Christmas at Easter

[dklaue]

Sorry for the long absence, it has been a busy year, but my tank is still going strong. Here are some answers to comments and an update on how my tank is doing.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9711107#post9711107 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Seehag
Look's good was the anenome extra? I will check outthe page..

No, everything in the pictures above were generously provided by Richard.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10687032#post10687032 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jakkalofv
that looks awesome, but I should ask, did you buy just the package and get a bunch of thrown in extras? or did you order some of those other things as well (sponges, anemones, etc)?

I bought a 25g package and that is everything you see in my tank, it was all provided by Richard and included in the original package price, he threw in lots of extras including the anemones and sponges. In the upper pictures there is nothing that was not included in the package. In the below pictures it is still all the same package except the addition of a few fish.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10701831#post10701831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tangafish
that is an awesome looking tank, you did a great job on the layout. how are all of your sponges doing? what is that in the back on the far left side, is that a hugeeee gongorian or what..richard's generosity is always a pleasant and unexpected surprise..usually it takes years of collecting different corals and plants at an HUGE expense to have a tank that looks that good. that is the amazing thing about the tbs you get an instant reef.. great thread dklaue & awesome pics! what kind of camera are you using, i cant get a decent close up with mine. I just discovered a green mantis in my tank but fortunately he is in a quarantine tank so not running amuck in my reef, so far havent had any luck catching him..pretty sad that a 1" shrimp can outwit me..lol. Keep us posted!

Thank you
I still have about 2/3 of my sponges. I lost my red tree sponge about 6 months ago. It got caught in a red algae growth that i didn't notice which clogged it up I guess. It withered and started to disintegrate soon after no matter what I tried. Other sponges on rocks that were exposed to direct light seems to slowly shrink without dieing, then disappeared. The other sponges that were not in direct light (mostly at the base of rocks near the sand line or on the bottom of rocks) still seem to thrive and some have actually grown double their original size. I even have one that keeps expanding and tends to cement rocks together if they sit next to each other where it is. The camera i use is a Kodak Easyshare C743. Nothing fancy or expensive. I put it on a tripod to prevent shaking, and I use the close up option for pictures 24" or closer.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11452780#post11452780 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vetdog
What kind of lighting are you using?

I have a 24" 2x65W Coralife Aqualight Power Compact Retro Kit 1x Actinic and 1x 10,000K

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11838891#post11838891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Radar1
these threads make me want to start a TBS tank. Good luck with a clown hosting the Condi as I have never heard of a clown hosting one, but they are colorful and nice to look at.

I had read that a clown might host a condi but not a sure thing. Turns out mine didn't, and I later lost my condi when he decided he wanted to try and be friendly with my powerhead

 

[dklaue]

Update:

As I mentioned while answering the questions, my tank is still 100% "The Package" with the exception of the fish which include 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, a Bi-color Blenny, and a Six line wrasse. I have also added a few extra Nassarius Snail due to attrition.

Maintenance:
I do 30% water changes about once every 2 months.

The losses:
* The Goby that Richard included as an extra decided to go carpet surfing.
* The Condi decided to play with my powerhead, but the powerhead didn't want to be friendly.
* The red tree sponge lost to a red algae bloom, and other sponges lost due to direct exposure to lights.
* The small purple gorgonian developed white moldy looking spots soon after I got it, and after reading a post about it from another package owner I tried to trim the spots off with scissors but it never fully recovered.
* The various Caulerpa Algae just wouldn't stop growing and every couple weeks would take over the tank. One day I decided to remove it for a more ascetic look since it would hide everything in the tank and always was difficult to remove without causing rocks to fall. I now sort of regret doing it and wish I would have just been more diligent in trimming it.
* I lost my decorator crab and both peppermint shrimp. They just disappeared. I had a large gorilla crab still in the tank that was decimating my snail population and hermit crabs if they got near and figured he found them as a nice main course


The Successes:
* The brown gorgonian is huge and growing still. I plan to trim it and place half of it in a new tank I am planning.
* The green flower anemone is thriving and has grown about 2 inches in girth and is a nice health shade of green.
* The green ricordia has flourished and when it stretches fully open is about 5-6” across.
* Many cup corals that looks like just left over skeletons on the rocks started to grow and I have about a dozen on various rocks, many the are the size of golf balls when the spread their tentacles.
* Many tube corals are on various rocks, some small some in big colonies. These have gone through cycles where they looked like skeletons one month, and the next month turn a nice reddish brown shade with great polyp extension. They are just starting to recover from their latest cycle, and I wish I could make them more stable, but I have not lost any so far.
* The large Feather duster has done very well. It even had a baby at one point, unfortunately during one of the Caulerpa “mowings” a rock shifted and the baby was crushed.
* The clam/mussel with the colony of tube corals is still alive and well except he came unglued from his base rock about 2 weeks ago.
* The Orange fan sponge is still alive but has not grown, and I still have a yellow ball sponge on the back of another rock with a few other sponges on the bases of some of the rocks. I plan to start feeding plankton to my tank soon hoping to give it more food.
* I still have a thriving population of Blueleg hermits.
* There are still about half a dozen porcelain crabs always filtering with their fans.
* My Mantis shrimp is still alive and well in his own 10g tank.
* There are tons of starfish in the sand and under/in the rocks including the large one from the package.
* Unfortunately I still have about 3-4 small gorilla crabs hiding in the rocks and I think they are the main cause of snail losses.

* Also there is one unknown. I have a loud popping in my tank from time to time since the start of this. I don't think it is another Mantis because I don't think one could hide for over a year. Might be a pistol shrimp, but again I have never seen one, so I am clueless what is causing my mysterious popping.

Thanks for all your comments,
David

Pictures:

Full Tank:

Brown gorgonian:
This is my huge gorgonian. In the upper left you can see my rock/flower anemone. Along the lower edges of rocks you can see various sponges with the orange one to the right. Also in the front left is a mussel with a tube coral colony attached.

Flower anemone and Feather duster:
Here you can see the Flower Anemone top center, and the large Feather duster lower left. Below the feather duster is my bi-color blenny, and six line wrasse.

Ricordia and tube coral:
In the center you can see my green ricordia which is now about 5-6 inches across when it fully spreads out. In the front you see part of my gorgonian and in the back is a tube coral colony.

Cup Coral:
These cup corals are about 1.5 inches across each. Below them you can see some starfish arms hanging from the rock. The left tip of rock has some tube corals, and part of the orange sponge is seen to the lower left. In the upper left background is part of the gorgonian and the ricordia.

 

[dklaue]

The future:

I am currently trying to plan a new 90g tank and am torn on how to start it. The Package is so tempting to try again, but I would also like to try it from scratch and cherry pick rocks and creatures. I have been thinking of maybe doing a half and half. Getting a 45g package to start it which would leave lots of room to add more rock and such later, but one problem is the sand. I have the normal sand in 20# packages, but it is dead of course, but that would not work well because the Package needs its true Live sand to work right without harming the rocks and critters.

Has anyone every tried a mixed approach? Start with Richards live sand, then add more normal sand later? Would it work, and would it even look appealing? Maybe if there was a way to put the Live sand on one side and the plain sand on the other with a slight mixed area where they meet in the center?

Let me know what you think please.

Thanks,
David

 

[plague]

Any updates?