He is also benefiting from the use of actual reef sand, sugar fine, so he can bury his little ass and feel safe. This fugu species is a burrowing puffer species, if they can’t get down into a sand bed they feel exposed and stressed.

Filtration is still lacking to a degree. An Aquaclear QuickFilter is being used to help, however the lack of flow is a long term concern. Over the next weeks, a sump/refugium setup will have to be installed to make sure he recieves the water flow that he needs, using Chaetomorpha species algae will also help reduce his significant bioload on the system. For those of you not familiar with the concept of algae-refugiums, they serve two purposes in saltwater systems. One they are an excellent method of Nutrient Export: They removed biological waste from the water. Two, they are a great place to grow copepods and other micro critters that help further reduce and process waste. These same small critters would also be a great source of food if such a refugium was attached to a reef system.

More specifically, Chubby is a Takifugu Ocellatus, or “Saddle Back Puffer”.

Chubby was brought into our store in Late October/Early November of last year along with another Fugu puffer. After a month or two, they were named Bill and Ted.

Bill and Ted have not recieved the best care, nor did they propper housing. Not for a lack of trying on my part, but for a lack of understanding and ‘Giving a Shit’ on the part of the store manager. After agruing for a couple months with her, on and off, we moved these two 6″ long puffers and an 8″ long Archer fish from a standard 2o gallon tank to a 40 gallon ‘Breeder’ tank.  Breeder tanks are actually quite a bit larger than they sound. They measure 36″ long by 18″ wide and 16″ tall. This provides more ‘floor space’ than a standard 55 gallon tank, something that is quite preferable to active swimmers. The part that I couldn’t correct was pH, Temperature and Salinity. These puffers like a pH of around 8, Temperature of around 68-70*F  and a salinity of 1.022 SG.

They are in a tank with a pH of 7.4, Temperature of 78*F and salinity of 1.008SG. This is not a good thing.

Very long story short, the Archer beat up Ted and Ted died. So we were left with Bill and the Archer fish. Bill was shortly renamed “Chubby”. You would have to see pictures to understand, but if you have ever had experience with puffers, you would understand. Shortly thereafter, it came down from on-high that the Archer and Chubby would have to be found homes, or that they would be returned to the supplier (which would undoubtably not be best for their health).

I had just about found a home for the Archer last week. This week, the Archer had chased Chubby around one too many times, Chubby turned around and took a piece out of him. Literally: the puffer has teeth. So, the Archer died of its injuries. The owner found out and it was decided that if Chubby could not be found a home in the next few days, he would be ‘disposed of’. This was 3 days ago now.

Not in MY fish section, thank you very much.

So, the race began. I now have a 40g Breeder tank sitting here and I’m off to go get the supplies to build the stand. Thankfully I was able to talk the manager into letting me take the filter from the store tank, so I could plop it right onto the tank for Chubby here. This means only a mini-cycle.

The Odyssey of Chubby will continue in day or two, when I actually bring Chubby home.

I keep 3 freshwater tanks and one marine tank. The freshwater tanks need little in the way of attentinong of a couple days. They’re not the once to be overly concerned about.
A Nano-Reef on the other hand? Yeah. Daily attention. Or, in the case of my tank bi-daily thanks to the emergency adoption of a Mandarin Dragonet.

Daily topoff, Calcium and Alkalinity buffers every two days, daily feeding of both fish and corals.

But how to find someone who can actually do the job on short notice… there’s the problem. I’ve already got the doeses of Alk/Ca in small bottles, diluted with RO/DI to make it easy for the person. I have a full printed sheet of instructions on feeding… it should be easy, but as with many things in this hobby, it’s oh-so hard to find someone who views a tank as an investment, hobby or (gasp!) the life support unit that it really is.
So, to clairify; because I hear the Mandarin Gestapo on the way, probably tipped off by the Tang Police.

I did not buy a Mandarin fish. I went in to work and was handed one. That’s what happens when some prankster orders a fish from a place that doesn’t have saltwater tanks. I’ve seen it eat brine (frozen) and frozen mysis, so it’s not going to starve in the next couple weeks. This will probably prompt me to start farming phytoplankton in my window, to help dose the tank to encourage copepod growth. I’ve also started hatching brine shrimp eggs to give it something (hopefully nutritious) to pick at.
But I digress. I have another home lined up for it if I think it’s not eating well. The local store owner has said he will take it in to his personal reef (90g running both a sump and remote fuge) if I can’t find  or provide a suitable home for it.

What prompted this little holiday, causing all this stress?

