A Cunning Fish Prison

Thanks to three jumpers in 6 months, the 65g is now viewed as a prison with serious security flaws.  I really don’t get it; the 30G is an open-topped tank and there has never, ever been a single suicide, while the 65g has walls of acrylic encasing the jump zones and there’s still a loss every other month.

(air quotes) Schematics (/air quotes) for the new baffles. With kitten, because this is especially boring even for a fish blog.

I called Matt, my fish dude (who now has his own company), and asked for a couple of new acrylic baffles for the 65g.  These leave every single inch of the top covered except for the openings directly under the MH lights (see Image, ignore math failings).  I’m not happy about this since the point of an open-topped tank is to have unobstructed air and light exchange, and this shoves a cork in the process.  There’s still the issue of the big gaping holes directly under the MH lights, too, and since there’s already so much acrylic lining the sides of the tank it’s not beyond imagination that a jumper would still be able to find his way out from the space that’s left.

It’d be nice to have a jumper-free tank.  Some of the wrasses have caught my eye, especially this little guy, and Christmas is a good time to fit into that category of “hard to shop for” and “has an expensive hobby.”  Not to mention that I’m replacing the Bartlett’s as soon as I can – she was friendly and schooled with Slime-atron.

I’m also considering whether the surviving clownfish should be removed from this tank.  Morticia has been mate-free for several months and has doubled in size since purchase.  If a potential mate was introduced, she’d beat the tar and stuffing out of him for quite some time before deciding if he was acceptable.  Then again, young love always hurts and Morticia’s a clownfish.  It’s almost impossible to kick the clownfish habit.

I Am A Terrible Hypocrite

Or: How I ended up with a yellow tang.

Have you noticed the dead air over here?  I’ve noticed the dead air.  I feel terrible about it and I have all kinds of great excuses, like the last time I had a full day off was the Sunday we spent in the hospital, but excuses are the mark of someone who cannot manage her time.*  And all of the time dedicated to fish management has gone to their care, so no worries there – everyone is in the peak of health.  Except for the Bartlett’s anthias, which jumped to its death over the weekend.  I’m going to ask my fish guy to make me an acrylic baffle with no holes whatsoever except an opening directly under the MH bulbs… this is the third time a fish has leapt and there’s something morally wrong about taking a fish from the ocean to crisp itself on the living room floor.

The Yellow Tang, available for purchase at Addictive Aquatics. Along with other tangs. Much nicer tangs... ones that actually look INTERESTING... what the hell was I thinking?

Speaking of moral outrage, there’s a yellow tang in the 65g.  Dear Tang Police – please flame away.  I have neither justification nor defense – I don’t even like yellow tangs!  They are uninteresting monochromatic background fish that remind me of nothing so much as a terrified horse.  (But!)  While browsing the LFS, I saw a yellow tang in a 10G holding tank with a maroon clown for a tankmate.  The clown was twice its size – this tang is smaller than a silver dollar, barely over an inch long.  Apparently there had been a mistake in shipping and a tang too small to be sold safely had arrived with their order.  The MUST SAVE FRAGILE PRECIOUS BABY CREATURE switch flipped, and the guy at the store assured me that the tang would be fine in a 65g tank.

Nothing I’ve said before about my tank being too small for a tang has been negated and all this does is make me look like a cruel idiot.  True to her essential yellow tangness, the fish never stops swimming unless I come near the tank, and then she hides in the rocks.  But oh good lord so tiny!  I used my hand instead of a net when I moved her from the acclimation bucket to the tank, and she was so small it barely covered half of my palm.

Her name is Bambi.  She is dwarfed by every other fish in the tank, even the juvenile clown.  I’ve told Brown that when she reaches 4″, we will have to move to a different house so I can buy her a larger tank.  And some better-looking tangs to be her friends.

* I’m so very tired.

Updates!

As you might have guessed from the sporadic updates, Real Life is keeping me busy.  Really, extremely, weeping-in-the-pillow busy.  Still, if I can hold on for just one more week, I’ll be through the worst of it and will have free time again.

So as to not leave this blog covered in a chick dressed as a fish – and let’s all take a moment to reread that and recognize that we certainly do live in Interesting Times – I’m going to take a few moments and do quick status reports.

—In the 14g, nothing lives.  Scorched earth policy has been applied and the tank is all but drained.  I’m going to give the Teabox to my friend in the FBI when she’s reassigned back to the East Coast.

