MERKEY'S TANKS

MERKEY

Cronies
View Badges
Joined
Oct 5, 2019
Messages
9,631
Reaction score
46,585
Location
Washington
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Link to WB 220.6 upgrade!!



I figured it was time to put this build thread together. There is a lot that is missing because I didnt want to have this 10 pages long, but I'm sure I got the important parts....well I hope so hahah.

TANKS:

Biocube 32g, hydra 32, aquatop 250gph power head, aqutop 100w heater, hydor nano slim skimmer, fluval 307 (media reactor), fuge with chaeto. We try to just run natural and dont use anything unless a nem dies or coral warfare goes down. Right now we have phosgaurd in.

75g, radion xr30 gen 4 X2, hydor 1950GPH X2, aquatop 250gph, fluval 75g heater, aquatop xclone 100g skimmer, fluval HOB 50g fuge with chaeto, fluval FX6-5 gallon media reactor (I wont call It a canister hahaha)

A little disclosure.....We live on an island and our closest LFS is an hour away and it has a SLIM selection of saltwater....This will be important later lol

With the 2 tanks we also have a house full of animals that limit our ability to have a sump at the moment (which I am fixing as I type) so as of now both of our tanks use canisters as large media reactors which we have gutted and filled with only biological matter. When and if something happens this is where we add what we need to, such as carbon, phosgaurd or your favorite. We run skimmers and fuges to stock pods on both and do a weekly %10 water change and clean the tubes and canisters.

We have a 7 stage BRS RODI unit and use fritz salt (after a bad batch of kent)

TANK 1

.......OH TO HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE I HAVE NOW (which isn't much but more than 2/3 year ago me)

We started our salt water journey with a Coralife Biocube 32g. We walked into our LFS (important from earlier) which is not near us but we stopped in to grab some food for our other animals.

While inside they had a coralife 16g set up that the teenage workers kept going. My fiance fell in love with it and we ended up leaving the store with the 32g Biocube. The LFS sent us home with more than they should have and we experienced a lot of loss due to improper cycling and stocking too fast.

Everytime we lost a fish or coral and went to get help about it we ended up with a fish or coral to replace it.

Rather than helping us they were selling us. And I get it, I just wish I would have used the internet much sooner and not TRUSTED the LFS. But when you are starting out and dont know about the forums the LFS is all you have.

It's been a long road but the tank is looking somewhat good for how many crashes and mistakes were made in it.

We learned which test kits we like and which we dont. We learned that all test kits test differently and to focus on stability...And how not to give up!

We now use giesemann for the majority of our test.

Surprisingly we have some SOLDIERS in this tank that have earned their places. We still have from the beginning with A LOT of mess ups....I took me daily water changes and bac boosting like crazy amd adding nite out and prime just to keep things alive at the start. (Completely wrong I now know)

This is the originals that are left...2-3ish yrs old, Yes this is a stocking list that I started with from my LFS but this is JUST what has survived....told you they started me off badly!
Clown pair
Pink spot goby (in our 75g now)
Blue chromis
Blue saphire damsel
Kenya leather
Zoas
Yuma godzilla mush
GSP (I'm the first to almost kill it, did kill most of it)
Carpet nems X2

We eventually took the lid off and added the a prime hd to start but quickly switched to the hydra 32 and the light changed everything. Even tho now the tank is settling, we just went through a bad batch of salt and didn't notice until I did a %50 WC and my alk read at 18ALK ...we lost some SPS but it's back on track and another notch in the belt of learning. Everytime you think everything is ok, something happens hahah

The stock list now consists of: yes it's over stocked, yes we have learned, yes more are going into our 75g to make room for the manderins.

Pink spot goby
Green Manderin pair (eating frozen)
Clown pair
Green clown goby
6 line
Blue saphire damsel
Blue chromis
Kole tang
Assorted zoes and polyps
Sunkist bounce
Rock anenome X2
Pink Gonipora
Yuma godzilla mush
Purple yuma
Fire cracker star polyp
Frog spawn

Pics are from the beginning and just a few weeks ago before my salt spike, now everything is back to normal and recovering nicely ;)

TANK 2

AFTER JOINING THIS SITE and soon after on September 1st we were out shopping and petsmart or petco (I cant remember which now) had their tank sale. We saw the 75g with the stand for $199... we thought for that price we could start over and do it better this time!

