Lemon's butterflyfish dominated reef

[cedricang]

NSW is supposedly the better choice, but as bro braincoral said, the quality fluctuates due to pollution. For a stable and controlled manner, long term may be better to use salt mix.

I have long suspected that the health of the sps when harvested from sea could also be a main reason. Sometimes, the particluar piece has already been under some climate stress for a while, it may appear to be ok but in actual fact it is already in the downhill condition, it will be a 50/50 chance of able to recover to it's normal state.

Anyway, causalty is not a nice feeling, but in the case of sps, try to accept that it will happen from time to time and has nothing to do with your system. Take heart that you have tried your best

[yikai]

NSW is supposedly the better choice, but as bro braincoral said, the quality fluctuates due to pollution. For a stable and controlled manner, long term may be better to use salt mix.

I have long suspected that the health of the sps when harvested from sea could also be a main reason. Sometimes, the particluar piece has already been under some climate stress for a while, it may appear to be ok but in actual fact it is already in the downhill condition, it will be a 50/50 chance of able to recover to it's normal state.

Anyway, causalty is not a nice feeling, but in the case of sps, try to accept that it will happen from time to time and has nothing to do with your system. Take heart that you have tried your best

yes i hate casualties no matter what it is. even the humble snail that dies is not a nice feeling.

i just hope that the death of a few SPS frags don't mean the rest are all going down.

esp my pink millie with green polyps. i love it so much then suddenly come home today see 2-3 tips abit white and brown? burnt off.

so sian. i have no time to keep such close detail on the tank so i never really notice.

[vt_snowman87]

bro lemon,

i also using solely NSW for water change every week, possibly from the same source as u..

while i was home 2 days ago, everything still seemed normal to me.. (staying in school hostel now, preparing for exams) but when i get home tonight i will go take a closer inspection on my frags.. and update here again if i notice any anomalies..

i do agree, sometimes things turn funny and we might not know the cause of it.. the feelings ain't good.. usually for the case of SPS, whenever i notice something awry, i frag it, and place it in another location or tank (usually my dad's tank), and hope that at least i get some 'seeds' to survive.. and not lose it all.. very rarely will we encounter entire tank corals wipe-out, which i hope its not in your case..

if like what cedric said, sometimes its just THAT particular piece that is problematic after shipment and decides to die on u after some time, den theres nothing much we can do also..

anyway, all the best for the rest of your sps, i'm sure they'll turn out fine.. once i get home, i update u again..

[FuEl]

Might want to consider running ozone on your Deltec. Does'nt have to be high output, 100mg/hr should suffice. Ozone will neutralize any toxins which might be present in NSW.

[MarcoVan]

yes i hate casualties no matter what it is. even the humble snail that dies is not a nice feeling.

i just hope that the death of a few SPS frags don't mean the rest are all going down.

esp my pink millie with green polyps. i love it so much then suddenly come home today see 2-3 tips abit white and brown? burnt off.

so sian. i have no time to keep such close detail on the tank so i never really notice.

cheer up bro.

like bro cedric said, in SPS world, anything can happen. cheer up and dont be over-upset.

anyway white tips can mean anything. could be due to lack of light or maybe your fishes peck at it? and stn/rtn happens all year around. In the ocean, it also occurs for some sps. I guess it's the survival of the fittest. We try to provide the best we can and the rest we leave it to our corals' will bah (:

Cheer up and good luck! (:

[peacemaker]

staying in school hostel now, preparing for exams

Bro, a little off topic, but it'll be fun to set up a nano at your hostel.

[MarcoVan]

Guess what bro, I just did a 50% water change this week. I lost 3 SPS frags just like that.

Amazing right? SPSes are funny creatures with a big emphasis and ego on water stability.

Sometimes we might be doing the right thing for them, ie feeding them coral food etc but in return they spat at our faces.

So what to do? Suck it up, frag your colonies and stay happy. There are so many unforeseen in this hobby. As much as this hobby is teaching us patience, diligience, passion and imparting us knowledge on Nature, we cannot ignore the fundamentals of cherishing our life, laughing at obstacles and believing in oneself (:

Keep up the good work you have been doing so far yikai! You are awesome (:

[yikai]

Guess what bro, I just did a 50% water change this week. I lost 3 SPS frags just like that.

Amazing right? SPSes are funny creatures with a big emphasis and ego on water stability.

Sometimes we might be doing the right thing for them, ie feeding them coral food etc but in return they spat at our faces.

