Lunchbucket's New 58gal RR inprogress - LOTS OF PICS

[Zoom]

Very nice corals in very low nutrient tank.

 

[MyMonkey]

Nice. Very nice.

 

[Lunchbucket]

Zoom - thanks! just hope my low nutrients help get rid of the bryopsis

MyMokey - thanks

i'd liek some more color but i think it is due to the lack of feeding. once the bryopsis kicks more i'll up the feedings and hope to gain more color

Lunchbucket

 

[melev]

Geeze. Your corals look pretty good to me, considering your post in the SPS forum about ditching all of 'em!

I know bryopsis sucks, but you might just consider getting a fish or fish that will eat it, then trap them out of the system.

 

[Lunchbucket]

melev - they look ok...in person is different then on camera and it wasn't coral health that really had me thinking of ditching...lots of other factors (mostly life factors i think).

bad thing is no fish is a possitive winner on eating bryopsis. i'd rather not play russian roulette w/ a fish to see if it might eat it. i'll keep hammering on it and home my efforts pay off

Lunchbucket

 

[Chrisrush]

Lunch, you still liking your ssb? My buddy just added some to his starboard tank, and I'm thinking about adding some as well.

 

[Dudester]

I might get slammed for mentioning this, but 5 days ago I put a juvenile chocolate tang in my 30g tank. It's a temporary home for the next 7 months until my 450g tank is ready, at which time I'll transfer the tang. My bryopsis has been kept in check by lettuce nudi's, but last night I saw the best thing ever -- the tang was eating bryopsis! I also had a lawnmower blenny for a while (RIP) that ate bryopsis. Lunch, you may want to consider these options.

 

[Travis]

Lunch, looking great man. Talk about growth that is through the roof. Your bryopsis and hydroids are looking a lot more under control. I'm guessing the hydroids have just petered out over time. Is your bryopsis situation getting better due to the prodibio or have you just been more diligent at scrubbing it? As far as the acro with recession, hard to say what it is from. Looks similar to AEFW damage but looks even more similar to the recession I was getting from running too much Phosban. I would just keep a close eye on it and check it late at night with a flashlight. A levamisole dip for that coral alone should confirm whether or not there are any FW's but could unnecessarily stress the coral out if what is going on isn't the FW's in the first place.

 

[Travis]

melev, what types of fish will eat bryopsis? I always seem to have a small patch "here and there". About the only sure thing I know of is sea hares but then you have to find a home for them after they eat it all and you also run the risk of killing off your tank if they die. There are a lot of fish that "might" touch it but it seems that after they get used to prepared foods they stop eating things they don't taste so good like bryopsis.

Dudester, I sincerely hope your tang continues to eat the bryopsis. About a year ago I added a yellow tang to my display because it was one of the only herbivorous fish that I could find that eat it in their natural diet. It pruned all the bryopsis in the tank in the first week to the point where it looked like it was gone. But then it got used to prepared food and hasn't touched it since. I used to try fasting my fish on occasion to try to force the herbivores to eat the less tasty bryopsis but this has never been successfull and usually resulted in stressed/dead fish and/or fish nipping at my precious corals.

 

[Dudester]

Thanks for the comment, Travis. Six months ago I would have said that the bryopsis had reached plague proportions. Fortunately, however, after months of diligent pruning, attempts to minimize nutrients, and the addition of some lettuce nudibranchs, I'd say that my current bryopsis situation is only a minor nuissance. I only have 1 of the original 3 lettuce nudis remaining, and despite this fact I haven't pruned any bryopsis in over 6 weeks (it used to be a 2 hour chore every 5-7 days or so). I didn't get the tang for bryopsis control - this is simply a perk that I wasn't even expecting (but I'll take it nonetheless!). The experience I had with the LMB was very similar to what you describe in that it ate the bryopsis initially, but this was only short-lived.

 

[melev]

Travis, I've had a number of tangs in my tank, including the Purple, the Hippo, and the Naso. One or all of them definitely picked at the bryopsis when I had it. I'm down to two tangs now (I keep removing them one by one), so I'm curious to see if I've removed the 'grounds care taker.'

The Foxface should be a bryopsis devourer, right out of the bag.

 

[Lunchbucket]

chris - i'm ok w/ it. bryopsis grows on the gravel is some places and my sandbed is mostly hard all stuck together. so pulling bryopsis sometimes becomes more of a chore. i like the looks of sand and don't know if i could live w/ a starboard tank

Dudester - glad you tang is eating bryopsis and hope it continues so. from what i have read (i've tried to read a ton on bryopsis) no fish is a given to eat bryopsis....like we all know every fish is different. i'd like to solve the problem rather then put a bandaid on it (fish to eat it). i'm gettting there quite slowly though

Travis - thanks man! colors aren't as vibrant as what yours ever have been but i'm pretty impressed lately....not sure what has stuff coloring up more. growth has been ok...it's hard to notice when you see the tank everyday.

the bryopsis is getting better due to something whether it be prodibio, more changes of rowa and phosban or the AZNO3. personally it really slowed after the AZNO3 started. might be getting the nitrates while the rowa is getting the po4???

