Okay, fine! (Fusion 20)

[Mariaface]

I'm not going to lie: I just added potassium nitrate to the tank, enough to get nitrate up to 2ppm. It hit zero again :c Meanwhile phosphate was sitting at .37ppm, even with the addition of some GFO cubes. I might be a little bit nitrate-limited.

[metrokat]

Did you remove the marine pure?

[Mariaface]

Did you remove the marine pure?

 

Not yet, actually. If nitrate comes right back down to 0ppm tomorrow, I'll remove the marine pure to see if that's the one doing the denitrification (still not sure it'd be doing that so quickly as a fifth of a 1" plate in the back chambers?), then dose nitrate again. If it doesn't come back down, I know it's the marinepure. If it does, then it's either the clam, the bacteria, or the live rock - in which case hey, time for more food!

 

Either way, though. If it's the marinepure or the clam or whatever, wouldn't more food be better? Assuming I can get phosphate export to catch up?

[Mariaface]

It occurs to me that I still have just one (albeit messy) fish. I should probably be looking into stocking options for the future and setting up a quarantine tank, huh?

 

Options, options:

 

-Suck it up and get a second clown for a clownfish pair. Kinda sucks that I won't be able to put my hands in the tank, plus they'll harass anything else in a 20gal, right?

-Redo the stocking completely.

 

Interesting-looking fish:

-Yellow/White Banded Possum Wrasse. Live aquaria says they're peaceful, and need 10gal.

-Yellow/Blue Neon Goby Pair. Peaceful, small, potentially create food for corals.

-Purple Firefish, because come on. They're adorable.

[holy carp]

Helfrichi if tank is covered

Love those possum wrasses or a pink streak

 

Don't you want one of those ruby red dragonets?

 

What kind of water change schedule do you do? Maybe try the Xport PO4 version in addition to marine pure? Or are you suggesting that you need higher nitrates and not lower phosphates?

[metrokat]

The yellow banded possums are cute, and yes very peaceful. Or you could get a bold little 6 line and mama clown will stay in check.

[Mariaface]

Helfrichi if tank is covered

Love those possum wrasses or a pink streak

 

Don't you want one of those ruby red dragonets?

 

What kind of water change schedule do you do? Maybe try the Xport PO4 version in addition to marine pure? Or are you suggesting that you need higher nitrates and not lower phosphates?

 

 

Those little guys are ADORABLE. But I hear they're even more timid than the other two, and could easily be bullied into starving?

 

Those are also cute. You're killing me, smalls. On the other hand, I'd need to wait a good while to establish (and reseed) my pod population; this tank's only been up a month and a half.

 

It's 4 gallons every 2-3 weeks. My total water volume's probably 16-18gal, so that could be up to 25%? Maybe I'll test some alk dosing to figure out my total volume. 'XmL raised alk by YdKH, so volume is Z'.

There are three tiny cubes of xport phos in there (18 cubes for 100 gals, so I figure 6 cubes for 30g, 4 cubes for 20g, etc). They're sitting in a media basket as of two days ago, just above the bag of carbon. I'll be testing again tonight to see if it's trending down or up, and I'll add a cube or two if it's trending up.

 

 

The yellow banded possums are cute, and yes very peaceful. Or you could get a bold little 6 line and mama clown will stay in check.

 

 

Ooh, you drive a hard bargain. Six lines are also adorable, and don't have angry clownfish mouths..

 

What combination of fish do you guys think would work, from that list? They seem to be compatible with each other, but I don't know where I should draw the line for overstocking - or if all of them together would count as overstocking, or as helping to feed the clam/corals

 

...Meanwhile I have the freshwater 10g stocked with ten neon tetras, four cories, and 100+ red cherry shrimp (yes, I tried to count them!).

[Orangutran]

It occurs to me that I still have just one (albeit messy) fish. I should probably be looking into stocking options for the future and setting up a quarantine tank, huh?

 

Options, options:

 

-Suck it up and get a second clown for a clownfish pair. Kinda sucks that I won't be able to put my hands in the tank, plus they'll harass anything else in a 20gal, right?

-Redo the stocking completely.

 

Interesting-looking fish:

-Yellow/White Banded Possum Wrasse. Live aquaria says they're peaceful, and need 10gal.

-Yellow/Blue Neon Goby Pair. Peaceful, small, potentially create food for corals.

-Purple Firefish, because come on. They're adorable.

 

 

Don't do the clown pair in your 20g tank. Like you said, they will get big and mean! Maybe just keep the one.

 

I like your "interesting-looking fish" list!

[Mariaface]

Uhm. Diver's Den has a bonded yellow neon goby pair, captive-bred. Also white or yellow possums.

 

Time for me to make choices

 

Seriously, what if I just.. got all four fish. And brought the clown to AF or someone while these guys were in quarantine.

[Mariaface]

...

 

I did a thing.

[holy carp]

Some things cannot be undone.

[metrokat]

I'm back! Are you getting a shipment tomorrow? I don't want to miss nuttin'

[Mariaface]

I am!!

 

I'll get the camera ready. And maybe figure out how to white balance. Wish me luck!

[Mariaface]

The firefish didn't make the trip ;~; But I'll have photos of the rest later tonight?

[holy carp]

Oh no. Will they ship you a replacement, or just credit you for the fish?

[Mariaface]

Oh no. Will they ship you a replacement, or just credit you for the fish?

 

 

Well, their answer was 'unless the fish is falling apart, acclimate it anyway and let us know if it still doesn't come back'. I mean, even their website has that disclaimer that sometimes they seem dead? Maybe it's ammonia in the bag?

 

So we'll see what happens after some acclimation? ;~;

[holy carp]

[Mariaface]

 

 

I think I see gill movement. Oh my god. Wish this little guy (or gal?) luck.

[Mariaface]

The purple firefish did not make it ;~; I tried calling LA and was put on hold for quite a while, so I e-mailed. Might call again in a few minutes. Let's see what happens? Think they'd be able to get another one out for Friday delivery?

 

Everyone else is in quarantine, getting comfy! I'm wary about turning the lights back on for photos though, especially with one of the yellow neon gobies pale in color and hiding more than exploring. The possum wrasse seems to have settled down between two PVC fittings for some sleep. Maybe tomorrow for photos?

[metrokat]

AF can get you a firefish

[holy carp]

Yeah, wait until tomorrow for photos. Let them settle in overnight.

[Mariaface]

Yeah, wait until tomorrow for photos. Let them settle in overnight.

 

Yehp.

 

And now I'm wondering how in the world I'm going to be able to take photos of those neon gobies. They're tiny, man.

[holy carp]

teenyreef can probably tell you how...

[teenyreef]

teenyreef can probably tell you how...

With a teeny tiny camera of course!

 

Honestly, I took far more pictures of my little gobies in my 4g tank than in my 10g tank. You just have to have the camera ready for when they come out. Mine hide in the rocks but come out when I feed the tank. They also come out more when the pumps are off.

[Mariaface]

I'll mess with shutter speed 8D They're super still when they're perching, but the moment they want to be somewhere else? Zip.

 

 

I can't wait until Friday. I took the day off, so I can spend the entire day sitting across the tank.

 

Maybe smothering aiptasia anemones..