Noticings of Early May

I've been eying a few new discoveries in the tank.  Some have been for weeks, others only a couple of days.

Not sure what this is, but to the eye it looks like a seedling.  Here with magnification, I'm back to being stumped.

Not sure what these two things are, either.  A good picture of the "Feather-Mounds" is in the first image of the "seedling" directly to the left.

A Prehistoric Treat & Some Eye Candy

The Peppermint Shrimp, who has yet to earn his keep, came out from the rock he's been hiding under since acclimation to grab something, then retreat back to his hole.  I got a much better picture of him.

We were treated tonight to an early emergence of the Brittle Starfish as the Clown fish entertained us by skimming the half pipe of which the anemone resides, only to be interrupted by a starfish leg which they promptly shoo'd away.

And the photosynthetic bacteria of the Red Slime Algae glimmered in the Moonlight LEDs to top off the night.

This saltwater world can truly be amazing.

Post Tribulation Observations

Don't let the title fool you.  We're not out of the woods yet, but things are beginning to look up.

(Still nothing in the skim cup... checking that almost every couple hours it seems).  The anemone has started to show signs of ... not being on the brink of death?  At least it's moving again inside it's bowl-shaped rock.

Speaking of the anemone's rock...  When I got the anemone, it was attached to a small not-quite fist-sized rock. While the water was drained down in the tank, I was attempting to pull the anemone out.  I had planned to put it in it's own water... just in case.  Short version - I wasn't able to remove the anemone (which gave me hope it was still alive prior to doing research on it), but I was able to remove the small rock it came attached to.  Apparently it re-situated itself in the last couple of days.  It's now attached to the bowl-shaped rock it's lived in for who-knows how many years.

With the anemone's old rock out, I simply put it in one of the buckets.  I thought I would let it dry out and maybe use it as a desktop remembrance if the anemone were to perish.

Once I began cleaning up the "triage", I removed the rock from the bucket I'd placed in it and put the rock temporarily on a TV tray.  I went to stack the bucket along with the other buckets and noticed something curled up in the bottom of the bucket about where the rock had been.  There's still a little saltwater left in there, so I thought maybe this "thing" was still viable.  I fish it out with the net and let it drop into the tank...  I still don't know whether that was good idea or a bad one since I don't know what it is.

It came alive once it hit the bottom.  It looked like it was attempting to borough under the crushed coral substrate.  It looked like a red leech with spikes running along the length of it's body on both sides.  The only reason I mention a leech is because it seemed to flatten itself out when attempting to burrow.

Here are some pictures of it.  I'll be looking it up when the thought hits me.

UPDATE - It's a Fire Worm, which is a type of Bristle Worm.  A very good member of the Clean Up Crew.  I wonder how many more there are...

UPDATE Mar 31, 2011 - There was a second fire worm in that rock.  Too bad that rock had been sitting in an empty bucket for three or four days.  It was DOA.

Meet the New Inhabitants

Purple Tipped Sebae Anemone hosting a mated pair of Ocellaris Clownfish

Neon Blue Spot Mushroom

Encrusting Anthelia

Star Polyp Coral - It has since opened up

Not pictured is the nocturnal Brittle Starfish (for obvious reasons).

More pictures to come as they are collected over the next few days.

The Luxury of Time has been Taken Away

It's been a week since the Damsels were returned.  I've been growing accustomed to spectating.  Things have changed.

My wife called about 9am.  A client of her employer has a leak in their tank.  They have a ton of things they are nearly giving away just to save them.

She didn't know specifically what they had, but there were fish, coral, live rock, and live sand.  She gave me her clients phone to call.

I called and asked if I could help, verified what I would need to bring (just a couple 5 gallon buckets) and got the directions.

This had to have been a 300 gallon tank.  When I got there the water was two thirds of the way down.  Their basement was littered with 40 gallon Brute cans with the live rock, corals, etc.  The fish were still in the tank.

We talked a bit about the size and maturity of my tank and equipment.  They had a couple of clowns, a couple cardinals, some shrimp, 3 starfish, what looked like an eel, plus some angels.

I let them know I would do everything I could to help save what they had.  Part of that was not to take on too much.  I ended up with the two clowns, their hosting anemone, the live rock the anemone had claimed, some mushroom coral, a couple other types of polyp coral, and two cardinals.  Oh, and a starfish.  I figured I was pushing the limits of the tank with 4 fish and an anemone so I elected to get a starfish for help with the cleanup crew.

