do you have any problems with water clarity becuse of the sand and gobies. This is the problem i am having in my 280g but i dont know if it is from the sand or the 6 large tangs that i have.

Chris

The gobies certainly kick up some sand. It is 100% caused by the gobies. It is not that they directly kick up the sand, but they frequently deposit it directly in front of a CL outlet. As soon as the outlet fires, it shoots sand into the water column.

There are good times and bad times. I find it acceptable, but I'm sure other people would not.

Mostly, the goby behaviour is good. They munch away on the sand...dig under the rocks...and generally keep the tank looking very nice.

Unfortunately, from time to time, the male goby (I think the larger one is the male) seems to get obsessive about building a gigantic mound of sand that covers entire rocks and corals. If left undisturbed, I think he would attempt to move the entire sand bed into one large pyramid.

Here's a photo of his handiwork. The scary thing about this photo is that it took him ONLY 2 HOURS TO DO THIS. Only 2 hours earlier, I moved all this sand away.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0021.jpg

Now..the reason that I am blaming HIM for all this is that the female has disappeared again. It seems that when the female holes up (last time it was 3 days), the male starts this obsessive building behaviour. I don't know where the female is, but I strongly suspect she is under the pile trying to tend to some eggs.

If so... first dibs on a baby.:wink:

Female goby has returned (again...3 or 4 days). Yesterday, she appeared briefly only for feeding time. Today, she was out and about much more. After a little observation of her coming and going, I realized that they have tunnelled completely under a 3 foot rock.

They have entrances at both ends. If you look at the previous picture, that's about where the front door is (the male goby has buried the door in the photo) The back door is right close to the back wall of the tank...about 2 feet away.

No danger of rock shifting. All my rock was placed directly on the tank bottom. They must have found a hollow tunnel under the rock.

The male goby has returned to more tolerable behaviour....for now.

Thanks for the trip!
 

I've been riding along with this thread since the beginning. At > 100,000 hits, many of which were mine, I think it's time for me to express my appreciation. Thanks, Untamed, for all the fascinating information and entertaining video clips and images. Don't stop now. Your system is in place, but there is still much growth and change for us to monitor. Thanks again.:biggrin:

Ha...ha...and congratulations on your first post! You are always welcome to come see the live show.

Brad.

Well... I just read thru ALL 58 pages in full! Took me about 3-4 hours I think.

I must commend you are such a project! The tank is truly amazing. :biggrin:

Atlantic "Blue" Tang
 

A quick update:

All is well with the tank. The coral and fish grow...I chase the male goby around trying to remove his sand piles...I clean the glass and do water changes...I chop seafood, I chop seafood...The tank has just fallen into a rhythm.

All the frags I purchased at the recent auction are doing fine. I haven't lost a single one. (although one was foolishly attached near the green carpet and is being harrassed by the anemone) Only one has blossomed into what I paid for, so far.

One of the larger fish fragged my huge green digitata last night. Broke off a 6" branch and you can hardly notice it. If you look closely at this photo, you can see the spot where the branch was broken off.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/101_0099.jpg

Here are some interesting pics...The first is the Atlantic Blue Tang on April 29...the second is the same fish on June 2. Why is my Atlantic Blue tang turning yellow?

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0079.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/101_0088.jpg

Moe is definitely developing some streamers, so it looks like we don't have to change his name to Moe-reen!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/101_0089.jpg

Your tank is looking absolutely fabulous except for one horrendous little thing. It is completely overrun with gorgonians! You need to get rid of them at once. I can offer my services as a gorgonian disposal. I'm here for you man, and it's only your best interests that I have at heart with this most generous offer. :)

Fish look great, corals look great, everything looks great. Interesting about the tang. I wonder if it's a sort of "teenaged" colouration?