Amphibious' 135 gal Reef

[Amphibious]

The clown fish family probably has been the cause of more people going into SW aquariums than any other group of fish. They are a timeless attraction to young and old. One of my favorite group of fishes. I have accumulated four of them in my 135 and I want to highlight two of them at this time.

The first is Amphiprion thiellei, a hybrid found only in the wild whose exact lineage is unknown. This is a rare fish in captivity. I only know of four in the USA. You've seen him before so, this an update of my A. thiellei...



He has paired up with my Amphiprion percula below.



I'm calling the thiellei clown a he because if you look closely at the percula's abdomen you can clearly see she is gravid (plump with eggs). Both fish eat like pigs and I feed my tank a variety of food all day long. It the thiellei were a female it would be gravid, too.



They share the RBTA and are in it's tentacles most of the time. They exhibit the familiar mating behavior of shaking their bodies at each other and other mutual displays of affection.



When the aquaculture facility is set up, these fish will have their own quarters for doing their thing. At that time I will find out if my feelings are correct as to the sex of each.



Many Clown fish species make good tank mates. Do your research before buying any clown fish because some, cute and harmless when juveniles, become quite pugnacious as they mature.

Dick

[rayme07]

great post dick those clowns are butiful cant wait till they have babies keep us informed on the babies thanks for sharing your clowns with us.
Raymond

[Amphibious]

Thanks Rayme. But we are a long way from a mated pair, to a mating pair, to getting viable eggs, to successfully raising the fry through metamorphose to the juvenile stage. Lots of things have to come together successfully before we get there. However, you can rest assured that my TR family will be the first to know!

[Amphibious]

Many of you know I became the victim of a Bryopsis algae outbreak about 9 months ago. What a nasty plague that is. It really took over my 135 and nothing would eat it. My tangs would reluctantly pick at it if I didn't feed them but, not feeding my fish goes against my very fiber. I tried multiple Lettuce Nudibranchs, multiple Atlantic Dwarf Sea Hares, increased the number of hermits, Chaeto macro algae in the sump, nothing seemed to help. Every 3 to 4 weeks for nine months, I would get in there, up to my armpits, and pinch off clumps of the crap until it was thinned out only to spring back again. Some times I thought, it came back with thicker clumps and more aggressive growth. A couple of times, I just gave up and let the tank look UGLY for weeks on end. Then, I'd be having some friends coming over and would have to tackle the formidable task of removing it again. It's really a nasty job.

During one of the friend visits, a reefers meeting, my friend Laura Bolyard brought a small clump of red macro algae for the purpose of IDing it. she gave me that piece and I put it in my sump with the Chaeto. That was 4 months ago. Here's a pic of the red algae...



We found a likely ID but, I can't remember it right now and don't want to look it up again now. It's available from several on-line sources.

Then about a month ago, another friend of mine Stan Schmelzer brought me some micro hermits from his family collecting trip to the Keys. I'd guess we added 50 or 60 hermits giving me a hermit count of about 150 total.

I began noticing a decline in the growth of the Bryopsis a couple of months ago. It didn't spring back from my cropping as before. The macro algae in the sump was growing but, very slowly.

Conclusion to this rambling: The increase in hermits coupled with two different macro algae in the sump, my persistent harvesting of the Bryopsis, began a slow die off of the nuisance or an inability to recover from harvesting due to the Macro algae in the sump out competing the Bryopsis for the available nutrient that was feeding it's growth.



This pic taken this am...of a nearly bryopsis free aquarium. YEAH!!!

Additional thoughts: My water parameters are kept at optimal levels. the two responsible for algae growth, Nitrate and Phosphate were negligible during this whole period and still are. What I believe was happening is, the production of Nitrate and/or introduction of Phosphate into the system was equalized or neutralized by the growth of Bryopsis. As the Macro algae in the sump began to grow, coupled with the hermits eating it and my harvesting the Bryopsis , the macro algae in the sump stripped the nutrients from the water and the nasty nuisance Bryopsis was defeated.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[Jace]

Way to go dick! Glad to hear you stuck with it!

[rayme07]

I agree with jace and also your tank looks awsome thanks for the post on the algae it tought me alittle more to this learning hobbie.
Raymond

[CarmieJo]

Dick, the tank looks great! That thiellei has come a LONG way! Do you think that you would get fertile eggs from a thiellei/percula cross?

[rroselavy]

Originally Posted by Amphibious

[IMG]http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/member-tank-projects/member-tank-projects/This pic taken this am...of a nearly bryopsis free aquarium. YEAH!!!

That looks fantastic! WOW! (cough..send me those hermits right now...cough)

BTW: I did not know that Clownfish of different species would pair up. Go figure. I asked the guy at the LFS if a black Ocellaris would pair up with a regular Ocellaris, and he basically said that was highly improbable. Good deal!

[rayme07]

I did not know that Clownfish of different species would pair up. Go figure. I asked the guy at the LFS if a black Ocellaris would pair up with a regular Ocellaris, and he basically said that was highly improbable. Good deal!

ya my sister inlaws mother has a tank with a black Ocellaris and a regular perc and theyre doing fine they look so awsome together they havent mated yet but i havent talked to my sister in law in years about the tank i forgot about it till now.
Raymond

[Amphibious]

Jace and Rayme, thanks you guys.

Carmie,

Yes, the thiellei has shown a dramatic improvement from the time I bought him. I believe the cross would produce fertile eggs because both are in the same family, Amphiprion. Read more below.

rroselavy,

I knew you would be interested in this progress report. I believe the decline of the Bryopsis was a combination of the things listed above. I know I'm excited once again in my tank. It was very discouraging to even look at the tank when the Bryopsis was at it's peak and less fun to take pictures.

Score another negative for information garnered from the infamous LFS!!! In his book, "Anemone Fishes and Their Host Sea Anemones" Dr. Gerry Allan reports many suspected wild hybrids. The exact lineage of A. thiellei is not known. In the book, the author states, "This 'species' is most likely a hybrid between A-chrysopterus and A-sandarcinos." In an e-mail response to my inquiry, with a picture of my specimen, Dr. Allen suggested the above scenario and added the possibility that A. ocellaris might be involved. He went on to say, there just haven't been enough A. thiellei found to do the necessary biopsy to determine origin. I wasn't going to volunteer mine to go under the knife.

Dick

[rayme07]

I wasn't going to volunteer mine to go under the knife

haha thats funny I wouldnt ether though such a butiful fish to study on.

[Skurvey Dog]

Wow Dick, your tank looks great! You definately have come a long way battling that algae. I remember it getting better, then coming right back no matter what you did. It sure wasn't for lack of trying.

Every 3 to 4 weeks for nine months, I would get in there, up to my armpits, and pinch off clumps of the crap until it was thinned out only to spring back again. Some times I thought, it came back with thicker clumps and more aggressive growth.

That's because the Bryopsis algae thought you were pruning it! J/K

I'm glad you have been posting as I was a little concerned for you and Susie Q with Fay. We just gotta make it to November. and then we're home free till next year.