It took a few hours, but everything has been acclimated to our tank.  The anemone re-situated itself in it's bowl-shaped rock.  The clowns have found their host.  The starfish is hiding, and the cardinals really don't know what to do.

No more spectating.  I am now an active participant.

A Biological Experiment?

Yes, it is.

The whole thing is.

I consider the tank my own personal BioLab.  I am keening interested in the processes of cause and effect in relation to our 75 gallon saltwater tank.  That is why the main page of this blog publishes different aspects of readings along with the days actions so that changes in those readings may be directly correlated to actions of the past.

Why the scientific slant for a lead up?

Because yesterday, my wife and I observed a new form of life in the tank:

It was a creamy white and about 3/4's of an inch in length.  It's a ground-based life form, so no swimming.  We first noticed it moving toward an opening in one of the rocks we have toward the front of the tank.  It was wandering in and out of the rock and occasionally onto the substrate.

At first, as it was moving away from us, it appeared to have a fuzzy head with a single leg extending from the rear.  I initially described it as a one legged jellyfish.  It then disappeared into the rock.

Moments later it became visible again as it exited the opening in the rock.  I could see what look like two appendages in front of the animal.  Those appendages ended with spheres.

With this new detail observed, it appears as though this animal is some sort of snail.  I didn't notice a shell at all.  Or at least the shell is the same creamy white as the animal itself.

While we scrambled to get the camera set to the macro setting in order to take a picture, we lost it.  I'll be keeping a close eye out for it today.  I'd like to get a picture of it.

So where does the "Biological Experiment" title come into play?

• I have not intentionally added any life forms except Damsels and Dwarf Hermit Crabs.
• It has been two or three weeks since anything new (15 lbs of live rock) was added to the tank.
• In the past week I've stopped using tap water for water changes and top-off's (mainly because I'm out of salt mix).  I've been using RO/DI water from the LFS.  In the past 4 days I've added 15 gallons (20%), and I think it's interesting to monitor nutrient levels since the switch.

I think it's amazing to see watch the effects of simple everyday causes that I introduce into the system, plus the contributions of the tank itself as it matures.  I suppose if I didn't, I probably shouldn't have a tank.

So here I am wondering what single cause would produce this effect of a new snail hitchhiker...  It's probably not a single cause, but the orchestra of multiple causes.

• The use of RO/DI instead of tap water causing an increase of the health of the tank
• The addition of live rock a couple weeks ago
• The addition of the Aqualite at the same time as the rock
• The addition of flow into the tank within the week

It's been two weeks since adding the live rock.  This snail was most definitely a hitchhiker on the rock.  I wonder in what form I received the snail...

Eggs?  If so, how many?  The snail is pretty small and due to it's color is really hard to notice on the white crushed coral substrate.  About a third of my live rock is white, also.  I may have more of them, but until they mature, they will be hard to see.

Immature hatch-lings?  Maybe.  This would account for so far seeing only one.  If it were eggs, I would think that I would notice more of them, especially near the hatching site (where ever that is).

Could the rock work I performed this week have somehow allowed this snail to become viable?  Or at least noticeable?  What about the removal of the Damsels?  Could they have been eating these critters?  Now without a possible "predator", perhaps "they" are now able to grow to a size that more noticeable.

And should I hold off on vacuuming substrate for a week or two in the hopes this snail becomes more visible so that I may avoid throwing it out with a water change?

Step Two of the Journey Almost at an End

Busy day and I'm beat.

About 8:30, I got started:

I was able to find all 10 crabs and remove them safely from the tank.  I housed them in a small bucket along with a small piece of live rock for them the play with while they waited.

Next came the live rock.  I removed all the pieces and placed them in a tub with some tank water.  Forgot all about shaking them off in waste water... ended up shaking them up in the tank before removing them.  Just that much more to vacuum.  I'll chalk that one up to lesson learned.

With only the 6 Damsels and substrate remaining, I began to vacuum.  The first 3 or 4 buckets were just the surface detritus - mostly from shaking the rock in the tank instead of waste water.  The next 10 or 15 (I'm estimating, wasn't keeping track) buckets were from deep vacuuming.

