Who's Into Saltwater?
- Thread starter Tony
- Start date
callsign4223
Staff member
No thanks, the t5 was perfect. Got the plants growing great.
Tony
Staff member
Well more sad news with teh aquarium. We are now having a hair algae outbreak adn with the loss of the Blenny, and the wife decided to get a Sea Hare to help get rid of the hair algae. Well, only two days after getting him, he died. So we are out of ideas on what to do to get rid of this stuff. I know I'm tired of throwing money away with it....
Tony
Staff member
It's been a month since I have updated this, and lets just say, the wife and I have done a LOT to the tank.
First off, after the death of the Blenny and the Sea Hare, we started thinking about what we could do to control this algae that was growing uncontrollable. Well, we put that aside and just decided to use a small brush when we do water changes. Well, it took the wife one time cleaning the tank to get tired of that lol. But, we still did it.
We went out and purchased 3 bangi cardinals since we had them in our last tank, and they did quite well. Well enough that we went from 3 to 7 since they had babies in our last tank. Well, after only a couple weeks, we lost two of the cardinals because they were not eating. Last weekend we found out they were wild caught, and those are a little more picky on what they eat. The third however, survived and is still doing "okay".
Shortly after gettign the cardinals, she went out and purchased a long spine sea urchin since the bangi cardinals and the Long Spine Urchin have a symbolic relationship, and the fry they produce use the urchin as protection from getting eaten. Yes, the urchin is poisonous, feels like a bee sting if you get poked by it. I don't know this for a fact, but it's what I have read.
Little did we know, that little urchin is serving two purposes. Not only is it good for the cardinals, but it's also a GREAT algae eater. Only a week after putting him in there, the algae is GONE!! But, we are only left with one Bangi.
Fast forward to last weekend and things are going to change. the wife wanted to put some more color in the tank so I woke up early on my day off and we went to the fish store. We had decided that we wanted 5 Bangi's, so we had to purchase 4 more. And this time, they were captive bread and smaller than the last ones. So, we bagged them up.
then, I wanted my old fish back, the Yellow Tang. There was one that was larger, but the coloring didn't look right on him. I found another one that is quite small, about the same diameter as the top of a soda can, and was eating really well. So, we bagged him up as well.
Then we went over and started looking at the corals. I love corals, they are the reason we went with the tank that we did. And good news, they had just gotten a shipment in.
Since we are running 3w Cree LED's, we can have just about any coral that we want. Some require a LOT of light, some require moderate light. It's as simple as placing them in different parts of the tank.
So after looking for a while, I decided that I definitely wanted a Montipora. This is a coral that is pretty fast growing, is decently peaceful with other corals, and not that hard to take care of. When it grows, it will grow into a bowl shape, or something like a flower. So, we bagged that up as well.
Then, I noticed a dead skeleton plate coral that had some Zoanthids on it. The orange and green of these Zoo's were amazing, so we bagged that up as well.
This whole time the wife was at the other end of the coral tank and was looking at one coral. It was an Acropora and it had some great color to it. The issue is, this is a staghorn coral and is one of the harder ones to keep. But, I have always wanted to get into SPS corals (the montipora is an SPS as well), so I told her that she could get it if she wanted. So, again, we bagged the acro up.
After getting some food for the fish and other corals, we were ready to leave. After all, my wallet was going to be smoking after this one. Corals and fish are not cheap by any means. But, on my way to the register, I noticed a Colt coral that looked really good. Decent size, great coloring for a colt, and again, told them to bag it up.
so after all of this, we ended up with 4 Bangi's, a Yellow Tang, Acorpora, Montipora, Colt, Zoanthids, frozen brine shrimp, flake food, and supplements for the tank.
As the owner was ringing us up, she paused for a minute and said "this can't be right". I knew then that I should just turn and walk away haha. I looked at her and said, "if the price is shocking you, then I don't even want to know!". And she was right, it's the most I have ever spent on my aquarium at one time. But, the wife was happy with the new additions, so it was worth it. I pulled out the plastic, and off we went.
So we are home, and we start acclimating the corals and fish to our tank. Thankfully the lights were already off for the night, so it was not going ot stress out our other fish too much. After about two hours of acclimating, we released the fish, and I placed the corals where I thought they should go.
