mflander
Senior Member
Congrats on the write up!
Chris' Elos 160 (1 Viewer)
OP
OP
Just when you think you've got it figured out, something stumps you. I lost a number of sps over the past couple of weeks, but I think things are bouncing back. I have a short list of potential causes, but nothing definitive and I might not ever know for sure. I'll be away from the tank this week, which is probably exactly what it needs 
Unfortunately, one of the female Ventralis stopped eating and disappeared after about 5 days in the display. The other three seem to be comfortable and stay out in the water column with the other anthias most of the time. They spend a lot of time just below the water surface and don't seem to mind the bright lighting or the activity.
I've also been watching one of my original female Purple Queens turn male over the past month or so. She was always the largest but never showed any signs of changing until I added to the group. There is already a semi-male in the tank but I've never seen more than the occasional display. Definitely the most passive male anthias I've kept.
Caught the Bicolor doing a stretch:
Unfortunately, one of the female Ventralis stopped eating and disappeared after about 5 days in the display. The other three seem to be comfortable and stay out in the water column with the other anthias most of the time. They spend a lot of time just below the water surface and don't seem to mind the bright lighting or the activity.
I've also been watching one of my original female Purple Queens turn male over the past month or so. She was always the largest but never showed any signs of changing until I added to the group. There is already a semi-male in the tank but I've never seen more than the occasional display. Definitely the most passive male anthias I've kept.
Caught the Bicolor doing a stretch:
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Kepler
Former: Koletang
Great pics as always.
How difficult was it to get the purple queens eating? I'm thinking about trying some P. tuka and they are very similar I hear.
What's the total anthias count?
How difficult was it to get the purple queens eating? I'm thinking about trying some P. tuka and they are very similar I hear.
What's the total anthias count?
OP
OP
This is P. tuka— they lose the yellow dorsal stripe when they turn male. There is some weirdness with the naming of tuka and pascalus; I've heard them both referred to as purple queens.
Relative to other Anthias, they're difficult to get onto larger frozen foods and pellets but it just takes time. I can't imagine trying to do it in the display, but training in quarantine is pretty painless with some patience. Some will catch on after a few days but I had one not touch a thing for almost two weeks before it came around.
I believe there are 25 Anthias in total.
Kepler
Former: Koletang
Ah, I didn't see the yellow on the chin and lip so I thought it was pasculas.
That's good to hear. What food got them eating for you?
OP
OP
Sorry, I didn't see this post! Cylclop-eeze and Ova in moderate flow tend to work, but they've both become hard to find. Baby brine with little to no flow will buy you some time if they're slow to come around.
New Wave got some juvenile Pascalus in the other day; Tuka is definitely the right choice
OP
OP
Cooper's Anthias Trio-
Kepler
Former: Koletang
Good looking fish.
BTW, did you ever figure out what was going on with the SPS (color loss, PE, etc.)?
BTW, did you ever figure out what was going on with the SPS (color loss, PE, etc.)?
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OP
OP
In short, I believe I have solved the issue. It has been, by far, the largest set back I've had in this system. I think I lost at least 25% of my sps. Luckily, a lot of colonies have remaining tissue and should eventually recover. I owe Flounder a big "thank you" for holding a few of my favorites in his system this past month while I get things figured out.
Initially, I misidentified the issue as nutrient related. I raised my levels and held for a couple weeks but only saw further degradation. Because the problem was related to SPS, I triple checked the obvious alkalinity/calcium/magnesium trio but nothing seemed to be off. While I was on vacation, I got back some Triton results that I took when things started going awry. I compared the results to the those back from when the system was healthy. Line by line, everything was right on wth the exception of calcium. It turns out my calcium test kit was reading 550ppm as 400ppm. I imagine my kit just went bad over time and I adjusted dosing to compensate for the seemingly low levels, which is partly what made it difficult to narrow down because it didn't have anything to do with a change that I had made.
I haven't been able to find much online regarding any dangers of high calcium. In fact there is a very laissez-faire attitude toward this parameter in general. I'm also surprised that I didn't observe any increase in calcium carbonate precipitation, but this is possibly due to the low carbonate level in my low nutrient system. A new calcium test kit confirmed the high readings over 550ppm.
I immediately halted calcium dosing and changed 100% of the water over the course of a couple weeks with almost immediate positive results. I also had a long conversation with Adam at Battlecorals where we eliminated a lot of potential other causes and determined it was either the calcium, or something in the water that Triton doesn't test for.
In the end, I have a few pieces I need to replace and lost a lot of momentum but learned a lesson. I'm taking the opportunity to rearrange a few things and am taking it slow.
