Bonnie Shallow Reef - 75 gallon mixed reef

[Psychosis]

Yes, Nano-reef, where reefers run wild. It's a good "home base" site.

 

I hope my stand comes out 1/8th as well planned and executed. I'll be buying lumber when the weather clears, wish me luck.

[polarblair2000]

Well I was hoping to have the LR and LS by now but there was a small delay in my order being dispatched. It's coming tomorrow though!!! So there will be something worth taking pictures off

 

I have the tank full of saltwater and running at temperature. I was very confused when saw a little group of what looked like polystyrene balls zooming about the tank in the MP40s current, how did I get polystyrene in my tank? Well I think I've figured it out, they actually look like small calcium deposits bit they are free floating in the water column like little tiny white rocks. I tried removing them but the just disappear when I touch them. Is this normal? I've never had this happen before when mixing saltwater in my bucket.

[Blubbernaut]

How long do you let the saltwater mix? I let mine mix for 15 mins before I even get ready to put it in the tank.

[polarblair2000]

How long do you let the saltwater mix? I let mine mix for 15 mins before I even get ready to put it in the tank.

 

Well usually I mix my saltwater for at least 24 hours when mixing for a water change but as there was nothing in my tank I mixed the salt in the tank. Just water and salt and equipment no sand, no rock.

[Blubbernaut]

Hmm...That COULD be it, but I doubt it...

[polarblair2000]

5. Wet and Salty

 

Over the past few days when ever someone I know has asked me how my tank is coming along I have enthusiastically informed them of the arrival of my Live Rock and Sand, then I wait to hear some comment that would be fitting of such an exciting piece of news only to realise that to the rest of mankind that some rock and sand in a big glass box really isn't that exciting.

 

So I thought I should tell some people who will understand my excitement

 

So yeah my tank is wet, salty, sandy and rocky

 

I ordered 12kg of Live rock which is just over 26lb. I also have 3kg (6.6 lb) in my nano which I will transfer over later. From the pictures you will see this is not very much. I am ordering about another 5kg of LR in the morning. I going a little light on the LR as I wont a lot of open space for fish to swim and corals to grow out.

 

*This is not the final aqua scape - bare with me*

 

 

Front View - From the living room entrance

 

 

Side View - From sitting on the couch

 

 

Angled View - From standing in the middle of the living room

 

 

Top View - From standing on the couch (My wife in the right hunting for hitchhikers)

 

So yeah theres still room for some more rock and I need more sand but no problem Im ordering some more. It took a few days for all the water to clear up enough to take some photos.

 

AQUA SCAPE PLAN

 

So the plan for my scape is simple, you can start to see it take shape already but I want to have two parallel walls of rock with a trench in the middle. I want to have plenty sand bed and swimming space around the rock mass in the centre of the tank but want some kind of depth to draw the eyes in when looking from the side and a layered feel when you look from the front.

 

There will be a few dark areas created from having the lights in the centre as you can see but the plan is to create areas of contrast that hopefully will help the with the look of the tank. Also I would love to have some Dendros and Sun corals dotted about under the ledges and in the darker areas.

 

I got some cool branching bits of LR and I want to have them stick out and cover them in zoas, They will be called zoa trees

 

 

BADDIES

 

So with the benefits of LR also comes the downside and thats pesky hitchhikers and I have wound up with Majanos and Apatasia.

 

Luckily they Aptasia is only located on one peice of rock for the moment. I have set up a quick QT to hold the LR in question so I can get some supplies together to remove the little suckers.

 

 

 

GOODIES

 

Pods and more pods Lots of dead ones when it arrived but lots of live ones to, also some little snails, feather dusters and plenty of different variations of coraline algae

 

 

 

WHAT IS THIS!?

 

Found this little red thing. It looks to me like it has white tips, possibly polyps. My guess is its either a sponge or possibly a chilli coral. It doesn't really move but I haven't tried poking it yet.

 

Any clues? - Its the red thin in the middle.

