47 Column Mixed Reef

[zjharva]

sorry bout that man. i've heard they can be jumpers (though all fish can be). there are stories of fish jumping out of the smallest places. i just dont get it.

[AJ_Tsin]

cool setup.

 

good work

[Billdemart]

Unbelievable.....

[lasongo]

(pours some beer out on the ground in honor of the fallen jawfish)

[aaron1987]

(pours some beer out on the ground in honor of the fallen jawfish)

 

No need to waste perfectly good beer! Was a shame, though, first try with a BSJF and he was perfectly healthy -- quite the character. At 30" deep I'm a bit surprised he'd jumped but he had recently learned to eat from my hand at the top of the tank so I probably have myself to blame

[Paleoreef103]

Shame about your Loss. Let me know if you ever end up in Iowa City. I'm always down for a good trade.

[aaron1987]

Will do. I'm down that way relatively frequently, actually. SPS is getting close to needing to be trimmed back soon so I'd imagine I'll have some frags before too long. My purple monster is approaching mini-colony status, can't wait to be able to frag it

[spanko]

Well done filling up the column. So you have the PAR to reach the bottom of the tank with the 250 MH. Does it adversely affect the coral at the top of the tank perhaps being too much??

 

I love this picture.

 

[aaron1987]

Everything at the top of the tank seems to love it. SPS, the clam, even my duncans. I've seen SPS inches below a 400w halide; it's all about how you acclimate them to the light intensity (or don't in my case -- all my SPS came from a tank with much more PAR intensity than mine). The nice thing about the column structure is that I can pretty easily shade something a bit if need be. I've really been surprised by how my coral tolerates a variety of lighting as I move them around the tank, though. My experience with SPS and coral in general is that it's a whole lot hardier than people give it credit for. I've left frags out of water for an hour with no ill effects when I forgot about a couple during one of my fragging sessions. I don't recommend that technique but they're pretty resilient .

[animalmaster6]

Im sorry

[aaron1987]

Better late than never, right? As promised:

 

My Blasto colony from Diver's Den a few weeks back

 

Raptor Rainbows

 

Sunny D

 

 

And some new FTS, full spectrum

 

 

I changed my bulbs up slightly. I wanted a bit more blue to my full spectrum so I replaced my KZ Fiji Purple with another blue +. The tank is now a lot less pleasing under just the T5's but I'm pleased with the overall result with the halide on as well.

[Paleoreef103]

Jesus Christ that is awesome. I am actually going to be in Ames in a few weeks, but will be traveling en masse to a Evolution and Ecology Conference otherwise I'd say we should do a trade. Awesome job man. Really really well done.

[aaron1987]

Jesus Christ that is awesome. I am actually going to be in Ames in a few weeks, but will be traveling en masse to a Evolution and Ecology Conference otherwise I'd say we should do a trade. Awesome job man. Really really well done.

 

If you've got some free time and want to swing by to check out the tank, let me know. I like to show it off

[aaron1987]

Forgot to show off my other additions.

 

Best pic I could snap of him. He's kind of camera shy and tends to zip around the tank too quickly to capture well.

 

 

I'll snap a picture of my Symphyllia Wilsoni this afternoon if it isn't still throwing a fit over being moved.

[beyondcomp251]

I absolutely love this tank and in a few months when I buy a house Im going to do something very similiar

[steely185]

Love the tank. Very tempting to start a column tank now to go with my breeder. Great transition from top to bottom and I love tall tanks.

[animalmaster6]

Incredible!

[aaron1987]

Love the tank. Very tempting to start a column tank now to go with my breeder. Great transition from top to bottom and I love tall tanks.

 

If you do half the job you did with your breeder it would look awesome. As long as you plan them out right, tall tanks are great

[steely185]

Thanks. I think rockwork would be the hardest part. I hate aquascaping and would definitely have to work some sort of pvc support in the rockwork for added stability.

[aaron1987]

Or you can just get lucky with the rocks you end up with like me . Just expoxy holding that entire thing together. I had plexiglass rods on hand with the expectation that I would need to use them.. just lucked out I guess.

