lapin
New member
The angel told me he is upset you are selling all of them. He said if you leave a few he will take good care of them for you.
McPuff's new 300 (transfer from 120)
- Thread starter McPuff
- Start date
The angel told me he is upset you are selling all of them. He said if you leave a few he will take good care of them for you.
McPuff
New member
I'm sure this is true! :0) To be honest, I'm making a lot of assumptions about his character and perhaps that is not fair. :spin3:
McPuff
New member
Nearly all LPS are out of the display. Just one caulastrea remains but I can easily move that into the lagoon if necessary.
The annularis is changing so fast I cannot believe it. There is quite a bit of adult coloration coming through! I am planning to rig some sort of acclimation box this week so I can put him into the display and not worry too much about the fish getting its a$$ kicked.
I just placed an order for a juvenile blueface angel on DD. Supposed to arrive on Friday. It's 2 3/8" and fully juvenile pattern, which is actually pretty uncommon as they tend to change at very small sizes. Excited to have found one that fits my criteria very well. Hopefully we won't have any issues adding it to the display in a couple months.
More pics to come!
The annularis is changing so fast I cannot believe it. There is quite a bit of adult coloration coming through! I am planning to rig some sort of acclimation box this week so I can put him into the display and not worry too much about the fish getting its a$$ kicked.
I just placed an order for a juvenile blueface angel on DD. Supposed to arrive on Friday. It's 2 3/8" and fully juvenile pattern, which is actually pretty uncommon as they tend to change at very small sizes. Excited to have found one that fits my criteria very well. Hopefully we won't have any issues adding it to the display in a couple months.
More pics to come!
Ooh, those blue faced angels are pretty! Good luck with the annularis introduction! You seem to have struck a great balance between FOWLR and Reef tank. Frickin' awesome! I would love to see a list of fish you currently have, and ones you plan to add. And more full tank shots! I need another fix of that scape!
McPuff
New member
Blueface have always been one of my absolute favorites!
I'll post some pics soon. The tank looks a bit empty right now since I removed almost all the LPS. It's gonna have to fill in some more with the SPS. :0)
I personally love the look of bare live rock. Maybe I'm weird, but I often prefer the look of tanks before corals are added, especially when the rock structure is excellent, like yours.
McPuff
New member
Thanks Michael! I do plan to keep a lot of the rock work bare because I also like the look of the underlying structure. Mine is set up like a bommie reef and with those you'd almost certainly see the rock structure. Will take some pics today to show.
McPuff
New member
Michael, the FTS just for you... now showing lack of LPS.
And here is the annularis. You can see how much bigger it is, and how much it is already transitioning.
The blueface arrived this morning just after 10 and is looking very good in TTM #1. I'll give him a bit of time and later today will feed some mysis. It's not a captive bred angel so it will be interesting to see how differently this one behaves through QT compared to the annularis. As long as it does well, I am happy.
And here is the annularis. You can see how much bigger it is, and how much it is already transitioning.
The blueface arrived this morning just after 10 and is looking very good in TTM #1. I'll give him a bit of time and later today will feed some mysis. It's not a captive bred angel so it will be interesting to see how differently this one behaves through QT compared to the annularis. As long as it does well, I am happy.
McPuff
New member
Thanks! Feel free to come by if you're in the area! It's always fun to have other salties over. :0)
The annularis was in the lagoon for a few days. I was REALLY nervous after putting him in there because there was no top. My nerves got the best of me but I realized I had some mesh screen left over. It was big enough to cover the tub so that's how it sat for a few days. Definitely kept me calm and able to sleep! I doubt he would have jumped out but who knows!! I was pulling out some detritus from the lagoon yesterday and the annularis was tail swatting the siphon tube. Seems to be a pretty daring little guy. :0) Anyway, yesterday I finally rigged an acclimation box and put him into the 300. It's amazing how much this guy has grown... I know I keep saying that, but he's about 4" now and on Thanksgiving he was 1.5"! The transition to adult pattern is also pretty astonishing. I'd say he's about 30% or more transitioned. He was already eating mysis and pellets in the box last night. I'm hoping to keep him in there for a couple more days and then release him. The other fish do not seem to give him much thought and I think the angel is big enough to hold his own. Not a great pic, but whatever.
