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adnedarn's reef tank....build and progress

  • #61
PPE's! I had a really nice collection of PPEs that I ran numerous tests on based on lighting (MH, LED, CFL, T5) flow, additional additives, propogation... etc. It was really interesting. I do not remember how many palys I had but I had many different types of people eaters. =P
 
  • #62
Bummer man! I just picked up a pack of Acans and Favias... I also picked up another anemone from Au... I guess it's supposed to stay smaller and more vibrant so we'll see! So far it is like a green/yellow with pink tips! Also I sold one of the big anemones, interesting process to learn how to get them off of the rock! hahaha Please let me know if you're looking to get rid of any hardware if anything is worth passing on (and not being shut down because it's all old and on the verge of not working).
Andrew
 
  • #63
20150801_171321.jpg

This is the frag pack mentioned above in the QT.
 
  • #64
Everything looks great! I love checking in on this thread i always wanted a tank with living corals and fish.. But I'll settle for keeping my plants alive before i get into anything else lol! Looks great love the anemones their so fun to look at :)
Someday I'll have a living terrarium with frogs or something so my plants can have someone to enjoy them from the reptile/animal/amphibian perspective lol
And plans for other fish? Anything ur wanting to get your hands on? :)
 
  • #65
Definitely plans for other fish! But I'm going to wait for QT time to finish on this stuff, get it all moved over safely then work on the next batch of things to go into QT. ...unless something comes up that I have to have of course! :X
 
  • #66
Hahaha! That always seems to happen make sure ur tank is big enough hehehe!
 
  • #67
Great looking corals Andrew! Those colors must really fluoresce under actinic. One of my favorite calm tempered fish for mid sized reef tanks is the melanuris wrasse. Very playful & beneficial to corals, keeping them nice & clean while interacting with owners. I love their sideways curious stares as well.
 
  • #68
Great looking corals Andrew! Those colors must really fluoresce under actinic. One of my favorite calm tempered fish for mid sized reef tanks is the melanuris wrasse. Very playful & beneficial to corals, keeping them nice & clean while interacting with owners. I love their sideways curious stares as well.
Thanks! The QT has little actinic, and it runs with the other light but I'm excited to see them in my DT for sure!
Thanks for the fish suggestion, looks like a great option! He does get kinda big, I'm trying to limit the bigger fish, but he has been added to our view to be one of the candidates. ;)
Andrew

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  • #69
Halichoeres chrysus, the Yellow Coris Wrasse will perform the same function as a melanurus while remaining smaller and giving the screaming yellow color of a Yellow Tang in a package more suitable for smaller tanks.
 
  • #70
Nice! Looks like that one gets up to 5" still, so I'd have to pick the better looking one. The sleeping in the sand of the first one sounds pretty cool too, does the Halichoeres chrysus do that?
 
  • #71
The whole genus to my knowledge has similar behavior. The only difference is size and coloration. Fwiw 5" melanuris are pretty common, but 5" chrysurus are scarce as hen's teeth. I've seen them come in that big, but never seen one grow to more tha 4" in a tank.
 
  • #72
Nice! And I think we were in need of a yellow one, since I don't believe we are on the hunt for one of those yellow Tangs. Thanks for the info!
Andrew
 
  • #73
Yep, both will sleep either under the sand or in their mucus sleeping bag. lol
That bright yellow color is great & not very common besides the tangs as you mentioned. They both will clean pests & benefit corals but they can be curious & nip corals as well, especially if hungry. You should easily find a coris wrasse & it will be about half the price of a melanuris. I usually always see multiple yellow coris at my LFShops but just a couple or none of the melanuris. I had to hunt for a bit before getting my first. The yellows seem a bit more flighty in that they will dart off & sometimes sand dive if startled. They also seemed to prefer open swimming than hanging out in the rockwork. The melanuris' seem to love mazing through the rockwork most of the time, but were less flighty & more interactive to the point that they would handfeed & get playful. This advice is just from personal experience owning a few of each so I'm sure other fish have varying personalities. Also! - you'll likely not see them for days after being added to your tank after qt. They immediately sand dived & hid for a bit before getting comfortable. They get along with other tankmates but they WILL establish a usually small territory/home & will guard it against other smaller fish especially against other wrasses. The territory can sometimes be a small cave or an entire section of rockwork. If you think that you may want 2 then you may want to consider adding them at the same time. If the 2nd is added later it will get picked on unless its the same size or larger in what I've seen with the wrasses that I've kept in the past. The 6-line is also an awesome little wrasse if you're looking for something really small. It can get pretty aggressive for a little bugger though. Very spunky.
 
  • #74
Mucus sleeping bag doesn't sound nearly as cool ;) my LFS had one of the melanuris when I was there on Sunday. I think it was $35, they said they commonly have at least one and sometimes more in at a time. They suggested the same as you, if I wanted another wrasse (6 line was suggested as a good tank mate) I should do them pretty close to the same time. It was a pretty neat color, but that yellow may be the way to go if the wife has totally decided against the yellow tang :)
 
  • #75
A better choice temperment wise is Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia, the 4 lined or 12 lined Wrasse. They get a bit bigger but usually don't turn into the pricks that 6 lines often do. The downsides are difficulty in finding them since they're a Hawaiian endemic, and the cost which is usually 3x the cost of a 6 line.
 
  • #76
Those bubble tips look great. In all the anemones I kept I was never able to get them to maintain the bubbles. I love the Kessil lighting. The colors blend so well as opposed to other LED options out there. I wonder if there are any folks that use the Kessil horticultural lights for their CP? Look forward to seeing updates of the tank. Those montipora caps should get massive in no time.
 
  • #77
Hello! I do love the Kessils, as a mater of fact, this Sunday I picked up 2 used ones from my LFS. One for me and one for a friend... LOL If you're talking about the Montipora I was given by the hobbiest back when I first set up, I don't have them anymore. I had a lawnmower in that tank at the same time and he would swim crazy and knock them all over each other. So all that stuff stung each other to death :\
 
  • #78
Ah, that's a shame but those are easily replaceable. I was going to say it looks like a 3rd Kessil would do well right in the middle over the shaded spot. The new AP700 fixture looks really nice, but quite pricey. What's your current coral stock looking like? I'll be honest I didn't glance at the date stamps when looking at the older pics.
 
  • #79
Yep, the middle totally needed something! I still need to order a new arm to mount it, and a cable to add it to the Apex controller with the others. The problem there is the 3/4" thick glass support that is 12" wide right smack in the middle. I'm hoping enough light can get through it to be useable. Let me see if I can get some current pictures together!
Andrew
 
  • #80
I think the center brace will be fine if you keep it relatively free of salt creep and condensation. Just up the intensity of that unit. Maybe can't daisy chain them for all identical intensities but I bet you still get plenty of useable light


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