Pili's 40g Breeder

[Pili4444]

Hey everyone.

Well after about 10 hours total of driving and about $400 spent i'm back. Dr. Macs is amazing. They had hundreds of SPS frags, a dozen clams and anemones, and just about anything else. I definitely recomend making the trip to anyone that is within driving distance.

 

I got about 40lbs of LR, some ricordia, another frogspawn i'm a sucker for frogspawn:P ), and my brother got some zoos and bright green favites.

 

I will take some pics tomorrow once the tank clears a little.

[Chronicles]

Nice, can't wait for pics . BTW, the shaking the other clown did was a submissive thing, basicly letting the other clown know it's the boss. The shaker one will become the male, and your other clown will get bigger and becoeme the female. You'll notice later on, the female will charge the male, and the male will spazm and all will be fine.

[Pili4444]

Here are the pics.

 

Full tank shot (i still cant take a good one). The rock on the left is 30lbs alone.

 

Left side

 

Right side

 

Green Rics

 

Orange Rics

 

My brothers Favites (or favia?)

 

And second frogspawn

 

I also got some nassarius(sp?) snails, an emerald crab, 2 more turbos, and a few more hermits.

[Pili4444]

I still need to work on the aquascaping a little but I pretty much like it the way it is.

[Withers]

Looking good! I really like those ric's, I still need to find some colorful ones for my tank.

[Travis]

Looks great Pili. How many lb of LR do you have in total?

[Pili4444]

About 45lbs in the main tank and about 6~7 lbs of rubble in the fuge. I was lucky that i didnt have to cycle any of it seperate. It was in the holding vats for a few weeks and i brought it home very moist and it didnt smell at all when i took it out of the box.

 

So far there has been no problems except for my inability to keep shrimp alive. My first pepperment lived for about 3 months before randomly dieing, a skunk cleaner that i got a few months ago died within an hour of being in my nano cube, and the pepperment that i just got died last night. I have no idea why.

 

I also just noticed that one of the green rics and one of the orange rics have second mouths formed so they are going to split soon. So i basically got 2 rics for free.

[Angel Higuera]

Pili...nice tank.

 

What is that barrel-like clear plastic thing u have attached to the PVC in your fuge and what does it do? Check valve?

 

I have a 40G too, check out my thread. I'll post new pics tomarrow when I have time. I like your tank man.

 

-Angel

[Pili4444]

Yes, that is the check valve.

 

Nice tank, I can't wait for more pics.

[Pili4444]

The diatoms have started to spread on the sand. Hopefully they wont be like in my nano cube where they didnt go away for 3 months. But we will see.

 

I also would like some suggestions on some more things to get to beef up my clean up crew. I know i dont have enough right now.

 

Current Clean up crew:

-6 cerith snails (1 in fuge)

-3 trochus snails

-3 turbos snails

-6 small nassarius snails

-4 scarlet hermit crabs

-1 emerald crab

 

I want to get some sort of shrimp but i just cant keep them alive (have had 3 already, 2 that died in my nano cube and a pepperment tha i got at dr. macs which died that night)

[DvSKiN]

ooo!! That's coming along nicely!! I love the rock work ur doing, it looks great w/ all the nooks and crannies..

 

Question, w/ the single MH, do u notice and types of "shadowed" areas?? I was originally going to go w/ a single MH on ym 40 breeder, but decided to do dual 175's instead of the single 250..

 

Also, on the rockwork, I found it best to push it up agains the back, and wrap it around the sides of the tank.. It gives u more depth, and a larger sandbed area... But ur tank is coming along nicely, and I cant wait to see it mature

 

Here's a pic of my 40 breeder, w/ the rock the way I described..

 

P.S. not trying to steal ur thread, just throwing some suggestions out there, that's all

 

 

Chad

[Kogut]

I'd say just add a couple astrea snails, man. You might consider a few margarita snails, too. I have about 4 or 5 that I bought when I first got my crew. Now, every few weeks, they gather in the back of the tank and shoot their "stuff" into the water column. Free food for my corals, and TONS of baby snails for me!

