FishJan2007

Journal Entries:

December 12, 2006 (Tuesday)
Filled tank with filtered sink water using Waterpik faucet filter with new R-7 filter
Mixed and added Crystal Reef Salt recommended and bought at Best Pets in Antioch
Setup and ran Pengiun 350 filter
Setup and ran Visi Heater 200 watts
December 13, 2006 (Wednesday)
Used Hydrometer to measure S.G. and reading was about 1.018 in the morning
Added more Crystal Reef salt and water to bring S.G. ready up to 1.021 in evening.
Temperature was set to 77 on the heater but only registering 75 on the thermometer.
Moved the heater to the middle of the tank and set the heater to 79.
Noticed what looked like 2 or 3 finger nail sized sheets of salt had formed on the bottom of tank.
December 14, 2006 (Thursday)
Came home in evening to inside tank glass covered in salt residue. It was very hard to remove with a toothbrush. I was
afraid to scratch the new aquarium glass.
Also, tons of salt had crystalized into finger nail sized sheets of salt on the bottom of the tank.
The Hydrometer measured about 1.019.
Some of the salt crystals would just float all over the tank if I tried to remix them.
I figured that I must be lacking enough water flow in the tank. No information regarding this problem was mentioned online.
I put the Visi-Jet-ps Protein skimmer together and added it to the tank. I tried to adjust it to full gph but it still seemed to
create very little bubbles in its tub or waterflow from its exit.
December 15, 2006 (Friday)
I stopped at Exotic Aquatics for 3 bags of Live Cari-bean Sand (was onsale for 29.99 per 20pds) and 2x small power heads.
I bought plastic scrubbing brush and 3 plastic scrubbing pads at Menards.
Jessica and I scrubbed the 3 visible sides of the tank as best we could with the brush and pads. We got 95% of the salt off
and also did the backside abit.
I tried to use the brush to break up some of the salt sheets on the bottom. The water became very cloudy.
I set the temp back to 77 on the heater, but either way the thermometer still read 75.
I added both new powerheads and left the tank for an hour.
It was pretty clear so I used a zip-lock bag to carefully add the live sand to the bottom of the tank. It clouded abit again. But
after about 2 or 3 hours it was looking pretty clean.

First Test Readings Dec 15th
ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 0.0
December 16, 2006 (Saturday)
I bought 4 pieces of live rock (14.75 pounds for $80) from Some Thing Fishy pet store in Fox Lake and added them to the tank.
Ron, the owner, told me I shouldn't put anything fish or inverts in the tank for at least a week.
The tank has settled down and is looking great.
The hydrometer kept bouncing between 1.023 and 1.028 when in the tank. I took it out and plugged it for external readings 4
different spots all read 1.022!!! I can finally use this thing!
December 17, 2006 (Sunday)
Second Test Readings
ph 8.0~ ammonia .25 Nitrite .25 Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.022
Removed about 3 gallons and added about 1.5 gallons with lots of salt mix to up the S.G.
December 18, 2006 (Monday)
ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0~ Nitrite 0.50 Nitrate 15~ S.G. 1.0233 Temp 76
Kids and I scrubbed more salt off inside of glass, also removed about 1 gallon of water to make this easier.
December 19, 2006 (Tuesday)
ph 8.2~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.50 Nitrate 20~ S.G. 1.0233 Temp 77
Removed about 3 more gallons of water and added 4 gallons to see if Nitrates will start to fall. Also, more S.G. in
replacement water to try to get S.G. up closer to 1.024.
S.G. is now reading 1.024 throughout the tank!
December 20, 2006 (Wednesday)
ph 8.2~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.25 Nitrate 20 S.G. 1.024 Temp 77
Changed 9 gallons of water.
December 21, 2006 (Thursday)
ph 8.2~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.024 Temp 77
Looks like it is ready to house something living!!! I think the live rock and live sand reduced the cycling time alot!

Went to another specialty pet store in McHenry. They had alot of cool saltwater fish and equipment.
Bought a True Percula Clownfish 1.25 inches ($26.99) and a Royal Gramma 2.5 inch ($24.99).
Also, bought glass covers for $20 each (x2), and PRIME REEF fish food recommended by the pet store owner.
I changed about 2 gallons of water, but then got nervious because the water/salt was just mixed. I waited about 1.5 hours
before adding fish to tank.
Put about 2 gallons in bucket and spent 1.5 hours acclimating both fish. Then I added them to the tank.

