Project 150!!

[NaH2O]

Nick, I still don't quite understand your reasoning behind FW dip helping with internal worms. It won't do anything for ich or internal parasites. FWdips are good for Marine Velvet and Turbellarian Flatworms. IMO, if you are concerned about internal parasites, then you need to feed one of the dewormer foods while the fish are in hyposalinity (as I mentioned in my previous post). Please read the following: Freshwater Dips. I just don't see the need for a FW dip, unless you want to stress out the fish.

 

[Maxx]

After talking with Nikki and bouncing things off Leebca in the fish forum, (tons o' info there...if you havent looked over there lately, I highly suggest it!), I've decided to forgo the freshwater dips for my current livestock, and not to bother with the worm treatments, as I'm not wanting to stress the fish out to the extent needed for the treatments to be 100%.

With all that in mind, the fish trap is now in the 58. The fish in the 58 are either more intelligent than the rabbitfish, or more suspicious...cause they're not diving right in like the rabbit was. I have managed to get the Regal to go in briefly to nibble at broccoli on a clip in there...but she doesnt go in deep enough to catch currently...so I'm expecting this to take a few days/weeks to get her more comfortable with eating in there. The I expect I'll have to start the whole process over again to catch the Tomini and then the Royal Gramma. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do to catch the clowns as they dont leave the H.magnifca anemone...period.

But hey, if this were easy, I dont think it would be as much fun.

Further updates as events warrant.

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

I tried to catch a sixline once with a clear acrylic trap, this guy was way too smart for it, all the food in the world & he wouldn't even glance at it. I've heard success with trapping in darkness but never tried myself.

 

[Maxx]

Actually Scott, I was able to catch the Regal just 20 minutes before I left for work tonight. I figured it would take a little while longer for that to happen, honestly.

It was a bigger PITA to get the trap out of the tank and transfer the fish over to the 120 than it was to catch the fish. I put her in and let her swim around for a few minutes before I shut the lights off for the night. It funny watching the rabbitfish try act dominant to the Regal.....Kinda like Urkel trying act tough....

I figure I'll wait awhile for the bacteria levels to adjust to the higher bioload in the 120....and give the Tomini a chance to get comfortable around the trap so I can get him later.

I've had to use these types of trap before. They work best when you're patient and dont try to rush things. Only put food in the tank thru the trap so the fish have to either go hungry or hang around the trap for the food to drift out where they can get it. Pretty soon they realize the trap isnt going to "eat" them and they'll dash in, grab food, and dash out. Not too long after that, they'll quit racing out and then you've got em. However, if you rush things, you'll scare the fish, and then they wont go near it.

Nick

 

[NaH2O]

Are you still planning on hyposalinity?

BTW - I think its funny you refer to the regal as a "she".....and the Tomini as a "he". Is that because of the beauty of the regal....or because she's boss?

 

[Maxx]

Yes, I'm still going with the hyposalinity.

I refer to the Regal as a she, because I'm assuming its a female due to the length of the gill plate spines. Male angelfish typically have long gill plate spines, females dont. This isnt a hard/fast rule, but is fairly accurate.

Let me show you what I mean....


My Regal...

Another Regal, most likely a male....

To be honest, though, my fish is not even 5 inches long though...so I dont know for sure that its sexually mature yet, and the spines may lengthen as the as the fish matures....but based on the reading/research I've done...I have a female Regal angel.

I refer to the Tomini as a male because he has to deal with all the wackadoo behavior that any man who lives with a woman does...temper tantrums, huffy/moody periods etc....and he does it with aplomb and manners.....
If you dont know what I'm talking about ask Jeff....I'm sure he'll play dumb on the subject, and thats how we manage women. Its a good system and it works.



Nick

 

[Maxx]

The Regal is doing fine in the 120, eating like normal and having no problems pushing the Virgate rabbit out of the way to get at the broccoli. Interstingly enough the dark area between her eyes, (visible in the above photo) has faded since being placed in the 120. I think its just because she's not fully acclimated to the new environment.

The Tomini and the Royal Gramma want nothing to do with the trap in the 58....S'okay...I'm patient and they'll get hungry.

Nick

 

[Maxx]

06-23-2007

I added some more base rock to the 120 temporarily to give additional biological ability. From what I've read, hyposalinity decreases the bio-filter's affectiveness, so more rock should help. Fortunately I have some large pieces of dry base rock left over from setting up the 58....

The Tomini is happily going into the trap to eat, but the Royal Gramma isnt as of yet. I want to catch the Royal first, since the Tomini gets most of its diet from the micro algea growing on the rock and glass, and the 120 doesnt have alot. So I figure the 58 is a better place for the Tomini at the moment.
I swapped out the actnic bulbs over the 120 and replaced them with NO flourescents...no need to waste electricity from the MH's over the 120 when its not going to have any photosynthetic critters in it for awhile yet...

On a sad note, I also have a 10 gallon tank set up which has a small H.crispa anemone, a large Long Tentacle Anemone, (M.doreensis), a tank raised occelaris clown, and a chalk bass. Went downstairs today to feed everything and found the chalk bass on the floor as a fish stick....

No idea what caused it to jump, but I'm bummed. It was a cool little fish...


Nick

 

[NaH2O]

Sorry to hear about the chalk bass

 

[Maxx]

Thanks Nikki...it does suck, and now I'm contemplating a way to make the 120 safe w/o diffusing too much light.

