Death of a clam

I have not posted for a while because I am really depressed for what you can read in the title. My beautiful five inch Tahitian Maxima clam died four days after I performed the fresh water dip. The clam first showed signs of revival the first day, and then things just went downhill really fast after the second day.

I soaked what was left of the clam in chlorine to bleach out all and any microscopic lives on the shell to investigate the cause of death. As you can see, there is significant boring algae infection in the core of this clam.

In this photo, you can see the little holes in the bottom of the clam shell, caused by boring sponge while the clam was young, the boring sponge left holes for boring algae to invade and take over. The shell infected is significantly thinner than the other half.

The Inside view of the infected area. It looks like death is only a matter of time for this clam.

So the lesson learned here is that before you purchase any clam in the future, You MUST lift up the clam and observe the entire surface of the clam's shell (including the bottom) to detect any infections that may be otherwise be hidden while you view it from the top and its side. To me, that was a $230 lesson. Actually, make that $430 as three days following the Maxima's death, the raised nitrate level in the water also killed my 6" Derasa clam. 

Maxima clam pinched mantle

Very Sad Story, My Tahitian Maxima clam suffered what many hobbyists refer to as "Pinched Mantle" syndrom. The "pinched mantle" is caused by a protozoa infection, similar to that of the malaria type for human infection. This type of infection is widely spread amongst Maxima and Crocea clams, and has recently spread towards other Tridacna clams such as Derasa and Squamosa.

After doing lots of research, I decided to perform the freshwater dip (FD) treatment. The principle of freshwater dip is to kill invertebrates and bacteria cells by osmosis while the water finds equilibrium between brime and fresh. The Tridacna clam is actually surprisingly hardy when completely submerged under the freshwater. The key is the water must be of the same temperature and of the same pH level as the home aquarium. The photo above is my clam being soaked in freshwater for 30 minutes.

The photo above shows the pinch of the clam prior to the dip. You can see the second scute of the left mantle is slightly shrank. It is better to detect the distress and treat it while the clam is still strong and relatively healthy versus making the very invasive freshwater dip during its latter stage.

This photo shows the clam an hour after the dip. The clam is obviously distressed and is gasping for both the "right water" and fresh oxygen. The clam remained in this stage for the remainder of the day without much change. I will post follow up article if the clam's condition worsen or improves.

Rose bubble tip anemone

Anemones are basically a bag of water. So a large part of your success in keeping them alive depends on the water quality. Rose tip bubble anemones (RTBA in manynonline forums) is actually one of the hardier options with stunning beauty. I bought a couple from a fellow reefer whose anemone split from one into a dozen within 12 months. I have had them for three months now and they've increased to three. Althought strong lighting is preferred they will do just fine in medium lighting, actually from my observation, They tend to breed faster under dimmer lighting. I feed my anemones a mix of mysis dhrimp, brime shrimp, and marine cousine. I actually feel that the most important thing for these creatures are the symbiotic relatuonshipnwith a host clownefish (will talk more about that relationship later). So before you decide to have one of these beautiful creatures, I strongly advise hacing a clownfish with an established territory in your tank.

Zoanthid in home, abbreviated version

Zoanthids are one of the most commonly found "corals" in the home aquarium. Not only they are brightly colored and have a compact size, they are normally really easy to keep, grows and spreads in a steadily fast pace. They are ideal for new marine hobbyists who want to try their hands in invertebrates.

The reason why I put "" around the word coral is because technically Zoanthids are more anemone than coral. And just like anemone, they can be poisonous so handle with care (Personally I have brushed my hand and handled both anemone and zoanthids and have never engaged any harm from them, but please use caution as some people may develop allergic reaction to certain aquatic lives.).

Zoanthids do come in many many different shades and colors. The price can also vary greatly depends on their color and rarity. Generally a colony about 2 square inches would cost between $15-30. But in some occassions you will find stores or breeders selling rare speciments at "per polyp" price. The most rediculous price I have ever heard was $45 per polyp (and it wasn't even that beautiful). Personally I suggest you use your own judgement in how much you want to pay for them. If they are increadibly expensive, it might pay to just wait a while as these critters grow really fast and once the "rare" types becomes more popular the price will eventually come down.

