BPB’s 150 gallon

[Bpb]

Love the colors. What a great selection of fish!!

I’ve always wanted anthias for years but never was confident I had a large enough tank for them. I killed a few dispar anthias early on in my last tank and kind of swore off them. Decided to try a nice big 10 specimen shoal with an alpha male, all XL size and see if that helps. I’ll bring the rest of my fish over from my last tank in a week or so to be fully stocked. Still would like some flasher wrasses and a school of red cardinals

As of now, all 21 fish are aggressively eating and keeping down food so that’s a good sign

 

[Bpb]

Couple weeks with lights and starting to get some color and life to the rocks. This is the part where I don’t panic about algae on the rocks. All part of the process. In an uncharacteristic move for myself, I’m picking up some snails today. I haven’t kept snails in years. I expect them to be every bit as useless as they were before

 

[dragon99]

I've always found them useful, but the problem is getting the right amount, ie not too many that they starve after a few weeks but enough to make an impact.

They also really like cleaning my glass and powerheads, but rock is never this spotless.

 

[Bpb]

I've always found them useful, but the problem is getting the right amount, ie not too many that they starve after a few weeks but enough to make an impact.

They also really like cleaning my glass and powerheads, but rock is never this spotless.

You’ve sent me that before and that picture is what always has had me curious about trying snails again. Perhaps I just never had the right type. Getting some that look like those today

 

[JCOLE]

Looking good!! Just added 17 bumblebee snails myself today in hopes they will take care of the Vermitids. Reeftopia is great for snails. I usually get 100 astreas at a time and they do great at eliminating algae.

 

[Bpb]

Looking good!! Just added 17 bumblebee snails myself today in hopes they will take care of the Vermitids. Reeftopia is great for snails. I usually get 100 astreas at a time and they do great at eliminating algae.

I added 10 baby turbo snails today. Got them from a local who had excess. Zero acclimation needed, as the guy lives on my street and the salinity was identical. They’re munching away presently.

As expected I’ve lost some fish in the last week. More than I’d have liked to, but that’s life for you. Started with 10 anthias, 10 chromis, and one leopard wrasse. I immediately started them on a metro+ regiment but several dropped like flies in the first few days. Leopard died on day 2, and I’m also down to 4/10 chromis, and 9/10 anthias. They’re all eating ravenously and now accepting pellets and frozen food. I’m on day 6 of metro+. I have high hopes we have turned a corner, as I haven’t had a death in 3 days now. The male anthias has to be my favorite fish I’ve ever owned. Once my canopy is completed I’ll retrieve my fish that I kept in my 90 gallon which a local is babysitting. I need a canopy, as the foxface is a known jumper. Tried to make a break for it almost daily in the last tank.

 

[Bpb]

Went ahead and retrieved the remainder of my old fish and grabbed my LPS while I was at it. It was an extremely stressful trip for them. Due to the fact that it was less than a mile trip, and the salinity was exactly the same, I crammed it all in a bucket (which they were only in for about 15 minutes). It made them very unhappy. But. Everyone is in and eating so that’s a good sign.

Tank filled 5/3/2021, and fully stocked on 5/25/2021. To those reading who think that’s too fast, bear in mind I am using about 100 pounds of rock, and about 3-4 gallons worth of media (siporax and pond matrix) that had been curing for a couple years so I didn’t really have a cycle in a classic sense.

What I DO have is quite a bit of hair algae now on the light facing rock surfaces which is totally fine! This rock has been dark curing the whole time so the surface is barren. I’ll let the foxface and tangs work on it for a month or so and if they can’t stay ahead, I’ll order a couple urchins. Hair algae is no big deal. I’m of the belief it is more a product of inadequate herbivores than anything. As coraline and sponge growth comes in it’ll disappear. Turf scrubber is finally starting to get some growth as well since I had to kill off the screen

Fish stocking will be subject to change over time as things die off and get added, but as of now my stock presently is

Green Chromis (5)
Lyretail Anthias (9)
Clarkii Clownfish
One-spot Foxface Rabbitfish
Yellow Tang
Tomini Tang
Pajama Cardinal
Royal Gramma

I’d still like to add a few wrasses or small oddball reef safe peaceful fish, a swallowtail angel, or a blue-throat trigger, but I’m not sure the tank is quite big enough. I’m already pretty heavily stocked and am about out of “territories”

Next steps on the to do list are to mount the controller components in the stand, complete refinishing of the stand and canopy, get second light fixture mounted and dialed in on par. Then bring on the Acros.

Couple of lousy quick cell shots

 

[BCSreef]

Looking great!

I too have never had much luck with snails and I have had just about every species. I think my main issue is that I always seem to have a snail predator. I now have a Melanarus wrasse that loves to rip them from their shell! I do have 3 large conchs that are a few years old. They must be too large for the wrasse the handle. They never make it out of the sand bed. A combination of a brush mouth tang (cleans glass), yellow, purple and blue hippo tangs keeps my DT spotless.

You'll love the anthias! I added 7 ignitus (2 males and 5 females) 2 years ago. Lost one female right away, but the rest have been doing great. Even the 2 males seem to get along. Although the other male has the harem. They just add so much color and motion!

 

[Bpb]

Looking great!

I too have never had much luck with snails and I have had just about every species. I think my main issue is that I always seem to have a snail predator. I now have a Melanarus wrasse that loves to rip them from their shell! I do have 3 large conchs that are a few years old. They must be too large for the wrasse the handle. They never make it out of the sand bed. A combination of a brush mouth tang (cleans glass), yellow, purple and blue hippo tangs keeps my DT spotless.

You'll love the anthias! I added 7 ignitus (2 males and 5 females) 2 years ago. Lost one female right away, but the rest have been doing great. Even the 2 males seem to get along. Although the other male has the harem. They just add so much color and motion!

