First Reef Tank - 150g

[Brisk]

Merry Christmas!

3 new additions added to the tank. I released them from the acclimation box this afternoon. Everyone seems happy but the Leopard Wrasse is already hiding somewhere.

 

[Brisk]

My niece and nephew gave me a $100 gift card for Dr. Reef. Used to place an order for these:

 

[Brisk]

Just a quick update on the tank with some photos of the livestock. Only one missing is the Blue Star Leopard Wrasse. It went hiding again since yesterday morning and has not shown itself since. I'm loving the Leopard Wrasses that I ordered a Choati Leopard Wrasse for next week.

 

[Brisk]

Been a busy week with work this week, so I was not able to get a lot done. I still need to get both Avast Planks, Reefmat 1200, add more rocks to the aquascape, and start dosing Mag and Manganese. More fishes and corals are arriving the coming weeks as well.

The best thing that happened this week was that today I noticed that the sand bed seems to be cleared of the ugly stage. I don't see any cyanos, diatoms, dinos, etc. I'm not sure if it is because of having the lights only running on blues at 10% intensity or that the nutrients are more stable now that I have more live stock and feeding. Speaking of nutrients, since I have more fish to feed now, I stopped dosing ammonia and phosphate.

Alk - 8.6
Calc - 435
Mag - 1230
Nitrate - 14.3
Phosphate - .107
pH - 8.13

I also decorated the tank a bit for New Years :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:. (Took this pic early in the week, so you'll see the uglies on the sand bed)

 

[Brisk]

Video update of my tank. The uglies I believe are now gone. Waiting for my CSB to arrive hopefully next week to find out where it wants to perch and then I can start moving the corals onto the rocks/sands. More fishes and corals to arrive next week too.

 

[Brisk]

I received my first anemone. Very happy about it. I'm hoping it will stay put in the hole I created for it and the Clownfish pair finds it.

 

[Brisk]

Update for the past week - the CSB anemone looks like it is happy. It hasn't moved from the hole I made for it. However, I find it interesting that the anemone can expand like it was a pancake. I thought they would always have the shape of a ball. It's about 6" expanded. I can't tell if it is trying to get out of the hole or it can't get out of the hole. Also, no hosting with Clownfishes yet.

I also received my custom lids from Top Lids. At first I was skeptical because of some of the negative reviews but they did a superb job. I ordered it around Black Friday, so it took about 6 - 8 weeks for delivery? It was a quick turn around, excellent quality, and spot on fitment. The order did have 2 minor issues. The center lid has 2 large scratches from the splining and the insert cutouts for the Plank auto-feeder did not fit. Top Lids answered my email very quickly to get this resolved. They are also going to try to put a rush on remaking the center lid. Thank you @Top_Lids!! I couldn't be more happier!

 

[Brisk]

First bunch of new Zoas added to the tank also.

 

[Brisk]

I finally got around to installing both the Avast Plank Auto Feeders. They are both hooked up to Hydros. I have the pumps connected to a Y-split cord into one of the outlets on the XP8. The feeders are also hooked up the same way to another outlet on the XP8. I have the Hydros so far feeding 4x a day starting at 9:30am and running for 30 secs every 3 hours. The pumps will turn on for 15 mins when the feeder is on. So far according to the logs, the auto feeder is turning on/off as I wanted. I'm going to let it run without food for another day and then fine tune the food amount.

 

[Brisk]

I've been monitoring the Plank for a few days now and so far I have it dialed to turn on for 1 minute. I'm debating if I should turn off my returns and feed. The problem with that is the water line will drop 2" and I'll need to get the longer tubes. It will keep food from wasting and going into the overflow.

Other news, it looks like the CSB is staying put in the rock hole I created. I have an order from NY Aquatics coming tomorrow.

 

[Top_Lids]

Update for the past week - the CSB anemone looks like it is happy. It hasn't moved from the hole I made for it. However, I find it interesting that the anemone can expand like it was a pancake. I thought they would always have the shape of a ball. It's about 6" expanded. I can't tell if it is trying to get out of the hole or it can't get out of the hole. Also, no hosting with Clownfishes yet.

I also received my custom lids from Top Lids. At first I was skeptical because of some of the negative reviews but they did a superb job. I ordered it around Black Friday, so it took about 6 - 8 weeks for delivery? It was a quick turn around, excellent quality, and spot on fitment. The order did have 2 minor issues. The center lid has 2 large scratches from the splining and the insert cutouts for the Plank auto-feeder did not fit. Top Lids answered my email very quickly to get this resolved. They are also going to try to put a rush on remaking the center lid. Thank you @Top_Lids!! I couldn't be more happier!

