onefang's 11.4

[onefang]

So.. after having to tear down a freshly setup nuvo 20 due to landlord issues, I've finally got a legit tank running again. When I tore down my Nuvo, I moved all the live sand, rock, etc over to a cheap 10g to keep the cycle going, and bought myself a Mr. Aqua 11.4.

Tank:

• Mr Aqua 11.4

Stand:

• Ikea shelf

Lighting:

• Coral Compulsion PAR30 & Gooseneck

Heat:

• Cobalt Neotherm 75W

ATO:

• Me with a gallon jug, and a line drawn on the edge of the tank.

Filtration:

• AC50 w/ Pico skimmer box and inTank Media basket
• Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 180

Scape Materials:

• Caribsea Fiji Pink Sand
• Reefcleaners Florida Reef Rock

Current inhabitants:

Corals

• Hammer
• Frogspawn

Inverts

• 5 x Cerith snails
• Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

FTS as of 4/15/2015:

 

 

[JR!]

cant wait to see this one

[onefang]

Hopefully we can have this one longterm.. well longer term than a week anyway

Here are some Euphyllia pics to keep you at bay until I get home to take a FTS.

 

[onefang]

Updated the first post with a FTS. Going to move the heater to the AC50 eventually, and I am getting a piece of 1/8" black acrylic to put behind the tank. I went this route instead of just painting it because the last couple of tanks I painted ended up with a scratch on the back, and it bugged the crap out of me. The clamp on the gooseneck should hold it tight to the glass, so you will never even know it's there. I am also probably going to replace the hydor pico evo-mag 180 with a RW-4 for a little bit less directional flow.

 

Both the frogspawn and hammer coral seem like they've really opened up since I got them.

 

And on my way home from work today, I also picked up a new inhabitant.

 

[dmasterx1x]

really like that hammer. Good looking tank so far.

[xmas_one]

Looking good man!

[onefang]

really like that hammer. Good looking tank so far.

Here it is in motion. It's opened up a lot since I took that last pic.

Euphyllia Video

 

 

Looking good man!

Thanks!

[onefang]

And just because I have seen very few pictures of frogspawn mouths, here ya go:

 

[JR!]

tank looks awesome so far

[onefang]

So, I am thinking of adding some Ricordea in the mix. Anyone have any recommendations on where I might get nice ones at a decent price? I generally try and stick to the LFS, and haven't really bought corals online at all, but my LFS selection of Rics suuuucckkks.

 

Any input would be seriously appreciated.

[onefang]

Now with temporary black background until acrylic shows up. Definitely looks less cluttered.

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

That frogspawn is stunning. Are you planning on getting a fish or two?

[JR!]

tank looks so much better with the black back.

[onefang]

That frogspawn is stunning. Are you planning on getting a fish or two?

 

I am contemplating that. I had moved a clownfish in before I switched everything over to the 11.4 from my 10g, but it was really rough on the frogspawn(biting off the tentacle tips). I re-homed it, and I am not sure what I want next. Whatever I put in will have to be low key and stay small. Any suggestions?

[Snow_Phoenix]

 

I am contemplating that. I had moved a clownfish in before I switched everything over to the 11.4 from my 10g, but it was really rough on the frogspawn(biting off the tentacle tips). I re-homed it, and I am not sure what I want next. Whatever I put in will have to be low key and stay small. Any suggestions?

 

Any chance you're interested in gobies or blennies? Some species stay quite small and are very personable. A common one is a yellow clown goby (YCG) or a tailspot blenny (TSB). If you're into symbiotic relationships though, you could check out Hi-Fin/Yasha gobies paired with Pistol shrimp(s).

[onefang]

Was messing around with my camera after lights out. Took this picture and realized that out of the 9 heads on my hammer, 4 of the skeleton ends are starting to pinch at the middle.I also noticed that those polyps look like they have elongated moths. Looks like it's growing/going to split. Funny thing too is that I didn't notice this when i bought it new about a week ago.. does hammer usually grow that fast?

 

[onefang]

 

Any chance you're interested in gobies or blennies? Some species stay quite small and are very personable. A common one is a yellow clown goby (YCG) or a tailspot blenny (TSB). If you're into symbiotic relationships though, you could check out Hi-Fin/Yasha gobies paired with Pistol shrimp(s).

 

I do like gobies quite a bit. I was actually eyeballing a neon goby at the LFS a couple days ago, but didn't want to buy without reading up on their care requirements.

I would also really like to get a springer's damsel, but I can't find them anywhere in town which is weird because they are usually a pretty common damsel.

[onefang]

Got this little guy two days ago. He's made himself at home, and is eating really well. In fact, he'll eat mysis right out of my fingers which is really cool. He doesn't really appreciate my cleaner shrimps advances for cleaning though

 

 

I didn't realize this when I got him, but he's got some grippy pectoral fins. When he swims up to my hand, I can feel the tug on my skin from his fins and he's pretty well anchored down when he wants to be.

[onefang]

Have to say.. not having the best luck with livestock/coral compatibility here so far. I attempted a clownfish on this tank shortly after getting my frogspawn, and caught my clown nipping the tips of the polyps off. I had to re-home him, as my frogspawn is really one of my favorite corals. It recovered, was fully extended and beautiful.

 

So to replace him, I thought maybe an invert instead - a skunk cleaner - would be pretty safe. About 2 days after he hit the tank, I noticed that both my hammer and my frogspawn looked perpetually pissed off. I chocked it up to a recent water changed, but I discovered today what the cause was. The cleaner shrimp is "cleaning" the polyps.

I've heard of them getting aggressive and pulling food from coral mouths and doing some damage along the way... but I just caught mine pulling chunks from a polyp body with his little front claws and stuffing it in his mouth. So either I have the most delicious frogspawn ever, or extremely terrible luck. I have been target feeding the shrimp a buttload of mysis and NLS pellets, but I haven't been feeding the frogspawn/hammer because they looked pissed. There is no reason I can think of why he'd be looking for food in there.

 

So for now, he's in a breeder box, until I can figure out where he's gonna go. Hopefully the frogspawn recovers, as it's been through a lot

 

I suppose I will be sticking to the sharknose goby only, and maybe I'll add something else down the road when I see how the Euphyllias recover.

[xmas_one]

Paul, any updates?