Out of Africa (picture intensive)

[kinlayan]

And three more introductions"¦"¦.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4075339853/" title="DSC_2122 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/4075339853_4750fc71ed.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2122" /></a>

The blue-face angel is also a survivor, this fish has been with me only about 4 years but it was a "œrescue case" , when I came upon it is was in a bad shape and the lfs virtually gave it to me as it was certainly looking as though it was going to die, It had extreme fin rot, white spot etc , in fact its pectoral fins had almost completely rotted away too little stubs and the body itself had bacterial rot. I immediately treated it with antibiotics in its water and in its food in a quarantine vessel and the result is what you see today.. fat and healthy and no scars visible from its near death.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4076091858/" title="DSC_1959 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2759/4076091858_c823267043.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_1959" /></a>

The Vlamingi tang was bought recently about 6-7 months ago from a friend who had an incredible sps system. I really enjoy this fish it has subtle colours but is very expressive with its moods and is very friendly and intelligent.. It is still in its juvenile stage and i look forward to it growing into a magnificent adult

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4076174764/" title="DSC_2186 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2492/4076174764_d697e14d8f.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2186" /></a>

The yellow tangs have been with me 7 years and like the regal tangs there were originally more of them in fact 8 but the fighting got worse over the years (3 went to new homes) and currently there is peace with 4 of them in the main section and one is in the right side section as it gets bullied by the others and is a good source of algae control for that section"¦ They are like the cows of my aquarium constantly grazing and are robust fish.

 

[stannn_]

awesome tank. can i request i couple of shots of your overflow box? would love to know how you did yours.. how thick is your concrete? 4 inches? 6 inches?

 

[kinlayan]

awesome tank. can i request i couple of shots of your overflow box? would love to know how you did yours.. how thick is your concrete? 4 inches? 6 inches?

Thank you Stannn, i dont know if you can call it an overflow box but here it is there are 3 of these one in the main section and 1 in each of the side compartments they consist of 50mm pvc pipe which goes through the concrete into the aquarium they are drilled on the end with multiple small holes and a cap ,this pipe then fits inside a square black perspex box also with lots of holes drilled into it and these 3 points are from where the pumps pull water from the aquarium . The concrete walls are 7 inches thick.

Here are some pics , with plastic gutter guard to prevent any fish jumping in and with the gutterguard removed so you can see how the water is sucked in.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4083753412/" title="IMG_0241 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2529/4083753412_c336612db6.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_0241" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4082993761/" title="IMG_0242 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/4082993761_ba5193086b.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_0242" /></a>

 

[Lightsluvr]

Wow.

Wow.

I am so glad that I found your thread - I have read from beginning and am very impressed with your build. You have some of the most beautiful, mature fish I have seen... I hope that my fish will live long and healthy lives as yours have.

You mentioned that your Achilles tang will get the occasional white spot when water quality diminishes...do you think that's ich or something else? I keep panicking because my Bule tang will get a few spots on her from time to time, but she continues to eat voraciously and the spots disappear... Any thoughts?

Keep up the great work. I am following along as well...

LL

 

[kinlayan]

I am so glad that I found your thread - I have read from beginning and am very impressed with your build. You have some of the most beautiful, mature fish I have seen... I hope that my fish will live long and healthy lives as yours have.

You mentioned that your Achilles tang will get the occasional white spot when water quality diminishes...do you think that's ich or something else? I keep panicking because my Bule tang will get a few spots on her from time to time, but she continues to eat voraciously and the spots disappear... Any thoughts?

Keep up the great work. I am following along as well...

LL

Thank you , i do think it is whitespot(cryptocaryon), i think just like we get the cold influenza from time to time when our immune system's arent as strong as they could be or we are stressed ,the same happens to the sensitive fish in the system and the Achilles is a high energy surge zone fish which really is sensitive to captivity and its rigours

 

[seashark]

very nice system

 

[kinlayan]

very nice system

Thank you

 

[buttons buster]

very stunning tank

 

[kinlayan]

A couple more pictures"¦..

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4082995407/" title="DSC_2039 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4082995407_6aebb4c0e6.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2039" /></a>

This is my Kole tang and my once "œmale" "œSebae" clown I think, The Kole tang I have had for 1 year now and it is quite an aggressive "œbristletooth "œ I have observed him having the odd altercations not so much with other tangs except the acanthurus nigrofuscus(brown tang) who sometimes gets out the left side coral compartment when I'm cleaning but always get chased back in by the Kole but mostly he is scrappy with the pygmy angels that said he is a hard worker when it comes to eating the nuisance algae's and so all is forgiven.

