New Red Sea s400

[fachatga]

Here’s where I’ll document for myself and anybody else who wants a good laugh at my new tank. My 32 fluval is full and was great to start. Now i want more space and a sump to get more into the hobby. So far I’ve made my aquascape. Cycled so far for a month with 2 clowns and lawnmower blenny and some CUC Snails and hermit crabs. Gonna take it slow. Still thinking through my fish. But main showpieces will be coral. I put tons of rock in to have a really thick and amazing reef. But for the fish I made a bunch of places for them to swim through. A deep cave. I really tried to think about what would make the fish happy while having lots of area for corals. And I Just added my clowns yesterday. I love them. Let the kids pick out what they wanted from cultivated reef. Here’s a few pics. So far I’m just enjoying learning how the sump works and playing around with the tank and equipment.

 

[SPR1968]

Very nice, I love the aquascape design!

 

[fachatga]

Been thinking about what fish to stock. I love wrasses. Gonna have bunch of them. Got number 1 today. Might when try a small piece of los soon. It’s new but a hearth coral may be able to grow. Cycle went well and tank seems to be doing well.

 

[PeterC99]

Aquarium looks great! Think about Copperband. Secret to these fish is to make sure they eat at LFS before buying and introduce them early into aquarium before stocking other fish.

 

[fachatga]

I’d love to have one of them. They’re tough to take care of aren’t they?

 

[PeterC99]

I’d love to have one of them. They’re tough to take care of aren’t they?

Copperbands are not hard to keep. The difficulty is getting them established. That’s why you absolutely have to make sure they are eating at LFS!

 

[fachatga]

Gotcha. I’m just starting to stock and working with the lfs on sourcing fish. I’ll talk to them about the copperband. Thanks for the tip. They’re amazing fish

 

[fachatga]

Sadly wrasse number one lasted less than 24 hours. Not gonna get a delicate fish next time that’s new to the store. I know these can be difficult. So this one has been doing well at my lfs for 2 weeks. Eating mysis shrimp. Put her in the tank yesterday and she buried herself in a few minutes. Came back from work today and she was swimming around picking at the rocks. And she just went back under the sand. Feeling that this is a much healthier fish. Hate losing fish. So here is tanks new inhabitant

 

[fachatga]

I took Thebplunge and got a somewhat inexpensive zoa. Believe it’s bad hair day. 2 days and looks healthy. I’ve been surprised and happy this tank has been pretty steady so far. Got a long way to go to fill this up. Gonna be so much fun. The tank almost looks funny with so much rock and this tiny frag but one day I’ll wish I could go back to the beginning to have so much left to stock afain lol

 

[BiggestE222]

Leopard wrasses usually only eat live food. Not a good option for new setups and very delicate.

 

[fachatga]

Fishies got some company recently. I’m about halfway to filling with fish I’ll post the rest in a few weeks when they come jn EVen tried a few easy corals to see if the system would handle it so far so good coming along nicely so far

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Leopard wrasse are hard to keep just like the copperbands. Sorry ms. U got this!
D

 

[fachatga]

they seem pretty happy here. I made sure to have a good population of different kinds of copepods before I put them in. They snack on them all day. I’m even somewhat successfully culturing them now to save some money since adding more every 2-3 weeks gets expensive. They seem to love blood worms. The black one even is eating pellets from the auto feeder now. I know a lot of wrasses are delicate and can be tough. But I just love them. I’ll have a bunch more before this tank is done. I’m doing everytbing I can to take good care of them.

 

[fachatga]

It’s an exciting day. Uglies are going away. I see a speck of coraline algae. And I think I’ve got all the fish I want.

 

[fachatga]

It’s finally feeling like a tank. Some zoas are growing new heads algae under control copepods all over been waiting for a few months for it not to look like a completely new tank got a ways to go but can’t be happier so far Only like 2 months in

 

[revhtree]

It’s finally feeling like a tank. Some zoas are growing new heads algae under control copepods all over been waiting for a few months for it not to look like a completely new tank got a ways to go but can’t be happier so far Only like 2 months in

Looking great and congrats!

 

[fachatga]

Wish me luck. Little early but gonna test how this tank does. Small zoa garden and a few other corals added.

 

[fachatga]

Been a while since I’ve added to my diary so it’s time for an update. I’ve been fighting bacterial blooms for a few months. I stopped water changes. Tried microbacter clean. Microbacter 7. They really have done a great job for me with any issue I’ve had so far. But there was some bacteria growing in my sump and overflow. Until I cleaned them out they just kept on coming back. Water was never crystal clear. I finally put in a uv sterilizer and I’m back in love worth my big tank. I was getting worried about the fish with so many bacterial blooms that almost never ended.
My yellow tang seemed to be effected. He started hiding in rocks maybe 4-5 weeks ago. Rarely came out. Stopped eating when I fed. Still saw him picking at rocks but barely. Then I noticed heavy breathing. And the gills looked different. I’m no expert but I think was an infection or mucus or something. I tried so many times to get him into QT tank. Couldn’t do it. I think it was related to or made worse by the bacterial blooms. Once I put in the UV sterilizer within 2 days he was out and is now breathing normal and eating like a pig. I’m so relieved. I thought it was only a matter of tome til he starved. It’s been depressing looking at the tank for so long knowing this fish I was trying and failing to help. But seems healthy now. Gained weight. Acts normal. Eating algae off rocks all day long. Doesn’t hide anymore. Now it’s back to adding some coral. Coraline is growing all over. I only wish I could have solved this without the sterilizer. I did all I could but definitely a failure on my part.