My 29 gallon tank.

[wm23oh]

A face that only a mother could love.

It blends in in this photo but the Anemone is still up in the same spot. Can you find it?

A full tank shot.

A picture of one Peppermint Shrimp.

The female just Clowning around with a frowny face looking all pitiful and such.

I decided to stop putting in Purple Tech by Kent and I don't like what's going on. The Algae that was bright purple and green has turned almost brown in spots. I'll be adding my 6 drops again each day to get things back to normal.

I was having a little trouble with red slime algae but after a few W/C's and constant blowing it off the rocks it has almost completely gone away.

I get tickled when I see the Clowns play UNDER the Anemone instead of on it. Seeing them peak out or just resting under it makes me laugh.

James

 

[yungreefer2410]

what kind of lights are you using? are you taking these pictures with the flash on because the pictures make the tank seem dark

 

[wm23oh]

what kind of lights are you using? are you taking these pictures with the flash on because the pictures make the tank seem dark

I use the flash on camera for some shots and not for others. I'm still learning. It's actually quite bright in their.

Here is a link to that section information about my lights.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/47588-my-29-gallon-tank.html#post676275

I've been trying to decide what type of lights to go with since the tank has actually done pretty well or if I really need to change lights at all. I was thinking about a couple different fixtures. The only problem is how deep from front to back my tank is. It's 12" but 2 1/2" are blocked by plastic tubing for the HOB skimmer/Refugium. Many fixtures are 15+ inches deep so this makes them have to hang higher up to be able to shine into the tank.

1. A 6X36 Watt T5 fixture but it is wider than the tank so it would have to be suspended in the air above the tubing. That would move it up to about 5 inches above the tank LIP. I'm not sure if this will defuse the light and make it basically worthless.
2. A 250 Watt MH fixture hung 12" above the tank.
3. A 500 Watt MH fixture hung 12" above the tank. This would have 2 250 Watt bulbs so more of the top of the tank should get the light it needs but it may be just too much and just cause algae issues.

I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do but plan to make my mind up soon.

Thanks for looking and any thoughts are welcome.

 

[wm23oh]

I decided to get a T5 48" light strip even though it would hang over the edge of the tank on both sides by 6". My problem is the depth from front to back of the tank. I didn't want to heat the water up with MH so I decided after chatting with a couple wonderful folks here to get the larger fixture that has higher watts per gallon. Darn.... I may have to get a larger tank if it looks silly :bouncer:

The Feather Duster and the Mushrooms are NEW. I haven't added anything to the tank other than the Peppermint Shrimp and within a week of adding them (I think it's just a coincidence). More good hitchhikers YAY!!

After looking at the photos I noticed something else. Another Feather Duster. After looking closely it's unique from all the others I have seen in the tank that it has long thin pink and white stripped feathers. It's to the far right. Really unique. I hope the crabs don't get it.


I found out the hydroids (the unknown brown polyp looking thing above) were not necessary a good thing so I used Aptasia-X and killed them. I don't want them growing and stinging my corals.

 

[yungreefer2410]

what did you get? i have a 175w MH on my 29g and it works very good

 

[wm23oh]

LOL I was so excited about the hitchhikers and getting photos here I did forget to mention that the fixture was a 46" 4X54W T5 fixture with a W type reflector. I know individual reflectors are preferred but for now this should work for my needs. It is defiantly an upgrade from PC lighting and an experiment for me as I have never used T5 before.

The extra length that hangs over will more than likely be a reason to get a larger holding tank for the guppies. I feel bad that they are in a 1 gallon fish bowl. I only get 6 at a time but it makes me feel bad leaving them in such a small area just waiting to be eaten. A 5 gallon tank would be more humane IMO.

It basically came down to a price that I couldn't resist with moon lights that are a must IMO. As I said this is an experiment as I am worried that I will not like them. My fall back is a 150W MH fixture I've wanted but has been out of stock for almost 3 months on-line. Only time will tell if I stick with this fixture or go to the MH fixture.

I have had a MH fixture in the past over a 20 long and found it to be a P.I.T.A. when it comes to just wanting to look at the tank. The bright light is just too much and honestly although it may be what I end up with I would prefer T5's if they are as good as some have said.

 

[blueblue48]

your tanks very cool, do you have a link on the refugium/skimmer you got??

