Keith’s Reef- Red Sea 350 G2

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Keko21

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Behold the mighty Pickle! Only 3/4in right now but munching pods happily
 

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I am so sorry this is going to come out harsh but you need to do more research on livestock before buying them. Both the starfish and mandarin are not suitable for such a new tank. Even if the target mandarin is eating frozen or pellets, your tank just does not have the biodiversity to support a huge pod population to sustain the Mandarin. And as you add more fish, it will only be harder for the Mandarin to compete for food. That means you will have to feed extra heavy and for such a young tank, that will often lead to algae. As for the red starfish, they just don't belong in an aquarium. They feed on microsponic fauna and our closed ecosystem just don't have what they need.

As for royal gamma, they are a beginner fish. Make sure you ask WWC to feed the fish before you buy them. WWC is usually pretty good with their qt process though so I am surprised yours didn't make it.
 

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Also want to add that firefish do well in pairs only. A trio will always guaranteed to result in fights and death. I been there. I love fire fish. I tried 3, I tried 5. And this is in a 200g tank. It always go back to 2.

Also, your leopard wrasse is a huge pod eater. With wrasse in your tank, there will not be enough pods for the Mandarin.

I am in Orlando too and close to WWC superstore. Hit me up for free softies and LPS if you want to test out corals.
 
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Also want to add that firefish do well in pairs only. A trio will always guaranteed to result in fights and death. I been there. I love fire fish. I tried 3, I tried 5. And this is in a 200g tank. It always go back to 2.

Also, your leopard wrasse is a huge pod eater. With wrasse in your tank, there will not be enough pods for the Mandarin.

I am in Orlando too and close to WWC superstore. Hit me up for free softies and LPS if you want to test out corals.
Appreciate the comments and concern. That said i dosed this tank several times with various types of pods since it was cycled and been dosing with phyto. There are thousands in the DT and countless more in the sump (not just the refugium- EVERYWHERE!) I check every night to make sure there are a bunch and if it seems to population is dwindling or they are looking thin I’ll redose, but as of now the pod population looks like its exploding.

i have 2 regular fire fish and 1 purple. Haven't seen any aggression yet- they all sleep in the same cave together. Maybe the 2 to 1 is working vs 3 of the same?

As for the starfish you are probably right… I’ve had a red in our office tank (slightly bigger than mine and FOWLR) but hes been going strong for about a year and a half. So we will see…

Definitely appreciate the offer on the corals! Im gonna hold off until the tank is a bit more established!
 
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is this just GHA or something else on top of diatoms?
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Ever just have a good morning and you wake up and your whole system is in harmony? I was watching as my lights came on this morning and saw all my inhabitants come out of their hiding places, including my leopard wrasse poking his head out of the sand to confirm breakfast was served. My mandarin who has only been in the tank a few days was happy to try some frozen mysis and kept going after it. Water clarity seems to be returning following a bacteria bloom and all parameters look good. I noticed a couple hermit crabs grabbed some new real estate in shells I had put in a few days ago. Yup, just a great day to sit back drink my coffee and watch this awesome ecosystem.

I see a lot of posts with people getting frustrated with the hobby saying they are ready to throw in the towel, and I get there are days which are the opposite of what I described above which bring up those sentiments. I am extremely green in this hobby, and I have had my fair share of challenges and puzzles to crack, but when it all comes together it is so satisfying and worth it! I'm sure there will be something else for me to work out tomorrow- an overflowing skimmer, a pH imbalance which will make me scratch my head, or maybe it will be my daughter spraying me with the pump hose while I'm doing a water change (yup that happened). Whatever it is that's the fun of the hobby- solving the problems, struggling to keep the balance, and taking a moment to enjoy when you do. Happy reefing!
 
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Looks like I am starting coral today! My friend at work surprised be with this massive purple hammer frag from his tank!!

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A little rescaping this morning. The cave on the left is now totally separate from the structure on the right. Going to make the left cave a large zoa/paly garden. Three coming in shortly
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Well i imagine this will get the coralline going… thanks office tank!
 
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I learned a thing today: hydroids.
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No my tank isn't decorated for the holidays… Saw these little guys all over my glass. Did some digging and now I know a whole lot more about these little jellyfish-like critters.

Theres a few in the DT and a ton more in the sump. They dont appear to be colonial. Since they feed on phyto I’m going to stop dosing ocean magik for a while and try to starve them out. I feel reasonably confident that my copepod population is robust enough to hang in there by eating algae and leftover food (fingers crossed). When the hydroids are gone I’ll start dosing phyto again. There seems to be a lot of people who say they just go away after time.
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Good day yesterday! My friend dropped me this sweet frag of hydnophora rigidia! Then after work I stopped by my LFS and picked up this handsome guy!

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Ok a bunch of development!
Pulled the trigger on an anemone as WWC was having a sale on small (and I mean small!) Hawaiian punch bubbletips. Also grabbed an unidentified orange acan off the $10 frag rack

Also did a whole bunch of fragging and transplanting some toadstool leathers- currently 1 full transplant and 3 frags, which are already starting to open up after a few hours!

My hydnophora is loving life! Check out day 1 vs day 4!
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My 5 black Friday frags are coming on Saturday! Candy canes, duncan, goniastraea, Leptastrea, and some zoas.

Happy my tank is actually starting to look like a baby reef
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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 69 37.5%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 62 33.7%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.2%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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