Ward's Island Reef

[reefmutt]

looking good!
copperbands... tricky fish.. when they are good, they are tough but finding a tough one can take a few tries..
quite a system you have put together there!
who is Thang? a retailer or hobbyist?

I am on Toronto Island about once a year, in the summer, when we go visit the cousins and do the trip to Centre Island... i may just have to knock on your door.

are there restrictions on how you are able to renovate the houses? I assume there must be size restrictions...

 

[fessoclown]

Thanks Matt,

I am about to jump right back onto the CBB horse so to speak. I have sourced a big fat Australian one from a local reefer who is like "The Fixer" for Toronto for finding people the things they are looking for. It's eating everything including flakes and has been acclimatized and prophylactically treated for pests. My wife really wants one so I guess we'll give it another go!

Thang is a local reefer, he's a hobbyist, he has an amazing 270G reef that is jammed with beautiful sps. He sells on the local forums and supplies many LFS (including Fragbox which I see you buy from) around here with frags (mostly high end stuff). Here is a link to his system:
http://www.coralid.ca/

If you come to Toronto Island look me up for sure. Mine is the cottage across from Ward's Beach with 800W of blue light spilling out the front window... lol.

There are restrictions on how we can renovate our houses, the character of the island neighbourhood must be maintained. We are all pretty grateful for that actually as it is a very unique "village" of cottages. No cars and a very small town feel (right in the heart of 3 million people)

So I mentioned in your thread that I am hiving trouble with my sps in terms of colours. It seems that everything is turning a purple/brown colour. I am not sure if I have too much light? Too little light? Not enough nutrients or what.
I will try to get some pictures of what I mean when I get home...

 

[fessoclown]

Cbb 2.0

Cbb 2.0

Well, I picked up another CBB from Red at CRS. It's been through Metro, Copper and Prazi, cost quite a bit but I really didn't want to go through QT with a CBB as I am far from an expert.

I did QT it for a few days to do another round of Prazi and make sure it was eating. It eats everything... frozen, pellets and flakes. I have airline tube attached to a syringe to feed and it approaches the tube to get the food. Great feeding response, my buddy Red did the training.

It's an Australian Behemoth. A total showpiece. Totally dwarfs my PBT!
Within a few minutes of being added to the DT it was hunting featherdusters and I think I saw it gobble up an aptasia! YAY!

CHECK OUT THE MOHAWKED WASPFISH SITTING UP ON THE GYRE!

MOOSE TANG!

 

[fessoclown]

I am going to keep moving my stocking list ahead in the thread... this is for me so I can keep track and updated... not like anyone is really following anyway...lol.

In The DT:
1x Powder Brown Tang
1x Purple Firefish
1x Leopard Wrasses(Macropharyngodon Ornatus)
1x Line Spot Wrasse
1x Bangaii Cardinal
1x Lyretail Anthai
1x Red Fin Japanese Waspfish
1x Green Mandarin
1x Copperband Butterflyfish

IN QT
1x Kole Tang
1x Midas Blenny

WISHLIST
Still to Come (wish list) I will not be getting ALL of these fish but I figure I can get close...
1x Borb Anthais (maybe 2)
3-5 x Randell's anthias or Ignitus or Carberryi (Maybe)
1x Pygmy (Cherub) Angelfish (Centropyge argi) maybe 2
2x Clownfish
1x Yellow Watchman Goby
2x Sleeper Gold Head Goby
1x Yellow or Blue Assessor
1x Flame Hawk
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse

SOME OF THESE WRASSES ( 2 more Flashers and maybe 2 Fairy)
Filamented Flasher Wrasse
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
Orange-Back Fairy Wrasse
Rhomboidalis Fairy Wrasse
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
Lineatus Fairy Wrasse

 

[MrsReefK]

I got the Tunze Care Strong magnet cleaner for xmas today and all I can say is "WOW, where have you been my whole reefing life?...... Oh ya, I am too cheap to dish out $112 for a cleaning tool!"



This thing RULZ! Best cleaner EVER! I have 3/4" glass and it works like a charm. No worrying about scratching up my Starphire glass and it chews through coraline algae like butter. Can't recommend it high enough!

