Lots of pictures of the display (60g) and refugium (20L).

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Khemul

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Oct 14, 2010
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Was up late last night (long story) and got a chance to take some night pictures. Figured I'd complete the full round of day/night tank/refugium pics. Anyways, here it goes...



Full tank shot. Refugium lights are off, otherwise that would be seen below the tank.

Right side. The bright color of some of the rock was the result of me rearranging the rocks. They haven't all grown the algae (although a week later and a purple tint is already appearing) cover yet.

Left side.

Middle.

Refugium full tank shot. It is effectively a display refugium. It doesn't quite run reverse schedule, but it is a bit more of a night schedule.

Refugium from ground level.


Refugium:

Some type of wild pipefish. He is the only real inhabitant of the refugium (other then shrimp/hermits/etc.).

Yellow Polyps are recovering since they were exhiled from the main tank. Once I get a healthy rock going again I'll try them again in the main tank. I suspect it was the Blue-Fin Damsels I removed that mowed them down, but can't rule out the Angels.

These do amazingly good in the refugium. Not so much in the main tank. Suspecting the Angels but will try again when it starts spreading enough to risk killing off a rock.

A small piece of the GSP frag that broke off. Also doing great since moving to the refugium.

The Zoas got exhiled to the fuge. The Hawaiian Toby has definitely taken a liking to them. Although her appetite for them isn't all that bad so if I get a large enough population going I could possibly put them back and just accept some attrition.

Another exhile caused by the Hawaiian Toby. Again, not fast enough to instantly kill it, but enough to shrink it back long-term until it is gone. She took a couple weeks to trim this one back to what it is now. Gonna wait till I can get 4-5 of them going before reintroducing (I'd cut it in half, but considering its been stressed so much, not sure it is worth the risk).

It started with one shell found during our summer vacation in Fort Meyers. Now there are a bout a dozen of them. Doubt any would survive in the main tank, but they'll have a nice home in the fuge.

One of the shells from Fort Meyers. Think it is a baby Horse Conch, although right now it appears to be eating algae so who knows. If it is a Horse Conch I'll have to move it eventually, but for now all the snails in the fuge are easily replaceable and expendable.

Main Tank: Night-Time.

The new Starry Blenny. Unfortunately I killed the last one getting the two Blue-Fin Damsels out. Removed a bunch of rock-work and didn't think that one of the rocks was the old Blenny's home. He spent 15 minutes out of the tank, seemed to recover after being put back in, but then was dead the next day. Amazing how much personality these fish have. The last one was a pig. This one is more playful and tricky. I'll see him hide behind a rock, wait for the Lawnmower to swim by, then jump out and swim behind him until the Lawnmower catches on and chases him off. They have opposite sides of the tank for territory so other then the chase-game they get along pretty well.


The Urchins doing their thing.


The Tobies. Yes, they sleep like that. Not sure how they do it, but that is how they sleep. Sometimes they even do it upside down (on the underside of a rock).

The Clowns. They never seem to rest.


Main Tank: Day-Time.

My Giant Barnacle Blenny....Okay so it is just a Lawnmower Blenny that found himself a multi-room home. Still funny to see when looking at the tank. He seems to switch rooms every so often. Lately he has taken the ones facing the glass, so good picture time. :laugh:

The lawnmower's neighbors. Interesting enough they aren't 100% responsible for the odd slope of the sand on that side of the tank. They started it, but then I moved a Maxi-Jet 1200 (in circulation mode) behind those rocks. The flow hits the rocks and breaks, partially up through the rockwork and partially down across the sand. Saves the Engineers a lot of work really. :D

The Rusty Angel. The Eibli was around, but it is more camera shy. Ducks into the rockwork when it sees the camera.


The Urchins, apparently sleeping off their nights' work.

Coral:

The first of the Ricordeas. Got a smaller green also that is about to split. A orange/green that is ready to go in the tank when I get more epoxy. A purple that is still attaching. And a huge purple w/ orange-tips that is ready to go in when I get more epoxy. Hard getting good pictures of this one since it opens in late day and then closes up by evening. Doesn't seem to be in any rush to soak up the light.

The Duncan. That's about it during the day so far. At night it seems to open a little bit more.

The Frogspawn seems to be doing pretty good. Was worried with the flow in the area, but seems to do fine.

The newest addition. Already putting on some growth. The tank is heading towards being dominated by large fast growing corals or mushrooms. For now this is how it'll remain, since I'd like to sit back and watch the current stuff grow. No need to keep throwing money in when I don't need too. Considered Xenia for an addition, but think I'll just try to propagate the Kenya and Frogspawn (maybe the Duncan if it ever really gets comfortable during the day) when they get a bit bigger and spread them around more.
 

greech

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Awesome post/pics!

You got a great community going there. Love the fish selection and the fuge. I'm sure the engineers incorporated the idea of your repositioning the maxi-jet into their orginial design :).

Congrats!
 
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Khemul

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Oct 14, 2010
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**** this tank makes mine look like ****s creek
Well, it has evolved quite a bit over time. Quite a few failed ideas early on.

February 2011

March 2011


June 2011 - I do need to rebuild that blue light system to work with the T5's. It was quite nice.

July 2011

Apparently I didn't take many full tank shocks after that, but basically it was a slow evolution after that. Added the refugium. Took a hammer to some of the bigger rocks, which were just too difficult to scap with (although the tunnel networks they had were amazing). And now it has finally hit a point where I don't feel like changing up the layout every week. :rofl:




Awesome post/pics!

You got a great community going there. Love the fish selection and the fuge. I'm sure the engineers incorporated the idea of your repositioning the maxi-jet into their orginial design :).

Congrats!
So true. They swim around a bit more now. Like they are thinking "well, we don't have to dig...what now?". They no longer labor all day to keep that area looking like a giant sinkhole. :rofl:
I'm still not 100% sure if they are a pair or if it is just an Engineer thing. I've heard some people refer to them as "paired" when they swim like that, but also hear they are a schooling fish when young.
 

the wizard

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Very nice set up. You have done a great job.
 

Khemul

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Well algae filled in. I don't think it is coralline, but it looks similar. If the urchins don't keep it mowed down it turns into more of a fuzzy purple algae. There is some fuzzy green algae too, but it keeps low enough that I don't mind it. Maybe something like turf algae.

Full tank shot.

Left.

Center.

Right. One of the Urchins went to town on the painted overflow. :swear:


And the newest (and probably last) addition...



I know it will get huge. The tank is only 60, but the footprint is 5' x 1' so it should be fine for quite a long time. The Gurnard is less then a couple inches right now. This tank was always destined to be the refugium for my next build, a 125 (maybe a 180 because of the Gurnard, even though it isn't much more of a footprint to really make it worth it). Figure if the Gurnard is successful in the tank I have quite a bit of time to finish up the next phase of the project.

Any suggestions for the Gurnard? I know it is a shrimp eater so guess it'll now be about seeing what I can get it to eat. The store didn't think flakes or pellets would work, but they also insisted that the Gurnard was a copepod eater so who knows.



Also added some Pulsing Xenia to the tank, but won't be getting pictures of those until they settle in and open up. Even then they aren't much to look at yet. They were extremely cheap since they were simply tiny 2-3 polyp groups that broke off of the real colonies for sale.
 

greech

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Has to be one of the coolest fish i have ever seen. Awesome!

Never even seen one let alone research it. I just looked them up and as you said they need room (can have up to a 10" wingspan). Sounds like any snail or hermit you have is toast (like the nassarius the fish is eyeing on those pics:)) and they can eat small fish (never saw a specific size limit but assume firefish size max). Seems they are fairly easy though given proper conditions and are also fairly easy to get to eat mysis and thawed frozen shrimp and read a couple posts that had them eating NLS pellets. Apparently the NLS owner/president is a huge fan of these fish. Found their website and one thread on their forum.

http://www.newlife.ipbhost.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=407

Some threads on RC too.

Congrats!
 

Khemul

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The Nassarius are all easily replaceable. I'm not even 100% they are Nassarius, but they don't kill each other or other snails so I'm assuming they aren't the very similar looking whelks. I have an unlimited supply of Nassarius and Nerites (they live in the tidal zones around here). The fish-thing is a concern but I guess I'll have plenty of time to figure that one out. The gobies, engineers and blennies (the blennies may be borderline) should be big enough by then to hold their own by then. The dart-fish may need to move.

I'm actually surprised the snails (Nassarius and Nerites) that are in there are still alive. I think those are the ones that were tough/fast enough to avoid becoming toby-snacks. :evil_lol:



Maybe a bit of long-term planning to consider, what do you think of a 180 vs a 125? I know the minimum liveaquaria suggest is 180, but a 125 is only 6" less width. The rest is height. Guess maybe that 6" could basically fit the rockwork and give more sand area.



edit: On the good side, from further research I think it is Dactylopterus orientalis instead of Dactylopterus volitans, which means it won't be as big as expected. Still gonna be the biggest fish in the tank either way though. :rofl:
 
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greech

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Honestly, I think you'll want the extra depth. You nailed it with the "that much more open sand bed" idea. The extra depth will allow you to keep your rock well off the glass on all sides. I would also suggest elevating the larger rocks along the bottom as much as you can to create some good caves. Maybe if you put a lot of your rock in the sump you could try a smaller tank like a 120?
 

the wizard

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beautiful addition
 
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