Dr. Holmes-Farley's nutrient export w/cowfish

[awestruck]

Hi. Do any of you mods know how Dr. Holmes-Farley maintains pristine water conditions in his reef? The last time I heard he had a cowfish, my very favorite fish, and he said he fed his tank a lot, had very clean water, and his cowfish was leaving his corals alone. Please let me know if you know how he was doing this. Thanks.

 

[Billybeau1]

Well, I'll take a stab at this, even though I haven't talked to Randy in awhile.

I'm sure one of the contributers to his great water conditions is his automated water changes. He is constantly changing water in his tank at a very slow rate through automation.

Instead of us doing say 20% every two weeks, he is changing water all the time. (At least he was the last time we talked.)

And on the Cowfish subject, I seem to recall some time back, he was having a problem with it. I don't recall the outcome.

Good husbandy is always the best way to keep pristine water conditions. Even if you cannot automate, regular water changes, controlled feeding and a proper maintenance schedule for cleaning filters and such are important.

It just takes some practice and diligence.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd hesitate to claim my water is pristine, at leas tin the sense of low nutrients. There is no problem algae growth, but there is cyano growing in my refugia, and even a few places in the main tank. Even so, I'm quite happy with the tank at the moment.

Most nutrient export is by growing macroalgae in refugia (mostly caulerpa racemosa). I also skim and change about 1% per day automatically.

The cowfish that I had a few years ago eventually got quite large and developed what appeared to be a mouth problem where it could not hold food in its mouth. I eventually had to euthanize it. I got a new one about a year ago and have changed its diet to less algae sheets to also include solid foods like clam meat still attached to the shell to provide a different diet (more natural for a cowfish) and one that might grind down its teeth a bit more in case that was the issue.

 

[Billybeau1]

Good to see you Randy. Hope all is well with you and yours. :wavehand:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks. Things are going very well.

The tank is doing well, we got a second dog, and the family is well. :thumbsup:

How are you doing?

 

[awestruck]

Billybeau, hi and thanks for your help! And, hi Dr. Holmes-Farley, great to hear from you

I am upgrading to a 120g within the month (currently still have my 58g.) The 120g. will also have a 60g. sump and a 58g. fuge. Last week I rescued a 2" cowfish I have appropriately named Juliet. I was planning on getting a tang when the 120g. was ready but Juliet needed a good home so I now have her (ie: I won't get a tang).

Her color has become beautiful now that she's eating well, and consuming a varied diet, but she eats a lot. I guess my question is, do you think I can maintain really good water conditions with the amount of water volume I have, and keep Juliet? I generally change a standard 10% a week and was planning on following that schedule. Additionally, I am going to keep the bioload low to medium because of Juliet.

Juliet is in a reef tank and thus far has left everything alone. I know they are risky due to the toxin they can release as well as their dietary requirements, but I was hoping I could keep her AND have my reef thrive.

Also, Dr. Holmes-Farley, if I recall you had (have) an anemone in with your cowfish; did that present any problems?

So, what do you guys think? Any advice is much apprecieated!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My cowfish never gets very close to the anemone. It likes the calmer part of the tank, which is away from the large H. crispa.

I think you can probably keep the cowfish without nutrients getting out of hand, if you allow adequate export. That will get harder as the fish gets bigger.

I have a hippo and yellow tang and a variety of other fish. The cowfish is not at present a dominating source of nutrients relative to everyone else.

 

[bertoni]

Sorry to hear about your previous cowfish! Everything else sounds good, though!

 

[Boomer]

Hi Randy :wavehand:

 

[Mike O'Brien]

Hi Randy. We miss you !

 

[awestruck]

Yes, I'm sorry about your other cowfish too. I have been feeding Juliet spirulina, mysis shrimp, bloodworms, shrimp, and krill and hoping these foods are adequate for her (it's almost impossible to sex cowfish so I just chose female and the name Juliet because it seemed so fitting! )

I'm happy to hear you have tangs in your 120 w/your cowfish. I thought maybe they would stress a longhorn out too much.

 

[awestruck]

Forgot to say that I hope you and your family are doing well and wishing all of you peace!

And, thanks for your help.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:wavehand:

Hi everyone!

FWIW, all my fish seem to inherently leave the cowfish alone. I'm not sure why, but they do not bother it at all. That was true for both cowfish, and even when they were very small. They may just look so different that the other fish hardly notice it as something to be concerned with.

 

[awestruck]

Sounds great because I am already becoming rather attached to Juliet and I want her to do well. However, I definitely want to add more fish later on. Thanks Dr. H-F, as always you are a wonderful help!

PS: Do you love your new dog, and does your other dog love the new dog?!