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Im looking in columbus and cleavland, columbus is about 2 hours from me, cleaveland about 4, once i find a place that i can pick up the rock, i just need to find the time on the weekend.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Well, ill be putting sand in later this week, i put an order in at my LFS. Im going to start of with about 3 inches and add on where i need it.

I tested my water for the first time today things look fairly good. Ph is 8.2, Ammonia is .25 ppm, Nitrite is .25 ppm and Nitrate is about 5-10 ppm. It needs some more time, but i think its coming along pretty good.

Im not quite sure what fish to put in first, i know obviosly something relativly hardy.

Im still thinking about a pair of maroon clowns w/ thier own anemone. yet, if i do this, i wont be able to house any other clownfish in the tank, even with more than one anemone.

Paracanthurus hepatus is still a favorite, and will be the most active fish.

Nemateleotris magnifica, firefish are also appealing.

Amblygobius rainfordi, the rainford's goby, i had't really looked at this fish at all until matt added one to his 30 gallon reef tank. I think this may be one of my early additions to the tank.

I was looking at a few sand sifting gobies, but i know i will have parts of the tank with caves and a much deeper sandbed for anything that plans on burrowing. such as Valenciennea puellaris.

As for inverts,

Lysmata amboinensis, cleaner shrimp
Tridacna maxima and Tridacna crocea have also caught my eye.
Linckia laevigata, blue Linckia star.

as for corals

Acropora, birdsnest are my two favorite SPS.

Sarcophyton sp, hammer, and maybe frogspawn are three , and finally some bright colored zoo's.

nick

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 17-Dec-2005 18:21

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 17-Dec-2005 18:25

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 17-Dec-2005 19:57

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

I plan on buying a few local, and ordering some online.

The LFS that i depend on for my supplies has some amazing softies. They're just awesome, nice and full, healthy, and not too expensive. for everything else i will probably have to go online, there are some other stores here in cincinnati that have good selection, but they're way far away from me and I just havn't had the time lately to go look at their selection.

I agree, one of the reasons i like softies is because they wave and sway around, i find them very relaxing to watch.

Nick

P.S.- i plan on going premie soon, im just itching to make the jump!/:'

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

I think the normal thing would be to add the most aggressive fish last. This way, the other fish are already established and comfortable when the bully is added. He doesn't have a territory to defend at this point, so he'll be a little bit sweeter.

If you get the aggressive fish first, you have to go crazy with changing the decor around so that he's confused.

Maroon clowns are one of the larger more aggressive clowns, but IME they aren't true bullies and I've never really had a problem with them. And, you have a pretty nice sized tank. That makes things even better.

HTH...


-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

At long last, i finally have come to a scape that i like. Im adding sand this weekend, i know its a little late, but i wanted to wait till after i had the rock in the tank to prevent anything that is going to burrow from toppling the rock, so its just a precaution so the rock is firmly seated on the glass. ill post pictures later tonigt or tomorrow.

Now, ive begun to second guess myself, im not so sure about the maroon clown anymore. I like the fish, but im worried about its aggression. i dont want to have one fish that is super agressive with some other docile tank mates. Im just not postitive about it....And if i do decide to go with the maroon clown, when should i add them? last because of thier highter agression? for territorial purposes? Liana and nate what do you think about this?


nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Nice. Looking forward to seeing it!

Be warned, you'll prolly change your rockscape like half a dozen times. At least.


-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Alright, the rock came in on friday and was put into the tank. It hasnt been sacped yet, i plan to do that later tonight. Ill post some more pictures when i get the chance.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Rock is on its way, its en route being shipped from california. Shippings a little steep, but i got a good deal.

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 04-Dec-2005 20:51

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Alright time for pictures....i know i dont have anything in the tank... yet. Once i get rock and sand in i will add more, then ill get some macro shots of any organisms. Give me a while to upload the picture then i will link to them.

[link=http://community.webshots.com/album/510118572KDBgDW ]http://community.webshots.com/album/510118572KDBgDW [/link]

for some reason it would not let me edit, but that is the link.