When the waste bucket got full, I applied the strainer to the top of the bucket and gently dumped all but a gallon or so back in.  Sometimes I'd let the bucket settle a bit, other times not.  The strainer seemed to work great at keeping the visible detritus in the bucket.  Not back for $4.

Then in came time to wrangle up the Damsels.  I only netted 5 of the 6.  Somehow, one of the Domino Damsels physically disappeared.  So I bagged up 5 Damsels instead of 6.  I figured the Damsel may be in with the rock.  But I did clean them off pretty good before removing them from the tank...

The live rock was then placed back in the tank.  I hate how it looks now.  I'm going to have to mess with it a bit...  Maybe study some photos and videos to see what went where.  No Domino Damsel.  The other Domino Damsel perished while bagged.

Then off to the LFS at 11:00.  Grabbed 10 gallons of RO/DI saltwater, a 750gph powerhead and a 6 in 1 test kit, and was credited some money for the return of the Damsels.  They must have thought I was bullshitting them when I mentioned how I lost more Damsels today than in the two months of having the tank, especially when I pointed out that one was physically missing.

I pulled out another couple gallons of water just to make sure I had room for the 10 I bought.  If a person finds out there's not enough room in the tank for the water, it's already too late to do anything about it.  Ended up pulling out too much water overall.  I could probably use at least another 5 to fill it completely.

Installed the powerhead, aiming down and along the back stretch of the tank behind the rock.  For now, it's something to help the rock purge itself of nutrients and to keep detritus suspended longer, allowing the filters a better chance to grab it.

The water is still a bit cloudy from all the substrate and rock work.  Detritus floats around roughly counterclockwise and stays suspended in the water.  Gone are the days where the tank would clear up (usually by settling) in an hour or so.  I'm curious if I'm still going to have daily skimmer dumps...

I'll let the tank clear up for a day or two, then we'll see about Clownfish.

Still no Domino.

Step Two of the Journey Begins

Yesterday was Jax's one year birthday party.  This is week I've been waiting for.

First order of business will be to pick up another 5 gallon "Homer" bucket and two lids for the two buckets I already have.  I've run out of salt mix and will now begin purchasing premixed RO/DI water for a buck a gallon from my LFS, and I'm going to need probably 10 gallons, plus some room to drip-acclimate today.

Second order of business is to temporarily remove the Dwarf Hermit Crabs from the tank.  I'll be needing to move around rock in the tank to get to the Damsels so I'll probably end up putting some of the smaller rock into a temporary container, then add the crabs to that so they aren't so uncomfortable.  They may be in there a couple of hours.

Third order of business will be to get the six Damsels bagged up and returned to my LFS.  I may need to remove some of the rock from the tank completely in order to catch those elusive fish.  That's OK, though.  The tank is going to get a good vacuum and scrub today.

Fourth order of business will be to get the tank cleaned up.  I've been gaining insight on the science of reef tanks from the Reef Tank forums, specifically about "Reef-keeping Made Easy", Lighting, and Detritus.  These three threads alone, though some may be some very deep reading, have bolstered my confidence and gone a long way toward keeping the guess-work out of this Journey.  It has also dispelled some myths and some of my preconceived notions about biodiversity in the tank.

I will be vacuuming the crushed coral bed more thorough than I ever have in the past.  For this I am going to need a water pump.  Usually when cleaning the substrate, I only have enough time to quickly vacuum about one third of the tank due to my 5 gallon water-change bucket filling so fast.  What I'd like to do is to modify one of my buckets to house a water pump that will return water to the tank.  This will, in effect, give me a limitless amount of capacity in the bucket in order to completely clean the substrate.  If I'm able to accomplish this, I may feel safe changing water every other week instead of weekly.

Edit - After picking up some additional buckets at Home Depot, I ended up finding something I'll try in lieu of a "pump bucket"...a 5 gallon bucket paint strainer.  It's sort of like a hair net for a bucket.  We'll see if that will hold the suspended detritus in the bucket while I pour the water back in to continue vacuuming the substrate.  Remember - my goal is to remove as much detritus as I can initially, then perform a 10% water change.  It doesn't matter how many times the "waste water" goes back into the tank as long as the detritus stays in the bucket AND i pull out 8 gallons when I'm done vacuuming.

