120-SR Predator softie build

[Oredigger77]

Those are nice looking mushrooms. I’ve always wanted a small ricordia garden. Get them to attack to some rubble and then you can move them around if they aren’t happy in a particular spot. Do you have an acclimation box?

Yep, sure do. We've never used it but it's in the pile somewhere. It have two chambers.

By attach to some rubble do you mean get them off the plug they're on?

Also about an hour after my earlier post @Marine Collectors called and my regals are headed our way on Wednesday for a Thursday arrival. So it'll be a busy week in the tank. They're eating TDO chromoboost small, v2o kill 1.2mm pellets and a third I wasn't able to remember long enough to write down so we're getting them ordered to be here this week too.

 

[TheWB]

Yep, sure do. We've never used it but it's in the pile somewhere. It have two chambers.

By attach to some rubble do you mean get them off the plug they're on?

Also about an hour after my earlier post @Marine Collectors called and my regals are headed our way on Wednesday for a Thursday arrival. So it'll be a busy week in the tank. They're eating TDO chromoboost small, v2o kill 1.2mm pellets and a third I wasn't able to remember long enough to write down so we're getting them ordered to be here this week too.

I totally didn’t notice they were on plugs. A lot of times with mushrooms you have to get them to attach to something before you can place them.

That’s great news about the Regals. I’ll be excited to see them, l love pairs and trios of fish.

 

[Oredigger77]

I totally didn’t notice they were on plugs. A lot of times with mushrooms you have to get them to attach to something before you can place them.

That’s great news about the Regals. I’ll be excited to see them, l love pairs and trios of fish.

At least two out of three are on plugs. Say the third one isn't. What do I do with the acclimation box?

 

[TheWB]

At least two out of three are on plugs. Say the third one isn't. What do I do with the acclimation box?

Just put it in there with some rubble until it attaches to something. You just don’t want it loose in your tank without being attached to something as an anchor. That way you can place it where you want it.

 

[Oredigger77]

I just made it official this afternoon but we're delaying the regals. They were supposed to ship out this afternoon but we're due to get 4-12" tonight and it's not uncommon to have the delivery guys refuse to deliver after a storm or they just leave the package in a snow bank and call it good.

On an interesting note. I got a call from Eliot at @Marine Collectors this week seperate from the discussion on shipping the fish. Apparently, there is a chance that the captive bred yellow belly angels may actually be indian ocean grey bellies (still captive bred). It seems that bali aquarich keeps both types of regals in the same tank as they are growing out so there is a chance to get them mixed up since the only difference between them is size. We won't know for several years if we got the yellow bellies we wanted. Kind of a bummer but nothing the guys at Marine Collectors can do. We're sticking with our two since there doesn't seem to be a way to get a captive bred regal yellow belly that doesn't have a chance to be a grey.

Also I misread the dates my coral is shipping so it won't be here until next Friday so our big week is getting delayed. Which I'm fine with we're still slowly bringing up the salinity from 1.018 to 1.024 and as of yesterday we were only to 1.020. I had it down to help the tank cycle faster and we started topping off with saltwater last Friday to get ready for the fish and coral.

 

[TheWB]

I just made it official this afternoon but we're delaying the regals. They were supposed to ship out this afternoon but we're due to get 4-12" tonight and it's not uncommon to have the delivery guys refuse to deliver after a storm or they just leave the package in a snow bank and call it good.

On an interesting note. I got a call from Eliot at @Marine Collectors this week seperate from the discussion on shipping the fish. Apparently, there is a chance that the captive bred yellow belly angels may actually be indian ocean grey bellies (still captive bred). It seems that bali aquarich keeps both types of regals in the same tank as they are growing out so there is a chance to get them mixed up since the only difference between them is size. We won't know for several years if we got the yellow bellies we wanted. Kind of a bummer but nothing the guys at Marine Collectors can do. We're sticking with our two since there doesn't seem to be a way to get a captive bred regal yellow belly that doesn't have a chance to be a grey.

