Lorraine's 125 (et. al) - The 2nd Year

[Dentoid]

As usual, an Oscar winner! Nice job on the show Lorraine! The tank is looking smashing!

[bluespotjawfish]

You are speedy! I just posted that!

[BarbMazz]

Just beautiful, Lorraine! Congratulations.. what a difference a year makes.

Are those Clarkii Anemonefish? Your dragonet is my favorite.. maybe someday I'll have one of my own to take care of.

Barb

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks Barb!

The clownfish came from Diver's Den and were sold as Black Onyx True Perculas. They are a lot of fun and so is the mandarin. The mandarin doesn't eat anything but pods and has really wiped my population out. I restocked my pods just for him (but I think he has a few helpers).

[BarbMazz]

Originally Posted by bluespotjawfish

Thanks Barb!

The clownfish came from Diver's Den and were sold as Black Onyx True Perculas. They are a lot of fun and so is the mandarin. The mandarin doesn't eat anything but pods and has really wiped my population out. I restocked my pods just for him (but I think he has a few helpers).

You're welcome! I'll bookmark Diver's Den, I really like the look of those Perculas. Do you know what type of anemone they like to host with?

I'm going to study up on pod production because I really love those mandarins!

[BarbMazz]

Oh, I just saw that with Diver's Den you have to wait for something you might want to appear as available. Well, it's fun to look there everyday anyway!

[bluespotjawfish]

My clownfishes host in a green fuzzy mushroom. I don't have an anemone in this tank. There are a few charts on the web that tell you what clownfish host with what anemones. A bubble tip anemome (BTA) is a good choice once your tank is mature enough (at least 6 months). Here are some pics of my 50 gallon tank that is setup just for my anemones. I have a rose BTA that a pink skunk hosts, a green carpet anemone that my anemone crabs and sexy shrimp like, and a greet BTA (that never comes out).

[bluespotjawfish]

I have only seen these types of clownfishes posted there one other time since I got these. Look at the Live Aquaria site, they typically stock several tank raised varieties of clowns.

[BarbMazz]

Thanks, Lorraine... boy, I really like the look of that green carpet anemone. I'll betcha I change my fish/corals list a few times in the months I'm waiting to add things. That rose BTA looks really nice with the skunk clown; very color-coordinated and stylin'!

[bluespotjawfish]

Yip, and just when you make up your mind you won't be able to find the ones you want! Or, you will find you need another tank to have what you really want. I have the 50 gallon setup because my husband wanted an anemone and with everything I had invested in the 125 I didn't want one in there. The green carpet was kinda a mistake. I made the mistake of going into the lfs and saw the guy so I just had to have him. He was bleached and I really hadn't had any success even with healthy ones. Anyway I brought him home and fed him good and expected him to die on me, but he has really been the easiest anemone I have ever had. He is much less moody than the BTAs. However, he will eat fish. I keep him well fed, but I only have the one pink skunk in the tank. I am in the process of trying to find a clown host for him. Two anemone crabs and 4 sexy shrimp hang out with him.

[bluespotjawfish]

Today I am going to try and recap some of the trials and tribulations of the past year.

Let's start with the fishies...
It started with the loss of my original Bluespot and my Naso Tang when the 125 was cycling. I still miss these guys! Then, the loss of my other fish, including my beautiful Emperor Angel and Foxface as a result of stupidity on my part for treating them all in the QT instead of just the sick ones. I caught Mr. Palani taking his last breath in a very cloudy tank at 4:00 in the morning. I plopped him into my brute container that had my fresh WC water in it. Although the E. Angel had taken a liking to my polyps and was helping himself to $100 lunches, I still loved him. Other loses include several Bluespots (BS#1, BS#2, BS#3, some unnamed, BB, GG....). As a result my tank is without a Bluespot. I also tried to reestablish a few Naso tangs without success. My 50 is setup for my anemones and I have a single skunk clown in it, and a misbarred perc in a HT that probably isn't going to make it. My daughter's tank (that grandma now takes care of) lost a few fish when a pink cucumber got stuck in the pump and released toxins (I was standing there and noticed it and a quick major WC saved the other two fish).

The canopy and lights –
I replaced my old canopy with a new one so I could get MH lighting. The old canopy didn’t have enough clearance and had broken hinges too. The new canopy turned out very nice, but didn’t match the stand since oak colors as it ages. It was very frustrating to spend that kind of money for a new canopy and not have it look right. Fortunately, my lfs that I got the canopy from really wanted a happy customer. They offered to let me return it, or restain it. After much deliberation, I decided to restain it. It looks purdy now. As for the lights, I decided on three Aqua Medic HQI single pendants. I started out with two 150 watt, and a 250 watt pendant, running 20k bulbs. This made the tank look very dull. My lfs was very patient once again, and after a few exchanges I eventually ended up with all 250 watts. Two of these are running Aqualine 13k blubs and the other a 20k bulb. I am supplementing this with two of my original VHO lights, and have since had to replace the Icecap ballast (because I sold the extra one I had, silly me). I also had to replace a ballast on one of the new lights, but this was covered under warranty.

