Junkitu's Mushroom House Tank Thread

[junkitu]

yeah, i cannot imagine the fuss you will go through within the next few months stripping your stuff down. at least sps grow slower and can be cut easier

EZ called it back in January. Leathers do grow very quickly . I wish I had known this when I started the tank. I've had to take some drastic measures to allow the slower growing coral room to live. I had taken the finger leather out a couple months ago and I decided yesterday that it was finally time to frag my yellow leather. This leather was the first coral I bought and had become the signature of my tank. The problem is that it grew so fast and started shading out its neighbors. Bummer. The good news is that several guys at work have started tanks and I've been able to find homes for frags and specimens that I take out of my tank.

 

I had to go out and buy some new stuff to make up for my loss I picked up a couple new rics and a new fish. First off, I had to add some yellow back to the tank.

 

I've been wanting to add another fish and was considering a mystery wrasse. I actually found one at my LFS. They also had a flame angel in a 20 gallon display tank and I asked them to put them together so I could check out the interaction. I had seen a flame picking on a mystery on another occassion. Unfortunately, the same thing happened this time so I decided not to risk it on a $180 fish.

 

I decided to go with something smaller that would inhabit a different part of the tank. Here's my new addition, a yellow gumdrop clown goby. Isn't he cute He likes to hang out in the branches of my candycanes but loves to hop around perching from coral to coral. Every now and then he goes for a swim in open water which is really fun to watch. So far, the clown and the angel are leaving him alone.

 

 

I also wanted to add to my ric collection. Here are some cool little yellow and blue floridas that I found.

 

 

I picked up a couple colorful yumas too. I haven't been able to take a good pic of them yet but they're located on the top right. Check out the color on my top shelf. You may notice a new frogspawn. I'm housing it temporarily for a friend while he re-aquascapes his tank.

 

 

One good thing about taking the yellow leather out is that it opened up some space on the sandbed for my derasa clam. It had been holding on precariously to a ledge. I'm glad I can put it on the sand where this species belongs. I burried a small flat stone just under the sand beneath it so it has something to attach to.

 

 

Finally, here's the FTS with the recent changes. I think it actually looks bigger I only wish my coco worm hadn't retracted just before the shot. Let me know what you think.

 

[adinsxq]

keep it up!

[Needreefunds]

Still one of the sweetest looking tanks around!! Will miss the leather though. Did you keep a frag for yourself?? Your collection is awesome, keep up the great work. And keep the great pictures coming

[Maeda]

...and I used to think softie tanks were boring.

 

Nice tank!

 

Are you photchopping the colors? I mean good job if you are, because it looks natural, but seriously are you?

[junkitu]

keep it up!

Thanks!

 

Still one of the sweetest looking tanks around!! Will miss the leather though. Did you keep a frag for yourself?? Your collection is awesome, keep up the great work. And keep the great pictures coming

Thanks for the compliment.

 

I'll miss it too but I did get a frag and will try to grow it out. It was the first coral that I bought. I loved it for the color but just had no idea that it would grow so big so fast. In hindsight, nanos should probably only have 1 maybe 2 leathers and I had 4!

 

...and I used to think softie tanks were boring.

 

Nice tank!

 

Are you photchopping the colors? I mean good job if you are, because it looks natural, but seriously are you?

Thanks Maeda. No photoshop. My Cannon S80 has an underwater mode and the colors may be a little blue but are pretty true to life.

[Maeda]

Thanks Maeda. No photoshop. My Cannon S80 has an underwater mode and the colors may be a little blue but are pretty true to life.

 

Amazing. That makes it even better!

I need an S80, but I also need to keep better care of my tank! My colors are no where near that vibrant. o.O

[junkitu]

Amazing. That makes it even better!

I need an S80, but I also need to keep better care of my tank! My colors are no where near that vibrant. o.O

I checked out your thread. Very nice rimless setup! Keep up the good work.

 

I think it's easier to find vibrant colors in soft coral and they really seem to pop under metal halide lighting. My tank has a lot of red, orange, and yellow, which seem to be harder to come by in SPS.

