McPuff's new 300 (transfer from 120)

[McPuff]

Awesome! I'm so glad to hear your new angel is doing better. Great vid! Your reefscape is the best in the world. Don't change a thing! One of the keys to making great art, is to know when to stop. You're there!

Wow, thanks for that! I don't agree that it's best in the world but I am happy with it. :spin1: I really appreciate the compliment!

The fact that the little angel is doing better makes me feel so much more relaxed. I honestly was having trouble falling asleep the first couple nights because of the little bit of anxiety. Had to force myself to think of exotic sports cars instead. :0)

The eye looks like it is all cleared up now. This morning is day 3 of the prazipro treatment and I do not think I'll need to dose again. I did witness the little one eating meaty foods last night and that also makes me feel better about his overall condition. Mind you, it is very chubby still and still appears to be growing rapidly. I'm going to keep it in the QT for another couple of weeks. Once the starry blenny has completed TTM (today is transfer into tank #3), it'll go in the QT as well. I realize the clock starts over at this point and I'm ok with that. I want to keep a close eye on both fish for a couple weeks and this will be the easiest way. Once they are in the lagoon it's not so easy to see them with the larger rock work and top-down view. But I'm sure they'll love it in there. That said, I'll have to get a better video of the lagoon as well... probably once it has fish!

 

[truepercs]

Nice update on the tank!

 

[McPuff]

First off, Happy New Year everyone!

In a recent video I mentioned having bryopsis in the refugium. It appeared to have been defeated by manually scrubbing the rocks. And I still don't see it... not in the refugium/lagoon anyway. A few weeks ago I started to see a couple small areas of it in the display. Not cool! I tried the manual scrubbing as it WILL work if you are diligent. But it had found a couple places that are very hard to effectively scrub - little nooks and crannies. Darn this incredibly awesome live rock. :0)

So I did some searching and found that Fluconazole is very effective and will eradicate bryopsis, if that's what you actually have. I decided to give it a try. For a 300+ gal system it took quite a bit even though the actual dosage was low per volume. In the end, I added 30 x 200mg (6000mg) to the system. I poured some in the lagoon and the remaining in the display. Two days post addition I saw some REALLY encouraging signs. The bryopsis are definitely shrinking. There are a number of clumps of turf algae but they do not seem to be affected. I will have to be sure to pluck them out as carefully as I can. This seems to be a very effective method of removal, thankfully.

As for the bryopsis, I have to say I am thankful that the Fluconazole appears to be working, and working well. I'll post a video to chronicle the process... probably next week. First, I need to be sure it runs to completion.

The new fishes are doing quite well. As stated earlier, the starry blenny made it through TTM is has been in the QT tank for about two weeks now. The annularis is a piggy little pig and eats whatever I throw in the tank, and a lot of it! I have had the fish for just shy of 2 months and I'd say it's already grown a 1/2" if not more. It is very fat and seems to be 100% healthy at this point. Prazipro treatments cleared up the flukes and I have been doing metronidazole to ensure there are no gut parasites. The starry blenny will move to the display tank in another week or two. The Annularis will probably move to the lagoon at the same time. The hunt continues for another blueface angel but the holidays slowed that down a bit. Hoping to see one show up at the LFS this week or next. I also plan to add a royal gramma because they are just too stunning not to have one.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Good luck with your bryopsis battle! Let us know how it works out. It's so nice to hear of your success story curing your sick fish. In my book that's a huge win!

So it sounds like you are keep reef-safe fish in the display, and Angels, etc in the lagoon? Pretty cool!

 

[McPuff]

Good luck with your bryopsis battle! Let us know how it works out. It's so nice to hear of your success story curing your sick fish. In my book that's a huge win!

So it sounds like you are keep reef-safe fish in the display, and Angels, etc in the lagoon? Pretty cool!

Thanks Michael!

Day 3 after the bryopsis treatment has shown massive reduction in the few bryopsis "puffs" that do exist. I estimate that I won't be able to see anything on Day 5. Should be able to post the video sooner than I thought...

