Your Unexpected Specialty---

[Sk8r]

Most of us start out with a tank we HOPE will be one thing and end up with a tank that SUCCEEDS in an area we hadn't expected, often to the exclusion of what we wanted. Some of us old hands just sigh and give in and give over the tank to what the tank is really good at---hair algae doesn't count.

I wonder if this forum could contribute some tank specs and what you feel is the BEST-SUCCEEDING life in your tank.

Eg, mine: I intended it to be an sps reef. One move and re-set-up, and the lps went mad.
54 gallon wedge corner, 30 gallon sump with live rock fuge, 250 w 10000k MH Ushio, high and *chaotic* flow, due to large pump and 2 opposed Sea Swirls; kalk drip; krill as food---grows euphyllia lps so fast I have trouble finding homes willing to take it: it bumps up against the sides and bails and grows new bases. Minimal fishes: blennies, gobies, that sort of fish.

I suspect the euphyllia are noshing pods as well as dining on crushed dry krill, which the fish also appreciate; also feed mysis and Formula One and Two on alternate days.

Params are in my sig line. Typical for lps reef. Water changes skipped for nearly a year due to illness in house---lps didn't care. They just kept growing.

 

[Greg 45]

sk8r wish i had your luck
have been a anemone guy for a long time
selling off bubble tips and hadonis
dying to make tank a gigantea only
maybe a mertins
Very hard to find either healthy

 

[Sk8r]

What's your rig like, greg45?
Size, setup? Params? The only nem I ever succeeded at was in the 80's, when I put a carpet into a barely-cycled 100g barely well-lit for softies----that started with dry rock and crushed coral/shell. I had 2 clarkiis and bio balls and drip trays and the darned nem, that you would mostly describe as grey, took half my tank! I removed it in favor of a smaller long-tentacle and the clarkiis never forgave me for it: after that, they'd bite me every time I put my hand in the tank.

 

[PokerReefer]

I would consider myself a sponge whisperer ! They have taken over every corner of my sump tank and plumbed in frag tank. Idk if that qualifies, but have never had sponges like this before.

 

[Sk8r]

Again, what sort and size of tank, PokerReefer? New? Old?

 

[JHawlz9989]

My tank is being overrun with feather dusters. They are taking residence on the glass, the outlet to my skimmer, the inlet to my skimmer, the inside of the skimmer, the glass cleaner, and I even found some in my GFO/carbon reactor in between medias! In a 20 gallon tank, I estimate I have several hundred at least. I also have had success with a small coco-worm hitchhiker that came in on an acan frag, so much so that I bought a full-size one, and he has already added 3/4 of an inch to the length of his shell.

I only noticed the rapid increase in population shortly after I got an Apex and set the skimmer (Aquamaxx HOB-1) to operate only in the daytime. Aside from that, it's a basic 20 gallon with one MP-10, and the reactor hanging on the back. I don't know if there is any correlation associated with beginning to skim only at night. The tank is a year and a half old, but it's been through several moves. Regular feeding regimen is mysis and bloodworms, with the occasional Formula One and NLS pellets.

Josh

 

[Ron Reefman]

My tank info is below in the sig. My wife and I have always been interested in inverts, which is why we have a anemone tank. And the DT has 95% of the LR held above the sand so almost the entire footprint can be used by sand dwellers. The lps and sps corals have taken off over the last year (the tank has been running since 5/2010). I roughed in the stand, set up the tanks and have mostly done maintenance since then. In the last couple of months I have finally finished the stand... well 80% finished.

 

[rwb500]

my specialty is the disappearing peppermint shrimp. i dont know if they starve, or what, but everytime i add a few, they are GONE after a few days.

 

[NMC]

I like this thread. So far, I specialize in snails (got a full order from reefcleaners.org). My tank is new, it will be interesting to see what does well and what doesn't. So far I have a little bit of this and that and it all seems to be doing well, but time will tell.

 

[Metal Man 1221]

Before I moved my tank I had quite a diverse population of benthic inverts. I would see all sorts of things: pods, stars, sponges, worms, mollusks. Every night I could look at the tank with a flash light and see something new. It was something I didn't ever expect but quickly became my favorite part of the DT, asides from the corals. I wish it would hurry up and re-establish already!

Tank is a 125 that was on a 45 tall sump, which I got used. I over fed for the first 6-9 months and reused and (brace your selves) didn't clean the original sand, which I think contributed to the success of the inverts (and the GHA, but that doesn't count!) Filtration included a beefy RM PS-8 skimmer, GFO, filter floss changed every 2 days, and 20 gallon water changes every 3-4 weeks. If I could go back to the way I used to have the tank set up, I would in a heart beat.

 

[vikubz]

I bought some LR from an area reefer which turned out to have a little halimeda on it. I dose 2 part to keep coralline growing well in my FO/anemone tank. The side effect is that the halimeda grows like mad, and I mean a true shrubbery. Makes a nice trade in at the LFS.

 

[DM1975]

I have become a green hair algae farmer. I am still in the uglies stages but if they ever find a serious use for that stuff then I'll be a rich man.