Build and Progress of my RSM Nano Tank

[Rue]

*phew* I'm very glad I avoided the Xenia...

Laurent! The tank looks lovely!

[Reefmack]

Rue - Xenia is beautiful if you place it properly. And the lower growing Red Sea (pom pom) type that Laurent has is IMO the best type to get. It has to either be somehow isolated on a rock by itself, or originally placed on the very top. If it has a way to grow colonies upwards up it will. I have the pom pom type as well as the elongata, and I can live with the pom pom - quite pretty. In my case it's the long branched elongata that I've been struggling to control.

[conorwynne]

I agree with Reefmack.

Xenia is _not_ a weed, it needs nutrients to be successful, in my current tank (0 nitrates, 0 phosphates) I had a single morcel which instead of growing over the zoas, it disintegrated. As did all the algae. In my last disaster tank, it outgrew everything else, over acros as well!

So it can be an indicator of water condition if it starts to grow like mad.
It is nowhere near as bad as GSP's, these can smother everything if left unchecked. But like GSP's, they can be beautiful if placed sensibly.

Regards
Conor.

[Rue]

No, I didn't think they were a weed...but I wanted to limit how many organisms I had to keep in check...

My GSP arn't taking over anything...but they look healthy and are eating well...

[LaurentSeattle]

My Xenia rock arrived on 09/30/07, about 10 weeks ago.

Xenia grows fast but this is nothing compared to a bryopsis attack...

If I have to trim every two months, that's fine because I like this Pom-Pom Xenia. The "pumping" activity is pleasant to watch and the coral is a nice pink, maybe a reflection of the corralline on the back wall.

From now on, Xenia is going be allowed to grow only on the back wall and on the very top of the tank. I will trim tonight.

Thanks all for the practical advices!

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 7 - Week 30 - Day 205 - Saturday January 19th - Around 7pm

A bad flu has kept me away from the forums... I am catching up tonight.

* Wednesday evening

Everything looks good and the firefish is enjoying its Cyclop-eeze. Not a voracious eater, but does not seem to starve at all.

* Thrusday morning

My firefish is in very bad shape: Tail fin in pieces, dorsal fin almost completely gone, multiple wounds on its body. The only possible culprit is the yellow wrasse... but these guys have been co-existing peacefully for almost five days. The poor fish is dying almost unable to move. Neither the yellow wrasse or the goby are harassing it. I know that the firefish is going to die soon and will somehow pollute the tank water but I cannot find the courage to send it down the drain while still alive.

* Friday morning

The Firefish has choosen the most inaccessible spot to hide for its last moments. I can see its tail from the side bit impossible to remove it whitout removing everything.

No feeding on Friday, double cleaning on the filters. No nitrites and no nitrates.

* Saturday

- No sight of the remains of the firefish: Probably already completely eaten by the shrimps or the crab.

- No nitrites.

- 3.5 gallon water change

- Removed some macro algae that has become a pest.

- Removed two ugly sponges on the stripped green mushroom's rock.

- Cleaned the mechanical filter pads and skimmer top and collection cup.

- Trimmed two stalks of Xenia: I just cut them with cutticle scissors and the polyps went down the drain along with the water change. Quite easy finally. I am considering cutting two more stalks tomorrow.

[martinphillip03]

Laurent, Sorry to hear about your fish. Good luck on the next one.

Maty

[Reefmack]

Laurent - do you think it's possible you have some other critter in the tank that is attacking fish - maybe a hitchhiker bad crab that you've yet to see? I would think that if you had a mantis that you'd have heard some clicking in the tank by now. I agree that it's strange that the wrasse or goby would begin attacking after 5 days of being together in the tank.

[MyMonkey]

Great looking tank. Wonderful job of getting rid of the hair algae.

[Rue]

Sorry about the fish...but I was also wondering the same thing as Reefmack...another predator?

[LaurentSeattle]

Thanks all for the encouraging words...

As of predators, I can't imagine which one. A Mantis Shrimp or a bigger crab would have already eaten the others shrimps and the goby. I would have heard the clicking noise of a Mantis Shrimp, I guess.

[Reefmack]

I agree - the torn fins in pieces does sound like an attack from another fish. I didn't think that type of wrasse was aggressive? Maybe the goby was being territorial? I suppose we'll never know.

[conorwynne]

Sounds like another fish harassing it alright, firefish are a delicate fish. Mine was harassed by a humbug, so much so that I rarely ever saw it.

The humbug just didn't like seeing it out in the open, and would not chase it once it was out of view.

I eventually found it dried up on the floor one morning, they are notorious jumpers..
Lovely fish if you can keep them from jumping, or getting harassed.

Regards
Conor

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 7 - Week 30 - Day 205 - Saturday January 19th - Around 8pm

- Today, I went shopping to a local fish store advertising 25% off on mushrooms and zoas... Got nothing, almost all their colonies were covered with bryopsis or valonia or both... There was only two nice ricordia offered at a insane price. I don't get it... They're whining after online stores and that's all they can offer: dying animals???

- A bit fustrated, I went to another (better managed!) LFS, probably the best in my area and got this leather coral:



I believe it is a Lobophyton sp. (Please correct me if I am wrong!)

It is completely retracted on the picture but a few golden polyps begin to expand as I type this post... Hopefully, I will have something nicer to show off tomorrow.

I wanted to place it higher in the tank but failed to properly use my epoxy putty and decided at some point that the animal had enough of stress for the day. I might try again later this week.