The blueface is getting a little more bold but it's still more shy than the annularis. It completed TTM with no issues and moved into QT on Wednesday (Feb 28). I dosed a second round of Prazipro just yesterday. There are two spots that give me a little concern. One is on the dorsal fin and looks like a small growth of some type. The other is a translucent spot on the pectoral fin. The prazipro is not getting rid of those spots so I may need to pull out the fish to get a closer look and to see if manual removal is possible. It would be preferable NOT to do that but we'll see. Otherwise, he seems very healthy and is getting fat. Any ideas here? I'll try to get some pics but it is difficult due to his shyness. I am also planning to feed some mysis soaked in metronidazole in a couple days. Probably some kanaplex as well after that just to be sure. So far, I'm trying to do one medication/treatment at a time and go slowly.
McPuff
New member
I did a second round of Prazipro just in case. That went fine and the angel is doing great, mostly. It's fat and eating well but... it seems to have lymphocystis. There are small growths on the dorsal and one pectoral fin. The dorsal is a darker mass/nodule. The pectoral is a while "smear" that has gotten a bit larger over the past couple days.
I figured I will have to wait it out and hope the fish can fight it off. Water changes and lots of food should help. It doesn't seem stressed and has actually become more personable over the past week since going into QT. It's a bummer because it was a DD fish and they are all QT'd... obviously I did not put this fish into my DT. It's going through the full course of QT. I'll start to feed it medicated foods now as part of the process. Perhaps that will help but I don't know. Otherwise, the fish looks terrific. Still excited to have it!
I figured I will have to wait it out and hope the fish can fight it off. Water changes and lots of food should help. It doesn't seem stressed and has actually become more personable over the past week since going into QT. It's a bummer because it was a DD fish and they are all QT'd... obviously I did not put this fish into my DT. It's going through the full course of QT. I'll start to feed it medicated foods now as part of the process. Perhaps that will help but I don't know. Otherwise, the fish looks terrific. Still excited to have it!
McPuff
New member
Just added the annularis to the DT officially on Saturday morning! It's been just over 3 months since he arrived the day before Thanksgiving as a 1.5" baby. Take a look at the pattern now. It's really getting that gold color. The juvenile pattern is rapidly giving way to the adult diagonal stripes. It's kind of in the "ugly duckling" phase right now but I still think it looks terrific. This guy is really endearing as it go nuts every time I'm in front of the tank, just like a little dog.
There was some aggression from the scopas tang, which is the only fish I was worried about. That aggression seems to have waned from the initial few hours. The annularis made it mostly unscathed... just a fin cut. Otherwise, it began to eat pretty well later that day. Sunday it ate everything. It's still "relegated" to a corner of the tank but as this guy grows he'll probably be the boss of the tank. It should soon outgrow the scopas and I doubt any aggression will continue after that.
The blueface is now about 2 weeks into QT. The lympho seems to have begun to subside. I'm hoping it'll continue that way. I'll move to twice weekly water changes and begin to feed medicated foods, not for the lympho but as part of my QT protocol. It can't hurt.
I'm considering removing the foxface... it's really no bigger than the lieutenant tang (6-7") but I do remember hearing that foxfaces begin to act this way when they feel their space is becoming limited. Besides that, if it's always hiding I can't see it much. They are notoriously shy animals anyway so maybe I'm just reading too much into it. But the thought has crossed my mind. This would also free up some bioload "space." My son would probably be disappointed as he picked out the fish about 3 years ago when it was probably 2.5" long. :0( Any thoughts here?
There was some aggression from the scopas tang, which is the only fish I was worried about. That aggression seems to have waned from the initial few hours. The annularis made it mostly unscathed... just a fin cut. Otherwise, it began to eat pretty well later that day. Sunday it ate everything. It's still "relegated" to a corner of the tank but as this guy grows he'll probably be the boss of the tank. It should soon outgrow the scopas and I doubt any aggression will continue after that.
The blueface is now about 2 weeks into QT. The lympho seems to have begun to subside. I'm hoping it'll continue that way. I'll move to twice weekly water changes and begin to feed medicated foods, not for the lympho but as part of my QT protocol. It can't hurt.
