Tamberav's Red Sea Reefer Nano - macroalgae and mandarins

[yoshii]

Hmm, bottle trap?

[vlangel]

7 hours ago, Tamberav said:

That means a lot coming from you 😊

 

It is a work in progress but... what isn't in this hobby? 

 

Probably order a proper lid tonight and I need to remove more aiptasia and GSP/Paly's that came with the live rock. 

 

Keeping mixed macro is always challenging, they can be so picky about flow/lighting, nutrients, they like iron/maganese which isn't as easy to pin down like alk/ca... and are easily out competed by pest algae which always loves to grow directly on the macro choking it. You can't just be like... oh pest algae let me just spray some peroxide... oops killed my macro too 😛 Oh my one so-and-so macro is doing so well! So well it is out competing other types who start to melt.. 

Thank you for the compliment!  Yes, I hear ya about the macros.  I am finding that feeding heavy is a key.  Once you eradicate aiptasia and bubble algae, the macro algaes will out compete film and hair algae.  Having a combtooth blenny can help too and I think it would be ok with the venomous blenny.  Mine never fight but my tank is bigger.  The puffer being a carnivore will help with keeping nutrients high.  My 56g has nitrates around 30 and phosphates at 1 and I do not have any nuisance algae at all except some film algae that needs cleaned once a week.  Over the last 2 years I have built up the micro star population and I do have a substantial cuc.  I rarely test but I do still do a 10% WC once a week and I add strongium and coral-vite.  That automatically adds your trace minerals of iron, iodine, manganese and whatever else might be needed.  I just watch the macros closely and if they are fading I do a quick water change with those additives.

[Tamberav]

4 hours ago, vlangel said:

Thank you for the compliment!  Yes, I hear ya about the macros.  I am finding that feeding heavy is a key.  Once you eradicate aiptasia and bubble algae, the macro algaes will out compete film and hair algae.  Having a combtooth blenny can help too and I think it would be ok with the venomous blenny.  Mine never fight but my tank is bigger.  The puffer being a carnivore will help with keeping nutrients high.  My 56g has nitrates around 30 and phosphates at 1 and I do not have any nuisance algae at all except some film algae that needs cleaned once a week.  Over the last 2 years I have built up the micro star population and I do have a substantial cuc.  I rarely test but I do still do a 10% WC once a week and I add strongium and coral-vite.  That automatically adds your trace minerals of iron, iodine, manganese and whatever else might be needed.  I just watch the macros closely and if they are fading I do a quick water change with those additives.

Good advise....I definitely feed very heavy. Can't wait for stuff to actually grow in and get all jungle like.

 

My 25g has tons of stars so I have been tossing them in as I find them. 

[vlangel]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Good advise....I definitely feed very heavy. Can't wait for stuff to actually grow in and get all jungle like.

 

My 25g has tons of stars so I have been tossing them in as I find them. 

Tossing in stars and even a bristleworm or two will be good for the tank. 😁

[Lula_Mae]

16 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Keeping mixed macro is always challenging, they can be so picky about flow/lighting, nutrients, they like iron/maganese which isn't as easy to pin down like alk/ca... and are easily out competed by pest algae which always loves to grow directly on the macro choking it. You can't just be like... oh pest algae let me just spray some peroxide... oops killed my macro too 😛 Oh my one so-and-so macro is doing so well! So well it is out competing other types who start to melt.. 

I feel this so hard lol.

[Tamberav]

Cleaning up the scape...

 

 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Cleaning up the scape...

 

 

I like it! You got a good score for sure.

[Lula_Mae]

I'm jelly of your dragon's breath. Wish I could keep it alive, ever.

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

I'm jelly of your dragon's breath. Wish I could keep it alive, ever.

Hopfully it does okay, Dragons breath is a true PITA lol... I have had it thrive and grow well and just melt. 

 

The only macro that I lost most off was blue ochtodes. I think stuff is eating it though, probably that crab for one. Because the macro just disappeared overnight and the only surviving pieces are on the overflow where no crab can reach. 

7 hours ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

I like it! You got a good score for sure.

Thank you 🙂

[Lula_Mae]

3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Hopfully it does okay, Dragons breath is a true PITA lol... I have had it thrive and grow well and just melt. 

 

The only macro that I lost most off was blue ochtodes. I think stuff is eating it though, probably that crab for one. Because the macro just disappeared overnight and the only surviving pieces are on the overflow where no crab can reach. 

Thank you 🙂

I will probably try again with dragon's breath once the new tank is stable.  I'm a sucker for punishment lol.

