The Good The Bad And The Ugly – A Reefkeeper’s Journal
- Thread starter WDLV
- Start date
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Time for a quick update....
I sold off most of the remaining corals keeping only a few zoo, paly and xenia frags and have been concentrating on clowns and anemones.
I couldn't get current pics of everyone but I did get several.
as it stands, I have my leucs in one rubbermaid stock tank and my latz in another. The leucs are living on opposite ends of the sump. I don't know whether to give up on them as a pair and try re-pairing them or if this is just a phase. They are still quite different in size....
My latz are spending most of their time in separate anemones, but when they realized that the big scary flashy thing was attacking them they decided to cooperate on the photo op.
My nigripes were moved from the stock tank to a 10 gallon because they were living separate lives. I was concerned that they would both be female and kill each other. Luckily my concern was unfounded.
My percs have been getting along well. I think the male is still quite immature to expect any spawning any time soon.
My Os are in the same boat. The male is just too small.
I do have an odd pairing. This was wholly by mistake. These were the wretched refuse (sump fish.) They seem to be getting along well. I think they would make an interesting hybrid.... would probably look like leucs.
The thiellei and the previous three attemps at a mate were really pretty cold. This new pairing has a bit more potential. There was some intense aggression in the beginning. Now there's a lot of posturing and twitching.
These seem to be my best shot at a spawn this season. The male has been getting harrassed pretty well and they have been together since they were both fairly small. My question is whether they are frenatus, barberi or a TR hybrid of some kind....
That's all for now.
I sold off most of the remaining corals keeping only a few zoo, paly and xenia frags and have been concentrating on clowns and anemones.
I couldn't get current pics of everyone but I did get several.
as it stands, I have my leucs in one rubbermaid stock tank and my latz in another. The leucs are living on opposite ends of the sump. I don't know whether to give up on them as a pair and try re-pairing them or if this is just a phase. They are still quite different in size....
My latz are spending most of their time in separate anemones, but when they realized that the big scary flashy thing was attacking them they decided to cooperate on the photo op.
My nigripes were moved from the stock tank to a 10 gallon because they were living separate lives. I was concerned that they would both be female and kill each other. Luckily my concern was unfounded.
My percs have been getting along well. I think the male is still quite immature to expect any spawning any time soon.
My Os are in the same boat. The male is just too small.
I do have an odd pairing. This was wholly by mistake. These were the wretched refuse (sump fish.) They seem to be getting along well. I think they would make an interesting hybrid.... would probably look like leucs.
The thiellei and the previous three attemps at a mate were really pretty cold. This new pairing has a bit more potential. There was some intense aggression in the beginning. Now there's a lot of posturing and twitching.
These seem to be my best shot at a spawn this season. The male has been getting harrassed pretty well and they have been together since they were both fairly small. My question is whether they are frenatus, barberi or a TR hybrid of some kind....
That's all for now.
conorwynne
New member
Your a big fan of clowns all the same!
And I second the garlic addition to food as a way of combatting disease. I got ick a few years back, and my LFS suggested garlic. I now add one drop to the food mix and have never had any disease of any kind since then. Maybe I've just been lucky or maybe it has merit? Don't know enough to say either way, but doesnt garlic have anti-biotic properties?
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v05/i04/html/04news4.html
Love your clowns, no problems mixing species then? I'd love to add some more to my tank (assuming my nem splits that is) but was worried about catfights.
And I second the garlic addition to food as a way of combatting disease. I got ick a few years back, and my LFS suggested garlic. I now add one drop to the food mix and have never had any disease of any kind since then. Maybe I've just been lucky or maybe it has merit? Don't know enough to say either way, but doesnt garlic have anti-biotic properties?
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v05/i04/html/04news4.html
Love your clowns, no problems mixing species then? I'd love to add some more to my tank (assuming my nem splits that is) but was worried about catfights.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Actually I put the percs in there to create a "catfight."
The objective being to get my latz to connect better as it were. It seems to be working. They're sharing the same anemone cluster and working together to ward off the percs. What I'm probably going to do is to remove the percs before any real fighting starts. Otherwise I will swap them out with some cull percs that have gill plate deformaties.