Once I'm done with the substrate, I will turn my attention to the power filter.  Currently, like my substrate, it is a nitrate factory.  Before dumping the waste water from the substrate cleaning, I'll thoroughly clean the pads and impeller, and rinse out the interior.  Once it's clean, it's future cleaning will be included with the substrate cleaning (still learning as I go).

Fifth order of business will be to get the live rock put back into the tank (if it needs to be completely removed, which is not a bad idea - detritus will settle underneath them) after giving them a good shake in the waste water.  This will remove a lot of the detritus from the rock surface allowing the rock to begin purging itself of nutrients once again.

Sixth order of business will be to introduce "flow" into the tank.  This provides a multitude of benefits:

• Detritus and other nutrients are suspended in the water column longer allowing the power filter and skimmer a wider window of opportunity to do their job.  Decreased particulates in the tank translates to lower ammonia and phosphate production which both cause positive chain reactions on down the line.
• With flow, live rock will have the opportunity to wick nutrients to their surface and subsequently into the water column in order for those nutrients to be removed.  Substrate will have a similar benefit.

Seventh order of business will be to introduce new flora and fauna into the tank, a.k.a. "First Fish" and "First Coral".  We've decided upon the Clownfish (but not which species), but not yet on the coral.  That will heavily depend on the stock currently available at my LFS.

It's going to be a busy day today.  I'm going to do my utmost to ensure our new arrivals live happy, healthy lives.

Observation of Adding Live Rock to a Newly Established FOWLR

A week ago, as previously mentioned, I brought home 15 pounds of live rock and 10 Dwarf Hermit Crabs.  For the past three or four days, the protein skimmer has been collecting a lot more than I'm accustomed to seeing it collect.

Up until now, I emptied the skim trap about once a week, or three times every two weeks.  There would be about half an inch to three quarters of an inch of skim.

Now I'm seeing that much collected within an 18 hour period.  I've been dumping it daily for the past few days.  In the past, I've never seen the bubbles filling the trap.  They've always just remained at the top.  Now I have bubbles filling the trap except, of course, where the skim takes over.

So I wonder what's happening here?  Could 10 less-than-one-inch crabs be increasing the detritus in the water column by an estimated factor of 10?  Six Damsels occupy the tank.  I don't quite think the crabs equate to 54 more Damsels (which would produce nutrients by that same factor of 10).

Already having 35 pounds of live rock, I, in essence, added an additional 43% of live rock.  Does that translate into adding an additional 43% of nitrifying bacteria to the tank?  Maybe not, but it's not a horrible estimate.  With ammonia and nitrite readings effectively at zero for the past 4 to 5 weeks, I've potentially added 43% more bacteria without increasing their food source (ammonia and nitrites).  Is this potential ammonia- and nitrite-starvation causing the nitrifying bacteria to reduce in population to a more sustainable number?  Seems sound to me, but I'm no rocket surgeon.

I think the solution lies with both the large percentage of live rock added AND the crabs, with just a sprinkle of "lack of flow":

Sure, I added some animals to the tank along with the new live rock, but not enough to increase the amount of ammonia in the tank by my estimated 43%, which would be enough to feed the addition of 43% more nitifying bacteria.  So some of these bacteria must be starving and dying off.

Without a powerhead (as of yet), the most flow that my live rocks and substrate gets is a very light flow from the power filter, which only effects the half of the tank the power filter is in.  So there is a bit of "marine snow" sitting on my rock and substrate.

Watching the crabs, they tend to sift through this "snow" while grazing upon the substrate and rock.  The first day they were introduced into the tank I noticed them tossing up a decent amount of white particulates.  These particulates are particles that are decomposing and contributing to nutrient production.

My logic (whether false or not) is leading me to believe that the crabs are causing the increase in skimmage, not due to their bio-load in the tank, but by their behavior of tossing "snow".  Remember, I have yet to introduce any flow to speak of to the tank so the live rock is not able to "clean" itself.  To compound the issue, I've added an approximate 43% of nitrifying bacteria without an equivalent increase in their food supply.  I believe the dead bacteria now contributes to part of my detritus.

This leads me to believe that I can expect another increase in skim production once flow is introduced into the tank.  Flow will, in essence, be performing the same function as the crabs seem to... dusting off substrate and rock.  If my logic is sound, skim production will increase, but also will not last as long as the crab-induced skim production will.

