Walt's 45 Cubes Build

[Pinkskunk]

wow, that rose is a mosnter, look like if i were to put a newborn in it and it will have no problem eating it :lmao:

.... Here's a biotope I will be trying to replicate. This anemone has the same coloration as some of mine.

 

[WDLV]

Ouch. That does suck. Over the years I've gone almost completely away from glass and only use acrylic.

I plan to use acrylic eventually but only for the front panel of a cement tank. It will be safer for a large volume of water and scratches can be repaired as necessary. I like glass for smaller tanks. It's lighter and more scratch resistant.

That will be the last reef I ever build. I figure after that I will either keep it for the next 40 years until I die of natural causes or my wife will kill me shortly after it's construction.

 

[WDLV]

I figured I'd post a little update because I learned something this morning about anemone behavior and ability. I also wanted to mention that my leucs are about as comfortable in this system as they have ever been. That and I haven't photographed my thiellei clowns in a while. So, please excuse the messy basement. I've been doing a lot of work and very little cleaning. Also, you'll notice that there is a lot of hair algae. Believe it or not this is an improvement. A lot of it has dissolved in the last week or two.

I noticed that an anemone was missing this morning. I found it on the opposite side of the wall. The weird thing is that there are no powerheads behind this wall (thankfully) which means there was no suction to pull it through. Apparently the anemone found one of the 1/2" holes and pulled itself through like an octopus might. I find this amazing because octopi are very smart. An anemone has no brain.

I tied another tank into the sump for my thielleis using an overflow that I got when I bought my first tank in 1997. It needed some weld on to repair some major damage but it's chugging along just fine. It's a temporary setup.

Leucs

Thielleis

 

[MarinaP]

How old are those thielli?

 

[WDLV]

Who knows. They're WC. They've been together since August 2009. I got the male in July '09 and the female in about April of '08.

 

[WDLV]

Here's another of the male.

 

[WDLV]

Li'l update.

 

[WDLV]

I lost one of my nems to a powerhead a couple days ago. Now I'm down to two of my clones. One Red. One green. I need to get these guys grown back out so I can start propagating them. I had soooo many clones before. Now I'm actually having to worry about losing the lines.

I went ahead and put a sponge on the intake. I am disappointed that the purpose for which this system was designed does not work. I still like the way it looks. That will have to be good enough I guess. The only other thing I can think to do is to use a finer mesh... but then I'm concerned that it will become clogged with overgrowth of corraline or algae.

 

[dalilgriffith]

Where the heck do you even find thielli?

 

[WDLV]

Hahaha!!! Lots of networking, begging, bugging, luck and thoughtful people who remember your obsession with natural hybrids.

The first one came to me by dumb luck. A vendor accidently sent me a personal e-mail meant for someone else. I replied to let him know and asked if he had seen any unusual clowns lately. He replied that he had not even finished acclimating a thiellei that just came in. I said don't bother!

The second one was a tip from a fellow reefer.

Most LFS that get them in only see one over the course of 10-20 years and they often die... albeit not from lack of hardiness. They are akin to an ocellaris in health and personality.

 

[dalilgriffith]

The definitely look like occ/skunk hybrids.

 

[WDLV]

Yeah. The experts don't agree with me. Dr. Burgess maintains that it is a separate species. Dr's Fautin and Allen think it's the same hybrid cross as a leuc.
I don't really want to get into it here but this is what I have found.

Article

I have some additional info that I have been too lazy to post like Dr. Burgess' original manuscript, but I think I've covered all the bases.

 

[dalilgriffith]

Well, its evolution WDLV, if two species produce offspring that can produce offspring, eventually its a breed/species.... How do they think we have 300+ different kinds of dogs

 

[WDLV]

Dog breeds do not represent species.

 

[WDLV]

Whether or not they are capable of producing offspring is yet to be determined. I wouldn't mind giving it a go though.

 

[WDLV]

I was told by a mod that I'm not supposed to insert links to other sites. So I created a thread on RC detailing the current information I have posted. Here's the new link for anyone interested.

 

[WDLV]

Still Battling Algae & Aptasia

Still Battling Algae & Aptasia

I removed all the sand a couple weeks ago in an attempt to battle the hair algae that had become the bain of my existance. It has become much easier to manage. I will either replace the sand when the tank becomes more stable or else I will cover the bottom with corals.

I also added a new rock to see if it might make the leucs more comfortable. They're ultra skittish.

The other thing I did was to mod Aquaclear powerhead pre-filter screens to fit my MaxiJet 1200s so I would be safer against anemone chum and wouldn't have to keep dicking around with the sponge pre-filters to clean them every couple of days.

 

[Arc Katana]

Love the tanks! I've got something like this in mind as well - I'd like to get a wall of 45 cubes all plumbed together for a brood stock system. Great stuff!

 

[WDLV]

Thanks! I was planning to do the same thing but now I'm starting to miss having a big tank. I may integrate another big tank into te lineup. Maybe a 180 or another 210... or possibly two 120s. Hmmmmm....

 

[WDLV]

I'd say it's about time fro an update. I've been battling bryopsis, have acquired a couple blue stripe clowns and got some anemones from a friend who was shutting down her tank... both the blue stripes and the anemones are in quarrantine. To make space, I got rid of an A. ephippium and an A. nigripes. I placed my A. barberi clowns in the sump and still have a pair of A. melanopus that I'm trying to figure out what to do with.
Here's where I am now.
Tank one is still under bryopsis treatment and I have begun the painstaking process of ridding it of aptasia and bubble algae but it's starting to look like a reef tank agan.

Tank two is still more or less a "sterile" looking tank but I plan to change that fairly soon.


Tank three is not connected to the other two, and will not be until such time as I feel that it is not a threat to the inhabitants of the other two displays and I have determined a sure fire way to insure that no aptasia will make their way into this system.

This is the larger of the two; destined to become female... even if she doesn't know it yet.

And this is the smaller of the two.