This " Sebae" clown has been with me for 10 years last year the female purchased at the same time died probably "œold age" been with me 9 years but no idea how old they were when I received them ,they were pretty large already, the female can be seen in my old tank video and interestingly had a completely yellow tail like a Clarkii clown almost , I am not even sure if it is a "œSebae" clown the colour variations are so different but I'm sure it is in the saddleback complex of clowns. With the knowledge that once the female dies the smaller male often becomes dominant and turns into a female about 8 months ago I purchased a small juvenile(male) of what I thought was the same species, I'm not sure if it is, but they are both sharing the same anemone , although the "œmale/female now" still often chases the small clown around the anemone, this could be because 1.they aren't the same species,2. he hasn't become a she yet or 3. its just plain dominance and doesn't care for the small male at all. The smaller male does have 3 white bands while the larger "œfemale" has 2 (could just be colour variations or maybe even hybrid clowns) if anyone can shed some light on these clowns Id be grateful I will post some extra pictures for this purpose.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4083405345/" title="IMG_0217 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4083405345_5069705a60.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_0217" /></a>

The smaller clown staying hidden below the anemone, the chasing is periodic and not constant.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4083342895/" title="DSC_1983 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2768/4083342895_db41846978.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_1983" /></a>

Another picture of the "œsupposed female"

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4083393073/" title="Black Sebae Clowns 2048x1536 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4083393073_65ba636fd8.jpg" width="500" height="476" alt="Black Sebae Clowns 2048x1536" /></a>

The smaller clown is very hard to get a photograph of but looks identical to these clownfish in a picture that i found on the net

 

[ransomed4ever]

The "female" looks just like my black saddleback, and if the smaller one looks just like the picture it is a saddleback too. If the larger one was alone for a year it has most likely already changed female.
I had a similar thing happen with my pair. I bought 2 black saddlebacks when they were still very young , and after a couple years they sorted out who was male and who was female. When my female jumped I replaced her with a juvenile brown saddleback so the former male would turn female and the juvi could become the male. There was a decent amount of chasing at first while they sorted out the dominance, and there still is every one in a while just to keep the male in line.

 

[elijaher]

awesome tank.

 

[stannn_]

thanks for the info! very awesome tank.

btw, are there any problems with leaking with regards to the pvc going through the concrete?

 

[kinlayan]

thanks for the info! very awesome tank.

btw, are there any problems with leaking with regards to the pvc going through the concrete?

elijaher "awesome tank." Thank you! Elijaher!

ransomed4ever thank you , yeah i know they belong to the saddleback complex but there a few varieties in there too thanks for your information.

Stann - no the pipes were put in before the concrete was cast through the steel and then the fibreglass was put over them i have had no issues on my old aquarium or this one and they were done the same way.

 

[Vili_Shark]

Hi,
Re the Rumphella
You can get it out of Kenya, try to locate the importers in SA who are importing from Kenya.
Some Kenya exporters do not bother with soft corals, the ones who do export should have it.

Its an awsome coral and grows fast.

 

[kinlayan]

Hi,
Re the Rumphella
You can get it out of Kenya, try to locate the importers in SA who are importing from Kenya.
Some Kenya exporters do not bother with soft corals, the ones who do export should have it.

Its an awsome coral and grows fast.

thank you have you had any experience keeping this species of gorgonian with large angels?
i will definitely attempt to acquire some!

 

[premilove]

wow. wowwwww. WOW. my mouth dropped the second i saw this thread. you are living the dream. it must be great to just sit down and stare at that masterpiece you call your tank. achilles tang is also my favorite fish of all time. i must have watched every video of yours at least 5 times, since i started reading. your system is my motivation to start a large tank of my own once i get more situated. subscribed, thanks for the experience!

 

[kinlayan]

wow. wowwwww. WOW. my mouth dropped the second i saw this thread. you are living the dream. it must be great to just sit down and stare at that masterpiece you call your tank. achilles tang is also my favorite fish of all time. i must have watched every video of yours at least 5 times, since i started reading. your system is my motivation to start a large tank of my own once i get more situated. subscribed, thanks for the experience!

Thank you ! premilove , yes i am very fortunate to be able to do this, it is alot of hardwork though(i do everything myself no maintenance people) but when you passionate about something that hardly matters. I do hope it inspires you to do the same when you are able!

 

[kinlayan]

At present my only wrasse species in the aquarium are

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4096606830/" title="DSC_2009 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4096606830_e6cebd72bf.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="DSC_2009" /></a>

Yellow tail tamarin wrasse or here we call them "guinea fowl" wrasse, this wrasse has been with me a year and is very peaceful ignoring and ignored by most of the other fishes. I have yet to find out where it sleeps when it buries itself in the sand also after adding him to the aquarium my flatworm infestation seriously declined to nil, so two thumbs up for this fish!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4095852971/" title="CSC_0133 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/4095852971_f0f54d8203.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="CSC_0133" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4096612272/" title="DSC_0130 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/4096612272_2c55d730e2.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="DSC_0130" /></a>


The mystery wrasse is very recent about 2 months in my aquarium, and I love it, very hard to get this fish over here but to my luck a "œnew" supplier has arrived selling very good quality fish and I snapped this up fast always wanted one and it didn't disappoint , it is full of character and colour and very alert and cautious , I absolutely love it. IT is still very small around 4 cm and doesn't have very distinct white bars yet.

 

[Rare Angels]

Awesome build and good healthy fish. Do you have access to the KingI angelfish where you are? One would look awesome in your tank.

Keep up the good work

 

[kinlayan]

Awesome build and good healthy fish. Do you have access to the KingI angelfish where you are? One would look awesome in your tank.

Keep up the good work

Thank you

The Kingi angel is pretty rare even for us here in South Africa when it comes to LFS , but if one lives on the natal coast and dives then it is possible to get it along with Gem tangs( a few South Africans have these) but you have to dive them out yourself or know someone who does, i have seen pictures of a Kingi in an outdoor marine pond but they dont live long often due to the depths at which they are caught and improper decompression.

That said i do dive and if i go up to Natal on holiday , i will certainly attempt to acquire one