Brooklyngal Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 scandalous, isnt it? Im absolutely giddy with excitement over this tank; it'll be my last tank for a while (I go to college in two years, and I dont plan to have anything more than a pico/small nano setup during my first few years their, if that) and Im hoping it lasts a long, long time, and its the largest tank I've had setup since I took my 75 down two years ago (which, looking back, I wish I hadn't done). as of now, the whole left wall of my middle room is taken up by fish tanks (the 40g is flanked on either side by my 20H and 29) ad the entire upstairs is filled with the sound of trickling water. Lighting- V2 250watt MH (stock 14K bulb) Skimming- Reef Octopus BH-100F hang-on skimmer with filter chamber (for heaters and chemical media) Circulation- 3X koralia 1 pumps, 1X koralia 2 pump Heater- Marineland Stealth 100W (newer model) Chemical Media- Chemipure, Activated Carbon, Purigen Other Equipment- JBJ Automatic Top-Off (run using 1/2" flex tubing and a maxi-jet 900) Stocking (fish) -Coral Beauty -Royal Gramma -Sixline Wrasse -Yellowtail Damsel -Yellow Watchman Goby (Gobi) -Longnose Hawkfish -Pair of Percula Clownfish Stocking (inverts) -Pair of Scarlet Skunk Cleaners (Le Whiskers) -Dwarf Green Feather Duster -Common Feather Duster -Large (8-10") Red Serpent Star (Big Red) -Smaller (6-8") Harlequin Serpent Star -Smallest (4-5") Red Brittle Star (Cuddles) -Electric Blue Hermit (Hefty) -a handful of misc. hermits -an ever-growing group of (breeding) nerite snails (future additions may include more brittle/serpent stars, a (pair?) of fire shrimp, a (pair?) of porcelain crabs, and several more feather dusters) most recent FTS Link to comment
Brooklyngal Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 and now, a summary... I've been at this frustrating, wonderful, terrible, complex, beautiful hobby we call reefkeeping for about four years now. I've had seven tanks since I started, and those are just the ones that lived to see coral (I had a lot of short-lived nano setups, including a would-be 29g seahorse reef and a BB 20g SPS, all setup with extra equipment). I setup my first tank when I was eleven, right after christmas, after a year of FW. I *thought* I knew everything I needed to know, but really, I knew next to nothing. It went from a fish-only tank, to a fish-only-with-live-rock, to a low-light reef, to a temporary holding tank as I planned an upgrade. and so began my second attempt.. A 20long with a 29g 'fuge, later switched out for a second 20long. this tank had very few corals in its time, and its only was a large female occy and a smaller perc (possibly perc/occy hybrid). it was pretty successful, coralline took off, and the few corals I did keep did fairly well. about a year later, just as it began to get warm again, plans for an upgrade were set quickly into motion. within a month, I had my behemoth setup, to this day my largest tank ever. it began with a 75g display and 40br sump/'fuge, later replaced with a baffled 30g sump/'fuge. this tank was a disaster from the get-go, water changes were few and far between, maintence was lacking, and I setup my skimmer incorrectly (something I didnt realize until after I tore the tank down the last time). I dealt with fairly prevailent algae issues, and coral never throve. from their, I went to a BC29, which also received too few water changes, and went through cycles of happy tank and downright ugly tank. I battled broyopsis for a while, and eventually gave into cycano and quit, transferring everything to an old 20H. I had a NC24 setup for awhile, but eventually gave in with that, too, after bryopsis ran rampant. I dried out the rocks and moved the livestock into a spare 29. the 29 was the first of my more recent splurges. I set it up on a budget of about $500, I think. I bought a new light, new (marco) rocks, and larger grain sand. it went through some initial rough patches, but has matured into a very nice reef. unfortunately, the lighting is rather weak (2X24watt T5) and corals in the edges of the tank dont get enough light, and are struggling. the 20H is doing very well, too, although it looks considerably less mature than the 29, since that tank has about a year on this one. fish are fat and happy, corals are doing very well (better than some in the 29, actually) and everything is growing. my one complaint is the sugar-sized sand. I HATE it, and now remember why I switched out the bed in my 75 with a larger grain size. Link to comment
Brooklyngal Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 well- the transfer is over and done with, though not quite without a hitch. long story short- the tank went without heat for a night, and was pretty cold when I finally woke up; my goby spent the night in a stagnant, detritus-filled bucket; my corals are mad at me, my gramma, smaller shrimp, and goby are currently MIA, and my clowns are the only visible fish out-and-about, because my angel is hiding in the rocks. I'll update (with pictures) whenever the tank starts looking better. right now, its a mess... Link to comment
Coastie Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Ahhhh this petco sale is killing me. Everyone got a 40 (I got one too, just it's been sitting in the backseat of my truck for 2 weeks since I am out of town for work). I started with a 20T and currently have a 29, I kind of regret doing the 29 as I'd rather have had the 40 the whole time. Oh well live and learn! Looking forward to seeing pics! Hopefully everything is just in shock right now and you find everything as it once was! Link to comment
Brooklyngal Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 haha- I know what you mean about the dollar/gallon sale, I've always wanted to pickup a 33long for FW. it could be a guppie/cory tank! the 40 is actually three years old though; it served as a fuge for my 75 until I switched to a baffled 30g sump/fuge. I've been trying to talk my parents into setting it up for ages, but they only recently came around the tank has been running for almost three weeks, now, and I'm really happy with my choice of equipment. the skimmer was just hooked up a few days ago, and has already pulled close to a quarter cup of nasty-looking dark tea-colored skimmate. the MH is great, I love the shimmer lines, and all my coral have colored up- especially my (few) SPS. the tank is going through a small diatom bloom; I'm planning a trip to the LFS saturday, and Im hoping to pick up a few more snails, a fish or three, possibly a shrimp, and maybe some coral, depending on what they have. it'll be a big buy, probably, since I dont plan to add anything else to the tank until it warms up some and I can mail-order. now, onto the pictures.... an FTS from earlier today: a little closer: unfortunately, my camera is really terrible, and does the colors little justice. A new, better camera may well be on the horizon... Link to comment
