Ducks
Community Member
Hi everyone,
I haven't posted in a while but wanted to provide an update on my tank that I originally posted here.
TLDR: Tank going really well, had a mini crash but recovered well and below are two different videos on the tank.
Video 1: My LFS (Gallery Aquatica) did a video on my tank about the challenges of doing a large water change where i live and you can find that here. the video has a lot of info about the fish and corals in it etc.
Video 2: I have also posted a more 'relaxing' 10 minute video of the fish doing their thing looking from the front of the tank and that video is here.
So what's happened the past almost year.....
I had a die off of a few fish in a month of the adding fish in due to a couple being infected with Ich when I bought them (was negligent about quarantine and where I bought them) I ended up with the sailfin, CBS, Chromis living, the rest passed away.
I ended up buying a tonne more fish and critters and now have...
9 Chromis
5 Zebra Gobies
Lightning Wrasse
Monsoon Fairy Wrasse
Sailfin Tang (from the original crew of fish)
5 Threadfin (Blue Eye) Cardinals
Rabbit Fish
4 Squami Anthias
Coral Cardinal
CBS
Diadema Urchin
4 Decorator urchins
Decorator Crab
Helsingeni Goby
Abalone
Birdnose Wrasse (was female and is transitioning to a male)
5 Sand Sifting Starfish
Biscuit starfish
Numerous snails
2 black sea cucumbers
Cocos Worms
Christmas tree rock/worms
and HEAPS of coral and couldn't really name them all but the videos will give you an idea of what's in the tank
What has gone wrong?
I had a mini-crash about 3 months ago and for whatever reason my biology went out of whack and I lost a lot of my lps corals, funnily enough I only lost 3 sps. I ended up doing a Triton ICP test but chemistry came back within parameters so me and the LFS are unsure as to what it exactly was. I assume it was because I did a few things too quickly (changed my refugim light to a smaller one, adding/removing resin media, adding carbon dosing.
I also had a single outbreak of Cyano that was easily treated with some chemiclean (?) that did the trick after two days and the video above is a week or so after that treatment was done and there wasn't any coral or detrimental after effects from that episode of cyano and treatment.
What has changed?
I bought a 4 channel dosing system and dose Calc, Alk Mag twice daily now and growth and stability is incredible. I test every 3-4 days with my Hannah checkers for calc, alk, PO3 (chemical tests for Mag/NO4) and also added a large UV Sterilizer for good measure. Because I already run ozone (just realised that was added) my water is always super clear and i have not evidence either way of the benefit of UV but am confident it does a lot that I don't even see!
What's the water journey in your tank?
Water goes down the overflow (and (some) goes into the chiller/UV sterilizer) through the phosphate minus bag suspended in the chamber, into the 4x 225 Micron red sea filter socks. Water then travels through the refugium which is packed (and harvested when overfull) with Chaeto.
The water flows (and the return water from the chiller/UV) over the marine pure block and about 25 of the golf ball sized balls and is sucked into the protein skimmer where the ozone is pumped into on a hour-on hour-off cycle, I skim very wet. Water is expelled from the skimmer, over the baffle through some fine-ish sponge in the baffle, through 3x resin bags for phosphate and nitrate removal, and then is puished through a fine filter pad, nitrate removal pad, carbon pad and then a final fine sponge. The water is then returned to the tank.
Overkill? Totally, but #yolo I have lots of fish and keeping stable and clean water is my main priority after the mini-crash and thus far it works for me and happy to invest the time and the money required for the replacement pads, media etc. Each to their own i guess.
Favourite/Least Inhabitants
My favourite fish is probably the rabbit fish, he is so chill, gets along with everyone and helps out with eating algae in the tank. Least favourite fish, the bloody zebra gobies, constantly dig and throw sand around and are the primary reason I can't have many nice sand corals as they get rekt.
Favourite coral would have to get the Elegance Corals I have, I have 4 now! I love them, they sting me when I and cleaning around the tank, the eat fish and are so (pardon the pun) elegant! I have one with pink tips (far right you can see the reflection in Video 2) which is stunning in my opinion. Least favourite coral is probably.....none actually, they are all beautiful in their own way
Random things
I can't keep some things in my tank due to the fish/critters. I can't seem to keep many torches or hammers and frogspawns (apart from the green and the purple torch and the one hammer I have) due to worms; all the other hammers/torches I have had die due to some creature (assume a worm) burrowing into the coral and eating/killing it from the inside-out.
In retrospect I wish I didn't get some of the fish I got (stupid zebra gobies - they dig ALL THE TIME ) but I feel an obligation to do my best to keep fish happy healthy and the corals too so I live with the decisions I make and do the best with what I have in the tank.
I enjoy the chemistry the most of the hobby (apart from the serene sitting and watching tank); i don't quite know what it is but seeing clear water and having chemistry stable is a huge kick for me and love the work involved in doing the maintenance on the tank.
I originally thought to myself 'yo, this is going to be a dope SPS only tank'.....then once I started on the whole set up and as the tank (and myself) matured, I realised I actually want to create a mixed ecosystem with a bit of everything.
I never got into fragging! I bought a Dremel power tool, gloves, frag plugs, holders, surgical steel dentistry kit among other things and have rarely fragged anything lol. I only use the little steel spiker thing to kill vermatids in the tank when I see them.
In Conclusion (until the next update)
This is a great hobby, be patient, find what works for you/your tank and most of all ENJOY the hobby! there is ups and downs, just keep moving forward and be committed to improving and the results are well worth it.
Thanking you, and I will happily answer questions you may have.
