My Marine Adventure

[gregswimm]

Your salinity is spot on. Nitrates are high, make sure you(or the LFS) are mixing with RO and not tap.

That 'thing' looks like some sort of polyp, sponge or tunicate of some sort. Hard to see, poke it with a stick and see what happens

 

[Chris7]

lol, I don't want to break it

Its very small but there is two of them and they open up more when the lights been on for a while. I will see if i can get a better picture sometime.

I also have a weird worm creature in one of the rocks. Its pinky colour, I know the whole it lives in and try creep up on it but he sneaks back into the rock when i approach, I have a little video clip (that was the best form of getting to see him) i will post it up later today. Its not great but you can see him and maybe identify him for me.

 

[Chris7]

OK Guys its been a while since i last updated.

I haven't done much with the tank just kept it ticking over.

I think i have made a bad choice, After Greg informed me about the scooter blenny i got one. Well it wasn't planned and i didn't have to pay anything for it hence the reason i got it.

I was in my lfs and there was a lady in there with this blenny in a bag, I said he looks interesting she then proceeded to talk to me and tell me this tale about how her son bought it but they only had a very small tank so she was bringing it to the lfs and wanted nothing for it. i said i wanted one of them and she said to me i could take it as long as i gave it a good home. To cut a long story short i got him and added him to my tank. I believe he is a Algae Blenny - not sure if thats the same as a scooter blenny or not. He's been in my tank for a few weeks now and looks to be doing well, He hides in and out of the rocks and comes to the front of the tank when i approach it. The only problem i have and reading back what Greg wrote is his eating. I am not sure if he is eating, I have seen him nibbling at the rocks and stuff but not sure if there is a lot of algae in my tank. I got some formula two marine pellet food, although the shrimp and crabs love it the blenny does not touch it, I then spoke to a guy at my lfs and he said to get new era mini marinegrazer there like algae blocks which i can stick to the side of my tank and the fish eat it. I added one the other day and left it in over night. When i checked in the morning it had been nibbled at but im not sure if it was the blenny at all or the shrimp, It also made my water very cloudy. I removed it and broke little bits from another block and hid them in the rock for the belnny, He knows its there but does not eat it. He might take a bit at night but im not too sure. He looks healthy enough, I might try some seaweed stuff i see and see how he goes with that, Unless you can recommend something he might like.

On another note i have some white stuff growing on the sand, Looks like fungus stuff. I did research and i think it might be i am feeding them too much and the left over food is getting this fungus stuff on it. When i added the bit of algae block the other day it didn't get eaten and now there is a patch of this white fury stuff where the block was. Should i just leave it, take it out or what..... Thanks.

Don't be too harsh on me with the blenny. I did see someone here had a blenny in the same size tank as mine.

 

[Chris7]

I actually bought some frozen brine shrimp and he's eating that.

 

[nkd5024]

From the photo he looks more like a starry blenny to me. He may get big for your tank down the road but he looks fine for now. Brine shrimp isn't the most nutritious of foods, I would try some mysis shrimp.

I love the "coral polyps" on his head!

 

[gregswimm]

Looks like a Crossosalarias macrospilus (triple spot blenny), hard to tell from the pic. If it is this fish it should only get 10cm, which is almost too big for your tank.

Scooter blennies also aren't blennies they are dragonets. You can generally always spot a dragonet by the lack of scales (though there are other fish without scales). I am 100% positive it is not a scooter blenny.

I agree with nkd5024, brine shrimp is rather devoid of nutrition. Omnivore flake food would be your best bet, if he will take it. He could also use some live algae in his diet.

 

[Chris7]

thanks, I will see if i can get a better pic of him, He hides well in the rocks and sticks his head out when i go over to the tank lol.

He seemed to like the frozen brine shrimp and i did see him suck up a few bits here and there, What was left floating around in the tank is now all gone so something has eaten it all lol. I also got some seaweed stuff soaked in garlic will try a bit of that.

i will upload pics later.

 

[gregswimm]

Cool. Just be careful not to overfeed, and keep an eye on ammonia. Fish produce significantly more waste than inverts do.

 

[Chris7]

Hi guys, Just a little update.

I now have 2 clown fish and a sand sifting starfish. The clowns have been in my tank for about 3 weeks now and the starfish was bought yesterday.

Some of the whiter rock i have in my tank is turning green like algae looking but apart from that all seems to be going quite well.

My water changes are regular and testing of my water too, Although i think there are a few things that are not right with the water testing.

I have between 7.8 and 8.0 ph - I think this should be a little higher is this correct. If so how can i improve this and not just a part time solution.

I have 0ppm ammonia

0ppm Nitrite

and i think between 20 and 40ppm Nitrate - Is this too high or too low and again if any how do i improve this.

I will post some more pics up later. Thanks

 

[Chris7]

I also have some white curly things appear on my glass. They kind of look like little snails but im not sure if there alive as there not moving. I scruded a few off and there quite hard and stuck there well. Anyone know what these could be.

 

[Donya]

See if this looks right: Spirorbid worm pic

 

[gregswimm]

Sounds to me like a type of filter feeding worm. I get them all the time, I gave up trying to keep them off the glass. We compromised and I let them grow on the back pane with the coraline, seems to keep them off the front and sides.

 

[Chris7]

They are on the rock too, They do look a little like that pic but a lot smaller and thinner.

I pushed one with a rod and there very hard like stone. Im not even sure if there alive. They take some pushing to get off the glass.

I did read somewhere that i might be over feeding and it some kind of algae.

 

[gregswimm]

They make calcium shells and hide in them. They are close to feather dusters and feed on phyto and maybe rotifers. I have one on a rock that is the size of a favia polyp.

 

[Chris7]

wow, so there nothing to worry about then.

Can you take a picture of yours please greg, Mine are too little to get any sort of focus on the camera.