hmmmmm.....I'm stumped....not sure what to tell you buddy.

ah, no one does....idk...

one day when im home and have adequate time, ill try to acclimate them for like 45 minutes...ill try it out on some hermit crabs or a couple snails or something.....idk

hello all. it has been about a week or so since ive showed myself around here... all is going well i suppose. havnt really made too many minor changes to my tank since i bought the copperband. one major change was this.

firstly, herm-zilla has gotten a new home. by home, i mean shell...not tank. he is out of my sump and back in my display tank though. my sand needed to be cleaned. lol =]

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2239.jpg

heres my copperband. who pretends he's a clownfish and hosts in my corner and powerhead. o_O

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2243.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2243.jpg

and i also found this lil guy this morning when i woke up. i added him a while back, but i had no idea he was still alive.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2244.jpg


thats all the news on my tank so far. i also moved my eel back into my display a couple nights ago. it took me like 20 minutes to try to catch him. i woke up the next morning...and where was he? back in the sump. :o

as for (near) future plans...(hopefully near anyway. )

.5: i added this one last...but i might go buy it today or tomorrow. but i realllllly need a magfloat. a strong one. my glass is gettting encrusted with coralline algae. on the back and side...so i want to get rid of it....the teensy one i have isnt performing well enough...i have to sit there for like 10 minutes and try to rub it off with a magnet that barely has a hold on it...lol and i want to clean off all of the glass that is going to be under the sand bed when i make the dsb. cause imo, i think the purple on the glass looks ugly when it is under the surface of the sand bed.

1: deep sand bed. i was pricing around last night for aragonite sand. found out my lfs can get me 40# for 40$. which is the best price i found. everywhere else it was like 40# for 50-55$. so ill have them order me that as soon as i have the money.

2: coralife needlewheel skimmer 125. my gf is going to get me this for our one year anniversary. cant wait. =] im giving her my old 16g bowfront in return. she really wants it for her tropical tank.

3: canopy. evaporation rate in my tank is bananas. i probably add about a gallon of fresh water a day. lol hopefully getting one of these will keep water (and fish) in my tank.

4: the Koralia powerhead. model 2. i saw one of those in a 55g tank. and it was blowing throughout the whole length of the tank. so i think ill go with that one instead of the model 3. its like 20$ cheaper also.

5: purple or red firefish: once i have my canopy of course. lol i dont want it jumping out. as i have heard many stories of this one jumping. so i been holding off for now. =]

6: i have plans of re-arranging my tank once i get my dsb. that will be a suprize for all of you though. i will not reveal that one. until its done. so dont expect any full tank shots for a while.... ;)

so anyway...thats it for now. thanks for taking the time to listen..haha

ttfn!

I think I might know why your ccb is only in one corner, you have a ccb and a powder blue in a 29g. When I knew little about tangs other than "oh pretty" I bought a yellow tang, a baby hippo, and a ccb, for my 46g. It was the worst buy I ever made, or close. The yellow tang beat the hell out of the ccb and the smaller hippo. All the fish died eventually due to the small tank size. A tang should never be kept in a tank that is less than 6ft long. They are open water swimmers and need the room. These butterflys and tangs are not clown fish happy to swim around in a tiny cube, they need room and lots of it. I would take them both back before they either kill one another or contract ick. Responsible buying is the reefers job.

omg. its not a 29....read my posts..not just the title.... its a 65g..... and believe me...i wish i could change the title to say 65....

oh lol thats great...i bet you have heard all that before then. a 65 is still small for tangs and ccb though

hey donut - I just changed your title for you....it now reads "new 65gallon tank". Any more changes?

YAY! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!! :) :)

i think that was the only change that needed to be done...


and yes photojon....im aware that a 65 is small for a tang, but hees not an adult yet...and when he is ill prob end up finding him a new home....but thats not anytime soon... and actually the 65 isnt small for the cbb...i researched it...most of the sites say they only need 55...including liveaquaria...which says 50...

so. nyeh =P

lol

i just bought my sand today. and my magfloat....i poured the sand in as careful as i could but my water got cloudy anyway....soooooooo now i have to wait for it to settle down..which could take a while...
i did some research on it and decided to go with playsand. i found that this kind "kolorskape" was the best to go with and a local landscaping place had it. i bought 2 bags of it. it was like 9$ for 2 20 or 25lb bags...im not sure...it didnt say on the bag. but it had no dangerous metals or anything in it..and it had very little silica...which is ok. ive read that everyone who uses this sand never had a problem with it. under the cloudy water, it looks really nice...its a fine grain. sugar-like. and my sandbed as now like 3" - 4". i took a small bucket of my sand and took it out of the tank and then when i poured the sand in there..i poured that bucketful on top of it. so my sandbed is livesand-playsand-livesand. when the water clear again, ill re-arrange my rock the way i want it and put the hermit crab on top to start diggin some holes in it and stir it up a bit. i also want to buy a bunch of littler hermits to get behind the rocks where herm-zilla cant get to. haha

and in the great words of forrest gump:
thats all i have to say about that. =)

oh. i also saw an octopus today at my lfs....i wish i had a tank i could put him in... he was awesome looking. :)

=[ my copperband died this morning. my assumption is that it starved itself. it sucks. bt it happens. im not gonna try again anytime soon. im only getting 4 more fish for this tank, and then my stocking will be done..minus the cleanup crew that ill be slowly trying to build up......idk when ill get them though.

b/w henochius, firefish, blenny, and dragonet. ill most likely get them in that order.

but anyway, yea. theres the update.....and idk if i mentioned the deep sand bed in my tank yet....if i didnt...well..there ya go...haha =P

several comments.....the firefish and blenny (as well as the mandarin for that matter) are all good jumpers. Make sure you have a screen over your tank, otherwise they'll end up as carpet sharks...I'm speaking from personal experience with all three fish.

What kind of blenny are you planning on getting. Some of them are very finicky eaters and can easily starve to death. Give us more info as to which kind you'd like to have.


The dragonets/mandarins need a very LARGE copepod/amphipod population in order to survive. Make sure your tank is VERY mature before buying one of these beautiful creatures. You can also stock up your population by ordering some pods - this will help to boost the population and you can do this periodically with the mandarin. This is crucial....they will starve if there isn't a decent pod population in a very mature tank.

believe me, im not getting either of the blenny or mandarin before i get a canopy. im planning on getting a scooter blenny. i had one when i had my 16g set up, he did very well. he seemed to be the strongest fish going in that tank. even survived a major crash. but unfortunatley he died a couple days later when i transferred him to my new tank. i was kinda upset about that. and my mom was really upset too. she's the one that wants to get it. she really enjoys watchin them scoot around the tank. lol

i bought copepods about a month and a half ago..and when i look all over my glass...u can see the white specks everywhere....im pretty sure that those are them. ill probably end up getting another bottle of them before i get any of them.

the first thing on my list is to get rid of a union that i have in my sump...connected to my return pump....its made out of metal...and i was stupid enough to buy that....and not a pvc one....so of course its rusted...aaand i think that may be what has been killing off my inverts. anyone have any experience with rust in a tank? or anything to say about that?

thanks

wellllllll..today...well..technically yesterday..since its 130 in the AM here...lol i bought my pvc union. i had gotten rid of the rusty one and the pvc parts that had the rust on them due to dripping. it looks a whole lot better now. =]
i also added about an inch and a half of crushed coral into my tank. its in the sump. sitting under my return pump. hopefully this will help buff my pH. the bag said it would....hopefully its telling the truth...haha. anyway....im trying to make little progress with the amount of money that my tight budget allows so i can keep my fish somewhat happy.

