Acrid's 65g reef tank diary (pic heavy)

acrid

acrid

Member
Hello! I have nothing but time on my hands, so I thought I'd start my own tank diary. This tank has been set up for around 2 months (give or take).
Equipment:
- 65 gallon glass tank with overflow
- 15 gallon DIY acrylic sump/refugium
- Coralife PC Light (96 watts, Actintic/10k split)
- Coralife Metal Hallide Light (150 watts, 14k)
- Lunar Lights (x2, blue)
- ViaAqua 3300 (sump return pump; 1,000gph)
- Koralia 2 PH (600gph)
- Koralia 3 PH (850gph)
- ViaAqua VA80 PH (79gph; corner of tank that collected debris)



Rock & Substrate:
Currently there is about an 1 1/2" sandbed of crushed coral. There is around 80-90 lbs of various types of live rock (Fiji, Tonga, Timora).
Full Tank Shot (4-27-08)

A close-up of my favorite part
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Clean-Up Crew:Snails
- Nassarius (15)
- Nerite: Pacific & Caribbean (15)
- Cerith (2)
- Margarita (4)
- Astraea (2)
- Zebra Turbo (1)
- Fighting Conch (1)
Hermits
- Scarlet Reef (4)
- Red Leg (4)
- Blue Leg (6)
- Jade Leg (1) - This guy seems to be a filter feeder, he has little fans like my porcelain crab!
- Yellow Tip (7)
- Electric Blue (2)
- Halloween (1)
Other Inverts:
- Emerald Mithrax (1) - Had 3. One tore 2 legs off another, so he lives in the sump. Another (the one w/ 2 missing legs!) kept picking at my bubble coral, so he is temporarily in the QT.
- Porcelain Crab (1)
- Peppermint Shrimp (1)
- Cleaner Shrimp (1)
- Sexy Shrimp (2)
- Blood Red Fire Shrimp (1)
- Blue Tuxedo Urchin (1)
- Hawaiian Feather Duster (1)



Fish:
- Gold Striped Maroon Clownfish
- Purple Firefish Goby


The clownfish's fins have gained a lot of black in the last few weeks. Here is an older photo.

The torn fins turned out to be caused by a little red crab my LFS was safe. Turns out he was not! He lives in the sump now.
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Current Corals:
Soft
Devils' Hand Leather
Cabbage Leather
Metallic Mushrooms
Purple Ricordia Mushroom
Blue Zoanthids
LPS
Hammer Coral
Candy Cane
Galaxea
Bubble coral





When I got my Candy Cane, it was shrunken & skeletal. Then I saw this thread (A cheesy note for Bang Guy!) . Now I feed it (& the rest of my corals) every other day with a mix of 2 types of plankton, coral vitamins, & mysis. Now it looks great & is growing fast. So, thanks for that!
I just ordered a bunch of coral, and have 2 fish on the way. So updates shall follow shortly. In the mean time, thanks for looking & any thoughts.
 
apelaston

apelaston

Member
very nice. I love the maroon clown he is nice and plump. I like the mixture of tonga and figi rock--well placed! Keep up the great work and also the pictures!
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Originally Posted by rebelprettyboy
http:///forum/post/2586865
you have a nice sewtr up going there man! What corals u got coming in?
The corals I have coming in within the next week are:
Montipora Green Cap

Neon Green OG Toadstool

Torch Coral

Green Scolly (like a brain coral)

Black Sun Coral

Pink Pocillopora

Strawberry Millipora

Purple Acropora Prostrata

Acropora Turaki

Acropora Florida

I'll probably split them between my main tank & my nano (which is currently empty) for awhile. Then slowly add them to the main tank, so as to not overload the tank. Or can you even add too many corals at a time? The sun coral I will definately keep in the nano for awhile, until I can get it trained.
Anyways, I am excited. Now it won't look so empty!
 
thehorndaddy

thehorndaddy

Member
Great set-up. Love it!!! What's your experience with the Bubble Coral so far? Is the only thing you feed it cyclop-eeze?
I've recently purchased one and it's looking great, but I'd like to give it the best opportunity to grow. Thanks!!!
 
rara12

rara12

Member
Was the little red crab coral safe? I just got one yesterday, that exact same crab and so far he just kinda sits here or there. He sat on some zoos of mine but didnt look like he did anything. I dont have any fish and really dont plan on any. The LFS said it was reef safe and it was in with anemones and didnt bother them... Should i remove him?
 
