20 Gallons of Life, a hand collected Bahamian reef.

[Island Reef 242]

@Island Reef 242 - Nice thread. I love how it’s built directly from the ocean. I pulled some rocks and used ocean water for my tanks cycling. Can’t say I regret anything about doing that.

My question is: have you ever ran across parasites like velvet, ich, brook, etc? Curious to know if an all-ocean tank can sustain itself better than a tank built from a LFS.

Thanks ScottR.

In the past I have had a one or two fish show signs of Ich, but from what I remember it went away, I can not recall ever losing a fish to Ich. My cousin has a 120g FOWLR. He cured his rock instead of using it directly out of the ocean cause he wanted to keep out any pests. Unfortunately a couple months ago he lost all his fish to velvet when he introduced a small Bicolor Damsel fish. That is the first time we have ever seen velvet in over 20 years of keeping fish. I personally have never seen Brook, is sounds scary though. So either we are very lucky or there is something to say about using "real" live rock, live sand, and NSW. Also the time from when I catch the fish to when it goes into my tank is no more that couple hours, sometimes minutes, greatly reduces the amount of stress on the fish.

 

[Island Reef 242]

Love reading about this journey you are on with this tank! Following along.

Thanks for following along MrsBugmaster

@Ron Reefman Have fun snorkeling in the Keys, I look forward to seeing your pictures ;Snaphappy

 

[ScottR]

ScottR, I've been collecting animals from the Gulf of Mexico and down around the Florida Keys almost since I started in this hobby 15 years ago and I've never had any parasites at all. I don't collect many fish at all (too hard to catch). But the few I have collected never brought anything into the tank and I don't really quarantine. I have a small tank I keep new stock in for a few days to watch and acclimate them, but I don't use any 'treatments' in the water. Just water changes. IMHO< fish and other sealife that gets collected and shipped is more likely to have issues due to being under stress for a much longer period of time.

But that's just my opinion based on my limited experience. Other's mileage may vary!

@Island Reed 242, just a note for you. We will be going snorkeling in the Keys this weekend. I'll be doing a lot of updates and photos in my 'Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group'. For anybody who is interested, there is a link to it in my signature below.

Thanks Rob. I’m on the same boat as you. Well, we’re actually off the boat in the water...

 

[Island Reef 242]

Happy Canada day, everyone.

I was actually born in Canada, and my father is Bahamian, so I have duel citizenship and i'm entitled to two passports, Shhhhh don't tell the US Immigration, they don't like you to travel with more than one passport. Now, back to fish. I was finally able to go out on the boat again, we had to replace the lower unit of our engine, those things aint cheep. Yesterday I went out to a couple rocks about 3 miles off of my house to get some whelks. I was able to get around 25, between 5 and 8 inches in diameter, great great grandaddys. I will be making some Whelk stew for an independence lunch we will be having at work this Friday. This is to celebrate our Bahamian independence, which is actually on the 10th July. In 1973 we were granted our independence from the Queen.
Now back to fish, for real this time. It is very beautiful around the rocks, with lots of coral sea fans/whips/gorgonians and sponges all different colors growing together in water only a couple feet deep. I unfortunately forgot to bring my go-pro so did not get any pics. But I was able to get a small Jewel Damsel and two small Blue Chromis. Enjoy the pics below.

Oh ya, forgot to mention I made a screen top for the tank. I have had at least 3 fish jump out, one of them I was able to save twice, the third time he succeeded

Just a cool pic of my biggest anemone.

My other 3 neems and Zoas.

My Green Stripe Goby. I think I need to start naming my fish.

Here are the Chromis and Jewel fish I caught, I know she is a Damsel but hopefully she wont be to aggressive.

The Blue Chromis. And the encrusting Zoa's that are finally open again after being closed up for a week.

All six fish in one pic, if you can find them. The new additions appear to be doing well. The Sergeant Major was picking on the Chromis when I first put them in, but, as of this morning they all are getting along, and eating ;Happy. I dont think I will be putting any more fish in this tank, one, because 6 fish is more than enough for a 10g tank, and two, because the Jewel Damsel might get to aggressive. Next time I go out I will be focusing more on collecting coals and inverts.

