How to avoid crashes!

No one really wants to crash tanks and experience all Micro-Lobsters dying! Our units have extremely high success rates. They have been shipped to all parts of the United States and have been hand carried from Hawaii to a number of foreign countries. But there have also been a handful of failures and most of these could have been prevented. A discussion of why tanks crash will hopefully prevent some in the future. Here's why tanks have crashed.

1. OVER-FEEDING! Fuku-Bonsai Breeder Tanks have crashed when the owner-feeders went on vacation and assigned feeding to another person. In spite of careful detailed instructions, the assigned persons loved to watch the creatures feeding and so more food was added! The owner-feeders were away for a month or so and came back to a GREEN tank! What to do? CONTACT FUKU-BONSAI IMMEDIATELY BY EMAIL! I recommended pouring out all water into a bowl and to check if any were still alive. A few were alive and I recommended first cleaning the tank walls with the cleaner stick, pouring out most of the green water into a bowl, separating the live Micro-Lobsters into about a cup of that original (but dirty water), and placing this back into the tank. Then add pure distilled water slowly so you'll be increasing the volume every two hours or so. In other words, if all Micro-Lobsters were in one cup of water, add a cup of distilled water every two hours or so. Micro-Lobsters can adjust if the water is added slowly. For a modest fee, Fuku-Bonsai will provide both replacement water and Micro-Lobsters to past customers. Fuku-Bonsai customers do not have problems if they fed Fuku-Bonsai Premium Micro-Lobster Food in amounts that can be eaten in 1-2 hours followed by a "no feeding day." There is a tendency to continually to increase the amount of feeding and this has caused some tanks to crash after several months. When questioned, the owners realize that they had been feeding extra while "demonstrating" the feeding process to friends. We are increasingly advising to add more "no-food days" between feedings, cut down on the amount given, or feed just once per week! Remember, opae-ula get much of their food from the bacteria and algae and the spirulina is supplemental food.

2. USING OTHER THAN DISTILLED WATER TO REPLACE WATER THAT EVAPORATED! Only pure water will evaporate, and this will cause our carefully balanced water to become more concentrated. When distilled water is added, the original water chemistry is restored. This has been 100% successful. However, some decided to use bottled water or even tap water, and while a little may be okay, over time, it changes the water chemistry and may crash a system! This is especially true if tap water containing chlorine is used! When this type of crash occurs, it usually happens at night and in the morning, the water has a murky appearance and some or all of the Micro-Lobsters are dead. Sometimes something can be done and a 50% water change as described above will help. Fuku-Bonsai will assist and replace Micro-Lobsters of past customers for a modest and reasonable fee. Upon proof that the unit that crashed was from Fuku-Bonsai and agreement to the amount of the fee, we will provide information as to how to re-neutralize the tank and provide replacement water and the original number of Micro-Lobsters. Customers have asked us if it is necessary to use "special brackish water" to replace the water that evaporates. This is a scam as only the fresh water component of brackish water evaporates. By adding inexpensive distilled water you'll restore the original water chemistry. If you add "brackish water," the salinity will increase. Opae-ula have been known to exist in pure fresh water to super-salty water if adjusted gradually. But costly "special opae-ula brackish water" is not necessary.

3. DROPPING OR SEVERE SHOCKS! Micro-Lobsters have very sensitive nervous systems. In our first experience, a customer had displayed the unit on a glass shelf about 4' above the ground. Somehow the shelf support gave way and the shelf and unit came crashing down. The tank did no break and the Micro-Lobsters seemed okay. But apparently the shock was more than they could handle and over the next two weeks, they kept dying one by one until they all died. They reported when the first ones started dying, and even though they sucked out dead Micro-Lobsters with a "turkey roaster-baster," within two weeks, all Micro-Lobsters died! Fuku-Bonsai will assist past customers for a modest and reasonable fee. Upon proof that the unit that crashed was from Fuku-Bonsai and agreement to the amount of the fee, we will provide information as to how to re-neutralize the tank and provide replacement water and the original number of Micro-Lobsters.

