Tank of the Month - April '05

[onefin]

Just beautiful!!!!!!!

 

[Nuhtty]

FINALLY someone who isnt afraid to put fish in a reef tank!

Of course...a 100 gallon fuge can help keep the water clean with messy tangs!

Great looking tank. Congrats on TOTM.

 

[CPT. MURPHY]

Congrats on TOTM steve!

 

[Mekong]

Wow a harly tusk in a reef!

 

[banditfl]

Awsome tank. I always look froward to the tank of the Month. I always like the deeper tanks (front to back).

 

[alphaferret]

ok so i know the reef shop and carribean forest- what other shops are in that rochester cny area! i am in syr.-also congrats on totm - good to see an upstate reefer take hold for a month- also was there ever any other upstatye folks w/ the totm- just curious

 

[alphaferret]

alos i need direction to the reef shop -everyone says itis hard to find- cny area

 

[JustOneMoreTank]

I figured that the removal of TOTM was only an April Fools joke. Your tank looks wonderful. I also enjoy seeing fish in a reef system.
Great Job!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Congrats, Steve. :strooper:

 

[Julio]

CONGRATS! love the pair of lined wrasse

 

[CaveManNOhio]

Very nice tank. Hope my tank turns out half as nice.
CaveManNOhio
:smokin:

 

[ItsMee]

Thats an amazing system man....

...Photography (never would have guessed that from looking at my pictures)...

- Those are great pictures too. Were those pictures "touched up" or edited in any way before posted?

Also, I was going to ask you all sorts of questions about what salt you use, what your return pump is for the 13 ft trip from the basement, and if you prefer wet or dry skimming....but I thought of one question that I would like to ask you instead because I think I can learn more from your answer than any or all of those questions, and that is: How do you get your wife to put up with your obsession?

 

[Skipper]

Thats an amazing system man.... - Those are great pictures too. Were those pictures "touched up" or edited in any way before posted?

I usually re-size and sharpen the pictures for the article. They are also web-optimized for file size.

 

[melev]

Skipper, I don't believe I've ever mentioned this before: You do a great job with the layout of the TOTM page each month. Well done! :thumbsup:

Steve, your tank looks great, and seems to have plenty of open space the way the rockwork has been arranged. I too agree with you about aquarium stands being higher, so you can stand in front of the tank and enjoy it without having to bend over all the time to see things.

 

[Avi]

Tank of the Month...what a great thread...and this one's very fine. I see that there's a lot of putting in and removing of fish. I have a 120 also and I'm trying to get a Striatus Tang that's relentlessly harrassing my wrasses out to no avail. How do you catch a fish like a wayward tang in a reef that's got a lot of rock and corals on it? I know you've done it plenty of times. Thanks.

 

[sschafer]

Hi all! Thanks for all the comments. Skipper, thanks for bestowing such an honor upon me and great job publishing the article.

-Steve

 

[sschafer]

Hi Nick,

I have never had my tangs go after any of my wrasses. The mustard tang is on the more agressive side, but doesn't pay any mind to the wrasses. Consider the eight-lined flasher. I had a beautiful male a while back. Unfortunately it died a few months ago. I believe this was either from old age or internal parasites as it ate very well, but continued to get thinner towards the end. Unfortunately you never can tell how old a mature adult is.

As for the Harlequin Tusk . . . He has been a model citizen. My Possum wrasse is only a couple of inches and hasn't been eaten yet. I feed rather heavily so who knows what would happen if I didn't feed the tank for a few days. However, the Tusk has grabbed a couple of feeder fish from me as I was trying to feed the Rhinopias. These were mollies and small damsels. This was most likely due to a feeding response from me opening the top. There have been two small damsels in the tank for a few months (the Rhinopias never could catch them) and neither was eaten. I don't think I would add any small fish after the Tusk is in the tank unless they were put into a translucent isolation container first.

I'm planning on a 6'x3'x3' tank at the moment. That may change, but I have limited room in the foyer with regards to tank length. Darn windows . . .

-Steve

Quick question i have a 180 SPS reef and have about 5 different fairy wrasses, labouti, lineatus, flame, rhomboid, and orangeback. I plan on adding maybe 1 more,

my question to you is, how do those tangs get along with the wrasses? i have heard people actually quite a bit of people say that there tangs haev killed thier expensive wrasses? Some people even said they co-existed for awhile then one day the tang just started chasing the fish which lead to disease then death. i was acutally thinking of getting that desjardinii salfin like you have.

what are your thoughts on this?

also how big is that harlquin tusk with smaller fish? i was thinking about getting one, but decided not to because of my small clown fish?

thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, and what a GREAT tank!

what size tank are you going for in your upgrade?

thanks!

Nick

 

[sschafer]

Everytime I see a 180 I think the same thing!

-Steve

Nice! Everytime I see a AGA 120 I kick myself for buying the 90g.

 

[sschafer]

I hate the stuff. It blows around very easily in a high flow tank. If it gets on any LPS and you don't notice it rather quickly it will "eat a hole" right through the tissue. It kills the edges on my Echinophyllia that sit on the sandbed. I would use it again in a Fish Only tank, but never again in a Reef. My leopard wrasse likes it though.

-Steve

I have only heard encouraging comments about using Southdown sand. Actually, this is the first negative feedback I have read. Can you give us more details about the problem as you see it?

 

[nbd13]

Thanks for the great response! Be sure to document your new tank!

thanks!

Nick