Kanicky's blog

[Kanicky]

Blog Created for Kanicky

[Kanicky]

Equipment:

50 lbs. Live Rock
35 lbs. Live Sand
20 gallon Sump
(2) 30 watt Power Glo's
(2) 30 watt Actinics
(2) Rio Powerheads w/ rotating deflectors
Coralife Super Skimmer
100 watt heater (I forget the brand name.)
Coralife UV Sterilizer

Fish:

(2) False Percs
Midas Blenny
Pygmy Angelfish
Valentini Puffer
Sixline Wrasse
Golden Head Sleeper Goby

Inverts:

Coral-Banded Shrimp
(2) Emerald Crabs
(2) Boxing Crabs
Snail/Hermit Clean-Up Crew

Corals/Zoo's:

Medium-sized frag of GSP's
3 frag's of unidentified zoo's
Frag of four purple mushrooms

Future Plans:

Upgrade skimmer - Remora Pro or Octopus
Add fuge
Upgrade lighting - PC's, T-5's, or MH's.
More zoo's/soft corals
BIGGER TANK(s)!

[Kanicky]

February 12th, 2007, Nick (the Nick in "Kanicky") came in the living room and saw me laying on the floor, looking into my small freshwater aquarium, mesmerized by the fish. He says that's what did it for him. He immediately went to CraigsList and started secretly looking for a bigger tank for me.

On Valentine's Day, he had me stay in our bedroom while he got my "surprise" ready for me. Then, he had me walk out in the living room where a HUGE custom-made stand and canopy stood, along with a 50 gallon tank. The stand and canopy matched the tropical theme of our house and it fit "just right" in my favorite room of the house- The Imagination Room (my reading room, basically.)

We went to a LFS the next day to get all of the stuff we'd need for a larger freshwater fish tank. Now, this is a store that sells both fresh and saltwater, so we wound up wandering into the saltwater fish section, and of course, falling in love. We talked with a very knowledgeable employee about saltwater aquariums for quite a while, and when we left, we had everything we needed to start a saltwater aquarium!

As soon as we got home, we took a few hours to set everything up, and I immediately got on the internet to start my research. Initially, I found SWF.com and spent many hours that evening, researching anything I could get my hands on. I also ordered "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Fenner (which has been a wonderful resource!)

Unfortunately, we started with crushed coral substrate, but thankfully we didn't have live rock in place yet. So we went back to the LFS, got live sand, and switched the two out. We also wound up finding a friend who knew a guy who was breaking down one of his reef tanks and was selling his live rock, so we went and got 50 lbs from him, and voila! We were ready to start our cycle!

I tested the tank's parameters religiously every day until I saw the spike in ammonia, and then watched as all of the levels fell to 0. I was so excited! Now we could get our clean-up crew! We got about twenty dwarf hermits and ten Nassarius snails, and watched them go to town on the diatom algae.

About a week or so afterwards, we bought two clownfish and added them to the tank. A week or so after that, we bought a Coral Beauty (I know, I know!) who wound up dying about three days later. She never came out of her cave and we only saw her eat once. Yes, lesson learned!

From there, I studied about each and every fish we wanted to get before we made the decision to get them, and here we are today!

There are so many funny and interesting things that happen in my tank, so I plan on keeping this as updated as I can, so you all can follow along and share my joys (and hopefully none of my sorrows, but those are almost inevitable!)

Thanks for reading!

[Kanicky]

So, with having my Yellow Head Sleeper Goby, I know I need to supply him with a plethera of pods... you know what comes next, right? A refugium!

Nick and I went to our favorite LFS and spoke with one of the younger associates about adding a fuge. Nick explained that he wasn't sure that we had enough room in our stand to add a fuge to the sump, so the guy suggested putting the LR rubble, habitated by pods, in the sump, and then from there, they would be sucked up into the tank. (Granted, they probably wouldn't make it to the tank alive, but the associate said that doesn't really matter to the fish.)

Another alternative that has been recently presented is to (slowly) replace all of the bio-balls in our sump with LR rubble and to seed the rubble with pods. The only issue I see with this is that I thought pods have to eat, too. Phytoplankton, right? Also, do pods need chaeto to live? As you can see, I still have much to learn about fuge's

I just got an e-mail from our other LFS that informed me that they're having a big "Member's Only" sale this Saturday, with 35% off on all SW fish and inverts, 15% off all food(s), and 15% off everything else in the store. I think Nick and I will go to the sale and see what's going on, and maybe we can figure out a solution for our fuge dilemma.

