Why Ro Water Is Good For You And Your Tank

[Lynden]

Well, I'm off to Hawaii - the Big Island - until the 10th.

I will look for Dwarf Zebra Hermits and Scrawled Filefish especially as well as their state fish - the Humu Humu - and cook it and eat it. I'm sure the Hawaiian police will like that can one even eat Trigger? Or are they poisonous like puffers? Only one way to find out...

Hawaii. A pretty nice change from frigid ol' northern B.C.

Well, and now for the age-old saying, which existed in my signature for more than a year without meaning anything to me. But now it does!

Sayonara no Tomodachi! Watashi wa Ikimas Minami Desu!



See-ya later guys...

-Lynden

P.S. yes I am excited for this trip!

 

[SkiFletch]

Sweet, you better bring back pictures

 

[Lynden]

I'll try, I'll try.

-Lynden

 

[Lynden]

Well, all is not well upon returning. The crab tore the coral to crap

The polyps are still alive, but the coral is but a shred of it's former glory. My Hector's Goby and Firefish are also missing; the Firefish began to hide weeks ago.

We got a new digital camera, so I'll take some pictures of the tank.

I'll post the pictures of Hawaii as soon as they get developed

-Lynden

 

[Lynden]

Well guys, Nitrate now reads 20 ppm Still a ways to go, but I am getting new salt soon for a big water change.

I am thinking about some new fish, a couple reef-safe Melichthys triggers would do nicely
Maybe an M. niger and an M. vidua (Hawaiian Niger Trigger and Pink Tailed Trigger)

I saw some M. niger in Hawai'i and they were awesome

I also need to get my cleanup crew still, but that will probably wait until I get the Red Hermit Crab into a sump. I am probably going to turn the 77 into my display and use the 55 as a sump, because the 8 footer might not come for many months.

-Lynden

P.S. I rearranged the tank, but I coudn't find either the Hector's goby or the Firefish. I checked the floor, too

 

[Lynden]

This is my 1000th post

I'm a fanatic.

The mollies gave birth a while ago, there are three babies remaining. Still wanting those Triggers

Nitrates are going even lower. Everything is getting more active.

I also added two Blue-Leg Hermits to the tank. I expect them to be eaten. They were being kept in a god-damn brackish tank at the pet store. The manager is such a moron. He takes down the only cool tank in the store, the marine tank, because it isn't selling very much. Well no ####, when you only order Clarkii Clowns, ever . To replace the marine tank, which he took down because it was unpopular, he sets up a brackish tank. Furthermore, he put the few marine animals remaining in the brackish tank, then filled the brackish tank full of about 90 mollies. Sigh...

-Lynden

 

[Lynden]

Well, I finally got my new Trigger, a Melichthys vidua. He was fairly tempermental regarding food, but I eventually bought some sardines and he pigged out. That was two days ago. He hid all of yesterday, and this morning he decided to visit me and show off his brand new disease! which was, of course, Cryptocarrion.

So now, I have convinced my Mom to let me order another batch of animals, so I need some reccomendations. I immediatly thought about getting a small group of Neon Gobies, but since my fish load is nearing maximum, I might get a small group of Lysmata amboinensis instead. I did a little research on the shrimps just now, and I found that they have been reported surviving ammonia levels exceeding 8.0 ppm

I am a little worried about the Trigger eating either animals, but from what I have researched so far, I think they will be safe if I guide them to the bottom of the tank, therefore leaving the Trigger's hunting level.

Also, what have you guys heard about Ruby Reef's "Kick Ich"? It claims to be a reef safe medication for Ich.

-Lynden

 

[SkiFletch]

I've never heard of a reef-safe version of an ich medication. Most meds that claim they're reef-safe either dont work or end up killing inverts

And, I'd never put a shrimp in with a triggerfish unless you're trying to feed the trigger

 

[Lynden]

And, I'd never put a shrimp in with a triggerfish unless you're trying to feed the trigger

That's what I thought, too, but Melichthys feed from the water column. Mine also ignores Mysid shrimps in favour of fish flesh
He does occasionally pick from the substrate, but is so slow and clumsy in doing so that he can barely eat a dead mysis. The Rhinecanthus in Hawai'i were far more adept at feeding from the substrate, so I can definetly see were Triggers get there reputation.

If my Trigger changes his mind about feeding from the water column, I do have a last resort

-Lynden

 

[Lynden]

The Trigger's situation regarding eating went from poor, to great, to poor again, then about three days ago, to bad, and now, to nothing.

With the feeding of the sardines, his appetite was sparked. But the "fire" was to die very quickly. He now ignores everything that I introduce, including clams, mysid shrimps, chopped table shrimp, brine shrimp, spirulina tablets, sardine flesh, and flakes.

I am on to my second last resort. I am going to try soaking table shrimp in garlic extract before feeding, and, if that doesn't work, I am going to try either injecting food enriched with vitamin b12 down his throat, or injecting b12 into his dorsal musculature. Such methods, I read, induce feeding frenzies in puffers.

How am I to do this (restraining the fish, ect.) ? Please, I really need some help here! (oh God damn it, where's the "praying" smiley?)


-Lynden

 

[SkiFletch]

My biochemistry class taught me that B12 was one of many water soluble vitamins taking part in bodily functions. Seems to me like you could just pour it in your tank and the fish would absorb it through its gills... Just toss some energy drink in there 8)

 

[Mr Miagi]

When did you feed him the sardines that he pigged out on? Lions, Puffers, Triggers, Eels, (large predators in general) dont need to feed constantly. If he fed like a pig with those sardines, maybe he doesnt feel like eating more just yet?

Short of buying live river shrimp im not sure what could tempt this finicky feeder to eat. Live feeders? Have you tried Macro-Algae or Nori? From different sources of information im getting different diet requirements, not just meat/invertebrates. Maybe at different periods of life they consume different things?

I found one paper on thier diet, so if I get into University (using their computers) I will access the article and save it for you to read.

Ecological Relationships of the Fish Fauna on Coral Reefs of the Marshall Islands
Robert W. Hiatt, Donald W. Strasburg
Ecological Monographs, Vol. 30, No. 1, 1960, pp. 65-127

 

[Lynden]

Thanks guys, I will try what Ski said, it certainly sounds less stressful than injecting them with it. Maybe it will get my clowns to eat flakes, as well.

Miagi: yeah, I thought that's what it might be, but his gut is thin as a cracker today I just don't see how full he could possibly be. I might try to feed him live guppies, bad I don't want to teach him how to hunt fish, nor do I want to give him fatty liver disease. I could also try live ghost shrimp, but the ####ing idiot at the pet store sells them for $2 each and as much as I want to save the Trigger, I just can't afford a diet that expensive.

He looked like he was going to eat some sardine flesh today, but all he does is chew it up and spit it out. *sigh*...

-Lynden

 

[SkiFletch]

Yikes, $2 for ghost shrimp . Are there any Pet Smarts up in canada? I know the petsmart near me sells ghost shrimp for $0.25 each

 

[Lynden]

Pet Smart? The town I live in has about 12000 people. There aren't any Pet Smarts for hundreds of miles. And it's Remembrance Day today. Everything's closed.

The garlic attempt failed miserably. I'll try the b12-in-the-water trick, and if that doesn't work... it's syringe time.

-Lynden