The Dude's 125g

[Dooderino]

Tank is looking great! Your rock work is awesome.

 

I'm surprised the jawfish is okay with being neighbors with a goby. I thought I had the only passive jawfish in the world.

Well I guess he is ok right now. I'm sure once their tunnels connect there might be trouble. I really need to get some more rock but I have not been able to find some rock that I like for the price. $2 a pound sounds about right and the only place to find that is on craigslist. I actually had to move a few things yesterday so maybe I will post some pictures later.

 

Thank you both for the compliment!

[Cali-girl]

Wow looks great Dood!!

looks like all the Biocube old timers are upgrading hahaha

 

 

Just finished setting up my 75g upgrade late last night. hope it turns out as beautiful as yours has so far!

[Dooderino]

Ahh, life in the tank. It still seems to be in turmoil. There are battles raging all over the place. I was going to add a new pair of designer clowns but after long thought I decided against it. I wanted to pick up some clowns that would host my GBTA's. I bought a apir of Tomato Clowns. The biggest reason is because I knew they would host the nem and I had seen them in AUS when I was diving the GBR and thought they were cool. I acclimated them and then placed them one by one, via plastic cup, right near the 2 nems. They took to the nems and held strong. Sweet! Now this is where the battle begins. My 2 percs, Romeo and Juliet, don't seem to like their new cousins. These are the same clowns that could care less about anything that happens in the tank. Unless there is food around of course. So since the Tomatos have been added the percs have been traveling across the tank to give the newbies a world of crap. The new male just ducks and hides in a cave near his nem and the female actually defends the fort.

 

The next battle is between the goby and the dart fish. The goby made a burrow very near where the purple firefish sleeps. The firefish has never been one to go very far from it's home. The goby doesn't go more than about a foot in either direction but it never leaves the sand. The only confrontation happens when the firefish swims too low. Here is the ringer though. I have seen the firefish go into the goby's hole and come out the top hole. I have also seen the firefish go in the top and come out with the goby. I guess when it's time for flight they don't worry about the fight.

 

On the other side of the rock bridge a 4 way battle is taking place. The BSJ moved. I guess it was too close to the goby. It built a nice burrow. While it was close to the yellow tail Damsel they seem to be ok. That was until the brittle star kicked the jawfish out. Now the jawfish is in the damsel's hole and not happy about it. So I need to find a way to get the brittle star out of that hole. Now that the damsel is homeless it has been badgered by the percs because it is getting to close to their host frogspawn.

 

The only things in the tank that seem to be happy is the Chromis and the Pygmy. Well... Al the corals and invertebrates seem happy too.

[Billdemart]

haha, wow. Life is tough on the Dude's reef. Would be cool to see video of all of these fisticuffs.

[Dooderino]

I managed to catch the brittle star out of the hole last night. I snagged it and tossed it in the fuge. The BSJ moved back during feeding time. At least one battle is over.

[Dooderino]

I took some photos yesterday but I didn't see one that looked like it was worth keeping. I am going to order some new bulbs pretty soon too. The HQi is fine but the 250w MHs are due for a change. I was going to accent the MHs with some PC actinics but I don't really have the room. I plan on ordering some 20k Radium Bulbs Should add the blue back I'm missing from my BC29 days.

[harpua02]

Very nice setup! Your FTS is awesome and your stand and canopy are so pretty- much nicer than any of mine, lol.

 

Oh, and I have jawfish envy!

[icsd71]

Sweet tank and set up man!

[saltwaternoob]

wow! nice fuge!

[OClownsandNanos]

Glad you found your pom-pom and your six-line. You found an awesome tank for a great price with stand and canopy -- they are just gorgeous. And looks like you've got lots of room to put in more corals. Looking forward to see how everything progresses! I think it'll be pretty amazing. Oh wanted to know: do your chromis shoal in your tank? They looked like they might be doing that in one of the pics. And are they pretty active? I'm thinking about getting a Vanderbilt Chromis eventually too. (Just one though so I won't be able to see shoaling unfortunately.)

 

for earlier . . . I think I may have been a little harsh and since you owned up to your mistake, I figured I should own up to mine too. I did enjoy reading your BC29 log, I could tell you were doing lots of research as you went along. I also liked the FTS picture history you did in it - it was cool to see the coral growth and changes over time. I hope you do that also for this tank too. I felt badly when I read about the part where you QT'd everything and your heater failed on the QT. That was just a reefer nightmare, an awful thing to have happen.