[BigC]

Hi,

New member here, just setting out down the Nano Reef Highway. I have printed out some of your tank shots for my personal research folder in regards to what I wish to achieve with my tank (when its up and running). I firstly must congratulate you on an excellent and informative thread. At the moment I am concerning myself with positioning the softies in respect to flowrate and lighting requirements of the individual species (usual suspects). I know you have moved some of your stock from time to time and was wondering if you came across any negitive placements in regards to flowrate and lighting rather than asthetics. How much flow (equipment) have you got going at the moment and how are you directing the flow i.e. directly over and at the corals, or deflecting of glass etc. Please advise.

I do not intend to skim initally, what are your views on this.

This is such a beautiful tank and I have so many questions I wish to ask so please excuse if I bore you with my myriad of questions in the comming months.

Regards

BigC

[junkitu]

Hi,

New member here, just setting out down the Nano Reef Highway. I have printed out some of your tank shots for my personal research folder in regards to what I wish to achieve with my tank (when its up and running). I firstly must congratulate you on an excellent and informative thread.

 

Thanks BigC and welcome to NR! This forum is excellent and you can learn a ton from its members.

 

 

At the moment I am concerning myself with positioning the softies in respect to flowrate and lighting requirements of the individual species (usual suspects). I know you have moved some of your stock from time to time and was wondering if you came across any negitive placements in regards to flowrate and lighting rather than asthetics. How much flow (equipment) have you got going at the moment and how are you directing the flow i.e. directly over and at the corals, or deflecting of glass etc. Please advise.

 

Although the softie species that I keep did well under PC, they really seem to love the 150W of metal halide lighting that I have now. As for flow, I have roughly 20-25X circulation with a MJ900 and the external return pump from my chiller on the left side of the tank opposite of the overflow. The return pump is pointed toward the front glass and the MJ900 has a hydor attachment to disperse the flow. This creates a moderate flow from left to right in my tank. The key is observing your tank to really understand the different "micro-environments" (i.e. light/flow combinations) that exist and choosing the right animals to inhabit them.

 

Here are the conditions that have worked best for some of the animals in my tank:

 

Mushrooms - low light/low to moderate flow

Florida Rics - moderate to high light/ low to moderate flow

Yumas - high light/low flow

Pulsing Xenia - high light/intermittent moderate to high flow

Leathers - low to moderate light/moderate to high flow

Zoas and Palys - moderate to high light/moderate flow

Candycanes - high light/low flow

Short Tentacle Plate - low light/moderate to high flow

Open Brain - low light/ low to moderate flow

Austrailian Duncans - high light/low to moderate flow

 

I do not intend to skim initally, what are your views on this.

 

I believe this depends on the fish that you plan to keep and what you intend to feed. Before I added my skimmer I often noticed a film on the surface of my tank. My skimmer keeps my nitrates low and my water crystal clear. I'm a big fan of running a skimmer.

 

This is such a beautiful tank and I have so many questions I wish to ask so please excuse if I bore you with my myriad of questions in the comming months.

Regards

BigC

Thanks again!

[BigC]

Well thanks junkitu for the prompt and concise reply, I have taken onboard your placement and flowrate details and hope to use them as a guideline for my venture. I'm awaiting my tank cabinet to come back from the joiners, I bought a new tank and cabinet combined and I am having the tank stained to match the existing house decor. Although it is a small tank I hope to acheive some good results and if it turns out to be as sucessful as yours in the year ahead then I shall be more than pleased.

Incidentally the tank size is only 24"x12"x18". I will be using 20kgs of cured fijian live rock, do you feel this is enough. I have no indication of what 20kgs looks like from viewing websites and how it will relate to my tank dimensions. Is it heavy or with it being porous is it quite light and will I get a lot of rock in 20kgs.

Lastly can you supply me with some details of your feeding regime for all your tanks inhabitants.

Thanks again for the inspiration.

Regards

BigC

[junkitu]

I'm not sure how much rock I have in my tank. You may want to do some searches on the site to see if there's a rule of thumb.

 

Here is my feeding schedule.

 

Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets (5 days/week)

Kent Marine Zoe (5 days/week)

Cyclopeeze (3 days/week)

DT's Phytoplankton (1 day/week)

 

If you're interested, you can read more about the specifics of my setup at: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1036056.

[BigC]

Excellent m8 many thanks

Regards

BigC

[junkitu]

Here are some new pics:

 

I finally caught a decent shot of my Yasha/Pistol pair.

 

 

Here's my Yasha getting some "sun" (a.k.a. Phoenix 14K MH).