Pictures will surface here in 2.5 weeks time to show you guys.

A hint? Think Half-Life 2.

for the geeks, it’ll be worth checking back in. Trust me.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, for many enthusiasts a full reef aquarium is literally the holy grail of the hobby. If you have the time and the money.

And ‘nano’ saltwater tanks aren’t any less of a hastle and often cost nearly as much as their larger counterparts, especially when you consider the ‘upgrades’ that many require right from the get-go.

But we’re not here to talk about ‘Marine’ systems today, oh no! It’s Freshwater Planted today; No rules, no snobbery, just plants.

Almost everybody starts out with fish by going to a freshwater tank. In North America, that almost always ends up being a ‘Kit’ tank with poor lighting, a so-so filter and inevitably, plastic or other ‘inert’ pea-size gravel. Some plants can actually do ok in these setups, things like Java Moss, some Vals and Anubias, Green Wendtii Crypts are also known to survive (but not flourish) in inert gravel substrates.

The ‘American’ aquarium style as opposed to the ‘European’: American style aquariums generally mean Hang on Back (HoB) powerfilters, epoxy coated gravels  and silly ornaments (Ceramic skulls, treasure chests and cartoonish marine life spring to mind). European tanks, as they are called here, tend to involve real rock and driftwood, fine-grained or sandy substrates and real plants. They also tend to be known for better lighting than the usual North American kit tanks and better filtration.

Now, before people start declaiming me for putting down the Hang on Back filter, they do work, they work very well for their intended purpose, which is filtering over stocked tanks that recieve too little in the way of water changes and have no nutrient (nitrate) export mediums (plants, algae).

The surprising thing for a lot of people is that it’s not much more to set up a planted tank than a fake looking box of water with fish in it. It’s also a lot more beneficial to the fish, as they’re not living over neon colored substrates and hiding in gaudy, artificial caves.

Please note: Certain fish, like most African Cichlids, Silver Dollars and others will simply look at plants and go “Mmm! Salad”, so research your livestock beforehand!

So, starting with a planted tank…. Let’s look at the ever-popular 20 gallon ‘High’ tank that comes in kits. Most people choose this size simply because it’s the one that includes a heater in the package, most manufactures don’t bother adding a heater to 5 and 10 gallon kits.

So, most kits are a ‘deal’. The popular brand in Canada is the Tetra 20g Kit. It comes with a 13watt fluorescent canopy, 100w ‘Tetra’ brand heater, ‘Tetra’ 20g HoB filter (recently upgraded… much better design in my opinion) and of course, a 20g ‘High’ all-glass moulded-trim tank. (24″ long tank)  This kit is often had for around $129-139 Canadian Dollars, plus applicable taxes. To this, you have to add a 20lb bag of aquarium gravel, all your fake plants and ornaments and so forth. Count on spending at least $200

Now, let’s break it down for making your own planted tank from scratch.

Tank – $20-40, on average. (look for sales at Pet Co and the like, avoid buying Used unless you have a good deal of experience). It’s often worth it to buy this from a specialty aquarium store. It might cost you a few dollars more, but they will have better quality that Wal-Mart and are generally better at helping if you encounter a problem with your tank (cracking, leaking).

Heater – $25-50, dependant on brand and quality. Never go for ‘Bargin Basement’ brands, (ie. Hagen Elite) good deals can often be had from online retailers (ie. Big Als, MOPS, JLAquatics, for all you Canadians) Recently, Big Als had a 100 watt Rena Cal Top on for $19.99 (very good heater in my experience). Don’t discount your local brick and mortar store either though, it’s not a truely expensive component, so spend the extra few dollars and support your local economy.

Lighing – $60-$???,  This is where it bites most people, lighing looks very pricey. On the other hand, buying it once and buying it right is cheap. Now, i’m not going to lie. This is an extremely hotly debated subject with planted tank enthusiasts. Power Compact versus T5 High Output versus a dozen other options never fails to get people riled.  In my own experience,  Coralife and Current USA both put out good fixtures. Overall, if I was to do everything from scratch, I would choose a Current USA fixture and probably go for a 2×24 watt T5 High Output fixture. It’s not the cheapest, but buying cheap can bite you. Remeber though, smaller bulb diamters put out more light per watt and you want good reflectors behind your bulbs. Buy a reputable brand!

Canopy $10-20, Trust me, spend a few bucks and get a decent glass top, or at the very least use ‘egg crate’ plastic material to make a top. Fish will jump.

