First Clowns!!!

[Slakker]

Well...I finally got my clowns! :)
And a peppermint shrimp to take care of that silly aiptasia.

I picked them up from Living Art Aquarium in Madison. They were a fresh batch of CB Perc's...or Ocellaris...they weren't real clear. One clerk told me perc, the other ocellaris...we'll get 'em IDed as soon as I get a camera fast enough to catch a good photo without spooking them with the flash.

Well, the larger of the two (soon to be female, if all goes well) was the one I really wanted, but as they were the only two in the tank and they were already swimming with each other and looked to be pretty paired up, I couldn't bear to split them. I'm a little worried that I'll hit a bit of a cycle with the both of them in there so soon, but with the established sand and the fact that I've had it up and running with a bit of rock I'm hopeful. I also picked up about 8 more pounds of cured LR, and if all else fails I've got some AmQuel that I can add.

They made it through the near hour drive back to the tank, and I started drip acclimating them. They were both laying on the bottom of the bag breathing really heavily, so I started swapping the water over faster, and finally when one was resting on top of the other I panicked and figured maybe just adding the poor guys to the tank would be better than having them sit in the bag any longer.

So far they're both swimming around exploring happily, so I hope I made a good decision and they won't end up in trouble in a few hours or a few days...My fingers will be crossed for the next couple of weeks.

The little guy looks like he's got the "Bent" gill cover that can sometimes be prevalent in CB clowns, but they both looked incredibly healthy at the store, were swimming around, perky, and they've got GORGEOUS coloration. I know that they aren't ORA, they said they got them from "Wilson's." I dunno...but they are tank bred.


At the time they were introduced, Ammonia/Nitrites were 0, Nitrates were ~ 25ppm (partial water change comin up tomorrow) and pH is 8.0.
Anyways...the goods...PICTURE TIME!
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/3446/dayfifteen002pd5.jpg

[phender]

Wilson may be a local breeder. You don't need any clearer pics, they are ocellaris. Congrats on the new fish.

[Slakker]

Thanks, Phil :)

I'm just really hoping they'll be okay...they should be.

[Slakker]

And, of course, as any new father would do...a real short video of the two almost immediately after being introduced to the tank.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/tmslak/th_Clowns.jpg (http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/tmslak/?action=view&current=Clowns.flv)

[Tyler.L]

nice i am proud of you lol....nice new children..
my clowns have started to pair which makes me happy but they're both still a little shady with one another but tanks looking great and so are the clowns...

[Slakker]

I'm really hopeful that my filtration is holding up, Ammonia levels are reading 0 still today. I'm about to do a 10% WC and put in this new 10,000k/Actinic 03 bulb I just got from HelloLights.com.

I'm also planning on rinsing out the filter cartridge and the bio-wheel to try to bring down nitrates. I'll post before and after pics of the new light as soon as I'm done :)

[GSMguy]

awsome video they seem happy and healthy

[Purple Penguins]

congrads on your new family members

[Slakker]

Well...the new bulb is in, and I definitely like the change in spectrum, but I've lost a lot of intensity.

Old bulb:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/9345/daytwo005iz6.th.jpg (http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=daytwo005iz6.jpg)

New bulb:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1724/daysixteen006ep0.th.jpg (http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=daysixteen006ep0.jpg)

It might be too blue for me...could end up changing it out again before too long.

[Kengaroo131]

nice clowns you have there! i want to get a pair soon. i like the bluer bulb it will brighten up the coraline when it starts to grow out.

[Slakker]

I love the bluer spectrum, too, but i'm concerned about the lack of intensity. This bulb would be phenomenal as a supplement to a 6500k, but as the main lighting I just am not sure it puts out enough light.

I may have to look into modding this hood to take another bulb...hmmm...

[GSMguy]

enough light for what slakker? :)

[Slakker]

Just in general...it's very dusk-like IMO. I won't be putting an anemone in here, don't worry ;)

Maybe some little shrooms or something one of these days though...but I think even they would have a hard time under a 13w bulb.

[Kengaroo131]

thats an eclipse right? i saw an eclipse light upgrade for like 30 bucks i think somewhere and it puts out 28 watts i think im not sure i'll look for the page now and if i find it i'll post it up here.

[Slakker]

Yeah, the Eclipse 12.

If you find it, that would be AWESOME. I've seen the retrofits for the other Eclipse hoods, but never for the Eclipse 12 hood. Thanks!

[Kengaroo131]

damm it must have been somthing else i seen, but i found the one i was thinking of but its 13 watts also i though it was more. although you can always get this one and try to diy it in there that way you can have half day havlf antnic if you wanted it only like 15 bucks and if fits your tank to begin with. heres the link.

http://www.hellolights.com/13watbalkit.html

[phender]

DO NOT rinse out your filter and your bio-wheel at the same time. You will lose all your biological filtration and get an ammonia spike that may kill your fish.

