CT 265 Build
- Thread starter ca1ore
- Start date
He is - probably almost 5". You can see him on the right side of my last photo here (though out of focus). Yesterday he and the bigger clown (female probably) were 'body slamming' each other every time he attempted to get close to where they have deposited their most recent set of eggs.
My only concern, really, with the new leopard is whether he will manage OK in a fairly aggressive and boisterous tank. Female meleagris did fine, so precedent exists, but he is quite a bit more timid.
At the three month mark ......
Very pleased overall at how the tank has settled in. My sons counted last night and is actually 29 fish (27 in the display and 2 in the refugium). Did have one of my vortech pumps 'throw a prop', but the $20 wetside health kit has returned it to as-new performance.
It is funny, after so many years in the hobby this is the first time I have actually kept a hippo tang. Never particularly liked them and was concerned about their propensity for skin problems. What I am finding, however, is that as this fish gets past 6 inches it is becoming quite the antagonist - and with my wrasses particularly. The hippo spends much of its day chasing around my 5 inch dusky wrasse, and as I noted earlier, is giving my male leopard a hard time. May be a rehoming in its future (if I can catch it).
This is the only picture I have from my prior 180 tank (circa 2006 or 2007) but I am quite amazed at how much better the 265 looks. OK, this 180 had been running for a while, and had been gradually losing the battle to green hair algae. Is an interesting comparison because that tank had a much larger skimmer and a much lower fish population, yet nitrate levels were very high. I did not run either an algal turf scrubber, chaeto or GFO though, so perhaps those things are the difference.
As a final note to three months in: after almost completely losing my chaeto to, presumably, competition for nutrients with the scrubber; it has rebounded from a few forlorn strands to very robust growth. Water quality measures still read nitrates and phosphates at zero, but clearly something has changed. I am now removing a large clump every two weeks.
Very pleased overall at how the tank has settled in. My sons counted last night and is actually 29 fish (27 in the display and 2 in the refugium). Did have one of my vortech pumps 'throw a prop', but the $20 wetside health kit has returned it to as-new performance.
It is funny, after so many years in the hobby this is the first time I have actually kept a hippo tang. Never particularly liked them and was concerned about their propensity for skin problems. What I am finding, however, is that as this fish gets past 6 inches it is becoming quite the antagonist - and with my wrasses particularly. The hippo spends much of its day chasing around my 5 inch dusky wrasse, and as I noted earlier, is giving my male leopard a hard time. May be a rehoming in its future (if I can catch it).
This is the only picture I have from my prior 180 tank (circa 2006 or 2007) but I am quite amazed at how much better the 265 looks. OK, this 180 had been running for a while, and had been gradually losing the battle to green hair algae. Is an interesting comparison because that tank had a much larger skimmer and a much lower fish population, yet nitrate levels were very high. I did not run either an algal turf scrubber, chaeto or GFO though, so perhaps those things are the difference.
As a final note to three months in: after almost completely losing my chaeto to, presumably, competition for nutrients with the scrubber; it has rebounded from a few forlorn strands to very robust growth. Water quality measures still read nitrates and phosphates at zero, but clearly something has changed. I am now removing a large clump every two weeks.
Last edited:
nadinemccarthy
New member
Beautiful tank.
Four month mark .....
Above photo is morning illumination level. Below, Naso is the only new fish in the tank this past month; green slimmer acro the only new invert.
Male bipartitus leopard wrasse has established himself pretty well - females remain in the fuge to put on a bit of size. Clowns are regularly laying eggs - you can see the current batch just behind the right uppermost butterflyfish. Fish population is pretty close to being maxed out. I still have an Achilles Tang in QT, and would like to add a trio of bimac anthias, and perhaps a few flasher/fairy wrasses, but that will be about it! FWIW, pyramid butterflyfish are generally reef safe, though they have eaten most of the Xenia in the tank.
Also have enough corals at this point, they just need to grow up into the water column a bit (particularly the green slimmer). I still plan to add a few more clams. Just the two squammys at this point, so a couple of colourful Maximas and, if they ever become available again, a small Gigas.
Above photo is morning illumination level. Below, Naso is the only new fish in the tank this past month; green slimmer acro the only new invert.
