Wrasse Retreat 2.0: Evolved's 270g Peninsula

[FoD]

haha the true signs of an addict how could you forget the johnsoni!

Yeah. Hunter has a real nice Johnsoni.

Good to see you back. Work gets in the way over here too! You're not alone.

 

[naecO rM]

Hi, are you happy with synergy reef overflow? Water turnover, silent enough?
How is a maintenance of overflow easy enough?
Is that a better solution than side shaft overflow?

 

[evolved]

You have seem to have them all so what's your favorite Cirrhilabrus or wrasse in general?

It tends to drift over time, but this is still close: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/top-10-or-15-wrasses.201486/#post-2303797

Finished reading all pages over the last couple evenings. Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time and attention to detail to share your build. Learned a couple things which is always a good thing.

Thank you kindly. It's always nice to hear the effort is useful for another.

AMAZING!!!

Thanks!

Yeah. Hunter has a real nice Johnsoni.

This will never get old and always make me chuckle.

Good to see you back. Work gets in the way over here too! You're not alone.

Good to hear from you.

Hi, are you happy with synergy reef overflow? Water turnover, silent enough?

Overall, yes. Flow is good but it definitely is not silent. It's a calming fountain-trickle like sound to me in the living room, but it may drive someone else mad.

How is a maintenance of overflow easy enough?

It's pretty set it and forget it. I have removed the teeth a few times to pull out loose hair algae that's partially clogged it, but that's a 10 second process.

Is that a better solution than side shaft overflow?

Not familiar with that one.

 

[birdman1979]

How has the L1 Vectra worked out for you?

 

[evolved]

How has the L1 Vectra worked out for you?

Cleaning it every 6 months and running it around 70% and it's been fine. I did try to go longer than 6 months without cleaning towards the beginning, and it seized up on me with carbonate on the rotor magnet. Cleaned it and was good to go again.

 

[birdman1979]

Thanks Hunter.

 

[birdman1979]

Thanks Hunter. Have you considered adding the Ecotech battery backup solution?

 

[evolved]

Thanks Hunter. Have you considered adding the Ecotech battery backup solution?

The 60s are on a vortech backup, and the return is covered by the UPS.

 

[HairyGary]

Any updates?

 

[Reefpuck]

Hey evolved...wanted to thank you for all your info on wrasses. Have been reading up on your articles/threads.

What your tank is currently stocked with?

 

[Janci]

Yes, latest tank shot from post#1 is from 06/15/2017.
Something must have happened in the last year.

 

[HairyGary]

Yes, latest tank shot from post#1 is from 06/15/2017.
Something must have happened in the last year.

He mentioned on one of the Wrasse threads that he has been super busy with work and then had stability issue and lost most of his SPS. He was headed in another direction with the tank but the wrasses were fine. I certainly can relate.

 

[evolved]

Any updates?

Got married, went to Fiji. The end.
Life should coast back into some normalcy as the year winds down, and I'm really ready for that. Planning your own wedding takes a serious drain on you!
And yes, there will be a bunch of Fiji pictures at some point, but they are still all unprocessed RAWs right now. Something else on my to-do list! I did take an underwater camera with me...

Hey evolved...wanted to thank you for all your info on wrasses. Have been reading up on your articles/threads.

What your tank is currently stocked with?

Yes, latest tank shot from post#1 is from 06/15/2017.
Something must have happened in the last year.

Things did happen, and it was captured on the last page: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...ds-270g-peninsula.256483/page-15#post-4563585
You've got to do a bit more and read this thread; there's more than just pretty pictures. ;Pompus

At this point, I do feel that things are this close to being back on track again. Fiji certainly revived my coral love and I'm more motivated than currently than I've been in a year to make the tank look great again. Fiji also revived my love for Acropora, so for now I'm abandoning any change in direction and keeping with the original intent of the tank layout. Starting to restock some corals now and hope to have things good enough for photos again by the time the year is over. Mostly it's more about having the time for photos than not wanting to show things. More than anything its just disheartening to look back and see how things once were, and I just wish there was something I could have done about it. No use crying over spilled milk.

