My new tank

[samdaman]

Wow, his stomach looks bleached. Did you ever determine what exactly was the cause of death? Or why his stomach took on that look?

I fed flakes today... I have some left over free ones that came with a tank I set up. I tried them and the scopas picked at them, even sucked some all the way into his mouth but then spit them out.

I'll try the more expensive and hopefully therefore better tasting and quality Formula Two flakes, I like all their other products.

I put the nori in a clip laying on the rocks again about 30 minutes ago and had the satisfaction of watching the scopas start to pick at it. He isnt aggressively eating, but he is definitely picking and swallowing so that's very good, I'll keep that clip loaded every day for him.

No idea, Posted it here and on other forums and no one knows. They think it might have been a parasite but no sure answer.

Also try Brine Shrimp and the Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 Pellets. Mine loved those.. What kind of nori are you using? Some normal sushi nori or Like he green and red algae special for fish, Some normal nori sometimes has salt on them.

Have you tried putting some Garlic Xtreme or something like that?

Maybe you just have a super picky scopas.

 

[Recty]

Well he's just small and still adjusting and hadnt been treated very well for his brief stint in captivity, so I think I'm just working on overcoming that. He is nibbling on nori now.

I've fed formula one and two pellets, plus NLS pellets, 1mm and 3mm. He doesnt even acknowledge their presence. All the other fish are going nuts and he gets right in there with them but it's like he cant even tell what they are eating.

I use regular sushi nori, the green stuff. It is 100% nori, no flavoring and no additives, all my other fish like it. I've been getting the same brand for years.

I havent tried garlic extreme yet, I dont actually have any but I dont think I'll need it, he is starting to come around.

 

[Recty]

Still enjoying the fish, they are all getting along so far. One of the damsels is dead, three are still going strong. One of the damsels was in bad shape when I bought it, I kind of expected it not to make it very long and I was right!

Here is my favorite of the damsels...

Interestingly, the dragon wrasse and the scopas tang have become good friends. The dragon wrasse moves around picking through the rocks and sand and moving shells and rocks around, the scopas follows at his side and helps eat the stuff the wrasse uncovers. I've read that in the wild a pair of wrasse will do this, it's like this wrasse took on the scopas as the second half of a pair. It's been cool to watch.

The dragon is actually getting a little fatter, he was sort of skinny when I bought him but regular meaty feedings at least twice a day have started putting a little weight on him. I still eventually want him to get weaned over to pellets but for now I'm OK with just giving him whatever he will eat.

This is a dragon wrasse burying into the sand for the night... it takes about one second and is gone

 

[jonathansruelas]

wow thats a beautiful tang and wrasse.. man i dont go online for a wweek and you end up with a whole new tank lol.. would your dragon eat the hermits you have in? i finally got my first fish, i would like the dragon but i read he eats shrimps... i got a fire shrimp lol

 

[jonathansruelas]

I thought this was such a good idea I used it on my hunger striking flame.

It didn't draw the intended audience. Gotta love triggers.

goood idea ima try this on my foxface to get him to start eating...
could you leave the seaweed in for the night without it creating alot of nitrates??

 

[samdaman]

goood idea ima try this on my foxface to get him to start eating...
could you leave the seaweed in for the night without it creating alot of nitrates??

I wouldn't recommend it. It will be in little peaces in your tank by morning and it will pollute your tank!

 

[samdaman]

Still enjoying the fish, they are all getting along so far. One of the damsels is dead, three are still going strong. One of the damsels was in bad shape when I bought it, I kind of expected it not to make it very long and I was right!

Here is my favorite of the damsels...

Interestingly, the dragon wrasse and the scopas tang have become good friends. The dragon wrasse moves around picking through the rocks and sand and moving shells and rocks around, the scopas follows at his side and helps eat the stuff the wrasse uncovers. I've read that in the wild a pair of wrasse will do this, it's like this wrasse took on the scopas as the second half of a pair. It's been cool to watch.

The dragon is actually getting a little fatter, he was sort of skinny when I bought him but regular meaty feedings at least twice a day have started putting a little weight on him. I still eventually want him to get weaned over to pellets but for now I'm OK with just giving him whatever he will eat.

This is a dragon wrasse burying into the sand for the night... it takes about one second and is gone

thats so cool, I really like your dragon wrasse!

 

[Recty]

Yep, I would definitely not risk any shrimp with any sort of aggressive wrasse. So far it's leaving my hermits alone, but I added 3 margarita snails to my tank and within the day at least one was ripped out of it's shell and eaten, so I'm not going to try that again. The other two are doing OK but I suspect they wont last.

He does pick on the hermits, but their shells are big enough they are able to retreat fully into them so there isnt a lot he can do but pick them up by the shell and throw them around a little bit.

