The official 65g FOWLR diary thread

[LordsSoilder]

Sup blinky,

Your tank is really lookn nice and I like the additions you've made to it.

The filters are good idea's, they are the same filters I bought after loosing a damsel to my ph... They are big and bulky but they don't stickout to bad on a black background, Besides that they are a dual filter in my mind. They have the obvious mechanical filter they were built for, plus they give a great home for shrimp, etc...

One suggestion I would make to you, that may serve another dual purpose is a visi therm stealth heater. I got mine for cheap through petsolutions and unlike the glass heaters is unbreakable. Also its the same black as the back of your tank. If it wasn't for the writing on it, I would almost have to look for it to make sure its still there...

Just wanted to say that your tank looks great... better than mine and I look forward to more posts.

 

[Blinky]

Thank you for the suggestion, when this heater kicks the bucket I'll check out Visi-Therms, it would be nice not to see the heater

The powerheads have been vibrating and driving us nuts (the tank is in the living room, hearing mmmzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzmmmmm while you're watching a movie isn't fun). Every time a snail goes anywhere near one, it starts. It's my birthday tomorrow, so I treated myself to two MaxiJet 1200s. They're supposed to have the same flow rate as my AquaClear 402s, but definitely don't! (The ACs are old, might have something to do with it). There is so much more flow in the tank now, the water is cloudy from all the detritus being swept off the rocks and the fish are a little surprised. I had to move the Xenia, it was getting blown away! Not only is the flow rate better, the tank looks better since the PHs are smaller and the guards are about 2" long. As a nice added bonus, now I can use an AC PH to pump water back into the tank after a water change, rather than lifting buckets

I bought four turbo snails at the LFS, they're in the tank working away

Not much more to add tonight, everyone seems to be doing well and the angel is starting to get more of an appetite. I bought some Hikari frozen Mysis (muuuuch nicer than the San Fransisco Bay brand mysis I had before) and he went nuts!

When the tank clears I'll post a FTS.

 

[Blinky]

Here's a FTS from tonight, I think it's looking pretty good but can't wait until it ages a bit

 

[FreddytheFish]

As always, nice pictures! :dance:

 

[Blinky]

Thanks Freddy

Okay, here's some interesting news: I woke up to find a Cerith on what looks like a string of eggs. I assume the snail laid them, as s/he wasn't eating them. Here's a picture - this is neat for me, I've never seen snails reproduce in a marine tank before

 

[Blinky]

Boy, I really dropped the ball here. Here's an update for anyone still interested...

For those who predicted that this FOWLR probably wouldn't stay that way, bravo! I couldn't leave it - I have enough light, and I love corals, so even though there are angels in the tank I have to try at least a few. I doubt I'll go full-blown reef, but there are another few corals in the 5.5g waiting to go into this tank once they've grown a bit. One is a yellow frilly leather; I figure they're not likely to want to eat a leather, one is a zoa frag which they may eat, there are a few shrooms and a little torch frag that I got for a song since six of the seven heads had died. The open brain won't go in; from what I hear putting an open brain into a tank with angels is like screaming "Come on in, boys, the buffet's open!!" and I love the little brain way to much to lose it after nursing it back to health for months. I am planning on moving the frogspawn from my 30g though - I think it's bound and determined to go to war. It has grown long, angry looking tentacles and I'm afraid it's going to hurt someone. There's a nice open spot for it in the 65g where all it will have to sting is rock

My flagfin angel has started eating like a pig and putting on some weight. He was skinny and had what looked like the start of HLLE when I got him. He's got a couple little pink spots on his head and one of his eyes still doesn't look quite right, but he's active, eating and seems to be healing nicely. I didn't want to get attached to him since I wasn't sure if he'd make it, but he's just such a sweetheart! I swear he knows me from other people - my husband can approach the tank and the fish just swim. I get anywhere near it and there's Midas, begging for food (which makes me SO happy, as he was incredibly picky when I first got him). I absolutely cannot resist that little face

The hawk, damsel, neon dottyback and gobies are also lots of fun, they've all got great personalities. The newest addition is a halfblack angel; he's pushy and for a few days I thought he was going to eat the candycane, but he's settled in nicely. He's fat and healthy and bossy, everything I think an angelfish should be

Here are some pictures for ya!

FTS (I know, I meant to cut back that Caulerpa ages ago...):

Halfblack angel:

Flagfin angel:

Hawkfish and the new candycane (still closed up in the pic, but today it started to expand):

My insane sixspot gobies, Jack and Jill, building their mansion:

Branching hammer:

Thanks for looking

 

[Beeker]

Blinky,
Thanks for updating. I was just wondering about it too.

It looks awesome, as usual! I bet you are a large part of the reason why more people are becoming aquariaholics! You make such gorgeous setups and you make them look so easy!

What is a frogspawn? Do you have pics of it?

 

[Blinky]

Thanks Beeker! I can always count on you to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

Frogspawn is a Euphyllia species coral, like hammers and torches. I do have a pic of mine, but my connection is the absolute pits tonight (I'm having 486-computer-with-dialup-and-a-14.4-modem flashbacks). I can't even get Photobucket to load. I'll post a pic tomorrow though; maybe I can catch it being 'angry' - it's grown wickedly long tentacles and seems determined to find something to sting. It moves to its new home in the 65g this weekend

 

[mrsdorothy]

Looks good Blinky. I had a feeling that you would eventually add some corals to this tank. Can't wait until I get to that stage.

 

[Blinky]

Thanks MrsDorothy You'll be into corals before you know it - better start exercising your wallet now, lol, it's in for a workout

Beeks, here's the pic of my froggy. This one is pretty plain, with pink tips (cause I like pink), but they come in other colours. Green with pink tips is gorgeous.

he moved into the 65g today and was none too pleased - stung the heck out of my fingers, even though I tried very hard to avoid touching anything but the lower part of the 'branch'. This is why I need to wear my big clumsy gloves EVERY time, lol.