ChaosFyre Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 (edited) Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and to the hobby. I'm a member of BCS aquarium society, but its very quiet on there. Everyone I know told me to join AustinReefClub, so here I am. My tank is 6 months old right now, but I will try to catch up from the start to now. Please forgive me if accidentally break a rule... I would not intentionally misbehave on the forums! 1st & 2nd Picture: Excuse the plants, I pulled them in for the winter freezes. The tank had just been set up. I think this was Jan 1st. A few weeks later, we began to add critters. We got 3 free fish from a guy who walked into petco with them in hand, wanting to give them away. It was a bit early for them, but all of them are still kicking except the wrasse who jumped out of my sump when I put him before I could give him away after he attacked my clown.... I went to the landscaping store and bought some dry base rock for 10 cents a pound. At this point I already had added some live sand and I was adding cultures of live bacteria regularly. Here is month 2. I got a few fish from Aquarium World in Houston: Mimic Tang, Flame Angel, and Coral Beauty. I looked at all the fish in the store and chose the two angels by their personalities. The two fish got along great. Unfortunately, the Coral Beauty had lymphocystis and I sold it a few weeks later, along with the sand-sifter because it was making a mess.My fiancee picked up the Eye of Rah zoas from Aquarium world as well.I got the snowflake clown and the normal oscellaris clown from Petco. Edited May 27, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 (edited) Month 3. I got a filament flasher wrasse, very close to my dream wrasse the McCosker's Carpenter Wrasse. Unfortunately, he was very tame towards people but shy towards fish. For some reason he did not like my purple tang I added later, though I never saw any aggression from the tang. This wrasse went into hiding. I moved the tang into quarantine and he came out. I moved the tang back into the DT and he hid again. I never saw him again after that. I was very upset.. he was my favorite fish. Also, I started noticed this weird white anenome thing. I thought it might be aiptasia, but took a popular vote and it was decided it is a sponge. This month I was concerned that no algae was growing, so I opened the blinds and let sunlight in for a couple weeks. Nothing grew for the longest time.. I was afraid my tank was low on nutrients. In hindsight, I think my tangs and lawnmower blenny were eating it all! Plus the snails, crabs, and star. I started feeding them nori and more algae pellets. Later that month, I added the purple tang and some coral fragments from a friend: Edited May 27, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 lookin good so far! What kind of lights are you running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 oh, and you were correct, that growth is a sponge. Appears to be a calcareous sponge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 (edited) Month 5. Month 4 had no pictures for some reason... probably because I didn't make many changes til 5. One night I went to my tank and saw a bunch of rotifers or copepods or something, swarming. Some time before I had dropped in enough copepods to seed a 30 gallon tank and I did not think they would take off. Apparently they did... Here are some more coral fragments I picked up. Some I got from Austin, some from a guy in Cypress. Stomatella snails began to show up, and also some white sponges that look like spider sacks. I got some new lights in Austin. Before, I had T5NO, one blue one dalylight bulb. Now I also have T5HO, 2 daylights, 2 blues, and 4 moonlight LEDs. I run the T5NO and the T5HO blue lights for dawn and dusk, and the T5HO daylight lights for midday. The moonlights aren't running yet because 2 need to be resoldered. We resoldered them once already but they weren't the right kind and shorted out again. We are waiting for some to come from the manufacturer. You can see the difference in lighting here. Also picked up a black & white clownfish (darwin?) in Austin. He is my pride and joy. He is already pairing with the snowflake clown. I traded the normal oscellaris away so the two males wouldn't fight over the female. Earlier, I gave away one of my fat bully damsels. The nice 2 stripe damsel that had lived under his reign of terror was very happy afterwards. Then I added the black and white clown and the damsel thought his arch-nemesis was back. He went after the B&W clown, and so I gave that damsel away too. Other than that, he was a great fish. Oh well. No more damsels for me. After a couple weeks, the new lights have sparked SOME algae growth. I saw a tiny diatom bloom, a little bit at the bottom of the glass. I also saw a huge increase in the number of barnacle like creatures that look like tiny tiny tube-worms, like white specs all over the glass. There are also a few actual micro tube worms, and