=)

Hey Lil Buddy
Whoa! Look at that new heading. :up: That will curb some grief down the road as I know when I started following your post, I was confused also. :tongue2: Thanks Reefbaby!!!!!!

Always good to see you making progress. Good idea on changing that metal piece out of your plumbing. Silica, now there's something you need to keep an eye on my friend. I would test for phosphates once a week from now on, if you aren't already doing so. I also used a mix of aragonite and play sand in my nano and have found that I have to monitor it and here and there add a Seachem Phosguard medium to a water filter for about a week at a time to pull the build up out of the water. Other than that, I've had no major problems. I bet you like the new DSB look. I love a DSB myself. I'm glad your purchase of copods are showing up nicely in your tank. I had a pod explosion in my fuge and I guess the little buggers got pulled out and pumped into my DT. Theres hundreds of them crawling all over my LR, sand, and glass. It's awesome.

well..i did have a pod outbreak...im not sure if any of them lived though...cause when i put them in my tank, they did covre my glass...but all of a sudden they all managed to disappear....im thinking that when the metal union was in the water, it was sending out high traces of iron into my water..and it was killing every invert i was putting into my water....except for herm-zilla...but the starfish....all the shrimp...snails...i think their deaths were associated with that iron in the tank.... i bought a poly pad and put it in my sump. its pulling out everything thats left over.. at the moment...my water is crystal clear...its amazing. and yes, the deep sand bed makes it look a whoooole lot better. :D

ill look into getting a phosphate tester. what brand of playsand did u get? i read online that many people went with this brand called kolorskape...i managed to find that one aand got 2 bags of it..i have a nice 4 inch sandbed now. and it only costed me about 10$ i was exited about that. =] the only thing i wasnt exited about was me just pouring the sand in....it took like...5 days to get back to nice clear water..and everything has dust on it now.... the powerheads idc about being dusty...but my live rock looks like its covered in snow...lol and so does my poor hermie. =(

glad you discovered the invert killer

I use API brand to test for phosphate and my calcium. I like them so far as they are easy to read and simple to use.... and not that expensive. :D You can use a turkey baster or, I like to use my Koralia as it's quicker, to dust off my LR. Yeah and I know it is electrical, but hey, if it's gonna malfunction and discharge electricity into the water it is totally irrelevate as my hands will be in the tank anyway. I can dust my whole tank in about three minutes where it'd take 20 mins with a baster and it does a heck of a better and more thorough job.

As far as the play sand goes, I can't remember the brand. I looked high and low for Yardright Carrabean mix and couldn't find it. It was my understanding that Yardright bought out New Castle? Anyway I do know all play sand isn't created equal and am thinking if the man said a very low % silica, then you're good. I hate how when product are marketed, just because they are labeled aquarium, the price is thrown into a whole new ball park, not even game! :roll: Oh well, such is life.

yea, i wasnt about to spend like 80$ for what i got for 10$... its low silica content...and it said aquarium on the bag..... it said it in big bold letters " not for use in aquarium." lol

i tried to use my maxijet to blow off the rocks but it wasnt strong enough...im gonna get a ton of lil zebra leg hermits soon, im gonna see if by them walking over it if it will disturb off the rocks it at all....i wanna try some snails again too.....if anyone has experienc ewith mecican turbos....if they end up on their shell...are they able to turn themselves over? or will they stay on their backs and die from starvation? if they do...or if any other snails do...which ones are they so i know what to stay away from....

yesterday i bought some test specimens for my tank. i got 5 zebra leg hermit crabs, who are pretty cool btw. lol and i got 1 turbo snail who is doing a really good job cleanin the back wall of my tank. if they survive till atleast tues or so, ill buy a bit more of each. im using these as testers to make sure i got whatever was killing my inverts out of my water.

Hey Lil Buddy O Mine! How's it go'n? You are definately too much! "But it said on the bag not for aquarium use!" What wereeeeeeeee u think'n? I truly wish that we had the means, or at least knew a way and a cost efficient way I might add, to test for silica. Well, water under the bridge, whether it be good or bad, too late now. You have to work with what you have and the choices that you have made. (And of course this is coming from a 50% %50% mix of aragonite and regular sand nano, 1st marine tank senario!)

Test for phophates at LEAST once a week. It may take a while for the Phosphates to start showing up. Did you get a chance to buy a phos kit? When you have a phosphate reading that starts showing up, you are definately going to have to deal with algea. And, I'm no professional, but I personally feel that phos plays a role in trying to balance your PH. I'm sure others will chime in here, but I can only speak on my "Personal Experiences." When you start getting any type of reading on phos...... get yourself a phos medium reducer and apply that immediately. Notice I put that in blue, blue is a happier color! :) Don't let it get a foothold and become an issue. Phos reducers and regular water changes will control it. Nitrates are all you should have to deal with. I would like to think and hope that any new inhabitants that you purchase will be safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don't want to be indeposable nor do any of your future tank mates! Sometimes if one will actually sit down and cypher, I like that word, it sounds medievil! Cypher, to figure out, to have sincere thought processes. What it actually costs for the sand, and what it will actually cost you in the long run purchasing phosphate reducer mediums to purify the water/sand you used. :D I'm not yanking your chain or giving you a hard time... U r My friend! I'm glad you got the sand, and it is a DSB now. I'm hoping that it will help with Nitrate and your filtration/nitrogen processes. God knows you've had a hard row to hoe. I want your DT "Coming up Daisies!." PT , why haven't you taken a piccie of that new sand bed! You know I love viewing yor pics! Shame on you. Perhaps I enjoy them so because I have been slow myself on getting pics of my own new coral additions. Help me out buddy. :)

Andddddddddd.... sorry if that sounded abrupt in my closure, but I had burgers on the grill. I adore a juicy 100% lean american ground chuck burgers!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :wow:

I know you're too young to remember, but Lionel and Hardy said, "I'd gladly pay for a hamburger today on Tuesday!" :rotfl:

lol i did my research on my sand before i got it. people whoo used the same sand as the stuff i got hav had it in their tank for years and never had any problems. as for the pics, if u really wanna see, then ill take some tomorro...maybe


=P

That's good to know! I knew I could depend on you for my visual extasies! :D I love following your tank! You're the best!

I have turbos and zebra leggs, both live well. the turbos are bulldozers! glue those frags down.

Well then, "Lead on my good man!" I need some visual stimuli!!!!!!! :D As I have plainly stated, I have been slow in producing some of my own!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2296.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2295.jpg
i have 5 of these trekkin around somewhere in there..

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2298.jpg

as u can see on that one how good the sail is doin on the tanks back glass...

here ya go...this is all i got right now...im in a rush to get ready for work..i just took these pics now lol....im off monday...ill take some nice ones then. =)

and i saw some gorgeous yellow tangs today..i wanted to get one SO BADDD!!! =( ugh.

