Mike and Terry's 300g Reef

[Mike&Terry]

Our new little man (C. Earlei) arrived this morning and all I can say is WOW! as he is stunning. He is very alert and chilling in our QT. We'll take some pics once he's had some time to adjust to the new environment - don't want to stress him uneccessarily.

In the meantime, how about a couple of pics that Kevin from Pacific Island Aquatics took of him while he was at their facility:

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Great addition! So jealous! LOL!

 

[Mike&Terry]

Thanks Rev!

 

[prsnlty]

Your tank is absolutely stunning! I could only hope that mine will be half as nice some day... wow!

Jackie

 

[Mike&Terry]

Thank you Jackie! We truly appreciate the kind words and you taking the time to post in our thread. You have a good start and we are looking forward to watching your progress.

 

[Reefer831]

WOW I am JELIOUS!!!1 I cant wait for the pic's with him swimming with all your other wrasses...Kevin always has some of the nicest fish....got to love PIA.

 

[Mike&Terry]

WOW I am JELIOUS!!!1 I cant wait for the pic's with him swimming with all your other wrasses...Kevin always has some of the nicest fish....got to love PIA.

Thank you! He's chillin in QT for now with a pair of Flame Angels. And yes, Kevin does get some awesome fish - gotta love PIA!

 

[Mike&Terry]

Thought we'd share a quick little update.

Our first fish in our old 125g reef was a Flame Angel (yes, not the best choice, but our LFS convinced us otherwise, LOL) and he was with us for over 7 years. We lost him while waiting for our first 300g tank to be installed. What was supposed to be a 2 week temporary housing situation in our garage, stretched out to nearly 3 months waiting for the tank to be delivered. We had an incident one night where our GFI tripped and the temporary tank went without heat or aeration for several hours. We were very fortunate that the only loss was the Flame, but it was still a very sad day.

We have wanted a new Flame Angel for quite sometime, so when a pair from the Marshall Island's came up on Diver's Den, we couldn't pass them up. They are currently chilling out in our QT tank with our Earlei. To call them a "pair" is a bit of a stretch as they are a male and tiny juvenile. Needless to say, the larger male has not been very tolerant of the little juvi and beat her up a bit. After trying lights out, PVC condo's to hide in and a mirror, we ended up partitioning off a small area of the QT for the larger male to chill in. What is interesting is for the first day, the little juvenile kept trying to get across to the other side with the male, lol. Anyway, they've settled down and now the little one will have a chance to eat in peace and hopefully, her fins will heal up quickly.

Our Earlei also seems to be a bit happier too since the male Flame was trying to dominate him as well. Here's a pic of the male angel:



We've tried to get a decent pic of the little juvenile, but when she see's the camera, she immediately hides in one of the pvc condo's, LOL.

M&T :bigsmile:

 

[soccerbag]

The things we do for our fish....lol.

 

[uall8up]

Wonderful!!! Enjoyed the thread :tongue:

 

[Tabasco1]

I saw that pair on dd!! Hopefully they end up working out as a pair. If I remember correctly they were priced accordingly. Not something you see too often. I thought it would be super sweet to have a pair of flame angels.

Good luck!

 

[BarbH]

A beautiful addition Mike and Terry :smile: I am currently working on my stocking list and was wondering what your experience of keeping a drawf angel in a reef set up has worked. I have liked the look of the coral beauty, although do like the look of the flame angel as well, but hesitant with the fact that eventually down the road I would like to keep corals. Thanks for any experience you can share.

 

[Mike&Terry]

The things we do for our fish....lol.

No kidding Craig, LOL! :tongue:

Wonderful!!! Enjoyed the thread :tongue:

Thank you uall8up for participating in our thread and the wonderful compliment! :bigsmile:

I saw that pair on dd!! Hopefully they end up working out as a pair. If I remember correctly they were priced accordingly. Not something you see too often. I thought it would be super sweet to have a pair of flame angels.

Good luck!

Thank you! If they don't work out as a pair, we'll move one to our 75. We're also hoping that all goes well when we add them to our DT. Not sure how the Bellus pair and Regal Angel are going to react.

A beautiful addition Mike and Terry :smile: I am currently working on my stocking list and was wondering what your experience of keeping a drawf angel in a reef set up has worked. I have liked the look of the coral beauty, although do like the look of the flame angel as well, but hesitant with the fact that eventually down the road I would like to keep corals. Thanks for any experience you can share.