Prior to the introduction of the crabs, I was more than likely "under-skimming" - more "dead organic compounds" were being introduced into the system than were going through the skimmer.

Now that the crabs are sifting through protein particles while grazing, I have a little catch-up to do.  More (hopefully, anyway) DOCs are making to the skimmer than are being created.

With the addition of flow in the next couple weeks, I feel confident that more nutrients will be skimmed than generated, allowing me to get caught up and then begin to find a new "normal" with the skim trap.

So now that I'm at the end of my thought process, the title of this entry seems misleading.

Comments?  Alternate theories?

The Short List for the Near Future

Damsel's are small, pretty, and have a relatively small gallon-per-fish requirements.  But they're also pretty territorial.  If they aren't eating, they're usually attempting to dominate one of the other Damsels, except for the smallest - he only has the hermit crabs to pick on.

So in the next couple of weeks, the plan is to bag up the Damsels, which is no small feat.  In my many weeks of studying them, I've found that they are particularly adept at hiding and fitting into tight spaces.  End result - the live rock is going to have to be either removed from the tank completely to catch them, or at least I'm going to have to arrange it to avoid any nooks, cranny's, or hiding spots.

I've heard of fish traps but haven't really looked into them.  I'm going to want to bag these guys up pretty quickly.  My entire life has taught me that traps will generally sit empty and I just don't have inclination to make multiple trips to the LFS to drop off fish a couple at a time.

Back to moving the live rock around... I now have hermit crabs, so they will either need to be temporarily removed from the tank or I'll need to be careful moving rock around.  There are only 10 in the tank (I've only been able to spot 9 at any one time), so moving them to a temporary bowl or cup should be the easiest way to go.

I'm thinking our first fish will probably be a Clownfish, which I'm sure is a very common choice.  It's actually a close race between a False Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) and some sort of Tang - and due to the cost of Tangs, more than likely a Blue Hippo Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus).  If it weren't for the "Nemo" themed birthday party this weekend, the Tang may still be in the running.

Personally, I'd prefer to have a handful of other types of Clowns, but I'm a little limited in what's available at my LFS - I'm not yet adventurous enough to hit other saltwater LFS's or order online.

I've been doing a little research on the Clown which is beginning to sway what the first coral will be.  Still undecided, but I seriously doubt I'm coming home with a mushroom on that day.  I can't really visualize a clown claiming a mushroom.  No real hope in deciding now what coral to start with... I'm not familiar enough with the LFS selection, but I'm going to shoot for something that at least remotely resembles and Anemone, if possible.

I've also read the Clownfish live in small groups - so there's hope for a handful of Clowns living (hopefully) as they do in the wild.

Also with the first fish and first coral, I'll be bringing home some "flow".  The LFS and I have talked a bit about what I'll need.  He recommended a 750 gph powerhead for the end of the tank opposite of the backpack filter... makes sense - the filter is already producing a little flow down on it's end.  It was also suggested that in the future, if more flow is needed, get a smaller powerhead for the filter end to add just a bit more flow.

I'd also like to feed the fish a more varied diet in the future.  So I'm thinking Reefpods - they feed on detritus so they're a part of the "janitorial crew".  I've read that they love to live in Chaeto, and Chaeto helps with Nitrates.  I saw today where someone liked the look of "grass" in their tank, so they just balled up some Chaeto and nestled it in the corner.  I realize that's not the most efficient use of Chaeto for removing Nitrates, but I can see that it's a happy medium for dual use - removing Nitrates and housing Reefpods.  I don't yet have a refugium, so it doesn't sound like a half-bad idea, especially if I have some flow in the tank.  Who knows, maybe when I do get a refugium, I'll still have Chaeto in the main tank just for another Reefpod shelter...  (I have since gained insight that deters me from this action)

Eventually I'd also like to start making a little money (or losing less, whichever the perspective is) in saltwater.  I'm tossing around ideas for selling beginner fish and corals, but that's going to take a lot of equipment, time, and work (not to mention space).  But I've been in business before and baby-steps are OK with me... I'm used to it.

Look what happens when a guy brings a salt tank home for his son...

... and this is just short list (figuratively).

I guess I'll go get that water change done.

