irondragon013 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Thank you to all who followed along with this tank. I did not have the time to maintain it so the tank came down. I have had this tank running since January and figured it was about time to show it off some. Warning some of these FTS are hideous lol. This thread will be used to show how my tank evolved to where it is today. Second post will be a set of FTS from the beginning. Current Equipment: Top Fin 20L Tek 36" T5 Aquaclear 50 with Filter Floss, Carbon and Cheato on top for good measure. 1 Koralia nano 425gph 1 Koralia evo 750 Top Fin 100w heater, solid as a rock A bunch of rock, No idea on an exact # DIY ATO purchased from BRS Reef octopus BH-100 Skimmer Fish: 1 Royal Gramma 1 6-line wrasse 3 Green Chromis Inverts: Coral Banded Shrimp Corals: Brain Coral (ID as a S. Wilsoni) Hyacinth Birdsnest Neon Green Birdsnest Green Acro Yellow acro 3 un-ID'ed zoa's Eagle Eye Zoa's Eye of the Storm Zoa's Kryptonite Zoa's Duncan Red branching Monti Cup Coral (hopeful rescue from the LR rubble bin at my LFS) Green Pocilopora Frog spawn Green Long Tentacle Torch Pulsing Xenia Red Montipora Cap Blasto GSP Branching Duncan Ricordia Brownish acro CUC: 3 tricolor hermits 3 Scarlet reef hermits 6 astrea snails 2 emerald crabs (I love these guys) 1 Turbo snail ?? Cerith ?? Nassaurius ?? Nerite ??? Dwarf Cerith Snails Current front tank shot. Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Looks good dragon...nice scape Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Thanks man. Coming from you that means a lot. The next post I put up will be a bunch of FTS that show It has come a long way to today when I finally fixed that left side island. I apologize in advance for the photos as they are all taken with my droid. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Here is a dated series of FTS from the beginning to now. It has been a rocky journey to say the least lol. December 25, 2010 January 7, 2011 January 12, 2011 Came home to find my parents surprised me with three fish added to my tank. Luckily my cycle had been short to practically non-existent. Not the type of surprise I like, Lost one of the 2 damsels they put in there. February 11, 2011 After repairing the Tek light that I bought with bad ballasts (was part of the deal from the start) from another member. I have to say I love this light but my droid’s camera doesn’t lol February 24, 2011 I finally ditched the last big piece of lace rock and built the left Island out of LR rubble. I can say at this point I’m much happier with the aquascape. That sums it up so far. Link to comment
BytheSea Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Interesting rocks you have! Looking forward to seeing the progress. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Thanks for checking it out. A lot has changed in this tank for how little time I have had it set up. It has been a heck of a learning experience for sure. I liked the look of lace rock starting out but over time it wasn't doing it for me. I need to see if I can get a better camera for some macro shots. My droid is good for a phone camera but can only do so much. Here is a fun pic of my brain coral. It is one of my favorites because of the tentacles. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Here is some pics to show growth of corals. I found my camera. I'm a little proud of the growth Birdsnest at LFS. Sad I know Birdnest today. Colors are off but the growth surprised me. Corals that I'm holding for a friend who is moving. When I got them Today New Candy Cane and my GSP that started out as 3 polyps Better FTS Feel free to leave comments or questions. I'm always looking to improve my tank and so the reason for this thread Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 This morning I noticed a small burrow hole had been dug under the rocks of the right side island. It could be a HH shrimp of some sort. The rubble rock I got to build it was in my LFS's sump for their display so it could be anything. Also had a smallish mithrax type crab in the rocks. My buddy's mantis shrimp took good care of it. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 Well I determined the cause of the "digging." Turns out my damsel thought the sand need to be moved around. It does this by sweeping the sand with its tail making it look as if something is burrowing. Also added a Coral Banded shrimp. Better quality pics to come in the morning. I'm finally learning some photo editing stuff. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 New updated FTS in first post. Here are some others. I'm still learning on the photography stuff but editing even a little makes a huge difference. I wish I had more than a point and shoot but I spend all my free cash on this tank lol. Feel free to comment. I should have turned off the powerheads for this one It is hard as hell to get colors right under my lights Link to comment
Wilioli Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 hey you got a tank thread!!! awesome tank!! and amazing scape! I really like it -- and (correct me if im wrong) the sps with no skimmer ... *AMAZING*!! I gotta get more fish.. been concentrating on corals, but I realize now that the fish is what really gives it personality! What do you think of ur flow? I got the same powerheads -- was thinking maybe.. I dunno.. more? Link to comment
tundrashaul Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Very nice, I love the scape! Link to comment
