My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics
- Thread starter slief
- Start date
slief
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Thank you very much Sherm! That was a really nice thing to say and I really appreciate it. Years back when I started this thread, I never realized all the changes, trials and tribulations that were in store for the future but I am really glad I documented them. From time to time I go back and read through this thread to remind myself of where I've been with this tank and where it's going. It's been a long journey. Much longer than the thread but this tank is such a deep rooted part of my life that even my fish are like children. I'm glad I don't loose fish often but the couple major losses I've had over the years have been very painful. That said, sharing those experiences helped me greatly in dealing with them emotionally. Most non reef enthusiasts look at fish and think they are neat but don't understand the emotional attachment unlike fellow reefers and aquarium keeper who see out tank inhabitants in a different light and from a different perspective that only an aquarium lover can understand.
Anyway, thank you very much for the kind words. As you know, I continually update this thread so you never know what might be in store for the future. Stay tuned and thanks again!
Thank you very much! I'm really pleased with the current direction of things. Especially after that last disaster over a year ago. While it was a heartbreaking experience, it was very reassuring to see things rebound in a hurry without a single setback. Oddly, the tank seemed to do better than ever in the shadows of that event. As if there was some sick upside to bleach in the aquarium..
A bit of an update on the new fish. I've only seen one of the two borbonius. Given the nature of how where (depths) they are collected, I am really not surprised and wouldn't be surprised if one of the two didn't survive. I knew that going in but they only cost me $80 each and the one of them is doing really well and eating aggressively. Given that these particular fish typically cost anywhere from $200-$300, I will be happy if the one ends up costing $160.. Heck, I'd actually like to get a few more of them. I think that is now one of my favorite fish. It's really different and quite beautiful.
The Leopard Wrasse is doing well also. The day after I got him, I saw him out and about briefly when I fed but then my Melanurus saw him and chased him back into the rocks in a hurry which kind of had me worried as the Melanarus has never been aggressive with any of my other fish or wrasses for that matter. By the next day (Tuesday) they were getting along fine and the Melanurus wasn't even giving it second look. The Leopard wrasse is out all day long now and eating well too. It's an absolutely beautiful fish and a really inexpensive one too.
My buddy Jim is going to the wholesaler today and I gave him a list of items I am looking for.. A few more dragonface pipe fish, a male Bellus Angel which is hard to come by, some more fairy wrasses (I've had a couple jump out and made a screen cover yesterday for the side of the tank they seem to leap from). He's also going to check to see if they have any Borbonius Anthias but I suspect that even if they do, they will be much more than I paid for the first ones which I got right off the plane at an incredible discount. Will update later today if I get any new fish..
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ERivera65
Member
LOL, you've read my mind Scott, I was going to tell you that your tank is missing a nice Genicanthus angel! lol I just got mine, just not a bellus lol. I got a Lamarck and it is small (1.5") but a very vicious eater and it has been doing well, nipping on rocks, and hasn't gotten bullied by my other fish. The next fish on my list are some lyretail anthias, but I am not sure a small trio of lyretails will do well with the trio of chromis I have now currently in my 75. Any suggestions or do you think they all will be fine with each other?
slief
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I already have a very happy female Bellus that I've had for about a year so the male is just to get her paired up. Unfortunately the males are hard to come by.
Here is my female.
Get another (smaller) female, and your current female should change soon enough.
slief
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That is a very good point. They are hermaphodites and can change sex.. I forgot about that..
I've had Bellus angels change sex MULTIPLE times (f to m to f to m) depending on tankmates (other Genicanthus angels)
SS_Sean
New member
Funny. I clicked on this tank build and one of the first pics was of your closet with the skimmer, and winch for the lights. I said, "Hey, I know that closet!" LOL... Just watched all 12 episodes of your tank build on LA Fish Guys the other day. Nice build. Job Well done.
Jim cracks me up. He's a trip.
Jim cracks me up. He's a trip.
slief
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Thank you very much!
That is good to know. That makes getting another Bellus much easier.
slief
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Mine has been doing great. I've had it over a year now. Not the most beautiful fish in my book but definitely unique and something I rarely see in other tanks.
Jim is indeed a trip. He's a good friend of mine. I've known him over 20 years now. I assume the Episode you saw was episode 80 covering my sump overhaul? If so, that was shot about 5 years ago I think. There have been several other episodes on the tank thus far and one more being edited that covered my display refugium overhaul. In fact we will be filing the last part or parts for that one next Thursday.
