My GF's 10gal Reef Log [Archive]

ooja3k

10-16-2007, 1:17 AM

Well...

I think both my girlfriend and I have come down with a disease...

The doctor said it was MTS... I'm afraid he might be right...

Here is our newest adventure! My 10gal quarantine has been sitting in my linen closet while I dream about a small softie tank... Well, my girlfriend was sick and tired of her "personality-less FW fish..." (I know I'm going to get crap for that...) So we returned them to the LFS to embark on her first SW experience!!

Well, we thoroughly cleaned out her 10gal FW tank, and proceeded to get about 19 lbs of LR from the LFS...

As a little starting gift, i got her two 50/50 20 watt CFs that screw into her existing incandescent sockets...

So we rinsed off the LR, and put it in the tank... With no sand for a day so that remaining debris could fall off the rock with the current and settle to the bottom to be siphoned out later before adding sand...

We then mixed our SW and filled the tank. I had an Aquaclear 50 from my quarantine sitting around, and my visitherm-stealth which were better than her Aquaclear 20 and unneccessarily huge POS heater that were in her FW tank... We used the aquaclear 50 not as a fuge, but as a chemical cleaning station if you will... I am running Phos-Ban and Carbon 24/7 in my 30gal Reef, with great results (granted im using RO/DI), and without the possibility of using RO/DI here at her place, the use of these two is going to be much more beneficial then putting a couple small pieces of LRR in there...

So here is what we have now:

10gal AGA tank
Aquaclear 50 - running with Carbon, Phos-ban (soon), and Sponge (mechanical filtration).
Visitherm Stealth 50? maybe 100 watt heater
TopFin Powerhead 50 ~ 190gph..
Standard AGA all-in-one hood
2 - 20watt 50/50 CF bulbs

Here are some pics after we siphoned the debris and added the sand.. It was totally clear, but then I found an Aipastia so I took that rock out, and poured a whole pot of boiling water on it... (I think its gone...) I figured it was too soon to kill anything valuable... But taking that rock out and putting it back in is the reason for the cloudy water... Anyway.. Here are the first pics!

Here are some pics without the sand...

... Photobucket is not working right now...

I will have them ASAP!!!

Here they are:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0276.jpg
pre sand

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0317.jpg
just added the sand!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0321.jpg
sand is settling... almost clear!

for christmas, depending or her research and wants/coral needs... she might be getting the 96watt coralift PC light... that is if she wants SPS... right now, she can keep most softies especailly zoas and mushrooms and frogspawn with her current lighting (4 wpg)

Reefscape

10-16-2007, 3:54 AM

Looks very well indeed...Personaly, i would break up the very large chunk of live rock to help even out the structure more, however its personal preference..

with great results (granted im using RO/DI), and without the possibility of using RO/DI here at her place, the use of these two is going to be much more beneficial then putting a couple small pieces of LRR in there...

You mention she does not have an RO/DI there...why not just buy a water carrier for her and supply her with RO from yourself if you have your on RO/DI unit....just a thought...

Looks like it should be a great little tank for her...good stuff...

Niko

Grins

10-16-2007, 5:38 AM

If she is like me she'll change the rockwork several times. Great start for her, and yes a big ditto what Niko said...give that woman some of your RO/Di don't be stingy. :D

ooja3k

10-16-2007, 11:50 AM

hahha i will i will don't worry.... i didn't even think of a water carrier... i was just thinking home depot buckets spilling everywhere lol...

as for that rock... we saw it at the lfs and it was our favorite one... so we built our design around that... the right side of that big rock is like a huge shelf.. so lots of coral options there.. and it helps create a ton of caves... we like the open look!

grins,
as of right now she likes it... but i totally agree with you, it will probably be changed multiple times... i mean i changed mine countless times too!

Subliminal

10-16-2007, 12:14 PM

Home depot sells 5 gallon jugs that I believe go on top of those water machine doo-hickeys. I think the jug filled is like $10 or something.

Would probably make for a GREAT water carrier.

ooja3k

10-17-2007, 12:18 PM

We tested the water and...

Ammo - 2.0ppm
Trites - 0
Trates - 10

cycle is underway! I think that nitrate is from the tap water... but when we tested it, it was 0ppm... so i dunno...

ooja3k

10-19-2007, 7:15 PM

ammo - 1.5ppm
trites - .25
trates - 20

i put a cup of my established live sand in her tank to help it along... we will see if that makes a difference tomorrow!!!

salty420

10-19-2007, 8:52 PM

looking good!

soccerkidbs

10-20-2007, 2:04 AM

psh i wish i had a girlfriend that cared about fish.

ooja3k

10-20-2007, 3:10 PM

Im lucky!!!

Water:

Ammo - .50-.75
Trites - .25-.50
Trates - 15-20

Well its coming along!!

