshwater for another minute before putting them back into the tank. The 2nd dip was to be extra sure no formalin or methylene blue got into the main tank, where it could kill my shrimp and coral. Following the directions of Goemans and Ichinotsubo in "The Marine Fish Health and Feeding Handbook" (absolutely awesome book), I matched the pH with baking soda and used a heater and thermometer to match the temps, thereby lessening the shock of the dip.

Catching them was certainly not easy. Luckily, they hid in the same rock. I picked up the rock, shook them out into the freshwater dip, and whallah. Problem solved. The next morning, Chantal was lying on a rock, breathing rapidly. She looked terrible. Elton looked much better, white spots much less prevalent. I should have LEFT THEM ALONE. Chantal was a goner but Elton would have made it out okay. This is where I made my irreversible mistake.

Panicked that the ich would infect the entire tank, I rushed out to purchase a 10-gallon hospital/quarantine tank. I got a HOB (hang-on-back) filter, an air pump (to increase oxygen), a heater, a thermometer, and a couple of stupid ornaments for the fish to hide in. So far, so good. I mixed saltwater at a salinity of 1.020 (instead of the main tank's 1.025). This was probably not a great idea. Although lowering the salinity to 1.015 kills ich, a huge change in salinity will shock the already weakened fish, further risking death. It would have been better to gradually lower the salinity over a longer period (like a week). Then, I took out the carbon filter and treated with the ich medicine (methlyene blue/formalin). And this was my fatal mistake. Although these medicines can be used in dips, they are horrible for long periods in a hospital tank, particularly formalin. Formalin sucks all the dissolved oxygen out of the water, suffocating the fish.

Chantal died pretty quickly. Elton seemed fine when I first put him in the hospital tank. By morning, he was on the bottom, lying on his side, gasping for air. I immediately put him back in the main tank where he died within an hour.

I am so mad at myself. I basically killed a totally salvagable fish (Elton). I don't think I could have saved Chantal but Elton would have recovered if I had left him alone. Basically, I killed them by suffocating them with the formalin in the hospital tank. Not to mention all the stress I put on them. I did what I thought was best at the time.

I've learned a lot from my mistakes:

1. Don't overcrowd.

I got too many fish, too quickly. I am now focusing on the fish I have in the tank. I did a small water change after removing the sick fish to try to dilute out the ich in the tank. The remaining fish all seem very healthy and happy. So basically, no more new fish!

2. Be conservative with sick fish.

Stress can easily kill a fish. Think twice before trying to do anything to the fish that involves netting them out of the tank (freshwater dips, hospital tanks, etc.). Start with a water change and leaving them alone.

3. Always quarantine new fish.

I learned this the hard way. I've cleaned out my hospital tank and will use it for quarantining in the future.

4. Always put an airstone in a hospital tank for vigourous aeration.

Many medicines are very toxic to fish. I will never use formalin in the hospital tank again. Only for dips. If I had to do it all over again, I would have slowly decreased the salinity and slowly increased the temperature to kill the ich in the hospital tank. This would have been the least stressful to the fish.

Poor little Chantal. She was never very healthy to begin with.

So sorry Elton. I should have taken better care of you.

Ich Attack

2010-10-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

A tang with Ich.

It's been a bad week for our aquarium. Almost immediately after the loss of Phillip, we noticed white spots covering the fins and body of both Chantal, our Blue Tang (http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/10/helfrichi-firefish-goby.html) and Elton, our Helfrichi Firefish Goby(http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/10/helfrichi-firefish-goby.html). Chantal had already been somewhat immunocompromised, fighting off what we think was lymphocystis. Elton had recently been introduced to the tank and may have brought the parasite in from the LFS. Regardless, both of these guys were already under a lot of stress, and that was before I dismantled the aquarium. This disaster must have added more stress to these guys because the ich outbreak was glaringly apparent almost immediately afterwards.

What is Ich?
Ich, or white spot disease, Cryptocaryan irritans, is a parasite that infects saltwater fish. Although there is another parasite called Ich that attacks freshwater fish and causes similar symptoms, it is a different parasite (the freshwater form is Ichthyophthirius multifiliis). Luckily, saltwater ich is slightly less aggressive than the freshwater form (which attacks the gills first and impairs breathing), making it fairly easy to treat if caught early. This parasite is a ciliated protozoan with a 28-day life cycle (making full treatment fairly prolonged).

Symptoms:
After the parasite embeds into the mucous of the fish, it appears as white spots (small grains of salt) on body and fins. In the early stages, the fish remains asymptomatic, although you may spot it scratching on rocks and sand (called "flashing"). This is the best opportunity for treatment. As the infestation spreads, it later attacks the gills and impairs breathing. In the late stages of infection, the fish becomes listless, loses color, stops eating and swimming, and often succumbs to secondary bacterial infections. Death is the final outcome.

Treatment:
The best cure is, of course, prevention. Ich is often introduced into the aquarium via a new fish, coral, live rock, live food, or invertebrate (any outside source). Therefore, quarantining new specimans for a minimum of 10-days is a great idea.

Keep in mind that there is probably already ich in your aquarium. However, if your fish are healthy, they're immune system will ward off infection. If your fish are stressed, they will often get infections like ich due to a dampened immune system. Stress includes, introduction of new fish, aggression between tank mates, poor nutrition (not enough or not the right kind of food), overcrowding and poor water quality. Avoiding these problems should be the first goals of good aquarium husbandry.

When you spot a fish with ich, weigh the pros and cons of different treatment options. Removing him and putting him in a hospital tank allows you to treat him without killing your coral and live rock (as well as other invertebrates). This also prevents other fish from getting infected. Remember that treatment is most successful when done early on. On the other hand, ich sometimes goes away on its own if the fish is healthy enough to fight the infection. Frequent small feedings and water changes can help boost the immune system. Keep in mind that the more you handle the fish, the more you are stressing him, which can sometimes worsen the infection. There have been some rumors that garlic extract added to the diet helps the immune system but the evidence is anecdotal. However, it can't hurt (it won't hurt your corals or other inverts). I am actually currently trying this.

In addition, upon first spotting a sick fish, all water parameters should be tested to ensure that the aquarium is in good general health. Make sure your pH, temp, salinity, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all within desired parameters.

The next step is to do a water change of 10-20%. This aids in removing the parasite from the water, lowering the concentration of the ich, improving water conditions, and making it unlikely that your other healthy fish will succumb as well. Remember, ich is contagious. You don't want to lose your entire tank.

There are several more aggressive treatment options for ich. Unfortunately, most of them cannot be done in a reef tank because the chemicals will kill the corals, shrimp, and nitrifying bacteria in the live rock. Perhaps the only one that might be considered is raising the temperature of the entire tank (s.l.o.w.l.y.) to 82-84 degrees. This speeds up the life cycle of the parasite and when combined with frequent water changes, can help get rid of ich. Less light in combination of this can also help interfere with the parasite's life cycle. Raising the temperature is the least effective and slowest treatment option for ich.

If you have a fish-only system, you have more options. Lowering the salinity to 1.015 will kill the parasite without harming the fish. Salinity should be lowered very slowly and maintained at the low level for about a month to completely kill off all parasites.

In a reef aquarium, a freshwater dip for no more than 4 minutes can be performed. Since ich cannot survive in freshwater, this is often a miracle cure for infected fish. However, keep in mind it's also very stressful. Be sure to match the pH and temperature to the main tank before starting. An ich treatment can be added for added effectiveness (containing formalin/methylene blue).

If you isolate your fish in a hospital tank, you can use hyposalinity for a month to kill ich. You can also increase the temperature to speed up the life cycle of the parasite. Be sure to do these changes slowly so as not to further shock the fish. In addition, the water can be treated with lots of "Ich" cures on the market. These include formalin, methylene blue, and copper. Be careful to follow instructions carefully as all of these chemicals are extremely toxic (to the fish and you). Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way (formalin robs the water of oxygen and can asphyxiate the fish). More on this in a later post. It's a sad day for our aquarium.

Links on Ich:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
http://www.bestfish.com/saltich.html
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ichparasiticdiseases/a/aa_cryptocaryon.htm
http://www.masa.asn.au/masawiki/index.php/Cryptocaryon
http://www.aquariumhobbyist.com/articles/Ich.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

R.I.P. Phillip

2010-10-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ever since I dismantled the aquarium the other day in a futile attempt to catch one of the Banggai's (http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/10/mission-impossible-catching-fish.html), Phillip has been M.I.A. I got on my hands and knees with a flashlight and checked all the nooks and crannies behind the aquarium. I checked the filter sock and the sump. I looked in every available cave in the aquarium carefully. I looked in the overflow compartment. He is gone. It's been 4 days. I am very sad. He was one of my favorite fish.

Unfortunately, he was probably hiding in a cave in one of the rocks I took out of the aquarium when I tried to catch the Banggai. Not knowing he was in there, I set the rock on the living room floor where he probably asphyxiated in the open air. That's my best guess because I haven't seen him since. I'm upset that this happened since it was so preventable. He was a healthy, active, happy little guy. I miss him a lot.

I hope Phillip is in fish heaven, where there's a huge ocean with pristine waters and great expanses of healthy reef. I hope he's swimming around his luxurious cave, gulping up the plentiful shrimp teeming in the waters.

http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/08/royal-gramma.html

Poor Phillip. I miss him.

Helfrichi Firefish Goby

2010-10-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

This is Elton, our new Helfrichi Firefish Goby. Very similar to the commonly seen Firefish Goby (or dartfish; see pic at bottom of post), unlike the Firefish Goby, the Helfrichi's are collected in deep water. However, as long as they are brought to the surface carefully so there is no damage to their organs, these guys are very hardy and adapt quite well to the bright reef aquarium set-up.

Taken with the beauty of this firefish and suitability to our aquarium, we coughed up the steep price and purchased one. They are expensive since they're fairly rare and highly sought after since they're so gorgeous. We named him "Elton" since he was so flamboyant. Elton is active, friendly, and peaceful, swimming about day and night. These guys are carnivorous. I feed him lots of mysis shrimp. He also loves the copepods from the refugium.

What else can I say? He's perfect. Small, shy, peaceful, he likes to hide in caves in the live rock (yet, he's out and about a lot too). He's reef-safe and also hardy. Plus, he'll stay small (about 3"). You have to keep a cover on; these guys are jumpers. Other than that, he's a perfect fit for our aquarium.

Links:
http://www.suite101.com/content/firefish-for-the-marine-aquarium-a42586
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2145+2192&aid=2066
http://www.reefhotspot.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1700

Below, the similar, more common Firefish Goby .

African Flameback Dwarf Angel

2010-10-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

We got another fish! This is Casey, the African Flameback, a dwarf angelfish. Most angelfish are not suitable for reef aquarium. These guys are grazers and have been known for picking at coral, finding your most prized speciman a delicacy. However, some angelfish are safer than others. In addition, angels are known for being extremely fragile in the aquarium setting, and most get very large, way too big for our 75-gallon set-up. However, the flameback is different.

I fell in love with the flameback because of its unusual coloring and somewhat rare availability in the aquarium trade. Plus, like other dwarf angels in the Centropyge genus, they are fairly hardy (especially compared with other angels), love to eat algae (yippee!), and stay fairly small. In fact, the flameback is one of the smallest of all the dwarf angels, only reaching 3"! Although dwarf angels can still develop a taste for coral, many of them have been introduced to reef aquariums with success. After seeing a Coral Beauty (another Centropyge angel) in my friend's aquarium, I decided to risk it. I spotted one at the LFS and went for it. He was fat and healthy, having been in the store aquarium for quite some time. Although he is older, I was happy that he was healthy, full-grown, and peaceful with his tankmates (including another dwarf angel; usually a no-no).

Casey is doing very well in our set-up. He grazes on the live rock all day, and I feed him spirulina, kelp, and other vegetable products. He gets along peacefully with everyone, although he will chase tankmates away from his "cave". He's fairly shy but makes regular appearances. I hope he continues to do well!

General Info:
Name: Centropyge acanthops
Other common names: African pygmy angelfish or Orangeback angelfish
Size: small (3")
Diet: algae (omnivore); may pick at corals
Reef-Safe? with caution
Peaceful? Yes, but not with other angels
Hardy? Yes, like the other Centropyges
Other: They are born genderless and become female as they grow. One will become larger and develop into the male, forming harems with the other females.

Links:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Marine-angelfish/AfricanFlameback.php
http://hubpages.com/hub/Centropyge-Acanthops
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-on-African-Flameback-Angelfish-Care&id=3403218
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-best-dwarf-angelfishes-a54218

Mission Impossible--Catching a Fish

2010-10-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Catching a fish from your aquarium is like chasing a rainbow.

After last night's experience, all I can say is be verrrrry, verrrry careful about what you put into your aquarium. Because, without completely stressing all the tank inhabitants out, killing some coral, and completely dismantling your aquarium, you will never. get. that. fish. out. AGAIN!

I decided to give one of my Banggai Cardinalfish to a friend, who has a very nice, spacious reef aquarium (around 300 gallons with only 5 little, peaceful fish in it). Originally, I had aspirations of breeding my pair of Banggai's (the Ropers). I purchased an adult pair from my LFS since they were huddled together in the store tank, looking amorously at each other. Upon settling into the tank, Mrs. Roper began tirelessly chasing Mr. Roper, exiling him to a tiny little corner in the tank. After weeks of watching this behavior, I realized I had purchased two males. I decided to find a better home for Mr. Roper.

I set up a time to deliver Mr. Roper to my friend. I rolled up my sleeves, got my net and dove in. First of all, out of all the fish in the tank, the Banggai's are deceivingly quick. They sit motionless in the water for hours and then, quicker than you can blink, they're gone. These guys are incredibly fast.

My first tactic was to immerse a plastic trap into the aquarium and then scoot him into with the other hand. I dropped some food in the tank to get all the fish out in the open. I immediately got to work, trying to move Mr. Roper into the trap. He was onto me before I even made my first move. Whoosh! He was gone.

My second tactic was to use one hand to scoot him into a net, and then cover the net with my hand. All this achieved was to upset all the fish in the tank. I chased Mr. Roper around with my net all over the tank, terrorizing innocent victims along the way. Annoyingly, Mr. Roper hid next to Mrs. Roper, his nemesis. Apparently, they were bonded together by their mutual hatred for me. Finally, I stopped after ripping the net on some live rock.

My third tactic was to try two nets instead of one. My hope was to trap him between the two nets. Again, with all the live rock, he just went and hid from me. This is when I started dismantling the aquarium. I lifted rock after rock out of the aquarium, scaring fish, disturbing coral, and countless other inhabitants along the way. Puddles of live rock littered the hard wood floor surrounding the aquarium. Xenia and toadstool coral, stuck on the live rock, wilted pitifully in the open air. Then, bubbles began shooting into the aquarium; taking out the live rock had lowered the water levels precipitously. After filling it time and time again with RO water each time I removed a piece of live rock, I finally figured out that I could just turn off the pumps. Duh.