Happy Reefing,
Chris

 

[ReeferReefer]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions Ron. Ya, more water changes will help. I also found that i needed to rinse out the filter media in my HOB filter more often, which is just some filter floss on the inside and a sponge on the intake. Those become nutrient sinks very quickly ;Vomit. Will have to try what you suggested with the green Zoas . I am not to sure on the name of all the corals I find, will usually look online to find the closest one. Once I get things a little more stable I will try the "mustard hill" coral again. I am also going to try and make up my own frozen food from mollusks, fish, seaweed, and other things. I would like to keep more filter feeding animals like feather dusters and flame scollops, which are all over the place here, but need to find something they like to eat. All I have to feed the tank now is some pellets that I brought back from the US. The fish store down here dose not sell saltwater fish food any more .

BRS did an interesting study where they found that mechanical filtration needs to be cleaned every 3 days otherwise it starts to produce nitrate. Thats how often I try to replace my filter floss.

 

[Island Reef 242]

Well the unthinkable happened yesterday, again ;Nailbiting. My wife called to say that the tank only had 2 inches of water in it. This is the second time in 5 months that I have had a 10g tank leak :mad:. Luckily I was able to rush home and save all the fish and corals. They are now sitting in two buckets. 5 months ago my brand new 10g had a leak, I took it back to my LFS and got a new one, now this one has leaked. I am going to the LFS and see if they can take it back and give me a discount on a larger one. I don't trust the 10g that they have any more. Unfortunately the fish and corals might have to stay in the buckets for another 2 days. I am going camping with friends this afternoon on another island, tomorrow is a holliday, our Independence.

 

[MombasaLionfish]

Well the unthinkable happened yesterday, again ;Nailbiting. My wife called to say that the tank only had 2 inches of water in it. This is the second time in 5 months that I have had a 10g tank leak :mad:. Luckily I was able to rush home and save all the fish and corals. They are now sitting in two buckets. 5 months ago my brand new 10g had a leak, I took it back to my LFS and got a new one, now this one has leaked. I am going to the LFS and see if they can take it back and give me a discount on a larger one. I don't trust the 10g that they have any more. Unfortunately the fish and corals might have to stay in the buckets for another 2 days. I am going camping with friends this afternoon on another island, tomorrow is a holliday, our Independence.

That ten gallon you have is not ment to hold SW it has the clear seal on the corners you need a tank with black seal on the corners or you can reseal a new one.

 

[Island Reef 242]

That ten gallon you have is not ment to hold SW it has the clear seal on the corners you need a tank with black seal on the corners or you can reseal a new one.

I have never had a problem with 10g in the past. From what I remember, none of the tanks in the LFS have black seals. You might be right, but how can you tell if a tank is saltwater safe, besides having a black seal. The first tank leaked because the clear seal was not applied properly and did not cover the corner properly. This one leaked because the clear seal was put on to thinly in one spot. Both tanks have the same manufactures initials on them, so i believe they are from a bad batch, made from someone who might have drank to much salt water .

 

[MombasaLionfish]

I have never had a problem with 10g in the past. From what I remember, none of the tanks in the LFS have black seals. You might be right, but how can you tell if a tank is saltwater safe, besides having a black seal. The first tank leaked because the clear seal was not applied properly and did not cover the corner properly. This one leaked because the clear seal was put on to thinly in one spot. Both tanks have the same manufactures initials on them, so i believe they are from a bad batch, made from someone who might have drank to much salt water .

The bigger ones usually have black seals.

 

[Island Reef 242]

Well this has now officially become the 20 Gallons of Life thread. Last Friday I went to my LFS with the leaky 10g and found out that they had four other people return 10g tanks that leaked along the seams. So glad that it was not just my bad luck. They offered to give me a new 10g but i don't trust them and wanted the next size up, which is a 20g long. So they gave it to me minus what I had paid for the 10g plus a %15 discount.
I was happy about getting a bigger tank, but the fish were not as enthused. All the coral and fish had been in two 5g buckets for 3 days now, and they all looked fine. I checked to make sure all the fish were in the bucket before I started moving them, and the rocks into the newly filled 20g. But, some how, while I was transferring them I lost one of my Blue Chromis . I checked all over the ground but could not find him. It was like he vanished. A day after the transfer I noticed my only Chromis had a piece of his tail missing. I can only assume it was from the Jewel Damsel, who has gained an aggressive attitude :mad:. How can things that are so beautiful have such attitude. A day later my last Chromis disappeared. All the other fish, neems, and coral seem to be doing good in there new glass cage. I have not finished aquascaping the tank yet and might put in some sort of divider to section off the Jewel Damsel for when I add some new fish.

First FTS of new 20g

Front end shot (front end, that sounds like a oxymoron)

RIP. Notice how, in the pic above this one his tail looks fine, that pic was taken one day before this one.

Hello my precious.