As far as leaving the nori in the tank overnight, I would generally not recommend it as most fish arent eating at night anyway, they are sleeping so the nori will just sit and rot. If you're going to attempt it, just dont leave a lot in overnight. I admit that I'm a bad fishy parent and at times leave my nori overnight just because I forget or dont get time to take it out, so far I havent had any problems but I've noticed that it doesnt disappear overnight, so I can safely assume my fish arent grazing at night.

I basically put in a piece of nori around noon, normally swap it out in the evening around 6:00pm for another fresh piece and then try to have that piece out of the tank by 10:00pm. It seems like after the nori has been in the tank more than a couple hours, the fish loose interest, I'm not sure why but to my hand it gets really slimy and non food like, but that's how algae feels in the wild too so the fish probably dont care.

 

[jonathansruelas]

oh man i guess i cant get a dragon than.. are you upgrading to a bigger tank or just keepin those in your current tank?
yea i tried the seaweed overnight and was still there when i woke up so ima try the noon thing i got him to eat a few nls pellets but he's still very shy and doesnt swim around which is weird cus in the lfs he was best looking one.. the green chromis went crazy for mysis shrimp today so ima try to change him to pellets as time goes on

 

[samdaman]

How much was the dragon wrasse?

 

[Recty]

oh man i guess i cant get a dragon than.. are you upgrading to a bigger tank or just keepin those in your current tank?
yea i tried the seaweed overnight and was still there when i woke up so ima try the noon thing i got him to eat a few nls pellets but he's still very shy and doesnt swim around which is weird cus in the lfs he was best looking one.. the green chromis went crazy for mysis shrimp today so ima try to change him to pellets as time goes on

Yes, I'm eventually upgrading to a bigger tank but it will be a while, right now all the fish are juveniles and very small, they fit the tank fine. Within half a year to a year I'll do my upgrade, but I'll basically just base it off when the fish start acting like they need more room.

Weaning over to pellets sounds like a good idea, I'm still trying to do the same for my wrasse, he's really only interested in meat and even that he's kind of been snubbing his nose at lately.

How much was the dragon wrasse?

Right around $30, a little less. They aren't expensive fish since they aren't real popular.

The scopas is doing good, he's been eating pellets, he can't quite get them all the way into his mouth but he's scraping away at them and also eating some nori so that's good, I hope he keeps up the progress.

 

[samdaman]

Yes, I'm eventually upgrading to a bigger tank but it will be a while, right now all the fish are juveniles and very small, they fit the tank fine. Within half a year to a year I'll do my upgrade, but I'll basically just base it off when the fish start acting like they need more room.

Weaning over to pellets sounds like a good idea, I'm still trying to do the same for my wrasse, he's really only interested in meat and even that he's kind of been snubbing his nose at lately.



Right around $30, a little less. They aren't expensive fish since they aren't real popular.

The scopas is doing good, he's been eating pellets, he can't quite get them all the way into his mouth but he's scraping away at them and also eating some nori so that's good, I hope he keeps up the progress.

Nice, I plan to get one too in the future. Yeah its funny to see the scopas with the wrasse lol

 

[Recty]

Nice, I plan to get one too in the future. Yeah its funny to see the scopas with the wrasse lol

Just make sure your tank can support it before you buy it They dig, they move rocks around that have to weigh more than their bodies AND they need a deep sand bed to bury in. I have about a 2.5" to 3" deep sandbed in the middle of the tank and he uses every bit of it.

They are cool fish though, just not the best for most people's setups.

It is funny watching the scopas and the wrasse hang out together, I'm still surprised they are doing it. I dont think the wrasse cares so much about the scopas but the scopas sure does like to stick with the wrasse and eat whatever he is eating. I was worried the wrasse would take offense to that but he seems fine with it, like I said earlier it's almost like he is taking on the scopas as the second half of a pair, although he's certainly not doing anything but eating Not a real helpful fish, the scopas.

 

[samdaman]

Just make sure your tank can support it before you buy it They dig, they move rocks around that have to weigh more than their bodies AND they need a deep sand bed to bury in. I have about a 2.5" to 3" deep sandbed in the middle of the tank and he uses every bit of it.

They are cool fish though, just not the best for most people's setups.

It is funny watching the scopas and the wrasse hang out together, I'm still surprised they are doing it. I dont think the wrasse cares so much about the scopas but the scopas sure does like to stick with the wrasse and eat whatever he is eating. I was worried the wrasse would take offense to that but he seems fine with it, like I said earlier it's almost like he is taking on the scopas as the second half of a pair, although he's certainly not doing anything but eating Not a real helpful fish, the scopas.