By now, I had taken almost all the live rock out of the aquarium. I had moved all the coral and placed it onto the sand (getting stung by the Elegance coral along the way). All the fish were huddled in a corner. Pedro, the bluejaw trigger, was stuck behind a rock and the wall, triggers fully erect. He was a pale gray. Poor Pedro. Mr. Roper kept hiding behind him. Finally, I cornered him by the mushrooms. I had one net behind him and one net in front. He started swimming upwards to escape the nets. I moved the nets with him. He hid behind the powerhead. So close, so close. I knew this would be my only chance. I made my move. I scooped upwards with my net and dove in with my hand to cover the net. He leapt out and dove into the depths of the aquarium, retreating behind one of the few rocks that was left.

More than two hours had now elapsed. The fish were trembling in fear. Louie, the yellow wrasse, had disappeared into the sand. My coral was closed up and shedding strands of slime into the water. A large puddle of water had collected onto the hardwood floor. Even the dogs looked shaken, although the thunderstorm going on outside could have had something to do with it. Nonetheless, Floyd was curled up under the table, and Travis was resting his head on his paws behind me on the rug looking at me with big wide eyes.

As I dipped the net into the water one last time, a reddish liquid spilled into the water. Confused, I paused. Only then did I notice large drops of blood splattered all over the floor. Another drop of blood plopped onto the floor, similar to the big raindrops, now splattering the window panes. I glanced at my hand. It was covered in a slippery, crimson liquid. I realized it was blood. I had sliced my knuckle on the razor-sharp reflectors housing the lights in the canopy. I had been so focused on catching Mr. Roper, I hadn't even noticed. I knew it was time to stop.

I carefully put each piece of rock back into the aquarium, using this rare opportunity to scrub off hard-to-reach algae. I put all the coral back into place. Finished up with my planned, weekly water change. Then wrung my hands for the rest of the night, wondering what irreparable damage my tank had succumbed.

This morning, everyone seemed happy to see me, eagerly awaiting their breakfast. Except Phillip, the royal gramma. He is nowhere to be found. I'm hoping he comes home soon. I miss him. The coral all look very happy, even the xenia, which had been exposed to air for about 45 minutes. That stuff is frighteningly tough! Unfortunately, my toadstool coral may have died (it also was exposed to air but not as much and not for as long). It's all closed up for now. I'm hoping Mr. Toad decides to open up shop later today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Mr. Toad and Phillip. As far as Mr. Roper, he seems none the worse for wear. He wins. Fish 1, Rachel 0.

Mr. Roper, after I first got him a few months ago. He gets to stay in the tank. Mrs. (actually a Mr.) Roper still chases him but he has plenty of hiding places now and gets plenty to eat so he's actually surprisingly healthy.

Lesson learned? This tank is now officially CLOSED! A closed system. No more goes in...and no more comes out. That's it.

For those of you who have to get a fish out (in an emergency), here are some links. Good luck! I hope you fare better than I did.

Links:
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_catching_fish.php
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=707656
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/41546-goin-fishin-catching-fish-aquarium.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/sp/index.php

Clementine, our Orange Linckia Sea Star

2010-09-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

Echinoderms, or sea stars, in general, are such amazing creatures. They have no brain and no blood. They propel themselves slowly via water pulpusion through a series of tubes in their arms. They have thousands of "suction cup" feet that can stick to anything. If they lose an arm, they grow it back. And the severed arm grows into a new starfish as well! They reproduce asexually. In addition, they are detritovres, scavenging and sifting through sand and rubble, eating bacterial film and other unknown wastes. Sea stars are incredibly strong and can even pry apart mollusk shells. They can also voluntarily prolapse their stomachs into the shell of a clam (or other mollusk), where it secretes digestive enzymes to puree the food. Dude! Without a doubt, these creatures are pretty amazing.

I knew they were sensitive creatures in the home aquarium but after having success with the shrimp, I decided to try one out. I asked the LFS about a small, reef-safe, peaceful starfish that would be easy to care for. He suggested the Linckia. They come in lots of colors (red, blue, purple, spotted). He got the reef-safe, peaceful part right (some starfish (the "bumpy" or "knobby" ones, in general) are extremely predatory and can become quite large, preying on your shrimp, crabs, snails, and fish!) but not the "easy to care for" part. Unfortunately, I found out later that most Linckias in home aquariums die within a few months either due to starvation or parasitic infections. Ugh! I HAVE to be more careful.

Orange Linckias grow to a max of 3-4" and are from the Indian Ocean. Despite their small size, keeping them is most successful in a large, well-established reef tank of 100-gallons or more with lots of live rock (at least 6 months old). Oops. This is probably because we don't know what they eat, and a larger, well-established tank is likely to provide them with a stable source of food. The linckias, like other sea stars are very sensitive creatures. They prefer a high salinity of 1.025 and will not tolerate fluctuations in temperature, salinity, pH, or other parameters. They require pristine water conditions (no nitrates). Like other invertebrates, copper medications (used for sick fish in a fish-only system or hospital tank) will kill them. In addition, they require a slow acclimation process, using the drip system of 3.5 hours. When selecting one, choose a healthy speciman that can right itself when flipped on its back. Also, avoid specimans with white, fluffy growths (often parasites) or other injuries.

I really hope Clementine makes it. She is verrry healthy. I actually only did a 1-hour acclimation (unknowingly). Our salinity is 1.023 so I'm slowly rising it to 1.025 over the next week or so. When I first put her in the tank, she landed on her back in the sand and immediately flipped herself over and climbed up the wall. She likes to be out front and center, on display. She's pretty active, moving all over the glass and rocks. I absolutely adore her. She's gorgeous.

Linckia Links:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastars.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/linckiastars.htm

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/toonen.htm

http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewMarineInvertSpecies.php?invert_marine_id=10

http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2001/may25-01.html

Oops. Flowerpot Coral

2010-09-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

I did something rather foolish. I bought a coral that looked pretty, not really knowing anything about it. It sort of resembled clove polyps (Clavularia sp.), which are relatively easy to care for. Thinking it would require similar care, I bought it. Duh. Turns out, it's probably doomed for a short life. It's a "flower pot coral" of the species Goniopora. Only 10% of aquarists are successful at keeping them, and most websites and experts recommend staying away from them completely, advising to leave them alone in the ocean. Oops. Now, on top of having wasted $65, I also feel bad. Maybe you guys can learn from my mistake.

Scooter on new Flowerpot Coral. Polyps haven't opened yet.

Two more views of this gorgeous new coral with polyps open. The polyps sway back and forth and undulate sporadically, independently of the water movement. I placed it in a section with moderate low and fairly high lighting. From what I've read, it won't last more than a few months. Be prepared. Maybe next time, I'll choose from an easier-to-care-for, yet similar-looking coral (see list at bottom of post of similar but hardier corals).

Let's learn about this new coral. It's of the Goniopora species. A very challenging, yet somewhat more successful coral (read: not as doomed to failure) that looks almost identical is the Alveopora coral. This coral is rarer than Goniopora but easier to care for. I was hoping and praying this was the type of Flower Pot coral I had purchased. However upon further reading, I learned that the Alveopora species has 8 tentacles around each polyp. The Goniopora has 24. I went home and eagerly began counting tentacles (not an easy task). I quickly surpassed 8 and lost count by 24. So I bought the more sensitive, Goniopora species. (See above) Crap.

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/alveopora.htm

What else can I tell you about Goniopora? It's an LPS coral that lives in the South Pacific. It requires perfect water conditions, and even then, advanced aquarists can't keep them. I don't think we've learned what their requirements are to thrive (or just survive) in captivity. It requires medium to strong water flow and lots of light. It's also considered an aggressive coral (like other LPS corals, has stinging tentacles that extend at night). I also read somewhere that it often doesn't do well in a tank with an Elegance Coral (crap, crap), perhaps because of different water chemistry requirements (elegance needs slightly "dirty" water? Flowerpot requires pristine). In addition to Flowerpot Coral, it's also called a Ball, Daisy, or Sunflower Coral. Clownfish may take up residence (mine are special; they don't like the Elegance, Frogspawn, or Flowerpot; stupid clownfish, although I guess it's good since they won't harm the fragile polyps; stupid coral).

From a website that actually sells the stupid coral:

Goniopora sp. requires PERFECT water conditions, the proper trace elements and the habitat must match its requirements.

Another website said:

Goniopora is delicate and long term survival (>12 months) is probably less than 10%.

Not encouraging considering companies usually try to downplay how hard their stuff is to keep alive.

Links to Goniopora or Flowerpot Coral:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2157+2178&aid=2317
http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/goniopora.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2
http://www.reefpedia.com/index.php/Goniopora
http://www.thesea.org/goniopora/
http://www.dallura.com/reef/goniopora/goniopora.html
http://www.dets.com/Gonio/atg1.htm

Take a look at other similar looking corals that are much easier to care for:

(Maybe this is what I should try next time. Duh.)

Clove polyps (Clavularia):

There are many hardy species in this class, also including star polyps. These are a fast-growing, soft coral, perfect for beginners. Some species resemble Xenia.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2157+2233&aid=2380

http://www.alltropicalfish.com/content/view/114/83/

Pipe Organ Coral:

A soft coral that is similar in apperance to Star Polyps (above).

Scientific name: Tubipora musica

A little harder to care for than the Star Polyps but still doable.

http://www.aquariumpassion.com/profiles/corals/pipe-organ-coral.html

Galaxy Coral (Galaxea):

Also called Star Coral or Starbust Coral.

A beautiful LPS coral with polyps resembling gorgeous stars.

Fairly easy to care for.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/lg_stony/galaxy.php

Pagoda Cup Coral:

Scientific Name: Turbinaria sp

Also called Vase Coral (among other things)

This LPS coral does require a little delicate handing and feeding but many species are relatively hard and great for the novice reef aquarist.

Aquarium Entertainment!

2010-09-28T09:29:00.001-07:00

Now that Chantal is getting better, our tank has returned to a comfortable state of homeostasis. I'm spending lots of entertaining hours just watching. The swaying coral is very meditative and the fish put on a show for me constantly. It's like a little soap opera in there! Better than t.v. Thought I would share. Today is a picture show 'n tell.

Scooter (our scooter blenny) is such a little ham. He really strutted his stuff for the camera. Take a look! He's SO adoreable (I know I'm not supposed to play favorites but he just melts my heart).

Scooter soars between the rocks, probably begging for Nahla to clean him. I love when he puts his dorsal fin up! It's like his sail.

Scooter on our new mushroom coral at night. (Btw, isn't our new rust-colored mushroom coral pretty?)

Scooter gives Louie an annoyed look as Louie taunts him. "Go find your own rock to pick at!" Scooter protests.

Scooter, spotting me with the camera stopped what he was doing and hopped over to pose and say hello. What a charmer!

Next, we have friendly shrimp. I was cleaning the tank, and I had to be extra careful not to acidentally brush the Merry Maids (shrimp) or Nahla. They wouldn't leave me alone!

Nahla and the shrimp (the Merry Maids, Merry and Melvin) are irresistably drawn to the toothbrush.

Then, Merry crawled right onto my hand!

It didn't hurt. Just tickled. I loved it!

This was our aquarium almost 4 months ago. Look how far we've come!

Night view of the aquarium.

Mushroom city!

Nahla, our bluestreak cleaner wrasse

2010-09-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

When Chantal got sick, one recommendation was to get a cleaner wrasse. In the wild, these gracious fish set up "cleaning stations", which other fish line up in order to receive a free cleaning service. The cleaner wrasse eats parasites off the fish, forming a symbiotic relationship with each other. You've probably seen these guys on National Geographic's Shark Week. Remember the small, eel-like fish swimming alongside the sharks? Remember being amazed that the sharks didn't just snack on these guys like Cheetohs? Nope, predatory fish value the cleaner wrasse's services and have been known to fiercely protect them from harm.

I hesitated before purhcasing one. I had read many websites about how they perish in captivity. I wasn't about to get a fish in the slim hope that it would save my sick fish, especially not knowing if Chantal even had parasites that a cleaner wrasse could eat. After much debate, I decided a cleaner wrasse would be a good addition to the tank in the long run, regardless of Chantal's condition.

I picked a very healthy, bluestreak cleaner wrasse since the bluestreak species is the hardiest of the cleaner wrasses. I picked the LFS owner's brain about the cleaner wrasse's ability to adapt to captivity. He believes many don't do well due to the stress of shipping. His cleaner wrasses came from Kenya, where apparently, they are collected and shipped individually to reduce stress, as opposed to groups, as is done in the Indo Pacific.

We named her Nahla since she's from Kenya, and I instantly fell in love with her. She's super friendly and outgoing. She never had to "adapt" to our tank; she immediately began making friends with her tankmates, eating and swimming around curiously. She seems very healthy and happy. She tries to clean all of our other fish; some of them really don't like it. Maybe it tickles. Paticularly Chantal, which is unfortunate because she needs it the most. Scooter and Pedro love to be cleaned by her. We caught Nahla cleaning Pedro's eye. Scooter floats in front of Nahla as she swims past, dorsal fin erect, just begging to be cleaned. It's pretty hysterical. In addition, Nahla is very friendly towards me. She's obsessed with the magnet I use to clean the glass; I have to be careful to shoosh her away. When I clean the algae off the live rock with a brush, Nahla comes right over to me and gets in the way! No fear whatsoever.

Nahla, posing for the camera

Facts about the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse:
Labroides dimidiatus
Peaceful and reef safe
carnivorous and eat parasites off fish as well
lifespan: 4 years
adults reach 5.5 inches
usually from Indo Pacific (ours is from Kenya)
like all wrasses, these guys are jumpers when scared; keep a lid on it!
all start as females; one becomes male and they form harmes
although the bluestreak is the hardiest of the cleaner wrasses, many die in captivity (due to malnutrition) so think twice before getting one

Nahla, swimming peacefully with Louie, our other wrasse (canary wrasse). Unlike most wrasses, these two get along great! (Mrs. Roper is lurking in the background).

Scooter (top) floats by in front of Nahla, begging to be cleaned.

Adoreable video of Scooter, begging to be cleaned.

Links for the Bluestreak cleaner wrasse:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluestreak_cleaner_wrasse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluestreak_cleaner_wrasse
http://www.aboutfishonline.com/articles/cleaner-wrasse.html
http://www.whatsthatfish.com/fish/bluestreak-cleaner-wrasse/428 http://www.freshmarine.com/common-cleaner-wrasse.html

Chantal is Better!!!

