Running the T-5s today, I noticed two things. The tank looked the same as when I've run VHO actinics, so the new bulbs are working out perfectly. The other thing I noticed is the tank is running a half degree lower than usual, and that is a good thing. Less heat, less wattage, same look! So far, I'm happy. :)

I had to devise a way to feed the baby clam today, and finally just elevated the tray 2" so that it was just above the water level. I poured in a little phytoplankton, and let the clam consume that for about an hour. The water was greenish when it started, and an hour later it was clear. An interesting thing I noticed was that there were clumps of green stuff near the clam after the hour. Like it had injested the liquid and exported something slightly more tangible.

And later after lights out, I hunted for whelks in the tank to protect my clam from harm. I found 5 more that I'll either give away or throw away. Or maybe the LFS wants them?

Some good news...

Tonight, while I was hunting the whelks in my system, I came across my baby Ocellaris (False Percula clownfish) in the return section of my sump, hiding under the refugium. :D

He's back in the main tank now.

You know, that is a heck of a ride:

Had to go over the teeth of the overflow box, and into the algae infested base, only to be sucked up one of the two U tubes and into the outer box. Not much room in that little section, it went over a small acrylic wall that assures siphon is not broken in a power outage, and down the flexible tubing into the sump where my skimmer is located.

The base of the tubing has a 90degree elbow, so I imagine the fish swam out looking around. Seeking its home, it had to work its way around some huge LR pieces, the base of the Aqua C Ev-200 protein skimmer and over the Mag 12 pump sucking in 1200gph for the skimmer!

At this point, it was go back or tackle the bubble trap. 10" wide, it had to pick a spot in that vertical channel and dive down 9" to get under the next baffle and up over the next one 9" tall. Once in that spot, it would have had to jump, because the water flowing over that last baffle is only 1/4" deep, so one quick leap of faith and it was in the return section.

As with any waterfall, another boulder of LR was there to be avoided during the splashdown, and then circumnavigated to get beneath the refugium which may have looked relatively similar to home. Looking up, sand! Looking from the side, greenery and a tigertail cucumber. Refugium water pours down 24/7 through the base of the fuge into the return section, probably releasing some morsels of food for the clown. And then there was the constant awareness to avoid being sucked into the Mag 9.5 return pump running nearby.

I've not seen the little guy in over 3 weeks, but he appears to be happy and healthy. (YAY!) I'm naming him Lucky, because he is.

Unfortunately, I don't have the same good news to report about another creature, the Coral Banded Shrimp in my 29g. He's missing, and I'm presuming he's dead unless he pulls a Lazurus on me. (If he does, that'll be his name!) I can't even see his long antennae anywhere, and usually late at night he is easy to locate because that is when he's seeking food. I don't even know how long I've had him, but it had to be years. I'm not totally sad about this (probable) loss, because he's consumed Peppermint Shrimp, an Arrow Crab and a lovely Cleaner Shrimp over that time period. CBS are aggressive, and his vacancy opens up the opportunity to add other friendly choices now.