Griff's "let's see if I have learned anything" upgrade

[griff500]

Some pictures. The Achilles is improving, with fewer spots and better colours. All are getting along fine.

Calcium was low as suspected - all slightly raised, presumably through less demand while calcium was low?

The Femininus is staying out much later today - nearly 7pm and she’s still exploring. That’s three hours and counting more than yesterday.

I still haven’t caught the Six Line and I’ve not seen the Diamond Tail for a couple of days or so...

 

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Feeding time. Far fewer spots on the Achilles now and his colour is coming back nicely.

 

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Two new additions - a Potters Wrasse (that the Femininus doesn’t like) and a Red Tail Tamarin Wrasse, Which I am surprised to say did not go under the sand but has instead been out non-stop eating and hunting. Fingers crossed that they all do okay, as quite a few of these fish are not exactly renowned for being easy to keep.

 

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Rather disappointed today as I found the Femininus dead after she had disappeared for two days. Prior to that I had ten days of her eating really well, looking great, staying up later each night as she adjusted to the light cycle... everything seemed great. I guess it's just one of those things. I do sometimes wonder how they are caught and if it is just a question of how long before they die for some fish. Such a gorgeous fish.

The Potters went into hiding around the same time that the Femininus did and I don't hold out any hopes for it. It didn't seem particularly happy from the moment I got it though.

And lastly, the Lineatus got a gash in it's side from somewhere - something appears to have taken a chunk out of it and it's not eating and hiding under a rock. I don't expect it to last long.

A fantastic start to the week...

The Red Tail appears to be doing well but there's no guarantee that will continue of course.

This hobby can be tough sometimes (harder on the fish than for me of course)...

 

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And it looks like the Red Tail is on it's way out... :censored:

It managed three days and was eating really well, out all the time and active, plump. While we were watching it swim around it decided to go down to the sand and started rolling around with the current. It's now under a rock and I've seen no movement. I'm expecting to find it dead tomorrow, if it's not already gone.

Not a good week or so for the new additions - Femininus, Lineatus, Red Tail, Diamond Tail and Potters. I know I'm not choosing easy fish and it goes with the territory but it's always tough to have losses. Of the fish added during the same time as the above, the Yellow and the Black Tail Tamarins and the Pintail Wrasse seem to be doing great.

The Achilles has far fewer spots and has excellent colour now. Occasional chases but he stands his ground and overall they are tolerating each other very well. I suspect it might be flukes rather than ich as it's not coming and going but just gradually diminishing. It can always come back with a vengeance of course but so far the Achilles is looking better every day and his eyes are quite clear now.

Current stock:

- Achilles Tang.
- Powder Blue Tang.
- Yellow Tang.
- Pintail Wrasse (looking lovely).
- Spotted Mandarin.
- Twistii Wrasse.
- Pair of Picasso Clownfish (I've had these since I started in the hobby quite a few years ago).
- Dusky Wrasse (fat).
- Black Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Yellow Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Six Line Wrasse (still cannot catch him but I want him out so I can add a Black Leopard again).
- Watchman Goby.

Hopefully I'll be able to replace the Lineatus, Potters, Diamond Tail and Femininus Wrasse and have better luck with them.

 

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The Dusky Wrasse suddenly died - not a mark on him.

The Pintail is now very ill and won't last much longer.

Something obviously isn't right... I wondered if it was whatever parasites are on the Achilles - not much left now and only a couple of spots on the PBT - but there have been no indications on the fins for any of the Wrasse that have died.

I have lots of Red Planaria - perhaps the PolypLab Aqua Medic I was (over)dosing killed some of them and the toxin was a bit much for the Wrasse.

I'm a bit stumped - I've now lost quite a lot of Wrasse in a short time and they all had good colour, were eating well and no external signs of problems. The Black Tail, Yellow Tail and Twistii seem ok but who knows...

I've done a bit of a water change and added some carbon in case there's something toxic in there. Nitrate is between 5 and 8 and Phosphate needs to come down a bit as it's at 0.1 but nothing that would cause these problems. I can't believe there's any Ammonia as I'm getting Phosphate and Nitrate produced but maybe it's worth a check. I'd be very surprised though.

 

[griff500]

The Pintail died as expected.

There have been no further deaths since I did a couple of water changes and put some activated Carbon in the tank.

The Achilles is looking really good now with strong colour and only a couple of spots. There is hardly any aggression - sometimes a half-hearted and very short-lived chase from the PBT but that's it. The colour of the PBT and the Yellow is great as well.

The Yellow Watchman Goby and Pistol Shrimp have paired up and fortunately he's made his home at the front of the tank. Fascinating to watch.

