bues0022

I’m in the planning stages of setting up my 3’ cube. It’s about 130 gallons. I have a few fish ideas, and am looking for some tips, criticism, ideas, and everything in between. Overall, I have a few favorite fish I’ve always wanted, and want to mix in other quality fish (bonus points for it doing something good - like eating bubble algae, aiptasia, or other nasties). I’m also looking for a good variety of shapes, colors, swimming styles, etc. 1: pair Picasso clowns (have) 2: pair orchid dottybacks (have) 3: firefish (have) 4: diamond goby (have) 5: Hector’s goby (had but died during early stages of my divorce. My sons favorite fish) 6: Heniochus Diphreutus (top fav for me) 7: yellow tank (what’s a big tank without a yellow tang?!?!) 8: clown tang (another favorite of mine) 9: school blue/green chromis (nice color pop, active swimmers) 10: gold spot rabbit fish (will this eat bubble algae like the other rabbit fish? Might get too big?) 11: ember blenny (not stuck on this, but I’d like an interesting blenny) 12: Ruby Longtin fairy wrasse (I don’t know much about wrasses - maybe a couple different ones? Yellow coris? Flasher? Raccoon? Tips are needed here) That’s it for now. What are your thoughts? What “must have” fish would you put in the tank?

My peppermints kicked the bucket within a day. I also found a tunze magnet had a crack and blew up (not Tunze’s fault - it’s close to 10 years old), so maybe the leaking orange goop isn’t good for shrimp!! I kalk pasted a few, but I’m finding a lot of tiny ones now that I’m paying close attention. Maybe I’ll give Frank’s a shot.

So, I've been VERY lazy with husbandry for - oh, about 16 months. I was 1 hour of plumbing away from setting up my larger 120 cube tank when my world blew up from a really nasty divorce. I'm still settling the home fires, but in the mean time my tank has been neglected. Most corals survived, but inverts took a dive. I'm ready to start the rehab/rebuild/new build process. I DO very much have plans to setup the 120 within the next year (likely after a move though), so keep that in mind. I bought a couple peppermint shrimp last night to hep tackle the aiptasia issue. I've had good luck with them eating the buggers before, but always have awful luck with them dying. One of the shrimp is already dead on the sand - drip/temp acclimated for about 2 hours, the kaput. I don't think I have enough where nudi's are needed. What about a filefish? Zapper? It's only a 30 gallon cube tank, and I can see at least 20 of the devils. I almost forgot to add: I also have some paly's going a bit wild, so if something like a wand is best - I suppose I could zap those too, right? Thanks everyone - and Happy New Year! Ryan

I have a small project I'm trying to tackle, and I need some white acrylic sheet. I life down in Bristow (Manassas/Gainseville area). Does anyone know of a plastics shop or location to buy this stuff? Thanks! Ryan

When water and water movement gets involved, I'd think that sand on the right will spread over the entire bottom - even with a rock "wall" between sand and no sand half. I think you might be best served with a drop-off tank, and fill the drop completely with sand. OR, take the tank you have shown there, and add a divider and silicone it in place. That way you sand stays put on the one side. Everything I've read about them pointed towards sand, sand, and more sand. Erring on the side of even deeper sand. Take a ruler and mark out 8" - that's really deep. I'd bet you're at half of that right now. It would definitely be an exciting project. I've thought about these little guys more than twice - but just haven't had the time, money, or willing spouse to go along with the project.

I've noticed I have snails that die fro the same reason. But, I've taken the approach that the websites that promote buying "reef cleanup crews" suggest far too many for my tank, then they die off to what is needed. The problem is though, when they die, their nutrients go back into the water, which then create algae problems, then you have to get more cleanup crew to fix the algae problems, which then once it's gone then they die and the cycle starts again. Just let 'er ride I say. Don't add any more just because people say you need xx snails per gallon. I think I went a full 6 months when I started my tank before I finally got any snails/hermits. Tank did ok.

Is there anyone in the NOVA area (bristow/gainseville/manassas/sterling/herndon) area that does white worms?

The people I’ve read about who seek to have the most problems - also have the most “stuff” and dose all kinds of things. I echo the others. Keep it simple, and don’t add stuff because people say you need it. Rather, start simple, and if you have issues, thoroughly research the root cause and potential fixes. THEN you will know what extra stuff you need. (Unlike the other two, I can grow a 5 gallon bucket of cheato every week, and my tank is only 30 gallons. Who knows?)

Haha! I love the paint picture!

I’m trying to place an order with the MACNA discount, but my order is just spooling and not completing. Can you please check on my order? PM me please with the results. Ryan Buesseler

Ironic - here’s me over here wishing I had them in my tank. Ive seen many threads like this pop up, but you’re trying to get rid of a beneficial tank cleaner. The eunicid worms are the big nasties that you’d want to get rid of.

Wild guess: dried up piece of seaweed

I've seen harem tanks go well, and some go south. Some of the common denominators with successfull harem tanks are: lots of food (don't want them getting hangry), things to do (anemones - idle hands (fins) will find things to do, usually destructive), and big tanks (120 is on the edge IMO). I think you're on the edge of it possibly working, if you can get them enough food. However, if I were you, I'd plan now in the pre-surgery time to physically separate them with a barrier in the tank, rather than come home in a few months to dead fish.

For a 180 tank, I'm sure you could probably use the 1" version, but it would be very dependent upon your actual design. Full with water, sand, rock, plus the weight of the tank, you're looking at something like 1700 lbs. I personally wouldn't use 1". You would need to double-up most pieces, or add so many more supports/braces that it won't be a very accessible stand.

Can the white worms be frozen, and fed without turning to complete mush? I make my own frozen food, and am considering putting some in my frozen mix.

Once the culture is up and running, what kind of maintenance do you have to do for them? How often to feed, change potting soil, etc?

Did you try cleaning the glass, haha?

Wow, for the price that really seems excellent. Please do report back!

These are captive bred. I was also worried about that. Through a lot of reading, I’ve figured out that the captive bred fish are more likely to be better for you that wild. This is because captive fish are sold as soon as they are big enough, which means their sex may not be determined yet. So, similar to clowns, you can get two at the same size, and they will figure out who’s male and who’s female. BUT, I had talked with Jon at BRK, and waited until he placed an order that included a bunch of these fish so I could go pick out the two with the biggest size difference. I’d say it worked out well!

I know - this thread is worthless without pics. I tried for about 30 minutes last night, but the light, angle, and fish weren't agreeing with taking a good picture. I bought my Orchid Dottybacks from Blue Ribbon Koi about 6 months ago. They came in really healthy, and they were able to get a bunch in so there was already a size difference between the two fish. (like clownfish, you need one larger than the other, however, for Dottybacks, the bigger is the male). I did not QT them, I took a PaulB approach - tossed them in the tank and fed a bunch. They both went through spats of ich and some other topical thing on them (cysts maybe?), and got beat up a little from my female clown. I kept feeding heavy throughout - a healthy fish can fend off many sicknesses. I feed my own homemade blend of fish food. I also really like to feed masago - can't hardly get any more nutritious than an egg! The last few days, I noticed the smaller (female) one looking quite rotund and hanging around one particular hole in the rocks. Last night while I was feeding, I looked in the hole, and there's an egg ball about the size of a shooter marble in there! Woot!! I guess that means I must be doing something right if I have fish spawning, right?!?! No, I do not have plans at this time to even attempt to raise any fish, just think it's fun to have a successful habitat and breeding going on in my tank!

A similar experiment was carried out several months ago.

Do you plan on having a spare pump? Putting costs aside, I'd rather go with two slightly smaller pumps than one large. I'm thinking about redundancies and the inevitable when something breaks. When the closed loop pump eventually dies, or if you need to take it offline for service, having two pumps will allow you to at least keep a little bit of water movement going. Having a single pump will mean you're basically down all flow (besides return) until you get it back up again.

Wood will likely be the cheapest, aluminum next, and steel the most expensive - also the same order for ease of workability of the materials.

22 gallon tank, plus water, sand, etc will weigh over 220 lbs (8 lbs per gallon of water = 176 lbs). I had a 10 gallon tank on a dresser top as a kid - and over time, that little bit of weight even messed up and sagged the dresser top.

Yeah, looks like that, but it’s SUPER small on mine. Largest I’ve seen is 1/3 the size of a pea. Closest coral are some zoas about 3” away. There really isn’t much near this coral.