So currently on the fish front (but not much change from the last page, a few loses, one add):
Darwin ocellaris pair
Ctenochaetus tominiensis
C. lineatus
C. rhomboidalis
C. claire
C. nahackyi
C. shutmani
C. isosceles
C. johnsoni
C. earlei
H. lapillus (x4)
M. negrosensis

I've pretty much decided I'm done with keeping Paracheilinus - they just don't live long enough. Well, I might acquire an octotaenia again in the future as I still adore the species, but they do tend to last a bit longer than the rest of the genus (and we're still only talking 4-5 years in total).

One (maybe two) of the lapillus are transitioning now, and the dominant one decided suddenly one day that it didn't like the timorensis male anymore - beat the snot out of him. I found him stuck on the overflow but still alive - he made it a couple weeks in a hospital tank but never recovered.

And yesterday I found my candy bass eaten by an MP60... the jinx of someone asking? ;Drowning I'm guessing he chased a pellet into it, as that fish was quite well and hardy the past few weeks - no signs of old age or something wrong.

Kinda itching to try Anampses neoguinaicus after seeing/photographing them while snorkeling in Fiji. You could find them on the outer slopes around 15-20 feet pretty frequently.

 

[HairyGary]

Congrats to you!

I went on dive in Fiji way back in 2002 and it was pretty amazing.

No signs of disease or infection on the basslet? Did your Octotaenia, Attenuate and Rubricaudalis die of old age? At least I thought you had them.

Glad to see you get the reef bug back!

 

[evolved]

No signs of disease or infection on the basslet?

No. It was stuck to the side of the 60 with its head in between the slats and head kinda missing... Seems pretty evident to me it was a guillotine-style death. ;Facepalm

Did your Octotaenia, Attenuate and Rubricaudalis die of old age?

Octotaenia was age - second time I've kept the species to full life. They simply only live ~5 years in total.
Attenuatus messed up his spine in QT 2-3 days before he was due to come out - didn't stand a chance in the DT. Never recovered.
Rubricaudalis simply disappeared one day.

Glad to see you get the reef bug back!

Me too. Never really left, just kinda took a back seat. Still made my annual trip to MACNA.

 

[HairyGary]

No. It was stuck to the side of the 60 with its head in between the slats and head kinda missing... Seems pretty evident to me it was a guillotine-style death. ;Facepalm

Octotaenia was age - second time I've kept the species to full life. They simply only live ~5 years in total.
Attenuatus messed up his spine in QT 2-3 days before he was due to come out - didn't stand a chance in the DT. Never recovered.
Rubricaudalis simply disappeared one day.

Me too. Never really left, just kinda took a back seat. Still made my annual trip to MACNA.

Sucks to lose them whatever it may be. Always amazed at the resilience of wrasses with their thick slime coats.

My only Paracheilinus is a little Attenuatus that is doing well. Was also curious on life span so good to know. I’ve wanted to add a Octotaenia but was curious on temperament. I’ve read middle of the road Cirrhilabrus temperament. My transitioning Jordani rules the tank over my Lineatus and Attenuatus.

Anywho looking forward to your new progress report later this year. Good luck.

 

[evolved]

Okay, I realized I in fact never did post the full mystery as to what happened with my tank on this thread. Yes, there was the quick mention on the last page but it certainly left a lot of details to be desired. So, with that said:
Things started to get a bit "funky" last September (2017), about the time I had changed my calcium reactor media. It started with a few montis looking off and then peeling. I figured the media must have some containment in it, and at some point shut down the reactor. Things didn't change. I inspected all my equipment, thinking I'd find a rusted magnet or something electronic cracked. Nope. (I even did this again a couple months later, thinking I must have missed something). Things got worse, and I started losing acros. Then it seemed I got it stabilized with a series of water changes and carbon, but it was simply a temporary pause and then things backslid. LPS started being effected. Alk got real low and the hair algae got real long, and I got real disgusted. Plus, with a huge crunch at work going on at the time, I didn't have the time I needed to give it. Things got worse. So at that point, I had a 270g reef tank with about 10 corals in it. Sigh. I switched my lighting over to T5s, as I had run out of things to point at and I had reasons to suspect lighting. I once went through something similar on my last tank (not as devastating) and it was after the LEDs were about 1.5 years old. That was when I switched to MH and everything made a great recovery. I can say for sure was not a salt/makeup water issue as the frag tank went unaffected the whole time, which also ruled out any indoor pollution element. I did change out all my RODI filters at some point, including the membrane - just in case. It was not a copper issue, as I still have all my motile inverts. Definitely perplexing. If it wasn't for my love of the fish (and they did fine through this), I probably would have just quit.

