GT's first reef - Reefer 170
- Thread starter GTBlackIce
- Start date
GTBlackIce
Member
Hi Oxy,
Didn't notice your reply till now and it's a lil too late as I've washed those rocks to put it aside as I was getting nagged with the smell and the insects it's attracting. [emoji12]
Did my night watch yesterday and noticed the crab I was talking about previously. It was finally out on the sandbed. As it was kinda late and I was looking with my flashlight, this is the best pic I'm able to get:
An hour or so later looking back at it, it didn't seem to move. Net it up and put it in the sump, hoping to get a pic of it today... But unfortunately it was nowhere to be seen. Might've got sucked into the skimmer and got shred to pieces [emoji5]
Now here's the other part of the story that made it interesting. When I took the pic, it clearly showed that this was a filter feeder crab... Of which genus/type I've got no idea. And it's unfortunate I didn't manage to take a pic of it when I took it out. I'd presume filter feeding crabs are reef safe? The good thing about the whole episode is... It seems what I took out from the tank was merely an empty shell!!! As I was looking at the tank again earlier... Lo and behold!!! It was filter feeding near the hole it had always been hiding. So instead of having a dead crab...I didn't realize it actually molted! Best part is... I think I may have another one of the same but is hiding under another rock on the far left. [emoji16]
Tank seems to be getting interesting by the day, especially if it's a night watch. Managed to get a pic of the Nassarius snail at last (again, the best I could do with my phone):
And here's the critter I net this afternoon:
I believe this is a bristleworm? It's still alive and kicking, and very much in that small cup with a net on it in my sump. So... Is this critter a go or no-go back into the DT? I've seen another much smaller and thinner (white colored) crawling on the glass... That... I didn't try to catch it.
Nothing much to do on the tank so it was glass cleaning and cable management weekend:
Inside:
Rear:
Still having some issues determining the right adjustment for my skimmer, it overflowed yesterday. A learning curve still on how to tweak it properly. At least I've managed to get my salinity up to 1.026 now yippee!!! [emoji122]
As for the parameters... Don't seem to have any change to it, no ammonia spike. So hopefully with what I stole from the missus today... It'll help lol:
A piece of deli shrimp in a mesh bag for easier removal. Hope I'll start seeing different readings in days to come. Apart from having no ammonia spike all else seem to be fine. Seeing quite a number of filter feeders, can't remember the ID but it's got thin thread-like luminous filaments jutting out from the holes... Saw a couple of small feather dusters like (I hope those are, can't see clearly yet) and some brown palys seem to survive. I may have what seems to be caulerpa growing on some rocks. Will be monitoring those so it doesn't get out of hand. What would be the best way of removing it - pull it out?
Well that's all to report in for the weekend. It's been a week since I set it up... And have been an interesting week indeed. [emoji6] [emoji106]
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
In the cup you do have a common bristleworm - good member of the cuc, they can get back in the rocks & eat debris where snails can't reach.
GTBlackIce
Member
Thanks for the confirmation Glenn. So that's a yay for it to be back in the tank tonight. [emoji108]
Oh by the way, it was thanks to you on the link given I was able to get my salinity up without much hassle on trying it numerous times. High 5!!! [emoji106] [emoji482]
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
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GTBlackIce
Member
Howdy folks,
Just a quick update on the progress. Starting to have diatom bloom since earlier this week so that's good. The bristleworm is back in the DT. Crab and Nassarius snail is still alive but good in hiding.
Seeing what seem to be feather dusters but as soon as I shine my flashlight on it it retracts back into the hole...any idea what could it be that's sensitive to light?
I'm still seeing no difference in my parameters reading...apart from nitrate I'm not getting any readings on ammonia and nitrite even with the deli shrimp in it rotting. Using the API test kit. Any suggestion here on if I should add in a couple more shrimps to rot or try out with another test kit?
@nanoreefing4fun
Alright Glenn guess I could now talk about the intended livestock I plan for the tank (my third baby as how my buddy labels it [emoji1]) :
Picasso clownfish (pair)
Goby (yellow watchman or yasha, yet to decide but hoping for a goby/shrimp pairing)
Blenny (leaning towards golden midas blenny)
Wrasse (McCosker's or Carpenter's flasher wrasse)
Firefish
Only and only if I'll be sure I could sustain the pods or get one that eats pellets will I then consider a mandarin dragonet as well... And that definitely won't happen soon.