As you know, I stay up at night so just before I went to bed, I cranked on the lights to see if I could see anything on the corals in an hour or so when they opened up. Well, the SPS (monti and acro) dont' really show anything when they are opened up, more of a filter feeder than anything. But the colt is the one that I wanted to see open up. Unfortunately, it was really pissed off and never opened that day. I thought it was the intensity of the light so I put it in the sand bed to get it farther down. Then, I read that it likes a lot of light and water flow as well, even though it's a softie and moves a lot in the water. Fine, back where it was.
the other thing that happened, after I woke up that day, was the tank was VERY cloudy. The ONLY thing that could have done this is the Colt. I think it put a slime coating on it's self and when we cranked on the power heads, it just dispersed it all throughout the tank. This did worry me, but it was what it was, and we just let the tank do it's thing. We did however do a 20 gallon water change on it since it needed it. Cleaned out the sump as well.
And the good news, all 5 new fish were eating really well and getting along with the other fish in the tank. The 4 Bangi's went right to the big one that was left over and they were getting along. It was funny though, every now and then, two of the small ones would go off swimming away from the others, and the big one would go and chase them back lmao. Hilarious to watch.
It was then that the wife and I started talking and realized that with corals that are running upwards of a bill a piece, that we needed not only some security on the tank, but also piece of mind and some normalization. It needed a schedule in other words. We were turning the lights on when she got up, and off when I got up. This could change from day to day, and the fish and corals would get pissed off if we were not right on time. I mean, our Diamond Goby, at 1830 every day (well, 1930 now with the time change) will start pushing sand up against his cave. And if the lights didn't go off at about 1930 (2030 now), he would pick up sand in his mouth, swim up the tank and spit it against the glass like he was trying to hit us lol. Again, hilarious to watch. But, we needed a timer.
So after talking, we also realized that we needed a timer that was more than a timer. We needed something that once setup, would run the tank, keep an eye on the temp and PH, turn on pumps, power heads and lights when needed, and so on. So, we decided to get the Neptune Apex Aquarium Controller. Never in my life would I think I would spend this much on a damn light switch lmao. But, there is a LOT that you will do with it and it's upgradeable if we ever need to. So, we ordered a controller and will never have to worry about the times again.
Then we got to talking about the lights that were on the tank. I mean, we just put $300 worth of coral in the tank, and we will be putting in more shortly. We need better lights. Yes, we have LED's on it now, but they are a retrofit kit that I had to put together. They work, but when you dim them down, 11% is as dim as you can go, and 11% on 3W LED's is not that dim lol. So, we started looking at some different lights.
there are a LOT of lights out there that you can choose from. But, we decided to go with the Aqua Illuminations SOL Blue's. These are the exact same light that are over the coral tank, and the show tank at the fish store. Each light brick (8 pucks of 3 LED's each, equaling 24 LED's per brick) only pulls 75w. The same as my light setup now. I'm running 48 LED's, and with two bricks, again, it will be 48 LED's. So why upgrade? Simple. Because the controller that we also ordered (light controller, not the tank controller) will run the lights with a ramp up for sunrise and sunset, as well as following the lunar cycle down to 1% intensity. This means, a much better chance that the corals that are doing good, will spawn in the tank making new corals where they land.
And yes, with the addition of the cable, the Apex controller will fully run the AI SOL's. But, I wanted to do some testing on it with the stock controller first.
So, two AI SOL's and a controller are on order along with the Apex Tank Controller.
Then we realized that we need a Protein skimmer as well. What that does is it takes out DOC's (Dissolved Organic Compounds, or fish waste and other things) from the water making a much better environment for the fish and corals. So we started looking. There was a member on here that was going to sell me one, but in all reality, I needed more than that one would do. So we purchased one that was good up to about 150 gallons and it's on its way as well.
So, in one weekend, we have or have ordered 5 fish, 4 corals, Tank Controller, New lights and controller and a skimmer. My wallet is melting right now and my ass is burning up lmao. But, to see the look on the wifes face when she sees the tank makes it all worth it. Even the family that came over likes the tank and that is what makes this all worth it, even if I don't get to see it since I work nights. I guess it's kind of like running an Rc Forum and not being able to fly. It's all about what makes others around you happy. And most times, it's worth it.
First off, after the death of the Blenny and the Sea Hare, we started thinking about what we could do to control this algae that was growing uncontrollable. Well, we put that aside and just decided to use a small brush when we do water changes. Well, it took the wife one time cleaning the tank to get tired of that lol. But, we still did it.
We went out and purchased 3 bangi cardinals since we had them in our last tank, and they did quite well. Well enough that we went from 3 to 7 since they had babies in our last tank. Well, after only a couple weeks, we lost two of the cardinals because they were not eating. Last weekend we found out they were wild caught, and those are a little more picky on what they eat. The third however, survived and is still doing "okay".
