Weeds

[Minorhero]

Sounds like you're doing your homework! Let me know if I can answer anymore questions.

Thank you! It's all great till I actually get to try it

Why do you not like hermit crabs?

I was reading in your posts that you thought your grass was growing slower in winter. Is that still the case?

Hi and welcome! I thought that I would share that I kept erectus seahorses for about 5 years. They are the most charming fish pets ever but definitely not for the casual aquarist.

I had very good success when I followed the advise of folks like rayjay and Pete Giwjonja at Ocean Rider. However when I tried to push the boundaries of what is recommended by these knowledgeable folks, I ran into trouble. Believe when I say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to seahorses. Treating sick ponies is no fun.

I wish you the best of luck with this project.

Thank you! I am looking at all the information I can find. I feel like grass and seahorses should be a really good fit in aquariums. I don't know much about saltwater but I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of growing plants submerged. I am going to take it slow and get a feel for the saltwater side of things for a few months before anything with a vertebrate gets added.

I definitely would not consider myself a casual aquarist. I have three CO2 injected freshwater tanks, one of which has newts. I also keep some dart frogs. Both the newts and the dart frogs eat cultured live foods I maintain. With any species there is a learning/research phase. That's just how it goes.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm glad you asked, Dawn, on time left in quarantine. At two weeks in hypo salinity I've seen no signs of ailments in either new fish, so I'm thinking I could introduce them in the next few days!

I'm so excited to see how they affect the fish community, and the ecosystem. The Blue Tang will bring speed, the Foxface will transform the aquascape, and step in as my replacement. You know your setup is low tech when you can replace yourself with a fish. Ha!

QT15

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I think Hermit crabs are fascinating creatures. However, they are inferior to snails in the practical world of aquarium clean up crews. Plus they kill snails for their shells, so you have to choose one or the other. Sure, you can toss a bunch of hermits in a tank full of algae and no other food and they'll eat it, but once they get a taste for fish food their utility plummets.

I have an army of Dove Snails, which max out at 1/2 inch. They reproduce to match their numbers to the food supply. They are small enough to climb the round manatee grass blades and all the macros too.

I do believe the grasses grow slower in the winter. Somewhere in my reading I remember seeing summer referred to as their growing season. I adjust the temp down a touch in winter to give them a seasonal temperature dynamic.

 

[Minorhero]

I think Hermit crabs are fascinating creatures. However, they are inferior to snails in the practical world of aquarium clean up crews. Plus they kill snails for their shells, so you have to choose one or the other. Sure, you can toss a bunch of hermits in a tank full of algae and no other food and they'll eat it, but once they get a taste for fish food their utility plummets.

I have an army of Dove Snails, which max out at 1/2 inch. They reproduce to match their numbers to the food supply. They are small enough to climb the round manatee grass blades and all the macros too.

I do believe the grasses grow slower in the winter. Somewhere in my reading I remember seeing summer referred to as their growing season. I adjust the temp down a touch in winter to give them a seasonal temperature dynamic.

Thank you! I guess I need to do some more reading on hermit crabs. I want to keep both snails and hermits but the snails are more important. The hermits would be there mostly to eat excess mysis since the seahorses are messy eaters. I thought I could toss a bunch of shells for the hermit crabs into the tank and I'd be good. I keep terrestrial hermit crabs but even then they are a single species tank. I was fascinated with the idea of keeping aquatic hermit crabs but I want the tank to work more then indulge in my fascination ;P

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Even better than hermits for fish food cleanup are the Nassarius Snails. They hide under the sand until feeding time. Then they pop up and surprisingly quickly go after the leftovers. They apparently have an amazing sense of smell because they make a b-line right to it!

When I have more time, I'd love to get into cleanup crews with you. Right now I better get back to cleaning house for Christmas!

