Lasses Dream Build

[Lasse]

What fish is this if you don't mind me asking? It reminds me of the Bluegill Longfin (Plesiops Corallicola).

Its a Emblemaria pandionis.

Unfortunately I haven't seen it in a few weeks. They are admittedly very stationary - so it may have moved in behind my rocks - it has happened before but 2 weeks is a long time - we'll see if it shows up again. If not then it's on the shopping list - it's a super nice fish

Sincerely Lasse

 

[areefer01]

Its a Emblemaria pandionis.

Unfortunately I haven't seen it in a few weeks. They are admittedly very stationary - so it may have moved in behind my rocks - it has happened before but 2 weeks is a long time - we'll see if it shows up again. If not then it's on the shopping list - it's a super nice fish

Sincerely Lasse

Ah, plot twist. I was not expecting that. Thank you.

 

[Lasse]

Some pictures from my aquarium yesterday

FTS

And there could only be one - is it a reflection or...

Finally a good picture of a fish that´s more or less impossible to justify its beauty in LED light and with a digital camera

A favourite

best picture so far of this visually elusive fish

Guess who's the latest addition

Still going strong

Peekaboo

Corals

New fish

Ouch

Sincerely Lasse

 

[areefer01]

Some pictures from my aquarium yesterday

FTS

And there could only be one - is it a reflection or...

Finally a good picture of a fish that´s more or less impossible to justify its beauty in LED light and with a digital camera

A favourite

best picture so far of this visually elusive fish

Guess who's the latest addition

Still going strong

Peekaboo

Corals

New fish

Ouch

Sincerely Lasse

Is the "new" fish a Links Goby by any chance?

 

[Lasse]

Is the "new" fish a Links Goby by any chance?

Do not think so. I buy it as Istigobius ornatus but there is tons of similar looking sand gobies around the world. Whats special with this goby is a black spot in a yellow field in the anterior dorsal fin top - not visible in the that image. Below is better pictures of this

I have found matching picture but it seems to be from the same source as the photo at the FS there it comes from. Fish base shows some of the pictures for this species with matching dorsal marks - some without. The description of the species includes this "anterior tip of first dorsal fin bright yellow"

As I know it now - it is possible Istigobius ornatus - but I´m not sure. Its common around both the Pacific and Indian Ocean and I suspect that this individual was captured in Kenya

Sincerely Lasse

 

[areefer01]

Do not think so. I buy it as Istigobius ornatus but there is tons of similar looking sand gobies around the world. Whats special with this goby is a black spot in a yellow field in the anterior dorsal fin top - not visible in the that image. Below is better pictures of this

I have found matching picture but it seems to be from the same source as the photo at the FS there it comes from. Fish base shows some of the pictures for this species with matching dorsal marks - some without. The description of the species includes this "anterior tip of first dorsal fin bright yellow"

As I know it now - it is possible Istigobius ornatus - but I´m not sure. Its common around both the Pacific and Indian Ocean and I suspect that this individual was captured in Kenya

Sincerely Lasse

Thanks. I missed the dorsal fin and yellow marking. Nice fish.

I kept a Links Goby, Biota, for a couple of years and it was a joy. I also had the Upside Down goby. Both can get lost in mature reefs but they are fun to keep. Sitting and watching the display then one catches your eye. It is the little things.

Thank you again - hope your day is well.

 

[fishguy242]

Happy Holidays Lasse...

 

[sgdnycct]

Hi Lasse,

Been following your tank build and loving it. A lot of the chemistry goes over my head but I have picked up a lot! Thank you for documenting so thoroughly!

I went through the thread and couldn’t find any reference to how you introduce you livestock, particularly fish? I ask because I’ve been thinking a lot about how to introduce new life to my 80 gallon. Do you keep livestock in quarantine prior to adding? Or do you have another magical solution we mortals have not figured out?

Apologies if this was already covered and I missed it.

 

[Lasse]

Happy Holidays Lasse...

The same

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Hi Lasse,

Been following your tank build and loving it. A lot of the chemistry goes over my head but I have picked up a lot! Thank you for documenting so thoroughly!