December 22, 2006 (Friday)
Morning attempt to feed fish failed. I tried to pick out all the uneaten food I could, but some ended up on the bottom.
The Gramma picked a cave on the backside of the tank, so I chased him out and sealed the back caves (could never even see
him!).
Now the Gramma chose an awesome cave that can be viewed easily right in the middle of the tank.
I mixed up some salt water for use later and left it in the basement.
At around noon, I fed the Clownfish and he ate just fine, but the Gramma is just hiding in his cave.

ph 8.2~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.0237 Temp 77

Changed 3 gallons of water at 6pm. The water was mixed earlier today but was still abit cold.

December 23, 2006 (Saturday)
Morning fed PRIME REEF and Clownfish ate very little and the Royal Gramma ate nothing. I picked out the excess uneaten
food.
At about 4:40pm, went to Something Fishing Pet Store in Fox Lake. I asked about the Royal Gramma not eating the flake food.
Ron said he wouldn't eat the flake food and needed to be fed frozen shrimp or something like that. I bought a frozen pack of
mysis shrimp and 10 blue hermit crabs. Ron said the hermit crabs would be ok with the 10 ppm of Nitrate readings. I really
wanted to get a cleanup crew going in the tank. I asked the pet shop girl to throw in a few empty shells and she did.
I acclimated the crabs for about 1 hour. While I was acclimating them I tried feeding the tank fish some mysis shrimp. Both
fish loved it!.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.0239 Temp 77

I added the 10 blue hermit crabs. All were very small with 1/2 long cone shells about 1/4 inch wide, except 1 that was larger
about 1/2 diameter swirl shell. Also, one is a small guy but has a turtle type shell.
About 9 of the hermits marched up and down the front of the tank checking out the few empty shells. When one got near the
middle of the tank (still along the front glass), the Royal Gramma (mister shy) came out very aggressively and picked up hermit
and shell and swam him away and spit him in a different part of the tank. The same hermit walk back to the same spot, and
the Royal Gramma man handled him again. Another small hermit came to the same spot and the Royal Gramma grabbed him
and carried him away, spitting him out. The big 1/2 swirl shell crab came by the same spot and the Royal Gramma decided to
retreat to his second favorite very protective cave in a small rock. This cave allows him to go all the way in and turn around,
with his head barely showing like an Eel. I thought the Royal Gramma was PEACEFUL. I'm gonna have to do some research,
because more than one time I thought he had eaten the little crabs!

December 24, 2006 (Sunday)
Fed a little flak and a 1/4x1/2 piece of frozen mysis shrimp at about 7am. The Clownfish ate small amount of flake (about 1 of
the 3 small flakes) and ate very few shrimp also. The Royal Gramma didn't seem to eat any that I saw. The Royal Gramma did
continue to man handle the crabs that got near his caves. I saw one crab had climbed close to the entrance to his small rock
cave. He rushed over and tried to grab him off, but the crab held tight. He swam back over a second later and tossed him and
shell to the ground. I saw him toss around at least 4 more crabs. All crabs are still alive at this point.
It looks like alot of uneaten shrimp has fallen to the bottom. I hope the crabs eat some and I'll slow the feed rate.

No tests today, but I did change 3 gallons of water.

December 25, 2006 (Monday Christmas Day)
I got 48" 260W Lights for the tank! 2 65W 12000K lights and 2 65W True Antics along with 4 Lunar Lights. I put the legs on
and put them on the tank. And turned on the lights.
The Royal Gramma is now out most of the time with the lights on. He sees to like the light. One problem though, is that the
Clownfish was getting nipped at a little bit because the Royal Gramma wanted to sit in the corner under the pumps and the
Clownfish didn't want to stay so high in the tank with the light so bright. Also, the largest 1/2 diameter blue hermit crab tried
to walk by the Royal Gramma's favorite cave twice and both times the Gramma turned his shell over. There was no way the
crab was going to get his shell righted (without being eaten - the Gramma would go after him whenever he stuck his head out),
so I had to reach in and move him.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 10~ S.G. 1.0239 Temp 77

December 26, 2006(Tuesday)
In the morning, fed very little mysis shrimp and very tiny flak food. The Clownfish ate some mysis shrimp and loved the flak
PRIME REEF. The Royal Gramma didn't eat hardly anything. I noticed the large Blue Hermit Crab pickup a tiny mysis shrimp
and it looked like he was eating it. The Royal Gramma was being very aggressive, he nipped at the Clownfish once or twice
and certainly displayed an open mouth to him multiple times. The when Carla and I were both viewing the tank the Royal
Gramma was very much noticing the audience. He grabbed 3 or 4 crabs and tossed them. Many weren't near his favorite
caves! He was clearly showing off his strength trying to indimidate us. He kept coming to the glass looking at us and then
rushing to another crab and tossing him.
I shutdown the Pengiun 350 filter to take the intake pipe off for a cleaning. It looked terribly dirty. Unfortunately, alot of the
hairy gunk started floating around the tank. I scrubbed the pipe with a toothbrush and replaced it. I then used a fish net to try
and strain much of the junk floating in the tank. It all settled after a while.
There was a ecto-skeleton of some kind in the tank late last night, but I didn't really notice it until this morning. It looked
like 2 pink wings. It didn't really look like a crab shell at all, so I'm not sure what it was, but I took it out and put it in the
garbage.

