Frogspawn's Head Splitting/Algae (fml)/Clown

[Kaneda215]

1. If you take a look at the day picture attached... the frogspawn's bottom head's polyps have not really been extending as much as they were before the move. I know they could be retracted due to stress, but it hasn't taken this long to extend back to normal after a move during past instances. I was thinking, could this be because the bottom head is seeing less light?

 

- I did more research and read that when a head splits, the polyps don't extend as much for awhile. I threw the 10k on at night and took a picture and the bottom head looks more like an oval than circle. Can someone verify that it's splitting, and this has been the reason for the polyp's minimal extension.

 

 

2. I had an algae problem in my BC14 and have done things within the past 2-3 weeks to fix this:

-upgraded stock pump to MJ900 and Koralia Nano

-doubled the amount of LR

-cut light cycle down by an hour

-reduced feeding to every other day

-reduced bioload (2clowns/firefish > 1 clown/firefish/clown goby)

-removed all bioballs and sponge and added media rack w/ Purigen and chemipure.

 

The top rock which is new... is seen growing algae if you take a look at the pictures. How long will it take for the algae to start decreasing. Am I right in saying that it'll eventually starve itself out, and there'll be no green in the tank?

 

 

3. My female clown was really harassing the male after 6 weeks so I decided to remove the male. I traded it in for a clown goby. The clownfish (female) has left the clown goby alone but sort of charges at the firefish quite a bit. She's started to do it a lot since I've taken out the male clownfish.

 

-Will the female clown eventually lay off the firefish? She's such a #####. I thought they were supposed to be aggressive towards only damsels.

-The clown goby has been swimming up and down the side of the tank, and will just chill near the bottom corner between the crushed coral and the glass. Will it eventually start to hang out on the LR and corals? Any past experience with this? Also, he isn't seen eating at all.

 

Thanks for the help! If the female doesn't let off the firefish, I may trade her in for a smaller one in a week or so. I'll give it time.

[blkspade]

parameters?

 

I personally think the frogspawn looks fine. I've had mine not extend far some days and some days be perfectly normal. Is it getting a different flow? since you've upgraded everything? Didn't you say you turn the light on to take a picture of it at night?

 

Also, i would of left the clowns alone probably. Mine would pick on each other in the beginning and now they're a match and love each other.

 

As for the algae problem.. What i did was just keep up with picking it off and scraping it and after you tank matures alittle more it should stay down. If you cut back on everything, and don't overfeed it will go away. Check your PH, if you keep it high it will also keep the algae from growing.

 

 

 

 

1. If you take a look at the day picture attached... the frogspawn's bottom head's polyps have not really been extending as much as they were before the move. I know they could be retracted due to stress, but it hasn't taken this long to extend back to normal after a move during past instances. I was thinking, could this be because the bottom head is seeing less light?

 

- I did more research and read that when a head splits, the polyps don't extend as much for awhile. I threw the 10k on at night and took a picture and the bottom head looks more like an oval than circle. Can someone verify that it's splitting, and this has been the reason for the polyp's minimal extension.

 

 

2. I had an algae problem in my BC14 and have done things within the past 2-3 weeks to fix this:

-upgraded stock pump to MJ900 and Koralia Nano

-doubled the amount of LR

-cut light cycle down by an hour

-reduced feeding to every other day

-reduced bioload (2clowns/firefish > 1 clown/firefish/clown goby)

-removed all bioballs and sponge and added media rack w/ Purigen and chemipure.

 

The top rock which is new... is seen growing algae if you take a look at the pictures. How long will it take for the algae to start decreasing. Am I right in saying that it'll eventually starve itself out, and there'll be no green in the tank?

 

 

3. My female clown was really harassing the male after 6 weeks so I decided to remove the male. I traded it in for a clown goby. The clownfish (female) has left the clown goby alone but sort of charges at the firefish quite a bit. She's started to do it a lot since I've taken out the male clownfish.

 

-Will the female clown eventually lay off the firefish? She's such a #####. I thought they were supposed to be aggressive towards only damsels.

-The clown goby has been swimming up and down the side of the tank, and will just chill near the bottom corner between the crushed coral and the glass. Will it eventually start to hang out on the LR and corals? Any past experience with this? Also, he isn't seen eating at all.

 

Thanks for the help! If the female doesn't let off the firefish, I may trade her in for a smaller one in a week or so. I'll give it time.

[Kaneda215]

parameters?

 

I personally think the frogspawn looks fine. I've had mine not extend far some days and some days be perfectly normal. Is it getting a different flow? since you've upgraded everything? Didn't you say you turn the light on to take a picture of it at night?

 

Also, i would of left the clowns alone probably. Mine would pick on each other in the beginning and now they're a match and love each other.

 

As for the algae problem.. What i did was just keep up with picking it off and scraping it and after you tank matures alittle more it should stay down. If you cut back on everything, and don't overfeed it will go away. Check your PH, if you keep it high it will also keep the algae from growing.

