View Full Version : Kie77 Tank
Hello fish people.
Well, I'm a total noobie to keeping marine fish, infact I can't be called a fishkeepr as yet as, by definition, I'd have to have fish in my tank - which I don't yet.
It was September 2006 when I went to the LFS to show my girlfriend the guppies, neons etc that I was planning on keeping in my little tank I'd got for christmas 9 months previous. To cut a long story short, I now have an Aquamedic Chromis (140litres). Below is a photo of when I'd finally got the tank, and put the water in (as you can see, I didn't have enough water). I'd just put up the lights after getting permission from my landlord.
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis1.JPG
This photo was taken in December 2006, bonus points if you can name the film on tv.
Now, the first thing I realised when I got this tank was that I hated the skimmer. Big bulky and ugly.
This photo was taken a month after the one in the post above. Quite exciting, it was kinda the moment I realised that I was indeed going to have a tidy little set up. OUT is the ugly Tunze Internal Skimmer/Surface Skimmer. IN is the cool Deltec MCE300 skimmer. I'd under estimated how cool it looks to see this shimmering blue tank in my living room.
I've added 9 kgs live rock (thanks Lukmec) I'll add a bit more later this week.
The plastic crate is something I think I'd like to lose if possible after the maturing period. It looks ugly - there must be a way I can keep a decent water flow and lose/hide the crate?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis2.JPG
Here is a closer picture of inside the tank
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/Chromis3.JPG
I wonder how long that power head lasts before I replace it with a nano stream?
This is where I am with the tank now. The rock has been sat in there for almost a week now, getting a good 10 hours of light a day (metal halides and acitinic).
I now have brown algae - which is apparently a good/normal thing. I've had this algae for 3 days now
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis4.JPG
I hope it doesn't get too out of control and disappears soon.
Here is the MCE300 skimmer doing the biz:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis5.JPG
So...am I doing everything right so far?
instantsquid
29-01-07, 14:15
Hi there,
Looks like a good start there! A couple of things spring to mind:
You mentioned getting rid of the eggcrate - it does look a bit out of place in your tank. Is it sitting on top of the sand? To be honest, I think I'd get rid of the eggcrate and sit the rock directly on the base of the tank - this will ensure you have a nice sturdy structure. The danger with sitting rock on the sand is that burrowing critters, sand movement, etc. can cause the rock to fall down.
Secondly, that powerhead on it's own, won't give you enough water movement. Have a look through the member's tank section as there are loads of these tanks in there. The Nano Streams sound like a good bet.
All in all, a cracking tank in the making! :)
- Ian
Wreckfish88
29-01-07, 14:45
Very nice start mate. The algae should clear up in no time :)
Thanks guys. Always a relief to know from the pros that you're doing things right.
I'm keeping the egg crate in there for the maturing process, though it looks a little ugly, it must help.
Thanks for the pointer re the power heads - I'll get nanoed up soon.
A relief to know that the brown algae will go soon.
I'll post more when there's more news :)
nice looking tank do u think you will get any zoos for the tank
Warren, I'm so new to this, I've spent most of my time just reading about what I need to make the tank work, all the do''s and don'ts. Researching skimmers, tanks, nitrogen cycles..it's a huge subject to launch myself into. It's only now that I'm starting to look at what livestock to keep :)
I'll definitely be getting 2 false perc clownies and one small (as small as i can) yellow tang. I'd like a goby/pistol shrimp combo too.
As for coral, yes, I will be getting some zoos, they'd be a good choice for a newbie methinks. The sea mats/button polyps look interesting. Yellow zoos look good too, I believe they grow really quick and have a mild sting though? I'd like to keep it colourful. Sun coral will be added at some point too - once I'm a bit more experienced.
More photos to come as and when there is anything interesting to report...
Wreckfish88
30-01-07, 12:42
Warren, I'm so new to this, I've spent most of my time just reading about what I need to make the tank work, all the do''s and don'ts. Researching skimmers, tanks, nitrogen cycles..it's a huge subject to launch myself into. It's only now that I'm starting to look at what livestock to keep :)
I'll definitely be getting 2 false perc clownies and one small (as small as i can) yellow tang. I'd like a goby/pistol shrimp combo too.
As for coral, yes, I will be getting some zoos, they'd be a good choice for a newbie methinks. The sea mats/button polyps look interesting. Yellow zoos look good too, I believe they grow really quick and have a mild sting though? I'd like to keep it colourful. Sun coral will be added at some point too - once I'm a bit more experienced.
