the salt life!

[acbaro]

Sounds good! I'll definitely have to do that once I get some more live rock and then it'll be perfect!

[acbaro]

UPDATE:

So last week the wife and I went to the store and got the water tested and everything came out good and has been constant since day one ! We finally got our second fish and it is a clown fish, the species is ocellaris i think is how you spell it, i'm not sure but he is definitely a special one! The clown has seem to have managed to host my wave pump because all he does is spend every minute of the day hanging out in the corner with the pump. I also purchased 25 more pounds of live rock for the tank and since the purchase I have changed around the rocks twice. I definitely like the way it is setup now and I think it is perfect for when I can start adding corals, but I broke my floating thermometer/hydrometer in the process . All the inhabitants of the tank are definitely thriving and feeding very well, I feel they like the new rock work also! Hopefully by the 15th of May we will be able to consider adding our first coral, hopefully an anemone, or even a cleaner shrimp if there are still any left in the store! Well enough of the blabbing and onto the pictures!

Acclimating the newly added clown( wife named him cletus ) but from what i have been reading it will most likely turn into a female or when we get another clown they will battle it out for female so we shall see. I hope that's right by the way because I definitely would love to see the two reproduce! This picture shows the previous rock layout I had when I added the extra 25lbs.




Cletus(the clown) checking out his new tank and Zeus( the damsel) checking out his new tank mate! This picture shows the previous rock layout I had when I added the extra 25lbs.




This is the new rock layout and I definitely like it a lot better and gives more room in the front of the tank since I leaned most the rock against the back glass!It also helps hide the heater and I stuffed the Thermometer probe behind the heater to hide that also. You can also see the clown hosting his corner with the wave pump.



The clown and Damsel have been hanging out a lot more in the corner!



Well that is everything for now and there will definitely be more to come! Hope you all are enjoying the progress of the tank because I know we are and I have been fiending to add more but I have to take it slow hope you all had a good weekend!

[Redfish]

Coming along very nicely. look foward to the next update.

[acbaro]

Thank you sir! There should be another update soon!

[evo832psi]

Nice!!! Love when reading you can tell how much fun the hobby is to someone. I have a nice piece of Green Cap you can have. Just let me know a good day to drop it off with the G-Man.

[Redfish]

I have 2 maybe 3 frags of some zoas you could have to put in there if you would like them.

[acbaro]

evo and red that would be greatly appreciated! I definitely love that I finally got into the saltwater hobby. Everyday I'm reading on reef central and other sites and learning more and more! Sometimes the wife gets upset cause I spent so much time some days reading up on the hobby . Now some quick questions though before I actually take the frags off your hands because I definitely would love for them to thrive! Is the t5 fixture I have enough lighting for the corals for now until I make an led fixture? I don't currently have a protein skimmer at the moment but plan to in the future, will it be a big deal for the corals right now? And last but not least, will it be a problem if I put an anemone in there after the frags go in or should I put the anemone in first and then the frags? I want the frags to make it in my tank. As for whenever you want to hand the frags over, I can head over to gerwin's store anytime to pick them up. Just shoot me a text 954-651-7784 and I can pick it up when I have a chance the day its dropped off or I can even meet you there. Especially all this week since I only work til 12. Again thanks for the offers and I'm more than happy to accept them!


Now read on below to follow up on the progress of the tank!

[acbaro]

UPDATE:
Now sorry for the delay between updates but there has been some changes in the tank!

So I went to our favorite fish store and got the water tested and was told it was good to go. I saw a Mocha clown swimming around by itself and told roger that I wanted it and another so they can pair up and maybe do some spawning down the road . I immediately went home to capture the previous clown(cletus) and exchanged him for the mocha and another clown that looks just like cletus. I think they are both ocellaris but I also think they are true perculas but I'm not sure how to tell. Well after getting them into the tank, Zeus(blue damsel) started harassing my clowns and I wasn't about to be having that. Since it was late already when I saw Zeus doing that I captured him and separated him from the clowns. A couple days later I was finally able to go to the store and turn in Zeus. When we went we were finally able to get a very much wanted cleaner shrimp along with a scooter blenny, and purple basslet. Everything was thriving good for about a day or two until I woke up and saw the purple bast**d munching on my cleaner shrimp ! I Immediately went and took all the live rock out and captured the little punk! I went that afternoon and took the purple bast**d back and exchanged him for another somewhat bigger cleaner shrimp and a yellow watchman goby. Everything seemed to have been thriving good and then a couple days later while I was at work my wife text me and told me that the goby was dead ! I don't know why, maybe it was from the stress of the move and I also did a 5 gallon water change the same day, Just before I drip acclimated him. So it's been 2 days since the goby death and everything seems to be going good. The mocha clown(Juliet) and regular clown(romeo) have been sticking together since day one and haven't left each others side which is an amazing site and I can't wait to get them an anemone to host. The scooter blenny(scooter) Is another tank favorite of the wifes and he is just tons of fun to watch swimming around. Sometimes he tries to get tough when I walk around the tank and he will flash his fin at me. As for the cleaner shrimp(pierre ) he is doing pretty good, I'm just waiting to see him finally clean some fish in the tank but I don't know how long that's going to take to happen. We got some snails also because we had a little bit of diatoms sprout up along with something else that I plucked out. Well 3 aquascapes later everything seems to be good. I plan to go to the store tomorrow to try and pick up another watchman goby. Then the next purchase will be some coral to go with some of the frags i might be able to get my hands on and I can't wait, especially to get an anemone. Now enough of all this text and onto the pictures!!!

Here you see Romeo(regular clown) and Juliet(mocha clown) hanging out on day one and its been like that ever since! The mocha is the female and I'm pretty sure of it since she is bigger of the two and they haven't been fighting at all.