I'm considering removing the foxface... it's really no bigger than the lieutenant tang (6-7") but I do remember hearing that foxfaces begin to act this way when they feel their space is becoming limited. Besides that, if it's always hiding I can't see it much. They are notoriously shy animals anyway so maybe I'm just reading too much into it. But the thought has crossed my mind. This would also free up some bioload "space." My son would probably be disappointed as he picked out the fish about 3 years ago when it was probably 2.5" long. :0( Any thoughts here?
vikinglord13
New member
I'm going to nurture my angelfish adoration vicariously through you McPuff. Treat me well good sir!
McPuff
New member
Will do! Still have plans for a pygmy angel of some type. Probably a coral beauty but maybe a Potters if I can find a good one.
Blueface is looking much better in the past few days. The lympho has receded quite a bit on the pectoral fin. I've done a couple water changes and plan to continue doing those twice weekly. Also began feeding medicated food (mysis soaked in metroplex). It is eating very well on mysis and pellets. Still just picking at nori but I have it ready for him at all times. Also becoming less shy and staying out when I'm sitting there staring into his home. :0) The change to adult pattern has begun... actually at a larger size than I'm used to from past blueface experience.... which is totally fine!
Last edited:
McPuff
New member
Quick update: the annularis is growing super fast in the display and rapidly changing into adult pattern. It no longer is bullied at all by the scopas tang... probably because it has already outgrown the scopas. :0) It is much more social as well and cruises the tank freely. It was a nervous first day or two but he's looking fat and happy in the display. And I haven't seen him take a single nip at any of the corals. Not even the zoanthids. That is surprising thus far.
The blueface is in QT for just over a month now (plus the 12 days in TTM). At this point it's looking free and clear of lymphocystis which is terrific. Getting fatter and larger every day and eating everything like a pig. Took a while to get on pellets but now eats them greedily (unlike my naso tang). It's probably 3.5 - 4" now but still quite a bit smaller than the annularis. I'm working on an acrylic acclimation box from some scrap material I have. Hoping it will work better than the one I used for the annularis. Just don't think it was clear enough and the resident fish didn't pay attention to what was in the box. I really want the resident fish to be aware that there is a fish in the box. Anyway, I will plan to put the blueface in the display perhaps next weekend and then leave him in there for a few weeks. Really want to provide enough time for the annularis to get familiar with the blueface and hope they won't fight once together. Originally wanted to add them together but you know what happens to the best laid plans...
I've got a small bout of cyano going on now as well. I think there's a bit of nutrient build-up in the sand bed. So I've been doing small water changes/gravel vacuums to try and remove the sand sludge. Seems to be working well. Don't want to add chemiclean but if it comes to it, then I'll do it but at a lower dose than last time.
:0( Have also increased the power on my pumps to improve water movement. Will be adding a new mystery pump this week and hope to provide a glowing review of it afterward!
Oh! Also added a few new corals... a nice blue stag colony and a type of green slimer... and a green spongodes, but different than the one I already had. They already have done a great job of filling in some space on the left side. Will post a pic later when the lights are on.
Ok, so it wasn't a short update after all. I should have known better. :0)
The blueface is in QT for just over a month now (plus the 12 days in TTM). At this point it's looking free and clear of lymphocystis which is terrific. Getting fatter and larger every day and eating everything like a pig. Took a while to get on pellets but now eats them greedily (unlike my naso tang). It's probably 3.5 - 4" now but still quite a bit smaller than the annularis. I'm working on an acrylic acclimation box from some scrap material I have. Hoping it will work better than the one I used for the annularis. Just don't think it was clear enough and the resident fish didn't pay attention to what was in the box. I really want the resident fish to be aware that there is a fish in the box. Anyway, I will plan to put the blueface in the display perhaps next weekend and then leave him in there for a few weeks. Really want to provide enough time for the annularis to get familiar with the blueface and hope they won't fight once together. Originally wanted to add them together but you know what happens to the best laid plans...
I've got a small bout of cyano going on now as well. I think there's a bit of nutrient build-up in the sand bed. So I've been doing small water changes/gravel vacuums to try and remove the sand sludge. Seems to be working well. Don't want to add chemiclean but if it comes to it, then I'll do it but at a lower dose than last time.