 

[wm23oh]

Thanks for the compliment! I bought it from http://shop.aquatraders.com/ I really like it even though one of the bottom plastic brackets have broken off (just noticed it this morning and fixed it). I placed several Popsicle sticks between the tank and the HOB refugiem/skimmer. I also purchased the recommended pump WITH a basket included.

It's possible it was my fault that it failed as I would push on the top to set the lid around the plastic pipes so I fixed that by cutting the holes for the pipes to go around a little larger.

The new lights should arrive and be installed tomorrow (after lights out) and were purchased from the same dealer.

 

[wm23oh]

Here is a video of the tank. I removed any sound as their was a lot of clatter and banging going on.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyKgzAVVUuo[/YOUTUBE]

This is with the old light fixture. The new one really makes the corals POP!

 

[wm23oh]

I have purchased several new additions for the tank.

2 - NERITE SNAIL SM. (USA)
2 - NERITE SNAIL SM. (INDONESIA)
2 - NERITE SNAIL
2 - MEXICAN TURBO SNAIL
3 - CLEANER SHRIMP M.

So far everyone is acclimating fine and everyone arrived OK even though the temp outside is 19.

 

[wm23oh]

I don't know the difference in all the snails I bought but sadly one large one with a white (brown spited) shell was DOA. If that wasn't bad enough one of the other large snails (cone shaped shell) that looked like it had ears when moving around was eaten by the anemone.

I also have added the following corals:

Hollywood Stunner
Green Pocillopora
Bird of Paradise
Green Bay Packers zoos
Green Slimer
Orange montipora
Green Milli Acro
Pink Pocillopora

I'm not sure if they will make it in my tank and since the price wasn't too bad I figured it was worth the gamble.

Any information or suggestions on the above corals or anything else is always welcome.

 

[yungreefer2410]

you have t5s right? how old is the tank again? the pociloporas will probably give you the most troubles. i would keep up on the wc, watch your lvls esp. calc and alk and feed/spot feed 2-3 times a week

 

[wm23oh]

It's been a little while since I've posted on here and just wanted to get things up to date.

Grumpy the Goby passed away 2 months ago after chasing one of the clowns from his den and was stung by the Anemone. He lived for 2 weeks as the cleaner shrimp tended his wound but alas it was just too much for him.

Out of all the snails I have purchased the crabs made quick work of eating them and what they didn't the anemone did. So another sad thing.

As far as the Anemone is doing it's GREAT! Eats every so often and loves it's now 2 hosts since both Clowns are now living in it.

As far as all the corals everything is doing GREAT other than the one that's been struggling all along (looks like flower one can't think of name) and the mushrooms that disappeared after turning the rock right side up.

All in all other than Aiptasia coming back with a vengeance everything has been doing well. Purchased 4 Berghia Nudibranchs since everything else has failed miserably to rid the tank of Aiptasias. Hope this works to at least keep them in check as their are over 30+ in the tank and many in places I can't get to.

The Berghia Nudibranchs came from Salty Underground and they look GREAT! Lisa was really helpful, gave me a call to make sure everything was OK and even threw in a freebie. I highly recommend them and will be posting results as time goes by. They have been acclimating for the past 3 hours now so It's almost time to set them free. Yay!!!!!!

Not sure if the photos are going to come out but I did take some pictures and will post them if possible.

There were also 12 General Grazer Astrea Snails and 2 Mexican Turbo snails purchased from them to help with algae issues I've been starting to get. I've been watching my water so maybe a few extra W/C's are in order to get things a little better controlled. Everything seams to check out with the liquid tests but I noticed they expired a month ago so more $$$ to go into tank. I love expenses.... uhhhh I mean investments.

Photos will be coming in a day or so Gotta get that glass sparkling first

James

 

[wm23oh]

I was NOT able to get any decent photos of these little guys and the ones I did were so blurry they are rather useless.

I did get some photos of my Sabea Anemone. It's coloring up rather nicely. It looks green/brown in person but for some reason in this photo it has a little yellow tinge to it. Not sure why.

:bouncer:

A big difference from the stark white clump it once was. Mind you the photo doesn't show that it now spans about 8".

 

[wm23oh]

Right after adding my Sabea and the clowns were afraid of it. But not anymore. It's almost impossible to get them out. Even while cleaning next to it they stand there ground. Just too funny.