I went through the thread and couldn’t find any reference to how you introduce you livestock, particularly fish? I ask because I’ve been thinking a lot about how to introduce new life to my 80 gallon. Do you keep livestock in quarantine prior to adding? Or do you have another magical solution we mortals have not figured out?

Apologies if this was already covered and I missed it.

I´m very much against the method many people in this forum use inorder to QT their fish. Many use a prophylactic approach - e.g. the use of chemicals and different type of antibiotics just if.......

I´m not against using chemicals in order to treat fish with clear indications of an ongoing microbial infection but to use them just incase.....No. The use of antibiotics should not be done by amateurs - its up to the professionals to use - IMO.

I´m not against observation QT (without prophylactic treatment) ifd it is done in a working aquarium with stone and sand in order to reduce stress. If this type of QT is in use - I would change around 20% of the water - using DT water every day the last week of the QT.

However - I do not use any type of QT normally but I do some steps before I introduce my fish into the DT. If I purchase from a LF - i normally observe the fish and the aquarium I buy from for a while before I buy. If I have done a special order (happens often) - I take the fish directly from my LF in the delivery bag. When I come home - I put my newcomer in my refugium or in an adaption box. The reson for this is that my newcomer should be adapted to my aquariums biological biota without being stressed or bullied by the old etablished fish. The biological adaption and that the fish get the same "smell" as my old fish is important for me in my rutine. In this way - the bullying when the newcomer will be introduced is minimal. When I finally decide to introduce my new fish - I do it when its only some minutes left of my daylight period. I have use this method many years now and it works well for me. I also only feed my fish with frozen adult artemia and freshwater cyclops and when the newcomer is in adaption "mode" - I feed them rather often.

When I start my aquarium - I introduce hardy fish in the start

Sincerely Lasse

 

[sgdnycct]

Hi Lasse,

Been following your tank build and loving it. A lot of the chemistry goes over my head but I have picked up a lot! Thank you for documenting so thoroughly!

I went through the thread and couldn’t find any reference to how you introduce you livestock, particularly fish? I ask because I’ve been thinking a lot about how to introduce new life to my 80 gallon. Do you keep livestock in quarantine prior to adding? Or do you have another magical solution we mortals have not figured out?

Apologies if this was already covered and I missed it.

I´m very much against the method many people in this forum use inorder to QT their fish. Many use a prophylactic approach - e.g. the use of chemicals and different type of antibiotics just if.......

I´m not against using chemicals in order to treat fish with clear indications of an ongoing microbial infection but to use them just incase.....No. The use of antibiotics should not be done by amateurs - its up to the professionals to use - IMO.

I´m not against observation QT (without prophylactic treatment) ifd it is done in a working aquarium with stone and sand in order to reduce stress. If this type of QT is in use - I would change around 20% of the water - using DT water every day the last week of the QT.

However - I do not use any type of QT normally but I do some steps before I introduce my fish into the DT. If I purchase from a LF - i normally observe the fish and the aquarium I buy from for a while before I buy. If I have done a special order (happens often) - I take the fish directly from my LF in the delivery bag. When I come home - I put my newcomer in my refugium or in an adaption box. The reson for this is that my newcomer should be adapted to my aquariums biological biota without being stressed or bullied by the old etablished fish. The biological adaption and that the fish get the same "smell" as my old fish is important for me in my rutine. In this way - the bullying when the newcomer will be introduced is minimal. When I finally decide to introduce my new fish - I do it when its only some minutes left of my daylight period. I have use this method many years now and it works well for me. I also only feed my fish with frozen adult artemia and freshwater cyclops and when the newcomer is in adaption "mode" - I feed them rather often.

When I start my aquarium - I introduce hardy fish in the start

Sincerely Lasse

Lasse you really know your stuff!

Two things I haven’t considered are the adaptation to the biota of an individual tank (v. The usually referenced temp and sg) and the “smell” of a new guy. The bullies will always go after the new guy!

