jphong's 75G + 40G Breeder + 15G Refugium

[Twinn]

Tanks looks good congrats. You might want to try a Starki damsel. Has the same blue as the damsel you like with a great yellow stripe on top. Although the Starki is a damsel it is not as aggresive as normal blue or yellow tail damsels.

[rstar]

Looks good so far! I believe if the tank didnt have a center brace, then the trim is purely cosmetic. I am working on a 40 breeder right now too and mine doesnt have a center brace. its a hagen tank and the glass is pretty thick!

[reefwars]

glad you liked the rock lil buddy youve got some nice pieces from some of the best tanks in the city nice rock work and cavesany questions you know where i live good luck


when that badboys established come see me ill set you up with a load of frags to fill it free!!!!!!!!!

[jphong]

Thanks guys for all the compliments.

Reefwars Ill be in touch in a few weeks

[Polscot]

lookin good

[Flash]

glad to see you on the site!!! tank looks great!

[Myka]

Please don't cycle your tank with a fish of any kind! This is incredibly cruel, and causes permanent damage to the fish. Considering most fish we have are stolen from the ocean, this is really a waste of a perfectly good fish! You can cycle your tank simply by adding a chopped up raw cocktail shrimp. Maybe half the shrimp since your tank is smaller. This will cycle your tank as good as any fish could, and much more eco-friendly.

Having said that, your tank looks great so far! I would also advise against buying pretty much any damsel or chromis. Most damsels will change color into much less eye-catching shades (to say it nicely), and turn into devil's spawn when they get bigger. Chromis aren't much better for attitude, but not as bad as damsels. I have seen large damsels patrolling 100 gallon tanks, and killing every other fish added to the tank. They really can be downright mean! If you're really set on the bright blue color, Blue Chromis (different than the typical Blue Green Chromis) would be a better option although tougher to find. Since this is your first saltwater tank, you may be disappointed in the fewer number of fish you can keep compared to a freshwater tank.

I also love the blue color. I have a Blue Assessor, and although it has quite an attractive color it looks black unless it is under the lights, and is really quite elusive. I just moved him from my 90 into my 20, and am hoping I will see him more.

Another option would be an Orchid Dottyback, although they are bright pinkish-purple rather than blue they are a striking color. Maybe sure you get the Orchid though, not one of the other Dottys as they can be rather aggressive as well, where the Orchid is comparatively docile.

[jphong]

Hi all I thought I would do an update with pics! First of all I would like to say that it was nice attending the reefers meeting a few weeks ago and meeting new people to talk about this hobby as I know little to no friends that are into saltwater.

After a few weeks of cycling the nitrite went to zero, nitrates spiked, algae bloomed and nitrates went to zero in that order. Let me say the live rock must have been really good as the nitrites did not have a very noticeable spike at all before going to zero.

I waited a few days more then added some astrea snails and a turbo snail that I got from Blue World. Shannon there was more than helpful and is really a great person to deal with there.



After a I let the snails do their business for a while I went back to Blue World and got my first saltwater fish! A yellow clown goby.





She had a rough time settling in at first but now she is eating brine shrimp and flakes after doing some target feeding, dimming the lights for a few days and using garlic extract.

I got 2 clownfish after that from a private seller. The 2 babies came from a Darwin and Ocellaris mated pair. Since they are only about 4 months old I hope to have a mated pair from this. They weren't eating at first as well but now like Spectrum pellets and flakes.





After the reefer's meeting last month I went to the new Red Coral and bought a few items. I got a cleaner shrimp, nassarius snail, 2 baby mexican turbo snails, a purple firefish and 2 chromis. Over the next few days we lost the chromis but the purple firefish started eating after target feeding for about 3 days. Now she eats brine shrimp and flakes.



I tested the water almost everyday after adding each fish and the water parameters looked fine. I thought the chromis were good since they were swimming around in the open. I didn't see them eating but I wasn't too worried at the time. Maybe the chromis was stressed from the move or my tank just couldn't handle it. Anyways lesson learned and I won't be adding anymore fish for a few weeks and even then it will be one at a time.





I finally found my nassarius snail this morning. I saw a tentacle poking out and decided to pull him out so I could snag a picture and prove to my roomate that it did not die or disappear from the tank. We decided to name it Ninja Assassin.



A few more tank shots from this morning:









Anyone here know what this is growing from my live rock? It looks red and bubbly.




Well I'm learning a lot and I definitely feel that my other freshwater fish aren't getting the attention they used. Anyways hope you guys enjoy the pics! More to come hopefully soon!

[tyong]

hey jphong, that tank looks AWESOME! You should post updated pictures! I would love to see the pictures!

[jphong]

Noticed that my GBTA split today after being in my tank for just over a month from getting him from another Canreefer. It was split in the morning, back together in the same spot at lunch and now one of the halves is sitting inside a barnacle!

One on the left one in the barnacle on the right.


Original location





New hiding spot