Make that 17...One little guy died today. This is the first death in many days. He had not reached metamorphosis, now at Day 14. I guess there was something wrong with him or my care of him. I have one more that is filled out and dark, but with little or no head band, so I hope this one makes it through. The rest of them seem to be doing well, eating I think, with many having their second white band and looking more orange all the time.
I did a water change today, little over 2 gallons out of 12 gallons. First use of ASW not pre used by my display, but just aerated overnight. I did adjust the pH of the new saltwater down to 7.7 (a few drops of lime juice, keeping an eye on the pH meter) because that is what the baby clowns are living in, and there is some ammonia. I did not want to make it more toxic by adding high pH water (8.1).
First I vacuumed out debris, then set up a bucket of the new water with an airline tubing and valve on a higher table to siphon the new water in at a drip, but faster than 1 drop per second. It was what I would call a fast drip. I did not pre heat the water as I added it slowly enough, I think, the aquarium heater in the larval tank could keep up, and my basement is at 77F anyway, only 3 degrees lower than the 80F at which I keep the larval tank.
I did not add rotifers today. In fact I tried to remove them with the water change. The fish seem uninterested in such small food, and only seem to feed when the bbs and cyclopeeze and dried food hits the water. The sponge filter is doing a pretty good job sucking out junk. Everyday I have been squeezing it out in saltwater and I get a lot of nasty stuff from it.
Now that I'm not adding phyto to the tank it is a lot easier to see the fish!
Clear water is a lovely thing, and I hope the baby fish enjoy it too.
Cheers,
Kathy