New resident...

My new blood red fire shrimp.... her name is Penelope ;-)

Crabby McCrab.....

I was worried that my Electric Blue Hermit would have trouble moving around in my tank.... ummm, nope.  I find him the darnedest of places, and he has managed to cover all of the ground in his new environs.  He was hanging out on one of my living rocks this morning... here's his pic...

Electric Blue Knuckle Hermit Crab ~ Calcinus elegans

I haven't thought of a name for him as yet.  Maybe Mr Crabs.... SPONGE BOB!  ;-)

Supper time.... mmm shrimp!

The kiddies have figured out the feeding routine pretty well now.  This was tonight's supper of mysis shrimp, which they love.  I shut off the filter and begin to feed them, and after a bit, when all is in the tank, I turn the filter on again.  The shrimp are bowon all over and it's like a feeding frenzy fro them!  So fun to watch.

CUC Arrives...

So my CUC - aka clean-up crew - arrived this morning from Blue Zoo.  They shipped the critters overnight with FedEx, and it wasn't cheap mind you, but they were here all the way from California around 9am.  I thought folks might be interested in how they are packed for their journey.

The box as it arrived... time to open!

Everything is packed in this nice styrofoam container

All the critters are bagged in one big bag...

The critters are bagged per species..

Tops cut off of each for drip acclimatization

 

 

I did a drip acclimatization for about 30 minutes, slowly adding water from the tank, and then added the critters to their new homestead.  Once they were in the tank, the snails sprang to life... four of them are already up the tank walls.  And the hermit has moved around a bot as well.  Thinking that I may have lost one snail, not sure yet, but they all look healthy.

the tank has been cloudy all day long... curious what the chemistry levels will show later tonight.  I am planning on my first water change of about 20% in the next day or so.

Modding Tank Filtration

Today I began to modify my stock tank filtration system.  The JBJ Nano comes stock with three big black sponges in the first chamber - there are three chambers in the rear of the tank for filtration and the water pump.  In the second chamber, there is a bag of ceramic ring media, 5 bio-balls and also a bag of carbon pellets.

I removed the sponges, bio-balls and ceramic media.  I added an InTank media basket, which has three chambers.  In the first I placed filter floss, which is basically pillow stuffing.  In the second I added a mini Chemi-Pure Elite filter medium bag, which I hung from the top of the first shelf - it's apparently important to hang this to allow for good water circulation, and I've noticed that the floss does in fact slow down water flow, so you need to be careful in how much you add to the basket.  I haven't received the other media, Seachem Purigen, which I am planning to place in the third slot in the basket, and then I will remove the carbon pellet bag from the second chamber, and move my heater there.

Yesterday, I ordered my clean-up crew ("CUC"), the biologic component of my tank's filtration after the live rock.  This will be my first livestock order by mail, having ordered from Blue Zoo Aquatics in California.  I've read very good feedback on their service, and when I asked last-minute if they could ship extra shells for the hermit, they replied to my email in like two minutes and added them free. They will be shipped via FedEx, and I will be adding the following to my tank tomorrow:

• Electric Blue Hermit Crab
• 2 Astraea snails
• 3 Cerith snails
• 3 Nassarius snails
• 2 Onyx Nassarius snails
• 2 Nerite snails

I also wanted to add a shrimp, but was advised against it for the time being, and to get my tank more established with the CUC first, then consider adding.  As it is, it seems like I'm going against all conventions by the time my tank has been up and running.  But the chemical levels are all very good and stable, so I feel my tank has cycled and is ready.  Almost a week now with the Clowns and zero ammonia still.

You will notice that whenever you play with the filtration, your tank will cloud up.  Not to worry, it will clear up in a bit.

Today is Tank day...

I'll be working on the tank a bit today.  I had ordered a moonlight kit and thought I had successfully installed it in my tank hood, only to find out afterwards that I hung out the wrong end of the lights.... grrrr.  I'll have to take it all apart again after lunch.  Also, the whole hood is plastic, and one arm was already broken, and now I broke the second, so I need to order replacement parts.

This afternoon I am also expecting my filter basket and new media in the mail, so I will be setting that up as.  Buys day with the tank,  and it's looking a bit nasty.. have to check chem levels later.

