The Lightning Project

The ongoing saga of the PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish breeding project.

What else could go wrong? FIN ROT!

OK, officially I’m just frustrated.  I have to commend the Female PNG Maroon for fighting to live as it seems a never ending barrage of maladies hits her.  I know there’s still Crypotcaryon running around the tank, only seen it on her.  Now, it turns out that the “chunk” of her left pectoral fin that was presumed “bitten off” by the Lighting Maroon may not have been a bite at all.  Or if it was, it opened up the gateway to another new problem.
In either case, I’m now dealing with FIN ROT.  And this tends to progress FAST.  I’m surprised after just having run a 5 day treatment of Maracyn SW (an antibiotic) that this has now shown up.  Normally, I’d slam something like this with Maracyn SW (Erythromycin) as my first choice, but now…well…I’m hoping maybe I can find some Kanamycin at the local Petco (only fish store in town open after 6:30 PM…geeze).  I’m hoping for Kanamycin on two grounds, having yet to actually go look at what I *should* or *could* use.  #1.  Looks like whatever has hit was likely not something knocked out by Maracyn and #2.  Kanamycin is Christine’s default antibiotic.  Sounds like a good choice…probably should’ve thought to have some on hand.
Bouncing this off the advisers as well.  Remember, we just threw a UV on the tank too, which if course may have to be deactivated (it can affect medications).
Anyways, pix of the affliction:

PNG Maroon with Fin Rot

Finrot on the left pectoral of the Female PNG Maroon.


Left Flank of PNG Maroon Clownfish Female

Here's a shot of the left flank overall.


Fin Rot on a female Premnas biaculeatus

Another good left flank shot showing the pectoral disintegration.


PNG Lighting Maroon male and PNG Maroon Clownfish Female interacting.

They're still interacting.


Now, there is still the possibility that the Lighting Maroon is causing this damage…they do occasionally interact roughly.  But I’m at 95% Fin Rot as the diagnosis.  And it requires fast treament…I’ve seen similar disease competely disintegrate a fin in hours.

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Battling Ich and a UV

This morning, ICH (Cryptocaryon) is once again showing up on the female PNG Maroon.  I admit, I’ve been too busy to get a salinity adjustment back down to 1.010 going since yesterday.  Mark Martin (of Blue Zoo Aquatics) reminded me of something that I’d mentioned in one of the many emails flying back and forth between me and the group of advisers.
Since I’m not currently running any medications of any kind, there was nothing stopping me from throwing an internal UV filter unit onto the tank.  I had a used one on hand…I used to run it in my SPS tank.  I want to say it’s 9 watts.  It probably still has good useful life on it, but honestly, I can’t be sure.  We’ll see what it does for cloudy water (and Cryptocaryon).  At any rate, I threw it together this morning and got it in the tank.  It’s official…their tank looks more like an ICU than any kind of nice looking tank…wires and various apparatuses all over the place.
Water change is of course in their future.  Female is still eating this morning, but again, not really hunting down food by any stretch.  It almost has to bounce off her face..she won’t move more than a couple CM to snatch it out of the water as it drifts by.  She spent her night apart from the Lighting Maroon it looks like, over by the protein skimmer.  This affinity for that area suggests a desire to be by higher O2 levels, which tells me she may be having issues with breathing from the Crypt (although I have still have not noticed elevated respiratory rates).
That’s the morning edition…

