Lionfish 90(ish) gallon peninsula build

[fermentedhiker]

Picked up a couple things on the way home from an appointment(it's the only time I get down close to a decent reef shop); 4 trochus, 1 red brittlestar, 1 red mithrax crab.

Also got an order from LA today taking advantage of there sale. 4 Chestnut turbos, 1 red Fromia star, 1 coral banded shrimp, and the point of the order is now in QT;

 

[trevormass7]

They look amazing

 

[fermentedhiker]

I lost the Fuzzy. Not sure why it seemed fine through acclimation and made it through the night fine, but was belly up when I got home from work. I dosed prime as insurance against an ammonia spike and it was a fatter healthier looking specimen than the radiata which looks perfectly ok today. I didn't try and feed them yesterday I just wanted to let them rest. I tried a small earthworm but the radiata actually was a little afraid of it and worked its way around the rock so it wasn't near it. I'll try some mysis tomorrow and see if it's interested.

 

[fermentedhiker]

Added a little more clean up crew to the DT. Since I won't have many fish in this system I'm maximizing the invert diversity both in a cover all your bases and as a way to have more to look at.

1 Florida Fighting Conch
5 Limpet
2 Fuzzy Chiton
20 Dwarf Planaxis

Also added a couple stalks of Pencil cap Macro to add a bit of interest to the sand bed on one side. I need to clean the glass tomorrow so I can take some pictures.

 

[fermentedhiker]

fuzzy chiton

Limpet

Pencil cap

 

[fermentedhiker]

Florida fighting conch

I couldn't interest the radiata in a tiny earthworm or a piece of silverside yesterday.

Try again this afternoon.

 

[fermentedhiker]

Took advantage of Bluezoo's 20% off sale this week and picked up an Atlantic longnose butterflyfish.

Also filled out my invert selection

Tigertail cuke

Purple reef lobster

a couple tonga nassarius(no pics as they buried themselves right away). A blue porcelain crab for the sump(too small to even bother with a pic), and a superman rhodactis mushroom i've been wanting.

 

[fermentedhiker]

Got a quick shot of the Atlantic longnose

 

[Thomashtom]

Radianti lionfish are tough to get to eat. You could try ghost shrimp. That worked for me. Thanks

 

[fermentedhiker]

Radianti lionfish are tough to get to eat. You could try ghost shrimp. That worked for me. Thanks

Yeah I tried to get some but the LFS was out. He really never looked at anything I offered except that the first day I tried to feed him he ate three frozen mysis. Wouldn't touch them after that.

I have a fuzzy in QT now. He snaps up baby earthworms without hesitation but I haven't gotten him to take mysis, or silversides yet. He does rush over to check it out and then turns and swims away.

 

[fermentedhiker]

So I stopped by my LFS the other day to pick up some Nori and ended up taking home a large Barrier Reef clownfish. A good price especially for one too big for a dwarf lionfish to eat He's pretty chill and he and the Atlantic longnose Butterflyfish get along fine. Still debating on potential tankmates. The plan is to try another Radiata eventually. I wanted a Fu Manchu as well but they have such a bad reputation for transitioning to prepared foods I'm leaning against it. Going with a waspfish instead maybe? Debating about whether there is room enough for something else as well. Either a Lemonpeel or Eibli Dwarf Angel, or another Butterflyfish(lemon or tahitian) or a matted filefish. Decisions, decisions................ Currently shopping for a Malu or Sebae Anemone in hopes the clownfish will associate with it. The LFS got a large supposedly Malu in for me(listed as purple but is really more a mixture of silver and green with a purple hue to the disc) but it came in with a torn foot. I'm waiting to see how it holds up in their tank but I'm kind of doubtful that it will heal.

 

[fermentedhiker]

FTS

 

[Matthew Frost]

What power center are you using?

 

[fermentedhiker]

What power center are you using?

