i have to say, its not that nice, and i think you arent that good of a fish keeper. Just saying, i mean, ive seen so many better tanks than this. i find this a bad influence rather than a good tank. Im just kidding, love the zoas
My Tank (of Rulebreakings)
- Thread starter Lynden
- Start date
Tommy Gun
Fish Crazy
Very nice....seriously. If you were anyone else though, I would say that your seemingly ideal situation today might not last forever.
I see that you and I have very similar preferences on corals though. I love Kenya Tree as well and have some large specimins that constantly release small branches which find their way to other areas of the tank all on their own. Same with the zoas - they pop up here and there when I least expect it. In fact, you and I have very similar corals between our tanks. On the other hand though, I also have some halimeda and a nearly a literal ton of chaeto in my tank but still encounter cyano from time to time but would completely agree with you in that they help tremendously in holding those instances down.
I do however, have a very chronic problem with extremely fast growing hair algae that seems to be unaffected by any amount of refugium fare...and cannot figure out what is supporting that population (it is not phosphates either...have nearly 0 trace of it when testing with two different master test kits)
Have you found your Maroon clownfish to be a 'bully' at all? I absolutely love them and in fact, had a pair at one time, but they would never let my foxface or kole tang rest when reef tank was a 90 gallon....and they were even hosting in an anemone, but seemed to have no problem defending it against fish which were literally feet away so I wonder if I just happened to have an unusually grumpy pair, or if you have noticed the same because your tank is a bit smaller.
Ignoring our 'history' for a second (meaning, I am really asking this question, not trying to imply anything by it), do you really feel as though your eels can or will reach two feet in length if kept in this exact tank? Are you planning on upgrading? I noticed that you have a couple larger tanks that you are currently setting up; will they eventually become your reef?
Thinking back to a comment you made on damsels once which regarded you having to pay quite a bit for them, I have a friend in Canada who swears to me that he sometimes travels to the US to buy marine livestock and is able to take it across boarders with him. In fact, they will be coming to visit my wife and I on December 1st and I am going to give him some xenia and kenya tree for his tank. I wonder if this is something you can look into because I can buy a Laced/Weedy Scorpionfish for less than 50 bucks (US) here. In fact, I will be passing the store which I know has one and will take a picture of it and the price tag with my phone so you can see it. Heck, while I am not sure of the logistics involved in doing so, perhaps I can have my friend pick it up and ship it to you when he gets home (he lives near Ottawa). He claims he lives less than 8 hours drive from me and probably could keep it in his tank for a couple days to allow it to 'rest' before shipping it to you. Let me know if you would like me to dig deeper into that possibility.
I am sure you have already thought of it already, but in case you haven't, keep in mind that you are sitting on a very effective 'live rock factory' in that you can add base rock now and over time, would increase the amount of live rock you have. I am currently curing almost 30 pounds of base rock for my brother in order to save him some money....a lot like this forum has a 'donate mature filter media' program.
Like most anyone, I have done a lot of work trying to promote coralline algae growth throughout my tank and while I have used, and sometime still do, "Purple Up" quite a bit, I found great success in using Kent Marine's "Essential Elements". In fact, in the eight or nine months since finding that product, I have peices of live rock which are now essentially one because of the coralline, and have great expanses of red, green and purple algae in areas of my tank even though I started with 'generic' live rock. While it may not work as well for everyone, perhaps it is worth a try for you, especially since you have such large amounts of corals which 'burn up' calcium and other elements in a relatively small amount of water. Although I cannot say that I have been able to maintain a constant calcium level of over 420 ppm either, probably due to the large amount of xenia I have had since 'going reef'. Besides, your halimeda is probably sucking calcium up with a straw so you might almost have to suppliment. When I first kept it in my 29 gallon tank, I could barely keep up with its needs
============
For the record, if you are breaking any rules right now, they are not solely limited to www.liveaquaria.com as many websites, stores or otherwise, that would suggest avoiding your situation. Besides, I would all but guarantee you that someday you will run into more problems that you might be having right now. In fact, I was just reading Dr. Monks latest article in TFH and he states that your puffer is inevitably going to become aggressive as an adult. It may also help to realize that when most people are speaking of marine pufferfish in general, they rarely seem to be including brackish or FW versions so the same 'rules' may not apply.
