The 180 build from the ground up

MuralReef

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
MASC Vice-President
#21
Everything looks great! I like how clean your build is. Only suggestion might be to move that GSP. It will take over and cover everything even some of the fastest growing corals. I had it grow right over pink and gold palys.
 

Pth03001

Amphipod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#22
Good Afternoon everyone!

Well, Reefstock is in the rearview mirror and I had a great time getting to meet some people I've only seen on youtube! Also got to add a couple of new frags to the tank which is always exciting. As usual I am writing this up while I am not at home and don't have new photos yet taken of the new additions to the tank. For the quick and easy list I ended up putting in a couple of new zoas to include a frag of scrambled eggs and an unnamed zoa which is a bright orange with purple center. Those little guys are fully opened and looking pretty good right out of the gate. I also ended up putting a green Green Leptastrea on my smaller tower which is on the right side of the left rock structure.... if that makes sense specially. And then lastly I got 2 more corals for the right side of the tank to include a really cool deep purple branching hammer coral towards the bottom left and Tabasco Digitata along the top of the spire on the right rock structure. Whew! That was a lot of painting a picture when I am going to post pictures anyway!

Otherwise MuralReef you are totally correct in your assertion, the GSP is just running across the rock up there and starting to curl around the lip of the rock. It is just loving the high light and flow that it is getting. I am going to have to carefully remove the rock, replace it and then I think I might affix the rock about mid way down the overflow. That being said I am going to miss it being up there, it just has such cool movement and give a nice pop of green. It'll get over it though.

As for additions fish wise I have just added a McCosker's Flasher Wrasse after he got out successfully of QT. I also have a Royal Gramma in QT right now but he ended up having some flukes so he is recovering from the 2 freshwater dips and a 2 week period of paraguard. He is eating well again and seems to be alright aside from some blotchiness on his skin. Ill include a photograph of what it looks like and if anyone has an idea of what it can be please share. I am thinking that it could either be scars from the flukes or missing scales, from the flukes. Otherwise I am not sure. Lastly I had a lawnmower in QT with the Gramma and he was doing great, eating, being active, picking at the glass and then died suddenly. I kept checking him closely throughout the tanks treatment for flukes and none were found, he appeared to be fine and had no noticeable skin abrasions or lesions. I don't know what happened to him but work up around the 3 week mark of QT and found him limp at the bottom of the tank dark in coloration (he had been white). I still cant figure it out but I am going to have to go for round two on the lawnmower, my wife LOVED him!

Upcoming additions will be some more fish to round out the tank. I am looking forward to getting tangs in the tank and I think I will start that process when the QT tank becomes available again. I am thinking yellow eye kole tang to start out. I would like to add an Atlantic Blue Tang, Desjardini Tang and maybe a unicorn/Vlamingii... I would like to hear opinions on the tangs that I am thinking of and I am aware that the unicorn/Vlamingii as a full grown adult would not be a good candidate for the tank. That being said I have discussed the idea with a friend who has a rather large tank and access to even larger tanks. This friend has offered to take on the care of said large fish once his accommodations become too cramped. Now we all know that the path to hell is paved with good intentions so honestly, what do ya think?

Finally a question for the community. I have recently made a list of next step projects for the tank (excessively long and pie in the sky). Some are simple and some are going to take a minute but here they are: Dosing Pump and containers, tank computer (vertex V1 still collecting dust), rework the wires that come out of the canopy and into the base of the stand, start a phyto + Copepod culture, lunar lights, computer fan project in the canopy, battery backup for when the worst happens, whole house generator for when the world falls apart, screen tops to replace the light diffusers, hardwired internet connection strung for tank, increase water pressure for RO/DI unit (currently 50 - 55 psi but no tds), RO/DI water storage container to go next to my salt mixing station, hook up sink and drainage for laundry sink, look into a new light for fuge and look into miracle mud.

That's the quick list that I put together just before posting this up. Any suggestions you can think of or projects ya'll are meaning to get to on your own tanks? Well thanks for catching up with me and I'll post some pictures soon! Take care ya'll and I appreciate all the support and guidance.
 

neil82

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#25
Nice update! Sorry about the lawnmower, but give it another try. I'm not a tang expert, so I'll let others help out in that department. Seems like boosting pressure into RODI, setting up water storage container, and plumbing in utility sink would be worth while and relatively inexpensive. Dosing system would be helpful, especially if you're going to focus on corals. Might want to consider calcium reactor for system your size. If the world falls apart, I'll just post here to see if I can borrow a generator.
 

Pth03001

Amphipod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#26
Afternoon everyone,


So I have run into a situation that I have not experienced before. My fish list for my tank and stocking schedule I created was suppose to avoid any aggression issues in the tank and well... I have obviously failed in that venture. As part of my additions I have just recently added a Yellow Eyed Kole Tang into my tank last night. I had him in my QT system for the last 3 weeks (nearly) and she was doing great. In the last few days though I had run into an issue with the QT tank and an uncontrollable Ammonia spike. After 3 days of increasingly large water changes, adding a new seeded biological sponge and using Prime I found that I could not get ahead of the Ammonia. Once I saw what I perceived as signs of Ammonia poisoning I weighing the options decided to add in the Kole and lawnmower blenny into the tank.