Went back to Pet Central in McHenry and bought 2 Red leg Cortez Hermit crabs (both big as the biggest blue leg hermit) in
snow cone shells. I added small or medium sized shells that I also bought. I also added on beautiful live rock with alot of
color on it. I rinsed the rock three times and added it to the tank. Hopefully, it won't hurt the tank parameters.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 15~ S.G. 1.024 Temp 78

I fed very little PRIME REEF and only the Clownfish went for it. Both Clownfish and Royal Gramma ate mysis shrimp.

December 27, 2006 (Wednesday)

I changed about 3 gallons of water in the morning. I think I poured it in too fast, so the dust really stirred bad. I shutdown the
powerhead for 5 minutes to let the tank settle.

In the morning, fed very little flak food and mysis shrimp which the Clownfish ate and the Royal Gramma ate also. The
Gramma accidently ate some flak food coming down and spit it out, but then he went back and ate it again.

The crabs are all still alive and continue to graze on the live rock (not sure if there is anything to eat on them). The Royal
Gramma considers it his duty now to harrass the crabs thru much of the tank, but they seem to be handling it. A few of them
have traded for the new shells I bought yesterday. The largest blue crab traded to a much bigger new shell this morning. It
was neat and freaky to watch his shadow fill up a shell more than once as he tried a big one out.

I went to Something Fishy in Fox Lake and they didn't have any fish I really wanted. I went to Best Pets in Antioch and many
of their saltwater fish were dead or dying. I did buy a bag to add to my filter that is supposed to take nitrate down.

My 25# of base rock arrived, and the post office had beat the heck out of the box. Some of the rock was now ruble, but there
were a number of large rocks. It was much better than I expected ($25 plus $13 shipping for 25# ... thats $1.50 per pound). I
soaked it in a bucket, then rinsed it in sink, soaked, and rinsed again. Alot of sand and junk washed off. A few pieces had
black stuff coming off so I didn't use that for now. I tightened the rocks already in the tank to make room for this new rock. I
practiced building a nice structure with 9 rocks and rebuilt them in the tank. I hope everything goes ok with this stuff.

At about 5:15pm, I fed very little flak food and mysis shrimp which both the Clownfish and Royal Gramma ate.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 15~ S.G. 1.024 Temp 78 Time 5:30pm

December 28, 2006 (Thursday)

At about 7:30am, I fed very little flak food and mysis shrimp which both the Clownfish and Royal Gramma ate.

At about 7:00pm, I fed very little flak food and mysis shrimp which both the Clownfish and Royal Gramma ate. The Royal
Gramma was more into eating, he came toward my hand when I was rubbing out the frozen mysis shrimp but got nervous and
darted away.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 17~ S.G. 1.024 Temp 78 Time 7:45pm

I notice at the bottom of the new rock/cave structure I built, what appears to be a fairly small dead crab like body. It might be
a molted ecto-skeleton I don't know. It hardly looks like a regular crab, but I saw one of the little guys stretching his body out
of the shell yesterday and the object vaguely resembles one.

A large red crab trade to a small double pointed shell.

December 29, 2006 (Friday)

I found our old 5 gallon freshwater fish tank, and cleaned it out with hot water. The hood light,heater, and filter still worked.
I mixed up some water and washed my remaining base rock. I got the tank going as a quarentine tank. I left the green and
blue rock substrate. I bought a sponge square biofilter and stuffed it in main tanks filter to try to get some beneficial bacteria
growing on it. I also added a half cup of my life sand to the small tank after the temp was 76'. Later I added some mysis
shrimp to see if I could start the nitro-cycle.

I bought some live plants at the McHenry pet store to try to get the Nitrates to come down. I rinsed them very little in some
salt water from my tank and stuck them in the rocks about 5 different spaces. I noticed a couple crabs perhaps eating it
already. The kid at the store said there are 5 different algae in the bag.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 18~ S.G. 1.0237 Temp 78 Time 5:30pm

Fed both fish twice 7:30am and 4:45pm. Both ate well.

The Royal Gramma continues to harrass the crabs.