So what to do? Suck it up, frag your colonies and stay happy. There are so many unforeseen in this hobby. As much as this hobby is teaching us patience, diligience, passion and imparting us knowledge on Nature, we cannot ignore the fundamentals of cherishing our life, laughing at obstacles and believing in oneself (:

Keep up the good work you have been doing so far yikai! You are awesome (:

thank you. good to hear that. i try my best to keep everything alive but sometimes that's just not do-able.

and yes, i'm freaking awesome.

HAHAHA! just kidding

anyway i was at CF with digiman today and heard you looking for some chromis.

check out the vanderbilt chromises. they are beautiful and will bring out the colour of your SPS a million times. look at my video and you can see 2 of them.

[MarcoVan]

thank you. good to hear that. i try my best to keep everything alive but sometimes that's just not do-able.

and yes, i'm freaking awesome.

HAHAHA! just kidding

anyway i was at CF with digiman today and heard you looking for some chromis.

check out the vanderbilt chromises. they are beautiful and will bring out the colour of your SPS a million times. look at my video and you can see 2 of them.

YAHHHH! Digiman called me. CAN YOU FREAKING BELIEVE THAT I WAS AT CF AROUND 2PLUS AND THE CHROMIS ARE ACTUALLY IN QT, WAITING TO COME OUT 1 HR LATER!!!!?!?

Rawr! I was sibei sad at work after he called me. Almost wanted to knock down some treeesss! LOL

[yikai]

YAHHHH! Digiman called me. CAN YOU FREAKING BELIEVE THAT I WAS AT CF AROUND 2PLUS AND THE CHROMIS ARE ACTUALLY IN QT, WAITING TO COME OUT 1 HR LATER!!!!?!?

Rawr! I was sibei sad at work after he called me. Almost wanted to knock down some treeesss! LOL

CF's chromises are not vanderbilt, but they look 99% similar except the tail.

there are 3 chromises in the "vanderbilt complex" but none are the CF one.

i have no idea CF one is what. but it's equally beautiful and the only thing diff is having a tail with both lobes that are black while vanderbilt only has one black lobe.

anyway they will look very nice once settled down.

IMO, 2-3 will be very nice in your tank. too many will look v messy and the beauty will be better appreciated when there is a few. too many will make them less special.

that's just my opinion.

[MarcoVan]

anyway i was at CF with digiman today and heard you looking for some chromis.

check out the vanderbilt chromises. they are beautiful and will bring out the colour of your SPS a million times. look at my video and you can see 2 of them.

GOT THEM! hoho! I bought 4 of them! It's really a worth it fish with such a small price tag yet awfully superb colouration!

Under room lights, I can already distinguish their bluish-purple hue and yellow belly! Superb!

Just funny how auntie named them with another name and not something close to vanderbilit. lol (:

Anyway thanks Yikai and Digiman!

[yikai]

GOT THEM! hoho! I bought 4 of them! It's really a worth it fish with such a small price tag yet awfully superb colouration!

Under room lights, I can already distinguish their bluish-purple hue and yellow belly! Superb!

Just funny how auntie named them with another name and not something close to vanderbilit. lol (:

Anyway thanks Yikai and Digiman!

That's because it is not Chromis vanderbilti. The Vanderbilt chromis is found in Pacific ocean around Hawaii, Japan etc and is not found in Indonesia/Philippines. That's why they don't label it as Vanderbilt even though Vanderbilt is in their daabase.

They name it Chromis lineata if i'm not wrong. Chromis lineata looks 100% identical to vanderbilt except for having the entire tail outlined in black, whilst the vanderbilt only has the lower lobe outlined in black and the top part of the tail is yellow. a bicolored black/yellow tail.

The one we are getting i'm now sure it's C. lineata.

anyway no problem and glad you like it. This chromis is very pretty and will look even better once settled down. it's nicer than the blue-green chromis and it should get more attention!!

all of them are just left there un-sold coz no one knows about this hidden gem

[yikai]

here's a video on the REAL Vanderbilt chromis. Look at the beautiful yellow and black tail!

As you can see, the one at CF is definitely not Vanderbilt's chromis.

[MarcoVan]

That's because it is not Chromis vanderbilti. The Vanderbilt chromis is found in Pacific ocean around Hawaii, Japan etc and is not found in Indonesia/Philippines. That's why they don't label it as Vanderbilt even though Vanderbilt is in their daabase.

They name it Chromis lineata if i'm not wrong. Chromis lineata looks 100% identical to vanderbilt except for having the entire tail outlined in black, whilst the vanderbilt only has the lower lobe outlined in black and the top part of the tail is yellow. a bicolored black/yellow tail.

