125 FOWLR take 2

[huma-huma]

heres the most recent frogspawn we bought

rescue frogspawn that i found hiding

 

[All_fish]

That's awesome!!!

 

[huma-huma]

Don't believe I've updated for awhile. Got some things changed/modified a bit. Moved the brains of the apex unit up further so it's out of the way, organized everything, and built a food/feeding shelf that is mounted on the inside left door. Also bought the two lil fishes magnetic algae clip (wasn't sure if I mentioned that previously) the corals seem to be actually stabilizing and finally getting adjusted. Both frogspawns are doing great!! And neither clown has hosted the anemone

 

[Sniperhank]

Sounds like things are going well indeed. Dont be too worried about the hosting thing. It will happen if it wants too. It took my clowns and anemone a year to put it together. I think the anemone was too small for awhile. That and the clowns showed no interest in it for the longest time, they hung out in the hair algae issue I had above it.

 

[huma-huma]

lol yeah im not too worried. i went into it with the understanding that it wasnt a guarantee. right now, ours is a deent size in diameter, but the tents are fairly short and thick... so hopefully itll relax and extend itself at some point.

 

[huma-huma]

holy crap I've fallen off the wagon it seems! got so much going on i forgot about updating this thread. The tank has evolved a bit since mid april. some up's, and some down's. corals all n all have taken very well to the led's. ive got the whites up to around 60-65 and blues somewhere in the same range. gone through a few nems. think i finally got my anemone husbandry skills down pat enough to keep them healthy. we currently have a green LTA and a fairly big Condy nem. short story behind the green LTA. the misses and i went to the LFS about 50 minutes away roughly a month ago. In looking around, we noticed a little maroon clown that was in a tank of LTA's. and we watched the clown host 3 dif nems within a few minutes. so we decided the reward of having a nem-hosting clown in our tank was worth risking the clowns fighting. so off we went with the new maroon and nem. got them home and acclimated. let the clown go, our gold-strip maroon instantly started beating the new maroon up. so i decided to put the gold-stripe in the refugium for 10 days. upon putting the gold-stripe back in the DT, the gold-stripe instantly swam up to the new maroon and they have been hanging out together ever since.... so that makes 3 clowns in our 125. granted alot of hobbyists are gonna say "it wont work in the long run" and "you cant do that"...but its working wonderfully for us and actually the 2 maroons dont even bother the snowflake. other than that, the zoas are looking amazing! finally starting to spread, even the corals that we started out with are finally looking good.

 

[huma-huma]

tangs are all fat and healthy, the Purple and Yellow tangs have long since put their differences aside to live a peaceful community life...with the exception of their sporadic games of tag. everyone else is alive and well did add 2 emerald crabs (testers) and about 20 various hermits. 1 emerald just randomly died after a few weeks. but the lone survivor is fine. has even encountered the coral banded shrimp and not had a fight. , plan on buying prob about 20 more emeralds, 100 more hermits, and prob 50-75 snails. as for equipment, the skimmer either a)doesnt like my vodka-dosing or b) has decided to consistantly malfunction. it continuously overflows, no matter what i do. ive got it turned all the way down (valve open all the way) and it barely slows it down. tore it apart and cleaned everything, only to get 2 days worth of skimming before it started again. also my 24" dual-bulb refugium fixture is shot. (REALLY mad about that one, but i wanted leds under there anyways). need to get some updated photos loaded of everyhing.

 

[redsea]

Hi Huma! Long time no see.

I am thrilled to hear about the Tangs behaving okay...we all know how that situation goes! Lol. The Purple, Yellow, and Scopas are my favorite; I love the Zebrasomas!

I have a soft spot in my heart for Emeralds, I had one in my old 34g and really enjoyed observing him. I plan on getting one for the newer 29g this summer!

 

[huma-huma]

thanks REd!!! yeah there was a good while that the "tang gang" was in constant limbo in terms of aggression and attitudes, i actually just notcied the nother day that the purple and yellow are back at it again, only they are both the same size and the "fighting" is more like a playful tgame of bully.. no fin nips or body damage, so im ok with that lol. as for the emeralds, they are def a favorite!! coolest part is you never know where they are going to pop up at. need to get a bunmch of them though...having 1 in a 125 means that hes not always out and visiable l

 

[redsea]

I know what you mean about not seeing a creature all the time....it does make it really special though when they make an appearance! It's like those reclusive reef lobsters.

 

[huma-huma]

Well came home the other day and lost the Condy and the coral banded. Also spent 20 minutes last night looking for our marine beta... No luck. Don't know if I should tear apart the tank and look for him or just ride it out

 

[Sniperhank]

Any recent changes or anything? Odd loosing 3 different types of things in one sitting like that without a reason.

 

[huma-huma]

Not at all. That's the crazy part. I've been noticing excessive algae, which I'm thinking is prob from elevated phosphates. Idk I need to do a water change and tests

 

[huma-huma]

Also all 3 tangs are doing great, haven't experienced any changes in them.

 

[Sniperhank]

Odd, should be the other way around. Atleast it usually is.


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[huma-huma]

Sg-1.026
Ammo-0
Trites-0
Trates-undetectable
Phos-.125
Temp-78.3
Ph-7.73
Only thing I see that has me curious is the ph. It fluctuates between 7.6-8.1 but never leaves that range. I understand ideally I want 8.2-8.4 but is it really worth going through the hassle of buffering? Oh and good news!! The marine betta is alive!! He came out today

 

[huma-huma]

Lol and on a funny note, we bought a maroon and LTA a few months ago... Well it appears as though its actually a gold stripe. The gold is starting to come in lol

 

[huma-huma]

Spent some serious time the past two days on the tank. Scrubbed down the interior glass and overflows. Spent prob 2 hours customizing and adjusting the Apex controller, got the ph probe and temp probes calibrated. Built a homemade magnetic prob holder using PVC pipe and a hydro koralia Evo magnetic coupler. Even sedated the puffer and cut her teeth down. (That was a scene let me tell you) so onto the headaches. The temp probe was off by 5 degrees or so on the high side. And to make matters worse, I have both of the heaters plugged into the same outlet on the controllers power supply and one of the heaters wasn't kicking on. So who knows how long the tank has been running cold and on 1 heater. It just goes to show 2 things. 1. Larger tanks handle stress very well and 2) it doesn't matter how much money/equipment/ ingenuity you put into your tank... If you can't do simple maintenance and be consistent on your upkeep... It'll eventually steer your tank wrong

 

[Sniperhank]

I hear you there buddy. Glad you for things out back in the right track. Next time you file your puffer's tooth have your kid record it. Has to be a hilarious watch.


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[huma-huma]

def shouldve had someone videotape it, but the puffer is the old ladys fish and she was completely distraught when she seen the puffer floating lifeless. i finally broke down and cleaned the skimmer again, im going to attempt to get it dialed in one last time..if it doesnt work. its getting sold .