I have two of these in my cart at BRS as we speak, I'm reading many mixed reviews and happy to see you like yours! I have a 290 with only rear access, I'm worried with the inside section not floating... Do the mags easily come apart causing dropped inside piece often? I'll be using this on 3/4" acrylic.

 

[fessoclown]

I have two of these in my cart at BRS as we speak, I'm reading many mixed reviews and happy to see you like yours! I have a 290 with only rear access, I'm worried with the inside section not floating... Do the mags easily come apart causing dropped inside piece often? I'll be using this on 3/4" acrylic.

I have 3/4 inch glass and yes it comes apart and does not float. My tank is only 20 inches deep and wide so not an issue for me although I have sworn at it a couple times. That said the cleaning power is completely unrivalled and i have never kept my glass so clean all the time!

 

[MrsReefK]

I have 3/4 inch glass and yes it comes apart and does not float. My tank is only 20 inches deep and wide so not an issue for me although I have sworn at it a couple times. That said the cleaning power is completely unrivalled and u have never kept my glass so clean all the time!

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I decided to order it!

 

[reefmutt]

Your tank is looking good. That cbb is a real beast. Good luck with him. If he's eating worms and stuff that"s a good sign.
I don't see a bunch of brown corals.. They are looking pretty good.
I just picked up the same leptastrea from fragbox... i guess it came from Thang.
that's a serious fish wish list..
What are your n,p and alk? and what intensity are you running the rations at?

 

[Devaji108]

wow just read the whole thing! love this tank! that CBB looks amazing.
the aquascape is just the best.
but my fav. pic the the tank on the ferry!
happy reefing

 

[fessoclown]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I decided to order it!

You won't be disappointed despite the fact that it falls apart and you have to reach for it. It really does work so much better than the brick style cleaners.

Your tank is looking good. That cbb is a real beast. Good luck with him. If he's eating worms and stuff that"s a good sign.
I don't see a bunch of brown corals.. They are looking pretty good.
I just picked up the same leptastrea from fragbox... i guess it came from Thang.
that's a serious fish wish list..
What are your n,p and alk? and what intensity are you running the rations at?

Your tank is looking good. That cbb is a real beast. Good luck with him. If he's eating worms and stuff that"s a good sign.
I don't see a bunch of brown corals.. They are looking pretty good.
I just picked up the same leptastrea from fragbox... i guess it came from Thang.
that's a serious fish wish list..
What are your n,p and alk? and what intensity are you running the rations at?

Nice one on the Leptastrea, it is such a unique and colourful coral, yes it would have come from Thang. You could get a hold of him directly as he posts on 2 local forums (Aquarium Pros and GTAA) I can PM you the links to his sale threads if you like. He's got amazing stuff at great prices.

My Alk is steady around 8. PO4 is .02 and I can't get a reading on N from my Salifert kit. Just stays clear so I guess that means 0.
I suspect because I have been fallow for a long time that I am super nutrient poor and the corals have suffered in their colour as a result.
I have a killer skimmer and I also use an ATS. Although I just took that offline as I am making a huge change.... I will replace the ATS soon but I have commandeered the 30G tank that it was hooked up into for another big project. More on that to come.

I ditched the Radions about 9 months ago for an ATI 6x80W and have a DIY Reefbrite style actinic strip on it as well. I couldn't get the Radions dialed in and I decided to make the switch.

wow just read the whole thing! love this tank! that CBB looks amazing.
the aquascape is just the best.
but my fav. pic the the tank on the ferry!
happy reefing

Thanks, living on the Island has it's disadvantages as everything has to be carted on and off. We have no cars or stores over here. The trade off is worth it though, living in a Park in the middle of downtown Toronto (3 million Population) it feels like we live in a village in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.

 

[fessoclown]

So I'll do a quick update. I decided to do this:

I siliconed some ceramic rock walls that Greg (Sig) generously gave to me a few months ago to the back wall.