2010-09-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

I am SO relieved! I didn't think sick fish got better. She must have simply been stressed from shipping and moving to different tanks suddenly. After a water change, small, frequent feedings, and wringing my hands a lot as I watch her, the bumps are going away! Yippee! I wish I could say our new Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse had something to do with it. But as much as the cleaner wrasse (Nahla) wants to clean Chantal, Chantal will have nothing to do with it!

Help! Sick Fish. Lymphocystis?

2010-09-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

I have yet to do a post on common saltwater fish illnesses (ick, marine velvet, lateral line erosion, etc.). Obviously, in lieu of recent events, this post is called for (can you guess what I will be posting in the next few days?). But for today, let's focus on why I'm interested in saltwater fish illnesses in the first place.

I introduced Chantal to the tank on Saturday. She had just come to my favorite LFS from Hawaii on Thursday. The guy at the LFS was hesitant to sell her to me, not sure about their health since they had just come in. I decided to risk it; I had missed out last time! When I came back to see which one was the healthiest, they were all sold! The LFG (local fish guy) selected the healthiest one and carefully netted him into a bag with tankwater for me to take home. Upon introducing her the tank, she seemed very happy, eating, swimming, playing with the other tankmates. I was very encouraged.

On Thursday, I noticed several lumps on the right side of her body, near the dorsal fin and her belly. They looked like hard, warty, cauliflower-like lumps. The coloring was pale to reddish. Other than that, Chantal's behavior was unchanged. Eating, swimming around happily. Nonetheless, I knew those bumps were not supposed to be there. I had to do something. Quick! What was going on with my prize fish?

Chantal with mysterious lumps on right side of body (particularly near dorsal fin).

After some research on-line and talking with 3 different fish "experts", I'm still not entirely sure what it is. I've ruled out some of the more common Blue Tang illnesses like ich and marine velvet. (Btw, I found out that tangs are more susceptible to these diseases because they have skin, not scales. Kind of cool, huh? I guess that's what makes them both very sensitive to water parameters as well as beautiful. If you haven't guessed, these are my favorite type of fish.) Both of those have a white powdery appearance (more like salt sprinkling for ich and a smooth fluffy coat for marine velvet). My vote is for lymphocystis.

What is lymphocystis?

Juvenile emperor angel with classical lymphocystis on fins.

" Lymphosystis is a viral growth that can appear on the fins and skin of aquarium fish. Lymph can be distinguished from other tumors by its distinctive appearance. Close inspection of the Lymphocystis nodule reveals white to gray cauliflower or raspberry-like growths that usually begin at the tips of the fish's fins and may eventually spread to other areas of the fish's body. Usually, the cuase of Lymph is from unusual stress or shipping. Lymph that appears on new additions to the tank is most likely caused from the stress of capture and transport.

Symptoms: White to gray, cauliflower or raspberry-like groths on the fins or body of the fish.

Yellow Tang with Lymphocystis (a fish who doesn't normally get this disease).

Clownfish with Lymphocystis (also a fish who doesn't normally get this disease).

Chantal with mysterious lumps. What do you think?

Close up of Chantal's warty lumps.

Treatment:

"Since lymph is not very contagious or fatal, the best treatment is to leave the fish in the main tank and let the disease run its course. If you have an ultraviolet light, keep it on to stop the spread of the virus. If the Lymph tumor covers most of the mouth, causing eating problems for the fish, the growth should be removed. If you want to perform the surgery, net the fish and place it on a clean, wet towel. With a scalpel or new razor blade, carefully trim the portion of Lymph that is obstructing the mouth. Be careful not to cut into the actual skin, if at all possible. Disinfect the area by dabbing it with a cotton swab dipped in a broad spectrum antiseptic such as betadine. Let the drug penetrate for ten seconds then place the fish directly back in the main tank. Do not keep the fish out of the water for more than one minute."

Let's compare notes.

First, Chantal is an easily stressed fish. In addition, she's been through A LOT over a very short amount of time. From Hawaii to 2 different tanks in less than a week. That's quite a bit of travelling, shipping, and introduction to new tanks in a short amount of time! Not to mention being removed from the wild (I'm kicking myself for not ordering a captive-bred blue tang on-line). Particularly for a type of fish (blue tang) that's very sensitive to stress. Okay, so we have a reason for how she became immunocompromised and susceptible to disease.

Let's look at her symptoms. Cauliflower like bumps on her body that are pale gray to raspberry colored. Um. Wow! Did they look at Chantal before giving that description? Check.

The disease is usually asymptomatic and non-lethal. Hmmm. Chantal is behaving and eating normally (although she does itch her bumps on the rock; normal for tangs. I would too if I had all those nasty lumps on me!). So far, so good.

Strikes against a lymphocystis diagnosis? Well, tangs don't normally get this virus (angels and butterflies do). And the lumps are usually localized to the edges of the fins, not on the body itself.

Thankfully, if it is lymphocystis, the virus is asymptomatic, rarely infects other fish, and usually goes away on its own. That's very good news. On the flip side, there is no known cure for lympocystis (kind of like there is no cure for the common cold). All in all, I'm hoping this is what is plaguing Chantal. Poor Chantal has the flu. (Greg says she has the fish form of poison ivy).

What have I done to help Chantal? First, I made sure no fish were bullying her. Check. If anything, she calls the shots in the tank. It's a very happy family. Second, I did a 20% water change. Lots of scrubbing away excess grime and algae. New filter sock and new activated carbon. I tested all the water parameters. Temp 80, specific gravity 1.024, pH 8.5, nitrates 0, phosphates 0, alkalinity 8, calcium 400. Looks good. In addition, it's stable. That's what it was 1 month ago. I have 2 cleaner shrimp in there that are supposed to help clean parasites off fish (unfortunately, they seem to squirm away as if cleaning were ticklish). I also added a bluestreak cleaner wrasse (more on this in a later post). She immediately tried to clean the fish in the tank. Again, most of them swam away. I think they thought she was getting fresh with them! Poor Scooter (scooter blenny) protested quite vividly, "Hey! I'm not that kind of fish!" The last thing I'm doing is feeding Chantal (and the other fish) frequent feedings (3x/day) of a varied diet (oyster eggs, prawn eggs, mysis, other frozen meats, veggies, seaweed, etc.). Anyway, I'm hoping these measures will help Chantal.

In general, I have read that for sick fish, if she is eating normally and behaving normally, the best course of action is to leave it alone. Most likely, the fish's immune system will fight it off on her own. This is basically what I'm doing. Just monitoring. Of course, if your fish is displaying more harmful symptoms (not eating, lethargic, swimming on its side, breathing heavily, or infecting other fish), more drastic action needs to be taken. I'll go over these details in a later post but briefly, treatments include: removing the sick fish and placing her in a hospital tank, freshwater dip, and copper treatment (as well as lots of others on the market; NOTE: Be careful! Lots of treatments will kill your inverts and coral, especially copper!). Take into consideration that every treatment will add stress to your fish, potentially weakening her immune system. You have to weight the risks and benefits and decide what's best for your ailing fish.

Chantal itching on a rock.

Another view of Chantal itching.

Video of Chantal itching her bumps.

Most importantly, what do you think? Does Chantal have lymphocystis? Something else? How can I help her? Suggestions?

Links about Lymphocystis:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/saltwaterfishdiseases/a/aalymphocystis.htm
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Lymphocystis.html

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/lymphocystis.php

Finally! My Blue Tang

2010-09-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

Chantal and Phillip (royal gramma)

Chantal loves the clowns!

--our aquarium!

I have been dying to purchase a Blue Tang (also known as a regal tang and hippo tang; it's scientific name is Paracanthurus Hepatus). Everyone told me this was a bad idea since they are sensitive, get stressed and bullied easily, and tend to get diseases. "They're ick magnets!" an aquarium expert scoffed at the LFS. I was undeterred. The bright blue colors with black streaks and yellow tail! Oh my! I fell for this fish's beauty. Plus, tangs (my favorite group of fish) are peaceful, reef safe, and eat algae. What more could you want? Anyway, I was tired of playing by all the rules. It was time to venture out and be bold. I spotted some healthy juvenilles swimming around at my favorite LFS and couldn't resist. They were fresh in from Hawaii. I purchased the healthiest gal (we can't tell the sex but decided to proclaim her female since our tank was becoming male- dominated).

We brought Chantal home and carefully acclimated her to the tank. I even gave her a little cup to hide in the acclimation chamber. I dimmed the lights and carefully netted her into the tank. I held my breath and waited. I had been told she would be shy and skittish, hiding in the live rock for days. The "experts" told me I would probably not see much of her for the first week or so. Surprisingly, she started taking over the tank, bullying the other fish! I guess she had heard the motto from prison: "Make someone your bitch the first day or else be someone else's." Luckily, the other fish didn't fall for her bluff and pretty much ignored her false charges and zipping about the tank. She immediately started gulping up copepods pouring in from the refugium. A quick check on the internet confirmed that the blue tang's diet consists mostly of plankton in the wild (not algae as I had falsely been told).

I have high hopes for her! She's quite the diva and spends most of her time swimming out in the open, eating copepods. She's very frisky! Not at all what I expected. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she stays healthy.

Blue Tang Facts
Other names: regal tang, hippo tang, yellow-tailed blue tang

Scientific Names: Paracanthurus Hepatus

Diet: Herbivore. Eats mostly plankton but supply a varied diet of meaty foods and greens. Provide kori or seaweed on a veggie clip.

Size: adults group up to 12 inches; when she starts to grow too big for our 75-gallon tank, we'll either have to trade her out :*( or get a bigger tank :) An ideal tank size is 200 gallons.

Region: Hawaii
Disposition: shy and hides in rock and caves but also likes to swim a lot; high metabolism; tends to get stressed easily, making it susceptible to diseases like ick, marine velvet and lateral line erosion.

Note: has sharp spines that can cut if handled (typical of surgeonfish)

Other: peaceful and reef compatible

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracanthurus_hepatus
http://hubpages.com/hub/Blue-Tang

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-pacificbluetang.htm

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Surgeonfish/Blue-Hippo-Tang.php

http://saltwater.tropicalfishandaquariums.com/Tangs/RegalTang.asp

Earl, our Lawnmower Blenny

2010-09-21T10:32:00.001-07:00

We recently purchased Earl, our lawnmower blenny. We have some algae cropping up on our live rock, and he seemed like an easier way to get rid of it rather than scrubbing the rock weekly with a brush (although I have to do that too). He was described as "drab and boring" but I love him! He's very active and always munching on algae. When I pass by, he stops to stare at me like, "What do you want?" and then continues grazing. He's got lots of personality. When he's done eating, he perches in a cave in the live rock and peeks out, surveying the tank from above.

At first, I thought he was going to go after Scooter (our little scooter blenny). He kept charging and attacking him. Argh! Another blenny gone bad? It turned out to be just play. Scooter could have easily gotten away and taken up residence somewhere else in the tank; they have plenty of room. However, Scooter seemed to enjoy "teasing" Earl. He would swim into Earl's space and munch away at the live rock, right in Earl's algae patch! Earl would charge Scooter, and Scooter ignored him, pretending he wasn't there at all! Now the two hang out and actually seem to enjoy each other's company. I guess those guys are Kings of the Mountain when it comes to the live rock.

It's so much fun to watch these guys in action!

Scooter, Earl's friend.

Facts on the Lawnmower Blenny

Scientific name: Salarias fasciatus

Diet: Herbivores; eat algae; supplement with green foods

Activity: Likes to munch on algae on live rock

Region: Indo Pacific

Compatibility: Reef safe, peaceful and hardy
Size: Max 5"

Links:

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/lawnmower_blenny.htm

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/blennies/LawnmowerBlenny.php

http://www.reefpedia.com/index.php/Lawnmower_Blenny

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-lawnmowerblenny.htm

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2971+94&pcatid=94

Taking Risks...and Being Rewarded--Pedro, our Bluejaw Triggerfish!

2010-09-15T10:27:00.001-07:00

I had been sooo careful. Carefully researching every move I made before trying it out on our aquarium. Reading, looking on-line, talking to my aquarium expert friends. Everything was going swimmingly. But I started getting aquarium envy upon gazing at other people's aquariums. Everywhere I looked, people were taking risks. Fish that are supposed to eat coral in a reef aquarium that peacefully went about their business and left the coral alone. Coral beauties, Flame Angels, Copperband Butterflies minding their own business in a reef tank. I spotted fragile fish, coral and invertebrates that are "difficult" in beginner tanks left alone with little attention, such as starfish and sea anemones. Finally when I spotted a Coral beauty angelfish licking the algae off a friend's aquarium, something inside me snapped. I'd had it playing safe!

Triggerfish are probably one of the most unsafe fish you could add to a peaceful reef tank. They have voracious appetites, eat everything from shrimp to fish to coral, and are extremely aggressive (as in: you-may-lose-your-fingers-when-hand-feeding aggressive). So why would you want one? They are extremely intelligent, loaded with personality, friendly towards people (I've heard of them coming to the surface and "barking", begging to be fed), brilliantly colored/shaped/patterned, and just about the coolest fish you could possibly have.

I decided to add one to our tank. Am I crazy? Maybe. Or maybe I was just tired of Greg calling our present fish "fresh-water minnows". Regardless, I took the bait and fell for the dare. Upon hearing that the Bluejaw Triggerfish was one of the most reef-safe triggerfish you could have, I purchased a cute, juvenile male. Is the term "reef-safe triggerfish" an oxymoron? Well, we're going to find out.

The Bluejaw trigger feeds on plankton, unlike his other more carnivorous trigger cousins. They are smaller than other triggers (which are normally gi-normous). Smaller here means up to 12". If ours grows up to be that big, we'll sadly have to trade him out or get a bigger tank. He'll be too cramped in our measly 75 gallons! In addition, this trigger is actually very shy! If I move too quickly, he dives into his favorite cave in the live rock.

I have quickly fallen in love with our Bluejaw. His name is Pedro. After getting rid of Kujo, our crazy Midas Blenny, Pedro came out of his shell. (The Midas Blenny was terrorizing poor Pedro! Ever heard of a blenny picking on a triggerfish? Me either!) His eyes are my favorite; they are a soft brown and have the ability to move independently of his body, much like a human's. He eats pretty much everything I feed him and has become quite chubby! A fat fish is a happy fish. If I sit still, he swims in front of me, undulating his gorgeous yellow fins. I love the white dots on his sides! When he gets excited (like when he's feeding or showing off), the blue around his jaw brightens, almost like he's blushing. He hasn't bothered any of his tankmates (they were pretty terrified of him at first); Pedro doesn't take any of their gruff either. He's very mellow and easygoing. In fact, Mr. Roper, who keeps getting picked on by Mrs. Roper (our Banggai cardinalfish, actually 2 males, unfortunately), hides behind Pedro to keep from getting chased! I've seen Phillip take refuge behind Pedro as well to ward off Mrs. Roper. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he continues behaving this way. He is quickly becoming a tank favorite!

