saltyhog's DSA 155 mixed reef

saltyhog · Jul 15, 2020

HairyGary said:
Looks great David! Redtail new? Where'd you get her?

Also that Exquisite has some really nice yellow markings!

HAHA! Yeah my little Komahara blennies try to eat the biggest pieces of Reef Frenzy. The wrasse and tang try to swipe it but know better with the blennies fangs. Pretty funny!

Yeah, got her about 6 weeks ago, yesterday was her first day in the DT....could you tell. Wanted to put a little weight on her before going in to the middle of the wrasse tornado at feeding time. That Exquisite has been a nice surprise, was in transition when I got it and is now #1/2 in the fairy pecking order depending on what day it is.

HairyGary · Jul 15, 2020

saltyhog said:
Yeah, got her about 6 weeks ago, yesterday was her first day in the DT....could you tell. Wanted to put a little weight on her before going in to the middle of the wrasse tornado at feeding time. That Exquisite has been a nice surprise, was in transition when I got it and is now #1/2 in the fairy pecking order depending on what day it is.

Nice! Did you put the RT through the copper rigors? Or just fatten up and observe. My LFS has been getting them in from their diver.

Yeah I have heard some Exquisite's can be a little pushier than others but You have a couple others in there that would keep him in line i.e. Roseafacia, Labouti and maybe the Lineatus. He is beautiful

saltyhog · Jul 15, 2020

Yes she went through 12 days of Copper Power after a couple of weeks of acclimation and then to an observation tank for more fattening and treatment for worms/flukes.

Surprisingly to me the top two at present are the Flame and the Exquisite. The Lineatus is just laid back, but no one messes with him. The Labouti is old....I've had him almost 5 years and he was terminal male when I got him. He's starting to lose a little weight. He still eats well though but I don't know how much longer I'll have him.

dwest · Jul 15, 2020

saltyhog said:
Yes she went through 12 days of Copper Power after a couple of weeks of acclimation and then to an observation tank for more fattening and treatment for worms/flukes.

Surprisingly to me the top two at present are the Flame and the Exquisite. The Lineatus is just laid back, but no one messes with him. The Labouti is old....I've had him almost 5 years and he was terminal male when I got him. He's starting to lose a little weight. He still eats well though but I don't know how much longer I'll have him.

Hey Salty. Whenever I see pictures or videos of your tank it seems like your flame wrasse is swimming about. Mine hides in rocks most of the time. Does this seem normal to you? I don’t see him get bullied (my rhomboid is king) but I’m starting to wonder.

saltyhog · Jul 15, 2020

dwest said:
Hey Salty. Whenever I see pictures or videos of your tank it seems like your flame wrasse is swimming about. Mine hides in rocks most of the time. Does this seem normal to you? I don’t see him get bullied (my rhomboid is king) but I’m starting to wonder.

That would seem unusual for any fairy wrasse in my experience. Even the shyest one I have is constantly out front and swimming around in plain view. Keep a sharp eye out for bullying. How long has he been in your tank?

dwest · Jul 15, 2020

saltyhog said:
That would seem unusual for any fairy wrasse in my experience. Even the shyest one I have is constantly out front and swimming around in plain view. Keep a sharp eye out for bullying. How long has he been in your tank?

I’ve had all my wrasses for about a year. He comes out to eat but that’s about it any more. Will watch closer now.

HairyGary · Jul 15, 2020

dwest said:
Hey Salty. Whenever I see pictures or videos of your tank it seems like your flame wrasse is swimming about. Mine hides in rocks most of the time. Does this seem normal to you? I don’t see him get bullied (my rhomboid is king) but I’m starting to wonder.

I've seen a flame or two hide. I think I read that Hunter's is really shy as well. But yeah I would look out for any aggressiveness from others. I used to have a Borbonius anthias that chased the heck out of my wrasse.

HairyGary · Jul 15, 2020

saltyhog said:
Yes she went through 12 days of Copper Power after a couple of weeks of acclimation and then to an observation tank for more fattening and treatment for worms/flukes.

Surprisingly to me the top two at present are the Flame and the Exquisite. The Lineatus is just laid back, but no one messes with him. The Labouti is old....I've had him almost 5 years and he was terminal male when I got him. He's starting to lose a little weight. He still eats well though but I don't know how much longer I'll have him.

My Lineatus shows his colors at dusk but he is the same as yours. No one messes with him.

saltyhog · Jul 15, 2020

dwest said:
I’ve had all my wrasses for about a year. He comes out to eat but that’s about it any more. Will watch closer now.

