New nano reef diary

Pictures!

Okay guys, here are some pics from this morning, just for fun :D

The full setup:
Full_tank.jpg


The tank, looking relatively algae-free today:
Tank.jpg


The new Xenia and a pic of the rare Wrassus blurriosis:
Xenia_wrasse.jpg


My little clown doing his thing, and the teeny frags:
Goby_corals.jpg


Say goodbye, the EC is going back to the store in about an hour - he's HUGE!
Goby_EC.jpg
 
It's continuing to look great. The tanmk will be stuffed with corals before you know it!
I considered getting tank-raised fish as well, but the only ones I could find were clowns
Click to expand...
That's where online suppliers help. There always seem to be dottybacks and various kinds of gobies available here and there. It's spotty, though. I was really bummed to find out that nobody's breeding greenbanded gobies for the moment. I was hoping to get a buddy for mine.
 
I'm so afraid to venture into buying things online... I just bought my first frag (pink zoas) online from another hobbyist who is dividing a huge colony and I'm anxious to see how they're shipped and what condition they arrive in. If they're fine I imagine I'll feel more inclined to buy things online, I just have trouble buying things sight unseen and knowing they'll be bagged and travelling for long periods of time, possibly sitting on a loading dock somewhere waiting for border clearence, and handled by clueless postal guys who don't understand how to handle livestock. I do feel it's more responsible to leave things in the ocean and buy tank-raised stock, and if I ever switch my 65g to marine (hmmm...) or lose one of my current fish I will go with captive-raised animals.

So... I had planned to return the emerald... my husband and I got ready, and I figured I'd entice him with food (he's trained to take food from the dip tube, comes running when it enters the water) and just pluck him off the rocks. Um... wrong. He's like velcro! I didn't want to pull him too hard and injure him, so I ended up letting him go. Of course, he's no dummy and scuttled off under the rocks where I can't reach him. I'm not going to dismantle the tank and upset the new corals, so unless he comes out again some time this afternoon I guess he lives with us for a while longer.

[edit]Since I was in the tank trying to catch the crab, I couldn't waste the opportunity to mess around with things a bit... I accidentally moved the polyps' rock trying to catch the crab and couldn't get it to stay in place, so it's been moved a bit. I found that both the polyps and Xenia didn't seem to like the amount/type of flow they were getting from the PH (too direct I think) so I moved it and attached a little diffuser doohickey; everyone looks more relaxed now.

The wrasse disappeared for a while tonight, right after dinner. I couldn't figure out where she was, and then realized she'd gone down to patrol the pistol's tunnels, looking for food bits! He's got the entire tank dug out under the rocks in such a way that the current blows food right into one entrance. I guess it's taken a while, but the fish have figured this out! Here's a pic of Gwynnie (that's right, since there are only two fish I've named 'em - the goby's name is Bert ;)) coming out of the tunnels:

W_tunnel.jpg
 
Last edited:
I just finished ripping the entire tank apart to catch the emerald... I'd tried to trap him all evening without success and just couldn't watch him continue to destroy the corals - he went on a rampage this evening (and he was really well fed this morning), sliced and diced the Xenia and happily ripped up and ate quite a few star polyps before I managed to get him away from them.

I'm pretty unhappy right now - I'm not angry with the crab, he's just doing what comes naturally, but I'm frustrated at having stressed everything in the tank out, not to mention myself. After hours of fighting with the rock, which just refused to stay stable, I think I've managed to create something that won't fall on the inhabitants and doesn't look hideous, but it's not as nice as it was.

Now I'm just praying that there's no ammonia spike from all the stirring and that the Xenia is tough enough to recover. One stem is nearly completely ripped from the rock and the entire thing is shrivelled down to the size of a pea, it's lying pitifully against the rock, I feel so sorry for the little thing. The ever-forgiving zoas are opening up even though they've just been moved, and the star polyps didn't take too much of a beating, so hopefully they'll be okay. What a horrid night!

[edit] Tested the ammonia, it's measuring around 0.3ppm. I'm so upset with myself, but I really don't feel there was any alternative - I had to move the rock to get the crab out. I've just done an emergency water change, about 4.5g. The total water volume is around 10g, so close to 45%. Ig, sometimes being a noob sucks. Now I know what not to do, and that for me emeralds are not a good choice! Learning from experience is no fun sometimes. [/edit]
 
Last edited:
Cheer up

Mom said there would be days like this. I saw a hermit chompin on what used to be a bit of blue-green chromis, this morning. Barf! I wouldn't move the rocks to find the corpse, but they apparently did.
I'm still looking at an empty tank and that sucks big time so cheer up. Its Saturday. Go to a movie and get away from the aquariums for awhile lol.
 
Everyone looks fine this morning, the little Xenia is shrivelled but still valiantly pumping away. My single Ricordia polyp is nowhere to be seen, presumed munched. The tank is cloudy and ammonia is registering, though the lousy test kit paper doesn't actually show the colour - the chart goes from yellow (no ammonia) through green (low levels) to medium and dark blues (ack!). The test last night showed light green, ~0.3ppm. After the water change, it came out baby blue (?), which I can only assume is ~0.15ppm or so since I changed roughly half the water. At any rate, the fish don't look stressed so it mustn't be overly high.
SF, great suggestion. I think after we turn our rogue crab in I'll do something non-tank related for the rest of the day. Sorry you're looking at an empty tank and the remains of your little guy, that sucks. Hopefully in a little while the tank will be fully up and running again and you'll have more to watch than rocks and water.
 
Just got home, my husband and I went to the mall for the afternoon. The store where I work is there, so we returned the crab and then lost ourselves in shopping for a while. It was nice to be able to get away from the disaster area, made me feel a lot better. One great surprise was that because the crab had grown so much they can sell him for more than they charge for smaller ECs, so the trade-in value I got for him was exactly what I paid for him in the first place, when he was just a little guy :)

I arrived home expecting Xenia mush and stressed fish, but someone up there must like me. The Xenia looks nearly fully recovered (astounding!) and the star polyps are out. The fish look fine, the water has cleared and all is nearly back to normal. I'm floored. I'll have to watch the water quality and do lots of water changes for the next bit I'm sure, but I expected much worse.
 
NIce things are looking up!
I went to 3 LFS's yesterday, just browsing. My last stop, I admitted to the guys there that I lost a chromis to ich. Soooooo, I wasn't going to put anything in there for another while. Well, of course, they had a solution. How 'bout a nice coral banded shrimp? cheap. Good cleaner won't be bothered by ich. She has 5 inch antennae and stares at me and points the antennae at me. Her eyeballs follow my movements and she's quick to spot a bit of bottom feeder tab I fed to her. I figure she has keen eyesight. Now, that I'm used to her, it kind of nice to see something in the tank, colorful too. Then I took my own advice,went to a movie lol. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom