Novahobbies official 110g rebuild thread

S

siptang

Guest
Rick, you may want to get that chalice away from everything... those eyes will have sweepers come out in the middle of the night. Torching everything in it's path.
Everything looks fantastic!!! Great job buddy!!!
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Thanks, I did exactly that.

I thought I'd put in a little update here. Sad news: My so-called "H. diphreutes" was NOT, I say, NOT a diphreutes. Rather, he was a polyp-eating, coral-munching, H. acuminatus demon. Funny thing was, he never acted out when I was near the tank. Guess he was too busy begging for food. But when I wasn't in sight, he tied on a little fishy bib and went to town on the SPS smörgåsbord I had apparently laid out for him. My corals have taken a beating, let me tell you. To sum up, he has obliterated:
My orange birdsnest, my Red Birdsnest, and 99% of my Green polyp birdsnest (one of my favorites). He tore apart my Rainbow Stylophora, a good portion of my green Poci, and ate ALL the polyps off of the yellow scroll coral. He also ate all the exposed flesh (but interestingly, not the polyps) of my green pagoda. He destroyed a beautiful and rather large purple acro. And finally, he powered through some purple joker palys and some random zoas.

Obviously this didn't happen overnight, but neither was it terribly slow. This was all the product of about a month's time. Because I never saw him doing it, I thought I had a coral-eating worm...especially because it seemed like much of the damage would occur at night. I spent a few late night hours observing the tank, but I never saw any worm or other nocturnal critter chowing down. The butterfly, it seems, never sleeps. He would constantly be awake and begging at the glass during these nighttime stakeouts.

I finally realized what was going on when I was far away from the tank. Although I was still within eyeshot, the fish didn't know I was watching, so I got to see his true colors in all their terrible glory. He'd cruise from coral to coral, hitting each poor specimen with a machine gun "powpowpowpow" before moving off. I was floored. And furious. This is one ungentle butterfly.

So, his living arrangements have been reassigned. Thanks to a gent who lent me his fish trap, I spent 90 minutes yesterday "fishing" in my tank. It was an onerous task, but less so IMHO than breaking down the whole bloody tank. I moved him into the bedroom tank for now, so he ought to be happy for a while.

In the meantime, since I finally got him out, I decided to revamp a couple items in the aquarium. First, I can now put the MACNA purchases into the big tank (hooray)! Second, I'm going to remove my birdsnest skeletons and try to regrow them if there's any tissue I could possibly frag. Finally, I'm going to do some work on the tank itself: I have two WP40's that should be arriving in the next 2 weeks which will SIGNIFICANTLY increase the flow in my tank. I have a TLF Kalk stirrer on order so I can convert my ATO into a kalkwasser doser (hoping this will also increase my pH a little; it's always on the low side to me). And to top it all off, I'm going to rebuild my canopy and increase the height to get the LEDs a little farther away from the water surface. I've been frustrated by the difficulty in moving the lights back and forth when I'm working in the tank, and a taller canopy will also allow me to install clear netting screens over the top. Considering that I may be getting a very rare fish in the future.....the net top is 100% essential to me at this point.

And no....I will not say what rare fish. :) Because at this point it's all "if's" and "maybe's." But the opportunity....and risk.....is too good to pass up.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I hate that happened man. I haven't had a good go of it either lately. A powerhead blew up in my tank yesterday and killed everything in my ten gallon.

Sounds like you are going to get the tank back on track. That's awesome that you got those two powerheads. I am anxious to see how they perform on your tank!

Keep us posted man
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Augh! Was it one of those K3 pumps? Or something else?

I'm cautiously optimistic about those Jebao powerheads. I know a few people who have had them in the tank for a little less than a year with no issues. At least I can be comfortable in the fact that only 12 volts is going into the system should anything fail.

The group buy administrator just got word today that the pumps shipped. So, probably 2 weeks from now for that score. Now I need to start considering the best way to rebuild the canopy.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
GL with the new pumps, Rick. Sorry to hear about the pest but look forward to seeng the changes and potential new additions.
P.S. it isn't the volts you have to worry about, it's the current (amps) that will do the damage.
 

meowzer

Moderator
It's always something :(

I have a WP40 and so far love it.....I only have the 6 channel controller....but I did get another power supply as Richard suggested ;)