More photos to come as and when there is anything interesting to report...
That all sound great apart from the bit about the Yellow Tang even a small one would outgrow your tank very quickly. You could try a Dwarf Lemonpeel Angel instead same colour and they eat algae too :D
Get a few corals in the tank in the right places, and some good coralline growth and you won't even see the eggcrate ;)
I find that the fish love hiding under there, and that keeps the sand nice and stirred up too
Hiya other Kieran from Twickenham.
If it can be hidden in a decorative way then I'd be tempted to keep it as I can see the benefits, it just looks ugly and unnatural - like there has been litter thrown in it. We'll talk it over a pint soon?
I think the brown algae is slowly receding, yay
Well, I replaced the ugly powerhead with a much more attractive nanostream 6045. I much prefer it, plus the flow seems to be much better too.
I've also added another 2.5kg of live rock taking it up to 11.5kgs. I'm tempted to get another 2kgs but don't want a tank full of rock with no room for coral - what do you think?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis6.JPG
Ive got double that amount in my chromis - nearly 23kg.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/354151295_f48e63bd3a.jpg
I would make sure you have at least 15kg's in for it to filter the water properly.
I see your point. I can see another archway being built then :)
Great looking tank by the way...
SpanishTony
01-02-07, 14:06
Nice tank TeeJay
looking good bud, why not get some smaller bits of rock to go round the bottom of the egg crate. that should hide it quite nicely.
Ok, we've had the brown algae. Yesterday I woke up, checked the tank and yeeeesh, it was green. Every window had a thin cover of green algae. I have to use the magnet to clean the front and side windows about 3 times a day.
I've started on the back as you can see if you look on the back right. I need to take off the skimmer and the backing paper to give the back window a proper clean. I guess I need a tooth brush or something to get to the places where the rock doesn't let the magnet pass?
Anyway, here is my green algae tank:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis7.JPG
I guess it's all perfectly normal to have brown algae followed by a green algae bloom? You've all been here before, right?
I'm going to add more live rock tomorrow (I know this will delay the date I can add livestock) I can see from the likes of Teejay77 that more rock not only is better for filtering, but it looks like it gives the tank more depth and more features to look at.
I will be losing the egg crate by the way, I'm just keeping it in for the cycling process.
Any comments/advice are always welcome as I've never done this before :)
I waited nine months before adding any fish or corals...waiting never hurts :D
Get the rock up to the amount you want and make sure it is cycled properly before getting to the next stage, that's the important bit, slow and steady.
incidentally, what are your various test readings at the mo?
I've just cleaned my 1st ever skimmer, poooooooo-weeeeeee. I gave the back window a good clean, I think I'll use a tooth brush to get at the tricky bits of algae I can't reach.
I've not done any tests yet, I figured I'd wait until the algae had disappeared for a while before testing the water.
You waited 9 months to add your livestock? Ah the proud father of his fishtank :D
Ok, I'll add more rock tomorrow and then hopefully in 5 or 6 weeks it'll be fish time, wooohooooo
instantsquid
05-02-07, 19:12
Excellent stuff! Get in really close and check out the rock - you might already see some signs of life...
As for the skimmer - welcome to the club! You never get used to the pong...
Really glad to see you're taking it nice and slow - nothing good ever happens quick in a reef tank!
- Ian
in some kind of twisted way i quite like the smell of the skimmer cup when i clean it:o is this normal?? great looking scap'ing ther mate
I'd get testing mate.
You need at least a rough idea of what the tank is doing.
Get yourself a nitrate test kit. I'll drop in at yours tomorrow and lend you my nitrite and ammonia (once cycled you don't really need em)
Once the tank has cycled and settled you can get the clean up crew in, so always worth knowing where you're at imo
Well I was hoping to wow you all with my latest pieces of rock. I've built another arch infront of the original one.
However 1. My camera has gone kapput.
2. The tank is still just a green fog, you can't clearly see the rock at all. I'm cleaning the glass obsessively every hour. The back window which I so lovingly cleaned a few days ago is again a wall of green. I guess I'll give the skimmer another good clean.
Is this normal then because it's soul destroying. It was crystal clear and looking clear only 5 days ago, but now it just looks ugly.
It's all part of cycling the tank, right? Right? Please?
Halfsleeve
07-02-07, 17:42
Hi mate how long are your lights on for?, as its just rock i would drop it to 6hrs if it is more, I started my tank at 8hrs as i had xenia on some of the live rock as i didn't want it to die (it survived the cyle process too).
