Coral Hind January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 Nice fish list! It's going to look sweet once they get added. Do you have a cover for the tank with that many wrasses going in? The MJ400 prop might be a good powerhead for the 20g. I have one you can borrow to try it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 Looks great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 Update: Still need to do trim around the tank and bottom tomorrow. Wow, this really looks great, nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 31, 2013 Author Share January 31, 2013 One of my 20's is currently an nps tank. Here is a pic of my blueberry gorg. I have only had it for 3 months but it is doing more than just wasting away, so I am excited. All the polyps are open every day and it is growing new polyps. New branch growth is only about one or two millimeters, which is within the margin of error for the "eyeballing it" method of measurement, so I really can't count that yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 Ok Laura, you're making me look bad..........I still haven't finished my wall yet!!! Looks fantastic. Can't wait to see it with the trim on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 31, 2013 Author Share January 31, 2013 Not really Steve. I am not a DIY-er. I'm more of a "how much will this cost to be done by friday" kind of girl.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 (edited) One of my 20's is currently an nps tank. Here is a pic of my blueberry gorg. I have only had it for 3 months but it is doing more than just wasting away, so I am excited. All the polyps are open every day and it is growing new polyps. New branch growth is only about one or two millimeters, which is within the margin of error for the "eyeballing it" method of measurement, so I really can't count that yet... Wow, that thing is nice!! Congrats on the new growth. Edited January 31, 2013 by surf&turf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 (edited) Amazing!!! Love it. WTG!!!!! I'm also very envious, just sayin....the gorgonian that is. Edited January 31, 2013 by Jans Natural Reef Foods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw January 31, 2013 Share January 31, 2013 Not really Steve. I am not a DIY-er. I'm more of a "how much will this cost to be done by friday" kind of girl.... Still getting it done faster than me! BTW - Let me know when you're ready to frag that gorgonian! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 31, 2013 Author Share January 31, 2013 Frag it ?!? I'm afraid to look at it wrong..... that reminds me, better go feed it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 February 1, 2013 Author Share February 1, 2013 The first pic is the female anthias on Jan 25th, about a week after I noticed the tips of her fins were darkening, indicating she was changing. The second pic is 5 days later with a lot more darkening on the end of her fins and her body color changing from orange to a bit more reddish as compared to the other females. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind February 1, 2013 Share February 1, 2013 Wow, she is changing colors fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 February 1, 2013 Author Share February 1, 2013 I think with the existing male in the tank, she has very high motivation. The existing male only comes out to eat now. He mostly hides in the rocks so I am going to try and remove him after she becomes a he. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt February 1, 2013 Share February 1, 2013 All looks very very nice! BTW - what is that gorg in your DT? (not the blueberry) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 February 1, 2013 Author Share February 1, 2013 I bought it as a purple frilly so I guess that's what it is. It's not very purple though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 March 3, 2013 Author Share March 3, 2013 I can't believe a month has gone by. Still working on all the little quirks of this tank. Finally got the ATO set up. The tank evaporates about 5 gallons a day so this should really help. Of course went through a few days of "what the !#$#@!".... water on the floor because the ATO created a siphon.... etc. etc. But all is working well now. I went on a buying spree of fish and corals over the last month. Consequently I am BROKE. Seriously. Can't even LOOK at the FS threads because I can't even think about buying anything else. The good news is that my tank is finally FULL of awesome sps frags and cool zoas. This tank was always intended to be spa /zoas so I am sticking to that plan. Not that there aren't a few lps scattered around. I've started dosing alk. Only about 40ml a day bit I am seeing better growth now. Waiting a while longer to set up dosing pumps. Just doing it manually right now. Also have nice coralline growing all over the bottom. FINALLY!! DT Fish list: (total 26 fish in 250g) 1 Regal tang 6" 1 Yellow Tang 5" 1 Caribbean Blue Tang 5" 1Tomini tang 3" 1 Kole Tang 3" 6 Caribbean blue chromis 2 Clownfish 4 Lyretail Anthias 1 male, 1 in transition and 2 females 3 Swallowtail angels ! male 2 female 2 Red velvet fairly wrasse 2 Blue sided wrasse 1 linespot flasher wrasse 1 Bangaii cardinal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan March 3, 2013 Share March 3, 2013 Looks amazing, Laura. You've done an amazing