Lister's Paradise

[Zante]

Ok, a day has gone by since I discovered the disaster.
The shrimps and snails seem to be just fine.
Corals also seem fine, I don't think I've seen them so extended, especially the plating monty.

Time for a full set of tests:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <10mg/l
Phosphate: 0.03mg/l
Ph: 8.6
Kh: 8
Ca: 390mg/l
Mg: 1430mg/l

My guess: the refugium packed with macroalgae soaked up all the crap, helped by the CO2 dripped in by the calcium reactor.

Glad to know things are back to normal.

 

[Zante]

Seeing how well the corals are doing despite the 'nem disaster I have decided to keep the tank as a coral garden for a while. Let the frags grow, and establish themselves properly.

I will also have get a clam, so it can start growing right away before any fish come along. I'm thinking squamosa or derasa, ut I'm open to suggestions.

I will have more or less the same population as before, I'm looking at different species of tangs, but it looks like it's going to be a yellow again.

I might add a filefish sooner than i plan to add fish if the aiptasia start spreading, I'm already seeing a couple more heads.

 

[Zante]

My friend at the LFS got two falcula butterflies for me before I told him of my decision of keeping a coral garden for a while.
They have already started training, and in about a week's time they will be transferred to the zoanthid tank.
 
If all goes well I'll have two reef safe butterflies (always under surveillance though)
 
If they turn out to munch corals... well... I won't be sad to stock clams

 

[Zante]

Kh: 9
Ph: 8
On hindsight I should have taken the reading in the evening, as usual. All the same, I think the Ph shouldn't have been that affected, because the sump lights, where the macroalgae are are on a reverse time to the display.
I'll repeat the readings this evening, which is when I usually take readings.

PO4: undetectable
And my jar of phosphate media is still sitting in my drawer.

NO3: zero
I guess it's not important as long as they're under 10mg/l, and they are very much so, but I'd be curious to know the precise value. Maybe when I run out of this test I'll get a more sensitive one.

Monitoring NO3 and PO4, but with only two clowns to feed and a refugium packed with algae there is no reason to expect any, I guess.

Mg: 1410
Ca: 400
Seems like the calcium reactor is doing its job. Again, I'll take another reading this evening just to check how much calcium is munched up during daytime and see if it need cranking up just a little bit.

 

[Zante]

Turns out the pisol shrimps I have been sold are Alpheus armatus, a caribbean species. NOT what I wanted. I have set up a trap, and hopefully they will enter it.
 
So, stocklists again...
 
So far we have
2 tuxedo urchins
a selection of snails
5 cleaner shrimps
1 pair of coral banded shrimps
1 pair of armatus pistol shrimps
1 pair of clowns
 
The complete stock list I'm looking to get at is:
2 tuxedo urchins
a selection of snails
6 cleaner shrimps
1 pair of coral banded shrimps
1 pair of randall's pistol shrimps (Alpheus randalli)
1 pair of clowns
1 filefish
1 pair of coral beauties
1 pair or a single falcula butterfly (depends on whether the ones in the LFS pair up or not)
1 tomini tang
1 pair of randall's shrimp gobies
8 anthias (dispar or flavicauda)
1 pair of mandarins
1 tomini tang

 

[Zante]

Time for tests

Kh: 10 - Hmm... rising...
Ph: 8.6 - Steady
Ca: 400 - Steady. Not bad, could be a wee bit higher but not bad, not worth touching the reactor yet.

The new frags I added must have compounded the increased production in my calcium reactor. 400 is not too bad, and it's stable, so I think I'll start testing less frequently now. If I start seeing a drop I'll tweak the reactor to produce more calcium.

That is likely to start once the new new frags start growing, and the fish I'll add start their own uptake of calcium.

 

[Zante]

Seeing the sexy shrimps at the LFS, when I went to pick up a filefish (video coming when he settles in and shows up) has rekindled my affection for these wee little creatures.
 
I have a few empty tanks and I was considering setting up a nano.
That will also allow me to have a clam, even if it's a small one, since with butterflies and coral beauties in the main display that is a definite nono.
 
Cycling? Not for me! I will rig up a small overflow in the chosen tank and share the sump with the large reef. Since it will be connected to the large reef there will be no need for any filtration, and any rock in there will be only for scaping purposes and as a support for corals.
That would mean that a 19 litre* nano will have a water volume of over 600 litres!
 
It is still a project in the "would like" drawer for the moment, I still haven't decidewhich aquarium to use for it!
It is at the top of pile though.
 
Currently the idea is to stock a selection of soft corals, a couple of minimaxi anemones, a colony of sexy shrimps and one or two crocea clams, depending on which tank I end up using.
 
Don't hold your breath though, It will be some time before I give this project some serious thought.
 
*or 15... or 64... depends on the tank

 

[Zante]

Fastest tweezers in the west!
 
I caught the pistol shrimp with my longer planting tweezers, the same ones I caught the mantis shrimp with. Fortunately it didn't dig a burrow, but just dug a bit between the rocks.
 
I simply got fed up of the bottle trap being ignored and decided to try and take action.
 
Now I have it in a separate container I can see it well, and it is indeed an Alpheus armatus, caribbean species that I don't want in my tank. My bad for trusting the LFS, their bad for not knowing what they're selling snce I specifically asked for a Fiji species (are you listening ADC?)

