My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics
- Thread starter slief
- Start date
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
Things are starting to look normal again. Very happy for you. How are the flame pair doing?
slief
RC Sponsor
No doubt the additions were fast. Had it been a new tank, I would never have done it that way but given the tank has been established for over 10 years since it's last break down and there were never any nitrate or ammonia spikes after the disaster coupled with the fact that my ORP began it's climb back to normal levels fast, I felt comfortable with the expeditious additions. That said, given the size of the new additions with most being pretty small, the bio load is still pretty low and less than it was prior to the disaster.
The only casualties I've had since adding new fish were 2 or 3 Bangai Cardinals which is pretty typical of Bangai's these days. I've found over the years that only about half will survive and thrive. I'm down to 4 healthy Banga's which actually is pretty good. Other than loosing a couple Bangai's every other fish and shrimp that has been added has done really well and all are getting along well too.
I still want to get a small Unicorn tang, a Flame Hawk, a Long Horned Cowfish and a good school of Anthias to complete my fish stock. I will address those additions over the next 3 to 4 weeks.
I must say, it's so nice to have the life in the tank again. After all the years of having a well stocked tank, it's easy to take that for granted. A disaster like I had sure can put things back into perspective. No doubt it really made me appreciate the fish I have more and certainly made me appreciate the health and stability of my system. I find myself staring at it constantly during light on hours. I will always consider myself very fortunate to have had my tank rebound the way it did. You can't put a price on being prepared for worst case scenarios. Something I've learned over the years but never really had to exercise until the disaster.
Yea, I'm back to normal fish levels again with all of them being very social. They all know who feeds them and are very attentive towards me. They still won't eat Nori from my hands like my others did but that will just take time. Funny but none of these guys will even show interest in Nori. I might actually have to skip a few days of feeding to get them to eat Nori although they have plenty of rock and macro to keep them fat and happy.
As for the Flames. All 3 are doing well and they seem to be courting a bit when the lights start going out. There is not fighting going on between them or the Lemon Peel. I wish I could get another Lemon Peel in the tank as well but the one I have was not a happy camper when I introduced the second lemon peel granted it was a really small one. That said, the 3 Flames and one Lemon Peel are probably enough pygmy's unless I get a Bi-Color or something.
Amazingly, I can honestly say that the tank is looking better than ever from a health standpoint. My soft corals have shown some serious growth over the last 6 weeks. More than I've ever seen in such a short period of time.
I did send that little Lemon Peel who I had to put into the sump home with my friend Jim last week. My current fish and invertebrate stock list as of today:
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
2 percula clownfish
1 Lemon Peel angel in the display
3 Flame Angels
1 Naso tang
1 Lieutenant tang
1 Vlamingi tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
2 mandarin goby's
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
2 coral bandit shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 fire shrimp
1 giant RBTA
1 smaller RBTA
and several snails, hermit crabs and small starfish.
I will be visiting my friend at the LFS today. Maybe I will find something else to bring home.
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slief
RC Sponsor
Just got back from the store and picked up a Hoevens Wrasse and a Long Nose Butterfly. I've always loved Long Nose Butterfly fish as well as Copperbands. Hopefully this guy will be a model citizen.
Revised current fish stock list.
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
2 percula clownfish
1 Lemon Peel angel in the display
3 Flame Angels
1 Naso tang
1 Lieutenant tang
1 Vlamingi tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
2 mandarin goby's
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 Hoevens Wrasse
1 Long Nose Butterfly fish
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
2 coral bandit shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 fire shrimp
1 giant RBTA
1 smaller RBTA
and several snails, hermit crabs and small starfish.
Revised current fish stock list.
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clownfish
2 percula clownfish
1 Lemon Peel angel in the display
3 Flame Angels
1 Naso tang
1 Lieutenant tang
1 Vlamingi tang
2 Sargent Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
4 bangai cardinal
2 royal grammas
2 diamond goby's
2 mandarin goby's
1 watchman goby
1 six line wrasse
1 Hoevens Wrasse
1 Long Nose Butterfly fish
1 sea hare
1 cleaner shrimp
2 coral bandit shrimp
1 harlequin shrimp
1 fire shrimp
1 giant RBTA
1 smaller RBTA
and several snails, hermit crabs and small starfish.
biecacka
Active member
Great to see this back in order!
Few questions, where did you get that "fish acclimation holder" thingamajig :lol: how big is it. Does it allow the fish to see it but not beat up on it I assume. It's a great idea.
Also do your angels nip at the coral enough got cause any damage
Corey
Few questions, where did you get that "fish acclimation holder" thingamajig :lol: how big is it. Does it allow the fish to see it but not beat up on it I assume. It's a great idea.