For now, all I can think of is to buy a bottle of live Copepods and/or Tigger Pods, pour them directly into the tank, and hope that some of them can make it into the numerous caves, nooks, and crannies, and be able to multiply...

If anyone has any suggestions or advice for me, please feel free to PM me!

In other "news," everyone in the tank is doing well. The Pygmy and the Sixline chase each other every once in a while, but everyone seems pretty peaceful with each other.

I'm still contemplating getting rid of my Coral Banded Shrimp, but first, I have to figure out how to catch him, as he only really comes out at night. Recently, he's started coming out in the day-time if a pellet drops down on the sand near his cave, or if a few strands of Mysis float by, but he mostly sticks to his cave till night-time. I guess my only option here is to have the door to the canopy off and a piece of the egg-crate removed, previous to turning off the lights for the evening, and to wait with a net or clean soda bottle.

Ahh, the joys of being a marine aquarist!

I am starting to get a little nervous, as June is quickly approaching. I will be away from my tank for the first time, during the second to last weekend in June. I will be away for three and a half days, and while I know that it really isn't a big deal, I'm still a little anxious. The last time we went away, we just had our two kittens, and my sister-in-law did a wonderful job taking care of them, but now we have two kittens and a saltwater tank!

I think I will have Cindy (the aforementioned sister-in-law) stop by and check on the tank, just to make sure everything is looking and running properly. She's the only one I trust out of our two families to watch over such a senstive system. I've read tons of horror stories of people going away for a few days only to come home to find that their system crashed, or that their well-meaning friend, family member, or neighbor, thought that the "fish looked hungry," or that something needed "fixing." I'm sure everything will be fine, though, so no worries!

That's my update for today. Happy tanking!

[Kanicky]

Nick and I went to Aqua Zoo on Saturday for their Preferred Customer Sale, and wound up getting two more Rio powerhead's that had more output so we could finally use our rotating deflectors. Now we're flow-alicious!

We saw a few fish we really wanted, but obviously, we can't put any more in the tank we have... We saw the most adorable yellow spotted boxfish that was no bigger than a penny, and we saw some cool looking Fiji and Spotted Puffers... hopefully we'll upgrade within the next year.

Sometimes I wish I had held out for some True or Picasso Percs, but when I look at the two False Percs I have and watch how they interact with each other, I can't help but love 'em. The little male clown is so tiny and cute, and is so submissive to the larger female clown. They make a good pair

I fed a short-necked clam to the tank last night, and everyone went nuts, as usual. Between the fish and crabs, it was cleaned out within two hours. P. Diddy's tummy was quite full and he looked pleased with himself, and with me.

I'm going to be ordering some live Tigger Pods for my GHSG, and hopefully some of them will be able to make it into the rubble and populate, but we'll see. I'm still wanting to do a fuge, but am still researching on how to go about it...

I have an opportunity to buy a 2 and 1/2 gallon nano tank with live rock and sand for -get this- $25! I'm going to stop by the guy's house and look at it, hopefully tomorrow, and if I like what I see I'll "take the plunge" and get it... Nick will probably be exasperated, I know, but c'mon! $25! I know I can't keep much of anything in there, but I want to do a few frags of zoo's and maybe a sexy shrimp or two.

I'm excited about (maybe, finally) getting a nano started! Hey! I could join the nano build-off!

[Kanicky]

I finally found a LFS that sells Reef Nutrition products, and they had Roti-Feast in stock. It was about twenty minutes away from where I work, so Nick met me at 5:00 and we drove there together in his truck. The store wasn't all that impressive, but then again, they're not getting another shipment in till Monday, so maybe I'll give them another chance...

Anyway, we got the Roti-Feast and I dosed some last night, and again today. I'm really glad I found a place that has the food I need to ensure my GHSG thrives- he's so beautiful!

Nick and I were at Rob's Reef (our favorite LFS!) two weeks ago and I saw what looked like a GHSG but MUCH bigger. I asked Nate, one of the employees, if it was a GHSG and he confirmed that it was. This sucker had to have been about seven inches long! I mean, I knew they get that big, but it was hard to imagine, since ours is only about two inches right now and still has a yellow head. (I didn't know that they tend to lose their yellow heads once they mature.)

