Phuzzykins' 300 gallon AGE Build Extravaganza

[phuzzykins]

Just caught up on your build. Excellent work.



We need pics. :bounce2:

There's not a lot to take pics of, honestly... it'd just be pics of the same rocks again. :lol:

 

[phuzzykins]

Time for an update and a few more pics. I broke down my nano tank and transferred its three fish (an ocellaris clown and two chromis) to the 300. The nano had never really recovered after the major die-off from 2008's power failure, so I took this opportunity to cook the rock, clean the sand, etc. It's amazing how much detritus I removed from that tiny tank.

Now that the nano is cleaned up, I'm using it as a quarantine tank for incoming corals. Here are the current residents... apologies for the dust:

 

[phuzzykins]

I've also added a few new fish...

Ocellaris from the nano tank

McCosker's wrasse

Filamented wrasse

 

[phuzzykins]

And finally, three more fish in quarantine. Unfortunately, it's very hard to get decent pictures in my quarantine tank.

Blond naso tang and orangeshoulder tang:

Clown fairy wrasse:

 

[Bax]

Looks great! Still have the rabbit? I am guessing the rabbit is eating your zoos and softies. I had a blue stripe rabbit that was a great fish but would taste every thing. He could polish off a big rock of zoas in couple of hours. I didn't care till he developed a tase for clams mantels. Killed a really sweet squammy before I put it all together. Keep an eye on him.

 

[michika]

The pictures were definitely worth venturing outside of the lounge. Although I do want to see more of the orange shoulder tang.

 

[phuzzykins]

The pictures were definitely worth venturing outside of the lounge. Although I do want to see more of the orange shoulder tang.

Me too! He's only been in quarantine for about a day and a half, and is still pretty skittish.

 

[phuzzykins]

Looks great! Still have the rabbit? I am guessing the rabbit is eating your zoos and softies. I had a blue stripe rabbit that was a great fish but would taste every thing. He could polish off a big rock of zoas in couple of hours. I didn't care till he developed a tase for clams mantels. Killed a really sweet squammy before I put it all together. Keep an eye on him.

I do still have the rabbit; I'm blaming him for the damage to the leather. In fact, I just moved it to the nano tank to recover.

If it comes down to it, I'm happy to keep my nano as a softie and zoa garden and keep the rabbit in my main tank. If he develops a taste for LPS or clams, he'll have to go.

 

[fufu]

Very nice build! Love the rock scape. But I dont like the PVC returns, have you considered loc-line? To me they are less of an eyesore and it is easier to control the flow. Add on a penductor and even more flow.

 

[gacon711]

Beautiful tank.

 

[phuzzykins]

Very nice build! Love the rock scape. But I dont like the PVC returns, have you considered loc-line? To me they are less of an eyesore and it is easier to control the flow. Add on a penductor and even more flow.

I don't find the loc-line to be any less of an eyesore than black PVC, and penductors would definitely make it worse in my view.

I'm not really looking for my returns to generate much flow.

 

[KingfishJohn]

Matt,

Love the aquascape and can't wait to see this beast full of coral.

John

 

[fufu]

I don't find the loc-line to be any less of an eyesore than black PVC, and penductors would definitely make it worse in my view.

I'm not really looking for my returns to generate much flow.

Well justified, I'm still accustom to stick and twigs mode of not getting enough flow.:rollface:

 

[phuzzykins]

Grrr... just had to frag my birdsnest due to STN.

On the plus side, the leather that I'd moved to my nano tank is recovering well, and has its polyps extended for the first time in a few weeks.

 

[phuzzykins]

The roommate decided to pick out some fish for my nano tank, which has just been used as a coral quarantine tank recently.

I think he did pretty well...

 

[stunreefer]

Nice flame

 

[phuzzykins]

The flame is indeed gorgeous... one of the nicer ones I've seen. Obviously the hippo tang will outgrow the nano and have to be moved into the big reef eventually.

Water test night... I hadn't done a full panel in about a month.

Sg: 1.026 (refractometer)
Temp: Low - 76.3 High 78.0 (Aquacontroller)
pH: Low - 8.0 High - 8.2 (Aquacontroller)
Ammonia: not measured
Nitrite: not measured
Nitrate: 0.2 ppm (Salifert)
Phosphate: 0.0 ppm (Salifert & Milwaukee photometer)
Ca: 380 (Salifert)
Alk: 9.0 (Salifert, API)
Mg: 1350 (Salifert)

I'm pretty surprised that I have no detectable phosphate and practically no nitrate. I'm running a small amount of GFO, and a smallish clump of chaeto is growing in the sump. 15% water changes weekly or bi-weekly, and the tank gets half a sheet of nori and 4-5 cubes of frozen food (a mix of mysis, sprulina brine, clams, krill, and cyclops) daily.

 

[phuzzykins]

... and it seems that I'm a daddy again. I spotted a half dozen itty bitty banded trochus snails in the sump while I was doing my water change today.

 

[phuzzykins]

Rough couple of days.

First... my Derasa clam is dead. I had suspected it was on its way out for a couple of weeks now; it just never seemed to quite recover after being infested with pyramellid snails. It didn't put down any byssal threads, and for the past week or so it was gaping. Last night it had started to "slump" in its shell, and this morning the cleanup crew was on it.

Second... I very nearly killed the fish that I have in quarantine. I noticed a small spot on the blond naso tang's right pectoral fin that looked fungal, so I started dosing Pimafix. The next morning, all 3 of the fish were gasping, and my clown fairy wrasse was lying on its side. The water was a little cloudy, and I suspect a bacterial bloom triggered by the Pimafix that consumed all of the available oxygen. I added a MaxiJet pump with a venturi to increase oxygenation, and all of the fish have recovered well.

 

[ctmgardea]

Rough couple of days.

First... my Derasa clam is dead. I had suspected it was on its way out for a couple of weeks now; it just never seemed to quite recover after being infested with pyramellid snails. It didn't put down any byssal threads, and for the past week or so it was gaping. Last night it had started to "slump" in its shell, and this morning the cleanup crew was on it.

Second... I very nearly killed the fish that I have in quarantine. I noticed a small spot on the blond naso tang's right pectoral fin that looked fungal, so I started dosing Pimafix. The next morning, all 3 of the fish were gasping, and my clown fairy wrasse was lying on its side. The water was a little cloudy, and I suspect a bacterial bloom triggered by the Pimafix that consumed all of the available oxygen. I added a MaxiJet pump with a venturi to increase oxygenation, and all of the fish have recovered well.

hope everything works out! you have a great build!