Neptunes 125 Reef Diary.

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3124273
Where is this aquarium room located?
I was thinking of taking a drive up to barrier reef tomorrow. It's not a big store by any means but they had nice corals last time I was in there.
Other side of the property(that mess I cleaned up a few pages back). There is an old garage that was converted into a spare apartment for whatever. Right now the apartment portion upstairs is getting re-modeled so I am stuck living upstairs in the main house with mom and dad.

But I am a college student so this is the best solution till I get my degree. I can handle being lame for a few more years. I honestly don't really mind though. I love it out hear in the country. Lots of space and green, not like living in the city, or rural areas.
Barrier reef is hands down my favorite place. Really far, but they are so pristine it is worth the trip.
Have you been to wild side? The new kids she has working there are getting better at the maintenance. They are still young, but the main guy seems to know his stuff, and hs good at helping, even when they get swamped.
The stock lately has been pretty lame, I personally don't care for what they have, or how they keep the fish. I think a trigger needs a little more room than a 20g. And they could really stand an upgrade on their filtration.
But for the most part, the owner talks directly to the divers every two weeks. Often via satellite phone right off shore within minutes of them hitting the surface. So chances are, if you want a fish. She can get it for you. She is also picky about the people she buys from.
ex: she wont buy from people who use dynamite to stun the fish to the surface. Or illegally harvest out of season.
 

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3124995
Other side of the property(that mess I cleaned up a few pages back). There is an old garage that was converted into a spare apartment for whatever. Right now the apartment portion upstairs is getting re-modeled so I am stuck living upstairs in the main house with mom and dad.

But I am a college student so this is the best solution till I get my degree. I can handle being lame for a few more years. I honestly don't really mind though. I love it out hear in the country. Lots of space and green, not like living in the city, or rural areas.
Barrier reef is hands down my favorite place. Really far, but they are so pristine it is worth the trip.
Have you been to wild side? The new kids she has working there are getting better at the maintenance. They are still young, but the main guy seems to know his stuff, and hs good at helping, even when they get swamped.
The stock lately has been pretty lame, I personally don't care for what they have, or how they keep the fish. I think a trigger needs a little more room than a 20g. And they could really stand an upgrade on their filtration.
But for the most part, the owner talks directly to the divers every two weeks. Often via satellite phone right off shore within minutes of them hitting the surface. So chances are, if you want a fish. She can get it for you. She is also picky about the people she buys from.
ex: she wont buy from people who use dynamite to stun the fish to the surface. Or illegally harvest out of season.

Oh, I thought by chance you were talking about that new place you mentioned in fed way. Did that ever get going??
I have been to the wild side. I bought 90% of my live rock from them for my 29 Bio Cube. Cool place but....I think they need to get thier act together. JMO. I called up there saturday morning for a berghi and they didn't even know what I was talking about. Oh well, things come and go.
I did make it up to Barrier tho. We went saturday afternoon. Rode up in the bug and ended up spending a bit more then anticipated. I went for a $40 sun coral and spent a touch under $250 and that was after the discount they gave me. Dohhh

Oh yea, the wife said she wanted a tank in the dinning room to match the remodel. That was another $350 today. Cool a## tank though. It is by fluval, it is the edge tank.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3125462
Oh, I thought by chance you were talking about that new place you mentioned in fed way. Did that ever get going?? Dont think so. No answers to emails, and its not in the directory. Think it failed before it started.
I have been to the wild side. I bought 90% of my live rock from them for my 29 Bio Cube. Cool place but....I think they need to get thier act together. Your dealing with teenagers, they are getting better. I personally only deal with the owner. shes not a supreme expert. But she does know enough to get what I want.
I did make it up to Barrier tho. We went saturday afternoon. Rode up in the bug and ended up spending a bit more then anticipated. I went for a $40 sun coral and spent a touch under $250 and that was after the discount they gave me. Dohhh

Oh yea, the wife said she wanted a tank in the dinning room to match the remodel. That was another $350 today. Cool a## tank though. It is by fluval, it is the edge tank.Used or new? What size?
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Nothing special really.
The lawn more Blenny is shy still after 4 days :( only saw him once after I moved the new shipment of rocks around. He stayed in the far end of the tank watching me. Since the dust settled, I haven't seen him. I hope he is eating. I havent seen any activity.
The rocks I got were absolutely AWESOME!! I got one that was larger than a basketball! and a couple the size of a foot ball. Followed by a dozen more coconut and baseball sizes. 50lbs total for $134(shipping included). I highly recommend MArco Rocks! These rocks are full of nooks and cranny's. Lots of personality!



