Nat's 29 Gallon Build Thread

[IdahoReef]

Sorry you have to move, especially into another apartment. I am not sure I could EVER go back to apartment living. Currently we live about 2.5 miles North of town on 1.6 acres with a Western view of about a bazillion miles.

 

[nattarbox]

I actually really enjoy apartment, city and car-free life, just moving the tanks that will be bothersome and stressful. We're considering splurging on some professional movers to take care of everything except the tanks, which would certainly make it a more enjoyable process.

 

[nattarbox]

I'm going to go to the LFS and see if I can find a good first fish. Flipping through my trusty books, I came across the Coral Beauty Angelfish, which was listed as being perfectly reef safe (in this book). Checking online, I see most people saying 'with caution', as similar to the Flame Angelfish, they can sometimes be aggressive towards corals. Anyone here have feedback on that?

Otherwise, this is my shortlist of potential fish species. We will see what is in stock.
- Yellowtail damselfish
- Six line wrasse
- Clown goby
- Court jester goby
- Catalina goby
- High fin red banded goby

Having been guilty of impulse buys in the past (this is why I shop almost exclusively online now), I emailed myself a list of these species, with scientific names and photos. I can reference that visual list on my iPhone while in the store, and stay away from anything I didn't already research and include on the list.

Hopefully I won't come back with a shark.

 

[Egres]

i have a corals beauty never ad problem with it but i have soft corals not sps sow i dont know about sps but i think they all have different personnality...but if you want small goby stick with them (jmo) and dont but that yellowtail i think they are just to aggressif or will be.....i have a little green banded gobie can be keep in group and they are nice!!!

 

[nattarbox]

To clairfy, that isn't a stocking list, I'm only looking for one of those fish to start with. Future stocking will be based on whatever I choose. I wanted a large list of possilbities to increase the chances of finding something in LFS.

 

[nattarbox]

The guy at the fish store showed me two very fat coral beauties that had been given back to the store after cleaning out someone's SPS collection. I decided on a purple firefish, Nemateleotris decora, instead. I also picked up a really nice sized colony of green Zoanthus. Everything is drip acclimating now, I'll take some photos when the lights come on later.

 

[nattarbox]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattarbox/2374941262/" title="Nemateleotris decora by nttrbx, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2374941262_0154f2846a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Nemateleotris decora" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattarbox/2374104617/" title="Zoanthus by nttrbx, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2382/2374104617_2bc4b4f3b9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Zoanthus" /></a>

Those have actually started to open up in the drip tank since that photo.

 

[andrewprime1]

be careful about that purple fire goby, I had one that jumped out of the only 1'' by 1'' opening in my tank's lid, they are known for jumping. Also the Catalina Goby is a colder water fish *73 degrees max* so if you are still thinking about one, take that into consideration.

 

[mikellini]

Nice firefish! I love mine, "Spike". He's never shown an inclination to jump, but I guess it only takes once. One of the most interesting and personable fish I've had, and he's always out in the open unless he gets scared or the lights go out. Congrats!

 

[nattarbox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12211834#post12211834 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by andrewprime1
be careful about that purple fire goby, I had one that jumped out of the only 1'' by 1'' opening in my tank's lid, they are known for jumping. Also the Catalina Goby is a colder water fish *73 degrees max* so if you are still thinking about one, take that into consideration.

Thanks, I read somewhere probably at the same time you were posting this that they are jumpers. I had to run an errand this afternoon anyway so I grabbed a glass lid. Unfortunately I can't quite seal off the back 1.5 inches because of the hang on skimmer. Hopefully it will be enough to hold him in. Maybe it will slow my evaporation rate as well, I seem to drop an inch a day in that tank.

It seems to be hiding right now, but the few times it came out the colors were spectacular under the MH lighting. Same for the new polyps, they are putting my SPS frags to shame right now. I'll have to get out the camera again.

 

[IdahoReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12213264#post12213264 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nattarbox
I grabbed a glass lid. Maybe it will slow my evaporation rate as well, I seem to drop an inch a day in that tank.

Unfortunately, that will probably hold in the heat as well. Just think closed up care with the blaring Sun beating down on it!!!!:eek1:

 

[nattarbox]

Yeah I'm keeping an eye on the temps for now. Won't be a good solution in the summer, thats for sure, but I should be OK in the meantime, especially with an open strip in the back.

 

[mikellini]

If you're really worried, a nice cheap solution is 'eggcrate', which can be found at most home supply stores as the stuff that goes beneath fluorescent lights in a tiled ceiling (if you know what I mean). It comes in a variety of hole sizes, so you should be able to find something just small enough that the goby can't jump through and cut it to fit. I bought some, but never used it because mine really didn't seem like a jumper. Like I said, he's been fine so far...

 

[nattarbox]

Yeah I took the glass top off, I saw the temp creep up 1 degree and didn't want to watch and see if it went up any further. Also I haven't seen the fish since I put him in, aside from a few zips back and forth in front of the glass. He snapped up some flake food I tried out, so hopefully he's healthy and just being shy / angry.

I might try some of that, my friend had a big sheet leftover from some project with his tank. I think if I don't see him come out of the rockwork soon I'll hold off though. Is it possible that I have too much current for fish? I am running two big powerheads, which the corals obviously love. I seem to recall watching reef videos on here where people have tons of pumps and waveboxes running and the fish seem fine.

My Koralias are aimed across the tank at each other, and pointing somewhat to the surface in the middle where they meet. This keeps most of the laminar flow at the top of the tank, and makes the bottom half more chaotic, less intense. I might experiment with turning off one pump tonight and see if he shows.

 

[nattarbox]

As soon as I came home from work he came out from the rocks and sat right in front of the glass. I gave him (her? who knows) some flakes and then took some photos:

(with most of my photos you can click on them to go to a bigger version at Flickr)

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattarbox/2378797192/" title="Great Expression by nttrbx, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2347/2378797192_3026f4218c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Great Expression" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattarbox/2377959033/" title="Purple Firefish by nttrbx, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/2377959033_cce2a66eed.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Purple Firefish" /></a>

Here is a nice shot with the new polyps in the background:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattarbox/2378796332/" title="New Acquisitions by nttrbx, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2407/2378796332_af9aa1e432.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="New Acquisitions" /></a>

And a close up of those:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattarbox/2377959337/" title="Zoanthid by nttrbx, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2377959337_d12b45b256.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Zoanthid" /></a>

 

[Egres]

nice fish and nice zoo... what is that next to the zoo at the left another type of zoo???

 

[nattarbox]

Yeah! Buy one get one free I guess, the colony came out of a big tank with dozens of other zoo colonies in it. There are about five polyps of the other kind.

 

[Egres]

thats cool

 

[nattarbox]

I found two new growths that I believe to be Aiptasia based on a photo I found on the internet. Am I screwed? Should I try to pull it out or what?

 

[nattarbox]

Read up a bit about the common ways of removing them. I have lemon juice but no syringe. I read that kalkwaser directed at the anemone can be helpful. I don't have any of that either, but I did have two part solution and needed to add the daily dose anyway. I measured out the usual dose, but instead of throwing it into the current, I used a pipette to blow it directly on the two heads of Apistasia. They immediately retracted and turned a dusky white color, so at the very least I have annoyed them.

I imagine these came in on the rock with Zoos that I got this weekend.