Size doesn't matter build

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#61
Thanks! I'm really happy to report all 26 fish made it through their first 24 hours. All look good. I spent probably 30 minutes watching them and not seeing aggression. I saw a pack of 5 break away from the herd and go to the other side of the tank....they hung out for 30 seconds and then BOLTED back to safety. I was totally thinking of Finding Nemo - "He touched the butt!"....that's what it seemed like, one fish double dog daring the other to swim over there.
 

kchristensen8064

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#62
Thanks! I'm really happy to report all 26 fish made it through their first 24 hours. All look good. I spent probably 30 minutes watching them and not seeing aggression. I saw a pack of 5 break away from the herd and go to the other side of the tank....they hung out for 30 seconds and then BOLTED back to safety. I was totally thinking of Finding Nemo - "He touched the butt!"....that's what it seemed like, one fish double dog daring the other to swim over there.
Any of them making homes in your anemones yet?
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#64
In all of the excitement of the harem arriving, I forgot to update the build with the addition of a new skimmer. The skimmer that came with my tank as part of the bundle worked, but it was noisy and super sensitive to adjustments. Like a 1mm twist of the pipe would result in an overflow. But I left it running during my trip to Maui and came back to this:

View attachment 18670

But in the end I think I wanted a different skimmer from the outset. So I went with the RedSea Reef Skimmer 300. I liked the Sicce pump it came with, the manual neck swabber, and the adjustment knob looked more precise. So far I am super impressed, it is quieter and just now getting to dark bubbles with larger size.

View attachment 18668
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#66
What’s the media block you have in the next chamber? Looks huge
I have 2 of the 8 x 8 x 4 MarinePure blocks and 1 of the Brightwell Nitrate reducing blocks (I don't think this one works at lowering Nitrates....but it will hold bacteria just fine) and a handful of the Marinepure bio-ball type things.
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#68
Love the clowns! Tank is coming along nicely. What’s next?
Thank you! I feel like I am in a wait and see mode. Adding 26 fish at once, I wanted to make sure I didn't have any ammonia issues. And this is the first time I've tried regular pellet feedings, so I feel like I am feeding too much so I am constantly looking for signs of algae outbreak. So I guess nothing new for a while, more in a stabilization phase I think.
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#69
Things are going pretty well in the the Size Doesn't Matter Build. I set up BRS dosers to dose 2 part. I've been checking the gallon jugs of liquid so they don't run out. I've been wiping the glass clean every 2 to 3 days. The Plank auto feeder has been great! I've been keeping an eye on it just to make sure it has food. I've emptied the skimmer a few times with super liquid skimmate...I keep dialing it down to try to thicken it up. I seem to be checking parameters on Monday's, last 2 weeks have not needed any corrections, everything seems stable at 8.2 dkh/420 cal/1400 mag/1.026. Nitrate and Phosphate seemed pretty good too.

Loving the new tank, and the ease of maintenance has been noticeably better!

The downside, my harem has lost a few members. I retrieved 1 off of the ground, and we heard 1 get stuck in a Nero 5 pump. He was no longer alive. But those were the only two bodies I was able to recover. The harem itself is down to 16 from 26, so that means 8 are unaccounted for. I am hoping the tides have turned and that's where things will stabilize.....I expected some attrition, but not nearly that much. Life in the harem seems to be as I kind of expected it to be. I see the slightly larger chasing the smaller ones away. Every now and then I see a smaller one hanging out in the top corners...and I think "oh no here it goes again." But maybe they are just taking a break from the action. 1 fish has been loving the Derasa clam, but nobody has been interested in the nems. I don't know if it's a size thing, the nems are huge compared to the tiny fish!

Anyway, that's the update for now. Some pro's and con's. Pluses and minuses. Highs and lows. But overall I'm pretty excited!
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#70
Time for a bit of an update! The clowns are growing, and the number has stabilized at 15. They have started to venture out in the tank, but still spend a majority on the side opposite of the anemones. Last I counted, I was up to 7 anemones...I had 2 splits. Very few coral fatalities, I'm actually pretty impressed with going from 1000w of MH and T5 to all LED. Anyway, couple of pics:

View attachment 18811

FTS:

View attachment 18810

The corals all seemed to be doing well!

View attachment 18809

View attachment 18808
 

Cherub

Hey you
M.A.S.C Club Member
#71
looking good! Still need to get a tank for my new place. Still unpacking though... almost 3 weeks now lol
 

Cherub

Hey you
M.A.S.C Club Member
#73
I am not sure lol. Part of me wants to go to something smaller, part of me wants bigger. My basement turned out to be a "floating" basement, which has a sub floor. My plans were including a slab basement so now I have to rethink it all. Sorry got busy at work and just seen this.
 

scmountain

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
B.O.D. Member-at-Large
#77
So jealous of that harem, Da Vinci/Gladiators are my favorite "designer clowns"
How are you liking the bare bottom so far?
 
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