4. DAMAGE IN TRANSIT OR LEAKING IN TRANSIT. We were quickly notified that a tank had murky water and at least one or two dead Micro-Lobsters upon arrival. We recommended pouring out all water including removing the bag of lava gravel and removing the dead Micro-Lobsters with the turkey roaster-baster. The customer fortunately was an experienced fish hobbyist who had filtration equipment and was able to save most of the Micro-Lobsters. We believed that FedEx somehow dropped the parcel and the shock killed some Micro-Lobsters. In a second instance, as shipping volume increased, the managers who packed the early orders began to teach and supervise other members of our staff. Apparently one staffer did not quite understand how to assure installing the lid and waterproof membranes properly and half of the water leaked in transit. Fortunately the water was caught by the second polybag and the newspaper between the two bags absorbed the water leakage. The customer contacted us, sucked out dead Micro-Lobsters, and brought water level up a bit with distilled water. When we sent replacement Micro-Lobsters, we also sent enough water culture to restore the balance. It is impossible to absolutely guarantee live animals as too many things are beyond our control. But we will do our best to resolve every problem that is quickly brought to our attention. When there is damage in transit, it will be apparent immediately upon unpacking and observing the unit. In other instances, a photo very quickly established that it is our unit. We follow up and resolve all problems with our units!

5. PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ADDING ITEMS TO FUKU-BONSAI TANKS OR SUBSTITUTING COMPONENTS. Our units are fully cycled and balanced before shipping. It is a very lengthy process to bring our units to shipping stage and this complex proprietary system includes numerous steps that produce high success. It is also due to the inherent Micro-Lobster characteristics. It is very easy to upset this balance and we crashed many times to learn our proprietary techniques! Crashes occur when new items are added to our units. Adding various metallic items is dangerous as the metal will react with the brackish water and may become toxic. NEVER ADD ANYTHING FROM A STREAM, OCEAN, OR ANOTHER AQUARIUM! Our units incorporate specific bacteria strains that may or may not be compatible with other bacteria from other water environments! If you substitute another type of rock for the black lava gravel that we use, it is very possible to crash the system! Any such substitution must be considered risky and we will be happy to try to advise if adequate information is provided. TO BE SAFE, DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO OUR MICRO-LOBSTER UNITS!

6. HOT OR COLD TEMPERATURE DAMAGE. Micro-Lobsters are endemic to Hawaii where air temperatures near sea level range from a high of about 90°F on the warmest day of the year and that same night it may be 70°F. The low temperature may be 55°F at the coldest part of a tropical winter night and it may be 70°F during the day. Water temperature tend to be between 60°F to 75°F all year around and our Micro-Lobsters tend to adapt to homes that are either heated or air-conditioned to fall in these general ranges. There is insufficient data of minimum or maximum temperatures and we prefer to simply recommend that temperatures be safely maintained between 60°F and 85°F. If your system crashes because it was exposed to higher or lower temperatures, please email me. Fuku-Bonsai will assist past customers for a modest and reasonable fee. Upon proof that the unit that crashed was from Fuku-Bonsai and agreement to the amount of the fee, we will provide information as to how to re-neutralize the tank and provide replacement water and the original number of Micro-Lobsters.

In our research, we aggressively push the limits of each principle or component and the only way to be sure is to go until a system crashes! We pay a high price for knowledge, but that's why our units work! We know the limits of each component and each procedure and have put together our complete systems based upon this knowledge. But all of this does not apply when new untested components are added to our balanced systems. We know of two cases where our systems crashed when other components were added. In one case a lava-like material was added. In the second case, Florida coral was added. We do not have sufficient details but recommend against adding anything to our units. We know that the water will react with anything metallic and create a toxic environment.

Recently we had a crash that we still don't fully understand and the description may be of interest. We utilize only Big Island opae-ula which is larger, redder, and more active than opae-ula from the other islands. Continuing observations may explain why in the future. As part of our research, we obtained opae-ula from the island of Oahu where they are found in sinkholes in uplifted fossilized reefs.

Apparently, in the distant past, the sea level was much higher and much of Oahu was under water and coral reefs covered much of the islands. As the water level dropped, the coral become exposed and in places were sinkholes went down to below sea level, somehow opae-ula became established. The Oahu opae-ula are usually a very pale whitish-pink. But in some locations, they vary greatly in coloration with some being with red head and white tail, or mostly red with white bands across the body. I obtained specimens for study and exhibit and tried to create an exhibit using unfamiliar materials that more closely resembled the habitats where they were collected.

