Hero Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 The diet sounds complicated but im sure you can figure it out. Im sure you can find a suitable food supply for your tubeworms at a LFS. What other filter feeders do you have? Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Well my large barnacle kicked the bucket, so basically some clams and some small barnacles. Link to comment
steveweast Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Well my large barnacle kicked the bucket, so basically some clams and some small barnacles. small barnacles will need rotifers or oyster egg sized food.....but IME, if they don't like the water quality, they will not feed. If they are not out and raidly filtering the water, they are not happy. The clam will need phyto......they can hang on for long periods and are more tolerant of poor water quality.....but, eventually, they will need phyto. the tubeworms will be the most difficult to feed....probably oyster eggs or rotifers......but, I'd imagine that they demand pristine water conditions....and will jetison their crown in less than the perfect water conditions that they are accustomed to. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 I need to get some oyster eggs... Link to comment
steveweast Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 The diet sounds complicated but im sure you can figure it out. Im sure you can find a suitable food supply for your tubeworms at a LFS. What other filter feeders do you have? It's not complicated.....it's just matching the animal to its food requirements. There are many coldwater critters that I will not even try to keep because of food requirements....like sponges, nudibranches, barnacles, plus many more... This is the main difference between coldwater keeping and tropical reefkeeping. In tropical reefs.....most critters are photosynthetic.....so, slap a powerful light over them and you're good to go......plus maybe a little extra food from time to time. In coldwater.....it's all non photosynthetic......food is everything and those food requirements are not easy to meet without creating an EPA superfund cleanup site. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Great barnacles is on the masters no no list. They are cool when they are big you have to admit. Link to comment
steveweast Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I need to get some oyster eggs... The Reef Nutrition line of foods is quite good. Great barnacles is on the masters no no list. They are cool when they are big you have to admit. Defintely.....but, I've only seen them survive in publc aquarium systems that are open to the ocean. Land locked pubic aquariums struggle with them too. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 The problem is I will have to order it off the web I really think my family should hook a tank up to the ocean at my cabin. A huge 300g piped directly to the bay would be pretty cool, and could be full of awesome filter feeders... Link to comment
steveweast Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 The problem is I will have to order it off the web I really think my family should hook a tank up to the ocean at my cabin. A huge 300g piped directly to the bay would be pretty cool, and could be full of awesome filter feeders... Well.....that's the business model for Monterey Bay, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Seattle Aquarium, Steinhart, etc. They never have to worry too much about filtration....feedings....or biological populations since they operate open systems. What impresses me more are aquariums like the Georgia aqurium or the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago that are closed systems just like ours. Link to comment
Hero Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I've only been to a few aquariums in my life...... What does EPA mean steve? Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Environmental Protection Agency Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 I figure. Its understandable, there are a lot of acronyms in this hobby lol. Link to comment
Hero Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 For sure. Theres this huge list on RC with tons of them. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Ok well I guess its time for an update. There has been a ton of die off. Basically all that is left is a chiton, a few snails, and some of the brown nems. There is also that one orange pinkish anemone (the tiny one) still there. Everything else has been removed because of excessive die off. I do 50% water changes everyday but seems as if that is not enough. I am going to be getting some bioballs today or tomorrow so I can get some bacteria growing. Kind of a bummer but I really just want to get this tank under control, its important but not as important what makes it. Ohh I forgot to add my clams and my oyster are still alive. I will update with pics when I feel it is necessary Link to comment