Good luck w/ the rics. They'll probably take a LONG time to actually split completely off. When they do get close to doing it, I'd say grab a knife and slice between the 2 mouths, all the way through, to the rock. Then they'll heal back up as 2 pieces.

[Pili4444]

DvSKiN-

Nice tank, I see what you mean about pushing all the rocks against the back wall. The only area where i do notice a large shadow is on the left part big rock (partly because the pendent is a little off center) but it is spread out pretty well for the most part. I also like how i'm still able to keep some of the lower light corals out in the open but toward the sides, not under a ledge or something like that.

 

Kogut- Some astrea snails would probebly be good and i'll probebly get some more nassarius snails also. I think one of the rics is pretty close to splitting so i think that i will just let it do its thing.

[BJK2]

Kogut- I just read in TFH that the margarita snails don't do well in warmer water, and don't live long. How long have you had yours? Mine only lived like 3 monthes, but my Peppermint Shrimp was eating them for a snack.

[Sushi]

Originally posted by Pili4444

My brothers Favites (or favia?)

to tell you the truth, that looks "vaguely" similar to an acanthastrea lordhowensis (but i'm not certain)... in fact, those feeders up top almost makes it certain it is one. if it is, you have a golden nugget sitting in your tank, that piece could easily fetch ~$2500+ (maybe even $3000) with so many polyps. but like i said, i'm not "sure" ... can you get more pictures of it? does it eat healthily, and how big are the polyps?

 

(polyp size on acan lords are usually fairly large, roughly 1'' in diameter... they will show feeders during the night and eat voraciously.)

[Pili4444]

REALLY???? Now that i think about it it kinda does. The only thing is that the polyps are only about 1/2 inch. I have only fed it once because i was assuming it was a favia which i read doesnt really need any food. I am going to start a new thread with some more quick pics that i just took.

[badmatt]

yes that looks very much like an acan to me also.

[Cesar]

It does look like an Acan but I think it's a Favia dude. I think they also call it Moon Rock. If it is an Acan, dude you guys scored.

[Pili4444]

Its been 2 weeks since i added everything from dr. macs. Not much has changed execept for moving a few corals around and i finally got ordered a float switch. I just set up the float switch from califoniareefs and i have to say that the craftsmenship is very good and it works very well.

 

Here are some pics:

 

Full tank shot:

 

Left Side:

 

Right Side:

 

 

These are my brothers zoos that i might just have to frag some for myself:

 

Float Switch:

 

My next project is to build a canopy so to prevent fish from jumping and to concentrate the light more into the tank.

[Pili4444]

oh, and i'm saving that whole top part of the big rock for SPS.

[Travis]

Lookin' good Pili

[Pili4444]

I added a little bit more LR to right side to even it out a little and i got some nice zoo frags also. Not much has changed otherwise.

 

I am looking for another fish also. Any suggestions on some that wont jump (i havent gotten around to getting a cover yet)?

I would love to get a copperbanded butterfly but i am not sure if it will get to big. I dont think that i would want to give it back if it did.

 

Here are some pics:

 

Eagle Eyes

[imafishboy]

i hope ya see the aiptasia? tube anenome? in that zoo colony handle it, quick!

[imafishboy]

coming long nicely btw.

[Kogut]

I don't see aptasia... :| Which pic?

 

Tank looks good, btw. Those frags should grow out quite nicely for you.

 

I'd stay away from a copperbanded... : They can get too big and do need the swimming room... Why not get an orchid dottyback? It's my next fish. My 6-line is on its way here via FedEx and should be arriving tomorrow. Hmmm. I would've suggested a pygmy angel, but mine jumped a week ago. Ever consider a pair of true percs? A pair would look nice in there and would probably host your leather and frogspawn. What else were you considering besides the butterfly?