The one we are getting i'm now sure it's C. lineata.

anyway no problem and glad you like it. This chromis is very pretty and will look even better once settled down. it's nicer than the blue-green chromis and it should get more attention!!

all of them are just left there un-sold coz no one knows about this hidden gem

Yeah, auntie named them chromis lineata. Nonetheless still nice lah! hoho (:

YAH! everyone who has a big SPS tank should go down and grab them. Superb fish!

[Digiman]

There are a few videos of vanderbilt chromis in youtube and not all look like the pic shown. They are quite variable in terms of the black on the tail.

Go to ML and look at their so called "real" vanderbilt and u'll see it's also quite variable. Some has two black jobe whereas some only one black lobe on the tail, so also hard to say real vanderbilt or not.

Chromis acares, lineata and vanderbilt looks v similar. The one at chromis is definitely more vanderbilt looking den lineata looking i feel.

True vanderbilt pics at Hawaii:

But i dun care wat the chromis at CF is, i'll jux call them vanderbilt la. Cos the real vanderbilt costs $23 whereas the fake vanderbilt costs $5. Of course i get the fake one since they are identical!

[yikai]

There are a few videos of vanderbilt chromis in youtube and not all look like the pic shown. They are quite variable in terms of the black on the tail.

Go to ML and look at their so called "real" vanderbilt and u'll see it's also quite variable. Some has two black jobe whereas some only one black lobe on the tail, so also hard to say real vanderbilt or not.

Chromis acares, lineata and vanderbilt looks v similar. The one at chromis is definitely more vanderbilt looking den lineata looking i feel.

True vanderbilt pics at Hawaii:

But i dun care wat the chromis at CF is, i'll jux call them vanderbilt la. Cos the real vanderbilt costs $23 whereas the fake vanderbilt costs $5. Of course i get the fake one since they are identical!

yup yup.

the 3 chromis in the "vanderbilt complex" all look almost identical and dun care wat they are.

but they will never look as yellow and bright as those in the pics. they look grey-er.

it's definitely not acares since acares do not have blue lines.

it's either lineata or vanderbilt but i also feel it's more vanderbilt looking. i'm only saying it's lineata based on location and not appearance.

[Digiman]

yup yup.

the 3 chromis in the "vanderbilt complex" all look almost identical and dun care wat they are.

but they will never look as yellow and bright as those in the pics. they look grey-er.

it's definitely not acares since acares do not have blue lines.

it's either lineata or vanderbilt but i also feel it's more vanderbilt looking. i'm only saying it's lineata based on location and not appearance.

I agree base on location it's lineata. But lineata does not have defined blue lines but the ones at CF has blue lines, so it is more vanderbilt looking. But vanderbilt should not be found in indo shipment.

So maybe indo waters also have vanderbilts but are not recorded! The only way to verify is to one day hope the real vanderbilt show up from cooks or fiji or hawaii den we can compare the two fishes to see if they are really identical. All the pics on the net cant be trusted, esp those taken in the wild!

[yikai]

I agree base on location it's lineata. But lineata does not have defined blue lines but the ones at CF has blue lines, so it is more vanderbilt looking. But vanderbilt should not be found in indo shipment.

So maybe indo waters also have vanderbilts but are not recorded! The only way to verify is to one day hope the real vanderbilt show up from cooks or fiji or hawaii den we can compare the two fishes to see if they are really identical. All the pics on the net cant be trusted, esp those taken in the wild!

yup.

colour in the wild and tank v diff.

look at those in the wild! bright yellow.

those in captivity so grey.

[MarcoVan]

There are a few videos of vanderbilt chromis in youtube and not all look like the pic shown. They are quite variable in terms of the black on the tail.

Go to ML and look at their so called "real" vanderbilt and u'll see it's also quite variable. Some has two black jobe whereas some only one black lobe on the tail, so also hard to say real vanderbilt or not.

Chromis acares, lineata and vanderbilt looks v similar. The one at chromis is definitely more vanderbilt looking den lineata looking i feel.

True vanderbilt pics at Hawaii:

But i dun care wat the chromis at CF is, i'll jux call them vanderbilt la. Cos the real vanderbilt costs $23 whereas the fake vanderbilt costs $5. Of course i get the fake one since they are identical!

I love your last 2 sentences! So Digi-man! HAHAHA

I agree man! the lineage for the fishes are probably so close that we cannot even properly identify or differentiate which is which. So long they look nice; most importantly I like them, good enough already!

