Texdoc77's 150

[acer]

We you going for the green or Magenta in the pics? I almost given up on taking pics of the tank - I always get some weird hue to the pic or a shadow effect or something.

[texdoc77]

Originally Posted by acer

We you going for the green or Magenta in the pics? I almost given up on taking pics of the tank - I always get some weird hue to the pic or a shadow effect or something.

I was taking a pic during "sunset" and the tank had a green hue. I'm still working on my lighting with the AP700 to get it right. I tried to counterbalance with the flickr software, but it didn't work. I do have a real camera and tripod, I have been taking most (all) of these pics with my iPhone. That said, I'm not a fan of the "blue" pix I have been mostly posting.

[texdoc77]

Quick update on the tank. I purchased a midas blenny from LA and had it in TTM. First two transfers went well. Fish was eating and starting to show lots of good personality. Then I went to check on it yesterday and walking into the fish room I did not see him. I looked all over the tank, this did not take long as it is a small 10 gallon with only one piece of PVC. Eventually I found him on the floor, not sure how long he had been there but he was breathing. I know blennies are jumpers and did not have any type of lid over the tank. Man I was so frustrated. Just when I think I am finally going to get a fish through TTM, it goes all Carl Lewis on me, and ultimately it's my fault. Placed him back in the tank, but he did not eat last night, and this morning he was dead. If I do get another midas it will be my third of the new tank. I think I may wait just a bit...

So now I have a trigger that is just hanging out in my receiving tank, working on getting the salinity up from my fish store. It will be the next to go through TTM. He has been eating like a horse. I really hope he makes it.

My new lights are working well but my coral don't love them, yet... I have some Zoas that came from LED lighting and are doing just fine under my new lights, but my meat coral and bubble are struggling. Also my LTA escaped its cove and found a little place in the back. I will leave it there for now and am running the AP700's on an acclimation routine, but I am considering removing the meat and bubble corals to let them "cool" down a bit. I do have some pix, but at work it's hard for me to post them. Maybe later this evening.

[acer]

Bummer, midas is on my short list. What type of trigger?

[texdoc77]

Originally Posted by acer

Bummer, midas is on my short list. What type of trigger?

A blue throat. So far I love him. Very energetic eater!!! Yes I have loved my blennies in the past. Great fish, great color, very social

[acer]

wow same SC 150 tank - same fish - that is weird.

[texdoc77]

Originally Posted by acer

wow same SC 150 tank - same fish - that is weird.

lol I'm just doing whatever soulpatch does.


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[acer]

Yes- I followed his thread quite a bit.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by texdoc77

lol I'm just doing whatever soulpatch does.


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HA HA Thanks.

I think I should charge for all my mistakes that you guys luck out avoiding. LOL

And SC really should basically give me a tank or seomthing from all of you I sent their way. HA HA

Tex this is looking great. I like how you went so minimalist with the rockwork. I am actually considering removing some of my rock as it seems too much of a rock wall for me though I do worry about some of the SPS I have in there...

[acer]

Yes, i will also much less rockwork than i have before in display = two towers on rocks drilled and a ceramic pole anchored to a brick placed at 1/3 tank length from each edge. Thats it. Some of my rocks inthe tower will be ledge type rocks so SPS corals will be placed on them. Softies and LPS will go on bottom. Still debating on bare bottom or using a few inches of sand.

[texdoc77]

Originally Posted by acer

wow same SC 150 tank - same fish - that is weird.

I already have two blue/green chromis and a pair of clowns (ocellaris and snowflake ocellaris). I have tried in vane to make the midas blenny my next add, however, this was my second one that has died. I will add on eventually, IMO it is the best blenny to add to this size tank. Other fish I plan on adding include the blue throat trigger that is in my receiving QT a lineatus wrasse, a powder brown tang and I have a green mandarin chillin in my QT tank with all the pods from my previous build. I have gone back and forth on the harlequin tusk, but right now it's a no. May add a trio of anthias.

What do you plan for your tank?

[texdoc77]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

HA HA Thanks.

