Barney's New Marine Journal - 150l Upgrade.

[xxBarneyxx]

Well thought I would start a new journal now. Mainly because I'm at work alone and there is nothing better to do

Bit of background to the new tank. I set my first marine tank up around this time last year and despite it all seeming to be very confusing it actually went pretty well. It was an Orca Nano (45l) and despite a few setbacks everything in it "was" doing very well.

Unfortunately the reason I say "was" is because about 3 months ago I moved house. Because I have been decorating and working away I didnt want to move my tanks with me. My sister who was still living in my old place promised me she would look after them for me. Unfortunately when I went round there this weekend I found that both my Marine and planted tanks are full of algae and in the marine tank I have lost a couple of my corals and my red firefish. I did some emergency repairs on both tanks (and had some harsh words with my sister) and they should hopefully tick by until I can get everything sorted next weekend.

My plan is that my 40G (US) planted tank is going to be stripped down. All the fish and plants taken back to the shop and then cleaned out and converted to marine. I was going to drill it and put a sump on it but its a very old tank and I dont like the idea of drilling it (plus its the only largish tank I have left at the moment and too skint to go buy another ).

Once it is stripped down, cleaned and in place and filled up I will then move everything from my nano to the new tank. The nano will then either be sold or more likely set up as a QT.

Here is the equipment I have to play with:
40G horrible shapped tank (very long and narrow, 48X14X14, aquascaping is going to be a nightmare).
X2 Korillia Nano Power heads.
X3 Newjet submersible pumps of various flow rates.
X2 Arcadia luminaires. Will only be using one to begin with (X2 54W T5 and X2 Actinic, one blue and one purple).
X1 Enhiem canister filter with built in heater (probably filled with LR rubble and left alone).
About 12-14kg of LR, If more is needed I will probably get a couple of KG of base rock.

Current Stock:
1 Clown
2 Bluelegged hermit crabs.
1 fireshrimp
3 peppermint shrimp

Loads of GSP and Xenia (this stuff is EVERYWHERE!).
A few small Zoa colonies.
one large hammer coral (this has done amazingly well since I had it).
A few random frags and corals that are in the fuge.

Unfortunately I think I have lost my gonipora which to my suprise had been doing really well in the fuge before I moved. Its completely closed up now and I dont hold out much hope of being able to turn it around (however it hasnt bleached or anything so maybe all is not lost).

Really gutted that I just the firefish and two of the leather corals I had. I'm looking forward to getting them all back into a new tank though (and under my care again ).

So any suggestions on what stock I could add to this once it is running would be great. Not sure if the lighting is enough for any LPS or SPS but would like to get a few if it is. Also not sure on what fish to get either. I would like to get another clown as they are both going into a new tank together I'm hoping there wont be too many problems. Would also like to get another firefish again but not sure what else (if anything) I could have?

 

[SkiFletch]

Wrasses come to mind right away (as they always do) and this may sound crazy, but you might be able to get away with a small Genicanthus Tang in that tank. I realize it's only 40g, but it is very long giving the fish a lot of swimming/grazing room. Something to consider

 

[xxBarneyxx]

lol I was hoping you would say wrasses (knew I could count on you). I have had my eye on either a fairy Wrasse or Flasher Wrasse. Is the tank to small to have two males of different species in there (or a male and female of one species)?

Looking up Genicanthus Tang but not coming up with much other then some large angel fish . Any common names I can check out?

Edit: Oh yeah once the tank is up and running again for a good few months do you think the lighting would be adequate for a BTA (if I can find a captive bred one). I know of people that do keep them under T5's but I don't know if they are just lucky or if it is actually safe. Not going to happen any time soon, but if it is possible to keep it well in this size of tank and under these lights I would love to get one.

 

[SkiFletch]

You could definitely have 2 males of different species. Best luck would also be two different color morphs, something like C solorensis and C labouti which look nothing like each other would be better than say a C solorensis and a C scottorum.

Sorry bout the tang, thought wrong there. You're looking for Ctenochaetus tangs, ironically pronounced similarly

In a shallow tank like yours with individually reflected T5's, most likely OK

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Nice one mate, thanks. Guess there are some advantages to having a shallow tank

Will probably skip the tang as tempting as a yellow eye tang is, if it was a slightly wider tank I would probably go for it but its just a bit to narrow and shallow to feel comfortable with (plus it would be a hard job getting one of these in the UK).

Will go with the wrasses though (I love these fish).

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Small update. Have moved all my tropical fish into a temp tank and they are being picked up later this week. Stripped all my planted tank down and cleaned it all out. Now I'm leaving it filled overnight with RO water in the hopes that it will leech out anything that is left in there.

Tomorrow I need to move it to my flat, not sure quiet how to do this yet as I only have a two seater car which I will NEVER fit a 4ft tank in. Think I might have to get a taxi for it.

Once I get it here I will fill with RO water, salt it up and put my base rock and sand in. Next weekend I plan on moving all of whats left of my nano tank. I'm really wondering how Im going to do it though.