[nanoty]

Nice tank. Forgive me for asking a question without reading the whole thread to see if it was covered but what do you do about the plumbing if you need to take the canopy off?

[Dooderino]

Glad you found your pom-pom and your six-line. You found an awesome tank for a great price with stand and canopy -- they are just gorgeous. And looks like you've got lots of room to put in more corals. Looking forward to see how everything progresses! I think it'll be pretty amazing. Oh wanted to know: do your chromis shoal in your tank? They looked like they might be doing that in one of the pics. And are they pretty active? I'm thinking about getting a Vanderbilt Chromis eventually too. (Just one though so I won't be able to see shoaling unfortunately.)

 

for earlier . . . I think I may have been a little harsh and since you owned up to your mistake, I figured I should own up to mine too. I did enjoy reading your BC29 log, I could tell you were doing lots of research as you went along. I also liked the FTS picture history you did in it - it was cool to see the coral growth and changes over time. I hope you do that also for this tank too. I felt badly when I read about the part where you QT'd everything and your heater failed on the QT. That was just a reefer nightmare, an awful thing to have happen.

The Chromis, they do to an extent. They run towards each other and hide in a group if they get spooked. They stick together for the most part. The thing about Chromis is they are very sensitive. I had to buy about 12 of them to get the 3 I have. Really weird.

 

 

Nice tank. Forgive me for asking a question without reading the whole thread to see if it was covered but what do you do about the plumbing if you need to take the canopy off?

I have some quick disconnects in line on the PVC. I don't see a reason to take the canopy off. I can do everything through the doors in the front.

[Dooderino]

It's been a little while since I shared any updates about my tank. I added a little more rock to the tank. I also added a couple of frags and some duncans. I am growing tired of picking up corals off the sand so I think I might go get some marine epoxy and glue most of them in place.

 

The BSJ is getting a little more bold. I catch it half way out of it's hole now and it now has a long strike to get food. I was worried I might have to spot feed him. Even though it is still shy I really do love watching it constantly build it's burrow and defend it's hole.

 

I am worried about my Flame Angel. It doesn't seem to eat at feeding time. It doesn't look skinny so it must be eating something. I have bought some "Pygmy Angel Food" but it doesn't go right after it.

 

The orange spot goby is a great hunter. Nothing escapes him. I have caught him eating amphipods 3 times now, oh, and a hermit crab!

 

My 6-Line is growing like a weed. It must get a lot more food with all this new rock. I had about 30 pounds in the BC29. I have about 130 in the 125g and I still want to add a touch more. Some of it is in the sump though.

 

The 2 Tomato Clownfish have taken hold. I can't imagine how aggressive the Maroon Clownfish might be. The female Tomato is vicious. She will readily bite me and the Mag-Float. The little male is so passive. As soon as she starts to flair and strike he hides in the BTA.

 

The 2 Percula Clownfish, Romeo & Juliet, has calmed down quite a bit. They don't badger the Tomato Clownfish as often. They have begun to do their mating dance quite often again but I have not seen them cleaning a roost yet. They sure do get fat when it's time to eat!

 

I have 9 or 10 hermit crabs. All different kinds. Blue Legs, Zebra, Halloween, Yellow-tip, Scarlet and a Blue-knuckle. He is by far my favorite.

 

I replaced my lights with some 14,000k Phoenix MH. I had some old Coral Vue 12,000k that were very yellow. The 150W HQI I have in the center is a 14,000K Phoenix so I decided to match it. What a difference. Pictures really do it no justice.

 

I also replaced my skimmer. I bought a Reef-Octopus 150NWB. So far it has been working fine. I think I might modify it with a gate valve. My old skimmer worked fine but it was very hard to adjust and a pain in the butt to clean.

 

I took out the SQWDs because the restict the flow so much. I have also been adding some Sodium Carbonate to my ATO with awesome results. My dkH has been 10-11 ever since.

 

Here is a shot of the whole tank. It's not a great picture but you get the point.