So, the answer is no. I don't recommend having more than one type of clown in a tank at one time unless you plan to cross breed them. Even then I would generally recommend sticking with the two natural hybrid species that are best known (leucokranos and thiellei.) There are other naturally occuring clown hybrids. They pop up all the time, but they're extremely rare.
The objective being to get my latz to connect better as it were. It seems to be working. They're sharing the same anemone cluster and working together to ward off the percs. What I'm probably going to do is to remove the percs before any real fighting starts. Otherwise I will swap them out with some cull percs that have gill plate deformaties.
So, the answer is no. I don't recommend having more than one type of clown in a tank at one time unless you plan to cross breed them. Even then I would generally recommend sticking with the two natural hybrid species that are best known (leucokranos and thiellei.) There are other naturally occuring clown hybrids. They pop up all the time, but they're extremely rare.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
My H. magnifica has been looking rather shoddy for the last few weeks. So, I decided to try a situation where it could get more flow and light. I figured 25 WPG would suffice.
I'm not sure yet whether it likes it or not. It did spit out some zoanthellae yesterday. I figured maybe it was too much. I put a second piece of eggcrate in and it seemed to significantly reduce the intensity.
I also decided to see how the A. thielleis would react to it. They seem to like it.
I'm not sure yet whether it likes it or not. It did spit out some zoanthellae yesterday. I figured maybe it was too much. I put a second piece of eggcrate in and it seemed to significantly reduce the intensity.
I also decided to see how the A. thielleis would react to it. They seem to like it.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
After a year of residing with me in relative good health, I noticed that my male latz was reluctant to come out for food two nights ago. Last night he didn't come out at all, so naturally I was a little freaked out. When I found him it was clear that he had been brutally attacked by the female. He also was swimming in circles looking disoriented. He had spots of what looked like slime covering his body. I thought BROOK!!! AHHHH!!! When I got ahold of myself I figured it might be from the thrashing he had. So, I moved them into a quarrantine tank. Yes, I moved the female too because, while she is the root cause of this I know that once moved she would calm down. I figured it would be best tno to split them up. Also, if there were some paracite that decided to attack, that she might also be affected.
I dropped the salinity to 1.015. I couldn't go any lower because my FW is not heated. As it was, I dropped the temp from 76F to 71F. I will drop it down to 1.009 tonight. In any event, he looks better with regard to the slime and disorientation and the wifey is treating him well again.
As you can see here, he did get thoroughly thrashed.
I also took the opportunity to empty out the DSB that was in their tank to start taking care of a plague of aptasia. I had about 25 gallons of sand forming a layer that was about 6" thick in the bottom of the rubbermaid tub. I am pleased (and a little surprised) to report that there was absolutely no foul smell to the sand. I had been a sand basher before I decided to give it one last go and did some heavy reading on the subject. I now feel comfortable using this media again... and without the persistant desire to vaccuum it.
I dropped the salinity to 1.015. I couldn't go any lower because my FW is not heated. As it was, I dropped the temp from 76F to 71F. I will drop it down to 1.009 tonight. In any event, he looks better with regard to the slime and disorientation and the wifey is treating him well again.
As you can see here, he did get thoroughly thrashed.
I also took the opportunity to empty out the DSB that was in their tank to start taking care of a plague of aptasia. I had about 25 gallons of sand forming a layer that was about 6" thick in the bottom of the rubbermaid tub. I am pleased (and a little surprised) to report that there was absolutely no foul smell to the sand. I had been a sand basher before I decided to give it one last go and did some heavy reading on the subject. I now feel comfortable using this media again... and without the persistant desire to vaccuum it.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
I'm pleased to report (one) that I have started raising the salinity back up because his fins are growing back well and (two) that my latz have officially survived their first year in captivity!!!
I'll post pics this weekend if I have time. I'm thinking they will be the next fish to get their own 45 gallon cube. It will be tied to a large sump so that the temp will be easier to keep cool with the MH overhead. I also plan to wire a heater controller into the MH so that if the system reaches a specified temperature (probably 78 degrees) it will shut off the MH without interrupting the timer.
I'll post pics this weekend if I have time. I'm thinking they will be the next fish to get their own 45 gallon cube. It will be tied to a large sump so that the temp will be easier to keep cool with the MH overhead. I also plan to wire a heater controller into the MH so that if the system reaches a specified temperature (probably 78 degrees) it will shut off the MH without interrupting the timer.