Oh ya, @MombasaLionfish, this tank has black seals

 

[Blutspitze]

Love the idea of starting from 100% 'wild' pieces. Seems like things are going pretty well and looks like a fascinating journey thus far!

 

[MombasaLionfish]

Well this has now officially become the 20 Gallons of Life thread. Last Friday I went to my LFS with the leaky 10g and found out that they had four other people return 10g tanks that leaked along the seams. So glad that it was not just my bad luck. They offered to give me a new 10g but i don't trust them and wanted the next size up, which is a 20g long. So they gave it to me minus what I had paid for the 10g plus a %15 discount.
I was happy about getting a bigger tank, but the fish were not as enthused. All the coral and fish had been in two 5g buckets for 3 days now, and they all looked fine. I checked to make sure all the fish were in the bucket before I started moving them, and the rocks into the newly filled 20g. But, some how, while I was transferring them I lost one of my Blue Chromis . I checked all over the ground but could not find him. It was like he vanished. A day after the transfer I noticed my only Chromis had a piece of his tail missing. I can only assume it was from the Jewel Damsel, who has gained an aggressive attitude :mad:. How can things that are so beautiful have such attitude. A day later my last Chromis disappeared. All the other fish, neems, and coral seem to be doing good in there new glass cage. I have not finished aquascaping the tank yet and might put in some sort of divider to section off the Jewel Damsel for when I add some new fish.

First FTS of new 20g

Front end shot (front end, that sounds like a oxymoron)

RIP. Notice how, in the pic above this one his tail looks fine, that pic was taken one day before this one.

Hello my precious.

Oh ya, @MombasaLionfish, this tank has black seals

It should work better then.

 

[Island Reef 242]

Love the idea of starting from 100% 'wild' pieces. Seems like things are going pretty well and looks like a fascinating journey thus far!

Thanks @Blutspitze, it has been fun so far, only problem is catching species that will get along with each other.

 

[Blutspitze]

Thanks @Blutspitze, it has been fun so far, only problem is catching species that will get along with each other.

I can imagine - must not be easy put in an order with Poseidon's minions for the fish you want

 

[Island Reef 242]

I can imagine - must not be easy put in an order with Poseidon's minions for the fish you want

LOL, nope. My favorite LFS (the ocean) is never out of stock, but the minions rarely get the delivery location correct. Maybe because I don't pay them. Its a trade off I can live with

 

[Island Reef 242]

Some sad news. My green stripe goby disappeared a few days ago, the Jewel Damsel started losing his color and has now disappeared. And my last fish, the juvenile Yellow Headed Wrass has not been seen in a day. I hope he is just hiding in the sand. I did some tests, but nothing seems way off. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10ppm, Ammonia .25ppm, Ph 8.2. The Ammonia and PH is a bit higher than usual. I am going to do a water change as soon as the weather calms down, hopefully today. I also need to build a screen top for the tank, to make sure they are not jumping out. Only good news I have is that my Parents went to Spanish Wells last week, and brought me back some Mangrove Pods. Also this Thursday is Aug 1st, the start of Crawfish Season. I will be out all day spearing and hopefully bring back some stuff for the tank as well.

 

[Blutspitze]

sorry to hear about the fish disappearances - hopefully they turn up.

 

[Island Reef 242]

sorry to hear about the fish disappearances - hopefully they turn up.

Unfortunately they did not show up. The weird thing is that the few corals I have seem to be doing great, including the anemones. Maybe they have been getting better at catching fish.

I got a few more creatures a week ago. Two fish have disappeared again, and I found one being eaten by my pencil urchin, he looked healthy the day before. A flame Cardinal and a type of goby that is see-through are the only fish that I have now. I also got two small coral banded shrimp and a couple feather dusters, which all seem to be doing fine.

Feather Dusters

Coral Banded Shrimp

 

[Blutspitze]

Oof... yea it's never fun to see a fish being eaten by the CUC.... yay for them doing their job, I suppose....

 

[Island Reef 242]

Quick update, everything is doing fine, no drama with the tank (fingers crossed, knock on wood). Goby and shrimp are eating good. I have not seen the Flame Cardinal eat, but he is still there hiding under the rocks during the day with his friends the two Coral Banded shrimp. At night time he roams all over the tank so i guess he is eating little critters and things then. One day i will get a pic of him.

See-through Goby.

Coral Banded Shrimp, walking around like they own the tank

Some cool little worms/dusters.

A fuzzy, Tan colored Hermit Crab. never seen one before, very cool.