Possible Divorce Frag Build

Current State:

In process of tearing down all tanks and putting things in tanks in the house.

One tank down and one to go.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I rushed here think you would give me a Halichoeres bivittatus. Black ear will do I guess. Looks like her grew a lot in this picture.
Have a great time diving!

If you want either, I can see what I can do lol.

a Bivi is on the list to collect. I need 4-5 for my 500, as there is plenty of room for them and plan to get all females. At least in the wild, they get along fine in a small area where they all hunt. Hoping for a female poeyi as well. Watching male and female interact while diving is awesome and would love to have that in a tank.

 

[Crabby48]

If you want either, I can see what I can do lol.

a Bivi is on the list to collect. I need 4-5 for my 500, as there is plenty of room for them and plan to get all females. At least in the wild, they get along fine in a small area where they all hunt. Hoping for a female poeyi as well. Watching male and female interact while diving is awesome and would love to have that in a tank.

I’m out of room for fish. But I agree watching fish and others interact is what makes the hobby even better. Would love to dive and see them in natural environment

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

If you want either, I can see what I can do lol.

a Bivi is on the list to collect. I need 4-5 for my 500, as there is plenty of room for them and plan to get all females. At least in the wild, they get along fine in a small area where they all hunt. Hoping for a female poeyi as well. Watching male and female interact while diving is awesome and would love to have that in a tank.

I'm super interested in how you collect fish, in the wild. Mind to drop some knowledge?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I'm super interested in how you collect fish, in the wild. Mind to drop some knowledge?

For fish that hide in rocks, I use a slurp gun that has been modified a little. All I did was place some soft trim made from foam around the intake, so there is not a sharp edge.

For most others, it is as simple as 2 small black nets. Move one to draw attention and then swipe then twist to close with the other. In addition, a bit of bait thrown into the net works well when diving. Not so much snorkeling, as you usually have to wait well past what you can hold your breath for. Just set the net down with a small string attached to the handle, when fish swim in, pull string really fast and hoe you can get the handle in hand to twist the net to prevent them escaping.

Most fish have no idea what we are, so do not really flee when they see us dive. Some are even way curious. My poeyi for example, swam into my pocket 3-4 times for no reason and I decided to just put my hand over my pocket and come back and place in a fish bag lol. Was a tad worried for a bit, as they do have teeth and you know, it was in my pocket lol.

Others, that may be a little skittish but stay within viewing range are caught via #20-#32 micro hooks with no barb. Simply slide a piece of mysis over the hook and fish for them while underwater. Just need some 1-2# line and a small piece of pipe to use as a rod. You then just wrap the line around the pipe or simply pull the line in and place in the fish bag.

Occasionally, I will use a sine to get critters out of shallow grass beads or use a cast net with 1/4" mesh to catch them. I really do not like the cast net option for smaller fish, as it can damage their gills if they get caught in it. So cast net is typically only used when I have snorkeled the shallow area and see what/where certain fish are hanging out.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

For fish that hide in rocks, I use a slurp gun that has been modified a little. All I did was place some soft trim made from foam around the intake, so there is not a sharp edge.

For most others, it is as simple as 2 small black nets. Move one to draw attention and then swipe then twist to close with the other. In addition, a bit of bait thrown into the net works well when diving. Not so much snorkeling, as you usually have to wait well past what you can hold your breath for. Just set the net down with a small string attached to the handle, when fish swim in, pull string really fast and hoe you can get the handle in hand to twist the net to prevent them escaping.

Most fish have no idea what we are, so do not really flee when they see us dive. Some are even way curious. My poeyi for example, swam into my pocket 3-4 times for no reason and I decided to just put my hand over my pocket and come back and place in a fish bag lol. Was a tad worried for a bit, as they do have teeth and you know, it was in my pocket lol.

