Rookie mistakes

[JCnflies]

Hi Guys. I added some cleaner critters today and a blackcap basslet (ammonia t 0, nitrite 0, nitrate less than 10). The tank has one other fish - a foxface who is doing great. I've even got hte temperature close to normal........... my problems:

1) I added the basslet (he looked to be acclimated well over a 1.5 to 2 hour period.) He shot to the underside of some LR and i have not seen him all day. i can't find him on the den floor. I gave in to the temptation to check under acvouple of rocks and couldn;t see him. Any ideas that can get him out in the open?

2) With my order came 2 mushroom corals (free.) At the wrong moment I realized I had no idea how to handle these. I put them in a lower current and lower light part of hte tank, in a nook in the LR. One fell out and is now on the sand. Does anyone kow how I should habdle these guys and care for them. they are red and much prettier than I expected. I'm afraid my tank has not been going long enough for them to prosper.

Thx.

 

[kevin21]

mushrooms dont like alot of light and are pretty easy to take care of...you should be fine.

as for the basslet...i say give him a while...hes probably hiding because hes stressed...during feeding tomorrow he might come out.

 

[d4a2n0k]

The Basslet will come out when he is ready to. It might be tomorrow or could be next week. The last thing you want to do is stress him out by moving rocks and forcing him into the open. Leave him be and let him settle in. Its hard to resist the urge to getting a look at your new fish but you will be better off in the long run. You will see him start to venture out more and more as he gets acclimated.

Mushrooms are probably the most hardy of corals. Being you got them for free, they are a good indicator to seeing if your tank is ready. They can live under most any conditions but prefer low-medium current and light. With proper acclimation, they will thrive under metal halides right next to SPS.

It is common for them to detach from rocks and float around. It will eventually reattach itself assuming your water quality is good. If you want it in a specific spot, you can use a rubber band and literally strap him to a rock of your choice for a few days.

Just do some reading on Mushrooms because once settled in, certain ones can become a big problem and will take over your tank in short order. At first they look nice but can really start getting in the way when they start spreading into your nicer, more expensive corals. I always tried to separate the mushroom rocks from the rest of the rock to slow the spread but as you see, they can detach and float around.

What type of lighting do you have and how long has the tank been setup?

 

[JCnflies]

The tank has had critters for a week, but been running for two weeks (1.023 SG and pH 8.6, too.) I have 6 T5s, 2 of which are pure actinic and 1 is a mixed actinic plus.

THx. Now I can relax about the mushroom. I figured the same on the basslet but feel better that you agree.

 

[Reef Junkie]

Exactly What d4a2n0k said.

My black cap basslet took 6 months to finally come out of the rockwork. Even then he only came out for about 30 seconds.

 

[JCnflies]

What a bummer! THe basslet is extremely beautiful. Do they come out more if therea re other fish in the tank?

 

[Sk8r]

When a wild-caught fish is put into a reef, he's going to lurk in shadows generally until he ascertains there's no predator activity in the area. If he detects something that threatens him he may not come out for a long time. If he feels safe and food is happening he may come out. When dealing with your fish tank, be careful of too much movement on your side of the glass, ditto loud music, when you are 'settling in' a new fish.

 

[d4a2n0k]

Some fish do benefit from whats called dither fish. They are social, non-agressive fish that hang out in the open water. They can make a very skittish fish calm down quicker but dont always work. Some fish never acclimate and wither away through no fault of the tank owner. Its just a fact of life when dealing with wild caught fish. I dont want to sound all doom and gloom but it sometimes happens. Most of the time though, with good water quality, they will settle in just fine.

At this point, because your tank is so new, dont add anything more right now. You said you have a Foxface in there already so definitely dont rush it. You've probably already read this on Reef Central but it cant be said enough. Only bad things happen fast with reef keeping.

Have you seen him today? Make sure you feed meaty foods for him. The Foxface needs more greens than anything but you will find will eat anything you put in the tank. They are like vacuum cleaners.

 

[JCnflies]

Thx for all of the help

Yes, I see him. he moved to a rock in the front of the tank, so i get a good profile view. But he has not come out to eat. I think the foxface is reinforcing who is boss because every now and then, the foxface will swim by and spread his fans (definite alpha fish stuff I used to see all of the time with tropheus.)

I have brine and mysis for both fish. Would you recommend anything else? Finally, my foxface seemed to shedding kind of a white film today. It just kind of came off of him. He is eating normally and has no spots or anything. Should I be concerned? Thx.

The foxface is too much. He now knows exactly where the vegie clip is and will swim over to the clip and stare at it as if to say, hey big guy, FEED ME!

 

[d4a2n0k]

All of my Foxface over the years have done the same thing. They sort of swim away fast leaving their slime coat behind. Dont worry about that.

Mysis is great but Brine is more like junk food for fish. It will fill them up but really doesnt do much good. My fish always ate better than me and I usually had 10 different types of frozen and 4 or 5 different flakes/pellets onhand. Get a good variety like mussel, clams squid etc. The more the better. Id also recommend picking up some Selcon the next time you visit a pet shop. Selcon

You sound like you are on the right path though.

 

[JCnflies]

Your advice is making my day I just got hte quarantine up and running

Will do n the food. i have some NLS on order. Any food you particularly recommend? Also, because the tank iss till pretty new, I fear feeding a clam or other meaty item that coiuld spike the ammonia. I just checked and it is still at 0