Great update Dave & beautiful new clam !
Red Sea S-650 - Dave's marine adventure
- Thread starter DaveR11
- Start date
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
Hi PCDS,
My sand bed varies from around 3cm to about 8cm. I have used a variety of grades from very fine to some coarser coral gravel. The shrimp digs under the left hand rock pile only (so far).
I'm not worried about my rocks moving as they are all secured as follows. My rocks are not resting on the tank bottom but I made short feet for each rock from 4cm diameter white plastic pipe pipe puttied to the rock. Each large rock has three such feet. Each section of pipe is around 4 - 6 cm long and has holes drilled in it so that there are no dead spots. I fitted each set of feet outside the tank to get the legs to sit flat on the tank bottom. The idea was to allow the sand sifters like the shrimp and the nassarius snails access to the whole sand bed not just the areas with no rocks.
Dave
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
I started with a thinner layer of sand but I'm going to add a leopard wrasse so added some more sand to give the wrasse a deep bed to sleep in. You will find the shrimp moves the sand around to suit itself. Mine is like a little bulldozer!
PCDS
Active Member
In case you hadn't guessed that was a hint for more photos please!I loved your photos of your shrimp and Mr Grumpy!
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
In case you hadn't guessed that was a hint for more photos please!
Here you go PCDS a new shot of Clint and Mr Grumpy...
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
After a month in quarantine I put my square-tailed bristle tooth tang Ctenochaetus truncatus into the DT yesterday. There has been plenty of posturing and tail waving between him and the yellow tang but so far no serious injuries to either of the two knife wielding surgeons. The bristletooth has thoroughly explored the tank now and really does zoom about. He seems to get on well with the coral beauty and so far they are often swimming around together.
Here he is in the DT last night.
As the big quarantine tank was now empty I've been out shopping and got a copperband and a Potter's angel which will probably finish off the stocking for the DT. The copperband was feeding well in the shop and is taking mysis already in the QT. Finally I'm having another go with leopard wrasse and went on the long drive today to the great (but distant) LFS and got 2 small Macropharyngodon bipartitus which have gone straight into the DT and and now buried in the sand so keeping my fingers crossed for them.
On the downside I'm still battling the nudibranch menace. In the last week I've removed 42 Zoanthid slugs and 16 Montipora munchers. Here is the Zoanthid slug spreadsheet for all those Excel geeks out there:
I also lost one of my Chromis this week. At feeding time they are usually front and centre begging for their dinner but only 4 showed up on Sunday evening. As I had been working on the circulation pumps I wondered if one had swum into the overflow section at the back of the tank, then I spotted one of my cleaner shrimps and a hermit crab picking over a corpse on the sand. No idea what happened - no sign of disease, the other Chromis were not being overly aggressive so was it just one of those things or do I have an unseen predator lurking to add to my list of HHs....?
All the pumps are back working now. One of my circulation pumps failed. I notified Red Sea and got a replacement in a couple of days - very impressed with the speed of the customer service. Called @RedSeaKev today to say thank you and had a chat with him about chillers, LEDs and the S Series. Sounds like it won't be long now before the LED upgrades arrive in Europe.
To finish off here is a picture of one of my Xenias - it keeps on growing and I need to frag it again this weekend but I do like the pulsing....
Happy reefing,
Dave
Here he is in the DT last night.
As the big quarantine tank was now empty I've been out shopping and got a copperband and a Potter's angel which will probably finish off the stocking for the DT. The copperband was feeding well in the shop and is taking mysis already in the QT. Finally I'm having another go with leopard wrasse and went on the long drive today to the great (but distant) LFS and got 2 small Macropharyngodon bipartitus which have gone straight into the DT and and now buried in the sand so keeping my fingers crossed for them.
On the downside I'm still battling the nudibranch menace. In the last week I've removed 42 Zoanthid slugs and 16 Montipora munchers. Here is the Zoanthid slug spreadsheet for all those Excel geeks out there:
I also lost one of my Chromis this week. At feeding time they are usually front and centre begging for their dinner but only 4 showed up on Sunday evening. As I had been working on the circulation pumps I wondered if one had swum into the overflow section at the back of the tank, then I spotted one of my cleaner shrimps and a hermit crab picking over a corpse on the sand. No idea what happened - no sign of disease, the other Chromis were not being overly aggressive so was it just one of those things or do I have an unseen predator lurking to add to my list of HHs....?
All the pumps are back working now. One of my circulation pumps failed. I notified Red Sea and got a replacement in a couple of days - very impressed with the speed of the customer service. Called @RedSeaKev today to say thank you and had a chat with him about chillers, LEDs and the S Series. Sounds like it won't be long now before the LED upgrades arrive in Europe.
To finish off here is a picture of one of my Xenias - it keeps on growing and I need to frag it again this weekend but I do like the pulsing....