I set the LR i had already on top to seed these beautiful rocks. Once that's happened Ill remove them and place them in the sump. They simply cant compare! These super high quality Fiiji rocks come pre cured and dry. Ready to drop right in the tank!
The arrow crab and sally light foot have taken up oposite corners of the tank.


I like the sally, it eats and eats and eats. I never see it sleep, just eats constantly at turbo speed. I was disappointed that it lost 2 legs the first night, but they are already beginning to get stubs back. The arrow crab is very gentle and slow. Not nearly as shy as the sally.
All the cerith snails made it and are moving about. Unfortunately all the nass and 8 out of the 10 Astrea snails didn't make their first 24 hours. I think they were dead on arrival.

they've been in that spot since friday :(
I picked up a nice little package at the LFS, a good mix of cuc inverts about 30 total. All where fantastically healthy and survived the acclimation. So lesson learned, I wont order snails online again. Just fish,crabs,and corals.
I'm having some difficulty with the salinity, I don't know why, but I'm chasing it all over. I went fishing Saturday and came back Sunday morning. It was .028! I added about 5 gal of RODI and it dropped to .027 when I checked it this morning. So I did a 5 gal water change. Removed 5 gal salt, and added 5gal RODI. I think I'm going to keep it at .025 now instead. I was shooting for .026
It might have something to do with the sand and rocks getting moved around.
 

mma-guy

Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3125797
The rocks I got were absolutely AWESOME!! I got one that was larger than a basketball! and a couple the size of a foot ball. Followed by a dozen more coconut and baseball sizes. 50lbs total for $134(shipping included). I highly recommend MArco Rocks!
i just looked at them theyre crazy good!! really cheap too! some of those are going in my 55..... tank looks really good so does bert :)
 

king_neptune

Active Member
After a lot of thought, I broke down and got a few more inhabitants. The tank should be able to handle everything just fine, so I'm not stressed,people add stuff much faster all the time with less filtration.And its nothing a water change cant handle.
I picked up a baby yellow watchman goby and matching tiger pistol. They are both extremely young so will grow up together hopefully. Also I got a 4" engineer goby. In theory, these new additions should help the Lawnmore blenny feel more comfortable.
I also picked up some mixed food. there is this nasty smelling red sludge that cost me 20 bucks for a small pack, but it was packed with all kinds of goodies.
Within seconds of it hitting the water everyone made a mad dash for it! snails, hermits...even the super shy blenny stuck his head out. I think I found a winner! This stuff was pricy, but evidently it got everyone's attention.
Ill snap some shots later.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
took a few shots.
Scooter chilling on a rock. He now seems to be comfortable letting me see him. But he still doesn't venture far from the cave.

Bert scrambling after some raw shrimp, man everyone goes ape over rod fish food. its smelly, and bloody. and $20 for a packet.
But wow does everyone scramble after it.

bert takes a wad in each claw, and stuffs his face with a third clump.

The new guy:

Hes super laid back. Lets the glass cleaner move all around him, he doesn't freak out. I was worried when I flipped on the lights, he looked pale, but after 30 min his yellow came back. I guess thats normal. I think he might like the corner of the tank. Hes been there all evening. I also got him to gobble up some bits of rods concoction.
The engineer was hiding in a hole so i couldn't get a shot of him. Im really thinking I might upgrade my camera soon. I get ok shots from this handy cam...but I want to take my photography to the next level. Anyone with knowledge on this topic?
 

jas1

Member
I think your pics look awesome King! I am PROUD owner of a Nikon!!! I've owned Canon's, Sony's, JVC's, Kodak's, etc... etc... Nikon is my 1st pick, followed closely in 2nd by Canon!
 

king_neptune

Active Member
So I did a massive cleaning/water change last night.
first I scrubbed all the algea off the glass and over flow bar. it was covered in 2" of green/brown algae. the water was cloudy and gross. I did 20% water change and went to bed.
I woke up and saw my sally light foot belly up!
I freaked out and immediately tested my water. Perfect, 0/0/0 and 8.2
So now Im like huh? i don't get it. So I pickup the corpse, and turns out it was a molt. WOW they really do fool people. I mean this thing had me totally convinced it was the real deal! I looked around a bit, and found her munching away in her usual spot lol.
I still want the water to get pristine crystal clear. But I haven't gotten there yet. I see the scrubber is starting to collect algae, but I dont think the screens are thick enough. so I will add another layer as per Montica's suggestion. Its getting spots of algea ear and there that are 1" long, but for the most part the sheet is clean and relatively algae free. Although I don't have any concern. I have perfect water parameters as it is, so someone in the tank is doing their job, and it feels good that I haven't turned on the skimmer yet.
I will do one more 10% change in a few days. Then I will back off and do them monthly to see how things go. I know its taboo, but I see enough people with scrubbers who don't bother with water changes ever. So I am thinking I might be able to back off on what I consider a very pricey "precaution".
Dont get me wrong, the day I see a spike in anything I will be all over it. But for now, I haven't seen a trace of anything in weeks. I am what I consider a heavy feeder.
 