Thanks for the shoutout @Brisk , glad you like everything so far. We just scheduled the center lid on our machine this morning. We'll also be changing our packaging slightly for custom projects to avoid potential scratches in transit. Glad we could get this resolved :)

 

[Brisk]

For this week's update, the Choati Wrasse and Copperband Butterfly arrived. Unfortunately, the CBB did not make it. The Choati Wrasse so far only comes out of the sand in the afternoons for a few hours a day. It doesn't look like it is eating what I have been feeding (pellets, flakes, mysis, brine). I ordered some frozen krills and bloodworms from LiveAquaria. I hope it'll eat those.

I also got some new corals and adding more rocks. The anemone is growing. So far it hasn't hosted the Clowns.

 

[twentyleagues]

For this week's update, the Choati Wrasse and Copperband Butterfly arrived. Unfortunately, the CBB did not make it. The Choati Wrasse so far only comes out of the sand in the afternoons for a few hours a day. It doesn't look like it is eating what I have been feeding (pellets, flakes, mysis, brine). I ordered some frozen krills and bloodworms from LiveAquaria. I hope it'll eat those.

I also got some new corals and adding more rocks. The anemone is growing. So far it hasn't hosted the Clowns.

Sorry to hear the cbb didnt make it. Hopefully the choati comes around. Any good full service lfs near you (fresh and salt)? They may have live black worms which finicky eaters love. Or you could hatch some bbs.

 

[tbrown]

Sorry about the Copperband.

Those wrasses usually take anywhere from 5 minutes to a month (sometimes 2) to settle into your tank. Eventually it'll be the most active fish in the tank.

 

[Brisk]

Sorry to hear the cbb didnt make it. Hopefully the choati comes around. Any good full service lfs near you (fresh and salt)? They may have live black worms which finicky eaters love. Or you could hatch some bbs.

Thanks. I ordered some frozen black worms, but I'll see if I can get to a LFS to see if they have any live ones.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

For this week's update, the Choati Wrasse and Copperband Butterfly arrived. Unfortunately, the CBB did not make it. The Choati Wrasse so far only comes out of the sand in the afternoons for a few hours a day. It doesn't look like it is eating what I have been feeding (pellets, flakes, mysis, brine). I ordered some frozen krills and bloodworms from LiveAquaria. I hope it'll eat those.

I also got some new corals and adding more rocks. The anemone is growing. So far it hasn't hosted the Clowns.

So sorry your copper band didn't make it

 

[Brisk]

Sorry about the Copperband.

Those wrasses usually take anywhere from 5 minutes to a month (sometimes 2) to settle into your tank. Eventually it'll be the most active fish in the tank.

Thank you! The Blue Star Leopard Wrasse was the same way. It started coming out when lights came on and hide after the last feeding in about 4 days.

 

[Brisk]

So sorry your copper band didn't make it

Thank you.

 

[Brisk]

The past week I finally got started on trying to install the ReefMat 1200. I have 1.5" drains with a secondary and emergency drain. Hooking the 1.5" drain into the 1" ReefMat drain did not work because it looks like the 1" drain can't handle the flow coming from my 1.5". I didn't realize my turnover was more than 15x. So what I am going to do is plumb the secondary drain into the other side of the ReefMat. That would make 2x 1" drains. I ordered the fittings I need to make this happen. I'm hoping this will work out.

Other news, my anemone started moving from its original spot. It moved into the cave and out the back. It did not like it back there and now moved back into the cave. I'm hoping it moves back to its original spot.

The Choati is starting to come out more. It started trying to eat some PE Calanus but spits it back out. This is a good sign to see some eating action.

One of the Helfrechi got stung by a bristleworm I think. It had what looks like bristles stuck on the side of his face. They've fallen off, but one of his eye looks swollen and a little cloudy. Going to see if it'll heal by itself before taking any actions.

And biggest news of all... My fish order from Dr. Reef is finally shipping out this week to arrive on Thursday!

 

[Brisk]

My shipment from Dr. Reef got delayed 1 day but so far they are all alive and in the tank. They sent me two Exquisite Wrasses. It looks like both are male, but I'm not certain. I know if both are males, it might not work, but I think I'm going to try and see if I can get both of them to co-exist in the same tank.