Stocking a 150G Reef

[abrahamavelar]

ill put the damsels at the end and psedochromis are very agressive just like damsels or worst, the anemone will have to wait 8 to 12 months after your tank is cycled

[AdamHorton]

All right, QT-ing gobies...

I'm looking at a Two-Spot Goby and a Diamond Watchman Goby for the bottom, and a couple of clown gobies for the top (2-3). I'm wondering what's the best way to QT them, since I'm not supposed to use substrate in a QT. I have two 10G tanks I can use, and I could possibly divide those tanks if necessary. What's the best route to go here? Is there any way I can safely QT four gobies with what I have?

I'll be picking up a CUC this weekend, and possibly some of the gobies, it's pretty exciting! I'll post pictures when I have some.

[abrahamavelar]

well you can just put pvc pipes and stack them up and it should be fine, good luck!!!!!!!!!

[austinsdad]

Some may not agree with me on this one, but I found gobies in the LFS reef tanks that had been there for at least a week and were eating. In the reef tanks meant there was no copper hiding anything. Didn't Qt them. Never did for gobies since they are very hardy too IMO.

Good luck with the 2 spot gobies. Never had them or heard of them lasting too long. Maybe the way they rely on sand sifting is why they likely won't do well in a new tank especially. They do eat other food, but twice, mine didn't last.

[abrahamavelar]

+1 i taught the same way about some of my fish and they were one of the first on gettin ich the 2nd time

[AdamHorton]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Not terribly much has happened, but I have pictures of what has happened and some more specific plans for what's next.

First, the CUC. Here's what I have:

20 Turbo Snails
10 Red Algae Hermit Crabs
about 7-10 Nassarius Snails
about 10 of some other type of snail (I'll work on getting an ID, but I haven't gotten any good pictures to post yet)
3 Peppermint Shrimp

here are some pictures:

http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/cuc01.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/cuc10.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/cuc12.jpg

I'm feeding the tank frozen brine shrimp every other day for now. That day I also got a mandarin goby. I tried QTing him because I read that he would eat frozen brine shrimp, but he wasn't interested in that so I just let him into the display tank all by himself (he didn't appear sick or anything). He spends all day grazing over the rock and I occasionally see him getting something to eat. I'm also attempting to hatch brine shrimp eggs and put them in there but I don't know how that's working out. Here are some pictures of the Mandarin:

http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/mandarin01.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/mandarin04.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/mandarin05.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/mandarin06.jpg

I can't wait to get a better camera...

I should be going to the fish store this weekend to pick up some more gobies. I'm looking at the two-spot goby still and a couple of clown gobies, which they should have now. If the two-spot doesn't work out I'll probably get a diamond watchman or maybe a sleeper goby. The gobies would probably go straight into the tank without a very long QT (if any) because it would probably be easier to get them to eat in the DT.

If they have blennies, I might get some to QT for a while. I'm mostly looking at forktail blennies and bi-color blennies and we'll see what I can get my hands on from that. With any luck I'll have more pictures this weekend.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Regarding the issue about sand in the quarantine tank...

The only reason it's not recommended is because (1) it can interfere with medications introduced to the tank, and (2) it's easier to keep the bare bottom tank clean without sand.

If it was me, I'd probably put sand in there and quarantine a sand-sifting goby. If I ended up needing to medicate, I'd suck the sand out then.

[AdamHorton]

I see, then if I end up with a sand-sifting goby this weekend (most likely) then I will QT him with sand -- thanks for the advice. I couple of questions though:

First, Would enough sand to cover half of the bottom of a 10G tank be enough for him while he's in there, or would he likely eat everything good in there and then starve?

Second, so if I did have to medicate, then the goby wouldn't be able to eat and be medicated? I would have to find some other way to feed him I guess...

[AdamHorton]

Sorry it's been a while, but it's a good time to update now so here's what's happened since I posted last:

QTing and entering into the DT has happened for a few new fish:

Cave Goby:
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/cavegoby01.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/cavegoby02.jpg

Two-Spot Goby:
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/twospotgoby01.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/twospotgoby02.jpg
--he actually seems to be doing quite well.

Firefish Goby:
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog/firefishgoby.jpg
--he doesn't come out all that often, mainly just to eat.

Bi-color Blenny:
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog...orblenny01.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog...orblenny02.jpg
http://www.adamhorton.com/files/flog...orblenny03.jpg
--terrible pictures, I know. These were the best I could get.

There's a green clown goby that we put in a couple of weeks ago that we haven't seen since. He's a tiny little thing with lots of places to hide, though.

The Cave Goby and the blenny seem to like the same area, so the goby is shooting sand at the blenny. I have some video of that that I'll link to soon. Hopefully that will calm down...

Next come the cardinals...

[AdamHorton]

video

YouTube - Cave Goby and Bi-color Blenny making friends