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Kayman's 29 Gallon Reef


Kayman

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I was just getting ready to do some research on reactors for the 29, But I want to run phosphate removers as I'm having algae issues and frequent water changes aren't keeping up. Do you like the BRS mini?

Your corals look good to me. Can't really see the Yuma in the pic, but what I do see of it doesn't look bad.

As for fish-I don't care for most damsels as they get very aggressive. Maybe the clowns and wrasse would keep it in check, but 3 aggressive fish in a 29 might be crazy. I'm in the same boat-every time I add a 4th fish one dies within about 6 months. Usually it's the new fish because like you I was putting in things like bennies and gobies. My last addition was a hawkfish, and the fish that lost the battle was my basslet which had been the oldest fish in the tank. It might have been coincidence and she died of old age (7 years), but...I'm keeping mine to a 3 fish system, as I would be heart broken if either of my clowns or the hawkfish died.

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Well I've only had the reactor running for a few days but I like it so far. Seems well built, no leaks and was easy to setup. The hoses that come with are a little stiff but not impossible to bend. 

 

Yeah I've got the yuma in the shade as I was reading this can help them get past the 2 week period that most seem to die during. It's just very tiny and shriveled mostly but still alive. 

 

Yeah maybe that was a coincidence, 7 years seems like a good run to me. I'm pretty sure the fire fish I added last was chased out by the others and I know my one remaining clown has killed at least 2 other clowns that I can remember. The clown and wrasse are usually pretty nice to the clown goby and he even holds his ground against them when they get all showy with him. I feel like I'd like another fish that stays in the water column to fill some space but with my current stock out I may be out of luck. Maybe I'll try 1 more clown now that I have a better screen top.

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I was worried when I added my second clown. I forget how I did it (can go back to my thread, I think I posted), but i managed to keep them separated for a while to get use to each other before completely releasing the second, much smaller one to the tank. The larger original clown has remained the dominant but is respectful of the newer inhabitant. 

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Good idea, I may have to try that if I decide to give another clown a shot. I originally got her with another one but she is very aggressive towards other clowns I guess and the others have all managed to go carpet surfing. Thanks the tip!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well the yuma I picked up ended up melting away to basically nothing right at the magical two week point, so that's a bummer. I got it for free so there's that at least. I'm now running a bit of GFO in with the carbon in my reactor to try and combat some brown hair algae that always takes over my back glass and overflow between water changes. The fuel so far seems to have helped with some polyp extension so we'll see how that continues. I also decided to get some reef-roids and the corals sure loved it during the one feeding so far.

 

I'm thinking of adding some more rock behind my frogspawn and either filling up that rock with more torches or getting some gorgonians. I also picked up another acan frag and a monti cap but I think I have to do some coral rearranging to find a good spot for it. Anyway here are some edited pics from when the blues were on pretty high. Kind of close to what I see in person but a little saturated obviously. 

 

 

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Have you considered the BRS screen kit?  I just picked one up last week and put it together in about 30 minutes.  It's a pretty clean setup and it'd help keep a possible firefish in the tank. 

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36 minutes ago, TatorTaco said:

Have you considered the BRS screen kit?  I just picked one up last week and put it together in about 30 minutes.  It's a pretty clean setup and it'd help keep a possible firefish in the tank. 

Yeah I've actually built a few different screen tops but with a HOB overflow and return coming over the top I've always had to have a lot of corners. This has led to sagging and gaps. The one I have going now is the best I've built and seems to be holding up better than my last attempts. Just still afraid a jumpy fish would find some random gap yet again ha

 

Here is my top

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  • 4 weeks later...

Little update. Been running fluconazole for a little over 2 weeks now to battle some hair algae. It seems to be working, the algae is looking more white and comes off really easy. We'll see how it is after day 21, if it's not gone I'll probably run a week of normal and then try again. My sump and refugium have got pretty gross during these two weeks and have cyano all over the glass. So this weekend with a bigger water change I'll clean that out good. Also going to add black acrylic to the baffle to the return chamber to try and block some light and keep it cleaner.

 

Thinking about getting rid of the six-line as he's becoming a bit of a bully towards my clown. Don't really want to bring him to an LFS, so if I can find a nice big home for him I'll probably attempt removal. I get too attached to my critters and don't want him to possibly end up in some bad home.

 

Oh yeah I also have this hammer coral that I got with two heads probably a good 8 months ago and it still hasn't grown. It's getting the same flow and light as my frogspawn that never stops growing so not sure what it's issue is. Any idears?

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17 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Wow! This is really beautiful. Love the picture of the clown goby (?) in the Duncan. As good as all of your other euphilia look its hard to imagine that your hammer is not doing well. Is that it in the center?

 

Thanks! It's nice to have at least one fan! :) Yep that is the photogenic Krusty the Clown Goby! 

 

Yep it's just to the left of the Kenya Tree. The Torch in the bottom right hasn't grown much either I'd say but I haven't had it as long and it's usually looking nice, full and happy. I'm thinking I will try moving the hammer but not sure yet if I'll move it up or down.

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Oh yeah I feed them often and about a month or two ago I started feeding reef roids twice a week. I think that's why the big one grows so fast, lots and lots of mouths to catch food. 

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Thanks! Ya it's a beast, getting close to needing to frag it but I kind of just want to see how big it can get! You're right it's hard to find established standard 29s for sure. They can be tough to scape, but I think the extra height is nice over the more common 20L. Looks like yours is off to a good start!

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Indiana Reefin
11 hours ago, AKay3600 said:

Thanks! Ya it's a beast, getting close to needing to frag it but I kind of just want to see how big it can get! You're right it's hard to find established standard 29s for sure. They can be tough to scape, but I think the extra height is nice over the more common 20L. Looks like yours is off to a good start!

I agree I like the height! I debated between the 20 and the 29 but I went with the 29 due to the extra volume 

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Great looking tank you have here!  Diggin' that clown goby.  Sadly, In my tank, there is too much competition for food. I had a green one but he didn't make it.

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Aww that's a bummer. I've seen a few people have issues with there clown goby getting enough good. Luckily mine is pretty tough and holds it's own against a clown and wrasse.

 

As an update I was going to do this weekend. I was able to find a nice big 300gallon tank for the wrasse and replaced it with a black clownfish. I did that 5 days ago and things were going well but today after work I noticed my older clown, had her for 3+years, is breathing heavy and rubbing on my return nozzle. She also ate a fraction of what she normally would. No white spots yet but I imagine they are coming. So I'm pretty bummed and trying to decide what to do next.

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Hey, so it's been a week now and my clown Alice still isn't acting completely normal but she is showing interest in food. The problem is she is spitting pretty much everything out. Today was the first time I saw her eat something and not spit it out, so little success!

 

Here are some pics of my amazing fish trap I used to catch my wrasse. It actually ended up being pretty easy. Oh I also picked up some peppermint shrimp when I got the new clown, girlfriend loves shrimp!

 

 

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1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

Great fish trap! Oh that frog spawn:wub:

Ha thanks and yeah she's a beaut! Having an issue with hair algae growing inside of it but hasn't seemed to bug it yet.

 

42 minutes ago, Travis said:

Your tank is really starting to take shape! Looking like the start of a masterpiece!

 

how does the fish trap work?

Thanks! I don't know about a masterpiece but I'm excited to see my random placement of corals grow in!

 

The trap was just a big plastic cup, kind of like a slurpie cup. I just flipped the lid inside out and used some magnets to hold it on the glass. I put it in for a day to get him used to it and then the next day I tossed some food in the cup and waited about 5minutes and bam he swam in and I pulled the cup up! I really didn't think it would work but I think I got pretty lucky. :lol:

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burtbollinger

dude, acans and peppermints...youre asking for big trouble.  your acans are beautiful...but I put the odds of their survival at about 30% with that peppermint in there.  If you get even a whiff of that peppermint messing with the acans, he gotta go....trust me on that.

 

also, patience with the hammer....mine takes forever to grow too...i have one at a year thats just now starting to take off.

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