Tank Journal Archive

[reef_newbie]

Last week we got our first fish and corals :D

2 little Clowns
This is the best photo I have been able to get
They are eating their mysis shrimp very happily, the only thing to do is wait for them to host their nem.

We also got some more cuc - 5 of these little guys (I can't remember their name so ID would be awesome!)

For the corals, we grabbed a little BTA (which has changed colour considerably since going in)
The top row is the day it went in, middle is the next day and bottom is 5 days later.
When we bought it, it was quite extended but had hints of both purple and deep blue/green. Now it is almost all green.

We also bought some zoa frags
They all looked distinctly different to each other in the frag tanks (natural light and iphone torch only) but somehow look all quite similar to each other now... (regardless of the lighting)

The top row are all the same frag - it was pale pink and purple centre and pink outer... Now it is deep blue/purple centre and green outer..

The bottom left, cannot remember what it was, but it wasn't blue! Middle has stayed the same but hasn't opened up for a few days, and the last one is similar to when we bought it.

Lastly, we got this little guy thrown in - not sure what it is, so again ID appreciated :)

 

[Buddy]

Looking good :)
The snail is a Nassarius snail and he coral is a Tubipora Musica

 

[MagicJ]

Some nice additions.

Were the clowns captive bred? If so, they may have never seen an anemone in their life so don't expect them to rush it - also, BTA's are not a natural host for Ocellaris or Percula clowns, although they will often host them in an aquarium.

I'm not sure if you have your powerheads protected but I would keep a close eye on the anemone - it's foot is not protected in it's current position and I suspect that it will want to move at some stage. Unfortunately, that is when many die as they get sucked into the pumps.

 

[reef_newbie]

Thank you, we are pretty happy so far :)

The clowns were wild-caught, and the collector did explain that the BTA aren't their preferred host. He showed us their preferred, but it is huge and our tank is small!

Re the powerhead, we have an MP10 and the foam shield around it, but nothing at the front. When you say the foot is not protected, is there something we should have done differently/put it somewhere else? So far he hasn't moved at all.

Interestingly, 2 of the trochus like to get right up close to him, which I think might be why he doesn't open up all the way. Do you know if this is detrimental? Also, any ideas on the dramatic colour change?

 

[reef_newbie]

@MagicJ you were right...

 

[MagicJ]

@MagicJ you were right...

I got lucky this time ;)

 

[reef_newbie]

I got lucky this time ;)

He is stretching considerably. Guess he's happy with where his foot is, but it was dark there. Is he ok to stretch that much?

 

[MagicJ]

If it isn't happy then it will just move to a different spot - it looks to be getting some light where it is.

 

[reef_newbie]

It's been a while!

We got some new zoas a few weeks back - unfortunately every frag bar one had aptasia on it (we got them shipped so didn't know until they got here). We tried to re-frag, but we have never done it before so sadly some of them don't look like they will ever open up.

This is the one that had no aptasia (and one to the right that we managed to salvage some polyps):

 

[reef_newbie]

Then, on the weekend we got a few more bits and pieces. We are really happy!!

 

[MagicJ]

We are really happy!!

It's great to see the excitement levels are being maintained :)

With the aiptasia, I would probably have tried to scrape them off the frags rather than try to refrag the zoa's. Gluing zoa's can often be challenging but hopefully they will all survive.

The Goniopora sp. (photo 1) can be difficult to keep alive long term so please research their feeding requirements etc.

How's the anemone going ?

 

[reef_newbie]

Yes I wanted to try and get rid of the aptasia rather than re-frag, but in the end we really didn't want to chance having it in the tank. We were a bit disappointed that the store didn't tell us beforehand. We sent them photos and they said they knew they had a problem. If we knew that we would have asked to cancel the order. But anyway.

I had another look this morning and its actually only one that hasnt opened up again.

We are going to get some food for the Goni, but we did feed him with brine shrimp in a little dome the other day and he ate it no problem so thats encouraging.

The nem is good, I think. Still in his spot and stretching like crazy sometimes. He isnt as virbantly coloured as when we first got him, and because of the stretching he never really looks 'bubble-y". Im not really sure if theres anything we can do - like you said he will move if he isnt happy...

 

[reef_newbie]

Stretchy nem..

 

[reef_newbie]

So, we are pretty sure the BTA ate Peppi. We were away for 9 days, a friend was minding the tank. Fed Pep as usual around day 4 and didn't see him again for the rest of the time.

Its been nearly 2 weeks since he went AWOL and our tank hasnt a great deal of places to hide.

So we moved Peps rock to the sump (it was the only bit of live rock and great cause for stress). And now the nem is as happy as Larry.

 

[MagicJ]

What was Peppi?

 

[reef_newbie]

Sorry, Peppermint shrimp.

 

[MagicJ]

They can be very shy - maybe have a look in the tank after lights have been off for a while.

 

[ReeferRob]

Don't worry about Peppi, if I see mine 2-3 times a year I feel lucky, lol. They are very shy as MajicJ said.

 

[reef_newbie]

That's the thing though, Pep was not shy at all. The only time he was shy was when we first got him for a short while, and after that he was always running about,chasing the snails from under his rock and so on. He would come out at the first sign of food. We used to feed him using a wooden skewer with a bit of frozen prawn on it and he would go nuts for it. Sometimes he would even run up the stick and onto our hand if it was in the tank.

I really want to be positive but there really is nowhere else for him to hide. The tank is small and none of the rock structures have caves big enough for him to go in without us at least seeing part of him..

 

[MagicJ]

Time will tell regarding the peppermint shrimp ...

How are your corals going?