Also I misread the dates my coral is shipping so it won't be here until next Friday so our big week is getting delayed. Which I'm fine with we're still slowly bringing up the salinity from 1.018 to 1.024 and as of yesterday we were only to 1.020. I had it down to help the tank cycle faster and we started topping off with saltwater last Friday to get ready for the fish and coral.

Good call on delaying the shipping of the Regals. No sense taking any chances with their lives or your money if you don’t have to. You did the right thing.

 

[Oredigger77]

After three days of not getting above zero today was finally some heat as we got into the mid 20s. Unfortunately, I got a call from @TopShelfAquatics and their shipper told them there is a freeze warning so we rescheduled for next Wednesday. About two hours later I got a call from @Marine Collectors and they were concerned about shipping as well so I also rescheduled them for Wednesday next week.

Honestly, I'm ok waiting. Not only will it be better for the critters but it gives me another 5 days to let the tank age a bit more and get in better shape. As of yesterday I've only got the salinity up to 1.023 which considering I've only been topping of with salt for three weeks is surprising to me. I'll get a chance to do a 10% water change and then test my tank this weekend to make any changes it needs.

 

[Oredigger77]

The big update post will hopefully be tomorrow now that the regals are officially on their way and the coral should be soon too.

I've got the tank about ready with the salinity up to 1.026 on today's check it's time to get the ato up and running tonight and while I haven't been able to get any testing or water change done I'm feeling pretty good. I found a small batch of snail eggs on the glass today so they must be at least some what happy.

We'll see how many make it but with starting to feed fish in the tank tomorrow there should be plenty of food for more snails.

I really do want to get a baseline for the tank parameters but my wife is out if town at a conference this week and one of my kids got sent home sick yesterday so I'm scrambling to keep the house together and I think my post bed time free time will be spent getting the ato to work.

 

[Oredigger77]

Huh, I just found another group of the things on the opposite side of the front pane. It's got me wondering if they're snail eggs at all. Any ideas?

Oh, and yes, a glass clean is on my list before I get some pictures of the regals.

 

[TheWB]

Huh, I just found another group of the things on the opposite side of the front pane. It's got me wondering if they're snail eggs at all. Any ideas?

Oh, and yes, a glass clean is on my list before I get some pictures of the regals.

Not sure what the stuff on the glass is. Probably snail eggs but I've never seen anything like that in my tank. What ATO did you go with. Usually that’s a pretty easy install. I’ve got the Tunze 3155 and that’s pretty much plug and play.

 

[Oredigger77]

I don't know what kind of ato it is, it came with the tank since I got it used. We've been looking out for an ozmetalor but have caught one in stock yet. It should work since it did before but I've never set one up before.

 

[Oredigger77]

I got the ATO hooked up last night and it seems to be working or at least the system turned on when I lifted the sensor out of the water last night. I haven't heard it run yet today.

But on to the fun news. We seem to have life in the tank. Out regal babies showed up this morning and they were swimming in their bag. I immeaditly got them floats but the coral showed up simultaneously so I let them float as I got the coral acclimated and dipped in CoralRX. I didn't see any pests fall off and we've been fortunate with TSA in the past.

It's fun that the regals have personality already. One is much more adventurous than the other or at least that's the way it seems. In the bucket as I was drip acclimating one was always swimming near the surface and looking up and me.

Once I got them in the tank one is out exploring from the cave they've claimed as their's.

I guess I'm going to need to learn how to take better pictures since these guys look so cool.

I ended up filling the valley with the mushrooms. The Ricordia looks like it came through the best of the three mushrooms or at least it looks most like the picture.

Right now it seems like a good choice. They are swaying gently in the current and they are close to the bottom of the tank.

I'll have to feed this evening but I've got to figure out the best way to get food down in the cave.