Brooklyngal Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 before this tank saw water, while I was still trying to decide who would make it in the upgrade, I toyed with the idea of keeping my hawkfish. she's one of my favorite fish I've ever kept, and I didnt think she'd be too bad with my shrimp. in the end, however, I decided my shrimp were just too darn small. then they both molted, and gained a considerable amount of size, shortly after addition to the new tank. this growth spurt brought the larger one to about the same size as the hawkfish (minus her tail), and the smaller to just under that. so, while watching my hawk sadly friday, and thinking of her impending return to the LFS the next day, I thought "f*ck it, there's no way Im getting rid of this fish," and added her to the new tank. I'm glad I did; so far she hasnt shown the slightest bit of interest in the shrimp, and adds a lot of personality to my little piece of the ocean here's a picture of her in her new home: I also tried adding my other remaining fish- a pajama cardinal- but she didnt cope well with the turbulent flow, or my yellowtail damsel, who had it in for her in the old 29, but I hoped would calm down with the added water volume. lesson learned. she was removed an hour later. the next day, I headed out to the LFS to turn in my cardinal, and some star polyps I no longer had any want for. I was hoping to get a small CUC, but they had no snails besides astrea, which I've sworn off since they never live long in my tanks, and I didnt want any more hermit crabs. I did, however, find several fish that I liked. they had three very young, small gold barred maroon clownfish, two of which looked very good, one slightly smaller than the other, both alert and fat, which I was sorely tempted by. they also had a large group of firefish, which are some of my favorite fish, and several very large, fat, healthy percula clowns. After some thought, I decided the maroons would be too aggressive for my taste, and the firefish would likely be chased out of the tank or spend all their time hiding. I'm also a sucker for misbarred clownfish, and also for perculas- I think their are few things more adorable- and the smallest two just happened to have endearing mismarkings. they spent their first few hours tussling with eachother, but seem to have calmed down. both are a bit tattered, so Ill be adding selcon and garlic to their food more than I usually would until they heal. here they are: together: and showing their bars more closely, these are of different clowns I also spent some time staring into the two $30 coral frag tanks they had. they had some neon pink and green hammer frags that caught my eye right away, and some very nice, plump fox corals, a coral I've always wanted to try, so I got the largest frag of each. they also had a very nice looking chalice morph which I though was mummy eye when I first saw it, but now Im not so sure, since it lacks the yellow highlights and has more of a muted green base. regardless, it is a pretty coral. hammer fox (still not fully extended, but getting their) chalice? I also glanced in their "sick/dying coral tank" and fell in love with a pretty large green bubble. I couldnt leave it their, and was shocked to find out it was only $30! I put it in low flow, with somewhat indirect light, and plan to feed it as much as possible over the next few weeks, and once Im confidant in its health, I'll scale back to 2-3 times a week. and then, to make my day that much happier, they took $5 off the price of each coral! and finally, an updated FTS Link to comment
Brooklyngal Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 well, despite the fact that I seem to be talking wholly to myself, I figure I might as well update. I've been home sick since wednesday, an had FAR too much time on my hands, so they ended up in the tank. I'd decided that I wanted an H. malu at some point for my clowns, since they stay small and can have very pretty coloring, so I needed to make some room for it on the sandbed. a few re-scapes later, and my rockwork has opened up LOADS, and I see my fish a lot more; I think it might have something with the rock now reaching the surface of the water. also, my clowns have been showing increasing pairing behavior; it seems the one with the misbarred second bar as become the female, as the smaller one is constantly shaking at her. she doesnt pay him much mind, though. she's very calm. Link to comment
inferno2113 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 well, despite the fact that I seem to be talking wholly to myself, I figure I might as well update. Just because no one has responded doesn't mean no one is looking. I like your new rock work gives it a more open space. and more room for water to flow. Looks good so far keep up the good work! Link to comment
KevKapawski Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Looks good but im more of a corner wall scape kind of person pic 8 is nice tho! Link to comment
Brooklyngal Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 the tank has gone through a WONDERFUL turn of events... we have ich! it must have come in on the new clowns. I've caught it soon enough that the fish dont have too many spots, and are showing no real signs of distress. I'm setting up a 29g hospital tank now; I'll be moving them in tomorrow, and begin lowering the specific gravity wednesday. catching everybody is going to entail me pulling most/all of the rocks out of the tank, and also a full re-scape. I am trying to look on the bright side, and I'll be treating this as an oppotunity to do the re-stock that I've been wanting. I'm planning to go the invert-filled route I'd initially wanted, with small shrimp and crabs. The longnose hawk, sixline and coral beauty are definitely going, but the only fish that are definitely staying are my clowns. I'll update tomorrow or wednesday with the new aquascape pics, and the condition of my fish. really dreading this eight week treatment period! Link to comment
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