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 01-Dec-2005 21:09

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Alright time for pictures....i know i dont have anything in the tank... yet. Once i get rock and sand in i will add more, then ill get some macro shots of any organisms. Give me a while to upload the picture then i will link to them.

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

3 inches of sand is plenty deep enough for NNR...With the jawfish though you will want 6 inches of mixed grade/sizes for them to be happy

Last edited by DarkRealm Overlord at 19-Nov-2005 11:55

alright, im still undecided between a dsb or not.

I may just end up placing some areas with about 2-3 inches of sand, and some others with 4-6. It may end up being kinda slopy, but it'll add some depth to the tank, unfortunatly, it will limit the areas for gobies and jawfish to dig... so i need to plan.

im fixing up my lights and finishing the hood by wednesday, then either wednsday or friday im going up to columbus to buy rock.

im a little late with pictures but ill try to get some up before and after i put rock in.

nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

*Ritualsitically Bows down to nate's feet*

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

hmmm...*cough* [link=http://phishybusiness.com]http://phishybusiness.com" style="COLOR: #FF0000[/link] *cough*

Serdar is excellent to deal with, and will most likely let you pick the pieces you want (size, shape, etc) if you go and pick it up in person....in Columbus

me? huh? what?

whaddya want me to ID?

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Well, looks like things are coming along nicely.

Funny...your coral stocking list looks a lot like what I have in my tank right now.

I loooove acroporas...I wont mention the annoying person who happend to get me hooked on this very expensive genus of corals...*cough* SPS rule.

And birdnests are the bestest. I have a yellow one, who is supposed to have purple polyps...and I'm waiting on finding the perfect pink colony.

I have a GIANT branching froggie that is green and purple. I actually do like some LPS but the down side is those darn sweeper tentacles...they just make everything that much more annoying. You've got a lot more room in your tank though, so you should be fine with a couple nice sized pieces. I like a lot of things from that genus and similar ones. Anchors, Hammers, Frogs, Elegance, Bubbles, etc. The colors can be amazing, and it is fun to see something that moves and sways with the current a lot. Gonioporas and Alveoporas are nice too. All should be kept under MHs.

And I also believe I have the prettiest zoas in the sea. Well, okay, maybe not THE prettiest, but I have some nice ones. Zoas are fun, I like them.

Do you plan on buying locally or ordering online or what?


-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

EDIT: To go on an LPS rant.

Last edited by Ferretfish at 17-Dec-2005 19:18

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

whoa whoa whoa

wait a second

who brought up softies?!

*doesn't like softies*

Especially when mixed with LPS and SPS.

but ohh premieship


-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Bah, unfortunatly you caught my mistake before i did, i didnt mean to say softies, i was just looking at them online swapping back and forth from my post to the site. brain was thinking one thing while the eyes were seeing another

heh...oops

im not a big fan of leathers like
Flower Leather – Sinularia dura, they kinda look like blobs sometimes.

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 17-Dec-2005 20:08

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

okay then

as long as we're on the same page



-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Do you have any highly reccomended online dealers for corals?

right now ive looked at

http://www.platinumreefs.com/
http://www.extremecorals.com/
http://www.reefermadness.us/Seriatophora_hystrix.htm
^^There's the lovely pink birdsnest you spoke of earlier.
and http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?siteid=22&pCatId=597

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

hehe...

the dealers I like are

reeftopia.com

marinedepotlive.com

floridapets.com

liveaquaria.com

fishybusiness.com

ehhh there's more but i'm brain dead

*calls Nate*

got some more links ?

(oh, and always keep in mind, when buying corals from online dealers, that they'll use 20K bulbs, and show REALLY nice color, so expect many times, to be dissapointed)


-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Alright, i tested the water again

Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate is a little high around 16-17 ppm, so i think im going to do a water change tomorrow.

