The Journey Continues - Mike & Terry's 280g Reef Savvy

[Mike&Terry]

Did you wrap your CA reactor?

Good eye! Yes, to block light and keep crud from growing in there.

 

[mjr]

Thank You! We're a bit embarrassed sharing that pic with all of the coralline algae. ;Shamefullyembarrased

Really beautiful tank! The clean sans-coraline look definitely makes the livestock pop.

Is there any reason other than aesthetics and longevity of the equipment to always keep your setup free of Coraline?

 

[Mike&Terry]

Really beautiful tank! The clean sans-coraline look definitely makes the livestock pop.

Is there any reason other than aesthetics and longevity of the equipment to always keep your setup free of Coraline?

Thank You so much! Keeping the back wall and armored seams clean is purely for aesthetics - the black background does make the livestock pop and in person, it gives the illusion that the tank is deeper from front to back.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Finally carved out some time to take some pics... Here are a few of the better ones:









This is our new CBB who is about the same size as our Desjardini Tang and perhaps taller. Thankfully, the move to the display (he's much too large for an acclimation box) went smoothly.

 

[hybridazn]

As usual beautiful pics!

 

[Mike&Terry]

As usual beautiful pics!

Thank You George!

 

[Nick James]

What was your QT regiment/schedule for the CBB?

Beautiful fish and photos!

 

[Mike&Terry]

What was your QT regiment/schedule for the CBB?

Beautiful fish and photos!

Thank You!

Regarding the CBB, first I must admit that I did not pay attention to his size when I ordered him. Had I done that, I more than likely would have passed as he is full grown (8+") - A lesson learned! Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw him. He arrived very alert and appeared healthy with no outward signs of parasites. I freshwater dipped him anyway and found no signs of flukes. Instead of placing him in a hospital tank which is what I normally do, I elected to quarantine him in my 30g w/sump, refugium and skimmer for 6 weeks - no fish or corals in there. During that time, general cure was added to most of his food (bound with focus) with a little garlic juice to make it more palatable. The tank had a very productive sandbed (lots of pods, worms, and filter feeding worms which he pretty much wiped out. That's okay, there are more in the refugium to help repopulate.

I added a couple of clumps of small fan worms to his tank during the first week which he pretty much ignored until week 5 when he demolished them. He would only eat small mysis for the first week... after that, he started eating PE Mysis and by the end of the 3rd week, he was eating clams as well. He was a bit on the skinny side when he came in, but after 6 weeks with me, he filled out nicely.

I do have a couple of hospital tanks and knew I would have to move him to one if he showed signs of illness during his time in quarantine. Thankfully, he didn't.

 

[Stylo328]

Thank You!

Regarding the CBB, first I must admit that I did not pay attention to his size when I ordered him. Had I done that, I more than likely would have passed as he is full grown (8+") - A lesson learned! Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw him. He arrived very alert and appeared healthy with no outward signs of parasites. I freshwater dipped him anyway and found no signs of flukes. Instead of placing him in a hospital tank which is what I normally do, I elected to quarantine him in my 30g w/sump, refugium and skimmer for 6 weeks - no fish or corals in there. During that time, general cure was added to most of his food (bound with focus) with a little garlic juice to make it more palatable. The tank had a very productive sandbed (lots of pods, worms, and filter feeding worms which he pretty much wiped out. That's okay, there are more in the refugium to help repopulate.

I added a couple of clumps of small fan worms to his tank during the first week which he pretty much ignored until week 5 when he demolished them. He would only eat small mysis for the first week... after that, he started eating PE Mysis and by the end of the 3rd week, he was eating clams as well. He was a bit on the skinny side when he came in, but after 6 weeks with me, he filled out nicely.

I do have a couple of hospital tanks and knew I would have to move him to one if he showed signs of illness during his time in quarantine. Thankfully, he didn't.

Awesome approach!

 

[Mike&Terry]

Awesome approach!

Thank You! It's not my normal approach, but I know CBB's can be difficult to transition to captive life and large one's can be especially difficult, I felt it would be better to give him an environment that was not so sterile, where he could do some natural hunting of live foods, and still proactively treat him for flukes and internal parasites.

 

[CoralKing24]

Love the reef savy tank.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Love the reef savy tank.

Thank You so much!

 

[Mike&Terry]

Our CBB has settled in as one of the "pack" and ate PE Mysis out of my hand last night with the rest of our fish babies.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Our order of AquaCraft salt arrived today. Got quite a workout moving and stacking the 20 cases inside our garage...

 

[bubbaque]

How long will that last you?

 

[Mike&Terry]

How long will that last you?

It should last 10 to 12 months.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Awesome updates! Excited about your success with the CBB. Those guys are hard to transition for sure!

 

[Mike&Terry]

Awesome updates! Excited about your success with the CBB. Those guys are hard to transition for sure!

Thanks Daniel! Imagine my surprise when in my mind I was expecting a 3" to 4" max-sized fish and he ended up being at least 8". He is the same size as our Desjardini Tang (14 years in captivity and the CBB may be taller). I will never overlook size again when ordering new fish babies! Anyway, he is off to a good start in our display and hopefully will continue to thrive for years to come.

 

[Mike&Terry]

The past 9 months have flown by...
August 15, 2016:

May 15, 2017:


And no good photo update is complete without including at least one of our fish babies:

 

[prsnlty]

It looks BEAUTIFUL! I love the new CBB too