Humblefish's 150 gal mixed reef

[Flashy Fins]

The *evil* Lemonpeel angel lurks in the background:

As I was going through the pictures (all lovely, btw!), I was wondering about that one. It's a favorite of mine, and I've been thinking of setting up a fowlr (or at least a tank with corals planned around the fish, instead of fish planned around the corals) and getting one. I assume the evil part is in reference only to coral nipping? Any corals that none of the angels touch? I've heard xenia and mushrooms, but not much else.

Touching story with the powder blue. Glad the fish pulled through!

 

[Flashy Fins]

Stunning photo! :smile:

That blue angel was quite the looker - I'm not surprised your wife is still mad!

 

[Humblefish]

As I was going through the pictures (all lovely, btw!), I was wondering about that one. It's a favorite of mine, and I've been thinking of setting up a fowlr (or at least a tank with corals planned around the fish, instead of fish planned around the corals) and getting one. I assume the evil part is in reference only to coral nipping? Any corals that none of the angels touch? I've heard xenia and mushrooms, but not much else.

She mainly nips at my euphyllia (which I care about) and sometimes xenia (which I don't care about.) I also had to remove all my acans, blastos and candy canes because of her. I thought at one time she (and the Blue Angel) were going to destroy my giant toadstool leather but she's since chilled on that. Needless to say, this is not an easy fish to keep with corals. I've increased feedings to 2x daily and that seems to have helped with the nipping (I have 5 angels), but I also now have elevated nutrients/nitrates and cyano sometimes on the sand bed to show for it. hwell:

I call her "evil" because she's mean mean mean. Lemonpeels get larger than most dwarf angels and she likes to throw her weight around. My other dwarf angels live in fear of her and steer clear. But wife loves her, so there's no going back.

Stunning photo!


That blue angel was quite the looker - I'm not surprised your wife is still mad!

Thank you! Lately I've been rehoming most of my aggressive fish - save the Powder Blue & Lemonpeel. I want to add a Copperband (currently in QT) and Longnose Butterfly, and possibly another Moorish Idol. The Lemonpeel seems to only mess with other dwarf angels, so I'm hopeful and the PB Tang's aggressive is sporadic. We shall see...

 

[revhtree]

I agree beautiful tank and photo!

 

[Humblefish]

Wife took some shots tonight .....

 

[Humblefish]

CBB went into the DT a week or so ago. At first it was rough going, the PBT was constantly charging him like a bull. That has mostly settled down now. The thing I'm most worried about is a high metabolism species like a CBB being able to compete for food with all my other fish. I'm constantly having to target feed him because the other fish gobble up all the food before he even realizes what's happening. :twitch:

However, he did take some big steps today. I fed the tank a couple of clams and he got right in the mix, aggressively eating them. The PBT looked shocked. Later on in the day, I noticed the pink spot watchman goby kinda lunging at him. He actually turned with his dorsal spines flared, pointing towards the goby. Nice! The PBT has been trying to nail that goby with the barb on her tail for some time now.

 

[Humblefish]

New additions since my last update:

Copperband Butterflyfish (from Aqua Hut)
Yellow-Flanked Fairy Wrasse (from Coral Fever)
Two Spot Bristletooth Tang (from Coral Fever)

 

[Humblefish]

 

[Humblefish]

So, I've got some sad news... my beloved PBT "Mary Kay" is dead.

I've been having some aggression issues in my DT after adding some new fish. Mary, in particular, had turned into this homicidal maniac - I've never seen her this bad. In times past, I've been able to put her in a 29 gal HT "fish jail" for a couple of weeks and then back into the DT and the situation improved. So I setup the HT as usual, put her in it but was gone most of yesterday. When I got home yesterday evening, she was laying on her side breathing hard. I immediately put her back in the DT (in an acclimation box) but this morning she was gone.

Thinking back over what might have gone wrong, there's one thing that keeps popping up in my head. I got a new Koralia powerhead (in the mail) a few days ago and used that in her HT. Thing is I was in a rush to set the tank up, so I didn't rinse/soak the pump beforehand. I just used it straight out of the box (Koralias aren't sealed up or anything inside their box.) So I am thinking possibly the pump was exposed to a contaminate or something somewhere along the way. Maybe it had been sitting in a warehouse and they sprayed for roaches recently?

I'm still trying to process everything. I guess I'm still in shock right now. I had this fish for 5-6 years, and those of you who know me know how much this fish meant to me.....

 

[4FordFamily]

Nice tanks and sorry about your PBT

 

[eeyore357]

Sorry to hear that Humblefish!

 

[Tahoe61]

Did you buy the Red Fire Shrimp as a bonded pair?

I am sorry I may have missed it posted previously, but do you feed your Angels any specific foods targeted towards Angels? Do they get any sponge?

How is the CBB doing, and does it pick at the anemone or aiptasia, what are you feeding that fish.

Thanks you in advance.

 

[Humblefish]

Did you buy the Red Fire Shrimp as a bonded pair?

Bought them together, but I don't know if I'd say they are a pair. They seem to just tolerate one another. One of them is more interested in my pink spot goby than the other fire shrimp.

I am sorry I may have missed it posted previously, but do you feed your Angels any specific foods targeted towards Angels? Do they get any sponge?

I do feed them "Hikari Mega-Marine Angel" (which lists sponge as the first ingredient) and "San Francisco Bay Brand Angel & Butterfly Diet" (which also contains sponge). I'm also a big believer in feeding PE Mysis and live blackworms.

How is the CBB doing, and does it pick at the anemone or aiptasia, what are you feeding that fish.

He's doing great! Still a little finicky about certain foods, but he's eating PE Mysis & the butterfly food mentioned above right out of the water column. He goes absolutely nuts over live blackworms though. He starts twitching like crazy when he sees me walk over to the tank with the blackworm bowl in hand. I don't have any aiptasia and he leaves my BTA & all corals alone. I think he may be picking at my snails though, and I certainly wouldn't trust him with a clam. Because I feed him littleneck clams I buy at the grocery store quite often.

 

[Humblefish]

Here's a video of the CBB eating blackworms right out of a net (helps when I think he's being out-competed for food)



Also, this feeding grid is great for ensuring he gets his share of the food. I just put a half frozen cube in there so he gets to pick at it before any of the other fish get some.

 

[Lninwa]

Gold stripe maroons are beautiful but mean SOBs