- I cut one more stalk of Xenia today. It was getting too close to my Candy Cane and somewhat blocking the view...

- Replaced almost one gallon of water "lost" in dripping the leather coral and syphoning out the trimmed stalk of Xenia.

- Got Formula 1 frozen food from the LF store #2: All critters went absolutely mad! It seems to be a very good product.

- And all the usual: Top off, white pad, etc...

- I would like to populate the medium left of the tank with one last coral, possibly some ricordaes, but this spot requires "glueing". Is there anything better ( for me, it means easier to use!) than epoxy?

---

Conor: Took me a while to figure out what the humbug actually is... Thanks to Google Pictures.

Reefmack: I can't believe the goby could have killed the firefish. This guy is so shy! Lucy Lu, the yellow wrasse, is the last remaining suspect. I will have to be extra careful should I decide to add a new fish.

[mikellini]

I use a cyanoacrylate gel to glue frags to my rockwork. It works pretty well, it cures under water and you have to hold it for about 30 seconds to a minute. It's really great for gluing corals to LR rubble out of the water too

[conorwynne]

Its probably just me... the only time I ever used superglue for frags was when glueing a lovely yellow acro frag to a magnet for wall mounting.

Eventually the bottom where it was mounted went all white, and then a turbo knocked it off the magnet. It fell behind some unmovable rockwork, so I just left it there. It was too small to retrieve.

I have now gone back to using putty, it has never caused me any hassle, although not as pretty for frags. Eventually the putty gets covered over, but takes AGES. I tend to use too much you see, but I fret about them falling over during the night as I have a ton of flow.

Regards
Conor.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 7 - Week 30 - Day 207 - Monday January 21st - Around 6pm

- Took those pictures of the new coral:



The coral is not fully expanded yet and was looking better at the store. Apparently , it will not open up without serious flow around it and therefore I need to rethink placement of the green striped mushrooms.

Here is a close-up :



and finally, a wider shot:



- Going out for groceries but if I have some time left tonight, I will test for nitrites and possibly do a little water change because I am getting some film algae on the sand. Probably a consequence of not being able to take out the remains of the firefish last week.

---

Thanks all for the glueing tips!

[Reefmack]

Laurent - the leather looks nice!

I usually use a "sandwhich" of superglue gel & epoxy. I mix up a ball of epoxy putty, appropriately sized (guesstimated) to the size of the coral base and the nature/texture of the rock where I want to place it - maybe the size of a marble, or bigger, for corals with a large bases. Then I dry off the coral base by blotting with a paper towel, make a depression in the soft putty ball, put in a big blob of SG Gel and press onto the dried coral base for a minute till it bonds a bit. I then make a depression in the bottom (other side)of the putty, fill that with another big blob of SG Gel and put the coral in the tank and slowly press it onto the rock and hold a minute till the glue bonds the soft putty to the rock before it hardens. SG Gel or Epoxy putty have never worked well for me, but the combination has done pretty well. Not always 100% but it usually work for me. And I've learned not to scrimp on the amount of SG Gel - I keep several tubes around - the bigger the blob the better the chance of it working. I'm basically using the putty to conform to the shape of the coral base and live rock, and the SG Gel on the top & bottom to bond it all onto the rock.

[LaurentSeattle]

Thanks Reefmack. This seems to be the best of both worlds of epoxy and super-glue...

- No time for a water change but I snapped this quite cool picture: It seems like the crab is looking at me!

[Rue]

So cute!

I bought reefer's glue...can't remember the brand...but I've been very happy with it, although all I've 'fragged' are zoa polyps that have come off when I've tried to pick the algae off them...and the little acro frags I bought a while ago...

[Reefmack]

Rue - I think Reefer's Glue is cyanoacrylate gel - same as Superglue Gel - maybe a bit thicker & bigger tube?

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 7 - Week 30 - Day 208 - Tuesday January 22nd - Around 9pm

- Did my usual routine...

- And also made a quick 1.5g water change: I am a bit worried that the remains of my firefish could foul the water. Nitrites tested zero though.

- The new leather coral is expanding quite nicely but was showing more polyps at the store...

- Sad to say... But no fish introduced after the Yellow Wrasse has survived so far. Firefish #1 never ate anything, Gramma got sick and Firefish #2 got beaten to death. I wonder if I should declare the tank stocked with fishes or whether I could try once more a new introduction. Maybe a more hardy species? As a consolation, the new shrimp is doing quite well.

[rob911]

Laurent,

I just finished reading your entire thread this evening.... it only took me about 5-6 hours. What an incredible journey and all of us who start a RSM owe you much gratitude for the wisdom that you have imparted upon us.....

Some things to do and some things not to do.

I can't wait for mine to arrive... Pinky says it was shipped today and the trucking company will be calling me for delivery.

[martinphillip03]

Ok people Laurent need our help finding his last fish. I have some ideas but I need to research it first. I do have the name of the new fish, Cameron Diaz or Drew Barrymore.

Marty

- Sad to say... But no fish introduced after the Yellow Wrasse has survived so far. Firefish #1 never ate anything, Gramma got sick and Firefish #2 got beaten to death. I wonder if I should declare the tank stocked with fishes or whether I could try once more a new introduction. Maybe a more hardy species? As a consolation, the new shrimp is doing quite well. [/B][/QUOTE]

[Rue]

...I luv my green clown gobies...er, when I get to see them...

They are adorable!