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Convict27

My Tank is now one month old

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11 Comments
by
Convict27
, 06-19-2011 at 08:20 AM (2505 Views)
So here I am a month after I started and I am doing good. It started off kind of rough with the loss of a Elbi Angel as well as the mysterious disappearance of a Kohl Tang and a damaged swim bladder on a Fairy wrasse. I honestly think it was the collection method of who ever caught these guys as I got them from the same store at roughly the same time. During that time frame all of my parameters were dead on with nothing that stood out as beeing way off kilter. Right now I have 11 fish and all are doing extremely well. My coral collection is growing and I am to the point of running out of room for coral placement.

Since I started my tank I have gone and built my own sump/ refugium and made my own acrylic overflow following all the great information on Melevs Reef. I used a 14 gallon frameless glass tank that I had and used some acrylic to set it up. That was a big test for me because when I kept tanks before I always used canister filters because I was always too scared to try my hand at a sump and refugium. After all of my research and the fine information on sites like this one I took the plunge and I must say that I am extremely happy with my choice.

Here is my stocking list right now:

Fish:
Flame Angel
3 Chromis
Saddle puffer
Magenta dottyback
Fairy Hawkfish
Sixline Wrasse
2 Percula Clownfish
Clown Wrasse
Cleaner Wrasse

Inverts
Green bubble tip Anemone
tiger tail cucumber
Blood Shrimp
Starfish

Corals:
Too many to list!

I have also gone and change the bulb in my MH to a 1400K (blue) bulb and added a Vortech MP10. I love this powerhead! It has added so much flow to my tank and allowed me to clean up the look of the display tank.

Here are some pics of the latest evolution of the tank. Please feel free to comment and critique. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.























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Categories
‎ New Additions , ‎ Tank - Full Summary , ‎ Photography/Video

Comments

  1. Hat39406's Avatar
    Your tank is just gorgeous!
  2. cyano's Avatar
    looking good, keep an eye on your sarcophyton as it grows you may have to do a bit of pruning to keep light on those sps. I love the selection in your tank, how does your puffer do with your corals, BTA, and cuc? I had a kole's tang for quite some time and it just up and died one day and gave no signs of distress or showed that it was going down hill before it went but he was great for cleaning the tank also what kind of camera are you using? I really need to figure mine out so i can get some awesome tank shots like those
  3. Convict27's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by cyano
    looking good, keep an eye on your sarcophyton as it grows you may have to do a bit of pruning to keep light on those sps. I love the selection in your tank, how does your puffer do with your corals, BTA, and cuc? I had a kole's tang for quite some time and it just up and died one day and gave no signs of distress or showed that it was going down hill before it went but he was great for cleaning the tank also what kind of camera are you using? I really need to figure mine out so i can get some awesome tank shots like those
    Thanks Cyano! The funny thing is that when I collected the sarcophyton, I thought he was a lot smaller. Now I have him in my tank and he is looking HUGE. Although in comparison to the ones I normally see out in the water, it is still just a baby. I have yet to notice any problem with the puffer and anything. He hangs out a lot with my blood cleaner shrimp and lets him clean all the time.

    That was exactly how it went with my Kole Tang. He was fine and eatting his heart out and the next morning he disappeared. No sign of him at all.

    I am using a Canon 7D DSLR. When shooting the tank I shoot in AV and use a custom setting on my white balance of right around 9000. That is the only way I can get the colors to look just about right due to the blue hue on the MH.
  4. Convict27's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Hat39406
    Your tank is just gorgeous!
    Thank you Hat39406!
  5. Jaxom's Avatar
    Your tank is looking good, sorry to hear about your loses but glad to hear things have stabilized so quickly. Your stocking list is impressive for the maturity of your tank, goes to show what you can do with the right resources.
  6. Convict27's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaxom
    Your tank is looking good, sorry to hear about your loses but glad to hear things have stabilized so quickly. Your stocking list is impressive for the maturity of your tank, goes to show what you can do with the right resources.
    Thank you Jaxom. I actually consider myself very lucky because of the fact that I can go out and use fresh seawater and gather my own stocking items. When something gets too large or doesnt look like it is doing good, I take it back and place it back on the reef to prevent its death. I always try to practice responsible husbandry and only take small pieces from areas that are very rich in health so as not to deplete any natural resources. I also try to mimic the natural cycle of the ocean. Granted, right now I still dont feel right about cranking up my tanks heat to 84 degrees, but that is what the water temperature is here right now. I try to keep it right around 80 degrees and I will set my lights to the same amount of time that is currently available in nature. The only thing that I am supplementing is plankton as everything else is pretty much added each time I do a water change.
  7. Shawnanthony's Avatar
    I think we've all suffered from loses in our tanks.... We know the feeling... Your tank looks awesome keep up the good work!!
  8. mulebutter's Avatar
    Im curious... you say your tank is 1 month old. Is that one month from when it finished cycling, or just 1 month from the start of it? It looks great though!
  9. Convict27's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by mulebutter
    Im curious... you say your tank is 1 month old. Is that one month from when it finished cycling, or just 1 month from the start of it? It looks great though!
    It is one month old from the start. Everything that is in the tank, minus the fish are straight from the ocean into my tank. I am lucky to live in an area that I can self collect and even use the water straight from the ocean.

    I posted up some of my diving pics in this post to show the area that I dive in when I go collecting.
  10. JimM's Avatar
    Wow Convict! Your tank is looking awesome! What are the pendant / swing arm style lights? Is the center one MH?
  11. Convict27's Avatar
    The center light is a ADA Solar I 150W Metal Halide. I am currently running a 14000K Blue bulb. The pendant lights on the side are LED lights that actually change color through the whole gammet of colors. I can put them on red, blue, yellow, orange, or green. They are made by a Japanese company called AQUTE. I really dont know much specifics about them because I can not read Kanji to see what the output is.