That all being said I have gone for "peaceful" fish because I want this hobby to be relaxing. SO, I put the Kole in last night about 30 minutes before lights out. I thought that this would give the fish a good opportunity to look around but then lights would go out she could settle in over night. Fast forward to today and my wife texted me to say that our male square spot anthias did not approve of our new addition. I know from my research that A) anthias are generally peaceful except for with fish of their own type due to hierarchy in their group and male female domination factors and B) all fish are different and sometimes you just get a dick of a fish... Well Jamie the Square Spot Anthias is a dick. He had only displayed a little pushiness before and that was generally reserved to his girlfriend and our fox face rabbit fish.


Other helpful information for the tank is that everything is in order as of this past weekend. The Nitrates and Ammonia are at 0, Phosphate is 0.03, pH is steady at 8.0 and Alk is at 7.5. I have been feeding 3 times a day with 2 auto doses of pellets and 1 of a frozen food of some sort. Usually the tank get a piece of nori a day as well for Mr. Foxface.


Leading up to the attack my wife explained that the Kole was minding her own business, cruising around to picking on the rocks. Then the Anthias just jumped her. Ill attach a photo to show you what I mean. All the marks on the skin are new, along with the torn fins. After the attack she went into hiding. I don't know what the anthias is doing now but I have my wife trying to go out and get a fish trap/acclimation box for the Kole. I know that this is a little late for it but maybe ill be able to sequester one of the two. I also had her feed the tank so that maybe the dick.... I mean anthias will get a full belly and not feel in competition for food.


So my plan now is to try and separate if I can. Placing the kole in the trap would be my preferred option but I don’t know how possible that is. We also placed a mirror next to the tank to try and get the anthias to pay attention to himself instead of her. I am thinking of increasing the feeding and monitoring for increased nutrients in the tank. What do ya’ll think though? What would you do with the injuries to the Kole Tang as well?
 

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
#27
Try turning the lights off for a few days. Generally helps keep the aggression minimized for the first few days so they adjust a bit better.
I am not sure I would rush to try and get him back out, unless his life is in danger, as that will likely just cause more stress on everyone.
Squarebacks are the known jerks of anthias, but usually they can adjust once everybody is in their place and knows the rules.
You can try the mirror trick too. Dont know if it will work with anthias, but works pretty good with tangs and foxfaces. A mirror on the side of the tank often will get territorial fish attacking their reflection thinking its a rival. This can help divert some of their aggression from the new addition.
 

Pth03001

Amphipod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#28
Try turning the lights off for a few days. Generally helps keep the aggression minimized for the first few days so they adjust a bit better.
I am not sure I would rush to try and get him back out, unless his life is in danger, as that will likely just cause more stress on everyone.
Squarebacks are the known jerks of anthias, but usually they can adjust once everybody is in their place and knows the rules.
You can try the mirror trick too. Dont know if it will work with anthias, but works pretty good with tangs and foxfaces. A mirror on the side of the tank often will get territorial fish attacking their reflection thinking its a rival. This can help divert some of their aggression from the new addition.
Thank you SynDen for the quick response! It is super stressful to be at work and not be able to be hands on with the tank. Currently my wife has deployed the new fish trap in the tank and is awaiting Jamie (Anthias) to fall into her trap. We are going to lay off of any netting or chasing unless truly necessary for the Kole. We are currently trying the mirror too and we shall see. I am going to judge where the tank is when I get home and maybe go into blackout mode once I get home. If I haven't before I would like to mention how awesome my wife is! She is always on top of things with the tank and I am so fortunate.
 

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
#29
If you do catch it in the trap, you can use the trap as an acclimation box. Just leave the tang in there until aggression from others calms down, then let him out again. Usually a day or two will be fine
 

Pth03001

Amphipod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#30
So it has been another minute since I have written an update on the tank or posted pictures (which I had promised on an earlier and never delivered on, I'm a terrible blogger). So updates since the last posts:

-Tank aggression issues have been solved! Kind of... So we ended up implementing the trap into the tank to catch Jamie our male Square Spot Anthias. He was too smart for this ploy and never went into the trap. He would go near the opening, peck at the (exterior) bottom and sides when food was added and generally tease us into
ext to the tank hoping he'd venture in. I ended up feeling like wile e coyote by the end of the experience in trying to capture the road runner. Then I tried something different, I decided to turn the lights off and while equipped with a red light headlamp I was able to capture the yellow eyed kole tang who had not fully acclimated to the tank and did not immediately know where to go to find a hiding spot. Great success! We placed her into the acclimation box along with a PVC pipe with nori attached via elastic bangs on the side of the pipe. We kept her in there for 4 to 5 days while aggression lessoned and she got more confident inside the box. She has been out for about a month now and she is doing well. There is still flashing and chasing ever now and again but she has found spots to avoid and escape them. Also every once in a while there is a torn fin but nothing at all like we saw when she was first introduced.