Home with the kiddies

Clownfish are very interactive.  You might not think that fish could be such, but they are.  When I was trying to decide which pair of fish to get, I looked at these two in their little "tank," and they both came to the front and looked back at me, and followed me.  That was what made my decision.

After getting in late tonight, I wanted to spend some time with them, so I just sit in front of the tank and watch them.  And they both come over individually and swim right in front of me, saying hello and interacting.  JoJo will come over and swim up and down, and back and forth in front, riding the little currents in her tank.  As the tank is right by my computer, I can look at them both as I do some work, and they will gravitate to the side as well.  It's so much fun to watch them.  They now also seem to be settling a bit, which is good for MoJo!

Teaching my babies to feed...

Not so simple.  All the posts I've read in forums speak to the voracious appetite of Clowns, how they'll come an beg for food.  Mine aren't that way at all, well not yet.  In fact, I'm having to teach them when feeding times are, and to look for mana from heaven, as it were. :-)

One forum member gave me a good tip: turn off the pump.  So I tried this technique for dinner time tonight, and it went pretty well.  But still you got to drop the food right on top of them so they can see it before they know it's incoming.  Like you'd think they'd be hungry and voracious... hopefully I can get them trained to come to the surface edge and feed them and know that they eat without all the food going to the filter basket.

Right now I'm feeding them Omega One marine pellets for breakfast, and mysis for dinner.  they seem to like both, though they sometimes spit out the pellets.  I'm going to try soaking them first and then feeding.

On a side note, they are sleeping on the same side of the tank, one in the back and the other in the front.  And their sleep is not settling on the bottom to nap, but doing a kind of hovering movement up and down.  Kinda cute.  I'm going to try to capture it on Vine and I'll post it here.

Meet Mojo and JoJo

my fishies....  JoJo charges MoJo...

First night...

I turned on the moonlights around 8:30pm, and anxiously watched them throughout the night.  I don't know who was more nervous/excited... them or me.  But I did not see them sleeping as far as I could tell.  Hopefully they will settle into a routine.

This morning, they are getting along so nicely together, swimming closely and occasionally doing their twitchy dance with each other.  JoJo seems calmer now and is not pestering MoJo , at least for now.  ;-)  I tried to feed them about 6:30am, but they have yet to figure out that routine either; hopefully eventually they will come to the front when I open the lid and be there for their food.  Right now they're kind of clueless about the food, and I have to try and drop it basically on top of them.

First day home...

So the fishies are home for their first day, I just turned on the moonlight and it's time to sleep...  JoJo has been chasing poor MoJo all over the tank all day long, and he has been hanging out in the two back corners at the top of the tank most times.  He has also taken to doing his "twitch" at her, which is a signal that he is submitting to her.  She has also twitched a bit, turning her body slightly sideways in the process.  Apparently this will go on for a bit, even though they were supposedly an established pair at the shop.

It was funny how I managed to pick them. I was interested in another pair that were fancy regular Ocellaris, with more black on them.  But when I was looking at others and I looked at these two in the little pair tank, they both can to the front and looked at, and followed me back and forth.  That was it, I knew I had to get them.  They are Ocellaris, but their markings are what is called snowflake pattern, lots of white on the body.  Their new home is way larger than what they were in, so I guessing JoJo is going through asserting her dominance all over again.  I'm curious to see if they sleep together tonight...

Welcome to my new blog...

I thought it would be both interesting, and helpful, to journal about my latest adventure, into the world of saltwater fish, with my two new Clownfish named MoJo and JoJo.  Clownfish are just that... clowns.  As I've discovered in my readings on the forum boards, and now through observing my own pair, there is no "normal" for Clowns!  They are cute, animated and funny to watch.

This blog is starting right at the beginning... MoJo and JoJo just came home from the tropical store today, and it's their first day in a much bigger aquarium than what they were in at the shop.  They were supposedly paired, but since I've had them in their tank - a new 12 gallon JBJ Nano Cube - poor MoJo has been chased all over heck by JoJo.  No mystery who the dominant, and therefore female, is with this pair.  I feel sorry for poor MoJo...

This is their very first pic in their new home.