We ended up at home that night and we started cycling with the rock and sand. Using the knowledge I obtained here I knew I could jump start my cycle but I also wanted to give the bac some time to grow before just dumping livestock in. I added a bottle of Dr. Tim's and ironically was patient and just let the tank sit for 1 month. It was clear from day 1 as I rinsed the sand bed as shown in threads by @brandon429.(thanks for the real world scientific research).

We also found 3 really nice LFS that were about 3 hours away but worth the trip!!

So october 1st we started stocking our tank!!

This was about to be ANOTHER learning notch in our belt for sure!!!!!

At this point we moved a rock from our 32g that had the 2 carpet anenomes on it to the 75g to seed it a bit more as well as some polyps. We wanted to add nems and corals quickly and with this sites help and starting right and holding numbers were able to do so the 1st month.

We got a nem from one of the new LFS we found and the thing got huge. We added fish with no problem....

Damsels 3 domino 1, 3 stripe (yes I knew and know about damsels but my son and fiance wanted them and we knew they would become very territorial. But they hosted the anenome RIGHT away so it was kinda cute and a win for the kiddos.

Flame angel
Clown pair
Yellow tang (yes arrest me, I'm guilty)
Kole tang moved from our 32g
Yellow blue spotted goby

Then we thought live aquaria is having a sale and with codes we could get up to %30 off our order. We have never order online before so we thought why not...we have this site and have a bit of knowledge now. We could handle a fish getting shipped! So we ordered a barred angel, 2 spot goby, ruby red wrasse.

WE WERE SO NOT PREPARED

The package was delayed and I was not able to be there the next day to get it when it arrived so my fiance accepted the package. 2 of the fish were dead and the barred angel was barely alive. My fiance called LA and they told her if the fish was at all alive just dump it in the tank to give it the best chance. LEARNING EXPERIENCE!!!!

The fish had velvet and our tank started showing it immediately. Our kole Tang was first and died the next morning.

THANKS TO THIS SITE WE STARTED OUR FALLOW ON

Oct 7th

We set up a Hospital tank and started treatment on all the fish immediately that day. I PMed Humblefish a lot and we ended up having flukes as well. At the end of the treatment we saved the damsels and yellow tang, but the clowns (kinda ironic) went first which makes me think brook may have been involved also.

Once ready to go back into the DT I wanted to try the TTM when putting them back so I could also get a handle on the procedure as well.

I now prefer TTM to copper if you only need to treat for ich and flukes.

OUR FALLOW IS OVER

So now we were able to really start stocking the tank again!!! This is when we also looked at the tank and thought we want to go bigger! Our daughter just turned 18 and is going to college and her room will be turned into our fish room with a 200+ sitting in the wall looking into our family room PERFECT!!. This will take a year or more but we wanted to go forward with the stocking list accordingly.

We decided that with the damsels as aggressive as they are it wasnt worth it having them in the tank. The LFS thankfully took them back.

We also decided we wanted to have a few tangs in the big tank and a purple was on the top of our list. So we ordered a purple tang from NYaquatics here on the site when they had their deal going on. It was perfect as the tang could be in the QT with the yellow tang and go I to the DT together. Being sceptical of shipping fish again Micheal reassured me that everything would be ok. He was right and the purple tang is happy as a pig in mud!!

Our stock list as of today

Yellow tang
Purple tang (yes second offense 10years added)
Longfin clown ( we got 2 but 1 came in swimming with its head up vertically, opposite of swim bladder....all that I could gather from info and members here was that she was injured some how ) unfortunately she passed the first night. We watched the other clown in QT to make sure it wasnt the start of anything. Treated with GC just to be safe before TTM and introduced to DT.
Pink spot goby from 32g

TANG POLICE
The tangs will be in this tank for around 1 year. YES THEY WILL GROW, but we have a plan and it is in action. Just add the sentencing to my already pending jail time!!

We are NOT going to add any more fish to this tank. We like the behavior of the tangs right now and we dont want to limit their space with more fish.

