Careys Tank(s) Lots of Pictures, Questions & Thoughts

[redsea]

Hi Carey! How are the tanks doing? Is the Betta tank underway? Hope all is well.

[paul87]

Originally Posted by mr_X

Again, it depends on the fish. As for the traditional one spot foxface, I have never seen one that defended itself with spines....even the one in the gym tank I maintain which is around 5" and been with his tank mates since the beginning get bullied regularly.
If it's a rabbit, I prefer one of these anyway-

Never seen one of these. Very very cool!

[carey]

I've only seen them online but I love their look! I haven't added anything to the 180g lately at all, it just seems like the tank is finally coming into balance, in a way. lol The longer my tanks are setup they seem to reach a "zen" state where very little has to be done maintenance wise and the fish all seem happy and healthy.

In fact, I think I will do a little update in a bit. Or for anyone that reads these updates of mine you know it probably won;t be a little update at all as I like the yammer on and on.
Gonna go take some photos so I have some to post with the update.

[carey]

Okies, so the update!
The 90g is doing it's usual, running well without too much intervention. I lost thepurple urchin somewhere so getting a bit of algae on the right big rock, I hope to get another urchin to get the tank to where it was as far as algae. The only fish in here are: The nasty blue eyed tang, big eyed squirrel fish, a nasty banana wrasse, sumo the flame hawk, a single black clown and of course the monster teddy bear, the like two foot long engineer goby! He doesnt come out alot so I couldnt get his photo, generally I just see him slithering between rocks, he has the entire tank structure caved out to his liking. lol

The 125g cichild tank- Doing well. I don't always post about this tank so people dont know I keep one in freshwater as well as all the other saltwater tanks. But it's stocked full of african cichlids, I'd say in the neighborhood of four inches upwards of 8 inches. havent changed anything at all in this tank, just threw in some teeny tiny baby fish all at once and they have almost all grown up already. lol

The 40g breeder, reef. UGGGGG. This tank has been a nightmare. Full of algae and now that it's finally gone, with the help of a lawnmower blenny, I have an aipastia issue. I am slowly taking this tank down and moving things over to the 60g cube. I love the foot print but am not gonna deal with those nasty anemones again so it's gone. I currently have a pair of perc clowns, a gold headed sleeper goby, a hawaiian hawk fish, a spotted hawk fish and thats it. A few corals remain but I never had any luck with that current Orbit led fixture and lost most of them. What I do have left is going into the 60g. I am selling the 40b setup if anyone is in florida and wants a great system.

The 60g rimless cube: Doing better, the corals are starting to do well now that I have the radions dialed down. I still need to adjust them more but I don't get the stupid software lol. Just doesnt do what I want it to. Plan on getting on youtube for help. hehe In this tank there is only the firefish and the baby naso tang. The tang is now bigger than the firefish and will need to be moved soon but he is still too darn jittery. I cant even get close to the tank sometimes and the firefish scares him. he is in no way ready for the meanies in the 180g, but he is growing so fast I cant keep him in this tank much longer. Not sure how to proceed, maybe after the fish from the 40g go in he will get more courage and stamina. I hope so.

And finally the 180g! It's doing well other than the fact that I need to take a razor blade to the coralline on the glass.It's really really bad so dont be surprised when you see the photos I just took. The stock hasnt changed much. I am down to 5 chromis and one in the overflow from a high of 15 chromis. Its; taken about 2years for the chromis population to dwindle so I guess I did better than some.
I think that sums it up, I tried to be short but it turned into a freaking novel length post AGAIN. lol

ANyways. thats it. Following are the pictures I just took real quick. I almost forgot, I now have 5 anemones in the 60g, I had two and then they just kept splitting. Just got a new split two nights ago. Sooooo cool.....

[carey]

[carey]

[carey]

[carey]

[carey]

[redsea]

That Engineer Goby does sound so cool, very secretive! It must be fun to find where he is hiding at any given time! Eight inches, wow, almost a foot long for some of the Cichlids! They must look huge. Sorry to hear about the algae issues in the 40g, I know exactly how you feel. I am having a bit of an issue now in the 29g BioCube. Gee golly, I do these huge water changes but the darn algae still seems to like to hang out. I recently got some Mexican Turbo Snails like I used to have in my 34g Red Sea Max, and they are helping a lot; but, they are eating less than the old ones it seems, LOL.

I bet it is so much fun to watch the baby Naso grow….soon he’ll be as big as some of your Cichlids and you’ll be thinking “how did that happen?” That is so awesome about the anemones!

You’ve had Sumo and the Squirrelfish for a few years now, right? I seem to remember them from around the 90g first got started! I love it when I have had a fish for a while, it always feels good!

AHHHH! I see the Tomini Tang, I always have loved the unique color scheme on that guy.

The tanks are all looking great!

[Autumnsky]

Always love the updates. Would a Urchin help you with algae? Mine likes to eat Macro algae, a couple nights ago he was eating off the thermometer suction cup, lol Thought you might get some mild amusement from the pic.

