180 Gallon Reef Tank build!

[ReefEnabler]

awesome man! what a great shot from slightly lower looking up at the tank.

 

[Itaysworld]

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Ryan!
Also thanks to you Herpboyben!



Guys... before I start freaking out... wanted to post a picture and get a few answers from more experienced eyes.

I was sitting in front of the tank enjoying the view and all of a sudden my heart sunk with fear of this being ich. I detected some whitish spots on the flame fin tang, close to his eye.

Is this what I fear? Or could it be another thing? A lesion perhaps, a scrape?

Opinions? Advice?

(please not the bottom coloration is normal - it's just blurred in the picture)

Thank you

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Mmmm How long has he been in there? Doesn't really look like ich to me. I think time will tell on this one. I wouldn't worry too much. Keep us posted.

I love your rock work BTW.

 

[Itaysworld]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13189233#post13189233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thechad21
Mmmm How long has he been in there? Doesn't really look like ich to me. I think time will tell on this one. I wouldn't worry too much. Keep us posted.

I love your rock work BTW.

The Tang's been in the tank for 2 weeks. Since August 7. He's still behaving normally. Eating and swimming with the rabbit fish - but its hard for me to tell if the spots have moved/spread/disappeared. I will check him tonight, but from what I can see via the webcam, he seems to be behaving normally.

Thanks for the comment on the rock work!! I am extremely pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to fill it with SPS!!! (and some softies, but mostly SPS)

The hair algae is definitely losing the battle to the fish! YAY!

Regards.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Post a pic if you can tonight. I don't think it's ich, but we'll have to compare pics after some time has passed. If it is ich, it's a mild case at this point.

 

[hulley]

Hey Itay, The tank is looking great! Glad to hear the algae is losing the battle. Its hard to tell if its ich, keep an eye on it. If it is ich then its too late and its already in the display and you dont want to hear what it takes to get rid of it! Real pain in the butt! I like the lighting schedule, does it keep the water temps in check?

 

[Itaysworld]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13193538#post13193538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hulley
Hey Itay, The tank is looking great! Glad to hear the algae is losing the battle. Its hard to tell if its ich, keep an eye on it. If it is ich then its too late and its already in the display and you dont want to hear what it takes to get rid of it! Real pain in the butt! I like the lighting schedule, does it keep the water temps in check?

Hey Hulley! Good to hear from you again. Thank you for the comments!


Believe me - I've done my research, in my "hypochondriac frenzy" last night. YIKES!

The good news is that if it is indeed ich, I should be able to remove the 2 fish and let the parasite starve once it goes through the cycle and reaches the stage where it needs to find a host fish and have none to find...

As soon as I get home I'll take a look at the tang and see how he looks. Now if the spots are worse I'll know, but if they are the same or gone it could also be a different stage already...

Is there a way to know for sure?

Thanks, Itay.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Rest assured, we'll know by the pics you post. Calm down though! It's not as big of a deal as some make it out to be. I've found that ich rears it's ugly head most often in newer systems. It is a good thing you have only two fish in there, although I hate to think what it will take to catch those guys, you may lose some of your rock work. Might want to look into setting up a quaranteen tank. It would go a long way in helping you avoid headaches like this in the future.

 

[Itaysworld]

Thanks Chad - I'm trying to remain calm

I really hope it doesn't have to come down to moving rocks around to get him out if it is indeed ich.

As far as quarantine goes, I am planning to eventually get one, but for the time being I am relying on my LFS. The guy there has a system set up in hyposalinity where the fish that come in are quarantined and he assures me that they come out of there with no ich or velvet - both the tang and the rabbit fish were in there for quite some time.

As far as updated pictures, the tang was making it as hard as possible to snap good shots today. I got great pictures of everything BUT the tang. Here is the best I could do.

Not sure what to make of it. Please guys, let me know if this is telling. Thanks in advance.

 

[Itaysworld]

... while the tang was making it difficult to take good pictures of him, the rest of the crew seemed to come out and pose. Specially the Rabbit Fish. He follows me around, if I move to one end of the tank, he comes right over to hang out and show off.

Here are a couple of pics from tonight:

One of the Sally Light Foot Crabs

The Foxface Rabbit Fish having a snack

A close up of the same shot. I love this guy!

The Monti Cap is showing tremendous growth. I think it must be liking the 20,000K lights! This is a side by side from today and July 27th

Here is a very large close up

And lastly, I'm not having much luck with good photos of the acro frag without using a flash. I'm either over or underexposing it, so here's flash illuminated shot. Not my favorite, but worth sharing

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I don't think it's ich. He probably scratched himself on the rock. If it gets worse though than it may be ich. But to me it looks better than it did yesterday. Pretty sure those are scratches. May have a little bacterial infection going on but I wouldn't worry about it.

I wouldn't rely on your LFS. He may be an honest guy but in the end, you really have no idea what's going on in his store.

 

[Itaysworld]

More to take pictures of!

More to take pictures of!

The abrasion on the tang seems to be doing better, and while I haven't snapped a picture of him today, I'm pretty confident that its just a scrape, though will continue to monitor its progress just to be certain. My LFS guy, Sean, came over today and looked at the tang and was not concerned nor inclined to believe it was ich, and that was very good to hear.

Another good piece of news is that the tang and rabbit fish, snais and crabs have practically eliminated all of the hair algae. Its great!


Lastly, in addition to a water change today, I also added a few more goodies to the tank!