I haven't posted in a while but wanted to provide an update on my tank that I originally posted here.
TLDR: Tank going really well, had a mini crash but recovered well and below are two different videos on the tank.
Video 1: My LFS (Gallery Aquatica) did a video on my tank about the challenges of doing a large water change where i live and you can find that here. the video has a lot of info about the fish and corals in it etc.
Video 2: I have also posted a more 'relaxing' 10 minute video of the fish doing their thing looking from the front of the tank and that video is here.
So what's happened the past almost year.....
I had a die off of a few fish in a month of the adding fish in due to a couple being infected with Ich when I bought them (was negligent about quarantine and where I bought them) I ended up with the sailfin, CBS, Chromis living, the rest passed away.
I ended up buying a tonne more fish and critters and now have...
9 Chromis
5 Zebra Gobies
Lightning Wrasse
Monsoon Fairy Wrasse
Sailfin Tang (from the original crew of fish)
5 Threadfin (Blue Eye) Cardinals
Rabbit Fish
4 Squami Anthias
Coral Cardinal
CBS
Diadema Urchin
4 Decorator urchins
Decorator Crab
Helsingeni Goby
Abalone
Birdnose Wrasse (was female and is transitioning to a male)
5 Sand Sifting Starfish
Biscuit starfish
Numerous snails
2 black sea cucumbers
Cocos Worms
Christmas tree rock/worms
and HEAPS of coral and couldn't really name them all but the videos will give you an idea of what's in the tank
What has gone wrong?
I had a mini-crash about 3 months ago and for whatever reason my biology went out of whack and I lost a lot of my lps corals, funnily enough I only lost 3 sps. I ended up doing a Triton ICP test but chemistry came back within parameters so me and the LFS are unsure as to what it exactly was. I assume it was because I did a few things too quickly (changed my refugim light to a smaller one, adding/removing resin media, adding carbon dosing.
I also had a single outbreak of Cyano that was easily treated with some chemiclean (?) that did the trick after two days and the video above is a week or so after that treatment was done and there wasn't any coral or detrimental after effects from that episode of cyano and treatment.
What has changed?
I bought a 4 channel dosing system and dose Calc, Alk Mag twice daily now and growth and stability is incredible. I test every 3-4 days with my Hannah checkers for calc, alk, PO3 (chemical tests for Mag/NO4) and also added a large UV Sterilizer for good measure. Because I already run ozone (just realised that was added) my water is always super clear and i have not evidence either way of the benefit of UV but am confident it does a lot that I don't even see!
What's the water journey in your tank?
Water goes down the overflow (and (some) goes into the chiller/UV sterilizer) through the phosphate minus bag suspended in the chamber, into the 4x 225 Micron red sea filter socks. Water then travels through the refugium which is packed (and harvested when overfull) with Chaeto.
The water flows (and the return water from the chiller/UV) over the marine pure block and about 25 of the golf ball sized balls and is sucked into the protein skimmer where the ozone is pumped into on a hour-on hour-off cycle, I skim very wet. Water is expelled from the skimmer, over the baffle through some fine-ish sponge in the baffle, through 3x resin bags for phosphate and nitrate removal, and then is puished through a fine filter pad, nitrate removal pad, carbon pad and then a final fine sponge. The water is then returned to the tank.
Overkill? Totally, but #yolo I have lots of fish and keeping stable and clean water is my main priority after the mini-crash and thus far it works for me and happy to invest the time and the money required for the replacement pads, media etc. Each to their own i guess.
Favourite/Least Inhabitants
My favourite fish is probably the rabbit fish, he is so chill, gets along with everyone and helps out with eating algae in the tank. Least favourite fish, the bloody zebra gobies, constantly dig and throw sand around and are the primary reason I can't have many nice sand corals as they get rekt.
Favourite coral would have to get the Elegance Corals I have, I have 4 now! I love them, they sting me when I and cleaning around the tank, the eat fish and are so (pardon the pun) elegant! I have one with pink tips (far right you can see the reflection in Video 2) which is stunning in my opinion. Least favourite coral is probably.....none actually, they are all beautiful in their own way
Random things
I can't keep some things in my tank due to the fish/critters. I can't seem to keep many torches or hammers and frogspawns (apart from the green and the purple torch and the one hammer I have) due to worms; all the other hammers/torches I have had die due to some creature (assume a worm) burrowing into the coral and eating/killing it from the inside-out.
In retrospect I wish I didn't get some of the fish I got (stupid zebra gobies - they dig ALL THE TIME ) but I feel an obligation to do my best to keep fish happy healthy and the corals too so I live with the decisions I make and do the best with what I have in the tank.
I enjoy the chemistry the most of the hobby (apart from the serene sitting and watching tank); i don't quite know what it is but seeing clear water and having chemistry stable is a huge kick for me and love the work involved in doing the maintenance on the tank.
I originally thought to myself 'yo, this is going to be a dope SPS only tank'.....then once I started on the whole set up and as the tank (and myself) matured, I realised I actually want to create a mixed ecosystem with a bit of everything.
I never got into fragging! I bought a Dremel power tool, gloves, frag plugs, holders, surgical steel dentistry kit among other things and have rarely fragged anything lol. I only use the little steel spiker thing to kill vermatids in the tank when I see them.
In Conclusion (until the next update)
This is a great hobby, be patient, find what works for you/your tank and most of all ENJOY the hobby! there is ups and downs, just keep moving forward and be committed to improving and the results are well worth it.
Thanking you, and I will happily answer questions you may have.
Last edited:
Lovin the scape
