Moorish Idol - Take 2

[tytown]

Interesting thread on oxygenation....
I suppose I should comment on my MI and his feeding habits to keep the thread on track before I get into the oxygenation.
At first my MI was all over mysis and then slowly switched him to seaweed extreme pellets. Once he was eating well I slowly weened him off the seaweed and got him on 2mm nls. Since then I feed a mix of seaweed extreme, nls, and nori which has recently become his fav. He lives with an Achilles who is an ich machine but seems to be healthy enough not to share the outbreak. Had him over 6 months and he is growing so I'm optimistic on his success.
So back to oxygenation.... I'm going to turn my skimmer off to see how my emperor, golden, and MI fair with lower oxygenation.
I'll keep you guys posted!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by tytown

I'm going to turn my skimmer off to see how my emperor, golden, and MI fair with lower oxygenation.
I'll keep you guys posted!

Be careful. I lost a gold flake, blue face and MI to this, presumably

[Samw]

Depending on how large the tank is, it could take a few hours. Lights off will increase the o2 consumption by the tank (algae, bacteria, etc).

[TimT]

If the MI isn't eating yet you need to bring out the fish crack... Pacifica Plankton. I kept a MI alive with it for 3.5yrs. Big, fat and healthy.

Speaking of oxygen demand I just got back from Hanauma Bay where I observed lots of MI pairs and Achilles pairs all in 4 to 8 feet of water and not a lot of current. Even got side swiped by about 300+ convict tangs as they raided the reef where an Achilles pair were living. Their territory was only about 4' by 6' and they were about 7" long. Think I need an Achilles in my 4' by 8' coral tanks. :-)

[Aquattro]

Tim, sorry, mine is eating well on a competitor's shrimps I may have some plankton in the freezer though, I'll try that tonight.

[tytown]

An hour in and I see no noticeable change in fish energy.
Threw some nori in for fun and it was the usual frenzy.
Total volume is over 500 gallons so I'll give it another couple hours. My sump turnover is around 8x per hour which could be a significant source of oxygenation but I would assume that with the skimmer off the DO would drop some...

[gobytron]

One of the most frustrating things about this hobby is the number of variables from tank to tank.

I would imagine that your salt would also play a role in your tanks ability to store oxygen as would it's proximity to outside air...

This could be a pretty neat discovery if it turns out to have some merit.

[Samw]

Originally Posted by tytown

An hour in and I see no noticeable change in fish energy.
Threw some nori in for fun and it was the usual frenzy.
Total volume is over 500 gallons so I'll give it another couple hours. My sump turnover is around 8x per hour which could be a significant source of oxygenation but I would assume that with the skimmer off the DO would drop some...

Are lights off? if you have your lights on and have algae, you would be getting O2 from photosynthethis from the algaes in your tank.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Samw

Are lights off? if you have your lights on and have algae, you would be getting pure O2 from photosynthethis from the algaes in your tank.

Alternatively, lots of algae will contribute CO2 at night, which is when I lost my fish.

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by Samw

Are lights off? if you have your lights on and have algae, you would be getting O2 from photosynthethis from the algaes in your tank.

Even so...
it would seem you two are reporting extreme oxygen sensitivity.

Where do you draw the line for the threshold?

Now it sounds like the average set up with some algae, overflows and such would almost certainly be able to maintain appropriate oxygen levels.