Refugium making food

5/9/04
Today I finally spotted small, swimming specs in the sump. This is cause for rejoicing, because it means that the refugium and live rock have accomplished what they were supposed to and are producing small creatures that the corals/fish will find palatable. In a perfect setup, you place the refugium unit ABOVE the tank and let water overflow from there into the tank. In my setup, the refugium is below the tank, but the books say that a significant number of these micro creatures will survive the trip through the pump mechanism into the tank. I’ll have to take their word for it, as it is unlikely I’ll ever spot these tiny copepods and amphipods in the main tank. But it is looking more and more likely that when those feather dusters spread their feathers, they will actually catch something. This also means that one day soon I could bring a Christmas tree worm rock home. These are very small feather dusters that are maybe 1/2” high, scattered around on a rock, in multiple colors, hence the name. Because they are so small, you shouldn’t buy them until the reef is showing signs it is maturing and has plenty of nutrients in the water.

We were having tuna for dinner so I tried chopping it finely and feeding some in the tank. The pieces turned out to be too big (tuna doesn’t mash up very well) and were rejected by all but the shrimp, who grabbed chunks and held them in close and backed into various caverns to pig out. I always aim some food at the watchman goby/shrimp pair, but never see the shrimp come out for food. He did for the tuna, though--hauled a chunk of tuna half his size into the house.

The anthelia coral that was half wilted and half healthy has come back to all healthy. The dealer postulated that it was being irritated by algae. So I used the turkey baster (my most common aquarium tool) to blast away algae for a few days, and it has responded to the treatment quite well.

The photo is of the scooter blenny. He is hard to photograph as he is well camoflauged. This little guy hardly swims at all; mostly he "walks" on his fins.