steveweast Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Ok well I guess its time for an update. There has been a ton of die off. Basically all that is left is a chiton, a few snails, and some of the brown nems. There is also that one orange pinkish anemone (the tiny one) still there. Everything else has been removed because of excessive die off. I do 50% water changes everyday but seems as if that is not enough. I am going to be getting some bioballs today or tomorrow so I can get some bacteria growing. Kind of a bummer but I really just want to get this tank under control, its important but not as important what makes it. Ohh I forgot to add my clams and my oyster are still alive. I will update with pics when I feel it is necessary I'll give you mad credit for admitting the truth as to what is happening with your tank......you're providing a great service to those following this thread as to the some of the pitfalls in coldwater keeping. Your survivor list is exactly what I expected for you to be left with. Lesser aquarists would have sugar coated the situation or replaced stock. It's a valuable leeson to all. I hope you take the next few months to build a bacterial population......and test for nitrite frequently. Any nitrite is poisonous and that is something that you can't control with water changes. Good luck. 1 Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Well, in a positive light, you're left with all the really hardy organisms, so you shouldn't experience any more die-off! It definitely sucks, but at least you learned from it (and hopefully other people wanting cw tanks will too). Once this tank sits for a few months and everything gets nice and stabilized, it should look nice, and you can start adding things again. And about the 300 gallon at your cabin - yes. do it. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 I'll give you mad credit for admitting the truth as to what is happening with your tank......you're providing a great service to those following this thread as to the some of the pitfalls in coldwater keeping. Your survivor list is exactly what I expected for you to be left with. Lesser aquarists would have sugar coated the situation or replaced stock. It's a valuable leeson to all. I hope you take the next few months to build a bacterial population......and test for nitrite frequently. Any nitrite is poisonous and that is something that you can't control with water changes. Good luck. Thanks man. That means a lot. This thing keeps trying to beat me, but I won't let it Also, my room smells terrible. Ya I am going to be getting some bioballs from a friend in a day or two and once those are here I think my bacteria will start growing. I have the temp at 60 right now and I am hoping that along with the deep sand bed and bioballs I will have some bacteria soon. Thanks again Well, in a positive light, you're left with all the really hardy organisms, so you shouldn't experience any more die-off! It definitely sucks, but at least you learned from it (and hopefully other people wanting cw tanks will too). Once this tank sits for a few months and everything gets nice and stabilized, it should look nice, and you can start adding things again. And about the 300 gallon at your cabin - yes. do it. I still might have some more die off but hopefully not too much. Ya I have learned a lot. Its weird because I (not bragging) know a bit about stuff when its in the wild but in an aquarium it soo different. Ya I am hoping this gets stable before I head back up to my cabin again, that way I can come back with some cool stuff. Edit: YA the 300g would be awesome, just gotta get some funding. Link to comment
C-Rad Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 What exactly do you feed your filter feeders? I have strawberry anemone, gorgonians, and a couple of small christmas tree worms. I feed cyclops for the strawberry nems, and rotifers for the gorgonians and the worms (Technically I think that only the worms are "filter feeders"), Like Steve said, it's all about matching the food size to the animal. I don't try keeping clams because I don't want to have to add a smaller size of food, and because I keep an octopus, which would eat any clam I put in the tank. Just to give you an idea, I use about 5 gallons of bio balls for a system that holds (after sand and rocks) about 50 gallons of water, so about 10% volume of bio balls to water. About 80% of my bio balls are above water (with water trickling over them) and I use filter floss to filter particles out of the water before it goes into the bio balls to keep debris from getting caught in the balls. It took about six months before my system could keep the nitrite down, and that was at 63 degrees. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 Ok thanks man. Ya I am trying to do that now haha. Right now I have a couple clams and some nems and thats about it. Oh and a chiton, and some snails. I have been feeding my clams and nems every 2 days. Phyto for the clams and a mix of mysis and cyclops for the nems. First off here is a pic of a nem I need an ID for: And even though my tank is kinda empty I still like it: ^That is not a FTS by the way. Link to comment
Jamie Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Nice pics, things are looking good. The nem looks like a little metridium. Are there any markings on the column, or is it smooth and one color? If so - probably a metridium. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 I figured thats what it was but the color is awesome. I want to get a grunt sculpin and a spiny lumpsucker but Steve said that basically any anemone will eat them, except the corynactis. I can live with only berries but I would really like to keep this one thats the problem... Link to comment
steveweast Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Ok thanks man. Ya I am trying to do that now haha. Right now I have a couple clams and some nems and thats about it. Oh and a chiton, and some snails. I have been feeding my clams and nems every 2 days. Phyto for the clams and a mix of mysis and cyclops for the nems. First off here is a pic of a nem I need an ID for: And even though my tank is kinda empty I still like it: ^That is not a FTS by the way. The one on the left is a metridium....the one on the right looks to be Epiactis prolifera......both would be OK with grunts or lumpsuckers. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 Woo Hoo! Now I just need to get my hands on either of those fish lol Link to comment
Hero Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Some pictures of the front would be nice. Link to comment
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