Hi there, well I have added a new Anemone, picked up from Terry in Binbrook. He has a very fertile mother RBTA that has spawned many offspring.
I have picked one up and you can see it in the video below. I had a maroon clownfish and had a white buble tip anemone, however, this anemone, never did very well and shrivled up and died....
My maroon clown is very happy now that he has a new anemone to hang out with.
You can see him snuggling up in the RBTA. He sleeps in it every night and will defend it ferociously from other fish and shrimps that come too close.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Example of impact of CO2 levels on Marine EcoSystem
Hi well everyone has been hearing about global warming and rising CO2 levels. Well the rising CO2 levels are acidifying the ocean, driving the pH of the ocean down as CO2 levels rise. This is a very bad thing, as Corals and marine life live in a very narrow band of acceptable PH levels between pH 8.1 and pH 8.4.
Corals grow by creating bicarbonate skeletons, this is what creates the beautiful corals reefs and ecosystems that support the huge abundance of life in the oceans.
However, when pH levels in the ocean drop below about 7.8 calcification stops and corals start to disolve.
Below is a graphic example of this. My marine tank is in the basement, When my son has a sleep over with his buddies, 4 extra bodies exhaling CO2 drives up the CO2 levels and lowers the pH in the tank.
"
Corals grow by creating bicarbonate skeletons, this is what creates the beautiful corals reefs and ecosystems that support the huge abundance of life in the oceans.
However, when pH levels in the ocean drop below about 7.8 calcification stops and corals start to disolve.
Below is a graphic example of this. My marine tank is in the basement, When my son has a sleep over with his buddies, 4 extra bodies exhaling CO2 drives up the CO2 levels and lowers the pH in the tank.
"
Saturday, September 4, 2010
My 150 Gallon tank 4 months old
Hi there, well the video below is of my 150 gallon tank after 4 months and after the hottest summer in Burlington I can remeber in a long time. The fans for evaporative cooling worked just perfect.
In the video you will see a number of fish.
FoxFace Lo - a curious fish, the one with the black & white face and yellow body. His is an algae eater and very well behaved community fish. He always puts up with the yellow tang pestering him. The FoxFace Lo's dorsal spines are extremely poisonous....so you do not want to be touching him or trying to catch him by hand. Another interesting behaviour of the FoxFace is that he can change colours to camoflouge into the background, he can go from bright yellow to black or anything in between...
The other fish are a Hawaiin Yellow Tang and a Pacific Blue Tang and Yellow Tail Corus Wrasse ( Juvenile) see earlier post about how this fish changes has it reaches adult hood.
There is also a blue streak cleaner wrasse....this wrasse cleans the bigger fish, and picks at them.....the bigger fish let this grooming occur as it helps them....and probably feels good too. ( you can see this in the video above)
There are also a few blood red cleaner shrimp as well and they also will climb on to the bigger fish....and groom and clean them.
In the video you will see a number of fish.
FoxFace Lo - a curious fish, the one with the black & white face and yellow body. His is an algae eater and very well behaved community fish. He always puts up with the yellow tang pestering him. The FoxFace Lo's dorsal spines are extremely poisonous....so you do not want to be touching him or trying to catch him by hand. Another interesting behaviour of the FoxFace is that he can change colours to camoflouge into the background, he can go from bright yellow to black or anything in between...
The other fish are a Hawaiin Yellow Tang and a Pacific Blue Tang and Yellow Tail Corus Wrasse ( Juvenile) see earlier post about how this fish changes has it reaches adult hood.
There is also a blue streak cleaner wrasse....this wrasse cleans the bigger fish, and picks at them.....the bigger fish let this grooming occur as it helps them....and probably feels good too. ( you can see this in the video above)
There are also a few blood red cleaner shrimp as well and they also will climb on to the bigger fish....and groom and clean them.
Friday, September 3, 2010
New 150 Galon Build
Well everything was getting bigger, my Tangs, my YTCW and my corals so I bit the bullet and upgrade to a 150 Gallon system with a 80 gallon sump.
Here is a video of the new tank after I set it up in April 2010.
Here is a video of the new tank after I set it up in April 2010.
Monday, March 15, 2010
New Addition Yellow Tail Coris Wrasse
Well on the weekend I went and purchased a smaller version of this Yellow Tail Coris Wrasse. The damn crab I did not know I had ate the smaller version. I was depressed...the damn crab also consumed a small Royal Gramma I had purchased....at that time I did not know the crab was in the tank. I thought it had died, but what I found was the molt of it's shell.
So the crab is still there and it eats small fish.....Okay. Well I was at the LFS and saw this larger version of the Yellow Tail Coris Wrasse, so I bit the bullet and purchased it.
Then I was doing further reading on the internet and others have reported that their YTCW ( short for Yellow Tail Coris Wrasse ;-)) buried itself in the sand for 4 days before coming out....well who knows maybe I have two YTCW now....time will tell. The bigger YTCW came out the very next day, just before dusk it buried itself into the sand bed and went to sleep. Awesome fish.
The YTCW buries in the sand to sleep at night and for protection when frightened or harassed. It Searches for food by turning over pieces of live rock and coral. Large individuals are very adept at this task, and thus can easily move objects around, which may cause aquarium rock formations to become unstable.
Typically not aggressive towards other fishes, but larger individuals may harass smaller tankmates. Adults are best kept singly or as a mated pair, otherwise territorial aggression may result.
Below is a picture of what an adult YTCW looks like a striking transformation in colour and appearance
So the crab is still there and it eats small fish.....Okay. Well I was at the LFS and saw this larger version of the Yellow Tail Coris Wrasse, so I bit the bullet and purchased it.
