120gal mixed predatory reef tank - Page 13

whatcaneyedo · #**121** 04-09-2011, 07:45 PM

Halichoeres Wrasse are great for flatworm, pyram snail, and bristle worm control. At the moment I'm waiting for the ornate wrasse to grow a little larger so that I can put it in my display tank and not worry that it will get eaten by the eel.

whatcaneyedo · #**122** 05-20-2011, 06:36 AM

Some new pictures for the new month. I picked up a few goodies during one of my semi annual trips to the big cities. From Denis I got this fantastically blue 'frag' of his Turaki along with some others. This prompted me to do some minor aquascaping in order to accommodate it into my display tank. The old blue with brown polyps acro had to go in order to make room. But now I can finally see the one that was sitting just behind it. I'm not sure what kind of acro it is, all I know is that I got it from OA a few years ago and the polyp extension is nuts.

However not all is doing well at the moment in Russell's reef. My orange Montipora capricornis is still struggling to hang onto life. Some combination of new bulbs and seasonally low temperatures caused it to bleach a few months ago. Some spots on it are dead but I remain optimistic that it will return to its former glory in time. To aid its recovery and to hopefully rid my tank of cyano once more I've decided to try out another Prodibio BioKit. I don't know if I was just seeing things or not but when I tried out a BioKit last summer, compliments of Progressive Reef, my cyano went away until recent events brought it back. I think that because of some new product experimenting my tank could use a bit of a re-set and I believe that Prodibio might do that for me. Or maybe I've just been snorting too much kalkwasser.

whatcaneyedo · #**123** 06-30-2011, 02:54 AM

I recently picked up a couple of new additions when a local shut down his tank.

This powder blue tang is now enjoying itself as the king of the castle in my lit 140gal stock trough sump.

Although I've been wanting a nice derasa and maxima to partially replace the seven clams I lost last year I couldn't resist this moderately sized 6" squamosa.

While attempting to take a half decent pictures of the top two I did manage to get a pretty clear shot of the ornate wrasse.

The tail spot blenny is in better focus than last time but its still no award winner.

The first picture I've been able to get of the reclusive female mandarin dragonet that lives in my sump. She was pretty slim when I bought her from the LFS several months ago.

19 month old elegance that was fragged 11 months ago.

Not bad for 10 months growth don't you think? From roughly 10 polyps to this in that amount of time:

Heres the pic again from September last year.

spawn · #**124** 06-30-2011, 03:04 AM

Sweet Pics

Madreefer · #**125** 06-30-2011, 05:16 AM

I was wondering if you were goin to pick up one or all of those clams. I thought about getting one myself but I dont think my wife would be too pleased as i'm goin to be a poor student for a few months starting monday. Your post before your last one with probidio in the title, what is the coral in the second from the top?

whatcaneyedo · #**126** 06-30-2011, 01:00 PM

This Acropora? I don't have a name for it. I got it as a small frag from Ocean Aquatics in the fall of 2008. It doesn't grow exceptionally fast but it does okay. The polyps on it are huge. I think you got a branch of it from me a few months ago.

skabooya · #**127** 07-02-2011, 05:45 PM

nice. i would love to see your tank again in person. i loved it,

ProReef · #**128** 07-02-2011, 06:02 PM

Wow Russel, that looks just awesome. I absolutley love your zoa "life-ring" around your clam. That is rockin'. How has that "green death star" brittle star been behaving? I've seen them take down fish-especially small ones. But i guess your lion also helps with that to! Looks just beautiful. Keep the pictures coming.
Cheers Ronnie

whatcaneyedo · #**129** 07-02-2011, 06:11 PM

You're more than welcome to stop in again the next time you come to PG.

Before I forget. I've concluded my second one month trial of prodibio. The cyano on my sandbed did not go away this time which was unfortunate. However my orange montipora capricornis has made a full recovery. I don't know how much of that I can attribute to prodibio as I believe it was a simple matter of light shock that caused the decline in the first place. For now I'm going back to traditional reefkeeping. No more carbon or bacteria dosing/manipulation. Heavy skimming and regular water changes has worked so well for me in the past. I don't know why I keep trying to mess with it.

whatcaneyedo · #**130** 07-02-2011, 06:30 PM

Thanks Ronnie. The giant green brittle star actually died in April. I got it back in early 2004 and never had any problems with it because I've always stuck with fish that were too large for it to eat. I used to feed it pieces of krill or silverside several times a week which may have helped too. It was pretty disturbing to watch it die. It basically just started to disintegrate from the central disk outwards. Wikipedia states that brittle stars in general only live up to 5 years so I guess it might have been an old age thing. I haven't been able to find any information to make me think otherwise. Aside from the clam problem I haven't had many losses in the last few years. With automation my tank has become extremely stable and predictable. And of course the millions of tiny brittle stars that I have are still thriving and occupying every nook and cranny available.