Lister's Paradise

[Zante]

If you do your research beforehand it isn't difficult.
It does need more attention than a freshwater tank, especially when you are starting it up, but if you plan it ahead and take it easy it's not that hard.
 
Mind you, I have been EXTREMELY lucky with the initial cycle. I was going to buy uncured rock and was ready to put up with weeks of stink and making lots of water changes as the tank cycled.
 
I was called by the place I was going to buy the rock from and they told me that their supplier was going to receive a shipment of rock from Fiji the next week, so i bought two crates there and then. They wouldn't even be unpacked or anything, simply forwarded to my address.
 
The rock was picked from Fiji on the wednesday and it was in my tank on the friday.
I was expecting the cycle to last upwards of 10 weeks, it lasted 4 days. There was pretty much no die-off.
 
Having rock so fresh from the reef was an ENOURMOUS help in getting the balance right, as most of the balance was already there, rather than having to recreate it with whatever survives from the shipping, storing and curing process.
 
If I were to stick to my original roadmap I would possibly be adding my first fish instead of almost completing my stock.
 
 
Anyway, as I was saying, marine isn't really that hard, especially with all the equipment now available and if you listen to the experience of others who have already made the mistakes you might face.
 
One thing you cannot get away from is the cost though. A marine tank is vastly more expensive than a freshwater one.

 

[Zante]

Not much going on, just a small update:
 
First of all:
NO3 = undetectable on a JBL test
PO4 = 0.2mg/l on a salifert test
KH = 5 on a JBL test - I really must get some buffer tomorrow.
Ca = 450mg/l on a salifert test
Mg = 1420mg/l on a salifert test
 
I am thinking about adding an anemone on the left reef, and dedicating just the right one to SPS corals (mainly montipora and pocillopora) leaving the left one for the anemone and whatever macroalgae are growing on the rock.
 
I was considering a bubbletip (Entacmaea quadricolor), but the LFS has received a very pretty leather anemone (Heteractis crispa), and while it does grow big, it can have the left reef all to itself and wouldn't be too big for it. I have to do some research on its care though, I don't want something that's too delicate and prone to dying.

 

[Zante]

Added an anemone to the aquarium. Before I make a video of it I want it to settle in a bit.
 
The clowns LOVE it. I hardly had time to get my hands out of the water before they jumped in!

 

[ncguppy830]

wow sounds cool cant wait to see the vid.

 

[Zante]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMd56j1ns_Q
 
Finally found an anemone I REALLY like: a Heteractis magnifica.

I know, I know, delicate and hard to keep. In all fairness I should have left it where it was, but I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, and so have my clowns. They didn't hesitate a second, I hardly had any dime to remove my hand from the aquarium that they dived straight in.

Also, I finally decided where to position the coral frags I have acquired so far.

The gobies haven't paired up with the pistol shrimps yet, and I doubt they will at this point. I would have liked to have a "double date" of gobies and shrimps, but hey... as Queen said, rain must fall...

 

[Ch4rlie]

An extremely interesting thread this. 

 
Have been thinking on and off about reef aquariums and GF definitely wants marine shrimps and live rocks etc at some point in future. But have been put off by the extensive water care needed and of course the costs involved.
 
But having seen this and how you mange to get things in order and setting up seems to me to be an interesting and complex way of an aquarium. 
 
Slowly but surely am beginning to see the huge appeal of having marine setup. Gotta do a lot of research and homework before even before considering getting any further.
 

 
Just seen your new post, the clowns absolutely LOVE that anemone 

 

[Zante]

An extremely interesting thread this. 

 
Thank you
 
 

Have been thinking on and off about reef aquariums and GF definitely wants marine shrimps and live rocks etc at some point in future. But have been put off by the extensive water care needed and of course the costs involved.

 
Technology and knowledge have progressed a lot. Keeping a reef is still expensive, but not as it used to be, and it is a delicate environment, but with all the tests and equipment it is easier to keep, not to mention the experience of other aquarists shared across continents on the internet.
 
I seriously believe that the single most useful tool in making fishkeeping easier has been the internet.
 
If you're looking at marine shrimps you might be interested in a colony of sexy shrimps. I had a colony in a TMC microhabitat 30. Very nice tank.
You could easily get a colony of nine in there with some soft corals and possibly one of those mini-maxi anemones. Done right it could become a real gem.
 
 

But having seen this and how you mange to get things in order and setting up seems to me to be an interesting and complex way of an aquarium. 
 
Slowly but surely am beginning to see the huge appeal of having marine setup. Gotta do a lot of research and homework before even before considering getting any further.

 
Well.. I'm also a very techy person, so the high tech tanks are my things, and the average reef it a high tech dream for me
 
 

Just seen your new post, the clowns absolutely LOVE that anemone 

 
Yup. Before they used to roam the tank, no worries.
Now they even seem afraid to come out of it!
 
I've been quite lucky. It is a Heteractis magnifica, which is THE anemone that percula clowns host naturally. I went into the shop looking for a bubbletip and there it was, staring at me, as if it was saying "oh... there you are! Come on, pick me up!"

 

[Zante]

Quick update (will follow up with a video soon).
 
The anemone has settled in and has eaten its first meal, a piece of defrosted cheapo fish (probably pangasius).
It has shifted slightly to position itself exactly under its radion unit and seems nice and perky. It's no longer flopped over the rocks but holding itself up.
 