Yeah I'm going to set up the tank before I buy it. I'm going to get big heavy rocks as a base. And I'm going to set them before I set the substrate, that way he does not get caught under while digging. Also I'm going to try to glue the rocks so there is no chance of them toppling over and hurting him. I'm also going to have a deep sand bed. Do you have crushed coral? Does it hurt his scales when he digs in it..or should I get fine sand.. I read that it is common that they get diseases because of poor substrate.. I'm doing research before I get it

That is funny, you should try and shoot a video of them swimming around.. Maybe he feels protected with it. They also have similar colors, although they look nothing alike and shape wise they are nothing alike but who knows. You have a awesome pairing right there, I find it really neat. Maybe I should experiment too when I get one. Than we can see if Thats just their nature or just a random interracial friendship

In my tank I have a clown goby and some clown fishes. The goby tries to hang out with them but the clowns does not like it when he does that. He tries to sleep with them but they end up hitting him with their tails to get him to leave. The goby does not budge but then they start nipping at him so he leaves.. I think its neat. the female is the one that is more you could say jealous. The male sometimes lets him chill right next to him

 

[jonathansruelas]

how the fish doing now? hope your scopas kept the improvement going..
i got my foxface to eat everything now , it was a challenge though lol. i got a 6line and flame angel.
have u tried feeding your fish daphnia before? i used it and the fish all loved it

 

[Recty]

I'm also going to have a deep sand bed. Do you have crushed coral? Does it hurt his scales when he digs in it..or should I get fine sand.. I read that it is common that they get diseases because of poor substrate.. I'm doing research before I get it

I have the real fine crushed coral sand. The pieces are very small but I'm not exactly sure how small, I'd say around 1-2mm max. It doesnt seem to cause any damage, he digs down into it just fine.

how the fish doing now? hope your scopas kept the improvement going..
i got my foxface to eat everything now , it was a challenge though lol. i got a 6line and flame angel.
have u tried feeding your fish daphnia before? i used it and the fish all loved it

The fish are doing real well. The scopas is getting healthier by the day, he is eating pellets and mysis and finally snacking on nori on a pretty regular basis. If anything, the fish I am the most worried about is the dragon wrasse, I cant get him converted over to pellets yet and he only has another 2.5 months until I'm going to Hawaii and he is either going to eat pellets or have to go to another home for the time being, otherwise he will starve.

I've fed daphnia to clownfish, never to any of my "normal" fish.

I'm going to try to get a couple pictures, I really wish I had a nice MH or something on the tank, it would make it so much easier.

 

[Recty]

Well... no pictures of the wrasse as he went to bed 2 hours ago, but here are some of the others, mainly the queen as she likes to be front and center.

I tried something different today, I brought two lights over, one for each side of the tank and shone them in. It kind of spooked the fish so they all have this what the heck is going on look on their faces...

First, the scopas... you can see he has gained weight. You cant see his backbone anymore clearly poking out of his skin. He still isnt perfect but he's definitely crossed over to almost healthy territory. I'm actually surprised how fast he recovered with good feeding.

Then the fiji devil damsel, one of two left.

Then here is the star of the tank, the big queen. I say "big" in relative terms, as she is a pretty small fish still

 

[samdaman]

Sorry if you had already mentioned this but what camera and lens are you using?

 

[Recty]

Sorry if you had already mentioned this but what camera and lens are you using?

I use a Canon 50D and either a 100mm macro or a 50mm f/1.4 lens.

These shots were taken with the macro, it makes it harder because it lets in (at f/2.8 which is the largest aperture it has) 1/4 of the light my 50mm lets in at f/1.4, so I brought some compact fluorescent fixtures over and shined them in from each side of the tank, which helped, but definitely it's not ideal.

I need to spend $100 and get a good studio light I guess, I have an external flash but it makes it hard to shoot still. Of course, I could move it off my camera with a cord and aim in from the sides with it, that would help, but a dedicated always on light of the right spectrum would be easier

All it takes is money...

 

[Recty]

Well, the little scopas is showing some signs of ich, not bad but I'm hoping it recovers. If it gets much worse, I'll move it off into QT and treat it, but then I'd still just be sticking it back into the display which has ich, so I'm not sure that's a good idea.

The dragon was doing some stretching tonight for me, pretty cool to see. I'm thinking about making him a "pool" of good sand to sleep in, then just rock rubble for the bottom of the tank. Or some other way to keep him from stirring up the sand nonstop, as you can see from the pictures there is particles through the water like crazy He is a real sand stirrer. The nice thing is although the back of my tank got a little bit of brown on it, the sand is staying totally algae clear due to the constant stirring.

You can see some slight spotting on the scopas, it's slight but it's still there, I hope he just recovers naturally but like I said, I may need to end up treating.