45 Gallon Reef Diary From Setup To...?

[SkiFletch]

No worries Matt, I have 2x96watt PCs. One 10k and another actinic 20k. They pretty much span the 3 foot length of the tankWith the only real dark spot being direftly under the overflow box. Had to replace the cheapo fans on the fixture, and had to get a bulb replaced, but pretty good light all in all. That acro is actually growing at about 18" depth so the lights must have some decent punch to them.

Thanks again for the compliments guys I'll try and keep up with mroe pics every week.

 

[SkiFletch]

So I have a couple new additions to add to the mix here and a very interesting phenomenon... First up I bought a pair of what are commonly known as Bar Gobies yesterday. Gorgeous looking specemins but the little guys wont stay still enough for pics. So I'll just have to "borrow" some from liveaquaria

They're mostly top swimmers and from what I'm told very similar to other common decorative gobies. Calm omnivores . Great couple of fish.

Next up, I moved my mushroom rock from its spot next to the leather and down to the lower left corner of the tank. And they apparently prefer this spot to their old one cause MAN did they open up HUGE. I also found a purple favite brain coral pictured here qhixh I just couldnt pass up. Its about 4"x2.5" and in fantastic condition. A steal at $30 too . CHeck it out:

Kind of loaded up my sand bed here with the new acquisitions and I'm not too sure if I want to finish it off. Gonna consider some options but we'll see

 

[@ombomb]

Looking good Ski, it would seem have the same sort of mushroom and sacrophyton somethinorother!

Wrasse looks fantastic.

Are you taking your photos with the flash on?

 

[SkiFletch]

Nah, photos with the flash come out horrible, can't see a thing. NOt sure why that last pic is so dark though

 

[Kesaph]

You're making me want to go marine!

Thanks for the diary thread. There's so much to learn isn't there!

 

[SkiFletch]

You're making me want to go marine!

Thanks for the diary thread. There's so much to learn isn't there!

Yeah there really is a lot to learn. I'm still learning as I go . Glad I could spark some interest and just glad my experiences could help others

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, its been nearly a month since my last update, sry folks, but here's a little status on how things are going. First off, I want to just diary my troubles with my Gorgeous purple favites brain. First things first, NEVER do this (old pic from 6-7-06):

Notice how close the favites brain is to the mushrooms. Apparently despite their lack of stingers, mushrooms can pack quite a punch to brain corals. They swelled to the point of contact with the favites, and stung it pretty bad. Upon noticing this when I saw 3 or so polyps damaged, I moved the favites to the right away from the shrooms. Then the next morning it looked like this:

The coral seemed infected and a nasty brown mucosal layer was spreading from the site of initial sting. Also not pictured there was the fact that some of the coral was straight up without tissue near the original sting site. It was disintigrating within a matter of 8 hours. Upon reading up on brown slime infections I figured my best bet to save it was to take drastic action to frag it before I lost the entire colony. I took a dremmel tool with cutting wheel and carved a groove where I wanted to split the coral. Then used a sharp chisel and punched through the hard skeleton. Finally took an exacto knife and sliced out the half-split polyps to be left with a small chung of healthy tissue. This was my first fragging experience and let me tell you it was nerve wracking. However now, a full day later, the coral shows no signs of decay and it looks very healthy:

Polyp edges are extended and coloration is normal. Looks like I won

Also since my last update have been two new additions. First, some GSP, and second a Toothy bubble coral. I love the different serrated look of this guy

Figured I'd go with another round of shots since its been so long of the older specemins. In order they are, hammer, zoas/zoos/xenia, mushrooms, dual yellow leathers, my favorite open brain, and my little acro frag which hasnt grown much...