December 30, 2006 (Saturday)

Royal Gramma keeps taking my plants and moving them to camoflage his favorite cave areas. He manages to dislodge other
pieces that get sucked against the filter intake.

New 5 gallon Tank ph 8.4 ammonia .25 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate Not tested S.G. 1.0195 Temp 80 Time 2pm. I took the biological
filter (plastic) sponge that was in my main tank filter for a day and moved it to the small tank filter

Changed 3 gallons in the main tank.

Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.0233 Time 7:30pm ... Didn't do the other tests.

At about 7:30pm saw the large Blue Hermit crab that took a new double point shell stand on the large middle live rock. It
appeared to be release crab eggs or larva. I scooped one with the net, and looked at it under an inexpensive microscope. It
looked like a cross between a shrimp and a crab, but it could have been nothing (it was hard to see any movement.

At about 8:00pm my Royal Gramma was acting strange. He was by the side of the tank he rarely goes to, where the Clownfish
sleeps above the water pump. He was making jerky turn movements and even banged into the black pump box once or twice.
I thought he was perhaps dying. He might be sick, he might be interested in the (possible) crab larva floating around in the
current, or he might have seen his reflection in the aquarium glass??? He seemed ok after leaving that side of the tank, but
did it once more when he swam over there again. I shut the lights down and set the moonlights on, and he immediately went
in his newest favorite cave on the far end of the tank. This was a cave I made with the new 'base' rock the other day, the rock
was shaped like a open seashell. Its not very protective compared to the rock cave.

I was able to count 12 live hermit crabs, so they are all still alive!

December 31, 2006 (Sunday)

Both the Clownfish and Royal Gramma ate in the morning, but the Royal Gramma was more timid than the past few days
(hiding in the rocks some of the time).

Clownfish had a white dot under its right eye, and it had just bumped into the top of the water pump. About a half hour later
that dot was gone, but I noticed another on his tail which also went away. Not sure if this is a disease or just tiny stuff
floating in the tank.

Royal Gramma continues to blow substrate to intimidate his reflection. He is also rubbing himself against the powerhead
occassionally. I went to the pet store in Fox Lake and asked the lady there (Ron wasn't there). She said there wasn't much to
do, but I could give them a freshwater dip for 10 minutes (the ph and temp must be the same).

New 5 gallon Tank ph 8.4 ammonia .50 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 5 S.G. 1.0193 Temp 78 Time 10:30am. I'm thinking there is enough
bateria to convert the Nitrite to Nitrates but not ammonia to Nitrite yet.

ph 8.0~ ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.023 Temp 78 Time 2:00pm

January 1, 2007 (Monday)

New 5 gallon Tank ph 8.4 ammonia 1.00 Nitrite 0.25 Temp 78 Time 8:00am. I'm thinking there is enough bateria to convert the
Nitrite to Nitrates but not ammonia to Nitrite yet.

The Royal Gramma is clearly rubbing against things. I noticed another white salt sized spot on the Clownfish, but it wasn't
there in the morning. Overall, the Clownfish seems a little less active than the last two weeks. I wanted to try a freshwater
dip, but the water from the sink or a bottle is 7.4 ph!.

ph 8.3~ Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.0229 Temp 78 Time 12:30pm
(I don't think the ph has changed much but the brownish/red vs maroon are hard to differ in the test. I think this test is closer
to the maroon 8.4 just like the 5 gallon tank)

I turned the temp up to 80 degrees on the heater. I read that this can somehow help the ick cycle.

January 2, 2007

I've been trying to soak some food in minced garlic and have hung a piece of garlic in the tank.

I bought some Machanite Green anti-ICH medication that might be ok for some inverts. Kid at Exotic Aquatics said not to
worry about saltwater ICH at all. They will be fine and I just need to watch them. Kid at Pet Central suggested Coppersafe,
but the inverts won't be safe (so need QT tank).

I bought a Cleaner Shrimp at Pet Central in McHenry. His body is almost 1.5 inches with long antennas. I was hoping he could
save the fish by cleaning the parasites off of them. I spent about 2 1/2 hours acclimating him, and put him in the main tank.

The Clownfish appears to have a very slight dot on the end of his tailfin. The Royal Gramma continues to rub on things very
frequently. I'm feeling bad for him. Everything I read says get them in QT Tank and start medication immediately.

The tank is appearing very filthy with lots of brown algae on rocks and glass, and a little green algae on the glass.

I pushed the intake sponge and half the algae scrubber sponge into the bottom tube of the Visi-Jet Protein skimmer and tried to
adjust it high with more air (someone online suggested). It still releases some bubbles, but it might be abit better.

January 3, 2007 (Fish removed from the main tank ... cannot return until January 31st!)

