It's been 3 months...

Without wasting any further time, here is a brief summary of what has happened since my last posts. I will post more on some of the topics as well as new things that happen after this.

> We unfortunately lost a couple of fish to some mysterious killer: the gamma and one of the Yasha gobies died

> Le-mom lost his fight to his ailment

> We moved house and with that we successfully moved the tank. Only 1 casualty, the other Yasha goby, Bruce Willis
> Our sulky Sarcophyt finally stopped sulky

> Visited a number of fish shops in Essex and Hertfordshire

> Bought some new corals: Ricodia mushrooms, Goniapora, Hong Kong zoa's, Moon corals, Pulsing Xenia, colony Sarcophyt's and one I can't remember the name of

> Bought some more fish: Jades wrasse, fire fish, Baghai cardinal, Blue stripe pipefish and a small regal tang

> Won the battle against algae

> Started a 2nd tank: a 50l fluval edge from their new sea range. 

> Began looking for a new and larger tank

That is pretty much the high and low lights of he past 3 months. I will expand on most of these over the next couple of weeks as I get back into the swing of blogging.

11 weeks young

So we have been up and running for 11 weeks now. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but for the most, the tank has been going well. There was the little issue of a dead cleaner shrimp and the goby that wanted to commit suicide, but he is alive and happy now.

I am still struggling with algae and seem to be going through a nitrate explosion at the moment. I am not sure what the problem is but am trying to do mass water changes (3 x 25l changes in 5 days) as well as using some chemicals ( Red Sea's NO3 and PO3 remover). Before the water changes, my nitrates measured at a whopping 50ppm, but the ammonia and Nitrites were zero. Before the latest 25l change, the nitrates came down to 20, but still way to high. My phosphates were on the high side, but that is expected as i never used any phosphate remover from the start. They are gradually coming down. All this explains my algae bloom.

We also seem to have an unhappy tang. Le-Mon has a few red blotches on his skin. I am not exactly sure what has caused this - some forums say it could be ph issues, others a disease. My ph is fine and i have treated for general diseases, but the blotches are still there. They haven't got worse, but they haven't improved either :(

We do have 2 new additions. A royal gamma and a cherub angel which i got for Father's Day. They both seem to have found their place in the tank and doing well. These are the last of my purchases as i believe i may be at my limit. The angel is really pretty and is a very active swimmer, something i like in fish. The gamma is a contender for the hide and go seek championship - the mrs and I have spent a few hours searching for him in the evening. You wouldn't believe where we have found him some times!

Tang-talizing

A tang is also known as a surgeon fish. This is because of the scalpel that they have at the base of their tail. The scalpel is used as a defensive weapon - I usually have le-Mon size my hand up when cleaning the tanks front screen. In bigger fish, this scalpel can cause some damage to a human hand.

He is a very inquisitive fish and its something that appears to be common amongst grazers, especially once the realise this is the hand that feeds them. He enjoys swimming around the tank looking for something to graze on, so we break the grazer blocks into small peices and put a small piece in everyday in a different location.

These fish are on the difficult side to keep as they can be susceptible to disease easier than most fish, especially contracting ich from stress. How a fish gets stressed, i am not really sure - although having a few faces stare at you all do could make most people suspicious and stressed. We have had a bit of a problem where he has developed a few red blotches on his skin. We haven't been able to make out what has caused it, but it seems to have stabilised and start improving. I treated with some general reef safe medication and performed countless water changes. On that, it seemed i had a nitrate explosion, so it could have been that, but i can't be sure.

One thing to bear in mind with these fish is that there is a ver split opinion on forums regarding a suitable size tank. Most say that it should be kept in 200l plus tanks, so if you have a smaller tank, beware of the tang police! My tank may be on the small size, but i have scaped my tank to ensure that i have maximised my tank swimming space. Also i have ensured that he is adequately fed and leave him food challenges to ensure he is "entertained".

I really enjoy the character that Le-Mon brings to the tank. He is also a nice eye catcher with his vibrant yellow colour.

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

Giant Feather Duster

I remember my first experience of a feather duster. I was 14 and I was doing my usual rock pool rounds for fish for my tank. It was a spring low tide, so I started in the furthest and hardly every explored rock pools. And there it was, this weird looking fan that I had never seen. As I shifted my weight to get a more comfortable viewing , it disappeared into its tube. From that point I was fascinated and I guess most people would have a similar experience.

