Nebthet's AP24, Now 29g Reef Tank - New Pics 04-09-2009

[nebthet]

Ok.. time for me to add more pictures.

 

Mr. Xenia is doing very very well. It is up and pulsing vigorously again and getting larger by day.

 

Blastos and tiny zoa frag in it's final home where it is being less distubed by the hermits.

 

Beware De Claw!

 

Nummm nummm nummm nummm

 

Feeding Frenzy

 

Check out what I found!!

Baby Snails!!! Nassarius and Turbo!

 

There is the one by the bubble algae in this pick

 

I think I am gonna have to name my tank Love Cove or something with the way these suckers keep spitting out babies, whether they survive or not.

[ximmortaldeathx]

good setup.

 

quick advice, if you want some good filtration (i used to own an AP24) get a aquaclear70 and put some purigen with the carbon, it does wonder ass your tank matures.

 

also be carefull when you do a water change i cracked the front when i leaned a bucket agains it

 

good luck.

[burtbollinger]

i'm pretty sure your snails are not having babies....over time, different things appear...hitchiked in somehow....

 

i think i'd move that korelia up....and have it shoot a lil downward....just a thought

 

progressing nicely otherwise.

[nebthet]

good setup.

 

quick advice, if you want some good filtration (i used to own an AP24) get a aquaclear70 and put some purigen with the carbon, it does wonder ass your tank matures.

 

also be carefull when you do a water change i cracked the front when i leaned a bucket agains it

 

good luck.

 

 

I've thought about adding extra filtration, but I think if I do, I am going to take one of my old 10 gallons once I make enough room in my kitchen and make it into fuge. I am also planning on taking a 15g and making a nano out of that for a friend to look after who cannot afford the expense of a salt water, but would like to try it out.

 

Actually I have a nice little system set up for my water changes. I purchased pump hoses at my local hardware store here, so I can use a python to remove water and I use one of the small hoses to pump water back into the tank, or if I am in a little more of a hurry, I use a 1 litre jug and just do it manually.

 

In terms of my snails.. I have been watching them laying eggs over the last month and a bit and have had fun watching their progress. I have a nice field of snowflake polyps on my one live rock that are spreading through the maroon algae nicely.

 

I tried moving the K1 to several different areas and I found that place and position to be the best for flow over all. It hits and breaks the waters surface then causes flow to cascade down the right front corner of the tank, where it flows through the middle and to the back of the tank and to the right as well. I am still also using the stock pump with the y pipe pointed down more so I have a high flow and low flow area.

 

I have had lots of fun sitting infront of this tank watching the life progress. I should take more pics of the sides of the tank to show the maze of caves near the back the peppermint uses and will hopefully be joined in a month's time by some fish.

[nebthet]

I finally got my 3 frags in from fragalot.ca today. Not their fault.. Paypal takes forever to let a bank payment go through.

 

Here are the two Acropora Frags I ordered.

The one in the background is suppose to be Acropora Nano (though it doesnt look like it). and the one in the foreground is Acropora Suharsonoi.

 

The next pic is my Aussie Duncan (Duncanopsummia). It was only suppose to be 3 heads, but lucky me I got 4.

 

 

They had really fast shipping. These 3 frags only cost me $30.. lol.. the shipping cost me more.

 

They have another $10 frag sale on right now too.. They have some nice stuff and will be ordering from them in the future. So for you Canadian Reefers out there... Fragalot is a good place to buy from.

[nebthet]

So I was out doing some grocery shopping today and other things and I stopped in at Shane's Aquarium Emporium checking to see if they had an MJ1200 and to check prices on other things.

 

They had a super cute black frogfish in there.. but I dont want to spend $50 on him and it wasnt in my tank plans. They also have an eel in there. very cool.

 

So in the one tank there was this lone tiny damsel in there hanging in the corner not doing much of anything. I felt bad for him.

 

I had been reading a few things and weighing my options on what to ad and not to for the passed couple of months and how I wanted to do it. I have come to a final decision on what I want to stock my tank with.

 

- 2 Onyx clownfish (true perc variant)

- 1 firefish goby

- 1 Damsel: I was gonna go with a neon goby but for $10 I went for the damsel.