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Another day

So it’s been what, 2 full weeks now?  Today, the maroons spent more of their day apart.  This evening, I did another water change, shook off all the live rock (and thus rearranged it a bit), dosed with Fish Protector in the makeup water and Reef Plus shortly thereafter.
The female Maroon, as cited earlier, still had spots of  Cryptocaryon (ICH) on her into the afternoon, but by night they’ve disappeared.  I should mention that besides the obvious visual cues that it was ICH and not Velvet, there has not been heavy breathing nor a total loss of appetite, both classic symptoms of Marine Velvet (Amyloodinium) even when it’s not outwardly visible.
I “polled” the advisers and got early responses from Joe, Christine and Matthew C. about my ongoing ICH problem.  I’m over simplifying their responses by a lot, but suffice it to say that if there were one word votes, it’d be 1 vote restore Hypo to 1.010 or even 1.009, and 2 votes for possible treatment with Cupramine (copper) to finally eradicate the problem.  Obviously, if this continues to be a recurring problem it will have to be dealt with.  I feel that the female Maroon has once again plateaued, albeit at a higher plateau than she was on before.
She has had less “spunk” today, not having tons of appetite by any stretch.  Unless food was moving, either in the current or alive (as in Live Adult Brine Shrimp) she didn’t see interested.  Honestly, I had my first suspicions that she might be blind now.  Hard to say.  Blindness can be temporary or permanent in clownfish and can be attributed to a variety of factors.  There are times she seems blind, but then other times where she most certainly does not.  So throw that on the pile as another of the never-ending list of problems that have plagued this female PNG Maroon since her arrival.  Oh, that, and someone took a chunk out of her left pectoral fin today.  The list of suspects is short.  VERY SHORT.  And happens to be covered in abberant white markings.
Behaviorally, the clowns were not as cuddly with each other today.  They spent most of their time about 3-4″ apart.  When I turned out the lights this evening, the female left her cave.  The Lighting Maroon quivered for her numerous times, but she moved off to a different part of the tank.  I didn’t stay to watch too much more, but suffice to to say that both fish seem to be roaming the tank more.  This, combined with the “mystery bite” on the female’s fin might suggest that the “pair bond” isn’t all that, but then I look at my other clowns that don’t have anemone homes and they tend to rove around quite a bit.  They aren’t always at each other’s side, but it’s very rare that they’re at opposite ends of the tank.
I think it’s really important to impress upon everyone how truly individual and dynamic a marine fish can be.  They most certainly do have personalities and subtle behavioral cues.  It pays to make yourself aware of those subtle changes in behavior.  I certainly believe that some folks might read way too much into it, anthropomorphizing their fish (and going off the deep end in the process).  However, if you can avoid that pitfall and be more objective about your fish, you may realize they will often give you clues when things aren’t quite right.  I.e. I’m paying more close attention to the Female Maroon today and tomorrow in light of what seems to be a decreased interest in food and behavior that may imply some blindness or at least vision trouble.  Hard to say where that’s stemming from, but it’s important to note general behavior every time you look as you’ll get tipped off when things may once again be going wrong.
Well, signing off for tonight, and hoping for a better tomorrow.  Power of positive thought seems to work folks, so please do keep sending prayers, well wishes,  good vibes and karma to the 20 gallon home of the PNG Ambassador and his wife 😉

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Recap – Acclimating Lightning

So still playing catchup on the Lightning Maroon Story…there’s already so much “behind the scenes” and “prequel” type content…I doubt I’ll ever get it all out there.  I did manage the first installment fairly quickly.  It’s time to hit the second installment of the “recap”, the acclimation of the Maroons to their new home.
We pick up where we left on on March 31st, with the box newly opened.  I had already taken salinity readings and matched the tank water to them (fish were shipped around 1.020).  Time to set up the drip acclimation.

SEASMART PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish in Drip Acclimation

Didn't even bother handling the Lightning Maroon, started acclimation in the bag.


No chances taken - Eggcrate covers the acclimation bucket!

No chances taken - Eggcrate covers the acclimation bucket!


SEASMART collected PNG Maroon Clownfish

Here's the "female" shipped from Blue Zoo.


SEASMART PNG MAROON CLOWNFISH

Got many better pictures of the female.


SEASMART PAPUA NEW GUINEA MAROON CLOWNFISH PREMNAS BIACULEATUS

That's one gorgeous large Maroon Clownfish! Bravo to everyone involved!


PNG Maroon Clownifsh

I know...I shot more pix of the female...


Drip acclimation of Premnas biaculeatus

Started the drip acclimation on the female.


Drip acclimating a wild caught PNG Maroon Clownfish

I followed the drip acclimation instructions provided in Blue Zoo's Acclimation Handbook, shipped with every order.


