My 29 biocube questions

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

I just recently purchased a Green bubble anemone and was wondering if I have enough light. My lights are 10,000k 36 watt coral life MH, and 36 watt actinic. I'm running them 10 hours minus 30 minutes beginning and end of cycle of actinic. Anemone is settled and hasn't moved for 3 days on a baserock and has to stretch out from underneath the upper rock to get to the light. I guess if he wasn't happy with the light he'd move. He looks great though! He freaked me out yesterday when he went through his expelling waste cycle and appeared to be dying but within a few hours he was back to normal and looking better than ever! My maroon clown however runs the side of the tank staying mostly at the surface and at night sleeps at the surface constantly swimming! This has been going on for 3 days now and he hasn't even tried to look at the rest of the tank or even the anemone. Need advice on this. One other thing, my tank is loaded with copepods and they're quickly multiplying! Any good fish recommendations to keep them in check? The diamond watchman goby is eating the **** out of them but it seems there just multiplying much faster! I went from a week ago adding a second dose of them and seeing one or two on the back part of the tank to now thousands of them all over the glass and the grateful goby is all day sucking the off the glass and rocks. Any info will help!

 

[carey]

Clowns don't automatically host a nem, it's pretty much hit or miss. I had a nem and my clowns couldnt care less. They also can host corals like mine did instead.

i have a 29g cube as well and to be honest I wouldnt put a nem in there, I'd be too worried about the lighting. Its good for most basic corals but I'm not sure theres a enough zing for higher light creatures.

As far as the pods, why are you adding them? Do you have a fuge setup for the tank? The pods will appear in cycles as well, sometimes i swear i have a million of them and then the population goes back down to normal. It seems to spike every couple weeks in my 125g.

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Clowns don't automatically host a nem, it's pretty much hit or miss. I had a nem and my clowns couldnt care less. They also can host corals like mine did instead.

i have a 29g cube as well and to be honest I wouldnt put a nem in there, I'd be too worried about the lighting. Its good for most basic corals but I'm not sure theres a enough zing for higher light creatures.

As far as the pods, why are you adding them? Do you have a fuge setup for the tank? The pods will appear in cycles as well, sometimes i swear i have a million of them and then the population goes back down to normal. It seems to spike every couple weeks in my 125g.

I would be fine with the clown not hosting the nem but he's just acting crazy constantly running the sides of the tank and steadily swimming into the top corner of the tank when lights go out. I guess I'm gonna see how it goes with the nem, if he seems too stressed or starts dying or closing up a lot I'll return him to LFS.

As for the copepods, I have had a refugium running for about 2 months now and it seemed to be low on pods so I dosed it again. Then they blew up but I guess not much to worry about. Like you said they'll probably decrease in population on they're own. Goby seems to be happy eating the **** out if them! Will the clown eat them as well? I am rethinking the whole anemone thing! It's pretty stressful! I dread waking up in the morning to a destroyed tank and dead anemone.
Thanks for sharing info!

 

[carey]

The stress of what could happen with the nem is why I returned mine to the lfs. lol I couldnt bear the worry anymore.

My clowns right now are body surfing back and forth intot he top corners of my tank, theya are known to be kinda kooky acting. hehe...I wouldnt worry too much about them. my current clowns sleep unpside down in a corner my b&w's used to sleep on the sand. weird little guys they are I tell ya

 

[scubasteve03]

Kooky lol you even make it sound comforting thats why you are one of the best (carey)

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Lol yea youve been awesome Carey! Thanks for answering so quickly and knowledgeably even on all my past posts! I fed the nem yesterday(half a silverside) and he's super happy now! I've never seen him look so good! What kind of corals do the clowns like? Need suggestions.... As for Nemo, hopefully he gets better acclimated to the tank soon and maybe checks out the nem. Can it just take longer for clowns to host them or is this clown pretty much not going to do it? I got him 4 days ago. Also, do clowns eat copepods?

 

[carey]

My clowns took about 4 months to host my elegance coral. I had tank bred ORA b&w's and a pair of wild misbar clowns, but it took the wild ones to teach the tank ones how to host. lol It could take some time for it to happen.

As far as corals they host, almost anything flowy will do for them. But keep in mind they can host a coral to near death as mine did and they can injure themselves with any hard parts of the coral.

it's an awesome thing to watch them host something I have to say, but sometimes it doesnt work out for the coral or the fish.

 

[Grizz]

yes clowns do eat pods you can try the pic trick with your clown you put a pic of a clown hosting a nem on the end of your tank for around a week some clowns never host nems though. it seems like it's hit or miss with them

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Thanks guys! Good to know! Exciting news! The clown is checking out the anemone right now! Hasn't gone in yet but this is a great sign! Thanks again for all the info!

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Update: I bought another maroon clown last weekend; a week after I bought the first clown and anemone. The new clown went straight for the anemone as soon as I dropped him in. Then he went after my first clown and beat him up pretty bad so I returned the poor guy to the LFS. Now, the new clown has been in the anemone non-stop and I've noticed that many of the tentacles are really more like stubs now. Is this a bad sign? Are these "stubs" new tentacles growing or does this mean I may have to separate the clown from him? Overall it seems like the nem is happy. I'm feeding him half a silverside twice a week. I think he's growing but he doesn't seem to open up all the way, could the clown be stressing him out?

>> Just returned the maroon clown to LFS for a trade on a small ocellaris that is tank raised but just happened to be hosting an anemone! Hopefully this will work out and I'll still be able to add another fish of choice to the mix in the future. Nem is coming back slowly but surely...