I’ve been doing my introductions similar to yours without knowing why. I think I’m going to stick with my current method of observation prior/post purchase. I’m going to add some extra time in an isolated area in my sump for the new kids based on your explanation. I have a DSB area isolated in a tank within my sump. The surface of the DSB is aerobic and similar to my DT. I think it will work to allow for adaptation to my biota while giving me a chance to observe longer- just need to build a divider that goes to the surface so the kids don’t get trapped in my Chaeto.

Thanks Lasse! Happy New Year! You’re already in 2026… we have 2 hrs to go!

 

[Lasse]

I know that the explanation of "smell" as an important factor in order to recognise each other makes many people smile by far - crazy guy.

Many years ago, some friends and I bred aggressive cichlids from Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. We quickly learned that if we tried to introduce the same or similar species to an aquarium, it often led to the death of the newcomer due to the aggressiveness of the old ones. Since we were not beginners, we also knew that any outbreaks of disease in newcomers were not only due to what the newcomer was carrying but also to the fact that the pathogen in question could be present in the intended aquarium and that the newcomer could lack immunity or, due to the stress during transport, have reduced mucus production. Therefore a disease can broke out starting with the newcomer which then served as a growth zone for possible pathogens.

We must be clear that it is not only the presence of a pathogen that causes a disease process - it is also the quantity. Few people lose a finger because of a needle prick, but if there are 1,000,000 needle pricks in the same finger, there is no finger left...

Because that none of us consider a "smell" change factor we decide to change our introduction rutin to incorporate two extra step - the newcomer was placed in a small aquaria in sight for the old aquaria (recognize with help of sight) and we did daily WC with water from the DT (introducing of the microbiome of the old tank). It works perfect for most species that we had have problems with earlier. However - one introduction was of mistake done with a small aquaria out of sight from the fishes in the main aquaria but the WC was done as before. This worked as well........

After this we did all our introduction with daily WC from the main aquaria - both in sight and out of sight and the only common factor for success was the daily WC. We also note that aggression was not ruled out 100 % but was maybe only between 5 - 10 % in intensity compared with the drop and pray method.

We did not get any disease outbreak during this time linked to introduction. Someone can say that this was a type of QT - yes it was but I have tested the method of introduction in order to minimize aggression in system with constant connection of both inflow and outflow between the main and introduction aquaria with the same good result and no diseases.

When I converted to the bright side - around year of 2005 - (from fresh to salt) I start to use this method for introduction even for saltwater.

There is also one more thing I do when I purchase new fishes - I never let the water of the delivering bag coming in to my own aquariums - it goes directly into the waste drain

The reason for this is also coming by experiences from the dark side.

In Sweden - there was for a long time two main wholesalers for freshwater fish. The debate about which of them delivered the most diseases along with the fish was both fierce and heated among LF:s around the country. At that time I was a part of training programs for people who worked in various LFS. My suggestion was simple - do not mix fishes from different wholesalers in the same aquarium when they arrive and do not mix water from the different wholesalers in the same aquarium. We had done this routine in a LFS that I was a parttime worker for many years before without any problems with diseases from either of these two wholesalers. We could mix them after a while when the careless part-time employee occasionally forgot which system the net he was using came from for long enough....

These experiences is the basis for how I introduce my fish even today

Sincerely Lasse

 

[sgdnycct]

I know that the explanation of "smell" as an important factor in order to recognise each other makes many people smile by far - crazy guy.

Many years ago, some friends and I bred aggressive cichlids from Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. We quickly learned that if we tried to introduce the same or similar species to an aquarium, it often led to the death of the newcomer due to the aggressiveness of the old ones. Since we were not beginners, we also knew that any outbreaks of disease in newcomers were not only due to what the newcomer was carrying but also to the fact that the pathogen in question could be present in the intended aquarium and that the newcomer could lack immunity or, due to the stress during transport, have reduced mucus production. Therefore a disease can broke out starting with the newcomer which then served as a growth zone for possible pathogens.

We must be clear that it is not only the presence of a pathogen that causes a disease process - it is also the quantity. Few people lose a finger because of a needle prick, but if there are 1,000,000 needle pricks in the same finger, there is no finger left...