[Slakker]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking about doing...but I'd have to make up a splash guard out of acrylic. I can't imagine that would be too tough, though. Something to look at after I move out of the dorms and home for the summer. I think I'll give this new bulb a couple of days to grow on me to see what I think of it.

I've got a question about feeding...My little guys are eating voraciously, which is good, but I want to be sure i'm feeding them the right stuff.

So far I've got Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 flake that I'm smashing up into pretty fine particles, which they seem to absolutely love. I've also got a canister of Kent's "Reef Herbivore" pellets, which I smash into small particles. They go for this pretty excitedly, too, plus what they don't eat gives the snails and hermits something to go after. Even the peppermint came out of hiding to snag some leftovers of what everyone else had missed.

I use 2 flakes and one herbivore pellet. Enough? Too much?

I plan to get some frozen Formula 1 and a bottle of Selcon, but I haven't used the freezer on my mini-fridge for much, so I'm testing it right now to make sure that it can keep the food frozen.

Any other suggestions would be great!

[Slakker]

Oh wow...I figured with the sand/rock I would be okay...thanks for the tip, Phil. Unfortunately I already rinsed out the filter cartridge and bio-wheel, but I've removed the wheel. I hope I haven't just made a potentially fatal mistake...

I've got some water already mixed from today's WC, so I'll monitor ammonia more closely than I had planned, and if ammonia starts spiking I'll have to take action to fix it.

I've got some "Ammo-Lock" and some "Amquel" that the person I bought the tank from had given me, would you recommend using either of those in case of a spike? Or would frequent WCs be a better solution?

[phender]

Sorry, I jumped the gun. I didn't realize that you had rock and sand. You will be fine.
So my next question is, "why do you have the bio-wheel and another filter at all?"

[Slakker]

Haha, good question. Whew...I feel much better knowing that I have (probably) not sentenced the little chitlins to death by my stupidity.

The Eclipse 12 has a "three stage!" filtration system, so I was just running that as it came to me. The filter cartridge is basically a soft pad for mechanical filtration with activated carbon underneath it. I figured some carbon never hurt anybody, right?

So with established rock and sand, all I really need is flow? Also, do you think it would be a good idea to pick up a small powerhead for additional flow?

And thanks again (and in advance) for all of the help...I and my "kids" appreciate it!

[phender]

I think your soft pad/carbon stage is great. Don't think you need the bio-wheel though. It builds up nitrates faster than your rock and sand can get rid of them.

Adding a powerhead will depend on the "feel" of the tank, and what you want to keep. If it were my tank, depending on the strength of your return pump, I might add a MJ 600 or something similar.

[Slakker]

Okay, gotcha. Keep the mechanical/carbon, but, as I suspected, ditch the wheel. Thanks! :)

According to the Marineland website, the Eclipse System 12 has a "certified flow" of 150gph. There appears to be a "current" of sorts that covers nearly every part of the tank, but I think if I ever want any sort of coral I'll probly have to add some additional flow.

[pncstod]

Congrats on your clowns. They look great!!!
I look forward to seeing the progress of your tank. You are most likely the most experienced newbie ever on RC! I would put money down that your tank will be stunning in no time.

[pncstod]

Oh I forgot to say, that I had an Eclipse 12 and had to add a small PH. So yes, I would believe it would be a good idea to pick up a power head.

[Slakker]

Wow...that means a lot, thank you!

However, in fairness Random Aquarist has been researching for way longer than I have. His tank is going to be phenomenal, i'm sure.

I really do hope that things keep going well...i'm so afraid that I'm going to screw something up and kill the clowns. It's really scary to have a new saltwater setup...especially now that I have inhabitants!

Did you have any corals in your eclipse? I don't want anything remotely fragile at this point, but even so I'm sure I don't have enough lighting to support anything photosynthetic. Might be forced to upgrade.

Edit: Also, my friend is going to be bringing me the moonlights she had on her 29, so I'm hoping I'll be able to frankenstein those onto the hood. That would be really great.

[cmb88]

sounds good

[Slakker]

Thanks.

My clowns and I have had a bit of a scare this evening...I startled my male but accidentally flipping the light back on while attempting to adjust the timer a bit, and he was acting all wrong, and I think he might have had a few white spots, but I'm not positive.

They appear to be sleeping happily right now, though, so I've got high hopes that everything is fine and I just scared the poor little guy.

[Tyler.L]

hey i am going to take out all my filter floss in my eclipse because stuff's building up in it too fast and my nitrates keep getting higher with feeding and such..

i got some xenia, finger leather, mushroom, candy cane, and some zoo's in my tank with my clowns and things are great so far..just place your things in the middle to the top and things will work great, i been thinking alot of upgrading my lighting or just takin the eclipse hood off all together and getting a hob and then some new lighting..but everythings good so far....

your tanks great i started freaking out when i got my tank started at first with my clowns and watching them and thinkin things were wrong..but your tanks great but i thinking get rid of all your filtration and let the tank do its own thing

but keep it up mayng

[Slakker]

Well, I moved them over into a QT tank and am about to start bringing them down to Hypo.