Alex's Biocube 29

[xAyanex]

11 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Looking good!  Do you have any ideas of what you might want for a fourth fish?

Yes, I was thinking about a six line wrasse. And maybe a shrimp, although the wrasse may eat the shrimp.

[The Dish]

I did a sixline in a previous BC14 - put him in last because they can get aggressive. Ended up that my clown absolutely terrorized it (plot twist!). Probably mostly had to do that she was hosting a frogspawn and let nothing anywhere near it.

 

sixline's are very pretty little fish, hopefully if you go that route you don't A) end up with a tool bag wrasse or B. ) get a punching bag for bob and dot (though they seem like model citizens. )

 

have you considered a more bottom based swimmer like a goby? 

[xAyanex]

26 minutes ago, The Dish said:

I did a sixline in a previous BC14 - put him in last because they can get aggressive. Ended up that my clown absolutely terrorized it (plot twist!). Probably mostly had to do that she was hosting a frogspawn and let nothing anywhere near it.

 

sixline's are very pretty little fish, hopefully if you go that route you don't A) end up with a tool bag wrasse or B. ) get a punching bag for bob and dot (though they seem like model citizens. )

 

have you considered a more bottom based swimmer like a goby? 

I hadn't realized blennies and gobies were compatible! 

 

I really enjoy open swimmers, which is why I was opting for the six line, but I will look into the gobies now! Thanks for the suggestion.

[xAyanex]

The tangaroa goby is really cool. Last week he had a Randall's goby which looks neat. Both go well with a pistol shrimp. 

 

I guess it just depends on what he has in stock. It's nice to know I have options! 

[xAyanex]

I wonder if I could get both the six line and a goby/shrimp if I added them months apart. 

 

That would put me at a really high bioload for my tank size. I think I will just get one or the other and keep it that way for a few months to monitor my nitrates. Ideally I should go for the goby/shrimp first since the six line should be added last, due to its potentially aggressive nature. And if I am struggling with my bioload/nitrates before the wrasse, I'll just forget about ever getting the wrasse.

 

I can't wait to get a bigger tank! Someday... 

[Weetabix7]

6 hours ago, xAyanex said:

I wonder if I could get both the six line and a goby/shrimp if I added them months apart. 

 

That would put me at a really high bioload for my tank size. I think I will just get one or the other and keep it that way for a few months to monitor my nitrates. Ideally I should go for the goby/shrimp first since the six line should be added last, due to its potentially aggressive nature. And if I am struggling with my bioload/nitrates before the wrasse, I'll just forget about ever getting the wrasse.

 

I can't wait to get a bigger tank! Someday... 

 

Sounds like a good way to approach it. 

I'm sorry you had a loss, but the tank looks pretty nice on the whole.

[The Dish]

7 hours ago, xAyanex said:

I hadn't realized blennies and gobies were compatible! 

 

I really enjoy open swimmers, which is why I was opting for the six line, but I will look into the gobies now! Thanks for the suggestion.

As long as the blenny and gobie aren't a similar shape/color you should be cool - and since most gobies hang on the bottom you should be fine. 

 

I have a yellow watchman goby paires paired with a tiger pistol shrimp - the only time he gets "aggressive" is when someone wanders a little too close to his burrow. He'll open his mouth and act though. 

 

The symbiotic relationship between the goby and shrimp are fun to watch. Fair warning on the shrimp department - try and get a smaller shrimp. My tiger shrimp is pretty big and if any snails or hermits knock loose a frag plug he'll drag them into a burrow or burry them in the sand. I've lost a few corals because of this...

 

cooler gobies IMO are Yashia gobies, Hi Fin Band gobies, and the yellow watchman. 

 

You could also go with a Court Jester Goby, which is a more open swimmer- or a jawfish

[xAyanex]

9 hours ago, The Dish said:

As long as the blenny and gobie aren't a similar shape/color you should be cool - and since most gobies hang on the bottom you should be fine. 

 

I have a yellow watchman goby paires paired with a tiger pistol shrimp - the only time he gets "aggressive" is when someone wanders a little too close to his burrow. He'll open his mouth and act though. 

 

The symbiotic relationship between the goby and shrimp are fun to watch. Fair warning on the shrimp department - try and get a smaller shrimp. My tiger shrimp is pretty big and if any snails or hermits knock loose a frag plug he'll drag them into a burrow or burry them in the sand. I've lost a few corals because of this...

 

cooler gobies IMO are Yashia gobies, Hi Fin Band gobies, and the yellow watchman. 

 

You could also go with a Court Jester Goby, which is a more open swimmer- or a jawfish

I ordered a Randall's goby and pistol shrimp, they should come in next week. 

[1891Bro]

If you like your pods or micro brittles just skip the six line. I had one in a BC29 and in less than two weeks time I had ZERO micro fauna left. Little ####ers are eating machines. 

[xAyanex]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:17 PM, 1891Bro said:

If you like your pods or micro brittles just skip the six line. I had one in a BC29 and in less than two weeks time I had ZERO micro fauna left. Little ####ers are eating machines. 