 

I wanted to test my system to see if flow was good on how the parameters would change with fish livestock additions and I wanted to go slow on that. So, the damsel has become my test subject.

 

All is well so far. In at Shane's he want as bright. He was more of a dark blue dull colour. After acclimating him and putting him in my tank he is now the normal bright blue.

 

Here are some pics.

 

 

Here it is checking out his now favourite cave/tunnel system

 

Damsel just coming out of the Peppermints cave.

 

and two front tank shots.

 

[nebthet]

It has been a while since I have done an update. Not much has changed until recently. I have a replacement damsel. This one is much healthier than the previous and eats like a pig.

I now have a small cleaner shrimp in there too and a couple more Zoas.

 

I have only two things to get now. The BTA and the Onyx Clownfish I am wanting.

 

Here are the pics:

 

 

 

 

This guy is really hard to photograph. Healthy but very skiddish.

 

My mini Zoa garden.

[nebthet]

Well I finally got in my babies I have been planning on for my saltwater tank for a long time. Since before I set it up when I was in the research phase.

They are not completely what I was looking for, however they are a very good comprimise with a very bright looking future.

 

I got my 2 Onyx clownfish I wanted. Well, these are actually listed as Half-Onyx clowns, hence the compromise, but depending on the age of them, I may get very lucky as they have not fully coloured up yet.

 

Apparently Fedex doesnt know how to read, because when they delivered this and left it at my door. Thankfully it doesnt take me long to run there - The box was on it's side with the big arrows pointing in the wrong direction.

 

I did the acclimation. At first I thought the little guy was not gonna make it. He was listless and just wanted to lay at the bottom, but once I put them both in the tank (at the same time) he got all happy and was moving around nicely.

 

Obviously by size we know which is male and which is female. These were not purchased as a mated pair, however I think they are already going through the dance. Literally. Nice pops from the female, like light taping on a door, and both twitch, and nudge each others sides and barely swim away from each other. The male is already trying to host the hammer coral. The damsel is just having a territorial issue right now. I am going to do more research on it to see. If they are.. I am so happy because I do want to breed these guys.

 

So without further adeui, some pictures.

 

 

Closer shot. Female has a slight misbar, but not by a lot. I don't mind.

 

Close up of the two. Female left, male right.

 

And my cleaner shrimp in the hammer. Poor guy feels left out and neglected. He keeps going over to them to try to do his cleaner job and all the fish run away from him. I think he's gonna get a complex.

[TamTam]

all i can say is good job

really sweet looking tank

[SulfurAcid]

is that a duncan, or a pagoda cup coral?

 

Forgot to add, great progress!

[nebthet]

Thank you very much for the compliments. It is a duncan actually. I bought it on sale for $10 for 3 heads, but when the seller sent it to me he gave me 4 heads, thinking the one that was cracked in the centre wasn't going to make it but it has. It is growing very nicely and has two new baby heads on that alone, and another where he cut it.

[nebthet]

So I have upgraded my AP24 to a 29g tank. I liked the Aquapod, but I thought it would be nice to give the fish a little more swimming room. I also wanted to move the tank into the Livingroom so I can actually enjoy it a lot more. It was ok in the kitchen but I really couldn't spend a lot of time enjoying it sitting on the kitchen chair.

 

The corals seem to be making the transition ok. They are taking a couple of days to readjust but most seem good. I lost the hammer coral before hand. A hermit crab got into it and was pinching the flesh and it developed brown jelly disease. I will replace it later on.

 

I went with a thinner crush coral bottom. I will add more as I need it. if I need more. I also have enough room in here to comfortably get a BTA and let it get large if it wants to.

 

So here is a current pic of the 29g.

 

[got2envy]

Looks great!

keep an eye on the crushed coral as it can collect detrius and cause problems later on

fill er' to the rim with water

[nebthet]

Thanks for the advice. The crushed coral was one of the reasons why I moved it from the AP24 to the 29 gallon because I found too much bad stuff was collecting in the other tank which I found did not have as good of filtration as the HOB AC70 gives the 29g. I also went with a shallower bed of crushed coral only using a little less than 3/4th of what was in the AP. The results have been a tremendous difference for the turnaround.

