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Reeftank Log 10/97

10/16/97

When the fan isn't evaporating the water quickly from the reeftank, I'm going to add Kalkwasser that has 4 teaspoons per gallon, but when the fan is on, I'm going to mix up Kalkwasser that has 2 teaspoons per gallon. Right now the SG of he tank is 1.0225. I'm going to try to raise it back up 1.023 or 1.0235. Actually, with the SG lower now, I don't think I've been having the red slime algae problems I was having before. The red open brain coral looked a little bit closed up two days ago, but it looked better yesterday. The small coral banded shrimp has bright green eggs again. Cleaned out the protein skimmer today.

 

10/24/97

Two days ago I noticed a dried up six-line wrasse lying to next to the reeftank. What happened was that he had jumped out and dried up beside the extension cords. I buried the wrasse in the garden. I'm sad since he was such an interesting fish in the way he swam around the tank. I think I'll hold off on getting another fish for awhile since everything in the tank seems to be growing very quickly. The other interesting thing that happened was that my right powerhead fell. Because no water was flowing over my watermelon mushroom anemones in the front, they were more spread out than ever before.

 

10/25/97

Looked at other fish to replace my six-line wrasse, but I couldn't find anything that would fit the bill. With all the corals growing really well in the tank and the clownfish really healthy, I may just not buy another fish at the moment. If I buy something new, there's always the risk that it will introduce some pathogen in the tank or that it will catch something else in the tank. I mixed some SeaChem salt today at 1.027 SG in order to raise the salinity a bit in the tank since it has been down to 1.0225. I noticed today that the Valvonia hasn't come back at all. I noticed only one 7 mm ball, but that was it. I guess the pruning has helped.

 

10/26/97

5-gallon water change.

 

10/28/97

Purchased a neon-backed basslet (Pseudochromis dutoiti) from Seascapes on Sunday evening. He looked really healthy with vibrant color and activity. He was somewhat big at 3 inches, but he seemed to be a specimen worth the $54.99 I paid for it (shipping from the Red Sea helps raise the price). SG of the Seascapes water was 1.024, so I had to adapt the basslet to the 1.023 of the tank. The big mistake I made was pouring the Seascapes water into my tank after the acclimation. Initially, I poked a small hole in the bag to adapt the basslet, but I should have just squirted water into the bag from the reeftank with the turkey baster until the SG was the same inside the bag as outside. The corals were shrunken a bit compared to their normal appearance. Next time I introduce a new specimen to an established tank, I'm just going to net out the specimen. I changed the carbon last night in the hopes of filtering out anything bad that may have been introduced with the Seascapes water. I figured the water couldn't have anything too bad since the basslet came from a tank that regularly houses live rock and new invertebrates. Who knows, it may have been for another reason why the corals didn't look 100%.

Presently, I'm intrigued by the MRT (Mini Reeftank) from CPR. It's a 13-gallon tank with a built in protein skimmer based on the CPR BakPak. This looks like the perfect setup for an anemone with two clownfish. My idea is to setup a MRT with an anemone and then transfer the two clownfish presently in the 20-gallon reeftank to the MRT. A perfect spot for the MRT would be on the dresser in my bedroom. I would add the $49 scarlet hermit crab and snail bundle to the tank and some live rock and I would be ready to go. The only additional hardware I would need would be three 15-watt lights (I already have the fixtures) and a heater.

The neon dottyback spit out the flake food I gave him yesterday, but he seems to be doing fine – he's probably eating worms and crustaceans in the live rock. I'll try to feed him something new tomorrow.

 

10/29/97

Fed some OSI Marine Flakes and Hikari Marine Pellet food this morning. The pygmy basslet quickly rushed out and ate the food I fed him.

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