WetShepherd
New member
I'm a little bit late posting this - but this is a year later. It's been an interesting experience and it's still hard to believe that my tank is continuing to evolve.
The first thing I should do, even before pics, is thank the members of RC; without them I'm not sure I would have made it this far. I would also like to thank my LFS Marinescape for all that they've been able to supply, and BRS for the few things they couldn't.
Pics!
Here's the tank about three months in with the first few fish and coral:
Full view - 1 year later:
The year in review:
It's been a lot of fun! The best surprise I think is discovering that I enjoy working on the tank - even the basic maintenance. The most shocking surprise was the number of little bastard mithrax crabs that can hide in 60ish pounds of live rock (recently removed number 14!).
My first big mistake was starting with tap water. Yep - the whole tank and sump, filled with a hoze right from the tap haha. I had no idea and somehow I never suffered for it. Thanks to RC, all subsequent water changes were done with RODI.
My second big mistake was using crushed coral for substrate. This was something I purchased when I bought the tank and I didn't realize what my options were. Sometime during my cycling I read a nightmare thead here on RC recounting the process of having to replace the substrate due to high nitrate levels. It took the couple several days of sifting all the life out of the substrate, many buckets and much misery. I resigned myself to a similar fate but wasn't ready to pull it right away. Then one of the first fish I added was a yellow wrasse - they sleep in the sand bed - and he had a laceration (big red curve) on his side the next morning from the sharp coral. I pulled everything and replaced the substrate with CaribSea aragonite the same day.
Algae problems! We all get them eventually I think, and despite spending a month doing daily water and filter changes, I think I've gotten off pretty lucky. Sometime around last Christmas I had a brown algae bloom - it was so severe it was even in the water column - and it was thick. I was changing the filter socks every day and started to fear a tank crash. Thanks to RCs brandon, who coached me on Hydrogen Peroxide dosing, we were able to eventually clear up most of the problem. I still have some brown forming on the sand and some new macro rock, but I'm waiting it out to see if it's transient.
More algae! I also had a breakout of Neomeris annulata recently - fortunately they were mostly contained to a single rock which I've removed and replaced with some macro. The one sprig that had spread i chipped off the rock (it would be very hard to remove) and haven't seen any signs of it returning in a couple of weeks.
I've had a bit of green hair algae here and there as well. It didn't start showing up until seven or eight months in so I suspect it must have come in on a coral frag, but it's been manageable so far. What I've done to treat it, aside from managing free nutrients in the water, is to turn off all water flow and dose the algae directly with as much as 5ml of hydrogen peroxide. The small spots are usually clear of algae within a day, and I've seen no other side effects.
Fish Trials. My fortune with fish has been fickle and mostly mysterious. My Ibli Dwarf angle was recommended before I found RC so I discovered their incomparability with coral after the fact - but he was beautiful and easily relocated. My clowns did not pair up - again they came from someone else' tank so I don't know their full history, but I suspect they both matured into females just before coming to me. Again, the smaller was easily moved and I now have a happy male paired up with her.
So my Clowns, Yellow Wrasse and Royal Grama are all doing great - my original fish. Since then I've successfully added a Tiger Pistol shrimp who's paired up with a Yasha goby, a Kaudern's Cardinal who's grown incredibly fast but has been a model citizen and a Sunburst Anthias who's growing slowly but has overcome his innate shyness.
The mysteries are fish I've added but have vanished without ever showing a sign why - a Yellow Watchman, a Rainford Goby and a Starry Blenny. In all cases, they showed no signs of disease, were eating well the day before they vanished and didn't seem to have a problem with any of their tank-mates. They were never in the tank at the same time. All new fish are QT'd.
As for my corals, I've had great fortune. I've only ever lost one and that was due to a rock falling on a very small but beautiful Ricordia frag and crushing it. Everything else has flourished. The only issue here is that I didn't know enough to plan ahead when I started the tank and so it's a mixed reef. If I ever want it to be really filled with coral I think I'll need to reloacate either my LPS or my softies and SPS. Currently my clowns are living in one of my torches which complicates the issue a bit so any advice here would be especially appreciated.
I think that covers my first year - again, thanks to everyone and sorry for the wall of text! I thought I should share since RC has been a central part of my time in the hobby. As always, criticism and suggests very welcome.