 

I had noticed the last couple of weeks prior to the change, my isopods were all disappearing and I didn't think that was a healthy thing for the tank. Even though my parameters were always coming around just fine. Also with the AP24 I was having a hard time noticing evaporation whereas with the regular tank, I am not having any issues noticing it. Myh hammer coral had also developed brown jelly and was dying too.

 

It took the corals a few days to get out of their pithy state and now they are all doing extremely well. The xenia is not as happy as it was yet, but it is not in it's final place yet. The Duncans are very happy where they are now and are sporting lots of baby heads. The Mushrooms have doubled in size (still trying to get a better pick of those). Zoas are growing like nuts so I also think not having the thick acrylic over top but just the white light reflector stuff has helped.

 

I have also seen a mass return of the isopods today and at least one brittle star survived the transition. I haven't seen the second one yet. My clownfish, who is a month old now and named big momma is a lot happier too. She has room to race back and forth across the tank. Her and spot the damsel don't fight at all. Oh.. and I now have my tank topped up. I had run out of salt when I did the change over. But one I got more salt I slowly topped it up bit by bit. There is now no water showing below the black seams. LOL.

 

I am also keeping an eye on the growth rate of the Halmedia and feather caulerpa. I added those to help with nitrates. The caulerpa grows like crazy, but the Halmedia is much slower. It is part of the reason why they are in the opposite corners from the live rock.

 

Here are a few more pictures for you all to enjoy.

 

Spot Damsel and Big Momma Clown

 

 

Candycanes and green zoas

 

 

Peppermint and Astraea snail on the K1.

 

 

Blastos now plumped all up and swaying in the current a little

 

 

My Acro is finally starting to show some blue colour. Not sure what that Astraea is doing.

 

 

Group shot of Duncans, Xenia on shell, gsp, palys and clam in the back.

 

 

Close up of the Duncan showing the baby heads.

 

 

Feather caulerpa and mixed green and red zoas and reverse gorilla nipple zoas. Sorry for the fuzzy pic.

 

 

Just showing how I have set up the inside of the filter as can been seen through the tank. I took the ac70 filter and cut it into quarters. So every 1.5 weeks or less I change the filter pad out. Live Rock rubble on top and then Chemi-pure back on top of that. Later I will add a bit of mesh to cover as I try to find some Cheato to put back there.

[hrobles]

Thanks for sharing your progress. I started a 24g reef tank about 3 weeks ago, so your experience has given me ideas on what to add to my tank. I've purchased 3 zoo frags and now looking to add a K1 in the tank. Thanks again. HR

[nebthet]

You are welcome. Thanks for looking at my thread.

[nebthet]

Well after a good two weeks in my tank I have decided to update with a few more pictures.

 

The scissortail gobies are doing well and the smaller of the two has now gained some weight and is looking much better.

 

Suncoral polyps are slowly expanding and it is eating well despite the hermits and shrimp stealing food from its mouths. I usually remove the coral into it's own bin and feed it and leave it for a few hours to give it a chance. I finally finished a 2l of pop so I am gonna use that to segregate while it eats.

 

Left tank shot with the cleaner shrimp and peppermint. Also the candycanes are doing real well.

 

Right tank shot. Clown seems to be hosting the tiny toadstool and feather caulerpa. Mushrooms are doing well and have grown to twice their size. Xenia is a little PO'd because I added more flow so they will take a couple of days to adjust. Frogsawn happy. Duncans adjusting too.

 

Closer shot of clown.

 

Close up of the frogspawn looking much better coloring up and expanded nicely despite what appears to be a barnicle filter worm thingy in the centre.

 

MaxiJet 1200 with Hydor Flo wavemaker. I love this thing and it's not an expensive piece to add. It has made a nice difference in the water flow of the tank and everything, save the xenia right now seems to like it.

 

Here is looking down inside the 55G with all the stuff I have been gathering together before setting it up. Pacific Black live sand, skimmer, 300w heater etc. I am so looking forward to getting it set up.