GFO Question - New Subject and Forum Move
- Thread starter GDawson
- Start date
GDawson
Guest
euod said:
I am by no means bragging! Never having anthias before and wondered if this was normal. Evidentially not! My post was meant to be a joke as these fish seem to be prized by people and a bit “delicate”. Whereas the reality seemed to be that they’re attention whores and gluttons. Not what I expected! I do have one guy that will not come out and I’m afraid is wasting away….I have another tank “quickly” cycling to get him out.
Attached are a couple of photos to show my small group of extroverts! Note the red slime. These guys eat so much that my TWO refugiums can’t keep up. There is a large janitorial crew order coming in next week just to keep up with their feedings. There will be everything from crabs to snails to a cucumber and shrimp. Hopefully this will get a handle on the prob.
Any advice is welcome
-Gregory
euod
Supporting Member
Ooh tri-colors, they are incredible but only the male will hold the colors IME. I am addicted to anthias now so the hunt is on. Anthias will increase your bioload and if you have not already add gfo, you can do that to decrease phosphate. I am going with ecobak by warner marine instead of a biological for now to allow me to ramp up feeding these anthias until they switch to pellets.
As for the one that is hiding you can overfeed with mysis or Rods and it may come out of hinding. I have gotten some that are hiding for 2 weeks now.
As for the one that is hiding you can overfeed with mysis or Rods and it may come out of hinding. I have gotten some that are hiding for 2 weeks now.
GDawson
Guest
What is GFO?
I don't think the one that's hiding will come out. These are very aggressive fish and the one that is hiding is a second male to the group. At the time of purchase one of the females was “pre-op” turning into a male. Unfortunately the hiding fish is the really colored original male and the new male really bullies him.
If you would like to add him to your collection of anthias you may have him. He’s REALLY colorful. Otherwise he’s going to end up in a nano (way too small). Getting him out will be the only trick.
-Gregory
I don't think the one that's hiding will come out. These are very aggressive fish and the one that is hiding is a second male to the group. At the time of purchase one of the females was “pre-op” turning into a male. Unfortunately the hiding fish is the really colored original male and the new male really bullies him.
If you would like to add him to your collection of anthias you may have him. He’s REALLY colorful. Otherwise he’s going to end up in a nano (way too small). Getting him out will be the only trick.
-Gregory
treylane
Guest
Some species (usually the larger, meaner varieties, as usual with saltwater fish) are plenty bold and eat well and will survive through nearly anything. Others are delicate little flowers that need specialized care, and there are a few types that fall somewhere in the middle.
The most annoying bit is that for any number of species/tank size combinations, a small group will eventually whittle down their numbers to one or two and the "schooling" behavior goes away fairly quickly. Others will just find a spot that they like and basically stay there all the time instead of swimming around looking pretty (gotta EARN your dinner, dangit!
) and the list of potential gripes goes on and on...
The most annoying bit is that for any number of species/tank size combinations, a small group will eventually whittle down their numbers to one or two and the "schooling" behavior goes away fairly quickly. Others will just find a spot that they like and basically stay there all the time instead of swimming around looking pretty (gotta EARN your dinner, dangit!
) and the list of potential gripes goes on and on...
tuberider
Guest
AKA girdled anthias, for some reason they call them Tri-Colors now, how original
They're great fish!
If you want them to change behavior feed them from different spots in different fashions, that way they don't know what to expect, plus it is actually better for them as well believe it or not.
They're great fish!
If you want them to change behavior feed them from different spots in different fashions, that way they don't know what to expect, plus it is actually better for them as well believe it or not.
GDawson
Guest
GFO - can it be placed in a filter sock or dropped in a bag in the sump? Or does it need to be placed in a reactor?
Lots of personality. Not wall flowers!
They know the hand that feeds them! They just follow me around the tank until the food goes in.....
-Gregory
tuberider said:
Lots of personality. Not wall flowers!
tuberider said:
They know the hand that feeds them! They just follow me around the tank until the food goes in.....
-Gregory
nudibranch
Guest
I love it when fish eat out of my hand.
GDawson
Guest
GDawson said:
OK…..did some research and found that GFO can be used in either a reactor or a sock with the reactor being the better choice.
Question – With the immanent drilling and plumbing of the tank on the horizon is there some kind of in-line reactor that could be plumbed directly onto the overflow on the back of the tank? Is this something that could be made out of PVC? Or would the flow from the tank be to slow/fast?
-Gregory
screebo
Guest
Wow, I'm not sure how to approach this thread. Share my Fish begging, GFO adventures or Anthias experience. Take your pick!