Caring:

Light: They are the most forgiving of all corals I have ever kept when it comes to light. I have the exact same species of zoanthids placed both 3 inches from the water surface with a 250W metal halide blasting over it and another colony at the very bottom and the edge of the tank. The lighting doesn't seem to make them grow any faster, however they do seem to open more generously with lower lighting. In addition, most of them will show and "pop" with the best coloration if you use more "blue" light such as actinic or 420nm bulbs.

flow: I have seen them thrive and extend their tentacles right next to a powerhead, I have also seen them open up and happy at a very still location of the tank. Again, use your judgement, but with either extreme, make sure you do it slowly so they can adjust to them.

Water quality: Obviously in order to keep anything else in your tank happy, the water needs to be free of nitrate and phosphate, But you might want the water to be "slightly" dirty as the zoanthids do absorb a good deal of nutrients from the water. I can tell that my zoanthids had really good growth (ironically) when they are placed in a quarantene tank without skimmer.

Disease and damages: Zoanthids do have a number of natural enemies in the wild ranging from fish to other invertebrates. If you spot a fish nipping at Zoanthids, you are pretty much left with the option of which one you want to keep more in your tank. If you find some small critters (snail, star, crab) nipping on them, you can carefully monitor and remove them as it happens. One good rule of thumb is to do a "Lugol's dip" when you receive them. To do so, get a bottle of Kemps "Lugol's solution", a super concentrated bottle of iodine. Follow the instruction for a coral dip indicated by the product to kill off any hitchhiking parasites that comes with it.

7 Saltwater fishes you should never get part 5

The next fish on my list of "not to keep at home" is the Moorish Idol, featured in Disney hit film "Finding Nemo" (Which by the way the word Nemo drove me crazy while I was working in the aquarium)

Moorish Idol

One of the worst thing about pop culture is to introduce a false image about certain practices. Keeping percula clown fish and/or the Pacific blue tang are usually not very challenging for average reefers. However, even some of the most experienced reef hobbyists have trouble keeping the elegant Moorish Idol alive in captivity.

Because of its need of swimming room and it's diet needs, not only you will need to have an extra large system for this fish to move around, you will also need to "teach" them to accept food in captivity. I have made attempts while working in the store to no success. And for a creature of this beauty to perish is not only a heart breaker, but a shame.

Banner butterfly fish

If you want something that possess the similar elegance as the Moorish Idol while swimming without the difficulty in keeping, the schooling banner butterfly fish is a great substitute. They are not only easier to keep (I have personal experience in seeing them eat like hogs), hardy, but also very robust in the home aquarium. So please spread the word and educate everyone you know to not follow the example of a children's movie and attempt to keep the Moorish Idol in a small system as shown in the movie.

bannerfish schooling

Intriguing Pulsing Xenia

The Pulsing Xenia (Heteroxenia sp.) is a mystery in the captive reef community.
I had a previous experience just like many others have had:
Got a small Xenia, watch it grow, watch it spread like weed, and then they all disappear within weeks for no apparent reason.
I was visiting a friend and he was selling some of these small pulsing frags (the ones he had was very very energetic and robust, sometimes you do encounters "lethargic" xenia). I wasn't planning on getting them but my wife was very intrigued and find them amazing to watch so I got a small colony.(below)

pulsing xenia

I am honestly not expecting much out of this thing since I had a previous experience similar to many. It's been about a month now and there seems to be no sign of slowing down in these critters' pulsing and also no shrinking of their polyp extension.

The common opinion about keeping them healthy is:

Light: Strong to medium light (T5 or PC is good enough, you might want to move them to the side and bottom if you are using MH like me)

Flow: Medium. Your current need to be strong enough to bring water and food to it, but not too strong to cause any flesh damage.

Water Quality: From my understanding, not too clean. As a matter of fact, the pulsing movement can logically be their act of "capturing" planktonic food from the water current (though not scientifically proven), but it seems that everyone who keeps their water "too clean" has problem encouraging growth and proper polyp extension.

Lastly, as you can find online, I too have read mixed opinion on the maintenance of this unique creature and have personally experienced various results in various conditions. Fortunately they are not too expensive to come by and are mostly aquacultured. You will definitely have better luck in hardier specimen home cultured and also save some $$.

