Prostar 90v2

[rc8t6353]

Kind of a lot happened today lol. For starters a little bit before noon the FedEx truck pulled up with a few boxes. One from TopShelf Aquatics and one from TCK Corals. I was nervous to say there least as this was my first time ordering corals online.

 

[rc8t6353]

I was very impressed with the packaging from both companies. Especially Top Shelf. I only had 12 frags in total so I got them all acclimating and dipped. Then on the frag rack they all went.

 

[rc8t6353]

TCK Yellow tips
TSA Joker Scroll
ARC Master Yoda
Red Monti Cap
The last two I've had for about a month. Bird's-nest and Monti Spongodes I think. This was right after dipping.

 

[rc8t6353]

TSA Cinnamon Apple Favia
RR Spicy lemon Favia
TSA Goldschlagger Lepto
TSA Watermelon Chalice
TSA Fuzzy Navel Rhodactis
TCK Oddball Bernardpora x 2

No DOA's and I'm very happy! Everything opened and colored up nicely. Even the SPS! I feel a lot more comfortable ordering online now that's for sure.

 

[rc8t6353]

So with the corals I ordered all settled in the rack, I started thinking about my fish list. And how today happens to be shipment delivery day at my LFS, The Ark. Off I went and they had a 4 Lyretail Anthias. Two were competing for male and one them were close to transitioning. I chose the three that still were female so that I could watch the transformation. I'll get some pics tomorrow hopefully.

 

[rc8t6353]

Before adding the Anthias to the tank I drip acclimated them in a bucket for about 20 minutes or so. I know, quarantine, but I've never got anything in my tank disease wise from any fish from the ark so I roll with it. (Knock on wood) I also moved some rocks around in hopes that my Tomini Tang would be nice. I hoped wrong and he immediately went after the 3 Anthias. He even got moody and started trying to bully the Royal Gramma

 

[rc8t6353]

I called The Ark just to be sure I could re-home the Tang there. They said no problem. In fact they just had to move a few Tomini Tangs around for the same reason in the store tanks lol. I took a few rocks out and broke out the big nets. Caught him in about 5 minutes. Here he is in a bag back at the store. You can see the Scopas Tang flaring up lol.

 

[rc8t6353]

I traded the Tomini for two hopefully bonded Bengaii Cardinals. After acclimating, they found their area and hung out peacefully.

 

[rc8t6353]

Now this may sound weird. It was actually pretty crazy when it happened. I mentioned earlier that today was shipment day at the LFS. When I got there they hadn't even had a chance to get everything released in the tanks. There was a gentlemen there looking in the new fish bags. They tried to order 4 black leopard wrasses but only one came in the shipment. He said he wanted it right then and there. I was surprised and a little disappointed, but I wouldn't have bought the wrasse still in the bag so I thought... There's always next time, and went on with looking. So did the other gentlemen. During this time he showed me a few videos of his tanks and we talked reefs for a while before he left.He has a very impressive collection of fish and coral in his tanks. While they were catching my Anthias, the gentlemen came back in and handed me a brown bag and said, " I hope it's a good addition", then turned around and walked out. I looked at Jim confused even before I looked in the bag. The gentleman had bought and given me the Black Leopard Wrasse!! I couldn't believe it, at all. I even tried to give it back to The Ark because I didn't believe it. It wasn't until he showed me the receipt that it sunk in. I felt like I won the lottery lol. But I promise to pay it forward to another reefer. Got him home and acclimated. He dove right into the sand. Hopefully he comes out soon and I can get some pics. Fingers crossed!

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I LOVED reading your thread. I have a Prostar too. Congrats on the new fish. How awesome is that!

 

[DanTheReefer]

Gl

I finally got my lid from UPS! I ordered it thru SaltwaterAquarium.com but it drop shipped from Proclear. The packaging was excellent. This is the first lid I didn't DIY and I'm glad I didn't lol. It's very clean looking installed on the tank. It came with areas for light mounts pre cut for different sizes. It also came with covers for the netted parts. The covers leave a border open for gas exchange. I'm pretty excited to add more fish now!

Glad to see your happy with the lid, the lid really irked me with both build quality and the way they shipped it, sounds like they ironed that out. Are you using the ATO reservoir?

 

[rc8t6353]

I LOVED reading your thread. I have a Prostar too. Congrats on the new fish. How awesome is that!

Thank you so much! I'm not done yet. I wanna build a manifold for a reactor and maybe a remote display fuge next to the tank. And of course, more coral and fish lol

 

[rc8t6353]

Gl

Glad to see your happy with the lid, the lid really irked me with both build quality and the way they shaped it, sounds like they ironed that out. Are you using the ATO reservoir?

I am at the moment. To me there's pros and cons. Cons, it's small, like too small for this size tank in my opinion. Pros, it's consistent and clean in the sump. And with it being small, it forces me to look under the tank to check on it, which then I'm looking and checking on everything else lol

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I'm waiting for my guy to come back out and change out the filter socks for my reef mat.

 

[rc8t6353]

I'm waiting for my guy to come back out and change out the filter socks for my reef mat.

That sounds awesome. When you do, can you take some pics of the process? That's something I'd for sure be interested in.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

That sounds awesome. When you do, can you take some pics of the process? That's something I'd for sure be interested in.

Absolutely!!

 

[rc8t6353]

It's only been a few days but got a few updates. The day after rehoming the Tomini Tang, all the Anthias were out and about swimming together. So were the two new Bengaii Cardinals. I still haven't seen the black leopard Wrasse but my fingers are still crossed he's ok.

 

[rc8t6353]

So with the new fish in swimming, eating, and looking healthy... I thought I should start maybe looking to get my dosers ready. I ran ESV B-Ionic 2 part in my last tank with great results and what I think stability. I never ran a Triton test on that tank. But, I've also been researching the Aquaforest Components system and I kind of like the simplicity. Decisions.... Decisions lol. Off to The Ark I went lol. They had multiple selections for two part and AFR. I decided on the small ESV bottles for now.

 

[rc8t6353]

I think It should be a crime to not check out the coral section of your LFS whenever and for whatever reason you're there. And me being a good reefing citizen, I decided to follow my own rules lol. They have multiple show piece size hammers, wall hammers, frogspawn, and torches. The coral selection at The Ark in my opinion is just about always on point. Well if course the most expensive torch colony caught my eye. I guess they've had it for a while but it just hasn't sold. Now let me be clear. It was absolutely worth the price they were asking for it. I just couldn't get myself to pay it. The owner saw me looking at it and came over to talk lol. He said that he's really been thinking about splitting up the colony. And asked if I'd be interested in a piece of he did. Of course I said yes. He then put it in a container of water and took it to the back room lol. He came back with three nice sized pieces. Then bagged me up the biggest one. So low and behold. The No Name beautiful Torch. I dipped it for infection in Reef Dip for fresh frags after acclimating. Then mounted it on a plug.

 

[rc8t6353]

While he was bagging up that beautiful Torch, I felt a pair of eyes starting at me. I turned around and I was right. This guy basically chose me so I brought him home as well. I figured I needed a fish to take up the task of algae police since the Tomini was gone.