Out of Africa (picture intensive)

[kinlayan]

I really like the idea of a concrete tank, very cool! how has the ATS been working for you? my tank has only an ATS and fuge for filtration, my nitrates are always 0.

The Ats has worked well for me in reducing nuisance algae but, i must say it does require more maintenance than say my protein skimmer, every week i have to harvest algae(mainly enteromorpha at this stage) from it and also replace globes every 6 months or so, Cleaning my protein skimmer cap takes 10 minutes vs 20 minutes for harvesting algae :spin3:

 

[kinlayan]

Well done man!!




There are tons of fish that can be collected off our coast (Durban coast - Cape Town has cold waters), a few are:

Gemmatum Tang (super rare in our waters)
Clown Surgeon
Bristletooth Tang
Convict Tangs
Humbugs
Wrasses
Butterfly's (aurigas, vagabond, lunulas, doublesash, Heniochu)
Tobies
Halfmoon Trigger
Black Bean Angel
Goldies
Jumping Bean Angels (rare in our waters)
Lionfish
Leaf fish

Snowflake Eel
Honeycomb Eel
Zebra Moray Eel

and alot more (I dont live at the coast , so I dont know properly)

thank you Poiromaniax

and thank you for answering espocrespo's question so comprehensively

 

[kinlayan]

So I started to add my fish and corals, algae was still pretty bad but it was something all new aquariums have to go through in the beginning as the algae succession starts.

This short video shows how the tank was in the beginning first 3 months before coralline started to dominate, I had bad cyanobacteria as my biological filter had not yet caught up with my fish load from my old aquarium. I introduced some sps too soon and was not successful with them, in the beginning the tank parameters I don't think were stable enough kh fluctuated quite abit and for some reason our NSW doesn't seem to be always good for sps corals it does have high nutrients in it. I am still learning what it is deficient in or has too much of. The softies , clams and some lps are doing well. I think it was largely due to my being a newbie with sps and their care I'm always learning though , one of the things I love about this hobby. Also my fish load maybe just too much for sps type corals. Some of my fish are big!

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[kinlayan]

8 months later the aquarium has started to become more like a reef, the fish section is dominated with a large heteractis crispa guarded by my sebae clowns and blue coral heliopora is doing well with coralline algae and no fish seem to pick on the heliopora, I would still like to add some fire coral to the middle as well and perhaps some photosynthetic gorgonians from the carribean but im not sure if they will be predated upon by the angels. The left section has mainly zoa's and some ricordea and green star polyps with a couple of large leather corals and green bubble anemones for my percula clowns, and about 6 different types of macroalgae(. The far right section is mainly for Clams some lps and 3 species of xenia which are absolutely thriving with my banggai cardinals and mandarin cruising that section with one yellow and convict tang plus salarias blenny for some algae control .

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4048030980/" title="DSC_1885(2) by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2804/4048030980_5185ac6b25.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_1885(2)" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4048033062/" title="DSC_2201 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/4048033062_0993c612ba.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2201" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4047290337/" title="DSC_2130 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2514/4047290337_c0b8bc5d10.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="DSC_2130" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4048032344/" title="DSC_2181 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/4048032344_0c576cb358.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt="DSC_2181" /></a>

some nuisance algae still exists but im getting a handle on it slowly but surely :fun4:

 

[garrettm85]

Absolutely gorgeous! More pics please!

 

[poiromaniax]

thank you Poiromaniax

and thank you for answering espocrespo's question so comprehensively

No problem bru

 

[Elliott]

very nice aquascaping, looks like a dive site
btw my Imperator doesnt mess with my photosynthetic gorgonians however zoo's and lps :lol:

 

[Oldude]

Nice job, it looks great!

 

[kinlayan]

very nice aquascaping, looks like a dive site
btw my Imperator doesnt mess with my photosynthetic gorgonians however zoo's and lps :lol:

That is interesting Elliot, what species of photosynthetic gorgonian do you have could you show me a picture of it?, It is rare for us to get them here but i have always thought that they arent very tasty to most fish plus they grow well.

Fortunatley most of zoo's and lps are locked away from my angels hungry mouths in the two side compartments

 

[kinlayan]

Nice job, it looks great!

many thanks Oldude, i love your thread and your awesome pictures especially your sps !

 

[Dxmarinefish]

Hello kinlayan :wave:, you got me hooked now Subscribed! :bounce1:

I am always interested in how reefers on the other side of the big blue pond set-up and manage their aquariums and this is one to follow.

I wonder if you would be kind enough to answer a few Q's for me please.

What do you feed the tank with? Home made or manufactured food?

Tank circulation - how do you ensure no dead spots? Your in-tank aquascaping is quite novel..I like it!

Do you still have the ATS? I found that on mine i did spend a lot of time cleaning it in the early few months until i started growing true red turf. Now i clean only every 2 weeks..10 mins tops.

Well done and many thanks for sharing your passion with us.

