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Felicia's 40B Predator Reef

Ok, so let's start with a new FTS from 3/22/15.


Corals are looking super happy...just ignore all the algae
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The clams are also doing well.




This guy needs to eat algae faster!


I decided I really wanted to get some decent shots of my fish. It is so hard with them moving and I'm just using my iPhone camera. I think I got a couple decent shots though.

The exquisite wrasse has been looking super colorful lately. I think he started displaying so many colors after the addition of the anthias.




And here's the yellow candy hogfish.






Here are some awful photos of the anthias. They move too much!


And here are my clowns.
 
Wow you got a ton done. I'm not sure if its inspiring or just making me feel guilty for all the things I need to do xD I'm very excited to see your tank progress :)
 
Prisonfood53 said:
Very nice I didn't even notice the algae with all the eye candy to look at.

Man this spot light contest is gonna be great for tank journals.


Ryan
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Thanks! That's great to hear! The algae is definitely distracting me when I look at the tank. Can't wait for it to be gone!

Oh, yeah. I need to go read the post about the new spot light thing. Glad there are more things to get people involved on the forums.
 
Ahruk said:
Wow you got a ton done. I'm not sure if its inspiring or just making me feel guilty for all the things I need to do xD I'm very excited to see your tank progress :)
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Thanks! I've got a few days off for spring break, so I'm trying to really make progress on all these tank chores. I'm usually busy and a total slacker. Trying to get all caught up.
 
Enderturtle said:
Damn that yellow hog fish is a beaut! Was he expensive?
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Thank you! I love him. He was a total impulse buy and he's turned out to be one of my favorite fish ever. He was pretty inexpensive, like $20 at Aquatic Collection if I remember correctly. Granted he was TINY (like 3/4" long) when I got him so he was probably a bit cheaper than a little bit larger one. I see them pretty frequently at Aquatic Collection and Baja Reef posted a fish shipment update on Facebook today and they just got one in.
 
denzil said:
Congrats on the RODI system! We also have our 32 gallon trash can with water always mixing and ready to go. :)
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Thanks! Decided to go ahead and upgrade to the chloramine removal set-up since the Bay Area uses chloramines in the water. I just had to add a cartridge to hold catalytic carbon into one of the canisters and then the rest of it was just replacing the filters/membranes/blocks/resin in my current 5-stage BRS RO/DI system.

The 32 gallon Brute is the way to go, but I just can't handle looking at a big trash can in my living room, haha! Decided I could tolerate the little Rubbermaid.
 
FeliciaLynn said:
Thanks! Decided to go ahead and upgrade to the chloramine removal set-up since the Bay Area uses chloramines in the water. I just had to add a cartridge to hold catalytic carbon into one of the canisters and then the rest of it was just replacing the filters/membranes/blocks/resin in my current 5-stage BRS RO/DI system.

The 32 gallon Brute is the way to go, but I just can't handle looking at a big trash can in my living room, haha! Decided I could tolerate the little Rubbermaid.
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Yeah, I'm currently working on a BRS order to pick up that filter kit. Also, I'm looking to add an additional RO membrane to make it a six-stage system. I also found that the flush valve hasn't really been working to regularly flash the RO membrane so I need to figure out what the deal with it is.

You could always decorate the trash can! Put a skirt on it or something. ;)
 
denzil said:
Yeah, I'm currently working on a BRS order to pick up that filter kit. Also, I'm looking to add an additional RO membrane to make it a six-stage system. I also found that the flush valve hasn't really been working to regularly flash the RO membrane so I need to figure out what the deal with it is.

You could always decorate the trash can! Put a skirt on it or something. ;)
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Yeah, the 6 stage system would be nice. I love how the BRS RO/DI systems are so modular. I'm wondering if my system has a flush valve...if it does, I've never paid attention to it. I should look into that.

Ha! I just can't do it. I even borrow a Brute from Erin for when I did the tank upgrade and then I took it right back to him. I'll stick to my cute little Rubbermaid. It fits right next to the tank which is nice :)
 
FeliciaLynn said:
Yeah, the 6 stage system would be nice. I love how the BRS RO/DI systems are so modular. I'm wondering if my system has a flush valve...if it does, I've never paid attention to it. I should look into that.

Ha! I just can't do it. I even borrow a Brute from Erin for when I did the tank upgrade and then I took it right back to him. I'll stick to my cute little Rubbermaid. It fits right next to the tank which is nice :)
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I just ordered the 6-stage and it should be arriving next week. Pretty excited about it because it'll be a lot more efficient and will handle the chloramines a lot better. Also, it's in preparation for when we finally get our larger, shared tank. I'll probably end up selling the current setup to make back some of the money from the new system.
 
