Lilies & Lace Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 Megan, Have you added a fish to your tank yet? I am curious to see what fish you are going with. I think my clownfish is lonely. Thinking about adding a Yellow Goby or a Firefish. David Hey David, I don't have any fish yet. I am patiently (okay a little bit impatiently) waiting on my LFS to get their hands on a Yellow-headed Pearly Jawfish for me, scientific name Opistognathus aurifrons. I set up my tank with a sloping sand bed so it's about 4+ inches towards the back of the tank so the jawfish can build its burrow. I've wanted one forever since seeing jawfish while out scalloping when I was younger. I have also been thinking about adding a purple firefish, tanakas pygmy wrasse, or a tiny clownfish. The jawfish needs to go in first though so it has time to create its burrow and become comfortable in the tank. Link to comment
boom1000 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 I had a pairded Yellow-headed pearly jawfish in my 14 bio cube and it is one of my favorite fish. Along with the yellow goby and pistol shrimp. Watch out on the firefish....they like to jump. wake up in the morning with fish jerky on your carpet. Link to comment
Shallow~Reef Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 You've done a fab job on the layout! The shells make it all look very natural which I like. I'm sorta in the same place as you, I have started from scratch with dead rock and also going through a cycle right now. 2 weeks in and no real signs of algae. Have you gone with a par38 bulb there? Let there be Light! Finally! Link to comment
Lilies & Lace Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 I had a pairded Yellow-headed pearly jawfish in my 14 bio cube and it is one of my favorite fish. Along with the yellow goby and pistol shrimp. Watch out on the firefish....they like to jump. wake up in the morning with fish jerky on your carpet. I thought about getting a pair, but really I want a variety of fish lol. What did you feed them and do you have any tips for their care? Also did they ever breed for you? It's really neat that they are mouthbrooders. I actually just got a screen made for the biocube to avoid fish jerky, snail escapes, and toddler underwater adventure time. My father went to the local hardware store asking for a screen kit, told the salesperson what he was doing and they made the screen then and there for $9! Score! Love small towns! Link to comment
Lilies & Lace Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 I added a little 14+ polyp colony of dragon eye zoas with what appear to be either 3 Eagle eyes or Whammin Watermelons attached. I actually dropped the bag on the garage floor while carrying them into the house because I was trying to carry a million things inside and herd a small child at the same time. The bag burst, zoas went rolling, yeah not good! But these guys are survivors and every polyp had opened after an hour of being in the tank! These pics are horrible and I will update with better ones soon! Moved the ric to what may be it's permanent spot. It is almost done splitting I think! You've done a fab job on the layout! The shells make it all look very natural which I like. I'm sorta in the same place as you, I have started from scratch with dead rock and also going through a cycle right now. 2 weeks in and no real signs of algae. Have you gone with a par38 bulb there? Thank you so much! The shells are all scattered around right now, I figure my future jawfish will have fun collecting them for his burrow! I didn't really get any algae until I added some sand and chaeto from my LFS tank. Since then it has been algae overload. I'm still waiting on the snails to clean it up and make it pretty again. I have an Aqua Illuminations Nano over the tank, so far I really like it. Link to comment
boom1000 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 It was years ago but I know it was meaty foods if i remember correctly. Honesly they dont take much room in your tank. They do not stray far from whatever spot they pick. At least mine did not. They did breed once that I know of but nothing came about from it. Almost done setting up my new 30 gallon shallow tank and I will be getting a pair of blue dot jawfish if i can find a mated pair. Fun little fish to have in your tank. As far as care... for me they were an easy fish to take care of. I would feed mine 2-3 times a day. Of course be careful of over feeding. But I enjoy feeding so feeding multiple times a day was never a pain for me. Link to comment
SeaRover Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Beautiful scape - and the jawfish looks like a character! I'm sure it will be a great addition to the cube. I just set up mine in March, but after a master plan on the 'scape, I find I'm constantly rearranging to accommodate the chunks of rock or coral that my new softies come in on. I'm not overly comfortable with the slice and glue aspect of reef-keeping... Link to comment
Lilies & Lace Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 It was years ago but I know it was meaty foods if i remember correctly. Honesly they dont take much room in your tank. They do not stray far from whatever spot they pick. At least mine did not. They did breed once that I know of but nothing came about from it. Almost done setting up my new 30 gallon shallow tank and I will be getting a pair of blue dot jawfish if i can find a mated pair. Fun little fish to have in your tank. As far as care... for me they were an easy fish to take care of. I would feed mine 2-3 times a day. Of course be careful of over feeding. But I enjoy feeding so feeding multiple times a day was never a pain for me. Thank you! I'm trying to decide what brand of food I want to go with, and feeding two or three times a day shouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking about putting a container around the barnacle and pouring the jawfish into it and that should force the jawfish to build its burrow in that spot (saw another member do this successfully). I saw one at the Florida Aquarium and it was hovering a good foot above its burrow, which worried me that my tank might not be big enough for it, but I haven't really seen them be comfortable enough to stray that far from their burrow in hobbyists tanks anyway. Did you have any other fish in the tank with yours? Beautiful scape - and the jawfish looks like a character! I'm sure it will be a great addition to the cube. I just set up mine in March, but after a master plan on the 'scape, I find I'm constantly rearranging to accommodate the chunks of rock or coral that my new softies come in on. I'm not overly comfortable with the slice and glue aspect of reef-keeping... Thank you! I hear they can be very shy at first but usually develop quite the personality! I'm running into the same problem you are. As I get frags I'm going to need to glue them down if I don't want them to get knocked over, but I want to frag things to sell and gluing them to the rock creates a big problem since my rock needs to sit on the glass bottom. I don't think we can frag things in the tank can we? Link to comment
