This is a test setup using my old ten gallon ten. It is intended to see what happens if not only is there more than two clownfish (i.e. not recommended), but a mix too (again, not currently recommended), of juvenile clownfish growing up together.
Current stocking
Previous stocking
Unfortunately the ocellaris died one by one. They arrived very small and just died off one after another. The remaining three died when I was on holidays due to heater failure.
With nothing in the tank, there is a chance of a reset. So I let it ran for about a week now, getting a new heater, a new submersible light to grow the chaeto, and then shifted things around as well. Depletion of nutrients, especially with the chaeto growth promoted, is preventing algae from growing back. I have decided to retry a reef aquarium, getting a bunch of corals that I will try to let grow for a while before re-adding fish. Let's see how it all goes.
October 18th - set up the tank:
This was originally a saltwater tank, converted to freshwater, then now saltwater again. Biomedia, sand, rock has remained throughout.
I was hoping the nitrifiers from before would still be around, but unfortunately not. Post-set up after a day, I did test the waters to get 0, 0, 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
Dosed to 2ppm (I was targeting 1ppm but accidentally overdosed), and there was no decrease:
Two potential reasons:
The biomedia was kept out of water for about a month before adding to the tank, I guess desiccation took its toll.
When I converted from saltwater to freshwater, the nitrifiers (which were from FritzZyme TurboStart 900) continued to function, which is expected based on a previous study suggesting marine nitrifiers can function in freshwater but not vice versa. But exactly that! Over time it is expected that there is a community shift to what is most optimized to function in an environment. It is possible that the marine nitrifiers were replaced with freshwater ones, and hence why once this was converted again to saltwater, the existing nitrifiers could not function.
It is impossible to say what is what though.
So I ordered FritzZyme TurboStart 900 again via Amazon, but they arrived late. I ordered the clownfish to arrive after a few days after that. Unfortunately the FritzZyme was delayed. Fortunately, I tested my water and...
Zeroes! Strange? Not really. There were plenty of algae growing, which likely consumed all that ammonia. Well I guess that works too...
The fish arrived:
And they have been doing great. FritzZyme TurboStart 900 finally arrived, and I dosed it anyways. I do prefer ammonia consumption via nitrification rather than as a nitrogen source after all. I had also gotten Bio-Spira too, thinking FritzZyme would arrive wayyy too late. They both arrived at the same time, and I decided to dose Bio-Spira as well. Why not. Just in case you are wondering, Bio-Spira has also been tested by saltwater aquarists and found to work well.
So far the fish are doing great!
Cinnabon, the cinnamon clownfish, is currently the alpha of the tank.
I also got three emerald crabs that I have in the back to consume algae. I also have chaeto in the back as well to help soak up nutrients. In the tank, there is a sponge, ten nassarius snails, and a sand sifting starfish.