Time for another update methinks....
Well, since my last photo, much has happened. My last photo was taken right before the GREEN GREEEEEEN fog. One day I had my shimmering blue tank, the next day, I kid you not, it was so green in the tank that you could not see the rock inside it. I thought I'd well and truly c0cked up somewhere. I was expecting an algae bloom, but this was just horrible. It was a green fog for 7days and it was depressing.
Remember, this is my 1st ever marine tank...freshwater tropical tanks just never did this.
I dropped the amount of light it was getting down to about 6 hours and wow - after 2 days it all magically cleared up. I'm gutted my camera died, this is a true lesson for any newbies out there, i wish I had photos of how green it got. It was sooooooo green and then by dropping the amount of light it got, my shimmering blues came back. Pheeeeeew.
Since then I've had the copepods arrive. I thought I had some kind of flea infestation, but these are good guys.
I've now got a clean up crew of one peppermint shrimp, 15 dwarf blue legged hermit crabs, 15 vibex snails and I'll soon be getting a cleaner shrimp and a few turbo snails.
Can I keep red legged hermit crabs with the blue legged ones ok? I'm tempted to get a couple.
My Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites are all zero. Phosphates are pretty much zero, maybe 0.02. I hope to get my 1st fish tomorrow. I was planning on starting with a couple of captive bred Perculas but my lfs has sold out for atleast a week. I can get hold of a mated pair of wild caught perculas but I have a thing about keeping wild caught fish, it just doesn't feel right for me to keep fish caught from their natural reef, shipped over here and plonked in a tank. They look great, but I'd feel a bit bad about it - i guess that's a debate all on it's own.
I might start with a couple of damsel fish or maybe a school of cromises given that it is an aquamedic Chromis that I have.
I've bought a new camera so I'll post a few piccies up....
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis8.JPG
I've added some more rock since my last photo. I reckon I need more, but I guess any coral I add will come with rock, so maybe it'll be enough.
I still think I'll lose the egg crate, I'm in 2 minds.
You can see all the grassy algae growing on the rocks. It looks quite cool, but should I maybe trim this down or will my clean up crew look after this?
It's basically 2 arches. It's not milliputted yet, so i may yet rescape...
One of my 15 little blue legged hermit crabs, they're cool. I'd like to add maybe 2 red legged hermits too, would this be ok? I watched, fascinated, as one little guys found a shell laying around and switched homes - amazing stuff:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis9.JPG
And here is my peppermint shrimp hiding as he often does:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis11.JPG
The vibex snails are fun too. You could be wondering where they all are one minute...then give your glass a quick clean with the magnet...then WAM...5 or 6 of em all come from nowhere to check out what's going on.
All very exciting, and still no fish yet.
The next photo will have fish in it :D
Halfsleeve
03-03-07, 09:13
Looking good can't wait for a update piccy.
Looking good so far Kieran. I'd agree on removing the egg-crate - a pet hate of mine unless done extremely carefully. I've yet to see a tank I think where the eggcrate doesn't intrude and it's even more difficult in a small tank. You can aquascape so that the base of the structure is solid and rests on the glass and still ensure that the rockwork above that is open. I do like the 'scaping so far though!!
In such as small tank I would be very selective about which fish you're going to have as there won't be many!! My inclination is to go for fish that
(a) are not aggressive (most, if not all, damsels have a dark side and once established can be very aggressive towards new introductions! Chromis have the reputation of picking on the weakest individual in the group and harrassing it to death before picking on the next weakest - perhaps not a good choice in a small tank where there is nowhere to flee to),
(b) are small at an ADULT size (so tangs are out),
(c) are mainly sedentary (e.g. gobies).
Perhaps look at one of the smaller species of dwarf angel e.g. a cherub, as a centrepiece. These are stunning little fish which are generally lost in a larger reef community but in the confines of a smaller tank can be seen from close quarters and are superb. A potential downside is they can be coral pickers so depends what else you want to keep coral-wise. There are a number of small and stunning gobies now being imported as nanos have become more popular.
HTH
John
Psycho_Eddie
03-03-07, 09:57
What about a pair of true Percs and a Pair of Scooter Blennies i rekon that would go well?
I second that, id remove egg crate in a smaller tank like that could trap the snails.
I might start with a couple of damsel fish....
Ooops, I didn't mean damsel fish, I meant Cardinal fish. I was a tad tipsy to say the least when I posted last night :cheers:
I like the look of Banggai cardinal fish, are these fellas ok to put in first?
