Yesterday, those of you that are following us on Facebook, got a top down glimpse of the glassbox. (If you’re on FB, you can find us here). Included in the image were plenty of LED reflections coming from the light rack up above which spurred questions on what lighting is currently being used.

Some you may remember that originally the tank was illumianted by a pair of 150w Superkaru, Japanese metal halide spotlights. These are terrific lights, with high PAR and amazing spectral qualities. However, they last about 6 months. At $200 a lamp, that gets old very quickly.

Back in April of 2009 I wrote a piece stating LEDs are a practical reality if used properly. Specifically refering to the use of optics to illuminate specific areas of the aquarium. LEDs offer tremendous control. For someone who prefers coral, or area, specific lighting today’s LEDs put all else to shame.

Fast forward 18 months  and the glassbox is nearly entirely illuminated by LEDs. The lone exception is a 250w MT-250 metal halide spotlight.

Current lighting:

• 1 x AI Sol Blue (90% B, 90%RB, 55%W)
• MT-250 Metal Halide (MzOne lamp, equivalent to Phx 14K)
• 1x 12k Nano Customs Par38 LED Spotlight
• 1x 20K Nano Custom Par38 LED Spotlight
• 3x Blue Cree XR-E 3w LED spotlights

The main light is the AI Sol. This has an 8 hour photo period and offer the widest spread. The light is 20″ off the water’s surface, suspended via 2 cables that screw directly into the Sol’s heatsink. This light offers ample par and the dimming controls are fantastic.

The MT250 halide is on for 3.5 hours a day. The light is angled slightly to catch the front side of the corals. This helps improve coral coloration when viewing them through the glass. If it were not for the sharp looks and associated Japanese reef tank allure, I would replace this and be 100% LEDs. That said, I love this fixture. The barn doors and boxy shape allow me to hide smaller spotlights behind it.

The remaining LED spotlights are on for 5 hours day and staggered in their schedules. They provide a little pop of light to corals that may demand more PAR to look their best. Specifically the 12K PAR38 is aimed at a Sunset Montipora and Strawberry Shortcake Acropora to pull out their warmer colors.

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Sometimes mixing fish does not work as planned, and when this happens its important to have a back up plan. As I mentioned last month, after a year of cohabitation and friendliness with one another our Chaetodon declivis and Roaops hybrid had a serious falling out. After removing the Declivis for one week it was clear the personality and confidence of the hybrid would take months, not weeks, to recover. In light of this I was forced to pass along my favorite fish to a friend. Knowing the C. declivis would pick up on any weakness shown by the Hybrid, I did not bother trying to reintroduce Declivis into the display.

It was not an easy decision to make, but logically it made the most sense. The Declivis was the largest fish and it was obvious that to add new Chaetodon species it would take some time and a good bit of luck. The Declivis was sent packing and it now resides in a friend’s beautiful aquarium. I must give a big thanks to Ian and Jim at Old Town Aquarium. The situation came up just days before a trip. Old Town came to the rescue and helped shipped the fish out in just enough time for me to leave my desk, yes I have an office job, for a break and make it back in time to wrap up some lingering projects before catching a flight out.

While I do miss the bright colors and bold personality of the Declivis, the stress this fish created caused the Roaops hybrid to darken and lose much of its yellow coloration over the past few months reverting to near black C. burgessi markings[see above]. Since being the only Roaops species in the tank the, Hybrid has rebounded becoming more adventurous and is exhibiting more yellow each and every day. I suspect in a few months the eye band will revert back to full yellow.

As for the Bank Butterflyfish (Prognathodes aya) the fish has intermixed well with minimal aggression from the P. marcellae. Unfortunately I suspect the fish was injured in shipping or had a prior bacterial infection as the specimen has terrible eye sight and difficulty eating, despite trying repeatedly.  Everyday it is battle against a catabolic state. On a good day the fish will consumer 4-5 mysis in a day. This is in addition to grazing, but not enough to sustain the fish long term. We’re now trying a variety of foods to try and keep the fish in the display [after mixing well with the Marcellae] but I suspect the fish will need to be removed again to find a specialized eating program that works for the fish.