Thank you BarbH! Dwarf Angels (or any angel that is considered reef safe with caution) can be hit and miss. Having said that, it has been our experience that younger specimens adjust better and keeping them well-fed helps a lot.

Our first Flame Angel was a model citizen. He did occasionally nip at SPS polyps, but never did any real damage. He also never touched any softies or LPS. Our Regal Angel, however, will devour certain LPS and zoas and she does occasionally nip at SPS, but does not do any real damage. We've found she has to "taste test" all new sps coral, but once done, she pretty much leaves them alone. We keep our zoa's and a couple of acan's in our 75g tank now because they are just way too much of a temptation for her.

If you are the type of person who is going to stress about a little polyp nipping, coral polyps being a bit "retracted" or are unwilling to give up keeping a particular type of coral (types of zoa, LPS for example), then I'd say skip the angel and go for something else. If you don't mind a little nipping and you are willing to make some concessions with your coral selection, then go for it! :bigsmile:

-Terry

 

[Aquaph8]

Nice flames, I hope they pair up and get along for you. I've tried two flames so far and neither one has made it out of QT or even a week now that I think about it. Neither showed any signs of disease, they ate well and seemed perfect. I think if I ever try again Ill go with a DD fish as well. I always wondered how my Lamarks would react to a dwarf. I'll be looking forward to your updates.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Nice flames, I hope they pair up and get along for you. I've tried two flames so far and neither one has made it out of QT or even a week now that I think about it. Neither showed any signs of disease, they ate well and seemed perfect. I think if I ever try again Ill go with a DD fish as well. I always wondered how my Lamarks would react to a dwarf. I'll be looking forward to your updates.

Thanks Brett and if you do decide on another Flame, I'd definitely go with DD.

 

[Mike&Terry]

OK, a little bit of an update...

We've been waiting for the right time to remove the canopy and do some maintenance on it. The paint we chose looks fantastic on the outside of the stand and canopy, but the parts on the inside of the canopy that were exposed to the salt water and frequent rubbing by daily chores were not holding up well at all. We purchased some water-based two-part epoxy paint that we had color-matched to the display tank stand and canopy:



We used this stuff on our sump stand last year and it is fantastic. If you follow the directions carefully, and apply it generously, it creates a rock-hard finish. The chore really comes in removing the light rack, taking the canopy down, sanding it, painting it, well, you get the idea. And since the epoxy needs time to harden, we needed to time all this right when the weather outdoors was going to cooperate! Last weekend the weather forecast looked favorable, and I was able to find someone to help me lift the canopy off and put it on sawhorses outside:


nt 2309 by terryl93, on Flickr

We sanded down the interior surfaces of the canopy - well, all the lower section anyway that sits directly on the top of the tank, and applied 2-3 coats of the epoxy paint, and let that dry nice and hard. That took approximately seven hours from start to finish. Then it was heave-ho back inside and put everything back together. We applied a very light dab of silicone gel onto the top frame of the tank to allow the canopy to slide a little easier and prevent the epoxy from "grabbing"...the canopy is heavy - I estimate probably around 150 lbs.

-M

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

Great job. Love that canopy.

 

[skinz78]

Sweet canopy, did you guys make that yourselves? I wish I was that creative when doing woodworking.

 

[MarvinsReef]

wOw! Now, that's some maintenance. Great job guys. Bet that felt good after putting in back in the tank.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Great job. Love that canopy.

Thank you!

Sweet canopy, did you guys make that yourselves? I wish I was that creative when doing woodworking.

Thanks Chris. A local cabinet maker (thru our LFS) built our cabinetry, canopy and skin for our stand. The canopy was Mike's design though and it is awesome. We did modify the sliding rail portion to make it less heavy and more streamlined. I can post pics if anyone is interested.

wOw! Now, that's some maintenance. Great job guys. Bet that felt good after putting in back in the tank.

Thanks Marvin! Hahah... I have helped Mike remove and put that canopy on 3 times, but just could not do it this time. I'm not tall enough and that amount of weight over my head is just too awkard, lol. We had a friend come over and help remove it and our neighbor helped Mike put it back on. I did manage to help him move and flip it outside so we could paint it though, so I am not a complete "wuss".