 

[vlangel]

Thank you! I guess I need to do some more reading on hermit crabs. I want to keep both snails and hermits but the snails are more important. The hermits would be there mostly to eat excess mysis since the seahorses are messy eaters. I thought I could toss a bunch of shells for the hermit crabs into the tank and I'd be good. I keep terrestrial hermit crabs but even then they are a single species tank. I was fascinated with the idea of keeping aquatic hermit crabs but I want the tank to work more then indulge in my fascination ;P

I also like nassarius snails, especially in seahorse tanks. They efficiently clean up leftover mysis in tanks with sand substrates but without the danger of an accidental pinch that could start a skin infection to a pony.

 

[vlangel]

I'm glad you asked, Dawn, on time left in quarantine. At two weeks in hypo salinity I've seen no signs of ailments in either new fish, so I'm thinking I could introduce them in the next few days!

I'm so excited to see how they affect the fish community, and the ecosystem. The Blue Tang will bring speed, the Foxface will transform the aquascape, and step in as my replacement. You know your setup is low tech when you can replace yourself with a fish. Ha!

QT15

That is wonderful that the tang and foxfaces have been so healthy and not shown any signs of disease. They should definitely add a new dimension of dynamics to your ecosystem. And being a lover of fish, I am very excited for you. A fun way to start 2022!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Exciting times for sure! Of course I got ahead of myself. I have to slowly adjust salinity in their quarantine tanks up to that of the display. That'll take a few days to a week. I started adding salt today, so the process has begun.

I can't imagine all the ways they will affect the tank!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Raising salinity in the QTs continues. I'm really jonesin' to get the new fish in the display.

I've been doing little 'bites' of aquarium maintenance. Yesterday I finished up pinching seagrass blades. This accomplishes a couple things. Since I'm pinching off yellow ends it makes the grasses look more consistently green, which looks better. And, it frees up more swimming room for the fish. This will be especially important for the new Blue Tang. As most people in the hobby know, blue tangs are extremely busy fish, constantly darting around and generally making the other fish look like they are in slow-motion. I really believe this one fish is going to transform the viewing experience for the tank.

Next up will be a good glass cleaning.

QT19

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Happy New Year! 2022 woohoo!

Boulder had a rough finish to the year, with a terrible wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes. We were very lucky up in the foothills to 'only' lose power for about 26 hours. Oddly enough, this is the first time we've ever lost power for more than a couple hours, in 20 years up here.

I bring this up because it put me in a precarious situation with the two quarantine tanks. I have no back-up power, so I had to get creative. I was terrified of losing the new tang and fox face, so I was desperate to figure out a way to keep them alive.

Being avid campers, the wife and I had little trouble adapting to camping in our house. But it was very challenging applying that camping, problem-solving mentality to aquariums in a cold house.

I racked my brain trying to come up with solutions, without a lot of options. I narrowed it down to two issues: heat loss and oxygen loss. At 20 and 26 gallons neither tank had much in reserve.

I have a battery powered bubbler, but it was dead, so I had to find an alternative. That turned out to be a new Christmas gift our daughter gave to my wife - a Milk Frother! It's a very small, hand-held blender of sorts. Holding the business end right at the water surface, I was able to generate an impressive amount of bubbles. For heat loss I used our Jet Boil from our camping kitchen kit. Basically, it's a tiny gas burner with a dedicated mini-pot. It's mainly used to heat water quickly for hot drinks. I repeatedly boiled tiny pots of tank water and added it back into the QTs. I did this routine of frothing and boiling tank water over the course of the night. After getting a few hours of sleep, I got up early and went at it again. This was the most stressful time because I could see the fish were struggling, and I knew their chances looked grim. And, honestly I've grown very weary of reporting fish deaths here on RC. So, I doggedly struggled on with my rather primitive (and tedious!) efforts.

Long story short, they survived! When I think about it, this is one of the biggest triumphs of my aquarium-keeping life. Finding a way to keep those delicate fish alive is something I will be proud of for a long time!

