Red Sea S-650 - Dave's marine adventure

[DaveR11]

How often do you feed your fish? I failed with a pair of Anthias in the past, and when I was trying to figure out what I did wrong, I thought they needed feeding several times a day due to short guts or something like that.

Hi PCDS,

I've had my Anthias about 6 weeks now. Yes I had read the same that they need small feeds often.

When they were in quarantine I would feed them in the morning before I went to work and then again in the evening when I got home. The lights on the main tank come on later than the QT so now I give the display tank a small feed when I get home (flake or some bottled Mysis or pods). Then later I feed usually a mix of two small frozen cubes from (Mysis, Krill, algae, chopped mussel, lobster eggs, fish eggs). I try to vary it each night. This larger feed I add to the tank in stages over about an hour. Still early days so we will have to see if it works.

A couple of times a week I also feed pellets mainly for my pistol shrimps. The Anthias show no interest in the pellets, in fact only the yellow tang, the gobies, the shrimps, the Nassarius snails and the bristle worms seem to like the pellets. I also feed algae sheets for my tangs and angel, though the clowns and one of my leopard wrasses seem to love a bit of the greenery.

I also got Pseudanthias squamipinnis - Lyre-tailed Anthias which according to what I had read are meant to be the easiest species to keep.

Dave

 

[SPR]

Hi Dave

All looking beautiful. Just awaiting my 650 in a week or so

What's the green coral the one to the centre right of the tank at the front Very nice and I think I will need to get one of those?

 

[DaveR11]

Hi Dave

All looking beautiful. Just awaiting my 650 in a week or so

What's the green coral the one to the centre right of the tank at the front Very nice and I think I will need to get one of those?

Hi SPR,

The green coral right of centre is green star polyp, Briareum sp. It was pretty much the first coral I bought. It has grown really quickly and I restrict it to the rock it came on. I've fragged it many times. It seems to like a decent water flow and provides a really nice splash of colour and good movement in the current.

Dave

 

[suspiria2]

Hi Dave
How many fish do you currently have in the tank? I am up to 14 fish and thinking of getting maybe 1 or 2 more and then wait to see how it goes. I have had it running for about 8 months now and am starting to add more corals, latest additions have been a mini maxi carpet anemone, a green scoly, a trachyphyllia and a duncan.
As ever great pictures and video

 

[DaveR11]

Hi Dave
How many fish do you currently have in the tank? I am up to 14 fish and thinking of getting maybe 1 or 2 more and then wait to see how it goes. I have had it running for about 8 months now and am starting to add more corals, latest additions have been a mini maxi carpet anemone, a green scoly, a trachyphyllia and a duncan.
As ever great pictures and video

My fish list for the tank is as follows:

• 1 green chromis (lost the other 4 I had originally for various reasons over the last few months)
• 2 ocellaris clowns
• 1 yellow tang
• 2 Wheeler's shrimp gobies
• 1 Potter's angel
• 1 Spotted kole tang
• 1 copperband butterfly
• 2 leopard wrasse
• 3 Lyre-tailed anthias

So 14 fish the same as you. This is my limit given there likely maximum sizes I think.

Glad you like the pictures.

Dave

 

[DaveR11]

Missed a week with the tank blog as it has been very busy at work and I've been meaning to write thoughts on the tank now it has been running for a year. Not sure I have collected all my thoughts on that one yet but here is are a few photos to start the ball rolling.

Here is the tank this time last year just after the green chromis went in - the first fish.


Here is the tank tonight


Playing spot the difference between the two shots. Well firstly the lights - I've gone from T5s to LEDs. Still too early I think to comment on the LEDs fully. I got good growth on the LPS with the T5s particularly my Favites war coral and my Acans. The SPSs seem to be doing better under the LEDs. The Acans have suffered at the hands (or mouth) of my copperband and the Favites no longer opens its polyps during the day.

There are have been big changes in the fish. I only have one Chromis left. There was some agression between the fish but not really sure what happened here. They all seemed pretty healthy apart from the one who's jaw locked open. I've gradually built up the rest of the fish interrupted only by the Ich outbreak. Lesson - quarantine your fish.

The rock work has stayed fairly constant though I've stuck lots of coral to it. The GSP came on a big rock along with the purple mushrooms. The GSP has spread really well and I've fragged lots of it. The mushrooms have migrated elsewhere as the GSP took over. The Zoanthid colony in the first picture I traded back to the shop as it was a bit dull. I also bought some really dull bird's nest coral. I think that was a lesson learned - don't be too keen to stock the tank and only buy good looking specimens.

I've added lots of corals. Some have done well, in a few cases too well like the Xenia which I'm now really having to keep in check. Some have not done well. I have lost a few Acros and I continue to be plagued with slugs eating my Zoas and Montis. Maybe I should have dipped more but I do like my hitchhikers and a couple of my LFSs think I'm bonkers for buying Acros for their symbiotic crabs.

