Kirby's 20 gallon long (picture heavy)

[kirbaay]

https://vimeo.com/112456486

New tank being filled up with water on August 24th, 2014



Equipment:

• Ebay clip on 120w led light
• 24" Reefbreeders Photon
• Aquaclear 110 with cheato and live rock
• 1 240gph hydor
• 1 425gph hydor
• 25lbs of live sand
• 25+ lbs of live rock
• 2 50 watt (walmart) heaters

Livestock:

Fish:

• Picasso Clown Fish RIP
• Snowflake Clown Fish RIP
• Misbar Clown Fish
• Platinum Clown Fish
• Azure damselfish
• Mandarin Goby

Invertebrates:

• Porcelain Crab
• Emerald Crab
• Peppermint Shrimp
• Fire Shrimp
• 6 snails
• 7 hermit crabs
• Rose Bubble Tip Anemone

Coral:

• Purple Hammer Head
• Green Hammer Head
• Orange Monticap
• Green milipora
• Garf Bonsai
• Purple Mushrooms
• two other random mushrooms
• 2 Ricordea
• Green Stripe Mushrooms
• Rainbow Acan
• Incredible Hulk Acan
• Orage Frost Acan
• Green Star Polyps
• Bubble Coral
• War Coral
• Green Palys
• 5 different zoas dont know the names..
• Pom Pom Xenia
• Kenya Tree
• Green Leather coral
• Bicolor Frogspawn
• Chalice
• Duncans
• Orange Plate Coral
• Green Plate Coral
• Green Candy Cane
• Purple Candy Cane
• 3 different Goniopora

Short video of my tank

https://vimeo.com/102420599


Current full tank shot 9-6-14







View all the pictures of my tanks progression down below

My first reef tank started as a 6 gallon fluval edge with the top cut off. Beware its UGLY

October 14th, 2013




October 15th, 2013




The misbar clown i got but sadly lost him because he jumped out of my tank such a pretty clown.



October 21st, 2013



November 15th, 2013




December 13th, 2013



November 22, 2013 The cycling began for my 20 gallon long



January 15th, 2014



January 24th, 2014



February 25th, 2014



March 14th, 2014



March 24th, 2014



April 8th, 2014




April 13th, 2014 zoa rock location change and clown started housting the hammer head



May 7th, 2014





May 24th, 2014



June 1st, 2014

 

 

[Roshan8768]

Looks great man! That xenia's really taking off for you

[kirbaay]

Looks great man! That xenia's really taking off for you

 

 

Thanks man it is actually starting to take over my tank i need to frag it! haha

[kirbaay]

Well bad news my snow flake clown got caught in my power head over night... his tail didnt get the best of it..

 

When i went to the store to grab some supplies for my QT tank to help heal him i couldnt pass up on two Platinum clowns for $55!

 

After i had gotten back from the store my snowflake clown was still alive but no more than 30 mins after i was home this happend!!

 

Idk why this happened my guess is because he was injured still a sad day..

Any ways here is a full tank shot at the moment. you can see i also had gotten a Picasso clown fish two weeks ago

[kirbaay]

Update on my tank i decided to finally use my real camera for pictures instead of my shitty phone.

I got 4 new corals this week for $15 which is a steal!

 

the corals i got were a RBTA, 6 head pink candycane, Green leather, frogspawn, 3 mushrooms.

 

Here are some random pictures i took of my tank yesterday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These zoanthids really took off they all started from one polyp frags

 

 

Unfortunately this RBTA is bleached.. i got it for $10 so i am not complaining i just hope he will return to red

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Platinum clown hungry as always

 

 

My Picasso Clown is starting to grow on my i didnt really like him at first. i was expecting them to be more exciting with their stripes..

 

 

My clown fish killer looking nice as always

 

 

This Rainbow acan has 5 new heads i am excited, there is three more on the other side.

 

 

Started with a half dead frag with these palys finally found a good spot in my tank for it. i have really seen some growth this past month.

 

 

 

Current FTS (5/8/14)

 

Actinic Full tank shot

 

 

 

 

I would love to have some feedback on my tank! i have only had one person comment on my thread so far i just feel like i am talking to my self... i guess you have to make your self known on these forums

[Moolelo]

Not much to say...its beautiful.

Don't take it too much to heart, half the time I am just journaling on my tank with no comments. There is the "in" crowd I guess and then there are those of us who are innocent.

It really is great, I like the clowns. Do you have a wavemaker? Just wondering if your two koralias are doing okay with flow or if you feel like it is too directional for LPS.

Ooh also, ever thought about more charismatic inverts? A lot on here think a coral reef is only coral, but that's like says trees are a forest (really it would be just a bunch of trees without the ecosystem).

[kirbaay]

Not much to say...its beautiful.

Don't take it too much to heart, half the time I am just journaling on my tank with no comments. There is the "in" crowd I guess and then there are those of us who are innocent.

It really is great, I like the clowns. Do you have a wavemaker? Just wondering if your two koralias are doing okay with flow or if you feel like it is too directional for LPS.

Ooh also, ever thought about more charismatic inverts? A lot on here think a coral reef is only coral, but that's like says trees are a forest (really it would be just a bunch of trees without the ecosystem).

 

Hello! thanks and i figured thats really how every forum is haha.

 

i did have a wavemaker on the powerheads that just turned them off and on every 30seconds i didnt really like it and decided to try leaving them both on all the time. My corals actually like it more, it is perfectly balanced to hit only the corals that need a good flow everything else is calm. my hammerheads get the most flow for the LPS but they dont seem to mind it i have had it like this for the past two weeks, and i am seeing better results so i am going to keep it this way most likely. unless someone wants to give me a MP10 hahah

 

Charismatic inverts? well i do have a porcelain crab thats fun to watch and my peppermint shrimp just hides in a cave.... any other suggestions?

[TheKleinReef]

The tank looks awesome! You took some really nice pics as well. And don't worry if you're not getting much feedback, it'll come in time. Just pop in and out of people's threads and you'll find your niche crowd here just like anywhere

 

Like I said, looks great! Can't wait to see more!

[Moolelo]

Hey if the flow works, don't change it. Inverts can be tricky on mainland I hear, depends what ends up in LFS I guess. Just don't be afraid to try crazy critters. Lots on here avoid things that are risky, but honestly coral regenerate quite quickly and as long as you didn't outright buy a crown of thorns you should be fine. My personal favorites are urchins and cucumbers, but it doesn't look like your tank gets enough algae for them or debri. Maybe some micro brittle stars, they can be quite hilarious once the population really starts growing, no impact if they die and you can pretty much feed carelessly cause they eat anything that hits the sand or rocks. Feather dusters or even micro feather dusters are very elegant. Or maybe a comical red linckia starfish? Really whatever seems fun to you, just think about where they fit into your tank ecosytem.

[kirbaay]

The tank looks awesome! You took some really nice pics as well. And don't worry if you're not getting much feedback, it'll come in time. Just pop in and out of people's threads and you'll find your niche crowd here just like anywhere Like I said, looks great! Can't wait to see more!

 

 

Thanks!! i am actually a photography major at Sam Houston State University ( 40 miles north of Houston ) i put my tank journal in my signature now soo maybe more people will click on it! and i know i need to make my way around the forums.

 

Hey if the flow works, don't change it. Inverts can be tricky on mainland I hear, depends what ends up in LFS I guess. Just don't be afraid to try crazy critters. Lots on here avoid things that are risky, but honestly coral regenerate quite quickly and as long as you didn't outright buy a crown of thorns you should be fine. My personal favorites are urchins and cucumbers, but it doesn't look like your tank gets enough algae for them or debri. Maybe some micro brittle stars, they can be quite hilarious once the population really starts growing, no impact if they die and you can pretty much feed carelessly cause they eat anything that hits the sand or rocks. Feather dusters or even micro feather dusters are very elegant. Or maybe a comical red linckia starfish? Really whatever seems fun to you, just think about where they fit into your tank ecosytem.

 

 

i actually have a few micro bristle star fish i think here is a picture.

 

 

 

I also have a few very small feather dusters that are on a few rocks but nothing noticeable yet.

 

A starfish would be awesome i just feel like my tank might be to small for some of them..

[Moolelo]

Nice brittle star, but that is likely a 6-arm brittle. While funny, it will likely not come out rock very often or reproduce as rapidly. The white micro brittles will move all around tank cleaning up debris and leftovers. They reproduces so fast because they are short cycle brooders, meaning they pop out babies in a short period of time with no larvae or eggs released.

Like I said think crazy! Find a starfish that is around 2-3 inches or smaller and you would be fine for quite some time. You could just sell or even give to a friend with bigger tank once it gets too large. Just have to feed it seaweed strips or pellets (depends on star).

[kirbaay]

Nice brittle star, but that is likely a 6-arm brittle. While funny, it will likely not come out rock very often or reproduce as rapidly. The white micro brittles will move all around tank cleaning up debris and leftovers. They reproduces so fast because they are short cycle brooders, meaning they pop out babies in a short period of time with no larvae or eggs released.

Like I said think crazy! Find a starfish that is around 2-3 inches or smaller and you would be fine for quite some time. You could just sell or even give to a friend with bigger tank once it gets too large. Just have to feed it seaweed strips or pellets (depends on star).

 

i also have those small star fish i forgot the names of them but they do reporoduce asexually like you were just talking about.

[Roshan8768]

i also have those small star fish i forgot the names of them but they do reporoduce asexually like you were just talking about.

 

You are probably thinking of the asterinas.

 

Also, sweet deal on those corals... hit me up if you ever want to trade frags once they start growing for you. The nem is in decent shape, but you need to feed it small portions of the freshest seafood you can get 2-3 times a week until it regains its coloration.

[joy13]

Very nice tank. Could you give a link to the light?

[kirbaay]

You are probably thinking of the asterinas. Also, sweet deal on those corals... hit me up if you ever want to trade frags once they start growing for you. The nem is in decent shape, but you need to feed it small portions of the freshest seafood you can get 2-3 times a week until it regains its coloration.

 

Yup thats the name! i will actually be in college station this summer i am bringing my tank up there by next week. and i feed it a small piece of frozen shrimp two days ago i probably will again today.

 

Very nice tank. Could you give a link to the light?

 

 

thanks and this is not the same exact one i have because mine are 5watts each

 

 

Light Link

 

i mean the light works and all but honestly i want something different thats full spectrum

[kirbaay]

I had some extra photos i forgot to upload including 3 of my old snowflake clown 'White Tiger'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side Tank shot of my mushroom garden

 

[Moolelo]

You are probably thinking of the asterinas. Also, sweet deal on those corals... hit me up if you ever want to trade frags once they start growing for you. The nem is in decent shape, but you need to feed it small portions of the freshest seafood you can get 2-3 times a week until it regains its coloration.

Yeah I wasn't talking about asterinas, but white micro brittle stars. You can probably search them pretty easy online or check out Indo-pacific aqua farms.

[markalot]

Hi Kirbaay, nice tank, I enjoyed looking at all the pics. Following along now.

[vlangel]

Looking good.

[kirbaay]

Yeah I wasn't talking about asterinas, but white micro brittle stars. You can probably search them pretty easy online or check out Indo-pacific aqua farms.

 

cool will do!

 

Hi Kirbaay, nice tank, I enjoyed looking at all the pics. Following along now.

 

Hello! thanks for following

 

Looking good.

 

appreciate it!

[Rehype]

Great looking tank and awesome pics!

[ETucc]

Looking at your tank really makes me wish I had just gotten something larger than my 5 gallon... It's gorgeous. I'm definitely going long (probably 20 gallons haha) on my next tank. I love all the swimming room for your fish. You have so many corals too, yet so much room. Very pleasing to the eye. I hope your SPS fairs well this time around!

 

Your camera takes great photos. I look forward to seeing more!

 

I would love to have some feedback on my tank! i have only had one person comment on my thread so far i just feel like i am talking to my self... i guess you have to make your self known on these forums

 

ELE: Everybody Love Everbody

[TheKleinReef]

What camera and lens do you use to take pics? And under what settings usually? I'm still tinkering and would love to have your input.

[kirbaay]

What camera and lens do you use to take pics? And under what settings usually? I'm still tinkering and would love to have your input.

Canon 7D, 100mm 2.8 for all the macro shots. Also sometimes my 50mm 1.2 and tokina 11-16mm 2.8. The trick is to use a high appature like 9.0 soo your ISO can be like 1600, and then shutter speed around 120. Also I use Adobe Lightroom to really help bring out the natural colors. Because the camera actually makes it look ugly.

 

Looking at your tank really makes me wish I had just gotten something larger than my 5 gallon... It's gorgeous. I'm definitely going long (probably 20 gallons haha) on my next tank. I love all the swimming room for your fish. You have so many corals too, yet so much room. Very pleasing to the eye. I hope your SPS fairs well this time around!

 

Your camera takes great photos. I look forward to seeing more!

 

 

 

ELE: Everybody Love Everbody

Thanks man! This tank has really been a project for me these past couple of months. Honestly I want a bigger tank already hopefully soon I will be upgrading to a 100 gallon 36x36x18. I am running out of room and want more corals and fish! 20 long is a good size I like the length and the shallowness of it.

[chrislewistx]

Great journal Kirby. As others have mentioned your photos are excellent quality. You really have a great eye for aquascapes this 20 gallon reef, and your discus tank both look great. What kind of sand are you using? It almost looks like indo pacific, or just white sand with something added to the top.

 

How is the SPS doing? Also, what size and how often do you water change? One last question are you dosing anything like 2 part, or feeding the corals phyto or anything else?