We'll have our 200+ gallon tank before he gets that big, and when we do, he will be transferred there. Nick told me today that we probably won't be moving for another year or so, so it'll be a while before we're ready to upgrade. That stinks, because I am just itching to start a new tank! Oh well, patience is essential in this hobby, right?

I am looking forward to going to my first NFMAS meeting next weekend, but I'm kind of nervous. I always get a little nervous when I meet new people... I'm sure they're all wonderful, though, and it'll be nice to meet people who have an interest in marine aquaria and keeping.

[Kanicky]

Bleh... wasn't able to make it to the NFMAS meeting this past Saturday, but I did wind up finally getting my writing desk, so it's all good! I'll definitely make it to the next meeting...

My GHSG has taken to being more active during feeding time, and will now eat the mysis shrimp and Emerald Entree that floats by in the water column. I'm glad I have him eating other things now. It makes me feel a ton better about his survival and longevity in my tank.

P. Diddy is now comfortable eating from my fingers, as is my Sixline Wrasse. Those two can tear up some freeze-dried shrimp!

I am leaving for a mini-vacation, starting Thursday and I won't be returning till Sunday afternoon... I'm a little nervous, but I think we've got everything taken care of. I'll keep my fingers crossed all weekend!

I'm gonna miss seeing P. Diddy first thing in the morning...

[Kanicky]

I know you all who read this have been waiting with bated (yes, "bated," not "baited") breath to see if I had any losses while I was away this past weekend and I am happy to inform you that the answer is NO!

I was so happy to see all of my fish/inverts alive and well when we arrived home yesterday. I saw the first molt of my Boxing Crab and I am looking forward to seeing him when he re-appears out of hiding. His anemones were HUGE, so I hope he still has them.

This morning, I fed some thawed mysis shrimp and watched as P. Diddy and the Sixline Wrasse went to town on it. By the time breakfast was done, the Wrasse had quite the belly, as did P. Diddy. I made sure to watch that everyone else ate, and they did.

I still worry about my GHSG, and I probably will until after I have hit the six month mark with him. He is still eating whatever I put in the tank, and I am still dosing with Roti-Feast, so hopefully he continues to get all of the nutrition he needs.

I really need a fuge!

[Kanicky]

RIP - Dozer, Golden Head Sleeper Goby

COD: Carpet Surfing



Well, at least I gave him the best life I could have.

I have eggcrate on top of the tank, but looks like he managed to jump through one of the holes, into the pre-filter, and then out onto the carpet.

Everyone else is doing well, and I've noticed that my Midas Blenny has been out a lot more the past two days. Maybe the GHSG's presence in the tank bothered him for whatever reason...?

Yesterday, as I was using my "grabber" tool to move my frag of mushrooms, I felt something bump my hand. It didn't hurt, but it startled me, and I told Nick that I thought Norbie, my little male clownfish had bit me. He didn't believe me, so I told him to watch. I continued to move the 'shroom's, and sure enough, Norbie was giving me little pecks on the side of my hand. It was really cute, and all I could do was laugh, because he's about the size of a penny!

So now that he has figured out that nipping me on the hand will get it out of the tank, he has taken to circling my hand whenever it's in there. Too cute

[Kanicky]

Jeepers, it's been a while since I've posted!

Well, here's where I am now:

I just acquired a gorgeous Mystery Wrasse two days ago from my favorite LFS, as my final fish for this tank. Our "fish guy" told us that he should be fine with the Sixline, but we took that with a grain of salt, because I've done tons of reading on all of the fish we have, and I know that some wrasses just do not get along.

I figured we'd put the Mystery Wrasse in, and see what happens. If it came down to the Mystery vs. the Sixline, obviously the Mystery would win.

Well, I left the lights off for about five hours after putting the Mystery in the tank, and when it came time for the nightly snack and the wrasses discovered each other, it was like the Indy Dragstrip. I figured this was normal, because when I first put the Sixline in, he and the Angelfish chased each other around the first day or two, then settled down...

I turned off the lights for the night after feeding and observing everyone, and when I turned them on again the next morning, the chasing started again.

Obviously, with the price I paid for the Mystery Wrasse, I wanted to cut off any potential harm to him before he was harassed to death. I asked myself, "Should I wait one more day to see if this chasing stops, or should I go ahead and "fish" the Sixline out?"

