Tank build - newbie again... need thoughts

[Greenmaster]

I'm not sure about the goby.
If you don't mind siphoning the flatworms out I would say doing that once a week would be best.

 

[Ziggy953]

Awesome build!

Flat worm exit will work when dosed correctly, it will however kill a lot of other things in your system. Small brittle stars, snails, crabs, shrimp, pods and several others. If you can siphon them out and keep their population down to a minimum, I have had good luck with a sixline wrasse taking care of the rest.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

^Thanks guys.

Yeah I am hoping to avoid using FW exit. From the reading Ive done it looks to be an option but since I have so few I would like to try other means. I can find about 15 or 20 if I look hard for a while and I will siphon those off this week. Im sure there are many more I can't see but will try to just maintain the population. Ive also heard about the sixline wrasse working for these guys so I may have to look into one of them too.

 

[Ziggy953]

Kudos for not wanting to dump poison into your system. If you keep on top of them you should be able to maintain, let it go too long and you will see hundreds of them.

Sixlines are cool little fish and will do well in the tank regardless of the flatworms.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

*update*

A couple days ago I made some additions to the tank. A local person with a really nice and healthy tank is selling everything off - has to move... He had a 90 gallon that was 4 long. Had several beautiful corals and fish.... I ended up buying a really nice sailfin tang and a male & female Blue Jaw Trigger. He had these three fish in with another tang, several types of crabs & shrimp as well as many smaller fish. I was a little worried about "reef safe"triggers but these two have been with several types of coral as well as tiny fish and have not caused a problem. Ive had triggers in the past and loved them and am happy to have found a kind that should be reef safe.... Will keep a close eye on them regardless. The tang is amazing. From the reading ive done a 100 gallon tank min is suggested, and some say 125. - If my tank was not 100 gallon and 5' long I wouldn't have gotten him. I think he will be happier with the extra foot of length in my tank over his previous home. I may upgrade to a 240+/- gallon in the future and if I don't I might have to eventually consider finding a bigger tank for him. This tang is so nice - literally follows me around from one end to the other. I drip acclimated him and 10 mins after I put him in the tank he was eating out of my hand. The triggers came close to eating from my hand today but were still slightly hesitant. I don't want to always hand feed but it is fun when I have to be into the tank anyway.

In addition to the fish I picked up some more zoas and a purple polyp rock, along with another piece of live rock that I drilled holes in for some frag plugs.

I have been doing a 15% water change once a week and might drop that back to 10% per week now. I ran my tests again today and everything looked great.


Specific gravity = 1.025
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Ph = 8.3
Phosphate = 0
Calcium = 500
KH = 9 dKH

Ive been noticing growth in the past week on my birds nest SPS. Several little "bumps" which I assume will become new branches have appeared.

Before:

Today:

My Mangroves have finally started to show signs of life... about a week or so ago I noticed roots coming out of the bottom. I was wondering if they were ever going to do anything. Maybe I will start to see some leaves begin to sprout out of the top soon? Here is shot showing the roots.

Here is my new and probably only tang:

And the pair of Blue Jaws (male on the right):

Purple polyp:

New zoas:

 

[pat8you]

Absolutely beautiful fish. I love the sailfin.

 

[Jimbo7]

wow man, outstanding! I have been away for a couple days..trying to get internet into my new apartment, seems like you have been busy!

I really like those blue lines and the copperband, sailfins have always been on my top want list as well. Keep up the great work!

Oh and watch those blue clove polyps, they will really quickly take over a TON of space. I let mine run rampant and they snuffed out a couple zoa colonies.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

^
Thanks guys!

Good news - my odd little Yellow Watchman is acting more normal again. Has dug a new hole near his old home and is again acting like a goby. Looks like he just lost his mind for about 4 or 5 days. Craziest thing I've ever seen.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

*Update*

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Ph = 8.3
Phosphate = 0
Calcium = has dropped to 440
KH = 9 dKH

Everything has been going great with the exception of a dead plate coral. Not sure what happened to it.. just slowly started to go and then it went quick. Its my first loss so Im not going to get to upset - but am disappointed.

Since my last update a little over 2 weeks ago Ive added a cleaner shrimp and 4 Bangi Cardinals along with some new frags. Ive never had Bangi Cardinals before but have always admired them - love their pattern and the way they stay in a group. They have been eating well and are usually together although on occasion I will see them separate.