—In the 30g, the peyssonnelia algae has been dominated by the blue anthelia, which in turn has been dominated by a carpet of star polyps, which in turn cannot hope to compete with the SPS coral.  Considering the biological deterrents the SPS is pumping out to stay ahead in this game, it’s only a matter of time before one of them evolves into a James Bond-esque supervillain and buys itself a white cat.  Considering I hate cats, especially drowned cats, I don’t see this ending well.

In the 65g…

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse. Image from Bluezoo Aquatics, as I don't own one yet.

— The red slime algae is on its way out thanks to the new canister filter, routine water changes, and decreasing the light cycle.  In another few weeks, the sand should be sparkling white again (I stir it up regularly so the decomposing bits don’t turn into time bombs of hidden toxic gas).

– I’ve finally found the right combination of lights for the best coloration in the “Otterpop” zoos. They look fabulous – green steel skirts around yellow-and-pink centers.  I have to get a clear picture of these things.

– I have not yet replaced the dead clownfish or the missing member of Slime-atron.  I’m thinking about a reef-safe wrasse for the last fish.  I’m a little wary of this, as wrasses can be jumpers and I have enough problems with fish jumping out of the 65g and I don’t want to enclose every single square inch of the top.  Still, check out the McCosker’s over there.

Back to work for me!

We’ve Got Literally Every Girl’s Costume in the Entire G**MN Universe!

The fact that I already own the shoes should not be taken as a sign that I should buy this horror.

Well… I have been looking for a costume but I was planning on Sexy Lobster.

Screw You, Radio Silence!

Blech.  What with this being the most expensive week of my adult life (screw you, car!  screw you, house!), the tanks spent about ten days as a very distant priority.   Lights go on, food goes in, done and done.  Friday night was spent doing a massive equipment breakdown and cleanup in the 65g, and I can look to do the same in the 30g tonight.  We’re talking full-on strip job (hush) with each pump and powerhead left to run during an hour-long soak in white vinegar and scalding water, then breaking down the equipment and going at their innards with a toothbrush before rinsing the dickens out of them for another hour.

The full cleanup was not due to the ten days of neglect but the cyanobacteria that’s been growing like crazy since I added the Mandarin.  Cyanobacteria – better known by its common name of red slime algae – is a thick coating of crud that grows when the nutrient balance is out of control.  As the tank is set up with more than 200 pounds of live rock, a skimmer rated for 125 gallons, a refugium, seven points of current (two oscillating), and a decent canister filter, red slime shouldn’t even be a theoretical problem.   But I added Tank McNamara and *poof*! We’ve caught the evening show of Ghostbusters 2 in the Bizarro universe.

Out with the old, in with the new. Plus this one looks like our coming Robot Overlords, so maybe it will put in a good word for me.

I did the usual red slime removal strategies, such as moving the current to cover any stagnant areas and reducing the SPS coral feedings.  When that didn’t work, I thought not replacing the two fish lost a few weeks ago would drop the bioload so the slime would starve.  Nope… for the last two weeks it was growing thicker than ever.

During last night’s maintenance, I installed a JBJ Reaction canister filter.  I had been considering an ultraviolet lamp to treat the water and kill the algae in the water current, but most of the good UV sterilizers are in-line, which means three hours of swearing and then calling Matt to come over and run it through the plumbing.  There’s also the problem that UV sterilization kills indiscriminately, so the beneficial algae and bacteria and whatnot will also be eradicated (by the by, this is also why you try to avoid adding chemical algae killers to a tank, even though there are several brands that target red slime and leave fish and coral untouched).   The JBJ split the difference with an in-canister UV bulb rated at 5 watts, which is sufficient to kill off about half of the junk that passes through the filter and has the option to be turned off while leaving the filter active after the red slime recedes.  Also, the filter is rates for 150g, so the chemical filtration on the 65g has just been bumped up to yikes.

I also have two of these.  I took advantage of a sale over at Salty Supply to get my grubby paws on the filter and it was dropped somewhere along the road.  The UV bulb is housed in a protective glass case, and while the bulb was fine the case was shattered.  Since the damage was caused by the delivery service, the company filed an insurance claim and doesn’t need the original product returned.  The delivery service doesn’t want it, either.  So I’ll strip out everything I can use for the replacement filter and offer the cannibalized shell to Matt, who will probably attach an acrylic windmill and turn it into some sort of super-filter which solves world hunger.  Much like the mechanic who can take the rusted-out shell of an old VW Bug and turn it into a Formula One roadster, fish guys who know how to custom-mod their gear are an untapped natural resource.