Corals:

Zoes moved from 32g
Rose BTA
Rainbow BTA Got from a member here
Carpet anenome X 2 from 32g
Kenya tree from 32g
GSP from 32g that we almost killed
Clams: 1 deresa, 2 blue/turquoise maximas
Ricordea blue shroom
Yuma godzilla gold shroom
Yuma purple shroom
Sunkist bounce shroom X2 split
OG WWC bounce Got from a member here with lineage from the shop, and I'm bias but it has some big bubbles hahah we visited WWC in oct and the mother is INSANE!
Aussie gold torch
Indo Toxic neon green blue tip torch 11 heads
Indo Dragon soul torch
Fungia neon orange plate coral

My plan now is to drive my fiance crazy with testing everyday so she let's me get an automated tester. I'm not sold on the trident yet but I do want to get something when they test more than the 3. I know it's close and there are lots of companies in the game....just gotta find the right one!

We have been testing daily for over 1 month since the salt fiasco with the little tank and my fiance has broke and ok'd something when we like it. It just has to make sense to her to spend the money.

Numbers in both tanks are dang close to each other. I dont try to chase anything and only dose when needed. We tried chasing in our 32g and it drove us and the tank nuts. STABILITY IS KEY!!

Alk: 8.4
Cal: 420
Mag: 1380
Po4: .02 big .08 little
No3: 5-10ppm big 20-30ppm little

As of now everything seems happy. We dose benepets and reef roids 3 times a week and do a 10% WC weekly to make sure the "canister" media reactors are clean.

I WON'T CALL IT A CANISTER ANYMORE

ITS AN OVERSIZED MEDIA REACTOR

HAHAHAHAH

@sfin52
@Erin O
@Katrina71

Had to tag you as I said this would be done a while a go, hope you enjoyed and it wasnt too long!

Screenshot_20200123-222237_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200118-224551_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-061318_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-062128_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072043_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072104_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072201_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072215_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072237_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072317_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072354_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072415_Gallery.jpg 20191228_142550.jpg 20200123_173823.jpg 20200122_162140.jpg
 
Last edited:

sfin52

So many pedestrians so little time
View Badges
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
23,366
Reaction score
99,660
Location
Usa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I figured it was time to put this build thread together. There is a lot that is missing because I didnt want to have this 10 pages long, but I'm sure I got the important parts....well I hope so hahah.

TANKS:

Biocube 32g, hydra 32, aquatop 250gph power head, aqutop 100w heater, hydor nano slim skimmer, fluval 307 (media reactor), fuge with chaeto. We try to just run natural and dont use anything unless a nem dies or coral warfare goes down. Right now we have phosgaurd in.

75g, radion xr30 gen 4 X2, hydor 1950GPH X2, aquatop 250gph, fluval 75g heater, aquatop xclone 100g skimmer, fluval HOB 50g fuge with chaeto, fluval FX6-5 gallon media reactor (I wont call It a canister hahaha)

A little disclosure.....We live on an island and our closest LFS is an hour away and it has a SLIM selection of saltwater....This will be important later lol

With the 2 tanks we also have a house full of animals that limit our ability to have a sump at the moment (which I am fixing as I type) so as of now both of our tanks use canisters as large media reactors which we have gutted and filled with only biological matter. When and if something happens this is where we add what we need to, such as carbon, phosgaurd or your favorite. We run skimmers and fuges to stock pods on both and do a weekly %10 water change and clean the tubes and canisters.

We have a 7 stage BRS RODI unit and use fritz salt (after a bad batch of kent)

TANK 1

.......OH TO HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE I HAVE NOW (which isn't much but more than 2/3 year ago me)

We started our salt water journey with a Coralife Biocube 32g. We walked into our LFS (important from earlier) which is not near us but we stopped in to grab some food for our other animals.

While inside they had a coralife 16g set up that the teenage workers kept going. My fiance fell in love with it and we ended up leaving the store with the 32g Biocube. The LFS sent us home with more than they should have and we experienced a lot of loss due to improper cycling and stocking too fast.

Everytime we lost a fish or coral and went to get help about it we ended up with a fish or coral to replace it.

Rather than helping us they were selling us. And I get it, I just wish I would have used the internet much sooner and not TRUSTED the LFS. But when you are starting out and dont know about the forums the LFS is all you have.

It's been a long road but the tank is looking somewhat good for how many crashes and mistakes were made in it.

We learned which test kits we like and which we dont. We learned that all test kits test differently and to focus on stability...And how not to give up!

We now use giesemann for the majority of our test.

