Diving back into the deep end with a 135 gallon cube

[ScottD]

So it finally happened. Yesterday we took a trip to the lfs and picked out a couple clownfish to add to the tank. I’d like you to meet rhinoceros and toot as my son has decided to name them haha.

I have no idea where those names came from. My daughter is lobbying for one to be named coral. The kids had fun helping to put them in the tank and watching them swim around a little. Tonight I’ll have them help feed them.

Some more pictures from the day:

 

[ScottD]

So it seems that we’ve come to an agreement between the kids on names. One shall be called toots and the other is coral. I guess that’s what you get when you leave it up to a 3 year old and 5 year old.

 

[ScottD]

Not a whole lot to report other than seems that I’ve begun the ulgies.

I received my order from @Reef By Steele for pods and phyto today and put them in the tank. We’ll see how that helps with getting things started. I also plan on taking a trip to the lfs this weekend and picking up some snails and hermit crabs. I might be tempted to pick up a tailspot blenny if they have one in stock, but will probably wait a little longer. I’ve decided that’s going to be my next addition to the tank.

 

[ScottD]

Got a set of Hanna checkers yesterday for hr nitrate and ulr phosphate. Ran a test tonight and I’m sitting at 13.6ppm nitrate and .19ppm phosphate. The nitrate is around what I’ve been testing with the Red Sea test as best I can tell. I haven’t tested phosphate yet so we’ll see how that trends going forward.

 

[ScottD]

Small update, over the weekend I took a trip with my daughter to the lfs and came home with some new additions. We bought a royal gramma and 3 nassarious snails. I also got an email from TSB saying my sand is going to ship on Wednesday. I also talked to them about throwing in a couple pieces of rubble to help seed the tank with some coraline algae. Looking forward to getting that package.

 

[IceNein]

You and your family will love the tailspot blenny if you get one.

 

[ScottD]

You and your family will love the tailspot blenny if you get one.

It’s on my list. They didn’t have one at the store but will be keeping my eye out for one. Plus my daughter loves purple and I had been telling her we’d get a royal gramma and she saw it at the store. She wouldn’t have been talked into anything else, even if I bribed her with a million dollars.

 

[ScottD]

A few days ago I received sand and a few small rubble pieces from TBS. Put it in the tank and found a couple hitchhikers. I’ve got a lancelet, I tiny brittle star, hermit crab, and possibly a tiny calico crab.

I’m happy to report that the diatoms I’ve been watching has suddenly disappeared in the last 3 days. It had been slowly working its way across the tank before adding the sand and over the weekends started seeing small bright white spots in the middle of it. Then 2 days ago was looking and was like hey it kinda looks like it’s going away maybe. Tonight looking at the tank and it’s pretty much gone, hardly a trace left of it.

 

[ScottD]

Jeez I guess it’s been a little while since I last posted. Thanksgiving to Christmas is a busy time of year. My wife’s family owns a Christmas tree farm and we work it on the weekends around all our full time jobs. I’m also in the middle of building a workshop so that has taken much of my time as well.

A few updates:
I have added a carpenter wrasse about 3 weeks ago and today I stopped by my lfs as I heard they had a tail spot blenny. They did so I walked away with that as well as a diamond goby and 3 turbo snails.

Current stocking list with names
2 clown fish (Coral and Toots)
1 royal gramma (Flower)
1 carpenter wrasse (Rhinoceros)
1 tail spot blenny (Spot)
1 diamond goby (Diamond)
3 nesarious snails
3 turbo snails


I also have a hitch hockey hermit crab and a tiny snail from the tbs sand I put in.

 

[ScottD]

So unfortunately had my first fish casualty. The diamond goby went missing. Eventually found him down in the sump stuck above the mesh in the baffles just before my return pump. It was still alive and put it back in the tank but was breathing heavily and came back a couple hours later to find my snails having a feast of it. I’m torn about getting another one. Would like one to help keep the sand clean and would be easy to sneak another one in the tank so my kids didn’t know it died, but don’t want to spend the money if they’re just going to keep doing this.

On a happier note the tail spot is coming out and feeling much more comfortable in the tank and is fun to watch going from rock to rock perching on it and nibbling at the algae on the rocks.