Filtration :$20-$200, Remember where I said ‘Hang on Back’ type filters aren’t the best for planted tanks?. The reason behind that is because ‘cartridge’ type media (standard for all HoB types except the Hagen Aquaclear) You don’t always want to run Carbon in a planted tank. This might sound backwards, but there is a method to the madness. Carbon can suck vital nutrients out of the water too, most people will run carbon very sparingly, or use Purigen or many other other resin-absorbant instead of standard carbon. Using a cartridge means you have to use the carbon that comes with it.  The Aquaclear filters and the Tetra EX series are good, because with Aquaclears you can customize what you put in the fitler basket, and with the Tetra series, it’s easy enough to make up your own cartrige using craft canvas and bonded filter pad. Canisters are an even better option, but much more costly. Other options like Under Gravel fitlers, sponge filters and so forth are better described by more knowlegeable people, sufficed to say, sponge filters and undergravel generally do not belong on planted tanks.

Rough cost on a 20g planted tank setup is between $150 and $225 without anything in it yet. It all depends on how much of a rush you are in and how quickly you go in chosing your components. The longer you look for good deals, the lower the cost will be, generally.

Now, this is the part that surprises people.

Substrate – $4-$60, That’s right. you can get away with nothing buy Silica play sand. It’s very helpful to add in laterite and so forth, but not strictly needed. Other options are better described over at plantedtank.net.  sufficed to say, it can be one heck of a lot cheaper than epoxy coated gravel, and look a lot more natural!

Decorations (Hardscape)

Driftwood $5-20 per piece, one big piece should cost about $15 or so. Good place to anchor certain plants

Stone $0-8 per pound… be careful that it is non-reactive.

Plants $2-10 each, very dependant on species. Some will be even less expensive. You can even find ‘free’ plants if you live on a decent waterway; American Vals and Canadian Anacharis are both common in local waterways and dead easy to grow, you can usually find decent specimens washed up on the shore

All in all, a plant tank could cost you 250-300, depending on what you chose to do. So for an extra $50 over the ‘fake’ look, you could have a beautiful, natrual looking aquarium.

I was extremely lucking on the fishy side of things this year, I recieved an Acan frag, a Halloween Urchin and a False Percula Clownfish (A. Occellaris).

I broke with the usual routine of QTing the little bugger for at least 2 weeks as well; I didn’t want to be rude to the person who got him for me and added him to the display tank. Big Mistake.

Shortly after the person left, I noticed a small bump like structure at the top of one of his gill plates. A couple hours later, I notices a wormy tail sticking out from that area…. Lovely.  After speaking with a few folks, including my local fish guy, even if I had left him in, chances are that everything would have sorted itself out anyways. Apparently, healthy marine fish can usualy drive off even Ich (cryptocarryon irritans) infections on their own, excepting some fish like certain species of Tang.

In other good news though, the Urchin is doing well, managing to eat a little more coralline algae than i’d like, but doing ok and my corals are all doing very well. This brings me to something I can’t stress enough… Patience! My Pulsing Xenia (Xenia sp.) had almost entirely died back over the past two weeks. It was droping stalks and a good portion of the main body had actually decayed away. Two weeks later there are a multitude of new stalks that are all pulsing rapidly.

So, one thing to remember, Corals seem to do a good job of sorting themselves out.

Next up on the list… Mushrooms. Not the magic kind or the ones that go on pizza either. Mushrooms are an interesting coral because they are somewhere between corals and anemomes. My regular purple/red mushrooms don’t ever show a feeding response, but my Riccordias will show a good response when they encounter very small foods like copepods. The also exhibit the ability to move on their own which i’ve only ever heard of two other corals doing. One being Xenias and the other being Plate Corals (Fungias, not SPS Cup Corals). Mushrooms seem to wander at a very slow speed (we’re talking less than tenths of an inch per day) and will leave pieces of their ‘foot’ behind as they go. These pieces of foot will regrow into an entirely new mushroom, which is something more commonly seen with Anemomes.

Last but not least. The treatment for a Clownfish with parasites. My dealer recomended either a fresh water bath or using Copper Sulfate. I don’t like FW baths myself and Copper Sulfate, while a very good treatement, can cause problems with clowns. I decided to go another route and conduct chemical warfare on the parasites. API makes a product called General Cure which is a combination dewormer. This contains Praziquantel, Levamisole and Nitroimidazole, among others. These compounds are pretty gentle, yet potent dewormers/anti-parasitics commonly used on mammals (in some areas, used on humans too!). This should provide a knockout punch to whatever is inhabiting the clownfish. This is all being done in a separate quarantine tank I can’t stress that enough. If you add anti parasitic medications to a reef, chances are you’ll kill a great deal of the biodiversity you’re trying very hard to maintain. Chances are also good that you’ll end up killing most of your corals.

