Not good news...

Well, New Penny died. It wasn't eating at all since being placed in the DT. I'm 99% sure that's what killed it. I had been having some trouble getting it to eat while in the QT, but the glass-breaking problem caused me to rush putting New Penny into the DT. It's not how I wanted it to happen, but realistically, with it not eating in the QT, either, it was probably on borrowed time, anyhow. That's the last time I'm going to try to get a copperband for at least a long while. Maybe when I'm more of an advanced aquarist. For now, it seems I'm not able to get them to eat properly.

I'm working on a deal with a guy for some of his stuff, which may include a fish or two. More on that as it develops.

Photos

Some long overdue photos:

FTS - Aug. 8, 2009

View from Left Side of Tank

View from Right Side of Tank

New rock with green and red mushrooms

New Penny in its new home - the DT

New rock full of Red Mushrooms

Feather Duster with new rock behind it

Colt Coral - looks more white than the picture really shows.

One of the orange ricordias moved down to the sandbed.

Pink Zoot Suit Zoas kind of closed up.

New Penny. Great shot.

New Penny enjoying the new atmosphere.

Acan LPS coral.

New rock with green and red mushrooms.

Top-Down of Elizabeth and the red mushroom corals.

Top-Down Shot of Green Candy Cane Coral. The polyps are kind of retracted in the shot.

Top-Down of new Green Mushroom Corals.

New rock with green mushroom corals.

Candy Cane LPS.

Feather Duster and new red mushrooms.

The sort of Left Side of the tank.

Orange Ricordia and Pink Zoot Suit Zoas.

Colt Coral.

Been a while...

Between working waaay too much and the holiday weekend, I have not been able to find time to post. Well, since Penny died, I decided to try a healthy Penny, but this one I had to pay for. This Penny has been in quarantine for about a week and a half now. Earlier this evening, I was working on the tank, and decided enough time had passed and I needed to get some photos of the new Penny. Well, things did not exactly go according to plan. I decided to clean the glass so that I could get nice photos. As I was scraping some algae, I accidentally hit the glass thermometer and broke it. This poses two problems - 1. the liquid (not mercury) leaked into the tank, and I'm not sure what affect it will have, and 2. there is now clear, broken glass in the tank that I can't find. So, while I was planning to go slow with this Penny and keep it in quarantine for a while, it gets to graduate to the big tank tonight! It is currently acclimating to the new tank, and should be going in there in about 45 minutes. In the meantime, I have to empty out the QT, make sure it is completely devoid of broken glass, and start it up again. Considering I have family visiting this weekend, it doesn't look like that will happen any time soon. So, for now, the photos of new Penny will have to wait. I also picked up a few new corals that I have to get some snaps of in the near future. All those lovely pics will come in the near future, I prom---errr--- hope. :)

Until then...

Penny Watch Day 6 - The End

Unfortunately, Penny was found dead today. I will clean out the QT, and start again with what is hopefully a healthy fish. While the idea of nursing a sick fish back to health is intriguing, I found it to be quite difficult, and certainly very demanding. I'm glad this experience was free (well, the fish was free - the medication, salt, etc. was at my own expense), but honestly, I'd rather not have to do it again, unless I had to.

Hopefully, my work schedule will allow me time to clean out the QT and get to the store for my next fish.

Until then...

Penny Watch Day 5

Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse with Penny. Last night, it didn't eat, in spite of being fed brine shrimp - the most popular option to date. I thought I might have seen it breathing heavily, as well. Not a good sign.

This morning/afternoon, I went down to find Penny not only breathing even more heavily, but also swimming around on its side. This is definitely not normal for fishes, in general, nor have I seen it in Penny, so far. I did a 50% water change and put in a new carbon filter, to hopefully provide the best possible environment for Penny.

In the past, any fish that has swam sideways was generally dead in a day or two. I fear the worst for Penny at this point. I hope not to find it dead in the next day or two, or worse - next couple of hours.

I will keep you posted...

