Chris's 10 Gallon Jank-Tank

Here I am, making another build thread. Oops.




This is my reef tank - I've had it set up for around 3 months now. When the pandemic first hit Kentucky, I had to take a step back from my tanks due to my work schedule. I work at a Petsmart, and my hours skyrocketed to 55-60 hours a week overnight when the first round of layoffs hit. Apparently it's cheaper to overwork a few staff members than it is to pay a full team... anyway, a lot of my tanks suffered. I fed the fish, did water changes, stuff like that. But no real care went into the tanks, and as such a lot of my coral died off. What didn't die I gave away.

Now that things are starting to get back to normal work-wise, I'm going back through my tanks and trying to set everything straight. I wanted to have one reef tank, so I set this one up and started cycling it with some dry rock. Three months later, here we are!

Equipment:
10 Gallon Tetra Glass Aquarium (with back rim removed for light mount)
Hipargero Aquaknight LED Fixture
Aqueon 10 gallon HOB (just running carbon at the moment)
Koralia Nano 240
Tetra Preset 100W Heater (ole' reliable)

Stock List:
Fish:
2x Percula Clownfish


1x Yellow Watchman Goby


1x Black Clown Goby



I'm well aware that four fish is too much for this tank, but they're all juveniles, and the watchman goby will be moving out of this tank soon enough. For now, the tank stays clean enough and they all get along.

Inverts:
1x Cleaner Shrimp



Coral:
Green Leather Coral


Pink Zoa polyp (bottom left) , Mushroom, and Red Grape Caulerpa (and the right-hand frag plug):


Red Montipora:


Gracilaria "Pom Pom" Hayi:


Green Hammer Coral:



(pics to continue to next page due to upload limit)
Green Birdsnest (two frags):



Close-up with a clown goby photobomb:



Green Mushroom and pink clove polyps:



And, just for funsies, here's a couple pics taken under whites only so you can see the natural color of the macroalgae:





The majority of the coral in here were under $5 - the montipora was $5, the birdnests were free due to damage, the mushroom frag with the caulerpa was $5, the gracilaria was a carry-over from an old tank, the mushroom rock in the back was $20, the pink clove polyps (that are only pink under blues-only) were $40, and the hammer and leather were $60 in a package. Not bad, I don't think.

Maintenance consists of me doing a 3 gallon WC per week, topping of with distilled water once every 2 days, and cleaning the glass whenever I feel like it.

Thanks for the read!

 

Sometimes salt water looks like so much fun...and then i remind myself i got my hands full enough as is for the time being!

 

Sometimes salt water looks like so much fun...and then i remind myself i got my hands full enough as is for the time being!

It's really not too much trouble! I really enjoy it, to be honest. I keep a 36 gallon freshie tank for some of my favorites (black neon tetras, white clouds, cories, etc.) and plants, but I don't get the same enjoyment out of freshwater tanks most of the time. To each their own!

 

It's really not too much trouble! I really enjoy it, to be honest. I keep a 36 gallon freshie tank for some of my favorites (black neon tetras, white clouds, cories, etc.) and plants, but I don't get the same enjoyment out of freshwater tanks most of the time. To each their own!

Well, i am soon to take on a 5th tank....maybe 6 if i start that one at work....

 

Well, i am soon to take on a 5th tank....maybe 6 if i start that one at work....

I feel it lol. I've got 9, plus 76 tanks I take care of at work.

 

I feel it lol. I've got 9, plus 76 tanks I take care of at work.

I don't know how many tanks my Petco guy has at home for sure, but he has mentioned sometimes his tanks get a tad neglected at home after dealing with it all day at work. I personally could NOT deal with both...i would get sick of it somewhere

 

I don't know how many tanks my Petco guy has at home for sure, but he has mentioned sometimes his tanks get a tad neglected at home after dealing with it all day at work. I personally could NOT deal with both...i would get sick of it somewhere

Yeah, it can get tough sometimes, especially when we have the district manager coming for a visit. I don't know that I ever truly get "sick" of it, but there are times when I spend my entire day dealing with (no offense to anyone in particular) idgits who think they can put whatever they want together in whatever they want to put in and I don't want to come home and do water changes. I totally get it.