I was not sure if the feather duster was going to fit into my tank plans, but the Mrs was very persuasive. And I can honestly say that it is such a great addition to the tank. It has character. And that I am finding is one thing that this tank has in abundance and any new additions will need to make an impact. It's very interesting seeing him slink back into his tube momentarily only to reappear in a minute or 2 again.

The sulking sarcophyt

Around 6 weeks ago, I purchased a beautiful looking toadstool leather coral. It was a real highlight of the tank. But 3 weeks after purchasing him and spending alot of time marvelling at its beauty it decided to do what Sarcophyt's do.

It started to sulk, like a child not allowed into the candy store. The only difference between it and the child, is you can reason (read: distract or bribe) with the child. The coral on the other hand, you can't. It's been sulking for 4 weeks now and I have wondered on many occasions if its sick instead of sulking. But thanks to the experience of a number of members in countless forums, I believe that it is just sulking and not sick.

There seem to be 2 ways to determine if it is sick/dying. The tend to develop very dark spots on the body and trunk. These eventually result in the piece falling off. In my mind i am picturing coral frostbite. The second way is the sniff test. If you can take it out of the water for a short while and give it a sniff. If it smells like fresh fish, its all good. If not, you could have issues.

What to do if its sick or dying? To be honest, I have no clue. All I can think a person should try is go back to the corals basics: good lighting and a good flow to wash away any dirty or muck. Failing this, some people have fragged a good pice from the coral and started over with the frag. As i have no experience, I can't advise anyone on this. So you will need to trawl the forums for any advice on fragging and how best to revive a dying coral.

As for sulking, these corals have been known to sulk for a couple of days to a couple of weeks. They also tend to sulk often. This by no means that the tank conditions are wrong for it, although you should always maintain good water maintenance. Sarcophyt's sulk when they require a moult. When they moult, they are doing two things. Firstly, its to clean their skin of any dirty. And secondly, its their way of growing. Many aquarist have noticed that the leather looks bigger after a moult. So a moult can also be a good sign.

Another sign of moulting would be the characteristic waxy layer appearance on the corals surface. This waxy layer will require a good flow in order to help remove the layer and return your coral back to its former glory.

By the length of time mine has been sulking, I am hoping i will have a good increase in size.

2013 Filter Surfing Championships

The 2013 Filter Surfing Contest happened this weekend.  So much anxiety and speculation surrounded this weekend events, leading to much debate over who was going to take this renowned title. 

Some said Marco, some said Polo, others said it would take an act of divine intervention to make it out alive.

Let me give you a breakdown into this gruelling 3 week course:

•  3 weeks prior to event finale, re-landscape marine tank creating sand turbulence to achieve 'Novice tankmaster' status... see previous blog post
• Proceed to feed tank mates daily
• Observe feeding to establish whereabouts of contenders
• It is at this point that the bets are taken as some tankmates remain illusive
• It is around the 2 week mark that bets are finalised.

It is with the weekly tank clean (and a whole drama of its own)  that the results are verified, and we take this seriously folks, verified and audited , by a Chartered Accountant.  This is a serious contest and there's no fooling around here!

Under intense scrutiny from the clean brigade, The Wife, there in the combs of the 3rd chamber was Marco, or was it Polo?  Was he dead?!

The medical team was called in aka The Wife again!  She proceeded to remove the little Goby from the combs (after they had been out in open air for around 20min during the tank clean!) I thought for sure the little guy didn't make it but he swam off...like nothing had ever happened... straight up, back to the filter chambers!! He was determined to get back in there and did several times before we tried to net it off and deter him.

At this point only 1 Goby was seen all morning. You see The Wife has this amazing ability to see the smallest of details, like a tiny spot of orange appearing under a rock... yeah. crazy I know.  This meant Goby 1 was still in his hideout and left us in the undeniable position to conclude that the 2013 Filter Surfer Champion was GOBY 2, now known as Bruce Willis aka Die Hard!

After what I can only assume to be 3 weeks in the combs, he is slowly settling back into the main tank with the occasionally wonder upstream, no doubt he'll jump again. But I now know where to go looking!