Penny Watch - Day 3, part 2

I just noticed two small white spots on Penny's tail. I'm not sure if I just missed them before, or if the viral infection is spreading. I put the carbon back into the filter, and tomorrow I will do a 25% water change. Man, I hope this fish can make it. It really is a beautiful specimen.

I'll keep you posted...

Penny Watch Day 3

Well, if Tuesday was Day 1, then today must be Day 3. Penny seems to be pretty healthy, although not eating as much as I would like. It didn't go for any of the blood worms I fed last night. The mysis shrimp were only somewhat attractive - only 2 bites. It loved the brine shrimp, though - ate probably 3 or 4 pieces. Last night, I was watching Penny play with the current created by the powerhead. It swims around the whole tank, not hiding in a corner, or inside the PVC piping. To me, that seems pretty healthy (with the exception of the eating).

Specifically with regard to the cysts, they seem to all still be there. I was told it might take a few weeks or even months (in rare cases), so I shouldn't expect any changes yet.

Tonight, I am stopping the medication, putting the carbon back in the filter, and doing a 25% water change. I'll let the carbon run for a few days, then start the medication again. Hopefully, this kind of cycle of medicating, water changes, and running carbon will keep most of the bad stuff out of the water. More to come (including pictures) in a few days...

Matt - 4, Larrys - 0

That's right, folks! I got one last night! That's number four out of what I think are five Larrys. The last one is going to be the toughest, I think, because he's tiny and he's quick. Here is a picture of the caught Larry before he departs for his new home:

Penny Watch 2009 - Day One

I am in the middle of a very interesting new adventure. The other day, I was at the LFS, when I was approached by my new friend who works there. He said that he had a sick fish that he thought was going to die if it stayed at the LFS. But, it is a sick fish, so he can’t exactly sell it. He offered to give me the fish for free, as long as I tried to nurse it back to health. If it gets healthy, I get a free fish, and if it dies, we aren’t any worse off than if I didn’t take it from him. So, I took it.

One of the reasons I was the one he approached about it was that he knows I have a quarantine tank (QT) that is kept in relatively good condition. Obviously, with this being a sick fish, it needs to be quarantined.

The type of fish is a Copperband Butterflyfish. So, I decided to name it “Penny”. Hence the name of this post – Penny Watch 2009. I will regularly update here on Penny’s condition, and hopefully document some of the trials and tribulations of nursing a sick fish. I will hopefully get to take pictures every couple of days to document the condition of the illness… ah, yes… the illness…

It appears that Penny has Lymphocystis. It is a virus, which has no direct cure. Fish immune systems can combat the virus, as long as they are in high quality water and are eating well. This is a particular problem with Copperbands, in general, because they do not easily acclimate from the wild to captivity. Also, the virus weakens the immune system, making the fish more likely to contract other illnesses like bacterial infections, fungal infections, or parasites. For more information on Lymphocystis, in general, you can check out the following articles:

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Lymphocystis.html
http://www.vet.uga.edu/VPP/clerk/Kurkjian/index.php

The cysts are white bumps that grown on the skin or fins of the fish. On Penny, the Lymphocystis seems isolated to one of the fins, which is good because I can watch closely to see if it spreads, contracts, or stays about the same.

We’ll consider this to be Day One of Penny Watch 2009. So far, Penny has eaten a few times. It seemed to like brine shrimp the most. It also poked at some nori (yes, the sushi sheets – it’s good vegetation for fish). The mysis I fed it today were not as popular as the brine shrimp, however it did seem to eat one or two morsels.

As far as treatment goes, I am doing everything I can. Frequent feedings (twice a day), frequent water changes to keep water quality up (once every 3-4 days, as opposed to once every two weeks), etc. I am also dosing medications - an antibacterial and an antifungal treatment. I know that Lymphocystis is a virus, but I'm worried that Penny's immune system is weakened, so they are just precautionary medications.

For now, we will end this fairly lengthy post with some photos:

A truly beautiful fish - a Copperband Butterflyfish aka "Penny". Right now, Penny measures approximately 1.5 to 2 inches across.

I really hope that this fish pulls through.