Lastly, due to the speed they can grow and spread and the level of ease to care for, I honestly don't think anyone should pay more than $15 for a colony of the size shown in the photo above, if you are paying more than that, you are being overcharged.

Marine popeye an cure

My black clarkii clown fought with the tomato clown (similar size) and injured its left eye. He then had an infection to it and reaulted in the popeye. It has been going on for over two weeks now. At one point (about the 4th day mark) we really thought the eye ball was going to dropout as it was so far out of the body and part of the eye became cloudy. But it looks like my perseverance in treatment is paying off. Each day when prepare frozen meal for the tank, I always mix in a pinch of minced garlic from a small glass jar bought from local grocery store. The addition of garlic helps with immune system boost as well as disinfecting. I am looking forward to this little thing's full recovery.

7 Saltwater fishes you should never get part 4

Unlike the three previous fish groups that I do NOT recommend (let's review, the cleaner wrasse, sharks and rays, and sweetlips) which all require a gigantic system with enough room and food for these creatures to survive in captivity. I am going to change the pace and focus on a group I call the "nano pod-eaters"

Bonded pair Mandarin Dragonets

This group of fish normally do not require a large system to thrive, but they have a very finicky diet. Furthermore, they are extremely slow and shy in their locomotion that if you keep them with other robust, fast moving fish they will doom to die from starvation due to the lack of chance to feed. Among them, the Green, Red, and Spotted Mandarin fish are the most popular. You might find them available in aquarium stores. But what the store employee don't tell you is how demanding their diet is, especially the wild caught ones- They only eat pods: copepod, anphipod, etc.

Red Mandarin Fish

If you are new to the hobby, or if you have a community tank less than 200 gallons with less than 200lb of liverock and has been up and running for less than a year, you MUST NOT buy them and send them to their death role. There are, however, certain ways to keep them in captivity under very strict care:

1) If you can find captive grown (They can be easily spawned in captivity, raising them though, is another story) mandarinfish, your best best is to get one that has already been fed and is accepting frozen enriched mysis shrimp and brine shrimp

2) If you have a mature reef tank with over 200lb of liverock crawling with all kinds of pods and is connected to a large enough refugium to replenish the pod population, you may also have a good chance to keep it alive

Red Scooter blenny

3) In a smaller system (30-40 gallon), keep mandarin, and nothing but mandarin minus some inverts of corals in the tank. The lack of competition will allow you chance to train them into accepting frozen food. Using a fry netting, I have successfully trained my mandarin to accept food by first feeding them live brine shrimp, then slip in a few frozen brine shrimp, and gradually increase the portion of frozen ones until it is completely frozen brine shrimp. That particular mandarin grew really fat in a 23 gallon tank with two other very shy percula clownfish babies. 

spotted mandarin fish

Another variation of the mandarin is the spotted mandarin fish. In addition to the common frozen offerings, they have an edge over their green/red striped cousins: They eat the pest flat worms. So if your tank happen to have a flatworm breakout, they are a good patron to help you with that problem. But make sure you can achieve step 1-3 above to keep them alive once the flatworm has been eliminated.

scooter blenny

Others in this family are the commonly seen scotter blennies. The name blenny is misleading since they do not behave like a blenny (at least not their diet) but their movement. They too, must take lots of care and consideration as the mandarin fish.

Seahorse

The next group is Seahorse and pipefish. These two families of fish are closely related. And have very similar behavior: cling onto a branch and remain still for most of their day, only to forage in very slow motion when feeding is required. And the key word is "slowly". As you can tell from the pictures they are not designed with a streamline shape nor born with strong swimming fins. Thus they are best suited for a small system where food will be in a compact, condensed environment during feeding time.

banded pipefish

Many of the seahorse and pipefish are also very sensitive to water chemistry changes: salinity, temperature, etc. So it makes it extra challenging to keep in a small system as things fluctuate easily in a smaller system. One way to avoid that issue is to connect the system with a large sump using the overflow device thus increase the overall water volume without increasing the area for these creatures to cover for food search.