We are thinking about two stocking options...

A:
1 ocellaris clown
1 clown goby/watchman goby

B:
2 ocellaris clowns
1 clown goby/watchman goby

We would love to have two clowns, but at the same time, that is just that much more work in a small 10... 1 clown is probably pushing it...

Im thinking going the 1 clown and 1 goby route...

What do you guys think??? Any other options im not thinking of??? We don't really like the firefish...

Reefscape

10-20-2007, 3:52 PM

certainly go with a clown and a watchman..the watchman is not a tank swimmer for the most part...certainly would not go with 3 fish in there...

Niko

soccerkidbs

10-20-2007, 3:55 PM

agree the clown watchman combo. i love watchman gobies they are fun to have staring contests with lol

ooja3k

10-20-2007, 4:30 PM

haha... i like them too... like its bigger than the clown goby, but i think the clown goby will ahve more personality hanging out on the corals and rockwork as opposed to just hanging by its cave...

Dwarf Puffers

10-20-2007, 5:08 PM

Clown gobies just look too nice to pass up, IMHO ;)

ooja3k

10-22-2007, 1:48 AM

water:

Ammo .25
Trites .25
Trates 20

well today we went to the LFS and found the cutest pair of false percs... they are about an inch long and too cute to pass up!! they got a FW dip and are now in quarantine for at least a week, even if the tank finishes cycling first...

once the tank is done cycling, we are going to go and get a small clean up crew for her tank... im thinking a couple dwarf blue legs and a couple astrea snails... there is absolutely no algae anywhere... so it will probably be a minimal crew, at least to start...

we will get pics of the clowns up as soon as possible!!!!! (tomorrow!)

Reefscape

10-22-2007, 4:06 AM

sounds great, looking forward to seeing pics..

Niko

ooja3k

10-22-2007, 7:12 PM

water:

ammo - 0
trites - 0
trates - 20

woohoo cycles done!!!

here are some pics of the new little fellas and the tank!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0346.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0349.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0350.jpg

clown-lover

10-22-2007, 7:27 PM

Very cool bud.. I love baby clowns. They are kind of like baby kittens. Irresistible

jowek7

10-22-2007, 8:11 PM

i would go with the clown gobie also b/c i already have one and he is great. are you getting a shrimp. i also have a clown pair to just little playful fish. hanging in the new green Bubble Tip Anemone they are just so cool. what kinda corals are you going with. you might be able to get away with a Geometric Pygmy Hawk/Perchlet. but im not for sure. i have one. looks just like my falco halk just smaller.

Grins

10-22-2007, 9:16 PM

Congrats! And so good to see someone using a QT tank.

ooja3k

10-23-2007, 3:17 AM

well im glad i did because sure enough, i found a couple white spots on one of the little guys... so i began the rid-ich treatment in the quarantine tank... the tank is also running hypo... hopefully the little fella pulls through....

we did a large wc on the display that is done cycling and are probably going to go get the beginnings of a clean up crew tomorrow.... the only problem, which isn't really a problem, is there is no algae for the clean up crew to graze upon...

Reefscape

10-23-2007, 7:10 AM

Your best option then if you dont have much algae is to start off quite light on the cleanup crew, and start to build it up more as the tank progresses. This will save any startvation..

Niko

eklikewhoa

10-23-2007, 7:33 AM

Awesome looking LR!

Grins

10-23-2007, 9:03 AM

Sorry about the ich. Glad you don't have to fret about the display or catching them to get them into QT though.

ooja3k

10-23-2007, 11:04 AM

ya they should come out just fine!!!

as for the cleanup crew, we are going to start really light and work up as the tank progresses just as niko said.

ooja3k

10-23-2007, 11:48 AM

well i checked on them this morning, and the one with the about 5 white spots now has none that are easily visible... just 1 or 2 if you look really really close...

this stuff works!!!

i did a 75% wc and another dose!

Grins

10-23-2007, 4:12 PM

Remember that ich has a cycle. I've not used the product you are so not sure where it interrupts the cycle but don't be suprised if you see more spots show up.

ooja3k

10-23-2007, 6:15 PM

ya i know.... im not sure where it interrupts the cycle either....

im using it and doing 75% wc's everytime to siphon out the eggs on the bottom.... so basically doing subliminal's qt'ing technique combined with the chemical treatment..

they now have no spots at all on them..

Mgamer20o0

10-24-2007, 7:38 PM

might want to check out the new blog section (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/blog.php).....

ooja3k

10-24-2007, 9:04 PM

i ordered another nano polyp 5 pack from liveaquaria.com and asked for reds and blues this time instead of greens and oranges like i did last time...

i will dip them all and put them in my 30gal tank and check them out then frag some in my little frag area, and then add them to her tank!!!

im excited to see what variety comes this time!

soccerkidbs

10-24-2007, 9:11 PM

wow you must have really liked the last pack to be ordering again so soon.

ooja3k

10-25-2007, 3:09 AM

Ya.. Just hope for good variety!!!