[kimdawg]

That was a great score.  I like how you have the tank set up.  It looks very natural.  My contest tank is my first bare bottom and I am loving it for the clean look.

[DaveFason]

I would love to see more photos of the porcelain crab and RBTA. Great stuff!

[Tamberav]

Update of my dirty little tank 🙂

 

Lots of tiny gobies hiding atm that I will try and get pics of. If you look closely you can see the leopard puffer under the arch.

 

I also added my firefish to this tank but he is camera shy. 

 

 

 

 

I added a red and blue plating sponge to this side

 

 

 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

8 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Update of my dirty little tank 🙂

 

Lots of tiny gobies hiding atm that I will try and get pics of. If you look closely you can see the leopard puffer under the arch.

 

I also added my firefish to this tank but he is camera shy. 

 

 

 

 

I added a red and blue plating sponge to this side

 

 

 

wow that looks so good! 😀

[Tamberav]

23 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

wow that looks so good! 😀

 

On 5/10/2019 at 9:54 AM, DaveFason said:

I would love to see more photos of the porcelain crab and RBTA. Great stuff!

 

On 5/9/2019 at 11:17 PM, kimdawg said:

That was a great score.  I like how you have the tank set up.  It looks very natural.  My contest tank is my first bare bottom and I am loving it for the clean look.

 

Thank you all! It is a fun low stress tank so far with lots of odd little fish.

 

 

Plans are to add a fuge to cultivate more pods, let the tank grow in. Eventually add mandarins (I had a 29g macro-set up very successfully years ago with mandys so hoping to achieve that again). Add some gorgs to the back for height.... some feather dusters or a co-co worm. Possibly add more little fish, green banded gobies, barnacle blennies, two spot blenny are on the list. Hope to have a lot of activity and eyeballs watching me. Maybe a small flasher to add more activity to the open water column. Will just have to see how the tank progresses. 

 

 

[Tamberav]

Got some photos of some of the fish. The leopard toby, yasha goby, and a female yellow-line shrimp goby all hide when I am trying to take pics. They only come out when I am sitting across the room 😛 but the tank is new so... they are too. Maybe they will warm up eventually.

 

The tank is 'snowing' because I fed a little while ago. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shrimp gobys are tiny but the male is pretty bold. They are yellow striped with big blue googly eyes and a blue shimmer. The shimmer is very hard to phonograph... this is a pic I took years ago when I had one before and managed to catch the colors using a DLSR camera. 

 

[748S911]

This tank is looking amazing. Great work!

[Tamberav]

Pic of a toadstool that came with the tank. It's loving life. 

 

I found some hidden clove polyps growing off the rock. It's so awesome to find hidden things. Going to frag it and move it to a better spot as it is pretty shaded.

 

 

 

 

[kimdawg]

I want a toadstool, I had one in my 125 before we moved and I sold the tank and all.  I can not find them anywhere around here for sale.

[Tamberav]

15 minutes ago, kimdawg said:

I want a toadstool, I had one in my 125 before we moved and I sold the tank and all.  I can not find them anywhere around here for sale.

I have noticed that too. I never see toads...or green nepthea at LFS. I am guessing it is because of the bans or some such? 

 

I was pretty happy to get this one since I have never seen a long polyp toad for sale here.

 

I can get plenty of acros ez. Such common corals them acros...pfft. Walt Disney coming out the ears...

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

Here is a side shot of all three. I got the yellow fiji from someone taking down their tank. It was brown and rotting but all healed up now!

 

The green came from a local reefer and it drops babies like crazy.

 

 

[kimdawg]

If you every decide to sell babies from them let me know the price.  I would love to have one of each of them.

[Tamberav]

1 minute ago, kimdawg said:

If you every decide to sell babies from them let me know the price.  I would love to have one of each of them.

Where you located? I am sure I will have lots of softies at some point. They grow fast after all. Easy to ship too 🙂

[kimdawg]

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

Where you located? I am sure I will have lots of softies at some point. They grow fast after all. Easy to ship too 🙂

I live at Tybee Island, GA.  I would love to get some of the toadstools, mushies, and anything else that is an easy coral.  I also love zoas.  I just can't grow sticks because I don't like them enough to try to grow them.

[Tamberav]

20 hours ago, kimdawg said:

I live at Tybee Island, GA.  I would love to get some of the toadstools, mushies, and anything else that is an easy coral.  I also love zoas.  I just can't grow sticks because I don't like them enough to try to grow them.

I hear ya...I have a stick tank...I like it but if I could only have one tank...it would not be sticks.