My Coastal Inspired 55G long - Softies, Sponges, Macros and Worms

PeterLL

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Most Recent Update 29/12/2021



Hi Everyone!
I've had a thread running since May on another forum, but as it's still in its infancy, thought I'd share it with you guys too - so any thoughts or advice are very very welcome!
To explain the title:
I hope to fill it with large Softies - Nepthea, Toadstools, Kenyas and a lot of Gorgonian's.
Sponges - Hope to get some sponges too once it is mature and I can feed correctly - Red Tree, Golf Ball, Pineapple - anything.
Macro's - What more to say? I'm gonna stuff it full with all the macro algae's I can find.
Worms - Got a weird thing for feather dusters - any new type I find, I'll probably add it.

Below is the Copy and Paste of my thread back on the other forum.

12 May 2020
Helloooo everybody,
Welcome to my new tank thread.
Okay so I might not have the tank yet and it might still be a month away buttt I have paid a deposit for my fresh new tank...

The Specs:
Size? 140*40*45cm (L*W*H)
Glass? Optiwhite front and sides, vinyl black background.
Cabinet? Dark wooden Scandinavian.
Price? Painful.

The Premise
However I do have a lot of plans already.
I do have one big inspiration for this tank, so congratulations's Esox, you've made it.
This is going to be essentially a "dirty" but clean tank - I'm not gonna have masses of equipment or filtration for pristine water. I'm also going to be feeding heavily and frequently while hopefully having natural methods to deal with the organics through biodiversity in the tank - Algae's, Bacteria, Copepod's, Stars, Snails, Crabs etc.

A diverse tank that can handle a high Bioload, is also less likely to crash when something dies or goes wrong...right?
I'm going to try get a good variety of micro life in the tank, and also dose (through a dosing machine as I'm not gonna be here most of the time lol) Easybooster phyto as that stuff seems cheap at only around 3-4 quid a month.
Another KEY premise to the tank is that only stuff I want in the tank is gonna be there - call me paranoid but I'm having no bad pests in this tank. Dead Sand Dead Rock, bacteria in a bottle - frags RO dipped and H202'd, all fish quarantined etc.
(The only thing I'm not sure about is CUC and Macro algae's - that's a WIP regarding quarantine).
I'm not going to be here enough to deal with a bubble algae getting out of control, or some pest Bobbit worm kicking about and eating my orchids.

Everything I'm using is going to be washed with Citric Acid or RO and then left out in the sun.
Don't worry, I'm not a hopeless idealist and I am assuming some pests will get in eventually, but well lets just try hold off for as long as I can now.

The Equipment
The only equipment and media I'm planning is a DIY Nitrate reactor running Seachem Denitrate, a DIY filter with Seachem Purigen, floss and carbon, 2 heaters, a surface skimmer and ... that's it? Edit: That's not it I also have two wavemakers
I will be following Esox's dosing guide for my elements, as well as dosing Phyto.

That's only the stuff in the tank, the other stuff is:
3 Mars Aqua LED's, a Reefloat ATU, 2 External Temperature Controllers, and a WiFi Doser and 2 Autofeeders.


The Livestock
This tank is going to be heavily Zoa, Gorgonians (looking forward to some more colourful ones now that I'm doing Phyto), Macro Algae's and then a mixture of other softies and LPS.

So what's going in?
Basic CUC: Asterinas, Collonista Snails, Stomatellas, Dove Snails, Bristleworms, Micro Brittle Stars, Ceriths, Trochus, Mexican Turbo, Nassarius, Orange lip conch, couple bags of copepods, Tisbe pods if i can find them, Amphipods and there's probably stuff I'm forgetting.

Macro Algae's: Solieria, Crypto, Codium, Gracillaria, Ochtodes and whatever Esox will ship me (xo)

Corals: Basic softies like Zoas, Shrooms but also if I can find any interesting non-photosynthetic Gorgonians I will jump right on them.