I know this picture is fuzzy, but you can kind of see the cysts on its fin. It's the white spots.

Still not perfect, but a much clearer image of the cysts on Penny's fin.

Sump finally complete... and a new light!

Well, it certainly took longer than I thought it would, but I finally have the sump completely set up. From the overflow, the water travels down through a filter sock, into the protein skimmer section. In there, I have my old protein skimmer inside the sump. It seems to be fractionating (yes, that's a word!) really well - a very dark skimmate. From there, the water travels through some rubble rock for some added mechanical filtration, then through a bubble trap. Next, into the refugium, where I have a deep sand bed and some chaetomorpha macroalgae. I also have a pump that diverts water into my new GFO and GAC reactors, and recycles back into the filter sock. From the refugium, the water overflows into the discharge section, where I have my autotopoff finally set up. The return pump lifts the water back into the display tank, and the filtration cycle is complete. Other small elements in the sump are the heater, a nano-koralia powerhead to keep things mixed in the refugium, and an aqualifter pump that continuously pulls air out of the overflow to prevent loss of syphon.

I also finally purchased the new light fixture to supplement the existing lighting. The tank looks really bright. I'll post pics eventually to show how bright it really is. I'm hoping to get better coral growth with the new lights.

In other news, I'm trying to trap another Larry (mantis shrimp). I'm hoping to give it away to one of the members of LIRA - the Long Island Reefkeeping Association. That's the reef club that I belong to, and where I got all of my "$5 corals".

Off to go eat dinner... but when I return, I'll explain "Penny Watch 2009".

Catching up on Updates...

There will be several updates in the coming hours... first of all, I thought you'd enjoy some photos:

This is one of my new corals: a green star polyp.

An updated shot of Arnold. Just liked the photo, so I posted it. :)

Elizabeth II, also now being referred to as "RG". This could be my first clear shot of RG.

One of my new corals, a mushroom coral.

Another new coral - a zoanthid sp. - I think it's called Tubbs Blue Zoa.

A new frogspawn coral. This one is more green, and less brown than the other one. I think eventually, I will only keep one of the two. Not entirely sure, yet.

These are ricordia corals. They are a mushroom variant. I have several different colors that I put together. Hopefully, they will grow into each other, and create quite the colorful patch.

When I got some rocks for my new sump, this conch shell game with the rock. I thought it looked awesome, so I decided to put it in the display tank. From a close inspection of this photograph, I believe there are tiny barnacles growing on the shell. It must have been in the ocean for quite some time. :)

Another new addition: A Lubbock's Wrasse. I have decided to name it Dotty, after the dots on its sides. This photo is a little misleading. It is mostly purple, with orange-ish, pink-ish dots on the side. It's head is more of a red than this photo shows, and the dorsal fin is a pretty bright yellow, with the ever so slightest blue line right at the edge of the fin. Great looking fish, and my first wrasse adventure. Let's hope Dotty doesn't like to carpet surf (jump out of the tank, and onto the carpet).

Another new addition - a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. There are actually two of these and one Peppermint Shrimp. The two cleaners are aptly named Pepe and LePew. The peppermint doesn't have a name yet.

Another shot of Pepe (or is it LePew?)

That's it for now... there will be more posting in the coming hours... stay tuned!

The sump is assembled!

Well, the sump is finally assembled, and connected to the tank. I still have some work to do, including setting up the auto-topoff, but it is in working condition. Here are some photos from teh build:

Leak checking the sump assembly. You may notice that the sump is unconventionally in two pieces, connected with an underdrain. This is how I needed it to be made so I could fit the thing in my existing setup.

I was worried that the bulkheads and unions wouldn't hold water, but everything worked out great after the first attempt.

Here is everything in a dry mock-up of how it will all be assembled. Then, I connected the unions, filled it with water, and started it up.

Here is the left section fully operational. The grey cube on the left is the discharge pump, which returns the clean water to the display. The ball of green stuff on the right is chaetomorpha macroalgae. Below the "chaeto" is my remote deep sand bed. Approximately 3-4" deep, with all sorts of critters living in it.