 

[ScottD]

I ran nitrate and phosphate tested tonight and my nitrates are coming up a little but phosphate are holding steady. Nitrate was 20.0 and phosphate was 0.08. I’m not surprised my nitrates are up a little considering the dead fish lately and I’ve been increasing my feeding a little bit. I’ll probably run another test in a week and see where I’m at. May be time for my first water change if it keeps increasing.

 

[ScottD]

So a couple updates: I ran another nitrate test a couple weeks later and got 0.4ppm, my phosphate was up a little at 0.18. I plan on running another set of tests this weekend.

I’ve added some more fish since my last update so current list is:
2 clowns
1 royal gramma
1 carpenter wrasse
1 tail spot blenny
1 gold headed goby
1 Line spot wrasse
4 banggai cardinals

3 nassarious snails
3 turbo snails
A small hitchhiker snail from tbs
1 strawberry conch

I still haven’t put lights on the tank yet, plan on doing it at some point when I get some time to start putting together the canopy. The tank seems to be doing just fine without them so not in a hurry. I’m starting to get some coralline algae popping up in small spots all over the rock.

 

[IceNein]

I like the rock work. I think it's unlikely that the red dots you're seeing are coralline algae if you do not have lights on your tank, and it's not getting direct sunlight.

 

[ScottD]

I like the rock work. I think it's unlikely that the red dots you're seeing are coralline algae if you do not have lights on your tank, and it's not getting direct sunlight.

Thank you. The spots are purple with a touch of pink in some areas, not red. I’ll try to get a better picture of it tonight. There isn’t direct sunlight on the tank, but the corner where most of it is showing up is closest to a 3 panel sliding door that lets a lot of ambient light into the room.

If it’s not coralline, any ideas what it could be then?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So a couple updates: I ran another nitrate test a couple weeks later and got 0.4ppm, my phosphate was up a little at 0.18. I plan on running another set of tests this weekend.

I’ve added some more fish since my last update so current list is:
2 clowns
1 royal gramma
1 carpenter wrasse
1 tail spot blenny
1 gold headed goby
1 Line spot wrasse
4 banggai cardinals

3 nassarious snails
3 turbo snails
A small hitchhiker snail from tbs
1 strawberry conch

I still haven’t put lights on the tank yet, plan on doing it at some point when I get some time to start putting together the canopy. The tank seems to be doing just fine without them so not in a hurry. I’m starting to get some coralline algae popping up in small spots all over the rock.

What are your plans for the canopy? I love all the new fish in your tank!

 

[ScottD]

What are your plans for the canopy? I love all the new fish in your tank!

Thanks, plan is to make a 12” high box to go around the top that matches the style of the stand. Will probably bring it back to attach to the wall behind the tank and have removable panels on the 3 sides to facilitate maintenance and feeding. Or if I want to get real crazy, some kind of shell that would completely hinge up and leave just a frame exposed for maintenance.

 

[ScottD]

well I took pictures last night but forgot to post so here they are:

Pictures were taken after a thorough glass cleaning. That was only the second time I can recall taking out the magnet cleaner and cleaning the glass since starting the tank in October. I will be checking my nitrate and phosphate levels this weekend, as I seemed to have an algae bloom starting again. Probably because I just added the 4 new fish and upped the amount of food I’m feeding. Might be time for some more snails Or maybe even a tang.

 

[ScottD]

I did some testing tonight. Nitrate is 10.4 ppm and phosphate is 0.17 ppm.

 

[ScottD]

So a little catchup to do. I added a pair of Exquisite wrasses to the tank. Supposedly it was a male and female pair but have my doubts now. The male was chasing the “female” around quite ferociously, make her hide most of the time. Things have settled a little now a few days later and she is out more often and ignored for the most part. We’ll see how it goes, I might have to rehome one eventually. Also picked up a few more snails so current count is 13 fish, 13 snails, 1 strawberry conch, and 1 small hermit crab. Probably going to look at an urchin here shortly.

And here are a few random pictures from the past couple weeks.

 

[kgstei]

Hey Scott nice progress. Do you have a mesh top on that tank to keep fish from jumping out? Do you plan on adding corals?