KNS! All of them went into hiding! Now can only see my newly bought flame hawk taking refuge inside my scrolling monti! WTH! :S

[yikai]

I love your last 2 sentences! So Digi-man! HAHAHA

I agree man! the lineage for the fishes are probably so close that we cannot even properly identify or differentiate which is which. So long they look nice; most importantly I like them, good enough already!

KNS! All of them went into hiding! Now can only see my newly bought flame hawk taking refuge inside my scrolling monti! WTH! :S

hiding?

that's not good. chromis are very active and should be swimming all over your tank by now!

but they can be quite sensitive when just arrive so many wait awhile longer. expect some losses.

and yes their lineages are very similar thats why all are in the same complex.

they most probably originated only from one species but that lone species got split up due to intrinsic forces like current, shifting of plates etc and the one species got split up. each of the new populations slowly evolve to suit their new habitat and then develop into new species, but resembling the original one. that's why they are all found nearby each other but the range seldom overlaps. so in hawaii, cook islands etc, chromis vanderbilti replaces the indonesian/philippine chromis lineata.

this is called allopatric speciation or geographical speciation, and it's a big part of evolution but i won't divulge too much boring details that i'm sure will bore everyone to sleep.

think about it

the "tinkeri-butterfly" complex, the "flameback-complex". all these nearly identical looking fishes are not just coincidence!

[MarcoVan]

hiding?

that's not good. chromis are very active and should be swimming all over your tank by now!

but they can be quite sensitive when just arrive so many wait awhile longer. expect some losses.

and yes their lineages are very similar thats why all are in the same complex.

they most probably originated only from one species but that lone species got split up due to intrinsic forces like current, shifting of plates etc and the one species got split up. each of the new populations slowly evolve to suit their new habitat and then develop into new species, but resembling the original one. that's why they are all found nearby each other but the range seldom overlaps. so in hawaii, cook islands etc, chromis vanderbilti replaces the indonesian/philippine chromis lineata.

this is called allopatric speciation or geographical speciation, and it's a big part of evolution but i won't divulge too much boring details that i'm sure will bore everyone to sleep.

think about it

the "tinkeri-butterfly" complex, the "flameback-complex". all these nearly identical looking fishes are not just coincidence!

hahahah I dont know bro. I am going back to office to check on them now. hehe (:

and yes, I love what I bolded in your conversation earlier. That's the absolute amazing part of Evolution! hehe (:

[Digiman]

The vanderbilt chromis from CF is actually quite timid. They need some time to become bold. The three i gave lemon are already v well acclimated tat's why they adapt so fast to lemon's tank. When i jux got them from CF, they hid for about two days and rarely swim in the open, after which two died, the three left thrived and do well till thereafter. They are defintely one of the more sensitive among the chromis family.

[MarcoVan]

The vanderbilt chromis from CF is actually quite timid. They need some time to become bold. The three i gave lemon are already v well acclimated tat's why they adapt so fast to lemon's tank. When i jux got them from CF, they hid for about two days and rarely swim in the open, after which two died, the three left thrived and do well till thereafter. They are defintely one of the more sensitive among the chromis family.

Yeah I noticed the same thing for mine. I bought 4 but only see 3 of them hiding under my rocks. Luckily I see their mouths opening and nibbling after I dropped food into the water so that aint bad. Just hope my high flow from vortech wont deter them from coming out into the open (:

Anyway thanks Digiman for the heads up! let me know if you see the you-know-what fish! (:

[yikai]

Yeah I noticed the same thing for mine. I bought 4 but only see 3 of them hiding under my rocks. Luckily I see their mouths opening and nibbling after I dropped food into the water so that aint bad. Just hope my high flow from vortech wont deter them from coming out into the open (:

Anyway thanks Digiman for the heads up! let me know if you see the you-know-what fish! (:

2001? hahha.a

[Digiman]

Yeah I noticed the same thing for mine. I bought 4 but only see 3 of them hiding under my rocks. Luckily I see their mouths opening and nibbling after I dropped food into the water so that aint bad. Just hope my high flow from vortech wont deter them from coming out into the open (:

Anyway thanks Digiman for the heads up! let me know if you see the you-know-what fish! (:

Haha if u mean the 2001 fish i think have to wait quite long. But i dun mind getting it's cheaper substitute from vanuatu or hawaii shipment. The chromis likes strong flow, so your vortech will be a benefit to the fish.