Update:

Diatoms

soccerkidbs

10-25-2007, 3:12 AM

diatoms are no fun. but i would take them anyday over my cyano.

ooja3k

10-25-2007, 3:54 PM

ya... we are going to get our clean up crew for her this weekend...

we left the lights off during the cycle, but now they are on a lot trying to get some food for the clean up crew lol....

ooja3k

10-27-2007, 9:43 PM

k well we went to the LFS and picked up 2 scarlet leg hermits and 2 astrea snails.. we then put them in the tank and the hermits immediately ate all the diatoms in the sand... they must have been hungy!!

as for that coral pack we recieved, almost everything died... i don't know if my lugols dip was too powerful, or if they were just shot to begin with... some are opening really slowly, and some are open, and others look amazing!!!

we put two zoa frags in her tank today, along with a blue leg hermit, a unknown type of hermit that was a hitchhicker in my tank, and a nass snail to sift through the sand...

one of the zoa frags was my old one from my first polyp pack.. it has the bright orange center with the yellow arms.. it is a frag with about 3 polyps on it... we then also put in one of the new frags that is doing really really well!!! it is the most beautiful set of zoas ive ever seen.. its like yellow, red, blue, orange, and green... it has like 30+ polyps on it and its like a little ball of them that we just set on the sand...

but we are realizing that the hood that we had from our FW tank (which is what this used to be), is not cutting it. we have 2 22watt 50/50 pcs in it, but the reflectors suck and there is no splash guard so the chrome reflectors are now grey and not reflecting at all and the bulbs are covered in salt spray...

so we just ordered the 20" sattelite dual fixture.. i have the same thing, but in the T-5s for my 30 long reef.

i think this light will do the trick!!! 80 watts over a 10gal?? woohoo!!!!

we'll get current picks up soon!

soccerkidbs

10-27-2007, 9:50 PM

sounds great. cant wait to see those pics as always. lol

Grins

10-27-2007, 9:54 PM

You're sure they died Ooja?

ooja3k

10-27-2007, 10:13 PM

ya they were turning black and literally disintigrating... i was bumed..

here are the pics out of her tank...

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0361.jpg
here are the awesome zoas that came!! under my more intense lighting they were brilliant! can't wait to get her new lights!!!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0367.jpg
full tank shot...

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0370.jpg
our sick guy... we had to separate them into two different quarantines to treat them individually. hes looking soo much better!

Grins

10-27-2007, 10:16 PM

I seriously want to figure out the trick to photograph the clowns. Mine are constantly in motion.

ooja3k

10-27-2007, 11:12 PM

catch them while they are going to the bathroom..

Grins

10-28-2007, 8:00 AM

lol, how rude

Delete

10-28-2007, 5:24 PM

wow. You guys are moving soo fast. I had my 46 gallon cycle for a whole month and a half before I added any kind of life to it. I had just about as much fun watching the random creatures spring to life on my live rock than I did with the cleanup crew. Speaking of which... I hope those hermits clean up more than just the inside of the snail shells, got rid of every one of those suckers in my tank... all 15 of them : ) I hope everything comes together well for her!

Grins

10-28-2007, 5:57 PM

I hope those hermits clean up more than just the inside of the snail shells, got rid of every one of those suckers in my tank... all 15 of them : )

At last! I have company in my feelings for hermits COUGHstonecoldkillersCOUGH.

ooja3k

11-02-2007, 1:57 AM

well, we lost one.... the one in that photograph... he started looking really bad, and looked like he was coming down with brook... how can these fish have so many problems...

anyway, he passed the other night in his quarantine..

his friend was deemed safe and we put him in his display!!! he is soo happy swimming all over and eating tons of pods off the glass and everything...

the only problem, we cant get him to eat anything... mysis, or pellets... we soked them in a little bit of garlic extreme from kent marine, and it did nothing...

i hope he will decide to eat soon... he wont die without eating right?? he will force himself to eat so he wont die right?

oh, and sunday we had ordered a new CF fixture with about 80ish watts of light. i think it will be a much better lighting setup when it arrives on tomorrow!

hopefully our little guy does well all by himself... tomorrow we are going to go to the lfs and get a couple more astrea snails... her tank is doing a good job of growing food for them lol... what would you guys recommend as a good friend for our clown?? he seems lonely, and maybe a little sand sifter goby of some kind? needs to have some character!!

we will keep you guys updated!

salty420

11-02-2007, 11:22 AM

Coral Keeper

11-02-2007, 11:45 AM

i'd wait on adding any fish for a while honestly, expecially with the clown not eating. when the time comes maybe adding a cute little clown goby would fit the bill for you guys. but again, i'd wait on getting a fish for a good while :)
Yeah, i agree with you. Maybe you should get a yellow watchman goby with a pistol shrimp later on? They have very awesome personalities and they will pair up(the goby and the pistol shrimp) and will make a tunnel in the sand, its very awesome to watch.

ooja3k

11-02-2007, 1:45 PM

ya thats what we are thinking too...

let the tank get settled in for a while... we will work on the corals and the aesthetics of the tank...

new lights should be here any second!

Matthew_Machine

11-02-2007, 2:37 PM

ooja, you got a real cutie of a fish there!

It's been 3 years since i've kept fish, and the last time i did i was in SLO. is your LFS the pet store out on Broad st? They used to be on Marsh/Nipomo til they moved...

ooja3k

11-02-2007, 6:15 PM

no thats not the one we use...

my girlfriend lives on broad down by industrial.. where is the LFS on broad??

also and update:

well i think i have found the reason for no appetite for the clown.. Black Ich.

i did some research and it is indeed what he has... black specles all over him, loss of appetite, and lethargic...

now hes back in quarantine... i upp'd the temp on her display to 82, the LFS said that will help speed up the metabolism of the flatworm and alleviate the problem very fast in the display.. like a week..!

we got the new lights for her tank!! woohoo! the thing is only half of the actinic bulb works... so a replacement is on its way, free of charge!

so the little guy got a FW dip and is in quarantine now being treated with rid-ich... they say formalin is the best treatment and thats what im going to use.

wish us luck! we can't possibly lose 2 clowns...

destined_love7

11-02-2007, 6:29 PM

luck!

Matthew_Machine

11-02-2007, 6:53 PM

Oh, I forgot about Aquatic Adventures on Monterey.

But there used to be one on Tank Farm and Broad, in the shopping center. I was just going to mention that I used to have all my fish ordered from them (wouldn't buy from the tank) because I had bad luck with health. I bought lots of supplies from AA because they were very nice and helpful, but their fish never looked healthy either.

Glad to see there are other fishkeepers in SLO! Can't wait to see updates to this tank.

salty420

11-02-2007, 9:11 PM

Yeah, i agree with you. Maybe you should get a yellow watchman goby with a pistol shrimp later on? They have very awesome personalities and they will pair up(the goby and the pistol shrimp) and will make a tunnel in the sand, its very awesome to watch.

the yellow watchman would grow to big for the 10 gallon tho, the one in my 29 is HUGE!!!!! it would be really pushing it with one in a 10 gallon for the long haul... and with a clown... (JMO)

ooja3k

11-02-2007, 9:45 PM

well now it wouldn't be with a clown at all...

we just lost our other little guy...

thats 2 gone in a week... really disappointing...

i thought we did everything right, i guess not.. this one definitely died from black ich, the question is that he was doing well, i mean swimming well, not eating, kinda lethargic, almost transparent, bright red gills, and a smoky black appearance... but it seems like the second i took him out and gave him a FW dip and then put him in the QT he exponentially worse... i gave him a light treatment, and we left for an hour or so and when we got back he was swimming upside down scraping on the bottom breathing really hard... we took some display water in a little glad thing to see if it was the medicine messing with him... but he passed like 2 minutes later...

we put them in quarantine, and medicated them for something they probably didn't have, and then FW dip them, and them put them in separate QTs, and then deem them both ok, and put them in the display, and then take one sick one out of the display and put him in QT and then he dies, and then see the other get sick a couple days later and then put him in QT and then he dies...

i think they were probably ok from the LFS, but the stress caused by all the tank changes and water changes and hypo, and medicine, and FW dip, is probably what made them vulnerable to disease, and thats ultimately what killed them... in hindsight, if we had just acclimated them correctly and put them in the display, they would probably be fine...

really disappointing...

Grins

11-02-2007, 10:06 PM

Sorry to hear you lost the 2nd one.

salty420

11-03-2007, 11:41 PM

that stinks, sorry to hear it :(

ooja3k

11-04-2007, 1:44 AM

I am thinking that we, (I), overreacted and probably what was just a little bubble or something on his fin that initially got me all scared of ich... and that started the unnecessary FW dips and medications which caused extreme stress and ultimately death...

SO next time, im just going to out them straight in lol...

ooja3k

11-06-2007, 1:33 AM

Here are a couple pictures with the new lighting! Its an awesome small budget fixture!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0375.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0376.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0381.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0385.jpg

well when we got the fixture, and i took the bulbs out to take the plastic covering off and i realized that the actinic one was making a rattling sound.. so i plugged it in before i put it over the tank and i realized that only have of it was working... so i called drsfostersmith and they sent a new bulb immediately free of charge.. so that should be arriving this thurs or friday.

so now only half the actinic bulb is working...

Coral Keeper

11-06-2007, 8:06 PM

Very nice set up you got there! Sorry to hear about the clown fish. Try getting a Clown Goby? They stay small. They only get about 1 1/2 - 2 inches long. They got tons of personality.

ooja3k

11-06-2007, 10:07 PM

ya it was a bummer...

i think we'll just wait till mine have babies!! then i know they are good!

ooja3k

11-11-2007, 1:29 AM

Update:

The other day we added some more of my little frags that I made from my current zoa collection...

She now has some GSP, palys, and some new assorted zoanthids!

We will post pictures soon

Reefscape

11-11-2007, 7:38 AM

Sounds great, looking forward to seeing some pictures of them in the tank...

Niko

ooja3k

11-15-2007, 2:19 AM

Here are some pics:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0002-Copy.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0017-Copy.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0003-Copy.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0009-Copy.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0014-Copy.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0018-Copy.jpg

salty420

11-15-2007, 11:32 AM

looking good! love the frags!

Grins

11-15-2007, 11:48 AM

Those first ones look a lot like the ones I'm picking up Saturday. Love them.

ooja3k

11-15-2007, 11:56 AM

ya... the "pinks" in the pic just above the full tank shot are pretty big and grow really really fast... you can't really tell that they are pink, but they look really cool

ooja3k

12-01-2007, 11:24 PM

well tonight we picked up a small christmas tree shaped purple feather duster!!! it is awesome..

we also picked up a tiny pair of clowns!!! the 10gal tank looks huge!!!

the lights are off for the night while they get used to their new surroundings!

some of our corals are doing really well! attaching to nearby rocks and growing quickly!

we will post some pics tomorrow morning!!

chris331

12-02-2007, 12:50 AM

looks great...

i have been inspired...

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 1:10 AM

Hey, I think we may have a problem...

Last night after we acclimated everything it all looked great! This morning however, our zoanthids aren't looking good at all...

Let me start by letting you guys know what we did, and what might have happened...

We picked up two clowns and a feather duster from the LFS last night.

We floated the clowns and the duster.

We then put them both in the tank and left the lights off for the rest of the night..

When we got up this morning everything was great! The clowns were vacuuming up the pods and eating the pellets that we feed them. The feather duster was out and enjoying everything!!

Later this morning I went and picked up a small maxijet 400, to replace the small top fin powerhead that we currently have... And I did a 10% wc while I was at it...

That is when everything went downhill...

i had to work on some school work for about 4 hours, and when I returned is when i noticed something wasn't right...

All of our zoas began closing up, and the feather duster went bye bye... Everything else is fine, our Palythoas and GSP are perfect, its just the zoas that shriveled up and then closed... It was really weird. And the feather duster will occasionally come out, but then just close back up...

I thought the powerhead might be leaking voltage or something so I put our old top fin back in.. That didn't work...

I though more about what could be happening to the zoas and then I thought wow, the carbon hasn't been replaced in a while.. So i replaced the carbon...

They are still closed...

What should I do??

I am currently at my girlfriends house and all i can test is:

Ammo - 0
Trites - 0
Trates - 0
ph - 8.2
temp - 80

Catpicklesdog

12-03-2007, 3:22 AM

I wouldn't panic - yet. I had one clump of Zoos that suddenly closed and stayed closed for about 10 days. All the others were fine. Suddenly they re-opened the other day and looking healthier than ever before. The feather duster (would love to see a photo of it) may just be settling in as well or even getting ready to shed its crown. Did you drip acclimate them as well as floating?

Grins

12-03-2007, 8:12 AM

Yes, how did you acclimate the feather? And I want a photo too! =)

salty420

12-03-2007, 11:25 AM

nothing was walking across the zoas?

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 12:06 PM

well some of the zoas are opening... I thought i read somewhere that zoas might occasionally "purge" themselves...

I forgot to mention that we also got a cleaner shrimp... his antennae hit a couple of them so they might have gotten pissed...

But ya, the pinks are like open, but they look pretty shriveled if that makes sense...

oh, the feather duster is out andd enjoying the tank now!

Im not too worried about the zoas, if they start decomposing then ill worry... But if there is anything chemical in there, then the new carbon will help get rid of it... One thing i thought of is that it had been like 4 or 5 weeks without a water change... I know, i know... But the corals were all thriving and doing well and there were no signs of any trates..

Im wondering if all of a sudden an increase in minerals and trace elements might have thrown everything off...

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 7:17 PM

well this evening everything seems to be doing much much better now!! the featherduster is always out, and all of the zoanthids are open and looking healthy!

here are a couple pics of the new additions:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0036.jpg

one of our little guys hunting pods:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0039.jpg

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 7:18 PM

we moved the two "balls" of zoanthids close to the rockwork behind them about a week ago and they are already growing on the rocks.. ill have more pics in a sec

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 7:44 PM

Here you can see the zoanthids that are the slowest to recover... They are all "open" but still slightly shriveled...
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0001.jpg

here is our feather duster... its hard to see the 3 different levels of feeathers, but they are there
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0009.jpg

here is one of our "balls" of palys.. they are now doing GREAT! they are also growing onto the rockwork behind them
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0010.jpg

here is the section of zoanthids that we moved back agains that rockwork... you can see where they have connected to the rockwork and have already formed a new polyp in the last week...
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0012.jpg

here is our little hunter again:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0013.jpg

here are the pinks that just looked absolutely disastarus last night.. they are back to normal now
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0022.jpg

here is our cleaner shrimp... he is about 3 times as big as our fish..
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0023.jpg

here he/she is hunting again!
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/DSC_0028.jpg

the "hunter" which will probably be the woman is about 1" in length, whereas the man, is about 3/4" in length... they are soo tiny!

enjoy

salty420

12-03-2007, 8:55 PM

no kidding those clowns are tiny!!! i wouldn't worry too much about the zoas, hopefully tomorrow they will be all the way opened up. the tank is looking great btw, it does look much bigger than a 10g with those teeny clowns in it :)

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 9:19 PM

ya its going to be fun to see them grow! they eat like crazy!

we are trying to figure out what corals to add next! i have fragged a small green striped mushroom in my tank, that is going to be added here in a week or so to her tank... i also fragged some brown/orange zoanthids for her tank!

salty420

12-03-2007, 9:50 PM

what hood do you have on there, i can't remember... im really pushing neon green candy cane's these days for little tanks, they won't get out of control on ya and have great color. imo it's an ideal lps for small tanks and they'll glow right along with your zoas under actinics...

Grins

12-03-2007, 9:58 PM

Oh please tell me your secret of photographing your clowns. Do you hypnotize them?

ooja3k

12-03-2007, 11:08 PM

Grins you'll have to ask the boss... She took the pictures...

But that one is always "hunting" so he hovers above the substrate or rocks for a second before catching his prey...

Salty - Im looking to get a frag of them for my larger reef tank.. As for light over this tank, we have 80 watts of PC.. We could keep pretty much anything we wanted to... We don't have an auto top off so salinity varies a little so if it is too hard to keep, it probably wouldn't last..

strickrick

12-06-2007, 7:55 PM

In my opinion I would go with a pair of neon gobies (blue is my preferred color) over the clown or watchmen goby. They are fun to watch, keep ich under control at their cleaner station & are practically invisible to your bio-load. Mine eats frozen brine right off my hand, it kinda tickles. If you do, make sure to get the store to have them paired up because two males may fight to the death.
All the best.

salty420

12-07-2007, 1:33 AM

neon gobies are great! and they seem to be more accepted by fish then cleaner shrimp (at least my fish). my goby cleans everyone in my 37g where my shrimp clean no-one. in my 29g only the goby tolerates the shrimp. the neon goby is the perfect size for a 10g too...

ooja3k

12-07-2007, 1:38 AM

hahah that question is from a while back...

we already have two clowns and a cleaner shrimp..

thanks for the thoughts though!!

we have a long polyp leather arriving tomorrow for her tank!! we will get pics up asap!

salty420

12-07-2007, 1:47 AM

ya i guess even a neon goby would be pushing it i should know better... shame shame...

Grins

12-07-2007, 6:02 AM

Reefscape

12-07-2007, 7:13 AM

I should pick one of the little cleaner gobies up. My 2 cleaner shrimps certainly have no interest in anything other than themselves and food. Salty, do you know how to sex them in case I pick up two of them?

Sexing is not easy in my opinion...The male has a pointed papilla on the from of the anal fin, where as the female fish does not show this unless its going to spawn...hope that helps..

Grins

12-07-2007, 8:16 AM

Hmm perhaps I'll stick with one.

salty420

12-07-2007, 1:52 PM

yes sexing is very difficult... but they are so cute grins you really should get one. and at least mine LOVES to clean the fish and amazingly all the fish allow it!

Grins

12-07-2007, 3:31 PM

As long as there is no chance of my shrimp being able to impregnate and indoctorine it into the lazy life I think I will.

ooja3k

12-17-2007, 12:50 PM

Time for an update!!

Well some of you may have read my other thread, that our little guys got sick!!! Second pair of clowns to get sick...

One had brook, and so we placed both in quarantine and treated them. They are looking great now!! But our display tank will remain fallow for 8 weeks MINIMUM... im not going to cut it close to the 6-8 week period like we did last time.. I want to be done with sick fish.

This probably means more corals will be added to the tank..

Also, once the fish were removed last Thursday night, the tank has EXPLODED with copepods. I guess the clowns really eat them!!

Grins

12-17-2007, 12:58 PM

That was the best thing about my fallow period (other than removing ich), the pod explosion.

ooja3k

12-17-2007, 1:02 PM

how long did you go fallow for?

Grins

12-17-2007, 1:05 PM

7 weeks...I lost all will power by then.

ooja3k

12-17-2007, 1:11 PM

i will be impressed if i last even that long...

who all did you have to quarantine? just butters?

Grins

12-17-2007, 1:20 PM

At the time I had Butters, George (Dragon Goby) and Tigger (Ocellaris). While Butters was the first to show spots on his fins I believe Tigger is the one that introduced it to the tank. Tigger didn't make it past the first 10 days of QT sadly. George never showed signs of it.

ooja3k

12-17-2007, 1:27 PM

so what did you do with your tank during the QT time to keep yourself busy?

Reefscape

12-17-2007, 1:36 PM

Sounds good mate, glad to see your taking good action to deal with the issues at hand..Look forward to updates on how they get along..

Niko

Grins

12-17-2007, 2:13 PM

so what did you do with your tank during the QT time to keep yourself busy?

Pouted.

Coral Keeper

12-31-2007, 5:29 PM

Your tank looks awesome! Did you get anything new?

ooja3k

01-13-2008, 10:56 PM

I've given in and decided to update you all....this is the owner of the tank, ooja3k's gf, saying hello for the first time. After a 2 week vacation home for the holidays, I returned to fabulous amount of growth in my tank. The clowns remain in qt and will stay there for another 4 weeks or so. I have also had some additions to the display! Just before I had left, ooja3k had bought me a white long polyp leather (I love how fluid it is!!) and fragged one of his mushrooms, both of which have had tremendous growth in my tank. Today I bought another feather duster and a xenia at the lfs which were added to the display along with a new frag from ooja3k's main display (some kind of zoa I presume). I also did some rearranging but considering I rearrange the furniture in my house often, I imagine the display will change just as frequently. I wish the clowns could enjoy their new home but for now I am very excited about the new additions and love watching all the life grow. One disappointment...all the copepods have vanished, not sure why b/c the clowns aren't there to eat them but oh well. I think that about covers it. I will have ooja3k post some pictures soon!!

jagr200

01-14-2008, 1:11 AM

Nice. Sounds like its coming along nicely. You should make an account here so you can become part of the AC family like your BF.

salty420

01-15-2008, 2:48 PM

good to hear from you! how are the clowns looking? looking forward to some pics of your tank :)

ooja3k

01-17-2008, 1:09 AM

K guys heres an update,

and its me ooja, not my girl this time...

we went to the LFS after hearing from them that they were getting a huge shipment of corals and fish in...

well needless to say we bought a couple things..

for her we got the tiniest little head of torch coral i have ever seen... but in her tank it looks perfect! once it opens all the way we should be great!

also, we got her a small brittle starfish... she has been having some detritus issues, and hopefully this helps!

we did some rearranging and after a couple superglued together fingers, i think we finally got everything the way we want it.. at least till tomorrow morning... you guys know how it goes...

we will try to get some pics tomorrow... i have to be at my apartment to receive my 2 new sps corals, but im hoping that she will be able to take some pics to post tomorrow...

we will keep you guys updated on our little 10gal project!

ooja3k

01-17-2008, 2:14 AM

Here are a few pics from yesterday... Before the new additions, and the slight rearranging..

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_0965.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_0980.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_0975-1.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_0984.jpg

ooja3k

01-17-2008, 6:09 PM

Here is a shot of the torch, and a full tank shot:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1011-1.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1019.jpg

mandy21

01-17-2008, 6:16 PM

it's amazing what can be done with a little 10 gallon :)

Love the corals and the tank setup.

Grins

01-17-2008, 6:53 PM

I like where she has gone with the rock scape.

jagr200

01-17-2008, 10:21 PM

Grrrrrrrrr. Now only if I can get my powerhead to stop blowing sand around!!!!!!!!!

ooja3k

01-18-2008, 12:32 AM

jagr200

01-18-2008, 8:47 AM

Ya all I have is a Koralia Nano. It blows less sand then the last one but it still does. I may but a stocking or something on it to slow the flow alittle.

Reefscape

01-18-2008, 9:27 AM

Thanks for the comments everyone!

It is definitely a work in progress, but its fun to add little things as we find cool ones...

It took us a while before we could find a powerhead that made enough current, but not too much that it blew the sand all over... Its a hard medium in such a small tank...

LOL....i certainly agree with that with my little 7 gallon..it was a real pita getting the two powerheads setup so it does not move my mound of sand i have purposly put in there for when i "finally" get my pistol shrimp...lol..

Niko

salty420

01-18-2008, 8:50 PM

looks so much bigger than 10 gallons! looks great!!!

Coral Keeper

01-31-2008, 11:22 PM

Any new updates?

ooja3k

02-01-2008, 1:09 AM

Ya, actually there are!

We have gotten a couple new morphs of zoanthids... We are starting to run out of places to put new frags! We just need them to grow in now...

The 2 clowns have now been in quarantine for 7 weeks exactly. 1 more week to go! I think we will make it!

We'll post some pictures soon.

ooja3k

02-01-2008, 9:33 PM

Alright here are some new pics!

These are some blue zoanthids that I already have a couple frags set aside to begin propogating in my new frag tank!
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1057.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1053.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1064.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1054.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1065.jpg

New FTS:
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1078.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1081.jpg

jagr

02-01-2008, 9:58 PM

Oh man those are amazing pics.

ooja3k

02-01-2008, 10:19 PM

Thanks! My gf is amazing when it comes to picture taking!

donk18

02-01-2008, 10:48 PM

awsome tank. this log is what made me start a 10 gallon reef. i am slowly getting there. corals will come with tax return. i love the way it looks.

steelersrule

02-02-2008, 1:03 AM

awsome tank. this log is what made me start a 10 gallon reef. i am slowly getting there. corals will come with tax return. i love the way it looks.

Ah arent tax returns great.

clown-lover

02-02-2008, 10:18 AM

Loving the watermelon zoas.. But all of the shots look great...

ooja3k

02-05-2008, 1:31 AM

Thanks for all the comments!

The clowns will go in their new home Thursday evening. Needless to say waiting 8 weeks (to the day) has been agonizing....

clown-lover

02-05-2008, 1:33 AM

Good luck with the transition. I know the clowns will be happy in their new home.

ooja3k

02-05-2008, 1:36 AM

Also have a question...

Any reason why all of a sudden the mushroom looks super deflated and the xenia not looking so good??? Has my carbon gotten to old/leeching chemicals back into the water now???

I jsut did a 3gal wc hoping to help out whatever is going on...

Everything else looks great though...

Weird..

ooja3k

02-07-2008, 8:47 PM

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1107.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1106.jpg

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mandy21

02-07-2008, 8:58 PM

how exciting to have them in the tank now. I bet they are enjoying exploring their new home :)

cav

02-07-2008, 9:22 PM

Tank is looking great. In the second pic of the clowns it looks like it has had a tailectomy

salty420

02-08-2008, 12:53 AM

yay how exciting!!

ooja3k

02-08-2008, 12:58 AM

It was a long 8 weeks...

Its nice to finally have them back in their home..

But we have a new small addition waiting in quarantine already... Pics soon!

clown-lover

02-08-2008, 7:09 AM

So cool.. Congrats on getting them into their new home.

jagr200

02-08-2008, 10:39 PM

Do you have a HOB on that tank? Mine is rather cloudy and its driving me nuts. Im thinkin about pickin up a Penguin 100 for it. Its a 10 gallon reef.

ooja3k

02-08-2008, 11:25 PM

yeah, its an AC50 HOB Filter.....we use it to run carbon and polyfilter on occasion. also good for a little extra flow.

thanks for all the good comments!

kryptic4l

02-09-2008, 12:25 AM

nice setup... i like it, the one thing though is those rocks on the side are gonna be hard as heck to clean the glass..

ooja3k

03-03-2008, 10:31 PM

Well, its been a while since we had an update...

Well here it is:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb280/ooja3k/IMG_1163.jpg

Coral Keeper

03-03-2008, 10:48 PM

It looks very nice!!!

salty420

03-03-2008, 10:56 PM

man those clowns must be TINY! the tank is looking great :)

ooja3k

03-03-2008, 11:02 PM

Oh, I forgot to mention, it is now a 20H. :)

The other day we were at the LFS and saw a 20H tank with stand and ghetto lighting hood, for $89. I had been doing research and knew that the stand was already that much, not to mention adding the tank and other goodies to it. So Annika and I jumped all over it!!

We got the tank home and I began making the additional 10 gallons of RO/DI that we would need to fill the difference between the two tanks.

This was around 6pm. We began removing frags from the rocks, and after the water was made and up to temp, we began the process of transferring everything...

We finished around 1am... With a super cloudy tank, and everything really really mad at us...

That was two days ago. The tank is now looking great!!! Well that is in our opinions. We wanted a more open aquascape as opposed to the rock wall look. So we made two corner islands with a space between them. I think we really like the look, and it give much more area to place corals than before.

Thanks for the comments!