On the gadget front I do like my Spinstreams and the MP40 has helped randomise the flow. I couldn't get to grips with the Red Sea skimmer and the replacement Deltec has performed faultlessly. Otherwise the 650 is a great piece of kit.

More thoughts next week.

Happy reefing,

Dave

 

[Wrangy]

Like night and day Tank has come a huge way in that time and is looking amazing Dave

 

[SPR]

' Acans have suffered at the hands (or mouth) of my copperband and the Favites no longer opens its polyps during the day'

On the Copperband I was about to buy one and also a long nosed butterfly fish and in the end got the long nose on his own. I am glad I did as he just pecked at my bubble coral and eventually one night he took a chunk out of it and that was it. Back to the shop next day! Well back to the shop after dismantling my 260 to actually catch him after 3 hours!

In my new 650 I am going to be a bit more careful as I bought the butterfly before reading etc so for me a lesson well learned. I think by diamond goby is also going back as although I really like him he just kicks sand everywhere. Another example of me buying without research. Slow learner I must be!

 

[DaveR11]

I'm either getting lazy and not updating this chronicle weekly or I'm busy at work...

So what has been happening in the tank. Well the fish are all happy and healthy as far as I can see. I reckon the leopard wrasse have grown and as I've said before are both are quite fearless. The smaller one does like some algae in her diet and is not fazed even by the bristletooth tang who is a bit of a bully. Both of them generally swim around together and are always checking the rocks for food. Here is the smaller one.



Mr Grumpy is still spending time with the new goby. It is almost like he has commitment issues or doesn't want to leave its shrimp and won't make a permanent move. It is always Mr Grumpy who moves in with the new goby rather than the other way around. Something to keep watching.

On the coral front I'm seeing good growth on most of the SPS corals apart from those Montiporas affected by the dreaded nudibranchs. I've lost one small Monti completely and my lovely encrusting purple Monti has been badly eaten. The wretched slugs hide under the coral where I can't see them. Maybe I should prize it off the rock and dip it but last time I tried dipping (in Coral RX) it didn't kill the slugs. The LPS are a more mixed bag. I lost a Euphyllia ancora recently but the other two Euphyllias seem to be doing OK.

I've had some Halimeda algae for a while and it was beginning to take over the middle of the tank so I trimmed it back quite hard and I will see if my LFS wants the bits. It does add a nice splash of green to the tank. On the subject of colour and lighting I'm trying a different LED setting. Up to now I have been using a slightly modified Red Sea suggested setting for the different colour channels. I have been doing a bit of reading and I've never been keen on the very blue look of many LED tanks. So I'm trying to mimic a graph of the light spectrum for coral symbiotic zooxanthellae algae I've seen which co-incidentally gives a much more appealing light to my eyes. This has meant increasing the white and red channels, no green, less blue and royal blue and more UV and violet. I can't match the exact graph but it gets pretty close. Given that red and blue are the significant parts of the spectrum for photosynthesis I don't know why more red is not used.... So I now have a transition from the Red Sea setting in the morning to my custom setting in the evening (when I'm sat on the sofa looking at the tank). We will have to see how this affects the photosynthetic denizens..... It also makes for easier photography.

Here is the new light spectrum tank.



Happy reefing,

Dave

 

[DaddyTLi]

...
So I now have a transition from the Red Sea setting in the morning to my custom setting in the evening (when I'm sat on the sofa looking at the tank). We will have to see how this affects the photosynthetic denizens..... It also makes for easier photography.

Here is the new light spectrum tank.
...

Happy reefing,

Dave

How about a vid of your FT?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wrangy]

Looking top notch Dave

 

[SPR]

Looking a very nice Indeed Dave

 

[SPR]

Hi Dave

Just a quick question. On the hydra lights I know you need white light for the corals etc but you said you have a settings for basically when you want to look at the tank. I prefer the ocean blue look at night. Can you program the lights to change from a set time to a certain colour scheme?

My apologies if I have missed something in the instructions but I can't seem to find anything on this although I am currently over whelmed by marine biology science! I have tried adding a program but it seems to ramp down the existing settings before it starts new setting rather than just changing from white to blue ?

Could you point me in the right direction. Have it hooked up to iPhone 6?

 

[DaveR11]

Hi Shaun,

The short answer is yes. For photosynthesis (which most corals symbiotic algae need) then blue and red light are the key parts of the spectrum. I have the Red Sea settings early in the day and then it transitions to a whiter light that I like when I get home from work. This is on the web based interface so it my by a bit different on the i-phone.

Go into the control panel - you can try different light combinations using the manual setting then right down the individual LED percentages for each LED colour. Then go back into the auto settings and in the web system you move the cursor over the time/light graph and it gives you a vertical line at a given time with a plus (+) symbol on it.

[URL=http://s300.photobucket.com/user/daverogersphotography/media/time%20light%20graph_zpsuqun9q5v.jpg.html] [/URL]

Click on this and it opens the LED colour slider so set you colours how you want them. For each point you add the lights will transition between one point and the next.



I hope this makes sense.