SeaRover Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 You'll get much better/more experienced answers than mine on that one, as I'm not at the point where fragging for trade is an option (although at the rate things are growing, I'll be following the thread closely!). Many (most?) people seem to have separate tanks, but I have only the one right now. I've seen a frag tree at my LFS and there are some photos (plastic frag holder) - possibly an option? Good luck! Link to comment
Belac Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Not at all surprised the zoas were fine. They are extremely tough and in some places zoas are exposed for most of low tide and they do just fine.Yes you can frag in tank with most things, its just terribly frustrating trying to do it with stuff that attaches to rocks. Zoa and mushrooms can both be chipped off the rock or peeled off and put on a frag plug. Branching SPS and LPS is much easier to deal with fragging in tank. Though as small as your tank is I would recommend water changes after wards. Link to comment
Lilies & Lace Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 You'll get much better/more experienced answers than mine on that one, as I'm not at the point where fragging for trade is an option (although at the rate things are growing, I'll be following the thread closely!). Many (most?) people seem to have separate tanks, but I have only the one right now. I've seen a frag tree at my LFS and there are some photos (plastic frag holder) - possibly an option? Good luck! I just saw a frag tree on here today and they loo really neat! I think it would look way better in my tank than a frag rack would. Your corals are so much bigger than the ones I've been buying, your tank looks filled out already! Not at all surprised the zoas were fine. They are extremely tough and in some places zoas are exposed for most of low tide and they do just fine. Yes you can frag in tank with most things, its just terribly frustrating trying to do it with stuff that attaches to rocks. Zoa and mushrooms can both be chipped off the rock or peeled off and put on a frag plug. Branching SPS and LPS is much easier to deal with fragging in tank. Though as small as your tank is I would recommend water changes after wards. I was sure the roll across the concrete garage floor and zero acclimation after and hour + drive home would have done them in. Are high end zoas just as bomb proof? Unfortunately a lot of my tastes seem to run to encrusting corals. It's good to know that it can be done in the tank if need be, but I bet that would stress out the fish... Link to comment
Belac Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 As to bomb proof. No I suspect a large blast would kill most things in water. Water amplifies the blast wave even though it slows it down to an extent. More mass then air.Some zoa are hardy some are not. They come from a wide range of depths. I personally have trouble keeping almost any zoa alive. I have never figured out why.Well encrusting is going to fill up that amount of rock work pretty fast. I suppose if you have several layers of rock you can try and make sure you only let it encrust to the first layer down and not let it get to the rock that is sitting on the glass.Encrusting corals usually require saws to make frags. Link to comment
boom1000 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I had some clown fish and a green goby with my jawfish in the biocube and never had a problem. When they were in my 75 I had a bunch of other fish with them of course. Link to comment
Lilies & Lace Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Look what I have! Unsure of whatthe scientific name is, or if it is Photosynthetic, but I'm pretty sure it is. It was kind of an impulse buy. It had poly extension at the store and wasn't in a low flow tank and nearly dead like most of the gorgs I see at my LFS so I snagged it up. I'm really hoping I can keep it happy and alive. This is after lights on (all whites for pictures) this morning. I should be doing a water change today and tidying up the tank so I can post a fts. Link to comment
Belac Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Even if its photosynthetic it will help to target feed it small foods. Link to comment
Lilies & Lace Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 I received a package of goodies in the mail today, courtesy of an extremely generous fellow NR member. He even sent some cute little frogs for Lilly! A current fts. I really do feel as if the gorgonian was a match made in heaven for the vision I have for my tank. Even if its photosynthetic it will help to target feed it small foods. I did some researching on the gorgonian show off thread and should have some Marine Snow and PhytoPlex by next week. As to bomb proof. No I suspect a large blast would kill most things in water. Water amplifies the blast wave even though it slows it down to an extent. More mass then air.Some zoa are hardy some are not. They come from a wide range of depths. I personally have trouble keeping almost any zoa alive. I have never figured out why.Well encrusting is going to fill up that amount of rock work pretty fast. I suppose if you have several layers of rock you can try and make sure you only let it encrust to the first layer down and not let it get to the rock that is sitting on the glass.Encrusting corals usually require saws to make frags. I probably should have just said "ditz proof" but I now know how bombs work under water, so that's pretty neat I hear people have similar problems with ricordeas just melting away. I'm having a hard time finding a place in my tank with low enough flow and light for my purple mushroom. I really want some rhodactis so I hope I can find the right spot for mushies. I do have several layers of rocks. I want them all covered in coral and sponges. I'll just have to put the stuff I don't plan on fragging more towards the bottom layer? Speaking of sponges, here are some growth comparison photos. Day 1 and 2 months later Link to comment
Belac Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Every one should know how explosions work. Its an excuse to watch more science stuff. Most mushrooms are fairly tolerant of different light levels, so long as flow isn't blowing them away. Link to comment
Pancetta Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 That stuff looks familiar?? Nice FTS. The gorgonian is a cool addition. Will you need to dose calcium to keep it healthy? Link to comment
Belac Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 I think most gorgonians don't have hard structures. I my be very wrong but that seems to be what is popping in my head.Many of sea fans I have seen do make hard structures.Untill you reach a fairly heavy amount of stony corals water regular changes are going to keep the levels up. Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Have not seen this build in a while, looking good! Link to comment
Shallow~Reef Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hows your tank coming along? Link to comment
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