My 55 gallon reef project

Racenrich, Wasn't that tank the tank of the month for advanced aquarist online magazine earlier this year? Your the man!
 
I brought home the rest of my livestock from the LFS by my parent's house last night. They couldn't meet me until about 7:30, and then I had a 2.5 hour drive back my my apartment. You can imagine that made for quite a long night. I got everything acclimated by about 1:00 am (about 2.5 hours) As far as corals, I had just a few mushrooms, some button polyps, and a dying hammer (boo). My two fish were my old trusty tomato clown (mater) and my yellow tang (please don't yell at me for having a yellow tang in a 55, he's small) Anyway, the two fish were still with us this morning so that was a good sign. They were definitely staying very close to each other while checking out their new environment. (Nemo didn't lie, tangs and clowns can be friends) Last night I dosed some phyto, ecosystem reef solution, and some vita-chem. This morning I tossed a bit of spectrum pellet with garlic in the tank just to try to make them feel at home a bit. The clown seemed to go after a bit of the food, but I was a bit dark to tell for sure. This evening I'll feed some of rods food and some sea veggies (all with garlic of course) and I'll sure that will give me an idea of how they both are doing in their new home.

To be honest the fish didn't look as good as possible. I wanted to get them in the display right away because they've been in a 20 gallon tank together for the past 5 months. Both of them have significantly lost color, but I think with the feeding regiment and vitamin supplementation that they're about to experience, they'll fatten up and get there color back shortly. (assuming they eat). I'll post some pictures hopfully this evening. As always, wish me luck.
 
I came home tonight hoping for the best in my tank. Things are so so. I wanted to feed as soon as I got home so I prepared some Rod's food with a couple drops of vita chem. While it was thawing I dosed some reef solution. My Tomato clown is having a real issue with his reflection. He's going up and down the glass fighting it. He's not rubbing he's chasing, and really stressing himself out. The tang ate like a pig, but the clown ignored the food. I was beginning to worry that he was sick rather than territorial. I shut the lights off (to send the other bad tomato away) and he immediately calmed down. I felt a little better, although puzzled about what I should do. I then thought, maybe he'll eat since he's not so preoccupied. I dropped a good helping of bio blend pellets in the tank and he immediately ate. Again I felt even better, still not knowing what to do. I guess I'll leave the lights off tomorrow to let him adjust for another day. I hope this helps because he's really really stressing out over the clownfish in the glass. Please give some suggestions anyone.
 
hey Dcombs44. Im planning to start a 58 gallon tank soon and i had a question. This tank will be in my room so one major concern for me was noise. I read that your 55 was in your apartment bedroom. Any issues with the noise so far?. Even when the durso?. BTW nice set up man, ill be following along. Peace.
 
blindfold! :lol: I think it will get over it in time. If you have a spare piece of blue or black acrylic, you could place it inside the tank where the clown is having trouble and that might help.
 
Jm Lee...the tank is actually in my living room, but it's relatively quiet. The standpipe is adjustable so you can lessen the noise from the waterfall in the overflow. There is no noise from the suction of the pipe. I'm sitting here right now watching tv in my living room with my tank and all i hear is a bit of buzzing from my closed loop pump and my skimmer. The stand is open as well, but when it's closed it deadens the noise. In all honesty, I don't think it would bother me too bad in my bedroom, and I'm a pretty light sleeper. Good luck on your new tank.

jnarowe..I tried the blindfold, he got the wrong idea and asked for a cigarette as well :lol:
I may try to find some colored plastic/acryllic sheet to slip in there. I guess this is when I need a diatom bloom :) I just hope they can sort out their differences before he a. starves himself to death or b. causes some brain damage.
 
I didn't add in my earlier posts that the fish didn't look all that great when I got them last night. They both had faded in color quite a bit and the tang had a bit of erosion on the tail fin. Hopefully between the vita chem, selcon, garlic, reef solution, and feeding regiment, I can fatten them up and get them brightened back up. Of course a big clown and a tang stuffed in a 20 gallon tank for 4 months can't be too pleasant. I feel like a terrible parent.

I will post tomorrow on the clown stand off. Until then please read my post above and give any advice or comments on the clown ignoring food to fight his reflection.
 
the clown is an idiot and there's not much you can do. how about trying to tape some black paper on the outside of the tank? Or maybe one of those reef scenes to confuse it? I have had more than one fish pace the tank when introduced and have seen the exact same kind of behavior. The fish in question seem to get bored of it over time and forget about it. Or maybe when they don't get any physical strikes they figure it out. I know it happens all the time. You might also try a long handle scraper to get it away from the glass during feeding. Maybe tape a picture of a predator on the outside?? or a picture of food?
 
I'd probably give it time for the clown to settle down.

The fish being faded could be due to water quality issues. Hopefully the 55g has better parameters so they can regain their color. They need HUFA fatty acids, and foods like Cyclop Eeze contain them in vast quantities.
 
Thanks Marc. I'm feeding enriched brine that's High in HUFA fatty acids as well as frozen cyclopeze. I'm almost positive the vita chem and selcon contains HUFAs as well.

I would agree that the water quality probably wasn't the greatest either at the LFS, I'd like to pride myself on my water quality so I'd say I'll hopefully get them to come around.

Thanks everyone.
 
It seems this evening that I have 2 fish that have all but settled in to their new surroundings. I came home to find them both swimming, not a spot on either of them. I fed a mixture of rod's food, cyclopeze, spectrum pellet, and vita-chem. They both ate, the tang better than the clown (until I dropped the pellet in. That clown loves pellet food?) The color of the tang is still a bit faded, but think it will improve daily if he keeps eating like he has. I also dosed some eco-system reef solution to aid the process. I'll try to snap some pics tonight.
 
Here are a few macroish shots. They are a bit grainy from the raised ISO speed, lack of a tripod, and crappy $150 camera, but enjoy nonetheless.

Green Buttons
HPIM0466.jpg


Red striped mushroom
HPIM0465.jpg


Mater (and my hand :) )
HPIM0464.jpg


What I think is a hairy mushroom feeding
HPIM0463.jpg
 
Thank you! I'm really trying to do things right this time, and use my money and space to the best of my ability. One day I'd like to get a big toy to play with, but until then, I'll do the best I can with what I have.

If you want real inspiration, go about half way up the page and look at the pic or racenrich's 55 gallon. Amazing.

Thanks again for the compliment. Keep tagging along if you'd like. I plan to update often with pics and info. Hopefully with a new camera in the near future.
 
Yeah. He's always been that way. People say they have a hard time getting their fish on pellet, but with that clown there's never been an issue in 2 years.

I ordered a Build Your Own reef cleaner pack from etropicals.com today. I got 10 scarlet hermits, 15 nassarius, 7 ceriths, 7 atreas, 2 peppermint shrimp, and a queen conche for $64 shipped. They should be coming to my workplace tomorrow. This is the first thing I've ever ordered alive, so we'll see how it goes. I curious as to what the receptionist will say when the live animals box comes in :)
 
Yeah. If it was a fish, I'd probably be a mess all day, but the cleanup crew doesn't have quite as on edge. I don't know why i didn't add them first, just anxious I guess. I've had a few hermits and some ceriths in my tank for a couple months just to keep things in check, but I'm hoping the pepps. knock out all of my aptasia and the other guys keep the glass and sandbed in check.
 
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