My crazy drop off style tank build!!!

[Michael Hughes]

Also noticed my pintail fairy wrasse was out and about much more with the lights turned off for the two new fish and me testing out the auto feeders and enjoying all the food I put in the tank!

The Dusky fairy wrasse is still shy on day 2 outside of the acclimation box and didn't want to come out for a picture.

What do you think of the pintail fairy wrasse so far? I keep going back and forth on adding one to my stocking list.

 

[mmorrison55]

My pintail was a replacement when my rosyscale wrasse died. So far he (or she, idk) has been a model tank mate. Mine is always out, so idk if hiding is the norm for them or the exception.

 

[afboundguy]

What do you think of the pintail fairy wrasse so far? I keep going back and forth on adding one to my stocking list.

It is a beautiful fish and according to my research they can take a few weeks to come out since they are normally a deeper water fish that isn't used to a brightly lit reef tank but he's been coming out more and more.

My pintail was a replacement when my rosyscale wrasse died. So far he (or she, idk) has been a model tank mate. Mine is always out, so idk if hiding is the norm for them or the exception.

This was a replacement for my ruby finned fairy wrasse that had UNWD. I really liked the ruby finned one and wish I could keep both but they're too closely related.

As I said above, they're usually shy at first because of the brightly lit tanks. I have noticed when I have had the lights off when adding some new fish, he is much more inclined to come out from the rockwork. He has setup his home on the left side of the tank that gets the least amount of light but I have faith he'll be out more and more.

Now I just need to have patience with my Dusky fairy wrasse who is hiding even more but he is much newer.

 

[afboundguy]

What do you think of the pintail fairy wrasse so far? I keep going back and forth on adding one to my stocking list.

It's been less than a week since my last post and the pintail is out a lot now. It gets along with the Dusky so far as well (they're very similar shapes/types) but man the pintail is just awesome looking!

 

[Michael Hughes]

I saw one in an LFS once, unfortunately it's a place I would never buy from. Dead fish and sick fish in almost every tank. It was beautiful though! I've also seen them in a public aquarium housed with a firefish, so they must be fairly peaceable.

 

[afboundguy]

I saw one in an LFS once, unfortunately it's a place I would never buy from. Dead fish and sick fish in almost every tank. It was beautiful though! I've also seen them in a public aquarium housed with a firefish, so they must be fairly peaceable.

They're supposed to be super docile and that sub-group of wrasses is supposed to be the only sub-group you can get away with buying two in the same group.

The other great thing is it's keeping its coloring! My Yellow Flanked and Dusky Fairy wrasses aren't as colorful as the all the online pictures lol

 

[afboundguy]

Battling some nuisance algae so I kept the lights off today in the "drop-off" sections. Mainly bubble, hair, cyano and possibly some dinos. I added a bunch of clean up crew on Wednesday and they're already making a dent. I also have a local event in the Boston area and there should be a vendor that sells just clean up crew so I will probably add even more in 2 weeks.

Clowns are back to breeding so I might try and put a tile in and try and raise their babies to add to the harem tank down the road but that is a ways off as they are decently aggressive so they will be the absolute last ones going in the "drop-off" section. They're 15 or 16 years old and still laying eggs!

It's a different look with just ambient light!

 

[afboundguy]

I had an idea to add some drift wood to the back left where the mangroves will eventually live. They're in the overflow box for now as I need to adjust the cover a bit to get them where I want to. I think it would be cool with some driftwood mixed in.

I live north of Boston on the coast so I have access to saltwater cures driftwood that is supposed to be better than most driftwood and shouldn't leach tannins nearly as much as other driftwood. I still plan to boil them to sanitize them.

Would plan to put them in this area and have some come out of the water.

 

[afboundguy]

On a fish related note, I read the 87 pages for the Donovan Nitrate Destroyer and might build one. I am not sure what my nitrate levels are at but they used to be under 5 but that was before I started adding a bunch more fish.

Since I am having some minor nuisance algae issues, even if I get a low test level I know that's deceiving. I also thought that adding one of these could help me add even more fish down the road.

On a fish related note I now have a new favorite fish! Picked up a yellow assessor and he absolutely loved the suspended drop off ledge in the 60 side. He constantly is swimming upside down and started doing it within 5 minutes of me placing him in the tank!