Last edited:
elegance coral
They call me EC
Man that stinks. Sorry to hear about your Latz. There are some in the market right now, so if you search soon, you may be able to find a replacement.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
The day got worse. I didn't want to post yesterday 'cause I was losing it.
When I have a fish die I like to transfer their mate to another tank so that if any contaminant is in the water it will not affect the remaining fish. I took out the female and put her in a small container so that she could acclimate to the new tank. About that time I heard my son starting to wake up. So, I went upstairs to get him up, change his diaper, put some clothes on him and get him some breakfast. I put on a movie to keep him occupied so that I could go back down to finish acclimating the fish. It was more than an hour later and when I got to the tank she was dead from suffocation.
I think I will hold off on buying any more for a while. At least until I can set up a proper reef tank with an established anemone.
Honestly I think the male's death was my fault too. I noticed on Thursday that the water was building up with gelbstoff and mixed up a batch of saltwater so I could do a change Saturday. Well the wife reminded me that we had a wedding to go to Saturday. So, I figured I'd do the WC on Sunday. Well, the female had not been passing Wilkerson's DLR test over the last few days. She was very easily excitable. If I passed by the tank she'd jump and hit the egg crate. This was not her normal disposition.... but there were no outward signs of injury or disease and their color looked great.
When I have a fish die I like to transfer their mate to another tank so that if any contaminant is in the water it will not affect the remaining fish. I took out the female and put her in a small container so that she could acclimate to the new tank. About that time I heard my son starting to wake up. So, I went upstairs to get him up, change his diaper, put some clothes on him and get him some breakfast. I put on a movie to keep him occupied so that I could go back down to finish acclimating the fish. It was more than an hour later and when I got to the tank she was dead from suffocation.
I think I will hold off on buying any more for a while. At least until I can set up a proper reef tank with an established anemone.
Honestly I think the male's death was my fault too. I noticed on Thursday that the water was building up with gelbstoff and mixed up a batch of saltwater so I could do a change Saturday. Well the wife reminded me that we had a wedding to go to Saturday. So, I figured I'd do the WC on Sunday. Well, the female had not been passing Wilkerson's DLR test over the last few days. She was very easily excitable. If I passed by the tank she'd jump and hit the egg crate. This was not her normal disposition.... but there were no outward signs of injury or disease and their color looked great.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Oh I know. Life goes on (for me.) It's just frustrating when you find the pair you want and get them through the first year only to slip up and do something stupid when you know better.
The bottom line is I currently have too many tanks to manage and not enough time to manage them. I think it would be best if I can get it down to about four nice display tanks. As far as latz go I will probably build them a dedicated 120 and put some other species in there for the first year so the corals and anemone are fully acclimated to the lighting, temp etc and then remove the temporary resident clowns and add a pair of latz. They're just too sensetive to fart around with.
The bottom line is I currently have too many tanks to manage and not enough time to manage them. I think it would be best if I can get it down to about four nice display tanks. As far as latz go I will probably build them a dedicated 120 and put some other species in there for the first year so the corals and anemone are fully acclimated to the lighting, temp etc and then remove the temporary resident clowns and add a pair of latz. They're just too sensetive to fart around with.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
I'm sure you have.... but four is better than the eight I was running. I don't plan to run more than two to three systems. That is far more tolerable than running eight individual systems. Believe it or not I have already sold fish to reduce my numbers to where I am now.
I'm attached to my leucs for sentimental reasons and I'm attached to my thielleis too. I really like latz clowns. These are the three clown species I always liked best from the time I first read about them. All the others are more of a curiousity.
I currently have three 45 cubes. I figure I might as well use the equipment and livestock I do have and think about additions later. I just need to get some of it set up and some of it repaired before I can de-stress. I've been in a position to do this financially for several weeks. I just haven't had the time to get to HD to buy the wood to build the support structure.
I'm attached to my leucs for sentimental reasons and I'm attached to my thielleis too. I really like latz clowns. These are the three clown species I always liked best from the time I first read about them. All the others are more of a curiousity.
I currently have three 45 cubes. I figure I might as well use the equipment and livestock I do have and think about additions later. I just need to get some of it set up and some of it repaired before I can de-stress. I've been in a position to do this financially for several weeks. I just haven't had the time to get to HD to buy the wood to build the support structure.
Similar threads