Today I got a RBT anemone, a frog spawn LPS, 2 coral frags - a superman, and some sort of monti (name escapes me) ... and a pair of black clown fish!

I was determined to stare at the aquarium up until the clown fish discovered the anemone, but not only did they not do so prior to the actinics shutting off and moonlight LEDs coming on, but also the anemone is on the move, trying to find a spot it likes.

Here are some pictures from tonight. Not great quality.

Really bad frag pictures:

And finally a close up of a big turbo snail on cruising on the glass

Hoping for better shots tomorrow.

Best, Itay.

 

[Chilipepr]

Itay.. been folowing along for a while now... I plan on starting a tank (somewhere between 125 and 180) in the near future and yours is giving me somethings to look forward to and to watch out for ... thanks!

 

[Itaysworld]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13204377#post13204377 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chilipepr
Itay.. been folowing along for a while now... I plan on starting a tank (somewhere between 125 and 180) in the near future and yours is giving me somethings to look forward to and to watch out for ... thanks!

Chilipepr - thank you! I'm very happy to hear my (short) experience is helping you with do's and perhaps even more importantly some don'ts

Setting up a reef tank and watching it evolve is extremely gratifying. I refuse to call it a hobby. Its more like a pet, actually not one, but rather a whole ecosystem.

My wife is starting to make fish gestures to call my attention and mock the fact that I'm a wee bit obsessed with watching my tank and cleaning and observing the corals and invertebrates. Its quite funny

I look forward to seeing your build thread. My recommendation if you are debating between 125 and 180... contrary to popular belief, and specially when it comes to your aquarium SIZE DOES MATTER! So unless its a logistical reason (space to small, too much weight, etc.) I would say go with the 180, you won't regret it!

If its a financial decision, that's a different story, though I can't imagine the setup for a 125 to be that much cheaper than a 180.

Best of luck and I stay in touch!

 

[Itaysworld]

The RBTA is on the move!

I posted a thread on the Clownfish and Anemone forum too see if I can get any pointers... Its a waiting game for now. Last night after lights out, it shoved itself deep in the rock work. Hopefully it will decide to come out in a few days and not make me tear down 1/3 of my aquascaping to rescue it.

You can baaaaaaarely make out one of the bubbles here:

Here's a bigger shot for overall reference of its location:

The poor clownfish are yet to find it, and in its current location, that won't happen.

 

[Itaysworld]

Hair Algae update!!

Hair Algae update!!

Well guys, I didn't think I'll be celebrating this victory quite this rapidly... but THE HAIR ALGAE IS GONE! There is none whatsoever left in the display tank! The Rabbit Fish and Tang have done an outstanding job, together with the snails and crabs of polishing the rocks, substrate and walls clean.

I'm now worried that the snails won't get enough to eat

I still have some HA in one of the overflows (the other a turbo snail crawled into and cleaned it up, too) and in the refugium but it so nice to see it totally eradicated from the display!!

In other good news, the white spots on the tang have disappeared and from the look of it, it seems like he must have scraped himself on a rock because you can see how it healed.


Lastly, the anemone has decided to dig itself even deeper into the rock work, and its looking more and more like I'm going to have to perform a rescue operation.

That's it for now! Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Glad to hear I was right about your Tang!

I'd give your anemone a couple more days. They usually go hide like that when they're stressed. He'll come out in due time. Moving him would probably only stress him out even more.

 

[Galleri3090]

Hi Italy,

What a fantastic journey yours has been! I'm 2 weeks away from recieving my 8 foot (300G) tank. So exciting. Your thread has been really relative to what im doing at the moment. Thanks so much for your updates, I was telling my wife about you this morning! (That's when you know your addicted to reefing). She's italian too, so i can understand your attention to detail and passion. Will be following your journey all the way. Well done.

 

[Itaysworld]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13215261#post13215261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Galleri3090
Hi Italy,

What a fantastic journey yours has been! I'm 2 weeks away from recieving my 8 foot (300G) tank. So exciting. Your thread has been really relative to what im doing at the moment. Thanks so much for your updates, I was telling my wife about you this morning! (That's when you know your addicted to reefing). She's italian too, so i can understand your attention to detail and passion. Will be following your journey all the way. Well done.

Galleri - thank you so much for your comments. I laugh because my name is Itay, not Italy, but I do share the attributes that you were describing. Both passion and attention to detail.

My name is pronounced e-tie (like e-mail, but with a tie )

I am a perfectionist at heart, and this project has been quite a ride so far, and its just began!

I am very happy that my experience has been helpful to you! Be sure to start a thread for your 300 gallon tank! Wow 8 feet - it will be great! Start a thread, not only to document and describe what you do for others to use, but also for you to then come back and review once you've forgotten or moved past some of the first and most trying experiences. Its stuff you will probably remember little of once your tank is set up and all is up and running.

My wife makes fun of the time I spend starring at the tank, but the truth is that now that its beginning to be full(er) of life, she's really enjoying it too. She also enjoys to see me more relaxed and enjoying it, rather than stressed or upset with it. I had some of that with the initial plumbing and liverock, cycling, but its normal.

Thanks for reading my thread and I hope to continue keeping you interested!

 

[Galleri3090]

Itay, so sorry!. That's what happens when your reading forums instead of sleeping!

I must say you do remind me allot of the italians though!. If i can match your enthusiasum, passion and stomach (for a bad smell) my setup is going to look just fine.

Look forward to more updates.