Ben's Tank

[BigC]

Liking the new bottom aquascape, some more corals maybe!
Regards
BigC

 

[ben1987]

thansk BigC, new corals are all in the pipeline. On the lookout for a nice toadstool at the minute. didnt want to add more untill the one i have is ok. Dont want to kill anything if possible

* Bit of an update. Since the new skimmer went on, water is a lot clearer. The blenny seems to have some sort of zebra markings on him and the coral is starting to open. About 5 heads are opening a bit now. So looks like it will be ok in a few days. The skimmer pulled out a nice big cup full of gunk on the 2nd day after not doing anything on the 1st *

 

[ben1987]

added a toadstool leather (Sarcophyton Sp.) a few days ago. Its only a small one at the minute but im hoping it will look like @tombombs eventually and be like a center piece coral with smaller corals around it. No pics at the minute as its in night mode.
Hoping it will grow to something like the pic below...mine hasnt got the green bits though. Its all brown

Coraline algae is going wild all over the glass and powerheads...tips for scraping it off the front? Going to leave it to cover the back and side and clean the two viewing sides.

By the end of the week i may be the owner of a flasher wrasse was speaking to my LFS today, they said they have tried to order one and fingers crossed their supplier will come through. They also have a spotted manderin, tiny one, but it scoffes flake and frozen so im tempted.

 

[ben1987]

Well today i was thinking. I went to the LFS yesturday and i was talkin with the guy about the wrasse i want and other things. He also offered me 4 small blue/green chromis for £3/ea. They are about 1" each. I went home and read about them and it said they would be ok in 30gal (UK) plus. So i asked another bloke about them and he said i probably should up my bio-load a bit because 3 small fish isnt much, he said i could do with a little more to mature my tank a bit quicker. Dont know how good his advice was but, i bought them today. They can be exchanged at any time, but at the minute im quite liking them. If they get too big or my stats jump they will be straight back. It turns out that im going to have to wait a few weeks at least for my wrass so i wanted something. Have i been a bit stupid?

Anyway heres some pics

New coral from last week

Shrimp with clown butting in

New fishies

Opinions?
cant get a good FTS at the minute. Glass needs a good scrub

then the wrasse i am supposed to be getting at some point. Not for at least 3-4 weeks now though

Cheers, Ben

 

[Truck]

the rocks look great

 

[CageUK]

Good job on the tank Ben

I would think you'll be ok with the Chromis especially if you keep an eye on your stats for the next few days.
That wrasse will look stunning, can't wait to see pics when you get him.

Re: the coralline I'm amazed you have got it so quickly, it took months to develop in mine! Use a single edged razor blade to get it off of the glass.
In fact that is one of the best ways to clean glass (but not acrylic obviously). I only resort to the magnet thing if I can't reach an area or if I'm too lazy and don't want to get my arm wet.

Nice leather as well, mine's all a bit droopy and disappointing at the moment

 

[ben1987]

cheers guys
i am really chuffed with how its going at the minute. had a couple of problems at the start with losing a couple of clowns, but the two i have now seem to have settled and eat well. Just fed them all 1/3 of a frozen cube a few pellets and a few flakes and wow...all hell broke lose. There was none left after a few seconds.
Think ive got the marine bug pretty bad

 

[shibby]

all looks sweet, ive never been a major fan of chromis but in a small group they do give nice movement to a tank

liking the toadstool, brilliant hardy coral.

 

[VictorMeldrew]

Hello Ben

Your tank is looking fantastic mate, keep the posts coming

Regards
VM

 

[orange shark]

looking good ben, new corals looks great

like shibby im not really a fan of chromis but they can look beautiful in a group

 

[seffieuk]

Tank is really coming on Ben My toadstool is the same colour as yours but does go that green colour on occassions - don't really know why it does it, so yours might as well. I'm sure someone will come along and tell us why

Seffie x

 

[ben1987]

thanks all, the chromis were to try and give a bit more movement to the tank. The clowns have their space and the blenny does his thing but what i was really lacking was somthing active and swimming around all the time. At the minute they seem to be doing the shoal thing and travelling round most of the tank. I know the blokes in the shop now, been as i go more than once a week and i did my A-levels with one of them. They say i can exchange them whenever i like if something i realy want comes in. Quite like having the group thing going now though.
What other fish stay pretty small and are ok in a small group of 3-4?

 

[ben1987]

heres another pic of the newbies on day 2. With my clowns. Im amazed how laid back my clowns are when they come into their space.
Still not the best pic and the glass still isnt fully cleaned

they actually have really nice colour on them, a lot prettier looking than i expected.
cheers

 

[kj23502]

Very cool looking. I like it very much



Kj

How big is the tank?? (add it to the title so people can easily see it )

 

[ben1987]

It is 180l including sump, 120 without