job in a very short time....but I'd expect nothing less. Post pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf March 18, 2013 Share March 18, 2013 How bout an updated FTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S July 23, 2013 Share July 23, 2013 Bump for updated FTS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 23, 2013 Share July 23, 2013 Yes, it's been almost six months with no new pictures. Has the anthias that was turning into a male made more progress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy July 23, 2013 Share July 23, 2013 more pictures and video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rottloverr November 14, 2013 Share November 14, 2013 Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 December 12, 2013 Author Share December 12, 2013 Wow….. So Sad that I have not updated this thread in forever. Here's what's been going on and I have written about in other threads. Set up tank, stocked tank, loved tank, screwed up tank. Basically I added to much stuff too fast and did a bunch of things wrong. Mostly: over feeding and not putting in enough effort on nutrient removal systems. Once the phosphate and nitrate levels started to go up, most of the sps browned and eventually died. This all happened at the same time my business was tanking…. ooh, bad pun. ( Short aside: if you think the sequester and shutdown were just a blip: not so much of a blip for small business owners. Many of us are still struggling to recover). So I had to totally refocus my efforts at work and had not enough time for a tank that was deteriorating rapidly. Along the way I did a few half assed stupid things like: vinegar dosing without doing enough research, not noticing that a few fish died, not being ready with a spare heater when it got cold, I could go on…… So I finally turned back to WAMAS for some help, and as usual you all stepped in. Today I had my first phosphate reading under .1 in a year. I achieved a .08 and that is fantastic news for me!!! My nitrates are still at 15 but I will be working on that next. Over the past few weeks I have made a few changes. First I removed some rock and did a major detritus cleaning. Because I had been over feeding for so long I had a lot of accumulated crap in and under my rock work. I have permanently removed about 20# of rock and created more open space along the bottom glass so that I can keep up with detritus accumulation more easily. I increased my water changes. I am now changing 100+ gallons every 2 weeks. (Total system volume is 400g). Salt sale anyone? I stopped over feeding and have experimented with different food sources. I sold my giant regal tang. He was a healthy 6-7 inches. He ate a lot and pooped a lot and outcompeted the other fish which made me feel like I needed to feed more. It was definitely the right decision. I am considering removing a few others but can't really decide who to let go of…. One of the most useful things has been upgrading the lighting on my refugium. I replaced a hodgepodge of crappy lighting with a single 5000K par38 led bulb from home depot. That was about a week ago and the difference is dramatic. The light penetration is amazing and the caulerpa is finally growing again. It was totally stagnant before. I am going to add another bulb to the other side of the 20g refugium and convert a second 20g to growing algae as well. I also replaced my Gen1 Radions with new Gen1 Radions. The originals have notoriously bad fans. Finally one of my lights kept turning off. When I reset it I got a district odor of burning electrical components. When I checked it, the fan was dead. When I checked the the other 2 lights that were still working, their fans were dead too. +100 for ecotech customer service. They sent me 3 brand new lights at no cost. Superb. I hope they have upgraded fans as well. But lighting consistency has helped as well. I need a new skimmer but with business sucking I need to focus on the mortgage before I can focus on upgrading…. So after a year of killing coral, I think I am on the right track….. I have a few remaining sps that are showing signs of life. Color is returning and I have a birds nest that is actually showing some new growth and a tiny piece of what looks like might be a green pocci coming back. It will be interesting to see what pops up where. I am planning on akin some pics this weekend during the water change…. Will post soon. Thanks for all of the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy December 12, 2013 Share December 12, 2013 that's great news, laura and am glad that you are piece by piece getting things under control. don't rush in the excitement and keep your methodical pace. i'm really interested to see your set up in person and perhaps we can share some ideas. hope your perseverance at work pays off as well, literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime December 12, 2013 Share December 12, 2013 I'm so glad to hear things are getting better! It sounds like on all fronts you're making some great headway. The fact that you're here writing about the struggle, results, and how to do better means you've already done the hard part. When you're ready for some frags, just let me know, and if I can do anything to help, remember I'm right around the corner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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