New Inverts and Corals from Eastern Reef

Today, one of my local fish stores, Eastern Reef, acquired a new shipment of livestock.  My cleaning crew was getting low and needed to be replenished so I picked up twenty-five snails consisting of Astrea Snails, Cerith Snails, Nassarius Snails, and Black Conch Pygmy Snails.  

As well, I've always wanted to add a large conch snail to the reef, as they always remind me of the ocean.  Therefore, I also picked up a Florida Fighting Conch.

I also picked up some corals to add to the reef.  I added a Purple Plume Gorgonian, which are photosynthetic... meaning, they draw their food source from the light, as well as filtering the water column for food.  Notice the polyps on its branches, with which it filters the water.  This specimen is a fair size and I had to mount him onto live rock in order for him to stand.

Also, I picked up a small frag of a Green Monti Cap (Monitpora Capricornus).  They are an SPS coral, but unlike the branching structure of an Acropora SPS, the Monti Cap tend to scroll and forms a cylindrical shape.  My frag is already beginning to scroll.

Monti Caps are fairly fast growers and, in a few months, I will upload another image to compare how quickly its grown.

Changed RO/DI Filters and Resin

Today, I changed the filters and resin on my RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionizing) system from Aquasafe Canada, which is rated 100 gallons/per day, five stage.

On average, they are supposed to be changed every 8 - 12 months, however, mine haven't been changed in a few years.  I took a TDS reading a few days ago and let's just say it wasn't far from what was coming out of my tap!  Luckily for me, our tap water is pretty good.  Anyways, it really motivated me to change the filters and resin.

I knew it was going to be a PITA to do, and sure enough as soon as I tried to remove the first filter chamber, it wouldn't budge.  My RO/DI unit came with plastic wrenches specifically made to remove these chambers.  I cranked and cranked until this happened:

I was not happy!  Anyways, now I needed to find a way to try and get these chambers off.  Luckily for me, my friend Pat had a strap wrench that I could try... thanks, Pat!  Again, I cranked and it still didn't budge.  I was turning counter-clockwise, the same direction as if you were unscrewing lids, screws, etc...  Out of frustration, I decided to try unscrewing in the other direction, and after a couple of cranks, it moved!

Here's was the issue... when opening these chambers, you're actually unscrewing the chamber itself, not the lid.  That is why the direction was reversed.  Anyways, I will definitely remember next time.

I quickly changed the filters and resin, hooked up the RO/DI unit and its currently purifying my water.  Later tonight, I will do another TDS reading to test the water quality.

New SPS Corals

One of my local fish stores was having a two for one sale on corals, to make room for a new order.  Well, I couldn't pass up the deal.  My favorite corals are SPS (small polyp stoney) corals. We picked up four in total.

Green Slimer from Bali

Pink Millipora from Fiji

Yellow Millipora from Bali

Blue Acropora from Fiji

As I was putting the corals into the tank, I noticed something moving within the Pink Millipora.  It is common to find tiny acropora crabs that live in SPS corals.  They are commensal and have a symbiotic relationship with the coral, as they eat most parasites (ie., red bugs) that would harm the coral.  However, there are some tiny crabs that are harmful to the SPS coral, as they eat the coral's polyps.  I found a tiny gorilla crab, which is harmful, and so I picked him out and into the sump he went.  The common rule is: "If the crab's exterior is smooth, its friendly.  However, if the crab's exterior is hairy, its harmful".  Here is the gorilla crab before I threw him into the sump.

Bio Pellet Reactor

Today, I installed a Bio Pellet Reactor.  I've heard a lot of excellent reviews on bio pellets and decided to give it a try.  I'm starting off with a small amount to prevent shocking the system.

Since I wasn't using my Phosban Reactor anymore, I decided to use that as my reactor.  It's a quick mod, in which the foam inserts are replaced with mesh inserts (my inserts were made by Two Little Fishies).  I replaced the previous pump as it did not provide enough flow for the bio pellets.  I used a Maxijet 1200, instead.

The best location for a Bio Pellet Reactor is to have its out take as close to the skimmer's intake as possible.  I decided to place the reactor's pump inside my overflow, and its out take is place down the overflow's drain, which feeds directly into my skimmer.

The pump barely fits into the overflow, however, I had to mod the tank's rim slightly to get it to fit.

Once that was trimmed, I was able to slide the pump into the overflow.  I then connected the hoses to complete the Bio Pellet Reactor assembly.

There's one more mod I needed to do, however, as I could no longer place the overflow lid on top.  The lid prevents snails from crawling down my overflow, so it needs to be there.  I modded the lid to accomodate the pump's hose and power cord.  

As well, the lid to one of the overflow's PVC plumbing was modded to accomodate the Bio Pellet Reactor's out take.

I turned on the pump to test for leaks.  Works like a charm!

New Fish - Purple Tang and Chevron Tang

I've had my eye on a Purple Tang and a Chevron Tang that have been sharing a tank in my local fish store for some months now.  They were somewhat overpriced and I had been waiting to see if the price would come down to something reasonable.  However, that time never came.

As well, I had a Striated Tang that was causing some issues in my reef community, as he was somewhat aggressive.  He was also a fair size, around 9", which didn't help the situation either. I put up with his aggression for a few years, since I grew him from when he was 4".  Anyways, it got to a point that I was looking for any reason to remove him.  That's when I made an offer to the local fish store to trade him along with some cash... they accepted.

It took a few hours to catch the Striated Tang, and when I finally did catch him, I threw him into the sump.  The local fish store, however, took a few days to catch their fish, but eventually we made the trade.

I got the Purple Tang and Chevron Tang home, acclimated them, and then into the tank they went.  I was a little worried about how the Purple Tang and my current Yellow Tang would get along, as they are similar in appearance and share the same Genus, Zebrasoma.  Also, I wasn't sure who would be the aggressor if there were issues.  Purple Tangs are pretty aggressive, as that is their nature.  However, the Yellow Tang is twice the Purple Tang's size and he's been a resident since the tank went up.  Sure enough, there were issues from the start.  The Yellow Tang, began to beat on the Purple Tang, and wouldn't let up.  The Purple Tang put up a good fight, but he was no match for the Yellow Tang's size.  I had to resolve this issue quick.  I spent another hour catching the Yellow Tang and threw him into my sump, where he stayed for three days.  Afterwards, I changed some rockwork and reintroduced him back into the tank... as if he were a new fish.  Eureka!  It worked, the Purple and Yellow Tang now get along, and I occasionally catch them feeding together.

Here is the Chevron Tang.

Here is the Chevron Tang and Purple Tang, swimming with the Tomini Tang and Yellow Tang.

As for the Chevron Tang, he's a pretty docile fish.  He and the Tomini Tang actually share the same Genus, Ctenochaetus.  However, they are the more docile of their Genus.  I have had no issues with them, and  usually find them swimming and feeding together.

New Fish - Orange Shoulder Tang

I added an Orange Shoulder Tang to the tank.  He's a fair size, roughly 10", which is good since my Hawaiian Blue Hippo Tang, roughly 8", can be initially aggressive to new fish.  He did try to bully him at first, but the Orange Shoulder Tang wasn't having it and quickly put him in his place.

This makes the Orange Shoulder Tang currently the biggest fish in the system and is the new "King" of the tank.  He's quite well tempered, and I sometimes find him "keeping peace" amongst other fish, whenever aggression breaks out.