Kristin's 55 Gallon Tank

[parker313]

I had to go to volunteer at chess club at the school, was almost late b/c I was taking pictures!!

Here are some pics that turned out. The urchin was in a bad spot for me to get a picture and the goby was playing shy, but the blenny was very funny - kept hopping to different rocks, looking like he was posing!

There is only one of each fish - the clown and goby were hanging out at the far left end of the tank.

 

[parker313]

My blenny has a new hangout

 

[n3ont3tra]

Nice Blenny. I love blennies, they're so cool. XD
I got my sailfin blenny last Tuesday but it hasn't eaten anything yet.
What does yours eat?

 

[parker313]

He goes around picking little bits of food and "this or that" off the rocks. Thanks for reminding me, I was going to research further to see if there was any specialty food he might like.

Feeding

The Lawnmower Blenny is chiefly vegetarian and will feed by using its teeth (it is a so called combtooth blenny) to scrape algae off rocks and other surfaces in the aquarium. They are famous for eating hair algae, but are even fonder of film algae. Some specimens never touch hair algae.

If there isn’t a lot of algae in your aquarium, or if you have only one type of algae, it can be a good idea to supplement the natural algae growth with other types of food to ensure a varied and nutritious diet. You can for instance give your fish dried or frozen food for herbivore and algaevore fish. Occasional servings of bloodworms and similar meaty foods are appreciated and beneficial, but should not be offered too frequently or in large quantities.

Never place a Lawnmower Blenny in an aquarium where there aren’t a lot of algae and expect it to survive on the food you give it only. The recommendation above to supplement with other food is for blennies that already display a healthy appetite in the aquarium but are so efficient eaters that the algae can’t grow fast enough for them.

It can be hard to get your Lawnmower Blenny to eat when it arrives to its new home. Keep the water quality supreme and make sure that all aspects of your aquarium are suitable for the blenny. Avoid purchasing specimens that do not graze algae in the fish store and pass up specimens with pinched flat stomachs. Heavy breathing and a mouth that gapes wide open is another sign of starvation.

If you are an experienced and dedicated fish keeper with a good portion of luck you might be able to nurse a starving Lawnmower Blenny back to health by placing it in a quarantine aquarium with plenty of natural algae growth and slowly encourage it to start eating again.

Source

 

[steelhealr]

Parker 'ain't no sippin' tea'. Look forward to seeing her next work of art.

SH

 

[parker313]

Yeah, but this time I am on a much stricter, self-imposed budget so things will be moving a lot more slowly. Someone around here wanted a motorcycle and someone else promised him that we could save up for that very first thing in the new year. That latter someone is very lucky that the first someone let her slip this tank purchase (that he didn't care anything about) in before the aforementioned motorcycle

 

[seffieuk]

Parker 'ain't no sippin' tea'. Look forward to seeing her next work of art.

SH

eh, can we Brits have a translation

Parker - tank looks really good - glad you said about the fish, I was wondering how you got them to sit next to each other then I though, well it is Parker, just maybe

Seffie x

 

[parker313]

Yeah, right - I can't ever get my fish to sit still for me! It always takes a bazillion shots to get a good one.

My goby and my clown are big buddies - it's really funny to watch. I have never seen a goby do laps of the tank before but mine does. The clown will be hanging out at the far left corner and the goby will swim to the far right side, swim back and do a circle around the clownfish and then swim back over to the far right side - over and over... Sometimes the clownfish will follow and then hang out at the right side of the tank for a while and the goby will do the laps in reverse. The clownfish is not aggressive towards him at all and isn't territorial (of course he's not hosting anything since his big shell went back with the guy I got the tank from).

...and the blenny just sits and watches it all!!

Oh, I have seen the blenny eating the regular food I put in as well, not just the algae off the rocks.

The urchin has taken up a spot at the front right corner of the tank, right at the top.

 

[parker313]

Here is what I am thinking about in terms of fish stocking...

Ocellaris clown x2
Lawnmower Blenny
Citron Goby
Yellow Watchman Goby +shrimp
Pajama Cardinal x3-4
Canary Wrasse or some sort of flasher wrasse

I also need to work up a CUC... I have my urchin but that's all.

ETA - There is an aquatic pond store near here that also sells saltwater stuff as a side business so I am going to swing by there and see what I can get locally rather than having to pay shipping. There are NO saltwater stores, not even a Petco, near here.

 

[seffieuk]

There are NO saltwater stores, not even a Petco, near here.

That must be a pain and means no days out going round fish shops

Seffie x

 

[parker313]

That's about right. The only place I know of that even does freshwater is PetSmart and I will NOT buy their fish - way too many bad experiences with poor stock quality.

Thanks to Seffie's suggestion, my "school" may now be a harem of wrasses... According to my reading, they change sex like clowns so if I get a group of juvies then one will become the dominant male.

CUC to come:
Pistol Shrimp (w/ ywg)
Cleaner Shrimp (maybe)

Nassarius Snails x10
Cerith Snails x10
Turbo Snails x5
Bumblebee Snails x5

Scarlet Reef Hermit OR Dwarf Hermits x4

For now, the bristleworms and urchin do a good job on cleanup but before I get anymore fish, I want to make sure I've got a good CUC. My sand ended up pretty deep in the front so I want the nassarius snails to help plow through it every once in a while.

 

[parker313]

I got some REALLY cool pictures this morning while I was getting Brodie ready for the school bus. The tank lights were still out and all the fish were still sleeping.

Here's a good picture of my urchin:

I started laughing when I saw the blenny this morning - he was sleeping, on his side, perched way up high in that shell. He must feel very comfortable in the tank!

Nemo has taken to sleeping in the very far right front corner of the tank and has a little spot sorted out:

The urchin cleaned off the top of this shell and the bubble algae on the ground used to be on top of the shell!

Urchin starting to go up the side of the tank; the white spots are his "feelers" with little suction cups on the end for movement and for grabbing food and pushing it towards his mouth:

My favorite picture of all of them...

I have to run and get Mason from pre-school now

 

[seffieuk]

Oh they are just too cute

Seffie x

 

[parker313]

They are all real characters. The blenny is not NEARLY as shy as I'd thought he would be. When I am scouring the tank, looking all around for him, I usually end up finding him right in front of me, just blending in to the ricks. The goby is fake-shy. He runs from the camera but then as soon as I lower it, he comes swimming right back up. He and Nemo still do their laps around the tank every evening together.

 

[parker313]

I am looking forward to this morning - after I drop Mason off at pre-school, I am going to check out the one and only local fish store (the only store that does salt water stuff of any kind within about an hour and a half). It's supposed to be pretty good. http/carolinareefgrowers.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-home.cgi?d=star-ridge-aquatics-llc

I am looking at getting a juvy clown today to go with Nemo. Also, depending on the price, maybe some CUC.