125g saltwater startup
- Thread starter Lotus
- Start date
Lotus, I thought that pyjamas the similar to bangaiis in that you really can't keep more than a single mated pair together long term. Once they become sexually mature they will fight unless you really have the room for them. I have a mated pair of bangaiis and I was crossing my fingers the whole time that they were a male/female pair as they are really really hard to sex.
I hope I'm right, too 
I've read it in several places (online and in real books, lol). They do seem to be fairly different from banggais on some levels.
Here's a couple more pics of them in the main tank
From the end:
Whole tank shot:
Silly snail with bubble algae (I may give all the snails a brush to remove the bubble algae:
I don't think the tank is quite mature enough for corals yet. We need to get the RO going, then upgrade lighting and maybe get a chiller. By the time all of that's bought and installed, the tank might be ready.
Anthias are in the Q-tank:
We still have a couple of more fish we might get. Once all the fish are in, and everything is really stable, then it's time for corals I don't think you can take it too slowly in SW, and sometimes I think we're going a little fast on the fish. So far, all fish have been really healthy, eating as soon as we get them, and happy in the tank.
There are also a few hitchhiker sponges growing around the tank, which is kind of cool.
I've read it in several places (online and in real books, lol). They do seem to be fairly different from banggais on some levels.Here's a couple more pics of them in the main tank
From the end:
Whole tank shot:
Silly snail with bubble algae (I may give all the snails a brush to remove the bubble algae:
I don't think the tank is quite mature enough for corals yet. We need to get the RO going, then upgrade lighting and maybe get a chiller. By the time all of that's bought and installed, the tank might be ready.
Anthias are in the Q-tank:
We still have a couple of more fish we might get. Once all the fish are in, and everything is really stable, then it's time for corals
I don't think you can take it too slowly in SW, and sometimes I think we're going a little fast on the fish. So far, all fish have been really healthy, eating as soon as we get them, and happy in the tank. There are also a few hitchhiker sponges growing around the tank, which is kind of cool.
Thanks
The anthias are incredible in person. They're doing well in the quarantine, eating three times a day. All the fish seem to have grown a little since we got them, I guess that's good.
Today I discovered that one of the cleaner shrimp is carrying eggs. I don't expect we'll see any baby shrimp, but I think everyone in the tank will get a nice snack Apparently they're hermaphroditic.
I found a tiny worm in the tank today, the first worm I've seen. There are also small sponges popping up around the rock.
The anthias are incredible in person. They're doing well in the quarantine, eating three times a day. All the fish seem to have grown a little since we got them, I guess that's good.
Today I discovered that one of the cleaner shrimp is carrying eggs. I don't expect we'll see any baby shrimp, but I think everyone in the tank will get a nice snack
Apparently they're hermaphroditic. I found a tiny worm in the tank today, the first worm I've seen. There are also small sponges popping up around the rock.
Unfortunately, the anthias got ich after two and a half weeks in the QT. One died, but the others seem to be doing OK in hyposalinity. I'm still reducing the salinity, then it will stay for four weeks at 1.009. Thank goodness for quarantine!
We got some more fish, and set up another quarantine for a few weeks. We got two flasher wrasses and two banggai cardinals. So far they're doing OK. Hopefully I can get some pics tomorrow. The wrasses are under rocks, so hopefully they'll come out. All four are eating already. The flashers are probably hybrids, apparently it's very common. They're possibly a mix of McCosker and Carpenter wrasse, with the patterns of McCosker, and the coloring of Carpenter. Not sure if both of them are 100% healthy, but we'll see how they do.
We also got some more nassarius snails, because we like them
We got some more fish, and set up another quarantine for a few weeks. We got two flasher wrasses and two banggai cardinals. So far they're doing OK. Hopefully I can get some pics tomorrow. The wrasses are under rocks, so hopefully they'll come out. All four are eating already.
