my sw tank

[chefjamesscott]

I have found that the scats are basically just like 3 year olds very very interesting fish. When I first set them up in the basement emergency tank flip, there was a member who was sure that I would be making a thread to deal with how I had killed my rehomed surrenders from petland with nitrate poisoning.

The one thing that I have found will not work with the scats is trying to put hard coral frags in a tank, they come along and think its a toy. They literally pick it up and toss it around the tank. I did get some rock with hard tube feather dusters for the origional basement tank but they ate them. For some reason they will not mess with soft corals I don't know why. I had thought great I am gonna be restricted to a tank with fish and rocks, but it seems that they leave soft coral alone.

As I studied the other peoples tanks that I bought and asked ? when I agreed to buy them and picked them up. I took note of 2 very serious flaws in how they maintained the tanks. They would feed way to much food and the resulting degradation blew the water quality. The second would fit into the first just like tounge and groove, they let up on their maintenance routine. So far as I understand sw to do so is a really bad move and will result in the death and destruction of the tank.

I try to make sure that when I feed the tank that very little if any food gets the chance to hit the bottom, unless I am putting food for my bottom dwellers then I trick them to one side of the tank and then feed the others on the other side. I also am a firm believer that just because the food is cheaper it is not necessarily what is good for the fish. When I look to the ingredients of the fish food, if I see lots of fillers I am very hesitant to use the product. Just because the label say spiro... enhanced, where is spiro on the order of ingredients? I personally think that these fillers that they are using in some of the foods is the root evil that causes destruction. I figure if the fish would not naturally eat it in their wild environment should they really eat it in aquaria.

I think this is why the great caution on the labels of fish food to make sure any uneaten foods get removed, because the fillers and yeast go proactive and wipe out the 02 of the tank if not caught.

I am a chef and my style of chefing is to make food that causes metabolization to occour upon mastication of the food, kind of like a suspended food bomb which only goes active when the trip switch of chewing is flipped. With this in mind I have really been thinking to no small degree that it would be a easy step to produce my own fish foods for private use, and then to simply offer it at a cost recovery basis to others. I have been speaking with many suppliers in the foundation laying for the fish company and I am totally shocked at the mark up value that is there. So with this in mind why not actually do the fish business with a different angle, less markup would mean more sales which will actually even out the scale and make it so that people can honestly enjoy the hobby without it literally devouring all their disposable income, very similar to say my smoked seafood wrap which I sell for $5 tax in. I use dempsters wraps(6/pk) vs another brand (10/pk) that is actually $2 cheaper. I put smoked cod, smoked salmon and wild pacific salmon that I poach in a different blend of herbs and essences to achive a live flavour. To this I add a goodly amount of my fresh veggie mix which changes each time I make it to add variety. End result you have a chef inspired wrap that is student priced, far superiour to what is offered by my competition at %20 less than what they charge for a much better product.

Yet, enough of the philosophizing. I will be doing the wc on the sw tank tonight and will post pics was just to tired to do so last night.

edit:come to think of it maybe Momma Leoni would look at my minestroni soup today taste it and say BELLISIMO BELLA MINESTRA!!!!!

 

[chefjamesscott]

thought I should post up a few new pictures

these 2 are side by side all the time inseperable

this is one piece of coral that I am hoping to be able to save will have to see if the algae goes away, I am hooking an intank uv sterilizer this weekend

my beast hermit, the largest of my clean up crew

I picked up some rock and coral from another persons tank as well left out most of the rock as I was only after the coral.

variety of green corals like this on the rocks.

I also introduced a few rocks with aptaisia and while you may think me crazy for doing so they are a part of a reef and are controllable with butterfly fish, peppermint shrimp, nudibranch, some species of hermit crab and a nice little injection of pure lemon juice in the base stem does them wonders as well, so not to worried about them taking over the tank. I will leave some of them alive and take care of the bigger ones if they seem to taking over.

The house where I picked up the corals and rock had a nice little puppy

and they let me take a pic of the tank in their basement

In my search for more corals I went to a fellow from the local reef club and got some frags from him. Here is what his tank looked like and his sump room and his cat!

In talking with the people with the nicer tanks I have come to notice that the lighting regime is a key thing for a nice tank as well as maintenance schedule.

Now for the one thing I will post that I am pretty sure some people are gonna not like, but I find it fascinating how saltwater fish are totally different than fresh.

I know my panther grouper is an appex predator in this tank and have watched him show his colors as it were, my oh my does he have a mouth.

This is him directly after he inhaled one of my shrimp I just put in. I also had a pair of clowns that could not go in my home 75g as there is mated pair in there that has been together for 8 years, so the only stock in the 75g at home now is 2 clowns, black and white clown and engineer goby and corals and frags from the reef club guy's tank.

Well the grouper ate one of the clowns too.

 

[chefjamesscott]

so I came up with the plan to move the panther back home to the 75g with the engineer goby and move everyone else to the university.

I had to break down the rock in the 75 to get at the fish but finally netted them all and took the anenome as well and brought them to the restaurant. So I spend the time acclimating the fish and anenome to the 180g, I put in the mated clowns and the black and white clown and then try to net the panther. That fish is really able to prejudge on a net and avoid.

So after 45 minutes of no such luck, I decided to leave the nets in the tank and try to get him by offering some food. When the panther did not come out, I got curious and began to look for him in the rocks.

Something just snapped when I saw the next thing. Here he is trying to very quickly wolf the black and white clown down. Now I am a firm believer that fish eat fish, but, I am also a firm believer that fish do communicate with their owners and the look that the panther gave me just flipped a switch. So in a space of about 2 minutes I had all the rock out of the tank and the rotter had no place to hide. I was able to catch him and give him the right amount of pressure to force him to open wide and say AAAHHHHHHHHH MANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!

I was able to pull the black and white clown out, at first he did not move at all I thought he was a goner so I put him in a bucket and sort of moved him back and forth to get some water moving over his gills he gave a jerk and then limped around the bottom of the bucket. The panther I left suspended in a net in the tank. I wanted him to have a good long look at the tank he was about to leave.

I took him home and brought the one resident that I forgot at home who the panther most surely would eat

then I began the look for the black and white just to make sure he had not died and it was like all the other fish were swimming up to him to say the wicked witch is gone friend you don't need to fear.

you can kind of see him in this picture hiding in the rocks.

I also had earlier removed all the rocks with the apitasia except for the biggest rock which also has the nice corals on it.

I have heard from some people that apitasia is ok in a sump but to that I don't really understand how something that spreads like this stuff would be ok in a sump if it's not ok in the tank. Any thoughts from yall on this?

I did manage to arrange to pick up a mantis shrimp from one of the sw club guys who got it as a hitchhiker, so i am wondering if live rock with apitasia on it would be ok with a mantis shrimp. in a 25g.

At any rate I do like the new look of the rock better, and will wait to see what the rapid break down did if anything to the tank.

 

[chefjamesscott]

well the black and white clown lasted 2 weeks before he died from the injuries he sustained from going in the panther's mouth.

I thought I would post some updated pictures of how the tank looks as of this wednesday.

the clowns have moved the anen to the very back I guess they wanted privacy

I am shutting down all my tanks at home to make it clear to do a demo and reno over the next 8 mths or so, so I decided that I would move this guy to the tank. I figure since he won't get that big he won't bother the fish though the hermit crabs may not like him to much.

I know I will most probably not see it ever but at least it now has a very extensive home to live in

 

[DrNo]

Incredible! Looks like a green mantis smasher (Gonodactylus chiragra)

They are truly awesome animals. Keep us update re: how the tank evolves with this addition.

 

[Gangstafish]

i have great respect for you.I,like you do whatever it takes to save a fish. I am an ex chef that loves fish. I have mixed brackish and marine fish many times and never had a problem. So keep up the good work.

 

[Fishfriend1]

oh great one :bowing:how about you read the thread

Edit: if anyone here uses chemi pure can they please post what the cost is to install 5 full cases in one shot at 12 units/ case
because you know I use chemi pure because I just call it a day after I throw a living creature in a glass box!!!

for your info the end result algae will very much be affected by a uv and for your information, I prefer to shut down the nightmare and make my own tank that is free and clear from red slime, personally I will keep the phosphate and other nasties in control with starting my own tanks. FYI not one time in my first sw set up did I ever have red slime or green carpet algae!!!!

Hmmmmm HOW ABOUT YOU START BY DROPPING YOUR CONDESCENDING ATTITUDE FRIEND.

PERHAPS THAT IS WHY I CHOSE TO SHUT DOWN THE NIGHTMARE I INHERITED FROM THE DUDE WHO LET THE TANK GO TO RAT POOP AFTER I GAVE HIM A RETAINER. Because it is better off that I keep the corals, live rock and livestock alive by moving them to a better tank and eradicate the red slime but wiping it out of existance. Of course I could have just dosed the tank with chemicals to wipe out the red slime and really have hurt the soft corals in the process would you rather I do that?

Perhaps, the salties who have been coming in who know a thing or two about sw and have told me it looks good etc.... etc... etc....

I can take your post with a grain of salt friend, but I don't just throw every animal I find into a tank and call it a day.

HMMMMMMM I wonder why over the past 4 weeks I have spent on the average of 2-8 hours a night making sure that proper tank maintenance is done on all of my tanks.

HMMMMMMM perhaps I don't just call it a day at the end of my work day, perhaps that's why at 10pm I have just arrived at my restaurant to do a good 6 hours or so maintenance on my tanks.

HMMMMMMM perhaps there is a reason why I just switched out all my filter media for chemi pure and did my routine monthly rip apart of my filters to clean then and make sure the sponge is nicely cleaned out in wc water.

HMMMMMM perhaps the established media, live rock etc... that is coming from my sw tank that I started over a year and a half ago and then moved to a 75g to give my fish more room and then moved it here to a 180g shows that I don't just throw my fish in a glass box, but, rather that I spend the time to find larger and more appropriate tanks.

Or perhaps you would rather I left the scats to languish in the petland fresh water system when they were surrendered that year and a half ago.

Perhaps the fish store employee who is very knowledgeable about sw., brackish and fresh who comes in on a regular basis to talk shop knows a thing or two about tanks especially since he has quite a few of them going at hom. Perhaps just perhaps some of the people who are up close and present who know a thing or two about fish keeping and are very passionate about it would make sure to tell me if what I was doing was wrong.

Well sir I am actually done wasting my time responding to you.

To the rest I will have an update later tonight when I take some shots while doing tank care.

:worthy:
Nice rant he totally deserved that

 

[chefjamesscott]

:worthy:
Nice rant he totally deserved that

:hitting: :hitting: :hitting: :hitting:

I just can not stand when people try to dish others like they are a baked lasagna.

Often I feel like asking people are you my lawyer, NO, THEN GET OFF MY CASE!!!! :raspberry:

I like to say the only time you will catch me goin on my knees to bow to you is so I can come up with a solid haymaker and need the leverage to hit it just right. Though I am tryin my best to just use that nice little red exclamation mark :bling::bling::bling::raspberry::raspberry::raspberry:

I thought I would let this thread sit dormant for a bit just to see if they were right about what the 180 would look like because of my ineptness at keeping a reef.

So here we have what the tank looked like over the past 2 weeks as I snapped various pictures. I shut down my mantis tank at home to move it to this tank and I just moved my panther grouper back to this tank because I also wanted to shut down my 75g it was in. Saddly I know that mr. panther will eat a couple of the fish in there unless I can get another sw set up here, but I might just let them be the casualties of my fish world.

the mantis

a full tank shot and some coral shots

some shots just before I put the panther back in so I would have a remembrance if they got sniped

first one to get eaten was this wrasse

i really hope this guy don't before I lay in the sand

other tank mates

And just to reinforce a point I am tryin to get accross to people who feel they have to be all naysay and doubting on people. Over 1 1/2 years ago I got these guys who were surrendered to a lfs and shortly after I got them acclimated to brackish from fw, the plaster in my basement roof caved in and just missed the tank they were in. I was aiming at having them in full on sw as they were very much past juvi stage. So I figured that I would shut down the brackish and turn them into sw fish. At which point a certain member jumped on me like I was a seasaw and proceeded to tell me in no uncertain terms that I have most likely killed them and that he would wait for my thread where I would be screaming for help to save them. Well here we have them all this time later and look at them, they seem very alive to me

You could say that I have a mission of sorts with some of what I am doing as a fish keeper even to the point of why I have started to put together a fish company. I have pretty much had it with the way people think they can come on like :FIREdevil: then :argue: a person and totally try to :flamed:them into a fetal curled quiverring mass of because they have been shown the light of the day by the so called experts :thumbsup: NOT :raspberry:.

I have been waiting for the right time when I could start a thread that would put such people into a position where they would be hesitant to be so, perhaps even so to the point that they would realize that it is much more the better to :welcome: the person over doing this :nutkick::cool-1:.

So I put out two threads in an attempt to inspire people to step out and not be afraid to go for it :thumbsup: to believe that they can do what they dream to do so that in the end the :FIREdevil: people might just end up getting :shocked: to realize that they were :shocked:by their own words.

one here
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214097

and one on mfk
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293353

So in the end of this post, HOW DOES THE 180 SW TANK LOOK FOR A NOOB KEEPER ????

 

[chefjamesscott]

Well a fellow fish keeper in town gave me 100 or so pounds of fine white caribean sand from his tank, so I added it and watched my clear tank go pooof.

All I could think of was I really hope I have not just killed off my fish, but, for the sake of the scooter blenny, mandarin goby, and engineer goby I decided that I had to get some substrate in there. Also from what I was told by people without more powerful pumps eventually not having substrate would cause issues so in went the sand.

As I was leaving one of my fish came to the front sort of to say it will be okay.

Next morning it looked like this

I waited for about a week to add 2 fish that a friend who was shutting down this tank had saved for me.

He saved his orange shoulder tang and purple tang for me

and here they are after being in the tank for about a week

I have sort of decided that for the first year of this tank I am not going to focus much on having vibrant coral, but rather make sure the fish go off well. So probably at summers end I will sub in the lights I have at home though the mushrooms are popping up all over the place and a few others which I have no name for. Also since I put the sand in it is like the existing corals got a vitamin shot.

One thing with the sand though it upped my salinity really high which is one thing I will remember for future things, I just did not want to rinse it and wipe out what was in it.