When drip acclimations were done, each fish was gently moved BY HAND into their designated sides of the QT tank.  I moved them by hand as wet hands (experienced in fish handling) are less abrasive, damaging, and risky, especially with fish that have spines that can be caught in netting.
Maroon Clownfish in tank

And finally, after hours of acclimation, they're in their tank. Separated by Eggcrate!


PNG Maroon Clownfish

Another look at that stunning female PNG Maroon. Slight misbar on the tail, but Maroon stripes fade, bottom up, with age.


Lightning Maroon Clownfish

The Lightning Maroon knows that there's a larger Maroon on the other side of that eggcrate.


Initial QT Setup...

This is their initial home, the larger PNG Maroon getting the majority of the space.


So, here’s how their tank is set up.  It’s a 20 Long full of live rock.  The only filtration is the live rock itself, with water circulation provided by the Penguin Power Filter hanging on the back.  This tank had been set up for months housing a much larger male Blue Jaw Triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus) which was given away to local reefer Jim Grassinger (of the Filter Guys) so I had a quality established home for these Maroon Clowns.  The clowns couldn’t have a more stable and established dedicated aquarium than this.  The added benefit was limited exposure…it’s not like they were on a system exposed to many other fish.
And that’s the story of how they got from the Boxes into the tank.  I followed Blue Zoo Aquatic’s acclimation protocols pretty much exactly.  Blue Zoo even provides tubing and a suction cup to make this as easy as possible.  All it takes is a knot in the tubing to control the rate at which water siphons from the tank into the bucket.
I do want to mention that I realized about 30 minutes into the acclimation process that the buckets were sitting on cold concrete basement floors.  In an effort to insulate the buckets, I placed them on the styrofoam lids from the shipping boxes.  I may always do this now…it certainly doesn’t hurt and probably helped keep the temps more stable.
As time permits, I’ll try to recap the first couple days to get everyone caught up to speed 😉
All images are copyright 2010 Matt Pedersen.  No reuse without express written consent!

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STINKBOMB and Salty Water

Last night I set up a batch of saltwater for an anticipated water change today.  For those who don’t know, I basically run a 5 gallon “Homer Bucket” from Home Depot with a 25 watt Visitherm Stealth heater and a MaxiJet pump to mix the water.  I fill it to a line I’ve marked, and from there, I know that it takes five half-cups (2.5 cups total) of Reef Crystals to bring up the water to 1.025.  So, to make 1.010 water, I scoup out 2 half cups (1 cup total) and I’m good to go.
Well, I recently started using Seachem’s Reef Salt, and guess what?  Apparently by volume it is more salty 😉  2  half cups mixed up to closer to 1.013.  So of course, I tested the Maroon Clown’s tank and it’s running closer to 1.012 right now.  I’m guessing it didn’t get up there through evaporation, but through my recent water changes!  Now, this raises the question – do I have an ICH problem on the female because the specific gravity rose up to 1.012?  I honestly don’t know, I’ll have to ask the advisors about that.
And yes, there is still Cryptocaryon on the female Maroon Clownfish.  Still not doing anything to directly treat it, but keeping an eye on her.  She is still eating this morning.
So I did my 5 gallon water change, treating the water with Kordon’s Fish Protector.  Will be dosing Vitamin C in a few minutes.
The “Stinkbomb”?  Well, when doing the water change,  I was sucking out uneaten food off the glass and I bumped into a Turbo snail shell that I thought was empty.  NOPE.  It was full of black goop…a dead Turbo Snail.  VILE…it never left the water, went through the siphon hose and STILL the stench was unbelievable.  I think I found the source of my cloudy water.  WOW.
Water tests are still OK overall…today’s test showed no visible traces of Ammonia, and pH around 8.0.  SG as mentioned prior was 1.012.  I may leave it, or I may drop it back to 1.010.
The last thing I did today was note that officially ALL medications have run their courses of treatment.  Yesterday was the last day of a 5 day treatment with Maracyn SW.  So, today, a big bag of fresh GAC (granulated activated carbon) went into the filtration.  A recent talk given at NERAC V by Ken Feldman really floored a lot of people as he put the science out there on GAC vs. Protein Skimming as it relates to DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon).  Bottom line, GAC is far more efficient and effective at removing more DOC from the water.  DOC, in laymans terms, think “fish waste”.  Or in my case, black slimy decaying Turbo snail leading to cloudy water.  I will probably change out the carbon by the weekend for another fresh bag.

