malacoda June 6, 2019 Share June 6, 2019 (edited) Tank goal: Java Sea biotope Why a Java Sea reef biotope? Because my goal once the tank is stable is to have a Lunate, aka Cresent Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus cf. lunatus) as my 'centerpiece fish' because I think it looks incredible. The only place the cf. lunatus is currently documented or available from is in the Java Sea region. So I thought, why not go as full bore as possible and center the entire tank on the Java Sea reefs ... or at least as close as I can get given the current rock/livestock bans. I filled the tank and added the cured live rock about 4 weeks ago. (Walt Smith rock shipped air-freight from Fiji ... no rock coming out of Indonesia right now or the foreseeable future). The initial algae burst is already significantly dying back. And the first fish and critters began going in about two-and-half weeks ago. 31 May 2019: Equipment: 65G Crystal Reef Aquatics tank: 48" x 18" x 18" with BA overflow Octo Aquatics cover Crystal Reef Aquatics Triton 30 sump along with a CRA tall dosing container set Coral Box Wifi doser (mount but not in used yet) 2 Orphek Compact Atlantik V4s CurrentUSA eFlux DC 6010 (1910 gph) return pump Tunze Nanostream 6095 x 2 SpectraPure ATO Livestock: 3 x Smiths Blenny (Meiacanthus Smithi) Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris) Tangaroan Goby (Ctenogobiops tangaroai 2 x Candy-striped pistol shrimp (Alpheus randalli) 2 x Maxi-Mini anemones (Strichodactyla tapetum) 6 x Sexy Dancing shrimp (Thor amboinensis) 2 x Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) 4 x Orange (Halloween) hermit crabs (Ciliopagurus strigatus) 8 x Banded Trochus snails ~8 Dwarf zebra hermit crabs (Calcinus laevimanus) ~6 Nerite snails Coral: Platygyra x 2 (Transferred from my 24g. One green with black ridges and one blue with green ridges.) Alveopora (Purple. Also transferred from my 24g.) Edited June 6, 2019 by malacoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattb1612 June 6, 2019 Share June 6, 2019 The only comment I have is my leopard wrasse ate all my shrimps and inverts. I love the build though.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malacoda June 7, 2019 Author Share June 7, 2019 A bit about the actual 'build': Made the stand with 3/4" plywood finished in a bit of a Shaker style to tie into some other cabinetry in our house. Cabinet doors can be popped off in a matter of seconds for ease of access thanks to euro-style clip-on cupboard hinges. Lighting rack is made with 3/4" copper pipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malacoda June 7, 2019 Author Share June 7, 2019 (edited) 23 hours ago, Mattb1612 said: The only comment I have is my leopard wrasse ate all my shrimps and inverts. I love the build though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Thanks! Invert eating is certainly a possibility. Right now she's a bit too small for the sexy shrimp or snails to have to worry. And it's my understanding that as far as wrasses go, although it's not unheard of, leopards are some of the least likely to pick off anemone shrimp and small inverts. (Unlike the adorned wrasse I was going to add (Halichoeres cosmetus) before deciding not too.) I only expect to have this tank up-and-running for about 2 years. So, hopefully the sexies will be reasonably safe on their mini-maxi anemones while the leopard is young. And there will be plenty of copepods, amphipods, LRS, LRS fish roe, pellet food and shaved clam to minimize the temptation. If it should become a shrimp eater though, c'est la vie, reef life will go on. Edited June 7, 2019 by malacoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 7, 2019 Share June 7, 2019 Stand looks awesome, and I love the tank dimensions. Everything is looking very clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malacoda September 17, 2019 Author Share September 17, 2019 Update time. Some new guest have arrived over the past 2 months. Some wanted, and some unwanted. First the wanted... Added some new fish a couple weeks ago: an exquisite wrasse, lubbocki wrasse, cresent wrasse, and a hi-fin red band shrimp goby. Also added some coral colonies ... which led to the unwanted guests: dinos. Unfortnately the coral shipment was delayed more than 10 hours due to flight changes -- in upper 90s heat no less. Two colonies were DOA. Four more RTN'd in the tank within 36 hours. All flesh sloughing off so fast ... combined with a bit of Bayer not rinsing off 100% in my attempt to get them into a stable environment asap ... caused my PO4 to shoot from 0.02 pmm to over 1 ppm within 2 days. Yet the biofilter kept NO3 from going above 3 ppm, and had it back down to 1ppm within 4 days. The resulting imbalance caused a cyano and dino bloom. Not a massive one, but annoying none the less. What really sucks is the tank was looking great before hand. The initial hair algae burst that comes with most any newly set up tank had burned out self out and died off completely while I was away on vacation and the sand and rock were spotless. Oh well, lesson learned. Always plan for the worst. While I don't have space for a frag tank/coral QT setup. But, if I were smart, I would had a rubbermaid container set up with a pump and heater to acclimate the corals for a few days rather than planning on going straight from the dip to the DT. Things are slowly getting back in order though. PO4 and NO3 are back to my normal operating levels. And the dino/cyano mats are slowly fading. This was the tank during my last FTS on 31 May 2019: This as of a few days ago: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef September 17, 2019 Share September 17, 2019 Looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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