dp's 300 gallon build

[dpruter]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Yeah, those coral banded shrimp can be nasty.
As for the starfish, there are so many things that can be deadly for them. Being exposed to air is a big one. The other issue in your way with that guy is that it looks like a linckia, which is a beautiful but very difficult starfish to keep. The biggest problem is that we don't really know what it is that they do eat! Some people can keep them, but most can't.
And I've been wondering when you were going to talk about your tube anemone. I personally have wanted to put one into the tank ever since I first saw them. I haven't for the reason that they aren't photosynthetic and I am fearful that work would get in the way of me caring for it properly. Maybe someday though.
What kind of anemone did your clowns start hosting, a sebae?

Thanks for the info on the starfish!

That was a bummer and unfortunately we didn't know 1) about the food issue and 2) that being exposed to air was an issue. The guy at our lfs actually took it out of the water to show my mom and wife who purchased for me as a gift. They didn't know at the time that was a big flag and a no-no. Lesson learned and another mark against that lfs. Ugh, hard to trust people that are trying to sell you stuff.

That tube anemone is awesome. He is still alive and well today. He's constantly grabbing things that float by and putting them into his mouth. The frozen brine shrimp is always first on his menu. (feed the tank every other day the frozen brine) I have him on the bottom end where all the water moves right by him and then gets either circulated back OR it get's dumped into the skimmer and then filtered. I THINK that's a good spot because all the particles of food / waste pass right through him.

The anemone is a Sabae and he's been a bit pissy ever since we put him in. I think he's irritated at those clown fish. They never stop rubbing! He's always closing up over night and then opening up again when the lights start to come up. Still alive and kicking though many months later although I'd like to figure out what's bothering him!

[dpruter]

3-4 months in I also decided to try a few clams.



A few weeks after adding they closed up and died. The most frustrating loss to date. My thinking is that my alk was too low and or fluctuates too much. Started testing and saw some 7.8-8.4 ranges. (And I think clams like more in range of 9-10?)



Temp could have also been an issue with my clam attempts. We had a few days where the water hit 83. (Before the chiller was integrated)

Odd though that none of them attempted to grab onto rocks and that they looked good until all of a sudden. Dang, some sad losses and a big challenge for me to figure out!

Too much light, too much flow, low alk, temp fluctuations, critter bothering them...??? too many variables.

[mr_X]

7.8 is ok for alk, IF you can keep it right there. Up and down fluctuations are what effects clams IME. If a creature was bothering them, you should have witnessed it at some point, UNLESS you saw a clear, web-like or jelly-like substance around the clam. This can be a sign of a very fast moving predatory worm called Oenone Fulgida. They are surprisingly common in closed systems and can easily wipe out clams and slow moving snails.

[dpruter]

Originally Posted by mr_X

7.8 is ok for alk, IF you can keep it right there. Up and down fluctuations are what effects clams IME. If a creature was bothering them, you should have witnessed it at some point, UNLESS you saw a clear, web-like or jelly-like substance around the clam. This can be a sign of a very fast moving predatory worm called Oenone Fulgida. They are surprisingly common in closed systems and can easily wipe out clams and slow moving snails.

Thanks for that info! Never saw any jelly so I'm assuming it was alk. I still don't have a dosing system in place so I do see some fluctuations. I do manually add every other day but don't think that's the best way to go about. (Dumping capfuls into the sump)

After I get dos and things level out I will try again!

[Sniperhank]

Sounds like things will need to be put together with a dosing pump and better monitoring of the alk...maybe with a checker or monitored with a system via probe or something.

[dpruter]

Indeed on the dosing system!

So after about 7 months from the time I started the build I had all the tangs I wanted added. (Felt pretty comfortable that params were stable and tank was in good shape)

My list include: (and the order I added)

Blue tang
Yellow tang
Desjardini tang
Purple tang
Tomini tang
Achilles tang

All are getting along very well and have great appetites. The desjardini is a complete pig and has grown the fastest. She tends to be the leader of the pack with the exception of the Achilles. That dude usually just cruises the entire tank and stays away from the rest until feeding time.



All have grown 1/2 to an inch within less than a year. (Blue tang has grown 4x original size)

So fun to watch!

[Sniperhank]

An achilles? That is an expensive and rough tang to care for. Beautiful though.

[dpruter]

My next major equipment investment (and my Christmas present) was the apex controller. Mounted it up in the sump box and wow... That thing rocks!



Temps are more stable and having the info at my fingertips anywhere in the world really helps anxiety levels.

[dpruter]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

An achilles? That is an expensive and rough tang to care for. Beautiful though.

Ohh, that's my first born child. Amazing fish that I have always dreamed of having. Just hope I can keep him happy! So far so good though. Had him almost 5 months now.

[bribo12]

Originally Posted by dpruter

Ohh, that's my first born child. Amazing fish that I have always dreamed of having. Just hope I can keep him happy! So far so good though. Had him almost 5 months now.

Glad to hear he's doing well! Definitely my favorite fish as well . Hope one day I can have a big enough tank for one as well, yours is gorgeous! Nicely done


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[dpruter]

So we are at our one year anniversary with this tank now. (Started mid February 2014)

Have a few corals that appear to be doing good. (All the easy ones of course)





Have certainly lost a few over the year. Still can't keep a clam happy and of course we lost a few fish.



It's getting there though.

[dpruter]

A few more of the corals...


(The monti is growing like a weed)


(And of course the mushrooms have gone crazy)

[dpruter]

Coraline algae is way out of control as you can see.


(don't recall the name of this dude)

[erichm20]

Nice work! Really clean look. That looks like an acan to me.


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[dpruter]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Understandable. I'm sure that they are pumping as much as they can. Do you have a reeflink along with the setup? I wasn't aware of any other options to modify flow like you are without it...unless that came along after I added the reeflink to my setup that is.

Did you see they came out with new version of the mp40 that is more powerful and quieter? Ugh!

Related... What do you run at night with yours? I'm just using constant flow at 20% but should I consider something else? (Want to keep quiet obviously)

[mr_X]

Do you find the old ones to be so noisy? I didn't think they were that bad. An extra thousand gallons per hour is nice though...but would you use it?

[nanoreefz]

You can get the upgraded driver for it. I think it's ~$50.


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[Sniperhank]

Originally Posted by mr_X

Do you find the old ones to be so noisy? I didn't think they were that bad. An extra thousand gallons per hour is nice though...but would you use it?

There was also an update today for the reeflink software that is allowing a 'gyre' mode setting as well.

[dpruter]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

There was also an update today for the reeflink software that is allowing a 'gyre' mode setting as well.

Nice! Thanks for the heads up. Just downloaded. Love it. Makes a nice rocking motion and sounds much better than short pulse.

I'm a bit spoiled with noise levels because all my crap is outside. So all I hear is a little water trickle and then a loud eggghhhh egggghhhhh from the mp40s. (Try them at 100% on nutrient mode for a bit....Ugh! Loud) makes me wish I went with something that lived inside the tank to cut noise levels....but then I sacrifice the clean, no wires look.

Excited to try the new drivers maybe in 6-8 months from now after a few other toys.

And actually...did they just improve other modes? Short pulse isn't as harsh...or am I making that up?

[Sniperhank]

I didn't like short pulse that much...but one thing I did notice is that the MP40's in my tank would be noisy if there wasn't proper support from the tab holding the cord. If there is slack, they can droop and loose their alignment. Properly aligned wet and dry sides make almost no noise.