:0( Have also increased the power on my pumps to improve water movement. Will be adding a new mystery pump this week and hope to provide a glowing review of it afterward!
Oh! Also added a few new corals... a nice blue stag colony and a type of green slimer... and a green spongodes, but different than the one I already had. They already have done a great job of filling in some space on the left side. Will post a pic later when the lights are on.
Ok, so it wasn't a short update after all. I should have known better. :0)
McPuff
New member
Updates with flavor!
I finally finished building the new canopy frame! The old one was so overbuilt, heavy, and bulky that it drove me to build something much more simple and "elegant." Although the frame is actually shorter than the original, the lights sit a tad higher which makes the light spread out a bit more. This makes working in the tank much easier! As for lights, I kept the original 4 Rapidled Onyx fixtures but moved them back a touch. Then I added 3 AI Sol Blue to the front. These fixtures are actually pretty similar though the AI have more functionality in the proprietary controller. I like the coral acclimation mode! Anyway, it's amazing how different the whole tanks looks to me now. The greater spread of light really does a good job of showing the true 3' depth of the tank.
I also now have FULL ACCESS to my screen tops. The construction of the old frame was such that it was difficult to remove any of the 3 screen tops. Now it is simple... lift and pull. It is taking some acclimation on my part to have it this easy! :0)
Just have added some rather large corals to the system. 2 types of green slimer, a type of green spongodes, and a blue stag. The blue stag is (I believe) from the same lineage as the huge blue stag I lost last summer. It's got to color up still but it's looking good!
The annularis is getting big quickly. I've said that so many times but I'm just amazed. The color transition is much more adult than juvenile at this point. I would guess full transformation will be complete in 3-4 months or sooner.
The blueface angel is doing really well and getting very fat. The lymphocyctis have been gone for about a month now. I'm hoping to finish an acclimation box this week and then add the fish to the display tank this coming weekend. Most likely, it'll need to stay in that box for a month or more. But I believe it'll grow faster in the 300 than in the 20 QT.
Oh, one more... just bought a Tunze stream 3 and added that to the tank. Have to say that I am impressed with it so far! Both of the Jebao PP20 I had are now officially dead so the flow is currently provided by the stream 3, and 2 Tunze 6105. I do love the Tunze products and will probably continue to use their products for as long as I am in the hobby.
So that's all for now. I'll try to get some good pics of the annularis and blueface to show their size and color.
I finally finished building the new canopy frame! The old one was so overbuilt, heavy, and bulky that it drove me to build something much more simple and "elegant." Although the frame is actually shorter than the original, the lights sit a tad higher which makes the light spread out a bit more. This makes working in the tank much easier! As for lights, I kept the original 4 Rapidled Onyx fixtures but moved them back a touch. Then I added 3 AI Sol Blue to the front. These fixtures are actually pretty similar though the AI have more functionality in the proprietary controller. I like the coral acclimation mode! Anyway, it's amazing how different the whole tanks looks to me now. The greater spread of light really does a good job of showing the true 3' depth of the tank.
I also now have FULL ACCESS to my screen tops. The construction of the old frame was such that it was difficult to remove any of the 3 screen tops. Now it is simple... lift and pull. It is taking some acclimation on my part to have it this easy! :0)
Just have added some rather large corals to the system. 2 types of green slimer, a type of green spongodes, and a blue stag. The blue stag is (I believe) from the same lineage as the huge blue stag I lost last summer. It's got to color up still but it's looking good!
The annularis is getting big quickly. I've said that so many times but I'm just amazed. The color transition is much more adult than juvenile at this point. I would guess full transformation will be complete in 3-4 months or sooner.
The blueface angel is doing really well and getting very fat. The lymphocyctis have been gone for about a month now. I'm hoping to finish an acclimation box this week and then add the fish to the display tank this coming weekend. Most likely, it'll need to stay in that box for a month or more. But I believe it'll grow faster in the 300 than in the 20 QT.
Oh, one more... just bought a Tunze stream 3 and added that to the tank. Have to say that I am impressed with it so far! Both of the Jebao PP20 I had are now officially dead so the flow is currently provided by the stream 3, and 2 Tunze 6105. I do love the Tunze products and will probably continue to use their products for as long as I am in the hobby.
