From day 1 to now, now the clowns!!

[Kimberlee]

So it started w/ a 55gal w/ stand and hood. The next day I walked into the LFS, looking for substrate, salt and all the basics for a FO tank, a week later my tank had a protein skimmer, T-5s, 10lbs live rock, a canister filter(LFS, said I needed 1),and 3 damsels.

This is the tank I had by the end of may.(anything resembling a coral is fake)

Thinking like the LFS told me, that my tank was cycled, I bought more fish. I should of known better, I have had fish before(fresh water).

Chapter Two in a hour.

[dee77]

let me know when you frag those corals(laugh)

[Hozer21]

Yeah the cycling of the tank all ways so much fun DOH! just make sure to get the damsels out before you fill it up with live rock and corals because if you don't it won't be fun at all (flame) they would be a pain in the (laugh)(laugh)(laugh) to remove later

[dee77]

Yeah the cycling of the tank all ways so much fun DOH! just make sure to get the damsels out before you fill it up with live rock and corals because if you don't it won't be fun at all (flame) they would be a pain in the (laugh)(laugh)(laugh) to remove later

 

i put like 15 damsels in my 200 gallon to help the cycle and it was a pain getting them all out but i trapped them one at a time lol

[Kimberlee]

Yeah the cycling of the tank all ways so much fun DOH! just make sure to get the damsels out before you fill it up with live rock and corals because if you don't it won't be fun at all (flame) they would be a pain in the (laugh)(laugh)(laugh) to remove later

 

They found their own way out!

[reef165]

This lfs, let me guess not a sponcer here and is on division.

[Kimberlee]

Chapter Two, What is paitiance, Realy?

 

After putting in about 10 fish in the first three weeks, they decided it was too crowded in my tank. They started to die off, I lost every damsel in my tank, not as upset as I should be over them. I was upset about the tomato clowns.

So I didn't put anything else in until late June.When I did it was my first LPS'es and a candy cane wrasse, which I loved,(also the LFS claimed was a tabaco wrasse)Here they are.

Unfortunately after a month and a half the wrasse died, but it wasn't the tank.water sample showed all stats fine.Took it back in the store seeing they had miss labeled the fish, and sold it at the end of it's life cycle replaced the fish.Now I have a well behaved healthy coral beauty.

To summarize live stock at this point, tank now has

several hermit crabs, 2 emerald crabs,

2 turbo snails, coral banded shrimp,

1 engineer goby, 1 coral beauty,

1 black blenny, 1 lubbocks fairy wrasse

and corals to be named next edition. Now those are the fish in the tank today.

[Kimberlee]

This lfs' date=' let me guess not a sponcer here and is on division.[/quote']

 

No wont tell sorry.

[Kimberlee]

Chapter three it starts to thrive

 

So after enough death I finally start to have some patience. At this point anything I planed to add to my tank became just that, Planed. I didn't bother w/ fish a whole lot, instead I spent time looking up corals,( this is how I ran across RC) and than through a member there I found PNWAS.Now I was no longer a victim of my LFS. I could Pick out things I new a little about, and when I made it home w/ the new coral I could do even more research, realy understand my new addition.

Now at this point, I'm also thinking sump.Thats a new word, what can we do w/ a sump, a lot and than some.Well into month two I deiced I want one of those, if only I new something about those. Three months latter I feel I've researched them enough to make some choices, I now have plans for a sump.(coming soon, build almost in progress).In the mean time I'll just add corals.

 

I've started looking into anemones by month four, I didn't look into them very well though. I soon had a LTA (impulse buy)bought the same day I picked up my watchman goby, (at petco). The YWG was just a baby, under an inch devoured by the LTA all because the guy at petco knew even less than me , if thats possible.Sorry no pics that was not a good experience, they've been erased.The LTA went into my roommates tank, and lives there to this day, healthy, happy, and well fed.

Someone latter offered me a green BTA, but I needed more light first.

Must send kids to school now, will return soon.

[Kimberlee]

CH/4 Everything grows

 

To recap threw month 4-5 all I added was coral, and the first 2 started to grow.

Still don't know for sure what this one is (I think it's a scoly)

This one started off w/ 3 heads, now has 5.

And this one( id by my LFS as a mushroom plate) I believe is a hammer, now has almost 2 full heads, and 2 small heads growing out off the body.

Along w/ the growth of the corals came algae.I spent hours online, reading threads covering all kind of the stuff, and various ways of treating the problem.

Cyno I think. Never made it off the sand.

So we went lights out for three days, which seemed to solve the problem. Another light fixture became a priority, now I had reason to just run my lights on different schedules, and lets not forget the BTA, the offer was still there. I saved and upgraded. The rock were turning color (good right?)and coral line was everywhere. Next to get to my first meet in Albany, also the place my BTA currently lived.

