Nano Progress/ Unusual Clown

[ReefHawk]

Still have some algae troubles, but its coming along. Two weeks old now. Unusual Percula Clown markings on the potiential male. I had the larger and added the smaller. They get along great!

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~reefhawk/nano/nanotank.jpg

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~reefhawk/nano/nanoleft.jpg

[mr9iron]

Looking good ReefHawk. I like that nice piece of tonga branch rock you have sticking up. I do have a question though, what type of substrate are you using?

[ReefHawk]

Not what I want...

I put the tank together on a shoestring budget and used what I had...large CC. I plan to do a plenum with small CC or sand in a couple weeks. This IMO, and what I've seen, a plenum helps calcium levels.
I started off with tap water and which was not good, paying for that choice with the hair algae and also some of the corraline died that was on a transferred LR piece. I have made one water change since then. My plans are to use water from my 40gal which I change weekly of 25% and use zero phosphate well water. I maintain good levels of everything in it and will use 2.5 gal of the removed water from the 40 to put into the nano on a weekly basis as well. I have a phos sponge in the filter but the phos is only slightly high at change time in the 40 gal. This should make things fairly simple to keep up with both tanks. I will only have to monitor the 40 gal.

Until the newly installed skilter cycles in I am keeping the other bio wheel filter on as well. It came from the 40 gal to and well established with bacteria. I plan to add some bio balls into the skilter and change the phos filter media only at every other water change. The skilter was modified with a wood airstone and airpump. Skimming nicely. I dont think I really need a skimmer in the 10 gal but since I am using the water from the 40 gal, it might be good. The skilter allows me to have current flow, a place to put phos filter and bio balls, and the weak skimmer as well. Overall I thought this would be a good all around device for the nano.

The Skilter:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~reefhawk/nano/skilter.jpg

[Christopher Marks]

The unusual markings are the sad side effects of tank raised clown fish :( When clownfish were sucessfully bred in aquariums, the hacheries began add growth hormones to speed up their growth so they would reach a 'sellable' size. After awhile they were growing too fast and their markings couldn't catch up at the same rate. So yours will have normal markings in a few months.

That....or the one you have is very young and it's markings haven't developed fully.

[Lunchbucket]

i wish those markings would stay. i saw some at the LFS and they looked cool! one had a single dot on one side and 1/2 a stripe on the other side!

do those hormones make them really wierd colors? like really bright orangish.

later
Lunchbucket