 

[Blubbernaut]

All you need for the aiptasia/majano is a blowtorch BURN PESTS BURN

But anyway, it's looking pretty good so far. What are you planning on having fish-wise?

P.S.- You should probably tell your wife that about 99% of pests only come out at night....

[polarblair2000]

All you need for the aiptasia/majano is a blowtorch BURN PESTS BURN

But anyway, it's looking pretty good so far. What are you planning on having fish-wise?

P.S.- You should probably tell your wife that about 99% of pests only come out at night....

Haha, I think I'll hold of on the blow torch just now. There's only half a dozen in total so far and the rock is in QT right now waiting to be dealt with.

 

My fish plans are so far.

 

Move my Perc Clownfish over and get her a boyfriend. Then...

 

3 Blue Reef Chromis

1 Midas blenny

Yasha Goby (or other goby) and shrimp

 

Then some ideas are

 

Possible flame angel

Some kind of swissguard basslet (can't afford a candy)

Yellow eyed kole tang

Maybe a wrasse

 

Open to any suggestions aswell.

[Blubbernaut]

Yeah, definitely do the flame angel, I used to have one, but long story short, he's chilling in my garden right now.....Anyway, flame's are awesome and active and colorful and, for the most part, non-aggressive. However, they do occasionally eat coral polyps. Not sure as to if it's just some types of coral, or any. Hope I helped

[disaster999]

info on that mag cleaner?

[Asureef]

Looks like mag cleaner by vertex.

 

Tank looks great BTW

[1.0reef]

IMO instead of chromis get like 5-25 cardinalfish, they look best in atoll/two island scapes. A harem of wrasse, such as flasher or smaller fairies would look nice. I would do flame fairy wrasse. A dwarf angelfish would do well, make sure you feed it with good foods multiple times in smaller amounts to prevent coral nipping (My theory anyways, why would it eat when it's full? )

I'd be 50/50 with the tang, they usually use length vs. width but your tank is pretty large. Basslets are awesome, along with assessors, they'll fill in those dark spots and stay closer to the rocks. A fish that would inhabit the sandbed would be pretty neat, like a shrimp goby (Only the shrimp need sand, but watching both is pretty fun) or layout a few barnacles for barnacle blennies. HTH, tank looks fantastic!

[polarblair2000]

Yeah, definitely do the flame angel, I used to have one, but long story short, he's chilling in my garden right now.....Anyway, flame's are awesome and active and colorful and, for the most part, non-aggressive. However, they do occasionally eat coral polyps. Not sure as to if it's just some types of coral, or any. Hope I helped

 

Oh ma what happened to your flame? Yeah I do really like them and quite a few have had some good success keeping them with corals. If I keep him well fed I would imagine that would stop him from picking away at my corals. Also I hear if you buy them when there really small they are less likely to get a taste for coral.

 

IMO instead of chromis get like 5-25 cardinalfish, they look best in atoll/two island scapes. A harem of wrasse, such as flasher or smaller fairies would look nice. I would do flame fairy wrasse. A dwarf angelfish would do well, make sure you feed it with good foods multiple times in smaller amounts to prevent coral nipping (My theory anyways, why would it eat when it's full? )

I'd be 50/50 with the tang, they usually use length vs. width but your tank is pretty large. Basslets are awesome, along with assessors, they'll fill in those dark spots and stay closer to the rocks. A fish that would inhabit the sandbed would be pretty neat, like a shrimp goby (Only the shrimp need sand, but watching both is pretty fun) or layout a few barnacles for barnacle blennies. HTH, tank looks fantastic!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have spent hours on live aquaria looking at different fish (not that I can order anything from there as I'm in the UK but its a good way to find different species)

 

I really wanted a shoal of small schooling reef fish and did think about getting some cardinals but I don't like the Banggai's or the Pyjamas, they just seem a little lifeless and boring. I did fancy some red spot cardinals, the really small ones but there survival rates are really low.

