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Dawn's 56 gallon natural nutrient reef.


vlangel

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PROGESSION PHOTOS:

FTS May 2019

May FTS 2019

46771750474_11cd5d733b.jpgMarch 30, 2019 FTS, (with new tier added to front right)

March FTS

March 2019 FTS

2019-01-23_11-02-50

January 2019 FTS

2018-11-29_04-59-36

November 2018 FTS

 

HISTORY OF THIS AQUARIUM:

This 56 gallon column aquarium was the former seahorse tank set up in Oct.  3, 2016. 

The finished product and transfer done.

I added sand to the bb on Jan 25, 2018 and created a rock retaining wall (with the live rock in the tank) holding back a DSB plateau.

 

2018-01-26_02-52-21

I later added fish but two of the ponies got skin infections so I moved them out and began this new thread as a macro algae, fish, reef tank.

The original shrimp chalet coral rock has been moved from the CCC jar into the 5.5 AIO, into the 10g QT and now into the 56g column tank.  Talk about an upgrade!  I decided that with so much rock, its not really a chalet anymore.  Its perfect for fish who like hidey holes because there are a lot of secret places.  That is good because I hope to have a lot of fish.  This tank is side by side with the newly set up 30g XH seahorse tank.

2018-11-29_04-59-13

End of November 2018, 56g fish and 30g seahorse display.

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JOURNAL BEGINNING:

 

Blennies are absolutely darling fish.  I often see the linear blenny spitting sand out of his barnacle hole.  When I dump food in the tank I can see the barnacle blenny dart out of its hole, grab food and like lightening dart back in its hole.  There are 2 barnacle blennies and because they are so small I could probably have 3 or 4 more.  There are 2 yellow head striped blennies, and 2 bangaii cardinal fish.  Everyone is adjusting well.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, vlangel said:

This 3 minute video will give you a feel for this tank.  Blennies are absolutely darling fish.  You can see the linear blenny spitting sand out of his barnacle hole.  Below the linear blenny to the right is one of the barnacle blennies.  If you watch carefully at the end when I dump food in the tank you can see the barnacle blenny dart out of its hole, grab food and like lightening dart back in its hole.  There are 2 barnacle blennies and because they are so small, they may be permanent residents.  There are 2 yellow head striped blennies, and 2 bangaii cardinal fish.  Everyone is adjusting well.

 

 

It’s soooo pretty Dawn!!! 😃

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44 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

It’s soooo pretty Dawn!!! 😃

Thanks WV.  I love setting up a new tank and being able to have that immediate mature look because the coral on the rockwork from the shrimp chalet have been growing almost a year now.  It was getting tricky taking the rockwork out of the 5.5 AIO when I did WCs because the coral had grown so much.  It was probably time to go bigger.

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11 hours ago, seabass said:

Wow, looks like you've been planning this for quite some time.  Gorgeous!

Actually this was a bit of a spontaneous move.  A couple of days ago  I was wondering how I was ever going to get the barnacle blennies out of QT.  I decided that with them being so little that they could live in the 10 gallon indefinitely but I did not want 3 tanks.  Thats when I came up with moving the shrimp chalet into the QT.  Its a win win for everyone.  I still have only 2 tanks and the QT is nice looking.  The fish have more rock and hiding places and will be monitored more intently since they are next to the seahorse tank.  And as the time gets closer to move the fish from QT to the seahorse DT, I can just syphon water from the seahorse tank into the QT to acclimate them.  It just seemed like a perfect solution.

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I had my 1st mishap with the DT/QT.  I was feeding mysis to the coral and one of the striped blennies freaked out and jumped into my compartment with the rio pump and rubble rock.  To get it out I had to take the HOB skimmer off.  I was trying to be careful but I dripped water on a power strip and tripped the gfci 😬.  So then I needed to unplug everything, get my blow dryer and dry the power strip and plugs off.  I also had to empty everything out of the back compartment to catch the blenny.  It was a 30 to 40 minute deal to get things back to normal.  The good thing about it was I figured a way to get the skimmer intake and output into the display portion where it is needed the most imo.

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I moved all the fish except the barnacle blennies into the 56g display.  The barnacle blennies seem more comfortable with the shrimp chalet QT all to themselves.  Enjoy the new video.  It will make you want barnacle blennies.

