Bassoonguy
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hi all,
Various things are happening with my new salt tank I can't really explain.. nothing disasterous (yet).. but tell me what you think. First fish: A 4 " Black Volitans Lion.. a real beauty.. very aware and feeds easily. all sub and supraorbital protrusions intact.. however.. LFS broke one of the dorsal spines when netting him
Was worried about him taking to dead food.. he got it first try! 2cd fish.. added one week later.. a Miniatus Grouper.. 5" from ffexpress. Fedex was late.. saw them arrive in 30 degree weather 5 hours late, threw the box marked live fish over his shoulder to come to the door 
also enclosed: 2 Giant Featherduster worms.. amazingly, all survived! The grouper was extremely shy at first (expected this) but has gradually become pretty active.. fast as lightening when food is introduced to the tank.. beautiful coloration. He and the lion tend not to get along too well.. I was expecting from everything I read for the lion to be the "wimp".. but no.. it's the lion who is the aggressor.. will follow the grouper around the tank in a "defensive" posture "spines out" No stings yet *fingers crossed* Both have been eating pieces of Flounder and shrimp. Messy eaters.. so the feather dusters get plenty to filter from the water. Also 3 hermit crabs that came on my live rock and survived the cycling process. Now.. first problem I noticved was a lot of particulate matter in the water.. little white flecks.. I am starting to conclude it is dust in the water from the grouper constantly moving things around.. but not sure now because of recent devlopments.. about 4 days ago.. woke up to discover huge amounts of floating mucus in the tank, apparently coming from the featherdusters, which had somehow come out of the sand and were laying on the floor of the aquarium.. no apparent damage to the tubes or crowns.. shrugged my sholders, reburied them.. next day.. same thing.. except now I notice a small hole in the soft part of the tube... I am suspecting the hermit crabs. butI thought they were compatible with sessile invertebrates?? Also.. just yesterday.. noticed the grouper agitated (coloration looking like when I first introduced him to the tank.. with lighter vertical bands on the sides) glacing off the live rock in the tank.. no visible sign of ich.. no white spots.. no velvet coat on the fish.. lion appears healthy (if a bit grumpy about the grouper being so active).. wondering what could be causing this? Temp 79 F, ammonia/nitrite 0ppm nitrate 20 ppm (was told I was safe up to 30 ppm) salinity 1.021, PH 8.2. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would hate to lose either of my BEAUTIFUL fish (I lucked out.. both smart and perfect coloration) Should I be feeding them differently? Every other day feeding for both.
Various things are happening with my new salt tank I can't really explain.. nothing disasterous (yet).. but tell me what you think. First fish: A 4 " Black Volitans Lion.. a real beauty.. very aware and feeds easily. all sub and supraorbital protrusions intact.. however.. LFS broke one of the dorsal spines when netting him
Was worried about him taking to dead food.. he got it first try! 2cd fish.. added one week later.. a Miniatus Grouper.. 5" from ffexpress. Fedex was late.. saw them arrive in 30 degree weather 5 hours late, threw the box marked live fish over his shoulder to come to the door also enclosed: 2 Giant Featherduster worms.. amazingly, all survived! The grouper was extremely shy at first (expected this) but has gradually become pretty active.. fast as lightening when food is introduced to the tank.. beautiful coloration. He and the lion tend not to get along too well.. I was expecting from everything I read for the lion to be the "wimp".. but no.. it's the lion who is the aggressor.. will follow the grouper around the tank in a "defensive" posture "spines out" No stings yet *fingers crossed* Both have been eating pieces of Flounder and shrimp. Messy eaters.. so the feather dusters get plenty to filter from the water. Also 3 hermit crabs that came on my live rock and survived the cycling process. Now.. first problem I noticved was a lot of particulate matter in the water.. little white flecks.. I am starting to conclude it is dust in the water from the grouper constantly moving things around.. but not sure now because of recent devlopments.. about 4 days ago.. woke up to discover huge amounts of floating mucus in the tank, apparently coming from the featherdusters, which had somehow come out of the sand and were laying on the floor of the aquarium.. no apparent damage to the tubes or crowns.. shrugged my sholders, reburied them.. next day.. same thing.. except now I notice a small hole in the soft part of the tube... I am suspecting the hermit crabs. butI thought they were compatible with sessile invertebrates?? Also.. just yesterday.. noticed the grouper agitated (coloration looking like when I first introduced him to the tank.. with lighter vertical bands on the sides) glacing off the live rock in the tank.. no visible sign of ich.. no white spots.. no velvet coat on the fish.. lion appears healthy (if a bit grumpy about the grouper being so active).. wondering what could be causing this? Temp 79 F, ammonia/nitrite 0ppm nitrate 20 ppm (was told I was safe up to 30 ppm) salinity 1.021, PH 8.2. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would hate to lose either of my BEAUTIFUL fish (I lucked out.. both smart and perfect coloration) Should I be feeding them differently? Every other day feeding for both.
