Surfer D's 5.5g 'I'm topless!'

[lnglostsurfer]

So I have a thread going for the hood I build for this thing in the DIY section. Not quite completely finished but looks good so far. Just have to paint the front panel and install the hinges for the door. The LED setup I made is now on the 5.5! And pretty much everything is slowly moved over from the evolve. Hopefully I can start building this thing how I want now.

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/lnglostsurfer/media/IMG_20130506_195524_323.jpg.html'>

It's a little bulkier than I would have liked and the blues aren't coming out as much as they were before but either I will get used to it or I will change it up again...we'll see.

[lnglostsurfer]

So I have everything about cycled for this tank and everything is doing good. However, I'm really struggling on what fish to put in here. I've narrowed it down to a few things,

 

Firefish

Yellowtail damsel (or possibly another type)

Trained dragonette/mandarin (not sure if I have the patience or persistence to train one)

 

Ideally I would love a mandarin but it's not very practical....so I'm thinking I'm going to go with a damsel since they are a bit more active. How are the firefish? I feel like the ones I've seen just kind of sit in one spot and hover. The only plus side to the firefish is that it's a fish I've never owned before.

[lnglostsurfer]

So I'm tired of having a totally sterile tank from using dry rock. I cleaned up one of the rocks from my evolve tank and dropped it in. Hopefully it will help spread some coralline algae and pods. Maybe get a bristle worm or two to add to the CUC. I will hopefully be ordering a CUC from reefcleaners in the next week or two, pretty excited about that. Still haven't really decided on a fish. Anyone have experience with a firefish in a tank this small? Can it be done?

[lnglostsurfer]

Here's a new FTS with the new chunk of rock (still need to rearrange a bit)

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/lnglostsurfer/media/IMG_20130519_130448_900.jpg.html'>

 

And here's a shot of the whole setup (with hood) Came out pretty clean overall

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/lnglostsurfer/media/IMG_20130519_130504_475.jpg.html'>

[Wiilio]

I have a firefish in my 10 gallon and it actually utilizes all of the space that it's given... personally I wouldn't, but maybe see what others have to say.

Nice top!

[lnglostsurfer]

I have a firefish in my 10 gallon and it actually utilizes all of the space that it's given... personally I wouldn't, but maybe see what others have to say.

 

Nice top!

 

 

Hey, thanks! Yeah, I appreciate the info. I really don't have a lot of rock in here, trying to keep everything somewhat minimalistic with a lot of free space. I was really hoping for a firefish just because I haven't had one before (first tank with closed top) but I may just stick to something else. I know I saw one of the TOTM from awhile back that was a 3 gallon with a yellowtail damsel. Possibly El fab? Plus I should be in a house of my own within 6 months and will definitely be setting up a larger reef at that point, planning around 60-80 gallon range.

[Wiilio]

I think you'll get more enjoyment out of a yellowtail damsel. My firefish currently darts back into its hole as soon as it sees any fast movement or feels any vibration. Seeing as the tank is in my heavy-footed father's room, the firefish probably hates its existence right now

 

At the very least, damsels are usually out and about, and have very bright colors.

Good luck, fellow North Carolinian!

[lnglostsurfer]

So...definitely decided on a yellowtail damsel, unless I come across a Kupang Damsel?? Just found this guy online, really cool variation of the yellowtail. Especially if it is actually orange and blue as I am a pretty big Florida Gator fan.

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=765&cid=15

 

Just thought it was something a little more unique than the typical yellowtail. Just wouldn't pay $40 shipping for an $8 fish...

 

Edit: Looks like if I order $300 worth of corals from bluezooaquatics I can just get a yellow tang for free....SOLD

[lnglostsurfer]

So I just put in an order with reefcleaners. Pretty excited about that. Also just hooked one of my extra LEDs to an old walwort as a moonlight, something to see what's going on.

Just snatched a few blue leg hermits from my lfs too, I know a lot of people don't like to put them in their reefs but I've always had them in past tanks and love them. Fun to watch them scurry around eating crap.

 

AND just ordered a couple of the "hybrid" 10w LEDs off ebay, figured I would play around with those a little just to see what they are like. They are basically 6 blue LEDs and 3 white LEDs put into a single chip and called 10w. I'm pretty happy with my 10w chip right now so we'll see if we can get a little more blue running two of the others.

 

I would post some updated pictures but have a bit of algae growing right now, going to wait on the cuc to get here from reefcleaners so they can get to work.

[zacheyp]

Maube a royal gramma would work? Might be just a little small but awesome fish

[lnglostsurfer]

To my knowledge, royal grammas need more like a 20-30 gallon tank but correct me if I'm wrong? They are really cool little fish, in the basslet family, right?

[1reefluvr2]

Yellow tails are cool little fish, I have one in my spec. On other note I also have a cupang damsel in my edge . More then happy with my selection of fish.

[ALNN]

Oo yellow tails are fun to have and super colourful. Saw one at my locate fish store it was tempting but I picked the yasha instead which was strongly suggested by the gf lol

[lnglostsurfer]

Yeah, I've pretty much decided on a damsel, just depends on what my lfs gets in as far as colors. It will be some variation of a yellowtail since they stay the smallest of the damsels.