Male bipartitus leopard wrasse has established himself pretty well - females remain in the fuge to put on a bit of size. Clowns are regularly laying eggs - you can see the current batch just behind the right uppermost butterflyfish. Fish population is pretty close to being maxed out. I still have an Achilles Tang in QT, and would like to add a trio of bimac anthias, and perhaps a few flasher/fairy wrasses, but that will be about it! FWIW, pyramid butterflyfish are generally reef safe, though they have eaten most of the Xenia in the tank.
Also have enough corals at this point, they just need to grow up into the water column a bit (particularly the green slimmer). I still plan to add a few more clams. Just the two squammys at this point, so a couple of colourful Maximas and, if they ever become available again, a small Gigas.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
Your tank is coming along very well. Love the school of pyramids.
Thanks! Building a fish population is a bit like playing craps in Vegas! One more fish, then another ..... then a bad 'roll' wipes 'em all out :lol: Key is to know when to stop!
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
Hi ca1ore,
What did you decide to do about the Hippo?
Great tank and fish selection.
I'm currently of the process of filling my tank with life, fish corals, inverts and am interested with how you will proceed. Don't want to derail your thread, but current "conventional wisdom" would say remove all fish QT everything again and let go fallow.
I don't quite believe that the best course of action, but I also don't want to fuel the flames on your tank build.
What did you decide to do about the Hippo?
Great tank and fish selection.
I'm currently of the process of filling my tank with life, fish corals, inverts and am interested with how you will proceed. Don't want to derail your thread, but current "conventional wisdom" would say remove all fish QT everything again and let go fallow.
I don't quite believe that the best course of action, but I also don't want to fuel the flames on your tank build.
No, it's an excellent question .. to which I don't have an excellent answer .....
The hippo has been showing up with periodic spots now for quite a while (probably 2-3 months), and while it did flare up a bit more than usual a week or so ago, I tried using Dr. G Anti-Parasite Caviar, which, for now, seems to have calmed symptoms. No other fish have shown any symptoms. Pretty clear that I do have ich in my tank though!
So, for now I will just 'manage' it through a combination of heavy UV and skimming, excellent water quality, and judicious use of the anti-parasite food. I say judicious, because it contains chloroquine phosphate which will do a job on your inverts if you aren't careful. I don't discount the possibility (probability) that I may eventually have to remove all the fish to a treatment tank and fallow the main display, but that will be a major logistical effort that I would really like to avoid, so we will see (I am seeding a significant amount of biomedia in the sump just in case).
The Naso that I recently added had been in my QT system for 12 weeks and really needed to be freed from the confines of a 20L. Not ideal to add it to a likely infected tank, however, the alternative of keeping it in QT seemed even less appealing. The other fish I have in QT, an Achilles Tang, is in a 30L setup as a full reef tank (the AT is through all meds, so just now fattening up), so it can remain there for a while. Adding an ich-magnet like the AT to my display seems most imprudent.
Although my longer-term plans call for a few more fish, I won't be buying any of them until I have a more clear resolution to this ich issue.
It's a standard Marineland 265. I bought it from a LFS in New Jersey, but you should be able to get it pretty much anywhere. Wait for a ML sale though
I actually saved almost 40% off regular retail price. ML seems to run these sales with some regularity if not complete predictability.
triggreef
New member
I'm still not a believer that you actually got ich in there. You would think with all those tangs it would hit fast& hard. I had an in infected yt (in qt) that went from nothing to covered very fast. Like over night, so they are just as prone as the others. I know the hippos love to play in the sand esp over night.
Great build thread by the way
Great build thread by the way
I'm not really sure what to think at this point because I agree with you. Ich is generally not subtle, particularly with Tangs. Perhaps I just have a 'polite' strain :lol: Your brother has the twin to my hippo and I figure you would have given me at least a little ribbing if that fish had infected his tank. It's definitely not sand grains, but I suppose it could be lympho.
Although I don't want to use it as a 'guinea pig', if ich-like symptoms don't progress any further in the next two weeks I may add my QT'd AT to the display figuring if any fish is going to unearth the parasite it will be him (or her).
WindyCityFlyer
New member
This is a sweet tank, love the anemone island. Also could you use goo be gone on that background to remove the adhesive?
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