The Cleaner Shrimp is cool, but he isn't having much luck even catching the Clownfish. The shrimp likes it right under the
Visi-Jet protein skimmer.

New 5 gallon Tank ph 8.4 ammonia 1.00 Nitrite 0.25 Temp 78 Time 5:00pm.

ph 8.4 ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 10 S.G. 1.023 Temp 78 Time 5:00pm

The Clownfish is not swimming with as much strength and the Royal Gramma is losing much color while still rubbing much.

I decided to empty the New Tank and fill with water from the main tank. I caught the Clownfish and with some trouble the
Royal Gramma. I put them both in the 5 gallon tank. The tank was fairly disturbed because I had only added half the water
before I put the fish in (dumb). I added slightly more than a teaspoon of Coppersafe to the 5 gallon tank (which I estimated had
a little more than 4 gallons in it). I added half a pouch of Anti-biotic to the 5 gallon tank also. At about 8:45pm, things were
calm, and I fed the small tank very little brine shrimp. The clown ate it, but the Royal Gramma (though tempted did not come
out).

The main tank is also disturbed abit. I cleaned some of the algae off the main tank front glass, but it was creating alot of dust
in the tank (and I feared for the shrimp).

I tried to feed the Cleaner Shrimp some brine shrimp. He came running to my hand and loved it, but unfortunately he only got 3
or 4 pieces. The rest blew around the tank, and he would only grab one right by him. I want to unplug the powerhead
tomorrow before feeding him again.

January 4, 2007

Nightmare day for me and the fish. The 5 gallon tank is not really cycled at all. I tested and the ammonia was hard to read
but looked like 1.0. I went to Something Fishy Pet store to get some ammonia lock and a copper test kit. The lady there said I
should put the fish back in the main tank and not buy any ammonia lock or cycle speed up products. She said perhaps I should
add live sand from the main tank (which I did). That stirred up the water.

I changed about 3.5 gallons of water in the 5 gallon tank and that stirred up a bunch. About 5 hours later the ammonia was
back at 1.0.

My main tank filter cartridge needed changing anyway. I tore the blue filter from the plastic and rinsed it in removed tank
water. It was fithy but I thought that might be loaded with good bacteria, so I added it to the 5 gallon tank filter --- that fithy
filter just clouded the poor tank entirely.

I went to Best Pets in Antioch and bought a Ammonia Lock 2 chemical and some Ammonia-Nitrite-Nitrate neutralizer.

I tested the small 5 gallon tank before adding any chemicals to see if the biofilter had kicked in - not one bit.

New 5 gallon Tank ph 8.4 ammonia 1.0 nitrite 0.0 nitrate 0.0 copper 2.0~ (it could be .5 ... stupidly the same color almost but
looking straight down as instructed its 2.0).

I added 1/2 tsp of the Ammonia Lock 2.

Bought 4 snails for the main tank and took 1.25 hours acclimating. They went right to work on the algae, but don't look like
they can make a dent in it.

I tried pulling the plug on the protein skimmer and powerhead while I fed very little mysis shrimp to the Cleaner Shrimp. He
loved it, but didn't get more than 1/3 of what I tried to feed him. He ran right to my hand and jumped around for the frozen
shrimp.

January 5, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 0.5 nitrite 0.0 nitrate 5~ copper 2.0~ at 5pm (it was hard to say if the nitrate was yellow or a
hint of orange).

Quick test of the main tank nitrate around 20 all others normal (0 is the only lower option).

I fed Clownfish some flak food (he hadn't ate hardly anything the last few days) and he went nuts for it.

I finally got the Royal Gramma to come out and eat a decent amount of brine shrimp (he had not ate anything since going in the
QT tank).

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 1.0 at 9pm. I added 1/2 tsp of the Ammonia Lock 2.

Both fish look ok. They are still rubbing against rocks, sand, and the heater. The Clownfish is rubbing more than before.

The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp ate lots of brine shrimp from my hand. He acted thrilled. I did a better job of spot feeding him, so
not very much floated away. The snails are working hard on the live rock, clearing the brown algae. One of them works his
way around the top of the tank, half out of the water.

I took the Visi-Jet Protein Skimmer out of the tank and cleaned it off best I could. Tomorrow I'll mail it back for a refund
because it just doesn't work no matter how I adjust it. It only generates thousands of micro-bubbles.

January 6, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 0.5 nitrate 10 at 8:00am. Hoping its cycling more since I'm getting more nitrates. I plan on
checking again later and using Ammo-lock if needed today, then very careful change of 1/2 the water tomorrow. They ate well
yesterday, to hold down ammonia I'm not planning to feed at all today.