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Quick update

Another water change this evening.  Tank is still running cloudy, but I’m being good about getting out all the uneaten food, even shaking out some live rock in the wastewater.  Every little bit of waste removal helps.
The Female PNG Maroon was out swimming more this evening, and the Lightning Maroon was still sitting in the cave.  Every once in a while he’d join her, or he’d go off exploring as well.  The fish are starting to act more and more like my other clown pairs.
The female Maroon was still showing white spots (ICH), but overall doesn’t seem under much stress.  I’ve had ICH show up occasionally in my reefs and haven’t ever gone crazy about it…generally with good husbandry and healthy fish it seems to just work out OK.  Of course, I’m dealing with a Maroon Clown that may not have eaten for 2 weeks, so “healthy” isn’t necessarily applicable in this case.  I believe if I see a worsening case, or if she starts refusing to eat again, I will probably kick off treatments with FW dips, even though that has debatable effect.  Of course, still frustrated that I’m seeing this considering my ongoing use of hyposaline conditions.
Going to do a water test at some point, maybe tonight yet (will update this post if I do).  It’s nice that I can start to think ahead now.  I can think about long term housing for the pair.  A pair of fish this unique definitely deserves to be a showpiece, not stuck in the basement hatchery with all the other broodstock.  But my planned 92 corner for the new house is probably not up for consideration (it’s open top, destined to be a SPS tank full of angels of course…).  I welcome suggestions on showpiece housing, even though I have no way of affording it (the 92 project was a tank given to me, and I’ve been buying parts for it piece by piece for a year+ now).  Still, one can dream, right?

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Remaining on course, but it's still a rough road

The short story – yesterday the fish got fed a few times.  I’ve realized that most food blows by the female, so I’m now in the position of having to turn off the filtration so she eats.  This has the positive side that if I leave the water pump off for a bit, I could come back later and siphon off uneaten food (only the male is willing to eat food off the bottom glass).
Last night, they got another 5 gallon water change.  Today, I started off by feeding a couple times, and now at lunch, another 5 gallon water change with Fish Protector in the makup, and then the dose of Maracyn.  Also hitting the tank with the daily dose of Kent’s Vitamin C product.
The sad news is that the female, while she continues to eat, has another clear cut case of Cryptocaryon (ICH).  Nothing “serious” (as indicated by the fact that she’s still eating) but seriously, with almost 2 weeks of Hyposalinity and solid Formalin treatments, I should not be continuing to deal with ICH.  This may be a case where I have to “keep an eye on it”, maybe go for FW dips, or maybe wait it out for another week and then bring up the salinity and hit the tank with Cupramine.  In the meantime, so long as the fish continues to eat, things should go OK.  I’ve been soaking all their food with Seachem’s Garlic Guard, which is thought may help keep parasites out of the gills (key word there is THOUGHT, not “proven”).

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TODAY she eats!

This is simply a very happy day for me.  The female ATE food for the first time moments ago.  She’s not vigorous about it by any stretch.  I put in some Formula One Pellets (from Ocean Nutrition) which the male loves and as usual, she didn’t look at ’em.  I then put in my general frozen mix of enriched brine shrimp, mysis and whatever else I threw in (i.e. could have gel diets, squid, freeze dried stuff).   I’ve been hitting the frozen mix with Seachem’s Garlic Guard since last week to increase feeding response (yes, have thrown every trick in the book at these fish).  Well, she nipped a piece of brine shrimp out  of the water column, then hit some tubifex as well.  I didn’t continue to watch, but instead ran up here to tell the world.
We are officially moving in a positive direction, finally!

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Weekend Update with 2 Maroon Clownfish from PNG

It’s been a busy weekend and one that has left me with only questions and no real good explanations!
Friday – following my last update in the afternoon, I went back down and was shocked with what I saw.  So much so, that only video can truly convey what surprised me.