The Black Tail and Yellow Tail Tamarin hang around together. The Twistii is doing great and the Mandarin is active and quite plump. The Six Line isn't chasing any of the current occupants but I'll have to try and get him out at some point as he will definitely be a git to one of the fish I want to add. I'll let the tank settle down and make sure there are no more deaths before I start adding fish again.

Current stock:

- Pair of Picasso Clownfish.
- Yellow Tang.
- Powder Blue Tang.
- Achilles Tang.
- Spotted Mandarin.
- Twistii Wrasse.
- Black Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Yellow Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Six Line Wrasse.
- Yellow Watchman Goby with Pistol Shrimp.
- Royal Gramma.

Potential future additions:

- Diamond Tail Wrasse (definite).
- Femininus Wrasse (definite).
- Lineatus Wrasse (definite).
- Dusky Wrasse (probably).
- Black Leopard Wrasse (probably).
- Potters Wrasse (maybe).
- Lennardi Wrasse (maybe).

I mucked things up with my KH Director recently while attempting to do some maintenance and then made some silly mistakes in setting it up again as I just jumped in as if I set them up every day (I forgot that the waste water line needed to be above the water level in the larger container I had set up for it). It's working perfectly again now thanks to excellent support from GHL and a bit of swearing at myself for yet another rookie error, but in the meantime the Alkalinity dropped to 5.8...

I'm gradually moving it back up and I've decided to get it to 8 over time and keep it there. The change has been gradual rather than a sudden swing and so hopefully I'll not see problems in coral health from the changes in a couple of weeks.

Part of the reason for this change in the target Alkalinity level is that I am going to be moving from ATI to Triton other methods. This is because I have been left less than satisfied with ATI's ability to support their products and that the CNP product was released on the basis of Carbon testing coming very soon and they now seem to have given up on it, whereas Triton can get a water test done in a couple of days or so based on recent experience and they also offer NDOC, which took a couple of weeks but at least they are providing it.

Coral colour is nice and I am getting growth, so I'll be deciding where to glue some and making some space on the frag rack soon! I'll try to get some pictures of the corals up in the next few days.

 

[griff500]

Time for some pictures!

Some growth on the side.

A bit stressed at the top-right but Alkalinity consumption has suddenly gone through the roof while I was mucking around with the KH Director and so Alkalinity has gone very low...

Master Blaster from AAC is gradually getting some colour - not sure what it's supposed to look like but it's in high light and flow. The other side is very close to the edge of the frag plug (the low side away from the light - perhaps it's in too much light, although it's certainly not pale).

He is looking great now!

Getting to the edge of the frag plug... This, like the others on the frag rack, were just glued in with pretty much no base growth when I got them. I think they are doing quite well.

This one was hidden away as it was pretty much dead a month or two ago. It had perhaps a very tiny bit on the end with colour and it's covering back over a bit more every day.

 

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All is reasonably peaceful, no deaths and the Tangs are all looking good.

 

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I went down to Reef Dreams in Winchester to have a nose around and they had a Femininus, Diamond Tail and Lineatus, so I had them, along with a Spathulata frag. All absolutely stunning fish and hopefully they will do well. It was also the first time I'd seen a Lennardi Wrasse in the flesh... gorgeous, but I resisted temptation (an impending tax bill will help you do that).

The Diamond Tail hid in plain sight under a rock at the front, then had a tentative look around and has now hidden away. Not entirely unusual in my experience with these. An absolutely stunning example - the best I have seen in ages.

The Lineatus has been chased a little bit by the PBT and the Achilles and is keeping out of the way but has taken food. The PBT hated the last Lineatus as well... obviously a bit racist (or xenophobic). He leaves pretty much any new additions alone (the Achilles being a not unexpected exception initially) but he certainly does not like Lineatus.

The Femininus is lovely and is eating and constantly foraging, and as a consequence I have a very cloudy tank, BUT the arsehole Six Line Wrasse hated it and was chasing it every few minutes. I got the fish trap back out, stuck the mirror behind it and sat waiting. After ten minutes the Six Line went into the trap and... got him! At last!! Soooo happy to catch him. He killed my Black Leopard by never letting him come out from the sand to feed and I'd have been gutted if he'd done that to the Femininus! He might well have been responsible for other losses and I'm really happy to have him in the trap.

Now to find a home for the Six Line... anyone? He's very pretty...

It's been a good day. I really hope that they do well. If not then I'll have to very carefully consider what to put in the tank in the future.

On Monday I should have another new fish to collect if things go according to plan. That would then be more than plenty of fish in the tank and if I can get them all to survive then I think I'll be fully stocked.

Oh, and something 'funny'... I had bought a Dusky Wrasse a while ago and it disappeared. After about ten days without seeing it I thought it was probably dead. While I was out I had seen another one in a shop and on impulse bought it. That evening I looked in the tank and... yep, I've now got two of them. I'll probably try to pull one out at some point, although they seem quite happy swimming around together.