Then I was doing further reading on the internet and others have reported that their YTCW ( short for Yellow Tail Coris Wrasse ;-)) buried itself in the sand for 4 days before coming out....well who knows maybe I have two YTCW now....time will tell. The bigger YTCW came out the very next day, just before dusk it buried itself into the sand bed and went to sleep. Awesome fish.
The YTCW buries in the sand to sleep at night and for protection when frightened or harassed. It Searches for food by turning over pieces of live rock and coral. Large individuals are very adept at this task, and thus can easily move objects around, which may cause aquarium rock formations to become unstable.
Typically not aggressive towards other fishes, but larger individuals may harass smaller tankmates. Adults are best kept singly or as a mated pair, otherwise territorial aggression may result.
Below is a picture of what an adult YTCW looks like a striking transformation in colour and appearance
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
What is that snapping sound I here ?
So I was reading quietly and I heard a loud snap from the aquarium, snap....then a few minutes later another snap....hmm what could it be...? A mantis shrimp....oh know mantis shrimp are ferocious predators...then again snap...
Guess what it is the Pistol Shrimp, the Yellow Watchman Gobies den mate !
Guess what it is the Pistol Shrimp, the Yellow Watchman Gobies den mate !
Monday, February 8, 2010
Symbiotic Relationships in the Reef
Gobies sometimes form symbiotic relationships with other species. Some goby species live in symbiosis with burrowing shrimps. The shrimp maintains a burrow in the sand in which both the shrimp and the goby fish live. The shrimp has poor eyesight compared to the goby, but if it sees or feels the goby suddenly swim into the burrow, it will follow. The goby and shrimp keep in contact with each other, the shrimp using its antennae, and the goby flicking the shrimp with its tail when alarmed. These gobies are thus sometimes known as watchmen or prawn gobies. Each party gains from this relationship: the shrimp gets a warning of approaching danger, and the goby gets a safe home and a place to lay its eggs in.
Corals and Zooanthellae Algae
Although corals can catch small fish and animals such as plankton using stinging cells on their tentacles, these animals obtain most of their nutrients from photosynthetic unicellular algae called zooxanthellae. Consequently, most corals depend on sunlight and grow in clear and shallow water, typically at depths shallower than 60 metres (200 ft). These corals can be major contributors to the physical structure of the coral reefs that develop in tropical waters.
This is why in a reef aquarium with corals, we have to have powerfull lights simulating the Lumens from the sun. This allows the zoanthellae algae to create food for the corals to grow.
ClownFish and Anemone
Clownfish such as the Clown Anemone fish (in my tank) are the only species of fishes that can avoid the potent poison of a sea anemone. There are several theories about how this is accomplished:
The Clown Anemone, hosts only certain type of anemones, the Bubble Tip Anemone is a favorite host for the Clown Anemone fish.
The mucus coating of the fish may be based on sugars rather than proteins. This would mean that anemones fail to recognize the fish as a potential food source and do not fire their nematocysts, or sting organelles.
The coevolution of certain species of clownfish with specific anemone host species and may have acquired an immunity to the nematocysts and toxins of their host anemone.
Blood Red Cleaner Shrimp and Larger Fish
A cleaning station is a location where fish and other marine life congregate to be cleaned.
The cleaning process includes the removal of parasites from the animal's body (both externally and internally), and can be performed by various creatures (including cleaner shrimp and numerous species of cleaner fish, especially wrasses and gobies).
When the fish approaches a cleaning station they will pose in an 'unnatural' way to show the cleaner shrimp that they want to be cleaned and pose no threat, this can be pointing in a strange direction and/or opening the mouth wide. The cleaner shrimp will then eat the parasites directly from the skin of the cleaned fish. It will even swim into the mouth and gills of the fish to be cleaned.
Cleaning stations are often associated with coral features, located either on top of a coral head or in a slot between two outcroppings.
Corals and Zooanthellae Algae
Although corals can catch small fish and animals such as plankton using stinging cells on their tentacles, these animals obtain most of their nutrients from photosynthetic unicellular algae called zooxanthellae. Consequently, most corals depend on sunlight and grow in clear and shallow water, typically at depths shallower than 60 metres (200 ft). These corals can be major contributors to the physical structure of the coral reefs that develop in tropical waters.
This is why in a reef aquarium with corals, we have to have powerfull lights simulating the Lumens from the sun. This allows the zoanthellae algae to create food for the corals to grow.
ClownFish and Anemone
Clownfish such as the Clown Anemone fish (in my tank) are the only species of fishes that can avoid the potent poison of a sea anemone. There are several theories about how this is accomplished:
The Clown Anemone, hosts only certain type of anemones, the Bubble Tip Anemone is a favorite host for the Clown Anemone fish.
The mucus coating of the fish may be based on sugars rather than proteins. This would mean that anemones fail to recognize the fish as a potential food source and do not fire their nematocysts, or sting organelles.
The coevolution of certain species of clownfish with specific anemone host species and may have acquired an immunity to the nematocysts and toxins of their host anemone.
Blood Red Cleaner Shrimp and Larger Fish
A cleaning station is a location where fish and other marine life congregate to be cleaned.
The cleaning process includes the removal of parasites from the animal's body (both externally and internally), and can be performed by various creatures (including cleaner shrimp and numerous species of cleaner fish, especially wrasses and gobies).
When the fish approaches a cleaning station they will pose in an 'unnatural' way to show the cleaner shrimp that they want to be cleaned and pose no threat, this can be pointing in a strange direction and/or opening the mouth wide. The cleaner shrimp will then eat the parasites directly from the skin of the cleaned fish. It will even swim into the mouth and gills of the fish to be cleaned.
Cleaning stations are often associated with coral features, located either on top of a coral head or in a slot between two outcroppings.
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