Surprisingly we have some SOLDIERS in this tank that have earned their places. We still have from the beginning with A LOT of mess ups....I took me daily water changes and bac boosting like crazy amd adding nite out and prime just to keep things alive at the start. (Completely wrong I now know)

This is the originals that are left...2-3ish yrs old, Yes this is a stocking list that I started with from my LFS but this is JUST what has survived....told you they started me off badly!
Clown pair
Pink spot goby (in our 75g now)
Blue chromis
Blue saphire damsel
Kenya leather
Zoas
Yuma godzilla mush
GSP (I'm the first to almost kill it, did kill most of it)
Carpet nems X2

We eventually took the lid off and added the a prime hd to start but quickly switched to the hydra 32 and the light changed everything. Even tho now the tank is settling, we just went through a bad batch of salt and didn't notice until I did a %50 WC and my alk read at 18ALK ...we lost some SPS but it's back on track and another notch in the belt of learning. Everytime you think everything is ok, something happens hahah

The stock list now consists of: yes it's over stocked, yes we have learned, yes more are going into our 75g to make room for the manderins.

Pink spot goby
Green Manderin pair (eating frozen)
Clown pair
Green clown goby
6 line
Blue saphire damsel
Blue chromis
Kole tang
Assorted zoes and polyps
Sunkist bounce
Rock anenome X2
Pink Gonipora
Yuma godzilla mush
Purple yuma
Fire cracker star polyp
Frog spawn

Pics are from the beginning and just a few weeks ago before my salt spike, now everything is back to normal and recovering nicely ;)

TANK 2

AFTER JOINING THIS SITE and soon after on September 1st we were out shopping and petsmart or petco (I cant remember which now) had their tank sale. We saw the 75g with the stand for $199... we thought for that price we could start over and do it better this time!

We ended up at home that night and we started cycling with the rock and sand. Using the knowledge I obtained here I knew I could jump start my cycle but I also wanted to give the bac some time to grow before just dumping livestock in. I added a bottle of Dr. Tim's and ironically was patient and just let the tank sit for 1 month. It was clear from day 1 as I rinsed the sand bed as shown in threads by @brandon429.(thanks for the real world scientific research).

We also found 3 really nice LFS that were about 3 hours away but worth the trip!!

So october 1st we started stocking our tank!!

This was about to be ANOTHER learning notch in our belt for sure!!!!!

At this point we moved a rock from our 32g that had the 2 carpet anenomes on it to the 75g to seed it a bit more as well as some polyps. We wanted to add nems and corals quickly and with this sites help and starting right and holding numbers were able to do so the 1st month.

We got a nem from one of the new LFS we found and the thing got huge. We added fish with no problem....

Damsels 3 domino 1, 3 stripe (yes I knew and know about damsels but my son and fiance wanted them and we knew they would become very territorial. But they hosted the anenome RIGHT away so it was kinda cute and a win for the kiddos.

Flame angel
Clown pair
Yellow tang (yes arrest me, I'm guilty)
Kole tang moved from our 32g
Yellow blue spotted goby

Then we thought live aquaria is having a sale and with codes we could get up to %30 off our order. We have never order online before so we thought why not...we have this site and have a bit of knowledge now. We could handle a fish getting shipped! So we ordered a barred angel, 2 spot goby, ruby red wrasse.

WE WERE SO NOT PREPARED

The package was delayed and I was not able to be there the next day to get it when it arrived so my fiance accepted the package. 2 of the fish were dead and the barred angel was barely alive. My fiance called LA and they told her if the fish was at all alive just dump it in the tank to give it the best chance. LEARNING EXPERIENCE!!!!

The fish had velvet and our tank started showing it immediately. Our kole Tang was first and died the next morning.

THANKS TO THIS SITE WE STARTED OUR FALLOW ON

Oct 7th

We set up a Hospital tank and started treatment on all the fish immediately that day. I PMed Humblefish a lot and we ended up having flukes as well. At the end of the treatment we saved the damsels and yellow tang, but the clowns (kinda ironic) went first which makes me think brook may have been involved also.

Once ready to go back into the DT I wanted to try the TTM when putting them back so I could also get a handle on the procedure as well.

I now prefer TTM to copper if you only need to treat for ich and flukes.

OUR FALLOW IS OVER

So now we were able to really start stocking the tank again!!! This is when we also looked at the tank and thought we want to go bigger! Our daughter just turned 18 and is going to college and her room will be turned into our fish room with a 200+ sitting in the wall looking into our family room PERFECT!!. This will take a year or more but we wanted to go forward with the stocking list accordingly.

We decided that with the damsels as aggressive as they are it wasnt worth it having them in the tank. The LFS thankfully took them back.