In A Goofy Mood

I’ve been keeping a little notepad of the search terms used to find the Digital Clownfish. Some of the key words and phrases used to find it are almost zen poetry and speak volumes about the author’s state of mind.  Others linger disturbingly on the brain, like zombies.  Here, have some!

• will aiptasia eat my clown fish babies?
• signs that a coral beauty is dying
• clownfish poem (I had to search for this myself and there are no good poems about clownfish!  This must be resolved immediately.)
• when going to the toilet for poo foam ca (Sure wish I knew what the rest of that last word was.  “Caca” fits, as does “carbohydrates” but, um, probably not).
• scene when the gremlins get wet (Someone was sorely disappointed when he clicked in).
• scrape clown fish off the glass
• Do I eat my dead fish? (no, honey, no!)
• can I keep clownfish with goldfish (briefly, perhaps)
• clownfish fighting with puffer fish (“fighting with” or “fleeing in terror from”?)
• skimmer explosion
• coral turning white
• angelfish sucked in filter
• where do I get cheap sharks (a question for the ages)
• snails eating fish inside out (I… yikes)

I’ve got bunches of these.  I’ll post more another day.

Q: What’s Worse Than Finding A Dead Fish?

A: Finding half of a dead fish.

Yeah, it’s an old joke but relevant when the head of one of the beloved baby clownfish bobs past, carried aloft by a happy crab.  I knew Gomez wasn’t long for this earth on Saturday morning, as he was wall-seeking and his stomach looked as though it had been cracked like an egg.  I have no idea what could have done it – it wasn’t bacterial, as he was eating and behaving normally the night before and within eight hours was oozing from his broken side.  There has been no evidence of a mantis shrimp in the tank but I’ll be darned if it didn’t look as though his chest wall was impacted from an outside force.  Maybe he got caught in a strong current and knocked against the rocks, as there’s no fish in the tank that is large enough to injure him.

He’s the second fish lost in a week.  One of the members of the Slime-atron collective decided to strike out on his own and forge a future for himself.  On the carpet.  Unwise, little 3-of-6, most unwise.  I installed an acrylic baffle across the back of the tank after the last carpet-diving incident (hush) and he must have jumped, hit the light fixture, and got knocked sideways so he missed the opening in the acrylic on the dismount.

I’ll let the tank adjust another couple of weeks before replacing them.  I just added some nice SPS clippings and I don’t want to screw with the bioload all at once.  And I’m not sure what to do about replacing them… my favorite LFS announced last week they were going out of business on September 30th, and my second-favorite store has opted to not renew their lease.  They just can’t compete with the selection and prices available online.  I’m as guilty of buying online as anyone (although I do have a policy of buying something whenever I visit a LFS, even if it’s just a jar of food) so I can’t complain, although I am pretty bummed out.

Stuff In My Tank – Fluval 305 Canister Filter

Stylish and matches the armchairs.

Equipment Type - Canister filter designed to remove impurities from aquarium water.

Purpose -To improve water quality and clarity through biological, mechanical, and chemical filtration.

Specs -There are four different size options for the standard Hagen Fluval canister filter.  The 105 can be used on aquariums up to 25 gallons; the 205 can be used on aquariums up to 50 gallons; the 305 can be used on aquariums up to 75 gallons; the 405 can be used on aquariums up to 100 gallons.  A separate line of Fluval canister filters is available for larger tanks: I use a 305 on the 65g.

Background -Canister filters force water through three different types of filtration.  Mechanical filtration removes larger impurities (aka: the chunky stuff); chemical filtration absorbs smaller impurities (aka: fish waste, some pollutants and toxins); biological filtration converts toxic organics (aka: ammonia and nitrites) into nitrates as occurs with live rock filtration.

Environmental Impact - Wattage varies according to model, and all of the filter media will likely end up in the trash.  The body of the filter and the baskets are solid and durable, and there are replacement parts available if internal components break or wear out.

