The official 65g FOWLR diary thread

[Decz]

aww, that's sad. I'm sorry to hear that it worked out that way... I have to say that I'm very impressed with the patience you put into her!


Anyway, I have a quick question about your rock setup... how close do you have it to the back glass?

_Decz.

 

[Swimfins]

So what's the plans now Blinky?????
My dumb turbo snail got stuck on a ph on 3 occasions. I had to disconnect the ph 3 times and let the snail sink to the bottom. But I think the third time was too much as he stayed there overnight until I discovered it in the morning. Hasn't moved for a day. So, I think he's gone.
I had this ph in the origional tank and it used to sleep behind it, without problems. I guess there was no green algae on the glass so he was forced to groom around the ph. I'll wait till algae starts up to get another.

Ms. Dorothy post up a threasd as to your progress. Always fun to atch a tank develop.

 

[Blinky]

Decz - the rockwork is mostly off the glass, there are one or two pieces that are touching. I tried very hard to have everything completely away from the glass, but couldn't quite do it

SF - I think the plan for the next week or so is to just leave things alone. I want another Potter's but won't get one until the tank is more settled and has some decent algae growth. I have fish on order at a couple different places, so I'll start adding them slowly as they come in. It's the time of the year when our income is at its lowest (we both work for a college and don't make anything between semesters) so that's sort of forcing me to go slow! The Xenia is doing really well, so I guess there's enough light for coral. I'll likely add a few corals here and there in the next few months but I'm not sure if I want to stay mainly FOWLR or go full-blown reef with this one.

I'm going out of town for a day or two, my poor husband gets to look after the tanks - wish him luck!

 

[Decz]

Blinky!! you're thread was on page 4!! What gives? Where's the latest update?

 

[Blinky]

LOL you read my mind, I was just uploading some photos to photobucket so I could update this!

Okay guys, no flaming now. It's my birthday on Saturday and, well, everyone I know knows I love fish so... over the past few weeks I've added four fish to the tank. I know it's soon, but the parameters are fine (NH3, NO2, NO3 and PO4 are all zero) thanks to the monster clump of caulerpa and the xenia.

Here's a FTS from tonight, excuse my photography please

Neon dottyback and Flagfin/Threespot angel:

Two more of the angel:

Hawkfish - I was told he's a Falco, but he has white tufts on his dorsal fin, not yellow, so I think he's actually a Coral hawkfish but I'm not certain. He harassed the gobies for a few days, but he's settled down nicely.

I got the angel at work on Sunday. He came in as an accidental about four months ago, and our marine manager took him home. He sold the fish back to the store, and then sold it to me at a great discount. I couldn't resist, he's just gorgeous and I know it's uncommon to find one that adjusts well to captivity. He's eating well, and makes me laugh - he actually likes MarineGro pellets much better than the special sponge-based Hikari frozen angel formula I went all the way across the city for!

Everyone is getting along very well and looks healthy. There's some cyano, but I'm working on it with a turkey baster and patience. The Caulerpa will hopefully outcompete it once there's enough.

Strange levels today, I measured alk which is fine at 8dKH (140ppm) and calcium, which is at 540ppm! I'm using Instant Ocean, which I knew had high Ca levels but this is insane! Doesn't seem to be hurting anything though

ADD --> the quick filter attachments don't show up at all against the background, but they're very visible in the pictures. I know they're an eyesore, but until I can get some MaxiJet PHs or another type with much smaller 'guard' type attachment I'm using these. I've lost too many snails and worry about losing fish, these PHs have very powerful suction. There's no filter material inside them, I'm trying to let the tank be as 'natural' as possible - there are no feather dusters or sponges on the rocks, maybe letting some 'reef snow' (detritus) stay in the tank will encourage more little filter feeders

 

[macphoto]

Hawkfish - I was told he's a Falco, but he has white tufts on his dorsal fin, not yellow, so I think he's actually a Coral hawkfish but I'm not certain. He harassed the gobies for a few days, but he's settled down nicely.

When I first glanced at that photo, the markings to the lower left of the eye (kind of a diagonal line) made it look like that fish was SMILING.

Regardless, even if he's not smiling, he sure looks happy.

--Mike

 

[Blinky]

Thanks
He's a little nutjob, wags like a puppy, zooms all over the tank, then sits on the MagFloat watching the world go by for ages before starting all over. The gobies seem to think he's insane, the angel ignores him, and I'm often doubled over laughing at how GOOFY he is!

 

[Swimfins]

Looks cool Blinky. I lost my lawnmower blenny to my ac70 powerhead. He lived in a smaller tank with that same powerhead and was fine. One day I'm sitting there, glance over and see him litterlly vanish inside the ph. I pulled the plug, but alas the blenny was twisted inside and of course, dead. Learned my lesson, put a nylon over the intake and will buy sieo ph's or maxi jets, in the near future.
I luv the marble hawkfish... I see reeftank coming

 

[Mooch28]

Coming along great Blinky!!

 

[Blinky]

Thanks guys

I see reeftank coming

So did I... and then I saw my angel and had to have him and those plans went out the window. These guys are notorious coral nippers, so I won't be investing $1000 in snacks for him any time soon. I think what I'm going to try is a few frags here and there, see how he is with them, and take it from there. There's already a lot of Xenia in the tank (it's behind the Caulerpa) and he's not bothering it so maybe that's a good sign

Everyone loves the hawk, I'm not surprised - he's got SO much personality and he's cute too. I saw him and knew he might be trouble but couldn't resist - he was $50, but (happy birthday to me) my manager gave him to me for $25 which was incredibly nice. he's completely settled down, I'm watching him right now and he's not bothering anyone at all. The fish are all up at the front of the tank, looking at me - I left the house very early this morning, so they missed breakfast and must be starving!