 

I have been working on a new sump design for a while now. I don't know if I'm ready to commit but it's close. I am going to see if a 40g Long will fit first. If it does then I will go that route. So much cheaper. This is the Acrylic design. The walls of the refugium are black to reduce algae growth in the skimmer and return zones. The skimmer zone has a bubble box. I can fill this box with large chunks of rock as well as a baffle tube. Running the drain using the "Herbie Method" will nearly eliminate the bubbles and keep the tank dead silent. Any splashing will be muffled by the box. The refugium will drain into this box as well. If the refugium drain gets clogged there are teeth on the opposite side as a back up. Hopefully this huge Refugium will leave me with enough room to grow some frags too. I plan on adding a T5 VHO fixture with 6,000k-10,000k bulbs.

 

Here are some random shots from the other day.

 

[Mojorizn]

Sweet....

[fewskillz]

Nice update! The tank looks great. The new rock makes a pretty good difference.

[Dooderino]

I have slowly been working on my camera skills. Getting the filter right is a biotch. I still don't have it. But I did manage to capture a really good macro shot of a green ric. This first one is about 80% of the full picture scaled down to 1080. The full size picture is wild.

Hungry acans.

Not sure what frag this is.

About face!

The #####!

And some day this little fella will be in a pico.

[Dooderino]

Well I have been away on business for about a week now. My wife has reported that eveything is doing fine so far.

 

I have a friend that was getting out of the hobby. Not entirely just down sizing. I traded my old BC29 for a tang, tonga LR, and some corals. He also gave me a bunch of snails and hermits. I don't have any pictures but I feel like the addition of the rock really helped balance the tank. I feel I can finally call it quits with the aquascape for the most part. I ended up with a lot of live rock but it doesn't look to crowded like our nano's sometimes do. I have about 180 pounds in the display and about 30 in the sump.

 

I am also really enjoying the new Phoenix 14,000k MH bulbs. They are giving some great color. I would like to accent some blue so I might be doing some DYI LED spotlight work to focus some blue in the wanted areas.

 

The wife also reported that my BSJ has moved to the other side of the tank and now resides near the yasha/pistol pair. This is his 4th hole so far. Maybe some day he will settle in.

 

I don't know what kind of tang I got but it is healthy and seems to enjoy eating the dirty glass between feedings. My wife says he's blowing kisses. She didn't know it was a vegatarian so now it is her favorite. She's a veggy too.

 

I can't wait to get home. Only one more week to go.

[Dooderino]

I got to fly home for Easter. My wife a good job of changing my ATO jugs and cleaning the glass

 

My BSJ has been busy. I counted six places he had dug new holes. Some looked like they collapsed. His original hole has expanded to 3 holes. Two of them seem to connected. I hope it lives for awhile. I noticed a white patch on one of its sides. It is eating welland other wise looks healthy.

 

I did get a new tang from a friend. It seems to be doing well. The only problem with this new fish is I can't get it to eat the seaweed I added to the tank. I tried green and purple. It doesn't seem to like either. The snails and chromis like it quite a bit though. The other problem is with the Orange Spot Goby and the Purple Firefish don't like the the tang and hide everytime it comes near. The tang is very active so the goby and the firefish hardly ever come out. I'm pretty sure they will die from starvation. That sucks.

 

While I was at home I did a water change to the pico and cleaned my skimmer. I pruned my fuge and scaped the glass. I glues some corals too. While I was at the LFS I bought 3 Anthias and an orange Fungia plate. I also added a few tiny blue leg hermits and a few ceriths and a dime size turbo snail.

 

I left the tank Monday clean and healthy. I will return early next week and hopefully peace will be seen in the tank.

 

This list is more for me but...

2 Percula Clownfish

2 Tomato Clownfish

3 Green Chromis

1 Flame Angel

1 Yellowtail Damsel

1 Blue Spot Jawfish

1 Purple Firefish

1 Orange Spot Goby

1 Yasha Goby

3 Lyretail Anthias

1 Kole Tang

1 Six-Line Wrasse

 

3 Blue Knuckle Hermits

3 Scarlet Hermits

12 Blue Leg Hermits

3 Zebra Hermits

2 Yellow Tip Hermits

1 Halloween Hermit

1 Blood Shrimp

2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

2 Peppermint Shrimp

2 Emerald Mithrax Crabs

1 Pink/Orange Mithrax Crab

1 Pink Chainlink Brittle Star

1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp

Cerith, Turbo, Nerite, Asterna Snails