Reefer 170 Setup for Anemones / Clowns!

[Kinetic]

Hit me up closer to Thanksgiving and I might be able to bring my Mag to Livermore if you want to buy it.
Need to find my wild Onyx clowns a gig.

I really doubt I can add another mag to this tank. One is pushing it already

I'm hoping the small clowns will eventually realize bubble tips below are just as good?

I might do an experiment and put the alpha male and female in a breeder box for a day and see how the little ones do over time. I wonder if the start off all the same size in the anemone, one will grow to the female and another alpha male, but they'll all be accepted in the anemone host...

Good thing is aggression is all gone, except the male and female don't let any of the others go into the anemone. Man those little dudes want in so bad.

 

[Kinetic]

48 hours update:

Mag goes from tall vase inflation to squat fat. It has to do with the flow in the tank. I have a Maxspect Gyre on the Ocean Gyre Current preset, which will have fairly still periods and then whips it around for a while longer (even sometimes running the impellers backwards). When it's still, the mag gets squat and fat. When the flow is high the mag gets tall and vase like. It's either the mag inflating itself, or the flow pulling it up (maybe a bit of both). The foot is truly just 3" across, but the top is easily 6 - 7".

FTS first:

Closeup including foot in squat mode:

 

[Kinetic]

Video of all FTS and more:

https://youtu.be/XJKIyA516Uc

 

[Kinetic]

I decided to put the mocha gladiators into a breeder box for a few hours to see what would happen. They happily swam into my net and didn't really care so much in the breeder box. In fact they were just wiggle dancing with each other the whole time. So dumb, it's great.

Three of the 4 remaining males eventually found themselves back into the anemone, but the fighting was pretty rough, and eventually only one was in the anemone, chasing everyone else out. Weirdly, he is one of the smaller guys. Big attitude. Anyway, they had their play time, and I let the mochas out. They swam back and reclaimed the mag. The winner of the small guys tried to wiggle dance his way to staying, but eventually he swam a few inches away and is still hovering there now.

Aggression back to normal. The pair just chases anyone out, and the rest just hover close by.

Not sure if I should feel bad for the small males, since they were perfectly fine without a mag. But watching how happy they were and how happy the female/alpha are makes me a bit sad. Let's hope the small males will take to the BTAs at some point.

The whole point of putting the pair into isolation was to see if the smaller males would all share the nem like they did in the beginning. It seems like that was just them as newbies to that world getting acquainted, then their innate aggression of territory kicked in. I probably could've given it some more time, but the breeder box isn't the biggest and the lights were starting to dim.

I'm enjoying experimenting a bit as long as it doesn't seem harmful, but I think I'll change gears soon and just let everything settle over time and mature a bit more. It's still early.

 

[eppersonm16]

Great idea on your chaeto reactor and thanks for posting the parts list and links to where you bought everything.

 

[Kinetic]

Great idea on your chaeto reactor and thanks for posting the parts list and links to where you bought everything.

No problem! I always love finding posts of DIY with all the things listed of where to get them, so hoping it helps!

So far so good!

 

[Kinetic]

Just turned around and one of the small males finally found his way into the bubbletip. He only stayed for a little while, and left. I think the flow is too strong. I'm thinking of turning down the flow just a tad. Though maybe I should just leave it and see if he returns.

He seemed to be pretty happy in it, but struggled to stay in when the gyre kicked in.

A further away system shot with the magnifica in full vase mode:

 

[MMOORE0324]

Looking great! I love how you have the gyre mounted. The mag looks fantastic

 

[Kinetic]

Looking great! I love how you have the gyre mounted. The mag looks fantastic

Thanks! I had to offset the gyre a bit just in case the mag gets too close to it. I have the mesh protector over it, but just wanted it as far away as possible. As the mag gets bigger, I may have to turn the gyre vertical and mount it under the return to create a longitudinal gyre instead.

The mag is still the most amazing thing I've ever kept as a reefer. So mesmerizing.

 

[Papermonkeys]

Is the gyre mesh something you just made custom?

 

[Kinetic]

Is the gyre mesh something you just made custom?

The XF-130 came with really bad foam protectors, but the new ones on the new XF-230 and Icecap Gyre 3K come with mesh guards that actually fit the XF-130. So I ordered the XF-230 set. Unfortunately, they ran out of stock of the mesh guards, and sent me FOAM guards without telling me.

After I contacted them about the problem, they sent me Icecap 3K mesh guards, that actually fit just fine, and then a week later they sent me the actual XF-230 mesh guards.

I'd order directly from coralvue's website: www.coralvue.com/maxspect-gyre-mesh-covers

Just make sure they send you the mesh ones. Or you can be safe about it and order the Icecap 3K mesh guards if you need it for a XF-130/230, they'll fit and don't have a foam version.