 

I also looked into getting a harem of Anthias but even though my tank is big, its still not big enough for five of them, also they need to be fed 5-6 times a day.

 

I do love flasher/fairy wrasses. Do the group together?

 

Yeah I love basslets, would love to get a Candy Basslet but my wife knows they cost like $600 plus the idea of having $600 worth in one fish is a bit scary.

 

Yes defiantly doing a shrimp goby pair

 

info on that mag cleaner?

 

Looks like mag cleaner by vertex. Tank looks great BTW

 

Yes you are correct, it is the Vertex Triplex mag cleaner. Pretty sexy bit of kit, even if its only a mag cleaner. Only thing is the wet side doesn't float if it becomes separated like the magfloat's do. However they do look pretty nice and I'm happy to leave it on my glass.

[Blubbernaut]

Oh ma what happened to your flame? Yeah I do really like them and quite a few have had some good success keeping them with corals. If I keep him well fed I would imagine that would stop him from picking away at my corals. Also I hear if you buy them when there really small they are less likely to get a taste for coral.

He got attacked by a clown that was turning into a she. It bit off a lot of his left pectoral fin and dorsal and anal fins. I was a n000000b at the time, and didn't treat his ich until he got popeye. RIP Frank But anyway, yeah, I'd bet that if you fed him/her enough it would be too fat to swim over to the corals.

[polarblair2000]

He got attacked by a clown that was turning into a she. It bit off a lot of his left pectoral fin and dorsal and anal fins. I was a n000000b at the time, and didn't treat his ich until he got popeye. RIP Frank But anyway, yeah, I'd bet that if you fed him/her enough it would be too fat to swim over to the corals.

 

Oh mate that sucks! Did you have a quarantine tank? I didn't know clownfish were aggressive to other fish when they are mating. I just thought it would be toward each other. Good to know.

 

The plan is to run Bio-Pellets and hopefully I will be getting a beasting skimmer soon, (the Vertex Omega 150 but there is a 4-6 week delay on the UK version right now). So hopefully this will allow me to feed generously and keep my fishes nice and fat

 

PS - I liked the funny part about the fat fish not being able to swim not the bit about your fish dyeing.

[1.0reef]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have spent hours on live aquaria looking at different fish (not that I can order anything from there as I'm in the UK but its a good way to find different species)

 

I really wanted a shoal of small schooling reef fish and did think about getting some cardinals but I don't like the Banggai's or the Pyjamas, they just seem a little lifeless and boring. I did fancy some red spot cardinals, the really small ones but there survival rates are really low.

 

I also looked into getting a harem of Anthias but even though my tank is big, its still not big enough for five of them, also they need to be fed 5-6 times a day.

 

I do love flasher/fairy wrasses. Do the group together?

 

Yeah I love basslets, would love to get a Candy Basslet but my wife knows they cost like $600 plus the idea of having $600 worth in one fish is a bit scary.

 

Yes defiantly doing a shrimp goby pair

1. Good, always research!

2. Check out blue stripe, orange stripe, and black cardinals. Cheap but beautiful, and show cool schooling behavior but are sometimes called "boring". For me it's their uniqueness, plus their schooling behavior.

3. Your tank may fit a harem, but I know very little on anthias.

4. Hell yeah! Get 1 male and 2-3 females of the species and watch the male try to impress the females with awesome displays. Remember they also need to be fed a few times daily. Maybe try an auto feeder?

5. Yeah, candies go for $800-$900 in US dollars. Some species go for up to $10,000! Swissguards and assessors go for around $100 or so. Black cap gramma's go for around $40-$65.

6. Good to hear.

[metrokat]

New tank looks really great. I like the light on it, very natural looking.

 

WHAT IS THIS!?

 

Found this little red thing. It looks to me like it has white tips, possibly polyps. My guess is its either a sponge or possibly a chilli coral. It doesn't really move but I haven't tried poking it yet.

 

Any clues? - Its the red thin in the middle.

