Are you still using mud in your fuge? I read on Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation Home Page about mud filters and was going back through some of your old posts and noticed you had some. What do you think of mud in the fuge? good? bad? may as well just use more sand?
Yes. When I set the 135 up 2 1/2 years ago I had six containers of Walt Smiths Fiji Mud. I wanted to give it a try at the bottom of my sump/refugium. I wound up with 1" of mud covered with 2" of Aragonite sand and about 1/2" of Walt Smith Fiji Gold (a sugar grained calcium compound). Here's a picture of the converted W/D to a sump/refugium taken back when it was first set up.
My thoughts now 2 1/2 years later? Can't say it did any good or harm. And to quote you, "may as well just use more sand. Those are my feelings. Remember, there wasn't any thing scientific about this experiment. Had the WS stuff, wanted to try it, can't say I saw a benefit, wouldn't spend the money on it again.
Don't get me wrong, Walt Smith is a fine man and has done untold good for this industry. I just think aragonite sand is good enough with out "enhancement".
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
How is the marine beta? Being part of the grouper family are they okay to have in the tank with small gobys and clowns?
Has your Pocillopora damicornis had babies yet? They are breeding them over at DIBS. Looks like a great project. I will have to get into that in a few months.
The Marine Betas, Calloplesiops altivelis, are doing great. I have two of them in the 135. They are seldom at the same end of the aquarium and I'm never ready with the camera when they are. The second I go for the camera they split! It's been nearly impossible to catch them on film together.
Above, believe it or not, is the best "pair" shot to date. Yes, that is the second one toward the bottom.
A wonderful, peaceful and showy fish even though it hides much of the time especially when first introduced.
The Marine Beta (No relation to the freshwater Beta) is in the grouper family. It has a mouth that can ingest ornamental shrimp and small Gobies so, caution must be exercised when considering adding one to your reef. Since most are wild caught, they have been captive bred, they can be a bit picky on what foods they will take. I've never had a problem switching them to frozen Mysis shrimp and fortified BS. Other than that the Marine Beta is a safe bet for the reef tank.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Those are buetiful betas you got there. I like them but I dont think ill ever get one because of the fact they eat ornamental shrimp but they are always fun to watch at the LFS. Thanks for sharing your betas.
Maybe I raised the caution flag too high on Marine Betas. I have never witnessed one taking an ornamental shrimp. Actually, I'm only repeating, what might be, erroneous wisdom from some long forgotten source. Because Marine betas are of the grouper (think large predator) family, therefore carnivores, it's easy to assume they would ingest things like small shrimp. The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis, enjoys some freedom from predation due to it being recognized for it's "cleaning" ability. That said, it also looks mighty good on the menu for a HUNGRY predator. So, one of the keys to keeping Marine Betas and ornamental shrimp is to keep your fish fed properly.
I don't know the "expected" longevity of cleaner shrimp. I had two in the 135 for about two years, the last of which was with both Marine Betas. The shrimp disappeared, first one then a couple of months later the other. Did the MBs get them? Or did they simply live out their normal life expectancy? Don't know!
Because I like Cleaner Shrimp, I'll get a couple more and see what happens. Man those things are expensive for just being shrimp and not uncommon either.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
finaly, it feels like i've been reading forever. what day is it? great journal. i've been wondering if you quarantine your livestock before introducing them to your tank. i'm still new to the hobby, and i thought this was an important step, but i dont think you ever mentioned doing it. is it because of your experience that you dont, or are you and just not telling us?
interesting article. maybe the 10 g i have isnt big enough. theres alot more to that 2nd tank than i thought. i havnt found much info on a proper quarantine setup. does anyone have a tank journal on one? id like to see some pictures and stuff.
I have a 10 gallon tank with a HOB bio-wheel filter, heater, and NO florescent hood. I only set it up when I have a fish or coral in QT. I keep the bio-wheel in the sump of my 54 and use it when I have fish in QT. For corals I just use the filter for flow.
So just to clarify, Dick uses an inline QT (sump attached to his system) and relies on UV on the way out of his QT to eliminate any nasties on their way to the DT? Never heard of this method before. Makes sense, but seems to put a LOT of faith in UV filters. Are there any pests who will survive a UV filter? Are UV filters 100% effective?
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