fishtank, revisited.

[ChrisCantSkate]

hey everyone, been a while since ive posted, been busy with school and the bullshit, computer crashed for 2-3 weeks, finally is working again but thought i'd drop by.so i dont know if any of you remeber me a few months back removing the fish from my tank(picture was included, dont have it anymore) but anyways over the past 3 months or so ive been, as a new hobby, rebuilding the tank from the bottom(littereally) up. i was gonna throw these up in photo exchange but last post was 5 months ago, so i figure i'd keep traffic where it is.

anyways here it goes... 55 gal saltwater reef tank now. ive got some nice shrimp(blood, cleaner, coral banded, pepperment) and crabs(sally lightfoot, arrow, and emerald crab) in there right now as my "cleaner crew" along with about a dozen-18 snails and a dozen-18 hermit crabs. they keep my tank pretty much under control as far as algea, detritus, and leftover food scraps so all i need to do as far as cleaning is the front and side glass. ive got ~70 lbs of fiji liverock and ~50-60 lbs of carribian live sand(live meaning still has beinificial bacteria and microorganisms alive and filtering the water, basically creating a recycling ecosystem)

as far as fish and etc. as of right now i have 2 in there, a spotted manderine goby(techniqally in the dragonet genus, no goby, i believe) and a 6 line wrasse. both very small, under 2 inches. i had a potter angelfish and a sailfin tang but both were victims of me trying to rush the tank together in the first month, one caugh a parasite, the other stress related. tank is 95% healthy as of now though. also there is a flame scallop which was hiding when i tried for pictures, i'll get one in a day or so, and the yellow branch/fan is a yellow grogoneian, it is close to a soft coral, but is actually a seafan which opens little pylops and filters water

ive got another bit of hardware to buy( the under tank sump/refugium and a protine skimmer) but other than that its going to be all coral and fish from here on out.

pitures included are just of the cleaner and coral banded shrimps, and the manderine(hard to see, but has brilliant color detail up close). the grogonians is one of the dark pictures(taken this morning before light timers were on) and a full shot of the tank, also in the dark with just the moonlights on, which gives kinda a feel for the rockwork in the tank. i'll get some daytime photos after noon today when all the lights are up and running.

[ChrisCantSkate]

found a better picture of the mandarin and 6 line,

mandarin


6 line

[KwikR6]

OH sweet those are some cool looking fish. I like fish like that but can't afford any supplies right now.

[IALuder]

my cousin into fish hard core. ill try to get pics.

either way thats some funny looking fish.

[ChrisCantSkate]

i found a baby flame angelfish yesterday, only about 3/4" or an inch long, perfect for what im tryin to do. keep more small fish that wont get aggressive(and eat my expensive shrimp) and have corals while keeping my water quality real high. i had a potter angel before this guy and he didnt do so well, but the tank wasnt established yet and they are one of the hardest to keep. then i stressed him out with putting more rock in the tank, and well, lost a expensive fish.

hers a picture of a flame angel, not mine. i cant wait to go get him. should have him by 7 and in the tank by 8:30. then its off to the ATHF movie

[CD5Passion]

man those are pretty nice fish..that goby thing is my mother's favorite fish. We used to go to an aquarium and she would always look for that particular fish. someday I'll have a salt water tank, I didn't know that by having grabs and shrimp and other various creatures, they would filter the tank and clean it themselves. neato

[ChrisCantSkate]

yeah man, i clean just the front and side part of the glass that i actually look through, the rest is kept under control by the crabs. im currently getting the parts for the under tank sump/refugium that will have more filtering shit in it(macro algea and a protein skimmer) . it will get the bigger particals(fish shit basically) out of the tank that the rock and shrimp dont filter themselves fast enough. it will make the corals have more color and open more once i get them in.

i picked up the flame angel friday afternoon and he's a tiny bit bigger than i thought, maybe 1.5 inches but he adds a good color to the tank and is peaceful with the other fish and actually will swim around with them, which i was supprised about since my last angelfish was kinda an asshole

[ChrisCantSkate]

the fucker disapeared. im so pissed. its like starting all over in the tank. i spent about an hour yesterday searching all over the tank. i pulled all but the 3 largest pieces of rock out, searched all through the sand, and all around the tank to see if he jumped out. the water got real stirred up spiking my nitrate and nitrite levels in the tank. i then reorganized all the rock, stressed everything in the tank all to hell, luckily nothing else died from that clusterfuck of an experience.i just dont get it. he couldnt have been eaten, because the only things that could have (the shrimp) would have been after he died, and they had about 6 hours to clean and devourer the whole carcass including the skeleton. which is next to impossible. $40 down the drain. i almost wana turn it into a preditor tank with a grouper, eel, lionfish, and shit like that. stuff that dosnt die as easy. had to vent