I finally swallowed my pride and did an ICP test last week: https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/65174/
All-in-all, things look pretty decent - no heavy metals. Which is nice, since I would absolutely no idea where they could be coming from at this point. Yes, my lithium is high, but this is a known issue with those using ESV salt (which I have been for about a year now - it was one change I made when things took a dive). I will start dosing iodine again soon; something I used to do once a week or so.

So I am more convinced than ever that I had a pathological issue (bacterial, viral, protozoa, etc) - something that could not be tested or controlled really. Sucks for sure, but I'm confident things are back on the rise now. New corals are already going in.

Photos in a month or so? I have literally over 1000 Fiji photos to sort through/edit first.

 

[Reefpuck]

Or maybe it's because you have too many wrasses. Need more balance.

Glad to hear you got through it and are on the rise again!

 

[HairyGary]

Or maybe it's because you have too many wrasses. Need more balance.

Glad to hear you got through it and are on the rise again!

Great to hear Hunter!

 

[Janci]

Okay, I realized I in fact never did post the full mystery as to what happened with my tank on this thread. Yes, there was the quick mention on the last page but it certainly left a lot of details to be desired. So, with that said:
Things started to get a bit "funky" last September (2017), about the time I had changed my calcium reactor media. It started with a few montis looking off and then peeling. I figured the media must have some containment in it, and at some point shut down the reactor. Things didn't change. I inspected all my equipment, thinking I'd find a rusted magnet or something electronic cracked. Nope. (I even did this again a couple months later, thinking I must have missed something). Things got worse, and I started losing acros. Then it seemed I got it stabilized with a series of water changes and carbon, but it was simply a temporary pause and then things backslid. LPS started being effected. Alk got real low and the hair algae got real long, and I got real disgusted. Plus, with a huge crunch at work going on at the time, I didn't have the time I needed to give it. Things got worse. So at that point, I had a 270g reef tank with about 10 corals in it. Sigh. I switched my lighting over to T5s, as I had run out of things to point at and I had reasons to suspect lighting. I once went through something similar on my last tank (not as devastating) and it was after the LEDs were about 1.5 years old. That was when I switched to MH and everything made a great recovery. I can say for sure was not a salt/makeup water issue as the frag tank went unaffected the whole time, which also ruled out any indoor pollution element. I did change out all my RODI filters at some point, including the membrane - just in case. It was not a copper issue, as I still have all my motile inverts. Definitely perplexing. If it wasn't for my love of the fish (and they did fine through this), I probably would have just quit.

I finally swallowed my pride and did an ICP test last week: https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/65174/
All-in-all, things look pretty decent - no heavy metals. Which is nice, since I would absolutely no idea where they could be coming from at this point. Yes, my lithium is high, but this is a known issue with those using ESV salt (which I have been for about a year now - it was one change I made when things took a dive). I will start dosing iodine again soon; something I used to do once a week or so.

So I am more convinced than ever that I had a pathological issue (bacterial, viral, protozoa, etc) - something that could not be tested or controlled really. Sucks for sure, but I'm confident things are back on the rise now. New corals are already going in.

Photos in a month or so? I have literally over 1000 Fiji photos to sort through/edit first.

Thanks for the heads. This information might help others as well when facing such a devastating moments.
I happy to read all is back on track and will patiently wait for the updated pictures.