We also decided we wanted to have a few tangs in the big tank and a purple was on the top of our list. So we ordered a purple tang from NYaquatics here on the site when they had their deal going on. It was perfect as the tang could be in the QT with the yellow tang and go I to the DT together. Being sceptical of shipping fish again Micheal reassured me that everything would be ok. He was right and the purple tang is happy as a pig in mud!!

Our stock list as of today

Yellow tang
Purple tang (yes second offense 10years added)
Longfin clown ( we got 2 but 1 came in swimming with its head up vertically, opposite of swim bladder....all that I could gather from info and members here was that she was injured some how ) unfortunately she passed the first night. We watched the other clown in QT to make sure it wasnt the start of anything. Treated with GC just to be safe before TTM and introduced to DT.
Pink spot goby from 32g

TANG POLICE
The tangs will be in this tank for around 1 year. YES THEY WILL GROW, but we have a plan and it is in action. Just add the sentencing to my already pending jail time!!

We are NOT going to add any more fish to this tank. We like the behavior of the tangs right now and we dont want to limit their space with more fish.

Corals:

Zoes moved from 32g
Rose BTA
Rainbow BTA Got from a member here
Carpet anenome X 2 from 32g
Kenya tree from 32g
GSP from 32g that we almost killed
Clams: 1 deresa, 2 blue/turquoise maximas
Ricordea blue shroom
Yuma godzilla gold shroom
Yuma purple shroom
Sunkist bounce shroom X2 split
OG WWC bounce Got from a member here with lineage from the shop, and I'm bias but it has some big bubbles hahah we visited WWC in oct and the mother is INSANE!
Aussie gold torch
Indo Toxic neon green blue tip torch 11 heads
Indo Dragon soul torch
Fungia neon orange plate coral

My plan now is to drive my fiance crazy with testing everyday so she let's me get an automated tester. I'm not sold on the trident yet but I do want to get something when they test more than the 3. I know it's close and there are lots of companies in the game....just gotta find the right one!

We have been testing daily for over 1 month since the salt fiasco with the little tank and my fiance has broke and ok'd something when we like it. It just has to make sense to her to spend the money.

Numbers in both tanks are dang close to each other. I dont try to chase anything and only dose when needed. We tried chasing in our 32g and it drove us and the tank nuts. STABILITY IS KEY!!

Alk: 8.4
Cal: 420
Mag: 1380
Po4: .02 big .08 little
No3: 5-10ppm big 20-30ppm little

As of now everything seems happy. We dose benepets and reef roids 3 times a week and do a 10% WC weekly to make sure the "canister" media reactors are clean.

I WON'T CALL IT A CANISTER ANYMORE

ITS AN OVERSIZED MEDIA REACTOR

HAHAHAHAH

@sfin52
@Erin O
@Katrina71

Had to tag you as I said this would be done a while a go, hope you enjoyed and it wasnt too long!

Screenshot_20200123-222237_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200118-224551_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-061318_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-062128_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072043_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072104_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072201_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072215_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072237_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072317_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072354_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072415_Gallery.jpg 20191228_142550.jpg 20200123_173823.jpg 20200122_162140.jpg
Man I love it. About time;)

I made many of the same mistakes. It's all part of the learning curve.
 

crusso1993

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 21, 2018
Messages
8,671
Reaction score
44,643
Location
SW, FL, USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I figured it was time to put this build thread together. There is a lot that is missing because I didnt want to have this 10 pages long, but I'm sure I got the important parts....well I hope so hahah.

TANKS:

Biocube 32g, hydra 32, aquatop 250gph power head, aqutop 100w heater, hydor nano slim skimmer, fluval 307 (media reactor), fuge with chaeto. We try to just run natural and dont use anything unless a nem dies or coral warfare goes down. Right now we have phosgaurd in.

75g, radion xr30 gen 4 X2, hydor 1950GPH X2, aquatop 250gph, fluval 75g heater, aquatop xclone 100g skimmer, fluval HOB 50g fuge with chaeto, fluval FX6-5 gallon media reactor (I wont call It a canister hahaha)

A little disclosure.....We live on an island and our closest LFS is an hour away and it has a SLIM selection of saltwater....This will be important later lol

With the 2 tanks we also have a house full of animals that limit our ability to have a sump at the moment (which I am fixing as I type) so as of now both of our tanks use canisters as large media reactors which we have gutted and filled with only biological matter. When and if something happens this is where we add what we need to, such as carbon, phosgaurd or your favorite. We run skimmers and fuges to stock pods on both and do a weekly %10 water change and clean the tubes and canisters.