Fish: Well I have two clowns, two orchids and a Springers Damsel. I'm going to be keeping up with the tank bred only and hopefully ordering from Biota and ORA from the good old USA. Hopefully to get my hands on a Yellow Watchman, Court Jester Goby, Coral Beauty and a neon Goby. Although I think I still have space for some more right?

So where its at?
Tank should be arriving in 4 weeks time.
Got rocks soaking in RO at the moment - yet to be 'scaped.
Some Caribsea Sand on the way - some nice sugar sized white oolite for a nice Maldives kinda feel (I'm hoping)

I seem to have a soft spot for invasive species - so I'm imagining the left 1/3rd of the tank to be a series of 5-10 small separate islands with these species - Shrooms, GSP, Zoas, Xenia, certain Zoas etc. The right hand side will be the typical rockwork, ideally a couple plateaus, caves and a large overhang as well.

17 May 2020
Okay, so an update for my tank that's not even here yet. I've not though more deeply about the quarantine procedures I'll take for each of my current livestock..
I'm going to have 3 separate transition tanks:
Fish and Corals: 100L tub with heater, some LR, and flow.
Macro Algae's - Heater and flow.
Clean up Crew - Heater, bit of filter sponge that was in the old tank, and flow.

Fish
Nothing when they get added to the transition tank.
When adding to the new tank; they'll have a freshwater and Myzaxin dip and then straight into the tank.

Corals
These will all have a 1:1 RO:H2O2 dip for 4 minutes when going into the tub. They'll be kept separate physically from the LR in the tub.
Once give them a H2O2:RO dip again once once they go to the new tank and a close inspection. If they fail the close inspection I'll put them in the tub and deal with them later.

Macro Algae's
These I've not come across much information. They will have a CoralRx Dip and RO dip, as well as a close inspection on the way from the old tank to their transition tank. The tank will be monitored closesly for anything undesirable. If not, then on the way to the new tank I'll do another RO and CoralRx Dip and put them in the new tank after another close inspection.

Clean up Crew
Right so these will be collected from a couple weeks before as there's so many that could be hiding - this includes stuff like bristleworms, brittle stars, Asterina's, etc. Stuff like those mentioned will just get a shake in saltwater and then go straight to the transition tank. Stuff with a shell will get a swab with H2O2 on their shell. Yep I'm going to spend my summer rubbing H2O2 on snail shells. Thank god for a lockdown...
Anyway, after inspecting them for any algae on their shells, and probably giving the shells another swab with H202 and then they can go in the tank.

I DONT WANT NO INVASIVE ALGAAAEEEES. Hopefully this reduces my chances..


The Start-up
I've also been thinking about how to minimise algae and the cycling stage. So Dry Rock, Dry Sand, etc. I'll be using ATM Colony cause I will have to. Ill be adding all the CuC and corals at the start. I've also been thinking about what microfauna to add. I'm going to start culturing Tiger pods outside this week, and will add as much as I can as soon as the tanks ready. I'll also be getting some Tisbe pods (70$ shipping is painful for some pods...) and culture them in preparation too. Also whatever else I can get pods wise. Rotifers and Mysis too but I'm not sure how they survive in a tank even with Phyto.
I'll be dosing EasyBooster Phytoplankton as soon as I can too - to get all microlife populations up to help stabilise the tank and eat the algae.

Shopping List
Bacon Boxes, water pumps and pipe fittings are bought for the DIY filters.
New heaters purchased, and heater guards. Magnets to glue to replace the suction cups.
Need a new Mars Aqua LED and will see what comes up second hand. Also looking to get some UV LED Diodes to replace some of the Royal blues for a better colour spectrum.
A new tank cover although I suspect this will be cheap clear plastic I can find in B&Q.
Pretty happy with the wavemaker's, ATU and Doser I've got ATM so not looking like there's much more equipment to purchase, more just living stuff now.


