Possible Spawning Event? Bubbles in reef tank    5/25/11
Dear WWM,
<Cory>
First of all, how are you? I hope everyone is doing well.
<Fab>
I have a quick question for your expertise if you will; Today I noticed a strange texture to the water in my reef tank - about an hour after lights on, it looked as if the tank was full of tiny air bubbles. I thought at first maybe a snail or other crustacean had gotten into the outflow but that wasn't the case. I took a cup of water out and let it sit, but the bubbles did not dissipate. In fact, they seem to hang suspended as if the water is "thick".
All the wildlife in the tank seems to be doing fine; it may be worth noting that a peppermint shrimp shed his exoskeleton last night, I removed the exoskeleton after noticing the change in the water.
<I'd leave it in, or put it back if you still have it. Gets eaten, reincorporated in the new>
I located the shrimp and he is alive and well.
20Gal High tank with 25 lbs of Live Rock and a shallow sand bed, established for only about 3 months so far.
36 Watts T5 Lighting, 10 hour photoperiod
Water tests:
Spg 1.023,
<Mmm, I'd raise... see WWM re>
Alk above 3.4, pH 7.8, Cal 460, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrate
between 10-20.
Livestock: 1.5'' Cherub Angelfish, 1'' Neon Goby, 2'' Yellow Watchman, 1''
Blue-green Chromis
A dozen or so assorted blue legged hermits, a dozen or so Turbo snails
1 Small peppermint shrimp
1 Small pulsing xenia colony (about 4inches in diameter)
1 Small Duncan Frag with about five heads
All the fish are swimming around, not laboring for breath. All the corals are opened and do not seem to be acting differently. Crustaceans in the tank are acting normally as well.
My question is - Am I witnessing some kind of "spore cloud" or other reef spawning event?
<Mmm, possibly>
I was worried that I might have some calcium precipitation but that does not seem to be the case. Is this something I should be concerned about; or should I just let the filter do it's job and wait it out?
<I'd do the latter... but have a good deal of water for change-out on hand... just in case>
I have not fed the tank today nor added chemicals, even though this is one of
the typical days for doing so (chemicals).
<Add dissolved in new water during changes>
I appreciate your advice in advance
Thank you WWM Crew
<Welcome! Bob Fenner>
Cory
Re: Possible Spawning Event? Bubbles in reef tank... sm. vol.... dis? Maint.?    5/31/11
Hello Again Crew, and thank you for your previous help. I have another question that I could not find the answer to in your FAQ, only anecdotal stuff from Google which seemed varied...
<The vast bulk of the Net I'd wager...>
Parameters are widely unchanged since last email, except for Sp. Gr. which I have been raising slowly as per RMF's advice
<Good>
20Gal High tank with 25 lbs of Live Rock and a shallow sand bed, established for only about 3 months so far.
36 Watts T5 Lighting, 10 hour photoperiod
SpGr 1.024, pH 8.1, Alk above 3.2, Cal 480, Mag approx 1200, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, Ammonia 0
Livestock: 1.5'' Cherub Angelfish, 1'' Neon Goby, 2'' Yellow Watchman, 1'' Blue-green Chromis
A dozen or so assorted blue legged hermits, a dozen or so Turbo snails
1 Small peppermint shrimp
1 Small pulsing xenia colony (about 4inches in diameter)
1 Small Duncan Frag with about five heads
2 Large Feather Duster Worms (forgot to mention these last time)
<Ahh! The possible spawners here>
Anyway, today after doing my water change (10%) I noticed that my Xenia colony seemed to be putting out some stringy transparent mucus that was visible because particulate matter in the water would occasionally get trapped in it. Now I know I have a few Polychaetes in the live rock that I've seen eat with this same exact mucus, but never have I seen it in such copious amounts. I am assuming it is coming from the Xeniids simply because that's where it seems the most concentrated, but it could just be getting "trapped" there more than other places. The Xenia itself seems relatively unchanged, it's still pulsing, color is the same, and it has not receded. In response, I tried to manually remove the mucus from the water using a wide base siphon, and replaced another 10% of water after doing so. I mixed up some extra water just in case. I also decided to move the Xenias into a higher flow area to help with the removal of the mucus, and this seems to be helping.
I should note that today along with the water change I dosed Calcium (5ml), Magnesium (1 teaspoon), Carbonate (5ml), and Iodine(2ml); in the same amounts I have done since establishing the tank. I dose my chemicals by removing 3 cups of tank water, dissolving the respective chemicals separate in each cup and then adding to the tank.
<Mmm, better by far to dilute and leave pre-mixed in new/change-out water.
The stress caused by such can trigger reproduction et al. in extremis>
Only event worth notice that has happened since my last email is one of the feather dusters shed his crown after the new peppermint had a snack of it; it is growing a new one without issue and the shrimp has left the dusters alone (I suppose he's getting plenty to eat now).
Sorry for the long winded question but I just want to know if I am taking the proper steps to insure the health of not only my Xenias, but the entire tank.
I love my Xeniid colony but I know that they can be fickle - I have read plenty of anecdotes where people would have them established for over a year and then they "crashed."
<Yes>
I am concerned that if this is the case, I may lose my entire livestock in such a small volume. Any advice you'd have on the matter is greatly appreciated. I bow to your superior knowledge yet again.
Thank you
Cory
<If there is some sort of Pulsing Coral melt-down event, hopefully you will see it in progress, in time, to change out water, move your other livestock...
BobF>

Captive Bred Invertebrates - 10/22/10
There seems to be some options for captive bred fish, but where's the love for non-coral invertebrates?
<You might have to look more local for this. Nassarius snails and serpent stars seem to reproduce well in peoples reef tanks. See if anyone in your local club has an excess. Also, you could breed a pair of peppermint shrimp. Then have extra babies to give out to friends. That would be low-impact. The issue is that inverts don't cost enough for people to breed them on a commercial scale. So you just need to look locally.
My goal is for a captive bred tank, or as low of an impact as practically possible. Thank you.
<That is an admirable goal.>
Alex
<Scott T.>
Re: Captive Bred Invertebrates  10/22/10
Thank you. I do definitely plan to ask around locally. I was actually eyeing the Pacific skunk cleaner, although I haven't yet decided if I would get two to produce offspring. Is there a list of invertebrates that generally breed well in captivity?
<You could read around here:
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=134&sid=5c5c4d697afee82f73e2d5a38d1e6191 >
<The ones I listed are the only ones I know about. The fancier shrimp I think are much harder than the peppermints.>
Alex
<Scott T.>
Re: Captive Bred Invertebrates 10/25/10
Thank you for all the info so far.
<Thank you! I hope it was helpful.>
I have at least one more question on this topic: Is there a resource to find the current conservation status if a particular animal?
< http://www.iucnredlist.org/ has a lot of info. Some people don't agree with them. But, they have a pretty complete list.>
Alex
<Scott T.>