 

Yeah, it can get tough sometimes, especially when we have the district manager coming for a visit. I don't know that I ever truly get "sick" of it, but there are times when I spend my entire day dealing with (no offense to anyone in particular) idgits who think they can put whatever they want together in whatever they want to put in and I don't want to come home and do water changes. I totally get it.

He loves me. Ever since he saw me looking at betta's one day and asked if any i especially liked and all i said was "yeah, but i don't have any 10 gallon tanks ready yet". To which his response was "THANK YOU!!!!!!!!"

 

He loves me. Ever since he saw me looking at betta's one day and asked if any i especially liked and all i said was "yeah, but i don't have any 10 gallon tanks ready yet". To which his response was "THANK YOU!!!!!!!!"

This dude deserves a pay raise

 

This dude deserves a pay raise

I tell him that all the time! "Tell your boss you deserve a raise!!"

 

New additions today! Pardon the even worse than usual pics, as I've had an extremely long day and scraping glass is right at the bottom of the things I want to do right now.

The first are these orange/green zoas. The frag cost me $10, has plenty of coralline algae on the frag plug, and is almost a fluorescent orange. I like them! Hoping to have them spread out onto the bottom glass eventually. In every picture I took, I always had a fish or shrimp photobomb it. So here's two of my favorites. The clown pictured here is probably going to be my female, judging by her growth spurt lately.






I also picked up some palys, mainly due to the name (at first). They're called Monkey Nipple Palys! I got a good snicker out of that in my LFS. I picked up the frag for $25, brought them home, and am actually very happy with my purchase. In the store tank they were pretty washed out - not much color, kinda brown/blue. Under my lights at home, they've got green eyes, a blue polyp, and a long purple skirt. Very pretty palys - possible my favorite zoa/paly polyp I've ever gotten.




You can also see some growth in the G. Hayi up top and in the Monti cap, too. Not a lot, but definitely some growth going on. Getting some color on the rocks as well.

Here's a picture of the pink zoa polyp... or should I say polyps? It's growing two new ones.

 

New additions today! Pardon the even worse than usual pics, as I've had an extremely long day and scraping glass is right at the bottom of the things I want to do right now.

The first are these orange/green zoas. The frag cost me $10, has plenty of coralline algae on the frag plug, and is almost a fluorescent orange. I like them! Hoping to have them spread out onto the bottom glass eventually. In every picture I took, I always had a fish or shrimp photobomb it. So here's two of my favorites. The clown pictured here is probably going to be my female, judging by her growth spurt lately.

View attachment 748433
View attachment 748434

I also picked up some palys, mainly due to the name (at first). They're called Monkey Nipple Palys! I got a good snicker out of that in my LFS. I picked up the frag for $25, brought them home, and am actually very happy with my purchase. In the store tank they were pretty washed out - not much color, kinda brown/blue. Under my lights at home, they've got green eyes, a blue polyp, and a long purple skirt. Very pretty palys - possible my favorite zoa/paly polyp I've ever gotten.

View attachment 748435

You can also see some growth in the G. Hayi up top and in the Monti cap, too. Not a lot, but definitely some growth going on. Getting some color on the rocks as well.

Here's a picture of the pink zoa polyp... or should I say polyps? It's growing two new ones.
View attachment 748436

Cool corals! Oh man, to think I was just looking at zoa frags that size for $45...
That coralline is a great color! Looks almost pink, is it?

 

Cool corals! Oh man, to think I was just looking at zoa frags that size for $45...
That coralline is a great color! Looks almost pink, is it?

It is! Pink coralline. Some of the frags they had were much more expensive, but they were all designer pieces. Once they have a name, they get expensive. I usually only buy the mutts.

 

Alrighty, so I got around to scraping the glass and changing out a couple of gallons of water today. I also noticed a few things that have me thinking that maybe I need to lower my lighting just a tad, so I lowered my whites down by a notch. I've also been playing around with editing my pictures in Snapseed to get a more realistic look. My results have varied, with each image having a different brightness and overall color. But the subject of each photo is pretty close to how it looks in real life to my eyes, so that's what we're focusing on.