Sump Stuff –
When the tank crashed, I was more interested in updating my old equipment than getting new corals and fish. Everything I had was 8-10 years old. My overflow box flooded most every time the power went out, which earned me the nickname of Mrs. Flood A House. So first on the list was to replace that darn box! After reading up a bit, I chose a LifeReef single overflow box. I didn’t intend on replacing my pump and it was only rated to handle what the single could handle. Of course when all the equipment had been replaced, the old pump went out and I replaced it too. Had I known this was going to happen I would have chosen the double overflow box. I also had LifeReef make me a custom refugium tank to fit in my stand next to my sump. I asked for two drains, but it arrived with only one and it is a bit undersized, so I have to be careful how much flow goes into this tank (I’m still called Mrs. Flood A House because of this, but it was really my cucumber's fault). I've also experimented with several different lights for the refugium, still haven't found my dream light. Replacing the skimmer was a no brainer (kinda). Research led me to the ASM skimmers. I wanted the G-3, but my UV sterilizer was over my sump at the time and I didn’t have enough clearance for the G-3 so I got the G2. Again, later I decided to replace the very old UV sterilizer and no longer have the sterilizer over my sump. I got the 24w Gamma UV sterilizer and had a very nice day putting this puzzle together. Several trips to Lowes, and I finally found a way to hook it up. The pump that runs the UV sterilizer now also feeds the refugium. I have a valve on the pump, and T drain pipe that allows me to control the amount of water going into the refugium. Back to the return pump. I had difficulty finding a pump that provided enough flow, but not too much for the overflow box. With a few exchanges, I ended up with the Iwaki 30RT. I still use a control valve on it and a split return line. Maybe someday I will exchange the single overflow box for a double and let’r open all the way. I still want a double and a black box too. (I did have them replace the blue box once, but they sent a clear one and I decided that would have been worse than the blue one so I sent it back.) I’m still using a sock in the sump, and have added a carbon and phosban reactor. I quickly replaced the Kent Marine reactor I bought first with two daisy-chained Two Little Fishies Reactors. I like them much, much better.

The Auto Topoff and Kalk Reactor –
I started with a 4 gallon topoff container, gravity drip fed to the sump. After quickly learning that this provided about a day’s supply of water I gave in and got the Tunze Osmolater with the 7 gallon bucket. Well the Tunze Osmolater was a bit tricky to figure out, but now I like it. As for the 7 gallon bucket, it was still not big enough to prevent almost daily refills. I tried a few other containers and have now found a 13 gallon container that is just right. It lasts 3-4 days. During this time I was also experimenting with kalk. I quickly learned that the Osmolater pump doesn’t like to run kalk through it and so I had to replace the pump. I didn’t get the kalk reactor that is offered with the Osmolater and I am really glad I didn’t. I eventually got a Precision Marine Reactor and hooked it up to the ATO. Overall this works very well. I might eventually run this differently as I do get a drop in my pH at night with this method. For now it offers a pretty safe way to run my kalk.

And some odds and ends -
Hitckhikers - Flatworms yuck! Gorilla crabs yuck!
Mag pumps – Aren’t what they used to be – My old one still runs, both new ones have had to be replaced.
Aquazone 100 Ozonizer – Couldn’t get it to work right with my skimmer, Blue_eyes now enjoys a sparkling tank!
Controllers - Reefkeeper II = easy; Neptune Jr = hard; both are sweet!
Heaters – Had to replace several.
Electricity - Stray voltage is bad, GFCI is good.
RO-DI – Bought a brute container, bought an even bigger brute container, now use both! Float valve failed this past week, but I caught it just in time.
Yuma Rics – Cost a lot and don’t like my low pH.
Seahares/Anemones – They do bad things when they get sucked into a pump.
Montis – Purple didn’t stay purple, brown is ugly! Peach didn’t stay peach, orange/red is fine but I already had that.
Jump-proof tops – Even when you think they are, they aren’t.

[bluespotjawfish]

Sorry for the long post, I guess I am done for now.

[BarbMazz]

Wow. Can I be tired for you? You've done so much, and such good stuff, too.

[bluespotjawfish]

Yes, it was A LOT of work! Sometimes I wasn't sure the family would hang in there, but they did. They tolerated all the messes I made that I was too tired to clean up. They didn't volunteer much, but my son did haul a lot of water and other stuff for me when my back went out.

[bluespotjawfish]

Well, made more messes tonight! Just got home from our local club's frag swap. I got some prizes:

Tons of crabs and snails
Pepto Pink Palys (or 3P) - Guessing 4-6 polyps
Lyser Limited (LL) - 3 frags of a Blue/Green Acro
Irish Lassie (IL) - 3 tiny frags of a Green/Teal Acro
Lady Finger (LF) - 3 frags of a Purple Tip w/Lavendar Base Acro
?? (PW) - Don't know what this is, but I think it is a blue tip acro

I probably messed up the names of these guys, but I think they were making some of them up themselves! I still have to find a place for these guys and I already have some live rock sitting in a bucket I don't know where to put. One is a nice shelf, the other a nice hand sized rock. Can't get another tank or even a bigger one, so I have to think real hard what to do. For tonight I glued them to some rubble and put them in the tub with the live rock (no worries it is fully cycled rock). Tomorrow I need to find them some sunshine though. Maybe some pics tomorrow too (if they aren't too mad at me).