I did something crazy... :)

I've been in a bit of a rut with my tank lately and then to my frustration, my candy hog which was my favorite fish decided to go crazy all of a sudden and start killing other fish. My YWG that I've had for 3 years disappeared and then I witnessed him beating the exquisite wrasse almost to death. I was able to catch the exquisite wrasse because he was injured and slow and put him into the refugium to recover. Anyways, the candy hog had to go, which really bummed me out and I just wasn't that into my current set of fish. I decided it was time to do something crazy and try to get more excited about this tank.

After some thought about what kinds of cool, unique fish would work well in my tank, I decided to go the predator tank route. I started the change today by taking my candy hog, exquisite wrasse, and cleaner shrimp to Aquatic Collection to be rehomed. I wanted to remove all the fish except the clowns and starry blenny, but I had an anthias and a tiny coris wrasse that just refused to be caught. Hopefully I can trap them before they end up as lunch. While at Aquatic Collection, I picked up a Fu Manchu lionfish and a snowflake eel. The plan is to eventually get a fuzzy lionfish as well.

Here's the Fu Manchu:
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I managed to get him acclimated and into the tank without him stinging me. That's the only thing I'm nervous about with the new lionfish. I will have to me much more careful when I'm working on the tank. Here's my lionfish protection, haha!



he new snowflake eel is also settling in nicely. He's been slithering all over the tank checking out all the different crevices and caves in the rocks. Trying to find just the right home I think. Right now he's settled into the front right rock and keeps poking his head out. I have always wanted an eel and I am so fascinated!

Video time!
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My wife and I miss our predator tank it had a Lion, porcupine puffer, two eels & a trigger fish....:(....they all had AWSOME personalities and my wife would hand feed all of them except the trigger fish.....lol
 
Kensington Reefer said:
What what what?!
That lion fish is gonna eat this clowns!
Good thing clowns lay lots of new eggs
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Yeah, meant to tell you. I ended up making this decision yesterday after spending Thursday night rescuing fish from the candy hog. Not sure if the clowns will be ok. I've seen that a lot of people have success with keeping clowns with the small lionfish since the clowns have their anemones for protection. Also, the Fu Manchu I got it a percher that mostly goes for crustaceans and shrimp in nature, so I've heard most people don't end up having too much issue with them going after healthy, swimming fish as long as you keep them well fed. Plus, the lion isn't that big, so the clowns are probably on the big side for him to eat. Figured I'd take the chance and see how the clowns do. So far he's shown no interest in them.
 
FeliciaLynn said:
Yeah, meant to tell you. I ended up making this decision yesterday after spending Thursday night rescuing fish from the candy hog. Not sure if the clowns will be ok. I've seen that a lot of people have success with keeping clowns with the small lionfish since the clowns have their anemones for protection. Also, the Fu Manchu I got it a percher that mostly goes for crustaceans and shrimp in nature, so I've heard most people don't end up having too much issue with them going after healthy, swimming fish as long as you keep them well fed. Plus, the lion isn't that big, so the clowns are probably on the big side for him to eat. Figured I'd take the chance and see how the clowns do. So far he's shown no interest in them.
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What happened with Candy Hogfish? Did you have some tiny fish in there?
I thought they were supposed to be pretty peaceful.
I have a Cuban Hogfish, that is nice so far.
 
rygh said:
What happened with Candy Hogfish? Did you have some tiny fish in there?
I thought they were supposed to be pretty peaceful.
I have a Cuban Hogfish, that is nice so far.
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I thought they were supposed to be peaceful too. I got mine when it was SUPER tiny and its always been very peaceful. I think I've had him over a year with no issues. He's been growing like crazy lately and finally reached the same size as my exquisite wrasse. Then one day he just started picking on all the other fish. And then next thing I know he beat the exquisite wrasse almost to death. He was attacking the wrasse so much that it wouldn't come out for days and then one evening the hog got to the point where he wouldn't even let the wrasse hide. He'd go into the rock after him and just beat on him and chase him. The wrasse ended up laying on the sandbed half dead and I had to move him to the refugium. Luckily he recovered and I took him to Aquatic Collection with the candy hog to find new homes. Also, at the same time that all this was happening, my yellow watchman goby who was big and that I've had for 3+ years vanished. I think the candy hog killed him while I was out of town for the weekend and then went after the exquisite wrasse next. He was also bullying the little coris wrasse, the clowns, and the starry blenny, but not to the same extreme. Such a shame because he was my favorite fish and had been such a model citizen until the last couple weeks. Really bummed me out to have to get rid of him and to lose my 3 year old watchman goby, so I decided I needed to change it up.
 
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