Pedro, what a cutie!

Bluejaw Trigger Links:

http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/triggerfish_for_the_reef_tank
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/fish/index.php
http://www.reeftime.com/profiles/triggerfish/blue-throat-trigger/100034.htm

What I do in my free time...

2010-09-11T19:58:00.001-07:00

Clownfish peeking out of an anemone

Floyd sleeping

Travis sleeping

Venturing into LPS Coral (Stonies!)

2010-09-10T11:10:00.001-07:00

Our aquarium with Mrs. Roper (actually a Mr.), the clowns (Bonnie & Clyde) and Merry Maids (shrimp).

Not to be outdone, Phillip, the Royal Gramma, makes an appearance.

LPS stands for large polyp stony coral. As opposed to the soft coral, they have a more calciferous skeleton and require slightly more care. However, contrary to popular belief, many will do well in an aquarium with less light and flow than required by the finicky SPS (small polyped stony) coral cousins. Although the SPS coral is typically what we all think about when we think of coral (stony, cool, calcified formations under the sea, forming branches, skeletons, and intricate networks of amazing, brilliant colors and patterns), these guys are not the easiest to maintain in the average home aquarium. Because of this, we've decided to stick to some of the easy corals: soft and LPS. Keep in mind, because LPS corals are still fairly soft and fleshy, many extend long sweeper tentacles at night to sting competing, neighboring corals that stray too close. These guys claim a lot of real estate!

We've already added a lot of soft coral: mushrooms, zoanthid, leather finger coral, toadstool, and xenia. We even added an LPS coral (frogspawn).
http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/08/leather-finger-coral.html
http://reefaquariumtrials.blogspot.com/2010/08/soft-coral-for-beginners.html

It was time for something different. Something more daring. Something more bold. I went with 2 new additions:

Open Brain Coral (Lobophyllia)
Other names: Lobed Brain Coral, Flat Brain Coral, Open Brain Coral, Wrinkle Coral, Meat Coral, Modern Coral, Large Flower Coral, Carpet Brain Coral, and Brain Root Coral.

All I can say about this guy is, Wow! Wow! Wow! So many intense colors. This guy (aptly named, "Brain") opened up more brilliantly than in the shop from the instant I put him in our tank. I think he loves it! He's in a spot with lots of light and moderate-to-high flow. In addition to photosynthesizing, I supplement his diet (along with all my LPS corals) with a mixture of live phytoplankton and some oyster eggs 1-2x/week (I dilute this with some tank water in a cup; then, I spot feed with a turkey baster while the pumps are off). This guy is considered quite hardy and excellent for the beginning aquarist. Like many LPS corals, he does extend long, stinging sweeper tentacles at night so he needs lots of room. Other interesting facts? Unlike many LPS, this guy can be propagated pretty easily in captivity.

Links:
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/lg_stony/LobophylliaHemprichii.php
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Lobophyllia_hemprichii
http://www.aquariumpassion.com/profiles/corals/lobophyllia.html

Elegans Coral (aka "Elegance Coral")
Catalaphyllia jardinei

I was told this was a very hard LPS coral by my LFS (local fish shop). However, after reading about it on-line, this line-of-reasoning is somewhat controversial. Apparently, they were over-collected, and more recently, the ones being collected are coming from deeper and deeper ocean regions (in Australia). These new, deeper Elegance Corals are much more finicky and perish in captivity. Therefore, the care listed for these has changed from "Easy" to "Moderate".

It's also known as "Elegant", "Ridge", or "Wonder" Coral. It likes low to moderate water flow and moderate lighting. Use caution when handling to avoid being stung. It's considered "aggressive" towards other competing corals because of its stinging tentacles. It likes to be placed directly on the substrate as rockwork can scratch and irritate it's fragile skeleton. When the Elegance Coral opens up, it expands up to 2x as much as at night. Clownfish often take up residence in it when no anemone is present (we're keeping our fingers crossed). Like other LPS corals, it likes to be spot fed a mixture of phytoplankton and brine shrimp 2x/week.

This coral is by far my favorite. It's like an alien creature with so many brillilant colors.

Links:
http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/elegance_coral.htm
http://www.aquahobby.com/corals/e_catalaphyllia_jardinei.php
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/elegance.htm
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/lg_stony/elegance.php

Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

2010-09-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Shrimp! Shrimp! We added shrimp!

These invertebrates add a lot of diversity to the aquarium and do a lot of beneficial housekeeping. They are very active, have lots of personality and are fun to watch. I LOVE the red and white stripes down the back! Peaceful and reef-safe, they made ideal additions to our aquarium. These guys are omnivores and clean detritus off the live rock and substrate. Amazingly, they will approach large fish and even moray eels to clean parasites off of them! If you stick your hand in the tank and let them get used to you, they will crawl onto your hand and pick off dead skin! These guys are the Merry Maids of the tank.

Like other invertebrates, they are intolerant of high nitrates, copper medications and fluctuatations in the environment (like temperature). Be sure your tank is stable and at least 3 months old before adding them. Sadly, we lost one of our shrimp within 5 days after adding it, most likely due to fluctuations in the water temps (although we'll never know). I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the other two; they seem to be really active and healthy.

The scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp like to be housed in groups; they're pretty social little guys. Interestingly, these guys are hermaphrodites. Pick two, any two, and they will breed, providing your tank with supplemental, nutritious food (sorry, you won't have any shrimp left over to hatch out unless you protect them in a refugium--the babies end up as fish food).

Do not keep adult shrimp with other predatory fish like lionfish or hawkfish or they will end up as expensive food. Make sure you use the drip method to acclimate your new shrimp to your tank as they're pretty sensitive little critters (take about 45 minutes at 1-2 drips/second before adding them to the tank).

Also, a healthy shrimp molts about 1x/month as it grows. This requires low levels of iodine in the tank (usually present in either the salt mix or reef supplements added to a reef tank). Ours molted immediately, one within a day and the other two, within a week. Of course, I didn't know anything about molting and freaked out when I found a complete shrimp exoskeleton in the tank the next day. I was totally upset, thinking the shrimp had died. I told Greg, sadly, about the passing of our poor shrimp. Befuddled, he scratched his head and wondered why he still counted three (unfortunately, one did die a few days later). All of our shrimp have now molted, although I still freak out and have to do a head count every time this happens.
Exoskelton left over from molting shrimp.

P.S. I was recently asked how long they live. I looked it up. Lifespan is about 3 years. Not bad!

Links:
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=268
http://www.aboutfishonline.com/articles/cleaner-shrimp.html
http://www.fishlore.com/profile-skunkcleanershrimp.htm

When Good Fish Go Bad--Kujo, our Midas Blenny

2010-09-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

So we recently added a Midas Blenny to the tank. I read over and over that these fish are "ideal additions to a reef tank". They eat a mix of meaty foods and algae (unlike other blennies that eat mostly algae). He is supposed to be shy and peaceful, hiding in cracks and crevices in the live rock. He's long and swims in an eel-like fashion. In addition, the Midas Blenny is beautifully colored, a golden yellow with blue eyes and pink/orange stripes. He also changes colors depending on his mood! Originating from the Indo Pacific, they are hardy and reef-safe. (You need a canopy on your tank because they are expert JUMPERS!) Obviously, I was sold.
I was more than surprised when ours turned out to be a freak of nature. The first giveaway should have been his size. He's HUGE. I normally like to buy babies and let them grow up in the tank, adapting to the captive environment. But I thought this guy was cool (big warning sign--never buy a fish because you think he's "cool"). Instead of the average 4 inches, this Midas Blenny was at least 6".

I took him home and plopped him into our tank, where he hid for 2 days. I noticed his beautifully changing colors, pale and splotchy when scared and brilliantly orange-streaked when feeding. Then, he started turning into a terror. King Midas (or Kujo, whichever you like better) began emerging from his cave in the live rock more and more, swimming awkwardly across the entire tank.

He "claimed" the entire 75 gallons for himself. First, he picked on little Bonnie and Clyde, our peaceful little clownfish, banishing them to the powerhead region. Then, he chased Louie, our canary wrasse into the sand. He chased Phillip, our royal gramma, out of his cave, deciding to claim it for himself (only to return to his original cave, front and center, later). Much to my dismay, the carcasses of two of our newly added cleaner shrimp appeared the next two following morning. Our Banggai cardinalfish have gone into hiding. He even chased Pedro, the bluejaw triggerfish, away from some choice mysis, although Pedro didn't take his bluff. Finally, upon spotting an intruding hermit crab, cleaning near the mouth of his cave, King Midas flew into a tirade, grabbed the poor, innocent crab by the shell, who was just doing trash pick-up, and threw him into the sand. Subsequently, King Midas has done this on multiple ocassions to several, unsuspecting hermit crabs passing by. Every time Scooter, my precious little scooter blenny, hops by on the live rock, I hold my breath and break out into a cold sweat, especially since King Midas is about 6x bigger!

Upon digging a little deeper, I discovered that Midas Blennies are extremely territorial. Normally, you would get a little one, he would claim a small cave, defend that little area, and that would be it. This guy is just too big for our 75-gallon tank. He seems pissed off and all the other members of the kingdom are now living in terror, tiptoing around their suddenly shriveled domains. I do think we got a freak when it comes to Midas Blennies. Everything I've read about them says they're peaceful, full of personality, and loveable fish. Unfortunately, ours is just an asshole. Needless to say, I'm returning him today. Sigh. Live and learn. The first (okay, tenth) of many mistakes to come.

P.S. Returning a fish is NOT easy to do. Think about what you're adding to the tank VERRRRRY carefully! Because if it doesn't work out....you're going to have to C.A.T.C.H. it again. Easier said than done. We basically scooted King Midas into a cave in the live rock, hauled out the live rock (dismantling the entire aquarium), plopped it into a bucket with tank water, put a lid on it, and drove to the store where the staff then dealt with getting Midas out of the rock. Phew! I'm exhausted. But our tank kingdom is peaceful and calm again.

Links on Midas Blennies:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/blennies/MidasBlenny.php
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-on-Midas-Blenny-Care&id=3297853
http://www.aboutfishonline.com/articles/midas-blenny.html

Sea Cucumber Hitchiker!

2010-08-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

Oh...My....God....Look at what I found in our refugium! It's a hitchiker. I didn't know what the hell it was. Mike, our aquarium expert, identified it as a sea cucumber. This is the coolest thing ever!

In case you didn't believe me, here's a close up of this creature. What should we name him? Her?

About Sea Cucumbers:

Some can grow up to enormous lengths. Also, many reef aquariusts fear them because when they die, they release a lethal dose of toxins that can "nuke" the entire tank. This guy is small enough that Mike told me not to worry. Plus, he seems happy in the refugium. He's in a safe place where no one picks on him as well. We've decided to risk the "nuclear" potential of this guy and keep him because he is just so dang cool! I looked him up: he's a "Yellow Knobby Sea Cucumber", originating from the Indian ocean, often sold for $20 each. Cool! (The official name is: Colochirus robustus). He's a supsension feeder that needs lots of detritus and phytoplankton, as well as rotifers. No wonder he likes my refugium!

Cool Facts about Sea Cucumbers:

They can spill out their guts as a defense mechanism. Evisceration. They then grow their guts back. Ewww!
Sea cucumbers communicate with each other by sending chemical signals through the water.
They can reorganize their endoskleton in order to fit through small cracks (they liquefy themselves, squeeze through, and become solid again). I wish I had that superpower!
They are scavengers and eat detritus found on the sea floor. You can also feed them phytoplankton.
Sea cucumber are slow, fairly sedentary creatures.
They breathe, eat, and poop out of the same orifice. Ewww!
They can go for long periods of time without eating and actually can partially eat themselves for sustenance! Ewww! (If your sea cucumber is getting smaller, it needs to be fed! Stat!)
The "toxins" secreted as a defense mechanism by some sea cucumbers are being studied for its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Cool!
They can reproduce asexually---by splitting into 2! Neat!

Sea Cucumber Links:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/invert.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumber

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/seacucumbercare/p/pryellowseacucu.htm

http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/sea_cucumbers_for_the_marine_tank

Random Pics of my other Non-Aquatic Pets:

Floyd and I cuddling on the sofa.

Floyd gets rambunctious and wants to play.

Travis hears the commotion and gets jealous, leaping on top of us.

"That's MY person!" Travis protests.

Leather Finger Coral

2010-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Leather Finger Coral

We got this guy last week with the Banggais (Mr. Roper is now hiding in the rock and Mrs. Roper chases him back into hiding whenever he emerges. We believe he may be hatching eggs in his mouth!). Anyway, this is our Leather Finger Coral. It comes in lots of different colors. I've seen many pink and tan ones but this one is fluorescent green! It likes a spot with high water flow (although after putting it in a high water flow spot, it seemed to retract; we may move it to a medium flow spot instead). Like other softies, this guy needs less light than his stony cousins. Because of it's soft body, it's only means of defense is chemical warfare. It secretes toxins to impede the growth of competing corals around it. The main reason we selected this guy is that they are H-A-R-D-Y! Plus, they grow big and tall with cool-looking branches like a tree, which is different from our other corals.

This guy is in the Alcyoniidae family (and in the Lobophytum genus). Confusingly enough, the list of common names for the leather finger coral goes on and on: Thin Finger Leather Coral, Knobby Finger Leather Coral, Devil’s Hand/Finger Leather Coral, Dead Man’s Finger Coral, Bushy Soft Coral, Chili Pepper Coral, Cabbage Leather Coral, Trough Coral, Sinularia Finger Thick and Lobed Leather Coral. Geez! Pick one and stick with it!

Links:
http://www.livestockusa.org/LEATHERS.html
http://www.thesea.org/leather_coral/finger_leather_coral.htm
http://www.themarinecenter.com/corals/coralssoft/leathercoralfingerleather/alssoft/leathercoralfingerleather/ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/385392/finger_leather_coral_branches_in_your.html?cat=53

Banggai Cardinalfish--Latest Addition!

2010-08-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

We recently acquired a new pair of fish for our aquarium. I had been craving for a pair of Banggai Cardinalfish from day 1. However, every LFS (local fish store) seemed to only have Pajama Cardinalfish (see pic at bottom). I was a stickler for the Banggai guys; I just couldn't resist the black and white spots! I knew these guys would be perfect for my peaceful reef tank. They are shy, reef-safe, and extremely hardy.

Unfortunately, these guys are now on the endangered list due to overfishing to support the aquarium trade. I have been careful to support an eco-friendly tank. That would have been enough to nix the idea; however, turns out that these guys are a snap to breed in captivity. I became very excited when I spotted several juveniles at my favorite LFS. My heart sank when the fish guy told me they were wild-caught. I refused to purchase them. Upon visiting my 2nd favorite LFS, I spotted several mature Banggai Cardinalfish. These guys were captive-bred! Plus, they were very healthy. I selected a male/female pair that seemed very happy together.