American DJ PC-100a

 

[fermentedhiker]

Sooo long time no update. Current stock is a larger GBR clown, Tomini Tang, and an Eibli Dwarf Angel. I haven't had any losses except for my Malu anemone that I got for the clown. I was having trouble getting it to attach but it seemed fine otherwise(no gaping, no bleaching, fully inflated). I lost it when we had a huge windstorm that took out power all across the state and I was without power for four days. I do have a small generator, but didn't dare to leave it running while I was at work, so the tank was on for 12 off for 12. The Malu actually didn't die during the power outage but started to decline the day the power came back on and was clearly a goner after just a couple of days . I now have an automatic generator with a big enough propane tank to run my house for a week to 10 days.

So I ordered another Malu from my LFS. I'm in the same boat as the last one, although this one is stickier which is a good sign. It's foot is currently in a PVC pipe cap(a trick I read about LTA keepers using) which does keep it from getting flipped over by the clowns movements. It isn't firmly attached though. Part of my issue I think is the clownfish is a digger. He blast all the sand away from the anemone(probably not the most helpful thing to the establishment of a sand based anemone), but at the moment the PVC cap keeps him from physically moving the nem.

Other issues with the tank currently; an infestation of fern Caulerpa that showed up when I over harvested my chaeto. The chaeto is slowly winning now and when I manage to remove the caulerpa from the display it doesn't come back with a lot of vigor. It's hard to remove though as it just fragments.

I also have some sort of film algae on the acrylic that the acrylic safe scraper doesn't really do to much to. The snails, abilone, lettuce slug, and Tomini tang don't seem to have a significant impact on it. I'm going to have to fine another way to remove it without scratching the acrylic.

 

[fermentedhiker]

still kicking. Here's an updated pick with the GBR clown on patrol.

 

[fermentedhiker]

Another long gap between updates. I've been struggling with fern caluerpa just over running the tank. Manual removal is insufficient to the task and nothing in the tank seems interested in eating it. To recap things I have in the tank that eat green stuff; Tomini tang, tropical abalone, florida fighting conch, chestnut turbos, trochus, cerith, nerite, astrea, stomatella, pacific lettuce nudi, some limpets, Halloween urchin, and a strawberry crab.

Also struggling with some sort of spot algae on the surface of the acrylic. The acrylic safe scraper barely touches it. Going to try some magic eraser and see if that makes a dent.

Oddly enough I've tried a couple times adding a yellow filter feeding cuke. They just vanish after a few days. I always assumed they were moving around and I just wasn't noticing where they ended up. It is a 90 gallon tank and they are under an inch sooo. But they are bright yellow and should kind of stand out. Not sure if something is eating them. Reef lobster? Strawberry crab? Coralbanded shrimp? Eibli dwarf angelfish? I've had a couple Atlantic lettuce nudis do the same thing. The pacific is doing fine though?

 

[najer]

Got a pic, what are your nitrates and phosphates like?

 

[fermentedhiker]

Got a pic, what are your nitrates and phosphates like?

Can't really take a picture as it covers all the acrylic side panels(just the acrylic nothing else). It's just some sort of green/brown spot algae. Feels hard to the touch and doesn't scrape off easily. The snails and tang clearly eat it, but don't really put a dent in it. I suppose I could buy 100 snails to clear it but then they'd starve and die when it was gone. Just ordered a mightymagnet acrylic scraper. The Tunze care magnet is really at the outer edge of it's effective range with 3/4" acrylic.

Nitrate is 0 and always has been. Haven't tested Phosphate and honestly I don't see the point. If you have algae you have phosphates even if they test 0 which I'm willing to bet they would. At the rate my chaeto and caleurpa grow it's just all consumed out of the water column.

I always new this was going to be a high nutrient system. Just have to figure out the best way to manage it.

 

[fermentedhiker]

On the plus side, those magic erasers really do work. Just takes a lot of elbow grease(arms actually get tired). Hopefully by the end of the week I might be able to enjoy my tank again.....and take some pictures