Happy reefing,
Dave
The new tang is very pretty ! (great pics as always !) Nice to hear you got top notch support from Red Sea, cheers for sharing ! just a guess. on the chromis, but I would guess stress.
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
It has been a bit of a mixed week on the tank front. Another Chromis has gone missing and no sign of a corpse. I have no explanation for this. I've lost 2 now in as many weeks. They all seemed healthy and there was not any significant aggression within the group. I wonder if I have an unseen predator in the tank....
Last week I picked up 4 new fish. Two into the big QT. That was Friday and on Sunday on checking the QT the copperband was covered in spots. So out came the Cupramine. The Potters angel that was in the QT with the copperband was dead on Tuesday. At least they didn't go straight into the DT. The copperband is now looking a lot better with no sign of spots and it is feeding well on Mysis so another week in the copper should hopefully do the trick there.
In the DT the two tangs have spent the week arguing. Lots of tail waving at each other and some sign of marks but they seem to be getting used to each other now. I am however worried that the copperband will get the same treatment from the tangs and it is not equipped to deal with that kind of aggression.... The bristletooth tang has darked up significantly since being in the DT.
The other two fish I picked up were two bipartitus leopard wrasses. They went straight into the DT to try to maximise their survival chances. I saw nothing of them until yesterday when the small one suddenly appeared in the tank. This morning both were swimming around together. I love them. They are so serene, gliding around checking out the rocks and pecking here and there. The other fish don't seem to bother them. So far they have not figured out the food I'm putting in the tank but they are actively scouring the rocks and pecking at things and the tank has lots of baby snails and pods so I'm hoping they will be OK. Here are a few pictures.
Here is the smaller of the two that appeared first. It has a little fin damage but is active and searching for food.
Here are the two together.
I fragged a lot of my pulsing Xenia and need to take it to my LFS. I'm a bit concerned that it is starting to spread away from the two rocks I thought I had it isolated on. One of my hermits is sporting a little bit on its shell...
Finally I'm still battling the nudibranch menace - I've removed 17 Zoanthid eaters and 24 Montipora slugs this week. My favourite Zoa colony is not looking very healthy and spends most if the time closed up. I gave it a good hoover today when doing the water change to try to dislodge the small slugs that are really difficult to see.
Last week I picked up 4 new fish. Two into the big QT. That was Friday and on Sunday on checking the QT the copperband was covered in spots. So out came the Cupramine. The Potters angel that was in the QT with the copperband was dead on Tuesday. At least they didn't go straight into the DT. The copperband is now looking a lot better with no sign of spots and it is feeding well on Mysis so another week in the copper should hopefully do the trick there.
In the DT the two tangs have spent the week arguing. Lots of tail waving at each other and some sign of marks but they seem to be getting used to each other now. I am however worried that the copperband will get the same treatment from the tangs and it is not equipped to deal with that kind of aggression.... The bristletooth tang has darked up significantly since being in the DT.
The other two fish I picked up were two bipartitus leopard wrasses. They went straight into the DT to try to maximise their survival chances. I saw nothing of them until yesterday when the small one suddenly appeared in the tank. This morning both were swimming around together. I love them. They are so serene, gliding around checking out the rocks and pecking here and there. The other fish don't seem to bother them. So far they have not figured out the food I'm putting in the tank but they are actively scouring the rocks and pecking at things and the tank has lots of baby snails and pods so I'm hoping they will be OK. Here are a few pictures.
Here is the smaller of the two that appeared first. It has a little fin damage but is active and searching for food.
Here are the two together.
I fragged a lot of my pulsing Xenia and need to take it to my LFS. I'm a bit concerned that it is starting to spread away from the two rocks I thought I had it isolated on. One of my hermits is sporting a little bit on its shell...
Finally I'm still battling the nudibranch menace - I've removed 17 Zoanthid eaters and 24 Montipora slugs this week. My favourite Zoa colony is not looking very healthy and spends most if the time closed up. I gave it a good hoover today when doing the water change to try to dislodge the small slugs that are really difficult to see.
They're gorgeous Dave!! I adore leopard wrasse and you've got some fine specimens there 
Sorry to hear about the potters but it's good that the copperband is coming along well
Hopefully you're getting on top of the slugs and nudi's now though! Or at least winning the battle
Sorry to hear about the potters but it's good that the copperband is coming along well Hopefully you're getting on top of the slugs and nudi's now though! Or at least winning the battle
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
They're gorgeous Dave!! I adore leopard wrasse and you've got some fine specimens there
Hopefully you're getting on top of the slugs and nudi's now though! Or at least winning the battle
Hi Dom,
Just been watching the leopards. The larger one has taken a bit of krill this evening but both are going over the rocks and sand in a methodical fashion pecking at what takes their fancy so not too worried at the moment that the smaller one is not taking the food I'm adding. They seem completely unconcerned by the other fish or me putting my arm in the tank. As usual I had my slug patrol session this evening (5 monti and 7 Zoa slugs...) and they were not bothered. The tangs dive for cover but not the leopards.