This is the right side of the sump. The protein skimmer is to the far right. Same one I had on the display, just relocated. The white bag is a filter sock. Basic mechanical filtration. The rubble rocks in the middle are a means of more mechanical filtration. Next to the rubble rock zone is a bubble trap zone. Hoping that this will keep all unneccesary bubbles out of the tank.

A full tank shot (FTS), including the new sump below.

That's it for now... will soon post new photos of the newest fish... once I get one (this week).

St. Elmo to DT

St. Elmo made his way up to the DT on Monday. So far, he seems to enjoy it there. I have not gotten another fish for the QT yet, although not through lack of trying. On Monday, I visited two different LFSs, and on Tuesday I went to four others. None had anything that looked exciting/healthy enough for me to buy. I've become very picky after the disaster I had in March/April.

Once I find a new tank inhabitant, I will post some more pictures. Until then...

Latest Additions...

Two new additions to the tank this past week.... first, I ordered a coral frag pack (a package of several coral frags - or small cuttings). In this particular case, I ordered 10 frags of 7-10 polyps each of zoanthid corals (zoa's). Well, I got 11 frags, and none of them were below 12 polyps. I am very happy with my purchase. Below is a picture of the frags just hanging out before I have a chance to place them and glue the. If you're interested in where I ordered them from, check out http://www.altisreef.com

The second addition is my latest fish. It is a firefish, which is related to the dartfish or goby family. I've decided to name him St. Elmo. If you don't get that reference, you were born before 1960 or after 1985. Pics below...

The coral frags hanging out. The BBQ has left me no time to glue them in place.

My newest addition, St. Elmo - he's a firefish.

St. Elmo enjoying the QT before graduating up to the DT.

Adding a Sump

I have decided that I am going to add a sump to the tank. This sump will have to be custom-built to accomodate the unique dimensions of my stand. I have contacted several acrylic-workers, and have decided on one particular guy in Queens. I should hopefully have the sump in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I have ordered an overflow, a pump, a filter sock, and several specific piping materials. I will put everything together once all the pieces have arrived.

The sump will contain several compartments, each with its own specific purpose. First, the water will come down from the display tank (DT), and enter into the filter sock. This is just a means to keep the "gunk" to a minimum. From the fiter sock, the water will flow into the influent chamber, where I will move the protein skimmer and the heater. After the water is skimmed, it will flow under a weir into a chamber where I will have golf-ball sized pieces of live rock. This rubble-rock will serve as an additional bio-filter of sorts. From that section, the water will flow over a weir and into a bubble trap section. This will keep all of the bubbles from the skimmer out of the DT. From the bubble trap, the water will overflow into a refugium section. The refugium is a "refuge" for small critters like copepods to build up a colony without being eaten. In the refugium, I will have a remote deep sand bed (for increased denitrification) as well as macro-algae. The macro-algae will uptake nutrients, such as nitrates, from the water. From the refugium, the water will overflow into an effluent chamber, where I will have a pump to pump the water back up to the DT. In that chamber, I will also put my auto-topoff float switches. Additionally, I will have the suction end of my cannister filter. The cannister filter is basically going to act as a phos-ban reactor, where I will have GAC and GFO (see older posts about those) for additional water polishing. I will discharge the cannister filter contents back to the sump intake (like a mini-recycle section). This will allow the bubble trap to catch all of those pesky bubbles from the cannister filter.

One additional benefit of having a sump is that the system will contain a larger volume. I will be increasing the volume of the system by approximately 15 gallons. This means I can have more of a bioload for the same size tank - meaning more fish, corals, etc. For now, I still plan on maxing out at around 8 fish, but you never know what can happen in the future.

Once I get all of the supplies in, and start assembling, I will post some picture of the progress...

Three Down, Two To Go!

Yes, that's right! I caught another Larry (aka Mantis Shrimp). And this was the biggest one, and loudest one... my roommate is going to be happy not to hear as much clicking in the middle of the night... :) Here's a couple of pictures of Larry, the Eldest in the trap (they're a little fuzzy, but the best I could do):