Haha, thank you for the advice! I had already read up on that, I don't really mind. I think it will be okay.

[xAyanex]

So, today I casually walked into my living room and noticed... DOT IN THE ANEMONE?!?!

 

Yep, it's true! After 7 and a half weeks, Dot discovered the rose bubble tip nem, and was exploring it today. She only stayed in it for a few minutes, and then returned to her home thermometer, but I got some pictures! At least now she knows it's an option and maybe she will go back to it.

 

 

 

 

[fishfreak0114]

Exciting!!!  I kinda wish I'd saved space for a BTA.  It would be neat to see mine host. Did you do anything to try and get her in like tape a picture to the glass?

[xAyanex]

14 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Exciting!!!  I kinda wish I'd saved space for a BTA.  It would be neat to see mine host. Did you do anything to try and get her in like tape a picture to the glass?

Not really. I showed them a couple videos a week or two ago but that didn't seem to help. 

 

So Dot really seems to like the anemone and visits it often. However, whenever Bob tries to visit, Dot chased him away. Sometimes I wonder if she really just hates him.

[Weetabix7]

Hey Girl, where ya been, missed seeing you around here lately!! 

[1891Bro]

[SantaMonicaHelp]

What kind of fish is the orange one? It's wonderful!! 

 

-Paola

[Narzyzz_12]

On June 20, 2017 at 12:53 PM, SantaMonicaHelp said:

What kind of fish is the orange one? It's wonderful!! 

 

-Paola

Midas Blenny 

[Flexin]

Midas Blenny is an awesome fish.  Great personality.

[xAyanex]

Long time no post. Here's your update. It's sad: (incoming)

[xAyanex]

Sad Update after for freaking ever:

 

So I struggled a little more with the red slime algae but eventually got it to go away. 

 

Also once upon a time I bought a little frag with some hair algae thinking it wouldn't cause a problem because there was so little. My, that was stupid. I must not have got it all off because I've struggled with green hair algae a long time.

 

After losing super bad to green hair algae and feeling frustrated leading to neglecting the tank (not doing water changes, etc), many of my corals died from algae taking over their light and then probably from crap parameters. 

 

The toadstool got huge and blocked a ton of light too, so I pulled it out. eventually two little new toadstools started growing (from old leftover stump I presume). That was cool.

 

The midas blenny, my favorite fish ever in life, disappeared one day when the tank was still doing great. I couldn't find him after thoroughly searching for days and still don't know what happened to him, but it could be a number of things I suppose. 

 

But today, today was the roughest of all. With Bob, Dot, Randy (the Randall's goby), Pete (the pistol shrimp), several types of snails, starfish galore, etc. all thriving in the tank up to this point (with green hair algae and two baby toadstools-all the other coral died)....... I came home to everything dead. Just like that. First thing I checked was the thermometer. Always runs at about 78 on the dot. Can't recall seeing it on anything else ever. 

 

The temperature? 94. The heater malfunctioned and cooked the tank. I am soooooooooo upset...... 

 

What to do now? See the next post (incoming):

[xAyanex]

The ONLY thing I keep thinking is that even if I had kept the tank pristine, this could have happened and everything still would have died. And I would probably be ten times more upset. 

 

As sucky as it is, I have to find the silver lining. 

 

This gives me the chance to restart. No more green hair algae. 

 

I'll pull everything from the tank. Trash the thermometer. Will have to research a new thermometer. Won't buy that one again.

 

Scrub everything down. Will have to research scrubbing down the rocks to rid them of algae. What to use, etc.

 

Recycle the tank. Will have to research cycling with rock that is not live rock anymore. (This is going to take forever!!!)

 

Once tank is cycled, I can start stocking it. Course I'll start with snails again. 

 

Eventually get two clownfish, an orange and a black, again. Break out the QT tank.

 

Eventually get another midas blenny. 

 

Will NEVER get a goby/shrimp combo again. It's not worth the hideous sand imbalance they create. If I get anything other than the clownfish and blenny I have no idea what it would be, so probably nothing. The tank is plenty occupied at that point anyway.

 

And of course eventually get more coral. Gonna take everything super slow again. Gonna be super picky about frags this time. Sheesh.

 

Gotta stop being lazy. Keep up on the tank. I can do it this time. I just hope it doesn't get cooked again. This hobby is truly heartbreaking sometimes. Multiple times. (When the midas blenny disappeared, you better believe I laid in bed and cried a lot. He's was my favorite. The best ever. =[ I miss him.)

[xAyanex]

So, with the restart required, my question would then be: Do I continue to use the same tank thread? Do I start a new build thread for my restart even though it's the same tank? Will I even get on NR regularly enough for it to matter? I don't know.

[WV Reefer]

1 minute ago, xAyanex said:

So, with the restart required, my question would then be: Do I continue to use the same tank thread? Do I start a new build thread for my restart even though it's the same tank? Will I even get on NR regularly enough for it to matter? I don't know.

I would use this thread and rename if necessary. 😊

 

Dont beat yourself up....... a heater failure can happen to anyone at anytime.