Some of the wild caught pipefish and seahorse also have a very difficult time accepting frozen food. Again, you must then try to introduce them with their natural food (pods) then progress to substitute with frozen food little by little with great patience. The dragon face banded pipefish is an example of one of the most delicate jewel fish out there. They are slow, fragile, and very finicky in their diet preference. You must provide them with a small space with slow water movement, abundance of hiding places with no food competitors for them to thrive.

dragonface pipefish

Mysterious peppermint shrimp

A few photos of the mysterious peppermint shrimps I bought a few weeks ago. Ever since their introduction (a group of trio) i have only seen one of them once by flashing a light in the middle of the night. However, they made their presence known to me by the decreasing number and sizes of the pest anemone aptasia around my tank.

Cliff's deal steal

I have previously gotten some acropora frags from a fellow reefer Cliff. Today I picked up another piece (photos to come) and noticed this beautiful piece of brain worm (platygira sp) coral about 6" in diameter and 4" tall dome. He bought it from the same persom whom i bought my zoster butterfly and watanabe angel from! What a steal!

ORA Derasa Clam from Liveaquaria

Living in Wisconsin, I have known Drs. Foster and Smith's company for a long time. I attended their first ever frag swap in their homebase in Rhinelander, WI and toured the warehouse facility as well as their aquaculture lab. I have placed dry shipment orders such as marine salt, filter replacements, gravel, food, etc from them; but I have never ordered any livestock from LiveAquaria.com as I am a bit weary of the capture, quarantene, and the shipping process.

But that doesn't mean I don't check out their livestock availability in a weekly basis! This time I saw an ORA Derasa Clam available in the Diver's Den. The photo looks amazing! I conducted some research. Asked a few reefkeeping friends about their personal experience with LiveAquaria and decided to gamble on this clam.

ORA 6" Derasa Clam

Since I work a 9-5 job my only option is Saturday delivery. The Clam itself costs $150, plut $35 shipping (free shipping if your order is $225 or more), and an additional $15 for Saturday delivery plus state tax if applicable. So basically I paid over $210ish. This is the box it came with 20X18X14, quite large for what I have ordered- only one giant clam.

When I opened the box, I was really impressed with the packing process. The delivered date was one of the coldest days this winter in Wisconsin (-8F outside)! But the box is filled with peanut and a newspaper wrap. Within the newspaper wrap were two heatpacks that you see NFL QBs use to warm up their hands in the winter. I must mention, even two days after I have opened the box, those heat packs are still emitting heat! leading me to believe that they have really put some thoughts into this delivery process that even if the shipment was delayed there is still a good chance of survival for the enclosed animal.

I am acclimating the clam. As you can see, there are several layers of plastic bags (total of seven!) to keep the clam tightly sealed since some clam shells can be razor sharp and puncture the bag. This is extra security to ensure that the water remains with the clam upon delivery. When I was opening the bags, I felt like a surgeon performing a C-section, cutting through layers and layers of bags to retrieve the baby!

The Derasa was labeled 6" in the Diver's Den description. I must say you do get EXACTLY  what they posted as this gorgeous clam was exactly what I was looking forward to. The only thing is I think the clam actually measure up more like 7 inches than 6 inches. Here is the clam being shy.

Clam's mantle fully expanded after a while of acclimation. I am 100% impressed and would order with Liveaquaria again anytime!

ORA 6" Derasa Clam

7 Saltwater fishes you should never get part 3

The next fish that is available in common Aquarium trade but I highly discourage you keeping is the Sweetlips group (Plectorhinchus).

As you can see from the above photo, sweetlips are generally brightly colored with a thick, fleshy lip. By the way, where I grew up we can find these guys in the fish market everywhere, and they do taste very good pan fried (oops! let's continue to talk about fish keeping).

But as you can probably guess, fishermen do not catch tiny games to sell to the fish market. These schooling reef dwellers can grow up to 2-3 feet in length in the wild. So reason #1 for you should not get them: They will outgrow most common home aquariums.