For the record, I did NOT introduce the Lightning Maroon into the female’s side of their tank. He, and I say now safely “HE”, either jumped the egg crate or somehow managed to squeeze around it. SINCE Friday afternoon, he has not left her side. I will tell you now that I was totally shocked and surprised to see this. I didn’t do this. But I have not intervened. Clearly this is what the Lighting Maroon WANTED. Possibly a sign from above? Hard to say. But who am I to argue. If the Lightning Maroon wants to be with the female so badly that he’ll bypass the barriers to interaction (and the safety afforded to him), I will not interfere. In other words, despite my best efforts to keep the Lighting Maroon safe from the female PNG Maroon, they have gotten together without incident. To me, this behavioral change, this unintended pairing, and the fact that it has gone so smoothly, solidly answers the sex question (short of actual egg fertilization). I think everyone who felt that the Lighting Maroon was a male at the time of collection was right.
I have continued on my treatment paths…you don’t stop medication the moment your symptoms go away, you need to follow things through. That means that they got a water change on Friday night, followed by 2 drops of Vitamin C. Saturday morning, a dose of Maracyn SW and 8 drops of Vitamin C. In the evening, another 5 gallon water change, 2 drops of Vitamin C to make up for what may have been removed. Sunday morning, again, a dosing of Maracyn SW. I was in such a hurry this morning I don’t think I dosed any Vitamin C.
Technically, the tank was due for another Formalin dosage today. I honestly think I’ve hit things as hard as I can with Formalin. The last dosage of Formalin seemed to irritate the fish, so in a potentially risky move, I am not going to dose the tank with Formalin anymore. It truly did wreak havoc on the live rock and the overall water quality from a bacterial standpoint.
It’s also been a extra day since the last “formalin dip” on the Female. She went through more dips than was prescribed. I still have not seen her eat anything, while the PNG Lightning Maroon Clown eats anything that hits the water. I get the impression that the female PNG Maroon is very nervous about me being around, and she may in fact be eating when I’m not watching. Hard to tell. I’ve been feeding live adult brine shrimp from Mark Martin @ Blue Zoo, which I continue to enrich / feed with RotiGrow Plus from Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition). I am still considering doing a FW dip, possibly with Formalin, tonight. If I can see her eating something, anything, I will refrain from further dips. Knowing that refusing to eat is a symptom of both Brooklynella and Amyloodinium, and believing in my gut that I’ve dealt with both of these parasites in the past week, to NOT continue with dips (whether FW, Formalin or both) would be a risky move. If the fish is eating, there goes the only remaining “outwardly apparent” symptom of Brook or Velvet. I would be very relieved if she would just eat already.
And that’s the update. This evening, other than the female still not eating as far as I can tell, they are truly acting like a healthy bonded clownfish pair. I still have no concrete explanations for the female’s miraculous recovery. Certainly some divine intervention, and if folks want to call it a true miracle from God, I certainly believe in a higher power and yes, that thought has crossed my mind. Definitely a higher power out there. But religion aside, I am still a “scientist” and believe there is some scientific explanation. It may very well be what inspired me to hit the tank with Maracyn SW. IF the Maroon was suffering from an internal bacterial infection, one not readily apparent externally, then the rapid turnaround and loss of symptoms would make sense following the administration of antibiotics. This seems to be the most likely possibility, but the simple truth is that a) we’re not out of the woods with the female and b) we may never know what’s kept her alive this long.
So that’s my update.

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Back from the dead?!

I took a quick break from work to go look and feed the fish downstairs.  To my true surprise, the female PNG Maroon Clownfish is up and swimming.  Definitely looks stressed out, but I think not being wedged under the live rock is an improvement.
I offered live brine shrimp (from Mark Martin @ Blue Zoo). I’ve been feeding/enriching with RotiGrow Plus (from Reed Mariculture).  No feeding response out of the female, but maybe she’s nervous to feed when I’m standing around watching.  I’ll be paying close attention.
So of course, the first thing I have to wonder – is this a result of the Maracyn SW dosing this morning?
Admittedly, I’m still not optimistic for the female.  But I am not making any drastic changes at this point.  I would REALLY like to see this girl eat something.  FOOD is a huge benefit to a sick fish.

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