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[Michael Hoaster]

Today I found one of the Royal Grammas dead. I had wondered yesterday, when I was only able to account for five of them. Oddly, it wasn't the one with swim bladder problems. And that one looks a little less buoyant everyday. Tomorrow I'll start them on erythromycin.

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[vlangel]

Oh no, that is so sad and apparently unexpected. If you should lose the one with the swim bladder issue, is 4 grammas enough to be a harem? If not will you order a couple more?
That is a bummer for sure, but hopefully a one time incident.

I hope the erythromycin helps the gramma with the swim bladder issue.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

It is kind of a bummer, but the one with swim bladder problems seems better everyday, so I'm optimistic. Given that they sent me five small ones, rather than six suggests KP's doesn't have any more small ones for me to order. So for now I'll go on the hope that I'll have a five fish harem. If I lose more I may look into ordering more. Five is still a good number, so I'll be happy with that. Also that leaves room for more other fish.

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[vlangel]

I will keep my fingers crossed for the 5 remaining grammas!

So, there might be other varieties of fish? Cool, any ideas of what that might be? A combtooth blenny might be really neat, although that might bring out the inner bully in Scarlett. I am sure that you would like to see her become a bit more assertive but not to where you could have a Tommy vs Marmalade situation! Whatever you choose will be nice I am sure.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Today all five grammas are accounted for. Yesterday I could only see four, so that's a relief. Today they're more out and about, which is nice. My cat, Reggie noticed them for the first time, so there was some fun interaction. I added erythromycin today, so hopefully that helps clear up the air bladder issue. It looks to be gradually improving on it's own.

As for other fish additions, it would be great to sneak in another school of something. The last time I visited my LFS, they had some damsels/chromis that had very similar coloring to Scarlett's. I'm sure they're gone by now, but it got me thinking. I don't think I'd take the chance of adding a fish that eats like Scarlett. I've got a few other thoughts, but nothing serious just yet.

With the extra, unwanted work that the Caulerpa gives me, I'm tempted to add a Foxface temporarily, to wipe it out for me. I was thinking I could move my prized macros to a holding tank in the interim. Of course there's no guarantee it would get it all, so it's kind of doubtful.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Another quick update.

The Sargassum stem with air bladders seems to be accelerating it's growth. Two days ago there were three, today there are five air bladders.

Another new plant is showing itself. Just above the wave box outlet is a Hynea plant growing. I'm pretty sure this is the real deal because it's blue and has thicker branches than the brown grasilaria. So Yay! I'll probably leave it there for now, and let it break free on it's own. It's getting blown pretty firmly by the pump, so it shouldn't be long.

 

[vlangel]

That is cool about the excelerated growth of the Sargassum and the added air bladders. I am excited about the Hynea too and hopefully it continues to thrive.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Dawn!

New plant growth takes it up a notch. Everything's growing really well right now. I suspect the CO2 has something to do with it…

 

[vlangel]

I know you run the CO2 through a canister filter somehow. I have never done CO2 and honestly do not know much about it. I remember 15 years ago when I worked at the lfs that a manager set up a planted freshwater tank with what I think was CO2 using a diy pop bottle contraption. lt was for a tank with Amazon sword plants and discus.

Anyway do you mind explaining how your CO2 gets into the tank. I am sorry if you have already shared this and I am asking you to repeat it.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sure! I'll describe my setup. I haven't tried those DIY setups. They don't sound dependable enough, in my opinion.

First you need a CO2 tank. I use a smallish 5lb size. Just go down to your local bottled gas company and ask for one. Twenty dollars or so. When it runs out, just return it for a filled one. I go through around two a year. You also need a regulator. This is the expensive part - around a hundred bucks. It threads onto your CO2 tank and allows you to have very fine control of the slow release of the CO2. You can get one from your LFS, or online. There are DIY versions too. I like the peace of mind of a store-bought one myself. You'll need enough quarter inch tubing to reach from your tank regulator to the intake tube of a canister filter (or calcium reactor). I also added a check valve to prevent water flowing back down to the regulator. You'll need to drill a quarter inch hole in the intake tube of the canister filter to fit the end of the tubing into. This is where the CO2 releases bubbles that get sucked into your canister filter and mixed into the water by the impeller. So the water coming out of your canister filter has a high CO2 content.

For reef tanks growing stoney corals, it would make sense to use a calcium reactor, which will require another pump. With a canister filter, you can add calcium media too, for a quasi-calcium reactor, plus you have other media options, like charcoal, phosphate absorbing media, mechanical filtration, etcetera. Most canister filters have multiple baskets to put whatever you want in there. You can also run it with nothing in there. It's totally up to you.

Here's a simple diagram of my setup:

Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[vlangel]

That is very helpful. Thank you for the detailed explanation. Do you think it would still work with a HOB filter if I drilled the hole and added the CO2 line to intake of my Aquaclear filter?

I am with you about the diy versions. I watched a few Youtube videos and that is not enough control for me. I'd be afraid something would happen and maybe carbon dioxide poisoning could crash the tanks.

