Project 150!!

[maxxII]

I had ich in my system with a variety of tangs including a PBT, and with proper nutrition he fought it off and it has not come back. I made sure they had a lot of frozen foods to eat that was soaked in vitamins and garlic guard. I fed 3 times per day.

In the beginning I thought I would have to trap the PBT because he looked pretty bad, but I couldn't get him into the trap, and in the meantime, feeding helped him overcome it.

Thats what happened with my Tomini...everytime I add another fish to the system, it gets a few spots for a couple of days, and then they go away. I've just heard so many horror story's about Powder Blue's coming down w/ ich so bad that its not funny...so if I can ensure its not in my system, then I only have to worry about it coming in on the fish...which I can handle through hypo in a QT.

I can cut what ever size you want to experiment with. I would try 2 to 3 20-30 polyp frag of dodo zoos and see what happens. Anyway great looking setup! Let me know if you want some for an experiment and I can drop them off the Pageant some weekend night when you are there. good luck!

Phil,
Thanks for the offer, I'll have to take you up on that. PM me with your number again and we can set something up.

I was able to catch the Regal just 20 minutes before I left for work tonight. I figured it would take a little while longer for that to happen, honestly.

It was a bigger PITA to get the trap out of the tank and transfer the fish over to the 120 than it was to catch the fish. I put her in and let her swim around for a few minutes before I shut the lights off for the night. It funny watching the rabbitfish try act dominant to the Regal.....Kinda like Urkel trying act tough....

I figure I'll wait awhile for the bacteria levels to adjust to the higher bioload in the 120....and give the Tomini a chance to get comfortable around the trap so I can get him later.

I've had to use these types of trap before. They work best when you're patient and dont try to rush things. Only put food in the tank thru the trap so the fish have to either go hungry or hang around the trap for the food to drift out where they can get it. Pretty soon they realize the trap isnt going to "eat" them and they'll dash in, grab food, and dash out. Not too long after that, they'll quit racing out and then you've got em. However, if you rush things, you'll scare the fish, and then they wont go near it.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

The Regal is doing fine in the 120, eating like normal and having no problems pushing the Virgate rabbit out of the way to get at the broccoli.

The Tomini and the Royal Gramma want nothing to do with the trap in the 58....S'okay...I'm patient and they'll get hungry. I'm hoping to be able to catch either the Tomini or the Royal Gramma sometime next week.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

06-23-2007

I added some more base rock to the 120 temporarily to give additional biological ability. From what I've read, hyposalinity decreases the bio-filter's affectiveness, so more rock should help. Fortunately I have some large pieces of dry base rock left over from setting up the 58....

The Tomini is happily going into the trap to eat, but the Royal Gramma isnt as of yet. I want to catch the Royal first, since the Tomini gets most of its diet from the micro algea growing on the rock and glass, and the 120 doesnt have alot. So I figure the 58 is a better place for the Tomini at the moment.
I swapped out the actnic bulbs over the 120 and replaced them with NO flourescents...no need to waste electricity from the MH's over the 120 when its not going to have any photosynthetic critters in it for awhile yet...

On a sad note, I also have a 10 gallon tank set up which has a small H.crispa anemone, a large Long Tentacle Anemone, (M.doreensis), a tank raised occelaris clown, and a chalk bass. Went downstairs today to feed everything and found the chalk bass on the floor as a fish stick....

No idea what caused it to jump, but I'm bummed. It was a cool little fish...


Nick

 

[jnarowe]

fish sticks are indeed a bummer. I had a rhomboid wrasse do a fish stick while I was away. nothing you can really do about it unless you cover your tank. sorry for your loss.

 

[maxxII]

I hate it when that happens, but at least it wasnt a rhomboid wrasse.....

I'd just had the guy since he was really tiny....

On the brightside, I now have room for a small maroon clown....

Nick

 

[jnarowe]

stay away from the maroon dude! they are mean as heck.

 

[maxxII]

Yeah I know...but I've always liked them, and its a small one. Its going to go in the 10 gallon for now. Eventually, the 10 will be upgraded to a 20, and plumbed into the 120.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

07-01-2007

Caught the Tomini Tang today. That guy is fast. For the last week or so, he'd go into the trap to eat, I'd drop the glass front of the trap, and get...nothing. It took less than a second for the glass to slide down the channel it sits in and close the trap...and each time, the tang would beat it, and escape. Kinda reminded me of that cracked out squirrel in the movie "Over the Hedge" voiced by Steve Carroll....

I cheated this time to get the Tomini...put food in the trap, and put a net at the front when he went inside to eat....he got scared, moved to the back of the trap, then rushed the net, and got caught. He's in the 120 right now...annoyed and freaked....but overall doing okay.

I took the trap out of the tank for right now as its shading some of my corals below it. Temporarily it shouldnt be a big deal, but long term, I have concerns. Its been in the tank since 06-09-2007...and one of the acros below it is turning sort of brown....but that could be due to feeding heavily in an attempt to entice the fish into the trap. Either way, I'll leave the trap out for a few weeks and see what happens.

