Nicki's 50 gallon starphire seahorse tank!

[obscurereef]

Yeah there's probably a reason why they said do not exceed dosing 5 ppm. BillBug has a good theory. How long did it take for your tank to cycle, czwicky?

 

[obscurereef]

Woot woot! Everything came in today! The boxes and bags smelled putrid like something died, but after putting the snails/algae in looked like everything made it.

Dang I was not expecting this much macro algae. The price for quantity/quality is amazing! Definitely recommend live-plants.com (where I purchased the stuff).

Rough draft:

 

[obscurereef]

Oh forgot to mention this awesome branching coralline algae that has a neon pink/purple color. This is better than most corals and cheaper!

 

[Billbug68]

Wow! Really colorful! Looks good!

 

[Garrett706]

Looks great!

 

[obscurereef]

Thanks guys. It definitely has lots of color now.

Looking to order the seahorses sometime next week.

Opinions on this:

3 Waitei Anthias
vs.
Helfrichi Firefish

 

[obscurereef]

Tested levels today and it doesn't look good...

Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40

So I added the nitrifying bacteria. I'm surprised that the sea pen & gorgonians are still semi-okay when there's ammonia present.

 

[Rpbustillo]

Oh forgot to mention this awesome branching coralline algae that has a neon pink/purple color. This is better than most corals and cheaper!

Where did you buy this?

 

[Raleighfishnerd]

Tank looks great! I plan on doing a seahorse tank middle of next year so I will be following.

 

[obscurereef]

Where did you buy this?

Where I bought the rigid coralline. Looks like they're out of stock.

Macro Algae: Your Source For Quality Marine Plants and Macroalgae | Gulf Coast Ecosystems

The pink faded within the next day, so maybe they need more/less light than I had them at, but the purple is still there.

 

[obscurereef]

Tank looks great! I plan on doing a seahorse tank middle of next year so I will be following.

Thanks Oh awesome, you have lots of time to plan/research.

 

[obscurereef]

So here's how the tank is coming along. A few hours after I added Dr. Tim's One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria, the ammonia went to 0. It has stayed 0. Over the days the nitrate went from 20 to where it's at now, 5! I was a bit skeptical, but that stuff was a lifesaver!

I have also added a Copperband butterfly. My dad's favorite fish so I had been looking for one that ate frozen foods and finally found one. I know these are hard to keep, but there will be almost no competition for food, will be fed 2-3 times a day frozen & live foods. So I think it has a better chance than most.

Picture time (clearer this time)

left side

right side
http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q641/inevitableodyssey/IMG_0012_zps76f80fbf.jpg

FTS

Gorgonian is finally completely open after 2 weeks of being partly open.

The curious tail spot blenny

Newest addition, Copper (bit camera shy)

 

[paul87]

That tank is looking great! I like all the macro algae and especially that branching coralline! When are you getting the seahorse?

 

[obscurereef]

Thank you. It serves as a more suitable and appealing environments for seahorses. I have my order on hold and am just waiting to get the nitrates and temp down before getting them. A LFS owner said he could get aquacultured orange/red brazilian seahorses at a really great price so maybe Wednesday I'll know if the wholesaler has them in stock.

 

[paul87]

Sounds pretty cool

 

[obscurereef]

I'm having a heating issue and I've pinpointed it down to either the pump or the refugium light.

I want to replace the CFL bulb/reflector w/ this LED strip. Will it be strong enough to grow chaeto & mangroves?

Aquarium Fish Tank White 6500K Lighting LED Strip 100 Lumens ft Salt Water Reef | eBay

 

[obscurereef]

Well I went ahead and ordered the light and an Aquatek 4 fan system to help with the heating issue.

Some random things that I've noticed:

Snails escape the tank often! In 3 days I've picked up about 8 nerite snails from the floor. They always revive.

My gorgonian shed. Didn't know that was possible, but I guess it is and it's finally opened completely.

Worst that's happened. Copper has ich! This could set back getting the seahorses

I don't want to use copper on Copper..haha..get it? I feel the hyposalinity treatment would stress him out more. The last method is transferring, but doesn't seem like a likely solution.

Can fish fight ich on their own?

If the ich disappears from Copper, I'm assuming it can still be a threat if I added seahorses?

 

[Dyl1234]

Got some awesome buys yesterday. A red and orange sponge and a sea pen. The sea pen moves sometimes which is really cool to watch. Going to fix the aquascape and placement of the corals, but here's how it looks now. Also ordered macroalgae.

Anyone have suggestions/references for green, yellow, or fancy marine plants?

What is the coral at the bottom left of the first picture? I really like it....

 

[obscurereef]

It's a sea pen. I wouldn't have gotten it if my mom didn't buy it. Very cool coral. It buries itself completely in the sand every night and comes out in the morning. If it's appearance isn't a wow factor, that behavior definitely is (at least to me). They're filter feeders so I feed phytoplankton daily.

 

[Dyl1234]

It's a sea pen. I wouldn't have gotten it if my mom didn't buy it. Very cool coral. It buries itself completely in the sand every night and comes out in the morning. If it's appearance isn't a wow factor, that behavior definitely is (at least to me). They're filter feeders so I feed phytoplankton daily.

I meant to say that it is the white colored bushy plant on the front left of your tank