normal sized ones too that came in on the live rock. I am being sparing with the daylights so I don't spark a big growth. A friend of mine brought 65 lbs of live rock from Austin for me, and a couple of the rocks had coral fragments on it. I got a few mushrooms, a huge colony of stort GSP to match my long GSP, and some watermelon zoas. The same friend traded me some cabbage coral. I now have a lengthy list of coral fragments! Also, the purple tang is really looking healthy. I bought him for half off at the LFS because he was almost about to die from ich and freshwater treatments weren't working. I brought him home and put him in hyposalinity quarantine for 6 weeks. Then he went into the DT and started gaining weight and color. Now his stripes are becoming more prominent.. or maybe its just the new lighting. I love that fish!! Here are some pictures of the tank with dusk (blue) lights only. Edited May 27, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 lookin good so far! What kind of lights are you running? Thanks!! I think month 5's post will answer that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 oh, and you were correct, that growth is a sponge. Appears to be a calcareous sponge Is this a picture of one? Its not quite the same, looks almost like a bubble-tip anenome or a haitan anenome, but mini. It surely is some sort of sponge though! I heard someone tell me there was something called "slime coral"... is that what is in this picture? All my sponges hid in dark places, under things, and they are all pale white. Creepy... Makes me think of mold or fungus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Youll find the majority of sponges such as these will thrive in darker areas. I have a pretty large collection of these in a semi-cryptic zone. Check out this link to see if any of the pictures match yours. http://www.reeffarmers.com/farmsponge.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I am impressed with your large population of tangs and drawf angels. Your Purple Tang is spectacular. Kudos to you on nursing it to health. I had the same trio of Drawf Angels that you have; Coral Beauty, Yellow Angel and Flame Angel. The Yellow Angel kept the Coral Beauty aggression in check. Welcome to ARC. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Looks like a great start. Lot's of color in those fish. Welcome to the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labradorduck Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Once your coral take off the fish will become a natural part of the seascape. Good luck and have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Everything looks nice and healthy, the purple tang is a beauty. Welcome to ARC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Nice job, it is looking great. Man, we are getting a bunch of people from aggieland on the site now . Welcome to the group. You should meet a lot of helpful and friendly people here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 Youll find the majority of sponges such as these will thrive in darker areas. I have a pretty large collection of these in a semi-cryptic zone. Check out this link to see if any of the pictures match yours. http://www.reeffarmers.com/farmsponge.htm Cool! None of them look anything like mine though. I haven't seen any more of those anenome type sponges, which probably is a calcerous sponge of some sort... But those little white spider sac ones are appearing in shadowy places everywhere. I even found some on the filter pad for the wet-dry. I'll have to get some pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 (edited) I am impressed with your large population of tangs and drawf angels. Your Purple Tang is spectacular. Kudos to you on nursing it to health. I had the same trio of Drawf Angels that you have; Coral Beauty, Yellow Angel and Flame Angel. The Yellow Angel kept the Coral Beauty aggression in check. Welcome to ARC. Patrick Thanks Patrick. Actually, its a mimic tang. I got it because it looks like a yellow angel as a juvenile. I wanted a lemon peel dwarf angel but was told they'd likely nip at corals, more likely than a flame would anyway. The coral beauty is gone--it had lymphocystis when I got it, and you can't cure that and I didn't want to have to deal with it so I sold it. Lympho usually won't spread to any fish if your tank is well maintained but I'm a novice so I didn't want to risk it. It looked like a little wart that you couldn't scrape off. When I bought the fish I asked about it and told me "fungus"..... You're right though, that's exactly what happened: the mimic tang followed the coral beauty everywhere so it never had a chance to bug the flame angel. That tang is really clingy. It was lonely when there were no big fish in the tank, and it tried to follow the clowns who were having none of it. Now the mimic tang hangs out with the purple tang. Some of the fish in those pictures have come and gone as I traded or sold them to keep harmony. I no longer have the