Here is the two clowns, the Purple basslet, and the original cleaner shrimp. But both the purple basslet and the original cleaner are no longer!



This is the new pierre(cleaner shrimp) and he seems to be doing good, he is also a bit bigger than the previous cleaner.



Scooter chillen on the rock. He is a very curious little fellow and is constantly scooting along the bottom! The wife and I love watching him move around, hes a pretty unique character!



A full tank shot of the tank today and hopefully the last time I will have to move the live rock. I definitely love the way the rock is setup and every time I have to move the life rock, it makes it more difficult to get it back the same way!



In the center of the picture you will see the patch of brownish fuzz that I plucked out of the tank. At least it was the only one I can see.



These are the diatoms that sprouted up and the only place and I think its because this piece of rock is one of the closest to the light.



Well I hope you guys are enjoying the progress. Everyday its something new and I think that is one of the main reasons why I love this hobby. I'm hoping to make my first LED fixture, but Just waiting on scott to hook me up with a parts list and some plans to make up! Thanks for following guys!

[Scott Allen]

I hate to be negative, but there is no way that scooter dragonet is going to make it in your tank. They feed exactly like mandarins and just can't be sustained in a small tank. They also can't be maintained in a new tank. They feed constantly on pods and without a large number of pods they quickly starve to death. It takes a LOT of pods that are in all stages of reproduction to maintain them. I lost 2 in my 210g by trying to add them too soon and not letting the population build first. There are thousands of threads of people who have watched them die. It's really a shame.



Your tank is looking good! Starting the diatom phase, keep after your W/C's and watch your feeding. What's your lighting schedule?

[Redfish]

I would hold off on the second Watchman Goby also, I wouldn't even get it. The tank has just finished its cycle, I would wait awhile before I get anymore fish. Get Gerwin to order you a Midas Blenny, nice looking fish and would do good in a tank your size. The next time I go to Gerwins I will bring him the zoa frags I have for you, might be some time late next week.

[acbaro]

Oh nooo is there anything I can do to keep him from starving?! Also i have a 29 gallon and most places say they need a 30 gallon to survive. It would just be really sad to see the little guy go. Can I do something to make my own pods or somewhere I can get pods from? Also how come no on the watchman? I'm just curious because I really liked him but I do like the Midas also. Also I ordered a gfo to keep from any algae from spreading and what is w/c? As for the lighting schedule, before the diatoms I would keep the lights on from 8-10 hrs now I only have it on when eating dinner or looking at it, so maybe for 3 hrs a day. How long would you suggest I wait on the fish red I was planning on two more and then adding nothing but corals after that. I'm just going and adding things by when gerwin and rog say I can, they been helping me since day one so everything is new to me. Thanks for the help guys and I hope I can keep scooter alive.

[Scott Allen]

Oh nooo is there anything I can do to keep him from starving?! Also i have a 29 gallon and most places say they need a 30 gallon to survive. It would just be really sad to see the little guy go. Can I do something to make my own pods or somewhere I can get pods from? Also how come no on the watchman? I'm just curious because I really liked him but I do like the Midas also. Also I ordered a gfo to keep from any algae from spreading and what is w/c? As for the lighting schedule, before the diatoms I would keep the lights on from 8-10 hrs now I only have it on when eating dinner or looking at it, so maybe for 3 hrs a day. How long would you suggest I wait on the fish red I was planning on two more and then adding nothing but corals after that. I'm just going and adding things by when gerwin and rog say I can, they been helping me since day one so everything is new to me. Thanks for the help guys and I hope I can keep scooter alive.

It's best to give a couple weeks between fish additions to give the bacteria populations time to catch up to the new bio load (feeding amount and fish count). In a sense your tank is only as cycled as it's current bio load, so each addition you have to catch up again. Gerwin and Rog are looking at a ton of tanks everyday. It's very difficult for them to keep up exactly with where everyone's tank is in terms of bio load or recent additions. And we probably err a little more on the side of cautious. You probably "can" add another fish, but it's safer to let the bacterial populations build up first. (only talking a couple weeks between each fish)

As far as the pods go, it's either very expensive or very difficult to maintain a pod population in a smaller tank. You can, but you won't (well no one I ever hear of ends up keeping up the act). A scooter isn't quite the voracious eater that a Mandarin is, but it still doesn't have a chance in tanks without either a fuge for pods to breed or lots of live rock for them to hide in to breed. And it takes a while for them to take hold in a tank to start with. I hope it works out well for you, but the scooters I have had never accepted any traditional frozen/pellets/flakes. They spend there time hunting the rocks all day. Food going in the tank doesn't even seem to interest mine.

@Lighting - If you don't have corals, then just leave the lights on for viewing. Once you get corals, start with about a 6 hour and work your way up by about 15min a week till you get to about 8 hours and 1 hour on each side for dusk/dawn. After you get your leds, you can do slow ramps and drag it out over 12 hours safely.

[goalk33p3r]

I had a 29 gallon tank for a long time and kept a manderin goby for quite some time but I waited for about 5 months after setting up to put a manderin in there and I also bought a hob refug. And that's where I many grew my pods and the tank stayed filled with them. You can buy a bottle of pods from g man for 20 bucks and add them once a month and should be good just keep an eye on the little guy

[acbaro]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm gonna try and turn my 10 gallon into a refugium/ sump. Until I get my Skimmer I guess it'll just be a refugium for a whle so I can focus on growing pods. I just need that algae or whatever it is to give a place for the pods. For now I'll just have to buy the bottles but I really want to try and make my own supply. I just finished making a screen/ egg crate top for my tank and now to try and make my 10 gallon into a sump!

[Redfish]

I miss read what you posted and went back and re read it today. I thought I read you had 1 Watchman Goby in the tank and were getting another one. I missed the part about the first one dieing.