This is just a good pic.

[Rick]

How often do you clean the canister filter? The problem with them is that they need frequent cleaning so they don't become nitrate and phosphate factories. As far as I know none of the LFS that are sponsors here would have sais it was required. The nasty stuff on your sand leads me to believe the phosphates may be high.

[Kimberlee]

After my roommate modified my skimmer and it started to work a lot better, I removed the canister filter, but I was cleaning it every other week. Oddly even when the brown stuff was present the phosphates never registered on the test. I know they wwere there, but I assume they were low.

Last week however, I for got to lightly vacum the top of the sand during the WC, and there's now some sort of algae on the sand again.

[Kimberlee]

CH 5/ Albany

 

This is how great this community is, seconds after I posted that I could use a lift down to the meet, someone responded. Thx, again you.I think waiting two weeks was harder than finding a way to get there.

Anyway the 16th of oct. was a nice day, so a lot of you must of been playing ball, or at the beach. The meet was a little bare, but it was interesting and provided info I didn't have, which is always a plus.

The different tanks we saw were all very cool.

Sorry I'd name who the tanks belong to w/ the picture but my computer did something funny when they loaded up.

Have to wrap it up for a min. Kids, be back to finish this 1 1/2 hour.

[Kimberlee]

Albany continued

 

Part of what I love about this hobby, all the many things we can have in our tanks that makes them unique and ours.

My ride's very cute puppy w/ the hair fetish.

The whole trip was fun w/ fun people. than I got to meet the man behind the BTA, he was great no pic though, not of him. I did however take pics of the BTA

Now my tank looks like a reef tank.

Now we are arriving at today, and this is the day my clows come home. As I type they are on the way here, in Portland as of 4am.

[Kimberlee]

The End

 

So I meant to add this post last night, but UPS found it funny to have me sit by the window all day. Now I know what fathers go threw waiting on a new baby.

So about 7pm, they finally show up, I'm so nervous at this point that I yell at the UPS guy for slightly tilting the box. My husband good man that he is tips the guy, and follows me to our room where he opens the box, because I'm shaking. Boy, there tiny, but so cute.After an hour and a half of acclimation they go into the QT tank.

They seem great, even after more than 24 hours in a box being handled by UPS,(we all know how they treat things marked fragile).Very active.

Unfortunately the only good pic I could get of them, is the 1 I took w/ my flash still on. Didn't mean to do that, I was already nervous about anything stressing them .

Here they are.

Trust me there will be more pics, as soon as I can get some good ones

[Kimberlee]

AS Promised

 

Hers the three best pics. Clown fish would not cooperate for the pictures

These are the three best. They are very tiny, and won't stay still for the camera. I'm kind of concerned about them being bullied by bigger fish, when they go in the DT. I have a

coral beauty

Lubbock fairy wrasse

engineer goby

black blennie

coral banded shrimp

2 emerald crabs

 

Should I keep them in the qt tank until they get a little bigger?, or would it be okay to add them now?

I don't want to risk them. I love them and after what I spent on them, my husband probably won't talk to me for a month if something happens to them.

Also if you have any good advice for clowns, I'd love to hear it. Please be long winded.

[Kimberlee]

when i say tiny i mean 1 is 1" almost the other is 3/4"

[Kimberlee]

Updates

 

So, I've had my clowns for three and 1/2 weeks now. My QT has become a bear bottom tank w/ my canister on it, and between me feeding them 3 times a day and the cocopods in the tank they eat all day long. They are also getting big, hopefully they'll be ready to go into the DT when my husband gets back from Cal. next Fri.

Also some picks of my new corals from Rose City.

and some I picked up at Fantaseas.

All look great in my tank, thx guys.

[Kimberlee]

Ch 6/ everything grows

 

So things have grown, and I've learned. Up grades are in the near future as well. Lets start where we left off.

The clowns have been in the DT for 2 months about, and they have grown. It only took a week for the bigger 1 to host my BTA.

Her first night in her BTA

The BTA is a little bleached in this 1 due to a heater malfunction, but it made a quick recovery.

The smaller of the 2 likes my candy cane, but they are spending more and more time together.

I love posting pics of these two. They aren't the only thing in the tank that has grown though. Most of my corals have not only made it they have thrived. Not to say I have it down. I contribute most of my success to all the people who have given their time and advice as well as the kicking down of a frag. Remember to share the love and thx to those of you who have. You know who you are. Still not everything has done well in my tank. I gave a green BN to someone to keep it from dieing in my tank as well as a couple others. The scoly in the beginning of the thread I have since learned wasn't healthy when I bought it, and has gone all the way down the hill. It's climbing back up really fast though.

When purchased.

3 months till I learned they like to be on the sand bed

and 2 weeks after someone told me how to save it, and that they prefer the sand.