damsels, the coral beauty, either of the wrasses, or the sand-sifter, or the normal oscellaris. Right now its just the lawnmower blenny, the flame, the mimic and purple tangs, and my clown pair. Also, the pics aren't up to date. I added about 20 lbs of live rock not long ago and did some rearranging... I think it caused a nitrate spike. Edited May 28, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 Once your coral take off the fish will become a natural part of the seascape. Good luck and have fun! I can't wait for that! I wonder what I can do to boost growth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 Nice job, it is looking great. Man, we are getting a bunch of people from aggieland on the site now . Welcome to the group. You should meet a lot of helpful and friendly people here. Thanks! I have met a lot of nice people already. Everyone is really smart and everyone has different ways of doing things that all work, so I have a great selection of advice to choose from, to pick something that works for me. Actually, my saltwater acquaintances in aggieland recommended me here. That goes to show the sites reputation is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 (edited) Everything looks nice and healthy, the purple tang is a beauty. Welcome to ARC. Thank you. I'm really pleased with the tang myself. That hyposaline quarantine tank was far too small for him. I was worried every day that the heater would go out (and it did!) or that the parameters would freak change. I was at the QT every few hours checking on him. Towards the end, he stopped eating well and I got scared. I thought I saw some lateral line erosion developing, and I could see his ribs. That was it. I put him in the DT and he was SO happy. He zoomed the length of the tank and back and around again like a race car. He wouldn't stop zooming around for a few days. He also ate everything up and gained his weight back within a couple days. There was no sign of lateral line erosion or ich after that. He's a gentle fish, never aggressive despite his size. Lately, his coloring has really started popping. He was pale purple when I got him, then he became dark purple, and now he has those stripes showing up. Edited May 28, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 (edited) Mo. 5 Continued. These pics are almost fully updated as of 5/28/2013. This is after all the liverock and latest coral was added. Mostly, it was some short gsp and watermelon polyps on the same rock, and a couple mushrooms and maybe more. Edited May 28, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Pedretti Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 geez!...those zoas sure do look nice!...im glad you got some red ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Your pictures are very nice. I do like the lacy feather look to the waving hand Athenia. I suggest you keep it on one rock that can be removed if required. Out of all the fast growing soft corals, waving hand is the most invasive. Patrick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 this tank looks nice. i like your aquascaping. i will be very happy if my tank looks this nice in 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 I've really enjoyed all the pictures. Things have sure come along! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 Your pictures are very nice. I do like the lacy feather look to the waving hand Athenia. I suggest you keep it on one rock that can be removed if required. Out of all the fast growing soft corals, waving hand is the most invasive. Patrick Its on its own removable fragment, but if it spreads to the little live rock its on, that will be fine too. Nothing is glued down so if it spreads I can isolate that rock. So far it hasn't spread outwards, just gotten denser. Actually, if you check the emergency thread, you may see that my anthelia and xenias are in danger of death from something... Maybe I can culture it and pass it on to people who need xenia/anthelia control hopefully its not deadly to other corals! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosFyre Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) this tank looks nice. i like your aquascaping. i will be very happy if my tank looks this nice in 6 months. Thank you!! Do you have a new build? I admit I was a bit OCD about the aquascaping. its been rearranged a few times. I'm happy with it for now, but I eventually want to replace the base landscaping rock with all live rock. I think I'd miss the crevices they make at the bottom, and the shelves too, and its also easy to catch fish. The fish love swimming in and out of those crevices. They almost never bother with the live rock unless there's a cave in one. Also, another good thing about the landscaping rock is its 10 cents per pound, so its good for beginners until you can afford/ slowly collect oceanic rock. Edited May 29, 2013 by ChaosFyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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