Butters Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Current Livestock: 1 male maroon clown 1 Yellow banded possum wrasse 5 sexy shrimp 5 Nassarius snails 5 Astraea snails 5 Netrite snails 5 Margarita snails 5 blue legged hermit crabs (now 4, the brain ate 1) Corals Montipora capricornis Pectinia spp. Klyxum sp Purple dragon polyp Rusty Gorgonian Caulastrea curvata Euphyllia ancora Goniastrea sp. Equipment: 100 watt heater Aqueon ACP 500 Emperor 400 Ecoray 60D LED (going to keep the light off until I get an appropriate hanging setup.) 10$ cabinet from the local used furniture store 22 Pounds of fiji pink sand 4 pounds of LR from the LFS Its still certainly got a long ways to go. I've got 50 pounds of rock ordered from reef cleaners for this one and a 29 biocube I am going to be setting up in a couple weeks, so i will pick another 15 pounds of rock from that order to put into this tank, maybe a little less. The leftover rock I will trade to the guy at the LFS for a Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish. As for the other livestock, only time will tell. Future corals: LPS: Frogspawn Torch Hammer Trumpet SPS: Pavona Birdsnest Assorted Acropora Softies: Red tip tree Toadstool Fiji Leather Plenty of different colored mushrooms Polyps Annnn possibly a Gorgonian. I highly doubt i will/should ever have anywhere near all of the corals listed, however, i would like a nice mix of them. Ill be taking it slow and be sure to post updates relatively regularly. Any advice through this process will be greatly appreciated, dont be afraid to call me an idiot for anything dumb I may do. Ill be doing daily 10 percent water changes for the first couple days then 15% every 4 days. Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Well, you are off to a good start. Link to comment
Butters Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Got my rock from reef cleaners today, awesome rock, and im glad I bought 50 pounds for the two tanks I am building, it gave me a lot to work with. I would reaaaalllly appreciate some feedback on the scape. I have to drive 200 miles on wednesday to set up the other tank. If you think one of the rocks looks out of place or more/less id like to know before the drive. Thanks! Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 As long as it's stable (which it looks to be) I really like the look of the column aquascape. And considering the difficulties in scaping a 20H, I think you did an awesome job. Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I like the tall structure on the right, but not as keen of the pieces on the left. Link to comment
Butters Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 The structure on the left is what is bugging me. I am really happy with how the reef cleaner stack looks but I am struggling with how to place the two pieces of live rock on the left. I really like the shape of the top piece but the bottom piece just doesn't have the right shape,i might move the bottom piece over to the right stack to help support it and try to find a a piece of reef cleaner rock that will look good on the left. Link to comment
Butters Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Just noticed something that makes me VERY happy to have bought the rock from john, there is what appears to be a clam shell molded to the rock. Its the little things that matter... Link to comment
Butters Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Added another rock. For the third day in a row ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates are at zero. When I added the dry rock the ammonia spiked, but today it went back to 0. So I got a couple blue legged hermit crabs to see how they fare. Ill do a 25% waterchange tomorrow, and if by friday the crabs are doing fine and all levels are at 0 then I may consider getting a fish. I am debating whether to go with a chromie to see how the tank handles the bioload or going with a clown, trusting in the readings. Hmmm Link to comment
Butters Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 So, I traded some of my freshwater fish for a couple frags. The first was a red brain which i put in the tank yesterday and as of today looks great, its sweeper tentacles were out and it has colored up quite a bit, and today I put a trumpet in and already looks better than the tank it was in previously. I dosed the tank yesterday with calcium, carbonate, strontum, magnesium, and potasium. I will just dose once a week due to the small number of corals in the tank. But on friday I am going to have the layout set with a 5 pound piece of rock I am going to put on the left side of the tank, replacing the current rocks. On the new rock are two gorgonians, one is about 7 inches tall the other is a wee one at about a quarter inch, and some polyps. Ill keep updating the tank as it progresses, so keep an eye on it Link to comment
Butters Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Ill be getting a pair of osc.clowns here in a bit, but in the meantime, i finally completed my rockscape and bought a few new corals. Moved the trumpet Loving the new gorgonian, dont know if you can see the smaller one in the bottom left... Even though the structure to the right looks like a giant dong, it is coming along. Ill be sure to post an update when there is a noticeable change. Unfortunatly for you i have a terrible camera and take terrible photos. Hopefully before long i will have something to take better shots with. Link to comment
Butters Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 Well, i changed things up a bit and instead of going with a pair of clowns I went with 1 male maroon gold stripe, and 1 yellow striped possum wrasse. They are both getting along wonderfully with the wrasse constantly following around the clown. No aggression at all. In terms of other livestock additions, i bulked up the cleanup crew with some Nerites and Nass. snails. Got some hammers, another brain, and some individual polyps scattered around, and tomorrow will be getting some plating sps. Invertebrate additions are 3 sexy shrimp who love spending time in my hammer corals. Tomorrow I may be getting the final fish (until i get better filtration) which is a yellow headed jaw fish. Ill let you know later down the road. Link to comment
Butters Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Ive gotten a few new corals and a yellow banded possum wrasse. I also bought a yellow headed jawfish however it died within a day, so i may try again soon. The cause of death was unknown. Will probably only get one more fish, preferably a perching fish and call it good. The next project I am working on is going to be a homemade 90 gallon plywood tank, dimensions of 48-15-30 for a blue jaw trigger. Thoughts on whether or not that would be alright for such a fish Also, i really need to get a better camera! Link to comment
Butters Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 Been a while, but here is an update on the tank. Lost my turbinia, but I got a birds nest a couple weeks ago that is doing great now. In other news, i have decided to switch things up a bit by getting a 72 gallon bowfront and moving most of this tanks inhabitants into the new tank and turn this one possibly into a FOWLR tank for an angler. Link to comment
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