sfdan's 400 gallon SPS peninsula
- Thread starter sfdan
- Start date
The scrubber is great. The build quality is top notch and every component is well thought out. I had opted into a light experiment where he was testing different spectrums of lights, and after using that spectrum for a while (which I thought was fine), Bud told me the other spectrum was better and without prompting by me shipped me a new set of lights to put in the scrubber.
So while I can't comment yet on how the new ATS lights are doing, basically every cleaning the scrubber is full of algae and I don't have any algae issues in the DT.
I have had a little bit of cyano in the DT, but I don't think that is the fault of the ATS. I also had been avoiding chemicals for a long time, but finally gave in and did a dosage of red cyano rx and it basically wiped out all the cyano in a couple days and nothing else seemed to be impacted.
I want to post some updated coral pictures but I lent my macro lens to my friend and don't have any good way to photograph them.
But basically for the tank, no news is good news. The corals are growing, all the fish are happy, and with the pesky cyano gone everything is looking great. Probably the best addition recently was some "assorted conchs" from reefcleaners, which are incredibly impressive in how quickly they motor around the tank cleaning up the sandbed.
My long term plan had been to add 2 more tangs as the final fish early this year, but I'm not sure I'm going to do that. I can just add snails if I need more herbivores, and I think I enjoy the dynamics and territory disputes among the small fish more than I enjoy the tangs swimming around. I honestly can watch the damsels tussle for territory all day long. So my next additions (and maybe final additions) will probably be among:
- 3 lemon damsels
- 3 anthias of some kind (maybe lyretail)
- pair of flame hawk
- midas blenny
- another watchman goby to hopefully form a pair with my current one
And once I get my macro lens I'll get some shots of the corals. I have a few new additions from battlecorals which are spectacular, and hopefully by the time I get my lens back they'll be encrusting and starting to grow.
Let's see how I did:
Nope, nope, nope, nope.
Yes! Just a month ago I decided to give this a shot, so I got another captive bred watchman goby from ORA, got it through QT, and then very deftfully released it (by hand) near the cave where my other watchman goby lived. I did not know what was going to happen next, but they didn't immediately start fighting so I thought that was a good sign. Then the next day they seemed to be somewhat uneasily sharing the cave, but now 2 weeks later they seem about as paired up as could be. So hopefully they continue to enjoy each other's company for years to come.
I also changed my mind on the tangs, and boy was that a good decision. I decided to add 3 captive bred yellow tangs, and they've grown from tiny little 1.5" fish to 3-4" in a manner of months. They've also done a great deal to stabilize the tank based on their prodigious appetites and nutrient creation.
I was quite naive in my last post, as I thought the tank was relatively stable but it was really just about to begin one battle before the next. First cyano, then cyano again, then derbesia. The derbesia in particular took a long time to conquer, and just overgrew and killed a lot of my corals, which was a bummer.
It was interesting though seeing which corals could outcompete derbesia. For example, it was nice to see that my SC Orange Passion had no problem beating back the derbesia and had pretty decent growth for the year (and is really starting to take off now -- picture doesn't capture how electric blue the tips are):
Forest fire digi probably quadrupted in size during the great derbesia battle and is now looking incredible. Here is a marco shot of a new growth shoot:
And finally I was in LA a few months ago, and among some nice pieces I got at Vivid Aquariums, I finally got a classic green slimer. Not the fanciest coral in the world but man it is a classic and it photographs really nicely:
I'm once again feeling confident in the tank and filling it with frags, so hopefully in a few months things continue going in the position direction and I'll have some nice growth shots.
Nope, nope, nope, nope.
Yes! Just a month ago I decided to give this a shot, so I got another captive bred watchman goby from ORA, got it through QT, and then very deftfully released it (by hand) near the cave where my other watchman goby lived. I did not know what was going to happen next, but they didn't immediately start fighting so I thought that was a good sign. Then the next day they seemed to be somewhat uneasily sharing the cave, but now 2 weeks later they seem about as paired up as could be. So hopefully they continue to enjoy each other's company for years to come.
I also changed my mind on the tangs, and boy was that a good decision. I decided to add 3 captive bred yellow tangs, and they've grown from tiny little 1.5" fish to 3-4" in a manner of months. They've also done a great deal to stabilize the tank based on their prodigious appetites and nutrient creation.
I was quite naive in my last post, as I thought the tank was relatively stable but it was really just about to begin one battle before the next. First cyano, then cyano again, then derbesia. The derbesia in particular took a long time to conquer, and just overgrew and killed a lot of my corals, which was a bummer.
It was interesting though seeing which corals could outcompete derbesia. For example, it was nice to see that my SC Orange Passion had no problem beating back the derbesia and had pretty decent growth for the year (and is really starting to take off now -- picture doesn't capture how electric blue the tips are):
Forest fire digi probably quadrupted in size during the great derbesia battle and is now looking incredible. Here is a marco shot of a new growth shoot:
And finally I was in LA a few months ago, and among some nice pieces I got at Vivid Aquariums, I finally got a classic green slimer. Not the fanciest coral in the world but man it is a classic and it photographs really nicely:
I'm once again feeling confident in the tank and filling it with frags, so hopefully in a few months things continue going in the position direction and I'll have some nice growth shots.
gentledental4u
Member
I have some VHO retrofit kits trade for Hawkins?
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