The first thing I should do, even before pics, is thank the members of RC; without them I'm not sure I would have made it this far. I would also like to thank my LFS Marinescape for all that they've been able to supply, and BRS for the few things they couldn't.
Pics!
Here's the tank about three months in with the first few fish and coral:
Full view - 1 year later:
The year in review:
It's been a lot of fun! The best surprise I think is discovering that I enjoy working on the tank - even the basic maintenance. The most shocking surprise was the number of little bastard mithrax crabs that can hide in 60ish pounds of live rock (recently removed number 14!).
My first big mistake was starting with tap water. Yep - the whole tank and sump, filled with a hoze right from the tap haha. I had no idea and somehow I never suffered for it. Thanks to RC, all subsequent water changes were done with RODI.
My second big mistake was using crushed coral for substrate. This was something I purchased when I bought the tank and I didn't realize what my options were. Sometime during my cycling I read a nightmare thead here on RC recounting the process of having to replace the substrate due to high nitrate levels. It took the couple several days of sifting all the life out of the substrate, many buckets and much misery. I resigned myself to a similar fate but wasn't ready to pull it right away. Then one of the first fish I added was a yellow wrasse - they sleep in the sand bed - and he had a laceration (big red curve) on his side the next morning from the sharp coral. I pulled everything and replaced the substrate with CaribSea aragonite the same day.
Algae problems! We all get them eventually I think, and despite spending a month doing daily water and filter changes, I think I've gotten off pretty lucky. Sometime around last Christmas I had a brown algae bloom - it was so severe it was even in the water column - and it was thick. I was changing the filter socks every day and started to fear a tank crash. Thanks to RCs brandon, who coached me on Hydrogen Peroxide dosing, we were able to eventually clear up most of the problem. I still have some brown forming on the sand and some new macro rock, but I'm waiting it out to see if it's transient.
More algae! I also had a breakout of Neomeris annulata recently - fortunately they were mostly contained to a single rock which I've removed and replaced with some macro. The one sprig that had spread i chipped off the rock (it would be very hard to remove) and haven't seen any signs of it returning in a couple of weeks.
I've had a bit of green hair algae here and there as well. It didn't start showing up until seven or eight months in so I suspect it must have come in on a coral frag, but it's been manageable so far. What I've done to treat it, aside from managing free nutrients in the water, is to turn off all water flow and dose the algae directly with as much as 5ml of hydrogen peroxide. The small spots are usually clear of algae within a day, and I've seen no other side effects.
Fish Trials. My fortune with fish has been fickle and mostly mysterious. My Ibli Dwarf angle was recommended before I found RC so I discovered their incomparability with coral after the fact - but he was beautiful and easily relocated. My clowns did not pair up - again they came from someone else' tank so I don't know their full history, but I suspect they both matured into females just before coming to me. Again, the smaller was easily moved and I now have a happy male paired up with her.
So my Clowns, Yellow Wrasse and Royal Grama are all doing great - my original fish. Since then I've successfully added a Tiger Pistol shrimp who's paired up with a Yasha goby, a Kaudern's Cardinal who's grown incredibly fast but has been a model citizen and a Sunburst Anthias who's growing slowly but has overcome his innate shyness.
The mysteries are fish I've added but have vanished without ever showing a sign why - a Yellow Watchman, a Rainford Goby and a Starry Blenny. In all cases, they showed no signs of disease, were eating well the day before they vanished and didn't seem to have a problem with any of their tank-mates. They were never in the tank at the same time. All new fish are QT'd.
As for my corals, I've had great fortune. I've only ever lost one and that was due to a rock falling on a very small but beautiful Ricordia frag and crushing it. Everything else has flourished. The only issue here is that I didn't know enough to plan ahead when I started the tank and so it's a mixed reef. If I ever want it to be really filled with coral I think I'll need to reloacate either my LPS or my softies and SPS. Currently my clowns are living in one of my torches which complicates the issue a bit so any advice here would be especially appreciated.
I think that covers my first year - again, thanks to everyone and sorry for the wall of text! I thought I should share since RC has been a central part of my time in the hobby. As always, criticism and suggests very welcome.
No? Ok, well keep up the good work!
