opaquelace Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Back into small tanks I go! We had a spare tank and filter hanging around and I saw these guys: They were at Petco on "clearance." 29.99 down from 149.99. I love the Wyoming Whites and I've always wanted a pair so this was my chance. I figured with a tank and a filter already all we'd need is the water, sand rock and a light lol. I ordered a Par38 fixture and bulb which should be coming in the middle of November. Until then it's cheap light for the fishies while the tank cycles. I wanted to use all dead rock, but the LFS didn't have much and nothing in the shapes I wanted so live rock we went for 8 pounds. 2 pounds is dead rock. A lot of the tank will be for our rock anemones that we don't want in our 40 gallon anymore. I chose the black sand so that the white or light colored anemones would really pop on the sand. Here's a picture of the tank. I spray painted the rim a cool teal color and the back is black. I don't plan on keeping much other than softies and rock anemones. Maybe some easy LPS. I think my two clowns will definitely need a frogspawn or a torch. They tried to steal the one in the 40 gallon from my midnight clown pair which didn't go over so well, hence the new set up. There is a chromis in the 10 gallon as well right now. I had an issue with the water and the fish the 2nd day it was set up. I don't know exactly what happened but the clownfish got really stressed and I had to move them back to the basket in my 40 gallon. I think the epoxy did something, but a few days of running carbon and I wanted to test it again so I moved my chromis from the 40 gallon to the 10 gallon to test it out. Kind of cruel to sacrifice his health but he's fine now lol so the clownfish went back in. He'll be moved back into the 40 gallon soon. I plan on putting some kind of fun and small goby in the 10 gallon that would otherwise get lost in my 40 gallon. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Good find on those clowns, is the tank cycled at all? Link to comment
opaquelace Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Good find on those clowns, is the tank cycled at all? Not yet, I have some stability and I think prime? to use and I'm hoping it won't be a problem. That's why I wanted to use dead rock so I wouldn't have much of a cycle at all but since that wasn't possible this is it. They weren't happy in their little basket which was the only other option. Pretty much an impulse buy. If I notice stress I can move them. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Not yet, I have some stability and I think prime? to use and I'm hoping it won't be a problem. That's why I wanted to use dead rock so I wouldn't have much of a cycle at all but since that wasn't possible this is it. They weren't happy in their little basket which was the only other option. Pretty much an impulse buy. If I notice stress I can move them. Luckily clownfish are relatively hardy fish for noobs, so an aquarist like yourself you should be fine. I'm sure on a 10g wc will be ok to keep down ammonia. Are the fancy clowns less hardy or weaker than the normal tank bread ones? Link to comment
smiz Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 yeah prob not the best idea putting fish in a uncycled tank right? Link to comment
opaquelace Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 yeah prob not the best idea putting fish in a uncycled tank right? It's not the best idea. Typically you can do it with dead rock because there is a minimal cycle when you just use live sand (I mean barely a spike in nutrients, and you're set to go) and if you use the stability and the prime additives that detoxify that stuff you should be good. I'm using it now since I do have fish in the tank, otherwise I'd just let it run its course. Usually I find it cruel to cycle a tank with fish but in this instance the only other option was a 10 inch square basket in my big tank because my midnight pair of clownfish were really beating up these two. The 10 inch square basket didn't allow for much space and it was stressing them out as it is. They've been in the 10 gallon for probably 3 hours and are much more enthusiastic and eating as well. But no, I don't recommend or condone cycling a tank with fish in it or using fish to jumpstart a cycle. This was an impulsive purchase when I saw that they were on clearance at Petco (derp). Lol. Anywho, here are my two tanks side by side! Link to comment
smiz Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 awesome, well I wasn't aware dead rock wont have as much of a cycle so thats great! Seems like you've got it under control!! Link to comment
opaquelace Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Luckily clownfish are relatively hardy fish for noobs, so an aquarist like yourself you should be fine. I'm sure on a 10g wc will be ok to keep down ammonia. Are the fancy clowns less hardy or weaker than the normal tank bread ones? I find them the same. Obviously there is the added stress on yourself because they cost more (lol) but I find that the tank raised fish, regardless of pattern and color tend to do much better than wild caught fish. I have a pair of midnight clowns in my 40 gallon and they arrived about 13 hours after shipping out and weren't even visibly stressed. That was my first experience having fish shipped to my door too. awesome, well I wasn't aware dead rock wont have as much of a cycle so thats great! Seems like you've got it under control!! There isn't anything to die off and have a large cycle. The live sand provides the bacteria you need to get your biological filtration going. I know some people still prefer to fully cycle a tank with real live rock rather than using the dry base rock (dead rock) but some will never use anything but the base rock because there is less of a risk of pests entering the system. Link to comment
opaquelace Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 New friend! Plan is to get a few of the tiny gobies. Like a zebra catalina goby and a green clown goby. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 New friend! Plan is to get a few of the tiny gobies. Like a zebra catalina goby and a green clown goby. Great looking fish- how do you like your dark sand? I am considering that for a future build but I have read mixed reviews Link to comment