Should I Put It In My Tank? -Depends on personal preference.  Many hobbyists argue that canister filters are unnecessary and provide inferior filtration when compared to that offered by live rock; this is especially true as some of the biological filtration gets discarded each time the media is changed.  Others say that running a little carbon is always a good thing, and that a larger overall amount of livestock can be kept in a tank that has multiple filtration systems.  I’m in this latter group and run a sump, refugium, skimmer, and a 305 Fluval in addition to the primary filtration provided by live rock.  As there are several different media baskets, it is possible to experiment with multiple types of media to find the combination that best meets the filtration needs of your livestock.

What Do I Need To Know? – Hagen has over-engineered this thing so it is ridiculously simple to operate.  The device comes with a primer that can be used to flood water into the canister prior to operation.  When changing the media, there is a water flow locking system that allows the canister to be removed while the hoses remain in place.  Media goes in the chambered baskets; filtration pads go in the filtration slots.  Hagen has a wide variety of filter media designed to fit in both baskets and slots, and media from other companies can be  substituted if you have extra media baggies and the Fluval-sized media is not to your liking. Hagen recommends changing the media once a month, but this is generous as changing filter media doesn’t depend as much on the lifespan of the media as the type of livestock and the bioload of the tank (note: the benefits of carbon are exhausted in days, not weeks, and after that it becomes just a couple extra ounces of super-porous live rock).  When operating properly, these filters are delightfully quiet and the input and output can be used to enhance water circulation.

How Will It Piss Me Off? – READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL.  The filter comes with a booklet and an illustrated poster that shows how each component is assembled according to a step-by-step process.  If, hypothetically speaking, you thought to yourself that you don’t need no stinkin’ booklet and you set up the thing without guidance, you would probably miss the little detail where you needed to tighten the hose gaskets.  Then, hypothetically speaking, you’d be a tad flummoxed the first time you changed the filter media and the hoses shot clean off their moorings and whipped a couple of gallons of water across the walls, the floor, the bookcases, the dogs, in your open mouth…

What Can I Expect To Spend? -These are a decent piece of equipment and can be costly.  Do some comparison shopping for the best deal.  Don’t forget that media will cost between $15 to $45 each month, depending on the size of the filter, the type of media you choose to use, and the frequency of media changes.

Where Can I Buy It? -The Hagen Fluvals are in big-box stores, so even if you buy the filter online you won’t have any problem finding replacement media.

Any Health Hazards? – Uh… keep the media away from small children and pets, watch out for frayed electrical cords, and don’t swallow if a lot of salt water suddenly happens to end up in your mouth.

Stuff In My Tank – Flametail Blenny

The Flametail Blenny (aka: My Sea Piglet) from Addictive Aquatics (LA).

Livestock Type - Blenny, or Atrosalarias sp.

Common Name – Flametail blenny.  Often confused with the Bicolor Blenny but is a separate species.

Care Level - The most high-maintenance fish I’ve ever known, but for reasons beyond our control.  These days, Smithers is a fat and happy goober who lives in a big barnacle and demands nothing but food and wuv.

Environmental Impact - Medium.  This species has not been aquacultured on a commercial scale.  It is almost certain that all flametail blennies will be live-caught from Indo-Pacific reefs, but are not listed as a protected species under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Should I Put It In My Tank? – The single greatest concern for blennies is compatibility with other fish.  The flametail blenny is a reef-safe fish that requires minimal swimming room, but is territorial and will attack other fish with a similar body shape.  Aggression is most likely to occur with other blennies but might also occur with some gobies and dottybacks.

What Do I Need To Know? – Not much.  With luck, this is a plug-and-play fish (acclimate-and-dump?).  Some websites suggest that the flametail blenny is an algae grazer and will eat nothing but what grows on the live rocks in the tank.  I know from handfeeding my Sea Piglet during his six-month convalescence that this is a myth – they eat flake foods, as well as meaty frozen foods.  Come to think of it, I have never seen mine turn down food.  Ever.  Okay, so maybe overeating is a problem…

Does It Play Well With Others? – Yes, as long as body type is dissimilar. I have kept mine in a tank with a clown goby and there was no aggression.  Smithers is currently in a tank with a dottyback, and they poke at each other a bit but this appears to be a routine dominance display rather than aggression (Smithers is the dominant fish – go figure).  Rumor has it that a blenny with one body type, such as the flametail blenny, can cohabit a tank with a blenny of a different body type, such as a scooter blenny, but I have (intentionally) not tried this.