Upon acclimating them to my tank, they proceeded to hide among the live rock, despite the fact that they are the biggest fish in the tank. Guess they just see themselves as bigger targets. They are verrrrry cool. Definitely shy, they don't stray far from their favorite hiding places. They don't swim around too much; in fact, they often supsend motionless in the water, despite the strong current. It probably would take less energy to just swim rather than fight the current to stay immobile! They get along with everyone else in the tank just fine. The male is obsessed with his reflection in the glass and spent 3 days challenging his mirror image to a duel. I pushed him away from that spot several times with my hand. Now he's set up post on the other side where he discovered yet another mirror image challenger. Ugh. We named them Mr. and Mrs. Roper due to their grumpy appearance. They appear to always be pouting due to their giant mouths.

Other facts about these guys?
They come from the Banggai islands in Indonesia. Their official name is Pterapogon kauderni, and are carnivores. You might want to take notes; there will be a quiz later. They are extremely easy to breed in captivity, partially due to the fact that they are mouth brooders, meaning that they hatch the eggs in their mouths (this is why their mouths are so big!). In fact, once the female releases eggs, the male actually is the one to care for the eggs in his mouth. For 20 days, the male carries the eggs, meaning that he doesn't eat during this time. Wow! Talk about chivalry. If only it were this way for our species. ;)

We're hoping our guys breed. Not only would it be fun, but I could give them to my favorite LFS to convince them to stop supporting the endangered wild-caught Banggai Cardinalfish. Right now, the narcissitic Mr. Roper is too obsessed with his reflection to court poor, lonely Mrs. Roper. Talk about vanity! Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? If he were human, he would be strutting around on the beach in his Speedos, waxed, oiled, and tan, flexing his muscles for all the sunbathers.

How can I tell the female apart from the male? This took some careful research and observation. The male has a longer 2nd dorsal fin from the female. Unfortunately, it often gets trimmed down due to pesky nipping by tankmates and is not a reliable marker. The males also have a squarer jaw, probably to accomdate carrying the babies. This was much easier for me to spot. Of course, the easiest way to sex a Banggai Cardinalfish is to put the unknown gendered fish (we'll call it "Pat") into a tank with a previously identified male. If Pat is a male, the two will fight (please quickly remove him to prevent a fatality). If Pat is female, the male will court her. Wish us luck on our breeding project!

Mrs. Roper peacefully swimming with Phillip and one of the clownfish (we don't know which one is Bonnie or Clyde yet). She never strays far from her hiding place. Here, she is wishing Mr. Roper would stop staring at himself in the mirror and keep her company.

Mr. Roper, annoyed that I pushed him away from his reflection. He returned to talking smack to his mirror image seconds after this shot was taken. Note that Mr. Roper's jaw is squarer and more pronounced than Mrs. Roper's (above).

Taking a step back, this is our tank, almost 3 months in the making. Not bad, eh?

Not our fish, this is a good example of male/female differences. The male (top) has a longer 2nd dorsal fin and more prounounced, squarer jaw than the female (below).

A picture of a Pajama Cardinalfish, closely related to the Banggai Cardinalfish. Pretty but not as much as ours! Maybe I'm biased.

Links for Banggai cardinalfish:

http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_kauderni.php

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Cardinalfish/Bangaii.php

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-banggaicardinalfish.htm

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/f_marini_020799.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banggai_cardinalfish

http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=1

Soft Coral for Beginners

2010-08-11T11:51:00.001-07:00

These soft corals are hardier, require less light and won't suffer as much as their more finicky cousins, the hard, stony corals. Instead of producing a calcium carbonate skeleton, like their stony cousins, they have tiny skeletal elements, or sclerites. These guys still need light to thrive but less. Like all coral, they form a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthella for most of their energy requirements but these coral will also eat brine shrimp and other free floating food that happens their way. (I've witnessed my zooanthids closing up to catch mysis after a feeding; not only my fish are eating!) Coral still needs great water quality, good lighting (day and blue T5s, for instance), and higher calcium and alkalinity levels than you would normally need for a fish-only system. But these requirements are very easy to meet, and the advantages of having gorgeous coral in your tank far outweighs the small increase in caring for them. Also, keep in mind, each coral prefers a certain type of water flow (strong, mild, or low). Water movement is important.

Mushroom Coral:

Aka Corallimorphs, mushroom anemones

Aptly named for their mushroom-like appearance, these guys come in a variety of colors and are among the hardiest of the soft corals. Unlike most other corals, they actually prefer lower levels of light and low current. Put these guys towards the bottom of the tank. I just moved my purple mushroom ("Sloth") from a high current to a low-flow area, and he instantly perked up.

http://aquafind.com/articles/mush.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinodiscus

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/corallimorph/corallimorph.htm

Purple mushroom (2 on bottom sides of rock)

(aka "Sloth")

Note the Zoanthid Coral on the top (Protopalythoa sp.) or "Pippi Longstalkings"

Blue-striped mushrooms (The Peppermint Patties!)

Green-striped mushroom (Actinodiscus) or "Disc Anemones"

I've also seen "Bluestriped Mushrooms".

So pretty we call her "Vegas"!

Zoanthids:

Aka Zoanthidea, Sea Mats, Colonial Anemones, Button Polyps

Another great beginner soft coral for the aquariums, these guys also come in a variety of shapes and colors and are very hardy. They prefer strong water movement and lots of light. They have small, disc shaped polyps that resemble clusters of flowers. Actually, they are called hexacorals by biologists since their tentacles come in pairs of 6 (so do mushrooms). They also grow rapidly (I can personally attest to this! Both Pippi and Lilly have sprouted babies since we acquired them only 1 month ago). These guys are closely related to Cnidaria (anemones). They come in lots of brilliant colors (reds, greens, blues, etc.) and are constantly moving, making them fascinating to watch.

http://fishinsects.suite101.com/article.cfm/hardy_coral_for_the_aquarium
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-zoanthid-coral.htm

http://www.thesea.org/zoanthids/

We named this pretty Zoanthid "Lily". Don't forget to take a look at "Pippi" (above in mushroom section). Zoanthids can come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors!

Xenia Coral:

Aka Xenia elongata, Pulsating Xenia

One of the "pulse corals", this hardy soft coral is known to grow like a weed. Shaped like tiny, daisy-like flowers, I thought the name "Xenia" was very appropriate. It reminded me of Zinnias I used to plant in the garden. Watching the polyps sway in the water is mesmerizing (pulsing). This coral is sustained 100% by photosynthesis and is rumored to do better in slightly "dirty" water with more nitrate and phosphate (one that is less heavily skimmed--no chance in my tank, unfortunately). Like other true soft corals, xenia has eight polyps (octocoral). Occasionally, xenia will "crash" and die out, causing a release of a huge amount of toxins into the water as the coral decays. Xenia likes high water flow and intense light.

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/pulsating_xenia.htm

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-pulsingxenia.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/352397/the_xenia_coral_weed_or_a_welcome_addition.html

Xenia reminds me of a flower so I named her "Flower". Obvious, I know.

Toadstool Coral:

Aka Sarcophyton trocheliophorum, Toadstool Leather Coral, Leather Coral, Trough Coral

This gal was so unusual and pretty, I was stoked to learn she would do well in our tank. The tightly clustered polyps are bright green atop a pink base. The polyps sway in the water, giving it the appearance of a small anemone. He likes low water flow and lots of light. In addition to photosynthesis, the toadstool coral benefits from supplemental feeding of some occasional brine shrimp and phytoplankton. These guys can grow quite big. I can't wait!

http://www.thesea.org/leather_coral/toadstool_leather_coral.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/385421/facts_about_toadstool_soft_coral.html?cat=53
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/coralidprofileresource/p/sarcophyton.htm

I named her "Tuffet" like "Miss Muffet sat on a"... you get the idea.

Frogspawn:

Aka Euphyllia divisia, Wall, Octopus, Grape Coral

Technically, Frogspawn is an LPS (large polyp stony) coral, not a soft coral. This guy requires a bit more attention than the others but I just loved him. The tentacles area a pale, fluorescent green and are constantly swaying in the water. Also, clownfish sometimes adopt Frogspawn in lieu of their host anemone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! They prefer moderate to low water movement and strong light. Frogspawn thrives on a combination of meaty foods, like mysis and brine shrimp, as well as photosynthesis. This guy is semi-aggressive (he stings competing coral) and can encroach on other corals if not watched; he needs plenty of room.

http://www.aquahobby.com/corals/e_euphyllia_divisia.php
http://www.fishlore.com/coral/frogspawn-coral.htm

--on the left (One-Eyed Willy, a zoanthid is on the lower right), I named him Kermit! Scooter is checking him out on the rock to the right.

There are many other corals we are interested in (Leather Coral, Gorgonian, etc.) but this is a good start!

Links:

http://www.aquacon.com/Begcorals.html
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/softspeciesprofiles1/tp/easysoftcorals.htm
http://www.algone.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:soft-corals&catid=36:saltwater-aquarium&Itemid=60

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyonacea

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/soft.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/277591/my_top_5_beginner_corals_for_aquariums.html?cat=53

Royal Gramma!

2010-08-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

I visited my LFS (Pet Kingdom) the other day to pick up some RO water, aragonite substrate and activated carbon. Ugh. How boring. It was like going to the grocery store. I treated myself to a slow, walk-through by the aquariums, "just looking".

I spotted this little guy and was instantly SOLD! The Royal Gramma has been on my list of fish to put in my aquarium. This fish is small, hardy, peaceful, reef-safe, and beginner friendly. Not to mention...G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.!

We took him home and put him in the tank. He immediately hid in the live rock for 2 days. I knew he would be shy but c'mon! We named him "Phillip". We thought it sounded "Royal" (kind of like our Louie--the Canary Wrasse). Plus, it's kind of wimpy. And Phillip is verrry wimpy! Even Scooter, our mild-mannered little Scooter blenny can bully him around (much to his chagrin).

Phillip is finally coming out to eat and explore on Day 3. I love this guy!

Phillip--emerging from the live rock but still not straying far from his hole.

Is Phillip hamming-it-up for the camera?

Yes, Phillip is definitely showing off.

Other Facts about Royal Grammas:

These guys are very strikingly colored with their heads being a dark purple and tails a bright yellow. They hail from the Caribbean region of the Atlantic and are also known as the "Fairy Basslet". Although peaceful and shy, they are territorial when it comes to defending their cave in the live rock. Phillip will dart out and try to chase Scooter and Louie away when they pick at the rock near his hole. These guys are also carnivores so they get the mysis mix I feed the tank in the a.m.

Note:

Royal Grammas are similar to looking to the Bicolor Dottyback. However, it's easy to tell the two apart. Dottybacks have a solid line that separates the purple from the yellow, whereas the Gramma bifurcation between the two colors is blended. In addition, the purple on the Gramma tends to be darker (the dottyback is more of a pink/pastel color). The dottyback is a bit smaller as well and lacks the flashy eyespot on the dorsal fin that the gramma has. Although the Dottybacks are another popular choice for beginner reef aquarists, they are considerably more aggressive despite their small size. For this reason, I selected the Royal Gramma since I'm going for a more peaceful community reef tank.

Bicolor Dottyback (NOT a Royal Gramma)

Royal Gramma Links:
http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/royal_gramma.htm

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+21+53&pcatid=53
http://hubpages.com/hub/Royal-Gramma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_gramma

http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles_Fairy_Basslet.htm

A Brief Primer on Algae: the Good & the Bad

2010-08-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Algae: Friend or Foe?

I thought all algae was bad in aquarium-speak. But I spoke too soon. Normally, we try to get rid of algae in our aquarium. Algae is not necessarily bad, in and of itself; however, it is a sign that you have an underlying problem. In other words, algae is the symptom, not the disease. Things like: Light, Phosphates, and Nitrates promote algae growth. Small, frequent water changes, an excellent filtration system, good water flow, and a good clean-up crew (crabs, snails, shrimp and some fish) are excellent ways to control algae growth.

Keep in mind there are a myriad of different types of algae: brown, green, red. Diatoms, cyanobacteria (red slime algae--although not an algae at all), macroalgae, green hair algae, and coralline algae. The one thing they all have in common? They all photosynthesize from light. Most also feed on nitrates and phosphates as well. The similarities stop there. Some are eukaryotic; some prokaryotic. Some single-celled; others (macroalgae) are multi-celled (like kelp and seaweed). Some types are desirable, some are not. In other words, it's like weeding your garden. You weed out the ones you don't want and try to propagate the beneficial ones.

Coralline Algae:

For instance, encrusting coralline algae, introduced on live rock, gives saltwater aquariums their gorgeous color. I love all the bright pinks, reds, and whites covering my live rock! Because coralline algae incorporate calcium into their hard skeletons, like coral, it's important to have proper calcium levels in your tank to stimulate coralline algae growth. Coralline algae can help cement your live rock together, providing a strong foundation for building a reef.

Cyanobacteria (Red Slime Algae):

This is not an algae at all but in fact, a bacteria. Cyano is an undesirable pest in your aquarium. Things like light, phosphates, and nitrates promote its growth, like most algae. You have to give the cyano some respect though--it's one of the oldest lifeforms on the planet, dating back to 3.5 million years ago. Also, some scientists think that plants got their chloroplasts from cyanobacteria via a looong evolutionary process called endosymbiosis. In fact, the oxygen produced as a byproduct of cyano's photosynthesis may be the reason why we have blue skies on our planet. Don't be deceived by the name either; cyano can be blue, green, black, or red in color.
Diatoms (Brown Algae):

These brown, single-celled organisms are one of the first signs of life in your new aquarium as its cycling. They feed off of silicates found in the substrate and form an unsightly brown slime over everything. Luckily, as quickly as they grow, they die quickly too. They can easily be stirred up and wiped away. Keep in mind that these simple organisms make up the photosynthetic part of plankton (phytoplankton) and feed zooplankton (copepods).

Diatoms--very pretty under a microscope!

