Lorraine's Rebuilding of 125 gal Tank

[Woodstock]

It is a good thing you turned off the powerhead when you did! I've found most anemones to be very resilient! It should be fine

[Dentoid]

That's an interesting theory concerning the oxygen level. I know when I had my heater incident, I suspected that the oxygen had been depleated by the electrical event. Its purely a theory, but the interesting thing was that my cuckumber was on the glass at the waters edge. I had never seen it go on the glass since I have had it. What are your nitrite readings?

[lcstorc]

I was reading a thread yesterday about the #3 being recalled. Check with the manufacturer but I am pretty sure that is what I read. They didn't say what the problem is just that they are recalled.

[bluespotjawfish]

That's an interesting theory concerning the oxygen level. I know when I had my heater incident, I suspected that the oxygen had been depleated by the electrical event. Its purely a theory, but the interesting thing was that my cuckumber was on the glass at the waters edge. I had never seen it go on the glass since I have had it. What are your nitrite readings?

Nitrite is only .05

It seems that the fish/cucumber are doing their thing mostly in the late afternoon though when the pH is slightly higher than morning, so there should be more oxygen available at that time - right? But, the temp is up a bit by then too, which makes less oxygen available - right? Don't know if phos and nitrates have any influence in this. The phosphate and nitrates by themselves is not the issue, only if it is part of a bigger problem that I am wondering about. I had a Bluespot for years with phosphate and nitrate levels off the charts, so I know they tolerate a wide range of water parameters fine.

[Dentoid]

Not sure about when peak oxygen levels occur. If your sump water is churning and the surface water of your tank is moving, then I would assume gas exchange is taking place. I think BS are pretty resilient. Mine was in a bag for 24 hours, then in QT for 48 before he went into the display. So far he seems fine. Perhaps the ones you got were suffering from shipping stress that wasn't readily apparent. I have read that they are typically not collected using cyanide, because they are easy to catch with a net. If they were eating then they were most likely not cyanided. I know I've said this before, but head trauma seems very likely with them being jumpers.

[Woodstock]

The Need To Breathe

Oxygen and Coral Reef Fishes
In one of the more interesting studies I have found on the subject, Nilsson et al. (2004) examined hypoxia tolerance in the coral-dwelling goby, Gobiodon histrio. More on G. histrio can be found in another article in this magazine by Henry Schultz. This species spends its whole life inside branches of Acropora, showing a preference for A. nasuta. The authors suspected that the oxygen environment of the coral could be highly variable, being exposed to air at low tide, and also possibly becoming hypoxic at night. They specifically mention calm nights when the respiration of the coral and associated organisms and lack of water mixing created a hypoxic environment for the goby (discussed in more detail below). In fact, they found that such conditions did exist and that G. histrio was extremely hypoxia tolerant, only showing equilibrium loss at water oxygen levels of approximately 3% of air saturation.
Nilsson and Östlund-Nilsson (2004) expanded this report by examining hypoxia tolerance in 31 species (7 families) of fish in the shallow lagoon of Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. They found that hypoxia tolerance was variable but widespread, with all species maintaining normal respiration rates in water down to 20-30% of air saturation levels, with most species unaffected until about 10% of air saturation levels. In an earlier work, they had found two species of cardinalfish (Apogon leptacanthus and A. fragilis) to have a critical oxygen level of approximately 20% of air saturation, at which point they begin to rely on anaerobic metabolism. The effect on mouth-brooding and on cardinalfish is expanded in Östlund-Nilsson and Nilsson (2004). Aquarists who are breeding or considering breeding cardinalfish should read that article, and perhaps pay attention to this article and next month's article, as well. Blennies and gobies, in general, were the most tolerant of hypoxia. Surprisingly, damselfishes were a mixed lot, with some showing much higher tolerance than others. Some damselfish were more sensitive than even the cardinalfish to hypoxia. It should be noted that this study used small species or those that seek refuge within corals or the coral reef framework at night. No mention is made of fishes that tend to remain in more well-oxygenated waters at night, most notably for aquarists, the surgeonfishes. The general groups examined were the cardinalfish (9 species), the damselfish (14 species), the gobies (3 species), the blennies (2 species), the filefish (one species), the breams (1 species) and the wrasses (2 species). Hypoxia tolerance has also been found in the epaulette shark (Routley et al. 2002).