May 21 2020


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Some very early scapes
Any thoughts very welcome


May 21 2020


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Attempt #2
Doesn’t look like it but the middle white rock is floating. Think am preferring this

5 June 2020
Okay well it’s amazing (IMO) what a couple extra rocks can do:
Now have what I think are muchhhhh better improvements and have to decide between these two: personally I’m preferring two


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25 June 2020
All I can say is the tanks looking YUM
Gotta wait until the 30th to fill though :(
Before and after:



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And the equipment side:
2 heaters, ATU, a fast flow filter for carbon, floss and pie oven, a slow flow filter for seachem denitrate and siporax.
Will try get something to cover it but it’s not too obvious from the front.

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6 July 2020

ight soooo all fish, corals and some snails in, some more stuff sitting in a quarantine tank. No idea how you quarantine clean up crew and corals so theyre just being kept an eye on to so nothing visible is able to get in.

Moving fish was stressfull... 10 minutes after acclimation they were all on their sides, gasping for breath. No idea but im assuming it was Ammonia or Oxygen, so some prime and an air stone in and they have been fine since.
Some corals really struggled being in the tubs for 3-4 weeks ( opposed to the 3-4 days I planned.
Rocks are still pure white so pics are hard to get without the rocks super bright or the rest super dark... Anyway, its been a somewhat smooth transition and it all looks like its going well (ish?) Asked waterworld to get me 4 fish so hopefully they open my message soon :thumbsup:


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Gorgonian damage :( Hoping those few polyps will grow over the old skeleton

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22 August 2020

Every tank gets the Uglies so it’s only fair to show em.
Battling Dinos, bit of cyano and the standard algae’s but not too stressing. Started dosing EasyBooster photo 2ml a day, adding Copepoda from a a tub outside every couple of days, dusting the rocks and using carbon and floss and hopefully it should be getting rid of the dinos naturally soon. Might get some Microbacter7 to add bacterial competition, and got Tisbe pods, limpets and PNS bacteria on the way from the US of A.
Added some corals... bit of a mistake as the dinos are getting to them :(
Although this Undosed, in ATU’d, cheap Chinese LED lit tank has not killed an acro yet and it’s been in about a week and a bit???
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IT EVEN SHOWS POLYP EXTENSION SOMEHOW??

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Also got a proper cuc in place and some fun guys too which brings the stocking tooooo:

2 Clowns
A springers blue damsel
An orchid dottyback
3 red leg hermits
1 large Mexican turbo
2 smaller Mexican turbo (different species I think)
5 Astra’s
5 trochus
10 Ceriths
5 tectus turbans
1 strawberry conch
2 cleaner shrimps
5 nassarius snails
Large feather worm
Percelain anemone crab (favourite)
2-3 million dinoflagellates
Emerald crab
Doves snails
Micro brittle stars
Bristleworms yada yada


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29 August 2020

Well, managed to eliminate 98% of the dinos, and a quick scrub of the glass has gotten the tank looking not awful for a month old tank:

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Do have a little red Cyano. Hoping it dies out before I need to take action but I'm prepared if it gets excessive.

I've got a further idea what I am looking for in the tank: Macro algaes, Gorgonians, feather dusters, Sponges and inverts primarily. I was debating adding a central rock tower for height then decided on height through the use of gorgonians and tall flowing Macro algaes.


Wee feather dusters happy:

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And think I will get a BTA anemone for Eddie, the porcelain crab:

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Got two bits of Macro algae from the Esox:

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Now... heres a gorgonian skeleton off ebay, and the little purple bits some GSP mat. Hopefully The GSP will spread over the skeleton, giving a nice, bright green gorgonian-esk coral. It should also help to detract from all the equipment behind it.

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19th September 2020
Wee update of the title to follow the future 'plans' of how I want the tank to turn out... something like a combination of these:

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So to help me on my way - got 9 Macro Cuttings arriving next week, hopefully 3 gorg frags and also £120 worth of copepods :scratchhead:

In the meantime, I treated eddie to a home finally and got a wee BTA, and placed orders for 4 new fish - a yellow watchman, 2 bangaii cardinals and another orchid dottyback. Will update when they're all here!