Shortly after gettign the cardinals, she went out and purchased a long spine sea urchin since the bangi cardinals and the Long Spine Urchin have a symbolic relationship, and the fry they produce use the urchin as protection from getting eaten. Yes, the urchin is poisonous, feels like a bee sting if you get poked by it. I don't know this for a fact, but it's what I have read.
Little did we know, that little urchin is serving two purposes. Not only is it good for the cardinals, but it's also a GREAT algae eater. Only a week after putting him in there, the algae is GONE!! But, we are only left with one Bangi.
Fast forward to last weekend and things are going to change. the wife wanted to put some more color in the tank so I woke up early on my day off and we went to the fish store. We had decided that we wanted 5 Bangi's, so we had to purchase 4 more. And this time, they were captive bread and smaller than the last ones. So, we bagged them up.
then, I wanted my old fish back, the Yellow Tang. There was one that was larger, but the coloring didn't look right on him. I found another one that is quite small, about the same diameter as the top of a soda can, and was eating really well. So, we bagged him up as well.
Then we went over and started looking at the corals. I love corals, they are the reason we went with the tank that we did. And good news, they had just gotten a shipment in.
Since we are running 3w Cree LED's, we can have just about any coral that we want. Some require a LOT of light, some require moderate light. It's as simple as placing them in different parts of the tank.
So after looking for a while, I decided that I definitely wanted a Montipora. This is a coral that is pretty fast growing, is decently peaceful with other corals, and not that hard to take care of. When it grows, it will grow into a bowl shape, or something like a flower. So, we bagged that up as well.
Then, I noticed a dead skeleton plate coral that had some Zoanthids on it. The orange and green of these Zoo's were amazing, so we bagged that up as well.
This whole time the wife was at the other end of the coral tank and was looking at one coral. It was an Acropora and it had some great color to it. The issue is, this is a staghorn coral and is one of the harder ones to keep. But, I have always wanted to get into SPS corals (the montipora is an SPS as well), so I told her that she could get it if she wanted. So, again, we bagged the acro up.
After getting some food for the fish and other corals, we were ready to leave. After all, my wallet was going to be smoking after this one. Corals and fish are not cheap by any means. But, on my way to the register, I noticed a Colt coral that looked really good. Decent size, great coloring for a colt, and again, told them to bag it up.
so after all of this, we ended up with 4 Bangi's, a Yellow Tang, Acorpora, Montipora, Colt, Zoanthids, frozen brine shrimp, flake food, and supplements for the tank.
As the owner was ringing us up, she paused for a minute and said "this can't be right". I knew then that I should just turn and walk away haha. I looked at her and said, "if the price is shocking you, then I don't even want to know!". And she was right, it's the most I have ever spent on my aquarium at one time. But, the wife was happy with the new additions, so it was worth it. I pulled out the plastic, and off we went.
So we are home, and we start acclimating the corals and fish to our tank. Thankfully the lights were already off for the night, so it was not going ot stress out our other fish too much. After about two hours of acclimating, we released the fish, and I placed the corals where I thought they should go.
As you know, I stay up at night so just before I went to bed, I cranked on the lights to see if I could see anything on the corals in an hour or so when they opened up. Well, the SPS (monti and acro) dont' really show anything when they are opened up, more of a filter feeder than anything. But the colt is the one that I wanted to see open up. Unfortunately, it was really pissed off and never opened that day. I thought it was the intensity of the light so I put it in the sand bed to get it farther down. Then, I read that it likes a lot of light and water flow as well, even though it's a softie and moves a lot in the water. Fine, back where it was.
the other thing that happened, after I woke up that day, was the tank was VERY cloudy. The ONLY thing that could have done this is the Colt. I think it put a slime coating on it's self and when we cranked on the power heads, it just dispersed it all throughout the tank. This did worry me, but it was what it was, and we just let the tank do it's thing. We did however do a 20 gallon water change on it since it needed it. Cleaned out the sump as well.
And the good news, all 5 new fish were eating really well and getting along with the other fish in the tank. The 4 Bangi's went right to the big one that was left over and they were getting along. It was funny though, every now and then, two of the small ones would go off swimming away from the others, and the big one would go and chase them back lmao. Hilarious to watch.
It was then that the wife and I started talking and realized that with corals that are running upwards of a bill a piece, that we needed not only some security on the tank, but also piece of mind and some normalization. It needed a schedule in other words. We were turning the lights on when she got up, and off when I got up. This could change from day to day, and the fish and corals would get pissed off if we were not right on time. I mean, our Diamond Goby, at 1830 every day (well, 1930 now with the time change) will start pushing sand up against his cave. And if the lights didn't go off at about 1930 (2030 now), he would pick up sand in his mouth, swim up the tank and spit it against the glass like he was trying to hit us lol. Again, hilarious to watch. But, we needed a timer.