Just spotted another slug - bigger one this time.... Well relatively speaking. Just added another 3 montis and 5 zoa slugs.... Here is the bigger Zoa slug. Pretty well camouflaged against the Zoas and rock. The Monti slugs are very white so a bit easier to see but are mostly hiding underneath the capricornis so difficult to get at....
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
Hi PCDS,
Not read anything to say they will eat Nudibranchs (not sure much does....) but got them as I like them and because they may well eat pyramid snails which I had on my old clam.
Dave
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
They're gorgeous Dave!! I adore leopard wrasse and you've got some fine specimens there
Hopefully you're getting on top of the slugs and nudi's now though! Or at least winning the battle
Just seen the small leopard take krill!
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
Right going with a fish heavy update this week. Firstly though a couple of pictures of the tank....
The tank is a bit cluttered at the moment - I fragged a lot of the pulsing Xenia and need to visit the LFS this weekend to off load it.
Here is the side view from the right side.
The growth on the guttatus on the right had side has been really pleasing. The purple plating monti to its left has covered the rock nicely but it really difficult to photograph but I digress this is supposed to be a fish focussed post...
So the tangs. The big loony fish in the tank. Well finally after a couple of weeks the yellow tang and the bristletooth have reached if not an amicable peace at least a truce. They are not friends but the tail waving aggression has mostly stopped.
The yellow tang still is very skittish and charges up and down the tank for no apparent reason but the rest of the fish are a bit calmer I think because of the serene leopard wrasse but more on them in a minute. Yellow does like the sinking pellets I put in for Clint and Mr Grumpy.....
As I said last week the square-tailed has darken since being in the DT. I like the blue edging to his fins.
The bad news this week is the coral beauty is AWOL presumed dead. It had not seemed well for a couple of weeks and had only come out of the rocks at feeding time. I also only have 3 green Chromis now with no idea what happened to the fourth fish.
The leopards however are real stars. The small one spent 8 days in the sand after buying it and the bigger one 9 days before emerging. They are now greedily eating mysis and krill but have yet to show any interest in the flake. They are so calm and unconcerned with the mental dashing about of the tangs. Nothing seems to phase them. I put my arm in the tank to remove nudibranchs and they just carry on picking over the rocks. I love them. This seems to have relaxed the Chromis which spend more time away from the rocks now.
Finally the clown introduction went without a hitch. @Oxylebius had advised get a smaller ocellaris to go with the big one so I may have taken it a bit too literally as you can see. There has been no aggression so really pleased that has worked out.
And finally there is Mr Grumpy.... Cheerful as ever!
Happy reefing,
Dave
The tank is a bit cluttered at the moment - I fragged a lot of the pulsing Xenia and need to visit the LFS this weekend to off load it.
Here is the side view from the right side.
The growth on the guttatus on the right had side has been really pleasing. The purple plating monti to its left has covered the rock nicely but it really difficult to photograph but I digress this is supposed to be a fish focussed post...
So the tangs. The big loony fish in the tank. Well finally after a couple of weeks the yellow tang and the bristletooth have reached if not an amicable peace at least a truce. They are not friends but the tail waving aggression has mostly stopped.
The yellow tang still is very skittish and charges up and down the tank for no apparent reason but the rest of the fish are a bit calmer I think because of the serene leopard wrasse but more on them in a minute. Yellow does like the sinking pellets I put in for Clint and Mr Grumpy.....
As I said last week the square-tailed has darken since being in the DT. I like the blue edging to his fins.
The bad news this week is the coral beauty is AWOL presumed dead. It had not seemed well for a couple of weeks and had only come out of the rocks at feeding time. I also only have 3 green Chromis now with no idea what happened to the fourth fish.
The leopards however are real stars. The small one spent 8 days in the sand after buying it and the bigger one 9 days before emerging. They are now greedily eating mysis and krill but have yet to show any interest in the flake. They are so calm and unconcerned with the mental dashing about of the tangs. Nothing seems to phase them. I put my arm in the tank to remove nudibranchs and they just carry on picking over the rocks. I love them. This seems to have relaxed the Chromis which spend more time away from the rocks now.
Finally the clown introduction went without a hitch. @Oxylebius had advised get a smaller ocellaris to go with the big one so I may have taken it a bit too literally as you can see. There has been no aggression so really pleased that has worked out.
And finally there is Mr Grumpy.... Cheerful as ever!
Happy reefing,
Dave
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Beautiful fish Dave !
I bought two Ocellaris Clownfish 5 years ago (juveniles) , one just a bit bigger, they are a matted pair now & the larger female is almost twice the size of the male and great fish !
I bought two Ocellaris Clownfish 5 years ago (juveniles) , one just a bit bigger, they are a matted pair now & the larger female is almost twice the size of the male and great fish !