Nick

 

[Maxx]

07-01-2007

Caught the Tomini Tang today. That guy is fast. For the last week or so, he'd go into the trap to eat, I'd drop the glass front of the trap, and get...nothing. It took less than a second for the glass to slide down the channel it sits in and close the trap...and each time, the tang would beat it, and escape. Kinda reminded me of that cracked out squirrel in the movie "Over the Hedge" voiced by Steve Carroll....

I cheated this time to get the Tomini...put food in the trap, and put a net at the front when he went inside to eat....he got scared, moved to the back of the trap, then rushed the net, and got caught. He's in the 120 right now...annoyed and freaked....but overall doing okay.

I took the trap out of the tank for right now as its shading some of my corals below it. Temporarily it shouldnt be a big deal, but long term, I have concerns. Its been in the tank since 06-09-2007...and one of the acros below it is turning sort of brown....but that could be due to feeding heavily in an attempt to entice the fish into the trap. Either way, I'll leave the trap out for a few weeks and see what happens.

I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get the Royal Gramma out of the 58 since it never once went into the trap....I hope I dont have to pull it out of the tank by removing its favorite rock hiding spot....


A friend asked me to take a small maroon clown of his hands...and since I'd lost the chalk bass, and always liked maroon clowns, I took it.
The Maroon clown, ("Clooney" it was already named when I got it and I promised not to rename it.) is in the 10 gallon. Its about 1.5 inches in length, and is about the same size as a captive bred ocellaris clown, and its already decided to be the boss of the tank. It took over the large LTA (M.doreensis) I have on the left side of the tank, and will swim over to the right side of the tank where a small H.crispa anemone is and chase the Ocellaris out of it just to be spiteful. I'm hoping they can work it out and potentially pair up...(Stranger things have happened), but I'm not holding my breath for it. I expect I'll have to remove the Ocellaris to save it....

More updates as events warrant...

Nick

 

[Maxx]

07-08-2007

Yet another update w/o pictures...sorry.

The Tomini is in the tank and doing fine. I was initially worried that there wasnt enough for him to graze on off of the rock work in the tank, but I'm not seeing any loss of tissue/body fat that would indicate he wasnt able to graze properly. Currently the tank has the Regal Angel, the Tomini, the Rabbitfish, (which I have since tentatively identified as a Doliatus Rabbitfish as opposed to a Virgate Rabbitfish. The Doliatus has more blue stripes which extend longer throughout the body of the fish. I'm happy with that...even if it was sold as Virgate)., and the BlackCap Basslet.

The Chaetomorphia is doing well in the sump and appears to be growing, which is good because it means I can get rid of the caulerpa I have in there as well... I dont particularly like caulerpa algaes...the toxins they release dont do SPS any good, and I suspect anemones dont particular like them either....nothing hard and scientific there, just a hypothesis based on observation.

Finally, I recently aquired a Dwarf Moray, Gymnothorax melatremus, from a local reefer who has kept it for several months, and is getting into a busy period of school, and didnt feel she was able to take of the eel properly due to time constraints. She referred to it as a him, so thats how I'll refer to him from now on....I know Nikki gets concerned about people referring to animals as he or she w/o verififcation...

At any rate, the eel is not the vibrant yellow of the one pictured, its more of a creamy white w/ sapphire blue eyes. He is about 6.5 inches long, and has already eaten since being placed in the tank Friday, (07-06-07). He is fed thawed (frozen) krill that is pretty good sized, two times a week. He is in the 10 gallon tank with the two clowns. Neither the clowns nor the eel seems too worried about each other. No aggression, anywhere...even between the two clowns, (Captive bred Ocellaris, and CB GSM), which is nice.

Couple of things to point out about the link I provided above to The Marine Center...
Their info contradicts info from Scott Michaels in his book Reef Aqurium Fishes Vol 1. According to Scott Michaels, the Dwarf Moray only reaches 7 inches in max length, and they are very shy. I have read from other people who have kept Dwarf Moray's that they do best in smaller tanks w/o alot of large active fish....and in a reef tank, may not be seen very often if at all...

My plan is to finish with the 120, and plumb in a smaller tank to the 120 as well. This tank will house everything currently in the 10 gallon. It will most likely be a 20H I have lying around doing nothing at the moment....but I might buy a different tank....who knows.

I know its kinda annoying to post up about a new clown and new eel w/o posting pics, but the eel isnt necessaryly cooperating, (staying hidden), and the lights are off right now anyway...

Pics will follow, I promise.

Nick

 

[Maxx]

Here are some pics of the Dwarf Moray....They are just down and dirty, I didnt even clean the glass...

The first pic is about twice his size in real life....

Better pics will follow...

Nick

 

[Maxx]

I took some new pics of the eel...also cleaned the glass.

I shrunk those two images down so they would "fit" better.

I also left at normal size, and cropped the area immediately around the eel...I like em...

I really like the detail in this one...

Color representation of the eel is correct in all the pictures, the top two pics are pretty much life size.

Nick

 

[NaH2O]

Ooh Ooh! I want one - I want one!! (raising arm like Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter)

 

[Maxx]

He's pretty cool....
I'm glad I was able to get him....

Nick

 

[Reeferdude]

I like how clean and straight your plumbing job looks in the first few pics. That lil' critter looks happy.

 

[james734]

cool little guy.

 

[Scooterman]

kool looking eel man ,will he get much bigger?

 

[Krish]

Cool eel Nick! Make sure he doesn't climb out! My friend found his eel on the floor masny times until eventually he was too late once and the eel died.