280g Inwall

[lastlight]

I got lazy last week and again just ran my tank without a sock for a few days. Unreal how much better my skimmer skims but I really don't like the extra particulates in the water column.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

................I'll switch to a larger micron size first as that would be an easy enough thing to try.

Tony, what's the largest size micron sock you've seen? I'd be interested in acquiring some too.

[Delphinus]

Should have answered Lance's question here instead of in HIS thread, but to anyone else wondering, bulkreefsupply.com has 200 micron bags of both felt and mesh materials and they say the mesh clogs less. I'm going in on the group buy right now and getting some of each, will see what I think, if I like them they stay, otherwise I might switch back to 8". Was looking at the 8" socks that J&L sells over at globaldesigns tank and have to say I like those a lot more than the 8" ones I'm currently using (a nicer "collar" setup).

Anyhow, real reason for this post ... and I'm hella overdue for pictures here, I realize that - will try to correct that tomorrow - but - something of a 1st milestone, my carpet tank is now officially empty! I'm going to drain it and clean it tonight. Otherwise everyone from that tank is now in the cube. Carpets, couple smaller clams, buncha LPS. I can't wait to take some pictures and post them.

I will probably be waiting until next weekend to get the remaining fish from the 115 g over. I moved over the rabbitfish earlier this week and it was a major tank upset with me having to remove most of the rocks to get at him, so the next fish will be all of them because there's no way I'm doing that for all of them individually. Also had a major heart stopping moment when I discovered one of the butterflies had swam into a crevasse underneath a bottom rock and then the whole structure fell onto him, pinning him underneath. All I could see was a motionless tail sticking out between the rock and sand. When I got it off him he just swam away and seemed none the worse for wear. Guess there's something good about having sand after all, it cushioned him instead of impaling or crushing him. Unfortunately I have not seen my dottyback since that day now and I'm fearing that maybe he met a similar fate but did not get so lucky. Hard to say - as a slender fish he can fit into the smallest of crevasses and get out of most - but 2 days without a single sighting is starting to get a little ominous. I'll be bummed if I lost him but I don't know what else I could have done differently.

[Delphinus]

Got a little bit sidelined with the flu last few days. Spent the better part of the last 24 hours trying to sleep it off. So much for the flu shots!! Grumble. Anyhow I've upgraded my disposition from "would welcome death as a sweet release" to "would offer marginal resistance." So to commemorate the occasion I got the camera out.

Tank is going through a bit of a secondary diatom bloom - nowhere near as bad as the first go-round. Hopefully the cleanup crew can keep up. There are also a few tiny patches of cyano that literally hitched in on some things from the (now shutdown and sold) 40g. The Hippopus clam has a little on its shell and there's a frag disk with yellow polyps and red zoos with a little as well. I'm hoping that it will eventually just sort of go away in time.






















Thought this was funny - can you tell where the sand dollar has been? A nice clean 3" strip of sand up against the glass ending in a mysterious mound of rubble.

[lastlight]

Haha that's some CRAZY pankcake mofo action there Tony! I love the gorgForest in behind the scape...adds some nice depth to the tank.

I thought for a sec you had the bottom of the tank eurobraced and I was like...I don't recall that. That mofo tricked me!

And seriously you can stop calling the thing a dang sand dollar nobody's buyin' it =)

Nems look saweet too...you must be pretty happy other than welcoming death etc. I'm sick as well...and had the flu shot months ago.

[christyf5]

Tony!! Wouldja look at that! Awesomeness!! It looks great, congrats on finally getting to this, even if it was/is incredibly painful sometimes.

[Delphinus]

The last week did have a few downers.

On Tuesday I picked up a new Signanus doliatus rabbitfish from globaldesigns. He went into the tank and settled in nicely. On Wednesday I caught my own out of the cube and moved him over. So for a few days there the two rabbits were in the 280g together.

Unfortunately, to catch mine, I had to remove most of the rock from the 115g. When replacing the rock, at one point I noticed that one of the butterflies had swam under a rock and it had shifted and toppled on top of him. It was a heart stopping moment when I noticed just the tail sticking out under the rock squished into the sand. But I was able to get the rock off him and he swam away as if nothing was the matter. But karma caught up to me because I think my dottyback might have been in one of the rocks that was taken out. It's been almost 10 days now and there has been no sign of him. So I think I likely killed him somehow.

The bad news doesn't end there. I had always wanted a pair of doliatus - I thought I had I read they do better in pairs or small schools. Well, maybe that's true if they're small together. Unfortunately the two started fighting badly. At first I thought, well, there's always this in the first day or two - I'll wait it out and see how it goes. In the past it's always been a sort of magic period of 3 days - after 3 days the aggression settles and things are fine. Well, sadly, on day 3, the smaller one I had gotten from globaldesigns died. So, that was an error of judgment on my part.

I decided that I could not accept the risk that the larger rabbit could haze the tangs and angels when the time comes to move them over - so I rehomed him on the weekend. The only other time I've had a fish literally kill another - was a sixline wrasse - and I don't miss that sixline in the least now that's he's passed on. Hazing is one thing (because it eventually stops) but when a fish kills another - they're done for me. As much as I love the look of those rabbitfish I doubt I will ever try another now that I know what they are capable of.

Aaaannd, I had a rose BTA in there who had a history of letting go of the rock he was on and letting the current take him to new places. Well unfortunately his luck ran out, on Monday this week I found what was left of him stuck inside one of the Tunze covers. Sigh.

So I'm not sure when I will move the rest of the fish over. Seeing as it was a major rock removing event to catch the one fish - I'm tempted to do them all at once and get the mayhem over with as soon as possible. So maybe on the weekend, I'll see if I have the energy to start chasing fish with nets and see how it goes.

To be moved are 3 tangs (Red Sea sailfin, lavender, and lieutenant), 3 angels (potters and a pair of bellus) and a canary wrasse. The butterflies and eel will stay put until their new tank is ready.

[Lance]

Looking good my man! I like it.
I sure hope all the troubles are behind you. You most definitely deserve some clear sailing now.

[lorenz0]

oooh digging the gorgonians

[fishytime]

sorry to hear about the dolis Tony......you could try adding a smaller one once your tangs settle in????.....and ya, well.....nems is evil.....this thing looks amazing with some life in it.....saweet!!!