Other Hobbies and Interests that our NLG members enjoy > Other Hobbies and Interests

Reef Tank

<< < (7/7)

Lizzo54:
Rick,
What do you feed your clowns?  I image with that many you probably have a tank growing out brine shrimp. 


I use frozen mysis shrimp and brine. I mix a little of both in, i have some pellets and add them from time to time and occasionally some plant wafers for the crabs to munch on.


For the corals i really only dose alk and calc regularly and maybe once a week dose the tank with a liquid coral feed.


For water changes i actually been using the boxed seawater from petco.  Since my tank is so small my water changes is only a few gallons a time so its not a bad investment and much easier.  I have redsea salt on hand if needed and RO water for topping off.

rickhunter:
I feed them a variety of pellet foods every day.  New Life Spectrum pellets, Ocean Nutrition pellets, and TDO Chroma Boost.  In the evenings they get Frozen Mysid shrimp mixed up with arctic pods, sometimes frozen brine shrimp, and some krill.

The arctic pods are an amazing food for reef environments, rich in certain types of fatty acids and astaxanthin, which brings out the orange and red in the clowns.   Highly recommend putting some of that in your reef tank as a food source for filter feeders.

With water changes, I am hesitant to go to the beach and grab some water to use natural sea water.   I know of a lot of hobbyist that do that locally here, they go when the tide comes in and harvest some seawater. I'm afraid of introducing pathogens to my grow out tanks and have all my clowns get sick and die.  I would have no issues with that water on a reef tank, but my clowns have been raised in a pretty much sterile environment free from any pathogens, so I think they would be particularly susceptible to that.  I know I've given some of my clowns to a few friends and most of the time, they do well.  But I have some friends who like to buy a lot of fish, and they don't quarantine their new purchases and bring all kinds of pathogens into their systems.  They continually loose fish, and they wonder why, even after I tell them not to do put new fish without quarantine for at least 6 weeks.

Lizzo54:
The pellets i have are New Life Spectrum.  I haven't heard of Artic  Pods so thanks for info.  I just googled them and see they are very popular.  Ill see if i can get some this week and let you know how it goes.  I also read about tiger pods, have you tried them?  Seems that you can hatch them out, wouldn't mind trying something live. 


The seawater i use is from Petco and is apparently filtered and balanced.  Its not water i get from the ocean myself.  I have too much invested in coral to take a chance of adding a contaminate.


I agree 100% with quarantining to avoid bringing disease and parasites to a tank.   I value my fish and want them suceed.  Im not a fan of trial and error with them.  I have a large fish store nearby that has an amazing selection however, they sell anything to anyone.  Without questioning whether they can properly raise and care for them.  I avoid the place unless i absolutely have to go there for something specific.
Ive been buying my coral frags from a couple diff folks i found on CL.  Much cheaper than a store. 


I use a large glass bowl and set any new corals in it to look for hitchhickers.  I found some really beneficial and interesting stuff and some bad ones.  Ive found a few tiny brittle stars which i love, however i haven't been able to find anyone selling them though, just the larger ones. 
I also found a few sea spiders which looked cool but not good for a reef so they got tossed. 

CVslots:

--- Quote from: Lizzo54 on March 15, 2015, 06:52:18 PM ---The coop is looking good.please post more pics as you progress.  Be sure to use a heavier gauge fencing on the underside of the nesting house.  Chicken wire wont keep the predators out.  Racoons can rip thru it and will help themselves to a good feast.  Also be certain that your access doors for cleaning, egg harvestring etc are storng and secured.  Ive seen cases where racoons have essentially clawed chieckens to death by getting tehir hands inside small voids and grabbing and pulling thru what ever they can. 


You obvously want to install a some what complicated lock on the doors to keep the, from being opened.  I know some of this is common sense but youd be surprised what some folks dont think of. 


Are you allowed to let you chickens roam your property or do they to be caged all the time?  They can do wonders for tick control, just need to be warry of birds of prey.
If your an outdoor person and spend a lot of time in the yard, and you let them roam around with you, they will grow a mothering type attachemnt and stay in your vacinity.  It sounds odd but ive seen it in many cases thru work. 


I like the Rhode Island reds, they are a good looking chicken.  Im not so much a fan of leghorns.

--- End quote ---

I agree, LEghorns are not exactly a friendly bird..,very loud and flighty, not exactly your ideal backyard chicken...the Cross hens we've seen have been very calm, quiet, and peaceful. We can only hope they grow out the same, lol! We'll se I guess, or there will be a chicken fry...and I'm not really kidding there...

We have 3/4 acre, but because of the uppity yuppy area, free range, or even roaming chickens would be frowned upon, do unfortunately, these will be caged for the time being. To tell you the honet truth, I have 3 phobias in life, and it's chickens, balloons, and bees.... :rotfl: I'm hoping to face my fears, and get over it, but for now p, that coop will be licked like Fort Know!!!! I have a small access door drawn in the plans for feed and water, and another for egg gathering and best box clean-outs...if I have to open the big door and actually walk in, I'm pretty sure they will smell my fear and peck my eyes out in a matter of seconds...

So if I don't post for a few days, or fill your order in a timely manner, you pretty much know what happened to me.... :rotfl:

rickhunter:
I don't like to feed live foods, it tends to spoil the fish.  When I get a wild caught fish, during quarantine, he must get used to pellets and frozen foods, otherwise he doesn't make it to the display tank.  Live brine is another potential source of pathogens, so I try to stay away from it, plus they are not really nutritious at all.

Arctic pods are awesome.  When the clowns were really small, they would eat it up like there's no tomorrow.  It was by far their favorite food. The problem with them is that they are soo small, that is why I need to mix them up with mysid.  I typically thaw them out together and re-freeze, then drop the little chunks into the tank, so the fish will eat the pods as well.

I get my frags from other reefers, I trade clownfish for them  :propeller: :propeller: :propeller:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page