I'm definitely going to get a goby, I'd love to keep a goby with a pistol shrimp to see how they live together.
Interesting what you say about the chromises, I was always lead to believe that these guys were peaceful, like the marine versions of neons almost.
I haven't kept Banggai cardinals although plenty of people have and even bred them which is a bonus - really interesting behaviour as are mouthbrooders. Maybe someone else will give an opinion as to whether a Chromis is adequate sizewise. A goby and pistol are absolutely ideal for your tank IMO - again fascinating behaviour which may be hard to observe in a large tank but easy in a Chromis.
Recent thread on chromises (the fish) showed a number of people's experiences were the same - i.e. a shoal whittled down to just one large individual. I think in small tank this would be exacerbated - not sure the tank is big enough anyway TBH.
John
So, today I decide I'm gonna remove the egg crate and rescape.
I'm eating my morning cornflakes and surveying the tank watching my little cleanup crew do their stuff. There's still loads of that hair green algae stuff, I think I might get a couple of red legged hermits to help out.
Anyway, I'm thinking "where's the peppermint shrimp? I've not seen him for a while". I look everywhere, behind the rocks, and finally, under the egg crate...and I see him....dead :( A white body and his little pink stalks, I was GUTTED!! I loved the little fella.
I felt so guilty, I was told he'd live off the nutrients in the tank for a while, I was actually going to buy him a bit of brine shrimp today.
Being new to this, my confidence took a big knock, I'd only had him a week. I thought I was doing everything right, my salinity is 1.025, my parameters ammonia, nitrites, nitrate were all zero, phosphate was a poxy 0.01...
So, anyway, I wanted to remove his body and the egg crate. So, I start removing the rocks and little hermits and snails when who should come struttung out of a rock? Yes - SHRIMPY!! He's ALIVE!! It's a Christmas MIRACLE! Rejoice rejoice and give praise to the miracle peppermint shrimp who has returned from the dead.
Sooooooo......these little fellas shed their skin then do they? :D
I've rescaped now, looks much better sans egg crate...piccy to follow later....
looking great mate, keep it coming
Halfsleeve
04-03-07, 14:35
Ha yes mate peppermints and cleaner shrimps shed there skin as do all the others I guess, they tend to hide whilst doing so, and the next thing you see is the old skin, fascinating this marine lark.
So as mentioned earlier, I discovered my dead peppermint shrimp was actually alive and had just shed his skin whilst I was removing the ugly looking egg crate.
I've now removed the egg crate and re-aquascaped the rock. This is how it looks now, what do you think? Better? Worse?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis12.JPG
On the bottom right is a lettuce clip holding some cockles for the tanks first ever feed. The vibex snails all swarmed from nowhere, shrimpy was loving it too. You can't really see it there, but my biggest dwarf legged blue hermit is actually checking out a new shell that I'd put in there, maybe he'll move house.
I've also added a small sack of Rowa phos to my skimmer as I had nothing removing phosphates....so hopefully my algae will slowly disappear now.
Fingers crossed, this coming Friday I will have fish. I nearly bought 2 emperor cardinal fish today but thought it best to carry on being patient and wait a little longer....
Well, today I reached the status of clownfish on this site - so to celebrate, I got my first fish :D :D :grin:
Check out these two fellas, I'm taking bets as to which one will become a girl:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/clownies first day.JPG
I've also got a lawnmower blenny in there, he looks great. He's hiding in the rocks right now, i'll try and get a photo of him later. He's got plenty of hair algae in there to eat.
So FINALLY after months of research, cycling the tank, staring at the rock...I now keep fish - woooohooooooooooooo.
I'm thinking either an emperor cardinal fish next, or a watchman goby with pistol shrimp.
Any comments/advice welcome
Halfsleeve
08-03-07, 20:23
One on the left looking good mate, def female can see her nagging.
Ok, some more piccies and news and questions etc :D
Here is my lawnmower blenny, I think he is just brilliant. Such a character, he sits and watches the world and chomps on the algae. Infront of him is a dwarf blue legged hermit crab who has recently moved into a brand new shell:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/lawnie and hermie.JPG
Here is the lawnmower blenny with the clownies....the percs seem fascinated with their own reflection and sit in this area of the tank all day - I guess this is the norm?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/lawnie and clownies.JPG
Now, in my tank tonight for the hermit crabs, there is either a bit of argie bargie going on, or they have that Friday feeling :D I've put new shells in there, but they seem to be very active with one another tonight. That empty looking shell has a hermie in there and I'm sure I saw 2 hermits in one shell at one point tonight:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/hermies.JPG
What do you think so far? I'm an excited beginner about to put in my 1st brine shrimp :D
Kieran,
keep them coming!
