Heya,
By lonely I just mean seems like there is a lot less marine action compared to Denver/Springs btw. Please no propositions ;p.
I'm new to saltwater and originally got into it because of my interest in stomatopods, aka mantis shrimp. Though since then having stepped into Great White and D&G became interested in corals as well and also find myself with a long list of inverts I'd also like to keep at some point. (Pom Pom, sexy shrimp, harlequin, asst crabs etc.) Unfortunately they don't mix well with the mantis.
I've already gotten started with some missteps. Had a 45g up a week which broke the center brace, had to rush and replace it with a petco 55 as it was best option to accommodate the lighting I already have. Still kinda wish I'd gotten a 40g breeder but I didn't have tools/time or skill to rig up a stand for the light so it wasn't cooking things.
I currently have Dave at Aquamart trying to find me a G. Graphurus mantis, and if anyone knows anyone else who might be good at finding specific species I'd love that info. Just about everyone has peacocks but since I am keeping some corals would be not as ideal since the lights can cause issues with them. Also working on figuring out if there is a local place or online better for trying to get just cheap snails/crabs for mantis munchies. Intention is to feed heavily with frozen shrimp and stuff but realize all my janitors are edible.
Attached are some photo's of assorted dates. I forget the exact date I started but tank has now been up about a month, month and a half. I just got my reefcleaners order in this week which have gone to town on the algae on my white coral skeleton and are still working on the glass. I'm thinking I may need more dwarf ceriths as they seem most active on the glass. The florida ceriths seemed to have died or just not do much. Some of the other more medium ones love to hang out above the water. And I love the nassarius' running around all the time. I also got a 4 legged brittle star who's pretty reclusive and a handfull of hermits and a couple bigger thin striped which are a laugh. Though I did banish biggest to overflow box for algae there for a bit as he was knocking stuff over. I've had to redo my rocks a few times and still not sure if I'm happy with layout. (currently looks like hermits/snails may be getting stuck between crevice of pvc and wall in back.
A lot of my equipment and live stuff came from a tank break down. So I have a fair amount of micro bristle stars and worms running around. Got a lot of mushrooms, green star polyp and some kind of fluffy xenia. Had some learning curve with a single head of green button that kept floating away since it wasn't attached to anything, and a few mushrooms on a tiny bit of rocks. I ended up splurging and getting a hairy mushroom I love, a neat striped mushroom, and a torch coral at D&G. Though the torch was an accident. I'd asked a few times on ID on stuff and that I only wanted soft/mushroom/zoa's but at the end when I picked some out let me go home with it. It ended up stinging a couple mushrooms who've been unhappy. Moved him and seems happy for the moment but I'm going to likely sell/trade rather than risking it dying on me in a few months. I wanted simple corals so I'm not worrying about all the dosing and extra testing. Hands are full enough as is.
Oh and I have a monster majano in my refugium and some aptasia I'm leaving for now. Main tank had one or 2 aptasia heads I took out.
So far water though seems to be excellent with 0's across the big 3. PH has been wanting to be at 7.8. I'd been trying to bring up with Aquavitro 8.4, though if I backed off on dosing wanted to drop back down. I did add another bag of aragonite substrate to try and help add buffer? In any case the PH I think is my only current big worry. Possibly temp come summer since during the day with lights it sits at 79/80 pretty easily. (Loft in 3rd floor apartment.) That and my BH100? In water pump skimmer has been giving me some fits.
Long but a complete overview I can refer back to and update perhaps when asking questions in the future.
By lonely I just mean seems like there is a lot less marine action compared to Denver/Springs btw. Please no propositions ;p.
I'm new to saltwater and originally got into it because of my interest in stomatopods, aka mantis shrimp. Though since then having stepped into Great White and D&G became interested in corals as well and also find myself with a long list of inverts I'd also like to keep at some point. (Pom Pom, sexy shrimp, harlequin, asst crabs etc.) Unfortunately they don't mix well with the mantis.
I've already gotten started with some missteps. Had a 45g up a week which broke the center brace, had to rush and replace it with a petco 55 as it was best option to accommodate the lighting I already have. Still kinda wish I'd gotten a 40g breeder but I didn't have tools/time or skill to rig up a stand for the light so it wasn't cooking things.
I currently have Dave at Aquamart trying to find me a G. Graphurus mantis, and if anyone knows anyone else who might be good at finding specific species I'd love that info. Just about everyone has peacocks but since I am keeping some corals would be not as ideal since the lights can cause issues with them. Also working on figuring out if there is a local place or online better for trying to get just cheap snails/crabs for mantis munchies. Intention is to feed heavily with frozen shrimp and stuff but realize all my janitors are edible.
Attached are some photo's of assorted dates. I forget the exact date I started but tank has now been up about a month, month and a half. I just got my reefcleaners order in this week which have gone to town on the algae on my white coral skeleton and are still working on the glass. I'm thinking I may need more dwarf ceriths as they seem most active on the glass. The florida ceriths seemed to have died or just not do much. Some of the other more medium ones love to hang out above the water. And I love the nassarius' running around all the time. I also got a 4 legged brittle star who's pretty reclusive and a handfull of hermits and a couple bigger thin striped which are a laugh. Though I did banish biggest to overflow box for algae there for a bit as he was knocking stuff over. I've had to redo my rocks a few times and still not sure if I'm happy with layout. (currently looks like hermits/snails may be getting stuck between crevice of pvc and wall in back.
A lot of my equipment and live stuff came from a tank break down. So I have a fair amount of micro bristle stars and worms running around. Got a lot of mushrooms, green star polyp and some kind of fluffy xenia. Had some learning curve with a single head of green button that kept floating away since it wasn't attached to anything, and a few mushrooms on a tiny bit of rocks. I ended up splurging and getting a hairy mushroom I love, a neat striped mushroom, and a torch coral at D&G. Though the torch was an accident. I'd asked a few times on ID on stuff and that I only wanted soft/mushroom/zoa's but at the end when I picked some out let me go home with it. It ended up stinging a couple mushrooms who've been unhappy. Moved him and seems happy for the moment but I'm going to likely sell/trade rather than risking it dying on me in a few months. I wanted simple corals so I'm not worrying about all the dosing and extra testing. Hands are full enough as is.
Oh and I have a monster majano in my refugium and some aptasia I'm leaving for now. Main tank had one or 2 aptasia heads I took out.
So far water though seems to be excellent with 0's across the big 3. PH has been wanting to be at 7.8. I'd been trying to bring up with Aquavitro 8.4, though if I backed off on dosing wanted to drop back down. I did add another bag of aragonite substrate to try and help add buffer? In any case the PH I think is my only current big worry. Possibly temp come summer since during the day with lights it sits at 79/80 pretty easily. (Loft in 3rd floor apartment.) That and my BH100? In water pump skimmer has been giving me some fits.
Long but a complete overview I can refer back to and update perhaps when asking questions in the future.
