Humblefish's 150 gal mixed reef

[Humblefish]

Nothing too fancy going on here... after maintaining a 120 gal SPS reef, I wanted something less demanding so I could focus more on the fish. This tank has been setup for about 3 years now. I'll post past pics of it first and then more recent ones.

Tank Dimensions: 60X24X24 acrylic with 50 gal sump (Mag 12 return pump)

Additional tank info:

• I have no idea what kind of skimmer I have (it's old), but it's big & rated for like a 300-400 gallon tank
• 2 Koralia 1050s for additional circulation
• BRS dual reactor (PITA - gonna switch out to something different soon)
• 2-250w 14K Hamiltons (switching back to 20K Radiums soon)
• CoralVue LuXcore 250-400w "Selectable Wattage" Electronic Ballast (VHOs used for supplemental lighting - yes, I'm that old school :smile

 

[Humblefish]

From about 2 years ago...

Some fish pics

Some coral/invert pics

 

[Humblefish]

Figure I'll throw some pics of my 29 gal frag tank in here...

So, it started out looking like this:

Then I moved it and decided to experiment with black sand:

My latest redo is making it a much more "functional" frag tank:

 

[Humblefish]

OK, back to posting pics of the 150...

I really despise my pair of Maroon clowns, but wife is very protective of them, so whatcha gonna do? :wink:

This "was" my Moorish Idol. First, it got stung by the BTA and stopped eating. Then a Blue Angel basically bullied it to death.

Blue Angel aka "Jeremy" in "fish jail" before he was re-homed. Wife is still mad about it. :squigglemouth:

 

[Humblefish]

For those who like Maroon clowns, here's a pic & video of them with their eggs:

[video=youtube;1i3beGNDNos]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i3beGNDNos[/video]

 

[Humblefish]

These were taken about a year ago...

 

[Humblefish]

Much more recent shots...

*Evil* Maroon clowns have the Pygmy Cherub surrounded... :target:

Mandy pair

The ever elusive Eibli angel...

 

[Humblefish]

A little write-up about my Powder Blue Tang, "Mary Kay"...

Bought her at a LFS in Kansas City (where I was living at the time) over 5 years ago. I knew the ins & outs of fish diseases back then, but I was still in "ich management mode" so I put her straight into my 120 gal SPS reef. She showed symptoms of ich within a few weeks and while I tried my usual ich management methods, she next started developing these white patches & red sores (i.e. secondary bacterial infection). I would later learn via a FW dip that she also had gill flukes.

I debated what to do. I knew catching her meant busting up my carefully manicured SPS reef. I knew not catching her meant she would likely die. It was just too many things for her natural immune system to overcome. Even if I went through the trouble of QT and treating her, she still might die. I considered just letting "whatever happens happen" with the fish. But it was my wife, my better half, who pushed me to do the right thing.

So, I get my PBT into a 29 gal QT, and start treating with copper, Prazipro and antibiotics. There were so many nights I went to bed after watching her laying on one side breathing heavy. I just knew she would be dead in the morning. She always proved me wrong. I found myself getting emotionally attached to this fish; I would hand feed her nori as she lay in a corner of the tank. That was probably her saving grace; this fish never stopped eating! However, around this time is when I also discovered eating red nori would make her all bloated. You can read more about that here: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-discussion/182964-feeding-red-nori.html

In time, all other symptoms cleared but ich persisted. I couldn't figure it out - copper had never failed me before. There were times she was so covered in ich, I didn't see how she could survive. This went on for months. I finally resorted to prayer (I'm not a religious or "spiritual" person). I asked God, "If you will help me save this fish, I will always do everything I can to ensure she lives a long, happy life." I was pretty despondent - it was always this emotional roller coaster whether she was going to live or die.

Shortly thereafter, I started reading about Chloroquine phosphate and it's use for treating ich. I felt stupid... my dad had to remind me that we used CP back in the 1970s to treat fish diseases. I started meeting the right people, those far more knowledgeable than I when it comes to treating ich. Opportunities to expand my knowledge of fish diseases opened, and a good friend helped me obtain some CP. A month later, my PBT was ich free and has been ever since.

It took almost a full year to get this fish completely healthy. And because of her, I realized my niche in this hobby was studying fish diseases. Early on, I started calling her "Typhoid Mary" because of all her disease problems. My wife changed it to "Mary Kay" - because she works for them as a beauty consultant. So, below is my Mary today. And now you know just why she means so **** much to me :wink:.

 

[Humblefish]

More recent photos...

I say just let them corals grow wild! :bigsmile:

One of my few SPS:

The *evil* Lemonpeel angel lurks in the background:

My Chevron tang. He had HLLE when I got him. I haven't been too successful reversing it to this point, but he keeps my PBT in check without damaging her so I'm cool with him...

Full tank shot (sorry haven't cleaned the tank much lately):

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Great looking tank!!

 

[Humblefish]

Great looking tank!!

Thank you! :xd:

 

[Humblefish]

Baby Koran Angel, last day of QT before entering the DT. Please don't eat the furniture, Baby Koran! :lol:

 

[Plesoine]

Your PBT is how I feel about my MFF. Reading that gave me more hope and plus I'm following your suggestions, thanks. One other thing, can't believe you have Angels in in your display, I'm far from new in this hobby and never had luck mixing Angels.

 

[Humblefish]

Your PBT is how I feel about my MFF. Reading that gave me more hope and plus I'm following your suggestions, thanks. One other thing, can't believe you have Angels in in your display, I'm far from new in this hobby and never had luck mixing Angels.

It gets hairy with all the angels sometimes. The dwarfs pretty much stay out of each other's way, but whenever I grow large angels in my tank I usually have to re-home once they become adults. Luckily I have a good relationship with a maintenance business that shares my beliefs on QT and has numerous clients with large tanks.

 

[eeyore357]

Beautiful tanks!

 

[Mike J.]

I also have a Powder Blue I saved from a slight battle with ich. Got it from Live Aquaria, so quarantine no matter where they come from. His name is Woody, you know, peck-peck-peck. I've had him for four years now and it is the most important fish to me.
I was going to commend you on keeping Porites porites with Christmas Tree Worms as they are a very difficult coral. It needs extremely high flow and light. But, I see it's not in your tank any more.
Here's a recent pic of Woody.

 

[ice28720]

the fish very Beautiful

 

[Humblefish]

New CBB in QT. Picked him up from a LFS yesterday. Not eating yet. I also got a large diamond goby, who tried to leap to his death at 2am. I was amazed he managed to get thru the eggcrate top (given his size.) Wife & I were up for an hour sewing wedding tulle to go over it. :squigglemouth:

 

[Tapio]

It took almost a full year to get this fish completely healthy. And because of her, I realized my niche in this hobby was studying fish diseases. Early on, I started calling her "Typhoid Mary" because of all her disease problems. My wife changed it to "Mary Kay" - because she works for them as a beauty consultant. So, below is my Mary today. And now you know just why she means so **** much to me :wink:.

Mary looks great. Glad to see you saved her. PBT are tough, I have one currently on a similar path still in QT but out of copper, will come out in 4 days to enter DT. It is the first fish I have been able to save with Cupramine. All others usually have gone on complete hunger strike or had trouble breathing even with good aeration.

 

[eeyore357]

Good looking fish! Glad you noticed the attempted suicide before it was too late.