Looking good Kieran - bet you're glad to get some fish in there!
I like the aquascape, definite improvement having removed the egg-crate!! However you may find the rock is too close to the glass to be able to clean it properly, I know I wish I'd have left a little more space when scaping.
Good photos!!
Cheers
John
PS: THe clowns' behaviour seems pretty normal to me!
nice looking chromis m8:applause:
Thanks guys. I see your point about the rocks being close to the glass..I'll think on.
I gave them their first ever feed of brine shrimp last night, it's great, the whole tank comes to life. I chopped my brine frozen brine shrimp cube in half and let it melt into a liquid goo and then tipped the goo in. That's the way to do it, right?
Soooooo....how long must I wait til I get my next 2 fish? :D
What a night of drama last night.
My girlfriend and I got back home at 2am last night, naturally I have a peek in my tank, and my heart just sank.
The 2 little clownies who spend all the waking day swimming together were lying still on the sand, just giving a wiggle every 10 seconds or so, and they were both in completely different parts of the tank....as far as I was concerned - they were dying :(
My girlfriend was in floods of tears, I called poor old Kizkiz who was obviously fast asleep, he said that like he, they may be just sleeping.
I posted on here, and Scoob offered the same opinion.
I tested the water and tried to see if they'd come to life with a tiny tiny pinch of food - nothing. Turned the lights on...nothing.
I woke up this morning half expecting them to be lying dead on the sand......but they were happily swimming together like nothing had happened :D
Jeeeeez, us noobies need to know things like "if you see Nemo lying still on the sand at night he's actually sleeping" or "if you see the dead body of your shrimp floating by it's actually his shedded skin".
Anything else I should know? I'll be getting 2 emperor cardinal fish next, do they sleep by floating on the surface or anything? ;)
My 3 fish went in 4 days ago, how long should I wait before I get my next 2?
I was so asleep last night that when the phone rang i had no idea what was going on. I actually turned the radio on thinking my alram was going off and couldn't work out why there was still so much noise, until i realised i had also answered the phone (thinking that alarm was going off too) and kieran was trying to get my attention :laugh: :laugh:
Glad to hear they are fine mate, i thought they would be :thumbsup:
Personally i'd give ti 3-4 weeks before adding more fish. You've seen how upsetting it can be if you think you've lost a fish so it's always best to wait
Blimey - good job you said that. I guess you already know that cardinalfish need to be netted out each evening and placed on top of the MH canopy as they like to keep warm. They might flap around a bit but ignore that - it's just they get very excited at bed-time.
HTH
John
This time last week, my tank had actually even more algae than this:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/chromis12.JPG
Then I added 30 Astrea snails, they have been in exactly a week now, check out how much green hair algae is now gone:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/DSCN0079.JPG
Now I just need that brown algae on the sand to die off, it's taking ages....
Will these snails be ok now that nearly all that lush green hair algae has gone?
Just read this thread, interesting as your new to it all same as me :)
Any new photos?
Wow, it's been ages since I updated, the last pictures look empty.
This is my most recent photo, they've just been fed, hence the white flecks:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2007Q2/feeding time2.JPG
I've now removed the kenya tree and the cauliflower coral....they were growing soooo quick and taking over.
So, right now it looks empty again, I'm planning on getting some more coral again this weekend - maybe staying away from the softies that just grow and grow.
I don't have many fish either, i'll be getting some more soon....
Check out the sea urchin on the front window :)
I don't have many fish either, i'll be getting some more soon....
I can count 5 fish in that photo, maybe more - is that not enough in a 30 gal tank...?
sinaarrgghh
29-06-07, 12:18
Cracking little read. Really made me laugh when I read the shrimp bit, I remember my first tropical shrimp did that to me!
Tanks looking really good there in those later pics too.
I've rescaped my tank and moved the kenya tree and cauliflower on since my last tank shot. I'll post up a more recent shot shortly.
Exciting news on Friday. I'd recently chopped up my zoos and I'd been selling them on, I'm now keeping my remaining zoos as my clownfish have suddenly decided to host them, it's so cool:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2007Q2/08122007036web.jpg
I've put a little video into the video thread too.
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