Pics of my new juvi. Harlequin Tusk

[Anonymous]

In case you missed my earlier post, I finally found the fish I've been waiting for for nearly two years!!! A juvenile Harlequin Tusk! He's sooo awesome, only about 3" long and very friendly and outgoing.

First try at posting pictures here, so if these don't turn out, blame me!

-John

I think this pic is chopped in half...have to try and re-upload it. Mostly I included it so you could see the cool yellow button polyps I found!

Here's a pic of my male bluejaw trigger, a tankmate of the tusk:

Here's our Coral Beauty angel...best coloration I've ever seen on a c.b.!

 

[jimmy n]

Nice pics and fish. You have a lot of fish not considered "reef safe". Are they nibbling at your yellow polyps?

Also, what fish is that in the background of the coral beauty shot?

Jim

 

[Dragonlady]

I have never seen a juvenile Harlequin tuskfish. The smallest ones I have seen are always quite huge(10-24 inches). Thank you for sharing the picture, and I hope it does well for you. They are a beautiful fish for a very large tank.

 

[Dragonlady]

sorry it posted twice

[ April 15, 2002: Message edited by: Dragonlady ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by jimmy n:
<strong>Nice pics and fish. You have a lot of fish not considered "reef safe". Are they nibbling at your yellow polyps?

Also, what fish is that in the background of the coral beauty shot?

Jim</strong><hr></blockquote>


I do have several fish that are not traditionally kept in reefs. I gave a brief rundown of my tank specs in another thread, but to put it concisely, When I set this tank up last summer, I decided to take some risks with it. The bluejaw was by far the biggest risk. He's been great, though, and hasn't touched any of the coral, the crabs, or the two shrimp (cleaner & peppermint) in the time he's been in the tank (about 4 months now). The tusk likewise has been doing awesome, and hasn't gone near anything he shouldn't. They share the reef with a couple montipora colonies, a scroll coral, two leathers, and a huge gigantea anemone.

The fish behind the coral beauty is our lineatus tang. I'll try and get some pics uploaded tonight or tomorrow of him.

Honestly, I attribute a lot of my success to the ecosystem mud filter. I know a lot of people are skeptics (and I feel fine admitting that I was one too!); but the tank is running great--nitrates read 0, I have a monstrously huge fish load (2 clowns, tang, angel, trigger, tusk--all in a 75), feed enormously (3" prawn shrimp (x2) per day, plus mixed flake...every day)! And I can't get algae to grow in the tank. The caulerpa in the sump is even dying off for lack of nutrients. I have to scrape the tank walls about once every three weeks, usually when I do a water change. It's amazing so far!


-John

 

[FMarini]

Hi John:
great looking fish. They are certianly cute little buggers. I would say that planktonic feeding triggers like the blue cheek are safe for a reeftank, They may go on a shrimp eating spree but in general terms they are overall good reeftank inhabitants. When they get bigger they'll get a bit bossy. Same w/ the harlequin, they should also be a decent reeftank inhabitant, they might mess up your sand bed looking for infuana, but in general terms they are pretty mellow. Until they get biggger as well.

I do have to say your statment about your plant maybe a bit off
" The caulerpa in the sump is even dying off for lack of nutrients"
if you do have a mud sump and the calurpea is placed into the mud as suggested in the ecosystem method, then the plants should be recieving all the nutrient it needs to thrive. The mud is a terrestial dirt which is very high in iron (a great plant fertilzer), amoung outher things, and people really report amazing plant growth using the mud. Hows your lighting over the plants? maybe this might be the culprit instead.
enjoy the fish
frank

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by FMarini:
<strong>
I do have to say your statment about your plant maybe a bit off
" The caulerpa in the sump is even dying off for lack of nutrients"
if you do have a mud sump and the calurpea is placed into the mud as suggested in the ecosystem method, then the plants should be recieving all the nutrient it needs to thrive. The mud is a terrestial dirt which is very high in iron (a great plant fertilzer), amoung outher things, and people really report amazing plant growth using the mud. Hows your lighting over the plants? maybe this might be the culprit instead.
enjoy the fish
frank</strong><hr></blockquote>

See that's what I would've thought about the mud, too. I've tried several different species of caulerpa in the sump. Most grape-style species die off within a couple days. Halimeda seems to be the most long-lived, but it's not exactly taking over the sump (not that halimeda could grow fast enough to take over much of anything). Feather caulerpa seems to be somewhere in the middle. I've tried anchoring it several different ways, too, from leaving it free-floating to putting a rock over some of it to hold it down to using plastic eggcrate to make a latticework for it to attach its holdfasts to. Nuttin seems to work. It never dies completely off, but certainly doesn't clog up the whole mudbed section of the sump like most ecosystems I've seen. Everyone I've talked to is stymied, but the fact that I have such a relatively huge bioload and absolutely zero algae growing *anywhere* in the tank along with all the inverts doing fine says I'm doing something right.

Any ideas or advice would be much appreciated. I'd really like to get a good caulerpa bed going so that I could harvest some from time to time for the tang...


-John

 

[jreef1]

Sharkky,

I just (yesterday) put my juvinile tusk in my 150 mixed reef and haven't seen him since. Did yours hide for a while?

