sold the damsels on kijiji (actually made a few bucks :) )

went to blue world and saw these clowns labeled as hybrids.

so i bought a couple of them. acclimated them for about an hour and half.

put them in and within a half an hour they were playing in my small frogspawn


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3753848_n.jpg

Did they say what made these clowns a hybrid? They look like a regular Ocellaris clowns to me. Maybe tank-bred not hybrid?

If they are the ones I am thinking of... I think they are Darwin x Ocellaris or something like that.

Is that it Marko?

Could be Patrick, the orange does seem to have a bit of a black hue to it.

If they are the ones I am thinking of... I think they are Darwin x Ocellaris or something like that.

Yup that's what they are. There from a local breeder and he named them Shanon's clowns.

yup those are the ones. got them from blue world

i was originally gonna get the regular ocellaris but liked these ones better because the added black made them look more like a true percula

heres a close up:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/...509b9afb_z.jpg

Nice little clowns. Do they call them Shannon's Clowns or something in the store?

yeah they're "shannons clowns"

anyone have any idea why i have hair algae growing on the right side of my tank and not the left?

literally 0 on the left rock structure, and a bunch on the right

Could be the flow pattern. I get a little hair algae from time to time... usually in one or two spots but not the whole tank... thank God.

Just a comment... I thought the rock work looked really good before adding the piece to join them together.

I have seen some tanks that have a channel through the middle and they look great once coral starts to grow in and around the area.

Rock work looks good though. Did you use PVC or something to create the arches?

the liverock just stacks like that natural and fits perfectly together like that and remains very stable.

the piece in the middle is flat piece of dry coral. its only about half an inch thick, so it doesnt actually join the rock. it sits behind the rock almost near the glass

ok so i've modified the emperor 400 that came with my tank and turned it into a HOB refugium (with light) ((pictures will come soon))

now anyone know where i can get that cheato micro algae stuff?
the stores i went to today didnt have it

I know Red Coral had some. Steve gave me some a while ago. AI has it as well.... its $13 for a handful or something like that.

If you start a thread asking for some... I am sure you can get it for nothing.

I was at red coral yesterday and the lady said they didn't have any.

Ask Steve. He is usually in after 430pm.

heres a few pictures of the HOB refugium i made.

currently lit with LEDs ..... anyone know if this will be enough for Cheato or should i put a fluorescent bulb in there?


with the lid on
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._8280491_n.jpg

lid off
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3644074_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7723769_n.jpg

made it out of mirrored plexiglass.

i think im gonna put another piece on the front to block the view into it and stop the light from spilling into the tank

little trial and error..... if i stick with the LED lights then i dont have to use the mirrored enclosure....

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3610252_n.jpg

but if i have to switch to a more powerful bulb ill need to raise the lid

How close are the lights?

Keep in mind that the closer they are the more salt build up they will get. And they will get salt creep.

If the part you have installed is not "water safe" (for lack of better term) you could have other issues as well, as salt is a conductor for electricity.

Most light fixtures that are open to the water have some sort of seal around the connector ends.

Just a thought.

I have to say very good little set up. Almost like you have done this before!

as it sits now the lights are about 2 and half inches above the water and not splashing hitting them.

i ran the wires through the lid of the filter and the connection is made on the outside of the lid.

the lights are automotive LED lights that are usually used as day time running lights (like the ones seen on the new audis) so they're weather sealed.

can salt creep happen if the lights never make contact with any part of the water?

Over time it will build up. Condensation from the tank... air bubbles "popping" on the surface, climbing the sides of the filter. I even get it ON TOP AND THE SIDES of my aqua clear on the small tank. You will be surprised how much salt can reach ha ha!

ok quick question..... my friends dad left town for a week and when he came back all his saltwater fish were dead except for one.

he called me this morning and asked if i could take this one fish and keep him in my tank.

i went and picked it up. Its a small foxface rabbitfish (about 2 inches)
hes not even yellow, he's kind of a brown color with white spots.

is it sick or something? is it safe to put in my tank?

i realize that its gonna outgrow my tank, but hopefully my friends dad will get his tank up and running to take it back soon

I would worry about it. If all his fish died in a week... what was the cause? You could potentially bring a disease or parasite into your tank.

I would say if his tank is empty.... might be better to leave it in that tank until you know what the cause was.


Picture of the fish possible? Seeing the "white spots" would make things easier for those with knowledge of illnesses.

i've done some reading in the last little bit. its not white spots like ich.

apparently when the fish is stressed it loses its color and becomes blotchy.

i just called him and he said his nitrates were off the scale of his test kit..... over 100ppm

i cant really get a picture, he's in a plastic container

i think im gonna try and acclimate him to my water and see if anything changes before putting him in

i also have an empty 15 gallon long..... maybe ill set up a quarantine tank and see what happens

I'd QT him for a bit first if it were my tank...If you need a small tank to do so, LMK I have a bunch of smaller tanks (10's & 20's) sitting around dry...


guess ur a faster typer than me, lol...

Its no surprise his NO3 would be off the chart with all his fish dying. Dead fish decomposing in the tank create NO3/NH3. But the questions is why did they die to begin with?

This is a good idea... but the only issue with a newly set up QT is that since it is not established it can create a whole new ball of stress for the fish.

I would still try that over putting it right in with your nice new clowns.

ok im setting up the 15 gallon.... pumping water from my 55 into it and gonna replace with new saltwater (PWC while im at it)

it probably doesnt need sand right?

Skip sand for a QT. Makes it easier to clean/sanitize the tank.

thanks. already filled it up. gonna slowly acclimate him

I always throw a piece of rock on some eggcrate and a powerhead in my QT tank...


Here's a good thread on QT's..
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...3&highlight=QT

thanks. i did all that.... when i came home tonight he was swimming around nicely and he was nice and yellow.... but as soon as he saw me, he hid behind the rock and got all pale again.... i think he's just stressed

Tank looks really good so far !!

got a reef octopus lx1000 and set it up yesterday....

and put the cheato in the middle media chamber (it now gets light directly from my t5 lights

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7513189_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3654732_n.jpg

now its time to build a hood to hide all of this

after watching him for a few days in quarantine he looked good and was eating well.... felt bad keeping him in a 15 gallon

so i finally transfered him into the larger tank. and here he is happily swimming around and exploring

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/...78be0423_z.jpg

another little update:

got another duel T5HO light fixture (both 10000k)

so now running a total of 4 bulbs.

http://l8.sphotos.l3.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1865471_n.jpg

all fish are doing great. foxface is also doing great. also got a peppermint shrimp and a couple turbo snails.

the green rock on the top left side was one i bought that had 3 GBTA on it. they have since left that rock, now just waiting for my lawnmower blenny to eat up that hair algae.

also on that rock were a few xeneas and a couple brittle starfish

quick iphone picture with my new moonlights

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._4887839_n.jpg

Nice Foxface, tank is coming along nicely.
Don't hold yor breath waiting for the lawnmower to eat the hair algae, mine hardly eats any algae. I had a bad hair algae problem for a while and I tryed everything, less light, new bulbs, less food and manual removal. Mexican turbo snails did the trick for me, bought them from Blue World.