24 September 2020
Right so cheeky little hauls from eBay, @GavinC and LiveAlgae



Of course they look so bright and colourful outside the tank and in the tank they’re barely noticeable ... getting rid of the hazey water is on the list

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Anyway here are the new stuff:
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Little Edward woth his nem (who’s more happy cause I just switched up the low a bit)
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I’m really struggling with flow in this tank. I want it nice and slow flow all round the whole tank
I got an SOW-8 but it felt too strong and narrow. Got an CP-25 but that’s wayyyyy to strong. And woth both of these I felt i created a pretty one direction and consistent flow round the whole tank.
So think I’m gonna go for a third attempt - a Nero clone aka the jebao SLW and get the smallest version the 10 and set it on random flow. This’ll be the main stream hopefully nice and broad. I’ll then probably get a fluval U4, place it horizontally on the other end and set it to the spray bar setting for some light consistent tank wide flow from the other end. And I’ll put floss and carbon on there.
Reverted back to the old nitrate reactor design as I guess the original just really is better sometimes.

16 October 2020
Woooo made it past the slime - stage. Think I may even be getting towards the end of the uglies.
However that means I’ve got an INSANE amount of organically floating about meaning yellow, cloudy water.

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The new arrivals have done really well - based out a lot

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Bonus: they’ve finally found each other:

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Got a few things being picked up Saturday hopefully including a Pink Nepthea which I’m pretty excited for.
At the moment though, it’s carbon, floss and water changes by the bucketload


17 October 2020

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Also The pink nepthea already become a favourite...
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Oops
 
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Devaji

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nice this tank is right up am ally. I love macros and gorgs too. i had a 2oL macro tank a few years ago it did great until it got covered in a red "cotton candy" algae.
macro tanks are a challenge for sure as you need N&P but not to much...like all things in life its a balance.

a UV will make quick work of the green water. carbon should do it to.
 
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PeterLL

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nice this tank is right up am ally. I love macros and gorgs too. i had a 2oL macro tank a few years ago it did great until it got covered in a red "cotton candy" algae.
macro tanks are a challenge for sure as you need N&P but not to much...like all things in life its a balance.

a UV will make quick work of the green water. carbon should do it to.

Thank you, I really hope I'm able to pull of the natural / messy look with the macros, gorgs, softies, tubeworms etc. as I do prefer it to a high-tech blue lit SPS tank just as personal preference. Any pics of your old tank?
And yeah I think I've led the tank into a huge bacterial bloom atm, Carbon, Purigen, Filter flosss, heavy aeration and the LED's on their lowest setting for now.
 
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here are some I found its been a few years now....I did love it tho I want to do a SH macro and gorg. tank.



a better one:


and a pic if it pretty young:

I really like those they definitly give off the feel I am going for; Nice and natural. Wish I had a little less / lower rock like yours though.
Beautiful, thanks for sharing. Following.....

Thank You Dr means a lot coming from yourself! Love reading about you and your NPS and they're definitely an inspiration. Wish I could keep Dendronepthea's but I think the Pink Nepthea will be the closest I get for while for sure lol
 

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I love this build! Definitely following! Also what are your light settings on the Mars Aqua 300W? And how high above the tank is your lights? I’ve got one over a ten gallon and it’s on 45ish%
 
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I love this build! Definitely following! Also what are your light settings on the Mars Aqua 300W? And how high above the tank is your lights? I’ve got one over a ten gallon and it’s on 45ish%
Thanks! So mine are about 8" above the water. As for strength - I honestly couldn't tell you. I'm really not for the high-tech stuff and have simple turny knobs - I think my blues are roughly 50%, and the whites maybe 60-70%. Brilliant light though - looking to upgrade the to a newer black box with wifi and sunset/sunrise as at the moment its just on / off with manual knobs.
 