I think I should charge for all my mistakes that you guys luck out avoiding. LOL

And SC really should basically give me a tank or seomthing from all of you I sent their way. HA HA

Tex this is looking great. I like how you went so minimalist with the rockwork. I am actually considering removing some of my rock as it seems too much of a rock wall for me though I do worry about some of the SPS I have in there...

Thanks. I'm hoping once the tank really starts to grow out it will look more natural and not so overpacked. I like the ability for my fish to swim in a little more "open" water, but still have a place to "hide". I don't think I'm going to go full SPS, but might try one or two of the "easier" ones.

[acer]

I plan on having a minimalist rock work (see my thread for the two towers idea)- then have some Zoas, LPS on the bottom of tank ( not sure yet if I am going bare bottom or not). Then SPS on the mid and tops of the rock towers. Fish= a pair of Perc clowns with a Bubble Tip (currently in tanks) , a pair of blue throat triggers (new), a Copperbanded butterfly (new), a few dartfish (already in tank), a midas blenny (new) , and a Melaranus wrasse (already have one). Also I current have a Cherub Angel and a yellow watchman.

Also - thinking after a while adding a Mandarin to the 75 gallon refugium.

[soulpatch]

my wrasse sleeps in the sand so wouldnt you need something for him? I guess a tupperware container with sand would work if push came to shove...

[Blink2824]

Just got caught up on your build Tex. Everything is coming along nicely and i'm enjoying seeing all of your progress. All these nice lighting systems make me want to replace mine- jealous! I love my midas blenny, hope the next attempt works out for you.

[texdoc77]

Well the tank is covered with diatoms as the silicates get under control and I still have cloudy water from bacterial blooms since I am using nopox. I still haven't gotten a fish through TTM, but I've learned so much from my first tank I'm not panicking and overreacting. Just taking it slow. The diatoms will go away and the bacteria will even out and the water will clear up. I will get a fish through TTM eventually and into the tank. It's my blue throat in the TTM now. Just placed him there last night. I will keep you all posted. BTW I LOVE my ap700 lights and they just came out with a Mac desktop beta version... Oh yeah!!

[texdoc77]

As of my last post (a month ago) I was relatively prophetic on a couple of things, and DEAD wrong on a couple others.

First the bad news. My trigger in TTM was almost done, Day 11 or 12 I think. Eating and swimming like a champ and then one morning breathing heavy and on his side. Needless to say it was less than 24 hours later and he was gone. This was coupled with the loss of a powder brown and mandarin in my holding tank all within 24 hours...

During this my tank continued to be cloudy and I could not get my protein skimmer to settle down, very bubbly out of the top and causing mayhem. The diatom problem I was having was also not really improving in any stretch of the imagination.

So I put on my big boy pants, and took matters into my own hands and did the unthinkable... I was patient. I decided I would not do anything until my water cleared and the diatoms began to improve. No, it didn't bring my fish back, but slowly and surely my tank has cleared and my protein skimmer has settled down. My diatom problem gradually has been clearing and what's more, the chaeto I added had some pods in it that have completely taken over my tank (in a good way). The two sea cucumbers I added at the very beginning have been coming out more often and are still alive despite not seeing them for weeks. My clowns and chromis are all doing well and my LTA is still alive, albeit closer to the back of the tank where it does not get as much light and is not quite as big...

When the three fish died in such close proximity and with the backdrop of having such difficulty with getting fish through the TTM I will admit I was a bit frustrated. I mean I could not even get my water to clear up. But things are looking up and I have decided not to to buy more than one fish at a time, at least for right now.

Other good news: AWC is still working like a charm. I had to put in a good 30 minutes a week ago and made some new salt water, but as it is my tank is getting great husbandry with minimal effort and I am still in love with my HW marine reefer mix for salt. The liter meter is working like a charm and I am still in love with my AP700 lights. I am having a little bleaching with my meat coral, but my zoa and bubble are doing fine. I have not added any other corals to the tank.

I need to do a little more consistent water testing, but I suspect I will be in line to add some new fish soon. Here is my plan. I still want a trigger and a powder brown, but I will add them towards the end. Next up I will add a golden midas blenny, trio of anthias or a red mandarin (assuming the pod population will hold). Hopefully pix to come soon.