--not so pretty in your aquarium

Blue-Green Algae (Chlorophyta):

This is the most common type of algae in our aquariums and often the picture we get in our heads when we think of algae. Slimy, green, and hairy, green algae looks similar to a green swamp monster. This is also the type of algae you want to leave in patches to feed your tang and other algae-loving critters!
--Blue-Green Algae under a microscope

--an aquarium overgrown with Blue-Green algae

Macro Algae:

You will actually find yourself buying algae at one point from your LFS. I did. I added the seaweed-looking green stuff to my refugium. They clean up nitrates and phosphates like no one's business and provide a safe harbor for propagating tiny beneficial critters like copepods to feed my tank. Basically, I'm making plankton. Lots of fish eat it too. There are a myriad of different types, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. I recommend a variety. They are the plants of the saltwater world.
Kelp--the ocean's largest macro algae

Types of macro algae available for purchase at your LFS:

Take Home Message:

Keep in mind that algae is going to be an inhabitant in your saltwater aquarium, whether you like it or not. And, just like you don't want that xenia coral you put in your tank to take over the entire system, you also don't want a showcase algae aquarium. So keeping algal growth in control is important. But be careful not to go too far the other way and "sterilize" your tank. A healthy tank has some algae growth. Lots of little organisms (and some of your fish...like tangs!) love to eat the algae. So make sure to keep some algae pastures to keep your aquarium tenants happy.

--a happy white-spotted face tang eating algae

General Algae Links:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa111797algae.htm

http://www.saltwater-aquarium-online-guide.com/algae.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/saltwater-aquarium-algae.html

http://www.amdareef.com/ho_algae.htm

Coralline Algae Links:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/aboutcorallinealgae/ss/coralline.htm

ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coralline_algae

http://www.garf.org/coralline.html

http://www.algone.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=viewlink&link_id=35&Itemid=114

http://www.garf.org/NORM/coralline/corallinenorm.html

Cyanobacteria Links:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/diatomandslimemicroalgae/a/redslimealgae.htm

http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/algae.shtml

http://netclub.athiel.com/cyano/cyanos2.htm

http://saltwater-aquarium-guide.net/blue-green-algae-cyanobacteria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria

Green Algae Links:

tp://www.saltwater-aquarium-online-guide.com/green-algae.html

Diatom Links:

http://www.saltwater-aquarium-online-guide.com/brown-algae.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom

Macro Algae Links:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-01/sl/index.php

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2159&aid=2053

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=948

Comprehending Copepods

2010-08-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

What are copepods, arthripods, phytoplankton, and why should you care? Well, I got a scooter blenny after only 2 months so I needed a crash course. Turns out, you shouldn't get one of these guys unless your tank is 1 year old or more. Why? Because it thrives mainly on copepods, which only grows in a substantial enough population to feed a scooter blenny in a closed aquarium after a year. Oops.

Copepods are tiny, flea-sized crustaceans that form the zooplankton component of plankton. Plankton is comprised of tiny animals and photosynthetic algae (like diatom, the main source of food for a copepod) and makes up a large percentage of the ocean's food source...like whales. I've never quite understood this. How does the ocean's smallest sustain the ocean's largest?

Anyway, in your aquarium, they get introduced on the live rock, feed on the algae that grows in your tank (that's why you don't want your tank "too" clean) and, over time, reproduce enough to add to your fish's diet.

Of course, they would quickly be wiped out in your aquarium. This is where refugiums come in. With some live rock, substrate, and macroalgae, you can create a small, "safehouse", for these guys to grow at a faster rate. Luckily, copepods and arthripods can be cultured and purchased at your LFS (local fish shop). You add them to your tank or refugium to get it going more quickly (or in my case, feed poor Scooter). And you can even add a pinch of phytoplankton to feed the copepods (I prefer drops...do this at your own risk...can we say algal bloom?).

So a dash of this (refugium), a pinch of that (copepods), and a drop of this (phytoplankton) and...whallah! I now have a very visible population of copepods in my aquarium. It took, oh, a few days. I'm skeptical. I've never been that successful with this hobby, and I always thought less was more in the marine aquarium hobby. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. A heterologous cloud of moving, little white specks are swimming, bobbing and swirling around my tank. And, upon closer inspection, I have confirmed, it's not dust, and no, it's not bubbles. And apparently, this is a good thing.

Links:
http://www.helium.com/items/1770461-what-are-copepods
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/AnimalDetails.aspx?id=778798
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/pestscopepods/a/aa061200.htm
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/copepodamphipodprofile1/Copepods_Amphipods_Information.htm http://www.alltropicalfish.com/content/view/134/101/
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2008/07/25/bugs-in-my-aquarium-an-overview-of-amphipods-and-copepods/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton

Refugium Reveries Come to Life!

2010-08-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

--our new HOB (hang-on-back) refugium

I had been thinking of installing a refugium from day 1. However, I got so overwhelmed with the sump and protein skimmer, media reactor, powerheads, lights, etc., etc., etc., and all the other equipment simply needed to get our aquarium up and running, I decided to wait on the refugium. Maybe we didn't need one afterall.

After getting "Scooter", our Scooter Blenny, I instantly reconsidered. A refugium would lower phosphates (and unwanted algae growth) and most importantly, provide a good source of copepods and amphipods to feed the fish, espeically the poor little Scooter Blenny. I knew we had gotten him waaay to prematurely. Concerned about his future and long-term health, we splurged on the refugium. (I'm also starting a college fund for him; his IQ is amazingly high).

What is a Refugium? Quite simply, it's a small aquarium set-up as a "Refuge" from the critters in your main tank. It allows sensitive critters, like copepods, to breed in peace. The water from the main tank circulates through, feeding the copepods (tiny-flea like crustaceans eaten by Scooter Blennies, Dragonets, Clownfish, and most other fish) back into the main tank.

I was a little intimdated. Where would we put it? How would we install it? How much would it cost? How hard would it be to put together? As soon as I found out how easy the hang-on-the-back (HOB) refugiums are, we splurged and bought one on the spot. It came with it's own light for the macroalgae and a pump to circulate the water into the refugium from the main tank. I added substrate to the bottom, live rock rubble, and macroalgae, and whallah! We had a refugium! We also spiked it with a live culture of copepods to help get them going. I know it will be a few months until we have a healthy population but I'm excited about our new addition to our tank!

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/aquariumdiy/a/aa041400.htm

http://www.fishlore.com/refugium-setup.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/refugium.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/1065435-how-to-make-a-refugium-for-your-saltwater-aquarium

All About Clownfish

2010-08-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

I realize when I posted about our Canary Wrasse and Scooter Blenny, I forgot to give any information about our clownfish: Bonnie & Clyde.

Clownfish, or anemone fish, are related to damsels. They are hardy, friendly and active, perfect for a community reef. They are immune to the toxic stings of anemone and have co-evolved to live in the anemone's protection within its tentacles. They are omnivorous, and eat both meat and algae. Clownfish are "protandrous hermaphrodites", meaning that they are all born as males but have the ability to turn into a female. Clownfish pair up as juveniles, one becomes bigger and more aggressive, and this one turns into the bossy female! The smaller guy remains the male in the mated pair. Do I hear wedding bells? My two are still too small to figure out which one is "Bonnie" and which one is "Clyde" but Greg and I take bets daily.

The other cool thing about clownfish is that they are easily bred in captivity (which always makes me feel better that I'm not taking them away from the ocean). Bonnie & Clyde were bred locally, which is also nice because they are used to taking food from humans and didn't have to go through the stress of being shipped from Indonesia to get to San Diego!

My guys are voracious and eat anything! I've been feeding them mysis but I've seen them eat copepods and algae as well. They have learned I am their "Feeder" and swim up to me wherever I am. They're pretty adoreable. They always hang out together. I've noticed after lights-out, they snuggle at the bottom near the substrate to go to sleep.

We don't have an anemone (we're too novice to be able to adequately care for them) but clownfish can survive happily without one. In addition, some clownfish will claim another soft coral as home instead (like frogspawn). Since a lot of soft coral is beginner-friendly, we're hoping Bonnie & Clyde take to one in the future. Hope they approve of our redecorating!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clownfish

http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=3390

http://www.wonderclub.com/Wildlife/fish/clownfish.html

New Fish!!! Scooter Blenny & Canary Wrasse

2010-07-30T21:52:00.001-07:00

We got new fish yesterday! A "Scooter Blenny" and a "Golden Coris Wrasse". Here's what I've found out about these guys so far:

Golden Coris Wrasse (aka "Louie"):
It's actually a Wrasse, not a Coris so it should be called a Golden Wrasse or Canary Wrasse. We have a reef tank and are hoping this guy gets along with our corals. From what I've read, it generally shouldn't be a problem, although I have read of a few cases of these guys eating some inverts like shrimp. The majority from what folks have said is that these guys are great for a peaceful, community reef aquarium. They are peaceful and small (a max of 5" long). They look like slender, bright yellow autumn leaves with a black eyespot on its dorsal fin. Absolutely gorgeous. They are carnivorous and my guy had no problem eating frozen mysis. These guys also eat parasites off tankmates and coral, like flatworms, tubeworms and fireworms. They are leapers when nervous (and they get nervous pretty easily). I can attest to this; this guy wanted to jump out of the acclimation tank desperately. They love to dive into the sand to sleep or when scared. Louie likes to hide in the live rock when scared as well. However, within 12 hours, he was out and about all day! I think giving him lots of places to hide made him feel comfortable. He's definitely dirunal. Out, swimming about all day, and as soon as he had eaten dinner, poof! Louie disappeared into the sand for bedtime. These guys are also pretty hardy; perfect for beginners like us!

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1379+386&pcatid=386
http://www.thereeftank.com/compare-reef-fish/Canary-wrasse/reviews/

Scooter Blenny ("Waldo"):
So named because finding him is a bit like playing Where's Waldo. He blends in perfectly with the live rock! This guy is very friendly and perfect for a community reef tank. He's peaceful and small (5") and loves to crawl about in the sand and on live rock. At night, he sleeps under the substrate; all you can see is a pair of eyes. The only problem is that he's not recommended for beginners, mostly because he prefers to eat debris off live rock of a well-established tank. Oops. Our first major mistake. He's a slow eater and does not accept food easily. I tried feeding him frozen mysis/brine shrimp; he was very interested and swam after the particles but failed to actually ingest any of it. Damn! I even turned the pumps off for 5-10 minutes to give him a longer chance to eat. He prefers to sift through the sand and live rock in search of arthropods that live in the algae growing there. Looks like I'm going to need to invest in a refugium (more on this later) STAT! to save this guy. I'm determined to be a good aquarium mom, however, and try to take good care of him to the best of my abilities.

Can you find Waldo?

Where's Waldo?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1635+96&pcatid=96

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/Mandarins/ScooterBlenny.php

Bonnie and Clyde, happily swimming around, just a few weeks later. They don't seem to mind their new tankmates.

Travis and Floyd, some of our other pets, snuggling at bedtime. These guys are best buds!

Aquarium Maintenance Checklist

2010-07-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

Maintaining a saltwater aquarium can be very intimidating. What to do, how to do it, how often. I was sure I would forget something. Here's a checklist I put together from reading a compilation of books and websites. Of course, there are huge amounts of variation depending on personal preference so feel free to edit to your liking!

Daily:

1. Turn lights on/off (or on timer).

2. Check fish and inverts for health.

3. Make sure all systems functioning (skimmer, pumps, powerheads, heater, etc.)

4. Check water temp and specific gravity (pH, if you want).

5. Feed fish accordingly.

6. Empty protein skimmer cup.

7. Top off water as needed (use RO freshwater).

These chores, done 1-2x/day, only take 5-10 minutes.

Weekly:

1. Remove algae from glass with magnet (I actually do this 3x/week).

2. Remove salt creep from outside of aquarium and light fixtures.

3. Slightly more thorough cleaning than daily chores.

Bi-Monthly:

1. Perform 10-15% water change.

2. Conduct water tests (before and after change).

3. Clean off algae from inside tank before changing water.

4. Clean out skimmer more thoroughly.

5. Clean filters (change out filter sock).

Monthly:

1. Replace activated carbon from media reactor.

2. More thorough cleaning of filters and skimmer and outside of aquarium.

Quarterly:

1. Thorough examination of aquarium and all systems.

2. Replace/clean as needed (inside-and-out).

3. Clean powerheads and all pumps.

Bi-Annually:

1. Take apart skimmer and clean every 6 months.

2. Replace light bulbs every 6-9 months.

3. Check aquarium for cracks and leaks once a year.

Cycling of the Saltwater Aquarium

2010-07-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that your tank needs to "Cycle". No, you don't have to put your new aquarium on a stationary bike. This is the Nitrogen Cycle. It's the reason we can't just add all the fish we want immediately after getting our new tank. Some of you probably found out the hard way and lost most, if not all, of those new fish. Commonly known as "New Tank Syndrome" for those of us who have a hard time with patience (erm....me).

Basically, the main cause of all these problems is...fish poop. Yuk! Fish poop causes a sharp rise in ammonia, which is very toxic to the fish. Normally, bacteria present in the substrate and live rock break-down the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate, which is much less toxic to your fish. In a new tank, the beneficial bacteria haven't had a chance to populate yet, and they can't keep up with the fish poop produced by the new fish. So the fish die, and you get, whallah! New Tank Syndrome. So you need bacteria. This is one of the few cases where a clean tank is an unhappy tank.

The key is patience. It takes 4-6 weeks for your new tank to fully cycle. In the meantime, use your test kits to track the changes in ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. When the ammonia level drops to 0 and the nitrate levels begin to rise, it's time for your first water change (about 50%). You'll know when your tank has fully "cycled" when the ammonia levels drop to 0. You're then just about ready to add fish. Be sure to add only a few (1-3). The addition of each fish will actually trigger a 2nd "mini cycle" in your tank. Your beneficial, nitrifying bacteria population is still growing, and the addition of too many fish can easily overhwhelm the entire system. Add a few at a time, allow the good bacteria to grow for another month, and then add a few more.

If you have live rock, you're in luck. You have a well-established seeding of nitrifying bacteria ready to go. All you have to do is wait. You may never see any ammonia or nitrite levels. You will know when it's ready when the nitrate levels rise a bit after a month or so. Yes, it still takes the same amount of time. However, down the road, your biological filter (live rock) will be enormous and able to support the bioload produced by your fish.

You may have heard the best way to begin the cycle is to introduce a hardy fish, such as a damsel. However, this is not a great idea. First, it's very cruel to the fish. Second, damsels, which are most commonly used for this, become quite the aggressive pest to your other prized fish down the road.

Also avoid additives that claim to remove ammonia from the water or boost the cycling process overnight. These products are highly unreliable and can actually interfere with the cycling process. Be patient, and you will be rewarded. You will have much happier fish in the end!

Nitrogen Cycling in the Aquarium Links:

Napoleon Complex in Male Clownfish

2010-07-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

A Brief Primer on Water Chemistry

2010-07-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Measuring the parameters of your aquarium can be a bit daunting if you don't know much about chemistry. However, a basic understanding of what's happening with the water in your tank can be instrumental in preventing things from going wrong (and knowing what action to take when it does).