Things are going overall pretty well. I still have some decent pesky hair algae but who doesnt with a tank still as young as mine (4-5 months). Last but not least of course, what diary update would be complete without a full tank shot? Bar gobies still dont want to come out and play when its picture time

Enjoy

 

[mj32]

Looks realy nice Ski... good to know you rescued the brain in the end and I thought mushrooms were harmless little discs

 

[SkiFletch]

Thanks for the compliment mj, means a lot coming from my peers . And yeah, I thought mushrooms were pretty docile little things. Guess I was wrong

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, its been nearly 4 months now since I finally filled up a fishtank with saltwater And I wanted to offer a few updates. Things have been going pretty well with the tank as a hole. Other than the damage to my favites brain, there have been no other problems with it. My old cheapo glass scraper is nearing the end of its life and I need to get a new one. So please excuse my dirty glass here . First off the new additions.

A nice small frag of purple center palythoas. Great looking little guys that I found from a local reefer. Been waitin for him to frag these for a while now

Then, we've got my pride and joy, the centerpeice of the tank, my brand new flame angel. He is absoloutely spot on gorgeous. Great vibrant colors, really healthy, and hasnt developed a taste for coral yet.

And my wishes were finally realized when I found someone selling a healthy elegance coral for a mere $40 (prices are usually $100+ in the states). Been in captivity for 3 years so hopefully I can keep it even longer still

And since it's been four months, I figured I'd show you a before and after picture. This first shot was taken on the 23rd of March

And after 7-18-06

 

[Matthew5664]

Ski> lookin' well nice It's building up with a great aray of corals.

The elegance coral look fab. might have to try and get on for myself.

Hows the SPS doing?? Sure I've asked this before but what is you light intensity in W/m2

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Stunning.

That is the kinda colours you see on a flame angel in a book What a find

Looking very nice

 

[SkiFletch]

Thanks guys. The elegance is a great species, I love it . Also the pic doesnt do it justice as that little discoloration near the tenticles is actually a green phosphor look, just doesnt come through with my camera. Really accents its body

The little acro frag is doing fine. Its not growing all that much, but not failing either... The lights are two power compact 96w bulbs. One 10k, one 20k. And the footprint of the tank is 3x1'. So its about 64watts per square foot. Not sure how that computes in meters though, my brain is failing me this early in the morning. The acro is about 10-12 inches under the water line. I'm going to try a pocillipora frag and see how it goes in the tank.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, 5 months in now and things have slowed as far as adding livestock. Have had 3 large problems so I've eased up on livestock additions. First problem was my clownfish. They decided to nip at my elegance coral for some reason. Stressed it out to the point of near death. I tried banishing them to the sump for a few weeks to see if they'd loose their taste, but they came right back and did it again, so on wednesday they're going to be traded in for a new pair.

Second problem was heat. My air-conditioner malfunctioned and got stuck off during the second hottest day of the summer around here. Tank shot up to 86f (usually 82f) and killed my 2-day old pocillipora. Didnt even get a chance to take a picture of it . Came home and its flesh was literally just melting away. My little orange acro also seems as though its not going to make it. Hasnt extended its polyps since then (3 weeks ago) and is slowly necrosing. Good news is though that everything else seems like it'll pull through.

Then not 1 week later my auto feeder malfunctioned and dumped 7 days worth of food into the tank. Mercifully I was home early that day, saw the disaster and vaccumed up the rotting food asap. MOST of it was removed and I only had a slight nutrient spike. Shocked everybody for a couple days, but no losses there.

So now that hopefully my chemistry and temp are back in order I'm gonna let everybody recover while I turn my focus to building a custom hood for it. I'll update here periodically with pics but lumber has allready been purchased and a construction plan laid out. The goal, a nice looking waterporoof hood that can hold my new MH lighting. Should be a fun project.

Anyway, thought I'd update the tank shots. Got one new addition since last month. A branching frogspawn. The pictures dont do it justice cause its stalks are deep purple and the tips are neon green, but I guess my camera cant see that like I can:

And then I finally got a real algae scraper so my tank is clean once again . Also finally caught my bar goby in the act (down near the mushies). Maybe next time I'll try a fast action mode cause these guys seem to out-swim most other shutter speeds

Hope you ugys enjoy the updated shots. I also hope you all learn that even the "experienced" of us have problems and that we're all constantly learning. Disasters and near disasters happen to us all, so be prepared

 

[Riley]

That looks good. Its starting to get real colourful

-Riley