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Look forward to following along on your build. Going to be an epic tank in no time! Macros can really fill in a tank quickly once they get settled in.
 
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Look forward to following along on your build. Going to be an epic tank in no time! Macros can really fill in a tank quickly once they get settled in.
Inland welcome! Notice the wee tank that made a guest appearance? Seriously though your tank must have been one of the main inspirations for this tank! Rare to see a tank like it and you pulled it off so well hoping I can somewhat replicate with a bit of my own touches.
Can't wait for the tank to get fully settled so I can start seeing the macro's really take off and fill in some of the dead spaces in the tank
 

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Inland welcome! Notice the wee tank that made a guest appearance? Seriously though your tank must have been one of the main inspirations for this tank! Rare to see a tank like it and you pulled it off so well hoping I can somewhat replicate with a bit of my own touches.
Can't wait for the tank to get fully settled so I can start seeing the macro's really take off and fill in some of the dead spaces in the tank

Yup there is a new tank in the works! Really excited about my new plan. Appreciate the kind words. I’m honored that I brought you inspiration to your new build. I never thought my tank build would garner so much love. I just wanted to create something that looked as natural As possible.
Youre going to love and hate macros once they start growing in. Hahaha Break out those trusty scissors and snip away. I use aquascaping scissors from freshwater cause they have a curved blade. Just make it easier on the hand and in a tank your size, your hands will be thanking you. Watch your n+p and enjoy the macro life!
 
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Yup there is a new tank in the works! Really excited about my new plan. Appreciate the kind words. I’m honored that I brought you inspiration to your new build. I never thought my tank build would garner so much love. I just wanted to create something that looked as natural As possible.
Youre going to love and hate macros once they start growing in. Hahaha Break out those trusty scissors and snip away. I use aquascaping scissors from freshwater cause they have a curved blade. Just make it easier on the hand and in a tank your size, your hands will be thanking you. Watch your n+p and enjoy the macro life!
Ooh any leaks to the new tank plans??
I've always much preferred the natural look over the heavy blue - pristine looking tanks where every picture is under an orange filter (not that those aren't amazing in themselves). Only problem is I do love zoas too much so I have to have some blue and combine them with the whiter natural look.
When I'm old and rich definitely going to have a huge 10 foot shallow coastal tank with gorg's and macros and then another big old blue soaked tank for my zoas.
Trust me I know about macros ahaha, if you look at the one picture of my old tank there is a huge dark corner on the left side - that was cryptonemia crenulata that grew from 4 leaves to around a 40cm diameter ball in about a years growth. But at the same time I did love the big overgrown look but can't let it get to that state again ahaha
 

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Ooh any leaks to the new tank plans??
I've always much preferred the natural look over the heavy blue - pristine looking tanks where every picture is under an orange filter (not that those aren't amazing in themselves). Only problem is I do love zoas too much so I have to have some blue and combine them with the whiter natural look.
When I'm old and rich definitely going to have a huge 10 foot shallow coastal tank with gorg's and macros and then another big old blue soaked tank for my zoas.
Trust me I know about macros ahaha, if you look at the one picture of my old tank there is a huge dark corner on the left side - that was cryptonemia crenulata that grew from 4 leaves to around a 40cm diameter ball in about a years growth. But at the same time I did love the big overgrown look but can't let it get to that state again ahaha

Let’s just say I’m trying to recreate a scene from BBC blue planet 2. That’s all I’m going to hint at right now as I gotta make sure all the pieces are in place before I start talking about it. Would hate to say something if it won’t work out but I personally think it’s going to look awesome!
And that’s some growth. I love big unruly macro growth. I tend to trim mine minimally to keep that natrual growth vibe. I had a gracilaria chunk the size of a basketball once before I decided to trim it up
 

