Will She Host?

My Clownfish has not hosted or even shown interest in my new rose anemone. While my clown has probably never had a host, I have read many stories and tips from people including to feed the anemone some Brine or Mysis shrimp. The theory is that the clown will see the food and sneak in for a peek. Once there, she will realize what the anemone is, and make itself at home. Sounds easy enough. I tried it. Nothing. Well, not nothing, at least the Rose Anemone got a nice little meal.

I've also read on a few forums about posting pictures of Clownfish hosting in anemones. Okay, that's a bit unconventional... I don't really buy it. I'll keep reading and looking for something else...

Well, post after post on several sites and forums seemed to back up this picture method, and I was finally inspired to give it a try. I founds some good color pictures at Rem'sReef.com. You can read about the success he had in his blog post, "Adding a Picture Does Get Clownfish to Host!"

I've printed the pictures and taped them to my tank. My Clownfish has responded so far by hiding in the back of the tank behind the rock work. While I have no idea if this will work or if my clown will ever host at all, what do I have to lose?

I'll keep you posted! Until next time...

Bioplastics Reactor Giveaway!!!

I love giveaways, I'm a huge fan of MarineDepot.com, and I really like my Two Little Fishies PhosBan 150 reactors, so I wanted to share this:

MarineDepot.com is giving away a Two Little Fishes NPX Bioplastics Reactor 150 with 200ml of NPX media (as seen on ChromisReef.com (and all over the web)). Your chances to win are pretty good; so far, there have only been about 25 posts. I'm not much of a gambling man, but the odds are in your favor! All you have to do is visit the Marine Depot Forums and post a comment in the Official Giveaway Thread.

Marine Depot provided the following information about the giveaway:

"Our staff receives alot of questions about biopellets, zeovit, prodibio, etc. so we started a new section in our forum to cover these topics: Probiotics and Labile Organic Carbon Dosing. It is moderated by Murray Camp (About Murray).

We are doing a giveway to bring awareness to the new forum. The winner of the giveaway will receive a Two Little Fishes NPX Bioplastics Reactor 150 with 200ml of NPX media.

There is no purchase necessary to enter. U.S. residents 18 and over merely need to post something into the official giveaway thread to be eligible. On September 19, a potential winner will be chosen randomly and contacted with a private message (PM) on the forum. They potential winner will have 14 days to reply to claim your prize. Entires are limited to one per person."

Go sign up! Take a look around. The moderators on the Forums are great: they are extremely knowledgable, helpful, and much nicer than moderators on some other well known forums. You can enter to win a cool product and learn something along the way!

Until next time...

As promoised...

A picture says many more words than I'm willing to type at the moment...

Please excuse the algae. Thanks.

(The images were also posted on the photo page.)

Aquarium update

I have some exciting updates! First, I just installed a BioPellet reactor. I used AquaMaxx BioMaxx Plus BioPellets available for cheap from MarineDepot.com. I also picked up another Two Little Fishies PhosBan 150 reactor (and the BioPlastics screen) and a Danner Supreme Mag-Drive 3 pump. The Mag-Drive 3, or what is often referred to as simply a "Mag 3" will provide 350 gallons per hour; enough to power both of my reactors: the PhosBan reactor and the new BioPellet reactor. To help seed the bacteria, I also bought a bottle of Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter7. I had to delay the installation by one day because I forgot to get some plumbing parts. I would recommend drawing out your setup before the install, and verify that the pump you are using comes with the adapters you need. It's a bummer to wait a day because of a $3 part that adapts your pump to vinyl tubing.

When using Phosphate media (GFO) in a reactor, you typically need a low flow, however for BioPlastics, you will need more flow to provide a steady tumble. I used a Y fitting to split the outlet from my Mag 3, and used the ball valves included with the reactors to adjust the flow. Use your eyes to get the flow right. I have no perfect gallons per hour number. You will want a slow tumble for the bio pellets; they should move freely without clumping, but you don't want them overly fluidized. For GFO (such as TLF Phosban), you will want the media to just barely bubble, as if it were JUST ABOUT TO BOIL.

The install is rather straight forward. There are many great how-to articles explaining the process, so I won't go into much detail. I will say that you MUST have a good protein skimmer. A protein skimmer will remove the excess bacteria released from the BioPellets. You will notice a thicker, darker, and more quantity of skimmate once the BioPellets mature.

When starting with BioPlastics, it is recommended to divide the final amount of required media and added it slowly. It is GENERALLY recommended to use 100ml per 25 gallons of system volume. For my aquarium, I will need roughly 300ml. I have started with half that amount- 150ml, but I have heard of others using only 1/3 of the final amount. I'm a bit impatient. I will increase the amount of media in the reactor to the final amount by adding 50ml of new media every week until I reach 300ml. This practice is something that has been recommended by hobbyists to help wean your tank onto this system, and prevent possible bacterial blooms and other associated problems. This has not been recommended by the manufacturers, but I'm sure taking it slow would not hurt. As an important side note, it is necessary to wean your system off of biopellets when discontinuing the system.

Not sure what BioPellets do, how they work, or what they are? Check out this article: How Do Bio-Pellets Work (Melev - ReefAddicts.com, 2011) and this video: Q&A with Julian Sprung: NPX BioPlastics (MarineDepot.com's YouTube Channel, 2011).

The BioPlastics will help me control nitrates and phosphates. This in turn helps keep algae in check and allows me to feed my tank a little better as it is recommended to feed your aquarium well (or extra well) to help the system flourish. This is a great benefit to the system; lots of food, low nutrients.

Unfortunately it's rather dark in here, and my camera takes terrible pictures in darker situations. I will post images of the install later. I will update on the progress of the system as it matures, and I am confident I will see positive results after a month or so.

And finally, I'm happy to report that I got some new tank additions including a BTA Rose anemone, a Red Scooter Blenny, a Maxi-mini Anemone, some additional snails for the clean up crew, and last week I added a cleaner shrimp. I'll post more information in my next update. Thanks for checking in, and until next time...

Back from vacation: New post soon!

I'm back from vacation. The tank was mostly automated and we had no problems with the exception of a fish that is MIA. The only help I asked for was the moving of the tube from one top off reseviour to another.

I'm going to be installing a Two Little Fishies Phosban 150 Reactor for use as a Bio Pellet reactor. I'll have a full post coming soon...