Those are some nice shots. What is that hermit that looks like an escaped convict? :D

No, no, no, no, no, no. Did I say NO? :tongue2: Tangs are a no go Lil Buddy. They are a very messy fish and will quickly pollute your tank. I'm glad you increased the sand bed. IMHO, you need some more LR in there as it would help with your filtration. It would also provide niches and safe havens for your fish to relax and chill out at. Did you ever save up enough money to get that skimmer yet? I noticed that the clown was at the top of the tank there out of the same zone of the other fish. How does he get along with the other 2 guys?

i read that tangs are messy fish, and if i get the yellow one, im not gonna have it until i have my skimmer. ill have it hopefully within the next 2 weeks. i still havnt payed off my car insurance bill for this week....and its been really bothering me...haha

once i have my skimmer, ill most likely end up getting the other tang. and many more clean up crew members. im thinkin of getting about 20more of those little hermits. those are "zebra-legged hermits" btw. theyre pretty cool. they look like ticks when you watch them from above. how their legs and their shell are placed perfectly to make them look like such. (if you can even understand that statement...im sorry...its 11pm, and i just got out of work a little while ago...im tired and have a headache...haha)

but anyway....the tangs were haunting me today. no fish store has them, and then when i mention i want to get one, they got 3 really nice sized ones, and then another lfs that i dont ever talk to any of the employees there about anything, ended up gettin 2 nice sized ones also. it was so hard for me to resist buying one. a major reason was the price tag of $59.99....lol but still...

i also know that they can be very dominant in the tank, so i figured ill get my heniochius before him, so the yellow tang doesnt kill him. the powder blue i have in there now will bother him for a couple of days, but im going to try to have my lfs order me a b/w heni. thats about the same size as my tang....possibly 3-4.5 inches.....just enough to withstand the temporary attack from my powder blue. it will only last like 2 or 3 days...thats how he was with the copperband once he stopped bothering him completly. and then after that ill get the yellow tang, at hopefully 3-5" and then that will most likely be my last fish.


BUT NOTHING UNTIL I HAVE MY SKIMMER! >_<

and yea. my clownfish has something wrong with him....but hes getting better. i believe he had LLE last week. but hes recovering, the line is going away, and his breathing is getting normal again. i believe it was from the stress of the sandbed's dust storm that occured for 3 days and the ammonia spike afterwords. i didnt think he would make it, but i woke up yesterday morning and he was swimming around with his mate and happy.. and so am i. lol



and now im off to bed....good night peeps!

FWIW I think that Kolorscape was aragonite sand for a while. But I bought a bag of their white sand (that said very low silicates) and ran it through the vinegar test and it failed which indicates that it is not aragonite. I have a friend who is running his tank with a play sand DSB. It has been set up for maybe 8-10 months and is doing fine. The disadvantage to non aragonite is the fact that it won't buffer your system.

The disadvantage to non aragonite is the fact that it won't buffer your system.

and a heck of a lot of diatoms!

the tang looks great

thanks photojohn, he seems to be doing well in there. he enjoys swimming against the current of my small powerhead that i put in there... hes constantly under the outlet of it having the water blow into him. its kinda entertaining. lol .maybe it simulates miles and miles of open ocean for him and he will never need a bigger tank... lol im watching him do it now, and he looks as if he was swimming endlessly. not that hes just sitting there letting it blow on him. hees actually swimming against it, rather vigorously. haha

as for the diatoms...if they start popping up, ill get somethin to get rid of them and the remaining silicates in the sand...i dont think theres that much in the sand to actually do enough damage to the tank.

well. havnt been on here in a while...so heres an update.

2 days ago, i bought a bullet goby. he is roughly 4" in length. he is putting up a good fight with my tang...hees actually bigger than the tang.. although he is in the corner most of the time, he is slowly starting to explore the tank and burrow his head in the sand..which is pretty neat. leaves a bit of a sandstorm....but still...pretty neat. lol
hopefully he can keep my sandbed stirred and keep it looking good.

ill post pics of him sometime.

also, i got a zebra brittle starfish. i got him in hopes of somewhate munching on my tangs poo that is left over in my tank...lol theres a few spots where theres an abundance of it, so hopefully it will get eaten.

everyone else is doing well. my mom keeps saying that my domino is getting bigger...i almost see it...but since i see them all everyday, its hard to tell.. only thing i do realize, is that my tang is getting fatter...hes not as thin as he was when i bought him...which is good cause he seemed a little too thin. lol

unfortunately, i do not have my skimmer yet.

im in the process of ebaying a hard to come by game (bioshock, the limited edition one.) i bought it a while back when it first came out...and recently saw how much its going for and was amazed. almost triple of what i payed for it. so i have it, still sealed..and i think whatever i get for it will depend on which skimmer i buy. so far i have a bid for 61$....thats about how much i payed..ive seen them go for 150-180 on there... im hoping that this goes up that high. we will see...theres 2 days left on it. wish me luck. lol i just sold a ps3 on there for 350$ in order to pay my car insurance... which i didnt mind, but now i cant watch blu-ray movies..lol


......thats it for the updates....il check back again in a few days..lol

and now my fish are yelling at me cause i took the food bag out and showed them that i was going to feed them..i been gaving it soak in garlic for the past 10 mins...i better go take care of that..lol

byeeeeee!

so, i managed to get 150$ for the item i sold on ebay. so most, if not all, will go towards my skimmer. i am probably gonna go with the c-life 125. my lfs has it for $170... i may also get the koralia #2 as well....cause im starting to get bits and pieces of cyano in some spots. my goby ate a patch of it last night. lol.

my tang still loves the powerhead....lol

and my clownfish died last night. the one that was swimming away from everybody else. i may replace him. idk yet.
im more worried about the skimmer right now.

oh, and happy easter to everyone! :)

Sorry about your clownfish. I lost the pair in my nano (unexplained loss) a month ago and still have not replaced them. I would wait until you get your hardware up and running and broken in before thinking about replacing it.

oh sorry to hear that bud! any indication why?
On a lighter note i look forward to seeing your new equipment setup though.

thank you. i believe he had LLE because i could see a blotchy patch of white where his lateral line started. and then he just stopped eating for like 2 days.

and absolutely. im not getting any more fish until i get the skimmer. hopefully the one i get can fit in my sump. =[ it sucks to how much room im limited to... ill probably get it tomorrow or the next day.

Hellow Lil Bud! Sorry to hear bout the clown. Maybe when you get the skimmer and other things you were wanting to do you can get another. How'd it go with the E-bay sale? Hope you're not stiffing the kitty. :cool: Keep that moolah for that skimmer! And hey..... something seems to be missing here in your last few posts? Hmmmmmm..... no stimmulation! :rotfl: Need piccies!

the ebay sale went good. I got the money I expected to get. :)
I'm probably gonna get the skimmer tomorrow. The only thing I'm not feeling is the fact that I will probably have to hang it off the back of my tank. I wanted to try and keep it as clean on top as I could.. I mean, yea, it COULD fit in my sump but it would take away from the eel's home. Which I don't want to do. I think the dementions of it were 5.5"x7.5"x24.5". I'm sure I'll fig out something. As for the pics.... Sorry. I went to take them and my cam was dead. I'm off from work tomorrow I'll try to remember to take them. ;)

Bummer.... I feel for ya. It always seems like trying to solve one problem always leads to another. :eek: I have some major issues of my own now. My lighting system had a problem with one MH and now, guess what? The other has burnt out. Have a reeflux bulb in transit to figure out if the MH bulbs in my system are defective, or if I have an electrical issue. Then I'll have to decide if I want to ship the system back to the manufacturer to fix under the warranty, that could take weeks..... my tank will suffer, or say #$@(*&^% on it and have it looked at locally, which will void the warranty. Whatever I decide, I need to do so quickly. I just wish that bulb would get here so I can see if that is the issue before I go to the extreme. And.... I look forward to those pics Lil Buddy, I need some cheering up. :up:

oh no! thats horrible! im sorry to hear that skurvey. it really sucks that one of the most important pieces of equipment took a crapizzle on you! i hope you get them back up and running soon. do u have ANY light on your system now? atleast a PC? maybe?


hope everything pulls through!
=[

well..i got my skimmer today. and let me tell you... SO ANNOYING TO HOOK UP! OMG!