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Thanks! So mine are about 8" above the water. As for strength - I honestly couldn't tell you. I'm really not for the high-tech stuff and have simple turny knobs - I think my blues are roughly 50%, and the whites maybe 60-70%. Brilliant light though - looking to upgrade the to a newer black box with wifi and sunset/sunrise as at the moment its just on / off with manual knobs.
Sweet!!! And thanks :)
 
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Let’s just say I’m trying to recreate a scene from BBC blue planet 2. That’s all I’m going to hint at right now as I gotta make sure all the pieces are in place before I start talking about it. Would hate to say something if it won’t work out but I personally think it’s going to look awesome!
And that’s some growth. I love big unruly macro growth. I tend to trim mine minimally to keep that natrual growth vibe. I had a gracilaria chunk the size of a basketball once before I decided to trim it up

Hmmm so that narrows it down to 8 hours of ocean haha. I’m sure it’ll be cracking I’ll defo be following it along. Yeah the natural growth and messiness is lovely but it also covered corals and a quarter of my tank so something had to be done about it lol.
Have now got a UV steriliser running in the tank to clear up the bloom, meaning hopefully pictures tomorrow or day after when it’s clear.
In other news made a wee feast for the tank which should feed everything fish to corals
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PeterLL

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Okay! Update time!

First, the Full Tank Shot:
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I took a couple videos of the tank:




On the backend of a bacterial bloom, so it is a little cloudy still but got a UV Light, Carbon, Purigen and Filter Floss working overtime last few days. Unfortunately heading back to University for at least another 2-3 weeks so this is the last time to update before then, other wise I would wait a bit till it is clearer. One thing I do love about going away is coming back to see all the growth!

The tank has now been fairly free of the Dinoflagalletes and Cyanobacteria which were sliming up my corals, and has caused pretty big damage to a lot of my Macro Algae's, so hopefully I will be seeing some good growth from them soon!

New Stuff!

First big update is a new LED light on the way - 120cm LED with a custom spectrum. I have added a bit more Red/Green's for the Algae's as I will also be running more white than blue. It is also controllable with sunrises and sunsets and 0-100% fully controllable spectrums as opposed to the on/off of my current LED's which I think shocks the fish twice a day. Less than $300 too but seems brilliant value for money so far.
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Second update: MANGROVES! Have 5 mangrove Pods in a wee bracket on the left hand side. Have got them a USB clip-on desk light directly for them so it gets some more direct white light.

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Stock Update!

The stock has all settled in to their new tank well, full list is as below:

Fish
  • 2 Ocellaris clownfish - Happy clowns doing their clown things
  • 2 Orchid Dottyback's - One big old, one tiny new. Still not paired yet as there is a bit of bickering but I am hoping one will change gender if needed and get more friendly with each other soon. Here they are getting to know each other:
    wwXMaqt.jpg
  • A Springer's Damsel - Doing great, peaceful active wee guy.
  • A Bangaii Cardinal - Unfortunately, had a pair but one died in the shop before I could pick them up :(. Got another on the way though hopefully.
    T9n6dbb.jpg
  • A Kamohara Blenny - Not up to much, fat, active and unique colours. Here he is photobombing my Gorgonian Pick.
    iMFfTit.jpg
  • A Neon Goby - Think he may have an internal parasite as he has been skinny for months despite a huge appetite. Poo is pretty pale. Does love to give my hand a once over when it goes in the tank. Here he is, along with the Purple Skin Gorgonian
    tw8gOCA.jpg
  • A Yellow Watchmen Goby - Love this guy, paired up with my Randall's Shrimp first night and kicked up half my sand already.
    JzaG2G2.jpg


All fish are tank-bred bar the Springers Damsel, who I got to eat flatworms in my old tank. LFS definitely dreads every time I ask to source a fish haha.

