Dixie's 3gal mixed reef

Dixie_reefer · Jan 8, 2013

Started this baby up about 2 weeks before Christmas 2012. Took about a week to cycle. I have 2 tiny hob pumps with sponges to catch debris. Running leds for light.

Stock:
peppermint cleaner shrimp
3 nass snails
1 margarita snail
2 nerite snail
Banded trochus snail
a couple baby brittles
feather duster
favia
goni
zoas
birds nest
tiny mushroom
blasto
suncoral
2 hydnophora frags
tiny frogspawn

Reef Keeper 18 · Jan 8, 2013

Great looking livestock! Do you have any shots of the whole tank?

Rikerbear · Jan 8, 2013

NICE! Love the choices. Can't wait to see it mature. Where did you find the baby brittles? I've been looking for some of those myself :smile:

Dixie_reefer · Jan 8, 2013

Dixie_reefer · Jan 8, 2013

Reef Keeper 18 said:
Great looking livestock! Do you have any shots of the whole tank?

thanks! Just posted one.

Dixie_reefer · Jan 8, 2013

Rikerbear said:
NICE! Love the choices. Can't wait to see it mature. Where did you find the baby brittles? I've been looking for some of those myself :smile:

Thank you! I was lucky enough to get them on some live rock I bought to seed my 10 gallon. They started reproducing and I was able to get my hands on a couple when I was fragging a coral off of said rock. I did, once upon a time, come across a website that sells them. I will try to find it again and let you know!

revhtree · Jan 8, 2013

Looks great! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Dixie_reefer · Jan 11, 2013

Found a goby small enough for this tank.

alberthiel · Jan 11, 2013

Dixie_reefer said:
Found a goby small enough for this tank.

And a great looking one too ... I love those Gobies ... not just that one but many others. I have a Yellow Rose Goby and a Citron in my 20 G who likes to hug the front glass of the tank ... cutest fish around : - 0

He just hangs there like glued to the front glass, I call him "Magnet". You can also see my Lantern Basslet in the pic.

Dixie_reefer · Jan 11, 2013

How cute! I was wanting to get a panda clown goby but my lfs hardly ever gets them on. He said he could get me a citron but it would be $40. I really like the tangaroa that I got. He likes to chill in the middle of the tank in plain sight and I got him to eat some of the food that I made up. And he has such a personality, I just love him!

alberthiel · Jan 11, 2013

Dixie_reefer said:
How cute! I was wanting to get a panda clown goby but my lfs hardly ever gets them on. He said he could get me a citron but it would be $40. I really like the tangaroa that I got. He likes to chill in the middle of the tank in plain sight and I got him to eat some of the food that I made up. And he has such a personality, I just love him!

Yes I fully agree, Tangaroa gobies (Ctenogobiops tangaroai) are real cute speckled as they are and if I remember correctly they can be kept in very small tanks and will associate with a shrimp and may even share their burrow with another Goby, e.g. a Yellow Rose one.

Dixie_reefer · Jan 12, 2013

CoryC · Jan 13, 2013

Does it overflow when you add frags? Nice pico. Is the orange and pink stuff some type of goniopora?

alberthiel · Jan 13, 2013

CoryC said:
Does it overflow when you add frags? Nice pico. Is the orange and pink stuff some type of goniopora?

They look like Sun Polyps to me and require a lot of feeding .. each polyp separately and at least once a day IME ... FWIW

Dixie_reefer · Jan 13, 2013

Yes they are a sun coral. I have had this one since September and is doing very well. It is a nps so I have to feed it. Each polyp is its own animal therefore I feed each one every other day. I have trained it to extend its polyps during the day. No it does not overflow at all. I have to top off every day.I do have a goni in there at the moment that isn't doing too hot. I moved it over from my 10. Been trying to feed it but I have to practically beat off my cleaner with a stick. He is so selfish when it comes to food.

alberthiel · Jan 13, 2013

Dixie_reefer said:
Yes they are a sun coral. I have had this one since September and is doing very well. It is a nps so I have to feed it. Each polyp is its own animal therefore I feed each one every other day. I have trained it to extend its polyps during the day. No it does not overflow at all. I have to top off every day.I do have a goni in there at the moment that isn't doing too hot. I moved it over from my 10. Been trying to feed it but I have to practically beat off my cleaner with a stick. He is so selfish when it comes to food.

Yes ... lots of feeding ...lots of work but at least you can feed them during the day apparently. Good for you.

revsgirl · Jan 14, 2013

Nice! Lovin' the pics!

shellynjason · Jan 15, 2013

Is this a '3' gallon? It looked much bigger then that in the pictures. Great pictures by the way - good clear shots. You have some very pretty life in there.

Have you ever had a goby that jumped OUT of a tank? I just bought my first diamond goby at Aqua critters and it the morning it was laying on the floor - yikes never had a fish jump out of any of my six tanks before. I want another - but I will have an open tank so if they are famous for jumping that not good (thought they were suppose to hand in the sand).

Dixie_reefer · Jan 15, 2013

Thank you! It's either 2.5 or 3 gallons. I have had 2 gobies jump out of my 10 gallon, a firefish and my pink bar goby. My pinkbar was my first fish and I had him for a couple months before he jumped; he jumped out of the tank, off of the counter and flopped 3 feet over in front of my dishwasher! I was devastated. That particular firefish had jumped before but I saw it happen and put it back in the tank. I guess it has a death wish or something.... I really like them but I wont be getting anymore until I upgrade and had a lid on the tank.

alberthiel · Jan 16, 2013

Dixie_reefer said:
Thank you! It's either 2.5 or 3 gallons. I have had 2 gobies jump out of my 10 gallon, a firefish and my pink bar goby. My pinkbar was my first fish and I had him for a couple months before he jumped; he jumped out of the tank, off of the counter and flopped 3 feet over in front of my dishwasher! I was devastated. That particular firefish had jumped before but I saw it happen and put it back in the tank. I guess it has a death wish or something.... I really like them but I wont be getting anymore until I upgrade and had a lid on the tank.

I guess that you figured out that a lot of fish are jumpers indeed and that you need a screen mesh over the tank with no openings anywhere as if there is one they will find it, and get out or get stuck in the opening and not make it as once they are stuck they can't get back in the tank unfortunately.

And FWIW make sure the screening material you get is reef safe, and not treated with e.g. fire retardants or similar compounds. The Big Box stores will have netting for birds in the Garden section, that can be used and has a small enough mesh so the fish cannot get through. It also comes in different colors. Here is what it looks like but you can get some with a finer mesh which would be better so even the smallest fish you have cannot get through it :