The flashers are probably hybrids, apparently it's very common. They're possibly a mix of McCosker and Carpenter wrasse, with the patterns of McCosker, and the coloring of Carpenter. Not sure if both of them are 100% healthy, but we'll see how they do. We also got some more nassarius snails, because we like them
Thanks, Dadstank
We're thinking of reworking the rock island on the right somewhat. We have some new rock that's in the quarantine tank currently that we may use to form a bridge. We think the left side is a little too piled, and not open enough. There are plenty of crevices and hidey holes over there, but the overall look is a little clunky.
We swapped out the very blue light on the left side the other day for a pink/blue light that was hanging around in the garage. It makes the left side look really pink, but it looks better than the blue. We're still trying to decide on what lighting to go for, and it may be the Solaris system. It's just so cool As we're in a really hot area with sky-high electricity bills, MH lighting isn't even in the running. It will cost us so much in a chiller, extra a/c for the house and the MH lights themselves. A Solaris would have much lower running costs, won't cause additional cooling costs, lower costs on replacement bulbs, etc. If we don't go for that, it will probably be a T5 system with individual reflectors. Still a while off buying the light, so still time to think about it and hope that the Solaris drop in price a little
In general, the tank is running well. Nitrates are around 5ppm at the end of the week, which I'd like lower, but the tank is still new. Calcium is a little high, but that's most likely from the Oceanic salt we were using. We have the RO up now, and are switching to Red Sea Pro salt. Coraline seems to be doing OK, and in general everything seems to be going well, other than the ich in QT.
We're thinking of reworking the rock island on the right somewhat. We have some new rock that's in the quarantine tank currently that we may use to form a bridge. We think the left side is a little too piled, and not open enough. There are plenty of crevices and hidey holes over there, but the overall look is a little clunky.
We swapped out the very blue light on the left side the other day for a pink/blue light that was hanging around in the garage. It makes the left side look really pink, but it looks better than the blue. We're still trying to decide on what lighting to go for, and it may be the Solaris system. It's just so cool
As we're in a really hot area with sky-high electricity bills, MH lighting isn't even in the running. It will cost us so much in a chiller, extra a/c for the house and the MH lights themselves. A Solaris would have much lower running costs, won't cause additional cooling costs, lower costs on replacement bulbs, etc. If we don't go for that, it will probably be a T5 system with individual reflectors. Still a while off buying the light, so still time to think about it and hope that the Solaris drop in price a little In general, the tank is running well. Nitrates are around 5ppm at the end of the week, which I'd like lower, but the tank is still new. Calcium is a little high, but that's most likely from the Oceanic salt we were using. We have the RO up now, and are switching to Red Sea Pro salt. Coraline seems to be doing OK, and in general everything seems to be going well, other than the ich in QT.
I was just rethinking all the stuff you have talked about; you have dropped a bundle into this tank already and it is filling up fast. You better hurry and get those lights so you can buy coral or I don't know what you will do when there are no SW fish left in the general Palm Springs area...
How do you like the RO/DI system you got?
How do you like the RO/DI system you got?
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LOL... we'll probably be happy just to watch the fish for a few months (I hope). We're almost done on fish stocking. Possibly another small fish or two later on, but maybe not. Yes, the lighting is the next major expense, but it may have to be preceded by a chiller. Summer's on the way, and I know the tank will go into the mid-80s without a chiller, even with the a/c going on low.
The RO/DI is the Reef Miser setup from The Filter Guys. So far, it's working fine, and giving us 0 TDS water. It's in a temporary home, but eventually we'll have a couple of large storage containers for saltwater and RO water.
The RO/DI is the Reef Miser setup from The Filter Guys. So far, it's working fine, and giving us 0 TDS water. It's in a temporary home, but eventually we'll have a couple of large storage containers for saltwater and RO water.
Based on our talks, I think we are definately going to go with the Solaris lighting system. I really like the RO/DI unit we bought (got the six stage Ocean Reef Miser with all the extras), It's actually a bit much (150GPD), but once the fish room is ever set up, we will start using RO in more of the freshwater tanks as well. So right now for SW, we have the main tank, a 10g QT and a 15g QT. Here's a few pics of the new guys:
