ojonas JBJ 28g build thread

[ojonas81]

Did some water tests this morning and ammonia and nitrite is still 0 which is good. Nitrate is 10 ppm which is not too bad. Phosphate is 0 which I do think is a little weird. Did the test twice with the same result. Using a brand new Salifert test kit.

Can the phosphate be 0 already knowing I am using BRS Pukani dry rock? I have been using GFO and carbon along with my skimmer since day 1 and have changed out the media once already. You would think I would have at least some phosphate traces in here right?

 

[jleons28]

Keep up the good work!

 

[ojonas81]

Thanks!

Heading out on another business trip this week but if everything is still on track for this coming weekend I think it is time to add first fish. Will either be a clown pair or, if my LFS don't have a pair I like, a Yasha Goby and pistol shrimp.

Probably also add a Coral Banded Shrimp as well.

 

[Jacsubi]

The clowns might be a better first choice for now. That yasha goby and shrimp are an amazing pair to have, but I never saw mine for the first two weeks and it was starting to get depressing. Now, they are probably the coolest aspect of my tank!

 

[ojonas81]

Had a goby pistol pair in the tank before it crashed and loved them. Was a Yellow Watchman Goby. Want a smaller one this time even though it means I might not see it as much. Will only add the goby if my LFS does not have the clown pair I like/want.

 

[SSLVRNBLK]

The clowns might be a better first choice for now. That yasha goby and shrimp are an amazing pair to have, but I never saw mine for the first two weeks and it was starting to get depressing. Now, they are probably the coolest aspect of my tank!

Dont mean to hijack but how are the goby/ shrimp pair today? Do you see them often? Purchased a YWG goby last night a very young one and almost never see him.... Will that get better?

 

[Jacsubi]

They come out about 25% of the time, but they are always out when I am feeding. As long as there are no other threats in the tank, I'm positive you'll get to see it more often in no time.

 

[ojonas81]

My tiger pistol/YWG I had before the crash was out all the time moving sand. Was a real joy to watch. I also had a Candy Pistol and I saw him 3 times on 6 months. He was still alive days before the crash.

 

[JMFC]

Hey man sorry about the brick wall. I hope everything comes together well for you this go around. I had a crash about a month ago now and am currently in a new cycle phase with new sand and dry rock.
How long would you say your cycle took? I'm just using the ghost feed method.
Are you happy with the raw shrimp cycle?
Thnks.
Best of luck.

 

[chad p]

Man. I clicked on this build thread for the first time in a long time and man...absolutely heart broken for you ojonas! It seriously hurt to read it and look at the pictures of your tank because I know how bad it must have felt to lose all of those beautiful creatures that you collected.

What a BUMMER! I would be crushed to come home to that.

However, it's also AWESOME to see you pick up the pieces and start over and things seem to be coming along nicely.

So sorry for the loss of all of your livestock and here's hoping for no catastrophes this time around.

 

[ojonas81]

So yesterday became a very exciting day. Got home early from my business trip and did a water test. Still no ammonia or nitrite and just a small amount of nitrate. Phosphate was very low as well. Decided to add my first fish.

Went to my LFS with my wife and we looked around a long time for find the perfect candidate. We finally homes in on a juvenile misbar true perc clown pair.

Got home and started the acclimatizing process as can be seen here.

After about 1 hour of drip acclimating they were ready to go in. Immediately they started to explore the whole tank on their own and after about 20 minutes or so they found each other again and have not separated since. I am very happy with them and hope we will have a long standing relationship together. Planning to add one or two BTA for them at some point as well and hope for the best. Next stock item on the list is a Yasha Goby and a pistol shrimp along with a red fire shrimp and a skunk cleaner.

 

[ojonas81]

Got new filters for my RO/DI unit that got installed yesterday. Way overdue for the sediment filter and the DI resin. I also got the 150 gallon upgrade kit which increased my water production and cut down my waste water in half. Good deal for both me and my wallet long term.

Before and after for filter setup.

Unfortunately it turned out that my new misbar clowns hated each other. Constantly picking and nibbing so they had to go back to my LFS. Luckily for me I found another set of clowns that had already paired up. Is a True Perc grade C snowflake. While I was at the store I also picked up a skunk cleaner, a fire shrimp and a pom pom crab. Here they all are getting acclimated.

After about 1 hour of acclimation they went in the tank. The clowns are awesome to watch and have not left each others side one second. Constantly touching each other.

 

[ojonas81]

The Pom Pom crab is an awesome creature. He is by far the coolest crab I ever had in my tank. Sitting on the rock waiving his anemones searching for food.

The shrimps went and hid in the caves as expected but has come out to eat when I feed the tank.

All parameters seem to still be good. Will let the tank run for a week now and add next fish by next weekend. Since i do want to get one or two anemones for this tank (GBTA and RBTA) I might hold off getting any corals for a couple of weeks until they have settled in assuming my water parameters stay stable for the next couple of weeks.

Happy to finally have some life in the tank again.

 

[ojonas81]

Tank is humming along good so far. Clowns have settled into the tank and found their favorite spot right in the middle up front. Perfect location! Now they just need a RBTA there. Hopefully I can hold off on getting that for yet some time.

Water has a slight white tint to it which I suspect is just my algae bloom. Should pass over pretty soon.

Have also noticed hundreds of tiny white pods on my glass. Hopefully that is a good sign.

Ordered a WXM module for my Apex system today as well. When it arrives I will be able to fine control my MP10 throughout the day.

 

[ojonas81]

So today I opened a new bucket of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and at the very top I found this:

Has anyone else got anything like this or is there a contest out there I don't know about?

 

[ange062]

Ojonas is back in business, this is great man!! Look forward to continued progress.

 

[ojonas81]

Thanks ange. feels good to be back and much happier with how the start is this time than the last. It is surprising how much difference even some experience does compared to being completely newbie. Although the hardest part is still to take it slow. Don't think I will ever master that part completely.

 

[ojonas81]

Sad day today. Came home and both my clowns were dead. Thought it was very strange. They were alive and kicking this morning when I woke up and left for work. My clean up crew had done a great job because I could barely see any left overs of the fish.

I have no idea what would have killed them, just speculations. Tested the water when I came home and nothing wrong there. Even brought water to my LFS and they did not see anything strange either. Did a water change last night but since everything else is live and kicking I don't think that would have caused anything. The only thing I can think of is starvation because they did not eat very well even though I did see them take some flake food. Would still be strange for both of them to pass away at the same time, wouldn't it? Any ideas anyone?

Since the water turned out to be good I decided to leave the fish store with two brain corals. Got one of them for free as a compensation for the fish loss which I thought was a good gesture. Will post pictures of them later once they are in the tank.

 

[ojonas81]

Double post

 

[chad p]

What a bummer man. Sorry to hear that. One thing we know about you is that it's not going to stop you or dampen your enthusiasm.