On the negative side of things, the Black Tail Wrasse has something going on with his skin - it looks like some flesh is showing, which is either damage or possible Uronema Marinum. Hopefully not and I've only ever had it on a Chromis to my knowledge, although I did notice a little bit of skin damage on a Tamarin that died - I cannot remember if it was a Black or Yellow. The Twistii and the Yellow Tail seem to be doing fine.

Lastly, some of the frags were starting to grow off the plugs so I've glued a few down.

 

[griff500]

The Diamond Tail is very active and constantly flashing. It’s hard to get a decent picture. The Femininus and Lineatus are doing well, although the Femininus is still keeping shop hours so far.

 

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The newest addition is doing well and overall there is minimal aggression in the tank.

No more additions are anticipated and I think the tank has more than enough fish in it. I might remove one of the Dusky Wrasse if I want to add something else in future, such as a Red Tail Tamarin Wrasse. It's hard to keep the water clear with all of those Wrasse digging around in the sand though!

Time to let everything settle down and I'll need to keep them well fed. Most will take pellet but the Femininus isn't doing so yet, although she has looked at it and I expect she will try some soon enough.

Current stock:

- Two Picasso Clownfish.
- Spotted Mandarin.
- Royal Gramma.
- Chelmon Marginalis.
- Black Leopard Wrasse.
- Two Dusky Wrasse.
- Black Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Yellow Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Lineatus Wrasse.
- Diamond Tail Fairy Wrasse.
- Femininus Wrasse.
- Twistii Wrasse.
- Watchman Goby (and friend).
- Yellow Tang,
- Achilles Tang.
- Powder Blue Tang.
- Goldflake Angelfish.

 

[griff500]

All seems peaceful! The Femininus has taken pellets and the only fish not eating pellets is the Goldflake Angelfish.

Phosphate is sticking at 0.08 to 0.1 and I’d like to get that down a bit as I’m getting a bit of cyano with the current nitrate level at around 2.5. Cyano is worse if I carbon dose and so it will be a bit of Rowaphos as dosing Iron has not reduced phosphate at all. It’s not a big issue but I want the sand clean.

 

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All eat from the algae ring (including the Femininus) and they have all eaten pellet now. All are looking healthy with great colour.

 

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Unfortunately the Femininus died on the tenth day - exactly the same amount of time as the previous Femininus and it was eating just as well as the first one. It looks like it had some mouth damage but perfect as far as I could see apart from that.

I'll need to consider if I really want to continue trying to keep this fish if chance of success is so slim.

Everything else appears to be doing well.

 

[griff500]

I had a week away from the tank and everything seems to have held up very well, with the exception of a dead Dusky Wrasse. I'm sure it was eating pellet (that's all that went into the tank while I was away) and I doubt it would starve in one week. Perhaps it was eating the Red Planaria that are now quite rarely seen in the tank or someone else didn't like him. Odd and everything else seems absolutely fine.

I've dug out my old DSLR - some more practice needed...

Love this one...

This was a brown frag when I got it and it's showing some nice potential.

Pigs...

Lots of new branches in the last month.

No Aiptasia visible thanks to this guy. He's a great character, follows the glass scarper around, always first up to say hi (by which I mean he wants feeding).

 

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Today I have switched to Triton 'other methods'. ATI Essentials Pro is growing corals but I decided to switch to Triton for a variety of reasons. I'll be sending off another Triton ICP and N-DOC test shortly to see where the tank is at. It was a good opportunity to rearrange the equipment part of the cabinet but it's not a particularly large space and I am considering getting some similar looking cabinets made up to sit each side of the tank and house the equipment. That will make maintenance or making equipment changes a bit easier and also make it easier to accommodate the GHL ION Director that I have ordered.

I have Cyano at the moment (not quite sure why but something is no doubt out of balance) so I have the UV back on. I'd switched the pump to Rowaphos duty for a while and the Cyano got worse instead of better and the Alveopora didn't seem to like it at all.

I'll let the tank settle and see where the levels get to naturally for a bit and see how it changes, if at all, with Triton. Nitrate is at around 8-10 and Phosphates at 0.08. I'll see what happens, if anything, with no Rowaphos being used. I am not using Carbon dosing or anything else - the only filtration is the rock, a roller filter and the skimmer.

There are lots of new branches on various corals and lots of growth at the base - I need to get rid of the ugly stuff but every day I can see some growth.

The fish all seem to be doing well. They are all eating pellet, which is handy, and have great colour and condition.