Now that's a BIG improvement IMO.

Thanks all who have given me information and the help I needed! I have already made it past the 6 month mark which is apparently difficult and approaching the year mark witch is extremely difficult from what I have read. Keep your fingers crossed and any advice/comments/ and suggestions coming. It truly is appreciated.

James

 

[wm23oh]

Since the death of Grumpy the Goby I've noticed my crabs have slowly been dying off. All of the green guys are gone and all but one of the blue legs are gone.

Water parameters have been close to perfect although my calcium has been on the low side but still barely in the safe zone (per API test). It's kind of odd too that my salinity drops .01 between W/C's each week so I have to compensate and add more salt. I thought it may have been my refractometer but after doing some testing with it it's readings are right on.

I had to replace the nice HOB refugium/skimmer with just a skimmer. It had gotten so bad with aptasia's that no matter what I did they came back. Not to mention I found it was pulling the lip of the tank back twords the wall so it must have been too heavy for my tank. It was also the reason for my algae issue as I found it was putting crud back into the tank. So all in all it was OK and if I had a larger tank I would buy another one but for my current tank it was just too much. BTW it would have been easy to fix the leak back into the tank but I decided to get a smaller one since the lip of the tank was bowing.

I also bought 8 more Bergdailia a month or so ago and they have made some improvement in the tank but sadly the right side under where the skimmer was feeding them and the algae issue there are still hundreds of em.

All the corals in the tank are still doing fine and growing rather nicely. Many of them have doubled to quadrupled in size and I have already started fraging the green star polyps and will need to frag it again soon so it don't take over the floor of the tank.

Most everyone disagrees with my using feeder guppies as food for my Sabea Anemone however with it making it almost a year and improving in color still I believe feeder guppies are a good source of food and if the Anemone is still around next year (I see no reason it won't be) I will start recommending them as a safe food for them. Since my Anemone has not eaten anything other than dried mysis shrimp (3 of em) and 4 feeder shrimp (when I first got it) it has really only had guppies as food and started coloring up right away with the guppies.

I have 4 new microalgaes in the tank that I didn't put there. One is a green tube like algae, the other is a green shelf type of algae and the third is one I've seen for sale it looks like one fan stacked on top of the other and finally one that looked like a para scope (Just an inch up and a sharp turn). A few of them are dying out since I fixed my skimmer issue but it is still cool they came from nowhere in about a year.



James

 

[wm23oh]

Officially over a year+ old now.

Whewwww........

Thanks everyone who shared information, gave ID's and provided encouragement.

If their is one thing I have learned is getting an Anemone like I did in the beginning and working through all the mess with having one I wish even more now that the accident of buying it hadn't happened more and more. I would have easily been able to kill the Aiptasias (which are SLOWLY being eaten) off quickly.

Even though the Anemone has made it a year with feeder guppies as of now I plan to wait at least another 6 months to a year to recommend them. The more I think about it and the information I have read suggests that most places can keep Sebae Anemones for 6 months to a year so I figure going 2 years on this food source should be proof enough.

:dunce:

Thanks again,

James

 

[wm23oh]

I've got babies! Yup little baby Bergdailia's. Eventually (I hope) to sell them locally and get my money back but for now I just hope they follow in there parents foot steps and eat Aiptasia. God knows there is still plenty of them in my tank.

I also noticed another Orange Ball Anemone in my tank after a year of removing the first one I had found. What's really odd is that it is no where near where the first one was. It's amazing how things appear out of nowhere. I just noticed it last night after doing my nightly flashlight tour of the tank. It helps me focus on 1 spot in the tank so that I can concentrate on what I'm seeing.

I also have something else that's moving around in the tank. It almost looks like a worm but as time has gone by I'm starting to think it's a bristle star of some type. It's so small I'm having trouble getting photos of it but when I do I'll post it here.

James

 

[wm23oh]

I tried to give the Bergdailia's I had in my tank away before they all died sadly it seams it was a fatal attempt. Finding them was near impossible.

A real bad algae outbreak has occurred since the death of them.

I lost all of my hard corals due to my lighting not being switched out in time. Everything else including the Anem is still doing fine so far.

Just lots and lots of bubble algae.