I wanted to keep both, but I knew going in that I might have to get rid of a fish... I read up a bunch on Wet Web Media, and decided it wasn't worth keeping the Sixline in another day, especially not so it could bully such an expensive fish.

Sooo... My mission was to get the Sixline out by the end of the night.

I had hoped it would go easily... Riiiiight


So, after an hour of chasing the Sixline around the tank, hoping to wear him out, and blocking off all major exits and entrances of the LR, we decided to take out a couple of pieces of LR... then a couple more... then a couple more... then, finally, every thing.

We finally managed to net the Sixline and free the Mystery, who was hiding underneath a big piece of LR, and I rushed the Sixline over to our LFS.

When I walked in the door, I practically threw the bag at the guy

"Take him!"

I did say my good-byes and I hope that someone gets him and loves him, cause he was a great fish... just not great enough to hope he'd leave my $180 fish alone!

When I returned home, we were left with the task of re-aquascaping the tank and hoping that no major disasters happened.

Thankfully we had a quarantine-type tank set up, and the fish went in there (along with some LR) and seemed to be pretty relaxed and active. Diddy was even spitting water at me, which was really funny.

Five and a half hours later, the LR was in, the pumps and other machinery were up and running, and we transferred the fish back into the tank.

Everyone swam around, each exploring, trying to figure out where their new homes would be, so we turned the light off for the night (this was around 12:30 am) and immediately went to bed.

This morning, everyone came out to eat... except for the Mystery Wrasse!

I'm not too worried yet, as I've read numerous accounts of new fish just needing to get used to their surroundings, and then coming out after a day or two. Plus, I've read and heard that Mystery Wrasses (and Wrasses in general) are very hardy, so...

The only thing that stinks is, I think we lost my Boxing Crab I guess I'll use my credit at the LFS for a new one in a few weeks...

For now, I'll be doing a lot of testing and a lot of cleaning, since the filter and skimmer will be working over-time, but the tank does look really nice. I guess change is good!

Keep your fingers (and fins!) crossed for me, that all is well in our fish-household

In general news, it's about time for us to upgrade our lighting, and I think we've decided to go with MH's. We love the shimmer it gives on and in the water, and we also like that we'll finally be able to have pretty much whatever we want, as far as corals, anemones, etc. go... I'd like to try a small anemone for my clownfish, but I'm not sure that they'd take to it... never hurts to try, though, right?

[Kanicky]

When I walked in the door after work yesterday, I immediately noticed that the Mystery Wrasse was out and about and doing well!

I drug a chair over and parked myself in front of the tank for about thirty minutes, just watching everyone and making sure everything was going well.

I fed the tank a pinch of New Life Spectrum Pellets and was happy to see that the Mystery Wrasse tried a few and seemed to like them.

Needless to say, I was pretty much glued to the tank most of the night, grinning like a fool

...

I do have sad news, though...

This morning, when I woke up and was ready to feed the fish, I noticed that my Midas Blenny wasn't out and about like he usually is, the moment the top of the canopy comes off for feeding. (An aside- I was really excited to see the Mystery Wrasse chowing down on the Emerald Entree with everyone else!) When I put the canopy back on, I peered down the back of the tank where the Blenny usually hides, but he was nowhere to be found... so, I went and got my trusty flashlight and checked all around the tank...

I finally found my beautiful Midas, dried and crusty, between the back of the stand and the wall. My heart sank

This is the second Midas I've lost to carpet-surfing. The first was when we didn't have anything to cover the top, but this time, this Midas managed to get past the eggcrate... I don't think the right side piece was on properly, and maybe he jumped, knocked it even more loose, and fell to the floor.

I thought for sure that between the eggcrate and the canopy, we'd be fine, but apparently not. When I called Nick, he said he was going to look for some plexiglass that he could drill small holes into to replace the eggcrate. He hates it when I get sad over the fish.

::sigh::

Hopefully we'll fix this problem once and for all. I'd hate to lose any more fish... especially the Mystery Wrasse!

[Kanicky]

Wow, so a lot has happened since the last time I posted.

First, losses: I lost my beautiful, beloved Mystery Wrasse. I don't even want to talk about it, because he cost us $170, but at least we got to enjoy him for a few months... Suffice it to say that he got in a fight and lost.