I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get the Royal Gramma out of the 58 since it never once went into the trap....I hope I dont have to pull it out of the tank by removing its favorite rock hiding spot....

The Maroon clown, ("Clooney" it was already named when I got it and I promised not to rename it.) is in the 10 gallon. Its about 1.5 inches in length, and is about the same size as a captive bred ocellaris clown, and its already decided to be the boss of the tank. It took over the large LTA (M.doreensis) I have on the left side of the tank, and will swim over to the right side of the tank where a small H.crispa anemone is and chase the Ocellaris out of it just to be spiteful. I'm hoping they can work it out and potentially pair up...(Stranger things have happened), but I'm not holding my breath for it. I expect I'll have to remove the Ocellaris to save it....

Hey Pat, want a small Ocellaris to go with your black Ocellaris in your 29 gallon????

More updates as events warrant...

Nick

 

[jnarowe]

the maroon will NEVER give up alpha status. It would prefer to take you , the tank, and everything with it!

 

[maxxII]

Yeah, I know...thats one of the reasons I like em....
They're a good looking fish too...

Nick

 

[jnarowe]

MINE EATS DIGITATA

 

[Pkelley228]

Glad to hear my little fish is the new terror of the tank over there Nick! Appreciate the offer but not looking for any new fish, especially ones that don't know how to man up! I am however interested in some of those corals you were talking about whenever your ready.

 

[Pkelley228]

Also by the way Nick, thanks for coming over and taking a look at things. As always it was great to get your input. Guess I will be looking for that healthy elagance coral now!

 

[maxxII]

MINE EATS DIGITATA

Uhh...that sounds dirty...

Pat, sometime this week we'll figure out when I can bring em over. I have some Yellow Montipora Digitata and a Montipora Capricornis to give you to try out. I'm on dayshift again, and next days off are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday....IIRC you're off this weekend?

Nick

 

[Pkelley228]

Yep, Sunday or Monday would probably be best.

 

[maxxII]

Cool, we'll figure it out then...

Nick

 

[maxxII]

07-08-2007

Yet another update w/o pictures...sorry.

The Tomini is in the tank and doing fine. I was initially worried that there wasnt enough for him to graze on off of the rock work in the tank, but I'm not seeing any loss of tissue/body fat that would indicate he wasnt able to graze properly. Currently the tank has the Regal Angel, the Tomini, the Rabbitfish, (which I have since tentatively identified as a Doliatus Rabbitfish as opposed to a Virgate Rabbitfish. The Doliatus has more blue stripes which extend longer throughout the body of the fish. I'm happy with that...even if it was sold as Virgate)., and the BlackCap Basslet.

The Chaetomorphia is doing well in the sump and appears to be growing, which is good because it means I can get rid of the caulerpa I have in there as well... I dont particularly like caulerpa algaes...the toxins they release dont do SPS any good, and I suspect anemones dont particular like them either....nothing hard and scientific there, just a hypothesis based on observation.

Finally, I recently aquired a Dwarf Moray, Gymnothorax melatremus, from a local reefer, (Chelsey), who has kept it for several months, and is getting into a busy period of school, and didnt feel she was able to take of the eel properly due to time constraints. She referred to it as a him, so thats how I'll refer to him from now on....

At any rate, the eel is not the vibrant yellow of the one pictured, its more of a creamy white w/ sapphire blue eyes. He is about 6.5 inches long, and has already eaten since being placed in the tank Friday, (07-06-07). He is fed thawed (frozen) krill that is pretty good sized, two times a week. He is in the 10 gallon tank with the two clowns. Neither the clowns nor the eel seems too worried about each other. No aggression, anywhere...even between the two clowns, (Captive bred Ocellaris, and CB GSM), which is nice.

Couple of things to point out about the link I provided above to The Marine Center...
Their info contradicts info from Scott Michaels in his book Reef Aqurium Fishes Vol 1. According to Scott Michaels, the Dwarf Moray only reaches 7 inches in max length, and they are very shy. I have read from other people who have kept Dwarf Moray's that they do best in smaller tanks w/o alot of large active fish....and in a reef tank, may not be seen very often if at all...

My plan is to finish with the 120, and plumb in a smaller tank to the 120 as well. This tank will house everything currently in the 10 gallon. It will most likely be a 20H I have lying around doing nothing at the moment....but I might buy a different tank....who knows.

I know its kinda annoying to post up about a new clown and new eel w/o posting pics, but the eel isnt necessaryly cooperating, (staying hidden), and the lights are off right now anyway...

Pics will follow, I promise.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

Here are some pics of the Dwarf Moray....They are just down and dirty, I didnt even clean the glass...

The first pic is about twice his size in real life....

Better pics will follow...

Nick

 

[Milleme]

That eel is gnarley, that will definately bring a small aqarium to life.

keep it up!

 

[maxxII]

Thanks Milleme! I took some new pics of the eel...also cleaned the glass.

I shrunk those two images down so they would "fit" better.

I also left at normal size, and cropped the area immediately around the eel...I like em...

I really like the detail in this one...

Color representation of the eel is correct in all the pictures, the top two pics are pretty much life size.

Nick