A while ago I bought a ton of macros off some dude who was shutting down, I have them in a 16G Tall and decided to pull my fuge tank out of the stand and create a remote fuge. It's a 35G and it's plumbed into my DT. I may try some Seahorses in it. I have it set up with a 5/8" line from my manifold for now, I am thinking that with such a small amount of water circulating that the temp. in the fuge will be a few degrees lower than the display. I have a bit of reading up to do but I think with the captive bred ones available to us here in Toronto it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. My wife is very much onside with the Seahorse idea, she's already pretty onside and tolerant of tank my obsession so it would be nice to get something she really wants in there. She is part of the reason that the tank came out of the stand for a macro display as she likes the green and the contrast top the main DT.

By commandeering the 35 as a remote fuge I had to dismantle my ATS. I will be drilling the 16G Tall tomorrow to replace it. I am finding the ATS is great for keeping algae out of the DT by giving it somewhere ideal to grow. It has been working great for me and I need to replace it ASAP.

 

[Andrew D]

Very cool system, and good thorough updates. I love your aquascape. I can't believe I missed this until now. I live in Burlington, but frequent many of the same LFS's that you do, and it's kinda neat to hear them referenced on this forum. I bought one of those large CBB from Red as well, but mine unfortunately didn't make it through QT. Ironically, I bought another a few weeks prior from Dragon Aquarium in Mississauga, which was much smaller and was still in QT when I bought the other, and this one has fared much better and is now in the display. He only eats mysis and isn't the fastest eater in the tank, so I am feeding him a variety of ways to ensure he gets enough food, including something like what Paul B has created and a net. I really want him to survive because he is one of my favourite fish.

I love your macroalgae tank. I used to have some halimeda in my fuge but it died off when my calcium dipped for a while. Where'd you pick this up, I haven't seen this for sale anywhere.

 

[fessoclown]

Update time

Update time

Whoops, it seems I have 2 threads going... this is the one I meant to keep updated...
The tank is making a turn around in terms of colour of the corals. I finally have some nutrients in the tank. My fish stocking list is about 3/4 done... it's been a long and frustrating process re-populating the fish... So many fish didn't make it through QT... it can be quite disheartening at times...
My stock list so far is:
In The DT:
1x Leopard Wrasses(Macropharyngodon Ornatus)
1x Line Spot Wrasse
1 x Carpenter's Wrasse
1x Bangaii Cardinal
5x Lyretail Anthai
1x Red Fin Japanese Waspfish
1x Green Mandarin
2x Green Chromis
1x Midas Blenny
1x Powder Brown Tang
1x Purple Firefish

In The Macro Display Fuge
1x Eye spot Blenny
1x Dragonfaced Pipefish
1x Scooter Blenny

In QT
1x Borb Anthais (Fat Bastid)
1x Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse
1x Social Fairy Wrasse?
3x Carberryi anthias

I started using the Aquaforest system about 5 weeks ago. I use their Pro-biotic Salt and do a weekly 10-20 Gallon waterchange. The salt is awesome! It dissolves crystal clear in a matter on minutes and doesn't leave any residue at all. The price is right too. $99/bucket shipped to my door ( living on Toronto Island this is a big deal!)

My AF dosing scheme is as follows... I dose:
6 drops of Pro-Bio S - daily
6 drops Coral A - every other day
6 drops Coral B - every Day
6 Drops Coral E - every day
6 Drops Coral V - every other day
I also dose 10 ml of vinegar for now as NP-Pro is not available on Amazon.ca and I refuse to pay almost 3 times the price for a bottle from Salty Supply or some other US distributor. NP-Pro is their Carbon source for feeding their bacteria and vinegar seems to be working just fine.

April 2016 FTS

Some other pictures. I can't seem to take any good ones with the iphone... any tips would be nice!

]

There you go, a big photobomb!

 

[fessoclown]

New fish!

New fish!

Fat Bastid chilling in his own QT

Picked up a few goodies at R2O today:
3x Carberryi Anthias ( I think that's what they are, someone correct me if not)

An absolutely stunning Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse and a Longfin (social fairy wrasse)

The Social Fairy has his Party antennae scanning for that Harem of Anthais!

Creep!

 

[reefmutt]

Another Aquaforest convert.. Cool!
Things are looking good
My Evansi anthias look a lot your your carberryi anthias.. But it's tough to tell exactly.
Very interested to watch your AF transformation.