Putter's first tank

[putter]

Well the green brain is looking just fine, and the sickly one is looking a bit better again today, more tan color to it now, still not seeing any kind of tentacles. Thinking may be to try a piece of frozen shrimp and lay it right on the brain itself, will this be a good or very bad thing to do? I am also wondering if the lunar lights may be to bright for the brains, maybe they be thinking it is cloudy?? Should have my cleaner crew and 2 fish on Wed if the shipping goes well. Here are a couple pics of the hack job I did on the canopy in order to install the LED lights to it.

 

[reeffreak]

Usually the smell of food in the water is enough to get my brains to extend its feeder tentacles.Maybe set a piece of shrimp next to it and see if it opens.It still maybe getting adjusted,hopefully soon the tentacles will be exposed.

 

[putter]

All I did was cut a template from plywood, lay it on the hood, trace it out then cut the hood with a jig saw.

The slots in the light fixture that the original legs slid into provided a good way to attatch the light to the hood, 5 small bolts was all it took, slid the bolts into the slots, drilled the canopy, set the hood onto the light, lined up the holes with the bolts, installed the nuts, lightly tightened and POOF one LED light attatched to the canopy.

 

[putter]

Are the tentacles easy to see?

 

[Doc]

first of all, great looking shop. that is one thing I wish I had in my house that I do not have...a place to do that kind of work.

As for the tenticles, yes, they are very easy to see and should extend out about 2 inches away from the coral in several different directions. my bubble coral is out right now and there are probably 50 different tenticles

-Doc

 

[putter]

Thanks doc, but it's not my shop, just where I work, but I do have the use of it anytime I need it. I will try to drop a piece of shrimp beside the coral and see what happens.

 

[reeffreak]

Nice professional looking canopy.
Good luck again with the brain.

 

[fatman]

Wow! Now what can I sale to get up the bucks to buy some LED'S like yours? How many watts LED to provide the same LUX as how many watts of Metal Halide light. Less lighting kWh/month, less chiller kWh/month! Maybe a bank loan? Or I could sale some body part(s).
More, bigger, more, bigger......rats, there I go again!

 

[putter]

Ok another quick question, just received the Marineland C-360 canister filter, 3 stages, bio balls and ceramic rings removed, leaves me one tray with a sponge, one with charcol, and 2 empty trays. Should I just run filter floss in the 2 empty ones? Was going to set it up as such....sponge on bottom, filter floss, charcol, filter floss and last, the polishing pad. Is this too much? Should I leave one tray empty? Oh and the fuge, plant it with mud and substrate, just mud or just substrate, I have some Fiji mud here now, came with the fuge.

 

[Doc]

are you running anything to control phosphates?

-Doc

 

[putter]

Not yet Doc, just running the skimmer rock sand and now the can, mostly got the canister to polish, had a bunch of fine particles floating about in the water, last test the Phos was .1

 

[Doc]

I would leave part of a compartment open to run a bag of phosguard or some phosban in the future

-Doc

 

[putter]

Ok better to be before or after the carbon? While I am here, a quick update, I now have fish, Orceleous clown ( bad spelling ) and a Fox face lo. also a combo of snails, 44 total, one of em is a big ass ugly mofo!!! It is the conch. Both fish seem to be doing well, the foxface is not swimming about munching on hair algae and Nemo is doing laps......should I be feeding the clown tonight, or wait until tomorrow?

 

[Doc]

it doesn't matter in what order you place the carbon and phosphate remover.

as for feeding, you want to target for every other day feedings with seaweed being given (about a half a sheet) twice a week. foxface require seaweed to be really healthy.

Emerald entree is the best food for the pair you have IMHO

-Doc

 

[putter]

Bummer, all I ordered with the fish was some mysis, there is alot of hair algae in the tank now so I hope the foxface will be ok with that. I read that I can feed the foxface some romain lettuce blanched, would that be ok until I can get some seaweed sheets? Just so I make sure I have this right...the clown will want mysis daily, and seaweed sheets every other day? Clearly I have to research the feeding patterns of these 2 fish more, and of the fish I intend to order over the next while. I really thought I had it tho...mysis for the clown, tank algae and lettuce etc. for the rabbit fish.

 

[putter]

Hey while I'm at it here tonight, the macro algae I recieved for the fuge,...clauepera....ugh spelling sucks...but the more popular food producin algae....do I plant it in the substrate, or just let it float around in the fuge? Don't want to mess with putting substrate and or mud in the fuge tonight, but thinking I will fix the fuge up tomorrow night...give nemo and company time to adjust before I make a big cloud

 

[Doc]

Bummer, all I ordered with the fish was some mysis, there is alot of hair algae in the tank now so I hope the foxface will be ok with that. I read that I can feed the foxface some romain lettuce blanched, would that be ok until I can get some seaweed sheets? Just so I make sure I have this right...the clown will want mysis daily, and seaweed sheets every other day? Clearly I have to research the feeding patterns of these 2 fish more, and of the fish I intend to order over the next while. I really thought I had it tho...mysis for the clown, tank algae and lettuce etc. for the rabbit fish.

all fish like a variety of food. I rotate probably seven different kinds of food during the week. As your tank is young and with just two fish, feeding every other day is fine. If you do want to feed daily, you can, but do not put in a whole cube. I would do half a cube a day or a whole cube every other day. mysis will be fine for a few weeks. I like to rotate reef plankton, mysis, emerald entree, marine cuisine, cyclopeeze, krill, and angel portions. You do not want to overfeed as that will effect your water quality.

seaweed twice a week. not every other day.

as for romaine, it is hit and miss if your fish will like it. If they do eat it, just to warn you, it gives them the runs.

-Doc

 

[putter]

LOL ok no lettuce for the fish, and I will do the mysis thing for now, every other day and with the next order (a week or so from now) I will order up a few of the food groups you mention. Not sure what I am ordering next for fish, but the diet will be onlong the same lines as the 2 i have now....by the way.... that big ass snail is kinda kewl to watch....lol go figure...get some fish....watch the snail.....oh well the rabbit fish seems to have gone to the cave for the night now....nemo is still playing in the streams from the power heads tho.

 

[Doc]

my clowns like to "work out" in the powerhead flow as well.

the variety I mentioned is good for all herbivors. most fish love meaty fare, but the algae is important for balanced health. If you move to tangs in the future, they will need seaweed more often. Don't stress about the food, you will be fine. Just avoid brine shrimp. it is crap, even spirulina enriched brine is crap. mysis is better, plankton is best.

-Doc

 

[putter]

Thanks doc, I do indeed want a tang, just not sure which one...would like both a yellow and a regal but not sure I can swing that...also was looking at some of the chromis...they kinda look kewl! Man so many to choose from...was also looking to get at least one goby...maybe a wrasse...and some shrimp down the road....wow..