first off....i couldnt find a spot for it. that was a task in itself. it doesnt fit in my sump, so thats off the list. so i had to bring it to the top and hang it off the side. which meant i had to take down a shelf on the side of the tank. which sucks. i actually had a lot of stuff on top of it...lol but o well. i really dont like how it looks in my tank..at all. the powerhead is jinormous. and the bubble diffuser cup is as well. theres just a huge mess in the left side of my tank right now. bleh. maybe if it gets covered in coralline, it will look a lil nicer..

it took me about 3 hours to get it set up and running. i was having problems with the hose and the air valve...but i figured it out. =D


i also got my koralia powerhead..
i didnt have time to set that up today. ill do it in the morning.

thats all for now people. good night. :)

finally got some pics. heres my full tank from halfway across my room.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04765.jpg

check out that mechanical mess in the tank. i think its bad when you have more electronic devices in your tank than you do fish. lol

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04766.jpg

mmmm. yummy. i know its watery. im still playing with the adjustment knob to figure out where the best spot is. buuuut. atleast its working. ;-)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04767.jpg

i got my koralia up and running also this morning. maybe ill change the direction of the flow every day...who knows. maybe from left to center to right.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04764.jpg

sorry i dont have any pics of my goby. ill be sure to quickly grab the camera when i see him out. he hides alot during the day and comes out at night. =(



also. i had an idea.

my lfs has these blue zoanthids. the owners claim that they are hard to come by. theyre being sold at 5$ a polyp. i was thinking of getting one single one and putting it on a piece of LR rubble towards the top of my tank and have it grow out from there...so its close to the light. do you think this is a good idea? they look really neat and i dont mind spending 5$ on one when i know if it can do well, it will turn into a hundred. i was going to use the little plastic box that i have and clip it to my veggie clip at the surface and let it multiply in there.

is this a logical idea? in my head i can see it working. would one polyp be able to reproduce into many? or do i need a group? i know a group would definately work, but i dont have much money anymore due to the skimmer. and i didnt want to risk losing all of it if they die on me...

if it matters....i got 2 45w bulbs that they would be growing under. ive read on some sites that people have kept different zoas under 15w bulbs.

someone get back to me? i was thinking of picking it up today. but im not sure if i should......if i get the OK from enough people here. then i will. as much as i didnt want to have corals, this is one thing i didnt want to miss out on. and for 5$ that doesnt sound bad, since they are pretty rare.....

they also had a duncan as well. which i was thinking of doing the same thing if it was possible.... i think it was like 8$ a head. or something like that.... which would be a better option to go with? or would both possibly work?

wwyd? =)

I have not kept a duncan so I can't say about them but the zoas would do fine under your lights. My zoas never reproduce that fast so it may take a while to go from 1 to 100. You should also know that they won't look the same in your tank as in the store unless they are under the same type and color of lights.

yea... That's true. They are under metal halides in the store... But for somereason they are in the shade so they look kinda dark anyway. I'm not gonna get them cause now they ended the sale... Prob yesterday... And now are being sold at $38 a frag. And the Duncan is going for 78$ a frag... Which has like 4 or 5 heads on it.

I'll reconsider it when I get my 65w bulbs. I need to give my poor fish a break. I scared them so bad last night when I was hooking up the skimmer. My domino Is still in the Corner.. :(

LOL also I did some rearranging of outlets around my tank.. And now all equiptment on the left is plugged in on the left of the tank and everything on the right... Plugged in on the right of my tank.. So now there's so e slack in the cords. But anyway...I was marking what all the cords were (blue tape and a black sharpie work great btw.) and when I unplugged my one maxijet powerhead (the one my tang is always swimming in front of..) he immediTley went to the veggie clip and ate the seaweed off of it. Then when I plugged the powerhead back in, like a magnet he went back and started swimming in front of it again.

It was rather humorous. Lol. :)

I also cleaned my first cup of skimmate.... That stuff smelled really bad. I knew it smelled... But I personally never smelled it before tonight. Haha.

'nuff said. G'night! :)

Hey Lil Buddy! Things are looking up for you. Glad you got the skimmer and figured it out. I know you'll love the Koralia. I wouldn't sweat missing out on the polyp frags, as since you missed the deal, maybe it was for the best and meant to be. It'll you you more time for your tank to adjust. Yum, marine sludge. :D Glad to see your milk shake machine working for you. It's amazing what a skimmer can pull out of your water.

yea. the skimmer is pretty amazing. i went to the lfs and looked at their skimmer that is in all of their tanks to see where they have the water set to, so i could set mine somewhere around that area. so i got home, set it. and its making a REALLY DARK brown sludgy color skimmate now. =] (the lfs has the same skimmer that i have..only its the 220 model instead of the 125 that i got. ) but its nice how my water stays crystal clear now.

i also got this piece of live rock yesterday. really nice. its encrusted with all types of little...uh...things...haha. it also has some neat little holes in it where fish can swim through and whatnot. really cool looking. it was like 45$

as for the zoas, i miight get a small cluster of florescent green ones and put them somewhere in the tank. those are a lot less expensive. and i still need to get something to stir up my sandbed too....my goby isnt preforming like i thought he would. =( i was thinking of a couple of queen conches. i heard they do well in keeping the sandbed clean.

so i did a water change today. i did about 8 gallons. my water was clear, all levels were fine, but i just wanted to get the sand bed cleaned..it was starting to turn a really nasty green-brown color. its been brown, but it was getting annoyingly ugly. so while i was doing the water change, i had an idea to change up the rocks. i was going to do the pile of rocks in the back wall and have the whole front open, but my gf didnt like the idea. i kinda did. when i had it, it was hiding the koralia pretty well..i was trying to build the rock around it. the powerhead is in the center on the back wall blowing at slight angle downward. i was going to try to build the rock around it to almost conceal it. sounded like a good idea at the time. =\

anyway,,so i then broke down the wall and made it almost like a plateau of LR. it looks ok i guess..prob be ok if i could keep corals and whatnot in there... ill probably end up changing it again after the water clears up. ill post a pic of it and let me know what you guys think of it.

also i have ideas that i would like some feedback on to let me know if its good or bad. cause none of you have been wrong to me yet. ;)

im posting a ton of pics too...so heads up!

heres the fish.

lets start off with a pic that should have been posted a while ago....

heres my goby! =)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04786.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04787.jpg

heres my tang as of today. hes doing really well so far. im really happy that ive had him for almost 2 months and he hasnt kicked the bucket yet. i must be doing something right. =]

got a few pics of him.

thats not ich on his face...for some reason every day he like..sheds his slime coat and gets a fresh new one in the morning. he always wakes up covered in sand. lol idk. weird. but no ich spots on him at all.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04785.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04813.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04778.jpg

i thought this was a neat pic. how theyre both back to back. lol
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04800-1.jpg

the clown!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04802.jpg

and lets not forget about the eel in the sump. my gosh, hes getting big! ive had him since the start of my first tank. i think its been about 8 or 9 months since ive had him, and still going strong. :D

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04792.jpg

this is him eating a piece of calamari. he seems to love it more than anything else ive tried to feed him. he probably eats 2-3 pieces every other day.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04793.jpg

thats all for the fish.

heres a full tank shot of how it is today. big change than last time.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04799.jpg

i still wanna get more live rock in there. the lfs just got in really nice pieces.... if only it wasnt so expensive. i just dropped 45$ on this rock...me and my gf went halfsies on it...
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04814.jpg

it really is a nice piece though. it has some nice stuff growing on it...and this neat little branchy skeleton thing. lol anyone know what that could have been?
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04815.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04817.jpg

anyway....
heres a tank shot from the side....
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04801.jpg

heres my skimmers skimmate from the past few days. blech! definitely more mucky than the last cup.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04804.jpg

i finally rigged a light for my sump... FINALLY. i know its a bit ghetto, but it works....

here it is...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04795.jpg

i got the socket from a 2.5 mini bow canopy that wasnt being used, and had no plans on using ever again. so i ripped it out of the canopy. it works...it has a max of 250 watts...the bulb is only 18. at the moment...i only have it hanging from the door until i can get a cover for the sump and get a little fixture for it to lay on top....maybe ill DIY one together.

speaking of covers, im going to go to lowes and finally get some egg crate and cover my display tank and sump with it. so that i can soon get that firefish i been wanting.

heres a full pic of my sump..btw...
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04796.jpg

now. also. i have plans for some coverup on some things. firstly, the huge powerhead that runs my skimmer. this freakin thing....