We have a 7 stage BRS RODI unit and use fritz salt (after a bad batch of kent)

TANK 1

.......OH TO HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE I HAVE NOW (which isn't much but more than 2/3 year ago me)

We started our salt water journey with a Coralife Biocube 32g. We walked into our LFS (important from earlier) which is not near us but we stopped in to grab some food for our other animals.

While inside they had a coralife 16g set up that the teenage workers kept going. My fiance fell in love with it and we ended up leaving the store with the 32g Biocube. The LFS sent us home with more than they should have and we experienced a lot of loss due to improper cycling and stocking too fast.

Everytime we lost a fish or coral and went to get help about it we ended up with a fish or coral to replace it.

Rather than helping us they were selling us. And I get it, I just wish I would have used the internet much sooner and not TRUSTED the LFS. But when you are starting out and dont know about the forums the LFS is all you have.

It's been a long road but the tank is looking somewhat good for how many crashes and mistakes were made in it.

We learned which test kits we like and which we dont. We learned that all test kits test differently and to focus on stability...And how not to give up!

We now use giesemann for the majority of our test.

Surprisingly we have some SOLDIERS in this tank that have earned their places. We still have from the beginning with A LOT of mess ups....I took me daily water changes and bac boosting like crazy amd adding nite out and prime just to keep things alive at the start. (Completely wrong I now know)

This is the originals that are left...2-3ish yrs old, Yes this is a stocking list that I started with from my LFS but this is JUST what has survived....told you they started me off badly!
Clown pair
Pink spot goby (in our 75g now)
Blue chromis
Blue saphire damsel
Kenya leather
Zoas
Yuma godzilla mush
GSP (I'm the first to almost kill it, did kill most of it)
Carpet nems X2

We eventually took the lid off and added the a prime hd to start but quickly switched to the hydra 32 and the light changed everything. Even tho now the tank is settling, we just went through a bad batch of salt and didn't notice until I did a %50 WC and my alk read at 18ALK ...we lost some SPS but it's back on track and another notch in the belt of learning. Everytime you think everything is ok, something happens hahah

The stock list now consists of: yes it's over stocked, yes we have learned, yes more are going into our 75g to make room for the manderins.

Pink spot goby
Green Manderin pair (eating frozen)
Clown pair
Green clown goby
6 line
Blue saphire damsel
Blue chromis
Kole tang
Assorted zoes and polyps
Sunkist bounce
Rock anenome X2
Pink Gonipora
Yuma godzilla mush
Purple yuma
Fire cracker star polyp
Frog spawn

Pics are from the beginning and just a few weeks ago before my salt spike, now everything is back to normal and recovering nicely ;)

TANK 2

AFTER JOINING THIS SITE and soon after on September 1st we were out shopping and petsmart or petco (I cant remember which now) had their tank sale. We saw the 75g with the stand for $199... we thought for that price we could start over and do it better this time!

We ended up at home that night and we started cycling with the rock and sand. Using the knowledge I obtained here I knew I could jump start my cycle but I also wanted to give the bac some time to grow before just dumping livestock in. I added a bottle of Dr. Tim's and ironically was patient and just let the tank sit for 1 month. It was clear from day 1 as I rinsed the sand bed as shown in threads by @brandon429.(thanks for the real world scientific research).

We also found 3 really nice LFS that were about 3 hours away but worth the trip!!

So october 1st we started stocking our tank!!

This was about to be ANOTHER learning notch in our belt for sure!!!!!

At this point we moved a rock from our 32g that had the 2 carpet anenomes on it to the 75g to seed it a bit more as well as some polyps. We wanted to add nems and corals quickly and with this sites help and starting right and holding numbers were able to do so the 1st month.

We got a nem from one of the new LFS we found and the thing got huge. We added fish with no problem....

Damsels 3 domino 1, 3 stripe (yes I knew and know about damsels but my son and fiance wanted them and we knew they would become very territorial. But they hosted the anenome RIGHT away so it was kinda cute and a win for the kiddos.