As for the angels... I will actually put them into the display when they are a bit larger. Well, first I need to get two so there is a "they" instead of just "it." :0) I had planned to keep the two in the lagoon until they got large enough for the DT. I understand perfectly well that I may lose the zoas and LPS may get nipped as well. Hoping that large colonies will be able to withstand any nipping but one never knows with Pomocanthus spp (or really any angel species truthfully). Lots of people seem to keep angels in large, mixed reefs so I wanted to try it too. As I have stated before, I'm more interested in the fish now and I want to go back to those species that I really love. I am very eager to get the pair of angels but I'm even more eager to get an Arothron puffer (i.e., dogface), and two Rhinecanthus trigger (e.g., humu, lei, assasi). The puffer and trigger(s) will likely stay in the lagoon unless something in the DT drastically changes. After all, I DO like having some inverts in the display. But I cannot say no to puffers and triggers any longer! It's been ages since I've had those species and they have always been my absolute favorites!

So call me crazy but that is my plan! :0)

 

[MrsReefK]

I'm right there with you on the puffers! Our last tank we had a porcupine in our Reef and he was a model citizen for almost 3 years before we took a break from the hobby. The lady he went to was a good friend and he was a model in her Reef for about 3.5 more years before he passed. Still don't know why he passed, but he had such personality, it's an addition we are strongly considering.

I say you're not crazy! Go for it!


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[Michael Hoaster]

Sounds cool McPuff!

Maybe a little algae in your display wouldn't be a bad thing, so your angels could graze on it (said the plant guy).

 

[McPuff]

Sounds cool McPuff!

Maybe a little algae in your display wouldn't be a bad thing, so your angels could graze on it (said the plant guy).

The tangs will eat some types of turf agae, but more the fibrous kind. This stuff is a bit tougher I think and they do not seem to touch it. I have to pluck it out of there because I don't like the way it looks. No offense Michael. :0)

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Ha ha! I know what you mean. Let's face it - some algae is ugly.

 

[locito277]

+1 on the puffer in a reef. I got a dog face in the 220! I know he ate Mojano in a day lol. Luckily has left my bubble tips, leather and GSP alone


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[locito277]

Happy new year!


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[McPuff]

Happy new year!


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And to you!


Today I noticed that the turf algae is beginning to turn white, so I assume it's dying off. That is very cool! It's either due to the increased Mg (which wasn't that much as I can't dose too much all at once), or it's the Fluconazole beginning to show effects on it. Or it could be a combination. I do assume it's the Mg though due to the timing of both events. I dosed Mg again today and will probably dose it once a day for a week. I'll have to test again tomorrow and see how much more I will need.

 

[McPuff]

So... the annularis angel... it's probably grown an inch since I received it the day before Thanksgiving. Really impressed with the growth rate. I know that Pomacanthus spp. are heavy eaters and very outward in their personalities. But this is actually a bit surprising. Perhaps I've just never fed fish as much as I currently do. Just happy with the results all around.

The past few days I have noticed the naso tang (also growing rapidly!) has some damage to his pectoral fins and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I'm guessing this is due to some type of trauma and would only require some time to heal. There really should be nothing else to fear as it's been in the tank over a year now. I have one additional fear with this guy... now that he's (I'm thinking it is a male due to coloration, still too small for streamer formation) getting bigger he's also becoming a more aggressive feeder. He also is standing his ground against the larger fish. Just hoping he doesn't become more aggressive in a mean way. Male or female, it's going to be a very pretty fish as an adult. It is an eating machine... super FAT.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sounds like your dream of a tank full of big, personality fish is coming true. So cool!

 

[humaguy]

Hey Puff,

Things look great. About P and Ch angel growth question you had. Yeah, the P angels get enormous and grow insanely fast. They do eat a lot, so feeding them smaller meals, around 5 times a day, is a better and healthier approach for them.


I think I got these, 1 was doa, about 10 months ago. Pretty tiny, right?