Others, that may be a little skittish but stay within viewing range are caught via #20-#32 micro hooks with no barb. Simply slide a piece of mysis over the hook and fish for them while underwater. Just need some 1-2# line and a small piece of pipe to use as a rod. You then just wrap the line around the pipe or simply pull the line in and place in the fish bag.

Occasionally, I will use a sine to get critters out of shallow grass beads or use a cast net with 1/4" mesh to catch them. I really do not like the cast net option for smaller fish, as it can damage their gills if they get caught in it. So cast net is typically only used when I have snorkeled the shallow area and see what/where certain fish are hanging out.

I need to get down to Florida with you. This sounds like a blast.



Upon further reflection... Florida has more sharks than old people... Maybe not

 

[Crabby48]

I need to get down to Florida with you. This sounds like a blast.



Upon further reflection... Florida has more sharks than old people... Maybe not

Don’t be afraid of a shark. Even if he does eat you at least you had a blast

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I need to get down to Florida with you. This sounds like a blast.



Upon further reflection... Florida has more sharks than old people... Maybe not

Sharks do not eat people. They only "try a bite" lol.

In reality, not much to worry about with them. Just do not present yourself to look like food, have a dive knife, and carry a mini bang stick (I prefer .38 special ultralite with a 26" carbon fiber pole) if you know you are going to be around a couple aggressive types (like bulls).

Also, nurse sharks are awesome and fun to swim with.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Sharks do not eat people. They only "try a bite" lol.

In reality, not much to worry about with them. Just do not present yourself to look like food, have a dive knife, and carry a mini bang stick (I prefer .38 special ultralite with a 26" carbon fiber pole) if you know you are going to be around a couple aggressive types (like bulls).

Also, nurse sharks are awesome and fun to swim with.

Yeah, still no. I've been bumped a few times by Tigres while spearfishing. Not fun.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Yeah, still no. I've been bumped a few times by Tigres while spearfishing. Not fun.

Booooo.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Oooooo

only one day and have over 3k zoas. Here is a preview of some. plus a fewRock boring urchins.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Collecting has been ok for zoas. Limited out every day this week so far.

So far

Zoas
urchins
H. Poeyi wrasse
Small scorpionfish
Tons of macro

Rest of week is gonna be crap. High winds inshore and offshore. Going to try and collect in the Indian River Lagoon or may go down to Jupiter and snorkel the bridges. Should be enough wind breaks from hotels and such to knock the wind down.

Worst case, I collect more zoas and do some micro fishing at the jetty in Ft. pierce. One way or another, I will fill up the 4 large coolers with stuff lol.

At least the flowers are blooming at the house lol.

 

[Crabby48]

Get the good stuff uncle Steve!

 

[fishguy242]

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Super busy, but collecting last week went better than expected.

Here is a pic of one of 6 40b tanks full of stuff. More will follow and a full list when I get time.

 

[DiefsReef]

Super busy, but collecting last week went better than expected.

Here is a pic of one of 6 40b tanks full of stuff. More will follow and a full list when I get time.

Bet it was fun getting all that home. Cant wait to see the full list!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Being as I post the bad with the good. See below for what happens when you sell 95% of your macro, do not turn the doser off after doing that, going to FL for a week and feeding pellets in large quantities while gone.

NO3 is 45
PO4 is .2

Even though I know that the gha is consuming a ton.

The plan.

Already done: Move Des tang to this tank for a bit to aid in algae control. Turned off doser.

- Pull all GHA out.
- Vacuum sand into a 5 gallon bucket with large holes in bottom and full of polyfill that will sit above the sump.
- Pull each rock out 1 by 1 and scrub them in old tank water.
- pull all gorgs out and remove gha (super easy to do, as it doesnt really stick to them.
- Do a 50% WC today and then a 50% wc tomorrow.
- Introduce the 2 rock boring urchins collected after first 50% WC.
- Introduce the massive amounts of macro collected after first 50% WC. Still needs one more dip to remove as many baby crabs as I can. Rest the fish will eat or they will live lol.
- Place egg crate divider in tank to keep tang away from desirable macros.
- Test tank before and 2 hours after each WC and adjust as needed for qty of water changed.
- Keep testing tank and adjust as needed to get it back to 5 no3 and .03 po4

Hopefully in 2 weeks, it will be back to stable. At least until I take another trip lol.