I obtained coral from Hilo Bay and in this instance it was legal as the material was not to be used in a commercial product offered for sale. This provided the basic habitat until I could create the planned 2-gallon exhibit. The primary rock was to be a sculptured fossil coral from the Ewa plain and this was rinsed then added to the exhibit.

All seemed to go well for several days until I notice a slight murkiness in the water and a few dead opae-ula. With a roaster-baster, I sucked out any dead opae-ula, pumped to circulate all water, removed 50% of the water and replaced with new brackish water. The next day I was shocked to see the tank!

	THE CRASH!!! I had never seen this color before! I immediately transferred all coral pieces to a half-full 5-gallon pail containing clean brackish water. Water was poured through a net and any opae-ula or coral was first placed into a dishpan with clean brackish water. The discolored water was saved.
	The opae-ula seemed disoriented but the quick action had saved about 80% of them. They were left in the dishpan with a air stone for a night. They next day a few more dead opae-ula were removed. I was amazed that about 80% of the opae-ula had survived! They were kept in the 2-gallon jar with just an air stone for a week or so and seemed to have recovered.
	In our early experimental days, the air stone proved invaluable in helping survivors recover from partial crashes. Once the water quality starts deteriorating and opae-ula start dying, the water quickly becomes polluted and if not quickly improved, all opae-ula will die in a matter of hours! Perhaps the partial water change the day before slowed the crash.

We still don't know what caused this crash. Samples of the discolored water and residue was examined with a microscope but except for a general statement that there seemed to be some type of "organic bloom," there isn't a clear explanation. In this situation we were working with components that were not part of our complete systems. Rather than starting with dry sterile high-velocity pumice ejecta, we began with coral collected from the beach at Hilo Bay and fossilized uplifted reef from Ewa Plains. We did not utilize our neutralizing procedures. Three weeks after the crash, after utilizing our proprietary neutralizing procedures, the unit has been reassembled, opae-ula restocked, and the unit seems fine. A future report will present an update.

Fuku-Bonsai is committed to assisting our customers. WE ARE NOT VOLUNTEERING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS IN OPAE-ULA UNITS CREATED BY OTHERS! We recommend that those having problems contact the companies that produced those products or the company that sold it. Unfortunately, just like bonsai, there are many companies that produce poor opae-ula products. Because we are very visible due to having a large comprehensive website, we are inundated with a huge number of tearful requests for assistance regarding opae-ula products produced by others! I prefer not to get involved as fly-by-night producers often will not even include their names or phone numbers on their products!

I believe that the only way to stop this type of shoddy products is to lodge complaints with the retailer where the product was purchased. I strongly recommend not purchasing from transient or craft fair vendors who will not show you a business license with their names, addresses, and phone numbers. If there are problems, contact them directly and if you do not get reasonable assistance, there is little that can be done except lodge formal complaints with the sponsors of the craft fairs, local chamber of commerce, or better business bureaus.

Increasingly, as Fuku-Bonsai Micro-Lobster units are becoming better known, we are getting requests for assistance to convert units produced by others. It is too costly to do so. A small unit purchased for $30 or less cannot possibly have the features of our units. You get what you pay for. Sometimes the owners recognize that they will not be happy with the cheap units that they purchased or that was given to them. They purchase one of our units and request assistance on how to transfer the opae-ula that came with their unit into our unit and this is what I advise.

First, do not attempt to transfer any opae-ula that appears to be sick as there is a very real danger of introducing disease into our unit! Carefully remove any rocks, coral, gorgonia, seashells, plastic plants etc. from the unit to be discarded until there is only opae-ula, water, and sand or gravel. Gently pour out the water and opae-ula into a bowl. If a few opae-ula are still in the old unit, pour a little water back in and try to get the opae-ula into the bowl with only water. If necessary let some of the sand or gravel go into the bowl. Pour some water back into the tank to be sure no opae-ula are hiding in the sand or gravel. Observe for a while before throwing it out. If necessary, pour the water and opae-ula into another bowl to assure no sand or gravel goes into the Fuku-Bonsai tank.

