280g FOWLR Tank Diary

[rcreations]

Are they getting picked on by any fish? That's usually what happenes to the few mushrooms I have, whenever a fish nips at them, even if it isn't a lot, they'll shrink and stay like that for days.

 

[kylev]

I havnt seen any fish picking on them but I am gone a lot during the day so that is a good possibility, because the dwarf angels were recently added and they started getting upset after that. Hopefully they will come around cause I'm not sure what else I can do to help them out.

 

[rcreations]

I used to have a Flame Angel in my reef tank that terrorized all my corals. Finally had to take him out and back to the LFS. From what I read, some dwarf angels are reef safe, some are not. It depends on the individual personality of the fish.

 

[kylev]

ya I've been keeping a close eye on them. The lemonpeel finished off a mushroom that allready appeared to be dying but other than that I havnt seem them bug anything. The mushrooms are starting to come back to life as well.

 

[kylev]

The mushrooms are back to normal and are looking great again. I have caught the lemonpeel nip at zoas several times though so I do have a fish trap on the way to remove him. He hasnt done a lot of damage yet just likes to nip at them occasionally. If he stuck to the large colonies I would think about letting him stay but I can see some bite marks on some of the smaller more expensive frags. He hasnt killed anything yet just taken few chunks out. Hate to remove this fish cause he adds such great color but its not worth the harm to the corals.

 

[rcreations]

Yeah, even a little nipping is enough to make corals close up. You can always try another lemon peel, like I said, it depends on the individual personality of the fish.

 

[kylev]

I might have to try another one, later down the road. If I do I think I might try to get one quite a bit smaller. Right now I have a purple tang and a orchid dottback in the QT. Both are doing real well. The purple tang is a beautiful fish.
I'm thinking about possibly adding a mandarin dragonet soon. I can see pods everywhere I look even during the day and thousands at night. What are your thoughts? QT?

 

[rcreations]

With a tank that big, you should have no problem keeping a good pod population. I say you can get a dragonet. As for QT, they're not supposed to carry ich because of their slime coat but you never know. Better to be safe than sorry. You can QT the Dragonet and buy some pods until you put it in the DT.

 

[kylev]

Thanks RC, I'll probably QT it with the achilles tang that I hope to add next if I can find a good one.

 

[kylev]

I've got a fish trap to get the lemonpeel out but so far no luck, The damn gate doesnt even close on itself. Anybody have any ideas or tricks to entice the fish in? The snails were all that came in to eat the food.
edit: Caught him, he fell for sponge as bait

 

[rcreations]

Glad you caught him. I remember it was a real hassle to catch my flame angel. They're pretty fast and hide between the rocks. In general, I think smaller fish are hard to catch.

 

[kylev]

Ya I agree, I think I got pretty lucky to get the lemonpeel as easily as i did. I only spent a total of about 40 minutes trying to catch him. I'm in the process of setting up a pair of hawaiian flame wrasses as my next addition, any objections? The only thing I've heard is that they have a potential to eat my shrimp but that can go with all wrasses plus i would say the odds cant be any greater than it is with the crosshaches. I'm trying to set up a delivery date with them, my only hold up is the purple tang in the QT. This saturday will be three weeks for him and so far he looks great and its very active and eating well. Would three weeks be sufficient? I know hes prone to ich so want to be sure.

 

[rcreations]

Flame wrasses are nice. I used to have one in my old tank and it jumped out, through the egg crate cover, TWICE! First time I was there to put it back in, the second time, I found it dead behind the tank in the morning. Out of all the wrasses I had, this was the only one that jumped out. Make sure to have a good cover on.

 

[kylev]

thanks for the tip RC, these wrasses are way to spendy to have them die from jumping. My tank has lids for all the openings so it shouldnt be a problem unless i forget to cover it after maintenance that is.

 

[rcreations]

Tell me about it. I was just as upset about the wrasse dying as I was about the money I wasted.

 

[kylev]

hahaha Ya its kinda crazy how much you start to care for a fish and their own personalities.

 

[kylev]

Updated fish last stands as
All ready in the tank
-Crosshatch pair
-true perc pair
-flame angel
-starry blenny
-orchid dottyback
-purple tang
-hippo tang
-green spot dragonet
Hopeful additions
-I male 3 female flame wrasses-arriving this week
-black and white clown pair
-blotched anthias
-sohal tang (right now the sohal is winning over the achilles)
Any ideas or thoughts on whether this list looks ok, to full, or more room for additions?

 

[kylev]

Anyone have any thoughts as to why my xenia appears to be dying? And whether or not I should remove it before it just causes ammonia or let it run its course? PH 8.25, Temp 80, Nitrite 0, Am, 0 Nitrates 20-30 (doing w/c's frequently to get these down and cut back on feeding a touch) , spec gravity 1.025

 

[gemmy]

Hmmm....I was going to say maybe your water is too clean, but you do have nitrates and Xenia likes some nitrates. I can't keep Xenia alive.

 

[kylev]

Ya, I ended up removing the xenia. Not really a large loss in my eyes. It was growing like crazy and I'd allready had to cut it back several times. More room for other corals now. Plus I'd allready took a few chunks of it and put it into my mantis tank so It can go ahead and spread all it wants in there.
I ended up taking a chance with a RBTA and its doing great. Showing good growth, tips have nice bubbles to them and its eating very well. I also took a chance with a squamosa clam and its doing awesome as well. I have it nice and high and couldnt imagine it could be opening any more than it is. I've started dosing with DT's and spot feeding several corals such as acan, torch, frogspawn, hammer, duncans, blastoids, anemones. Other than whats listed I only have softies. All corals are looking great. How often shoud I spot feed and dose with DT's? Thanks, this thread is looking more and more like it should be in the reef section lol.
I've recently added two females and a male flame wrasse into my DT. One female is always out and active but the male and other female have been MIA for 4 days now. I know this is typical for a smaller wrasse to do but how long till I start to really worry that I now just have one very expensive female wrasse?
I'll get some updated pics coming soon
As stated above I only plan to add a blotched anthias, black and white clown pair, and a sohal. Hows this stocking sound? Am I safe to add a few more of should I stick with that to ensure water quality?