 

I was more so asking if that bottom head is splitting, if anyone has had experience seeing these. Yes it has been getting different flow, but the top head is still expanding just fine while remaining a circle. Bottom head is more of an oval (I'm pretty sure it started as a circle), and is not expanding like it used to. Or is this due to the fact that it is below the smaller, fully expanded head, and not getting enough light.

 

I was also told that if the clown doesn't lay off the male within a month or two, they won't pair.

 

I can't really scrape the algae off of my crushed coral and LR. I'm just trying to get it to die off essentially. Hopefully this starts happening soon with all of my customizations (I actually dropped all the money on the customizations just to remove this damn algae).

[sirbiggstixx]

for your algae, the carbon and gfo will help out within a week or so..and when my girlfriends tank had algae i did the same as you, and did water changes at night since that is when the algae is not using most of the nitrates and phosphates...also before i did that water change i took an old toothbrush and brushed all the algae off the LR and took a turkey baster and blew the sand a little..i also put on a hob filter with gfo and carbon...but you gotta change that media pretty often..

[Kaneda215]

for your algae, the carbon and gfo will help out within a week or so..and when my girlfriends tank had algae i did the same as you, and did water changes at night since that is when the algae is not using most of the nitrates and phosphates...also before i did that water change i took an old toothbrush and brushed all the algae off the LR and took a turkey baster and blew the sand a little..i also put on a hob filter with gfo and carbon...but you gotta change that media pretty often..

 

I'm not sure what makes up the Chemi Pure Elite/Purigen, but does it = carbon/gfo as far as phosphate/nitrate removal? It's been about a week and the algae is still growing. I've been sticking to the weekly water changes though, maybe I need to do 2 a week?

[GokesReef]

1. Don't know

 

2. What kind of Algae is it? What is your water source?

 

3. Should have removed the female and left the male. Then you wouldn't have an aggressive fish who just lost its punching bag looking for a new one.

[Kaneda215]

1. Don't know

 

2. What kind of Algae is it? What is your water source?

 

3. Should have removed the female and left the male. Then you wouldn't have an aggressive fish who just lost its punching bag looking for a new one.

 

2. I think it's just green algae. I never see any hair growing but I have a decent CUC in there. (9 various snails, 1 conch, 1 peppermint). The snails go over it all the time and nothing is removed, which is why I was thinking it could have been green coralline, but I doubt it. I use distilled water.

 

3. I figured the male would have ended up becoming a female and starting to setup her territory. My thoughts were that once the male was gone, the female would have just chilled out. Not the case.

[GokesReef]

Blue Leg hermits are the GHA muchers. Check out John's guide: http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=c...4&Itemid=81 for more info on what eats what

 

You're right about the clown situation, the male would have turned into a female. However, he would have done this over a course of weeks while dealing with the other fish's territory. The clown you have now already thinks she runs the place

 

I had the same problem with my pair of clowns. They were doing well until the male took to my magfloat, I think he may have started to turn into a female (or something) from having it's own territory, because the hostility between the two grew from there. After about 4 months I took the bigger, more aggressive female out and everyone has been happy since.

 

Of course, the clown I left bites the crap out of my hand whenever I'm in the tank, but it's better than having dead fish in my tank.

 

Also, regarding the distilled water, where do you get it? Of course, RO/DI unit in your home is best, but I've heard (and use) the pink capped distilled water from Wal*Mart is good.

[Kaneda215]

Blue Leg hermits are the GHA muchers. Check out John's guide: http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=c...4&Itemid=81 for more info on what eats what

 

You're right about the clown situation, the male would have turned into a female. However, he would have done this over a course of weeks while dealing with the other fish's territory. The clown you have now already thinks she runs the place

 

I had the same problem with my pair of clowns. They were doing well until the male took to my magfloat, I think he may have started to turn into a female (or something) from having it's own territory, because the hostility between the two grew from there. After about 4 months I took the bigger, more aggressive female out and everyone has been happy since.

 

Of course, the clown I left bites the crap out of my hand whenever I'm in the tank, but it's better than having dead fish in my tank.

 

Also, regarding the distilled water, where do you get it? Of course, RO/DI unit in your home is best, but I've heard (and use) the pink capped distilled water from Wal*Mart is good.

 

I get it from a Wegman's, which is a fantastic northern grocery store. I don't actually have any green hair algae, just green algae... if that makes sense. My CUC doesn't remove it from the rocks and I'm assuming a hermit crab won't scrap the rocks like a snail would, so I guess I'm just waiting until it dies off.

 

By taking out the whore female clown, and putting in a much smaller baby clown... will the firefish be able to chill out and establish its territory a little more? Every time it comes out, the female clown chases it back into his hole which is ####### me off, because I love seeing the firefish out and about. I've done so many fish changes in attempt to get a relaxing, compatible livestock. Hopefully a baby fals perc, firefish, and clown goby (who doesn't do much of anything, including eat food) will be OK with each other. I don't know why the existing female false perc is so territorial against the firefish, but whatever.

 

All I wanted was to sit in front of my tank mesmerized by a clean setup and flowing corals, with a happy livestock. Algae, overly territorial fish, and some few hundred dollars later and I still can't fully enjoy it. Hopefully all these customizations will get rid of the damn algae, and my last fish change will leave everyone happy and swimming about.

