First Video and our newest addition, BLELLOW!

I wanted to get some footage of the new tank and the fish online earlier, but I never got around to it. And then we had the ich episode, which set things back for awhile. Well, the hyposalinity treatment is finally over. I moved Fins, Red, and Jaws back to the display tank after a month in the QT, and after a week of raising the salinity. I'm not sure whether ending the hypo treatment was premature or not. Some of the articles I read said that hypo should be done for about four weeks, which is what I did, but other people said eight weeks. I decided to move them out after a couple of close scares in the QT (there was an ammonia spike which almost killed them) and because Fins's HLLE (Head and Lateral Line) was clearly worsening in that tank.


But so far, so good. I haven't seen any ich on the fish since the first week of hypo, and the tank was empty of fish for a month, so hopefully it's all gone. If not, I'll probably resolve to a strong feeding regiment rather than trying out Hypo again. I think it probably works, but you also probably need a bigger QT and more time for water changes, neither of which I have.


I'll definitely be quarantining all the fish henceforth.


Our newest addition is Blellow, the bicolor angel (Centropyge bicolor.) I actually purchased him right as I started the hypo treatment but because he was already ich free (I picked him up from a tear down) I had nowhere to put him. So I had my mom babysit him in her kitchen tank, which was great because she took good care of him and somehow thought of his name. C and I were at a total loss, and then mom just said "Blellow misses you." She really connects to the fish. Blellow is a stunning fish and everyone seems happy, as you can now see. Enjoy the show!

Hyposalinity Treatment, Part 6

So a few things have happened since I last blogged:

1. Fins has developed some serious HLLE (Head and Lateral Line Erosion, though for now it's confined to his face.) He also has some blotches on his body, which someone on RC claimed was Marine Velvet.
2. There was an ammonia spike in the QT over Passover almost killing the fish.
3. The initial hypo period of three weeks has passed, and no ich is visible.

I'm in a bit of a pickle. The ammonia spike in the QT scared the hell out of me and basically reminded me that I couldn't get away with having all three fish a QT with a biowheel forever. I was hoping to push hypo for closer to five weeks, but I've decided that Fins' condition, coupled with no further signs of ich, warrant a cessation of the treatment. Starting Friday I began raising the salinity in the tank (which was lowered to around 1.011 after I noticed some ich in the initial week of treatment) by adding a half of cup of Instant Ocean per day. Right now the salinity is between 1.016-1.017. I figure by adding a half of cup of salt per day, I'll probably achieve 1.023 over the course of 5-6 days, which is slow enough not to stress out the fish too much. (I've read that raising salinity must be done slowly.)

The plan is to then monitor the fish in the QT tank for another week, and then move Red and Jaws into the Display, which will be void of fish for over a month by then (and hopefully void of any ich.) The wife wants me to leave Fins in the QT until I figure out what the blotches are. I'm a bit torn over this because I'm certain that the HLLE will just intensify in the QT. On the other hand, it will be easier for me to do Vitamin C treatments in the QT.

In later news, the Display is fine. Our new Kenya Tree frag is really big and cool. I love free stuff. Greeny is miraculously still alive as well. It really does not seem interested in Silversides, but it does eat krill, so I'm going to keep feeding it such.

I noticed that the two Odyssea Powerheads just stopped pumping any water, so I took them apart, cleaned them up a little bit, and had them working at full strength for about a day. I've already noticed that the one on the right has slowed down considerably. Here's my feeling: these pumps suck. Do not buy them, no matter how tempted you are to get something cheap. I bought two Odyssea EX250s from Aquatraders.com for $34 about a month ago. They are rated at 250 GPH, which compared to the 295 GPH of the MJ-1200 seemed pretty good, especially given the price of the MJ-1200. Well, huge mistake. I should have just spent $10 more and got two MJ-1200s off Ebay. Learn from my mistake, and don't get this item.

Spawning Event, New Frag, and Greeny Update

So, there was a spawning event in the tank last week. Despite being void of any fish right now, we still find a way to just stare at the rocks for hours. We noticed what looked like a bunch of sand coming out of the rock and floating into the tank and I assumed that it was just a bristle worm coming out of a hole and uprooting some sand. A

nd then it happened again a little later.

And then it happened again a little later.

The third time around I noticed that the small specs were actually little white eggs being shot out of the rock almost rhythmically. I'm certain it was not a coral--right now we don't have any frags that would spawn as such. More likely it was one of the ghost worms in the tank, or perhaps a snail that I could not see. We've noticed a bunch of baby snails in the tank, and I'd be thrilled if they grew to full size but I sort of doubt they will.

In other news, someone on Reef Central gave me free Kenya Tree frag. I'm not as obsessed with corals as other hobbyists. For starters, I don't have strong enough lighting to grow anything serious. Nor am I ready to invest in a calc reactor. I have been and continue to be a fish guy. That could change over time, but as of now, the swimmers still rule in my mind.

Still, I'm always open to free frags of stuff that has a shot of growing in my tank. Thus far that includes some non-pulsing xenia, green star polyps, a small kenya tree that was on the live rock I bought (which has, incidentally, trippled in size since) and this new Kenya tree frag. I didn't do much in terms of acclimation--it was getting late and I was in a lazy mood, so I just let it acclimate to the temperature in the plastic bag and then threw it in. A few days later, it's attached itself to a tall rock and appears fine. Hopefully it'll continue to grow, if slowly given my lighting and lack of supplements.

Greeny, the GBTA, is doing a bit better lately. I've successfully fed it silversides the past couple of days and it's looking a bit more open and healthy. The only trouble I have with feeding is Emiril, who loves silverslides and does what he can to steal the food.

Hyposalinity Treatment, Part 5

Just a quick update. As of today, all three fish are doing fine in the QT. So far, none of the fish have shown any signs of ich. Fins has been in there the longest (1 week today), but she continues to eat normally and has remained fat. Perhaps because of prior experience with tangs I do fear an onset of lateral line; it's a little hard to tell whether she's showing some head erosion because of the actinic light that I have in the QT. If something is going on, it's happening slowly, which is good. So far her body is free from any erosion.

Red is doing well--he's not showing any signs of ich since entering the tank. I suppose the real test will be in a couple of weeks. If the fish remain ich free through the expected ich cycle, then I'll feel comfortable that the hypo has worked.

Meanwhile Jaws continues to do his thing with the sand. He appears totally unaffected by the move. I guess that means that netting him, the ten hour drip acclimation to hypo and his two attempts to jump out of the acclimation bucket didn't stress him out as much as I originally feared.

I continue to add PH Buffer, but I think the PH is beginning to normalize. The hydrometer reads a steady 1.013.

In sum, so far so good. I'm happy with the decision to do Hypo.