acrid

acrid

Member
I love my bubble coral. I have a metal hallide light, and after it turns off the bubble deflates a little. It also deflates when I feed it. I also had a emerald crab pick at it's skeleton, and actually did pick pieces off. But other than that, no problems. Every other day I feed it (and the rest of my corals) a mix of: Marine Snow, frozen Mysis shrimp, Cyclops, Plankton, & a coral "vitamin." Everything is growing pretty fast.
You should post pictures of yours. What color is it?
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
Acrid what program are you using to post pictures? I can only see the last set you added, the first two blanks only come up as read Xs. Evidently my computer doesn't support the program you're using.
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Originally Posted by rara12
http:///forum/post/2587413
Was the little red crab coral safe? I just got one yesterday, that exact same crab and so far he just kinda sits here or there. He sat on some zoos of mine but didnt look like he did anything. I dont have any fish and really dont plan on any. The LFS said it was reef safe and it was in with anemones and didnt bother them... Should i remove him?
He never bothered anything except my clown. I think they are nocturnal. I rarely saw him move, and the fish attacks only happened at night. I love that crab, their eyes are so funny!
Originally Posted by Scopus Tang
http:///forum/post/2587459
Acrid what program are you using to post pictures? I can only see the last set you added, the first two blanks only come up as read Xs. Evidently my computer doesn't support the program you're using.
Weird, both times I inserted the pictures with this website's insert image button... I didn't use a program. They are all hosted at flickr.
 
thehorndaddy

thehorndaddy

Member
Originally Posted by Acrid
http:///forum/post/2587421
I love my bubble coral. I have a metal hallide light, and after it turns off the bubble deflates a little. It also deflates when I feed it. I also had a emerald crab pick at it's skeleton, and actually did pick pieces off. But other than that, no problems. Every other day I feed it (and the rest of my corals) a mix of: Marine Snow, frozen Mysis shrimp, Cyclops, Plankton, & a coral "vitamin." Everything is growing pretty fast.
You should post pictures of yours. What color is it?
Thanks for the info

Here's a picture of my Bubble Coral. Pic isn't that clear though.
Attachment 197236
 
rara12

rara12

Member
Few, had me scared for a little. Hes great! I never see him moving but i do see him. He just kinda freezes when he sees me. Great bright red color! And yeah those little eyes are funny. I think he was a good buy, i paid $8 for mine.
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Originally Posted by rara12
http:///forum/post/2587571
Few, had me scared for a little. Hes great! I never see him moving but i do see him. He just kinda freezes when he sees me. Great bright red color! And yeah those little eyes are funny. I think he was a good buy, i paid $8 for mine.
That's what I paid for mine as well. It was weird, because he was in my tank for almost 2 weeks before he attacked my clownfish. And only my clown, he never bothered my firefish or anything else as far as I could tell. I didn't want to believe it was him, but as soon as I removed him to my sump the torn fins stopped.
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
Originally Posted by Acrid
http:///forum/post/2587503
Weird, both times I inserted the pictures with this website's insert image button... I didn't use a program. They are all hosted at flickr.
Ah . . . bet the school has this site blocked for images. Thanks
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Originally Posted by TheHorndaddy
http:///forum/post/2587516
Thanks for the info

Here's a picture of my Bubble Coral. Pic isn't that clear though.
That's cool, it looks similar to mine. Have you tried to spot feeding it? Mine closes up and you can see it's mouth. It also closes waaaaay up once my hallides go off, and even more once the PCs turn off. It looks like it is dying, freaks me out almost every time. (I worry often.)
 
acrid

acrid

Member
New Additions: 2 Blue Reef Chromis
These arrived today and will be living in the QT until June. There is no light in the cabinet the QT is housed in right now. I will either be adding an LED strip or the PC currently over my sump. I would rather add the PC & use it as a frag tank sometimes. But will calupera/chaeto grow under LEDs?

You can see the blue highlights a little more in this picture. I hope they are brighter under real lights.
 
thehorndaddy

thehorndaddy

Member
Originally Posted by Acrid
http:///forum/post/2588025
That's cool, it looks similar to mine. Have you tried to spot feeding it? Mine closes up and you can see it's mouth. It also closes waaaaay up once my hallides go off, and even more once the PCs turn off. It looks like it is dying, freaks me out almost every time. (I worry often.)
Mine also has been closing up when I feed the fish. I guess that might mean it's picking up some drifting food. I haven't tried spot feeding it yet, but will try tonight. It also closes up when the daylights turn off and then closes WAY up (only a few small bubbles remain somewhat inflated) when the actinics turn off for the night. I have moon light LEDs that turn on later too, but it doesn't seem to care for those either.
 
acrid

acrid

Member
Originally Posted by TheHorndaddy
http:///forum/post/2588768
Mine also has been closing up when I feed the fish. I guess that might mean it's picking up some drifting food. I haven't tried spot feeding it yet, but will try tonight. It also closes up when the daylights turn off and then closes WAY up (only a few small bubbles remain somewhat inflated) when the actinics turn off for the night. I have moon light LEDs that turn on later too, but it doesn't seem to care for those either.
Good to know it's not just mine that looks dead at night. I really wish it wouldn't though...
More pictures of the Blue Reef Chromis. The second fish came out from hiding between the rocks in the QT. It looks much different than the other one, which is weird.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top