Or I could just dump some Vibrant in there and be a baller cause I spent more on Alagefix than I should have. HAHAHA kidding, but had to.

All in all, I kind of enjoy this. Tank went to half of crap, so I get to correct that and then enjoy all my hard work. Yes, it involves labor and time. Much better than all this crap in a bottle or tons of other things thrown at it.

 

[danieyella]

Laughing at the vibrant/algaefix comment.

I keep going through these phases with my pnw micro tank, can't seem to get it to stabilize but man is it fun to fix it and get it back.

Honestly thinking about pulling what I put in there and turning it into a mini macro tank but i'm not even sure what would do well in that tiny a tank without overgrowing IMMEDIATELY

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Being as I post the bad with the good. See below for what happens when you sell 95% of your macro, do not turn the doser off after doing that, going to FL for a week and feeding pellets in large quantities while gone.

NO3 is 45
PO4 is .2

Even though I know that the gha is consuming a ton.

The plan.

Already done: Move Des tang to this tank for a bit to aid in algae control. Turned off doser.

- Pull all GHA out.
- Vacuum sand into a 5 gallon bucket with large holes in bottom and full of polyfill that will sit above the sump.
- Pull each rock out 1 by 1 and scrub them in old tank water.
- pull all gorgs out and remove gha (super easy to do, as it doesnt really stick to them.
- Do a 50% WC today and then a 50% wc tomorrow.
- Introduce the 2 rock boring urchins collected after first 50% WC.
- Introduce the massive amounts of macro collected after first 50% WC. Still needs one more dip to remove as many baby crabs as I can. Rest the fish will eat or they will live lol.
- Place egg crate divider in tank to keep tang away from desirable macros.
- Test tank before and 2 hours after each WC and adjust as needed for qty of water changed.
- Keep testing tank and adjust as needed to get it back to 5 no3 and .03 po4

Hopefully in 2 weeks, it will be back to stable. At least until I take another trip lol.

Or I could just dump some Vibrant in there and be a baller cause I spent more on Alagefix than I should have. HAHAHA kidding, but had to.

All in all, I kind of enjoy this. Tank went to half of crap, so I get to correct that and then enjoy all my hard work. Yes, it involves labor and time. Much better than all this crap in a bottle or tons of other things thrown at it.

This kind of cracks me up.

Good to see the good with the bad .

NO3 is 45
PO4 is .2. ......

So that's where my display tank NORMALLY sits..... I think my algae maker is broken..

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Laughing at the vibrant/algaefix comment.

I keep going through these phases with my pnw micro tank, can't seem to get it to stabilize but man is it fun to fix it and get it back.

Honestly thinking about pulling what I put in there and turning it into a mini macro tank but i'm not even sure what would do well in that tiny a tank without overgrowing IMMEDIATELY

You could dragons breath or come type of calcified algae like codium or halemedia. They grow slower than most and look cool.

Easy for you to get some halamedia also. Anywhere where there is rocky outcrops that are exposed or easy accessible at low tide, you can find it.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

This kind of cracks me up.

Good to see the good with the bad .

NO3 is 45
PO4 is .2. ......

So that's where my display tank NORMALLY sits..... I think my algae maker is broken..

Nope, you have a ton of corals to outcompete it, tons of grazers to eat it and you system is used to it.

I have almost no grazers in there, the connected tank is mostly nems and zoas and I run full spectrum lights with a crap ton of par over the tank. Perfect conditions for algae. I just removed most of the desirable algae, so gha took hold.

Still easy enough to fix with some elbow grease and time.