Albertan22's 120g Reef

[Albertan22]

For whatever reason, this morning I had a hunch that my rogue mantis had taken over the home that the first mantis had built. So I pulled the rock out and started poking around and what fell out was definately not a mantis!



I think this is the loonie sized crab I saw when I first put my rock into the tank. He's living in my refugium now along with a little ball of cheato I obtained today and the last little crab I pulled out of the DT

[Albertan22]

Woohoo! First fish



These guys will be in QT for 4-6 weeks, the main tank should be more than ready for them by then. Next step will be adding a cleanup crew to the main tank. Hopefully that will happen in the next week or two, we'll see how the cycle progresses I guess...

[Albertan22]

Found the smaller of the two clowns (the darker coloured one) dead this morning I'm not exactly sure what happened. Neither of them have been eating since I picked them up (I did see them eat at the LFS), but I figured I wouldn't worry as it's only been a couple of days. The larger one was always shaking and dancing around the smaller one, but the little guy always seemed to ignore the big one. I'm wondering if the larger of the two decided to kill the little guy? Or maybe it was just stress... Hopefully the one I have left starts eating. A big water change is also in order tonight as the death has caused an ammonia spike

[Albertan22]

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I've updated this thread. Not a whole lot has been happening with the tank. I'm still reading somewhere around 0.25ppm ammonia, this level hasn't changed in 2 or 3 weeks, I'm thinking about taking some water to an LFS for confirmation.

My other clown fish also died, he had something weird growing out of his head one evening, I was going to go into the City to get some medication the next day but he was dead by morning. Hopefully this isn't an omen of things to come.

I also tore down my rockwork today looking for that elusive mantis, but he was nowhere to be found. Lots of little crabs though I'm starting to wonder if maybe whatever I saw all those weeks ago was either something else, or didn't make it through the cycle/starved? I do hear clicking and snapping from the tank every now an then, but I've come to realize that lots of things make clicking and snapping noises (ATO, heaters, light timers, splashes, etc.). I guess I'll find out when I add a CUC.

[MMAX]

I had a clown with the same thing as yours, he had something growing out of his bottom lip. Freshwater dipped him twice and then quarentined him with doses of Instant Ocean Lifeguard. He was fine within a week and was quite a little trooper until he decided to find out what life was like outside the tank. I miss that little guy.

[Albertan22]

I've been having re-start problems with my Quiet One 3000 return pump so I decided to bite the bullet and replace it. I changed it out with an Eheim 1262. I knew the Eheim would have more flow than the Quiet One pump, but wow was I not prepared for how much more it had. The Quiet One pump must not have had nearly the flow it advertised, because they aren't even remotely close, I had to dial the Eheim way back to get my sump to run quietly. Enough with the writting though, on with the pictures!

The new pump (right) next to the old (left):



Because of the size difference, I had to make some modifications to the plumbing. I cut out a big piece of solid pvc and replaced it with some flexible tubing to make it all fit.

Sump shot:



The tank is cycled, will probably be adding CUC and maybe some zoas or something tomorrow

[Albertan22]

Finally some life in the tank! Today I added some snails, some hermit crabs, and a peppermint shrimp (disapeared rapidly into the rock). I also added a really cool zoa frag and a hammer coral frag. The frags opened back up within an hour, hopefully everything stays healthy and happy. Time for some pics

Zoa (camera doesn't give the colours justice):



Hammer:



FTS



I had to tear down the rockwork to get to a mantis shrimp, and wouldn't you know it, I couldn't get the rock back quite right. Not sure I'm happy with it, but I spent the better part of a day rearranging so this is how it will stay, for now....

Bought a couple more fish for QT as well, not going to jinx them this time by posting pics and details until they've lasted a couple weeks though Thanks for looking.

[Lance]

Coming along nicely.

[Albertan22]

Well it's been awhile since I last updated this thread. Not a whole lot has been going on with the tank in the last month. My clownfish made it out of QT, but I didn't have a lot of extra cash to spend on corals or other fish, so things have just been growing out. I've had an algae explosion on my overflow and powerheads, but luckily it hasn't spread to the rocks at all. Guess the clean up crew is doing their job. The sand is also getting a bit brown, with a little bit of green algae in it as well. Not sure that there's anything to be done about that though seeing as how it's a new tank and I'm already running GFO in a reactor. Coraline algae is really taking off and colouring up all my rock as well

Anyway, without further ado...

FTS


The hammer is doing really well


Hairy the snail (always packs a lunch )


Thanks for looking.

[lastlight]

With that crop growing on him you're in for some snail-on-snail action soon. Nice rockwork...I'm jealous of all that purple you have no idea!