 

As for right now, I'm stuck at home the next two days while my girl works 12 hour days. Stupid sprained ankle...size of a softball and the color of good quality liverock...

[lnglostsurfer]

So some of the swelling and bruising has gone down (it's been on ice ALL day)

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/lnglostsurfer/media/IMG_20130604_103052_468.jpg.html'>

But that all gave me time to do a major water change (75%) and clean my filter out and do some maintenance. Also moved a rock and corals around, here's the new scape.

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/lnglostsurfer/media/IMG_20130604_160846_827.jpg.html'>

With the window behind, it's really hard to get a good picture without the glare on the glass. But you get the idea. Hopefully things will stop being pissed off from the water change and open back up soon. I will probably be on nano-reef pretty much constantly the next few days until I recover.

[ALNN]

sorry about the injury but it is a plus to get to stay home and watch the tank! :D

i find it easier to turn off all the lights at night and just have the tank light on to snap a few picture but then again my tank is in a basement atm.

and love that gsp in the tank looks healthy...unlike mine LOL

[lnglostsurfer]

Haha, everything is so closed up right now, the GSP is looking like crap, normally it looks awesome but between the water change I just did and all the other messing around I've done in there with my day off, it barely has any polyp extension at all.

[lkoechle]

Looking good! Hope you get better soon.

[lnglostsurfer]

Looking good! Hope you get better soon.

Thanks! I hope I do too. Going back to work tomorrow so we'll see how everything goes. Losing my mind being at home. Good news though, order from John at reefcleaners is coming tomorrow with some snails and a macro. Can't wait for the little guys to start keeping this tank clean. By next week I will either be making an order for coral or stopping by my LFS depending on what they have. Will definitely be a few heads of blastos, hopefully a few mushrooms...possibly a frag of SPS as long as everything is looking good in the tank.

 

Also have a few new LED chips on the way. They are the hybrid 10w chips that have 6 blues and 3 whites. I figure two of them should light the tank up quite nicely. Just another thing to play around with, if they don't work I'll just go back to what I have.

[lnglostsurfer]

So I got my order from reefcleaners right before I went to work today. Holy crap ton of snails!!!

 

Supposed to have Actually got

2 Dwarf Ceriths about 40???

1 Nassarius 5

2 Florida Ceriths 6

3 Small Nerites 4

 

Not sure what my penny macro is but It's in the tank and looking good. I will get a picture when the lights come on tomorrow.

[Method1]

 

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! MAKE IT GO AWAY!!!!!!!!! I just found another big guy too......This is going to be a pain in my !#@$%!@#$

 

What is that? Whats the problem?

[lnglostsurfer]

It's an aptasia or "glass anemone." A really bad hitchhiker from liverock. I was able to get rid of all of them whenever I setup my new tank but basically they will spread like wildfire and kill all of your corals...essentially taking over your tank. And it is very very very difficult to kill them/get rid of them. I'm glad I nuked the problem when I did. Some people will inject them with lemon juice, others will literally just burn them off with a torch (which is what I ended up doing for the one I found in the new tank).

[jcandler]

It's an aptasia or "glass anemone." A really bad hitchhiker from liverock. I was able to get rid of all of them whenever I setup my new tank but basically they will spread like wildfire and kill all of your corals...essentially taking over your tank. And it is very very very difficult to kill them/get rid of them. I'm glad I nuked the problem when I did. Some people will inject them with lemon juice, others will literally just burn them off with a torch (which is what I ended up doing for the one I found in the new tank).

Nice looking tanks Inglostsurfer. As far as aptasia I have always killed them in my other tanks by gluing them completely with superglue. What I do is scare them on purpose so they shrink up and watch where they are shrinking too, then I use superglue to cover them completely. It works well if you have just a few in the tank. I also like it because it mitigates any risk of a piece breaking off and landing in another part of the aquarium creating another aptasia.

 

Today I have never had a aptastia issue because i used dry rock with a cup full of live sand.

[lnglostsurfer]

This aptasia was in the original tank I setup, I haven't had any issues in the new 5.5. The aqueon tank is completely broken down now with everything transferred over. The only one I had found I pulled the rock out of the display with nothing on it and torched the spot with the aptasia and haven't seen anything since. I used 90% dry rock and one chunk of rock from the aqueon tank. Figured it would help introduce some pods and some coralline algae. I'm really happy with the way this tank is coming, as soon as I know everything is as stable as I want it I will start adding some more LPS/SPS, pretty excited.

[lnglostsurfer]

Figured I'd do a quick water test to see how things are going.

 

pH - 8.2

Ammonia - (Stupid API test kit is impossible to read) Matches my rodi water though so I'm assuming 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 0

KH - 9.5

 

Really need to get a test kit for Calcium and magnesium...any suggestions on brands that aren't too horribly overpriced?

 

 

Edit: Also just started ordering some things for a DIY auto top off. I found a switch that will work with 110v current and I will tie that into an aqualifter, which will be on a digital timer for 5 minutes, two times a day. I already have the timer so all I have to buy will be the aqualifter and the switch, and maybe some extra airline tubing. All in all I think it will only be about 20 bucks. Versus 80 bucks for a JBJ that doesn't even include a pump....and the timer will be my "just in case" backup so that it can't run longer than 5 minutes at a time.