Was he a terminal male when you got him? You description is kind of like my Laboutei but he is out some.

dwest · Jul 15, 2020

saltyhog said:
Was he a terminal male when you got him? You description is kind of like my Laboutei but he is out some.

None were terminal when I got them. The flame turned first.

I've been watching him closer today. He’s out some, mostly swims between rocks. Maybe out 10% of the time. When he does come out, he’s not getting chased, but in reality all fish get a little bullied by my pacific blue tang. I haven't seen another wrasses bothering him. I‘ll keep watching.

saltyhog · Aug 18, 2020

Update on the nano....now 7 months old. Coralline is going wild on shaded areas and on the plastic RFG's but not on the lighted surfaces for some reason. It is starting , just not as prolific there. The monti's are doing great. The rainbow on the left has wiped out two small zoa colonies....you can see the remnants of the one on the left still. We'll see what happens when it gets to the orange zoas.

Front shot.

saltyhog · Aug 18, 2020

For comparison...6 1/2 months ago

saltyhog · Aug 22, 2020

Fragged a few zoas and my Tyree Orange Rainbow palys. Hopefully my reef club friends will be happy.

saltyhog · Sep 24, 2020

Short video of the tank tonight. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Fish are all healthy and getting along with each other. Pretty good view of my Christmas tree worms at the very end...except for the photobombing fish!

HairyGary · Sep 24, 2020

saltyhog said:
Short video of the tank tonight. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Fish are all healthy and getting along with each other. Pretty good view of my Christmas tree worms at the very end...except for the photobombing fish!

Looking mighty fine David!

GoVols · Sep 24, 2020

Salty,
Your Christmas tree worms are great.

Zoas looking super happy too.

Do you think a Regal Angelfish would eat Christmas tree worms?

saltyhog · Sep 24, 2020

GoVols said:
Salty,
Your Christmas tree worms are great.

Zoas looking super happy too.

Do you think a Regal Angelfish would eat Christmas tree worms?

Don't tempt me! That's one of the fish that really got me interested in the hobby.

I will have to do some research about the Christmas tree worms. They are so fast I'm not sure anything without a long nose (like a Copper Band) could get them. (one of my favorite things to do when diving is wave my hand over some Christmas tree worms and watch how fast they retract.

I'm pretty sure my zoas would be on the menu with a Regal but maybe my colonies are big enough to prevent that being an issue? Honestly, I would like to get back to an SPS dominant tank....it's just that zoas were about the only thing that would actually grow/thrive after the dino problems. SPS is just now starting to grow for me.

GoVols · Sep 24, 2020

saltyhog said:
Don't tempt me! That's one of the fish that really got me interested in the hobby. I will have to do some research about the Christmas tree worms. They are so fast I'm not sure anything without a long nose (like a Copper Band) could get them. (one of my favorite things to do when diving is wave my hand over some Christmas tree worms and watch how fast they retract.

I'm pretty sure my zoas would be on the menu with a Regal but maybe my colonies are big enough to prevent that being an issue? Honestly, I would like to get back to an SPS dominant tank....it's just that zoas were about the only thing that would actually grow/thrive after the dino problems. SPS is just now starting to grow for me.

Yeah,
My Regal will chew up a colony of Zoas in a couple of days and she'll chew on Trachys too, but she leaves all my other corals alone, including lobo brains,

If I can find a nice batch of Christmas worms then might give those a shot, Seems like they're hard to find.

saltyhog · Sep 24, 2020

GoVols said:
Yeah,
My Regal will chew up a colony of Zoas in a couple of days and she'll chew on Trachys too, but she leaves all my other corals alone, including lobo brains,

If I can find a nice batch of Christmas worms then might give those a shot, Seems like they're hard to find.

I've been looking for them for years, then one day my LFS got two rocks with them! The next week Diver's Den had some and the week after Blue Zoo had some! The only place that has any now that I know of is BSA corals but they are very expensive. https://www.bsacorals.com/product-category/worm-rock/

I paid $200 for this rock.

GoVols · Sep 24, 2020

saltyhog said:
I've been looking for them for years, then one day my LFS got two rocks with them! The next week Diver's Den had some and the week after Blue Zoo had some! The only place that has any now that I know of is BSA corals but they are very expensive. https://www.bsacorals.com/product-category/worm-rock/

I paid $200 for this rock.

He's good with haggling with you to make a sale, but his final price would still be well above what I want to pay.

Could have got some on Dives Den (Must have been the same ones that you saw) but was wary that the Regel would pester those.

Do you dip them with coral dip?

Thanks for taking the time.