Meredith's 180 In-wall happy place

Toomnymods · Sep 2, 2017

melypr1985 said:
Yeah, my acro dreams seem to be a little far fetched for what I'm willing to do as far as maintenance. I really really don't want to dose. I'm willing to add lighting to the tank to supplement, though my husband and I haven't settled on what we want to go with for that. We were talking about building our own MH fixtures. lol

Oh I know it will. It's no big in the grand scheme. I do want to update that the rest of the colony died and polluted my frag tank a bit. Getting ready for a large water change on that after removing the colony skeleton.

dunno if I've missed it but I havent seen your tank with a calc reactor? The importance of alkalinity stability when housing sps is a must. you just cant get stable results imo dosing 2 part, some people get lazy, some forget for a few days. A calc reactor is constantly adding calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity.
I use the geo's reef 618 double chamber calc reactor with a electronic carbon doser and apex controlling it all. My alkality is rock solid at 8. Temperature swings is probably the next fatal thing for sps, cant really keep having more than 1 degree swing or it will aggravate sps

melypr1985 · Sep 2, 2017

Toomnymods said:
dunno if I've missed it but I havent seen your tank with a calc reactor? The importance of alkalinity stability when housing sps is a must. you just cant get stable results imo dosing 2 part, some people get lazy, some forget for a few days. A calc reactor is constantly adding calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity.
I use the geo's reef 618 double chamber calc reactor with a electronic carbon doser and apex controlling it all. My alkality is rock solid at 8. Temperature swings is probably the next fatal thing for sps, cant really keep having more than 1 degree swing or it will aggravate sps

I don't dose anything in the tank. I mostly use regular water changes to keep up with it. It's been working fine for years, but now my corals have been getting bigger and growing faster, so I need to start thinking about other options. A calcium reactor is on the list to consider along with a dosing pump and the various brands that offer three bigs.

Brew12 · Sep 6, 2017

Can I get an opinion?

If you were to do a new system that wasn't an in wall, and wanted to stay in the 180g range, would you do 72"x 24"x25" again or would you go 60"x30"x24"?

melypr1985 · Sep 6, 2017

Brew12 said:
Can I get an opinion?

If you were to do a new system that wasn't an in wall, and wanted to stay in the 180g range, would you do 72"x 24"x25" again or would you go 60"x30"x24"?

I'd stay with the 72x24x24 but I have several reasons for that.
1. I wanted the length for the Achilles tang and any other tangs I wanted to add
2. 24 inches high was about all I was willing to have since I'm short. I'm glad I went that route instead of getting the 210 which is the same as this but 30 inches tall. I already almost snorkel to reach the front of the tank. lol Actually I just wait for a water change and mess around in the front when the water is low.
3. ...... Well I forgot number three but there is one. lol

If I had it to do over again, I would have saved a bit, finagled with my husband, and gotten an 8 foot tank instead. But I think that's just a natural byproduct of the salty addiction.

melypr1985 · Sep 6, 2017

Update time (sadly no pictures today)

When I woke up this morning one of the anemones was just floating slowly over the sand irritating my acantho. Dangit. The bad luck continues with these things. The good part is that they aren't dead yet, but one is still hiding under a rock. The other, after me moving it to the rocks during the water change, is now in the back corner of the tank against the overflow. Hmmm. I just can't make them happy. I'm considering adding more live rock to the tank to help keep the whole thing more stable (hopefully). I've only got about 150 lbs of rock in there I think. I don't remember how much I used from the previous tank.

melypr1985 · Sep 6, 2017

Oh!! My husband and I are going to make our own metal halide lamps to add to my LEDs. We will make two and I already have all the parts for it. My personal electrician will have to eek out some time to help me put them together.

Brew12 · Sep 6, 2017

melypr1985 said:
I'd stay with the 72x24x24 but I have several reasons for that.
1. I wanted the length for the Achilles tang and any other tangs I wanted to add
2. 24 inches high was about all I was willing to have since I'm short. I'm glad I went that route instead of getting the 210 which is the same as this but 30 inches tall. I already almost snorkel to reach the front of the tank. lol Actually I just wait for a water change and mess around in the front when the water is low.
3. ...... Well I forgot number three but there is one. lol

If I had it to do over again, I would have saved a bit, finagled with my husband, and gotten an 8 foot tank instead. But I think that's just a natural byproduct of the salty addiction.

Thanks, I appreciate your opinion. I did get a quote back for a 72"x30"x22" but not sure I can make it fit and still work on it.

melypr1985 · Sep 6, 2017

Brew12 said:
not sure I can make it fit and still work on it.

That's the hard part!

melypr1985 · Sep 20, 2017

UPDATE TIME!!