Thank you for the kind words!
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slief
RC Sponsor
Oh yea.. Jim got me 4 more fish yesterday.. Nothing exciting though. I got 3 more dragonface pipe fish. I call them slinkys and really like them. They remind of little fuzzy toys I would get as a kid from those little Quarter toy dispenser at the grocery store. You tie a fishing string to them and you can make them crawl across your arm or whatever by pulling the string. They were maybe 4" long and had those little eye balls that bounced around. Anyhow, one went into the display refugium to pair with the other one in there. The other two went into the main display. Hopefully the two in the main display will be able to find enough food between my pod population and my daily feedings. My Mandarin is always fat and happy so I'm sure there is enough food in there. Plus I've been adding Tiggerpods. In fact, I added 3 bottles last night to supplement my pod population.
He also got me a little tiny blue stripe pipe fish. I put that into the display refugium but I don't have much confidence in it's longevity. He called me from the wholesaler and I told him to get it but I didn't realize the thing was only a couple inches long. I should have asked. I will be very surprised if it lasts 5 minutes even in my display refugium as I maintain decent flow in there and I can imagine this guy getting bounced around by my pair of Tunze 6095's. Those are controlled by my Apex & making a nice little wave in the display fuge. They only run a max of 30% on the 12v jumper instead of the 24v one to slow them down. Even with their .4 second on and .4 second off, I get a fairly decent surge in the 24" cube so we will see. I probably made a mistake in green lighting this little guy. I will know better when I get home today.
He also got me a little tiny blue stripe pipe fish. I put that into the display refugium but I don't have much confidence in it's longevity. He called me from the wholesaler and I told him to get it but I didn't realize the thing was only a couple inches long. I should have asked. I will be very surprised if it lasts 5 minutes even in my display refugium as I maintain decent flow in there and I can imagine this guy getting bounced around by my pair of Tunze 6095's. Those are controlled by my Apex & making a nice little wave in the display fuge. They only run a max of 30% on the 12v jumper instead of the 24v one to slow them down. Even with their .4 second on and .4 second off, I get a fairly decent surge in the 24" cube so we will see. I probably made a mistake in green lighting this little guy. I will know better when I get home today.
SS_Sean
New member
Thanks for the heads up. I watched those, too. Looking forward to more.
slief
RC Sponsor
Today I went to our local annual frag swap called FRAG and did something I swore to myself I would never do.. I got 3 SPS frags. I don't dose anything and I don't plan to either. I do 5 gallon a day automated water changes for my 650g volume with my cheap instant ocean salt and my tank does really well. I was looking at pictures of my tank from 9/2013, 3/2014 and 5/2014 and shocked to see how my hammers have grown over the last several months. Like tripled in size and heads. My soft coral colonies have tripled in size too and new sprouts are growing all over the bottom of the tank and the rocks. I will post some comparative photos in the next day or two.
It's been a long time since I haven't tested alk and ca in about a year because my numbers were always good when I tested and my tanks health and coraline growth was a good barometer. I might run some tests tomorrow just to see and will post the results. Anyways, these SPS frags are just an experiment. I don't have high hopes but on the other hand, I have good reason to be optimistic as my tank is doing better than it ever has in the last 20 years. It will be interesting none the less. If they do well.... Well, it's a can of worms that I don't really want to think about.
I also got this 5" Fungia.
It's been a long time since I haven't tested alk and ca in about a year because my numbers were always good when I tested and my tanks health and coraline growth was a good barometer. I might run some tests tomorrow just to see and will post the results. Anyways, these SPS frags are just an experiment. I don't have high hopes but on the other hand, I have good reason to be optimistic as my tank is doing better than it ever has in the last 20 years. It will be interesting none the less. If they do well.... Well, it's a can of worms that I don't really want to think about.
I also got this 5" Fungia.
slief
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I mentioned in a previous post that I was looking at older photos from earlier this year and was surprised to see how much some of the corals had grown.
Here are some growth shots of some of the corals.
This was taken 9/13/2013
Same coral taken 3/9/2014
This was taken 12/13/2014
Here are some growth shots of some of the corals.
This was taken 9/13/2013
Same coral taken 3/9/2014
This was taken 12/13/2014