nebthet Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I really like the cave.. and those duncans are going to look so nice in a few months. Great Job. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 hey you got a tank thread!!! awesome tank!! and amazing scape! I really like it -- and (correct me if im wrong) the sps with no skimmer ... *AMAZING*!! I gotta get more fish.. been concentrating on corals, but I realize now that the fish is what really gives it personality! What do you think of ur flow? I got the same powerheads -- was thinking maybe.. I dunno.. more? Skimmer is in the works. I just have to build a big hob fuge to put the aquaticlife 115 in. I'm pretty happy with the flow as it is with the k-nanos. I have them both on the left side and it makes some nice chaotic flow with my ac 50 pouring over them. Have you tried moving them around? It took me forever to figure out where to put them. Very nice, I love the scape! Thanks man. Your tank is awesome. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 I really like the cave.. and those duncans are going to look so nice in a few months. Great Job. Thanks nebthet, The cave is currently home to my coral banded shrimp I got a few days ago. He needs to come out more so I can take pictures. The duncan I got from a friend a while back. The main head has pieces of the skirt missing and had a line of hair algae growing up the side of it, but it has done really well in my tank. It has 4 smaller heads sprouting from the side that are already showing feeding reactions My damsel has recently taken up construction and cover the ducan in sand the other night. Hopefully the burrow building stops soon. I really wish I could catch the damsel and put it in my 10g mantis shrimp tank. Link to comment
Wilioli Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Skimmer is in the works. I just have to build a big hob fuge to put the aquaticlife 115 in. I'm pretty happy with the flow as it is with the k-nanos. I have them both on the left side and it makes some nice chaotic flow with my ac 50 pouring over them. Have you tried moving them around? It took me forever to figure out where to put them. Yea I move them around every now and then experimenting... I think I have more than enough flow, and I have the ac110. But I see so many ppl with 20l's puttin up more flow for sps. However, two powerheads on one side -- didn't think about that.. .. especially with the AC right next to it creating even more turbulence.. very nice! Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 I really didn't think of having the two on the same side until I looked at driftsaru's 20L. It certainly makes for some interesting flow. Though my buddy is about to take back the big acro and pocillopora that I have been holding till his new tank cycled. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Here is pics of the shy CBS. I have wanted one of these and he fits in with all the other aggressive livestock I have. Even my brain coral is aggressive. Just hanging out as he does most of the day in his cave. He is an inverted invert lol He wants a hug Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Update: I caught the blue damsel with a bottle trap and put it in my 10g mantis shrimp tank and wished it luck. I feed the main inhabitant that is about the same size as the damsel to give it time to adjust. The mantis was giving the damsel the eye which is easily swayed with a piece of shrimp lol. This will take a lot of the aggression out of the 20 and open up space for another fish. Link to comment
tundrashaul Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 How big is the mantis? Good move for the long run. Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 How big is the mantis? Good move for the long run. The mantis is a G. Ternatensis and is somewhere in the range of 3-4 inches long. He is going back to my buddy at the end of the week and I want to get a N. Wennerae to fill the void in the 10g. The Ternatensis is really a shy creature and I rarely see more than its front half. Wennerae are known to be more outgoing and active. Mantis shrimp are awesome creatures to have. Just a note, they rock at staring contests. It scared the crap out of the damsel when it tried to sleep in one of the mantis shrimps many opening lol. Damsel is uninjured but made quite the racket. The shrimp is a creeper I'm glad to have the opening in the 20L for another fish, any suggestions? I'm currently planning a 40B that will use this 20L as a sump/fuge in the future. I want more fish space. This is still being planned and construction of the stand won't even start till the summer. It gives me plenty of time to plan and wait on the $1 a gallon sale to happen again at petco Edit: woot 2 pages Link to comment
Wilioli Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 im doin the same thing... sometime in the future... 40g breeder and makin this 20 my sump get some pics of the mantis up! i dunno if you could get a passive fish in there right? royal gramma aggressive? Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 I would say the gramma is more territorial than aggressive. It is always cautious, keeps to it area in the center of the tank, and was kicked out of a nice cave by the damsel, so not that aggressive. Live Aquaria and NR's database list them as peaceful actually. Here is the 10g's current inmate Link to comment
irondragon013 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 They are cool. I wish he wasn't so shy so I could get more pictures. Link to comment
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