Anyway, now I have caught it, and it's going back.
 
 
My camera went for a swim. I was planning on geting a new one, but not with this rush. Fortunately there's a good second hand shop in London and I was able to get a replacement quickly and cheaply. The battery is now charging and we'll soon see if it's any good when I'll use it to introduce the new filefish and to show you the captive pistol.

 

[Donya]

Fastest tweezers in the west!
 
I caught the pistol shrimp with my longer planting tweezers, the same ones I caught the mantis shrimp with. Fortunately it didn't dig a burrow, but just dug a bit between the rocks.

 

 Skills man. The shrimp is ok after it too?

 

[Zante]

Yup
 
Quite displeased I must say, it's clicking quite often, but it's going to the LFS today.

 

[Zante]

I'm back from the LFS, now the proud owner of the snail formerly called Strombus luhuanus (now known as Conomurex luhuanus)
For that I think I'll call it Prince

I have also bought a lawnmower blenny to which the name Zenigata just stuck.

Since my camera went for a swim don't expect any pictures any time soon. I have ordered another one, second hand, and it will hopefully be delivered on Monday. After a bit of practice I'll post an update video.

 

[Zante]

Just a check up on the parameters to see if the calcium reactor is doing its job:

Ph: 8.6 - Sock solid there
Kh: 10 - It has risen to 10, but over the last two or thre weeks it's flatlined at 10
Ca: 400 - Nice... stabilized, even with several SPS frags growing nicely
Mg: 1260 - Mmmm going down...

I'll have to look into a Mg supplement.

 

[Zante]

Ok, hopefully my new camera will be delivered today. Even then I'm not sure I'll be able to make a video, it's a rather intense time at work and I might be working late for the next few nights.

In any case, here's a quick update.

Stock list:
2 tuxedo urchins - check
a selection of snails - added an orange lipped stombus
6 cleaner shrimps - check
1 pair of coral banded shrimps - check
1 pair of randall's pistol shrimps (Alpheus randalli) - Pending, but alerted the LFS of my intentions. It will take them some time to source a pair.
1 pair of clowns - check
1 filefish - check
1 lawnmower blenny - check
1 pair of coral beauties - Pending, not in a hurry to find these as they're fairly easy to pair up
2 falcula butterfly - Sitting in the LFS, more about them below
1 tomini tang - Sitting at the LFS, mor about it below
1 pair of randall's shrimp gobies - Pending, more about them below
8 anthias (Pesudanthias flavicauda) - Ordered at the LFS, waiting for them to arrive
1 pair of mandarins         - Pending, not in a hurry. Also thinking of other dragonets as mandarins are a bit garish.

The Butterflies:
They have now been transferred to a soft coral tank, and so far they have been behaving. One of them has a bit of lymphocistosis, but it's being taken care of. There's a few very enthusiastic neon gobies that are giving a helping hand. They seem to be happy together. Not many hopes for a pair, I can't even know if they are male and female or not, but I'm convinced they'll coexist peacefully.

The Tomini Tang
It's in the frag tank of the LFS. We tried catching it yesterday, but it proved futile and only stressed the fish, so the marine guy at the LFS will try and catch it and he'll send me a message once it's done.

The gobies and pistol shrimps
It will be a lot easier to source a pair of gobies than a pair of shrimps, and I definitely want to add both pairs at the same time. I have mentioned this to the LFS and they will start looking for them.

 

[Zante]

I have added 8 anthias flavicauda and they settled in almost right away. They are now all over the tank, brightly coloured and apparently happy.
I'll try and get a video done ASAP.

In the meantime...
Ph: 8.6
Kh: ****! Run out! Trip to the fish shop tomorrow...
Ca: 390 - Ok, raise the CO2 a bit
Mg: 1350 - Supplement has done its job

I really need to get a Kh test ASAP. With the magnesium risen like this I need to check what is going on.

My new iodine test... iodine, iodate, iodide undetectable.
Hmm... let's see when my supplement arrives and I'll create a solution that will match the high end of the scale and we'll see what comes up on the test then.

 

[Zante]

The male anthias as popeye on the left eye. He spent all of the day hiding in the rock.

I added melafix and vitamins to the water (wow, did my skimmer hate that!) and after a while he started to poke his head out. I fed a cube of frozen red plankton and he was out like a shot, gorging himself.

Now he's back in his hiding place, but he does pop out every now and then. He's out in the open as I speak.

All the other fish are fine, including the anthias that were in the same shipment as the sick one, so I very much suspect a physical trauma, a scratch on a rock for example, or since they have only been added a couple of days ago, possibly stress from the trip to the LFS and from the LFS to my tank.

He seems lively enough though, and after the meal of red plankton he's a lot more active.

In other news, the filefish is now out and about a lot more and he's not always hiding in the algae or the rockwork. I see it drifting about pecking at the rock. I hope it will start eating aiptasia soon...

If the filefish doesn't eat the aiptasia I have two falcula butterflies who are almost ready to be moved in my tank. They have been kept in a soft coral tank until very recently and they haven't touched a single polyp. Now I'm waiting for one to clear the last of a bit of lymphocystosis and they'll be moved to my tank.

I'll also wait for the anthias' popeye to show some improvement. I am convinced it is physical trauma, but I want to be sure before I add anything else.