My new 600 gallon reef

[cbui2]

unless your arms are like Jonathan, then you will be ok .

how are all the frags doing Chuck?

 

[Goodwin9]

Updated photo of the Spotted Cheeks tang. Very camera shy...

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10315674#post10315674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cbui2
unless your arms are like Jonathan, then you will be ok .

how are all the frags doing Chuck?

24" is a nice workable height IMO.

The frags are hit and miss. Some haven't made it and others look like they are doing OK. The few softies I have in the tank are doing fantastic. Clams & zoos doing great too. With my limited experience with SPS, I can't say for sure why some haven't made it. I've also had some losses of SPS in the coral tank. BIG learning curve with the SPS corals....

 

[jnarowe]

great fish Chuck. SPS do well with a lot of light and decent flow. Nutrients are a major issue as is alkalinity. It is tough to get a good balance. When I see a coral in stress, I check all parameters and pay special attention to alkalinity.

 

[cbui2]

what about the food they need like DT oyster egg or phytoplankton?

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10317584#post10317584 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
great fish Chuck. SPS do well with a lot of light and decent flow. Nutrients are a major issue as is alkalinity. It is tough to get a good balance. When I see a coral in stress, I check all parameters and pay special attention to alkalinity.

I think that I have plenty of light and flow. Have wondered if there is too much light. Running MH's over the majority of corals 7 hours, too long?

Alkalinity has been running 9.0 - 9.4 for the past several weeks, too high or too low?

 

[jnarowe]

good alkalinity IMO. Between 8 and 9 is what I try to run. I run my halides staggered from noon to 9pm. I seriously doubt you have too much light. Usually it's a nutrient issue like nitrate or phosphate, or in an extreme case, ammonia. You can usually tell by algal growth that you have an elevated nutrient situation. ORP is another related factor. if it's too low, you will see some coral decline. Water that has a lot of suspended particulate also can be a problem and not let the light through to the corals.

and of course, there is the carbon and GFO particulate issue. If you are using either in your system, I would run the effluent through a sock. actually 2 or 3 socks to keep the fines out of the water column. GFO has been reported as a causitive factor in coral decline too many times to ignore.

 

[Goodwin9]

I found a nice 3 1/2" Purple tang at the LFS that I couldn't resist. I hope that he doesn't turn out to be the bully in the tank..

 

[jnarowe]

depends on the other fish and its personality. mine is very well behaved, but basically all my fish are except for the sailfin...and he's got "issues".

oh yeah, and the female maroon...she's a piece of work! :lol:

 

[oxx155]

my tank is 3/4" but only 96" long...If yours is just 24" high, that mght be OK, but if it is 36" high, you might run into problems. BTW, if that is the case, you will have a tough time cleaning it. Anything over 30" deep changes the whole maintanance picture.

It is 24" in height. I thought of the maintenance issue also. I have now purchased a cleaning (floatable) magnet with the scraper attachment to make cleaning as easy as possible.

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10321032#post10321032 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oxx155
It is 24" in height. I thought of the maintenance issue also. I have now purchased a cleaning (floatable) magnet with the scraper attachment to make cleaning as easy as possible.

I haven't been able to find that "easy" method for cleaning an acrylic tank. All I have found is that they take time and a lot of TLC.

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10320675#post10320675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
depends on the other fish and its personality. mine is very well behaved, but basically all my fish are except for the sailfin...and he's got "issues".

oh yeah, and the female maroon...she's a piece of work! :lol:

I have purples in two of the other tanks and they seem to be the most aggressive out of the bunch. Speaking of sailfins, one of the smaller ones in the big tank thinks he is "king" of the tank.

 

[jnarowe]

I have seen my sailfin eat aiptasia and xenia...he's a real hog at feeding time, but really they all are!

 

[cbui2]

do you still find time to feed yourself too Chuck? how long did they have the fish before selling? also nice solid colors on him.

 

[Goodwin9]

I managed to get a couple of pics of two of the Emerald Crabs either fighting over a coral, or playing king of the hill....

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10321730#post10321730 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cbui2
do you still find time to feed yourself too Chuck? how long did they have the fish before selling? also nice solid colors on him.

I think the weekly grocery bill is more for the fish than myself. I know there is more food in the freezer for fish than pizzas for me.....

 

[Goodwin9]

Got a new pair of Blue Star Leopard Wrasses. Male is about 4" long, female about 3"

MALE:

FEMALE:

 

[Goodwin9]

3 Feeding clips in the tank and where to they all go, after one little piece of Nori floating around in the tank.

 

[purebullet417]

no wonder why my lfs has no more tangs you bought all the ones in the world lol. do you have a gem or black tang? if not do you plan on getting one

 

[green_frogspawn]

great shot with the tangs/foxfaces... hope it all goes well with the pair of leopards, hope to get a pair one day for myself