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

[metrokat]

Gonna miss you at MACNA you know. It's already getting wild and Maria isn't even there yet.

[Mariaface]

Gonna miss you at MACNA you know. It's already getting wild and Maria isn't even there yet.

 

Hey!

[holy carp]

Ha. Well ask those speakers about plant lipids... I want updated info!

Have a safe trip and enjoy.

[Mariaface]

Ahem.

 

Happy belated birthday!

 

I even posted pictures today.

[teenyreef]

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.

That's interesting stuff. I've recently started feeding frozen every day, with just the occasional pellets to supplement when I feel like they need a little more. I just don't know what effect that artificial food really has on the tank's balance, not to mention what it does for the fish.

[Mariaface]

 

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.

 

 

I try to use Omega Sea food since they seem to have more saltwater ingredients, but I do worry about the wheat at times.

 

The super color micro pellets:

Ingredients:

Whole Salmon, Halibut, Seafood Mix (Including Krill, Rockfish, & Shrimp), Wheat flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Astaxanthin, Lecithin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement,Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative), Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

[holy carp]

Like teeny, I've gone almost exclusively to frozen now. I may give a tiny pinch of pellets in the morning for entertainment, but in the evening I feed a rotating assortment of frozen mysis, lrs, etc.

 

I can attest that too much pellet food does affect the tank, but I'm unsure of how it affects the fish. Every time I've gone on vacation and the Eheim is feeding little pellets (lowest setting, once daily), the tank is out of whack with algae issues. That holds true even if the vacation is just 1 week, so it didn't actually alter the water change schedule. Dosing is automatic, friends swap the filter sock and empty the skimmer, so the only effective difference is pellets vs frozen...

 

I use these in the feeder:

[xilez]

Any updated photos of the tank?

[holy carp]

I'll get some new FTS soon.

 

Right now I'm worrying about little Lenny. On Saturday, I noticed a couple dark spots on his anal fin. Tonight, when I went to feed the fish, I noticed his right eye bulging slightly. Last night (Monday) I turned the room lights on bright after the tank lights had been off for a while. Lenny was swimming around a bit nervously and disoriented like he couldn't see and was bumping into corals. I dimmed the lights and he seemed to calm down a bit.

 

(Photos coming)

[Spec]

Great build and thread! This is basically the exact setup that I want to build for my next upgrade. Very nice and clean looking.

[teenyreef]

Fingers crossed for Lenny!

[Mariaface]

Oh no! :c

[metrokat]

I missed your birthday? So sorry - Happy Birthday!!!

Sorry to hear about the fish.

[holy carp]

So here is a little Fish timeline:

 

Saturday 9/17 - I noticed some spots. They were tough to photograph, but I tried:

 

Here you can see that as of Saturday, the right eye was normal in coloration and size:

 

On Tuesday evening (9/20) I noticed that Lenny's right eye was bulging a bit. I hadn't observed it before, but was admittedly a little distracted with the turf algae growth:

 

This morning I snapped this shot of the spots (2 on the anal fin, 1 on the pectoral fin):

 

and this photo of the eye:

 

Any recommendations? I haven't added anything to the tank since some corals from Reef-a-palooza in June. I thought all I inadvertently introduced was nuisance turf algae...

[Mariaface]

I'm not sure how to explain the eye, but the dark spots look similar to the hyper melanization marks from coral stings when a clown first tries to host in a new/stronger coral. Their slime coat takes a little while to adjust. Maybe eyes have that reaction when stung? Is your elegance becoming a clown host?

 

The spots are too big (in my opinion, for whatever that's worth) to be 'black ich', where spots are actually blood at the parasite's location and the parasite itself is too small to see.

[holy carp]

I missed your birthday? So sorry - Happy Birthday!!!

Sorry to hear about the fish.

 

Thanks, Kat.

 

Here are a few shots of the birthday cake some friends made for me:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure how to explain the eye, but the dark spots look similar to the hyper melanization marks from coral stings when a clown first tries to host in a new/stronger coral. Their slime coat takes a little while to adjust. Maybe eyes have that reaction when stung? Is your elegance becoming a clown host?

 

The spots are too big (in my opinion, for whatever that's worth) to be 'black ich', where spots are actually blood at the parasite's location and the parasite itself is too small to see.

Yeah, the spots were curious, but it was the eye that really started to worry me. I'm hoping he just bumped something and it will heal, but I don't want to ignore it too long either. This is a first for me...

I haven't noticed different hosting behavior with the elegance, but I have noticed that Bruce Jenner has been more aggressively nagging and darting at Lenny lately. Assumed she was just horny.

[Cintax]

Like teeny, I've gone almost exclusively to frozen now. I may give a tiny pinch of pellets in the morning for entertainment, but in the evening I feed a rotating assortment of frozen mysis, lrs, etc.

 

I can attest that too much pellet food does affect the tank, but I'm unsure of how it affects the fish. Every time I've gone on vacation and the Eheim is feeding little pellets (lowest setting, once daily), the tank is out of whack with algae issues. That holds true even if the vacation is just 1 week, so it didn't actually alter the water change schedule. Dosing is automatic, friends swap the filter sock and empty the skimmer, so the only effective difference is pellets vs frozen...

 

I use these in the feeder:

 

<photo redacted>

 

I found I had massive algae growth when I was feeding New Life Spectrum Flake and when I was using Coral Crack(?). My YWG rarely comes out for pellet food. He must sustain himself on the many types of small crustaceans living in my aquarium. He does love to chase the live baby brine shrimp and other meaty food. I am feeding crushed up New Life Spectrum 1mm now because of my little clowns and I have seen a boom in my GHA population. :/

[RollaJase]

One of my clowns got pop eye when first starting to host the nem. I figure the nem must have hit it in the eye. I kept a close watch on the clown and it went away after a week or so. As for the black spots, my current clown loves to play in my zoas, he has little black spots all over due to this. Should be fine .

[holy carp]

Thanks for the optimistic words, Rollajase. This morning I would say that the eye is definitely not worse, which is a relief. I can't say that it has improved, but at least his behavior and appetite seem unaffected. The little black spots haven't changed. Perhaps they could be from a coral sting. This little guy swims all over and isn't careful about it. He seems to rub up against anything and everything. He even nips at the maze brain coral's sweepers. What a clown.

[metrokat]

That's an awesome cake!

I agree with the others, those are sting marks on the clown. They will heal.

[holy carp]

Bad Snail!

 

But good news: Lenny's eye looks pretty much back to normal now... Knock wood.

[holy carp]

My friend is rescuing a dog named Chili whose rear legs were shattered by the previous owner and then neglected so they never healed. The operations to fix the legs will cost $8k ($4k/leg). As a gesture of support, I'm temporarily changing my sig to link to their crowdfunding site. I don't know if this is against the forum rules, and I generally don't like solicitations, but I think it's a worthwhile cause. So better to ask forgiveness than permission...

 

EDIT: This was the banner:

[holy carp]

How a baby dendrophyllia starts:

 

 

(1 or 2 days old - wasn't there on Sunday)

[teenyreef]

I love babies

[holy carp]

Gonna Livestream my elegance coral for a bit...