Reef Tank DIY - For Dummies

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by Dash

Thanks DKoKoMan. Yeah the puffers are very curious, always checking things out. The red spot blenny is also watching it all from his shell. He’s like the grumpy old guy glaring at his neighbours. “What are those dang whippersnappers up to at this time of night?”

Have you added a pair to your tank yet?

Ugh no! I did add a Red Sea Sailfin Tang that was re-homed. I think the next will be a pair of mandarins. You have had yours for some time? Do you deed with copepods often? My fear is I lose the pair from them starving.

[Dash]

I’ve added copepods twice in the three years of the two tanks. Once just before I added Po (75 gal was 8 months old) and the second time was last year when I did the tank transfer. Your tank is way bigger so it should be good?

[DKoKoMan]

Ok. I will give it a whirl. I just need to find a pair now lol.

[Dash]

Hope everyone's enjoying the summer weather. I've been having fun observing the shenanigans going on in my tank...

Added this beauty, an Orange Tree gorgonian. Non-photosynthetic so I've been trying hard to keep him fed. His colour is not as bright now sadly.


Patrick the fromia can always be found in a comical pose


Inkspot tunicate. He refused to be held by mere superglue, shrinking and inflating very defiantly, so I had to MacGyver him down. He's accepted it now, grew a "foot" into the rock in a couple of days


Can't get enough of Walt. What a face


Before the anemone inflated in the morning, I tried to capture the fatness that is the female clown. Still doesn't show her girth. She is laying quite regularly, and I feel a bit bad when they fuss over the eggs.


Petey likes to stick himself to random spots to sleep.


Blondie decided a tiny door was adequate for Snape but swept the front yard clean


I was quite surprised to see how big the Red Diablo was when I was doing a WC. I only see it from the front so it was twice as big as I thought it was

Turned on the lights to capture the polyp madness of the Rainbow Loom

[DKoKoMan]

Tanks looking great!

[Dash]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Tanks looking great!

Thanks! I’m having a lot of fun with it

[Dash]

What a journey with this fish! I added her on Father's Day, into a little cave right up front that I thought would perfect for a jawfish. She didn't move for a couple of days, then disappeared under a rock in the very back. After a week or two of no activity, I saw her motionless tail through a crack and my curiosity got the best of me and I tapped the rock. No reaction so I thought she was dead. (No sign of her eating anything at this point) Decided to get her body out, so I lifted up ALL the rocks only to have her shoot away under a rock on the opposite end of the tank. I was happy because she made a burrow where I could glimpse a shadow of her but that only lasted a couple of days and she disappeared again. One night I finally saw her again when she for some reason kept bobbing and jumping at the waterline. If not for the top, she would have jumped out. I decided to just let her be, and was disappointed that I had added a fish I would never see and likely not survive.

And now, a few days ago, she re-emerged in the very cave I had first put her into, acting like it's her home and accepting frozen food like it's no big deal at all! What. After more than 2 months, I think she's finally decided she's fine with it (Of course, now she's going to disappear again tomorrow) Moral of the story as always in this hobby, patience is usually rewarded.

She has the loveliest face. I named her for Marilyn Monroe in her white dress.