The inwall 380 starfire reborn

[Sparkss]

Jonathan,
The crabs were picking at the pipefish body this morning. On an up note the second pipefish is still swimming around and holding it's own in the current and flow (we turned the pumps back on yesterday afternoon). Thanks for the suggestion though. Now our bigggest challenge is getting the body out from the rocks that it wedged itself into in the corner .

jermainek,
Thanks for your kind words and for following along.. welcome . I agree with you about mostly small fish with 1 or 2 larger ones. We actually have 3 large ones now, going to be 4 later today (if LiveAquaria didn't sentence more fish to a frigid death again). The magnificient rabbitfish is pretty darned big, as is our purple tang. Both are healthy and quite fat . The orange shoulder tang is the "medium" sized one of the family, and since it's adult colors are starting to come in I am not sure how much more it is going to grow ? Our sailfin is over a 18 months old (at least in our tanks) and to be quite honest, he hasn't grown much at all since we first got him, so I am not sure if he will ever reach the full size for a sailfin (how long does it take a sailfin tail to grwo to full size ?). But to be honest, if he/she stays that size forever I would be happy . It still is beautiful when it puts up it's "sails" and flies across the tank, and keeping things smaller works for us .

One thing that we did change our minds on was the brittle stars that we added as part of a clen up crew a couple of months ago. I really wanted their cleaning "services" so we picked up a couple from a group buy. So far we have captured 3 or 4 of them out of the tank (one of the rocks we removed had at least 2, maybe 3 of them in it, I have not yet tried to shake them out to count them). They are taking up residence in our sump currently. There are 2 more that are in a particular rock that I would prefer not to pull out, but will, if i need to. I see the starfish at night and plan to try to use a piece of shrimp to lure them out onto the sandbed so that I can grab them up.

Why are we removing them ? Well, we know that none of them are the Ophiarachna species, but I just can't shake this feeling that one of them might have been responsible for the dissappearance of our tangaroa gobies. We also want to have a tank that we can get some of the smaller gobies without worrying about anyother inhabitant eating them, and roght now the only ones I am unsure about are the brittle stars.

On the flip side of the issues experienced with LA and fish (still "to be continued" this afternoon), the experience with their coral facility has been great. Both frags were doing great last night and this morning, with good PE. Better than expected, imo.

I will try to get some pictures of the surviving pipefish and the tomoini tang when it gets introduced later today (the more I saw of the Tomini tangs in other peoples tanks the more I really wanted one ). I won't even bother promising to get pictures of the neon gobies, since when they hit the tank I am sure that they will disappear into the rocks (these Marco Rocks are extremely porous.. fish swim into one side and out the back of some huge rocks in our tank.. it is really neat to watch).

 

[jermainek]

No probs Tom - this has been a captivating thread! Hence why I had to read all pages in 2 sittings! And I'm sure the post was split, I haven't got to the other one yet.

How big is the Magnificent Rabbitfish? What's the 4th biggy going to be? My cousin bought the Sailfin Tang not much smaller than it is now about a year and a half ago if not 2 years and it hasn't grown much since I stole it (inherited it) till now so I figure that they are slow growers - it's healthily fat though. Supposedly they reach near 16" but aquarium sizes are often reportedly smaller. Ever considered one of the larger Angels? I also happen to like the colours of the Pakistan Butterfly Chaetodon collare, I was thinking of searching for a pair.

I can't believe the size of your rocks! Were they as heavy as they look?

Have you any updated pics?

 

[Sparkss]

I haven't measured the rabbitfish, but it is the largest fish in our tank, with a very close second being the purple tang. I am glad that our build thread was entertaining enough to keep you glued to the screen throughout the 25 pages in just 2 sittings.. that makes me feel more tired than I did when I actually did the work and build itself . The thread hasn't split yet, so you are all caught up. I see that you have been a member for 2 years now on RC and don't post often...and half of your posts have been in our little thread. I am flatterred

The 4th "biggy" is going to be the Tomini Tang that we plan to add today (it is arriving from LiveAquaria today).

the same reason for the large angels is also why we shied away from the butterfly fish.. we have alot of expensive corals, and those fish are known to potentially strip certain SPS within a matter or hours. . And we only acquired the pygmy angel after ensuring that it would not nip at our clams or corals.

The rocks are heavier once they get wet.. up until that point they are alot lighter than you might think.. but even then they are still pretty heavy, due to their large size overall. But it makes for a really nice look in the dislpay tank just having a small handful of boulders for the rockwork . Absolutely no regrets with going with Marco Rocks

The pictures one or two pages back were taken 2 days ago. Not much has changed outside of the 1 pipefish that we added yesterday. We didn't want to take any pictures of it until we were sure it was going to survive... it's chances are much better today than they were yesterday, but i am still keeping a close eye on it. After we acclimate and introduce the tomini today I will try to take some update livestock pictures. We didn't receive the skimmer pictures from the builder yesterday, but as soon as we do I will post them here. Definitely once we get the new skimmer installed and the plumbing finished up you can expect some updated equipment room shots

 

[Von_Rahvin]

an amazing read. I have truly enjoyed reading this thread, and have taken notes to apply towards the time i have a big tank.

 

[Sparkss]

Thanks for the praise and kind words. They are encouraging to us to continue chronicling our "Tank Adventures"

How is the weather down there ? I used to live up in Jacksonville, and spent many a weekend in the Boca, Hollywood and Lauderdale areas

 

[Von_Rahvin]

weather is kinda cold today it was around 75 this morning. I needed a jacket to get to work . I am still just amazed that you were running 2 250's over that huge tank where I just finished the set up to have a 250 SE in a LAIII over a 24 gal nano.

 

[Sparkss]

hehehe... we switched to 2 440W SEs.. took a hit on the PAR due to switching from HQI to Electronic ballasts and also moving up to 14K from 10K bulbs. But we really like the look, and the electrical consumption is almost identical to the 250s (and electrical consumption is a huge deal out here in Ca, where tier 3 is .35 per KWH, and we are typicvally in tier 3 by the 2nd week of each month. I also thought I read that the rates took a 10% increase, but don't know for sure yet).

Our lighting setup gives us the flexibility of multiple lighting "zones" in our tank, from high light all the way down to pretty low light, and everything in between, through a combination of the rockwork and lighting. It also gives it a nice look to have the ligh taper off on the sides a little. Everyone that comes over comments on that and all agree that the pictures just don't do it justice (ok, so my picture taking skills could use some improving ).

On a quick update... the 1 living pipefish is still hiding in a cave in the back, but is swimming around and seems ok now. The tomini tang and neon gobies are acclimated and in the tank now. And our clowns finally started hosting in our RBTA. Look for more updates and some pictures later on this afternoon

 

[jermainek]

Yep 2 years and 4 (now 5) posts...! That's because I come onto this forum for information and most often than not all the questions I could of asked have been answered - but there are those special occasions where I have to comment on the beauty of someone's tank! I haven't got any pics of my own within my profile either you'll find as looking at everyone else's tanks makes mine look plain and boring - plus I don't have an expensive camera and the pics I take on my mobile (cellular phone for you guys ) just makes the tank look flat! Could also be that the lighting is rubbish... just VHO's

As for the Angelfish & butterfly's, that's a shame as there are some really nice species, are you sure that they are all prone to nip? Tomini Tang I'd never seen before until now, it has a nice brown tint to it, juvi or an adult?

The rocks looked quite pourus too which is good, they aren't Live Rock are they, any regrets not having that additional filtering capacity?

Sorry to read about the Pipefish, I hear that they're hard to look after, I hope he improves. If I'm picturing it right that skimmer will be a beast!

 

[Sparkss]

Pretty much all butterfly fish (aside from the copperband butterfly) are known to eat, not just nip, corals . Along with a good portion of the larger (and medium and smaller) Angels.. unfortunately, as you say, there are many beautiful species out there

I am guessing that the Tomini we got was juvi, due to it's small size, but it has some nice and vibrant colors already. I will be posting some pictures of it, and a few other update shots, shortly.

The rocks are very porous... the dottybacks shot into one side and come out the back, front or other side.. no small feat considering most of the rocks are 14"+ across . I would say that the rocks are "live" enough now, and we have plenty of filtering capacity. We used lots of LR rubble and LS from an established tank to seed it.. just wanted to make sure not to have any pests/hitchikers, which is why we went pretty much 100% base rock.

The issue with the pipefish has nothing to do with it's husbandry requirements... that whole shipment yesterday was sent w/o a heat pack..one leopard wrasse was DOA and the 2 pipefish were barely moving. I am just glad that we were able to nurse the one pipefish back to health... but couldn't do much for the second one as it was too far gone when it got to us. . We have kept pipefish before, with good success, so I am less worried about being able to take care of it than I am about getting it over this current "bump in the road" . I already see it eating in the cave that it is resting in. We have plenty of pods and micro fauna to help feed and sustain it.

 

[Sparkss]

Here are the two new corals that we got from LA today. They were pretty big and shipped very well. They retained a good portion of their color, even after dipping, etc. Most all of the shots today were "quickee" shots.. I didn't try to adjust the white balance or anything else, and as such the pictures don't do the speciments justice. Once they color up fully i will do my best to take better, more representative, pictures

and an electric flame scallop that we picked up.. it seems to really like the spot that I picked out for it :

and here are a couple of the still quite shy tomini (I am so glad that I gave in and order him.. his colors are fantastic)

 

[Sparkss]

Here are a couple of our other corals.

