My C. marginalis

[Ron Reefman]

Peter,

I just read your entire thread. Your fish are as lucky as my cat (good staff members to care for them)! I just wanted to introduce myself because I've had a Chelmon muelleri in my QT for 4 days. This is the first really expensive fish I've ever bought. It took a couple of days for it to get settled in and come out from under it's rock cave. And in the last 2 days has taken to eating black worms and small clams that I split open and don't cut up. I hope I can turn to you for help and answers to questions?

Here is 'Oz' in the QT.

 

[SDguy]

Beautiful fish. Glad to hear it's eating already. I'll be happy to help try to answer any questions I can.

 

[SDguy]

thanks are both 50/50 chance of being reef safe?

I really don't know. I put my marginalis in my FOWLR, not my reef. My best advice for trying "iffy" reef safe fish is to own a good trap, that you are comfortable with and proficient at using. That way, if things don't work out, it's not the end of the world (or of your reef structure, at least)

 

[SDguy]

Well when it rains it pours. To add to my crappy few weeks, it seems my marginalis injured himself somehow.... his snout is sort of crooked, and swollen. He still ate last night, so I'm hoping it's not a big deal...

 

[ShellsSD]

Maybe the lobo clamped down on him


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SDguy]

Different tanks, Shelly

He is eating, so I think that's the most critical factor here. Hopefully it gets better, whatever it is...

 

[shaka]

Have you seen this thread? This guy finds all sorts of fantastic things in these tidal pools ( Marginalis Bflies, Scribbled Angels, etc.)

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1529412&highlight=scribbled

 

[SDguy]

Great pics, thanks for the link! I was familiar with that thread, just haven't seen it lately.

Well, my marginalis didn't eat scallop today Seems to be acting normally though. He ate live blackworms yesterday, so I'm hoping he's just a bit spoiled from those, and isn't hungry enough to suffer with the frozen food :lol:

I have to reiterate though... this fish is a finicky PITA.

 

[Perched Urchin]

Peter, this may be a really dumb question, but I swear I have seen multiple places where it has been stated that Marginalis is, in general, a heartier fish than a typical CBB; however, perhaps that is due to collection techniques used in Australia.

Based on your experiences here, even though it has been tough, would you agree or disagree? Any thoughts about how your Marginalis experience might compare to an experience one may expect with an Aussie CBB (versus Indonesian)?

Obviously there are differences from fish to fish, but just curious about generalizations. You have a LOT of experience with butterflies, so thought I would ask.

 

[SDguy]

I have always heard that aussie CBB are hardy, but have never had the pleasure of owning one.

 

[Pylos]

I just read through this entire thread, what a beautiful fish. That group shot of butterflies is so pretty, I hope you chalk them full in your new 240.

 

[LukFox]

Glad that the marginalis is still feeding, and hopefully resumes tommorrow. What a bummer about his nose! The group shot is lovely, I still can't get over how pretty the collare is.

 

[SDguy]

He ate last night, but not today. Breathing/acting funny too. Ugh....I think I may have to admit that I kind of hate this fish :lol:

 

[aquaph8]

You know its a love/hate thing. I hope it all turns out all right, he's way too pretty. Keep us updated on how it goes, goodluck.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I have always heard that aussie CBB are hardy, but have never had the pleasure of owning one.

I picked up an Aussie CBB from DD in early October. It has seemed quite hardy during quarantine, although it is not as bold as I would like (sometimes it is bold, and sometimes it takes off and hides). It eats live blackworms and meaty foods like a homemade seafood mix and mysis.

I just introduced him to the DT yesterday evening and his hardiness is getting put to the test as he is being hassled by my saddleback, and a little bit by my falcula and ulietensis. I thought they wouldn't care much about the cbb given how different its shape and coloring are. Strangely enough, the yellow longnose didn't seem to care about the cbb at all. It I had known there would be this much chasing, I would have used an acclimation box. Hopefully, monitoring behavior, strategic turning off of lights, and heavy feeding will resolve the situation.

 

[SDguy]

Hopefully it will subside quickly, and more importantly, not interfere with its feeding.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

The chasing is now limited to the saddleback and has subsided substantially but not gone away. It seems that the saddleback is keeping the cbb on one side of the tank - the other side from where I normally feed, so I am feeding from both ends now. The cbb ate a lot of blackworms this morning and ranged around most of the tank looking for them, so hopefully it will be ok.

 

[SDguy]

You may need to just suck it up, and overfeed the tank (ie food sitting around for a few hours before finally being eaten) and increase your water change schedule. I've done this successfully with my butterflies in the past, especially when first acclimating the collare and the marginalis to the DT.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Yes, I have doubled the amount of food going into the tank and I am putting a lot of meaty foods in to fill everyone up. I also am feeding live blackworms more than the normal once per day given that the cbb likes them the best.

It is interesting to note the different feeding behaviors. In my QTs (where there normally are no more than 2 fish), when I feed heavily the fish don't feed as heavily the next feeding later in the day. In contrast, the fish feed aggressively in the DT every time food is put in. I guess the fish know that, with the increased competition for food, they have to eat everything that is available every time they can get it.

 

[SDguy]

Also, feed in order of least favorite to most favorite foods, throughout the day. It fills them up better, IME.