 

 

 

warty anemone. It will become lighter colored, an orange hue as it unfolds and extends itself.

Mine:

How it looks now

the key identification is nubs or warts on its stem. a bit hard to do when it is in a rock crevice.

[polarblair2000]

New tank looks really great. I like the light on it, very natural looking.

 

warty anemone. It will become lighter colored, an orange hue as it unfolds and extends itself.

 

the key identification is nubs or warts on its stem. a bit hard to do when it is in a rock crevice.

Thanks MetroKat I have the light bluer most of the time but was having bother getting an accurate picture but that's the great thing about the radion pro is you can create endless amounts of colours.

 

So I guess it's ok to keep if you still have yours? I poked it today with a stick to see if it would responded and it felt rock hard but the little white tips shot in. I thought anemones had soft bodies?

 

 

I have been injecting my aptasia with boiling water with a huge syringe my wife managed to bring back from work. Is it wrong to enjoy killing them so much? Will monitor the rock in the QT to make sure they are all gone.

 

5kg of LR and 2 bags of sand are arriving tomorrow to add to the display.

[BattleAthletics]

This probably has to be the best plumbing/carpentry ive seen so far on this site. PS I havent been on this site long lol

[Blubbernaut]

Oh mate that sucks! Did you have a quarantine tank? I didn't know clownfish were aggressive to other fish when they are mating. I just thought it would be toward each other. Good to know.

 

The plan is to run Bio-Pellets and hopefully I will be getting a beasting skimmer soon, (the Vertex Omega 150 but there is a 4-6 week delay on the UK version right now). So hopefully this will allow me to feed generously and keep my fishes nice and fat

 

PS - I liked the funny part about the fat fish not being able to swim not the bit about your fish dyeing.

No, I don't have a QT (I know I need one, blah, blah, blah) but the speed at which my flame got infected and died was kinda stunning. It didn't help that my blenny figured out he was weak and started going after him too.....Yeah, that half-female clown went right on back to the lfs the day I saw he/she/it attack Frank.

[metrokat]

If it did not retract then it is either a sponge or foramin, foramineferan (spelling?)

[polarblair2000]

This probably has to be the best plumbing/carpentry ive seen so far on this site. PS I havent been on this site long lol

 

You are too kind. My photography must be pretty good to fool you my plumbing is any good. Im happy with it but its defiantly not the best but my Oak Stand well I'm pretty happy with that one

 

There are loads of really well built systems on this site. This is my first build and I have learned a lot on the way.

 

No, I don't have a QT (I know I need one, blah, blah, blah) but the speed at which my flame got infected and died was kinda stunning. It didn't help that my blenny figured out he was weak and started going after him too.....Yeah, that half-female clown went right on back to the lfs the day I saw he/she/it attack Frank.

 

That really sucks, I hate it when you loose a fish. I lost my first Clown to carpet surfing and my Neon Goby I actually lost. Cant find him anywhere. Couldn't find him on the floor and can't find him in my tank (which is only 6 gallons so not very many places to hide for 2 months)

 

If it did not retract then it is either a sponge or foramin, foramineferan (spelling?)

 

Ah thats it! Thanks for that. I searched for Foraminiferan and found a picture of one in an article on the masa.asn.au website

 

Its a wee bit down the page, just after the Dragons breath and fan worm. THats cool, never had a sponge in my last tank.

[polarblair2000]

Rest of the rock arrived yesterday along with the sand. I've made some major progress with the aqua scape and its looking good waiting for the water to clear up before taking some pictures.

 

Been testing for Amonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Still 0 across the board and that's it been almost a week with rock.

 

It's cured LR, from the same place as I got my last batch and I cycled my tank pretty quickly then. Hate this waiting part >

[BattleAthletics]

Your tank looks so nice I want to bathe in it.

[Trevor W]

Awesome build so far, really enjoying the thread. The tank/sump and stand looks killer and the equipment you have chosen compliment it all quite nicely. Really looking forward to seeing an update of your rock work.