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Yep! Want! (I always wanted them (well, since setting up the IM14), but in trying to keep with the Florida/Caribbean biotope and they come from Mexico and California, I couldn't/wouldn't.).But I may have to divert. Toooo cute.

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I have decided to name the Barnacle blennies Barney and Betty.  Maybe the names in this tank will have a Flintstone theme. 😆

Even with the lights off I could see one of the blennies swimming around in the open.  They are much bolder that now that the other fish are gone.

 

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16 hours ago, vlangel said:

 

I moved all the fish except the barnacle blennies into the seahorse display.  The barnacle blennies seem more comfortable with the shrimp chalet QT all to themselves.  Enjoy the new video.  It will make you want barnacle blennies.

They are soooo cute and the tank looks amazing!

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Nicely done! 

 

I've kept the Panamic Barnacle Blenny (aka Hancock's Barnacle Blenny) on two occasions and they are a really neat and fun fish in a small nano tank.  However, mine didn't live more than about 3-6 months before they ultimately end up spinning in circles on the sand bed before they pass on.  I'm curious to see how they do for you over the long term.

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7 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

Nicely done! 

 

I've kept the Panamic Barnacle Blenny (aka Hancock's Barnacle Blenny) on two occasions and they are a really neat and fun fish in a small nano tank.  However, mine didn't live more than about 3-6 months before they ultimately end up spinning in circles on the sand bed before they pass on.  I'm curious to see how they do for you over the long term.

O dear, had I known that I might have passed on them. I would trust your experiences to be a good standard to go by.  If you had trouble I doubt that I will fare any better.  Nothing to do now but try to give them the best nutrition possible and provide a healthy tank for them.

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3 hours ago, vlangel said:

O dear, had I known that I might have passed on them. I would trust your experiences to be a good standard to go by.  If you had trouble I doubt that I will fare any better.  Nothing to do now but try to give them the best nutrition possible and provide a healthy tank for them.

Hope they last longer for you.

 

There is a better choice, the 'Eyebrow Barnacle Blenny' (Ekemblemaria mysersi).  They grow a bit bigger at up to 3" max, but otherwise they have similar habits.  The two I have have been very robust and in excellent health since I go them over a year ago and who can resist those little doohickies over they eyes  😊

 

 

 

Eye Brow Barnacle Blennies_100317.jpg

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9 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

"The Barnacle Blenny fish breed is one of the shortest surviving fish varieties in its family, with an average life span that ranges from 1.5 years to 2 years."

Bummer, but whenever I buy smaller fish I usually do not expect their lifespans to be as long.  I just love how they pop their heads out of holes.  They remind me of the arcade game 'bop the gopher ' only without the bopping of course! 😅

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14 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

They are so cute! Tank looks great. Hope the fishies do well for you. 

Thanks Lula.  I like the way tank looks too.  I hope I can keep it looking as good.  Last night I took the skimmer off.  With just the 2 little barnacle blennies I figured that WCs will do the job and I don't want to starve the coral.  They have been growing and the colors are the best I have ever had with coral so I do not want to change things up.

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10 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

Hope they last longer for you.

 

There is a better choice, the 'Eyebrow Barnacle Blenny' (Ekemblemaria mysersi).  They grow a bit bigger at up to 3" max, but otherwise they have similar habits.  The two I have have been very robust and in excellent health since I go them over a year ago and who can resist those little doohickies over they eyes  😊

 

 

 

Eye Brow Barnacle Blennies_100317.jpg

Ha ha, you are right, those doohickeys above its eyes are irresistable!  I will definitely keep those in mind.  Where did you get them?

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4 hours ago, vlangel said:

Ha ha, you are right, those doohickeys above its eyes are irresistable!  I will definitely keep those in mind.  Where did you get them?

These two were sent to me in error by LiveAquaria (instead of two Panamic Barnacle Blennies, I received just one plus these two Eyebrow Barnacle Blennies).  On rare occasions screw-ups turn out for the better  😊

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For the last day and a half I was only seeing 1 barnacle blenny.  After reading nano sapiens post I figured that I killed one of them already.  Today I decided to investigate.  The poor little guy was behind the screen in my make shift compartment.  With only the 2 blennies I really do not need a compartment so the tank is wide open with only a powerhead now.  I am sure he appreciated a good meal.

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