Next chapter is upgrades and other things I forgot.

[stylaster]

the tank has turned out really nice!

[Kimberlee]

Thank you styler. It's getting even better.

[Hozer21]

Well the tank is looking good

[Kimberlee]

CH 7/ All the problems

 

Thx Hozer, and that hammer is getting big. I love love it.

 

I know i said this 1 would be about upgrades and such, but the plan changed. I'm going to start 1 on all the problems I've run into up to this point in the tanks life. This will include all problems I created for myself as well as those we all have. I want to get some of this out of the way before the list gets too long.

 

My first issue was changing the plan. I planed on fish, didn't even know what LR was. Bought my equipment from petco, set the tank up for fish, than went to a reef store to buy said fish. That's when I discovered the reef tank. Now I had the problem of rebuilding a set up, and upgrading so I could have a reef tank. Problems steming from this were many. ! I listened to the LFS. That day they sent me home w/ 3 damsels and 13lb of LR saying I could start w/ that and get more. I'm still adding LR, slowly so as not to upset my tank. Damsels suck. I now was also on the hunt for a protein skimmer.

said result

W/ skimmer in place and damsels cycling my tank I sat back for a min. Than I participated in a common noob mistake and began over stocking my tank. That's where that tomato clown in the top pic came from. With the over stocking of the tank, came 2 tomato clowns, a tobacco wrasse,(that's what the LFS said he was)

a engineer goby( another mistake because it wouldn't stop tearing up the sand bed.) and 2 corals added a little later. Tomato clowns, and all three damsels perished. Surprisingly the corals lived threw all this. Oh by the way that tobacco wrasse was a candy cane wrasse. He died of natural causes latter on, the store replaced him w/ a coral beauty.

Another mistake using the LFS to research instead of my computer, which is in front of the tank.So I started using my computer met you nice folks, and my tank matured.

My wrasse moved on and I got a coral beauty.Cyno has been a constant problem, but the tank has stabilized. I continued to make mistakes like buying a LTA. He ate my yellow watchmen goby.

He now lives in my roommates tank.

Another 1 using tap water. Nothing like the unknown. The tap worked great until Portland started adding things to the water. The 1 I don't like to admit too, is turning my heater all the way up, without realizing it twice. I now have an idiot proof heater.Here's one, getting a lubocks fairy wrasse and thinking it wouldn't jump. There only supposed to jump under stress. Well the tap water thing stressed it out.

I don't bring up the black blenny, because hes never been a problem.He's even agreeable when I've moved him out of the tank.

 

I have a couple more but they belong in the story. Next chapter will be upgrades.

[Kimberlee]

CH/ 8 Up Grades, additions, and still going

 

The first upgrade I did was of course my protein skimmer. It's a Seaclone 100, made for a 100 Gal tank. It was okay until I started adding live stock. It was quickly modified, and for the record dose the job.

Everything in the tank did very well for the next 6 months. With the exception of the last section. After the tank had been stable for a while, and I had learned of the forums, steelhead offered me a BTA. Which I excitedly accepted. At the time I had a coralline T-5 light fixture w/ 2 54 watt bulbs. Not enough, and even now I'm trying to get more. So I found an used retro set on this very forum. Works great, sorry I can't say who sold it to me. Please speak up, because it I haven't had 1 problem w/ it. Thx.

And here's the reason I up graded.

Hasn't eaten a fish yet.

Because of the better lighting I was able to have different corals, so I added some.

All the generosity of the nice people who helped me get to my first meeting, Where I picked up my BTA.Thx,you 2.

Some more I've added over the months, as my confidants has grown.

The color is showing bright green and orange. I'll post an updated pic when I get my,camera back tomorrow.

As well as a clam, and magician, from Nick at Rose City which I will also post pics of latter. Thank you Nick the clams doing great.

With 2 more bulbs and twice as much light, my corals seemed to be growing faster. They also kept their color, and colored up better.

As of now I'm getting ready to put in my sump,

and have added 20lbs of LR. 10x GPH to the tank.

My tank has come a long way over the last 9 months, it is a life unto it's self. It has changed and I'll post updates soon, than we can start a whole new section.

[Kimberlee]

The tank today

 

From left to right, here is a few pics of what it now looks like. Never done changing it but I like it this way for now.

the middle

and the end w/ room to add

That 1 red mushroom you gave me Emerald has multiplied. One of my first experiences fraging

Remember the black blenny I said I never had any problems w/? Well as soon as I typed it he decided to take a bite out of my clam. Too bad I liked him, but to me being able to keep a clam is another hurdle jumped in this hobby. I like the colors they come in too.

Rose City was nice enough to give the blenny a home, and I got something not likely to snack on my clam. Say hi to my hawk fish

He seems happy. I think after a year I finally have a reef tank. Next the sump and a carpet anemone.