Do you use a bubble counter or just estimate? I saw on some of the videos that a bubble a second was a good amount.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

My pleasure! I think that would work with a HOB. The key is having the bubbles go through an impeller to mix it in, or at least make the bubbles smaller.

I haven't looked at the DIY regulators on RC. Maybe if mine died I would.

I just estimate. I try to count the bubbles going into the intake tube. It's irregular, so I shoot for an average of around one a second, or even a little less. It's a good idea to check it every few days to make sure it's staying at nearly the same rate. You'll get a feel for it over time.

So you think you're going to to do it?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

My five Royal Grammas are looking good and often staying out in the open, which is nice. The one with swim bladder issues appears to be just about over it. It's hard to figure out which one it is. So I think she's out of the woods. Scarlett looks good too, from what I can see. So generally I'm happy with my quarantine situation. One fish loss out of seven is not great but not terrible either.

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[vlangel]

Thanks again Michael on the CO2 info. There is an impellor in the Aquaclear filter and that is such an easy, uncomplicated way to implement it. I love simple and uncomplicated!

Yes, I am seriously considering it. I just found out that my son is also looking into CO2 because he is planning on downsizing his reef and turning his 65 gallon tank into a planted Discus aquarium. Its just so funny that neither of us ever considered CO2 before and now we both are, (even if for slightly different tank types).

Its so good to hear how well QT has gone for you. A fish can die at any time and who knows what possible underlying condition that was not apparent may have killed the one that died? I would say that it has been a success and you will feel much better when they do go into the display tank.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Me too on the simple thing! Running CO2 through a hang-on filter sounds super simple. Good idea!

It's a huge relief to get a handle on quarantine. There's more work to do, but I've definitely improved in an area of husbandry I needed to improve.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I swung by my LFS yesterday. They still had the Damsels I mentioned before, that had orange fins, similar to Scarlett's. I was VERY tempted, but I know nothing about them and that kept me from buying them on the spot. I asked the shop owner, and he didn't know much either, but he suspected they were aggressive like most other Damsels. That wouldn't necessarily be bad, considering that my Allen's Damsels are getting large and not so sweet anymore. But they are very similar in shape, which could lead to chronic conflicts. Today I pulled out my MINI ATLAS OF MARINE AQUARIUM FISHES, to see if I could find a match. I found 3 that looked like possible matches, but nothing definitive. Googling their species names didn't turn up much either, unfortunately. So I don't think I have enough to go on to make a sound decision. Oh well! I'll keep thinking on it.

I was thinking about what Dawn was saying about wishing she had initially set up her fuge to be more display-like. That was the same feeling I had with my quarantine tanks. For this latest round of QT, I added dead coral skeleton rocks to the PVC pipe sections, to make them more 'homey' for the fish. It made a big difference - for ME. Now they are more display-like and less laboratory-like. This has been a big factor in my being more patient, and not cutting corners on quarantine duration. The large QT in my home office, that houses the grammas gives me a lot of viewing pleasure. So to anyone considering setting up quarantine tanks, I would encourage them to make them enjoyable mini-displays - for the fish, AND themselves.

It feels like Scarlett has been in QT for months. It's been six weeks. I was just rereading an article on Hypo Salinity treatment, and the author recommended six weeks, so we're in good shape. I'd REALLY like to get her in the display, but I also want to stick to my plan of catching the damsels, adding the grammas, and then adding Scarlett, the Tomini Tang. Obviously, it would have been better to get the grammas before Scarlett, but It didn't work out that way. I'm just happy I was able to get the grammas in the size I wanted. So it's a bit of a shuffle. I'll need to be vigilant maintaining the QTs, but I'm hoping it'll all work out. This is definitely the most complicated introduction shuffle I've ever done, but I believe it's the best option. The key factor is whether I can catch the damsels…

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[vlangel]

Going to lfs can be so dangerous! You did well to resist temptation on damsels that you are not sure of.

I like that you have made your QT more homey. It probably does not matter much to the fish but I think it will help you endure the quarantine process easier if the tanks are more aesthetically pleasing. Your patience and self control amaze me. I wished I had more of that.

Good luck in catching your damsels when it is time!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks Dawn! Five-years-ago-me would have bought those fish for sure. Honestly, I still haven't ruled them out, but right now I'm leaning towards a few more mid-size fish, rather than another school. But you never know…

It's funny, I added the rocks to make the fish more comfortable, and it turned out to make me more comfortable as well. I'm not crazy about the PVC look. There's no reason QTs have to be sterile and ugly. It makes more sense to make this transitional stage more enjoyable for the aquarist.

 

[vlangel]

So if you go back and buy the damsels at the LFS, will you keep the tomini and the grammas in QT until the damsels are done with QT also? You the man if you can keep 3 QTs going for that long!!!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Good question. I think I would add them after the grammas and tomini, and before I added the Allen's Damsels back in.

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