Sleeping with the Fishes [a pe(s)t project]

[holy carp]

Free Pet! Exciting! I wonder if it'll make it or get eaten by something. How big would it get? And where on earth did it come from? And do they reproduce in aquaria? Questions questions...

[holy carp]

Started noticing the GHA is looking plusher than my liking. I think it's from trying to feed that hungry little plate coral so much. That little thing eats almost as much as my little clownfish.

 

So I thought I'd swap out my phosguard tonight, but then thought to myself, "Self, you should try that Xport PO4 sitting next to your tank."

 

Now I just need to figure out how many croutons to use... The difficulty is in the PO4 testing. I use Red Sea, and no matter what, it always looks like 0.00-0.04. Those shades of yellow

 

Or maybe I just need a little tailspot blenny.

[teenyreef]

Natural controls are always best

 

The only test kit for phosphates I can be sure of reading right is the Hanna ultra low range one. I can't read any of the color kits.

[Mariaface]

I...

 

Might have a tuft of bryopsis on those super colorful palys (yes, there are 3 now and another nub is on the way) from RAP.

[holy carp]

I...

 

Might have a tuft of bryopsis on those super colorful palys (yes, there are 3 now and another nub is on the way) from RAP.

Oh no! Photograph it... I hope my 'GHA' is not bryopsis... It had never bloomed like this before, and given timing of RAP, I suppose something could have been introduced in my tank even though I chopped all the frags off the plugs. I'm paranoid now.

[Mariaface]

You guys demand a lot of photos.. I'll try >:c

 

 

CAN I JUST SAY THAT I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR NOT HAVING KILLED THAT CLAM YET. Like it's happy, it's reacting to fluctuations in light or water movement, its mantle is never pinched or stretched, its filter-bits are like a little comb at the mouth, etc.

[Marc.The.Shark]

Going in the mail today buddy! Let me know how it works, might put it on my bulb depending what works best for you.

[holy carp]

Going in the mail today buddy! Let me know how it works, might put it on my bulb depending what works best for you.

 

Great. Thanks again. I'll definitely post some before/after comparisons!

[StinkyBunny]

 

Or maybe I just need a little tailspot blenny.

 

[Mariaface]

Ahem.

 

I think you need to update your signature picture, pleasekthnx.

[holy carp]

Thanks to Marc for the diffuser.

I've been experimenting with it, and may have to try a few different things. Attaching it to the lens itself didn't have as much of an effect as I had hoped.

 

Here you can see a before and after top view with the diffuser attached just to the center white LED. I wanted to leave everything else the same to see how it affected the white hot spot. (this is with the 120° lenses).

 

Before:

 

After:

 

I'm going to have to see how it works attached to the acrylic lid. Perhaps it will work a little better with some distance.

 

(sorry to admit that I didn't think to lock all the camera's exposure setting before doing the experiment)

 

 

 

Maria - I'll think about it. I need some ideas first...

[Mariaface]

Well no, just overlay a FTS on top of the current image and you're set c:

[holy carp]

Bad News:

 

The night before last, I fed the little plate, and like usual, it went meringue.

Then yesterday evening I got home from work, and the coral was missing. It turned out to be flipped upside down over by a rock - presumably the pistol shrimp or fluttering clowns flipped it there. I flipped it back and it looked pretty deflated, but not too badly damaged other than having some sand stuck to it. I tried feeding it, but it wouldn't eat anything.

This morning, it looked worse with bone showing, even though the outer edges still look alive, the center looks pretty void. Don't know if this is the end, but it's definitely a turn for the worse.

 

 

 

[Mariaface]

Oh, no! I still hold out faith - start overdosing bacteria and keep it in low light?

[holy carp]

I put it back where it was, which is moderate light (let's face it - only the top 2 inches of my tank might be high-ish PAR). I'm adding a couple drops of bacter M daily, though I think the GHA eats it . Hopefully this little plate will start eating again.

[metrokat]

Plate corals regenerate from dead skeleton I think. Even if you lose this guy, it's coming back like a zombie.

[holy carp]

They rise from the dead like Jesus? Cool. I guess i just have to wait 3 days.

[metrokat]

Yup. According to legend, plates can right themselves if flipped over.

For shits and giggles http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1871075

[Marc.The.Shark]

good to know on the diffuser. I haven't tried it on my bulb yet & may not need it as it sits pretty high. After your experiment I'd prob try to cut myself a circular piece of el cheapo Home Depot acrylic the same diameter as the bulb face & mount it a half inch to an inch below the optics somehow. Maybe with some longer screws & some spacers or something.....hmmmm

 

edit: have you tried just running it without the cover/lenses? maybe the lenses are still focusing the beam too much. Might blend better without anything but the diodes. They should have 120degree lenses on them already.

[holy carp]

Ugh... Frustrated!!!

 

This green turf algae of some sort is growing. It

 

I bought a Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker which arrived today. Carefully following the instructions yielded a result of 0! WTF?

 

My nitrates always show up as 0 using Red Sea. Phosphate always looked like 0 or 0.02 on Red Sea, so I thought Hanna would give me some meaningful results... 0 is not meaningful.

 

Does this mean I'm back to working with h2o2? I guess so. Hopefully no more bleaching corals...

[holy carp]

4 days ago:

 

Today:

[metrokat]

Hmmm.

[teenyreef]

The same thing has happened to me in the past. The theory is the algae consume all the available phosphates so when you measure it in the water you get zero.

[Mariaface]

Oof. I have some pest algae growing in places, too. I stunted the growth of the bryopsis-looking stuff by brushing it off the clam's hammock and rinsing that, then dipping the whole clump of bright palys in a mix of tank water and 3% peroxide. The palys bubbled more than the dumb algae, but they're recovering while the algae's bleaching and dying. Poor little things :c

 

Good luck! Rinse repeatedly!

[holy carp]

Two Things:

 

On turf algae:

I've been treating some of that turf algae with h2o2 (pure 35% on a cotton swab) outside the tank. It seems to be very effective in the short term, but time will tell if it can be totally erradicated. Right now the challenge is that the turf algae is springing up all over, so I individually have to treat every rock. It's also on the glass on in the sand, though to much lesser degress. I'm spreading it out at 1 rock every day or two to minimize the impact of the peroxide in the water. So far so good, having gotten through the 3 primary rocks. Actually, I have to say that some corals like the elegance and the rainbow monti look better after a little peroxide got in the tank - not through dosing but just whatever residual liquid stayed in the rock after a 10-15 minute soak in a bucket. The colors are brighter and PE is great. It's probably just a slight loss of zooxanthellae, but time will tell if that has any negative effects. So far the biggest loss is in coralline algae. Other corals like the single blue hornet polyp fared well even after direct exposure to 35% h2o2 caused bubbles to form under the skin. And as of this morning, the sunset monti skin seems to look a little pinker again instead of the dark purple center it has had for the past few months. PE isn't there yet, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. For now, I'm enjoying the fluorescence.

 

On Feeding:

I came across this article on RC about feeding terrestrial plant lipids (largely related to garlic, but not exclusively) and it made me wonder about my pellets. I know the article is a few years old, but I didn't find much fresher info on the subject. (Executive Summary: Fish lack the enzymes to break down terrestrial plant lipids and data show that over time these fats accumulate and cause damage to the fish's heart and liver) Anyway, after reading the ingredients on my Thera+A pellets, the 3rd ingredient is Whole Wheat Flour, the 6th is Garlic, and the 10th is Alfalfa. Has anyone given this much thought? I'll be feeding frozen more exclusively in the future. My fishies deserve to be spoiled.