About
My aquarium has been a huge work in progress. I finally think that it is settling down and starting to regulate itself. I researched everything on my own, and even after years of research I still managed to make a lot of mistakes. I did not go slow, I did not have everything I needed before I started, and I didn’t have anyone to turn to for help. I kept studying and talking to people. I found a great forum at AQUARIACENTRAL.COM, and I found a great shop with a great staff over at AQUA-HOLICS. I still learn and continue to grow, and the tank continues to flourish with life. My largest piece of advice I can give is...
MAKE A FRIEND, FIND A GOOD SHOP, DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU PURCHASE , AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST GO SLOW!!!!
Equipment
It is a 75 gallon drilled tank. There is about 100 pounds of live sand as well as about 80 pounds of live rock. I have two Korilia 4 power heads 1200 GPH each. Combined flow in the tank is around 3300 GPH or a turnover of 44 times an hour. In the cabinet under the tank I have a 30 gallon sump that acts as both a refugium and a filter. In the sump I have 4 sections. The fist section has a Turbo-Flotr protein skimmer and a 300 watt heater. Section number 2 has live rock rubble. The 3rd section is the refugium, and has chaeto, calperna, and a mangrove tree with a couple of chunks of live rock. The final section contains an Ehiem 900 GPH return pump and a thermometer. The light is a 4X65 watt Current Dual Sattelight, with 2X65 Watt Actinic and 2X65 watt daylight. I also have a small 10 watt full spectrum light over the refugium that is on opposite the main tank lights.
Water Changes
I purify my own water with and RO/DI unit. I do top offs as necessary, and a 10% water change once a month.
Dosing
I only dose using OCEANS BLEND Part 1 & 2. I dose each part on seperate ends of the tank each morning before the lights come on to prevent PH Swings.
Feeding
Tangs require a clip of algae. I fill it once a day 5 X a week, the other days they need to find algae on the rocks. I feed the corals once a week, coral vibrance one week, and reef bugs the next. Occasionally I will feed the bubble coral, candy cane coral, duncan coral some pieces of shrimp. The fish get a big variety, and I feed the 6 times a week. The combinations include pellets, frozen myisis, blood worms, brine shrimp, and other frozen treats.
Stocking
This is going to be a long list!!!
Fish
1 Yellow-Bellie Blue Hippo Tang This is a Blue hippo tang with a
slight and very rare color variant.
1 Yellow Tang Tangs are from the surgeon fish
family, and they get that name
because of a razor sharp knife they
hide in their tail. It can be very
dangerous.
1 Bi-Colored Fox-Faced Rabbitfish This is also a slightly more rare
version of this fish from the Fiji
area. It has a strange color variant
and is venomous.
1 Scooter Blenny This fish is actually not a blenny it
is a dragonette. You must have a
populations of pods to keep this fish
fed.
1 Algea Blenny You should see the eye lashes on
this fish.. They keep the rocks
clean of algae.
1 False Percula Clownfish NEMO...Enough Said!
1 Dwarf Atlantic Pygmy Angelfish Beautiful fish, eats lots of sponge
and algae.
2 Bannagi Cardinalfish These fish are now threatened and
are no longer being removed from the
wild. My pair is mated and has
produced babies many times. Now if
only I could catch them before the
bigger fish get their snacks.
Inverts
1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
2 Sea Cucumbers
1 Brittle Starfish
1 Serpent Starfish
1 Sand Sifting Starfish
4 Mexican Turbo Snails
1 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Emerald Crabs
2 Stometella Snails
6 Turbo Snails
20 Nassisuris Snails
2 Orange Turbo Snails
4 Olive Nerite Snails
40 Hermit Crabs
2 Feather Dusters
Corals
3 Green Star Polyps
2 Toadstool Leather
1 Cabbage Leather
1 Finger Leather
2 Ricordea
1 Yellow Polyps
2 Medussa Polyps
4 Hairy Mushroom Coral
Lots of Mushroom Coral
1 Bubble Coral
2 Candy Cane Corals
1 Fox Coral
1 Kenya Tree
1 Button Polyps
Lots of Zoanthids
1 Duncan Coral
1 Nymph Coral
1 Hammer Coral