Any comments / feedback on the chosen stocklist? Since I have a small tank I have to be really choosy on the type of fishes I could have... As 'exquisite' as I could within what's available in my bank account lol. Candy basslet is one of those beyond my budget [emoji29]
A concern on those I've shortlisted would be the jumpers. Hope I wouldn't get an individual that spooks out easily as I don't intend to cover the top of my tank.
Same applies for the corals. Not gonna be easy to find really nice / unique ones here and it would definitely cost a bomb. But I definitely won't be getting those that could potentially take over the tank e.g. pulsing xenia, star polyps and the likes of those that could grow like weed.
Have some in mind but will be asking for more opinion in due time.
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
Just a quick update on the progress. Starting to have diatom bloom since earlier this week so that's good. The bristleworm is back in the DT. Crab and Nassarius snail is still alive but good in hiding.
Seeing what seem to be feather dusters but as soon as I shine my flashlight on it it retracts back into the hole...any idea what could it be that's sensitive to light?
I'm still seeing no difference in my parameters reading...apart from nitrate I'm not getting any readings on ammonia and nitrite even with the deli shrimp in it rotting. Using the API test kit. Any suggestion here on if I should add in a couple more shrimps to rot or try out with another test kit?
@nanoreefing4fun
Alright Glenn guess I could now talk about the intended livestock I plan for the tank (my third baby as how my buddy labels it [emoji1]) :
Picasso clownfish (pair)
Goby (yellow watchman or yasha, yet to decide but hoping for a goby/shrimp pairing)
Blenny (leaning towards golden midas blenny)
Wrasse (McCosker's or Carpenter's flasher wrasse)
Firefish
Only and only if I'll be sure I could sustain the pods or get one that eats pellets will I then consider a mandarin dragonet as well... And that definitely won't happen soon.
Any comments / feedback on the chosen stocklist? Since I have a small tank I have to be really choosy on the type of fishes I could have... As 'exquisite' as I could within what's available in my bank account lol. Candy basslet is one of those beyond my budget [emoji29]
A concern on those I've shortlisted would be the jumpers. Hope I wouldn't get an individual that spooks out easily as I don't intend to cover the top of my tank.
Same applies for the corals. Not gonna be easy to find really nice / unique ones here and it would definitely cost a bomb. But I definitely won't be getting those that could potentially take over the tank e.g. pulsing xenia, star polyps and the likes of those that could grow like weed.
Have some in mind but will be asking for more opinion in due time.
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
Sounds like a good plan Gary ! The mandarin dragonet, I would love to have, but they are difficult to keep from starving... You have been doing your research 
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GTBlackIce
Member
Thanks Glenn!Sounds like a good plan Gary ! The mandarin dragonet, I would love to have, but they are difficult to keep from starving... You have been doing your research
Yes due to the size of my tank I have to be very selective on the fishes I could have, especially ones that don't grow more than 3". Hence the reason why I ensure my scape has enough room not only for coral placement but for the fishes to swim / hide as well. After lurking in RS (amongst others) for a couple years I picked up a thing or two. One thing that always catches my attention is the mentioning of 'tang police' lol!
Yeah mandarins are always nice to have but the fear of losing one if it's not eating outweighs the 'want'. The lfs has got a nice candy basslet in their DT but based on current exchange rate it'll likely cost me 2.5-3 grand a pop (my currency) which is super pricey. That's almost the price of my Reefer 170 [emoji16], so don't even wanna think about it.
Had dwarf angel and dottyback/gramma in my list as well but those are at the bottom of the list, and looking at the compatibility chart I'll probably be better off without it in a tank this size.
I'm just wondering, based on the list is there a sequence I should be adding those fishes in the tank? Read that clowns and wrasse could get temperamental at times depending on luck... So I'm all ears to listen to some comments on what should be going in first to last.
As for my parameters, I'm still not getting any ammonia reading. Tested on my betta's tank water and it shows 0.25ppm of ammonia (oopsie)...so the reagent is still working. 0 reading on the tap water. Still puzzled on this... Could my skimmer be doing too good of a job?
Crab and snails are out enjoying the diatom and algae bloom. Deli shrimp is still decaying. Skimmer cup collection stinks a lot... And a lil on the tank's water as well. Comments?
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
NickF
Well-Known Member
I'd add the pair of Clowns first, then wait a month before adding another fish, although it says here that the Carpenters Wrasse should be the first fish added to a tank
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=329
Both Wrasses and the Firefish are known jumpers so you might want to reconsider if you're not going to cover the tank.
Sounds like the fish over there are very pricey. There is a lfs near me that has really expensive rare fish, I've seen them for over £1000 and they've even had one in for £5000! I can't imagine spending that much on a fish, I've only paid between £5-£30
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=329
Both Wrasses and the Firefish are known jumpers so you might want to reconsider if you're not going to cover the tank.