So after talking, we also realized that we needed a timer that was more than a timer. We needed something that once setup, would run the tank, keep an eye on the temp and PH, turn on pumps, power heads and lights when needed, and so on. So, we decided to get the Neptune Apex Aquarium Controller. Never in my life would I think I would spend this much on a damn light switch lmao. But, there is a LOT that you will do with it and it's upgradeable if we ever need to. So, we ordered a controller and will never have to worry about the times again.
Then we got to talking about the lights that were on the tank. I mean, we just put $300 worth of coral in the tank, and we will be putting in more shortly. We need better lights. Yes, we have LED's on it now, but they are a retrofit kit that I had to put together. They work, but when you dim them down, 11% is as dim as you can go, and 11% on 3W LED's is not that dim lol. So, we started looking at some different lights.
there are a LOT of lights out there that you can choose from. But, we decided to go with the Aqua Illuminations SOL Blue's. These are the exact same light that are over the coral tank, and the show tank at the fish store. Each light brick (8 pucks of 3 LED's each, equaling 24 LED's per brick) only pulls 75w. The same as my light setup now. I'm running 48 LED's, and with two bricks, again, it will be 48 LED's. So why upgrade? Simple. Because the controller that we also ordered (light controller, not the tank controller) will run the lights with a ramp up for sunrise and sunset, as well as following the lunar cycle down to 1% intensity. This means, a much better chance that the corals that are doing good, will spawn in the tank making new corals where they land.
And yes, with the addition of the cable, the Apex controller will fully run the AI SOL's. But, I wanted to do some testing on it with the stock controller first.
So, two AI SOL's and a controller are on order along with the Apex Tank Controller.
Then we realized that we need a Protein skimmer as well. What that does is it takes out DOC's (Dissolved Organic Compounds, or fish waste and other things) from the water making a much better environment for the fish and corals. So we started looking. There was a member on here that was going to sell me one, but in all reality, I needed more than that one would do. So we purchased one that was good up to about 150 gallons and it's on its way as well.
So, in one weekend, we have or have ordered 5 fish, 4 corals, Tank Controller, New lights and controller and a skimmer. My wallet is melting right now and my ass is burning up lmao. But, to see the look on the wifes face when she sees the tank makes it all worth it. Even the family that came over likes the tank and that is what makes this all worth it, even if I don't get to see it since I work nights. I guess it's kind of like running an Rc Forum and not being able to fly. It's all about what makes others around you happy. And most times, it's worth it.
BOKI
Member
Tony ; It sounds like you have very nice Fish & Lots of fun watching them! and & really enjoy them ! I use to have 2 tanks not coral & one was a breeding tank & also used to put the fish if I cleaned my big tank! My son lost his job & living at home till he can get another job! But he has a nice tank but just fresh water fish! Hope you have good luck & lots of fun watching them !Dave Oh I'm a one finger typer & it would take me forever to type what you did about your fish!
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Tony
Staff member
It takes a while to learn how to type. Unfortunately, with as fast as I type, I end up hitting keys in the wrong order sometimes. That is why you see me type "nad" when I mean to type "and" and so on. I'm waiting on my backspace button to go out on me lmao.
but you are right, I do enjoy watching the tank even though I usually don't see it until after the lights are off.
but you are right, I do enjoy watching the tank even though I usually don't see it until after the lights are off.
BOKI
Member
Tony; I went to a Catholic High School & I could type & Chew Gum back then 45 words a minute! A Nun use to rap my fingers with a poker when I was chewing gum but I still would d do it anyway! Really Loved our fish tank ! Only have my sons fish tank now! They are fun to watch with the lights on! Dave Making lots of mistakes typing better get back to bed!
Tony
Staff member
They are black and silver lol. Pretty blah, but they are interesting to watch. I will see about getting some pictures of the fish and coral if I'm up when the lights are on. Most of the time I am not up. I may have to wait until the weekend when I can get up early before they are turned out. And hopefully by then, I will have the other items that I ordered and can get some comparison shots of those as well.
Tony
Staff member
No, the Bangi's are not in that movie. My Clowns are, however I have True Purcula Clowns, not the ocellaris clowns that were in the movie. I also have the Yellow tang (Bubbles) that was in the movie. I will never own the Morish Idol since they are very, VERY hard to keep in captivity, but there is another breed that looks like them that I might get. And puffers are not reef safe, so I will never have one of those. But there are others that I may get.
Below is a pic of the Bangi's that I have.
Below is a pic of the Bangi's that I have.