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04803.jpg

its huge, ugly, and doesnt blend in well with my tank at all....soooooo..i was thinking... i saw another nice zoa frag at the lfs...nice bright flurousecnt green color..i think i might get that, place it on the pump, and let it grow out onto the pump. i know they can grow on almost anything, ive seen them take over the egg crate in the frag tank at the lfs...so why not cover a pump with them...it will look pretty neat..imo.. so i migh do that...and plus, its only about 5 inches from the light. so its not far at all....

also...this rock right here...i want to get it looking alive again. i want to grow some zoas on here also....i think it would be neat if it could work out.... not sure what color i want to go with though.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04819.jpg

i want to start adding some color to my tank....since ive had the skimmer, i been noticing the coralline start growing back. which is nice. =]

as for ideas for some future stock....im thinking...

inverts:

couple cleaner shrimp

red blood shrimp.

some more turbos. cause they are doing an amazing job cleaning my tank!

queen conch. <- definitely on my to get list. i been wanting one for a long time, and my lfs has not been able to order one for me. i been upset about that. and plus, im sure theyre great sand sifters.

horseshoe crab. i know they get big..yea.but i still want one. theyre great sand sifters...and thats my main problem right now...i dont have any. ill maybe pick one up as soon as either one of my lfs.s get one..

thats all i can think of right now for inverts...thats all i really want for now too..

as for fish:

the firefish red or purple one...or maybe one of each...who knows...unless i know they wont get along with eachother....

yellow tang. not sure if i will actually go along with this one though. i really like this fish, but if i need to get one, it will have to be a big enough one so that mr. powder bl00 doesnt attack him at all. so i need a decent sized one so he can defend himself. and i would need it to be my last fish i add....

flame angel. im gonna look these guys up and research them before i get one, if i decide to. they have amazing colors. and would really stand out in my tank... but i want to know if they would cause any trouble with anything in there first. and from what i hear, they really dont get too big. i heard of people keeping them in a biocube and being pretty successful with it. but they eat corals.. =\

still havnt gotten my mandarin yet, been waiting. im going to try and build up my pods again cause i know that i have none anymore....sooo yea. illl wait till then for him.

scooter blenny. my mom said shes going to buy one as soon as she finds one.... she loved my last one....lol

...i know theres one more on the list that im missing...idk what it was though..it will come back to me... ill let you know when i remember...haha


also for some other ideas....

the maxijet thats in the lower left corner...yea..that 400 that barely works...im thinking of replacing it with a nano koralia, or even a stage 1. i just dont want it to stick out too far from the wall.

uv sterilizer is being considered...but probably wont get it anytime soon...maybe around xmas time...lol

light upgrades...i need to find a decent wattage of 16" PC lights to replace mine...the 40w isnt cutting it with me, and since i cant upgrade the whole fixture to MH's yet, ill have to stick with what i got...so why not get a better bulb.

as i said before, i want to get more live rock...

since i now have a light, i want to set up a small fuge in my sump.....im not sure how im going to go about doing that yet......i was thinking of getting a aquaclear filter, taking the media out of it, leave the cover off for light, and turning that compartment into a mini-fuge...and i would set it to the lowest speed, so that nothing gets ruined in there....but idk if that idea would work too well....it sounds like it would...but thats in my head, and a lot of things work up there, but not in reality..lol it would have a decent flow going through it to keep things moving....

but like i said....just an idea. cause i dont have the room to plumb another tank to this one... or i would use the 5g.

anyway..thats it for the updates..i know this was a long one, im sorry about that..i hope it kept you interested....if you read it all...lol. im going to go to sleep now..haha

goodnight all!

Whoa Lil Buddy! Graphic intense, viewer discretion advised! :D

Loved the pics and lots of 'em. I really liked the piece of LR that you got. What did it weigh, about 7or 8 pounds? That coral skeleton on the LR sort of reminded me of birdsnest. You are moving in a positive direction, but still must stay ---->>>>Focussed<<<<----- reading, learning and putting that knowledge into practice and good stewardship skills. :D I saw that monster of a shell in the DT.... is Hermzilla still with you? If he's in the DT you know he's a force of the dark side Luke. We've been there, said all that. I'm glad the skimmer is really doing it's job for you and that you are seeing instant results. I'm not too sure about the idea of trying to frag corals on your removable hardware/ equipment. I say this because if you had to do maintenance on it or repair/replace it, it could create a problem for the coral. I'm sure others will chime in on this as I have never tried to do this. Maybe if a small portion of LR were there, it'd help blend in the hardware or maybe something else. I am an artist, so sometimes I look at things a little differently. When one has a work of art, there is always a focal point, or a main subject which pulls the viewer's eye and holds it there, with everything else around it complimenting it, but not taking center stage. I guess, what I'm trying to say is this. You have your LR, which is a dominant feature in your tank, and you have stated your desire to add corals. Use the LR and future corals to paint a tapestry and the viewer will focus on the beauty of your tank and not your equipment. They will see it of course, but the focal point of your tank will pull the viewer's eye back and hold it. I hope I have explained what I am trying to say as sometimes I am poor with words. This is just an idea if you do not want to do some major equipment replacement or changing things around as I know the skimmer was a hassle to install.

The "ghetto" light hook up for your sump. You crack me up. There is nothing wrong with trying to meet the needs best way you know how when there is no funding available to do it otherwise. I just want it to be electrically safe. Make sure that sucker can't wind up in the sump. :shout: I have my lighting laid out on top of my fuge on acrylic braces and one day I was in a hurry and instead of taking the lighting down and laying it on the side as I normally do, I pushed it up and when I did... wham!! It fell into the fuge. I threw the switch on everything and pulled it out. It was a sheer miracle in itself that nothing happened. So please always be careful! I should of fried that day.

Your wish list of fish and inverts is quite broad and many are not suitable with each other or for your present tank size. I know you probably cringe when you hear this... I am sorry, but I will not lie to you. Please refer to the compatibility list and look at Dicks, Amphibious' "Buying Fish" guide.... it is a MUST to follow to have a better chance at being successful.