First up, here's the little Black Clown Goby perching on the bottom glass. He's usually perched up in the leather, so I took the opportunity to snap a picture. He's not the prettiest fish, but he eats well and is more active than most clown gobies I've had.



Next, here's the cleaner shrimp hanging out on the upper plain of the tank. He's molted twice since I've had him, and has grown quite a bit each time. He's also getting very brave, climbing onto my hand and onto the siphon during water changes. So far, he's been a model citizen!



Here's a shot of the Yellow Watchman Goby hanging out next to the hammer. The hammer is nice and happy, although I really do need to mount it somewhere. I'm waiting because I think he might be moving to another tank eventually, as I'm not sure I want many stinging coral in here. The YWG is doing well, and is fattening up. Good color, too. I do feel bad that he's in a barebottom tank, but he'll be moved as well.



This might be a bit risque for Fishlore, but heck, here's a pic of my nips! You can also see some white edges on the montipora in the top left corner, but I think it's just going through a growth cycle... I hope. It's only on the edges, it has great polyp extension and color, and I can't see any visible pests. Fingers crossed!



I don't actually know how to differentiate between palys and zoas, but I'm beginning to think this guy might be a paly. The polyp has grown a lot in just a few weeks, and has sprouted 4 new polyps already. I thought it was a zoa, but now I'm thinking paly. Not sure how well it's coming through in pictures, but the color is intensifying on the polyp as well.



Here's a picture of the orange and green zoas I picked up on Friday. They're doing well, except for one polyp that's tightly closed and melting in the back. It has me concerned, but I didn't see any pods or worms on the plug, so I'm thinking maybe that polyp got squished in transit. I'll watch it closely, either way.



Here's a FTS with the whites and blues:



And now one with just the whites. Look at all that green on the rocks! Yikes! Hoping to get that replaced with pink soon.



Everything up until now has been looking pretty good, I think. Here's a couple things that aren't looking so hot (hence for the lighting change).

This birdsnest frag is struggling pretty hard. I have two theories: A) The lighting was too intense for it at the top of the tank, or B) The clown goby is picking on it. I think A is more likely, as I haven't seen the goby in that area of the tank much, so I moved the frag down to the bottom to see if it recovers any.



The other issue I'm having is with the Pink Clove Polyps and the Green Mushrooms. They've not been opening to the same degree as usual lately, so I think the lighting may have something to do with it. Hopefully with the new lighting intensity they'll do a bit better.




That's this week's update! I'm enjoying this tank quite a bit. I may stop next weekend and see if I can't find another cheap frag or two to add.

 

Alrighty, so I got around to scraping the glass and changing out a couple of gallons of water today. I also noticed a few things that have me thinking that maybe I need to lower my lighting just a tad, so I lowered my whites down by a notch. I've also been playing around with editing my pictures in Snapseed to get a more realistic look. My results have varied, with each image having a different brightness and overall color. But the subject of each photo is pretty close to how it looks in real life to my eyes, so that's what we're focusing on.

First up, here's the little Black Clown Goby perching on the bottom glass. He's usually perched up in the leather, so I took the opportunity to snap a picture. He's not the prettiest fish, but he eats well and is more active than most clown gobies I've had.
View attachment 749086

Next, here's the cleaner shrimp hanging out on the upper plain of the tank. He's molted twice since I've had him, and has grown quite a bit each time. He's also getting very brave, climbing onto my hand and onto the siphon during water changes. So far, he's been a model citizen!
View attachment 749087

Here's a shot of the Yellow Watchman Goby hanging out next to the hammer. The hammer is nice and happy, although I really do need to mount it somewhere. I'm waiting because I think he might be moving to another tank eventually, as I'm not sure I want many stinging coral in here. The YWG is doing well, and is fattening up. Good color, too. I do feel bad that he's in a barebottom tank, but he'll be moved as well.
View attachment 749088

This might be a bit risque for Fishlore, but heck, here's a pic of my nips! You can also see some white edges on the montipora in the top left corner, but I think it's just going through a growth cycle... I hope. It's only on the edges, it has great polyp extension and color, and I can't see any visible pests. Fingers crossed!
View attachment 749089