[GokesReef]

For the algae, take a look at the link I posted and see if you can identify it. Wegman's water should be fine (I'm from PA, familiar with them myself ), but if its something like Bryopsis, then you might be in for a fight.

 

That sounds like a good plan for the fish. If anything, you may expect a bit of hostility from the firefish with a new clown. Then again, since it's already used to getting picked on by one, maybe not. I'd say they should all get along.

 

I can feel your pain, I was dealing with algae for a few months, myself, and it does make it tough to enjoy. Once you get it gone, though, it's all worth it!

[Kaneda215]

For the algae, take a look at the link I posted and see if you can identify it. Wegman's water should be fine (I'm from PA, familiar with them myself ), but if its something like Bryopsis, then you might be in for a fight.

 

That sounds like a good plan for the fish. If anything, you may expect a bit of hostility from the firefish with a new clown. Then again, since it's already used to getting picked on by one, maybe not. I'd say they should all get along.

 

I can feel your pain, I was dealing with algae for a few months, myself, and it does make it tough to enjoy. Once you get it gone, though, it's all worth it!

 

From the looks of it, I'm thinking it's film algae because I have seen it on my glass, and the snails do leave trails through it. Although, I have seen some hair growth (green and some shade of red/brown) on the snails but they're eaten up shortly after. It's either just film algae, or hair algae that's never actually grown long enough due to my CUC.

 

Will the new firefish really pick on a smaller, less aggressive clown? I feel like the firefish has always been super skittish.

 

I've attached a picture so hopefully it'll help with algae ID. The two bottom rocks have been in the tank for the longest time. The top 3 rocks (not including the highest rock w/ the frilly mushrooms), were introduced 2 weeks ago, and have slowly started turning neon green.

 

 

 

 

Edit: Any other pointers you have on my setup feel free to add. I already know crushed coral was a huge fail, but don't want to go through the trouble of removing it/adding sand. Thanks.

[GokesReef]

Honestly, I can't even see the algae in there.. so that's good a MagFloat a beefier CuC should take care of it. You said the top rocks are turning neon green? A close up would help there... Coraline algae can come in green, which would be awesome to have

 

As for the firefish, it depends. If he was in last and used to having 2 clowns with established territory around, that could be why he acts scared. Also, fish react differently when it comes to vs another fish or a human. I'm not saying don't do it, just be aware that there might be some hostility for a few days until they settle the differences.

[Kaneda215]

Honestly, I can't even see the algae in there.. so that's good a MagFloat a beefier CuC should take care of it. You said the top rocks are turning neon green? A close up would help there... Coraline algae can come in green, which would be awesome to have

 

As for the firefish, it depends. If he was in last and used to having 2 clowns with established territory around, that could be why he acts scared. Also, fish react differently when it comes to vs another fish or a human. I'm not saying don't do it, just be aware that there might be some hostility for a few days until they settle the differences.

 

Lol there's definitely algae evident in the crushed coral in that picture, you know, the green stuff. I'm not worried about algae on the glass, just the stuff that's lining the LR and crushed coral is what's been bothering me. See the two middle rocks holding up the top?... that is the exact color that ALL rocks came in before being tainted by the algae.

 

Refer to the first picture in the OP. That rock below the frogspawn is still unaffected by algae (prob because light isn't hitting it as much). The rock above it has been affected by algae, and I got them the same time.

 

Regarding the firefish... when the male clown was in there, the female never bothered the firefish. Now that the male is gone, she picks on the firefish. That whore. I'll just get a baby clown and see how it goes. If anyone has any better ideas... that'd be pimpin. Thanks.

[Kaneda215]

Bump... anyone? Will adding Chaeto help? Or does my Purigen and Chemi Pure Elite take care of that?

[GokesReef]

Chaeto will always help, it competes with the other algae for the nutrients. Also, make sure you aren't over feeding. Look into a skimmer. You can cut back the amount of time your lights are on. More snails/hermits, etc... lots of options

[StevieT]

Time... you did good changes but give them time to do their job.

[Kaneda215]

Time... you did good changes but give them time to do their job.

 

Haha... how time is need to witness a decrease in algae? It's been a week since I've setup the new filtration etc. You would think I would start to see a plateau then a decrease in algae... yet it's still increasing.

 

The more reading and contemplating I've done, and as much as I've wanted to ignore the fact... but I'm pretty sure my massive algae (thus nitrate) problem is due to the fact that I have crushed coral. I took a few minutes to just blast the crushed coral and there is a huge detritus/dust storm in there. SO, detritus > nitrogen cycle > nitrates > algae... so the crushed coral has to go? This is going to be a HUGE PITA, so if some people can take a look at my picture and advise me on the best way to go about this... that'd be pretty sweet.

 

And please, for the love of God, if anyone has any other ideas other than moving all my crushed coral let me know.

 

 

 

 

Btw, I got some nassarius snails last week. One doesn't move at all anymore but is still alive and the other one is missing. Can their inactive characteristics be blamed on the fact that it's hard to move through crushed coral?