Besides, you can always put many of those wants on a back burner for the future monster tank one day. :agree:

how i haave the light set up, it is hanging from the door and the door is cracked open. its about 8:" away from my sump and its positioned more infront of it instead of over it. its temporary, until i can get a fixture and the eggcrate in there.

as for the fish, i probably wont end up getting most of them due to the mr. grumpy gills in there... who thinks he owns the tank. everything i get he ends up attacking and he makes them scared.... he did it to my goby ad the copperband.
speaking of the goby... he died last night. =( i woke up this morning and saw him flowing around in the open...all limp and whatnot. kinda sucks. i know he didnt eat much...mainly because i have no living things in my sandbed and he barely ate..and whenever he did try, the tang chased him away......i need to seed the sand before i get anything else like that....

the hermit is no longer with me.... he died due to unknown reasons....when i gave him the new shell, he stopped eating and never walked around the tank...just stayed in the corner... =\ i miss him. =(

well...theres another one down.... WTF IS GOING ON! im starting to get really upset about this. my other clownfish died today while i was at work.... no idea why....i checked all of my water levels and everything was ok...i had a little tiny bit of ammonia..but that was it... nothing high enough that would seem to kill anything......

gah. =(

this is BS! wtf! my tang died while i was in the shower just now! omg.

this really sucks....

i think it may have been the rock i put in there..it may have been uncured... not a very smart move on my part.... but the guy at the lfs said it wouldnt do any damage to anything in the tank if i put it in there... =[


im gonna let the damsel go solo and see how he does.... if he survives, then thats good..theres ich in the tank, so if he dies, i will let my tank run fishless for some time...enough to save some money. im considering 2 things to do with my tank now.

1: lionfish. i been wanting to get back into the whole..lionfish thing latley... ive had 2 in the past...and both died when my tank crashed...this was the last tank i had...before the 65... i kinda miss them.. they were adorable to watch.. espicially my little one, Killer. Monster was the slightly larger fuzzy. =] the best fuzzy dwarf ever. lol. ..sorry, i got caught in a flashback....

lol, anyway. im thinking of getting a little dwarf again. im not sure if i want to get the fuzzy, or a radiata dwarf... my lfs had this really cool dwarf radiata..i really like how it looked. and looking at its adult stage pics, he looks really nice. and then along with that i want to get a dwarf black volitans. ..havnt seen any floating around in my lfs anywhere, but i saw a picture of somebodys online...and it was GORGEOUS! i really would like to get one. and if i cant acquire one of them, then i will go with a red volitans. and have them the only ones in my tank. and my eel in the sump of course... but now i have the equipment to handle the bioload, unlike in the past...so everything should be alright. and plus they are extremely hardy animals.

and option number 2: considering if i really want to take the route of keeping an octo. the lfs has been getting a few in latley and i think they are magnificent creatures. they have one in their biocube 29. its about 4 inches. and it is so amazing to see it camouflage with every step it takes across the rocks and sandbed. and watching it eat was just awesome.

i know if i wanted the octo, i would have to be extremely safe and octo-proof all of my equipment and secure my tank. could get costly, plus to make sure everything would still perform well enough, (ie. pumps, overflow, return lines..ll that.) and the cost of the octo is the same as the 2 lionfish together would be. roughly 80-90$ after tax and whatnot... plus the cost to get the tank octo-proofed. lol. also i wouldnt be able to keep inverts very long to clean up my tank...they would be dinner for him.

these are my two choices i have came up with. ill give it more time and see which one i decide to go with.

anyone know if it would be safe to feed a lionfish those saltwater mud minnows? i was hoing to get some and use them to feed my lionfish when i got them.

Skurvey, i know you have some in your tank. in the fuge i believe? do you use those as food for your lion? i was curious because i know its unhealthy to feed them freshwater minnows, so shouldnt marine minnows be healthier for the lionfish? since its kind of native to them?

i enjoy watching the lion hunt his food down. i think it makes having him a bit more exiting. =)

thanks for the input. :)


my ammonia is also slowly dropping as well.. its at .25 today. i got a poly pad and a bottle of Ultimate. i been squirting a bit of the ultimate into the tank daily. it seems like its working. the damsel is still alive, which is good. his breathing isnt as bad as it has been in the past week.

and im never listening to the information my lfs has to give ANYMORE. i think they should give me some store credit for losing all of my fish due to that guys advice. i am definatley going to come here before i go ask them something.

i trust the people here more..

:up:

oh, and also while i have been coping with my losses, i managed to pick up a sheet of egg crate and made a cover for my tank, annnnd my sump. =] took a little while to mark where it had to be cut, but i got it done.... heres few pics.

heres the main tanks top.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04825.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04827.jpg


heres the sump's. i cut out a little spot in the middle there so that i can easily feed the eel without having to go through the trouble of taking off the lid every time.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04826.jpg

my next investment is going to be a fixture for the sump's light. and maybe foaming off my overflow so i can bring the eel back to the top when i have everything set. he's getting quite big....cant stay in the sump forever. lol

Nice job on the eggcrate. Sorry about the loses.

Hey Lil Buddy! Sorry I haven't had a chance to post to your thread lately. Sorry to hear about the disaster with your tank and the major losses that you have been having back to back. Is the Damsel still hanging in there with you? You obviously have something major going on with your tank water there. I remember several weeks back, seems like when the deaths started occurring, we had discussed some possibilities about the water. You had stated that nothing had changed and I believe I mentioned possibly a chemical disturbance that you had/or could not test for. And that we had discussed you doing some major water changes religiously. Perhaps a contaminant in the form of aerosol/ air fresheners, perfumes, carpet deoderizers, anything that might fit into that category. I do believe there is a possiblity that the LR started a mini cycle because you are showing amonia. Did you leave any decaying matter in the tank for any length of time to produce the amonia? I know I am bombarding you with questions, but there definately is a cause, or multiple thereof to cause such a rapid cycle of death in your tank. My confusion does go to the snowflake eel though. He is in the same water and does not seem affected by this, or you have not stated as such. How is he doing. Any abnormal behaviour? Loss of appetite or activity?

I know all of this is very disheartening to you as you have tried very hard to move forward in a positive direction. Sometimes when we have issues such as this to deal with.... the best plan of action is ....simple action. Nothing extreme. This gives us some time to sit back and analyze our situation, before taking action. I love the eggcrate work that you have done. It's awesome! The skimmer is functioning well, you've got your DT lights set up, and are working towards a more functional sump light. All this is good. What I would suggest at this time is this.

1- Do several water changes during the week. If there is a pollutant in there, we want to dillute it.
2-Keep testing your water
3-Stay the course, not adding anything what-so-ever to your tank. We want to stabilize it right now and pin point the cause/causes of imbalance. You may never find out what has reaked havock there.
4- I believe you mentioned Ick being in your DT at one time. I would suggest waiting about a month before I added anything to my tank or changed anything with my tank. I would let it sit, run and become more stable.

I know my suggestion may not be well received, but I whole-heartedly feel that if you start adding more livestock to your DT, this cycle of death is going to continue, until you can determine the root of the problem and correct it. Sometimes just plain water changes and patience will do more than anything else. Sometime life is full of thorns, but we must pull them out, lick our wounds, learn from these life lessons and move forward with more knowledge and learned experience. Nothing in life worth having is easily won, that's what makes this hobby so additive. It is a learning experience. I thinking about you and hope you seriously take my suggestions of water changes and not adding any more livestock to your tank at this time to heart. In time, things should plain out and you will be able to move forward, albeit very slowly, but you will be making progress. Want to hear a shout out of ya! Get back with me and let me know how it's going. :love!:

ok. its been a while, still been coping with the losses, the tank is very very borinngggggg...lol

thank you for the comments on the eggcrate. =]

inhabitants remaining during the near-end of the disaster are as follows:

DAMSEL! w00t!

snowflake eel!