The SPS coral frags:
 
The first two Montipora digitata died. One opened up twice in my tank, the other never opened up. I honestly don't know what was wrong, possibly some problems with the individuals, because the others are doing fine.
The pocillopora now has visible growth, and the two plating Motiporas seem to be doing fine. The green one with white polyps is opening nicely, and the orange one... in all honesty I don't know. The polyps are orange and microscopic, so i will know only if I see some growth.
I have added another plating Montipora frag, this one orange with pale pink polyps.
The green one with the yellow polyps (I must really find out the name of this coral) is growing VERY well. It has visibly grown about 4mm on all of its protusions and it's starting to grow new plates.
The other flat, white coral (again... names

) is a slow-growing species, and the polyps are miniscule, so it will besome time before i see any difference. I fancy seeing something there, but it could be my imagination.
The Seriatopora too is doing beautifully. I'm not sure it is growing, but all the polups are beautifully extended and though it is just an impression, it does look like it is growing.
 
The day before yesterday I also aded a trumpet coral on the sand bed.
 
I really need to get a calcium reactor now, I am adding two to three teaspoons of kalk every week to keep up with calcium consumption and i'm also using a lot of Kh buffer as Kh keeps dropping.
 
The coral banded shrimps have grown a lot in the meantime, I spotted them yesterday evening roaming the tank while the lights were almost gone. I doubt I'll be able to show them on the next video, so I have to tell you
 
Just moments ago I saw the tang picking at the algae sheet i put in the tank on a clip, so now I know it recognises it as food. Until now I saw the sheet disappear while at work, but I wasn't sure if it was ripped away by the current or eaten.

 

[Zante]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=n46ore9xbYs
 
A bit of an update with a few minor additions.

In the video I mention a branching monty not doing so well. Since I took the clip (yesterday morning) it seems to be recovering. It is opening up a bit and getting better.

 

[Zante]

I have spotted some aiptasia, but they have been there for a while now, I haven't spotted any new ones for over two months.
Still, I am considering a means of eradicating them, so as soon as thet do start spreading I am ready with a solution.
 
Copperband butterfly
I know it's hit and miss with aiptasia, but it is a fish I have been considering apart from its supposed ability of eating aiptasia, and I'm willing to run the risk with my corals. I have kept the tank strictly Fiji so far, and the CBB isn't Fiji as far as I know. The WoRMS reports it on the great barrier reef, but no sightings nearby in Fiji, so I don't know. Also I'm not sure I'm willing to risk my corals.
 
Peppermint shrimp
I trust my friend at the LFS to identify the right kind of peppermint, and anyway I have done my research and I'm pretty confident I can identify them myself. These too are supposedly hit and miss. My main problem is that they are caribbean.
 
Berghia nudibranch
I have found a breeder that has a ready supply of these critters.According to him I still don't have enough aiptasia to sustain one of these critters, and I don't want to get it for it to die of hunger when it wipes the aiptasia. I suppose I could pass it around the club and dump it at the fishshop when we're done, it still feels wrong though.
It is a strictly atlantic species, so I don't really want it in my tank, but I suppose I could break my Fiji rule if it's going to be a temporary guest of my tano.
 
Acreichthys tomentosus (filefish)
Here's a fish that eats aiptasia and is relatively reef safe, a bit like the CBB, but the WoRMS puts it bang on Fiji, so it would be ideal. I can't say it is very attractive though, not in the same way a CBB is...
 
I'll have to give these some thought.
 
Here are some readings:
Ph: 8.6
Kh: 7
Ca: 460
 
Now... let's see what they're like with the new calcium reactor running and no dosing in the next few days.

 

[Zante]

Ok, first day with the calcium reactor running and the readings are

Ph: 8.6
Kh: 8
Ca: 400

Increasing CO2 as per instructions that came with the reactor

 

[Zante]

No readings today. I raised CO2 yesterday, but during the night the reactor started making quite a lot of noise: too much CO2. It wasn't dissolving and a gas pocket formed at the top of the reactor. The pump was struggling to draw water and making a noise. So I greatly reduced the CO2 for the night.
 
Now I have returned the CO2 flow to the higher value it was last night, but I also increased the water flow a bit. If the water was saturating with CO2 before, with a higher water flow should prevent this by offering more water in which to dissolve the CO2.
 
So, now we're on 1 bubble per second CO2 and two drops per second water.
 
New reading tomorrow evening.

 

[Zante]

Ok, so here's today's reading
 
Ph: 8.6 Nice, not moving from there even with the extra CO2
Kh: 8 Nice, not moving from there even without the addition of buffer
Ca: 450 Nice, hopefully it will stay there, we will see in the next few days
 
Might as well to the whole lot...
Mg: 1420 Nice
NO3: undetectable Not bad for no skimmer
PO4: 0.25 I guess the rowaphos needs replacing.

 

[Zante]

It really looks like I'm not destined for marine: wipeout number 2.

The anemone wasn't happy this morning so it started going walkies. Where did it go? Straight for the circulation pump, wiping out every fish except for the clowns.

1 yellow tang
1 pair of gobies
1 pair of coral beauties
4 firefish
4 flasher wrasse
1 lawnmower blenny

gone.


I haven't been able to retrieve all the bodies, as they probably are stuck in the rockwork somewhere. I'm sure that shrimps, worms and snails will take care of them

Strangely enough the invertebrates seem to be unaffected. A couple of the corals even seem to enjoy blended anemone.

With the carbon in the filter, the enzymes I dropped in and the lush vegetation both in the sump and in the display things should get back to normal fairly quickly

At this point I need to decide what to do.

 

[Zante]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qkc-4e8fl8
 
Wipeout. Nothing much else to say.

If I HAVE to find a silver lining in this disaster... I wanted a clam, now with the coral beauties dead I can have one.

To be honest I would have rather stayed without a clam.