I am using it on my 54bowfront.....
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
...still here! Current stock list: Green Mandarin, Mystery Wrasse, Potter's Angel, Desjardini Tang, Bartlett's Anrthias, Dispar Anthias, Blue-headed Fairy Wrasse, McCosker's Flasher Wrasse, Leopard Wrasse, Pylei Wrasse, Blue Spotted Jawfish, Sailfin Blenny (tho' I almost never see that little speck). The Picasso Clown is in the bedroom tank. :)
 

trigger40

Well-Known Member
hows that potters angel doing? i wanted one but shied away because of ther reputation for be one of the hardest fish to care for. awsom looking tank and love the rock work.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Potters are finicky, it's true. I learned a lot getting this one acclimated. And I lost 2 in qt before this one. Here are a couple tips...
1) QT. This is one of those fish that REALLY needs it. It needs some alone time to get used to prepared foods, and there are some meds you will need. A 10g barebottom with a cheap filter and heater is all you need.
2) Don't buy without watching him eat. Ask the Lfs to feed. If he's already showing interest in frozen foods, your battle is half over. In the same thought...make sure the specimen you are buying is active, clear-eyed, and has good muscle mass on its flanks.
3) Now we're getting a little specific. Potters Angels are very, VERY susceptible to internal parasites. They will almost always be carrying gut bugs. I recommend dosing Prazipro for 2 cycles. It's easy, can be administered directly to the tank, and helps a LOT.
4) It may be necessary to give the fish a couple freshwater baths. The ones I had ALL had gill flukes. The Prazipro does a good job on these, but you can remove the flukes and provide immediate relief with a 5 minute freshwater bath....the little buggers will pop right off.

That's the advice I can think of off the top of my head. Once acclimated with at least Prazipro in the qt, they are great community fish and are not shy at all.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Doh! I forgot to to add my Naoko's Wrasse to that list. And a Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse in qt. Apparently I'm a wrasse man.
 

trigger40

Well-Known Member
Potters are finicky, it's true. I learned a lot getting this one acclimated. And I lost 2 in qt before this one. Here are a couple tips...
1) QT. This is one of those fish that REALLY needs it. It needs some alone time to get used to prepared foods, and there are some meds you will need. A 10g barebottom with a cheap filter and heater is all you need.
2) Don't buy without watching him eat. Ask the Lfs to feed. If he's already showing interest in frozen foods, your battle is half over. In the same thought...make sure the specimen you are buying is active, clear-eyed, and has good muscle mass on its flanks.
3) Now we're getting a little specific. Potters Angels are very, VERY susceptible to internal parasites. They will almost always be carrying gut bugs. I recommend dosing Prazipro for 2 cycles. It's easy, can be administered directly to the tank, and helps a LOT.
4) It may be necessary to give the fish a couple freshwater baths. The ones I had ALL had gill flukes. The Prazipro does a good job on these, but you can remove the flukes and provide immediate relief with a 5 minute freshwater bath....the little buggers will pop right off.

That's the advice I can think of off the top of my head. Once acclimated with at least Prazipro in the qt, they are great community fish and are not shy at all.
WOW... that fish sounds like a fun project! im going to have a 40g with some inverts and a cople fish. do you think ill be able to keep one in there? and how long have you had the potters if you dont mind me asking?
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Ordinarily I would say no....a 55g is probably the minimum safe tank (4 feet of swimming room) for this fish. If you're absolutely set on getting it, be aware that it will most likely be the dominant fish in a tank that small, so don't get anything that might compete with it for space. Make sure the other couple fish you get are smaller and easygoing. No damsels. The angel as the "display fish" should go in last.....and be aware that aggressive personalities tend to be more obvious in smaller spaces. Here's a slightly better shot of the Potters. As to how long I've had him.....I'm not sure. Somewhere in the 18-month range I think. In fact his purchase date may be somewhere in this very long thread...
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Wow...got lucky. The Potter's is just a hair over 18 months exactly. He came out of QT on Feb 24th, 2013. It's on page 51 of this thread.
 

trigger40

Well-Known Member
so you think i can get away with it? ther would be a pair of clowns and a dart fish would go with it. i also have a 15g qt. i have the 40g right know but i have my baby triggers in ther untill i upgrade in march. that angel fish has very impresive colors and thats why its my favorite angel.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
It's possible, as long as you aren't doing more than those 4 fish. And absolutely not until you get any baby triggers out of there...lol....so wait for that upgrade and move the triggers first.
 

trigger40

Well-Known Member
It's possible, as long as you aren't doing more than those 4 fish. And absolutely not until you get any baby triggers out of there...lol....so wait for that upgrade and move the triggers first.
lol im not that dumb to put a potters in with any trigger in any size tank. are potters sensative copper for ich. it seems like the top parisite the fish from my lfs carry is ich. so i get how to take care of gut bugs and gill flukes but can i treat this with copper while doing all the other things you think. or do it one at a time.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Heh, just making sure, mate. I don't know you from Adam if you know what I mean. As for copper, I wouldn't. MOST small angels are sensitive to copper. In fact, I wouldn't treat for ich unless I saw it on the fish. I'd do a week's prazipro, then give him his full 4 weeks in qt. Don't skimp. ;-) If he comes down with ich, I would do either hypo salinity or ******-pro.
Alternately you could do a full 4 weeks of hypo qt after the prazipro, but I'm not a huge huge fan of that approach. Not unless you have a lot of experience with hypo and can check salinity daily and accurately.
Also (just my opinion) if I knew my Lfs had a real problem with ich in their systems, I'd look for a new Lfs.
 

trigger40

Well-Known Member
well its not that they have a problem its just that when the fish does have a problem it tends to be ich. so i think i got it. thanks.
 
Top