Latest 180 build

[john.m.cole3]

You mean your wife let you keep that boulder over the years? That was the one that really caught my eye! I like it, and worth keeping around. Thanks for the update.

 

[cracker]

No wife to answer to here ! Never known Marital bliss or blessed with children. Thank God ! LOL

 

[jbow50]

No wife to answer to here ! Never known Marital bliss or blessed with children. Thank God ! LOL

Looking good! Maybe throw a reactor on there and run some gfo for the time being to remove the phosphates. Then you could get some coral in there.

 

[john.m.cole3]

The fish get your sole love and attention!

 

[cracker]

Hold on to Your hat's Everybody. Today was a milestone in the life of this 180 ! I added the 1st coral. I know I kept saying fish only but hey, we all know how that works. So this is a coral named after an exotic tree from africa.
I assure You the tree is much cooler then this coral. I'm also trying to entice this Yellow tang I have into a fish trap.. I want to move it into the refugio for a few weeks time out while I transfer my Copper Band from the 75. so far it has been pretty cautious. Usually a tang will swim right in due to being wrapped up in it's greed . Any way another fish soon ! Also here is a pic of this fancy Kenya tree coral.

 

[cracker]

Ok , I trapped the Tang today. All it took was a peeled shrimp. He couldn't say no ! He chillin in th e refugio for the time being. It's plenty big. he'll be just fine. Now getting the copper band out of the 75 is another story !

 

[cracker]

Ok I put the Copper Band into the tank today ! It was really easy to trap. Took me all of 30 mins to catch her ! . She is eating after a couple of hours. The clowns have largely ignored her. So now the tank is relaxing in the refugio while she get settled in. Maybe next weekend I'll move him back into the display. That's about it Folks thanks for dropping by !

 

[cracker]

well I screwed up today by adding the Yellow back into the display. I have copper band that's been with me at least 4 years now. She was in the 75. I thought she would be much happier in a bigger tank. So I trapped the tank 2 weeks ago & put him in the refugio . Then I trapped the butterfly & put her into this tank 10 days ago. So this @$#%^& tang wasn't in the tank 2 hours before chasing & flashing the copperband. This time out for tangs has worked for me in the past but surely not this time. If it keeps up tomorrow I'll try & trap this Butt Head . It took me days to trap it last round. If not , I'd rather not say !
P.S. I seriously dislike tangs !

 

[john.m.cole3]

I am anti tang myself although I rescued a sailfin but that's different. The sailfin recognizes that he was saved and falls in line with the rest of the order in the tank.

 

[cracker]

Hello John ! Iv'e had a similar experience. After a time out with a sailfin .He also mellowed & was buddy's with this same copper band . Sorry but this Butter Fly gets preferential treatment.
This tang was an Irma refugee & was destined for the LFS. I kinda saved him from an unknown fate but he doesn't care !

 

[john.m.cole3]

You should humiliate him in public so all the other fish know he is ungrateful. But seriously, tangs get big and gorgeous, but the tempers and them being easy targets for disease leaves them low on my list. Maybe a visit to the penitentiary will do some good.

 

[cracker]

I thought that short sentence to the refugipenitentiary would set him straight but nope ! Finally lights out so it seems he is leaving the butterfly alone for the night. I already have a gutter guard partition to place in the morn.

This is why I love this stuff. If it was easy it would be boring !

 

[cracker]

Seeing how I can't find a decent fish, I thought I'd try an experiment on the refugium. So this thing wants to grow HA instead of Chaeto. There is a pic on post 32(couldn't find it but will look again).
I have no problem with the Ha as a nutrient export but it's a pita to drain, scrape the glass,pump it all out, refill etc. So I thought I'd hang a screen in it like an algae scrubber. Also I found the Ha didn't grow on the black plastic sheeting I used to block light into the return section. So I thought I'd line the whole thing. I used white this time hoping it might reflect some light back into the refugium. I added the screen Dec 16th it's already sprouting the HA. So I want to see if the lining will inhibit the ha growth(on the walls) & on the screen instead or allow the chaeto to take hold. So I have more screens I can add. I have a variety of powerheads to see what works best,I can change the light fixture's position. Lot's of things i can do. I can even add a remote tank for a refugium . Any thought's ? Thanks for checking this out & Have a great 2018 !

 

[revhtree]

Looking good!

 

[cracker]

Hey The Reverend dropped in ! Thanks

 

[john.m.cole3]

A new spin on algae scrubbers, cool!

 

[cracker]

Hello ! This thread ain't dead yet ! I finally purchased a nice raccoon butterfly. Working on getting salinity the same from bag & QT . This shop I bought from is real nice. I just wished they kep't their salinity up to normal .
It's 1.19 from the bag. wasn't thinking & didn't prepare for lower salinity in the QT. Now I'm taking out a pitcher & adding rodi then waiting for it to mix ! In the mean time the fish isn't happy in the bag .
I also got a tiny clown goby for the 75 reef. Always liked these little fish.

 

[cracker]

This raccoon butterfly looks pretty good & appears to be pecking at some food. I can't get close yet without it going into hiding. So I "hope" this fish doesn't break out with something. My plan is to intro the fish into the 180(after a while of course), wait till it settles in & then try adding the yellow tang . I fashioned an eggcrate divider that fits right in the center of the tank. I'll get the other fish on one side the yellow on the other & see if they get along.

 

[cracker]

Well the Raccoon is in the display ! it's already pecking & eating I separated the tank for a few days to see how the butterfly's get along. No fin flaring or anything so far. Be back soon with an update on the ref experiment.

 

[cracker]

So the 2 butterfly's have teamed up to do nothing but mooch for food ! It's terrible,I peek around the corner & the fish are swimin around , pecking at the rock & taking it easy. The second they see me? They both go into this frantic act,twitching & swimming up & down. One would think they are dying or such. It's relentless Folks,considering I feed them 4/5 times a day ! However I am a kind keeper & feed heavy. There is a method here. I want to feed heavy because I have Zero nutrients in the tank. I think this is why the refugio won't grow what I want it to grow. I added a fist size ball of chaeto months ago. It's still the same size ! It was growing a lot of HA, long, deep green waves of the stuff. Several times I had to drain it down, scrap the sides, pump it out etc. Sorry but I'm fat & lazy so this wasn't working.
I lined the inside with white plastic cardboard to keep it from growing on the glass & hung an algae screen in it. My hope was it would grow on the screen like an algae scrubber of sorts. At 1st the screen did seem to sprout some HA but now the whole thing screen& all is covered with this light green stuff that flakes off at the slightest touch causing an algae cloud. So no Ha & the Chaeto while dense & green is still the same size. I have a Nova 90w light hanging over this so called refugium . So what choices do I have ? I could remove the plastic lining & see if the Ha comes back. I want the Chaeto to get a hold. I think it's the low nutrients that is causing this. Any opinions?