3 hermit crabs. .. had 5 but the 3 big ones killed the two littler ones.. CANNIBALS! lol

3 turbo snails. still doing a rather swell job on keeping the tank clean.

horseshoe crab. i had bought him a little after the fish were dropping like flies. he seems to be happy, scurrying around and getting carried away by the current at times.......like right now. haha
and since the ammonia didnt seem to affect any of my inverts.

oh, and my starfish. i saw him earlier today under some rock. his arms were sticking out of it. havnt seen him in a long time..haha

-----------------------------------------

now the news.

my ammonia is slowly going back down. ive been testing it every day since the losses started occurring. im pretty sure its down to .25 to should be almost none within the next coupel of days, it has been getting better every day. it was up to .50 for a long time, when the deaths were happening. and has been slowly dropping. my damsel is also a monitor for my ammonia levels. his breathing has been very fast, but is finally slowing down. id say in another 2 days, his breathing will be back to normal.

to get rid of the ammonia, i tried everything.
-ive had a poly filter in there for the past week or two.
-ive had my skimmer off and been using Ultimate to try to detoxify the ammonia. not sure if it actually worked at all though. when the skimmer was on, it was bubbling like crazy when i put the ultimate in there.. i wasnt sure if it was pulling all of it out or not, so i turned it off.
-and 2 days ago, i did a 16g water change, which was about 50% of my tank.... took about 2 hours. and when i was done, i turned my skimmer back on to maintain water quality.

i tested it yestrday when i woke up. my water levels areeee.

pH - 8.0
Ammonia- ill say .25, but i dont even think it was that high.
nitrates- 0
nitrites - 0
still dont have a phosphate tester, but i still have the polypad in there, so it should be pulling whatevers in there, out. ....if any.

and believe me, im not putting any new fish in there until its down to 0 all around.

when the ammonia is gone, i have decided this for the tank.

only thing ill be putting in there are lionfish.

im planning 2 dwarf species and one volitans, who, when i get him, will be small. so he wont outgrow the tank right away. and i meet the requirements for all of them. since the dwarfs are only 30g minimums, and the volitans is 65g. i am still doing my research though... since i have the time now. lol =]

the ones i really would like to have areeeee....

a black volitans
fu manchu
blackfoot.

i know that wont happen with the blackfoot. so im debating between a radiata, antennata or dwarf zebra. i know the dwarf zebra wont get very big, the other 2 are slightly bigger species. the fumanchu also does not get large at all...or so ive read. im still debating though. it also depends on what is readily available to me.

for food, i was thinking of going to petsmart...(they really suck, i know. but theyre the only place around that has them..... ) ghost shrimp. i read that they can be put in a saltwater tank if they are slowly acclimated over, like 2 hours or something like that. as can mollies. i know some lions prefer shrimp over fish, so i was thinking of getting a bunch of ghosts and having them in the tank and let the lions pick them off at will. they also make a good C.U.C.. the mollies i would try, but i want to see how much healthier it would be for the lion, if it would be better than freshwater feeder fish and goldfish. i would assume so, since i will be feeding them marine foods.

i attempted a baby molly last night, since my mom has some in her freshie tank and they breed like crazy. so i snagged a smallish one, acclimated him for an hour or so, and put him in my tank. he seemed to be doing ok, swimming around, breathing regularly. unfortunately i woke up this morning thoug and i cant find it...haha i lost him somewhere in the tank. ill blame it on the size of him. he was small, and could be very easily misplaced. im going to try it again with larger sized ones from my lfs. ill get a few sometime soon.

.....or maybe my damnsel ate it...haha who knows.

anyway, ill let you know how that experiment goes when i do it.


and dont worry, im not getting my lions for a while....im going to wait until my tax return comes in, and use that to get them.

as for lighting, the way i have my fixture on top, i have one on and it lights up the tank, only mostly where the rock is.. so all of the equip. kinda fades in the darkness. looks really nice, and i think it will look good for the lions since i wont be blinding them,. lol as for the othr light, im going to put it in my sump and make it into a fuge. im going to foam off my overflow and bring the eel up top when the lions are in. the eel can also pick off the ghost shrimp and small fish as well... i want to try to make this tank as hands free as possible, as far as feeding. i want to be careful about contaminations and whatnot from food and hand always being in the tank. and also i dont want the chance to get stung by one of 3 lions that will be in there.... lol

im trying to train my eel to eat frozen calamari without me having to spot feed. so far he is tryig hard to find it, but eventually does, maybe after 10 seconds or so.. im sure if i had garlic to soak in it, it would work a lot better.


so anyway, theres the updates. thanks for reading... ill stop by in a day or so and let evryone know how its going.

:)

so, i went to petsmart last night to pick up a couple of new fish....i got 2 nice sized mollies. theyre about 2-3 inches in length, so theyre just about adult size... i acclimated them to my tank(about an hour and a half to finish.) , put em in my sump. woke up this morning, looked down there.. and what do i see?
...the male trying to spawn with the female.

:D

i also got like 5 free ghost shrimp. i know the kid that works there. pretty cool guy. he put them in the same bag as the mollies and when you looked at the bag, you would never know they were there...so the cashier didnt see them, so he didnt ask any questions as to why their UPC number wasnt written on the bag.

i only found 2 of them this morning. the rest could be behind rocks, i didnt really look, but the biggest ones are still scurrying around in there. ill keep an eye out.

i think its pretty neat that they are still alive and doing well in there. theyre breathing normally and i didnt wake up to any of them dead. hopefully i can get them to breed and have babies. i need to train them to eat brine shrimp. i put some in the acclimation bucket, along with freshwater flakes, and the pellets i feed my saltwater fish... they tried the pellets. spit em out. tried the brine, ate a couple, spit out the majority of it though. and of course they ate the flakes. i was looking at the ingredients for the flakes...they have omega-3 fatty acids in them, same as the brine shrimp i would have been feeding them..

if i feed them these flakes with the omega-3 in there, would it still make them unhealthy when i feed the babies to my lion? or will it be alright? or should i just get them eating frozen brine with the omega-3 and spirulina? will it make a difference down the road?

heres a pic of them in my sump. its pretty crappy cause the battery was dead and my cam turned off every 2 seconds. so i just snapped one really quick... lol

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04839.jpg


hopefully they will live for a while. if they do, ill get more... since ill have money soon, im going to buy plants and micro algae to put down there. make it look nice. :)

alrighty.

nitrates: 0
nitrites: 0
ammonia: 0! finally! it has probably been that way for a while, but i didnt know because we had lost the test kit card. we had to buy a new test kit, so i had a card this time. yay!

:D

so anyway, my lfs said they would help me out with a couple fish since they had given me false advice about the live rock i had bought.... so, i bought this guy, and got him at half price. hes roughly 3.5" maybe... and this pic came out awesome, i think.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2466.jpg

they also said they would give me a discount on something else when i was ready for it. im not sure what im going to get. they had an adorable heniochius that was being acclimated when i got there. mmaybe was 2" or 3" in length. im thinking of getting him since i have been wanting one for a while now.

im also going to pick up a light fixture and and an actinic bulb. just so i can have that nice lurky blue night look before i go to bed. also, im planning still on starting up that zoa colony in there. ill maybe buy a small frag one of these days, since i have a lil extra spending money. =]
=]

so, yesterday, i bought my second fish.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04855.jpg

=]

he is rather large, i would say 5 inches maybe, but his dorsal fin is extended about 4".
he has nice color, and was eating frozen brine as soon as i put him in my tank.

im getting one last fish today. im going to go pick up a gold striped maroon clown. he is a nice size, so i know he wont get eaten. hes about the same size as my dwarf, and has amazingly bright colors.

i also took some more pics of my lion.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2527.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/100_2531.jpg

i REALLY think that you are moving WAY to fast. i would suggest slowing down, taking a step back, and analyzing the situation ??

can we get a current FTS ?? what are the water parameters right now ?? we need to figure out WHAT is going on before you start adding all of these fish to the tank. the Volitan lionfish will easily outgrow a 65 BTW. they reach up to 15" or more in captivity and over 2' in the wild.

if you can answer these questions and provide a list of ALL equipment that would really help us determine where to go, and how to get there.

