Llj's 8G Oceanic Biocube

[lljdma06]

Do you culture your own pods?

Yes, but with such small systems, the population dwindles about once a month. Basically, they struggle to breed fast enough to match the consumption of the goby and the mandarin, so I must supplement. It's not a hardship really. What I may consider doing is buying quite a few pods and overdosing the tank, so the population has more time to establish itself in the refugium. Something to consider.

Oh pooey... what the heck is wrong with that LFS selling you sick fish. ugh

-Tyler

I don't, to be honest, think it's the store. I just think it's their black ocellaris from ORA. I just don't think they ship very well at all. Believe me, the fish did not look sick when I got it.

L

 

[lljdma06]

Black ocellaris is still alive and responding well to the medication and the water changes.

L

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Good to see your clown is getting better!
my clown hasnt got sick. Its a petco fish too!
What is the name of your lfs?

 

[lljdma06]

Good to see your clown is getting better!
my clown hasnt got sick. Its a petco fish too!
What is the name of your lfs?

I really don't think that it's my LFS, I have plenty of healthy fish from it as well, including a very hard to keep panda goby. Miami is a large supplier and trafficker in the Aquarium trade. Some whole salers are good, some are not. The LFS is only about a year old and is already getting a strong reputation for being an honest place with good quality stock. Reef smart aquariums is the name of the place. When the owner isn't satisfied with the stock quality received in a shipment, she won't sell them to a customer. Likewise, when stock dies on a customer and water quality is ruled out, she has no problem mentioning it to the whole saler that there may be an issue with the fish.

PS: Note, the two-spot goby was returned to the store. He was getting too thin. I learned that they prefer pods and they prefer a mature sandbed so they can sift. While it did well in my tank initially, I noticed a change in behavior and saw the weight loss. Rather than deal with another death in the tank, I just brought it back, as I really can't be dosing two tanks with pods to keep up. It was then given to a person with a larger, mature system and it's so far, doing well. As a result, she is not too keen on stocking these fish in the future, based on my recommendations on their care. Go a couple of miles to another store and you'll see dozens of them for sale, with no consideration for where they end up.

L

 

[lljdma06]

Clown is doing very well, and will be returned to this tank very soon. Yay! I wanted him for this tank.

I'm noticing that my sps are not doing super well in this tank either. Not poorly, just not at the level they used to be. My guess, especially since parameters are good, is that there's something up with my RO/DI unit. Bleh... Item #4754897849959748982 I need to fix.

My gsp are starting to cover the back wall of this tank. Babysteps, the wall is no where near covered yet, but yes, some is growing on the back wall. More initiative to keep this tank running. I WANT A GSP WALL!!!

The light driver is now getting twitchy, Item #4754897849959748983 I need to fix, so I emailed the owner of the company to see about getting a new driver. I'm owed the second generation driver. But this guy works like molasses in January. I sent my 3rd email. *sigh*

Palys love this tank, I get stupid growth with palys. If the sps aren't doing well, I may just make this a paly dominant tank for now, as I'm too poor to do much with my RO/DI unit until the fall term starts. Hahaha, palys and zoas are awesome anyway. My duncan is also big. I lost count on how many heads.

Oh, I may move this tank. Seems that boyfriend has taken a shining to it (he loves gsp), so... I may, in the coming weeks, be moving this tank over to his place. It's the easiest of my systems to move and I'm there most of the time anyway. Bag the fish, very little inverts. Drain the tank to about 1/3 full. Drive 10min to his place. Fill the tank back up. Corals will sulk, but I imagine they'll be fine.

PS: I want more gsp...
PPS: I think rics would kick butt in this tank...
PPPS: Hydor flo also broke... Item #4754897849959748984 I need to fix

L

 

[Biulu]

Liz, can you get us a picture of gsp growing on the back wall? I can simply not imagine how this looks...

 

[lljdma06]

Hi Biulu,

It has since grown some, but these are the last pictures I have of my gsp.

You can see a little here how it's beginning to grow on the wall.

 

[Biulu]

Very nice! Thanks!

 

[lljdma06]

Very nice! Thanks!

You're welcome.

Today was a nice day. My black ocellaris, who had ick was finally released into the tank today. He spent about 40 days in quarantine. 2 weeks of treatment and the balance was spent in observation.

Hopefully he'll do ok. Him exploring his new home. Sorry, LEDs photograph blue.

I'll be gluing corals again this weekend and possibly reducing the light intensity somewhat.

L

 

[lljdma06]

No, haven't glued corals yet, nor have I reduced the light intensity. But I did take peeeechurs.

Clownfish is ok

I also got three new additions. By mistake, the vendor sent my lfs three porcelain anemone crabs instead of the three Caribbean porcelain crabs I had requested for the CUC in my 36g. They were large and stunning, however, and seeing as I have very little with regard to display inverts in my biocube, I got them.

Here they are as they lurk...

And time now for some icky grossness... Bristleworms! Ewwwwwwww!

I'm used to the little ones I see in my nps tank, but these are Beeeeeeeeg!

L

 

[Man of fish]

me likey the crabbeys!!!

 

[GAB99]

I love this tank, I wish my palys did good, all mine seem to lose color/close and never open again.

Is this the tank with the metal halide?

And those crabs are sick! I've noticed my anemone crab roams a whole lot more than my late carribean.

 

[lljdma06]

me likey the crabbeys!!!

LOL, that statement can be taking in a whole other direction.

I love this tank, I wish my palys did good, all mine seem to lose color/close and never open again.

Is this the tank with the metal halide?

And those crabs are sick! I've noticed my anemone crab roams a whole lot more than my late carribean.

Nope, this tank is the Rebel LED tank. Palys just really seem to do well for me. Zoas I'll lose, but palys... A whole other animal. Sometimes I think that given water chemistry and setup, some corals just do better for one hobbyist rather than for another. Corals that seem to particularly like me...

Palys
montiporas
Pocilloporas
Some birdsnest, not all
Some stylo, depends on which tank
Zoas, but depends on the zoa
duncans
favias
cyphastreas
yumas
rics
mushrooms
sun corals (when they are fed)
green star polyps
Fungias

I've yet to try the Euphelia species much. My elegance did not do well at all neither did my chalice, but I suspect I had the wrong type and it was in the wrong tank and wrong location. This is very eperimental, you can follow the recommendations of placement in a book to the letter, but it still might not work well. It would've done better in the old 8g. Sps tend to do better in my halide tank. Palys really like the LEDs, as do my duncan. I may do some switching in the near future and take stock of what does well and what doesn't. Avoid buying what doesn't and keep buying what does. Switch around Lfs, that sort of thing.

I completely forgot to replace the hydor flo in this tank. *sigh* it never ends...

L

 

[Man of fish]

me likey the crabbeys!!!

LOL, that statement can be taking in a whole other direction.

 

[lljdma06]

Got some corals for this tank, pictures tomorrow... I think, or Tuesday at the latest.

A nice colony of Mohawks palythoas
A little clump of gsp - has the same neony quality that my current gsp in this tank has.
A favia and for the life of me, I can't remember the name. It's a wicked bright green. I'll ask the lfs guy. Hahaha

Also, moved the paly that survived the tank crash to this tank and I will say, he looks lovely under the LEDs, so he'll stay. Besides, this is a paly tank for sure. Dominant species. Funny, I wanted this to be an sps-dominated tank, but seems that palys rule the roost. I also have some key zoa species.

EDIT: Asked lfs guy. Aussie Branching Favia.

L