Keep the Water Constant
Saltwater fish (and coral) are much more sensitive to fluctuations in the water than freshwater fish. Freshwater fish live in an environment that is very dynamic. If you live in a little pond, you have to adapt to varying amounts of rainfall, evaporation, and large temperature swings. If you are a fish living in a coral reef, you don't have to adapt to any of these things. The ocean is an enormous body of water. The immense size of the ocean acts as a giant buffer; it takes a lot more than a thunderstorm or a cold winter to change the water in the ocean. Therefore, if you only learn one thing about the water in your reef aquarium, remember that your fish and coral HATE change. The absolute values of the different parameters of the water (e.g. specific gravity, temp, pH, etc.) don't matter as much as preventing them from changing.

Testing Your Water and Test Kits
Everyone has different opinions on how often to test their water. I test a bit more (about once a week) but this is because our tank is still young and we're still learning the ropes. As a rule of thumb, test your water before and after each water change to keep track of changes. And check the temperature on a daily basis, especially during the heat of the summer, when temps can soar (more on this in a later post).
Important parameters to check include:

Temperature: 78-80 degrees Farenheit
Specific gravity (or salinity): 1.024-1.026
pH: 8.1-8.3
Nitrates: as low as possible (0-10 ppm)
Ammonia and Nitrites: 0 ppm
Phosphate: as low as possible (below 0.05 ppm)
Calcium (reef tanks only): 375-475 ppm
Alkalinity (reef tanks only): 2.5-3.5 meq/L or 7-10 dkH

Water Parameters for our Reef Aquarium:

Temperature:
I've seen anything from 75 to 83 (Farenheit). The important thing is to keep it stable (+/- 1 degree). Ours runs at 80 (now that we have a fan in the hood to help cool the lights). I'll allow it to go 79 in the winter but that's it. Keep in mind cooler temps prevent algae growth. The actual temp depends on the species you keep in your tank. It seems reef tanks run a bit higher (around 80 vs 78) than fish-only (or FOWLR). It's easy to maintain with a heater and a thermometer. The hard part is cooling the water off. Temps can rise, especially with lights (and especially in the summer). A strategically placed fan in the hood and/or sump usually does the trick (our hood fan lowered the temp by 2 degrees). The downside? Our fan is cooling via evaporation so we have to refill the tank more frequently (about every other day). Also, temperature is the one thing I recommend checking daily (I actually check it 2x--am and pm).

Salinity:
This is measured by specific gravity. Recommended values are 1.023-1.026 (low end recommended for fish-only systems, higher end recommended for coral). Interestingly, a lower specific gravity retards parasitic growth. This is why aquarium shops often keep their fish housed at a specific gravity of 1.023 (or lower), not to mention why it's so important to carefully acclimate your new fish before dumping them into your tank! Also, keep in mind that while water evaporates, salt does not so when the water levels in your tank lowers, the salinity actually increases! That's why topping off with freshwater is critical. Also, smaller, more frequent top offs (daily) prevent large fluctuations in salinity. I use a refractometer to measure the specific gravity. Remember that temperature affects specific gravity so you may want to invest in one that is set to your tank's temp to avoid extra math in converting values. What exactly is specific gravity and what does it have to do with the percent of salt in the water? Specific gravity (or relative density) compares the density of the saltwater to pure water (therefore, pure water has a specific gravity of 1). Because saltwater has a lot of minerals in it, the specific gravity is higher than that of freshwater. We keep our tank at 1.025. I measure it with our refractometer about every other day. Convert your specific gravity to ppm here

pH:
This is the measure of hydrogen ions (H+) in the water. Freshwater is neutral (pH=7). Saltwater is slightly basic (our tank has a pH of 8.3). Again, keep your pH constant and your fish will thank you. pH is especially important for the calcification process, important for corals (especially stony ones). Interestingly, the act of photosynthesis conducted by your coral and algae in the tank will increase the pH. Therefore, expect small, normal,daily fluctuations when the lights go on (pH will rise) and off (pH will drop). This fluctuation should be no more than about 0.2. Briefly, because photosynthesis consumes CO2 and releases O2, this results in a pH increase (more basic). Once photosynthesis halts (when the lights go out), this process reverses, resulting in a slight acidification. I recommend using a pH probe to more easily test the water rather than the cumbersome test provided in many kits. More on pH here.
Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates:
This is basically produced by fish waste and, unfortunately, is very toxic to your aquarium denizens. Luckily, all the live rock you put in your system acts as a powerful biological filter, utilizing beneficial nitrifying bacteria to convert the ammonia (NH3), then nitrite (NO2-) and finally, the less toxic form, nitrate (NO3-). (More on this nitrogen cycle later). Nitrates are less toxic than ammonia but promote algae growth and are harmful at higher levels. Ammonia and nitrite levels should always be 0. Nitrates can be tolerated at slightly higher levels (~10 ppm). You can significantly lower your nitrate levels with excellent filtration equipment and live rock as well as small, frequent water changes. Also, NEVER overfeed your fish. Scavengers, such as hermit crabs, snails, and shrimp, can also aid in getting rid of excess debris before they produce these harmful chemicals. I test the nitrates before and after a water change and the ammonia and nitrites only if there's a problem.

Phosphates:
Ideally, this should be as low as possible (below 0.03) because, quite simply, phosphates promote algae growth. Phosphates (PO4) are typically introduced in the fish food. Macroalgae, frequent water changes, and feeding your fish the correct amount will prevent phosphate spikes.

Calcium:
This element is important in a reef aquarium simply because your coral (especially stony ones) utilize it to build their skeletons. Hey, just like us! Ideally, you want 375-475 ppm. Calcium chloride can be added to the water to boost levels but be sure to be extra conservative when adding anything to your water. Add only 1/4 the manufacturer's recommended dose and test levels every 24 hours. Adjust every other day until desired level is obtained. Watch your aquarium carefully 24 hours after adding anything new to the water for signs of distress or change.

Alkalinity:

This measurement is often confused with pH. Alkalnity is the ability of your aquarium to buffer changes in pH. In seawater, this is controlled by bicarbonate. Therefore, calcium and alkalinity are closely related when it comes to your tank since corals use bicarbonate for the calcification process required to build their skeletons. For reef aquariums, 2.5-4 meq/L is recommended. To find out more about alkalinity, go to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkalinity.

More links on water parameters for reef aquariums:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
http://www.thereeftank.com/articles/understanding-reef-tank-water-testing-and-parameters/http://reefchronicle.com/chemical-parameters-for-a-reef/
http://www.melevsreef.com/parms.html

How to do a Water Change (Without Ruining your Floors)

2010-07-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, the dreaded water change. I imagined buckets of water crashing onto my beautiful, new hardwood floors made of the ever-so-chic bamboo. When I was little, my dad used to change the water in our goldfish tank. I remember soggy, wet towels, dripping with nasty aquarium water. There was water everywhere. Not to mention siphoning nasty water into your mouth! Yuck! But it doesn't have to be that way...

Why do a Water Change?
Yes, you really do need to do water changes. We, luckily, have a toilet to take care of our business. But fish, coral and other invertebrates don't have this luxury. In order to keep toxic levels of nitrates from rising and other algae-loving substrates like phosphates, water changes are necessary.

How Much? How Often?
Everyone has different recommendations but I like to do ~15-20% bimonthly. I've heard of anything from 10% weekly to 20% monthly. It all depends on your bioload (how many fish you have) and equipment (a nice media reactor and protein skimmer cleans the water for you, making water changes necessary less frequently). In my opinion, I prefer smaller, more frequent changes. It's not as stressful on the entire system. A big change may shock your fish. Saltwater species are sensitive to any change in their environment. Afterall, they're used to a big, stable ocean. It's a bad idea to throw out a bunch of water they're used to and suddenly give them a bunch of new water, no matter how closely matched the new water is to the old.

Equipment Needed:

30-40 gallon garbage can on wheels for mixing saltwater (with lid)
pump for mixing saltwater and pumping water into or out of tank
plastic tubing (attaches to pump and long enough to reach tank from garbage can)
high quality synthetic salt (I love Tropic Marin but there are other good ones out there as well)
heater to heat new saltwater in garbage can to match that in tank
thermometer to measure temp of saltwater in garbage can
refractometer to measure specific gravity (salt percentage)
sponge, scrubbing pads, old toothbrush, turkey baster and razor blades for cleaning algae off live rocks, substrate and sides of aquarium

Step-by-Step Water Changing Procedure:

Mix salt water, preferably 24 hours before use:
Pour desired amount of RO water into garbage can (make sure you have extra RO water as back-up in case you overshoot specific gravity)
Hook up pump to plastic tubing to circulate, turn on heater, put thermometer into garbage can.
Slowly add salt a few cups at a time. Usually ~1/2 cup/gallon for a specific gravity of ~1.025. Allow each batch to dissolve (this is what the pump and tubing is awesome for) before adding new batch (~10-15 minutes). When you get close to total predicted amount of salt needed, begin measuring specific gravity with refractometer. It's always better to undershoot and just add more salt than overshoot and have to add more RO water.
Check the temperature, pH and specific gravity. Adjust until these parameters are identical to your tank.
Clean aquarium:
Turn off pumps, powerheads, protein skimmer, etc.
Use scrubbers, pads, toothbrush, etc. to lightly clean debris and algae off sides of aquarium and live rock. Be careful not to disturb fish and coral! Leave some green algae as "tang fodder". Gently mix top 1" of substrate with fingers to dislodge algae. Don't overmix or go deeper than 1" or you will disrupt the beneficial anaerobic bacteria underneath the top surface.
Wipe off salt creep from outside edges of aquarium.
Empty protein skimmer cup and clean out skimmer.
Change carbon in media reactor, if necessary (monthly).
Change filter sock.
Remove 10-20% old water:
Our tank is 75 gallons so this is 8-16 gallons for us.
We use the same pump used for mixing saltwater connected to a long stretch of plastic tubing. We put the pump into the top of the aquarium and pump it through the tubing into a 2nd garbage can designated for waste water. Try to get up as much of dislodged debris as possible.
Add new water:
After carefully making sure the new water matches the aquarium water (pH, specific gravity, temperature or as I like to call it, "PST"), use the pump and tubing to pump water from fresh salt water in garbage can into aquarium.
Turn all systems back on and check to make sure everything is running properly.
Leave a fresh chocolate mint on your fishes' pillow.

Your fish will thank you!

Links on Changing Water in a Saltwater Aquarium:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2148&aid=2972
http://www.wikihow.com/Mix-Saltwater-for-an-Aquarium
http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=371&theme=Printer
http://saltwater-aquarium-guide.net/changing-your-saltwater-aquarium-water

Our First Fish!

2010-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

We got our first fish yesterday! An adoreable juvenile pair of clownfish that we aptly dubbed Bonnie & Clyde.

They spend hours staring at their reflection in the glass. What do YOU think they're saying?

Are You a Good Slug or a Bad Slug?

2010-07-20T15:34:00.001-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time staring at my tank. With nothing but coral, snails, and hermit crabs, I expected to be quite bored. Surprisingly, I'm captivated by the lively movements and colors of the coral, alien creatures to me. The other night, I discovered the tank is still entertaining after the lights go out.

This strange, large slug made its 2nd appearance late one Saturday night. I know. I have a very exciting night, spending long amounts of time watching my saltwater aquarium. Anyway, the first time I saw her, I thought it was a fluke. I rubbed my eyes and squinted. The mysterious creature had disappeared. Maybe it was just my imagination...

Then, Nessie (we aptly dubbed the elusive creature) made its 2nd appearance. Well after lights-out, I spotted her, a large yellowish slug (antennae and all) with tiny punctate freckles, cruising up the back of our aquarium wall. I freaked. What is it? Is it good our bad? Do I kill it or feed it? I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures, a difficult challenge in darkness where a flash is also forbidden. We shined a flashlight on it, and Nessie quickly disappeared again.

After some research, I've discovered Nessie is a Stomatella Varia, a type of snail with almost no shell. Nessie is a benefical hitchhiker commonly found on live rock. She eats annoying algae, moves quite fast for a snail, and is nocturnal. Bingo!

I quietly await for what new surprises my mysterious aquarium has in store for me...

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/stomatella_varia.htm

Acclimation of New Fish

2010-07-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

We added our first fish today! Since we now have coral (just mushrooms and zoos) and a pair of clownfish, I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to discuss acclimating new creatures (fish or other inverts) to the saltwater aquarium.

Remember when you had a freshwater tank? You got a new fish and simply floated the bag on top of the tank for 20 minutes before releasing the fish and all into the tank. Better to just erase this memory from your mind right now because the bag-floating technique is a big no-no. It's too much of a shock to the fish. Plus, you end up introducing strange, foreign water containing who-knows-what into your pristine saltwater aquarium (remember all the hours you spent mixing up your saltwater to get the pH and specific gravity just right?).

How to Correctly Acclimate Fish to a Saltwater Aquarium:
1. Carefully pour fish and water into container ~3x the volume of water.
2. Gradually add water from your tank to acclimation container.

You can add 1/2 a cup every 10 minutes or set up a drip system (the easiest way).
For the drip system, connect a thin, plastic tube from the aquarium to container with a valve to control the flow rate.
Watch the drip system carefully. You may have to adjust the flow rate periodically. If acclimation container gets too full, empty a few cups out.
*Note--Do not leave to take a nap for 2 hours. I actually did this when introducing the coral. I can't believe they survived. I woke up and ran downstairs to check on them. The drip system had been set up too slowly, and the original water had turned cold. I put them immediately into my aquarium, and they now are all happy as clams (pun intended).*

3. Continue step #2 until the water in the acclimation tank is the same as the aquarium (pH, specific gravity, temperature). The entire process takes ~45 minutes.
4. Carefully net or use a small cup to delicately add your new fish to the aquarium.
5. Keep lights off or dim for a few hours to overnight while new fish get settled.
6. You may wish to wait a day before feeding. New fish that are stressed aren't very hungry, and uneaten food just junks up your tank.

--Our new clownfish in the "acclimation bucket" (a tupperware container) with the drip system going from our aquarium to container.

Invasion of the Brown Body Snatchers

2010-07-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

24 hours after we introduced the 8 pieces of new coral, I noticed something new as I walked by the tank. "Hmm. What's that on the glass?" Upon closer inspection, I observed a thin layer of brown slime. Instantly recalling upon the books I'd read, I recognized it as "diatoms". WTF? I had followed all instructions to a tee. Put in live rock. Add some substrate. A protein skimmer. A media reactor for the fun of it. Let simmer for a month. And, supposedly, whallah!, you're tank is ready for fish. Well, not quite. Only one or two hardy fish but that's irrelevant here.

We added the coral and decided to wait another (yes, that's 2) months before adding fish. I patted myself on the back for being so patient and converative. Coral...wow. I'm so brave for jumping right in. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard afterall. I followed the store owner's instructions about adding the coral supplements to the tank. Alkalinity? Check. Calcium? Check. Reef "vitamins" and "nutrients"? Check. To be extra careful, I added only 1/4 of the dose recommended by the manufacturer. The next morning, brown slime, creeping all over everything. Over the next 12 hours, I sat, wringing my hands, and helplessly watching the brown slime infest my entire tank: the glass, the walls, the substrate, live rocks, and even the thermometer. By morning, after consulting Mike, our aquarium guru, we knew what action was to be taken.