 

 

My Coco is doing well. It appears to have successfully recovered from dropping its crown. The new crown's pink and it doesn't look like it will turn red like the last one. Oh well...

 

 

 

I've been shopping. Here are some pics of the new additions:

 

You may have noticed a new yuma in the background of the last pic above. Here is my new Sunset Yuma.

 

 

I also picked up a green, orange, and blue yuma. Sorry for the bad pic...

 

 

I'm still missing my yellow leather and I was psyched to find this Japanese Yellow Feather Duster.

 

 

I couldn't resist these unique zoas. They aren't very colorful but they have black eyes, black skirt tips, and wave in the flow of my tank.

 

 

I've definintely caught the clam bug and decided to take advantage of my MH lighting upgrade by buying a baby Maxima. I think I'm hooked!

 

Here's a shot of the 'lil fella from the front.

 

 

The color is really amazing from the top.

 

 

 

I had bought the Derasa when I was still running PC lighting because it had lower light requirements. I've decided to sell it to a buddy and plan to add a Crocea soon.

[moonlightxpress825]

dude..your tank is really freakin nice..maybe i should get a shrimp too cause my yasha is always in the back of my tank..anyways nice tank

[MarvinsReef]

liking it a lot...

 

awesome job man.. keep up the good work..

 

Marvin

[junkitu]

dude..your tank is really freakin nice..maybe i should get a shrimp too cause my yasha is always in the back of my tank..anyways nice tank

Thanks moonlight! I'm adding a bunch of stuff including another clam. Hopefully it turns out ok.

 

I bought the yasha and pistol together. It's really cool to watch them work together.

 

liking it a lot...

 

awesome job man.. keep up the good work..

 

Marvin

Glad you like it Marvin. The tank just needs some of your killer zoas to make it perfect

[c est ma]

WOW!!!!!

 

Proving once again that nothing beats softies (plus great camera skills, plus a great camera, plus lots of work & knowledge...).

 

How stunning!

 

--Diane

[junkitu]

WOW!!!!!

 

Proving once again that nothing beats softies (plus great camera skills, plus a great camera, plus lots of work & knowledge...).

 

How stunning!

 

--Diane

Thanks Diane. Softies rule!

[RB Steve]

Wow! your tank is now my new desktop pic, sweet tank.

[junkitu]

Wow! your tank is now my new desktop pic, sweet tank.

I'm flattered Steve. You're probably the 4th or 5th person to tell me that. I definitely get a kick out of knowing that my tank is sitting on other people's desktops.

[junkitu]

Here's a shot of my clown checking out the new clam bed. I'm acclimating the crocea and will be moving it up on the rockwork next week. The color on the maximas really come out when you're looking down on them so I think I'm gonna leave them on the sand.

 

[NanoDude]

First off very nice tank.

 

Second. I noticed your yellow fiji. Mine is about the same size. But I cant seem to get him to stick his "flowers" out all the way. He has lots of bumps out. Some of them even look like flowers sometimes. But thats just it, some of them. How long did it take yours to open all the way? Also what kind of flow do you have it in?

 

Every time i move mine to a differnt spot it opens more and more. Hopefully I will find the perfect spot here soon..

[junkitu]

Thanks!

I've recently fragged my yellow leather because it had outgrown my tank. Mine liked medium light and medium to strong flow. I had an mj900(my return pump) and a minijet 606 creating flow off of the front glass for it. Mine really liked these conditions and would almost always have its polyps fully extended.

HTH.

[NanoDude]

Thanks!

I've recently fragged my yellow leather because it had outgrown my tank. Mine liked medium light and medium to strong flow. I had an mj900(my return pump) and a minijet 606 creating flow off of the front glass for it. Mine really liked these conditions and would almost always have its polyps fully extended.

HTH.

 

Thanks for the info, its wierd, since I posted this yesterday I have been looking at my fiji every couple of minutes. Right now it is 8:25 am and the lights on the tank are off, but he has some of his polyps totally extended. Maybe he likes the natural sunlight that is sneaking in the window this morning. Not sure, will keep an eye on it and try to make it as happy as possible. He does shrink up at night, and then opens up during the day, but still does not totally stick his polyps out. Maybe he just needs more time to get use to surroundings. Right now it is in medium flow. Maybe I need to try some more flow on him. Will put my other power head in the tank today and see how that goes.

[icenine]

Looking great dude!

You've really gotten into clams there... they look great.