[carey]

lol, I love how urchins can hang on upside down in the oddest of places. I had one float around with a loose thermometer once. Soo funny. lol I have a single pencil urchin in the 90g now. when I had the two urchins, him and the purple one, I had zero algae buildup. Now with the one gone, you can see how much he did do. lol I also have 2 turbo snails in there, for all the good they do. They are old and grumpy now I think. I have had those turbos since I set up the tank which was several years ago. lol Older than most of my fish for sure.

Thanks autumn for reading and catching up.

[Autumnsky]

Originally Posted by carey

lol, I love how urchins can hang on upside down in the oddest of places. I had one float around with a loose thermometer once. Soo funny. lol I have a single pencil urchin in the 90g now. when I had the two urchins, him and the purple one, I had zero algae buildup. Now with the one gone, you can see how much he did do. lol I also have 2 turbo snails in there, for all the good they do. They are old and grumpy now I think. I have had those turbos since I set up the tank which was several years ago. lol Older than most of my fish for sure.

Thanks autumn for reading and catching up.

They are so cute, get some new young hungry ones!

[redsea]

With all the anemone action in the 60g, the tank will look like this soon! I just saw this photo on the Mr. Saltwater Tank FB page...wow, look at all those RBTs!

[carey]

LOL, you are so right Red! They took over the top half of the rocks already. It's kinda neat to sometimes wake up in the morning and you have an extra critter.

Picked up a green blenny a few days ago for the 60g and today I got a striped blenny for the 60 as well. So far they are doing well, I am hoping to draw out the tang with more fish. lol Also got 10 turbo snails for 10 bucks, great deal around here.

[redsea]

I bet that is so much fun to wake up and find something new. "Ah, let's check out the tanks this morning...why, look here! I have something new I did have yesterday!" Woohoo new fish alert! I love Blennies, they are always a blast to watch. I would love to see pictures if you have any/when they come out. I hope they help make the Tang feel more bold. Maybe the addition of more fish will make him feel more confident. That is a great deal on the snails! I just love Turbos they are literally the best! I mean, what other creature will eat cyano or anything else in that tank? It's crazy how helpful they can be!

[carey]

I have been very very negligent in cleaning my glass over the last month or two so it's actually kinda hard to get good photos. THOUGH I did razor blade the 90g, half the 40b and a few spots in the 60g. lol I am currently working on the 180, which asa you can imagine is a beast of a job with me being only like 5 feet tall. LOL I'll see if the new blennys are up to some photos, I know the tang will be a pain to get to come out. I was worried about the two blennies in such a small tank but the green blenny is twice the size of the striped, BUT the striped is a venomous fish so maybe he knows better. hehe

i still dont know exactly what kind of "green": blenny I have, it looks exactly like a smiths blenny. the white one with the black back stripe, but he is green and yellow. The guy just called him a green blenny. he is also a very very picky eater, he hunts for food like a mandarin. I have gotten him to eat a few times, and he only eats frozen if that. Kinda concerned but kinda not, I figure he will work it out at some point.

When is the big day for your new tank Red? Are you gathering equipment and window shopping for what you want?

[redsea]

Originally Posted by carey

I have been very very negligent in cleaning my glass over the last month or two so it's actually kinda hard to get good photos. THOUGH I did razor blade the 90g, half the 40b and a few spots in the 60g. lol I am currently working on the 180, which asa you can imagine is a beast of a job with me being only like 5 feet tall. LOL I'll see if the new blennys are up to some photos, I know the tang will be a pain to get to come out. I was worried about the two blennies in such a small tank but the green blenny is twice the size of the striped, BUT the striped is a venomous fish so maybe he knows better. hehe

i still dont know exactly what kind of "green": blenny I have, it looks exactly like a smiths blenny. the white one with the black back stripe, but he is green and yellow. The guy just called him a green blenny. he is also a very very picky eater, he hunts for food like a mandarin. I have gotten him to eat a few times, and he only eats frozen if that. Kinda concerned but kinda not, I figure he will work it out at some point.

When is the big day for your new tank Red? Are you gathering equipment and window shopping for what you want?

My BioCube glass needs some work, my Turbos are really helping me out on the back wall of the tank though! And my rocks too of course. It's not coralline thoough, I still need to establish that. But luckily there is some coralline on the shells of some of my Turbos/Hermits, so maybe it will start to spread a little. The big day is April 26! At that point it will be a freshwater setup and will still need to be converted to salt. I think I am going to be setting up another tank, maybe a 55g for the freshwater fish, as I don't think they are very large, and I don't think there are very many. But we will have to see and I can re access. We are also planning on putting a sink near the tank, so that should help tremendously! I am so excited about that. As for equipment, I think I may have the majority of what I need coming with the tank, but I may need to run out and grab a few things after getting it all back to the house. I am so thankful that I am able to get another chance at a 125g, getting rid of my old one was a huge mistake on my part.