- Lawnmower blenny 2.0: so we placed the lawnmower into the tank and he was unmolested by any of the occupants and getting on just fine. He seemed to be breathing more normally and slamming his face into spots of algea. All was well in both or our lives until one day when I found him in the overflow. I don't know if anyone else has had this experience but the lawnmower we had would make a habbit of swimming up the walls of the tank and then back down to a new perch. I surmise that on one occasion, instead of going along the glass he traveled up the side of the overflow, just perfectly to a small U shaped gap between the overflow box and the return line. he entered in there and then was unable to get though one of the baffles and died. THIS SUCKED SO BAD! My wife and I loved this little guy and he always made us laugh as he went around the tank head banging. I think it will be a while until we try a lawnmower again, my wife is not so happy with our recent luck or lack there of . We are probably going to try a diamond goby as we had first planned. Our plan is to call him Brian after my father, who is a bit of a neat freak.

- Over the last couple weeks my wife and I also splurged a bit and grabbed a bunch of new coral and a few pieces of new equipment. I ended up finding a great guy (Joe from Littleton off 470) via craigslist who was fragging and some of his coral and selling pieces off. We went over looking to browse a little bit and left with 10 new pieces lol. We have firmly stepped foot into SPS territory, adding some acro (green slimmer, birds nest coral, purple acro, blue green acropora tenuis and blue pocillopora) Also got a couple new zoa's for the garden (rasta and green dragon eyes). All said and done it was great to meet another reefer and chat about all the beautiful coral he had in his tank. Also he gave us a great deal, throwing in some pieces for free while he was at it! We got home from our adventure, acclimated and used revive to make sure all the corals were all clear. After that I placed all the new coral in the tank and for the first time I felt like the tank was getting crowded. So I need a bigger tank LOL!

Well I am finishing up with the gluing and my phone goes off. It is Stone Aquatics advising they are closing their doors and a liquidation sale had started. I don't know about anyone else but I love this store. It was close to home and was always figured into my weekly plans (super dangerous to have your LFS be 10 min from home and on my way to work!). I also seemed to get healthy fish and coral from then every time I went. Again this could be just a personal experience but they were my go to. This all being said I hardly had to convince my wife into getting back into the car and heading down to Stone to say thank you for all the help, advise and cool additions they helped me make for my tank. While there we ended up grabbing a new acan colony which my wife had been eyeing for a long time and a pink tipped frogspawn that I passed on the week previous. I also grabbed a new Biopellet reactor by reef octopus to replace my homemade phosban 150 which was a ticking time bomb to be honest. I had issues since I diy'ed it at the beginning of my build. The problem was that I could never get all of the pellets moving and there would inevitably be a small clump in the bottom which would start to turn into a off colored mess. I was afraid that one day I would knock it just the wrong way while trying to clean it and it would come loose and poison my tank. So that disaster has been averted and the reef octopus is working like a champ! I only run about 1/4 of the maximum for my tank because I don't want to overdue biopellets and strip the tank.

While there I also ended up getting a dosing pump for the aquarium. I decided for my level of experience and to the ease of use that I would use a dosing pump for now and then upgrade down the line to a calcium reactor when I get more experienced and comfortable with the setup. I ran through a number of articles and youtube videos on the calcium reactor and dosing pump and at the end of the day the dosing pump stressed me out less. Stone had the Kamoer x4 wifi dosing pump for a great price and I bit the bullet. It certainly has been a learning experience and the setup instructions have not been very intuitive but with the help of a great setup video on youtube by coralvue I got it running. An additional gripe to go along with the first, they did not give me enough tubing for the cal and alk lines. It was a small issue but still an issue. So I have been dosing for a minute now and testing every day to see where my levels are, and they are looking good!

Lastly I went to reef-ed this past weekend and cruised around the tables looking fro a new mushroom for a low light area and a clam if I could locate a healthy one. I saw much more that I wanted but found what I was looking for. Both have been added and I feel like, for the minute, my tank is full with everything I want (coral wise) in the tank. I wish I could have stayed longer but family obligations and honey-do's needed attention. I was going to go to Stone again but I think I missed out as today is their last day open (to my knowledge) and I don't leave work till well after they close. Probably best for my bank account but still I would have like to say good bye and best of luck.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying any new additions to their tanks from our latest meeting. I'll post again soon(er or later) and happy reefing!
into spending far too long n View attachment 11672 View attachment 11673 View attachment 11674 View attachment 11675 View attachment 11676
 

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
#32
Really digging the rock work. That should fill in nicely
 
Top