Now I have a ton of mesh guards for this pump.

 

[Kinetic]

Got some readings on my tank today using an Apogee PAR meter that my local club owns (Bay Area Reefers):

AquaIlluminations Hydra 52 HD using a SPS AB+ w/ High Peaks program, modified with a lot more whites. 9" above the water.

Anemones:
My H. Magnifica is getting a bit over 400. The BTAs about 269.

Shaded area under the H. Mag pedestal are pretty terrible. Probably can't grow anything there (dendros probably on the list).

Back two corners of the tank are probably low enough for LPS/softies. I was thinking of a small zoa rock on one side, scoly / open brain on the other?

Probably just going to keep the lighting where it is. I'm thinking the high 200 - 300 will work well for a few sticks of SPS (as long as they don't get stung).

 

[miston]

following, nice setup! Those BTA shots were beautiful!

I have the idea to setup a small tank with green star polyps covering all of the live rock with a single anemone on top. Once the anemone is established wouldn't the GSP take over and surround the anenome, visually make it pop?

 

[Kinetic]

following, nice setup! Those BTA shots were beautiful!

I have the idea to setup a small tank with green star polyps covering all of the live rock with a single anemone on top. Once the anemone is established wouldn't the GSP take over and surround the anenome, visually make it pop?

I can imagine that looking really nice! GSP will live through anything, so I think they would get along OK with any kind of anemone. The H. Magnifica will greatly shade anything below it, but I think GSP will be good in any light. GSP does look nice! You could even get a few different kinds. I've seen some that are more purple.

I'm all for cool new ideas

 

[dieselkeeper]

Great looking tank and anemone's. I just purchased a Mag from a LFS. The one I got was hosting a harem of clowns, had like 10 in it at once. When he removed the nem, he had to remove 3 or 4 clownfish from it. He had to do this out of the water. I would have thought the clownfish would just have fallen out. Was really fun to watch.

Question for you. My mag went through successful treatment of cipro last week. It is not sticky at all. Are Mags not sticky like other carpets? I had a haddoni that was very sticky. Any reason for concern?

 

[Kinetic]

Great looking tank and anemone's. I just purchased a Mag from a LFS. The one I got was hosting a harem of clowns, had like 10 in it at once. When he removed the nem, he had to remove 3 or 4 clownfish from it. He had to do this out of the water. I would have thought the clownfish would just have fallen out.

Question for you. My mag went through successful treatment of cipro last week. It is not sticky at all. Are Mags not sticky like other carpets? I had a haddoni that was very sticky. Any reason for concern?

That's a funny story about the clowns. They are basically totally on drugs when they're in the mag. It's so interesting. Poor clowns, lost their home =)

The mag is sticky, but I've never had experience with haddoni so I don't know how to compare. When I first put the mag in with latex gloves, it didn't stick at all that I could notice. I did notice that floating mysis etc. didn't really stick to it for a week, but after 2 weeks anything that touches the tentacles is grabbed.

I think your mag should be fine as long as it's inflated and the mouth is tight. It might change shapes while inflated, and it could deflate a few tentacles once in awhile (mine does because my female clown likes to bite down on the tentacles for some reason), but just make sure the mouth is tight. After a few weeks I think it'll get sticky!

Maybe @D-Nak can chime in on the normal stickiness of these mags?

 

[potusreef]

Awesome tank! Do you think you could take a picture that shows how the gyre is mounted?

How quiet is it?

 

[Kinetic]

Awesome tank! Do you think you could take a picture that shows how the gyre is mounted?

How quiet is it?

It's just on the overflow wall under the overflow teeth. Magnet on both sides. That's it. If you have a specific question about it, happy to try to get the right photo, but really straightforward and nothing tricky.

I can't hear it running, though I only run it at 20% max.

 

[potusreef]

It's just on the overflow wall under the overflow teeth. Magnet on both sides. That's it. If you have a specific question about it, happy to try to get the right photo, but really straightforward and nothing tricky.

I can't hear it running, though I only run it at 20% max.

Thanks. I was curious about seeing how you mounted/managed the power/control cables.

I was thinking of installing it in an Red Sea E-170, but that tank has the rear sump so I was curious if it would be possible to mount the gyre on the wall between the tank and rear sump with the cables extending over the back. Would that be possible?

 

[Kinetic]

Thanks. I was curious about seeing how you mounted/managed the power/control cables.

I was thinking of installing it in an Red Sea E-170, but that tank has the rear sump so I was curious if it would be possible to mount the gyre on the wall between the tank and rear sump with the cables extending over the back. Would that be possible?

I only have one cable that goes to the pump from the controller, and I just have the controller mounted behind the stand. If you have space for a chord, then you'll be fine.