Dawn's 56 gallon natural nutrient garden

vlangel · Oct 2, 2020

Today I bought 4 mollies that I am slowly acclimating to salt water. Since they are good algae eaters, folks who keep shoal seagrass sometimes keep mollies to keep the seagrass free of algae. I bought 3 females and 1 male. 2 are the dalmatian, 1 is white and 1 is orange. They should look attractive in the fuge with all the green and red in that tank too.

I also picked up 6 yellow tail damsels. I have always loved the neon blue color of that specie plus they are a bit more mellow than many of the other damsels. They will be more open water swimmers than the majority of my gobies and blennies but I do not expect them to be a problem for the carpenter wrasse, the royal gramma, the pajama cardinels or firefish that all have been there for quite some time.

acer · Oct 3, 2020

YOur slowly transitioning back to a full reef aquarium. LOL

vlangel · Oct 3, 2020

acer said:
YOur slowly transitioning back to a full reef aquarium. LOL

Yes, I am. I had to tailor the system to accommodate the seahorses but now that I am no longer keeping ponies I can branch out and keep things I could not have before. Today I bought a tomini tang at reef gallery. It settled in immediately and began to explore it's new home. I confess that I am enjoying the freedom to do new things with the tank.

vlangel · Oct 5, 2020

Even though I went slow with the mollies I now only have 2. They are a pair so I am hopeful that things will still work out with them. They are eating although the fuge has plenty of algae for grazing.

The damsels seem to be adjusting well in the sump chamber although I have never seen more than 4 at one time. There is a conch shell in there and I know they hide in there some. Hopefully the other 2 are fine. The ones I have seen are eating well.

The tomini tang ate well yesterday and seems very comfortable in the display. He has a white mark on the front of its top fin but hopefully it's nothing. It does not look like ich or disease and the cleaner shrimp has not given it so much as a glance.

O yeah, I forgot to mention that I bought a frag of green star polyp! I always loved that coral even though it can get invasive if not kept in check. I was surprised to learn that it is not as easily acquired coral as it used to be. Years ago when I had it, so did everyone else, ha ha! Now I do not have it and neither do a lot of other reefers. However I got a very nice frag from Reef Gallery and am hoping that I can get it to thrive in my high nutrient system.

vlangel · Oct 7, 2020

Today I moved 4 damsels (all I could find) into the display tank. The remaining 2 may be hiding in the large conch shells that are in the sump. I will periodically check to see if they turn up.

vlangel · Oct 8, 2020

0 new items by Dawn Gilson

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FTS 10-8-20 with the 5 new damsels and tomini tang.

vlangel · Oct 9, 2020

Well, I had just about given up on damsel #6 but I checked the sump early this morning and there it was! Woohoo!!! I snagged it and now it's with the others in the display tank.

vlangel · Oct 10, 2020

Here is a 17 second video that captures the color and tranquility of the display tank.

vlangel · Nov 7, 2020

A closer look at the display tank in more detail at feeding time.

vlangel · Nov 12, 2020

0 new items by Dawn Gilson

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A late afternoon pic when the sun shines on the tank for about half an hour. I thought it was pretty.

vlangel · Nov 12, 2020

0 new items by Dawn Gilson

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vlangel · Nov 13, 2020

I do not think I mentioned that Plank, my carpenter wrasse went into hiding after I introduced the tang and damsels. He seems a bit high strung and I was worried that he would quit eating and die. So when I saw an opportunity to catch him in my display, I seized the moment and moved him to the refugium.

That was all well and good except I figured that he would eat every pod and shrimp larvae that I was wanting to cultivate in the fuge. So this morning I made another decision and moved him to my sump. It no longer need 3 small compartment since I have a separate tank for a fuge and DSB. I gave him 2 large conch shells and a few chunks of live rock to hide in. He is there alone so unless he is afraid of his shadow he should be good.

Any pods or larvae that flow from the fuge to the sump and return pump will be fair game but surely some will get through without being preyed upon, especially at night. That is my hope anyway.

vlangel · Nov 21, 2020

I did some major pruning of my red macro algae in the display tank. My son who also has a reef is coming tomorrow and I want my reef to look good for him. Ha ha, he does the same thing when I go to his house! He's not a macro algae fan and I know that it will always grow back.

0 new items by Dawn Gilson

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I also replaced the sand back behind the rock retaining walls. Entropy has taken its toll on my tiered sand bed.

kevinl · Nov 21, 2020

Very nice tank Dawn.
Plank still in the sump? doing good in there?
What does your son like to keep, how big is his tank & does he do as good as mom in this hobby?
Have a blessed Holiday, what we can make of it!

vlangel · Nov 23, 2020

kevinl said:
Very nice tank Dawn.
Plank still in the sump? doing good in there?
What does your son like to keep, how big is his tank & does he do as good as mom in this hobby?
Have a blessed Holiday, what we can make of it!

Thanks Kevin! Plank is still in the sump and he is doing well. He looks healthy but he still darts into the conch shell and hides.

Nate likes SPS. He just told me this morning that his tank is not in good shape. He has slacked big time on water changes. His family situation having little kids is making it difficult for him to keep up his tank.

He has had a beautiful 125 gallon SPS tank, before children but that was some years ago. He thought a smaller 65 gallon tank would be more manageable but I think SPS and acros are too high maintenance for his lifestyle now. He is talking about either doing a softie/LPS or a FOWLR tank or take it down and store it until he is ready to be able to commit more fully.

It's a crazy time for sure. We are going to enjoy our kids for the next 3 days, even though they were not able to get tested. Its Thanksgiving and I am going to give thanks for being with our kids! Ha, did that sound rebellious?

Wishing you and your wife a Happy Thanksgiving too. How is your tank doing?

kevinl · Nov 24, 2020

YES! Grandkids, that's where my heart is these days.
I am blessed mine live 5 miles from me.
It is very hard these days to live a so called normal life but we still have to live, we just have to be smart in the decisions we make today, whatever they may be.
My tanks also took a hit this summer, (my excuse) drought. We got slow in my other business with the weather being so hot and dry I had to become more active with my employees and think of other jobs to keep them busy so we had no layoff's. Long story short my landscape has never looked better!
My tanks (8) are starting to look better, nutrients have been the biggest issue, some chemical warfare as well with softies mixed with sps (not a good idea).
Let's look together to a safe and happy holiday season, and look forward to a bigger healthier and happier 2021!!
Love to all!