Recent content by john f

"If a species as a whole doesn't survive well in captivity, it should not be collected." Well........That would preclude a good deal of the fish seen in LFS, as MOST will be dead within a year. I do understand the RESPONSIBILTY of the buyer to provide the proper conditions for captive...

Very reactionary. My Princess parrotfish is about 8 inches long. He MAY reach his maximum length of 12" in my 1000 gallon reef tank. I would bet he will reach only about 10". I have had him for almost 2 years and he is very fat and healthy. Granted.........Bicolors and Stoplights and Queens...

What kind of Parrotfish?? My Princess eats anything, but I think parrotfish in general NEED to have coraline algae to really thrive. Green algaes are OK for some of the browsers, but most parrotfish species are grazers and derive MOST of there nutrition from coraline algae. The plaster idea...

Oodinium kills fish fast. Like 3 days tops. If they have been infected for longer than that, it's probably Cryptocaryon. As for the sponge filter, the Ich will die of once it is in your QT. John

The hyposalinity will help the fish right away. The energy expended for osmoregulation can be diverted to fighting the disease. DOn't delay on the hypo, and I would recommend using no other Ich remedy, especially freash water baths ( these usually kill really sick fish, and don't do much for...

I read it every month. I will occasionally post to the BB as well. I think the reason some don't is intimidation. They are afraid to come across as ignorant to the excellent aquarists we have on that board. I only post when I have an issue with something in one of the articles. And then...

Two ideas: 1. Fresh clams 2. Frozen mysis shrimp ( Psicine energetics if possible) The clams I would only try if you have no tridacnids in the tank. Don't want to train him to eat clams if you want to keep them ;) John

"Black spot or black ich " Agreed........ This is not all that common except on tangs. Also, if a tang does develop black spot, a few formalin baths while in QT will quickly eliminate the problem. Also, hyposalinity can reduce black spot as well. I see NO reason to freshwater dip a fish...

OK, Freshwater dips do NOT work for cryptocaryon. Period. They do help with amyloodinium....however..........If you have fish live through a 30 day QT period there is no chance they have amyloodinium. A short freshwater dip upon introduction to the QT may be a good idea if you are worried...

"so look for the causative factors instead." Dude, the causative factor is CRYPTOCARYON. It is NOT stress, temp drops, food, etc. These can be precipitating factors, but a fish CANNOT get Ich if cryptocaryon is not present in the system. It can be eliminated from our systems..........for...

You can eliminate the ich pathogen (cryptocaryon) by QT under hyposalinity (14ppt) for 3-4 weeks. Then the fish will never introduce Ich to your reef tank. I always treat every new fish like it has crypto..........and the hyposalinity in actually easier on the fish while it acclimates to...

Oh, almost forgot.................. No Sohol tang either. Much too big, and far to nasty for a 100 gallon tank. Maybe a yellow or even better a chevron. John

Forget the Imperator if you only have a 100 gallon tank. Mine has grown from 3" to 8" in a little over a year. An 8" fish is way to big to live long term in 100 gallons. 100 gallons would be better for a Magestic angel. They stay much smaller. As for butterflies for a 100 gallon, pyramids...

It's not low enough to kill cryptocaryon...........but just low enough to kill most of your inverts :roll: PLEASE.........return the sg to NSW levels, and remove the fish to treat in a QT under the correct Salinity ( 14ppt, or 1.009 sg at 80 degrees) John

In general, you should NOT place all of your pumps on the same circuit. I run external pumps ( two for redundancy ) and have each pump on a seperate, non-GCFI breaker. External pumps in particular can trip GCFIs very easily. GCFIs should only be used on things which are submerged or can fall...