Tomorrow im going to pick up about 210 pounds of reef sand, which will go in tomorrow.

im hoping that a deep sandbed will help bring down the nitrate

nick




Last edited by swiftshark88 at 21-Dec-2005 23:03

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Alright, 160 pounds of sand are in, water checked, good. just waiting for the water to clear up a little. I took some pictures but they're a little cloudy so not very much detail, I plan to take more once the water gets clear.

So the amount of sand worked out great, I now have a DSB.
In the corners of the tank theres about 6 inches of sand, in which i hope to put jawfish (not sure) or maybe some gobies.

sand looks great and there's plenty of it, i was worried that i might not have enought, but i have PLENTY.

Im also starting to get some brown algae build up on the rocks, you can see it in the pictures.

give me a few minutes and ill edit with a link to the pictures.


nick

http://community.webshots.com/album/527751608pOXNjN

comments?

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 24-Dec-2005 00:19

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

*cough* Its www.Phishybusiness.com

www.reefermadness.us
atlantisaquarium.net

those are currently the only 3 that I order from, but I have ordered from

www.cquarium.com before also

Alright, as first fish, how do a pair of Jawfish sound?

I cant decide what to put in first, But i think the maroon clown's are going in last, just because they are territorial.

any ideas?

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Did a water check today

Nitrate looks a little high though. I need to wait and see if the sandbed helps to lower the nitrate at all. If not i can do a water change. Other than that the water looks good,

the SG is hovering between 1.025-1.026.
The PH is about 8.2 and has been staying that way.
Ammonia and Nitrite are both 0.

Since ive updated by pictures, ive had alot of brown hair algae grow. It about doubled from yesterday morning to last night when i turned the lights off. Im debating bringing in some crabs and snails to mow it down, but i really need the Nitrate to drop before i can add anything.

Liana or nate, do you know if the DSB will help all that much, and how long it will take to lower the nitrate, or am i going to have to do a water change. Im going to wait about a week or two, see if theres any difference.

nick

P.S. Merry christmas everyone!



Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

I was reading one of John H. Tullock's books, and he said that Tridacna clams actually thrive in systems with Nitrate.

Good idea or bad idea, in my situation?

My family actually wants to put in Tridacna crocea or maxima, is it a good idea to put it in now because of the higher levels of Nitrate? just a thought.

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

BAHHH!, ive got a hair algae problem, i ordered some crabs that should come in on thursday to help it. I'm still thinking of adding jawfish first, but im tempted to add tangs to knock out this algae.

Ill try and take some pictures, theres definatly one strand thats growing at about 2 inches a day, its already about a foot and a half long. Most of the rocks under direct light have started to get a brown coat on them, and the algae is "pearling" (lots of little bubbles coming off).

so the next question is, jawfish or tangs?

nick



Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Oops, I'll try to catch up here.

DSB's will naturally reduce nitrate, but probably not to the point where you wont have to do water changes. Plus, you gotta give 'em a couple weeks/months to get active and live to see effectiveness.

Clams are filter feeders but will benefit from occasional target feedings. I wouldn't put one in with HIGH nitrAte, that's no good for any animal really. If it's at a safe level somewhat near undetectable, then you should have no problem adding 'em, as long as you have enough light. (I cant remember the wattage over this tank...)

Jawfish are cool, but have special requirements. They seem to be quite the fad fish lately. Everyones talking about 'em. Unfortunately, they need a DSB with multiple sized grains to burrow and hide the way they like to. You need to make sure that they wont be caved in on.

So, I say tangs. The thing with tangs though, is lets say you want a yellow, a hippo, and a naso, just for example. You'd prolly have to add them all at the same time to avoid aggression between the three. That way one isn't dominant over the other or anything.

At least, I think that's how it goes.

HTH


-Ferret [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Well, time for an update, the nitrates are down to a safe level, so i added some livestock.

Two Tridacna Maxima clams! One is a nice blue purple and the other is green and black striped. I drip acclimated them with an iv kit (had one in the basement cause my dads a doctor(works perfectly)). Everything went perfect! They're alittle on the small side, but i like them, they're about 1-3/4" to 2".

The tangs i know that i was going to have to add them at the same time because of agression. I was only planning on hippo, but only on the fact that ive heard many people say that yellow's should be kept alone, just because they tend to be more territorial. Another reason id go with the tang's is because the algae is getting out of control.

Speaking of algae, the glass started to get covered with it, but it seems to have stopped. It was all brown algae and hair, but it seems to have slowed to a halt and some green is coming in now.

I'll post some pictures of the clams and the algae tomorrow

Now on to the jawfish,

1. I have the DSB, and plenty of it.
2. There are various sized grains of sand all the way up to small pebble sized and broken shells.

the only thing that concers me is the special requirements part, Are they going to get picked on, even though i plan on adding generally peaceful fish? If they're going to be the only bottom dwelling fish, and they have plenty of nooks, crannies and caves. I think i have all of their special needs covered, but i just want to make sure.

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Got some pictures of the corals. Liana, do you think you can give me an id on my sps frag?

My torch is doing wonderful and is in the ideal place in the tank, getting intermittent flow. Its larger than it was even in the store.

The hammer on the other hand doesn't seem open all the way. It was open larger in the store, and last night, but today its maybe 3/4 of the way, i don't know if i should move it to an area of higher flow, Right now, its just below one of the outputs, so it doesn't have direct flow on it, it has it going directly over it. Any suggestions?

Nick

The first link is one to the macro gallery, the second is just normal shots. (i actually got some great macro's of the sps!)


http://community.webshots.com/photo/540597851gloBba

http://community.webshots.com/photo/540580454kHrEoe

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 09-Jan-2006 20:23

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Picture update in a few days,

EDIT: the pictures i took i wasn't happy with, then i kind of lost interest got bored and stopped trying, so ill try to get some up before i go back to school.

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 02-Jan-2006 00:38

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

my sps frag

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Well the torch is doing fine, but the two smallest branches on the hammer have died, completely shrunken away.

The sps isnt having any problems at all and has gotten darker.
Im still waiting on an ID from someone *cough*Liana*cough*

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

That happens as a part of the stress of shipping sometimes. At least I notice that some specimens come into the store, look terrible for a couple days, one or more heads die off, the rest survives, and I'm pretty sure the dead stalks never grow anything back.

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 15-Jan-2006 20:11

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Good news, torch is opened back up again, so has the hammer, but that one branch on the hammer is still gone.

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

bad news, the torch has shrunken dramatically,the full size of the torch was about the size of a softball, now each of its arms is about 1/2 inch long, theres definatly something wrong. and one of the six heads on the hammer has compeletly dissapeared. Im very concered, all of the parameters are fine and nothing has changed in the tank.

I topped off the water level, the water was treated, salt added to the right sg, and the temp was fine.

Im feeding phytoplankton regularly and replenishing trace elements.

They were fine earlier today when i got home, but at about 6 o'clock they started to shrink.

The SPS is doing fine.

What do you think is wrong?

Edit: the temperature was about 2 degrees higher than normal, at about 80.

Last edited by swiftshark88 at 12-Jan-2006 21:10

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Well, update time, my dad offered to buy me some coral, and my tank parameters have stayed stable, so we went to a LFS.

They had some awesome LPS there, so i ended up getting a large hammer and a torch, and an SPS frag.

Ill take some pcitures once they get into the tank and open up.

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Alright, well ive noticed some things appering in the tank. Theres about three tiny things that have popped up and i just have no idea where they came from or what they are. I can try to get some pictures of them, but its kinda hard, they're just so darn small and the glass is so thick it will be hard to get a shot.

The first is a small green patch, very vividly colored, it looks almost like a very small LPS polyp, but that doesnt make any sense. Another is much like the first, but purple in color, and it's not coralline.

Ill try to take a picture of them, but i dont know how they will turn out.


Also, i plan on adding either some fish, or possibly and anemone for a clownfish to host in within the next week. I went to a LFS last week and they had some wonderful LPS and SPS frags, pretty big for very cheap! I was excited but i didnt have any money on me , and i know its bad to impulse buy.

Nick

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

i knw tht just looks as if the glass is bowing