[sparkyjoe]

Ok. I’m lazy… what’s a zoa? They look like a type of coral?

 

[Ratvan]

Yes they are a type of soft coral, Zoathanids are the full name, also come in a variety called Palyzoa and Protopalyzoa

 

[Ratvan]

Starting to open now

Eventually these will populate the rock and provide some colour, will be bringing some other corals from home tank for redundancy of frags. So if I lose one tank I still have some corals left in each 👍

 

[Ratvan]

I need to stop going to my LFS, think my long search for a female has come to an end.

Well for the fish tank at least 🤣

 

[Ratvan]

Well i am more confidant today that she is a female, the LFS also let me feed the tank a small amount of frozen mysis shrimp so i know that she eats and i dont have to worry about sourcing months supplies of feeder shrimp for the tank which is always a plus.

 

[Ratvan]

Boring Bits first, the Zoas are colouring up and a nice shade of green with Yellow Centres.

Finally picked up the Female Dwarf Fuzzy

Decided on another Rap Musicians name: Carpi B

She is mostly brown with hints of the most beautiful yellow

 

[betta4ever!]

She's BEAUTIFUL!! Waiting for photos of her in the tank 🥰

 

[Ratvan]

She's BEAUTIFUL!! Waiting for photos of her in the tank 🥰

Thanks, she really is a very pretty fish, just need to play with Macro Lenses and Phone Camera settings to capture the yellow hues. She will be in the QT tank for a week so I can ensure that she eats.

Due to her small size I will have to introduce her into the display via an isolation box and carefully watch how much attention Swim Shady gives her, as previously said she is tiny compared to Swim Shady, thankfully I dont think his mouth is larger then she is

 

[Ratvan]

She is an absolute beast when it comes to eating, so far she has taken a variety of frozen foods and pellets that I feed to the fish in the display tank.

This includes
Lobster Eggs
Mysis
Krill Superba (Large)
Krill Pacifica (Small)
Chopped Mussel
Carnivore Pellets
Chopped Clams

I also noted that I have a Hitch Hiker or several in the Display tank, these most likely either came in on the Zoa Rock that I added earlier in the month or survived deep in the live rock that I picked up from another reefer and added to the tank.

This thing is tiny (0.5mm) so getting a positive Identification is difficult.

But I think it is either a Dive Snail or a Nano Conch. Either of these two are beneficial additions to a reef tank and will feed on micro fauna and micro algae within the tank. It could also be a Whelk which would be an issue to my Clean Up Crew if it gets large enough to start eating my snail population, i should know if it a whelk if it grows much larger than 25mm but that could take a while

 

[sparkyjoe]

Awww… your little murder butterfly is adorable!

Are sea snails able to quickly reproduce like some land snails?

 

[Ratvan]

Awww… your little murder butterfly is adorable!

Are sea snails able to quickly reproduce like some land snails?

Some species of snails reproduce quickly in a reef/marine environment, specifically Dove Snails, Cerith Snails, Trocus Snails and Stormatella (this last one is Gary from Spongebob) all of which i try and encourage within the tank. Some people say that the Nassarius have bred in their tanks but i have never experienced that

 

[Ratvan]

So since I remembered to bring my Macro Lenses to work with me i took the change to photograph some of the life that exists on the rocks and sand bed.

Below in the centre of the image we have a Tunicate (type of colonial sponge) I have several of these around the tank, also the pink/purple colour on the rocks is coralline algae; a hard calcifying algae, I love this tuff on the rocks and hate it on the glass

Micro Bristle Star in amongst some of my Macro Algae (this one is a Red Grape Algae)

A little Filter feeding Tube Worm in the sandbed, I have these over my rocks as well as a huge colony in the rear filtration section

Finally the smallest life in the tank that I am most impressed with, this is a Blue Tunicate (as well as another tube worm) this Sponge filters the water through vents in the side back into the water column.

All the above microlife add a lot of life and filtration to the water. Which is why I dose the tank with a combination of Phytoplankton, Rotifers, Copepods and Isopods. Ensuring that I keep the biodiversity in the tank healthy from the smallest to largest of living things

 

[Ratvan]

So I entered my office this morning to discover that the carpet was absolutely sodden, fearing the worst I checked out the display tank and discovered no leak. However the storage tub that I use as a QT tank had lost nearly all of its water volume (roughly 3 Gallons left in a 18 Gallon) due to the loss of water the pump had also burned itself out.

I did lose the Guppies and Livebeares that I acclimated to saltwater to act as my breeder fish for live feeder fish as they were in a large hang on the side isolation box within the QT tank and with the water loss they were not submerged when I arrived this morning and looked like a form of jerky.

So urgent transfer of a venomous fish into the display complete using my hands and a lot of muttered prayers and threats as the water level was too low to scoop her out with anything, i also could not make up new water as it would leak directly out again!

You can also see clearer the size difference and why i was concerned about adding her to the display

So the office stinks like a fish market (or if you have been unlucky enough to visit the place Grimsby )

But Swim Shady shows some interest into the new addition, thankfully not a feeding response. I do love the colour variation between these two fish as well. I dont really want to let her into the display just yet but unsure of keeping her contained in the breeder box over the weekend

 

[sparkyjoe]

Oh, no! That’s terrible about the water loss. I hope you can get it fixed soon!

BTW… those pictures with the macro lens are amazing!

 

[Ratvan]

Yeah the tub is in the work skip at the moment as it is not recoverable. I am not planning any further additions (unless i find a Bright Yellow Female) as I am probably slightly over fully stocked as it is. But I do have additional biological filtration on the way in the form of a Protein Skimmer and more Macroalgae.

The good news is that both fish seem to be interacting well in the display tank, I have seen what I think is pairing/bonding behaviour but as many people dont keep or study these fish this is purely guesswork at the moment. However they swim cheek to cheek (through the box) with Swim Shady flaring ALL his fins and spines, he looks beautiful and the seem to match their lunge forwards while doing this "dance"

Both fish colours are darkening as well during this so I know this is not a stress response (colours fade with stress). I plan on feeding the tank heavily today and tomorrow and then plan the release into the display tank on Tuesday so i have a chance to monitor and intervene if it goes wrong day 1.

 

[Ratvan]

Well seems like Carpi B is part Dolphin judging by how she jumped out the Breeder Box