Current stock:

- Yellow Tang.
- Powder Blue Tang.
- Achilles Tang.
- Chelmon Marginalis.
- Royal Gramma.
- Watchman Goby (and friend).
- Yellow Tail Tamarin Wrasse.
- Lineatus Wrasse.
- Diamond Tail Wrasse.
- Twistii Wrasse.
- Black Leopard Wrasse.
- Spotted Mandarin.
- Pair of Picasso Clownfish.
- Goldflake Angelfish.

At some point I might try Femininus and Red Tail Tamarins again but perhaps not. Maybe I'll add a Black Tail Tamarin and see how that goes. Maybe I have enough Wrasse. I'll see how I feel about it in the future.

At the moment it's nice to see them all doing well and I am fortunate that the Achilles and Powder Blue seem to get along most of the time and are now both in super condition.

 

[griff500]

I obviously haven't learned much...

I went to one of my favourite LFS and saw a gorgeous Femininus... If this does not stick then I don't think I have the heart to try again.

I also saw a tiny Regal Angelfish and got that as well. I thought that the Goldflake Angelfish might have a problem with the Regal but it seemed absolutely fine with it.

Unfortunately the Twistii Wrasse has taken a very strong dislike to the Femininus, despite having completely ignored the previous two Femininus and all other fish. I have never seen any aggression at all from the Twistii and of course he has to take exception to this Femininus when he was perfectly happy with the previous two. Up goes the mirror and hope for the best.

I guessed a starting dose for Triton based on 5/7 of the ATI dose and that seems to have been spot on. Alkalinity is being maintained around 8 and it will be interesting to see if any difference is noticed.

I added my old Oxydators with 9% Hydrogen Peroxide and the water is already looking very clear and Cyano is disappearing.

Since taking the Rowaphos offline my Alveopora is coming back out. Obviously I was taking too much Phosphate out of the water. I've seen a bit of damage on the tips of a couple of corals but hopefully they'll be fine - yet again I am reminded that doing nothing and letting the tank do it's own thing is often the best way forward.

I've just spent a while watching the tank and when I'm not shouting at the Twistii to leave the Femininus alone I catch myself getting a bit wide-eyed with wonder watching them all go about their business. It's such a wonderful hobby when it's not making you cry.

 

[griff500]

The Femininus was nowhere to be seen all of yesterday but came back out this afternoon. The Twistii was straight on his case and so the mirror went back up on the side of the tank again. The Femininus had the chance to go amongst the rock and looked like she was eating (or at least searching for food) and I put more copepods in the tank, so hopefully if she can survive the Twistii then she has a chance. I have been totally taken by surprise with the Twistii's behaviour - he never paid any attention whatsoever to any other fish before, including the two previous Femininus.

The Regal Angelfish is doing great and eating well. Zero aggression from the Goldflake Angelfish or any other fish toward him. Absolutely gorgeous and I'm pleased that I got him.

The Alveopora is out more each day so taking Rowaphos offline was a good idea for the time being. If I do absolutely nothing with the tank then Phosphate seems to hover between 0.08 and 0.1 and Nitrates around 10 - I think that's probably perfectly ok. Corals have been doing well, with nice colour and strong growth, so I think the best thing to do, as is often the case, is nothing.

My Spathulata RTNd overnight - I'm guessing it was down to me sucking Phosphate out with Rowaphos a bit too aggressively, although I hear quite a few people have the same thing happen with these. I'm going to put it down to me mucking about instead of leaving it alone. A couple of corals got tip damage at the same time but hopefully I took the Rowaphos offline quickly enough to avoid any other losses.

Cyano is less each day and hopefully that continues. I have the Oxydators going and UV and I'm putting in a tiny bit of Microbacter 7 each night to hopefully compete against the 'bad' bacteria. It seems to slowly be going in the right direction.

My girlfriend wanted to choose some fish... I'm glad she's showing an interest but I had to explain that we really can't throw the dozen or so fish that she likes into the tank for a variety of reasons! I've ended up with a Phantom Blenny and a Naso Tang which she has called Nemo... yes, I know... It's a very young one, utterly fearless but chilled - batted the PBT away, even though it's four times as big, and within a few minutes all was peaceful and you'd think he'd been there forever, eating well and apparently quite happy. Very cute, although not something I would have added to the tank.

I'm setting myself up for a tank upgrade with these additions... and she has her eye on another Angelfish...

The inhabitants are actually getting along very well and there's less aggression with the current number of fish than I've had with less fish in previous tanks. Perhaps a busy tank disperses aggression. Or it's a ticking time bomb. Either way, it's going very well for the time being and I am enjoying the activity in the tank (and the corals seem to respond well to the fish poo).

A couple of pictures (one of these days I'll actually get a decent picture of my Diamond Tail Wrasse).