6/3/07 Sunday

Quarantine Tank, AM:
Feeding: 1/4 cube frozen brine shrimp

Quarantine Tank, PM:
SG 1.010
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrates via strip: 30 ppm
Nitrates via liquid test kit: 30-40 ppm
Feeding: Frozen fresh water mysis.
50% water change with SG 1.010, temperature matched water.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Quarantine Tank, AM:
SG 1.010
Feed: 1/2 cube frozen enriched brine shrimp

Quarantine Tank, PM:
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20 ppm
SG 1.011 (added 4 cups FW)
Feed: 1/2 cube frozen mysis shrimp plus pellets

Moved QT denizens to 15 gallon quarantine tank:
SG 1.010 (2/3 new salt water, 1/3 from old tank)
Temperature in both tanks 77 degrees Farenheit

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Quarantine Tank, AM:
SG 1.011; added 4 cups FW
AM feeding: live Mysis shrimp (did not survive hyposalinic tank conditions)

Quarantine Tank, PM:
SG 1.012
NH3 0 ppm
NO2 not tested
NO3 ~30 ppm
50% water change using SG 1.010 water
PM feeding: Mami's frozen mix

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Quarantine Tank, AM:
SG 1.013; added 4 cups fresh water.

Quarantine Tank, PM:
SG 1.013
NH3 0 ppm
NO2 0.25 ppm
NO3 ~30 ppm
50% water change using 1.010 SG water.
PM Feeding: 1/2 Marine Cuisine cube.

5/9 Beginning of the Updates

Warning: Much of this blogbook is going to be comprised of numbers and notes such as one would find in one's usual marine journal -- all the measurements I'll want to have handy will be noted here for the sake of convenience. Just a quick head's up -- so when you get to the "Why on earth am I reading all these numbers about a tank that isn't even mine?!!", remember that you've been warned, no whining! ;*)

Gritty Knitty:

• Ammonia = less than 0.25
• Nitrites = 0.25
• Nitrates = 20
• Temperature = 78 degF
• Tank size = 10 gallon (isolation tank -- we are aware that this tank is too small for all of the inhabitants and will correct the situation as soon as it can happen)

Tank Inhabitants:

• Mated pair of false percula clownfish, plus their bubble tip anemone (anemone is too small for both to nuzzle simultaneously -- it is noted that when the female is stressed, she chases the male away and will not "share"...), aka Panda (female) and Joney (male);
• One Pyjama Cardinal, aka JudyPJ;
• One Valentini Sharpnose Puffer, aka Bertie, measured tonight at approximately 6 cm long (it is *really* hard to get an accurate measurement -- she was right up against the glass when I took the number, but still... How do other folks manage?);
• Either one or two snails, Astria but individually unnamed, that Bertie has let be so far;
• One mini hermit crab that has thus far managed to escape Bertie (possibly the reason the extra "snail shell" had gone missing was that the sensible hermit crab was hiding);
• One ghost shrimp that has also thus far proved faster and more agile than its flatmates.

Feedings:

• Morning: 1/4 "chunk" frozen mysis shrimp combined with 1/4 "chunk" frozen brine shrimp, defrosted in tank water. I was at work for this feeding. I'm told that the brine shrimp were accepted by all the tanks' denizens quite happily but the mysis, when selected, were promptly spit back out.
• Afternoon: "Some" live brine shrimp, which I'm told were gleefully accepted by all. An algae block was also left in the tank for several hours... Only the female clown seemed to pick at it at all and it was removed at the time of the evening feeding.
• Evening: 1/4 frozen mysis shrimp and 1/4 frozen brine shrimp, again defrosted in tank water. And again, the brine shrimp were avidly hunted, but the mysis shrimp were refused and spit back out again.

Lights out followed the evening feeding, and a short "settle down" period before a 1/3 tank water change. Replacement water was measured at 73 degF and salinity of approximately 1.023. Only the female clownfish seemed concerned, picking on the male clown for a short period following the water change.