Tank Journal Archive
I am now certain that I have an un-identified killer creature (possibly pistol shrimp or mantis) clicking away in the depths of my rockwork :mad:
I have heard it for a while but because my mantis tank is right next to this tank I always assumed it was the mantis and have never been in the right spot at the right time. Then this morning I was looking into the tank before the lights came on and something started going nuts in there clicking away. I checked on the mantis nextdoor and he was out in plain view (for like the first time ever!) so I know it wasnt him. My mandarin makes a funny clicking sound when he eats pods off the glass so I checked him and he was resting on the rocks and still click click click!
I am pretty sure its a pistol as compared to my mantis it is quite a different pattern of clicks but I just thought that the mantis was playing different tunes but the more I listen the more I realise that theere are 2 very different and consistently different patterns of clicking!
Now to find the offender and isolate!
I have heard it for a while but because my mantis tank is right next to this tank I always assumed it was the mantis and have never been in the right spot at the right time. Then this morning I was looking into the tank before the lights came on and something started going nuts in there clicking away. I checked on the mantis nextdoor and he was out in plain view (for like the first time ever!) so I know it wasnt him. My mandarin makes a funny clicking sound when he eats pods off the glass so I checked him and he was resting on the rocks and still click click click!
I am pretty sure its a pistol as compared to my mantis it is quite a different pattern of clicks but I just thought that the mantis was playing different tunes but the more I listen the more I realise that theere are 2 very different and consistently different patterns of clicking!
Now to find the offender and isolate!
If it is a mantis it has to have come in on my live rock and aas such is 99% chance its a smasher and not likely to target fish... Only a spearer will actively hunt/attack fish.
I suppose unless its really hungry but I though I would have found smashed snail shells and the CBS would be dead if it was a mantis...
Lots more staring into the tank trying to find some thing I dont know where it is what it looks like or where to start looking!
I suppose unless its really hungry but I though I would have found smashed snail shells and the CBS would be dead if it was a mantis...
Lots more staring into the tank trying to find some thing I dont know where it is what it looks like or where to start looking!
Apparently it was nothing but bad luck. The remaining mandarin, blenny and tang are all fine.... Well the tang is still mental but otherwise fine.
I havent been running my skimmer for atleast 6 weeks and have had 0 increase in PO4 levels. They are still stable at 0.08 by Red Sea pro test kit so I am not going to run a skimmer on this tank instead I have been doing a lot of reading about algae scrubbers and I am going to build one for this tank.
I have connected my arduino to my lights allowing me to tune the light colour a bit. I also installed 4 x Ocean Coral White LED's in place of 4 of the violets and 4 of the blues. I like the new look. The overall colour barely changed but the corals "pop" more!
Now for the obligatory FTS well, almost FTS... Ignore the mug in the middle of the tank it was an experiment for macca_75 to show the "true" colour of the photo to chose a mix of LED's
I havent been running my skimmer for atleast 6 weeks and have had 0 increase in PO4 levels. They are still stable at 0.08 by Red Sea pro test kit so I am not going to run a skimmer on this tank instead I have been doing a lot of reading about algae scrubbers and I am going to build one for this tank.
I have connected my arduino to my lights allowing me to tune the light colour a bit. I also installed 4 x Ocean Coral White LED's in place of 4 of the violets and 4 of the blues. I like the new look. The overall colour barely changed but the corals "pop" more!
Now for the obligatory FTS well, almost FTS... Ignore the mug in the middle of the tank it was an experiment for macca_75 to show the "true" colour of the photo to chose a mix of LED's
There seem to be quite a lot of people in the states having success with a lot of filter feeders, NPS and other "tricky" species. Everything I read about scrubbers makes more sense than running skimmers and reactors to reduce nutrients. The most important part of keeping many sensitive species seems to bee keeping a wide variety of foods as a wide variety of particle sizes in the water constantly. Skimmers basically skim out a lot of the food, scrubbers just take the nutrient when the food is gone.
liquidg has got some interesting algae tumblers he calls them. They appear to work well from what he says and the pics I have seen around the place. looking forward to following you scrubber build. Should i be watching for a DIY thread :P Tanks can be run without skimmers I did for ages with no probs. I have just put a skimmer on my tank to polish the water and compare how happy the tank is with it. Went for an aqua1 as I did not want to over skim the water.
Tanks looking good by the way have not checked it out for a while. Wish I lived close by to take the mad tang of your hands :P
Tanks looking good by the way have not checked it out for a while. Wish I lived close by to take the mad tang of your hands :P
Thanks megsez I have been running now for 2 months with no skimmer and am still getting the same levels as before. I suppose I dont have a lot of bio load with only 3 fish one of which eats nothing but algae anyway... I do notice an increase in nuisance algae if I get lazy with water changes which prompted the investigation into scrubbers.
I will start a DIY thread when I get around to starting the build. They are very basic in their construction and operation. Just need to do a bit of reading on www.algaescrubber.net They have some real gurus on there!
I am planning on a waterfall style scrubber running on the overflow. Powered by deep red LEDs. Just need money and that wont be until after the kids birthdays in January at this rate :rolleyes
I will start a DIY thread when I get around to starting the build. They are very basic in their construction and operation. Just need to do a bit of reading on www.algaescrubber.net They have some real gurus on there!
I am planning on a waterfall style scrubber running on the overflow. Powered by deep red LEDs. Just need money and that wont be until after the kids birthdays in January at this rate :rolleyes
liquidg will take over your thread once he finds out about you wanting to go down the algae scrubber path!!
Tanks looking good! Lights improve it 100%. Do you feed your Mandy or does he look after himself??
Tanks looking good! Lights improve it 100%. Do you feed your Mandy or does he look after himself??
The mandarin takes care of himself mostly. He has taken a liking to NLS pellets which I feed the tang with so he eats pretty well.
I have been reading about scrubbers since I started keeping marine tanks. Only just getting around to planning now!
I couldn't believe the difference the lights made - Life changing!
I have been reading about scrubbers since I started keeping marine tanks. Only just getting around to planning now!
I couldn't believe the difference the lights made - Life changing!
I run my frag tank with no skimmer but have no fish so works well will post a PIC if i get a chance tonight. Have made a fuge with just Calerpa with the filter the tank came with. I also looked at scrubbers when I was deciding on sump or scruber a few years back so may even consider making a small one once I see how you do it.
On another note my Mandarin has never eaten food a put in the tank just fends for himself. Any tips on getting theme to eat food introduced to the tank?
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