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Tony
Staff member
It's really cool when they raise their fry. The male will hold the babies in his mouth. Our last ones had babies and it was funny to see him swim around with fins sticking out of his mouth lmao. And he will spit them out, grab a bite to eat, then suck them back in when it's feeding time. Hoping to see that again.
Tony
Staff member
I was waiting for them to ship my items to reveal who I purchased them from. and I have to say, they are on the ball unlike some of the crackheads in china, and even some here in the stated. China = a week or more just to get to your order. This order... FIRST THING THIS MORNING! I ordered everything on Saturday night so because they are closed on the weekends as most online places are and can't ship, they got to it first thing this morning. I'm talking 0755 this morning I received an email that my items have been shipped. Now that is quality service.
I highly doubt that I will have an issue with the items, but if I do, I have no issues in thinking that they handle it just as they did their shipping, immediately!
The company that I purchased everything from was Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Supplies - Bulk Reef Supply. They have everything from controllers, to lights, to water filters (which will be my next order from them) to reactors to MANY other things. Almost everything that you would need to get or keep an aquarium running.
If you are needing anything from hardware, to fittings, to lights to pumps and powerheads, this is your place. And if you spend $175, it's free shipping. I know, $175 is a lot, but if you have ever been on the site of the shipping that they are on, you can understand why they have to be that high. Just look at the crap companies that are here in the US that WERE at $50, and have raised that to $100 now. At one time, they were $25 and they changed that really fast.
I'm sure that I can save my pennies and come up with an order to get the free shipping, but even if I can't, the shipping rates that I saw were not that bad. The order that I made, which is two boxes, was free, but the second option was only $12. $12, for two boxes, with UPS, is a killer deal.
Again, if you want to order anything for your tank, give these guys some recognition, it's worth it.
I will have pictures, and even some video of the tank before and after putting all of this stuff in there. I will even take pictures and more than likely, video, of the fish. That Tang is all over the place lol. Tried getting some pictures tonight and he just kept swimming lmao. Not like my last one that would pose for the camera.
I highly doubt that I will have an issue with the items, but if I do, I have no issues in thinking that they handle it just as they did their shipping, immediately!
The company that I purchased everything from was Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Supplies - Bulk Reef Supply. They have everything from controllers, to lights, to water filters (which will be my next order from them) to reactors to MANY other things. Almost everything that you would need to get or keep an aquarium running.
If you are needing anything from hardware, to fittings, to lights to pumps and powerheads, this is your place. And if you spend $175, it's free shipping. I know, $175 is a lot, but if you have ever been on the site of the shipping that they are on, you can understand why they have to be that high. Just look at the crap companies that are here in the US that WERE at $50, and have raised that to $100 now. At one time, they were $25 and they changed that really fast.
I'm sure that I can save my pennies and come up with an order to get the free shipping, but even if I can't, the shipping rates that I saw were not that bad. The order that I made, which is two boxes, was free, but the second option was only $12. $12, for two boxes, with UPS, is a killer deal.
Again, if you want to order anything for your tank, give these guys some recognition, it's worth it.
I will have pictures, and even some video of the tank before and after putting all of this stuff in there. I will even take pictures and more than likely, video, of the fish. That Tang is all over the place lol. Tried getting some pictures tonight and he just kept swimming lmao. Not like my last one that would pose for the camera.
Tony
Staff member
Thanks bro. I doubt they would be interested in Rc, but you never know. I did send them an email asking some questions about some other items and mentioned this thread. As expected, I checked UPS website and tracked my package, and it will be here Thursday. It's two boxes equaling 20lbs. For free shipping, this is a great deal.
Tony
Staff member
Okay, you guys wanted to see some pictures, and here they are. I will say this, my camera does not do these things justice. I will try to get some better ones later on. But you can at least see what I have in there as well as a full tank shot. All of this is before I put on the new lights so the color should get better. Also, the lights had just come on so things were not open much. Well, the Acropora is open as you can see in the upclose pic where you can see the very small tentacles poking out. This is the coral that I"m trying out just to see if I can keep it. It's one of the harder corals to keep, and if I can keep that, then I can keep anything. And with it showing life and feeding as it is in the pic, it's doing quite well. That is, if my damn snails will stop knocking it off the rock lmao.
Tony
Staff member
It will look better once I redo the lights, get a skimmer on the tank so it's not as cloudy and get the rock where I want it. I think the wife is going ot pick up another coral rock today. She picked up some mushrooms yesterday. They were not open so I didn't take any pics of them. But I will when they open up.
It's expensive, but it's worth it when you are having a bad day to just pull up a chair and watch the fish and coral...
It's expensive, but it's worth it when you are having a bad day to just pull up a chair and watch the fish and coral...