 There is, however, no denying that they are one of the most handsome fishes in the coral reef. When they are juveniles, many of them are spotted and attractive in a different way than their adult counterpart. As they age, their lifestyle change from solitary to group. And their body marking changes from spots to lines, and the lines increases as they age. (see the spotted sweetlip below)

Juvenile stage

Adult Stage

 And if this photo doesn't speak for itself I don't know how else to put it, they can and will wipe out anything invertebrate and possibly anything fits through their mouth. As a juvenile entity, they are quite shy and are difficult to feed (we ordered them a few times and could never get them to eat). So that's your first challenge, to get them to eat. Assuming they will eat, you must then provide nutritionally balanced food for them to thrive. And enough of it for them to ignore their tankmates.

 My conclusion is, Sweetlips are beautiful, interestingly looking, and amazing when they swim in groups. But they are best left in the ocean, or if you must, enjoyed in a public aquarium where they can thrive in a million gallon tank. They are not for everyone and they are a pain in the butt to raise a a juvenile. So please, before you commit to one of them, think about what they will look like in the future, and think about where their tank mates may end up by then.

7 Saltwater Fishes you should never get part 2

Part 2 of my 7 saltwater fishes you should never get feature the Elasmobranchii class of fish. Elas- for elastic, soft, and branchii is for the structural part such as the bones. Basically it means fishes with cartilages: Sharks and Stingrays.

Recently the hit TV series show "Tanked" had set up some pretty bad examples as many of their clients requests shark tanks. And they are not ordinary sharks you see in local stores, they obtain large, robust species such as the white tip, the black tip reef, etc. I am here to put a damper to your fantasy on keeping a shark tank by give you the following statement: You need at least a 2000 gallon system with a huge investment in weekly water change (imagine the $$ on salt for 2000 gallons), for fresh seafood (depends where you live, seafood may not be very cheap), for constant water treatment, additives, and the most heartbreaking- a dead shark/ray from undernurishment.

As we all know from their reputation, they are all predators. Aside from becoming ferocious predators, many can attend sizes that even public aquariums have challenge keeping. Even the smallest of them all (As seen above and below, the blue spotted stingray and bamboo shark) can grow to a good 2-3 feet from mouth to tail. Keeping a marine animal who regularly covers several square miles of territory in search for prey in a home aquarium that tops at 300-500 gallons of water is as cruel as locking a person down in a jail cell. 

 Some of the more commonly sold sharks and rays in the aquarium trade are bamboo charks, cat shark, nurse sharks, blue spotted stingrays, and fiddler ray. Many of them are sold as extreme juveniles or even eggs (shark). In the case of bamboo or cat shark, one can make a case that many are aquacultured and does not disrupt the marine eco-system since they are not harvested from the ocean. However, from a humane stand point, I personally would not feel justice to obtain and maintain a healthy shark in the cat shark family unless I have at least 2000 gallon in water volume with plenty of space to hide and to move around.

Lastly, even though they have the label of being ferocious predators, they are not garbage disposals that will accept anything you place in the tank. The store I used to work at had ordered some cat sharks and bamboo sharks in attempt to sell them. No one ever actually bought them but they do act as a good customer draw and conversation starter. Unfortunately even with the large system and clean water condition we weren't able to get the little guys to eat. They require some really sophisticated mix of natural/live seafood (clam, oyster, shrimp, crab, fish cutlet, etc)
And even if you can manage to keep them alive, they may outgrow your average tank (if it's anything under 300 gallons) that you will need to give them up.

How to tackle algae problem in a planted tank?

A month ago my planted tank (bow front 46 gallon) had a nasty algae break out. And I had to take drastic measures to control it. I am sure many of your have also experienced algae issues as I have. It is one of the biggest headaches for many hobbyist. And from all the stories I have heard, probably the #2 reason for people to exit the hobby behind disease/parasite breakout.

Algae is naturally occuring in the water. There is almost no way for anyone to avoid it. Even if you use strictly RO/DI water from the 1st day of your tank set up. The bag you have brought the new fish home from the pet store is full of algae cells. Even if you dump the water out, you cannot dry off the fish's slime coat to rid of the algae already attached to them. With that said, there are ways to prevent them:

1) Light. As anything else that relies on photosynthesis to survive and thrive, algae needs light to grow and take over the tank. Some people keep their tank's light on for over 10 hours a day. The prolonged photo-period is the easiest way to encourage algae growth. If you have a planted tank, and you need to leave the light that long to allow your plants to grow, it means your light is too dim. What you should do is upgrade to a brighter light source and shorten the photo period to no longer than 8 hours.