Flame angel
Clown pair
Yellow tang (yes arrest me, I'm guilty)
Kole tang moved from our 32g
Yellow blue spotted goby

Then we thought live aquaria is having a sale and with codes we could get up to %30 off our order. We have never order online before so we thought why not...we have this site and have a bit of knowledge now. We could handle a fish getting shipped! So we ordered a barred angel, 2 spot goby, ruby red wrasse.

WE WERE SO NOT PREPARED

The package was delayed and I was not able to be there the next day to get it when it arrived so my fiance accepted the package. 2 of the fish were dead and the barred angel was barely alive. My fiance called LA and they told her if the fish was at all alive just dump it in the tank to give it the best chance. LEARNING EXPERIENCE!!!!

The fish had velvet and our tank started showing it immediately. Our kole Tang was first and died the next morning.

THANKS TO THIS SITE WE STARTED OUR FALLOW ON

Oct 7th

We set up a Hospital tank and started treatment on all the fish immediately that day. I PMed Humblefish a lot and we ended up having flukes as well. At the end of the treatment we saved the damsels and yellow tang, but the clowns (kinda ironic) went first which makes me think brook may have been involved also.

Once ready to go back into the DT I wanted to try the TTM when putting them back so I could also get a handle on the procedure as well.

I now prefer TTM to copper if you only need to treat for ich and flukes.

OUR FALLOW IS OVER

So now we were able to really start stocking the tank again!!! This is when we also looked at the tank and thought we want to go bigger! Our daughter just turned 18 and is going to college and her room will be turned into our fish room with a 200+ sitting in the wall looking into our family room PERFECT!!. This will take a year or more but we wanted to go forward with the stocking list accordingly.

We decided that with the damsels as aggressive as they are it wasnt worth it having them in the tank. The LFS thankfully took them back.

We also decided we wanted to have a few tangs in the big tank and a purple was on the top of our list. So we ordered a purple tang from NYaquatics here on the site when they had their deal going on. It was perfect as the tang could be in the QT with the yellow tang and go I to the DT together. Being sceptical of shipping fish again Micheal reassured me that everything would be ok. He was right and the purple tang is happy as a pig in mud!!

Our stock list as of today

Yellow tang
Purple tang (yes second offense 10years added)
Longfin clown ( we got 2 but 1 came in swimming with its head up vertically, opposite of swim bladder....all that I could gather from info and members here was that she was injured some how ) unfortunately she passed the first night. We watched the other clown in QT to make sure it wasnt the start of anything. Treated with GC just to be safe before TTM and introduced to DT.
Pink spot goby from 32g

TANG POLICE
The tangs will be in this tank for around 1 year. YES THEY WILL GROW, but we have a plan and it is in action. Just add the sentencing to my already pending jail time!!

We are NOT going to add any more fish to this tank. We like the behavior of the tangs right now and we dont want to limit their space with more fish.

Corals:

Zoes moved from 32g
Rose BTA
Rainbow BTA Got from a member here
Carpet anenome X 2 from 32g
Kenya tree from 32g
GSP from 32g that we almost killed
Clams: 1 deresa, 2 blue/turquoise maximas
Ricordea blue shroom
Yuma godzilla gold shroom
Yuma purple shroom
Sunkist bounce shroom X2 split
OG WWC bounce Got from a member here with lineage from the shop, and I'm bias but it has some big bubbles hahah we visited WWC in oct and the mother is INSANE!
Aussie gold torch
Indo Toxic neon green blue tip torch 11 heads
Indo Dragon soul torch
Fungia neon orange plate coral

My plan now is to drive my fiance crazy with testing everyday so she let's me get an automated tester. I'm not sold on the trident yet but I do want to get something when they test more than the 3. I know it's close and there are lots of companies in the game....just gotta find the right one!

We have been testing daily for over 1 month since the salt fiasco with the little tank and my fiance has broke and ok'd something when we like it. It just has to make sense to her to spend the money.

Numbers in both tanks are dang close to each other. I dont try to chase anything and only dose when needed. We tried chasing in our 32g and it drove us and the tank nuts. STABILITY IS KEY!!

Alk: 8.4
Cal: 420
Mag: 1380
Po4: .02 big .08 little
No3: 5-10ppm big 20-30ppm little

As of now everything seems happy. We dose benepets and reef roids 3 times a week and do a 10% WC weekly to make sure the "canister" media reactors are clean.

I WON'T CALL IT A CANISTER ANYMORE

ITS AN OVERSIZED MEDIA REACTOR

HAHAHAHAH

@sfin52
@Erin O
@Katrina71

Had to tag you as I said this would be done a while a go, hope you enjoyed and it wasnt too long!