Also do your angels nip at the coral enough got cause any damage
Corey
slief
RC Sponsor
I've never had issues with any flames or other pygmy angles nipping at my soft corals. Then again I have a huge tank with hundreds of pounds of live rock for them to forage on in addition to my daily feedings.
The acclimation box is a Reef Gently Acclimate. They have two sizes and I have the XL sized version. There are two components to this device. An outer box which is water tight and an inner box with holes. The inner box can be used as a social acclimation box and has it's own suction cups. You can attach the inner box to the inside of the tank and use it to socially acclimate fish that could have potential of getting into fights or being picked on.
What I really like the device for is acclimating new fish to the tank water. The inner box gets inserted into the water tight outer box and you set up a double siphon that slowly introduces tank water into the box while the water the fish came in is slowly dripped out of the acclimation box into a bucket. It makes for one of the best acclimation practices I've used in my 25 years of being in this hobby. When the acclimation is complete, you pull the inner box out. The water drains through holes into the outer box and then you dump the fish into the water. No need for nets or added stress of being caught in the acclimation box. Pull it out and dump them in.
Here is more on it. These happen to be available at places like Marine Depot as well as other retailers.
http://www.reef-gently.com
slief
RC Sponsor
slief
RC Sponsor
That's a key reason why I don't have any yellow or purple tangs in my tank. Some species tend to be much more aggressive and territorial and in many cases, social acclimation can be impossible. With certain tangs, it's best to add a few at once even if they are different species. It can immediately change the hierarchy in the tank enough to chill an otherwise aggressive fish.
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biecacka
Active member
Yea I know. But he's been around for awhile so I hate to lose him but he does make life difficult at times. I might try and catch him until I add other fish then reintroduce him.
Anyway, I love the big softy lps tank it is what my tank will be……minus the big part :lol:
Corey
Anyway, I love the big softy lps tank it is what my tank will be……minus the big part :lol:
Corey
slief
RC Sponsor
My only experience with Reef Octopus skimmers was on a much smaller tank. The experience wasn't great either. I had to replace the pump every 12 or so months and the skimmer quality was just "OK". If you are looking for a skimmer on a budget, they are probably not a bad choice though but when it comes to their skimmers on a big tank, I have no first hand experience.
Personally, I really like the Bubble King skimmers but they are very expensive however their build quality is second to none in my opinion. The Alpha's like mine were made by BK but I guess that has changed now. You might also consider looking at ATB. They make good quality skimmers and many of them use the same Laguna motor block as the Bubble Kings which happens to be one of the most reliable and quiet skimmer pumps available.
slief
RC Sponsor
I thought I would post this as it's been kind of nagging at my mind. Since my bleach incident, I have noticed that many of my corals have been doing better than ever. Many of my soft corals have been growing at a rate that I've never seen in my tank. Star polyp colonies that have more than doubled in size in less than a month. New soft corals seem to be popping up all over. I will note that bleach or chlorine is an oxidizing agent which may account for that to some extent so maybe my recent disaster wasn't all bad.
Over the last few weeks in particular, I've noticed an abundance (more than a dozen) of new soft corals popping up all over my tank. They are on the rocks and on the bottom of the tank and are all growing fast. They could simply be frags from existing corals that have settled into new homes but I don't think that is the case for most of them. Most are leather and finger type corals of which I have many large colonies.
None the less, I walked around the tank and counted well over a dozen new coral growths which are all growing fast and I thought I would share some pictures. Since most of these are pretty small, it kind of hard to get good pictures. Especially will an iPhone zoomed in but the ones I got were pretty good considering the LED lighting and these being shot with a camera phone.
Here is a leather or toad stool sprout on a rock.
Another leather on the bottom of the tank.
A leather or devils finger on a rock.
More leather sprouts.
Another leather sprout on the rocks.
Another leather sprout.
Yet another leather or toad stool sprout.
Leather sprout on the bottom.
Another new leather growing.
Over the last few weeks in particular, I've noticed an abundance (more than a dozen) of new soft corals popping up all over my tank. They are on the rocks and on the bottom of the tank and are all growing fast. They could simply be frags from existing corals that have settled into new homes but I don't think that is the case for most of them. Most are leather and finger type corals of which I have many large colonies.
None the less, I walked around the tank and counted well over a dozen new coral growths which are all growing fast and I thought I would share some pictures. Since most of these are pretty small, it kind of hard to get good pictures. Especially will an iPhone zoomed in but the ones I got were pretty good considering the LED lighting and these being shot with a camera phone.
Here is a leather or toad stool sprout on a rock.
Another leather on the bottom of the tank.
A leather or devils finger on a rock.
More leather sprouts.
Another leather sprout on the rocks.
Another leather sprout.
Yet another leather or toad stool sprout.
Leather sprout on the bottom.
Another new leather growing.