Now it's back to raising salinity, so I can get these two beauties into the display. Should be around two more days.

QT24

 

[Minorhero]

Happy New Year! 2022 woohoo!

Boulder had a rough finish to the year, with a terrible wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes. We were very lucky up in the foothills to 'only' lose power for about 26 hours. Oddly enough, this is the first time we've ever lost power for more than a couple hours, in 20 years up here.

I bring this up because it put me in a precarious situation with the two quarantine tanks. I have no back-up power, so I had to get creative. I was terrified of losing the new tang and fox face, so I was desperate to figure out a way to keep them alive.

Being avid campers, the wife and I had little trouble adapting to camping in our house. But it was very challenging applying that camping, problem-solving mentality to aquariums in a cold house.

I racked my brain trying to come up with solutions, without a lot of options. I narrowed it down to two issues: heat loss and oxygen loss. At 20 and 26 gallons neither tank had much in reserve.

I have a battery powered bubbler, but it was dead, so I had to find an alternative. That turned out to be a new Christmas gift our daughter gave to my wife - a Milk Frother! It's a very small, hand-held blender of sorts. Holding the business end right at the water surface, I was able to generate an impressive amount of bubbles. For heat loss I used our Jet Boil from our camping kitchen kit. Basically, it's a tiny gas burner with a dedicated mini-pot. It's mainly used to heat water quickly for hot drinks. I repeatedly boiled tiny pots of tank water and added it back into the QTs. I did this routine of frothing and boiling tank water over the course of the night. After getting a few hours of sleep, I got up early and went at it again. This was the most stressful time because I could see the fish were struggling, and I knew their chances looked grim. And, honestly I've grown very weary of reporting fish deaths here on RC. So, I doggedly struggled on with my rather primitive (and tedious!) efforts.

Long story short, they survived! When I think about it, this is one of the biggest triumphs of my aquarium-keeping life. Finding a way to keep those delicate fish alive is something I will be proud of for a long time!

Now it's back to raising salinity, so I can get these two beauties into the display. Should be around two more days.

QT24

Barista survivalist. That's pretty hardcore. Happy you are safe and the fish made it! Happy new years!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Barista survivalist. Ha! Thanks Minorhero!

Hey, are you going to start a thread for your seagrass tank? I'm totally happy to discuss here on mine, but it's nice to have your own. I really look forward to seeing how your journey progresses!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I am glad you're safe Michael.
I wondered if you were anywhere near that fire. It was horrible.
A small generator is in your future.
Happy New Year.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Vinny! This one wasn't too close to us, and the wind direction pushed it away from us too. We just had multiple power lines down in my neck of the woods. The wind itself was scary. My house shuddered in some of the higher gusts.

Some of the news footage I've seen is just apocalyptic.

Not a huge fan of generators, but if I had a fancy reef setup, I'd probably get one. At the least, I'll invest in multiple battery-powered bubblers.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Today I did another bite of aquarium maintenance - glass cleaning. Knowing the new fish were almost ready to be introduced, I wanted to get it ready for serious viewing.

Once I was done, I started wondering why I wasn't going ahead with adding them, so I added them. The damsels were pretty mean, so I turned out the lights early to settle everyone down. Hopefully, they'll all get used to each other and get along.

We'll see in the morning…

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I got up early this morning before the tank lights came on, to observe how the new guys were doing in the display. Unfortunately the Fox Face is rather shy and he's hiding out, mostly. He does venture out a little, but it would be nice if he would swim around more, and take some of the attention the Blue Tang is getting. The tang is holding his own, despite the Talbot's Damsels' hassling. It looks like the tendency is that they are gradually settling down.

Another thing I observed is the Talbot's Damsels spending some quality time together in a barnacle shell. Looks like spawning. That might explain their aggressiveness.

I'll keep checking and report back later.

