It's been a while since I posted a fish update. I've been putting it off because it doesn't make for good reading. I lost my Helfrichs firefish in September last year, I'd kept him for just over a year. There was no obvious cause, he just ate less and less until he eventually passed away. At the time I put it down to just one of those things. All was well for the next 4 months but then my Rainfords goby started to go downhill in the same manner, he began eating less and less till he too died at the end of January. I'd kept him for just under 2.5 years. He was a big fish, almost certainly fully grown and perhaps it was just his time, but still I did wonder if the bullying by Yellow wrasse was somehow related. There wasn't any actual fighting just a bit of posturing every now and again but it might have been extra stress that he could have done without. Then three weeks later I also lost my beloved Pink Streaked wrasse. I'd kept her for just over 4 years, according to information found on the internet the average lifespan of these small wrasse is 4-5 years so it's quite likely that she did just die from old age. The following month I lost one of the pair of Blackbarred gobies, it too stopped eating and died. Just 6 months with me for that fish. Then in April I lost the Fathead anthias (after 13 months) and in May my beautiful Spotted Mandarin also died (just under 2 years with me). When I removed the Mandarin's body it looked perfect in every way, nice and fat with no torn fins.
Now I don't really know what to think, maybe the deaths are totally unrelated but I am beginning to wonder if there is something in the tank silently killing fish in my tank. I sent off for an ICP analysis at the beginning of May and everything seems fine except for Cobalt which is still elevated. 15 months and the TMC Ecoreef rock is still leeching cobalt!! I hate this rock so much, it's hands down the worst decision I have ever made in all my years of reefing. Looking at all the test results, it's going to be many more months, maybe even another year before the cobalt is finally gone. I have scoured the web for information about chronic cobalt poisoning but haven't really turned up anything useful. Most research involves short term exposure of fish to much higher levels. lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/7132f6e0d9425dd6e201 It goes without saying that I am hesitant to introduce any new fish to this tank now. At least the corals appear OK, if they were slowly dying too then I'd be ripping out the rock and starting afresh. My current fish list is: 1 x Tanaka Possum wrasse (4.5 years) 1 x Yellow wrasse (3 years 9 months) 1 x Whitecap goby (1 year 7 months) 1 x Blackbarred goby (9 months) 5 x Ghost cardinals (6 months)
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Once the cycle was complete (fingers crossed it was) I switched on the light (I say light because at that time I only had the one unit up and running at that time) to encourage the growth of diatoms. By day 34 the tank looked like this: I decided it was time to add some clean up crew and a fish. I'd spent a lot of time thinking about what to add as a first fish and I emailed several shops asking about special ordering fish but only one bothered to reply to my query, very disappointing. In the end I decided to go with whatever was available in the shops. We visited two different places and I ended up with 5 black foot Trochus, 5 teeny tiny hermits, a conch and a Sunburst (aka Fathead) Anthias. The anthias settled in a treat and is a really lovely fish. To begin with he hung out at the darker end of the tank (the side without the light) which is pretty much as I expected but after a week or so began exploring the whole tank. The snails and crabs got to work on the algae straight away, I did sadly lose one of the Trochus after 11 days but the rest were fine. Since the fish and CUC seemed to be doing fine I decided to try transferring over a few tester corals from the Reefer. I decided to move over a couple of the gorgonians first, both have been severely shaded by other corals for a long time and deserved a break plus if they didn't make it I wouldn't be overly upset about it. Anyway as it happened they were totally fine, bulletproof it seems, and are loving basking in some good light again. The Plexaurella was quite bleached (and a bit deformed too) but is looking much happier now. The Muricea is hidden at the back of the tank but is also looking much improved. I know that gorgonians are not everyones cup of tea but I really like how they sway about in the current. Once it became clear that the gorgonians were not going to keel over and die I decided to press on with a few more transfers especially since the second lighting unit had arrived and been hung. I was also starting to feel a bit of pressure by the rest of the family to just get it done already. I keep having to remind them that slow and steady wins the race. This time I chose to move a couple of more accessible corals, ie the ones not actually welded to the rockwork. The Heliofungia (plus shrimp) and, gulp, the Scolymia. I was particularly nervous about moving the Heliofungia in case Milo, the resident shrimp, decided to jump off and vanish into the rock-work or be eaten by a hungry fish! I needn't have worried Milo was not going to leave his home no matter what, wherever the coral went he was determined to go too, phew! I wouldn't say that the Helio or Scoly are entirely happy in their new home, they are not as expanded as they were in the old tank. I'm hoping that they are just adjusting to the different lighting and/or the reduced nutrient levels. I hope that they will settle given a bit of time.
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AuthorHi, my name is Lisa and I live in Derby, UK. I am a self-confessed reefaholic! Archives
July 2022
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