I have to strongly agree with Bobby here. You need to put on the breaks in a big way until we figure out what's going on here. aybe it was the rock, maybe not, but adding large fish at a rapid pace isn't going to do anyone any good. if indeed it was the rock that was the problem, if it just finished cycling, adding a lage bioload in a short amount of time is just going to cause more problems. We're not trying to be downers here. I'm glad you're so into your tank, and want to have a great looking system, but geting there takes time and patience, not just throwing fish at a problem.

You want to put a volitan in with a fuzzy! That's not going to fly... the fuzzy will be a thorny last meal for the volitan. Do not do that... it's just cruel and a disrespect for life.

pssssssssstt.... that's a dwarf fuzzy lion. :) However, they are very cranky about ammonia, nitrates etc. even though they are pigs, and a bioload in and of themselves. Watch for cloudy eyes, listless behavior etc. They are notorious for adverse reaction to unacceptable levels of nitrate.

Bobby's right. Your tank has been set up less than 4 months and you've gone through more fish and inverts than I have in the last 5 years. You really need to slow down, take a breath, do some additional research and preparation and then get past "go".

For instance... I have no doubt that adding the new rock into your system caused a spike in ammonia. I have no doubt that adding the fish, as many, as big, and as fast, has done the same. Truth be told, Nitrite is never an issue in marine aquaria. What is a killer, is ammonia (which burns the heck out of gills, and scaleless fish) and high levels of nitrate, which I'm sure you have plenty of. Not only does the ammonia kill (which I'm sure is what did your stock in) but it is a very painful process. It burns their gills and gets to the point where respiration is zero... burned and then suffocated.

The addition of the rock probably caused some of this spike. Things that die, create ammonia. The nitrifying bacteria needs to catch up in populations, convert the ammonia and make things safe. These "shifts" happen all the time, and take some time to do complete. Adding just one fish adds to the ammonia levels. Fish make waste. Waste breaks down. Some is expelled as ammonia. Some turn and viola.. ammonia. Therefore, another mini cycle. You then have to wait it out before you do anything else.

Bobby, Carmie, Lori and the rest REALLY REALLY want to help you. Combined, they have dozens of years of experience. Just work on the "impulsive" side of you, relax, learn from us, and other sources, and get ready for success. You've heard, over and over, that "nothing good happens fast". This is true, as is the statement that in reefing "nothing good is cheap money". Add up all the cash in losses you've had. If you take your time, we'll save ya a buck or two ;)

Dave

Yer shrimp..and probably the mollies, will become food to the aggressive fish.

Dave

Hi donut,

I'd sure hold off on adding that maroon. You have just added 2 pretty big fish in a couple of days and with what you just went through you want to avoid another disaster. You are going to have to closely monitor the water quality!

Plus you NEED to be QTing. You don't want to have to battle the ich monster again and introducing fish straight into your DT is a sure-fire way to get it. It looks like your henichosis has some tattered fins and perhaps a cloudy eye. He needs time to rest and recuperate where there will be no competition.

thank you for the info.

i have been keeping eyes on my levels since i have been adding all of my livestock in.

ammonia- 0
nitrites- 0
nitrates- 0
pH- 7.8 but im slowly bringing it up to 8.2.

im NOT getting the volitans. ive seen how big they get, and i know that he was not going to live long in my tank....and plus the one that i would have gotten was like..paper thin. which was a complete turn off for me... lol
(ill wait till i move out and can get a nice big tank for one...

when i got the heni, he did have a little nick in the tailfin, but that was all. i observed him for a while before i bought him. and no, he does not have cloudy eyes, that was just the reflection in the camera. if he did have cloudy eyes, again, i would have not bought hi, cause i know he would not have been feeling good for some reason or another. also, he eats like a little pig. i fed him frozen brine, and as soon as i put it in, he was right there eating, even faster than my domino. i also accidently dropped half the cube of brine in my tank earlier, and he actually took it and ate the entire thing as it was slowly breaking apart.

i did buy the maroon clown this evening, which after reading carmies true statement, i probably shouldnt have. i wanted to add my fish closely together so there was no territorial disputes between any of them. (that was my reason, probably not a very good one.) i have off on wednesday, im going to possibly do a small water change, since ill have the time. but believe me, im keeping a close mind to my params.

before adding my first lion, i watched my levels everyday and saw that my ammonia was down to 0 for about a week and a half. i also used a poly-pad for keeping ammonia at a minimum. and ultimate for helping with acclimation of my fish.

i have the mollies in my sump, im hoping that the breed in there. same with the ghost shrimp. but the shrimp somehow ended up in different chambers of my sump. lol

i also got a clump of cheato in my sump. and another small grassy looking plant, im not sure what it was called though. =( but it looks cool. im hoping my cheato grows and doesnt fall apart on me like it did last time, and made a mess on my tank. i movd one of my 40 watt lights to my sump, so thats being lit rather well down there.

im now done with my tank. as far as my DT goes. im not getting anything else for it, livestock-wise. my mom was like "oooh! that big fish is really pretty (the heni.), can he have a friend, can you put another one like him on there?" and i immediatly told her NO! im done, cause im not going through another disaster. and she was like, aw, ok.. so, no more fish, the only thing im getting now is 2 koraliaa #1 powerheads. one for each side of the tank, to replace the MJ400 and the aquaclear 30.

i bought my actinic light also today. it makes my tank look so gorgeous. it was definitely money well-spent.

and im trying to give you a FTS, but my photobuck is taking forever to upload the pic, so ill try and post it tomorrow.


...anyway, im off to bed, goodnight all, and im sorry to all that i may have disappointed in this post. im going to try my hardest to keep this tank up and running for once. =(

You gotta quit buying anything until we say it is OK. :)

For a tank the size of yours I think that K1's are too small. I have K2's in my 54 which is 29" at the widest point. If it was my tank I would go for the 3's.

i really do need to stop buying. thats what happens though when i get my tax return i guess...lol

well, i already have one k2 on my back wall blowing across my liverock to the front of the tank, i feel that it is big for my tank. it sticks out farther than i thought it would. i dont mind that one, but since i already have the one big one, i was just going to get 2 of the K1s and put one in the front left corner have it aiming to the front right, straight across, and then have the other one in the back right, aiming it to the left back where the overflow is.... if i got the k2s. they would be sticking out waaay too far, and since i already have my skimmer in there taking up a lot of room, i want to try and keep it a little cleaner looking....

heres some pics i shot using my underwater housing and gettin my arms wet.... =)

enjoy!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04990.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04987.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04984.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04976.jpg
you can see one of my ghost shrimp in that one....

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04961.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04954.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04934.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/pvt7donut/DSC04922.jpg

Nice :pic: The problem I think you would have with the K1's is that they won't push the water F-A-R enough and you will end up with dead spots in the middle. My K2's did not "look" so big once they got covered with coralline.

well...i got 2 of the nano k's... i put them near the sand bed..and they seem to push atleast to half the tank....the k2 in the back covers the rest of the front of the tank that the k.nano doesnt reach. the return line is providing the rest of the water movement for the other koralia nano in the back end of the tank.

im sure the k2 wouldnt look so bad if it was covered with coralline...but i cant seem to be getting any in my tank....and it kinda sucks. :(