Building my 56 gallon Column reef tank

monsinour

Active Member
So let me alter the list then:
1x coral beauty/flame angel - This we pay for
2x scarlet hermits (cuz i have heard they eat cyno & it would make Evie happy) - reef rewards
1x fighting conch (cuz it would be cool to have 2 again) - reef rewards
Corals, lots & lots o corals - reef rewards (might be able to only get 1)
1x skunk - would have to pay for if the missus is ok with it
The coral is currently out of stock here. I dont see a way to get a good deal on shipping other than spending $80 on stuff and then having to purchase the fish as well. I dont think $130 is gonna fly.
Dont want the emeralds to be eating my "bonsi trees" and the red bubbles should be eaten by the angel. I just pruned about a foot and a half total length of the bubbles and tossed it out as I dont have a box to ship to Gemmy and I didnt make it to the local club meeting.
 

meowzer

Moderator
Which coral were you looking for? Scarlets don't always eat cyano.....I think they may if there is no other food offered....just like the emeralds that ate the bubble algae for me....that was all they had to feed on
 

monsinour

Active Member
The crabs would make my daughter happy. So if they ate cyno, it would be a bonus. I think what we are going to do is get the angel locally and then pick and choose $80 of stuff from the free ship store, use the $50 in certs, and cash in some reward points. Probably get the best bang for our buck that way.
 

kiefers

Active Member
I had a mutated emerald crap EAT my elegance coral. Came downstairs one morning and there he was eating away and plucking off the tenticles. I thought #$&^% and moved him away. He came right back and finished it off. This crab was bigger than a quarter and shiney dark green!! His claws were bigger than his body! Dang!! I found him dead 3 weeks later.
 

monsinour

Active Member
We will be going to the LFS to get the coral beauty tomorrow. I hope that they have one in stock. I still have the cart here and I am debating just going ahead and ordering it. I wanted to sit down with the wife so that we could agree on what we were getting but it never happened. I do know that I have to work on the new bus tomorrow so maybe the missus will be doing the acclimation on the fish.
My daughter starts her swimming lessons tomorrow so we will have 2 new fish, so to speak, tomorrow.
 

kiefers

Active Member
hey come to think of it my 56G comrad... you were to get me an update pic of your tank. Took some and posted mine. go check it out and give me some ideas
 

mylady

Member
OK, we got the coral beauty today. Finally, something blue in the tank! We tried to take pictures, but our subject wasn't the most cooperative, so I'll post the best we have.


 

kiefers

Active Member
Nice CB. He will like it in there. Mine love to go in and out of the rock work. (lemonpeel and pygmy)
 

monsinour

Active Member
The desired effect has taken place. The CB is king of the tank and nothing has even remotely attempted any type of agression towards it. The wrasse has appeared to calm down a little too. This CB has beautiful colors. I have seen it picking at the rocks but it didnt eat when I fed the tank. It could be that its too new to the tank and didnt know what was going on. I expect to see it eating tomorrow.
I finally have something that my wife thinks is blue in the tank. Yippie!
 

monsinour

Active Member
So falcor bit off a chunk of the algea strip and spit it into the current. When a little bit of it floated past his face, he ate it. So now I know that falcor is eating the strip for sure. I was assuming before, but now I know. I also know that the wrasse, orchid, skunk shrimp, nassi snails, and Larry the fighting conch eat it.
I was watching Bob, the coral beauty (my family hates me for naming him that), and he ate some of the brine this morning and some of the mysis this evening. I have seen him picking at the rocks and the sand bed so I know he is eating. His color is great. I cant wait to get a better pic of him and post it. Looks like we will be ordering stuff from the free ship store this week. So the new additions will continue later this week.
When I do my water change later this week, I will attempt to rearrange the rock work back to where it was before the diatom/cyno issues. Its the last attempt to not have to buy another PH for the tank. This stuff started showing up around the last rock moving day as well as when we started feeding the tank the plankton. I dont move the rocks frequintly, but the past few times I had to retrieve stuff that the urchin knocked down. In the process of doing that, I would shift the rocks and some would fall. So I hope that when I do this, I dont make too much of a mess. I am thinking about moving the rocks before I take any water out so more detrius gets into the water column. Sound right yes?
I also got the Kent phytoplankton to feed the tank. That was the better stuff than what I had right?
A LFS, well in mass so not that local, has a special group buy setup for ATI bulbs. I will be able to get them 4 and 5 dollars cheaper than anywhere I have seen online and there wont be a shipping charge. I just have to make a 3 hour round trip drive to get them. Odds are, when they come in, we will visit my father in law as he lives out that way.
 

kiefers

Active Member
I would like to have a CB but I already have 2 Angels, they have buddied up and will make short work of the CB.
 

btldreef

Moderator
The Coral Beauty looks great!
And yes, move the rocks around before the water change. If you're going to go this route, I'd suggest doing a slightly bigger than usual water change just to get the extra cr@p out of the water.
 

mylady

Member
We think our duncans are dying. Half the frag looks to be dead or dying and the other half isnt doing so hot. I will take a pic and post it later. Here are the water readings
80 Degrees F
SG 1.024
dKH 7.5
Phosephate .25
Calcium 420
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10/20 new test/old test
pH 7.8
Any thoughts?
 
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