Prognathodes often struggle eating food out of the water column and I originally suspected this was the case. It was clearly attracted to the food and getting some in QT, but after watching the fish’s behavior and continued attempts to eat it is clear some vision impairment is at play. You can’t win ‘em all.

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Prognathodes aya – the peacemaker?

After years of cohabitation and friendliness my two Roaops Butterflies, Chaetodon declivis and hybrid Chaetodon tinkeri x burgessi x ?, could not take any more of one another. Sure there was the occasional chase for food or small spat over an evening ‘sleeping spot’, but the rest of the time they could be seen just inches away grazing on the liverock with one another, or zig-zagging across the front glass begging for food. Sadly, this is no longer the case. When Chaetodons turn against one another, it’s not pretty.

Both fish equipped with strong, large and sharp dorsal spines suddenly decided it was in their best interest to charge each other like throwing knives cutting through the water–and eventually each other. While most people think of this group of fish as fragile, delicate and defenseless, once you observe a Chaetodon fight this impression quickly changes as you realize their evolutionary stabbing prowess!

It was clear this was no squabble, but a war. I was forced last weekend to tear apart the aquascape and remove the instigator–the larger Chaetodon declivis. He has since been relegated to a 20g QT tank where the fish is in “time out”.

This is not the first time I’ve had Chaetodons ‘turn’ against one another. Myself and other seasoned aquarists have seen this behavior occur, even in Chaetodons collected as pairs. Smaller territories and less grazing are in my opinion the largest contributors–but alas it’s a guessing game.

As C. declivis is one of my favorite fish, I didn’t want to throw in the towel. The fish has been removed since Saturday and will be reintroduced in two weeks time. Rockwork has been rearranged and a new fish will be added to mix things up–Prognathodes aya. Commonly referred to as the Banks Butterfly, P. aya is a beautiful deepwater species that packs dorsal spines, rivaled only by the very rare and closely related Prognathodes guyanensis. Roaops and Prognathodes generally mix well–in fact a Prognathodes marcellae has been living with both Roaops for many months know with no altercations.

While P. aya was always on the planned stocking list, the timing of this introduction will aid in distracting both Roaops when the Declivis is reintroduced to the display. There is no guarantee it will work, but the more fish to diffuse the tension–the better.

This fish just arrived yesterday and is undergoing treatment. Time will tell if it will prove to be the peacemaker between the two Roaops, and if it will get along well with the established P. marcellae.

To quote my good friend John Coppolino, “What is recommended and what advanced aquarists do are two different things.” Remember that moving fish around like this can be stressful and/or lethal if not done properly.

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I know–an update on the glassbox has been overdue. The tank has admittedly not gotten much attention until recently. Over the past few weeks I’ve engaged in a glassbox ‘audit’. If a rock or coral did not ‘add positively’ to the tank it was either rearranged or removed. It was a difficult process, but this weekend I made the last major removals and changes.

The biggest change was a large rock near the very front of the aquarium. I was never thrilled with the structure and it did not allow the coral placement or depth that I desired, as such it was banished to the sump.

After drafting some designs I settled on a pinnacle style coral head. Visually I was looking to create a structure that stood 15″ tall to place a tabling Acropora on top. At 15″ the structure will partially block the curving aquascape behind it, visually increasing the depth from front to back. (Interestingly the height also corresponds to the golden ratio when applied to the height of the actual aquarium — 24.00/14.83=1.618)

To do this I went with dry rock. This has the benefit of being light weight and easy to manipulate. Thankfully GBD contributor Mike Clifford had hundreds of pounds of this, which allowed me the opportunity to cherry pick. Before working with the rocks they were soaked in a 10:1 water and bleach solution and aggressively scrubbed. The rocks then sat out for 4 days to allow the bleach to evaporate and subsequently soaked for 48hrs in RO/DI water. Despite appearing clean, dry mined rock can hold plenty of nutrients and dried detritus.

