Astro's 250 Reefer Mixed Reef Tank

Astro · Dec 28, 2020

Lasltly, this is my new aquascape!

Astro · Dec 28, 2020

I am still confused about:
- one of my clowns still has white on her side which kinda worries me
- I still keep reading 0 nitrates/phosphates in my tank, obviously I don't want high and it's still not a lot of fish or corals, and i have algae growth, just weird it's still 0 after a month or so.
If anyone has advice, tips, or any thing at all! Let me know!

powers2001 · Dec 28, 2020

Astro said:
For Christmas I was gifted this beautiful Sixline Wrasse:

This is now my only photo with all livestock: (wrasse hiding in left side)

@Astro Sixline being one of my all-time favorite fish.

Astro · Dec 28, 2020

powers2001 said:
@Astro Sixline being one of my all-time favorite fish.

Yes!! One of mine as well! Do you know if I can have other Wrasse's in my tank? I read they don't like more then one, but i'm. not sure if it means only one sixline, or only one wrasse.

powers2001 · Dec 28, 2020

Astro said:
Yes!! One of mine as well! Do you know if I can have other Wrasse's in my tank? I read they don't like more then one, but i'm. not sure if it means only one sixline, or only one wrasse.

@Astro in my experience, there's no set-in-stone rules to fish compatibility. And once you think you've figured out your community of fish's compatibility chart it will then change in five minutes, not counting additions and removals from your tank causing chaos. It rather goes by individual preference between all the fish's acceptance and toleration for each other. So there are rules about compatibility but you shouldn't bank on them. When I first started my journey in this hobby there were fish compatibility charts but I rarely see them anymore in fish discussion forums. To be honest I would ask in the The Wrasse Lover's Thread! click here.

Astro · Dec 28, 2020

powers2001 said:
@Astro in my experience, there's no set-in-stone rules to fish compatibility. And once you think you've figured out your community of fish's compatibility chart it will then change in five minutes, not counting additions and removals from your tank causing chaos. It rather goes by individual preference between all the fish's acceptance and toleration for each other. So there are rules about compatibility but you shouldn't bank on them. When I first started my journey in this hobby there were fish compatibility charts but I rarely see them anymore in fish discussion forums. To be honest I would ask in the The Wrasse Lover's Thread! click here.

Ah okay, I've kind of been hinted at that before I think. I was looking into a snowflake eel, but so many places say they aren't compatible with stuff like clowns, and on some posts they talk about how it has a personality and each one is different lol, but that makes a lot more sense now.

On another note, is it normal for the sixline being covered with white dots? I just looked at him and he is absolutely covered from head to tail in tiny white dots; I assume they're just substrate stuck to him, but I'm not sure. Might post in that section too, hadn't even noticed theres fish-specific sections haha

kartrsu · Dec 28, 2020

It could be substrate attached to him. I know my fish have white specs here and there and I freak out thinking it’s ich or velvet, but when I feed them and they go into frenzy feeding it disappears. I’m not sure about six line but my exquisite wrasse sleeps in a mucus cocoon at night.

powers2001 · Dec 28, 2020

Astro said:
Ah okay, I've kind of been hinted at that before I think. I was looking into a snowflake eel, but so many places say they aren't compatible with stuff like clowns, and on some posts they talk about how it has a personality and each one is different lol, but that makes a lot more sense now.

On another note, is it normal for the sixline being covered with white dots? I just looked at him and he is absolutely covered from head to tail in tiny white dots; I assume they're just substrate stuck to him, but I'm not sure. Might post in that section too, hadn't even noticed theres fish-specific sections haha

@Astro The Sixline I had slept in a mucus cocoon every night. I think they shed it in the morning and eat it. It could be remnants of a cocoon with sand but just to be sure I’d take a picture and post it on the fish disease forum.

Astro · Dec 28, 2020

powers2001 said:
@Astro The Sixline I had slept in a mucus cocoon every night. I think they shed it in the morning and eat it. It could be remnants of a cocoon with sand but just to be sure I’d take a picture and post it on the fish disease forum.

Any tips? I can't even walk near tank without him running behind rocks in the shadows haha, too hard to capture photos.

powers2001 · Dec 29, 2020

Astro said:
Any tips? I can't even walk near tank without him running behind rocks in the shadows haha, too hard to capture photos.

I’m getting one of these for my wrasse(s). Just thought I’d give you a heads up on it. I have a bare bottom and I’ll put sand in here for sand sleepers. It’s a wrasse sand bowl from Aqua Rocks Habitat but it’s not on their website, you have to ask for it specifically. The small holes are to stick in frag plugs. I plan to grow a carpet of Zoanthids on mine.

Astro · Dec 30, 2020

So, I watched a video on taking photos of your tank with DSLR and pulled out my old one, here are some of my shots (out of like 500). Settings are tough to configure haha.

