treborzelev Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Before and after from used tank purchase (on right) to now(left). Contains:FISHJuvenile yellow spotted mandarinYellow watchman gobyPaired clownfishFirefish (Jumped 2/14) INVERTSPorcelin crabHermit crabScarlet Hermit crab2 1 fighting conch (3/14)Snails: 1 turbo, 5 nassarius, 1 bumble bee 1 chesnut crowie 1 turban 3 CerithPeppermint shrimp (5/14 eaten while molting)Fire ShrimpYellow pistol shrimp 2 Jewel box clams3 Sea cucumbers CORAL 3 types of zoasGreen Candy caneGreen sinularia3 types of xeniasBrown mushroom toadstoolGreen ricordiaPink mushroom2 sea fan DuncanRose bubble tip anemone 2 Majano anemonesPurple Condy anemone (4/2014) Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Equipment Fluval spec v In-tank media basket Top:filter floss/fluval bio max, middle:purigen and bottom: fluval clearmax Link to comment
chrisinator Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Cool setup! Something I want to similarly create... One question, are you having trouble at all with the amount of fish that you have in that tank? Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Surprisingly I havent had any trouble with the fish.. the newest addition is the firefish and since his introduction the watchman goby only comes out of his cave with the pistol shrimp during feedings. Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ive got some more updated pics of the fish and other side of the tank. Ill upload those later but I am also able to keep the tank happy because I change the water often usually only a gallon or two at a time tho. Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 Yellow spotted mandarin Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 I just wonder how I could reduce the frequency of my water changes. I just got into the hobby in november and any advice would be appreciated! I feed a cube of mysis or supercarnivore and a cube of cyclopeez dailly. I also dose about 1.5ml of coral snow daily. Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Gobie-wan Kenobi Link to comment
jbb Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 With your extremely heavy stocking , the only way to lessen the water change frequency is to get a bigger tank. Im not trying to be a jerk, or crash your thread, but you are WAY overstocked . Hopefully that mandarin is frozen trained or it is just a matter of time before it starves. If you plan to keep that many fish, I would start looking for a larger tank pretty quick to avoid headaches later on. Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Thanks for the response! I have heard other people tell me that my tank is very close to being too full but Ive always made sure all of my fish purchases already ate frozen. The mandarin has been in the tank since about december with no problems and the live rock is covered in copepods. What fish in particular do you think requires the bigger tank, or in other words whiaggressive ish is most likely to be harmed. I also have an agreement with my lfs that allows me to try out a fish and if its not working out to return him for store credit (sixline wrasse was way too aggressive ) So far all the fish get along quite well even the watchmans cave is in such an obscure area the other fish dont even bother him. Ive actually been thinking about getting a ruby scooter blenny as my final fish! So, in other words, what signs would i need to see to prove the tank is maxed out? Link to comment
Muraki Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 The clownfish and the mandarin goby will outgrow the 5 gallon tank. Pushing more then 1 fish in the SpecV would be the reasoning you are having to change the water so often. Don't get me wrong, I am pushing things in my SpecV that I know will outgrow it as well. Prepare to frag your RBTA because of the size it will reach, they average 3-5" in captivity from what I have read and are known to reach up to 12". 5 fish in a SpecV, with 3-4 of them reaching lengths of 3" or more will be cramping for them. I would start planning a build for a larger setup to house all of your fish comfortable to reduce the water changes and to enjoy them more. The pair of clownfish alone require 10-20 gallons if I am not mistaken, if I am I am certain someone else will gladly correct me. The Mandarin should be happy in a setup of this size as well. But for what you currently have, you may want to go even bigger. Most of the SpecV's I look at seem to house only a small goby species to reduce the amount of bioload the tank will have to deal with. Search BTA (bubble tip anenome) in the forum search bar. Also there is a lot of good info at http://www.liveaquaria.com/, just find the fish or coral you currently have or want and it offers decent info to begin with. Like minimum tank size, Flow, lighting and more. Goodluck with the Spec V! Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Thanks for the advice! I would never consider upgrading the tank. There would be a chance of trading in fish to my LFS but the clown fish are currently mating (i think, they keep doing the mating dance) and everything seems so happy ...really my question for the forum is how would i know the tanks bioload is too great for the fish to thrive or how will i know when i have reached maximum capacities? Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Ive had all these fish in the tank since november minus the firefish with no issues. I do water changes once a week sometimes stretch it a little more than that thanks to purigen and my media basket. I have reasearched all the fish and as they get larger my LFS offers a trade-in program so i may use that or trade with other local aquarists. Even if on a yearly basis i may trade out what lives inside my tank I still get to enjoy each creature for that year. Luckily Ive read enough to really reach my tanks maximum capacity. Maybe I will be able see really what type of biodiversity my tank can handle with proper feeding /dosing/water changes / and for the newbie (me) water testing? I really came on the forum for advice on how I could even further reduce my water changes and help my corals reproduce more quickly and efficiently. I guess im looking for posts from very experienced aquarists as most of my information comes from my LFS. One thing is for certain tho, the livestock in the tank is probably going to remain until they are too large or become aggressive OR until I want to upgrade each fish lol. Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 The four amigos! Ive been thinking about getting a few more hermit crabs does anyone have any reccomendations? Also I was thinking about trading in the larger Clownfish for a smaller nano clown or even a small pipefish. some of my zoas Link to comment
xiaoxiy Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Sweet tank! A bit overstocked imo, but it seems like you've done a lot of reading and that everything is doing well and is happy, kudos! Keep an eye on that RTBA. Those get pretty darned big though. Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 Sweet tank! A bit overstocked imo, but it seems like you've done a lot of reading and that everything is doing well and is happy, kudos! Keep an eye on that RTBA. Those get pretty darned big though. Haha thanks so much! Actually someone advised me to frag/split the RBTA and it actually seems to be splitting on its own as of yesterday! I never really thought id be able to sucessfully split a RBT but if anyone has advice on that subject im all ears lol....Ill upload pics later for advice as to whether it is truly splitting on its own or not.(im guessing NOT) The fluval spec V has two chambers hidden on the right side. 1 for filtration and the other (smaller) for the return pump but I would really like to use the return pump side for more than just the minijet 606. (I used to keep the heater in there but instead opted for it to go into the display for more consistent temps and the 50w heater doesn't fit as well as a smaller 25w) I wish there was a way to use the return chambers 5" high by maybe 2 "x 2 " space for ANYTHING. Right now I only use the space to top off evaporated water. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate them! Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Lighting the whole room up Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Everyone comes out at feeding time nice color on the mandarin tonight Link to comment
SchnauzerFace Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Somehow you're making this work, so kudos! But 5 fish in a 5 gallon -- plus feeding 2 cubes/day -- seems like you're pushing your bioload to the limit. you seem to have found the right balance for maintenance, but it sounds like a nitrate problem could sneak up if you're not super careful. Keep doing whatever you're doing, though! Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 I cant upload the pic now but I took a water sample to the LFS today and after no water change in two weeks my nitrates were 10-20! I think I could lower them even more with a few more hermit crabs. Any other ideas would be appreciated! My large blue tip hermit did end up eating my scarlett hermit today(took pics haha) so I am going to have to replace him anyways lol. You can see the pepermint shrimp scavenging remains. Link to comment
Kijho Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Oh so sad, it got eaten! I'm on evening #5 of my cycle now, just killed a bunch of aiptasia in my Fluval Spec. Ammonia is currently up though, awaiting the cycle to continue! Think I'll be doing a full snail CUC and maybe one shrimp.. to eat future aiptasia haha Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Crazy snail..anyone know what kind this is? nice hermit crab shot Link to comment
xiaoxiy Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Crazy snail..anyone know what kind this is? nice hermit crab shot Looks like a Stomatella Snail! Link to comment
treborzelev Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Looks like a Stomatella Snail! thanks! you're right! it seems to be reproducing in my tank if seen tiny ones on my glass usually after dark. Link to comment
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