Sounds like the fish over there are very pricey. There is a lfs near me that has really expensive rare fish, I've seen them for over £1000 and they've even had one in for £5000! I can't imagine spending that much on a fish, I've only paid between £5-£30
You are going on your 3rd week... and your LR looked quite alive & possible very cured - don't correlate it to your skimming, you may be close to good to go... cuc, 1st fish or pair, 1st coral
Good advise ^ I added my clowns 1st, mine are very peaceful, I can put my hand in the tank next to their eggs & no aggression, but I read some clowns are aggressive... then wait another month before adding more fish
see what others think...
Good advise ^ I added my clowns 1st, mine are very peaceful, I can put my hand in the tank next to their eggs & no aggression, but I read some clowns are aggressive... then wait another month before adding more fish
see what others think...
mtsully71
Well-Known Member
another week or two won't hurt to wait. Then add some CUC as Glenn suggest. Skimmers always go crazy at the beginning, then appear not to work much. As you start to develope waste and other nice organic goodies in the water you will see the skimmer start to be more effective and then you can dial it in better. It does appear you are GTG. Remember ammonia is first, end product nitrates, you export that by WC's
looking good, nice and tidy
looking good, nice and tidy
GTBlackIce
Member
Thanks for the suggestion Nick.
Yes one thing I've forgotten to mention is that I'll be adding those fishes very slowly...at least a month apart as mentioned. I'll be adding the cuc first before anything else and monitor things further.
Yup those 2 are jumpers alright... I could only take my chances and hope nothing spooks them out and kamikaze when I get it. Also read of some success stories keeping these with an open tank... So hopefully I'll be lucky.
Everything here is expensive!!! lol! [emoji23] But yes if it's a dollar to dollar comparison without taking into account the forex rate reef keeping here is helluva expensive. E.g.: We both earn 2k our currency... You could get a reefer 170 with half a month's pay. I'll be using a 9 weeks pay to get one [emoji12]
I could never get anything between 5-30 here... Unless I convert the £ to MYR [emoji16]
Am in 2nd week to be precise. Set it up on Oct 3rd as it was a self-given bday present hence my missus didn't give me an earful for spending the whole day seeing it up... Hehe.
Thanks Glenn... Likely clowns it would be then as the first fishes. I'll take my time to find some good specimens and not just getting any for the sake of wanting to have fishes in [emoji6]
Hope I'll get to experience hand feeding (to a certain extend) in the near future too. Appreciate your comments as usual [emoji106]
You're more confident than I am Sully. I'm thinking at least another couple of weeks to ensure all is good before I even get cuc in there. I'd like to monitor the parameters a lil longer and ensure everything is fine before getting any livestock, but thanks for the advice!
Yup you're absolutely right. I thought it was just me being an uber noob not knowing how to dial in my skimmer... As one day it looks fine, next day overflow, day after not skimming anything, etc. Was a challenging first week, including tuning in the overflow to run silent. It seems to be ok this week but hardly has anything to skim. Collection cup is filling up veeerryy slow.
WC will be done in a couple of weeks so I'll check again on the parameters then.
Thanks y'all for the feedback and comments!!! [emoji106] [emoji482]
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
GTBlackIce
Member
Thanks for dropping by Pat.
Fingers crossed I'll be off to a good start as well. Glad you like the scape [emoji4]
Yup look forward to seeing it getting establish as well. Thanks for the support!
Cheers!
Sent from my Xperia Z3
GTBlackIce
Member
Hey y'all,
Another update for the weekend. Tank looks 'good' thus far with the diatom bloom and all.
Apologies for the bad image quality, light was off when I took the photos:
There are a few unknown I hope y'all could help to identify what those are.
Orange stuff on rock (it seems to have 'shed' recently with a layer coming off of it:
And on another rock:
No idea what to make of this but it seems to have white 'polyps':
*Nassarius snail having a cruise on the rock to the left*
White filaments stuff growing on a few rocks:
2 things to notice here. 1 is the white spots growing circled in blue and the other circled in red, seems to be one HH I read about but can't remember the name - one that seems to shoot thin white strands that could irritate corals. If it's what I think it is what should I do to it?
Again bad quality pic but can't ID what type of algae this is:
My KH test using the API kit is showing 8-9dKH so I guess on this part I'm good. Gonna be getting salifert calcium and magnesium test kit tomorrow, and hanna po4 checker in due time.