Screenshot_20200123-222237_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200118-224551_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-061318_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-062128_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072043_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072104_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072201_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072215_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072237_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072317_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072354_Gallery.jpg Screenshot_20200124-072415_Gallery.jpg 20191228_142550.jpg 20200123_173823.jpg 20200122_162140.jpg
Man I love it. About time;)

I made many of the same mistakes. It's all part of the learning curve.

Mistakes? What are you guys talking about? I've never made any mistakes and have absolutely no regrets about anything I've ever done. ;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious

@MERKEY - Oh, don't forget to get your build thread badge.
 
OP
OP
MERKEY

MERKEY

Cronies
View Badges
Joined
Oct 5, 2019
Messages
9,631
Reaction score
46,585
Location
Washington
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Mistakes? What are you guys talking about? I've never made any mistakes and have absolutely no regrets about anything I've ever done. ;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious

@MERKEY - Oh, don't forget to get your build thread badge.
See I'm still learning!!! How do I do that HAHAH
 

crusso1993

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 21, 2018
Messages
8,671
Reaction score
44,643
Location
SW, FL, USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
See I'm still learning!!! How do I do that HAHAH

Well, it starts with writing me a check for, oh, let's say, $2500. Then, after cashing said check, I'll give you instructions! ;)
 

crusso1993

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 21, 2018
Messages
8,671
Reaction score
44,643
Location
SW, FL, USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok, I'm going to be nice for the second time this month and let you slide. See the link below, amigo.

 
OP
OP
MERKEY

MERKEY

Cronies
View Badges
Joined
Oct 5, 2019
Messages
9,631
Reaction score
46,585
Location
Washington
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Ok, I'm going to be nice for the second time this month and let you slide. See the link below, amigo.

Thanks man and I'll have that check out ASAP!!!
 

Erin O

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Messages
1,639
Reaction score
13,315
Location
West Des Moines, Iowa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok, I'm going to be nice for the second time this month and let you slide. See the link below, amigo.

You know, @crusso1993, I'm starting to think that your not the big tough that you like us to think you are. That you're really a big softy lol ;)

What do you think, @MERKEY and @sfin52?
 

crusso1993

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 21, 2018
Messages
8,671
Reaction score
44,643
Location
SW, FL, USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You know, @crusso1993, I'm starting to think that your not the big tough that you like us to think you are. That you're really a big softy lol ;)

What do you think, @MERKEY and @sfin52?

Hey you... you shut your face! (Or I'll complain to my psychiatrist, therapist and couselor about you)

Truth is, I guess some would say I was someone people didn't want to mess with when I was little younger. Being from a rough area on the Southside of Chicago helped make me this way coupled with my rough upbringing. As I aged, I came to realize that most of that way of life never served me very well. While I'm far from old (finely aged 52 years) I am also far from young and keep a healthy respect for my limitations. I still push them occasionally but nothing compared to how I used to live. Of course, I can still handle myself pretty well. In summation, it's far easier to use my brain instead of my fists anymore.

Group hug!
 
OP
OP
MERKEY

MERKEY

Cronies
View Badges
Joined
Oct 5, 2019
Messages
9,631
Reaction score
46,585
Location
Washington
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
OP
OP
MERKEY

MERKEY

Cronies
View Badges
Joined
Oct 5, 2019
Messages
9,631
Reaction score
46,585
Location
Washington
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
6 month update.....

Got a few pieces and everything has been running smooth.

Oh the fiance also got me a trident for my birthday. It has been very fun to use and has made following parameters really convenient.

The newest piece was a recent delivery from Jakarta and is an indo gold/green mouth torch....aka New York nicks aka indo gold aka just a beautiful torch!!

Also a snap shot of a 6 month tank shot.

Hope you enjoy ;)

20200309_193543.jpg 20200309_184605.jpg 20200309_184546.jpg 20200302_133208.jpg 20200302_133204.jpg
 

Aquatic acrobat in your aquarium: Have you ever kept an eel?

  • I currently keep an eel in my tank.

    Votes: 29 14.5%
  • I have kept an eel in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 33 16.5%
  • I have not kept an eel in my tank, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 36 18.0%
  • I have no plans to keep an eel.

    Votes: 99 49.5%
  • Other.

    Votes: 3 1.5%
Back
Top