The Royal Gramma is sitting under a rock clearly visible. He is very scared of me. He clearly has a number of white dots on
him.

I fed the Skunk Cleaner Shrimp mysis shrimp with Carla and Jesse watching. He came to my hand and energetically grabbed
and ate.

I noticed very tiny insect like creatures crawling and jumping on many of the base and live rock.

Clownfish and Royal Gramma both appear to be do ok in the 5 gallon tank. They both want food, but I'm not going to feed them
today.

New 5 gallon Tank   ph 8.4 ammonia 1.0 nitrite 0.0 nitrate 10 at 7:30pm. I added 1/2 tsp of the Ammonia Lock 2.

I noticed tons of very tiny insect like creatures crawling and jumping all over the back aquarium glass. I'm almost sure they
are copepods/amphipods based on what I've read.

Some of the green berry-like macro algae looks like it is growing in the main tank.

January 7, 2007

I fed the Clownfish and Royal Gramma a small amount of mysis shrimp and flak food around 7:30am. Both ate aggressively (as
if they were starving). I tried to feed the Cleaner Shrimp in the main tank some mysis shrimp but he only ate a little and I
tried to net some of the excess.

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 1.0 at 8:30am. I changed 2 gallons of water being much more careful not to stirup much
substrate.

January 8-10, 2007

On Monday morning noticed the power had blown in the basement. The two fish in the hospital tank hadn't got any filteration
or oxygen for who knows how long. I reset the circuit and put some Ammo-lock 2 into the tank. The Clownfish looked
especially bad, gasping for air and sluggish. I feared I had misdiagnosed the illness. I started seeing a bunch about the 3rd
type of ICH that is not cured by Copper called "Clownfish disease". I bought some Formalin which cures "Clownfish disease".
However, the fish were looking much better in the evening, so I continued the current Coppersafe course.

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 0.0 ... nitrite was reading high with dipstick test and 0.0 with liquid test.

Treated 5 gallon tank with AmQuel Plus to reduce nitrites and nitrates for two days. Each morning I changed 1 gallon of water.

January 11, 2007

ph 8.4 ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 0 S.G. 1.023 Temp 77 Time 6:00pm

New 5 gallon Tank   quick dipstick nitrite 0 nitrate 20~ Time 6:15pm. Both fish are very hungry. I fed them some brine shrimp
and the Clownfish got very little, because the Royal Gramma ate almost the entire 1/4 inch clump in one swallow. I put a
small flak in for the Clownfish to eat. After feeding the Clownfish was racing around the tank very fast. He looked pretty
happy. I didn't notice any spots on either or any rubbing. However, Jessica said she saw a couple of white dots on the
Gramma under his mouth in the morning.

January 12, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   quick dipstick nitrite 0 nitrate 20~ Time 7:00am.

I fed Clownfish and Royal Gramma some mysis shrimp both fish ate alot. I think I fed abit too much. I tested ammonia an hour
later and it was .25. I changed 2 gallons of water from the 5 gallon tank and added 1/2 teaspoon of AmQuel Plus. Both fish
seemed fine today. The Royal Gramma was making big displays toward the Clownfish biting and spitting sand. Neither
appeared to rub at all, but I thought I noticed a small white dot under the Royal Gramma mouth by his gills (it was gone later
when I looked).

At about 12:30pm the Skunk Cleaner Shrimp molted his exo-skeleton! He left it sitting on the rock where he would normally
stand. At around 4:15pm he took a 1/4" block of mysis shrimp to eat.

I noticed the large blue hermit crab either mating with a small blue hermit crab (one that took the abandoned large red cortez
crab shell) or eating him. He was stuffing his claws into the shell of the other crab and rocking it back and forth. I became
certain he was killing it, so I reached in and separated them. The big one waited for me to pull my arm out, and raced over for
another go at it. After 10 minutes, I noticed the other crab was still alive and appearantly unhurt. Still the big blue stayed
close until bedtime so I'm still not sure.

January 14, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia .25 copper 1 to 2 range. I added 1/4 tsp of Coppersafe and 1/2 tsp AmQuel Plus.

January 15, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 1.00 nitrite 0.0 nitrate 10 copper 2.0. I took out 2 gallons of water and added 1 gallon back (all I
had ready) with 1/4 tsp of Coppersafe. I mixed up 3 more gallons for later.

Antioch Pet Store, bought a very cool looking, Bubble Tip Anenome and a Flower Pot coral that has only about 1/6 of the rock
covered. I started acclimating at about 1:20pm.

My Cleaner Shrimp has alot of tiny dots on it. Mostly on its body, but even on its leg.