The cleaner shrimp is a cleaner shrimp... He has worked over a few fish but doesn't come out as often as cleaners Ive had in the past.

As far as the frags go - I traded some of my ever growing sump macro algae for some really nice Zoas. I now have 6 varieties. I also found a guy selling 7 SPS frags for $35 - couldn't pass that up.

My Bangi's

Some recent shots of the tank

And..... I saw my pistol working and was able to get a quick video - so fun to watch these two work together.

 

[Aquarium1]

Wow it looks amazing! Love the new additions

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Update:
Good news & bad news...

The bad:
Unfortunately I lost my copper banded butterfly. I was never able to get him to eat well. I tried and tried various techniques... He ate all my feather duster worms but i don't think he would eat anything after they were gone. Also two of my Bangis have disappeared - they all looked healthy and the two that are always out look great. So I fear Ive lost two of those as well. Water tests all look great still... still doing PWC on schedule... so I guess why they disappeared will remain a mystery.

The good:
I will be starting another build soon! I will keep my 100 going - Im not replacing it. But this new tank is BIG and the build will keep me busy over the winter.

 

[melosu58]

I`m glad to hear about the new tank. I like that. Sorry about the loss. Just next time get the LFS to feed it while you are there so you can see it eat. I dont buy any fish at my LFS unless I see it eat. I dont order online for that reason. I`ve got to see it eat.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Yes - sound advice which I knew.... and ..... didn't do... I listened to the LFS guy tell me it ate fine and went with that... live and learn...

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Help... Found a local guy who was taking down his tank... It was a reef tank with many SPS... He was selling his fish which I bought two of... a Flame angle and a 6-line. Within an hour of adding the flame angel he would occasionally nip at my SPS and has continued to do so to a few frags. I figured this guy would be safe since he came out of a reef tank...

Will this guy give it up with regular feeding or is this guy going to continue and kill these frags? Catching him will be a huge chore, but I don't want to lose several of my nice frags... How much of this nipping can these SPS stand?

 

[maxst2]

Can't wait to see this one dude. Im thinking about making the 55gal a freshwater tank and getting a wider tank (so i can still used the lighting I got) for a saltwater...and have an overflow and it drilled.. looks just heck of a lot easier than making this work.

Any pics of the new fish?

 

[pat8you]

I really doubt that the flame angel will stop nipping at the coral. I've never heard of one that stopped picking after it started. They will slow down a bit if you feed fairly heavy to keep them well fed but most likely he will always go back for a little taste of coral. It's hard to say how much your SPS can take because it depends on a lot of things. Some people keep them with out a problem because they have so many coral that the nipping is spread out and not a big deal. If your angel has a favorite coral thought it will probably end up not making it. I would say if you want to keep the angel i would expect to lose the occasional coral because of it as a best case and that it will distory whole colonies as a worst case. Sorry to be the one with the bad news.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Ill post new photos soon.... Added a couple corals recently too. This stinking Flame Angel is proving to be a nightmare to catch... He has to go as I don't plan on letting him kill the SPS he has started picking on. Ive spent about 2 hours with the net hoping and praying that he somehow makes a huge error but no luck. My big tang is like a little dog wanting to play... always hanging around me.. I could catch him in seconds he has actually swam into the net a few times but the flame angel has some sort of understanding that I want to catch him and is staying out of sight. He is probably more skittish too since he was recently caught by the guy I bought him from.

I don't have a fish trap and if I did I imagine that I would catch every small fish but him... That and my tang would try his best to get inside of it to get to the food. I would try the fish hook method but again, my tang is so food crazy I don't know how I would keep him off the hook. I am starting to become very afraid that I am going to have to take apart the tank... Ugh.

 

[maxst2]

Patience is a virtue!

 

[Greenmaster]

Put the net in the tank for a couple of days and feed around it. Once the flame angel gets used to it you will have an easier time catching it.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Patience is a virtue!

Put the net in the tank for a couple of days and feed around it. Once the flame angel gets used to it you will have an easier time catching it.

All good advice.. problem is patience and a few more days = dead SPS. :censor:

Unless my wife has some luck today I am pulling it all apart tonight.