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Marine fishes getting "pumped up" on bloodworms! 9/27/06 Dear Crew, <Brad> I have read, in your frequently asked questions, that it is alright to feed blood worms to marine fish as long as they are part of a varied and balanced diet of true marine foods. In a 130 gallon reef tank, I have a Lawnmower Blenny, a Yellow Tang, and 6 Blue/Green Chromis, lots of filter feeders (fan worms, jewelbox clams, turkey wing mollusks, porcelain crabs, tunicates, hydroids, alligator sponges...) and I have serpent stars and peppermint shrimp. I also have various SPS corals, and a beaded anemone that came with my live rock. I normally feed: hand-shucked deep sea clams (minced for the anemone), frozen Hikari rotifers, zooplankton, DT's Phyto plankton, DT's oyster eggs and Hikari Marine S on a rotating basis. By mistake, I ordered some bloodworms, so I have been feeding these a few times a week lately. <Sounds good> Now for the questions: Since introducing the blood worms to the tank my Lawnmower Blenny and my Yellow Tang have both become wildly carnivorous. The now eat all the above any time I feed the tank (every evening about 7 p.m.). The poor Blenny has become to fat that I fear for his health. Have you seen this before? Will the meaty foods harm these two herbivores? <Mmm, not likely harmful> On another topic, one of my largest Blue-green Chromis has red tissue showing in the area just in front of the exit port for his left gill (ignorance - I don't know the proper term for this part of the fish). It appears that about a dozen scales are missing, and a few are hanging loose. It looks as though he has been wounded to me, <Agreed> but I am a sorry judge of such things. Are there any diseases that would produce such an appearance? <None that I'm aware of, no> My Tang has become more aggressive since eating meat, and often flips his scalpel at Blenny (but never have I seen him draw blood). <Normal... shouldn't be a problem> We also have one remaining Mantis Shrimp that has been seen but not apprehended. <Might be the perpetrator of the damsel injury...> Whether sick or wounded, I would really appreciate your thoughts on how best to care for my poor little Chromis. Thank you as always for all you do, Brad in Basalt <I would just leave as is... but try to remove the Mantis. Bob Fenner> Reef tank feeding question 2/1/06 Folks. <David> I've been spending a lot of time the last few weeks reading your site, <I as well... too much> in particular responses re. feeding reef tanks. Your site is an excellent resource - I wish I had found it years ago. <And you had joined us by now responding to queries> My next reef will be much different based on what I've read here. Here's my current setup (this tank has been doing well - I also have a QT and a nano but this is the tank I have questions about at the moment): 55G 4 foot tank 2" live sand substrate 60 - 70# live rock wavemaker/powerheads skimmer heater T5 lighting (4X54W) 12 hrs/day, 4 blue LED "moonlights" 24 hrs/day Water check every week is good (Hagen tests), 10% weekly water change w/RODI + Instant Ocean. Makeup water is RODI. Kent-I (weekly) Kent Coral-Vite (weekly) Kent Essential Elements (weekly) Seachem Reef Complete (weekly, different day than others) Seachem Reef Builder (weekly, different day than others) pineapple brain (small) plate coral (medium) candy cane coral (small) red/blue mushrooms (small) hairy mushrooms (small) bullseye mushrooms (small) xenia (large) leather toadstool (large) colt/finger (LFS was not sure, I haven't come across any pics yet - medium) 2 colony polyps (small) bubble tip anemone (big and happy) 2 ocellaris (small) 1 Foxface lo (will move him to FOWLR when he gets big) cleaner and peppermint shrimp (2X2) sand shifting star various cleaner crabs, snails I'm currently feeding coral every 2 days with Marine Snow (have started using blender since reading your site) and Liquid Life Marine Plankton (with Cyclop-eeze). I feed fish every day (mostly flake) and bubble tip gets stamp sized piece of minced clam every 3 - 4 days, thawing tank water put back so clowns also get bits of clam. I have no problem blending or food processing food for these animals. I have looked at Adam Blundell's excellent article on making reef food and I will follow a similar recipe (not all the ingredients are available here) but I will have to freeze into packets about 1/4 thick. <Good> While Adam mentions additives, he does not give amounts. <These are generally on the labels for such... variable per ingredients, batch sizes> 1. Would it be better to continue to add the Liquid Life separately from the food I make up? <Yes> If so, should I also add DT'S Oyster Eggs to the tank at the same time? <Could> 2. If I should add them directly to the food mixture, what is the correct proportion to use? ( I will drop the Marine Snow based on what I have read on this site.) <I would... of very little value nutritionally> 3. What vitamins and proportion should I add to the food mix (brands)? <... See their labels... most are deficient in fat soluble... and thus not much trouble in terms of potential overdose> 3. I'm a bit worried about water levels - with the present feeding every other day, I get algae growth on the glass pretty frequently but water tests OK for nitrates/nitrites. I would like to feed daily with the home mixture, but what are the guidelines for amounts? <Overridingly, your personal observations...> Half a stamp-size thawed, 1/4 thick and LL/DT'S every other day? <If this works for you> 5. Is the LL with Cyclop-eeze the correct food or should I be using the LL CoralPlankton - or both? (soft and LPS + mushrooms). <Again... you will have to experiment, appraise yourself> 6. Other than the obvious water quality degradation signs, what should I watch for to indicate over-feeding? <Water clarity, color... the usual nitrate, phosphate accumulation, algae proliferation...> Thanks for your assistance. David <Don't become overwhelmed here... no need, use to "over-think". Bob Fenner> Fish, Feeding, and the Captive Reef Hello, I have never written you before so this is a first. (Hello there, salutem dicit) I have been into the saltwater aquariums now for about 3 years and micro-reefs for about half of that time. My wife and I currently keep a 72g reef with 8g in the sump and a 6g refugium. Our fish are currently a boxfish (he is on the way out as he is nipping), 2 squarebox Anthias, 1 algae blenny, and a mated pair of saddleback clowns. (Perhaps your Boxfish has a bad temperament... perhaps a nutritional deficiency...) I have a couple of questions. For one with the removal of the boxfish would you consider the bio load low enough to move in our flame angel from another tank? (Yes, this should be fine) I have spoken with several people who run tanks that they don't directly feed the fish. They dose DTs or some type of plankton and invertebrate foods. Obviously the Anthias make this an impossibility in our tank. But what are your thoughts on leaving the reef as a self sustaining ecosystem? Are we (the reef keeping hobby at large) advanced enough in our filtration to achieve this type of balance? (Yes... given considerations to 'relative sizes of sumps, refugiums...' types of livestock... as you bring up so well with the zooplanktivorous anthiines... you would need relatively large, vigorous refugia...) In the event that you didn't directly feed your fish what invertebrate supplementation would you add? (Hmm... large amounts of nano and micro-plankton for sure... but best to culture crustacean and soon, worm larvae for such feeding...) What fish are capable of foraging enough to survive in the modern micro-reef? (The large sink of the open ocean washing over such reefs... a higher level of primary productivity than captive environments... a few other factors I'm sure you and I could define, elaborate on...) Your response is appreciated. Thank You, Doug Brummett (Thank you my friend... much more to chat over as time goes by. Bob Fenner)
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