Yes, my fish all line up for feeding frozen food in the evening. The long nosed hawk is especially eager, begging like a dog. I also use an eheim auto feeder to dispense a mix of micro pellets and other dry food twice a day in the tank. Not a lot and most of it's gone in a couple minutes. The Fish KNOW exactly what time is runs it's cycle and wait at the surface on that end of the tank. Pretty funny!
My orange lyretail anthias were purchased about 6 months ago in a group of 5 juveniles. I was told that like fairy wrasses, most or all are wild caught and subject to a higher mortality rate than C.B. I lost 3 of my juviniles over the next several weeks but two remaining have continued to do very well. They are the most agressive fish in the tank but usually resort to the big anthias chasing the smaller one.
Regarding GFO: I originally ran D-D phosban GFO in a 2 little fishes reactor. It seems to cake up pretty quick like it's trying to "set up" into brick form. I exchanged the first reactor for a Simplicity reactor that I still run and change media about every 5 weeks. The D-D media still cakes like a porous brick by the time it's changed. I've switched to GFO in bulk form purchased from BRS. My nitrite, nitrate and phosphate are at zero despite a sizable fish population and high organic loads in the tank.
Yes, my fish all line up for feeding frozen food in the evening. The long nosed hawk is especially eager, begging like a dog. I also use an eheim auto feeder to dispense a mix of micro pellets and other dry food twice a day in the tank. Not a lot and most of it's gone in a couple minutes. The Fish KNOW exactly what time is runs it's cycle and wait at the surface on that end of the tank. Pretty funny!
My orange lyretail anthias were purchased about 6 months ago in a group of 5 juveniles. I was told that like fairy wrasses, most or all are wild caught and subject to a higher mortality rate than C.B. I lost 3 of my juviniles over the next several weeks but two remaining have continued to do very well. They are the most agressive fish in the tank but usually resort to the big anthias chasing the smaller one.
Regarding GFO: I originally ran D-D phosban GFO in a 2 little fishes reactor. It seems to cake up pretty quick like it's trying to "set up" into brick form. I exchanged the first reactor for a Simplicity reactor that I still run and change media about every 5 weeks. The D-D media still cakes like a porous brick by the time it's changed. I've switched to GFO in bulk form purchased from BRS. My nitrite, nitrate and phosphate are at zero despite a sizable fish population and high organic loads in the tank.
GDawson said:
IMHO you are wasting your money if you don't use a reactor. GFO is expensive stuff and should be used as efficiently as possible.
BRS sells a very nice dual reactor:
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/carbon-and-gfo/media-reactors-filter-bags/dual-brs-gfo-and-carbon-reactor.html
It's nearly bulletproof (literally!) and very easy to change out the media.
Source water--ideally you should run water through the media that has already gone through some sort of mechanical filter (if you use one) and/or been skimmed, to prevent clogging of the media with detritus and other materials. The media is porous on a nano scale, not nearly as porous as activated carbon but it does impact its efficiency if it's allowed to clog up.
Regarding placement of the media--calcium carbonate precipitation can occur on the media very easily because of the localized low phosphate level, and you don't want to help that process along. Randy Holmes Farley suggests running GFO BEFORE activated carbon. This is because certain organic molecules can impede calcium carbonate precipitation, and the activated carbon can strip these out of the water. Any sources of calcium and carbonate ions can do the same so ideally you'd want to run GFO BEFORE kalkwasser or calcium reactor effluents.
Flow rate--the granules are friable and will release dust if they're allowed to constantly grind against each other. The general suggestion is to increase the flow through the reactor so that the granules on top (and only those on the top) of the bed just begin to tumble. For a BRS reactor this is something like 50gph or so.
Hope this helps.
vivi
Guest
hmm. Reactor.
I'm been tempted a few times go get a reactor, but never figure out where the reactor would go in my sumpless nano tank setup. So, question comes...
Is it possible to let the BRS sit on the floor while the pump/water comes from the tank comes from 4 ft high?? Would a mj1200 work?
I'm been tempted a few times go get a reactor, but never figure out where the reactor would go in my sumpless nano tank setup. So, question comes...
Is it possible to let the BRS sit on the floor while the pump/water comes from the tank comes from 4 ft high?? Would a mj1200 work?
vivi said:
Yes and yes.
seminolecpa
Past President
I have a 2 little fishies reactor sitting in my garage with your name on it Lyn. the person who I was supposed to seel it to bailed. All your if you want it no charge.