To see this vid in full size, check out the GBD channel on Vimeo.

When using dry rock epoxy works extremely well. Typically superglue is not needed, but I use it for extra precaution. Remember that superglue is a surface adhesive and it will not fill gaps–that is what then epoxy is for. After 24 hrs the bond formed using epoxy and super glue is stronger than the porous calcium carbonate rock. This is an easy and affordable way to implement stable, creative aquascaping into your aquarium.

Sidenote: A key when building vertical structures is continuity in the rock–meaning they should look like they go together in some manner. A recent trend has been the use of rock towers using plastic rods. I have used this method in the past and it can work quite well, but it is much more difficult than dilling rocks and stacking them. Many images I’ve seen of this method online border on a rock snowman and/or a kabob! In some cases corals blend rocks into one another and or make them invisible to the viewer; however, where they are not, be conscious of shapes and textures.

In the next couple weeks I’ll be wrapping up the last bit of aquascaping left–a large overhang. Till then…

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The third photo down shows the Lyretail Anthias swimming with one other female as if nothing happened. Interestingly the fish showed no signs of distress; it continued to shoal with the other fishes around the tank and dart to the front of the aquarium when people walked by–in an attempt to beg for more food! Thankfully this is not the same anthias that completed the tour de évier and passed down the plumbing of a kitchen sink!

We wish this anthias a speedy recovery. Given the extent of the damage we do not expect a full recovery. The best we can hope for is that this fish will still be able to eat on its own.

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As the glassbox revamp is in process I decided to increase the power of the return pump and eliminate a couple small powerheads. To solve this I went with the ATB Flowstar 1800. This pump is based on the Laguna 1500 Max Flo motor block, but features en enlarged volute for improved flow rates and some extra soft rubber feat for noise and vibration dampening. Note the Flowstar is not to be confused with the ATB Airstar–although some models feature the same motor block the Airstar is for skimmer applications and packs a venturi and pinwheel.

Laguna / Askol pumps are some of the best and feature some unique circuitry. An example of this can be seen in the tangental output design. Radial pumps can start either spinning either way, clockwise or counterclockwise without any difference in performance. Tangental pumps perform best spinning in one direction (depending on the output location) and if spinning backwards performance will suffer. The internal electronics on the Laguna motorblock prevents the pump from spinning “backwards”–along with monitoring heat overload and featuring some high powerfactor numbers.

The smaller ATB Flowstar 1500 utilizes the same motor block as the Flowstar 1800, but lacks the enlarged volute. The volute may hinder performance when under high head pressure, but greatly increases performance in low pressure flow applications (+300gph with minimal increase in electric consumption). The ATB Flowstar pumps are ideal for closed loops or as low-head return pumps.

ATB lists this pump at 80w, but depending on the application this can drop significantly; 60-70w is not unheard. A large reason why I chose this pump was its quiet nature and low electric consumption. Using a ball valve on the output, I expect to hit the 65w mark with this pump. It will return water to the display while also feeding the ATB Cone Skimmer, a new media reactor and recirculating the sump to keep detritus suspended. Did I mention it’s whisper quiet?

The price on this pump is not for the faint of heart–it will set up back $449. The Austrian CNC’d volute greatly increases the cost–the Flowstar 1500 which features the same motor and base plate costs $219–just $10-$30 more than the stock Laguna pump depending on where it is purchased.

So far in testing the noise and flow levels are impressive. More to come after we get this pump plumbed for real world testing. For more information see ATBskimmers.com

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After two weeks of cupramine treatment followed by formalin dips the Lyretail Anthias were ready to go into the glassbox. Being so small they are easy to catch in an open quarantine tank; one net caught all three in a single scoop. In typical fashion they were added to a specimen container, where they would be acclimated to the water of their new home. I moved the trio of anthias in their container and set them on my kitchen island while I prepared the siphon for drip acclimation.