 

[Anonymous]

jreef - not to scare you but they can jump like any wrasse. I got a small one several weeks back and he was fine for a bit but then I came downstairs to bubbles in my tank. No sign of the tusk and he had jumped into my overflow and tried to swim up the durso standpipe killing himself and nearly flooding my condo. I've screened off the overflow and standpipe now with eggcrate but I'd still say he could have jumped out of your tank. Mine was not shy at all when I got him.

Sharkky - nice tusk - where did you get a juvenile? I am guessing from the coloration he's a Indo-Phillipines and not a an Australian?

 

[jreef1]

They all have the bland coloration as juveniles. As for mine, no luck in the overflows and nothing on the carpet. Either hes hiding bc its a new tank or he was food for Dr. Evil, the purple lobster which is possible but hopefully not the case.

Have they typically hid after introduction?

 

[reefsnreptiles1]

The smallest ones I have seen are always quite huge(10-24 inches). Thank you for sharing the picture, and I hope it does well for you. They are a beautiful fish for a very large tank.

Where did you see a 2ft tusk? Lienardella fasciata max out at 10" in captivity (up to 12" in the wild).

Brian

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, this thread is a blast from the past! LOL, that was before I knew how to adjust my shutter speed.

God I miss that little fish! My juvenile tusk didn't make it--got taken by my gigantea anemone. Damnit. The LFS here in town actually got a 2" juvi a few weeks ago and I was able to resist getting him, knowing that that anemone is just too dangerous until I get things moved to a 125. :?

Anyway, to answer the couple questions that have come up, Yes I'm pretty sure mine was an Indo tusk, not Australian. I've only seen very small tusks a few times, and none have had the Australian coloration. Almost leads me to believe that the silvery bands is more of a juvenile thing and as they mature (if given the right diet) they'll develop the more 'Australian' coloration. That's just me hypothesizing out my butt, though. :wink:

I've seen tusks that are very gregarious just after going into a tank, but then again I've also seen them hide for quite awhile. ::shrug:: It's kind of a tossup and depends on the individual fish's personality, IME. I'd say give your little guy a few days and he should start poking out here and there.

 

[GSchiemer]

It's not unusual for a Harlequin Tuskfish to hide for a few days when first introduced into an aquarium. You didn't say what other fish are in the aquarium. The tusk would also hide if another fish were bullying it. My tusk is actually bullied by a few damsels.

The coloration is similar in juvenile tusks from Australia and Indo/Philippines. The more intense red coloration in Australian tuskfish doesn't become apparent until the fish reach a size of 4 to 5 inches.

I always recommend Australian tuskfish. They have a MUCH better track record in captivity than Indo/Philippines specimens. Unfortunately, you have to rely on the honesty of the store when purchasing juveniles.

You can find more info here:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/Fish.htm

Greg Schiemer

 

[jreef1]

Still missing and I'm getting worried.

Tank (up for over 2 years) is stocked with:

Med purple tang
Med chevron tang
small goldflake angel
Med blueface angel
Mystery wrasse
6-line wrasse
A couple of green chromis
Bengai cardinal
pair of gold-stripe maroons
Sm Royal gramma (new addition)

I'm also running a macroalgae refugium for pods and to keep water params in-line (growing caulerpa quicker than my tangs can eat it).

 

[reefsnreptiles1]

Best of luck finding him.

By the way, they can have the brilliant colors as a juvenile. Here is our 3" juvenile. Sorry for the bad pic. Had a hard time getting him to stay still =)

 

[reefsnreptiles1]

Oops! Didn't mean to post the pic twice.

 

[Anonymous]

You guys are mean, making me want a tusk again!

 

[jreef1]

Convinced he's gone. I'd been waiting a looong time for a juvi too. May have been food for the 12 inch diameter rose-bubble tip the clowns call home, but I'd be surprised.

Other option is Dr. Evil the purple lobster that I can't get out of the friggin tank. Too smart for all 4 commercial traps I bought and I can't fit a 2-liter in the tank with all the rock and coral now.

Thanks for the prompt responses and the painfull pictures.

 

[GSchiemer]

Convinced he's gone. I'd been waiting a looong time for a juvi too. May have been food for the 12 inch diameter rose-bubble tip the clowns call home, but I'd be surprised.

Other option is Dr. Evil the purple lobster that I can't get out of the friggin tank. Too smart for all 4 commercial traps I bought and I can't fit a 2-liter in the tank with all the rock and coral now.

Thanks for the prompt responses and the painfull pictures.

I went through the same experience. If you want to try another juvenile tusk, make sure it's from Australia. The tiny tusks from Indo/Philippines have a VERY poor record of survival.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Convinced he's gone. I'd been waiting a looong time for a juvi too. May have been food for the 12 inch diameter rose-bubble tip the clowns call home, but I'd be surprised.

Other option is Dr. Evil the purple lobster that I can't get out of the friggin tank. Too smart for all 4 commercial traps I bought and I can't fit a 2-liter in the tank with all the rock and coral now.

Thanks for the prompt responses and the painfull pictures.

I went through the same experience. If you want to try another juvenile tusk, make sure it's from Australia. The tiny tusks from Indo/Philippines have a VERY poor record of survival.

Greg

Greg, is this poor survival rate because of collection methods or possible cyanide use? I notice Mary/Seacrop sold indo pacific tusks and was hoping to get one from her if it was likely net caught. Otherwise I was going to get a juvenile Austalian from the Marine Center.