I fed Clownfish and Royal Gramma flak food PRIME REEF. They were both acting very very hungry. The Royal Gramma is so
hungry he doesn't go back under the rocks when I open the top (or he jumps right back out).

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 1.00 nitrite 0.0 nitrate 10 copper 1.5. I took out 1 gallon of water and added 2.5 gallon back (all I
had ready) with 1/2+ tsp of Coppersafe. I mixed up 3 more gallons for later. I added 1/2 tsp of AmQuel Plus.

January 16, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 0.25~ at 6:15am.   It was hard to tell if it was 0.25 or 1.0. I left for work without changing any
water. I figured that (perhaps) the AmQuel Plus was still working and that ammonia reading included the 'treated' ammonia
too.

The Flower Pot Coral explanded his flowers fully, and I tried to spot feed him some Zooplex, but it didn't seem to eat anything.
I had also add some to the entire tank.

I handed the Bubble Tip Anenome a small amount of mysis shrimp (I didn't actually see him eat it, but it was gone). During the
night the Anemone had moved in between two rocks, a small cave, in the center of the tank. Jessica handed the Skunk Shrimp
a 1/4 piece of mysis shrimp. The Skunk Shrimp continues to have black spots all over, but the one on his right hind leg went
away. The Shrimp doesn't act sick.

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia 0.25~ copper 1.5~ at 5:15pm.   I fed Clownfish and Royal Gramma a small amount of flak food,
they both went nuts for it. I added 1/8 tsp of CopperSafe and 1/2+ tsp of AmQuel Plus.

I added an Ammonia 'Alert' meter to the 5 gallon tank. It initially read mild 'alert' but switched to 'safe' after adding the
AmQuel plus.

Quick Dip test of main tank Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 0.0 at 6:30pm.

I was able to spot 12 Hermit Crabs, they are all still alive at this point!

January 17, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia meter 'alert' which is supposely 0.05~ at 6:15am.   I went to work without making a water
change. The Clownfish and Royal Gramma seemed ok.

I tried to 'target' feed the Flower Pot coral. I tried mixing some frozen rotifer (that I just bought at Exotic Aquatics), crushed
flak food, one drop phytoplankton, and shaved mysis shrimp. Some of the polyps seemed to taking it but mostly no. Plus the
ones that did take had much of it hanging out of their mouth (like 1/2"). It was already missing one polyp and I think one of the
blue hermits caused it because I saw it walking around on the coral.

Hand fed the great Cleaner Shrimp. He is now hanging around the anemone alot. He brushes his feelers against the anemone
sometimes.

At about 5pm I fed Clownfish and Royal Gramma limited flak food. Both are still very hungry. At about 6:30pm I added 1/2 tsp
of AmQuel to the 5 gallon tank and shut off the lights.

At about 8:30pm with the lunar lights on I tried 'target' feeding the coral again with phytoplankton and rotifer mix. Not sure
any fed.

Based on some research, I think that hitchhiker snail that came with the Flower Pot coral is a Cypraea talpa (it is about 1/8
diameter).

January 17, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   ammonia meter 'alert' which is supposely 0.05~ at 6:45am.   I didn't make any correction. I may change
the water later.

I tried to 'target' feed the Flower Pot coral. I tried mixing some frozen rotifer with a drop of Zooplankton and tank water. I got
the airline tubing from an old air pump in the garage and cleaned it wih water best I could. I target fed the Flower Pot coral
and many of the polyps seemed to be trying their feeding motion (???).

Interesting discovery in the main tank! A three legged starfish! It is at the top of the tank eating algae like a snail, and about
3/8" diameter. I think its a sand sifting starfish, because it is dull white with brown 'leapard' spots. I hope it is ok and its
legs grow back.

January 20, 2007

We noticed what looked like a dead 'red' hermit crab. It was the black/red claws, tenticles, eyes all thick and heavy. The body
looked torn and eaten, and no shell in sight. It was late in the evening and the red no 'red' crabs could be found. I'm hoping it's
a molt.

January 21, 2007

Found both 'red' Cortez hermit crabs! That was just a molt, and not a dead crab.

January 22, 2007

I bought Cyclop-eeze food. I again (like everyday) tried to mix up some food and feed the Flower Pot Coral without much
success. The Flower Pot has lost a few more polyps, I've counted at least 5 on the bottom of the tank. A few days ago I tried
SUPERGLUE to attach the fallen polyps to a new rock, but about 30 minutes later they fell off. It is very hard to handle the
polyps.