Meet the newest addition to the tank! He's been through a heck of a QT that lasted something like 3 months! I'm writing all about it right now, so that story can wait. For now, just know that he's been through everything a fish can go through. He's pretty skinny now, but he's eating everything I have to offer including Nori daily, LRS fish frenzy, several types of pellets and with multiple feedings every day. He'll fatten up in no time. He's also getting his butt kicked by the purple, but it seems like it has mostly calmed down to an intense dislike instead of murderous intent. lol

@4FordFamily @Humblefish @eatbreakfast @evolved What do you guys think about this behavior? Totally normal yes? Getting better like I think?
Check it out

First day in the tank... well... minutes into the tank.

two days ago

And today

revhtree · Sep 20, 2017

Beautiful PT! Is he still beating up on him?

melypr1985 · Sep 20, 2017

revhtree said:
Beautiful PT! Is he still beating up on him?

Thanks Rev! Yes, he is but it seems like more of an after-thought. Like "oh yeah, you're still here and I still don't like you". A quick spar and off they go back to their own business. The poor hippo tang has cuts everywhere, but the PT has gotten a few as well so the Hippo isn't a pushover.

Maritimer · Sep 20, 2017

Nice!

Hope the hepatus starts to take more interest in food - she looks like she could use a sandwich or two.

Also nice ... I now have a voice to put all that great medical advice in!

~Bruce

melypr1985 · Sep 20, 2017

Maritimer said:
Hope the hepatus starts to take more interest in food - she looks like she could use a sandwich or two.

she's actually eating everything I put in the tank. I feed a variety of good foods, and am feeding multiple times a day (which my reef isn't really appreciating I'm sure) to help her put on that weight. She's just so darn skinny right now

Blue Carbon Reefing · Sep 21, 2017

It definitely looks like the aggression has died down from the first day. It sounds like the Pacific Blue went through a lot to make it to its permanent home. I had to laugh a little when you were smacking the glass.

It reminds me like any pet (dogs, cats, etc..) they don't always do what you want them to do. I hope you are in the clear. I am sure know what to do if it continues but a couple of things come to mind so I wanted to contribute a couple of thoughts. You could always get a second algae clip and put in nori on opposite ends of the tank. That may allow the pacific blue a place to eat in peace or the purple to realize there are options and feel less of a need to compete for food. Or you could always remove the Purple for a couple of weeks then re-introduce him. I would only do that if the aggression remained like the first video. I also consider you one of the fish experts so I am sure you have thought about all of these options.

Love the tank! I am definitely following along!

melypr1985 · Sep 21, 2017

Blue Carbon Reefing said:
It definitely looks like the aggression has died down from the first day. It sounds like the Pacific Blue went through a lot to make it to its permanent home. I had to laugh a little when you were smacking the glass. It reminds me like any pet (dogs, cats, etc..) they don't always do what you want them to do. I hope you are in the clear. I am sure know what to do if it continues but a couple of things come to mind so I wanted to contribute a couple of thoughts. You could always get a second algae clip and put in nori on opposite ends of the tank. That may allow the pacific blue a place to eat in peace or the purple to realize there are options and feel less of a need to compete for food. Or you could always remove the Purple for a couple of weeks then re-introduce him. I would only do that if the aggression remained like the first video. I also consider you one of the fish experts so I am sure you have thought about all of these options. Love the tank! I am definitely following along!

Thanks for the ideas! Yes, I had considered these things and as of today they are all getting along pretty well. The Regal is out front swimming around and exploring and the Purple seems to only scuffle with him a little now.

Oh!! Yes, I smacked the glass a couple times, but darnit... I was scolding myself for it. I ended up getting a flashlight and shining it at the PT to chase him away from the Regal that first night. Worked like a charm and didn't stress the other fish

Brew12 · Sep 22, 2017

melypr1985 said:
Thanks for the ideas! Yes, I had considered these things and as of today they are all getting along pretty well. The Regal is out front swimming around and exploring and the Purple seems to only scuffle with him a little now.

Oh!! Yes, I smacked the glass a couple times, but darnit... I was scolding myself for it. I ended up getting a flashlight and shining it at the PT to chase him away from the Regal that first night. Worked like a charm and didn't stress the other fish

I had a lot of luck hanging a plastic locker mirror on the outside of the tank facing in when I made a second attempt to introduce a convict tang. It worked great!

melypr1985 · Sep 22, 2017

Brew12 said:
I had a lot of luck hanging a plastic locker mirror on the outside of the tank facing in when I made a second attempt to introduce a convict tang. It worked great!

You know what? I had a small mirror that I placed in front of the tank as an afterthought The only one who paid it any attention was the Kole tang lol.

cameronh · Sep 22, 2017

melypr1985 said:
You know what? I had a small mirror that I placed in front of the tank as an afterthought The only one who paid it any attention was the Kole tang lol.

Hey we need an update shot!

melypr1985 · Sep 22, 2017

cameronh said:
Hey we need an update shot!

It's all deep blue right now and difficult for me to get a shot on the weekends. I'll give it a shot on sunday otherwise it will have to wait until Monday (day off). It's coming though!!!