 

[carey]

Goodluck! I didnt' have anyluck with my tank breds hosting it took a wild pair to encourage them. Hows the nem? Looking better? Opening up some more?

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Yes it's looking much better. It does have a small spot on it's outer edge that is like a brownish color. Wondering if it was injured somehow so I'm keeping a close eye on it. I wouldn't think that the clown would have injured it? I was told that I had MH lights. Maybe they thought I had an HQI but I learned that I have flourescents. Now I'm worried I don't have enough light for it. If The nem needed more light wouldnt it move to get more? It's weird because he's settled under a base Rock and really doesn't get much direct light because of an overhang above him. I've thought about moving him but I'm afraid he'll wander too much and sting some of my new frags. I really want to upload some pics here but I can't figure out how to do it. I have them all on my pc but getting them to upload is the problem.

 

[carey]

You can use a site like photo bucket and just post the link in your post.

The nem should move to where it wants to be, I wouldnt try to force him off a rock to move him. You may have a lighting issue, but its hard to say without seeing the nem. He may be ok in there.

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Here's the link to some recent pics. hope it works... Had a friend that had to get rid of her 10 gal. and sold me her two mated ocellaris's. Surprisingly theyre getting along with the other clown! Nem still looks bad in his one spot. Not sure if you can see it real well but theres some before and after photos of him from hosting.. seems like the cleaner shrimp keeps picking at his tentacles. Is this possible-I mean could he be making this "injury" worse? really considering returning him to LFS. this is getting stressful! I'll get more photos posted tomorrow. Just put some quick ones together to see if this works...fyi these were taken from my phone so not sure how the quality will be either. hope you enjoy!
Pictures by jlhbiocube - Photobucket

 

[carey]

If he's stressing you out you should return him if you can. Mine was more trouble than it was worth so I brought it back after a few months.

Glad the clowns are getting along, but keep an eye on them.

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Carey, Were you able to look at the pics?
Today the nem was closed up all day. Not sure if hes just getting ready to go through his weekly cycle or if hes really not happy. keeping an eye on him. I really want it to work out so im trying not to worry about him because more than likely im overreacting. Just keeping a close eye on him and if anything new or weird happens then im pulling him. like you said.it just not worth it. Clowns are now being more agressive with the little guy. thinking im gonna have to pull him. Being a mated pair im highly doubting they'll accept him....Im so ready for a bigger tank! Is it just me or is a nano a lot more work than a large aquarium? If i left this tank alone for 4 days it would be a disaster! BTW would you mind sharing your lighting schedule? im on 10 hours right now with 1/2 hour of actinic beginning and end. Moon light for 4 hours. Im getting a ton of green algae growth and the snails are having a hard time keeping up so im cleaning every other day as well as dosing and topoffs. Have also had a problem with temp. was up to 82 and opened the lids now im 77-78 but i get a ton of evaporation. Any other tips besides buying a $400 chiller? Sorry for all the Questions at once! thank you!

 

[carey]

I also run a hot tank unless I keep the front lid open, so thats usually what I do. I run my lights, whites on at 10 am blues on at 9am. Then the whites go off at 8 and the blues off at 9pm. I dont run my moonlights, but 4 hours should be fine.

Yeah, it is harder to run a small tank, believe it or not I spend less time on my 125g than I do on my 4g! LOL

It's not unexpected that the clowns are very accepting of another clown, kinda why you dont add more than 2. Keep a close eye on them, they can be viscious!

The nem might just be "pooping" or something like that, they shrink up like that when they do. BUT again, not sure if your lights are enough for him.
From the pictures he looks fine, a little white but that may be because of the lighting. he is in an odd location though, under the rock kinda. Not sure what he is trying to do there. lol

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Yea I really don't know why he's under that rock. That's why I was thinking of moving him. He open back up through the night but he really looks bad. Hardly inflated, most tentacles are really short, brown at the one spot on his left side and he keeps it tucked in there 24/7. I notice the cleaner shrimp won't leave him alone, he stays on him all the time and frequently picks at the tentacles... I couldn't see the shrimp trying to eat the nem, but what do you think is going on. Is it possible I have a nutrient problem? Could a high or low level of mag or strontium or iodine or another trace element in the additive I'm using called reef code A and reef code B be hurting him? I can't see what else could be the issue.. LFS has only been testing the norm; cal, alk, phosphates, nitrates, nitrites, salinity, and ph. All is well according to them and I've been keeping a good regiment since the beginning. Original LFS tested everything for $5 but he's 50 miles away but he's much much better. He told me that I should add all elements separately rather than using these combo mixtures. I didn't do it cuz it would cost me a lot more upwards to $120 at first and then $50 here and there throughout the year. Guess I learned going cheep always catches up with you. What do you think though? Could this be my problem?thanks again!

 

[JLH-l3ioCub3]

Yesterday i decided i was going to redo my entire tank....I added 5 lbs of live sand, 3 lbs of fiji rock, rearranged the rockwork, and did a 40% waterchange... The nem looks to be doing better. I Had the water tested yesterday and phosphates were high. Water change should have taken care of it..Took before and after photos-check them out! I think its much better! I have a 1-2" sandbed across the whole floor with Rocks placed on top. The way it is arranged i have more area exposed to the light and i was able to add rock and also gained visual space and have more space for coral... Im also able to clean easier and im thinking i may be able to house a starfish and/or blenny or another goby(if clowns permit. lol).. The small clown hides back in his new cave in the back but before i moved the rocwork he was hosting the nem heavily for protection from the other clowns..hes not beat up at all...they dont seem to really be biting him. lemme know what you think about the new setup. Any advice will be appreciated!Biocube 2 pictures by jlhbiocube - Photobucket