[louphoenix]

That column is looking sick! nice job.

[aaron1987]

So I guess when it rains it pours. Having recently lost my blue spotted jawfish it's only natural that something else should kick the bucket. I'm pretty certain my blackcap basslet who has been with me for 2 years has died. I say pretty certain because over the last few weeks I've watched his mental deterioration for lack of a better term. At first he stopped coming out of his lair at the base of my rockwork preferring to instead simply watch the aquarium pass him by which is quite out of character for a fish that would swim around the tank to stare me down. Two days ago, I noticed him trying to swim into various points in my rockwork that he didn't really fit into. He would wedge his head in and stay put, apparently convinced he was hiding. Swimming became circular in nature and he frequently swam upside down in a fashion that made it seem that he was having issues with pathing. Sadly all of this had been in corners of the tank I wasn't able to get at or I would have removed him to spare my tank the waste when he inevitably died. There are no longer any signs of him and his cave is unfortunately in such a position that I can't get in and I don't believe my urchin can either; not only have I lost my favorite little bastard (he decided who was and wasn't allowed in the tank, killing a flasher wrasse as well as mystery wrasse) but he's going to rot where my limited CUC can't get at him .

 

That said, when life gives you lemons.. buy a cool fish you couldn't have kept before. So, another basslet or pseudochromis is on deck. I'm personal to Splendid Dottybacks, what do you think NR?

 

[Paleoreef103]

So I guess when it rains it pours. Having recently lost my blue spotted jawfish it's only natural that something else should kick the bucket. I'm pretty certain my blackcap basslet who has been with me for 2 years has died. I say pretty certain because over the last few weeks I've watched his mental deterioration for lack of a better term. At first he stopped coming out of his lair at the base of my rockwork preferring to instead simply watch the aquarium pass him by which is quite out of character for a fish that would swim around the tank to stare me down. Two days ago, I noticed him trying to swim into various points in my rockwork that he didn't really fit into. He would wedge his head in and stay put, apparently convinced he was hiding. Swimming became circular in nature and he frequently swam upside down in a fashion that made it seem that he was having issues with pathing. Sadly all of this had been in corners of the tank I wasn't able to get at or I would have removed him to spare my tank the waste when he inevitably died. There are no longer any signs of him and his cave is unfortunately in such a position that I can't get in and I don't believe my urchin can either; not only have I lost my favorite little bastard (he decided who was and wasn't allowed in the tank, killing a flasher wrasse as well as mystery wrasse) but he's going to rot where my limited CUC can't get at him .

 

That said, when life gives you lemons.. buy a cool fish you couldn't have kept before. So, another basslet or pseudochromis is on deck. I'm personal to Splendid Dottybacks, what do you think NR?

 

Sorry about the fish, but don't get the Dottyback. It WILL kill every other fish in the tank. If you want a pseudochromis pick up a fridemi or springeri.

[aaron1987]

Sorry about the fish, but don't get the Dottyback. It WILL kill every other fish in the tank. If you want a pseudochromis pick up a fridemi or springeri.

 

Including those already added? I just assumed they were territorial but not outwardly aggressive to fish that had already been added in typical pseudochromis fashion. Bummer if they're truly that aggressive. Great looking fish.

 

Edit: WetWeb says "...for the group, very peaceful Dottyback species." about the Splendid. Anyone with personal experience keeping them?

[Arc Katana]

Great tank! I just bought one two weeks ago, and was wondering how to light it - I think I've found my answer! Glad I found it when I did (and on clearance from Petsmart!).

 

Couple of questions if you don't mind:

 

Did you get your skimmer online or at a LFS?

Any issues with heating your tank? (I'm thinking 200 Watt to be safe)

You mentioned your flow a couple of times - any reason for the 20 (Other than its a cool toy , or did the Hydor's just make too much wave action on top (I think it is a combo if I remember through the thread correctly). Would two K2's handle flow?

 

Sorry for all the questions!

 

Thanks