Here she is a few weeks ago, probably around 8 inches.

There are some really killer cb projects ramping up and currently underway. Great things coming!

Good luck,

TK

 

[McPuff]

Wow, that is some insane growth! I have had P. angels before but never such a small juvenile as this annularis. I definitely feed the fish more now than I ever did. I was always worried about overfeeding.

I'll be interested to see if the blueface will grow as fast but I assume it should.

Care to share any more specifics on these projects? Definitely intrigued!

 

[McPuff]

Here are a few pics (not great) of the cb annularis. The pvc is 3" for size reference. In person, I can see that the base color of the fish is starting to turn a bit orange which leads me to believe that it will start to transition into adult coloration fairly soon. This is a bit shocking to me! But I did have a juvenile blueface in the past that began transitioning around 3" as well.





View attachment 385560

I feel like I should probably start taking pics on a weekly basis to chronicle this guy's growth rate! If you look closely you'll also see the starry blenny hiding between the pvc and live rock. He blends in very well!! My kids have a hard time finding him. I'll probably put that one in display next Friday (Jan 19). Seems to be doing very well and should be a fun addition to the display. I do fear that I won't see him very often though!!! Perhaps that will make the sightings more species. Kind of like the emerald crab. :0)

 

[McPuff]

Things are going pretty well in the 300DD. Algae is completely gone as is the calothrix. Raising the Mg seemed to do the trick. The coraline Algae seems to have started to grow quickly on the back glass and rocks again too.

The annularis is no longer little. It has probably tripled in length and about 10x in mass. He's also begun transitioning to adult pattern. I can see gold instead of blue under the white rings. And the blue horizontal rings are starting to show as well. I'm amazed at how fast this guy is growing!



Sorry for the lighting but I don't actually have a light over this tank. The PVC is the same as the early pictures. I've gotta put in larger size as he barely fits now. The size difference is pretty crazy for just over two months! I need to create some type of acclimation box so I can put him into the display. It's a bit small so I'm afraid that the tangs could get cranky with him. Hoping that a critter cage or similar will do the trick but it's probably another week until I can do this. Thinking he's going to like the 300 a lot more than the 20 gal. :0)

If you've seen my Sale thread then you know I'm unloading LPS in preparation for the angel addition. Just didn't think it was a good idea to let the angel eat the Corals. Instead, someone else can enjoy them. I believe the SPS will be just fine and I'm hoping the sinularia will as well. I've seen large angels with softies many times. LPS, however, seem to be a delicacy for them.

The lagoon is coming along. I've just added a Kessil 350W which looks quite nice as you can imagine. I am eager to get some fish in there! Have some other plans for the system as well but those will remain secrets for now. :0)

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great your angel is doing so well. Good idea getting rid of the LPSs in anticipation of introducing him/her. Smart!

How do you like the Kessil? It looks great over your lagoon. What are your thoughts on spectrum adjustability, depth penetration, and spread?

 

[McPuff]

That's great your angel is doing so well. Good idea getting rid of the LPSs in anticipation of introducing him/her. Smart!

How do you like the Kessil? It looks great over your lagoon. What are your thoughts on spectrum adjustability, depth penetration, and spread?

I have actually had these very lights before and thought they were terrific. If I were to use Kessil over the display I'd opt for the 360 since they're controllable.
Problem is that I would need about 9 of them to produce some really nice lighting with no shade. 6 would be adequate but not great. The 350 is manual dimming but it does give you total control over both channels. The light it produces is excellent and the shimmer is well known. I saw these pop up on Facebook and I essentially bought them within 2 minutes. It is exactly the look I want in the lagoon so I'm glad the opportunity came up. If you're thinking about Kessil for your 180 you can't go wrong.

I've got the wide angle version so depth penetration is up to 2 feet but anything off center will not get a ton of par. The spread is terrific on this version. I imagine you'd want the narrow angle version on your tank since it's a bit deeper. Then you could simply mount it about a foot off the water to maximize spread while not deterring much from penetration.