EDIT : I stirred up a bunch of crap in the sump and the tank has been a little cloudy all day. It caused some of the pictures to turn out worse than even my normal "bad" ones

This one is a deepwater coral that finally started to color up. It is getting a baby blue hue to it and what look to be whitish polyps (there is another deep water coral to the left of it.. it is encrusting and growing, but staying mostly white/cream.. only time will tell if it is goung to be worthwhile or not)

Here is the other deepwater that we have had alot longer.. it is pretty dark blue with reddish polyps :

Just a couple of unknown acros, bought as small frags last year. The one on the middle is mostly purple w/ reddish polyps and the one on the right is a pretty glowing neon green with lighter tips. The far left tort is either a Ca or becker tort... hard to tell since they all look different in different tanks.. but we had both, and only one survived the AEFWs last year.. just not sure which one to be honest :

Just a nice blue mili that is encrusted and growing nicely.. another that was bought as a small, unknown frag last year (as were most of our corals)

 

[Sparkss]

and our bazooka joe chalice.. that finally encrusted and looks to be growing (it's about time !!!)

 

[Sparkss]

You can really notice the clouding tank in these shots.. also due to the back tank wall being 4' away.

Here is the right side, with the orchid dottyback hanging towards the back, adding a splash of color

and here you can see the purple tang running through the valley between the middle and back rocks.. here he is heading into the alley way :

and here he is coming out (middle bottom you can see the splash of yellow that is his tail)

It helps to give a better idea of the size of the tank and the aquascape layout. I will try to get a good top down shot with the pumps off tomorrow, if the tank clears up enough (normally doesn't stay this cloudy for long.. not 100% sure what is going on, but I suspect that our engineer goby is building a new burrow somewhere and that is kicking up extra silt.. but I am not positive).

 

[Sparkss]

here are my best efforts at some pictures of two of our larger fish.

The orange shoulder tang (that never sits still)

and a couple of the magnificent rabbitfish :

he has such nice clean lines and colors

 

[clekchau]

beautiful

 

[jnarowe]

love the rabbit. I also note that your orange shoulder is fairly large and still hasn't got its adult colors yet. Have you noticed that the orange shoulder poops out more detritus than it eats?? Mine is constantly spitting crap all over my corals.

 

[Sparkss]

Yea, ours does tend to put back more nutrients than it takes (which is a nice way of saying that it poops an awful lot !). The adult colors are starting to come in, but they didn't show up that well in the picture. His back half is distinctly darker than his front, but not so much as to show up really well in a picture yet .

 

[Sparkss]

small update on our new fish additions : The tomini is adjusting well, roaming all over the tank now, versus sticking to "his" cave. The second pipefish is somewhere, I didn't see it yesterday, but in a tank our size that happens often with the more secretive fish. We saw one of the pair of neon goibes out and about yesterday, but only for an hour or so before disappearing into the rockwork again. These fish don't even really come out at feeding time, due in part to the "frenzied feeding" response that we get from all of the other, more established, fish, It would scare off just about anyone .

The flame scallop decided to move itself during the night and is now in the front left hand corner, just barely visible from the front of the tank (due to the wall overhanging the tank by 3").

We had tried a sea horse with our last shipment on Friday, for several reasons. We had read of others having horses in their reef tanks, and had kept pipe fish and mandarins successfully for years (both with similar feeding requirements). Plus the one we picked was the "great sea horse", or some name like that, so we thought it might fare better in the tank than say a dwarf horse. It was eating and doing well, using one of our gorgs as a hitching post. It ate on two different occassions the first day, taking in several bits of food each time. But then it started to want to explore more and kept getting sucked into the vortecs. That is where it all started to go downhill. If it stayed and swam in the middle of the tank it was fine.. could play in the current, chase it's food, an was generally doing well. But the 4 spots in the tank it should stay away from where the 4 spots that we just could not keep it out of. So after having to rescue it from the Vortecs a couple of times we moved it into our fuge (I foolishly thought it would learn it's lesson and learn where not to go, as some fish do.. but I was wrong). I put him into a section with moderate flow and a couple of good sized rocks (with plenty of pods) and some hithcing post options. Since the fuge was on a reverse lghting cycle with the tank we fed the horse before going to bed and upone rising in the morning. Two good feedings combined with the pretty massive pod population should be enough.. but this morning when I went to feed him I couldn't find him. But we don't keep the front glass clean on our fuge, so he could have been right in front of me and I just didn't see him, but I did look around. Now I just feel follish for being so ambitious. If we can locate the little guy (and he did come small) I will see about setting up a nano for him or something. Our thoughts for putting him into the fuge were that he could grow and then possible re-attempt introducing him into the main tank, after it gained a couple of inches.

The corals from LA are all doing great. I can't say enough about how happy we are with their corals. Even after shiping, acclimation and dipping they were still more colorful that some of the corals that we got frags of weeks ago (that still haven't colored up fully yet). We are just amazed at how "strong" these corals are and how well they managed through the stress, without showing any major signs of stress. Again, I just cannot say enough good about the corals from LA . We highly recommend them

 

[jnarowe]

I can't imagine putting a seahorse in a full-blown reef tank, especially with any kind of propellor powerhead. I would think it would do OK in the fuge though. I have often thought of putting a couple in mine, but then they would decimate the pods and not many would get into the display tank.

 

[TandN]

I had 2 of them in my 180g SPS tank with 4 tunze 6100's. Had them for years but when I moved I gave them to a friend that has a dedicated tank for them since I didnt have a tank set up for about 6 months into my move