aero_reefer777 Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Hi All !! Welcome to our nano reef !! Our Red Sea Max has been up for almost three months now. This is our (my wife & I) first reef tank. We had a predatory tank (75g) a few years back so saltwater is familiar territory. But let me say, reefin' is the bomb!!!! I learned everything about corals & reef fish from nano-reef.com, IMO THE best resource for research about every predicament of the hobby. Special thanks to StevieT, whose thread is a "how to" guide for the RSM. Also to the Reef Hot Spot in LA for importing rarities and selling them for 1/3 the price of every other LFS (also does web business) My local reefer, EDGRAY, who gave me a few select slices of his beautiful tank Anyways, about the tank itself. The master plan (what the wife wants) is a seahorse variety tank. Meaning that we want to house & breed sea horses, but not at the expense of a species only tank. We plan to add sea horses at month 5, but here is a glimpse at its current state, 3 months in. I have a bunch of pics that I would love to post, but I try to limit it to only my fav I have some build up pics, but many others have documented it pretty well IMO side view at 2 months my superman & amazing orange/red mushrooms (thanks to EDGRAY) more pics in next post Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 7 week FTS Purple Firefish "Mel" feeding Ricordea, Yummy... open brain, purchased at Reef Hot Spot $25!!! Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 Side view - from the couch Purple sea plume gorgonia - for the sea horses (eventually) one more couch shot Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 SWEET! I wish my RSM looked this good! Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Looks really good already, nicely done. This tank has a lot of potential. The contch shell looks really cool, I like the idea. Good luck with the gorgonia, it looks like it is doing petty good. Hint: upload your pics on photobucket, then use the code and paste them in your thread. That way the pics will show up on the page and we don't have to click on them. Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 Thanks for the compliments. We are very excited to see this tank develop. Thanks for the tip on the photo bucket, I will use that for my next post (coming soon) StevieT, did you lose your gorgonia? We have it directly in front of the power heads, and got pretty lucky by picking up a beautiful specimen. The contch shell is from the Bahamas. My wife & I picked it up on our honeymoon (5 years ago), it used to be in our predator tank. We like to pick up sea treasures from our travels and place them in our tank. It adds to the whole experience. More photos soon... Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I lost my purple one, it was a stupid buy since it is the harder kind to keep, filter feeder kind. But I do still have my orange ones and they are doing great still. Polyps are always extended. Yours looks amazing! Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 Hey All, Been down and out for a little while dealing with ich. We seem to have that under control, it forced us to buy some needed items anyway (QT Tank etc.). I recently installed an inline chiller for the coming summer, a MINI Artica, works fabulous. We live close to the water so it does not get too hot, but it also means that we have no A/C. Looking to get Sea Horses some time this summer, will sporadically stock coral until then. Here are some updates! Happy reefing till next time The clowns in their favorite sleeping quarters, the flower pot and zoa colony Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted May 16, 2008 Author Share Posted May 16, 2008 Updates coming this weekend!! Maybe a new pair of sea horses, if my wife gets her way... Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 Hey All, I thought I would post a tribute to my brain. He is a bit bigger than 4" in diameter and kind of looks like an ash tray that Picasso would have made. Please post your favorite brain shots in my thread, I would love to see them! Happy Reefing! with the top down... top down sunset (my tank gets ~1 hour natural light in the summer) enjoying some eats out all night, check out the bristle worm! macro feeding one more sunset my tank gets snow too (don't mix calcium & carbonate ) That's all for now Link to comment
HankB Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 one more sunset Early morning and late evening light is like magic. You've really taken advantage of it here. Thanks for the update. -hank Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Early morning and late evening light is like magic. You've really taken advantage of it here. Thanks for the update. -hank Thanks for the feedback Hank! We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of a pair of Redi Seahorses this Friday! Hope to have photos posted this weekend! Matt Link to comment
StevieT Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 great picks what is up with the "snow" picture?! did you mix something incorrectly? Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 great picks what is up with the "snow" picture?! did you mix something incorrectly? Thanks StevieT yeah, little lesson from Chemistry 101. Calcium & carbonate form a precipitate when mixed. I add my doses to a small bowl with my top-off water, and accidentally put both in the same bowl. Ooops! Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 We have been away for way too long, but still living up to our reefing dreams. We recently passed 1 since we introduced fish . I have to say this is the best/most rewarding hobby ever. Anyways, we have pushed on with our seahorse variety reef tank. The seahorses are a mating pair (tried very hard to raise a few litters - very difficult and time & $$$ consuming) and very personable. They will latch onto your finger to grab a bite to eat. Hope you enjoy the photos! Link to comment
nyfishguy Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 you're not worried about having soo many fish with seahorses? Link to comment
Nanobuds Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Nice tank, how many fish do you have in there Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thanks Nanobuds I have 6 fish: 2 Redi Seahorses, 2 Clowns, 1 Chromis, 1 Mandarin Goby. And no, I am not worried since this balance has been stable both chemically & symbiotically for a while. The only real "swimmer" is the Chromis, everything else just chills. Every critter has their space and they get along very well in a social community. Of course, you have to be very selective in picking tank mates for seahorses. They are the largest creatures in the tank (4" tall+), so that helps weigh the pecking order in their favor. If you have the time to feed the seahorses every day and are committed to weekly water changes, seahorses are not that delicate IMO (I do have a chiller though). Link to comment
AnnafromtheLBC Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 hey neighbor, I agree- ponies will do just fine in a reef environment with friendly fish so long as you can target feed them 1-2 times per day (they're so slow to get to the food compared to the fishies). mine seem to actually enjoy playing in the high flow required for corals... Link to comment
aero_reefer777 Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 Mandarin Training Success !!! Three months & eating frozen mysis !!! I was sooo excited last night when I witnessed his first big bites of frozen mysis, I felt the need to share our story. As you may conclude from looking through our previous posts, we were basically breaking all the Mandarin rules as far as placing them with other species (2 adult seahorses) that will compete for pods (in only a 35 gal) . We successfully overcame this by hard work and probably spending too much money (money is made to be spent right?). For hard work: We have tried (unsuccessfully) many times to raise seahorse fry, so we have a brine shrimp hatchery and know how to crank them out. This was key. About 5 days a week we would feed live baby brine shrimp mixed with cyclopeeze frozen food. Eventually, he gets used to tasting the frozen food and will stop spitting it out when he mistakenly eats it. Spending money: We will spend ~$50 every 3-4 months to buy a pod starter kit (2000 pods) from seahorse source. I think this gave us enough time to train him to eat frozen. (took 3 months to eat frozen mysis) The lucky part: The seahorses & mandarin seem to share a close symbiotic relationship. I often notice them in extremely close quarters (even touching). This has helped in his transition to mysis, because the mandarin seemed genuinely curious in what the seahorses were eating. Eventually, he must have had some moment of realization that whats good for them must be good for me, and tried eating with them. I will have to post a video of this soon! Anyways, bottom line: You can have a mandarin in a nano (35 gal) if you are willing to spend 15 minutes a day tending to baby brine, mix the baby brine with cyclopeeze for each feeding (atleast 5 days a week), and occasionally boost the pod population. Best of luck to you & your Mandarin, in our minds its totally worth it for this stunning fish! Link to comment
AnnafromtheLBC Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Congratulations! Love to see a video up soon... Link to comment
Wizzy Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 What species of seahorse do you have? Also, what is your temperature at because I thought they needed cooler temperatures than normal reef tanks. Thanks- Wizzy Link to comment
DrCooper Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Great tank! Debating getting a new e series red sea max! Link to comment
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