How Will This Species Piss Me Off? – As mentioned, Smithers is my most high-maintenance fish but this was because of a freak accident.  I probably have the only flametail blenny on the planet who got stuck in a rock for a month and needed to be nursed back to health for another six.  This has proved to be a bonding experience (yeah yeah, I know) as Smithers recognizes me and will pop out of his hole to greet me when he sees me coming over to the tank.   As long as you are aware of potential aggression issues, a flametail blenny is an excellent choice for any reef tank with community fish.

What Can I Expect To Spend? – The site I’ve linked to – Addictive Aquatics of LA – puts the flametail blenny at $18.  This is an excellent price, but don’t forget about shipping and handling.  Expect to pay up to $10 more if you purchase locally.

Where Can I Buy It? – The flametail blenny is one of the less popular blennies and is often overlooked in favor of blennies with more vivid coloration.  You will have the best luck ordering from an online distributor, although I have seen them pop up more frequently in stores (Smithers was an impulse buy when browsing in the LFS a year ago).

Any Health Hazards? - They can nip a bit, but it’s barely noticeable.

Stuff In My Tank – Blue Snowflake Anthelia

The best image I could find came from a store - if you want to buy some, theirs certainly look healthy enough.

Livestock Type - Coral.  A photosynthetic sea mat likely from the Anthelia family, although some websites suggest it is from the Clavularia or the Sarcothelia families.  An image search suggests there is some agreement that it is Sarcothelia edmondsoni, but that and a bag of chips will get you a bag of chips.

Common Name – Bunches!  Snowflake coral; blue snowflake anthelias; blue clove coral; blue snowflake clove coral; blue xenia…

Care Level: Easy.  Extremely easy.

Environmental Impact: None.  This is one of the soft corals that hobbyists will be happy to give you, probably for little or no money.

Should I Put This In My Tank? - Depends on what you want to accomplish with that tank.  While beautiful and tiny – you could fit three polyps on your little fingernail – Anthelia is a semi-invasive coral and spreads like wildfire.  If left unchecked, every surface in your tank will have a dusting of blue snow.  It sounds romantic and looks quite lovely, but it will compete with your other coral.

What Do I Need To Know? – Not much.  Like most soft photosynthetic sea mat corals, it tends to fend for itself.  The Anthelia in particular seem to do well under almost any form of lighting and in all current; however, PC lighting, if used, should be intense.   Rumor has it they dislike high placement under direct MH lighting, but I have not noticed any difference in tolerance between T5 and MH.

Does It Play Well With Others? – No. Imagine that clingy boyfriend/girlfriend in high school who drove you batty.  Now imagine if he/she tried to encrust you in self-propagating goo and gradually poison you while suffocating the life out of you.  Exactly like that, but with less pressure to pick out matching Halloween costumes.   Given enough time, there’s a real and serious risk that the Anthelia will encroach on your other coral, and might very well overgrow it if the first coral doesn’t have sufficient allelopathic deterrents.

How Will This Species Piss Me Off? – I would strongly recommend against putting this particular species of Anthelia in your tank. It looks nice enough but there’s no way to prevent it from growing wherever it wants.  It doesn’t just spread – it releases something (spores, small fragments, single polyps, whatever) into the current and these will seed the rock wherever they land.  And it cannot be removed through scraping or chemical treatments; I’ve been painting some stray patches with an algae killer and it recovers in a couple of days.  If the Anthelia likes your tank and starts growing, eventually all other coral will be threatened.  And it is terrifying how quickly it spreads once it has been established.  If the Anthelia wasn’t in the tank that was already overgrown with Peyssonnelia, I’d seriously consider breaking it all down and letting the encrusted live rock die before starting a new tank (gah!), but these two are in a battle for supremacy and I’m interested to see which will win (the blue Anthelia against the maroon Peyssonnelia is actually quite a stunning color combination, so I can at least pretend I ruined this tank on purpose).

What Can I Expect To Spend? – Since this coral is a fast grower and anyone with a small frag will soon have a tank full of large frags, hunt around and do some price comparisons.  If you pay any more than ten bucks for a decent-sized piece, you have not gotten your money’s worth.

Where Can I Buy It? -As the blue Anthelia is a relatively new introduction to the salt water fish trade, it won’t be as common as other fast-growing semi-invasive corals such as star polyps or xenia, but you will eventually find some.

Any Health Hazards? – Stress, but if you can’t manage the stress caused by coral it’s likely you’ve got bigger problems.