Clowning around

Every since I can remember, I have been fascinated with clownfish. I think what intrigued me most at that early age was the relationship they have with the anemone. After finding Nemo came out, the general public could not get enough of theses guys. And why not.

When I got my first clownfish (a pick me up from being let go from the aquarium, thanks mom) i realised that there was more to the fish than its relationship with the anemone. Anyone who has ever owned one, or sat staring at one for hours will realise that these fish were not named clownfish for nothing. They have the oddest swimming style and usually very peculiar personalties. They kind of swim around like a snake. Wriggling their bodies - like your drunk uncle doing the worm on the dance floor  at a wedding reception. This strange swimming style is rather mesmerising (could explain why people who have never owned a clown know what I am talking about).

What some hobbyist have said about their clowns is also very interesting. One guy said that his clowns built a sand mound and then started playing peek-a-boo. There are other accounts of clowns fascinated with their reflections and playing games with their reflections.

As for getting them to host in an anemone, this is another story all together. You would think it easy like: Mr clown, meet Mr anemone. Play nicely and we will all be happy.  No no, you may be unfortunate enough that they don't host in it, but rather choice your powerhead! Also, you would have to consider the type of anemone. Caribbean anemones have some beautiful pinks and whites, but they won't host a clown and would be just another beautiful piece of ocean in your tank. So be careful. Another thing to consider would be anemone care - apparently very difficult.

I love these guys and will most probably always have a pair in all my tank. They have personality in bucket loads. They are also very open swimmers and you are never short of seeing them going about their business. I like the fact that you, as a hobbyist, can build a relationship with them. It's a excellent beginner fish as it is rather hardy to novice mistakes, but it provides you with alot of enjoyment. I can't tell you enough how much I rate these fish. And I bet if you ask any fish shop owner what fish do they sell the most of, it would be clowns!

Going for a snuggle in our new bed - the hammer coral

Up and running for 8 weeks

It's been a while coming this update. So what has happened:

Firstly and most drastically was the rescape that we did on Saturday. The old scape was fundamentally good, but we struggled to see the fish and inverts alot of the time. In addition, we were running out of space to place corals as well as allowing them place to grow. So a major rethink was in order (it is also a dry run for when we move house). We removed two pieces of live rock that formed the base of the structure, and tried to create a few more overhangs. This is to help with swimming space as well as it gives us more coral placing space, surprisingly so. One of the rocks was moved to the first filtration chamber, while the bio balls that were there have been placed between the combs of the 3rd chamber. I did this so as to not change the bio filtration to much. The hope is to replace the large rock with live rock rubble and then replace the bio balls with some form of mechanical filtration. One of the sad events from the rescape seems to be the loss of one of the gobies. We are not sure if he is a fatality of the rescape or a casualty before hand as we had not seen both simultaneously 2 days before hand. The positive though, the surviving goby has housed himself under a rock that is more visible. If he survives the move, we may pair him up with a shrimp. All seems well so far. The leather is sulking big time, but I am hoping its just a prelude to shedding.

A new addition: we have made our first venture into LPS corals. On Saturday, we purchased a hammer coral. It is considered a moderately difficult coral to keep, but it will be manageable in our tank. They have been known to be surrogate anemones for clowns, and we are really hoping that happens.

The phosphate scare: after battling with algae, I finally decided to test the phosphates and see how bad it is (all other parameters were in the norm). What I saw was shocking - the phosphates were off the charts. So in with phosphate remover. I did it in 2 stages as i didn't want to shock the tank. I am happy to report that a week and a bit later, the phosphates are a little more respectable, but still some way off. But it's moving in the right direction at least.

Bye bye Aiptasia: after 3 weeks, the peppermint shrimp didn't even nibble on the Aiptasia. Also, I failed in my attempts to cover the hole with putty. So I resorted to chemical means (Aipex) and blasted them. It seems to have worked, but I will need to wait a while to confirm a good kill.