The next update will focus on how to set up a freshwater aquarium for plants, including how to select a cheap and useful substrate.

-Andy

-Anonymous

Words could not be truer. When we decide to purchase these animals, we are making a commitment to keep them in the best possible manner that we can. That also means avoiding the traditional ‘fish bowl’, but that’s another post entirely.

Now, some of you might think that I’m one of those insane animal rights activists. Nope. I enjoy a steak or some bacon as much as the next average person.

I don’t, however, condone keeping any animal in a situation that is detrimental to it’s overall health, especially knowingly doing so. My job at the pet store often involves me having to educate people about this. Thankfully, I can also refuse to sell them animals and the manager will just laugh at them if they complain about it.

At the very center of any Aquarist’s beliefs should be that it is not enough to have your animals live, instead they should thrive in the conditions you give them. If your fish are stunted, always shy or sickly, chances are something’s not quite right. This means lots of research into the species you want to keep as well as a healthy appreciation for what you are doing.  If you’re reading this though, chances are you already agree with much of this as you have gone out of your way to read a blog on fish.

Now, Waterchanges.

They’re fun a first, but quickly become a chore. It’s like shaving for guys, it’s neat the first few times, until it becomes routine.

There’s always ways to stretch your waterchanges, things like skimmers, algal scrubbers, nitrate and phosphorus resin reactors and algal turf scrubbers among others if doing salt water; plain old live plants, nitrate absobant resins and carbon in freshwater. It is possible to use algal or some form of plant based scrubber in freshwater too, but most people don’t bother.  This is to help preserve water either because of special water (Saltwater or modified pH/Hardness in freshwater) and the fact that on large tanks, it’s an especially large pain.

In the end though, you have to do them. So do them often, do them right and your fish will thank you.

I have to be a chemist, , biologist and horticulturalist; farmer, plumber, electrician and doctor. That doesn’t make me unique, because every other dedicated aquarist has to do this too.

First and foremost though, I have to be a student. Always willing to learn and always wanting to apply new knowledge.

I’m definitely not a professional writer though, so expect at least a few grammatical and spelling errors.

Above, I said that I’m not unique. That’s very true, because I’m sure that a lot of people share my story. When I was younger, my family had a fish tank. A 20 gallon box of water with the usual community members, guppies, tetras, a pleco and rotating ‘special’ fish that never seemed to live long; fish like Glass Thailand Cats and Angelfish. This was in the early to mid 90′s and I still remember the trips to Big Al’s. I also remember losing interest pretty quickly after the ‘new’ had worn off and not caring after the first few months. Thankfully it wasn’t my tank and I barely noticed when it got shut down and sold.

Fastforward to 2005 and my sister recieved a 20 gallon tank for her birthday. I was busy with college and work at the time, so again, I barely noticed the tank. After four to six months she forgot about it and I took over some of the most basic functions when I remembered, then it sat empty and running for almost two months after the last fish died. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one caring for the tank, but neglect was definitely a factor. I’d like to be able to say that I stepped in and rescued the tank, but I didn’t; I was busy at school and making ends meet.

It wasn’t until almost a year after that that I started keeping fish on my own. My girlfriend (now of four years) rescued a betta from a wedding centerpiece, a couple months later she decided to buy her first tank and I went with her to the fish store. After seeing her little betta in it’s container I thought to myself “Why Not?” and picked up a betta, bowl and so forth on the next trip to the store with her.

This is how fish addiction starts. “It’s only a betta, it doesn’t take up that much room. It’ll be easy”.

The other thing you’ll find out if you keep reading this blog, is that I’m an obsessive researcher. Within two days I discovered how inadequite my betta husbandry was, and within a month he went from a half-gallon bowl to a 2-gallon hex tank, then to a heated and filtered 10 gallon glass tank.

Very, very long story short, this led to “Multiple Tank Syndrome” and I now own 3 freshwater planted tanks and a 14 gallon Biocube set up as a reef aquarium.

This also led to my employment as the ‘Fish Guy’ at one of the better local pet stores.

I’m hoping to use this blog as both a repository of my interesting experiences in this hobby, as well as a place to pass on a few hard-earned lessons to folks who might be interested in starting or upgrading their aquariums.

-Andy the ‘Walking Target’