My only problem with anyone focusing on one website in particular is that it can provide a misunderstanding in that only liveaquaria is wrong while all others are more accurate, even though you and I both know many of them contain the same information.
Granted, you and/or Lynden may have one which doesn't, and it may be possible to discourage and/or curb this behavior, but fishbase.org does point out that they are one of the few triggers which does feed upon hard corals:
<a href="http
/www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodIte...vstockcode=6136" target="_blank">http/www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodIte...vstockcode=6136</a>
Like I said, the opposite could very well be possible, but to say that most will absolutely not eat corals is not what I would consider 'safe advice' unless tips or tricks on how to acheive this level of safety are provided.
Oh yea, could you point me in the direction of what website you can order livestock from which is in or will ship to Canada? I know quite a few people who are looking for the same.
I see that you and I have very similar preferences on corals though. I love Kenya Tree as well and have some large specimins that constantly release small branches which find their way to other areas of the tank all on their own. Same with the zoas - they pop up here and there when I least expect it. In fact, you and I have very similar corals between our tanks. On the other hand though, I also have some halimeda and a nearly a literal ton of chaeto in my tank but still encounter cyano from time to time but would completely agree with you in that they help tremendously in holding those instances down.
I do however, have a very chronic problem with extremely fast growing hair algae that seems to be unaffected by any amount of refugium fare...and cannot figure out what is supporting that population (it is not phosphates either...have nearly 0 trace of it when testing with two different master test kits)
Have you found your Maroon clownfish to be a 'bully' at all? I absolutely love them and in fact, had a pair at one time, but they would never let my foxface or kole tang rest when reef tank was a 90 gallon....and they were even hosting in an anemone, but seemed to have no problem defending it against fish which were literally feet away so I wonder if I just happened to have an unusually grumpy pair, or if you have noticed the same because your tank is a bit smaller.
Ignoring our 'history' for a second (meaning, I am really asking this question, not trying to imply anything by it), do you really feel as though your eels can or will reach two feet in length if kept in this exact tank? Are you planning on upgrading? I noticed that you have a couple larger tanks that you are currently setting up; will they eventually become your reef?
Thinking back to a comment you made on damsels once which regarded you having to pay quite a bit for them, I have a friend in Canada who swears to me that he sometimes travels to the US to buy marine livestock and is able to take it across boarders with him. In fact, they will be coming to visit my wife and I on December 1st and I am going to give him some xenia and kenya tree for his tank. I wonder if this is something you can look into because I can buy a Laced/Weedy Scorpionfish for less than 50 bucks (US) here. In fact, I will be passing the store which I know has one and will take a picture of it and the price tag with my phone so you can see it. Heck, while I am not sure of the logistics involved in doing so, perhaps I can have my friend pick it up and ship it to you when he gets home (he lives near Ottawa). He claims he lives less than 8 hours drive from me and probably could keep it in his tank for a couple days to allow it to 'rest' before shipping it to you. Let me know if you would like me to dig deeper into that possibility.
I am sure you have already thought of it already, but in case you haven't, keep in mind that you are sitting on a very effective 'live rock factory' in that you can add base rock now and over time, would increase the amount of live rock you have. I am currently curing almost 30 pounds of base rock for my brother in order to save him some money....a lot like this forum has a 'donate mature filter media' program.