There I am in front of the tank attaching a suction cup to hold the air line tubing for the siphone when I hear a splash… a loud splash. I look over and see a 1.5″ anthias hurling through the air headed towards my kitchen countertop and sink!

I ran over to the counter and started looking around. I didn’t see the young female anywhere. As if I wasn’t already, I started freaking out. I began checking the floor, the cabinets, behind, underneath, everywhere you can imagine. No where could this fish be found. I looked down the sink and I thought there is no way it could have gone straight down one of those tiny slits. It would require a clean swan dive entrance straight in. I looked around some more and I could not find any sign of the fish or even any water splashes.

From kitchen island to sink?

Logically I kept finding my mind drift back to the sink’s drain. I was a bit upset I even thought of that. The second it entered my head, I knew I had to get out the tools and see if the fish was in there or I would not have been able to sleep that night. I ran to my storage area and got out a large wrench to see if it was in the sink’s plumbing. I am not sure what it is, but sink plumbing is never fun. It’s a mess.

Could it fit down there?

I went ahead and went to town on the plumbing. It was more difficult than I had expected to loosen the pipes, but after 10 minutes I finally had it. I figured since no water ran, if the fish was in there it would be stuck somewhere. Turns out it was stuck in the trap. Meaning the fish hurled itself and made a perfect 10.0 landing through a tiny drain hole and then went straight down into the curved trap section.

I couldn’t get the fish out so I had to poor RO/DI down the trap to flush the fish. Still nothing. I finally resorted to turning it upside down over a bucket of SW and taping it to dislodge the fish. After a good 20 or so taps finally the tiny Anthias plunked into the bucket… and swam like nothing happened.

In a small container with the other two Anthias prior to final acclimation

This tiny anthias was in no more than 5in of water was able to launch itself out of the container and clear a 3 ft. gap from the kitchen island to kitchen sink. Even more impressive after the entire ordeal? The fish went on like it was just an every day occurrence. She is now mingling with the male and other female enjoying their new space. Days later there are no signs of stress or physical damage. Easily the most bizarre experiences in my reef keeping career…

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The liverock used here is 25 pounds of Premium’s Cured Bali Alor and it is quite good! (Thanks Jason & Jeremy) Each piece was individually wrapped in newspaper and carefully packed. Zero pieces arrived broken, which is a real achievement for any liverock shipment. The pieces are light, open, full of interesting shapes and with no observable die off. 

Despite having a masonry drill bit, nylon rods, hydraulic cement, zip ties, epoxy, super glue and a special ceramic / rock adhesive I used none of these. In a perfect world I prefer to go this route and not use any artificial adhesives or attachment methods, but rarely does this actually happen. This time the rocks fit together just right making my job significantly easier.

Stacking rocks with rods and/or zipties can be difficult to make look natural. To be frank, it most often looks like a vertical shish kabob. If you are to use this method, use the natural shapes of the rocks to compliment one another other.

Below is a sequence of photos showing the aquascape being placed. In the first picture you can see the largest base rock with the shelf already placed. This is securely fit into the rock, however to insure against a rock slide, a small piece of epoxy will be added underneath for additional support. As for the container, that was used to add water into the tank without creating a sandstorm. One more tabling structure will be added in an interesting fashion to increase the height of the overall rockwork. 

I prefer to aquascape with the sand in the tank and a few inches of water already added. The difference of a bare glass bottom and clean white sand can significantly change the look and feel of a rock layout. If you’re using sand I recommend adding it first, but be sure the rocks are firmly seated in the substrate.

Whether you have a minimalist aquascape feel or not, never feel obligated to use all of your liverock. Examine each rock and ask if it is really adding something to the tank. If not, get it out of there. Pass it on to a local hobbyist or add it to the sump for additional biological filtration. Rock takes valuable space away from corals. The aquascape is  the foundation…the canvas. The corals are the paint.