In the nano at the moment there is:
A fireshrimp
a clown fish
3 peppermint shrimp
a couple of hermits.

The problem I have though is that the GSP has overtaken every rock in the tank so I cant just make up some fresh salt water and chuck all the rock into it for fear of killing off the GSP.

The Fish, shrimp and other critters im going to bag up so thats not a problem. I dont know if I get a large bucket and half fill with fresh water and half fill with the water form the nano if that would be ok to put all the corals in? There isnt enough water in the nano to fill a bucket and leave what is in there submerged. Im thinking that doing it that way would be no more of a shock then doing a large water change? Then when I get everything back to my flat I acclimatise everything to the new tanks water? Any suggestions on the best way to move everything would be great!

At the moment anything has to be better then leaving it. The poor tank is a complete mess and I have lost at least 3 of my corals (never leave someone else to look after your tanks ).

The other minor disaster I had is that when I checked the tubes I got today they have sent me a plant pro tube instead of an A=actinic not sure if they will swap it for me because I received them a few weeks ago and have only just got round to checking them. It could be worse as the two 54w tubes are ok so I can just go pick up one from my LFS if all else fails. Im wondering if it is worth getting another (I have one there) or if it would be better to get something in the 9-10k region (to give me 3 at 10k and 1 actinic).

 

[xxBarneyxx]

phew, thats the tank cleaned and moved down, got the sand and about 10kg of base rock. Now just got the hard part to do. Photos coming soon

 

[SkiFletch]

*waiting with popcorn*

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Was going to leave it until tomorrow but got bored tonight so have moved everything now. REALLY ****** off with the state of my nano. Will never trust someone else to look after my tank again. Even worse because just before I moved it was really starting to look good and everything was doing really well. I have lost a lot of my corals and just hoping the move hasnt wiped out the ones I had left.

everything has been in place for about 2 hours now and the corals that are left all seem to be opening up (except the xenia). Need to get a bit more LR to build up one side a bit more and then add some more sand. Not sure Im happy with the aquascape as it is, was difficult because its a narrow tank and I had lots of small bits of rock in my nano and no big bits to really do anything with. Water is really cloudy too at the moment but hopefully it will settle down. My canister filter is on a tropical tank at the moment until the last of the tropical fish get picked up then I will put it on with some filter floss in if the water doesnt clear up.

Will take some photos tomorrow once everything (hopefully) opens up a bit more (and when Im not so tired ).

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Photos at last, water is still really cloudy where I added more sand earlier. The heater in there is only temporary until I get my canister filter with the heater built in back and on there.

Left side of tank:

Little Perc Clown added today, seems to be getting on ok with the big one that is in there.

The big clown:

Both clowns together:

Right hand side of the tank:

GSP & Xenia

Full tank shot:

 

[connorsbala]

Looking good Barney

 

[shibby]

loooks good so far, gsp rocks.

 

[SkiFletch]

Real nice Barney!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Thanks all. Think the Goni is past saving unfortunately and the last head of the hammer is still expanding but not by much so not sure if it will pull through or not.

There are a couple of really ugly bits of base rock in there that Im going to replace in the near future but otherwise im not messing with the aquascape too much now.

Would the xenia be better place lower down in the tank with a bit less flow? It seems to be ok but not expanding as much as it used to.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Well I have moved the xenia to the bottom/middle of the tank and its a lot happier now. Over the weekend I got a purple firefish and an lyre tail anthias. Not sure if the tank is really big enough for him or not yet (have read anywhere from 150l-250l as recommended tank size). I do have a new home for him if he starts getting bossy later on though so will see how it goes.

The small clown I added is getting on great with the one I already had in there. They swim around together all the time and I have seen no aggressiveness at all from them.

I unfortunately lost the last head on my hammer coral though I had started to look like it was coming back around but guess it was just to late. Other corals are all doing really well though.

Will update with some new pics over the week now that the water is not cloudy and with the new fish. No more additions are planned for the next few weeks while I make sure everything stays settled and the fish I have are ok.

In terms of future stocking im thinking of getting:
1 (or maybe 2) royal grammas
1 Algae blenny (Maybe, have read conflicting information on how easy it is to keep them fed so need to look into this more)
1 Exquisite wrasse, McCoskers flasher wrasse or carpenters flasher wrasse (depending on which one of these three I can get my hands on).

Considering it already has a pair of clowns, a purple firefish and an anthias do you guys think there is room for the above as well (150l 4ft long tank)?

I did have one suprise today. Went back to finish emptying out my old nano tank which had like 3" of water in it and had been there for 2 weeks with no heating or anything and found my last peppermint shrimp in there (which I thought I had lost!) No idea where he was hiding before (every piece of rockwork was removed and there was just sand left in there) or how the hell he managed to survive 2 weeks in an unheated "puddle" but he is now in my main tank and looks no worse for it!