Also have a trio of Lyretail Anthias in QT right (1 male and 2 females) now that will be going in next weekend. Wife wanted them and I wasn't about to say no as she hasn't been a fan of the hobby in a while and used to buy more stuff than I would when we'd visit LFS or fellow reefers and she has been much more into it so I went with it! Lyretails were my 2nd choice of anthias and my LFS had them so we pulled the plug.

I have never really QT'd properly but we actually tried to buy the Lyretails a week earlier and the LFS wouldn't sell them as he said they came in not so well and he wanted to wait another week to make sure they were healthier. I figured this would be a perfect excuse to start QT'ing all new incoming fish especially since I have way more fish and they are getting more and more expensive!

 

[Michael Hughes]

Enjoyed reading the updates! I'm curious about how your driftwood addition works in the long term - not something you typically see in saltwater. I've always wanted to try it though.

Just throwing this out there: If you're going to start QTing fish, you may want to do the same for inverts as they can serve as vectors for introducing various fish parasites.

Also, really cool that the assessor found your overhang right away!

 

[afboundguy]

Enjoyed reading the updates! I'm curious about how your driftwood addition works in the long term - not something you typically see in saltwater. I've always wanted to try it though.

I've seen it a few times on YouTube () and they seem to use non-SW cured driftwood so I am also curious how the SW cured driftwood will hold up.

Just throwing this out there: If you're going to start QTing fish, you may want to do the same for inverts as they can serve as vectors for introducing various fish parasites.

I have thought about doing that as well but haven't really researched it. Would I medicate the inverts or just put them in a QT tank for X days to observe?

Also, really cool that the assessor found your overhang right away!

It was so freaking cool! Makes me want to get another but looks like another male would fight with it. Might try a blue assessor down the road.

Thought I posted the quick video I made but here it is. I thought the music choice was fitting!!!

 

[afboundguy]

Decided to raise the lights a few inches so that they're 12" above the water line. Also finally got around to testing the tank. Ideally would like the phosphates a tad lower.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I've seen it a few times on YouTube () and they seem to use non-SW cured driftwood so I am also curious how the SW cured driftwood will hold up.

Thanks for the video! I'll take a look at it when I have a moment.

I have thought about doing that as well but haven't really researched it. Would I medicate the inverts or just put them in a QT tank for X days to observe?

Inverts don't need medication for fish diseases. They just need a fallow period in a 100% fishless system, so the parasite life cycle breaks. The commonly recommended fallow period is 45 days. However, there is an isolated study in lab conditions for a particular strain of ich that could make it to around 75 days. I run my frag tank as a fishless invert QT in 77-day batches - for me, 11 weeks makes it easier to do the math on when QT is over.

I'm playing it overly cautious, but it also helps me restrain the ever-present desire to buy more corals for the tank. The 77 day fallow forces me to space out my financial investment, haha.

It was so freaking cool! Makes me want to get another but looks like another male would fight with it. Might try a blue assessor down the road.

Thought I posted the quick video I made but here it is. I thought the music choice was fitting!!!

Cool video, and great soundtrack choice! Neat to see the wrasse using the overhang too.

 

[afboundguy]

Inverts don't need medication for fish diseases. They just need a fallow period in a 100% fishless system, so the parasite life cycle breaks. The commonly recommended fallow period is 45 days. However, there is an isolated study in lab conditions for a particular strain of ich that could make it to around 75 days. I run my frag tank as a fishless invert QT in 77-day batches - for me, 11 weeks makes it easier to do the math on when QT is over.

I did a little research and saw the 45 day QT is generally best especially if keep temps around 80.6 °F. I'll have to try and see if I can figure out how to setup a frag/invert/coral QT tank without the wife killing me!

 

[afboundguy]

Finally finally got my DIY post RO flush setup. Ever since I started using the Smart Buddie for RODI management over the Hydros setup, the TDS creep has been a lot worse.

I have been trying to get solenoids setup to flush for an extra 1-2 minutes after the Smart Buddie finishes flushing. It was a pain in the butt with Hydros programming but finally got it done!

The yellow solenoid is a Hydros one that is normally closed so it will stop the TDS creep from continuing into the DI resin and when the RODI powers on it opens up.

The blue solenoid is a normally open and the red one is normally closed. They are on the same outlet and get turned on so it goes out the red arrow for 2 minutes and then when it turns off the power water goes out the blue arrow.

 

[afboundguy]

Lyretail Anthias finished up QT yesterday and I put them in and kept the lights off. They looked awesome yesterday even with the lights off but today with the lights on they look even better! They are so much motion to the tank!