So that's all for now. I'll try to get some good pics of the annularis and blueface to show their size and color.
Last edited:
McPuff
New member
Here's a couple of not-great pictures showing the blueface and annularis. Bad pics but you get the idea. It is hard to photograph them as they always get jittery when I try to get a pic. For every 10 shots, 1 is decent. Next time I'll use a gel filter to try and get better color rendition.
Blueface... still fully juvenile though I can see yellow starting to come through on the dorsal fin and a tiny bit between the eyes. He is looking very pretty, fat, and healthy! I don't think I've ever seen a specimen this large that was still fully juvenile pattern. It is so pretty in person.
I predict the annularis is going to be the second biggest fish in the tank after a couple of months. It's not as small as this pic might suggest. Although the piggy lieutenant tang is VERY fat, the annularis is about a foot behind him and that makes him look small. He's probably over 4" now and quite chubby. Has no problems with any aggression from the tangs now. :0) Just have to hope that he'll accept the blueface without any issues.
Blueface... still fully juvenile though I can see yellow starting to come through on the dorsal fin and a tiny bit between the eyes. He is looking very pretty, fat, and healthy! I don't think I've ever seen a specimen this large that was still fully juvenile pattern. It is so pretty in person.
I predict the annularis is going to be the second biggest fish in the tank after a couple of months. It's not as small as this pic might suggest. Although the piggy lieutenant tang is VERY fat, the annularis is about a foot behind him and that makes him look small. He's probably over 4" now and quite chubby. Has no problems with any aggression from the tangs now. :0) Just have to hope that he'll accept the blueface without any issues.
Last edited:
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
McPuff,
I finally read through your thread, there was a lot of ups and downs, I appreciate when hobbyist catalog their catastrophes as well as the good times, I really wish I could view the videos to see the transformation from a new tank onto its mature state.
The light rack looks good, earlier pictures show a lot of blue saturation, this new light combo takes better pictures... hehe
I love the progression of the annularis from juvenile to adulthood, I'm glad you're documenting that too. I'm tagging along for the ride. Keep up the good work!!
I finally read through your thread, there was a lot of ups and downs, I appreciate when hobbyist catalog their catastrophes as well as the good times, I really wish I could view the videos to see the transformation from a new tank onto its mature state.
The light rack looks good, earlier pictures show a lot of blue saturation, this new light combo takes better pictures... hehe
I love the progression of the annularis from juvenile to adulthood, I'm glad you're documenting that too. I'm tagging along for the ride. Keep up the good work!!
McPuff
New member
Thanks and much appreciated! I hope to create a series of pictures for the annularis showing the size and pattern changes with time. I just looked at some pictures last night and a month ago he was still showing vertical stripes. They are almost entirely gone now, the pectors are yellow, and the caudal has a nice yellow edge. The spots above the opercula are beginning to show and the blue diagonal stripes are really stunning a bright. It's going to be a very pretty fish (well, already is actually). I'm very glad I got a couple more angels as I have always loved them.
As for the videos, I took them down because I changed the direction of my channel.
McPuff
New member
Just added a chaeto reactor last night. This couldn't have been much easier in fact. I used the NextReef MR-1 large (21") reactor that I was previously using for GFO (admittedly too big), emptied it out, surrounded it with some Red/blue LEDs, hooked it up to manifold and voila! Took about 20 minutes to take this reactor from running GFO to full cheato mode (I'll use another, smaller reactor for GFO).
Just a small bit of chaeto to start but I'm eager to see how fast it goes. I do have a bit of climbing nutrient problem right now (not bad though) so hopefully that will plateau soon. Will be interesting to see how much cheato can fit into this chamber when it's full.
Starting with 12 hours ON/OFF with the reactor ON at night. I'll see if I notice any positive benefits of raising pH at night. Gotta figure out a good way to block the extra light this thing makes though!
Just a small bit of chaeto to start but I'm eager to see how fast it goes. I do have a bit of climbing nutrient problem right now (not bad though) so hopefully that will plateau soon. Will be interesting to see how much cheato can fit into this chamber when it's full.
Starting with 12 hours ON/OFF with the reactor ON at night. I'll see if I notice any positive benefits of raising pH at night. Gotta figure out a good way to block the extra light this thing makes though!