2) Dissolved nutrient. Like any other creatures, light is not the only thing that is required for growth. Algae also need minerals and dissolved nutrient such as nitrate to thrive. If you have minimum lighting in your tank and your algae is still growing like weed, you might want to cut back on your feeding and up your water change frequency.

3) Prey. There are many critters to select from your local aquarium stores to help control the algae pest by consuming them. The options range from algae eating fish to algae nipping shrimps. Be careful with what you select though. The common pleco can grow into a foot long monster and will require additional feeding to satisfy its appetite. My best recommendations are amano shrimps and otocinclus catfish (grow to 1 inch long). Other no-no is the Chinese algae eater (becomes large and aggressive), and the flying fox (abandons the algae diet once it matures). And also compliment the cleaning crew with a few cute cory cats as they will help pick up all the table scraps.

4) Chemicals* Finally, there are chemicals you can acquire from stores to control algae as well. Personally I do not recommend it as it can be very harmful to your fish as well. Especially the sensitive catfish and any invertebrates you have.

The picture above is my tank a month after the battle. I have taken three drastic measures: 1) Rid of all my plants that were infested. 2) Turn the light on for only 2-3 hours while we are home in the evening and then turn it off before bedtime. 3) Cut back on feeding volume.

So far it has worked well, the once blooming algae is now under control. My next phase is to upgrade my light to a brighter source, reselect and stock my plants so I can enjoy my freshwater garden again.

Good morning bunny!

The blueline rabbitfish in my 92 corner reef is one of the most boldly beautiful fish. However, when the tank is being disturbed (i.e. cleaning, feeding, rearranging, etc) she is also the first to disappear. Seen in this photo, all i did was stick my camera towards the glass and it is attempting to hide behind the toadstool. My point is, rabbitfish has a general shy personalitu since they are herbivours( lots of nori in their diet) they fall prey to many others in the wild. So if you have one or planning to have one, gentle and friendly tankmates and attitude towards this beauty is the beat way to go. Oh, and if you are not gentle with it, their dorsal fin is equipped with a venom spine that can inflict quite a painful wound on the handler

7 Saltwater Fishes you should NEVER buy Part 1

Saltwater fish to never get #1: Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)

 Cleaner Wrasse belongs to the "reef safe" side of the wrasse family. They are small (never grow larger than 4"), colorful, and has an interesting personality as they dance from one area of the tank to another if you ever possess them. Without knowing what it takes to keep them healthy (or even alive), they do seem to be one of the more fitting candidates for a reef tanks if you are adding color and point of interest to your tank.

An even more attractive reason to get one for your tank is their ability to get into fishes tight cavity parts to pick away their external parasites (as show below, picking an Emperor Angel's gill)

 In the nature, they are known to set up cleaning stations or play "Doctors without borders" to clean other marine neighbors including the moray eel, who usually swallows any fish that fits through its mouth.

Why shouldn't you keep it? Well, from my experiences working at aquarium retail store, they are extremely finicky in what they eat. In order to keep them alive, you MUST have a tank large enough (or with a fish population large enough) to supply a constant population of "sick" fish requiring parasite treatment from a cleaner wrasse. If you do not possess the above, you might need to does a heavy amount of variety of natural food so that they can pick off what they "like" among the things you feed. The uneaten portion of that meal will eventually contaminate your tank and create extra nitrate to poison the water for your reef inhabitants. Almost 100% of the cleaner wrasse from all the retailers I've worked for died from starvation (I was not in charge of ordering at that time) Therefore ever since I took over the ordering duty, I reframe myself from ordering cleaner wrasses even if a customer special requests them. I would educate them substitutes for cleaner wrasse (cleaner shrimp, neon goby, etc) that are more sustainable to the environment and are hardier to keep in their tank.

If you do see one of these cleaner wrasses in your local aquarium store, please be brace and bold to confront the managing staff to stop ordering them as their capture from the ocean is almost 100% the time a death sentence to them. Unless, that is, you have a tank a few thousand gallons in volume with a few hundred fish for it to pick through.