opaquelace Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Great looking fish- how do you like your dark sand? I am considering that for a future build but I have read mixed reviews A guy at the LFS tried to convince me not to do it, claiming it looks dirty fast, it's a pain in the butt to clean, blah blah lol. I find I like it. I don't know if I'd like it in a large tank, but this is a small tank and if I do end up moving my flower anemones there and adding more anemones down the line I would like the contrast it will give if they plant themselves in the sandbed. I have a light colored one that kind of just looks meh on a white sandbed. I know some people simply don't like the aesthetic, and that's fine. I've seen some horrible tanks with black sand, but then some of them you see and the color of the coral pops and looks fantastic. I love this tank. It's small like mind and simple. Besides I have white clownfish. I kind of wanted them to show up a lot lol. I have black clownfish in my large tank. There is also this tank. I would consider this an amazing tank, and it has black sand. A bit more advanced than what I plan on keeping and doing with this small 10 gallon, but black sand can definitely look nice imo. Also, my husband compared my goby to a toe nail clipping. I guess he thought they were larger lol. He's been out and about and pretty social so far. He hangs out on the right pillar a lot. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 thanks for reply- ya I think it's just a matter of personal preference- I think it looks great on your tank- what type is that? Link to comment
opaquelace Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 I believe it was Arag-alive black hawaiin live sand. It's a little bit coarser and has some orange and white sand it looks like in it as well. Link to comment
opaquelace Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Finally got a quality light and moved some things from the 40 gallon into the smaller tank. I actually think we're going to tear down and sell the 40 gallon tank. I'm getting ready to start school and it's a little much to deal with right now. I'd be sad to let go of my fish the most. Mainly my midnight clowns and my kole tang but idk, it's coming tough to keep up with in terms of weekly water changes and dosing and all that crap. I miss having a small tank like I started within this hobby. Link to comment
Rehype Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Looks great op love the scape. I totally know how you feel....sometimes i just want to downgrade to a 7 gallon, fill it to the brim with corals and call it a day Link to comment
opaquelace Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Looks great op love the scape. I totally know how you feel....sometimes i just want to downgrade to a 7 gallon, fill it to the brim with corals and call it a day Lol it seems like that's what we're doing. If anything we'll keep the 40 gallon as a FOWLR. We'll keep the frogspawn house for the clowns though. Idk, we narrowly missed a crash. We lost a lot (like my rainbow wellso RIP) but kept my two favorite SPS, my pagoda cup and my clove polyps because apparently even fire won't kill those things. We set up the 10 gallon originally to house the flower anemones, but now I'd like to frag out the remaining SPS we have and exchange for credit at the fish store and call it a day. A civil engineering degree and two three year olds are going to occupy most of my time. Besides, changing 1 gallon out of a ten gallon every 3-4 days is easy peas compared to the maintenance of a 40 gallon. Link to comment
Rehype Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Lol it seems like that's what we're doing. If anything we'll keep the 40 gallon as a FOWLR. We'll keep the frogspawn house for the clowns though. Idk, we narrowly missed a crash. We lost a lot (like my rainbow wellso RIP) but kept my two favorite SPS, my pagoda cup and my clove polyps because apparently even fire won't kill those things. We set up the 10 gallon originally to house the flower anemones, but now I'd like to frag out the remaining SPS we have and exchange for credit at the fish store and call it a day. A civil engineering degree and two three year olds are going to occupy most of my time. Besides, changing 1 gallon out of a ten gallon every 3-4 days is easy peas compared to the maintenance of a 40 gallon. Sorry to hear about the semi-crash but glad you were able to save some coral Sounds like a good idea to me. Link to comment
opaquelace Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Sorry to hear about the semi-crash but glad you were able to save some coral Sounds like a good idea to me. Yea. I was upset. Losing my rainbow wellso was the biggest blow. It had some tissue damage then developed the dreaded brown jelly disease. I keep stealing stuff from the 40 gallon to put in my 10 gallon and now the 10 gallon looks semi full Link to comment
etane Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 wyoming @ $30 a piece... nice find. Link to comment
opaquelace Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 wyoming @ $30 a piece... nice find. Yea lol. The only reason for setting up this tank too. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Those are some beautiful RFAs you have. Link to comment
TheNordCelt Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I really like the scape and the black sand, it really makes those nems pop. Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Finally got a quality light and moved some things from the 40 gallon into the smaller tank. I actually think we're going to tear down and sell the 40 gallon tank. I'm getting ready to start school and it's a little much to deal with right now. I'd be sad to let go of my fish the most. Mainly my midnight clowns and my kole tang but idk, it's coming tough to keep up with in terms of weekly water changes and dosing and all that crap. I miss having a small tank like I started within this hobby. Love. I really like the black sand. I really like the scape. Perfect little tank! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.