well i hope it isn't AEFW's. it started about the time i put in AZNO3 i think. it has slowed and has been holding steady for a good 2wks i bet...no more recession. no other corals look like this either. been checking it quite a bit w/ a flashlight at night and during the day. no signs of AEFW's or eggs...so i'm stumped. i can only hope it isn't

melev - a foxface might eat it..they eat about anything...as Travis

so what fish should i add to my tank now that the tang is gone?? flame angel? CBB? foxface? tang?? no fish?? just searching for oppinions

Lunchbucket

 

[Travis]

My foxface never ate bryopsis, but as Lunch stated, all fish are different. Lunch, I wouldn't add a foxface. In fact, I will never put one in one of my own tanks again. They are just too "dirty". Their gut does not process very much of the food they eat so it comes back out barely digested and still full of nutrients which will pollute the water. And because of this, they need to eat more than normal fish so that is more nutrient rich poop to pollute the tank. They are just too dirty of a fish for me. With my BB tank I always have some particulate matter floating in the water but it is usually small particulates of detritus. When I had the foxface, there was always all kinds of larger stuff floating in the water column from that fish pooping all day long. It really was an eyesore.

Lunch, I would not do add a flame angel. They have very poor success rates in captivity. From what I've heard, for every 5 or so that come in, 1 survives. That is why Grant won't get them in anymore. And you know how I feel about angels after my experience with them. I would add a tang, maybe a yellow or purple or something like that. A CBB would also make a nice addition. But I would at least add a tang for sure. IMO, no reef tank is complete without a tang. Not only do they add a lot of character but they are great algae eaters.

 

[Zoom]

I think a 3" purple tang will be a good chose if you asked me Lunch, they are very good lucking fish look at the Melev's video he got a beautiful purple tang.

 

[Lunchbucket]

Travis - yeah i agree they are nasty pooping machines!! in my 58gal it would be too much. i had that one for a while....what a poop machine also you didn't had bad luck w/ it nipping SPS right? hmm...didn't know flames had that bad of a track record. my mom got a great one that i had in my tank for a while before i did the LR switch...very beautiful fish but i didn't figure i wanted to risk it w/ my sps!!

a tang huh. well teh yellow eye kole tang is supposed to be one of the smaller of the tangs but bad thing was that it was a bristle tooth tang. more of a film algae scraper then a macro eater like the "long" nosed tangs. only reason i was shy of adding a yellow or some other tang like a purple is due to only 3' of length. you thing it is humane to put a yellow or purple in a 3' tank? i know my bro-in-law has one in his and many others have them in their tanks but thought i would get your guys oppinions. you guy are very expirenced in tangs since you hvae more then i w/ my small tanks

i think yellow are beautiful but they are almost over done. i think i'd like a purple better. any other oppinions?

thanks guys!!
Lunchbucket

 

[arconom]

Lunch your safe in this thread. There are no Tang police

 

[Travis]

You are correct... my foxface had devoloped a taste for sps growth tip/edges.

I think a tang would be fine as long as you start with a very small one and plan to either move it to an upgraded tank a couple years down the road or trade it back in for another small one. The yellows are the most common tang in this hobby but there is a reason for that. They are very striking fish and eat the widest range of algae. But I do like the purples more than the yellows for their bright purple and yellow coloration.

 

[Lunchbucket]

arconom - :lol: don't think i'm safe anywhere

Travis - yeah yellows are all over and a beautiful and a great addition. i guess a purple would be better "cooler" but they are more $$ too. i'll prolly end up just getting a yellow and be like everyone else out there nah...i'm always gonna be different. not sure if that is a good thing though

Lunchbucket

 

[Zoom]

My Son have a purple tang now for almost five years it started in a 39G tank when it was 2" long he got a 90G reef tank about two years a go and the fish is been in there for two years it is fat and very good lucking fish it is now 4" long and very healthy .
I don't think you need to worry about the PT getting to big to fast so you can get a small one for now till you go BIGGER.

 

[Lunchbucket]

well i got a yellow tang today. not as small as i wanted but healthy and not TOO big IMO. very very colorful fish. i've never been a fan of the because everyone and thier dog has one....well now so do i. i can't wait to get it in the tank and see how good it looks. the LFS i got it from had it for quite a while and it was eating well. i'll fatten him up too. hope that it eats bryopsis..that would be a double bonus

my wife is the best. she knows how much i have missed my clams so she told me to pick one out. it is our two year wedding anniversary on Aug 14 (tomorrow) so she claims that is my gift...nevermind we decided not to exchange presents. i'm happy as a clam...i've always been a fan of them!! now i just need to get 2-4more oh and i hope that PM disease isn't in my tank anymore...it's been a year i bet since i've had a clam. just need to find room for it now. the left side where i had 3 clams is now occupied by an orange cap and a unknown acro. i've also added a tunze up top in the back right corner that has increased the flow to that front left corner...probably too much for a clam. i'm thinking of putting it in the middle..we'll see

Lunchbucket