mma-guy

Member
ya they look really real! good way to test is just open up the back where the top of the carapas meets the bottom if it comes apart easily its a molt. did u check her legs? any nubs/ regrown lims?
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by MMA-Guy
http:///forum/post/3130399
did u check her legs? any nubs/ regrown lims?
ya. they are about half sized now.
saw a couple hermit molts today as well.
i did lose my mexican turbo. kinda frustrated, the water all checks out perfect. dont know why it keeled over.
 

bmkj02

Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3130507
How is the scrubber coming along?
Im curious too. I am right now in the middle of removing my sump and refugium from underneath my 125 as the acrylic baffles are not sticking to the glass aquariums so I am off to ACE to get glass cut but while I am under there I was looking on making a scrubber too. Pictures
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3130469
ya. they are about half sized now.
saw a couple hermit molts today as well.
i did lose my mexican turbo. kinda frustrated, the water all checks out perfect. dont know why it keeled over.
Either lack of food, water temperature being too high (for them, not for the aquarium), or falling over and not being able to get up are the three most common reasons imo
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3130507
How is the scrubber coming along?

Originally Posted by bmkj02

http:///forum/post/3130528
Im curious too. I am right now in the middle of removing my sump and refugium from underneath my 125 as the acrylic baffles are not sticking to the glass aquariums so I am off to ACE to get glass cut but while I am under there I was looking on making a scrubber too. Pictures
Id like to say it was loaded green, but honestly its not too thick. there are a couple dozen patches about 1/2" wide, and 1" long. It may be because there is no need for anything thicker, or it may be that I dont have it roughed up enough. Ill snap some shots later when I take my camera over to the aquarium room.
But I do proudly say my algae is thinning out throughout the tank, whilst the scrubber is getting a bit more and more each day(I just wish it was thicker). I will continue to do water changes till the algae is eradicated throughout the tank save for the scrubber. Then I will probably cut back a bit.
Also a noteworthy mention is the fact that I haven't turned on my skimmer or GFO/Carbon reactor yet. Although I am considering activating the GFO/Carbon just to speed up the process of clearing things up.
And my parameters are great.
0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
0 Nitrate
8.2ph consistent and stable.
For a bio load:
1 yellow watchmen goby
1 engineer goby
1 lawn more blenny
1 arrow crab
1 sally light foot crab
15 hermits.
2 emerald crabs
12 cerith
12 astrea
12 nass
Countless bristle worms, in the dozens.
Its not a heavy load yet, I'm going slow and steady. I think Ill do some wrasses next month, and maybe a hawk fish.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by PEZenfuego
http:///forum/post/3130635
Either lack of food, water temperature being too high (for them, not for the aquarium), or falling over and not being able to get up are the three most common reasons imo
It was a big one, larger than a golf ball. I dont see how he had lack of food. I still got plenty of algae around the tank. Although I did have to flip him over alot. When I found him yesterday I had been gone for 2 days, and he was upside down. That might have been the cause.
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3130852
It was a big one, larger than a golf ball. I dont see how he had lack of food. I still got plenty of algae around the tank. Although I did have to flip him over alot. When I found him yesterday I had been gone for 2 days, and he was upside down. That might have been the cause.
If memory serves me correctly, these snails are not technically reef inhabitants and are much more suitable for colder water temperatures. Therefore, it seems as though the average life expectancy is shortened when introduced. In any case, don't view the death of one of these snails as having an issue in your tank. Glad to see and hear that it is coming along well

Sorry for the loss of your snail, those are fairly cool to have.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3130507
How is the scrubber coming along?

Originally Posted by bmkj02

http:///forum/post/3130528
Im curious too. I am right now in the middle of removing my sump and refugium from underneath my 125 as the acrylic baffles are not sticking to the glass aquariums so I am off to ACE to get glass cut but while I am under there I was looking on making a scrubber too. Pictures

There ya go. that's about 2 weeks at 16/8 lighting. Both sides are about even. I think I need to rough it up a bit to get better growth, but im not sure. Im gonna ask santa_monica
 
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