Dave

 

[DaveR11]

I've been very slack in updating about my tank recently. Lots going on at work and a potentially life changing referendum occurred here in the UK. I'll try and post a more detailed update soon with pictures. The tank is doing OK but with a few set backs. I stopped dosing calcium and bicarbonate a month or so ago and it looks like my carbonate levels really dropped. A few of the SPS are not looking too happy but I'm also suspecting my Hannah test kit is giving false readings so I need to cross check with the Salifert. I've tried to compensate with larger than average water changes the last two weeks. With the tank getting a bit neglected the Monti slugs have gone a bit rampant and I've nearly lost my lovely encrusting purple Monti.

On a more positive note I found some great new filter socks from Red Sea. I'd used a sort of felt-like cloth ones before which were very difficult to get clean again. The Red Sea are a plastic mesh which a quick rinse down with the shower head and they are clean as new again.

All the fish are fine.

Happy reefing,

Dave

 

[SPR]

Thanks Dave. I haven't really looked at the computer based software. I think it's different to the iPhone but will have a play around with it and thanks for your help

 

[DaveR11]

So time for a bit of an update.

All the fish seem healthy and have settled down well together. The bristletooth tang still shows some aggression towards the Potter's angel and the yellow tang waves its tail at the bristletooth but often they are all swimming around feeding on the rocks together. The three anthias are fairly calm with the ocassional bit of chasing and the also have an occasional go at the lone remaining chromis but again nothing to worry about. They do look spectacular.



The Potter's is a model citizen showing no interest in anything but algae.



The copperband remains the character of the tank and as soon as it sees me in the room it is swimming up and down the front glass begging for food. It isn't the brightest fish however and often continues to beg at the glass when the food goes in. Most of the fish seem to have grown a bit but this is most noticeable with the leopard wrasse. The small one in particular seems to have caught up with the bigger one. They seem to mostly swim around together and as I've said before are completely unconcerned by the other fish. The smaller leopard continues to eat the algae sheets and is not put off even by the bristletooth. I got a bubbletip anemone a while ago and last week the clowns were showing some interest and I thought they might host but nothing has happened.

So that leaves Mr Grumpy.



He is great. He spends time on the left of the tank in his usual cave system with Clint and then goes to visit the new goby on the right. Mr Grumpy is bigger and more brightly coloured so I do wonder if I have a pair. I guess we shall see if anything happens!

No major changes in the tank. I'm still battling the two slug menaces and I've completely lost one purple encrusting Monti to slugs. I need to spend a little more time on the tank once I get a few days off and sort a number of things out. I need to start dosing again, though I have upped water changes to 80 litres per week which the SPS seem to appreciate. I got rid of most of the Halimeda algae which was just growing too fast. I've also been pruning back the Xenia when it growing where I don't want it. A couple of my Acro crabs went AWOL this week - I'm hoping they a just moulting.

I record how much water I use in the ATO and I'm seeing no difference between the LEDs and the T5s. I had thought with the reduced heat input I would see less evaporation, but that may be compensated for with great airflow with the LEDs being a more open fitting. Still they are not comparative time periods yet. It is also interesting that the chiller is still kicking in now that summer here in the UK. It seems to come on for shorter periods than with the T5s and I didn't record any numbers so that is only anecdotal.

Finally by popular request here is a tank video for @DaddyTLi

Happy reefing,

Dave

 

[DaveR11]

I thought I would try something different today with a couple of top down shots though they haven't really worked too well. Too much reflection from the LEDs and I also didn't see the reflection of the mesh cover I have that was still half way across the tank.

In this first shot you can see the big white patch of dead purple plating Monti that the slugs have eaten in the middle right of the picture. In the bottom left is my new green Acro. I've had it for a while and it has been resting on the sand bed up to now complete with its own tiny crab. I wanted to fix it onto the side of a rock to match its growth form and this result in much swearing and frustration on my part as despite supporting it, it kept falling off. The huge lump of putty finally did it though it doesn't look very subtle.



So that is the right side of the tank here is the left:

.

This is more the Acro side with the right being Monti dominated. I'm going to have to move the middle green corals a Bali slimer as it is growing over a couple of small corals behind.

One of the circulation pumps stalled but a quick clean got it going again and other than it being pretty warm here in the UK and the chiller kicking in occasionally there is nothing much else to report.

Happy reefing,

Dave

 

[signalman]

Just jumped to the last page of your thread (must start from the beginning)., I notice that you have used netting as a support for sps (brilliant idea), what netting did you use and how have you fixed your corals to it.
Great tank by the way.

 

[DaveR11]

Just jumped to the last page of your thread (must start from the beginning)., I notice that you have used netting as a support for sps (brilliant idea), what netting did you use and how have you fixed your corals to it.
Great tank by the way.

Hi @signalman ,

Sorry to disappoint you but what you can see if a reflection of the nylon mesh cover I have over the tank to prevent my fish from jumping out. I was lazy when I took the top down shots and didn't move it completely out of the way hence the reflection in the water surface.

Best wishes,

Dave