Great looking tank. I love that blue tree coral - did it make it through that power outage you had a while back? Hope so. Good to hear that the Mandarin's needs are being met and that he's eating well. Way too early for me to even think about anything like a Mandarin - maybe some day.
Your tanks kinda small for a hippo tang and it may cause probs down the road with excess nutrients and possible aggression between the yellow and hippo tangs as they mature.
I'm diggin your lighting and that clam.
Tell me about it ... I tried to tell my daughter the hippo will get really BIG ...! Then the guy at the LFS said "it will take a few years for him to get
about a foot long", "by then dad can upgrade to a larger tank .. $$$$".
I have already found a LFS with a 1000 gallon tank that will take a hippo donation. Daughter said "no". Oh well .. LOL
As for the clam ... I keep placing him on the rocks. He keeps jumping off the rocks. I hope he finds his happy place soon. LOL
Great looking tank. I love that blue tree coral - did it make it through that power outage you had a while back? Hope so. Good to hear that the Mandarin's needs are being met and that he's eating well.
The blue tree coral (gorgonian) has not been doing good ... That's one of the reasons I upgraded my lighting. It doesn't bloom as much as it use too. Also the flower pot coral has not been doing well either. I found out this is a very difficult coral to keep ! It's called a goniopora. Trying to nurse them back to health.
Good news ! My red open brain coral loves the new lighting. Under my old PC lights he never opened up at all. I thought he was dead. He really enjoys when I feed the tank BBS (baby brine shrimp).
Good to hear that the Mandarin's needs are being met and that he's eating well. Way too early for me to even think about anything like a Mandarin - maybe some day.
Mandarin Update:
I've had my mandarin for over a month now... I constantly check his weight appearance. On days I feed the tank BBS his belly is full. Off days his appearance is thinner. On those days I try to feed him adult live brine shrimp and fish eggs (masago). This is difficult, since he moves very slow. He chases the brine shrimp around the rock, not sure how many he catches. As my copepods population has grown !!! Copepods everywhere. The refugium as come alive. I will update those pictures later today.
Good news on the Mandarin - at least he chows down on the brine shrimp. Hopefully the new lights will help with the gorgonian. The brain coral looks really nice - I like those colors!
Now for my new anemone ... It's a RBTA (Rose Bubble Tip Anemone). I have wanted an anemone since I brought home my maroon clown. This anemone was a rescue purchase. The LFS I purchased him from was keeping him in a small dark tank. With just actinic light on, they were trying to get him more white and pink ..! When a anemone turns white, this is called bleaching. This is not a good thing. So I hope I can save him.
STOP THAT! You're making it too hard to resist an expensive urge to start a saltwater tank of our own.. we want a variety of different clowns and anemone along with live rock, soft corals and some shrimp. That anemone is a beauty and i'm glad you rescued him - how could they want to bleach that beautiful guy. Really, a very beautiful anemone and i love how the clown protects him - that last photo is especially excellent. Hope you enter it in the photo contest.
Yeah, it's a shame you can only have one pair in a less than 100 gallon aquarium. I will try to get her a mate in a few months. When the anemone is stronger.
I have a question for you agsansoo. How do you keep corals from propaganding in a reef tank. I understand most SPS corals tend to grow pretty easily and in a 5.5gallon if I wanted different corals how would I keep them from propaganding. You seem to be doing a good job on it.
I have a question for you agsansoo. How do you keep corals from propaganding in a reef tank. I understand most sps corals tend to grow pretty easily and in a 5.5gallon if I wanted different corals how would I keep them from propaganding. You seem to be doing a good job on it.
I guess I don't have a green thumb. LOL I'm too busy trying to keep the corals alive, to worry about them growing too much. Everyone I know just lets them grow wild, and limits propagation though fragging. In a 5.5 gallon, you will have to this alot. Hope this is what your after.
What - a - kewl - tank!!!! I love the star fish! The coral formation looks great for fish to hide in and I really love that it doesn't seem overstocked. Great tank, great tank.
Looks better all the time! I'd love to get an anemone but from what I understand they get 12-18" across - too big for my tank! Does your anemone move around much or has it found a spot that it's happy in and stay there?
Oh it moves ... Last night it moved to the back of the tank, which makes feeding it a real PITA ! LOL I've turned my power head that way hoping it will move back to the front of the tank. I hope he finds his happy place soon !
OK since my last post here I mentioned the RBTA had moved between two large rocks. She's still eating krill so there's still hope yet. I'm keeping my finger crossed.
Now the tank has two new additions, a large GBTA (green bubble tip anemone) and a small 2" male GSM (gold stripe maroon clown) named Marlin.
Both clowns host both anemones ! Oh yeah I almost forgot. Two LFS's told me I had a snowflake's chance in pairing my female clown on the first attempt. That's why I nick named the little male ... Snowflake (Marlin) ... LOL
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Under my old PC lights he never opened up at all. I thought he was dead. He really enjoys when I feed the tank BBS (baby 
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You're making it too hard to resist an expensive urge to start a saltwater tank of our own.. we want a variety of different clowns and anemone along with 
Everyone I know just lets them grow wild, and limits propagation though fragging. In a 5.5 gallon, you will have to this alot. Hope this is what your after.