[Woodstock]

Maybe you can make something out of that.... LOL~

[boozeman]

[bluespotjawfish]

Sorry, I'm not buying the head trama. I agree that once Bluespots settle in they are pretty hardy. I didn't know that eating was a sign that they hadn't been poisoned so I get that is ruled out. Mine were eating.

According to the charts, I still have elevated carbon dioxide or my pH would be higher. I have a ton of pumps going, two different fans, have opened up the hood, and I am running an airline directly from outside to my ASM. This has only changed the pH slightly (the rest of the change is in direct proportion to the use of kalk and increase in alk levels). I think with time everything will settle in. It is just taking more time because of the load in the tank. I just have to make sure I don't get frustrated and rip everything out to try and fix it. If I wasn't already so exhausted today I might have done that. I'd really like to get that old plenum filter out of there because of the nitrates, etc. Good thing I have friends coming over for wine tonight to look at the tank - it's so pretty today! You can see the silly cucumber in the upper right corner. The bi-color has been hanging out on the overflow box (the black blob on the blue thing in the photo).

[lcstorc]

Your tank is gorgeous.
Great FTS!

[aquaman3680]

Tanks looking great! I love your imperator! I dont remember seeing that white tang before... what is it?

Matt

[bluespotjawfish]

The white looking fish is my Palani. He is actually striped (yellow and gray). I don't take many photos of him because he has lateral line disease (which is now about 85% cleared up). I really should only have him OR the Angel in this tank, but...

Anyway, here is a better photo of him, and my poor little yellow tang that has lived without fins for years. These are the fish I thought would not have survived the cycling of my tank, but that yellow tang could probably live in battery acid and survive - he is a tough little bugger! They are now getting vitamins, lots of fresh calurpa and nori.

The wrasse behind them is the one responsible for flipping over ALL of my corals hunting for little buggers to eat. He also inspects each and every one of my crabs and snails and decides who lives or dies. He is a bad boy!

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks for the article Woody. Not sure what it means, but it probably means that my bottom dwellers are inherently able to handle lower oxygen levels than the rest of my fish.

[aquaman3680]

WOW! I am surprised that that yellow can live like that! Do the fins ever grow back? You have some supposed to be not "reef safe" fish in your tanks and seems that they are doing great! You have one of the coolest fish lists in my opinion!

Matt

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks Matt, yes I have some non-safe fish. It works most of the time, but it does increase the cost and changes my approach to what I put in the tank. Frags aren't even an option for me - disappear the same day I bring them home. They have also decided that they don't want to live with some $100 corals I bring home. The big honking wrasse was brought in to deal with bristleworms years ago and was only 2" long back then. It is very interesting to watch him hunt, but I have to redecorate daily because of him. I inherited the fox face, flame, little yellow tang, and purple striped pseudo several years ago from friends when their tank broke (my old 75gallon tank). The Palani was small when we got him (because Nasa's were no where to be found) and the Emp. Angel was purchased at a weak moment. They were all very well behaved until the tank cycled because the corals were already established in a very mature tank. Now I can only keep one kind of polyp (my pinkies), and I can't have my clams that I want really bad. They occasionally nip at my devil's hand (but only to get to the food that is sitting in it) but so far it has tolerated the nipping.

As for that poor yellow tang - we are surprized every day. He didn't skip a beat throughout the whole cycling process. And, he is the weakest link in the chain, so has to really compete for his food and space. I haven't seen any new growth in his fins.