:beer:

 

[kinlayan]

Hello kinlayan :wave:, you got me hooked now Subscribed! :bounce1:

I am always interested in how reefers on the other side of the big blue pond set-up and manage their aquariums and this is one to follow.

I wonder if you would be kind enough to answer a few Q's for me please.

What do you feed the tank with? Home made or manufactured food?

Tank circulation - how do you ensure no dead spots? Your in-tank aquascaping is quite novel..I like it!

Do you still have the ATS? I found that on mine i did spend a lot of time cleaning it in the early few months until i started growing true red turf. Now i clean only every 2 weeks..10 mins tops.

Well done and many thanks for sharing your passion with us.

:beer:

Dxmarinefish thanks for the compliments

i feed quite a variety of different foods frozen clams, mysis ,krill and bloodworm and then i alternate it with pellets various brands omega one, ocean nutrition, and new life spectrum. all foods are mixed with crushed garlic and ascorbic acid

Circlulation: 2 tunze 6101 12000 litres an hour 2 6305 tunze pumps middle section 2 tunze waveboxes in the side compartments also Aquamedic 6500 pump runs an ocean motions 4 way which is divided between the middle and right compartment 2 in each area this is all including the 2 main aquarium pumps shown earlier a iwaki and pan world pump running the closed loop and skimmers

i do still have the ats but i havent got the red turf stuff yet there is some fleshy red/brown macro algae on it though.:beer:

 

[kinlayan]

So because this is their home, id like to tell you abit about each of the fish in the aquarium

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4050579897/" title="DSC_1917 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4050579897_4f12f5cc48.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_1917" /></a>

This is my flame angel and boy this fish is incredible, it has been with me since 1994 and still going strong, it has outlived my dogs even , and was full grown when I got it so i'm estimating it to be around 20 years or more in age. When it comes to the pygmy angels in the tank it is the boss and acts that way.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4050579619/" title="DSC_1904 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4050579619_258d4a3348.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_1904" /></a>

My Clown trigger has been with me for over 12 years, initially I bought him for a friend's aquarium but when that aquarium was taken down I adopted him and boy what a nice character it has for a trigger , it is not at all very aggressive but a very clever and curious fish. When it does show aggression it is at feeding time and its feeling too crowded like a dog with a bone it will chase off the other fish that are close so it can eat in peace, considering he could munch some of the smaller fish in one bite and never has, it has been a model citizen for a trigger whose species can be known for some thug behavior.

 

[kinlayan]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4051323766/" title="DSC_2072 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/4051323766_0190c4f2be.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2072" /></a>

My Regal angel and the first fish introduced to this tank, has been with me for around 7 years now, hasn't grown much though but a good eater eating all types but not as aggressive as some of the other angels when it is feeding time , really one of my favourite angels and fish in the world, even though it isn't very rare it can be more of challenge to keep than some of the hardier angels

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4051324088/" title="DSC_2088 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2723/4051324088_b44915a958.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2088" /></a>

The cow fish- this one has the most character in the aquarium and has been given a name for that reason "œElvis" , always wants to be the centre of attention, often in front of the glass hence his worn down front horns, he has a huge appetite but is slow to the food, if I am fiddling in the aquarium with my hands often get a cookie type bite from this guy, he can be bit of handful and even thinks of biting one of the anemone's tentacle's on the rare occasion and then acts like he has eaten chili, they say they are able like other box fishes to release a toxin but in my experience after having him for 7 years and moving him around he hasn't ever done it, "œelvis" sometimes gets in the clown trigger's face but always backs down when push comes to shove."Elvis" was a tiny juvenile when I got him and has grown quite abit.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4050585223/" title="DSC_1886 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2750/4050585223_8584a2f5b2.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_1886" /></a>

The French angel has been with me for 8 years and was a small juvenile, the size of my thumb when I got her, she is truly a showpiece, full grown now with appetite to match and biggest waste producer, without a doubt the largest fish in the aquarium but pretty peaceful for an angel given her size.

 

[Zoanut]

Does your regal nip at your corals?

 

[sltloser]

wow is all i can say. I can't believe how long you've had all these guys, they all look very healthy. Great job!!

 

[Mentat]

Just read the whole thread Kinlayan, thanks for sharing your tank and fish with us. I like bigger fish and your French Angel & Clown Trigger are both beauties. Best of luck with your aquarium!

 

[kinlayan]

Does your regal nip at your corals?

The regal is not able to get into the coral compartments to nip those , he may have if he could, he is in the middle section and doesnt harm any of the heliopora or anemones in there

 

[kinlayan]

wow is all i can say. I can't believe how long you've had all these guys, they all look very healthy. Great job!!

thank you , i have had issues , the usual stuff like whitespot, brown jelly infections, flatworms, aiptasia etc

but overall the fish at least have always come through it

 

[kinlayan]

Just read the whole thread Kinlayan, thanks for sharing your tank and fish with us. I like bigger fish and your French Angel & Clown Trigger are both beauties. Best of luck with your aquarium!

Thank you Mentat, i agree big fish combined with small ones gives the aquarium a very natural look