The Boy got Crabs in Old Town

The Dwarf Red Hermit Crabs (seen on the substrate)

I mentioned before we'd picked up some Dwarf Red Hermit Crabs (Chibanarius digueti) last time we were at the LFS.

I went in about 7 weeks after setting up the tank. To his credit, the owner of my preferred LFS was a little reluctant to sell me much of anything prior to the tank becoming 8 weeks old.  I mostly wanted some assistance with keeping the brown algae off the rocks and substrate...  I'm sure the Damsels are tired of the prolific clouds of marine snow dislodged when I stir the algae into the substrate and lightly scrub the rocks.

He agreed that I was probably close enough to the end of my cycle (if I'm not already through it) to take home some Dwarf Red Hermit Crabs (but no snails just quite yet).

He took me to the tank where they were housed.  They certainly seemed active...they were very busy sifting the crush coal bottom.  They were a buck a piece, and he thought 10 would be a nice number to start with.

We had a quick discussion which allowed him to get to know me a little better.  He started off by mentioning most customers will ask how many crabs can be put in a certain size of tank... I interrupted him to verify its not the tank size that matters, but the amount of work to be done, or at least in this case, the amount of algae available for the crabs.  He was relieved to hear that I understand that perspective, which probably elevated me a notch in his opinion.

Back to the house and I've got to wait on the crabs to acclimate before putting the new Coralife Lunar Aqualite...seemed like an eternity, but this post is about the crabs, not necessarily the light, lol.

After what was probably an overly thorough acclimation, the crabs were ready to be introduced into the tank.  I dropped each one in and they all landed within 6" of each other.  I hurried with the new Aqualite so I could catch every detail.

After less than a minute, all but two of the crabs were already in motion.  About half started hiking.  The other half began to graze in place.  After about 5 minutes all but the two crabs that were motionless had left the drop zone.  Crabs trails of white had already begun to appear behind the grazers, and one special "hiker" was already on top of the highest rock in the tank.

I verified the two motionless crabs were still alive - I could see the antennae twitching, just no leg movement.  To this day (not like it's been years) those two crabs are still my slowest movers.  Granted they are the two smallest crabs in there.

I've also learned, through close scrutiny, that not all the crabs are Dwarf Reds.  At least one of them is a Dwarf White Hermit Crab.

After a few days of watching them, they seemed to take on a slightly different personality than the had in the LFS.  I only watched them a few minutes before purchasing them, but as I said before, they were really, really active.  In my tank, they seem to siesta.  But then it occurred to me:  The LFS doesn't have much algae, so those guys really must have to work for their food.  On the other hand, my tank is like Thanksgiving.  And just like Thanksgiving afternoon, we're all napping with full bellies.

So while the crabs graze upon the rock and substrate, I continue to scrub the algae from the glass.

In a couple weeks, I'll have my snails.  Perhaps even a Chaeto (Chaetomorpha algae) nest of Reefpods as well...

Current Tank Specs (as of May 23, 2011)

Current Nutrient Levels:





Fauna:

• (2) Percula Clownfish (added 3/25/2011)
• (1) Heteractis crispa Anemone (added 3/25/2011)
• (2) Pajama Cardinals (added 3/25/2011)
• (1) Black Brittle Starfish (added 3/25/2011)
• (5) Dwarf Red Leg Hermit Crabs (added 3/11/2011)
• (1) Dwarf White Leg Hermit Crab (added 3/11/2011)
• At least (2) Fire Worms (discovered3/25/2011)
• Stomatella Snails (discovered 3/11/2011)

Flora:

• Neon Blue Spot Mushrooms (added 3/25/2011)
• Encrusting Anthelia (added 3/25/2011)
• Star Polyps (added 3/25/2011)

Hardware Components:

• 75 gallon tank
• 48" Coralife Lunar Aqualite (4 Moonlight LEDs, 2 T5HO Actinics, 2 T5HO 10K)
• Eheim Jager 150w fully submersible heater
• Marineland Emperor 400 power filter (not in use)
• CPR Aquatic Bak-Pak 2 protein skimmer 
• (2) Hydor Koralia Evolution 750 gph power heads
• (5) Hydor Koralia Evolution 425 gph power heads

Environmental Components:

• 60# Crushed Coral (removed July 2011)
• 20# "Live" Sand (removed July 2011)
• 75# Live Rock