January 23, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   Ammonia meter has read 'safe' for about 4 days and nitrates have gone from 0 to about 20. Copper
continues to read about 2.0. I've been feeding exclusively PRIME REEF flak food to Clownfish and Royal Gramma. They seem
to be doing well. The 'brown' algae has been excessive in the hospital tank. I carefully cleaned some off the glass when I
could no longer look into the tank. I don't want to dirt the tiny tank water too much.

I saw the 3 legged starfish going across the tank side again. He hadn't been seen since Jan 17th. According to one site, sand
sifting starfish don't climb on the glass, so I'm not sure what type this one is.

There has been some major-major growth in the macro algae, and it is threatening to take over the tank. Also, I've seen some
stringy algae growning on the side of the glass.

At 1:25pm I noticed the Skunk Cleaner Shrimp had molted again! This is only 10 days after the last molt. This time he got rid
of almost all the black spots.

January 27, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   Ammonia meter has read 'safe'. ph 8.4 Ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 0.0 Temp 76 S.G. 1.028!!!! Copper
about 2.0~ at about 1pm. I added 1/2 gallon of warmed fresh water to bring S.G. back down to 1.023 over about 1.5 hours. I fed
the Clownfish and Royal Gramma small amount of PRIME REEF flak food, which is all I've been feeding them for the past week
or so. I guess the 1/2 gallon or so of evaporation caused the huge uptick in the specific gravity. Both fish seem fine health
wise. The tank is covered in brown algae and there is nothing I can do about it. I've clean some off the sides, but I don't want
to dirty the water too much.

Main tank ph 8.4 Ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 0.0 Temp 77 S.G. 1.0235 at about 1:30pm.

The Cleaner Skunk Shrimp is very nice and seems to like me. He climbed on my hand multiple times when I was trying to
scrub brown algae off the aquarium glass. He sometimes pinches a little but ussually just runs up and down my fingers.

The anemone has worked his way around the left side of the tank, saying mostly in the bottom rocks. I'm not sure how he is
doing, because he won't take any food and often moves. He also collapses into a deflated ballonn/belly button.

My Flower Pot Coral is just as bad. I've tried many many 'target feedings' that seem to fail, and the feedings have caused
some algae problems. At various times, all the hermit crabs stand on the Flower Pot Coral skeleton and their shells hit the
Coral. It just not doing well. Some of the polyps continue to fall or get knocked off (not sure which). I even noticed the
Cleaner Shrimp standing on the Flower Pot Coral today!

January 28, 2007

New discovery in the main tank! I noticed tiny 1/16" things floating around the tank, perhaps 100+ but maybe more or less.
They were long and would bend their bodies every once in a while. I looked at one under the microscope and it was clearly a
minature shrimp. It could be an amphipod, but doesn't seem to match any pictures on google. The back-end was identical to
the cleaner shrimp but could only make out about 8 small legs (4x2) in front and no big long tenticals.

January 30, 2007

New 5 gallon Tank   Ammonia meter has read 'safe' for the week. The Clownfish and the Royal Gramma have continued to
chow down the limit PRIME REEF flak food I feed them each day. I have not noticed any rubbing or spots for quite sometime.

New discovery in the main tank! On the back of one of the live rock a growth has appeared. It was on the one 2nd farthest to
the right, near/under the intake for the Pengiun filter. It is a brown/gold fuzzy growth cylinder shape about 1/2+ long and
diameter. It has a small cone shaped feather like 1/8" thing sticking out a side near the end. The whole thing is growing
sideways. I think it might be a coral since it doesn't move, but is clearly something alive.

The BTA (Bubble Tip Anemone) is not doing well. For one thing he moved behind a rock and setup camp. I don't like him there
(cause I won't be able to see him or the Clownfish if he joins him!) and he doesn't look that good either.

The Flower Pot Coral is constantly losing polyps. I cut a water bottle in half, stuck in the sand, setup a sanctuary and put and
the lost polyps in there. Interestingly, all the polyps clustered together. We will see.

January 31, 2007

The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp killed and ate one of the Blue Hermit Crabs! A few minutes before I got home, Carla and the kids
noticed the Cleaner Shrimp battling a small Blue Hermit Crab that had no shell. The fought the Cleaner Shrimp to the
otherside of the tank and hoped the crab would get to a shell. However, when they returned the little crab was back in the
arms of the Shrimp. When I got home the little guys body was gone.

Returned the Clownfish and the Royal Gramma to the main tank after about 1 hour of acclimation. The Clownfish ate some
brine shrimp after another hour and the Royal Gramma was quite upset.

The anemone was facing the front of the aquarium with his foot in the biggest cave, right where I want him. I mixed up some
mysis shrimp and target feed the anemone. I think it was a success. I noticed later the Cleaner Shrimp bothing him.