[acer]

Bummer - triggers are my favorite. With a new tank and Tangs ( other than maybe a yellow) and Triggers are a long shot. Hard to be patient - seems to be one of the most difficult things about this hobby. It is certainly easier said than done.

[ReefCowboy]

Very well done! Noce tank, do you have updated FTS?

[texdoc77]

Got a few updates, but of course I should its been a few months. For starters my LTA started to become a little more mobile, and then hid, reappeared, then hid for good. I have not seen it in over a month and it is presumed dead. However, some good news. I finally got a midas blenny into the tank and it is doing very well. Also added a pair of cleaner shrimp. Over the last few weeks I have been battling some LGHA probably because I have not been taking very good care of the tank. The skimmer was full and overflowing back into the sump and I had not changed to phosguard in some time. I did remedy those issues this evening. However, I ran out of salt. That one is all my fault but not as bad as you might think. I was having water clarity issues up until recently, even since my last post where things cleared up. Well I had decided to go with a new salt and waited too long. However, lo and behold the water has cleared and I did order my HW marine mix again. Not really an issue, but I do have to turn the AWC off until I make a new batch of salt water. Once I do that I can run it a little more for the next week and "catch up" on my maintenance. I did add a fire and ice zoa which is really pretty and the light catches it great. I plan on doing some algae pruning this weekend when I make my new batch of salt. All in all, my tank has run by itself for a little bit, but I need to spend a little time with it now to get it back on track. Not sure what fish I have in store next, but likely I will not add anything until I get the LGHA issue under better control. May add a CUC, that would help.

[texdoc77]

OK I am getting back into the swing of things. I had run out of salt, but got my shipment in this weekend. The SG had drifted down to about 1.020, so I am slowly raising it back up. Also let my Kh get down to about 7 and calcium was at 310. Mg was at 1000. I had bought the BRS kit a while back so I spent some time mixing them up over the weekend and started catch up dosing last night. Kh 7.8 this morning, Ca 375 and Mg 1150, so going in the right direction.

Added some CUC this weekend as well. All I had before were two sea cucumbers. Now I have about 25 hermits, mostly red leg, but some tiny blue. 5 trocus snails, 2 fighting conch, 1 serpent brittle sea star, 1 lettuce nudibranch, and 1 pincushion urchin. I have an order of cerith snails and such coming from John at reefcleaners as well this week so I should be cleaning up the detritus.

Other news, I did some GHA cleanup from the substrate and the rocks. Also have some turf algae that is getting better. I am skimming a little more wet now to help.

To do list: Continue to catch up my ca, kh and mg
trim the chaeto in the fuge
slowly raise salinity
consider adding sps
consider adding new fish
take over the world

I will have some pix of the new CUC soon!

[soulpatch]

Cool. I just reupped my clean up crew as well with my LA fish order. I got in a couple emeralds, snails, hermits, and a fighting conch. Eventually I need to replace my linkia starfish I lost a little while ago when the tank had some issues.

I am also in line with ya that I had a BRS dosing kit laying around that I have semi recently booted up to keep my numbers in check till the calcium reactor comes online. I will be curious to see how the reactor compensates for the alk drift we get with the AWC. I also switched back to regular IO to see if the alk swing is a bit less since the salt isnt as boosted. Still no real difference there though I just switched so time will tell...

[texdoc77]

Just a few pix to update my new additions:


Lettuce Nudibranch


Pincushion Sea urchin, camouflaged of course


Pink Spotted Goby


Gravity defying Midas Blenny


Ich defeating cleaner shrimp, just ask the blenny!


Fire and Ice Zoa, great coloration

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[soulpatch]

I dont see why you dont pull a lot of that rock and peroxide dip it. Would take you all of 20 minutes and you would seriously hamper your algae issues.

[texdoc77]

I hope it does not come to that. Seems kind of drastic too. The issues is my PO4 is still a little high at 0.04, not sure where it is coming from though. I don't think I overfeed and I run phosguard and chaeto. I may begin dosing nopox again... but you are right, one of the advantages of a minimalist rock scape is pulling out the rock and dipping it.

I've never done that before. I suppose it would kill everything and then I would just place it back in to get reseeded?