Kepler
Former: Koletang
Great info Chris. I agree that calcium is often overlooked. In fact a lot of Calcium test kits have a +/- of 15ppm or more, hardly accurate.
Have you ever had issues with bacteria over population while running the pellets? (Cyano, GAC reactor "going biological", etc.) What's the best way to prevent this?
Have you ever had issues with bacteria over population while running the pellets? (Cyano, GAC reactor "going biological", etc.) What's the best way to prevent this?
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Kepler
Former: Koletang
Just noticed that you won something. Congrats!
http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/shi...ry-out-new-sponsor-no-risk-6.html#post2208965
What's the count of Reef Raft signatures at this point?
http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/shi...ry-out-new-sponsor-no-risk-6.html#post2208965
What's the count of Reef Raft signatures at this point?
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OP
OP
Oh nice! No joke, I've won so many free Reef Raft acros I'm starting to think there's a conspiracy.
OP
OP
It's been awhile since I've taken photos.
The acans have all grown into each other– I like the packed look but there isn't much growth anymore except at the edges.
After reading an awesome article on Reef Builders, I've realized that I'm keeping a male Pascalus anthias, which I had previously assumed was a Purple Queen that had a stunted transition. The white throat and orange tips on the tail are the give aways. I have a female for him in quarantine.
The Ventralis continue to do well and have become dominant over the Red Saddled and female Purple Queens.
I haven't kept a Mandarin in years, I almost forgot how awesome they are. I picked up a really handsome male who has been competing with his reflection.
The Royal Gramma has a new habit of lodging himself against the rock during high flow periods so he can keep an eye on things but not have to overexert himself.
The Candy Basslet is the only fish that couldn't care less if I'm feeding the tank. I very rarely see him eat any prepared foods.
The dominant female Lyretail Anthias bordered by a pair of Carberryis. The trio of Lyretails border on obesity while I struggle to put weight on other species in the genus.
The acans have all grown into each other– I like the packed look but there isn't much growth anymore except at the edges.
After reading an awesome article on Reef Builders, I've realized that I'm keeping a male Pascalus anthias, which I had previously assumed was a Purple Queen that had a stunted transition. The white throat and orange tips on the tail are the give aways. I have a female for him in quarantine.
The Ventralis continue to do well and have become dominant over the Red Saddled and female Purple Queens.
I haven't kept a Mandarin in years, I almost forgot how awesome they are. I picked up a really handsome male who has been competing with his reflection.
The Royal Gramma has a new habit of lodging himself against the rock during high flow periods so he can keep an eye on things but not have to overexert himself.
The Candy Basslet is the only fish that couldn't care less if I'm feeding the tank. I very rarely see him eat any prepared foods.
The dominant female Lyretail Anthias bordered by a pair of Carberryis. The trio of Lyretails border on obesity while I struggle to put weight on other species in the genus.
OP
OP
Thanks!
These are all shot with the Canon 100mm 2.8L Macro. I still prefer this lens for fish; the autofocus is a bit more equipped to track close moving objects. I think the image stabilizer helps a lot too since I shoot fish handheld.
OP
OP
Bubble Tip anemone has finally started growing after about 2 years. It's going to have to move or I'll have to rearrange around it. Clownfish still has no idea it's in the tank.
Got this maxima from New Wave last week, impulse purchase but no regrets.
I procured this strange anthias, which isn't visually very special but it doesn't enter the hobby very often. Lemon Tyk confirmed it is Pseudanthias marcia. It was listed as P. kashiwae, but we all know that kashiwae is just a synonym of P. cooperi, and this is quite different. It looks like distribution is limited to the deeper reefs off of Oman and Yemen so s/he's made quite a journey.
Got this maxima from New Wave last week, impulse purchase but no regrets.
I procured this strange anthias, which isn't visually very special but it doesn't enter the hobby very often. Lemon Tyk confirmed it is Pseudanthias marcia. It was listed as P. kashiwae, but we all know that kashiwae is just a synonym of P. cooperi, and this is quite different. It looks like distribution is limited to the deeper reefs off of Oman and Yemen so s/he's made quite a journey.
jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Ooh... I think I know how this is going to go. :ac39: Good luck!
So, can you tell us which anthias species you do NOT currently keep in your tank?
Did Lemon give you any more information about its biology? Or which anthias is its closest relative? Larger or smaller species?
It would be interesting to know if you have a female or male. Is this fish submissive to any other males? Or just keep to itself?
Regardless, very nice fish!
And that comment about "isn't visually very special", not every fish needs to be a Mucha to be a work of art; like my Pictus Blenny.