Like most anyone, I have done a lot of work trying to promote coralline algae growth throughout my tank and while I have used, and sometime still do, "Purple Up" quite a bit, I found great success in using Kent Marine's "Essential Elements". In fact, in the eight or nine months since finding that product, I have peices of live rock which are now essentially one because of the coralline, and have great expanses of red, green and purple algae in areas of my tank even though I started with 'generic' live rock. While it may not work as well for everyone, perhaps it is worth a try for you, especially since you have such large amounts of corals which 'burn up' calcium and other elements in a relatively small amount of water. Although I cannot say that I have been able to maintain a constant calcium level of over 420 ppm either, probably due to the large amount of xenia I have had since 'going reef'. Besides, your halimeda is probably sucking calcium up with a straw so you might almost have to suppliment. When I first kept it in my 29 gallon tank, I could barely keep up with its needs
============
For the record, if you are breaking any rules right now, they are not solely limited to www.liveaquaria.com as many websites, stores or otherwise, that would suggest avoiding your situation. Besides, I would all but guarantee you that someday you will run into more problems that you might be having right now. In fact, I was just reading Dr. Monks latest article in TFH and he states that your puffer is inevitably going to become aggressive as an adult. It may also help to realize that when most people are speaking of marine pufferfish in general, they rarely seem to be including brackish or FW versions so the same 'rules' may not apply.
My only problem with anyone focusing on one website in particular is that it can provide a misunderstanding in that only liveaquaria is wrong while all others are more accurate, even though you and I both know many of them contain the same information.
Granted, you and/or Lynden may have one which doesn't, and it may be possible to discourage and/or curb this behavior, but fishbase.org does point out that they are one of the few triggers which does feed upon hard corals:
<a href="http
/www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodIte...vstockcode=6136" target="_blank">http/www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodIte...vstockcode=6136</a>Like I said, the opposite could very well be possible, but to say that most will absolutely not eat corals is not what I would consider 'safe advice' unless tips or tricks on how to acheive this level of safety are provided.
Oh yea, could you point me in the direction of what website you can order livestock from which is in or will ship to Canada? I know quite a few people who are looking for the same.
OP
OP
Lynden
a "fish hater"
Well he didn't have to kid about it being a 'bad influence'... 
Thanks man.
They will become reefs; I just need to buy an RO unit, and a couple lights.
That would actually be really cool, I would be really interested in fininding a way that would work. Most of the stuff up here is fairly cheap but there are notable exceptions.
Tommy Gun
Fish Crazy
Like I said, he will be here on December first and is staying until the third. I will get more info from him on what he feels he can or cannot take across the boarder (he used to be a customs officer here and in canada after I served with him in the Army so he should have a good idea of what is allowed or not). I will look as well, but if you can figure out how to ship the specific fish you are interested in, and the best way to do so (e.g. fedex, canadian postal service, etc...), that would help out geatly I am sure.
I was also wondering which of your corals are those which prompt you to use carbon filter media because of the toxins they produce so that I can compare our tanks to see if I should be doing the same. From what I was told when I first started out and even still today, a lot of people feel as though carbon is bad for a reef because it takes out some items that would otherwise help a tank flourish....which is not to say that I agree or disagree with that, but only wondering if the use of carbon is more warranted when keeping certain things.
andywg
Bored into leaving
Therein lies a problem. Also, some morays eat frogs, so you may have to deal with that situation, which often concludes with the frogfish inflating and suffocating the moray which in turn suffocates the frog leaving two dead fish.
If only it could be that simple
it is very possible that you could get one A. maculatus (3-4") and one A. commerson (12"). However, getting a pair from the same shipment might be a bit easier, or asking them to give a photo of the actual specimens to enable ID. Sadly buying frogs by mail order is pretty hit and miss anyway. They don't travel very well and wherever possible getting them from shops is much better (though often more difficult).Decor isn't massively important. Most like some rocks to sit on or near, but that is it. You could always make your own larger pieces of LR.
That's pretty high, but then Rhinopias spp go for similar amounts here. I prefer the Pteroidichthys amboensis, and not just because my one only cost me £16
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
467 -
289 -
269 -
235 -
233 -
183 -
170 -
150 -
148 -
127 -
102 -
77 -
71 -
70 -
68