Second, reduce the amount of water so the opae-ula are in just 1 or 2 tablespoons of their original water. With a "turkey roaster-baster" suck out an equal amount of water from the Fuku-Bonsai tank and slowly drip it into the bowl with the opae-ula so the water slowly mixes. Allow the mixture to stand for 30 minutes to allow the opae-ula to adjust to the new mixture, then again add an equal amount of water so the opae-ula is now in water in which 75% of the water came from the Fuku-Bonsai unit. After 30 minutes if the opae-ula do not seem to be having any distress, it will likely be safe to add them to the Fuku-Bonsai tank.

The above instructions especially apply to cheap "open top - no feeding necessary" type units widely sold in Hawaii at drug stores, "big-box discount stores," or craft fairs. We have had no direct experience in converting "sealed glass eco-systems" that are more widely available all over the U.S. mainland and can only pass on information provided by our customers who have elected to do so and have shared the information with me.

One person used an electric drill to create a series of holes and created a sufficiently large opening to pour out the entire contents. Another used a glass cutting tool to cut the unit in half. A third simply dropped the unit into a plastic bucket and was careful not to get cut by the glass. They were able to separate the opae-ula, reduce the amount of water, and introduced them into our tanks. While we recommend introducing only the opae-ula and as little of the original water as possible, gorgonia and algae from the original sealed eco-system have also been placed into our tanks successfully.

Fuku-Bonsai units come with a very generous number of Micro-Lobsters. In a stabile situation, it is possible to double the Micro-Lobster population in the tank and for those who join our Micro-Lobster Team and commit to reporting the results, for a modest fee, we have supplied additional Micro-Lobsters. But I want to make it very clear, we prefer not to sell Micro-Lobsters except to go into our units. We will not knowingly supply Micro-Lobsters to replace those that have died in tanks produced by others. If the units failed the first time, it is likely that any opae-ula added to those tanks will suffer the same fate!

I want to stress there are reputable opae-ula professionals that will agree to service or "rejuvenate" their units every six months. For a fee, they clean all plastic plants, gravel, and tank, adding new water and replacing all opae-ula. These are attractively displayed in banks, professional offices, and other businesses. The opae-ula may shrink a bit but are reasonably healthy for the six months.

Increasingly, many purchase our Premium Micro-Lobster Food from our lead retailers or directly from Fuku-Bonsai. While we would prefer to sell complete units, we are happy to help grow healthier opae-ula. While we have begun captive breeding, we also obtain opae-ula from licensed collectors. When we first obtain them, they are skittish and have traits associated with wild animals. We mix them into tanks with opae-ula that have already been "tamed" and quickly rise to the surface to filter-feed. In a very short time, newly acquired opae-ula will copy. But many opae-ula units created by others utilize opae-ula that have recently been collected from the wild and these creatures must be taught to eat the spirulina powder.

Initially, use only a very tiny amount that will be eaten within one hour. If they do not eat, do not attempt to feed for at least one week. Then try again with a tinier amount. As part of our research, we are acquiring opae-ula from a number of different ponds and we are finding that not all opae-ula are the same! Opae-ula from places that have a noticeable number of predator shrimp (metabetaeus lohena), seem to be extremely skittish and have instinctive "pop-corning" actions. Even after a month, less than 1% come to the surface to filter-feed.

If you feed our Premium Micro-Lobster Food to units produced by others, be very patient and be sure to not overfeed which will lower water quality and cause the unit to crash! Happily, most are successful within a week or two as other professional opae-ula suppliers have begun to follow our recommendations and are feeding spirulina powder.

While it may seem strange that we assist units created by others, Fuku-Bonsai is committed to the concept that opae-ula are amazing creatures that should be treated like pets and given the best possible care. I'm proud that VUE HAWAII, our lead Oahu retailer in Kahala Mall sells a significant number of Premier Micro-Lobster Food vials as separate items to those who have opae-ula units created by others. I hope this information proves helpful in you being successful whether you purchased one of our units or a unit produced by others.

~~~David W. Fukumoto, president & founder, Fuku-Bonsai Inc.; email: david@fukubonsai.com