Because that none of us consider a "smell" change factor we decide to change our introduction rutin to incorporate two extra step - the newcomer was placed in a small aquaria in sight for the old aquaria (recognize with help of sight) and we did daily WC with water from the DT (introducing of the microbiome of the old tank). It works perfect for most species that we had have problems with earlier. However - one introduction was of mistake done with a small aquaria out of sight from the fishes in the main aquaria but the WC was done as before. This worked as well........

After this we did all our introduction with daily WC from the main aquaria - both in sight and out of sight and the only common factor for success was the daily WC. We also note that aggression was not ruled out 100 % but was maybe only between 5 - 10 % in intensity compared with the drop and pray method.

We did not get any disease outbreak during this time linked to introduction. Someone can say that this was a type of QT - yes it was but I have tested the method of introduction in order to minimize aggression in system with constant connection of both inflow and outflow between the main and introduction aquaria with the same good result and no diseases.

When I converted to the bright side - around year of 2005 - (from fresh to salt) I start to use this method for introduction even for saltwater.

There is also one more thing I do when I purchase new fishes - I never let the water of the delivering bag coming in to my own aquariums - it goes directly into the waste drain

The reason for this is also coming by experiences from the dark side.

In Sweden - there was for a long time two main wholesalers for freshwater fish. The debate about which of them delivered the most diseases along with the fish was both fierce and heated among LF:s around the country. At that time I was a part of training programs for people who worked in various LFS. My suggestion was simple - do not mix fishes from different wholesalers in the same aquarium when they arrive and do not mix water from the different wholesalers in the same aquarium. We had done this routine in a LFS that I was a parttime worker for many years before without any problems with diseases from either of these two wholesalers. We could mix them after a while when the careless part-time employee occasionally forgot which system the net he was using came from for long enough....

These experiences is the basis for how I introduce my fish even today

Sincerely Lasse

Wow thank you for that explanation! It makes sense thinking back on it. I never thought about the visibility component during observation. Although based on the experiment you mentioned it doesn’t look like it’s critical, I may test it out over time. Especially if I’m adding same species mates.

 

[Lasse]

Especially if I’m adding same species mates.

In that case - I think that the visual effect is important - see this experiment. The two are still best mates after more than a year. Today I would have left them apart a little longer time





Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Soon 10 years old - some pictures from the last days

Sincerely Lasse

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Congrats!

The 10 year anniversary is marked by tin or aluminum to signify durability. Maybe get an aluminum or tin fish and place it next to the tank.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Also, @Lasse , it would appear the last ten years have been tough on you. It looks like you went from being a stout sailor to, well, a princess.

 

[Lasse]

Also, @Lasse , it would appear the last ten years have been tough on you. It looks like you went from being a stout sailor to, well, a princess.

To all that not have follow my all these years - this was my avatar in the start - the only good photo of me in 76 years

you can serve me on the Christmas table too

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Soon 10 years old - some pictures from the last days

Sincerely Lasse

Beautiful photos, Lasse! As always, I love seeing your happy tank inhabitants!

 

[Lasse]

Update of my experiences with "coral snow" and bacteria. Of some reasons it seems to work rather well. I dosed every day for 5 days (3 - 4 tablespoons of fine CaCO3 powder soaked in about 100ml of skimmate for half an hour) in my 300 litre aquarium. One week break, two days of dosing - then break again. Should have dosed this week too but haven't done so yet for various other reasons. I had some spots of a dark red, almost brown, mat of cyanobacteria on the sand, on the rock and on the surface of my refugium (on top of my macroalgae).

After 3 weeks it's much better - It's almost gone on the sand and rock and when I lifted the lid of my refugium yesterday there was no mat of cyanobacteria on the surface over my algae. Instead they were a healthy green. I haven't seen the algae so healthy in years.

I have no idea why this works – the method obviously doesn't require expensive bacteria in a bottle – whether it requires bacteria at all I leave unsaid – I don't know.

I will be using the method once a week now for a while - just waiting until I submit an ICP-MS analysis.

Another - still weak observation is that my growth of calcareous algae seem to have experienced an increase - I'm still unsure about this but the growth on my glass panes seems to have returned - haven't seen it in a few years.

Sincerely Lasse