I had a melanarus in my last tank and he was brutal with snails man. He’d bite down hard on their feet and violently smash the shell against the rocks like an angry dog tearing up something. Ripped entire snails out of their shells. Pretty interesting to watch actually.

Big fan of the anthias so far. The behavior and interaction among each other is so fun to watch. The male is clearly the alpha and everyone yields to him, but the females are constantly challenging each other and spiking up their fins.

The other fish have settled in and given the hair algae a nice buzz cut on the rocks. It’s not gone just very short now already. Royal gramma has yet to eat with the others as it tends to be incredibly shy. I do see it snatching pellets and mysis that pass by its cave. The adult chromis I’ve had for years is kinda acting funny and hasn’t joined the 4 other younglings. He’s been swimming funny but doesn’t have any visible marks or damage and is eating as aggressively as all the rest. Just swims goofy. Nose up tail down bouncing like it’s on a pogo stick. Straightens up and flies right to fill it’s belly. But then back to bouncing

I’ve not yet tested my parameters beyond salinity and temperature. The rock is obviously pretty mature and acclimating to receiving light still, and the sand is young. Not sure what I should be looking for as a green light to start back with sps

 

[BCSreef]

The melanarus is a beautiful fish, but one I'm sorry to have. Mine has also eaten small hermits, peppermints and mini brittle stars. I also suspect it of killing a pair of sand sifting gobies :mad:

I too became a big fan of anthias after seeing them live. I always worried about getting them food multiple times a day, but an auto feeder (small pellets) solved that issue. I worried about NO3 and PO4 spiking, but only PO4 is running higher than before. I think all this extra feeding has really had a positive effect on coral growth rate. Some of the Acros are growing like weeds!

The fish behavior is always weird in the beginning, but it all will settle down eventually.

It sounds like your about ready to add your SPSs back. They should all be decent sized colonies by now. Are you going to add them gradually or all at once? You could always add a few "test" colonies or frags and watch for their reactions. A good ICP test might be a good confidence builder.

 

[Bpb]

The melanarus is a beautiful fish, but one I'm sorry to have. Mine has also eaten small hermits, peppermints and mini brittle stars. I also suspect it of killing a pair of sand sifting gobies :mad:

I too became a big fan of anthias after seeing them live. I always worried about getting them food multiple times a day, but an auto feeder (small pellets) solved that issue. I worried about NO3 and PO4 spiking, but only PO4 is running higher than before. I think all this extra feeding has really had a positive effect on coral growth rate. Some of the Acros are growing like weeds!

The fish behavior is always weird in the beginning, but it all will settle down eventually.

It sounds like your about ready to add your SPSs back. They should all be decent sized colonies by now. Are you going to add them gradually or all at once? You could always add a few "test" colonies or frags and watch for their reactions. A good ICP test might be a good confidence builder.

I actually sold off all my colonies and trimmed about a 1” frag of everything days before shut down. They’ve also moved to 3 different tanks and 3 different lighting situations so they definitely aren’t growing as fast as they would be if mounted to the rocks. A couple have died in the mix but most are still alive. I’ve actually never done an icp test before. Not a terrible idea. I started the tank up with Red Sea blue bucket and haven’t done a water change.

 

[BCSreef]

I actually sold off all my colonies and trimmed about a 1” frag of everything days before shut down. They’ve also moved to 3 different tanks and 3 different lighting situations so they definitely aren’t growing as fast as they would be if mounted to the rocks. A couple have died in the mix but most are still alive. I’ve actually never done an icp test before. Not a terrible idea. I started the tank up with Red Sea blue bucket and haven’t done a water change.

I think you told me that was the plan a while ago, but I forgot, of course It's great you only lost a few. Last time I did something similar, I lost quite a few. Although, crowding, lighting and flow were contributing factors.

I did my 1st ICP a few years ago when the corals were just not looking good. The results (very high metals) helped me find a rusty powehead magnet (ugly photo below). I think I would have lost everything if I didn't find it. I now have an ICP done once a month and since have found 2 other corroding magnets. ICPs are also nice because it gives me confidence that my own testing for Ca, alk., NO3 and PO4 is valid when my numbers align with theirs. The only downside is that it can take up to 2 weeks to get results from ATI. I think Triton is faster, but ATI also tests your RO water.

 

[BCSreef]

I might add that the ICP is a good way to determine dosing of supplements. I used to dose all 4 of the Red Sea "Colors, A, B, C & D" according to their instructions. ICP made me realize I only needed C and D along with some DIY Mn.

 

[dragon99]

Proof of life (except that one frag ;Sorry )

 

[Bpb]

Proof of life (except that one frag ;Sorry )

GIVE ME BACK MY SON!

 

[Bpb]

Proof of life (except that one frag ;Sorry )

 

[Bpb]

Proof of life (except that one frag ;Sorry )

Those are encrusting surprisingly well! I think I’m going to do an ICP test like @BCSreef recommended and try to finish my canopy. It’s been annoying getting it sanded for refinishing. Phosphate is only 0.04ppm as of today. Soon as I get ICP test back and canopy mounted I’ll try some testers from you! Then I have to figure out how I’m going to conceal my calcium reactor and Kalkwasser reactor. The boss said no equipment laying around long term. Need to find a good looking method to hide those. I could sneak two part in if I wanted to go that route

 

[dragon99]

Remind me again, from left it's bonfire, bill murray, aquaticman? There were all green for awhile but starting to color up a bit.

 

[Bpb]

Had to think. But yes I believe you are correct.

 

[BCSreef]

Proof of life (except that one frag ;Sorry )

Yeoman's effort to not only keep all but one alive, but to turn them into nice mini-colonies. Nice job!