Markushka's 20Hex

[Markushka]

Looks good. I hope that chaeto does you some good. I am surprised that none of your LFS have it... I would sell some to them when yours grows out.

Funny thing is I walk into one today and all they had in there saltwater section were a few lionfish and a GIANT ball of chaeto.

[Arkayology]

Interesting build. How is that DIY skimmer working out?

[Markushka]

stalled till I get an airstone. the LFS should be getting one in for me soon.

[Markushka]

put some salt to mix for a WC, there'll be a pic update after that with the new additions

 

And the LFS still hasn't gotten the airstone for me

[Markushka]

Pics!!!

 

FTS series, Left to Right:

 

 

 

 

Wide Shots:

 

 

 

Macros:

 

New! Red acan frag (from Dizzle21)

 

Frags and foxface

 

Mushroom and new zoas

 

Three Stripe

 

Milli and Monti

 

Gorg

 

Xenia

 

HH feather dusters

 

Foxface

 

And my personal favorite pic from today: Sixline

[violinist]

Nice pics man!! That foxface is such a weird looking fish.

[bruce922]

You have a lot of fish in that tank, looks really good.

[Markushka]

Nice pics man!! That foxface is such a weird looking fish.

 

Thanks, What do you use to edit your pics? you run a mac right?

 

 

 

You have a lot of fish in that tank, looks really good.

 

A bit too many, most are going to go when I move to campus.. can't stand the damn damsels anymore

[violinist]

I have a macbook pro I'm usually on because it's next to the couch here and that's where I tend to be lately either working or chilling. Because I'm a bum like that.

 

Got some windows boxes as well, upstairs in the office. Either machine, it's lightroom and photoshop for picture editing. Got all the nice stuff on the pc upstairs though - pen and tablet, color correction gear, etc.

 

but for fish shots the laptop is enough

[violinist]

Hey forgot to add, check out the feeding vid in the 20L thread - since you liked the last music so much I picked some music I thought you might like even more, Shostakovich. You know, Russian > German and all lol.

[Markushka]

[Markushka]

Some long-awaited pics of my mandarin

 

 

 

 

 

And some more from the QT

 

 

This guy got banished after he ate an acro He'll go back when some coralline grows in in the hex.

 

With the backdrop

[violinist]

Mmmmmmmm mandarin.

[Markushka]

thanks, he's looking much better than when I first got him, and eating frozen too still needs to put some more weight back on. He's got a banggai in there too, to keep him company.

[louphoenix]

Nice shots! is that a black sun coral? I've always wanted to keep one of those in the big 'cave' of my hex. They're awesome! Try to get some pics of it feeding, that would be cool!

[Markushka]

Yep, thats a black sun coral and a regular one. I'll give it a shot tonight when I feed them. you should go for it, they're pretty cool looking corals.

[Markushka]

I was looking at my tank earlier, had to remount the monti, and I moved some of the frags around. I decided that I'm pretty much done stocking. Maybe a frag or two of some sps and a few more zoas and thats pretty much it.

 

I'd like to get a squamosa, crocea, or dersa for the sand bed but that'd be it. I;m going to try to follow the 'hands out' approach and let things grow out. I want to have the zoas grow up the right side of the arch, and the xenia up the left. The damsels will probably all be moved out by sept. And hopefully violinist will take the foxface. I don't know what I'll do with the maroon yet, and the sixline is the only guy thats going to definitely stay, for now. I'm sorta tempted to get a dwarf lion as the only inhabitant tho.

 

what do you guys think? I'm moving to campus in septembre (about 1.5 hrs away) so I want to make this tank as low maintenance as possible (read every month or so). My mom says she'll feed the fish and look after it or my dad will. I'm going to do an ATO at some point so that shouldn't be a problem.

[violinist]

Ever think about setting up a cube at school? Maybe you could transfer some of the more touchy stuff to the cube so you could be there with it and leave the easier stuff at home for the p's to neglect care for.

[Markushka]

Ever think about setting up a cube at school? Maybe you could transfer some of the more touchy stuff to the cube so you could be there with it and leave the easier stuff at home for the p's to neglect care for.

lol

 

I did omit that I will have some tank at college, I was thinking of taking my QT, and probably upgrading it to a 20 long with the 10 as a sump (or do an AIO). I need a light for that tank if I want to keep anything photosynthetic in there.

[opaquelace]

thanks, he's looking much better than when I first got him, and eating frozen too still needs to put some more weight back on.

 

Excellent. I was thinking he looked a bit thin. I hate seeing mandarins in some stores all skinny because they won't eat. Also, I love the parameters of the tank.

[Markushka]

Thanks opaquelace, I think i'm going to add some fish roe to his diet since I read they eat it in the wild and I hope to get him to be nice and plump I stopped by by the LFS where I got this guy and saw they had a psychedelic mandarin, which was looking pretty good for once, and a bunch of scooter blennies. It's a pity that they sell such fish that are so hard to care for, it's pretty much a death sentence in the wrong hands.

 

My longspine is really getting on my nerves now. I put a little feeding bowl for the mandarin in the QT and put food in there, so the urchin goes in and eats everything need to figure out what to do with the bloody bastarg.

 

On another note, In chem lab we are going to be conducting water tests with a spectrophotometer, so I'm going to put my tap water to the test since I currently use it in all my tanks. I need a list of what to test for. I really can test for anything I want, the only limiting factor is time, and I have about three hours, the first day and another three the next. (plus I could get another three at the end of the semestre, but that I want to use for testing my tank specs )

 

So here's what i've got so far:

Phosphates

Alkalinity

Calcium

Magnesium

Boron

Iodine/Iodide

Sodium

Chloride

 

and ofcourse i'll be doing pH, trates, trites and amm (plus the copper and iron we actually have to do for the lab)

 

Any more suggestions?

 

Oh did I mention these should be super accurate and hopefully I will be able to test my tank water the second day.

[violinist]

Silica?

[Markushka]

good one, added to the list

Looks like I may be getting a part-time job again in the near future (so prepare for whining ) and then I won't be broke anymore. Right now i'm at the point that I can't buy even salt but enough complaining...

 

On to the tank:

New scape, moved what I call a cup coral down from premium sps territory on the ledge. zoas that I got in trade from Dizzle21 are looking pretty good. The green ones opened up the first day, and the ones he labled 'fire and ice' just opened up yesterday but are looking rather orange. I was thinking they wouldn't make it after about a week of being pissed off.

 

The acan he tossed in is looking good too, though I'm not sure about placement. any suggestions?

 

No pics yet, not till tomorrow when the lights are on.

[Arkayology]

Don't forget to test for strontium.

 

Acans do not need a ton of light, bottom half should do the trick

[Markushka]

Don't forget to test for strontium.

 

Acans do not need a ton of light, bottom half should do the trick

 

 

Right on. and thanks I think i've found a good place for the acan thanks.

 

No pics yet, had tons of #### to do all of the sudden, and now I'm in new york for a few days. Plus the glass was all dirty and I didn't have a chance to clean it.

 

Just posted all my fish for sale to prepare for moving to campus, well all besides the six-line. This tank is going to start looking very different in a few months...