 

[TheWB]

I got the ATO hooked up last night and it seems to be working or at least the system turned on when I lifted the sensor out of the water last night. I haven't heard it run yet today.

But on to the fun news. We seem to have life in the tank. Out regal babies showed up this morning and they were swimming in their bag. I immeaditly got them floats but the coral showed up simultaneously so I let them float as I got the coral acclimated and dipped in CoralRX. I didn't see any pests fall off and we've been fortunate with TSA in the past.

It's fun that the regals have personality already. One is much more adventurous than the other or at least that's the way it seems. In the bucket as I was drip acclimating one was always swimming near the surface and looking up and me.

Once I got them in the tank one is out exploring from the cave they've claimed as their's.

I guess I'm going to need to learn how to take better pictures since these guys look so cool.

I ended up filling the valley with the mushrooms. The Ricordia looks like it came through the best of the three mushrooms or at least it looks most like the picture.

Right now it seems like a good choice. They are swaying gently in the current and they are close to the bottom of the tank.

I'll have to feed this evening but I've got to figure out the best way to get food down in the cave.

Wow, those look great but they are really small. I’d probably turn off your pumps and use a coral feeder or turkey baster to make sure the food gets into their area unless they decide to come out in the open. Watching them grow up is going to be fun.

 

[Oredigger77]

Wow, those look great but they are really small. I’d probably turn off your pumps and use a coral feeder or turkey baster to make sure the food gets into their area unless they decide to come out in the open. Watching them grow up is going to be fun.

Ya, they are a very bright yellow the photos doesn't do it justice. I'm excited to watch them grow up and stick around for a while. I didn't think they would fit in the cave above the one I took the picture of them in but that seems to be where they've moved for now. Luckily there isn't any compition for food.

 

[Oredigger77]

After three days the regals are starting to come out more. Yesterday I watched the brave one swim from one side of the rock work to the other for several hours. This morning I came out to see him out of the rock work and swimming in the open. It's been 30 minutes and he hasn't been back in the rocks yet. I fed them their first try of frozen food and even the shy one came out a little bit.

 

[Oredigger77]

I needed to run to the LFS to get some phyto and ended up coming home with a pile of LPS and softies. We got two gongorians a purple blade and a candelabra, another ricordia, a duncan, a leprastrea and a pectinia colony.

Here's our latest FTS and a couple of close ups since the tank is so long you can't see much in the FTS. Of course the regal is a ham and is in both of the close in shots.

I'm really enjoying the life and movement. It'll be better tomorrow when everything is open and more recovered from the transport and dipping.

 

[Oredigger77]

I finally tested the tank and it's looking pretty good.

SG - 1.026
pH - 8.2
Phos - 0.02
Alk - 7.3
Calc - 375

Since the rest was OK I didn't bother to test mag since it's a pain.

 

[TheWB]

I finally tested the tank and it's looking pretty good.

SG - 1.026
pH - 8.2
Phos - 0.02
Alk - 7.3
Calc - 375

Since the rest was OK I didn't bother to test mag since it's a pain.

What salt mix are you using? What parameters is it supposed to mix up to? Just asking because your calcium seems low considering you don’t have a lot of corals or coralline growth yet.

 

[Oredigger77]

What salt mix are you using? What parameters is it supposed to mix up to? Just asking because your calcium seems low considering you don’t have a lot of corals or coralline growth yet.

Regular Red sea.

You're right it is low I didn't even think to check at 1.026 we should be at

Not sure what I should do with that info. This is the first tank I've made salt for. I guess top up alkalinity, CA and MG to the bag levels?

 

[TheWB]

Regular Red sea.

You're right it is low I didn't even think to check at 1.026 we should be at

Not sure what I should do with that info. This is the first tank I've made salt for. I guess top up alkalinity, CA and MG to the bag levels?

Test your mixed new water and see where its at. You might have had some consumption but you won’t really know unless you know what the baseline is.