Here are some additional aquascaping tips:

• If not ‘cooking’ the rock, scrub and swish it in fresh saltwater first thing to remove detritus and potential die off. From there aquascape on dry land using masking tape to draw the aquariums footprint. This will give you a perimeter guide. 
  • Always give yourself ample room between the aquarium glass and rock work. 
• If a flat board could be placed on top of your aquascape’s highest points, and it would be level—change it. Evenness is rarely natural in the scale that we are attempting to represent in our small glass boxes. It is generally only pulled off when the coral scale is uneven (e.g. A. formosa v A. carolinana on opposing structures).  
  • You want angles to draw the viewers eye through the aquarium.
• Stacking bricks and aquascaping a saltwater aquarium have nothing in common.
• The latest  trend seems to be island and pinnacle structures made from stacking rocks on rods. Don’t feel like you have to do this, see previous shish kabob comment.
• Think practical. Are there enough territories for your fish to claim their own? Do you have adequate flow to eliminate dead spots?
• Don’t be scared to have rocks and corals overlap from the perspective of the front view of the tank. This creates depth and keeps the viewers eyes skipping from one coral head to the next.

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Thanks to a lot of labor and some great liverock from Premium Aquatics it now looks quite different. Later today we’ll be finishing up some plumbing and adding back the corals–which have subsequently browned out from their banishment to a quarantine tank. Photos to come as things settle in. 

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By now all the butterflyfish had been freshwater dipped and were in quarantine under going copper treatment. The C. declivis, C. xanthocephalus and C. collare seemed fine, but the Hybrid at this point looked bad. Prior to the velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum) outbreak I had noticed issues with the hybrids fins, but now the hyrbid was not swimming… because it couldn’t

In just over 14 hours the hybrid’s pectoral, caudal and pelvic fins had reduced in size by ~25% due to bacterial infections. It increased to near 50% fin reduction over the first 72 hours while the nitrofurazone was still kicking in. During this time in QT the fish’s breathing was still labored and it alternated between laying flat on its side and propped up against the aquarium and a piece of PVC. The Declivis also experienced some fin rot, but to a lesser extent.Every time I peeked at the tank I was ready to see a dead fish. I have seen some drastic recoveries from sick fish, but this one has a shocker.

Over the next few days the Chaetodon xanthocephalus (key-toe-don  zan-tho-sef-a-lus) died as did the Chaetodon collare. The Declivis and Hybrid held on and are doing fine to this day–they are currently in a quarantine tank awaiting a drastic rebuild of their 90g home. In a four week period they went from happy and healthy, to near death and back. Freshwater Dips, Cupramine and Nitrofurazone did the trick. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that if I delayed treatment by just a few hours they would have died. 

One thing that was interesting was the effect the Cupramine had on the Declivis. It’s not uncommon for copper treatment to cause fish to stop eating. In this case even after the treatment the fish forgot what prepared food was. The fish would become extremely excited when I would approach the tank, as usual, but once food was added I got a dumb stare. The only way I was able to coax the fish to eat was through hand feeding–clam on the halfshell and blackworms did not even work. I had to hold on to the food for him to eat and quite literally hand feed the fish. It took a week of this before he accept food in any other manner!

A couple local aquarists saw the sick fish before and during treatment, and like me believe it was more than velvet and bacterial infections. It is possible that Uronema was the issue. The fish exhibited many signs (e.g. clamped fins and hemorrhaging). The freshwater dip could have knocked it out. However, without performing an autopsy it is impossible to tell.

Rebuild? Yes, the glassbox is going through some major changes as we speak. Currently all fish are in quarantine tanks and the 90g will be drained dry any day now.

All corals will be chiseled off, liverock and sand thrown away. A rash decision, but a better option for me than waiting 10+ weeks for the tank to go fallow. 

Here’s a list of what’s to come:

• New Aquascape 
• 250w DE Halide and a few other spotlights…
• LED lighting
• GHL / Profilux Doser Full Installation
• New return pump
• “Internal loop”
• Vortech MP10 

Till then…

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