45 Gallon Reef Diary Year Two

[Lynden]

I see it the other way around.

The baby fish, while looking "cool" I guess, is a totally unimpressive fish in my opinion.

The adults are a magnificent fish, with a formidable jaw, powerful body and interesting habits.

I guess you may have to see them in the wild to understand the true majesty of the adults.

Or perhaps we are just two different people?

-Lynden

 

[Redstratplayer1]

I guess its just me but the baby looks cooler than the adult.
The adult still looks cool but not somthing i would want.

 

[Lynden]

Well, looks aren't everything.

....and I highly doubt many people would want an adult; they are powerful predators, able to make short work of most other ornamental animals (including stomatopods). Not to mention BIG; teeth and body size. That's the main reason I like them; their impressive habits. The fact that they are majestic and beautiful animals in my eyes is a bonus.

Also, tiny gobies, anthias, dwarf angels, et cetera are just so totally weak.

Another topic successfully hijacked.

-Lynden

 

[Redstratplayer1]

BIG; teeth and body size.

I tend to like the more low key fish.
Pipefish,frogfish,gobys

There is a type of cardinal that is the size,shape and schools like a neon tetra. Really cool looking if you can find them because they can be kept in large schools.
(they are about 1 1/2'' long)

 

[Redstratplayer1]

Sorry ski back to your tanK

 

[atmmachine816]

back to ski's tank:
Very nice Ski, though I have one question. I've read here a few times it's not good to put rock along the wall because then it's hard to clean behind it, yet you do. So my question is it ok to do it then? O and when you had a power outage, is that a battery backup running the tank, because we have a battery backup on our computers along with an external hardrive?

back to hijacked post:
I have to agree with Lynden, I like the bigger fish in FW and SW, more personality IMO and more interesting behaviors, but then again I like keeping all fish.

 

[Lynden]

I didn't switch to marine to get more tetras! Those cardinals are kind of cool, though; but it's mostly because of their dazzling background.

 

[Redstratplayer1]

I didn't switch to marine to get more tetras! Those cardinals are kind of cool, though; but it's mostly because of their dazzling background.

I never had Freshys so marine tetras sound cool to me lol.

 

[SkiFletch]

lol, sry bout the name lynden . If you're gonna keep corals in the tank, make SURE they're tied down and try and keep the rubble to a minimum. I've seen dragon wrasses throw frags across the tank looking for grub underneat them

Atmmachine, one of the big reasons I wished I had a wider tank to start is so that I can get my rocks away from/off the glass. In the end the tank's width is so restricting that I pretty much had to do it this way. When I get the 65 going I'm not gonna hve rocks touching glass

 

[Lynden]

Don't worry about it.

I'm also thinking of getting a Coris gaimard. I will be unstoppable with my array of predatory fish.

 

[Redstratplayer1]

Any updates on the tank ski?

Also how has ozone worked out for you?

 

[SkiFletch]

The ozone is doin great. I've been adding 15mg/hr and my nitrates are back to 0. I also get a LOT less algae on my glass than I did before so somethin must be workin . I've also had a re-acquascape as I bought some more rock in preparation for the move to the 65. Pretty much just stuffed it in as a temporary measure. Other than that everything's getting along great. I'll try and post some pics of the new setup after my weekly cleaning. Couple of my LPS are in bad need of fragging but that'll prolly wait till the upgrade goes through. Lookin to take delivery of the 65 sometime around the 20th of this month. Will hopefully have the stand finished by the end of this coming weekend so I have a place to put it

 

[leecara]

this is a late post but hope u have a sucesfull tank

lee

 

[sacramonel]

hey ski . . I was wondering what you were doing to keep the temp. down in the tank. I know you live in upstate New York (you do right?) and its incredibly cold most of the year but with the Halides I figured the temp would go up significantly. Are you using a chiller?

 

[SkiFletch]

hey ski . . I was wondering what you were doing to keep the temp. down in the tank. I know you live in upstate New York (you do right?) and its incredibly cold most of the year but with the Halides I figured the temp would go up significantly. Are you using a chiller?

No chiller here, evaporation is a powerful method of cooling . I have 2 120mm AC fans in the hood sucking air in from the outside and blowing it directly on the halide bulb. Air escapes the hood through a vent-hole. So long as the ambient temperature doesn't exceed 78f I can keep the tank temp below 83. In the winter I dont run the fans as we keep the house at a blistering 60f and I'd rather make use of that extra Halide heat . In the spring/fall, fans are on the same timer as the lights. And in the summer, fans are on 24/7. In addition, running a sump that sucks air through the drain pipe GREATLY aids in evaporation. I do employ a window mount air conditioner in the room the tank is in to keep the ambient temperature down to 75 by day and 72 at night (bedroom). Ironically enough, my window mount air conditioner is more efficient than most little aquarium chillers and it keeps both me and the fish comfy


Also as an aside, I saw my peppermint shrimp for the first time since adding him tonight after lights-out. Looks like he survived the attempted mutiny