RedCrow's AIO 4.5 Gallon

[Tired]

I have enough live rock that the tank only holds about 3 gallons of water, and I'm trying to find a way to involve a chaeto minifuge in the system- preferably one that won't encourage my already plentiful amphipods to multiply even more. Plus some decorative macros in the display. I've always been a fan of aquariums that partially use up the various wastes, and I like the visual diversity. The only filtration I have is some floss to catch the worst of the gunk, and I keep meaning to put a spoonful of activated charcoal in just in case anything weird gets in there.

 

Good to know, thanks. There sure is a lot of personality difference with these guys- I've seen ones that are out and building in a store full of customers, and ones that don't even come out for food. 

 

Do yours eat copepods, or appear to be? I still can't figure out if my trimma goby is eating copepods- he's definitely snapping at what looks like nothing, and I assume it's for a reason. I just can't tell from 5 feet away if he's after a copepod or not. 

[RedCrow]

They’re definitely eating copepods and amphipods. I’d guess that your trimma isn’t making much of an impact because he’s so small. 
 I’ve git a lot of pods still; if I turn off the pump for even a few minutes they come out and craw all over the glass. 
 I say go for it! They’re a lot of fun who try a pistol shrimp too. The fish and the shrimp all get along great in my tank 

[Tired]

I've had the trimma for nearly 3 months, and I haven't fed him once. I feed the tank, the amphipods eat and multiply, and he eats the pods. It's great- I only have to feed once a week, and he stays fat and happy. I'd like to be able to keep the same thing going with a shrimpgoby, so I don't have to worry about them going hungry if I miss a day. That's another thing I like, fish that are fed entirely by critters growing in your tank. 

 

I already have a candycane pistol on my list. Such an amazing animal. Not only is it a nearly-blind architect that lines the insides of its tunnels with custom-cut bits of shell, not only is it a symbiotic shrimp that can read the body language of animals entirely unlike it, but it uses cavitation bubbles to stun prey and scare predators. They are, in my opinion, one of the most interesting animals you can (reasonably) keep as a pet, and yet the whole thing is only about an inch long. They can create temperatures up to 4000C, for the slightest fraction of a second, with a weapon smaller than a pencil eraser. Noisy, too! It's like if someone showed you a tiny pistol on their keychain, then fired it, and it was as loud as a real pistol and shot an actual bullet.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14312-0

[RedCrow]

I feed mine as much as I do because I want them to spawn 😅. I could probably feed them once a week and they’d be just fine. So I think you’d be able to continue your regiment: just give a little extra to the goby directly when you feed the tank once a week 

[RedCrow]

The gobies are very slowly gaining confidence. Both Will come out for food now, and the female will perch right outside the burrow if there's not a lot of movement around the tank. She's actually sitting out as I type this!

[Rehype]

Really Love this tank. Great job. How often are you doing water changes to keep the SPS happy or are you dosing manually?

[RedCrow]

On 5/22/2020 at 4:40 PM, Rehype said:

Really Love this tank. Great job. How often are you doing water changes to keep the SPS happy or are you dosing manually?

Thanks! Just water changes. tbh I could do a better job keeping up with them than I do, but they're doing alright with slow, steady growth

[RedCrow]

The boss is out today, so I have time to sit at my desk and write an update 😅

 

First up, the SPS are growing steadily, albeit slowly. Their colors are looking much better after a couple months under the A80

 

Fighting a dino bloom right now, thankfully its largely contained to the sand so it isn't effecting any coral

 

The gobies appear to have gotten a divorce 😔. The female no longer lets the male live in the burrow. He constantly tries to swim in, but she chases him out almost immediately. The shrimp gets along with both of them, so the dispute is between only the two fish.

 

This is the the female's response every time she sees the male

The male is getting beat up a bit, but he still continues to antagonize her

 

I built him a little apartment away from the main burrow so he has a safe space away from her; he spends most of his time there now. He still tries to return to the main burrow every 20 minutes or so though

 

These accommodations seem to be working okay right now, though if things escalate too far, I'll rehome the male to my reef jar. I'd like to keep them together though, as there's still a chance they could work it out, whereas if I separate them they'll never pair up again.

 

[Starfishie99]

On 2/28/2020 at 7:52 AM, RedCrow said:

I've been dosing Blue Vet Flux RX for the last 12 days to get rid of bryopsis, and I've gotta say, this stuff works wonders! Most of the bryopsis is gone, and that which remains is wilting away.

i absolutely love this set up, at first i was on the fence about the single rock look but now i’m in love and i want one! it really displays the coral nicely

[RedCrow]

17 hours ago, Starfishie99 said:

i absolutely love this set up, at first i was on the fence about the single rock look but now i’m in love and i want one! it really displays the coral nicely

The benefit to a single rock is that it can’t collapse, especially with burrowing animals.