One thing I'm noticing so far is that the tank has more nervous energy, and suddenly it looks like I have plenty of fish!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I've been feeding the tank heavily, trying to keep everyone fat-and-happy. Last night the Blue Tang was getting pretty beat up by the male Talbot's Damsel. I turned the lights off early again. I half expected to find it dead this morning. That damsel was relentless. I've seen other fish die from less. Ah Damsels!

Laying awake in bed, I hatched a plan to catch one or both damsels. I awoke early again to witness their spawning behavior and hopefully, trap them in the barnacle shell with a net. But the female never came around to his barnacle lair, and I was unable to catch the male alone in it either.

When the lights came up, the tang was the last to emerge, but he seemed okay. A miracle! He also seemed to have a better flow with his tank mates, attracting less aggression. I might not have to remove the damsels after all, though I may give it another try anyway. It would be nice to be rid of their aggressive energy.

The Fox Face is gradually getting more bold. I never knew these fish were so good at camouflage. An added bonus feature! It disappears in the seagrass, swaying in the current. Reminds me of the Filefish I had awhile back.

So, with all the drama we've endured together, the new fish have revealed their names to me; Miracle Max and (Where's) Waldo.

Fish watching has been engrossing! Who needs tv? I've got a wide screen Nature show…

 

[vlangel]

Oh wow Michael, I expected to hear news of the new fish since I was gone over the holiday break but holy moly, I was not prepared for all that!!! Kudos to you for being resourceful and thinking out of the saltwater box! I am so glad that you, your family and fish all weathered the storm.

From my aquarium tech days with the lfs, I learned that lack of oxygen can kill fish fast, especially the higher respiration fish like tangs and angels. Cardinalfish, pufferfish and clownfish can go longer in low oxygen situations. Anyway, after witnessing a few tank crashes due to lack of oxygen overnight, I bought battery back ups for all my tanks with fish even though in the 30 years that we lived here our power was never out more than a few hours. Finally for Christmas about 5 years ago I asked for a power inverter. It's a 1000W and was less than $100. I only used it once 3 years ago when our power was off 3-4 days but it was amazing. It ran the return pump, and heater easily. I put the lights on about 4hrs/day and we still could run our fridge and computer. It paid for itself in peace of mind during that one outage.

What I especially like about it as opposed to a generator is that it is very easily stored, it does not have to be ran periodically and of course the price tag. For me, it was the right call, but we have a fireplace and most of our appliances are natural gas powered so a power outage is not as impacting to us as it is for a lot of folks.

Damsels sure can be feisty farts! Mine have not been much trouble but I really have not added much since them either.

We need pics as soon as it is feasible.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Dawn. It was a HUGE relief not to let any fish die! All the work was worth it.

I'll look into the Power Inverter thing, thanks!

Yes, even the mellowest of Damsels can get mean as they age. Many of them are great community members, as juveniles.

I will get pics asap. Can't wait!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Today I had some time to really do some fish watching. It is my great fortune to have a tank overgrown with seaweeds, and now with the fish to eat them as they do in Nature. It really is a wide screen Nature show. The downside is that they'll eventually consume it all, excepting the seagrass. Then what will I do?

Max is settling better into the community everyday. He's already starting to get his 'strut' on. He swims the length of the tank and is just beautiful. He cruises around and hangs with everyone like a social butterfly. Still, he's one of the smallest fish in the tank. When he pals around with the Allen's Damsels, they seem to intensify their blue color, making for quite a show.

Waldo is turning out to be a revelation. He looks more at home among the weeds and grass than any other fish I've kept. He swims through the seagrass with ease, then stops and totally disappears before your eyes. He gets way down into the macros too, eating and hiding simultaneously. He's even swimming about in the open occasionally. I'm sure he'll get bolder too. Today, he split his time between the big Gracialria and the seagrass, where he munches contently on Caulerpa. Salad bar! He does seem to be avoiding the Sargassum, so it's my guess that it will be the last macro standing.

New fish euphoria!