Second, additions: We replaced our love for Midas Blennies with a love for Canary Blennies. Talk about unique, personable and gorgeous to boot! Ours never hides, looks great in the tank and eats like a champ.

We also added a Sharpnose Fiji Puffer who has made a nice friend for Diddy, our Valentini. There wasn't much aggression, except for the occasional nip in the beginning, but now they're the best of friends.

And lastly, we added a Yellow Watchman Goby, who, at first, decided he wanted to live in our pre-filter, but he has now made a happy home in the tank.

So, our current fish stock in the Reef tank is now:

(2) False Percs
Pygmy Angelfish
Canary Blenny
Valentini Puffer
Sharpnose Fiji Puffer
Yellow Watchman Goby

I'd really like to add a Fairy Wrasse as a final addition, but I think that's pushing it...

So, onto the BIG news!

I now have three tanks, instead of one!

Our newest additions are a Seahorse tank and a Mantis Shrimp tank.

Technically, Milton the Mantis isn't home with us yet, as he's waiting over at Rob's Reef for us to finish the new Seahorse tank and transfer them to that...

Wait, I'll start from the beginning

I have been begging Nick since February for a Nano. I told him I wanted to eventually do a Seahorse tank, a Mantis tank and an Octopus tank, but he swore he would not let our house become "infested" with aquariums. I figured that was that.

However, the last week of September, right before my 21st birthday, Nick surprised me with a gorgeous 12G Aquapod! We had been at Rob's Reef earlier in the evening, and Nick was acting kind of funny. He had a plastic bag in his hand as we were leaving the store and wouldn't tell me what was in it. I figured he must have gotten me a new fish for my birthday...

But as I walked into the house, I saw the Aquapod, already set up with live sand and gorgeous purple live rock, and I almost died. Nick handed the bag to me and told me to look inside... So I did, and I set my eyes on two of the cutest seahorses I had ever seen! (Okay, so I had never really seen a real, live seahorse before. Whatever.)

I did the usual "girl thing" of exclaiming, jumping up and down, promising my love forever, etc. and then we started acclimating Trident and Atlantis, as I promptly dubbed them.

We were originally told that they were h. kelloggi, but after doing some research, we found that they were h. kuda instead, which is much better. I thought we had a male and a female, but they turned out to be two females instead. Oh well

Everything went fine for about a month, other than noticing that Atlantis didn't seem to eat near as much as Trident, and she finally succumbed to... what, I don't know. I guess she didn't eat enough to sustain herself, although I really focused on her feeding (Levels were where they're supposed to be; nothing hurt/stung her; no parasites; etc.)

So, a few days ago, I decided I wanted Trident (who was re-named Atlantis II) to have another companion, so I PM'd a fellow reef-club member, and asked him if he had any 'horses for sale. He said he had one lone h. reidi in a 75G all by his lonesome, and that he would let us have him, free of charge. (He was tearing the 75G down.)

We went to go pick him up and were shocked at how big he was compared to Trident; probably two inches bigger! Mickey had raised him for a year and a half, so we were assured that he was in good health and coming from a good system... We knew we couldn't justify putting him in a 12G, so we promptly took him to Rob's, where they promised to hold him while we set up a new system for the 'horses to move into.

The next day, we found a friend who was giving away a "gently used," 30G hexagon tank/stand, and we kindly took it off his hands We noticed that the silicone needed replacing and that there was a teeny leak at the top, near the trim, so...

That's what we've been doing the past few days!

Nick has been re-siliconing the tank and even made a nice overflow/sump in the back of the tank out of black acrylic. The tank is really starting to shape up nicely. It's absolutely perfect for the "new" Trident and Atlantis duo. They'll have plenty of room to swim (and court, if they so choose!)

Now, onto Milton the Mantis!

While we were at Rob's Reef to check the new Trident in for a short "visit," Rob showed us the most gorgeous Peacock Mantis we have ever seen. Nick fell in love, and since I had no other clue on what to get him for Christmas, I laid the money down for the Mantis and put him on "reserve." We watched him for a while and were amazed at how personable he was. We talked about names and then I rememberd a character from one of my favorite movies, Office Space: Milton!

Milton had big eyes, the Mantis has big eyes... Yeah, it SO works!

So, in short (or, in the case, long) Milton will be going in the 12G, the Seahorses will be going in the 30G and everyone is HAPPY!

Three tanks in nine months... Not bad