Softies, Sponges, Macro's and Worms
Thought I will give a rundown of the creatures that inspired my title:

Softies
  • Pink Nepthea - Criminally Underrated - Pink colour is amazing.
    X5yskAq.jpg
  • Green Sinularia - Has a lovely green sheen on
    eV4IHHj.jpg
  • Green and Standard Kenya Trees
  • Green Toadstool - Not looking happy, unsure why I'll admit.
  • Devil's Finger Leather Coral - Once again, from the same seller and they really are not happy.
    xd1Kqwn.jpg
  • Thick Branch Gorgonian - Based out really well as you can see and seems happy.
    ASj6gPC.jpg
  • Purple Skin white polyp Gorgonian - Based out well again, good polyp extension. (Can be seen in the Kamohara's Picture)
  • Pink Gorgonian - Bit of damage from the Dino/Cyano, but seems to be growing back well.
  • Zoanthids and Mushrooms
sgmqRGT.jpg

93rKU9m.jpg



Sponges
Unfortunately not seen any hitchhiker's as I started with dry rock - not bought any either as I want to let the tank mature a bit.

Macro's
Like I said unfortunately a lot got fairly damaged from Dino/Cyano. Currently have small frags of the below:
  • Caulerpa Taxifolia
  • Caulerpa Racemosa
  • Gracilaria Tikvahiae - Mocha
  • Gracilaria Tikvahiae - Green
  • Gracilaria Curtissae
  • Halymenia Maculata - Mounted on the top of my little cave / overhang.
  • Acanthophora Spicifera
  • Gracilaria Vermicolophyla
  • Codium
  • Cladophora Prolifera
  • Gracilaria Vermiculophylla
Below is the surviving algae's, as well as my Yellow and Gold Tubeworm accompanied by some Cladophora.
OU6yCA3.jpg

tMp9rBg.jpg


Worms
Picked up some lovely feather duster's including a brilliant Christmas Tree rock
  • Black / Grey Feather Duster - Grown in size I feel
  • Purple / Gold Feather Duster - 2 crowns, maybe splitting?
  • Christmas Tree rock - Amazing colours of blue, orange, green. Can't believe these are worms. Do think I may have bleached the Porite coral during acclimation as they were right under the LED's for hours. Hopefully it recovers though.
  • Also caught a >40cm Bristleworm :eek:
7B4iJNv.jpg



Other Livestock
Not sure there is too much I missed bar the clean up crew.
  • Bubble Tip Anemone and his little pet Eddie the Porcelain Crab
  • "Pinky the Bear" Acropora - no idea how this is still alive I must admit.
    YHXxiq0.jpg


General other invertebrates
  • Snails: Astrea, Tectus, Nassarius, Certih, Trochus, Dove, and Lightning Dove Snails
  • Crabs: Emerald Crab, 3 Red Legged hermits and Porcelain Anemone Crab. Managed to catch the red legged hermits spawning recently and was cool to see the little larva floating through the whole tank. Be amazing if I see any that survive.
  • Shrimp: 2 cleaners and a Randall's Pistol Shrimp. The Cleaners are berried almost constantly now. Did have a scare after one of their legs got superglued together after he got curious on a new frag!
  • Strawberry Conch, wanna find a fighting one though to compliment.
  • General Pods, Isopods and also another small crustacean which I didn't know existed

And I think that is it for my MASSIVELY too long update. Amazed if anyone get's to here but this is the kind of thing I'll enjoy reading back years down.

Future Plans

Not any drastic changes planned - Will be getting another Bangaii Cardinal to pair, and will see if the LFS can get a TB Rainford Goby in too.
Then just the usual Macro Algae's, Corals, and Inverts when they appear.

I do really want more interesting invertebrates but I am struggling to think of many - so any suggestions please say!
 
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PeterLL

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Casket_Case

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Thank You!!

Hahah appreciate the positive feedback! Didn't expect so much positive feedback as it's such a budget reef that's still so new but it's really nice to hear you enjoy the style!
Definitely! I think this style is underrated. I wish more people saw the beauty in coastal environments.
 

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: 68 37.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 32.8%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.9%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.6%
  • Other.

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