Astro · Dec 30, 2020

powers2001 said:
I’m getting one of these for my wrasse(s). Just thought I’d give you a heads up on it. I have a bare bottom and I’ll put sand in here for sand sleepers. It’s a wrasse sand bowl from Aqua Rocks Habitat but it’s not on their website, you have to ask for it specifically. The small holes are to stick in frag plugs. I plan to grow a carpet of Zoanthids on mine.

That's actually really cool; I was actually wondering what bare-bottom tanks do with fish that use substrate and whether the absence of it is harmful, but that's a really neat workaround!

revhtree · Dec 30, 2020

Looking good!

Rincon_Reefer · Jan 6, 2021

Astro said:
Thanks so much!! Do you have a build thread as well? I'd love to see your zoa garden! All the pictures I can find are super photo-shopped matured gardens

edit: I did see your post about lids, and I have the red sea DIY lid for my tank (forgot to put that in a post haha) but it is really great. I have never used a hacksaw until I made it, but it turned out really well with only a few re-attempts to get the measurements right. It's very light and to take it off you can just grab the middle bar and rest it on your lights. Additionally it has the most minimal look out of any other lids I've seen. The only downside is you need to take it off every time you feed. I plan on 3D printing a 2x2 inch lid that I can put on the net with a small removable opening to feed threw.

I had created another thread asking for help identifying my cardinals and realized it was actually a pretty nice pic of my Zoa Garden. Here it is!

Astro · Jan 7, 2021

Rincon_Reefer said:
I had created another thread asking for help identifying my cardinals and realized it was actually a pretty nice pic of my Zoa Garden. Here it is!

I dig it!
Here is an updated version of mine; lost a couple from really bad aiptasia, and just pulled off some of the hair algae.

Astro · Jan 7, 2021

I have been feeling pretty good about my copepod population so I bit the bullet and got a Mandarin fish and a dragon face pipe fish. Both were appearing to be eating and doing well. However unfortunately this morning I woke up to find the pipe fish laying a meter from the tank on the ground

I'm not sure what made him jump, how he could even jump so far with such a little fin, and how he jumped through my red sea lid (he'd fit, just need perfect accuracy).

In other news, I found this absolute unit of a bristle worm that's maybe 4" long. I last saw a bristle worm in my GSP but was easily half the diameter and max 2". I left him in there since I assume its fine.

Lastly, I'm unsure if I'm overfeeding or if there's genuinely something wrong with my clowns due to the size of their stomachs being quite bloated. I've cut back feeding and it has shrunk down.

Anddd here's just cute pics of them:

Astro · Jan 7, 2021

Also does anyone have an idea what these white dots are on the back of my tank? I've been getting hydroids on front glass, but these just look like white dots with no tentacles or anything. Is it coraline?

Also I'm not sure if anyone here is into instagram, but I made an account as well for the tank https://www.instagram.com/astrosreef/

DothanReefer · Jan 7, 2021

So sorry to hear of the pipe fish's leap! Your tank build seems to be going great though. I wish I could get my clowns to host my BTA. Did yours naturally go to it or did you do something to encourage it? I have a similar size build up and running for almost a year - it’s a WB 100.3. I’m also new to hobby so I’ll be following along here!! Good work!

DothanReefer · Jan 7, 2021

Astro said:
Also does anyone have an idea what these white dots are on the back of my tank? I've been getting hydroids on front glass, but these just look like white dots with no tentacles or anything. Is it coraline?

Also I'm not sure if anyone here is into instagram, but I made an account as well for the tank https://www.instagram.com/astrosreef/

Those are some kind of harmless snails. They are harmless and a sign of a good ecosystem of a saltwater aquarium. Pretty much impossible to eradicate. They come in on frags by the dozens...no need to worry...

powers2001 · Jan 7, 2021

Astro said:
I have been feeling pretty good about my copepod population so I bit the bullet and got a Mandarin fish and a dragon face pipe fish. Both were appearing to be eating and doing well. However unfortunately this morning I woke up to find the pipe fish laying a meter from the tank on the ground I'm not sure what made him jump, how he could even jump so far with such a little fin, and how he jumped through my red sea lid (he'd fit, just need perfect accuracy).

In other news, I found this absolute unit of a bristle worm that's maybe 4" long. I last saw a bristle worm in my GSP but was easily half the diameter and max 2". I left him in there since I assume its fine.

Lastly, I'm unsure if I'm overfeeding or if there's genuinely something wrong with my clowns due to the size of their stomachs being quite bloated. I've cut back feeding and it has shrunk down.

Anddd here's just cute pics of them:

@Astro I would be concerned about your clowns. That doesn’t look good. I suspect internal worms. First check out the fish disease forum on this website. I just found out about this product https://apifishcare.com/product/general-cure
You might want to check it out.