First, no more adding anything to the water. The tank was simply too young. And too unstable. Second, shorten the photoperiod to only 8 hours a day (for now). Third, do a final water change (we had done 50% (our first one) only a few days before)of 20%. Scrub off algae from rocks and glass and mix up the substrate with fingers. Add 10 more snails and 10 more hermit crabs. Then, leave it alone. I was skeptical that was all that was needed to rescue the tank from such an aggressive full-frontal attack.

We followed the above instructions carefully, then left the tank alone, watching it and wringing our hands again. One day later, I was pleased to see that everything looked much cleaner. But had the diatoms only retreated or fully surrendered? After several more days, I am happy to report that the diatoms appear to be defeated. The glass is clear, and lots of red and white coralline algae are painting the rock in colorful patterns. A little hindsight research teaches me that diatom growth is the first species of algae that commonly appears after a newly cycled tank. (I can already spot patches of green algae (2nd phase of attack) guys coming in nicely. I am secretly glad. They will be lush pastures for some hungry tangs.)

First Addition of Life

2010-07-15T22:47:00.002-07:00

Jittery with excitement, we eagerly drove to the aquarium store to pick out our first coral. We had scoped out the place several days before, and after drooling all over the gorgeous, healthy fish, we had delusions of grandeur of adding some clownfish and a royal gramma. After talking with some experts at the shop, we decided to add some "beginner" coral instead. Of course, this meant we would have to wait another month for fish. Sigh...

I had not wanted to jump into coral right away. Mostly because every book I read talked about how hard they were to keep. I figured I would probably kill them right off the bat. Turns out, lots of coral species (especially the soft ones) aren't as hard to keep if you have the right equipment. Because we had carefully invested in a tank with state-of-the-art gadgetry, many local aquarists suggested jumping into coral right away. I decided to dive right in.

After reading up on coral a bit, I was completely overwhelmed by the diversity of the different species. I don't know Latin, and I don't plan on memorizing the taxonomy of every creature I'm interested in. No one else I talk to refers to coral by their Latin name either. However, every species seems to have 5 different, very generic names. We were advised to stick to the "mushrooms" and "zoos". I finally figured out "zoos" were zooanthids, which is a HUGE category. Same with "mushrooms". And each one is different.

We took 8 pieces of coral adhered to live rock home and proceeded with the "acclimation process". This ended up being a bit of a disaster. (More on that coming later in a subsequent post). I figured I had killed them for sure. I put them in the tank, trying to stick to the recommendations of putting the mushrooms at the bottom (they prefer low light) and the zooanthids in the middle (for more light). Guess the guys at the store were right. Those suckers are pretty hardy. Within 24 hours, they were opened up, waving around, full of color in our aquarium. Pretty awesome! I love how after lights out, they close up like flowers and go to sleep. They are full of life and movement. I had no idea such simple, sessile invertebrates could be so alive! Needless to say, I spent at least an hour the next day just staring at each one.

It will be another month before we add our first fish addition but the aquarium will be more stable. It will have a larger population of beneficial, nitrifying bacteria. Plus, I learned that many coral eat fish poop (among other things)! In other words, the coral is going to help stabilize our mini-saltwater ecosystem.

Poll Question of the Day:
How many of you name your coral? (I do now).

Our aquarium (with lights, yay!) just after adding the 8, small pieces of coral.

We named our coral after numbering them #1-8 (right to left). Unfortunately, #1, "Pippi LongStalkings", somehow mysteriously moved in the middle of the night in between #2, "Mini Pip" and on top of #3, "Sloth". As in, "I don't like this spot, and I'm lonely. I'm going to get up from this rock and walk down to that other spot." How the heck did that happen? It's alive!

Shown here from right to left: "Sloth" named after the creature in Goonies because of its facelike appearance (2 purple eyes and a big red nose). Then, "Pippi LongStalkings" because of its long stalks. Finally, "Mini Pip" because it looks like a smaller version of Pippi.

These are the Three Peppermint Patti Sisters: Pat, Patty, and Patricia. They have green stripes like peppermints, hence, the ever-so-clever name.

After noticing the mix of zooanthid and mushroom coral on this piece of live rock, we aptly named it "Zooroom".

This zooanthid is so pretty, I named her Lilly. At night, when she closes up, she is a soft blue. In the daytime, under the lights, she opens up with deep red centers fringed in a neon green. Unfortunately, she also seems the most sensitive. Perhaps I put her in a not-so-favorable location (too much light? not enough current?). Time will tell.

This is "One-Eyed Willy" (also Goonies). He looks like the negative of Lilly (green centers fringed in red). Hence, the name "Willy". Ha ha.

This last piece is so gorgeous and flashy, we named this mushroom "Vegas" like a showgirl. At night, she closes up and has bright green stripes. During the day, she opens up, displaying ruffles with pale green stripes. Wow!

Aiptasia--Our First Lifeform

2010-07-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2010

Only a few days after setting up our aquarium, we spotted our first lifeform. With nothing else to do, yet still brimming with excitement about our new saltwater ventures, I spent hours watching the empty tank, filled with nothing but substrate, live rock, and water. We still had yet to install even lights. I painstakingly scanned each crevice and cranny on the rocks for signs of movement. Signs of life. I eagerly hoped for some "hitchhikers", secretly hoping a little octopus or something exotic and interesting would appear. I quickly learned most hitchhikers are considered unwanted pests. However, a weed can turn into a flower if appreciated in the right setting, right?

After a staring session with the live rock, I suddenly spotted movement and squealed. A pale, translucent white thing with tiny hairlike tentacles swirling from a small stalk was apparent in a small hole in the rock. Our first saltwater aquarium pet! I watched it tirelessly, captivated by its alien-like behavior. We quickly dubbed it "Creature". I wondered what it ate. Should I feed it? Oh, I just wanted to pick it up and hold and squeeze it and call him George!

The next day, at the aquarium store, I excitedly described to Mike, our local aquarium expert, my new finding. He immediately identified my beloved pet as a well-known pest, "Aiptasia". (He had to patiently correct my pronunciation for the next week. I kept calling it A-TIP-SIA instead of the correct AP-TAZ-ZA). What exactly are Aiptasia? They are a type of extremely hardy sea anemone from the Cnidaria family. In addition to multiplying rapidly, they sting other precious fish and coral.

Since I had no other fish or coral in the tank, he prescribed Aiptasia-X to get rid of it. Kill it! Do I have to?" I asked in dismay. I was loathe to destroy my new pet. He explained that Aiptasia could quickly grow out of control, producing 60 "babies" a day. "Oh," I sighed, reluctantly taking the chemicals home. I solemnly injected the stuff directly into the mouth of Creature, feeling overwhelmed with guilt. I tearfully watched Creature suffocate, shrink, wither and die, secretly wondering how this would affect my overall karma. Creature was gone and no sign of Creature Jrs.

A week later, I spotted Creature II and, this time, did not hesitate to stab it with an healthy dose of Aiptasia-X. When did I become such a cold-blooded killer? In the future, once my aquarium is stable enough to support shrimp, I hope they can do my dirty work.

Good Aiptasia Articles:
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/aiptasia_control.html
http://webs.lander.edu/rsfox/invertebrates/aiptasia.html
http://www.fishlore.com/aiptasia.htm
http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/faqs/aiptasia.html
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/4/tips
http://www.fishlore.com/aiptasia.htm

Book Review

2010-07-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

While waiting for my new aquarium to cycle, I read. And read and read and read. I ordered a stack of books from Amazon, read them, highlighted them, and made outlines. Some books were better than others. So why should others have to reinvent the wheel? Here's my 2 cents (add some salt), for what it's worth:

Periodicals:

1. Coral

The Reef & Marine Aquarium Magazine

By far, this one gives the most expert advice for anyone with a reef aquarium.

*****

2. Aquarium Fish International (AFI)

Although not as specific as Coral, AFI gives good information, although if you're not into freshwater stuff, you have to weed through it.

***

3. Tropical Fish Hobbyist

So-so. Some good articles on corals, clownfish, etc. Also some freshwater stuff. Not bad.

Books:

1. The Simple Guide to Marine Aquariums

Jeff Kurtz
This book is very easy to read and not too overwhelming in detail, which can ward off many beginners. It has lots of simple charts and tables, making it easier to retain information. However, it can be a bit oversimplified at times. All-in-all, this is a great addition to your library since it gives a little info on just about everything, from acrylic vs. glass to zooanthids.

****

2. Marine Chemistry

CR Brightwell

A bit more advanced but a must-have for the serious aquarists library. It goes through every possible element in saltwater and what the parameters should be. It's definitely more of a resource book than a sit-down-to-enjoy-on-a-Sunday-night-by-the-fire book.

***

3. Corals

A Quick Reference Guide

Julian Sprung

This one is a very simple picture guide of some basic corals. There are very simplified charts of how much lighting each coral requires, where to place it in the tank, what it eats, how aggressive the coral is, and hardiness. My biggest gripe about this book is that it's a bit oversimplified. I had a hard time finding specifics on coral I purchased.

4. Aquarium Corals

Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History

Eric Norneman

I was hoping this book would give me more specifics on coral husbandry. Unfortunately, it was more of a coral biology textbook. If you want to learn more about the taxonomy and zoology of corals, this is the book for you. However, this is not so much of a how-to book.

5. Ultimate Marine Aquariums

Saltwater Dream Systems and How They are Created

Michael Paletta

This book is extremely inspiring and very fun to flip through. I love picking a page and drooling all over it as I read about Terry Siegel's 486-gallon reef aquarium from Provincetown, MA. It gives all the equipment used, water chemistry, and challenges overcome. It's neat to see how innovative others are when it comes to pumps and equipment (a jacuzzi pump? plumbing that runs to a 100-gallon sump in the basement or tool-shed outside?). I've heard it's getting outdated so my only complaint is that they should publish a new edition!

*****

6. The Conscientious Marine Aquariust

A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists

Robbert Fenner

Hands-down, this book is a must-have. It was recommended to me by several other hobbyists, and now that I own it, I can see why. It gives very detailed, yet easy-to-read advice on everything. I especially like how Fenner discusses the ecological impact of keeping a reef aquarium and things hobbyists should keep in mind to lower her environmental footprint.

*****

7. The New Marine Aquarium

Step-by-step Setup & Stocking Guide

Michael Paletta

This book is very simple but I absolutely loved it. It made everything very concise and easy to read. Other books made me feel completely overwhelmed but this one outlined everything in a very basic manner. However, if you want something more in-depth, this one probably won't be able to stand alone.

****

8. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saltwater Aquariums

Mark Martin and Ret Talbot

This was the first book I read, and I almost lost hope of ever being able to successfully start an aquarium. I was completely overwhelmed with information. It was very detailed and somewhat convoluted. Why discuss outdated filter systems if they're not recommended? I would have preferred, instead, focusing on the systems that are recommended. Not my favorite.

9. Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies

Gregory Skomal

Again, this book was inundated with too much detail, some of it flat-out wrong. The only saving grace were some very helpful charts about water chemistry and routine aquarium maintenance. There are better ones out there than this. Who wants to weed out misinformation? For instance, you NEVER just float the new fish from the pet store in the tank to acclimate them!

10. Your First Marine Aquarium

John Tullock

Skip it. It simply does not give enough information. There's a few sentences about a smorgasboard of everything but not enough to really learn anything. This will just cause confusion.

11. The Complete Book of the Marine Aquarium

Vincent Hargreaves

This book very nicely categorizes many vertebrates and invertebrates with lots of pictures, a bit like an encylopedia of fish, coral, and other marine species. I like it as a reference guide in my library. It tries to give more basic info on aquarium husbandry but these chapters are very paltry, and I would have preferred the author stick to the encyclopedia format.

***

12. Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook

Robert Goldstein

The chapters on corals and inverts are the best but the others on water chemistry, aquarium set-up, and maintenance do not read easily and fail to give enough information. There are better books out there if you want a coral encyclopedia. Not worth it.

Happy reading!

Aquarium Set Up

2010-07-13T19:04:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Today we set up our new aquarium. Since I'm not a plumber, we recruited Mike, our local "Deuce Bigalow" (without the jigalo), to set it up for us. I annoyed him with persistant questions as he worked, my 2 rats, Oliver and Linus, peering over my shoulder curiously. Afterall, I want to be able to maintain all this equipment. As he cut and glued various lengths of PVC pipe together, I was thankful we had hired him. The set-up was way out of my league. After it was all done, I was thankful the water had not flooded my hardwood floors. The $200 cost for set up was well worth it. Watching the water run through the filter sock into the sump, then the media reactor, and finally protein skimmer before going through the sponge to the return pump, it reminded me a bit of dialysis for a patient with failing kidneys. All the guts and glory of the aquarium is discreetly hidden in the cabinet underneath. I'm excited. We are creating a living ecosystem! Now we sit and watch the live rock and wait. And wait. And wait....

Let the waiting begin....

Details:
75 gallon glass rectangular tank
Black wooden stand with canopy and cabinet
75 lbs live rock (IndoPacific)
~65-70 gallons salt water (using Tropic Marin salt; includes sump)
40 gallon acrylic sump
Tunze Comline DOC Skimmer (in sump)
Large Via Aqua Poly Reactor (with activated carbon) (in sump)
Hydor Koralia Powerhead
Pondmaster Magnetic Drive Return Pump (in sump)
Titanium Via Aqua Heater (in sump)
Thermometer
Aragonite substrate 1" depth (~75 lbs)

Initial Water Chemistry Readings:
pH 8.2
specific gravity 1.023
temp 79

P.S. Lights will come later.

First Post

2010-07-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know what possessed us to do this. It's been A LOT of equipment and a BIG chunk of change. I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm very excited. I think this journey will be lots of fun. After much research online, hobbyists' advice, and several books and outlines later, we were ready to dive in. Our first saltwater aquarium.

Greg and I had both had freshwater aquariums, which inevitably had failed. So let's make it more complicated! Undaunted by the complexity and drawn by the overwhelming beauty of saltwater fish and coral, we were drawn in, sirens drawing us into a vortex.

Join us as we try to successfully launch our first saltwater aquarium. Ultimately, we decided to go with a 75-gallon rectangular, glass tank with 75 lbs of live rock for biological filtration. Our 40 gallon, acrylic sump in the cabinet under the stand supports a kick-ass protein skimmer and large media reactor (with carbon). Equipped with a state-of-the-art German flux capacitor, it can also do our annual income tax report and travel back in time.