400 gallon project

danny zubot · #1 04-30-2007, 02:56 PM

You're really going all out with this tank! If you are putting this much into your softies already I can't wait to see what SPS peices you come across.

untamed · #2 04-30-2007, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinl

tank is coming along quite nicely! so you're one of the few who still use bioballs huh? make sure you rinse those once in a while... though im sure you know that already.

weird about the mantids. do you feed them other stuff intentionally? maybe you just have hippy mantids!

The bioballs were placed to create some first bio filtration so that the rock would have an easier time when it first entered. I've actually been removing the bioballs slowly over the past few weeks. As of yesterday, they are all gone.

I do feed the mantis, because it is fun!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Wow that's a lot of sponge! Where are they from? What's their care requirements, I thought they were phytoplankton feeders? Or is it zooplankton?

Nice to see most if not all of the gorgs are still with us!

Yes, the photosynthetic gorgs are doing great! I'm less positive about the others...

The sponges are part of the TBSaltwater rock shipment. As for sponge care requirements...good questions that I can't find an answer for. One source suggests that they feed on bacteria. I am feeding a huge variety of phyto, zoo, fine particulate food etc...but the survival rate for sponges of this kind is very low.

untamed · #3 05-01-2007, 04:21 AM

Always have a camera ready by the tank...

Last night as I was watching TV, there was some very loud "whacking" and I could see a blur of movement across the front of the tank.

It seems that one of the mantis found a crab and was in pursuit. I managed to snap a couple of photos of the brief battle, which was front/centre of the tank out on the open sand. The crab withstood only 3 blows. The mantis then grabbed his prey up and swam away back to his favourite hole.

Now I know what their primary food is. (This might be a good time to mention that I've also allowed the dozens of gorilla and other crabs to stay in the tank along with the mantis)

At the end, I shot a quick video. Unfortunately since the Sopranos was on TV, the background audio portion of the video is...well...not postable here....

Midknight · #4 05-01-2007, 04:55 PM

I would say the sound track would be perfict for someone getting "wacked"

justinl · #5 05-02-2007, 06:14 AM

hey great pics of the wennie hunting! lol i guess they're not hippies after all eh?

untamed · #6 05-06-2007, 10:36 PM

Things are progressing slowly. Today, I added two more fish. The first is a Blue Throat Trigger. He is proving to be difficult to photograph at the moment as he is a bit excited at the new surroundings.

The other new fish is a Yellow Tang. Every tank has to have one of these right? Actually, I'm hoping he has more of a taste for filimentous algae than the Naso Tang. We'll see. The Yellow and Naso seem to be quite pleased with by each other's company.

untamed · #7 05-06-2007, 10:41 PM

Here's an update on my phytoplankton efforts. I think I'm having more success now. This is an example of what I'm currently brewing. This batch has been going for 2 weeks now and still has a rich, green colour. (not the yellow-green that I was getting before).

Although I've played with the recipe, I think the improvement is because of:
1) Daily shaking to prevent anything from settling on the bottom.
2) 2nd and 3rd time using the same bottles. It's possible that the bottles weren't absolutely clean the first time I used them, but now they are behaving better.

I've manipulated the amount of fertilizer in the mix, but get very similar results no matter what I do.