In the meantime, I've reserved a few corals from a local online seller [emoji16]
Rose nebula (only getting 2 polyps):
'Color chalice' as stated but don't know the actual type of it:
Mystic sunset montipora:
Well those are wysiwyg corals so can't wait to have it in my tank when it's ready. Am already seeing myself spending a fortune on corals [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
Btw, need some feedback on this. Saw it at a lfs, seems to be goniopora but I've never seen one with this light whitish green, just those usual green or red. Is there a type for this or is it bleached? My wife likes it so may hunt for one if it's a true breed and not a bleached version:
Well that's all for now hope to get some feedback on the above.
Thanks y'all!!! [emoji6]
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
Another update for the weekend. Tank looks 'good' thus far with the diatom bloom and all.
Apologies for the bad image quality, light was off when I took the photos:
There are a few unknown I hope y'all could help to identify what those are.
Orange stuff on rock (it seems to have 'shed' recently with a layer coming off of it:
And on another rock:
No idea what to make of this but it seems to have white 'polyps':
*Nassarius snail having a cruise on the rock to the left*
White filaments stuff growing on a few rocks:
2 things to notice here. 1 is the white spots growing circled in blue and the other circled in red, seems to be one HH I read about but can't remember the name - one that seems to shoot thin white strands that could irritate corals. If it's what I think it is what should I do to it?
Again bad quality pic but can't ID what type of algae this is:
My KH test using the API kit is showing 8-9dKH so I guess on this part I'm good. Gonna be getting salifert calcium and magnesium test kit tomorrow, and hanna po4 checker in due time.
In the meantime, I've reserved a few corals from a local online seller [emoji16]
Rose nebula (only getting 2 polyps):
'Color chalice' as stated but don't know the actual type of it:
Mystic sunset montipora:
Well those are wysiwyg corals so can't wait to have it in my tank when it's ready. Am already seeing myself spending a fortune on corals [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
Btw, need some feedback on this. Saw it at a lfs, seems to be goniopora but I've never seen one with this light whitish green, just those usual green or red. Is there a type for this or is it bleached? My wife likes it so may hunt for one if it's a true breed and not a bleached version:
Well that's all for now hope to get some feedback on the above.
Thanks y'all!!! [emoji6]
Cheers!
-Gary
Sent from my Xperia Z3
Pat24601
Well-Known Member
I love the pics!
On the goniopora, I think they are awesome. But, be aware that you are probably renting it not buying it. They usually die in our tanks with 12 - 18 months.
I had a gorgeous red one that lasted a year. That experience seems fairly typical.
Beautiful while it lasted.
On the goniopora, I think they are awesome. But, be aware that you are probably renting it not buying it. They usually die in our tanks with 12 - 18 months.
I had a gorgeous red one that lasted a year. That experience seems fairly typical.
Beautiful while it lasted.
GTBlackIce
Member
Thanks.
Haha I like your way of defining it as 'renting' it instead. Yeah I guess you're right on that as it's got a short life span in tanks. Came across a video before saying it's got something to do with lack of iron in our system... If I remember correctly.
I'd have to do more research on how to maintain it on a long run if I'm getting one [emoji4]
Well, gotta please the missus somehow and I'm glad she's starting to tell me her likes and dislikes on certain corals we saw earlier today. As there were limited corals at the lfs, I'm planning to get her to another lfs tomorrow with more corals to view [emoji1] [emoji12]
Cheers!
Sent from my SGP612 using Tapatalk
GTBlackIce
Member
Hi Oxy,
Thanks for pointing that out. Hope it won't cause much issue in the long run.
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Oxylebius
Well-Known Member
Both are fine to have. Both are filter feeders and will help to maintain clean/clear water.
Over time as your tank becomes super low in nutrients, you may see both die off. This is normal. Both like water that has lots of particulate matter floating around that they can filter out.
Over time as your tank becomes super low in nutrients, you may see both die off. This is normal. Both like water that has lots of particulate matter floating around that they can filter out.
GTBlackIce
Member
OK cool glad to hear that. Guess my aim would be to get rid of that vermetid snail. Wouldn't want it to irate any corals.
Oh yeah so I've got myself the calcium & magnesium test kits today (ended up with Nyos instead) and Hanna checker for PO4. So here's my reading for the day:
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 5
Cal: 440
Mag: 1410-1440
PO4: 0.06
dKH: 8~9
Got myself a polylab biosphere to try out...will be monitoring the NO3 & PO4 levels once it's in and with an upcoming first wc.
That's all for today. [emoji6]
Cheers!
-Gary
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