I don't actually know how to differentiate between palys and zoas, but I'm beginning to think this guy might be a paly. The polyp has grown a lot in just a few weeks, and has sprouted 4 new polyps already. I thought it was a zoa, but now I'm thinking paly. Not sure how well it's coming through in pictures, but the color is intensifying on the polyp as well.
View attachment 749090

Here's a picture of the orange and green zoas I picked up on Friday. They're doing well, except for one polyp that's tightly closed and melting in the back. It has me concerned, but I didn't see any pods or worms on the plug, so I'm thinking maybe that polyp got squished in transit. I'll watch it closely, either way.
View attachment 749091

Here's a FTS with the whites and blues:
View attachment 749094

And now one with just the whites. Look at all that green on the rocks! Yikes! Hoping to get that replaced with pink soon.
View attachment 749095

Everything up until now has been looking pretty good, I think. Here's a couple things that aren't looking so hot (hence for the lighting change).

This birdsnest frag is struggling pretty hard. I have two theories: A) The lighting was too intense for it at the top of the tank, or B) The clown goby is picking on it. I think A is more likely, as I haven't seen the goby in that area of the tank much, so I moved the frag down to the bottom to see if it recovers any.
View attachment 749098

The other issue I'm having is with the Pink Clove Polyps and the Green Mushrooms. They've not been opening to the same degree as usual lately, so I think the lighting may have something to do with it. Hopefully with the new lighting intensity they'll do a bit better.

View attachment 749099

That's this week's update! I'm enjoying this tank quite a bit. I may stop next weekend and see if I can't find another cheap frag or two to add.

The photos are looking good! It's certainly not easy to get them looking like they do in life. Big fan of the cleaner shrimp. How are they so charismatic?

I love your hammer coral, and the orange and green zoas. Though I'm not sure if I like the zoas or the pink coralline more XD . I hope it takes hold and spreads really well. Is there anything you can do to encourage it? Also... cute nips!

Tank's looking really cool. I'm envious of all the life in there. Can't wait to see the corals grow for you

 

The photos are looking good! It's certainly not easy to get them looking like they do in life. Big fan of the cleaner shrimp. How are they so charismatic?

I love your hammer coral, and the orange and green zoas. Though I'm not sure if I like the zoas or the pink coralline more XD . I hope it takes hold and spreads really well. Is there anything you can do to encourage it? Also... cute nips!

Tank's looking really cool. I'm envious of all the life in there. Can't wait to see the corals grow for you

They certainly are full of personality!

I know there are methods of encouraging the spread of coralline that range from introducing different strains of it to elevating calcium levels, but I find that it'll grow in time. Usually a bit of it on a frag or shell and decent amounts of light will cause it to spread relatively quickly, especially as other nuisance algae dies off.

 

Tested the tank with (gasp!) a test strip today. Nitrates were undetectable according to the strips, so they were somewhere under 5. Ph was 8-ish. Pulled out my liquid kit for phosphate and it was between 0.05-0.1. Phosphates are a little high, but I've been feeding reef roids every couple weeks. I'll blame that.

Everything except for the dang bird'snest looks great. Lowering the lighting definitely helped the softies out, and the monti has started to grow flesh and polyps over the new skeleton I showed on the last update. Exciting stuff!

 

Man, today sucks.

I've been treating my pair of Ocellaris (Wyoming Whites) clowns in a bucket for ich. Some of their tank mates had it, so I treated everyone for it and tore down the tank. I kept the water line around 4" below the lip of the bucket. My female jumped. I found her on the floor after work. She was still wet, so it was probably within the past couple of hours. I dropped her back into the bucket immediately, but she didn't revive.

Man, I loved that fish.

I stopped at the LFS on the way home and picked up a couple cool critters - a 2" long frogfish (for another tank), and a harlequin shrimp for this one. This one is male (I think), so I'll keep an eye out for a female so I can pair this guy up. I'll just keep some starfish in one of my FOWLR's and drop stars into this tank as these guys need to be fed. I'll probably have to remove the cleaner shrimp, as I've heard they can be somewhat territorial towards other shrimp in small tanks. We'll see.

Here the little guy is in his acclimation cup - he's feisty, if nothing else. Beautiful animal.




Regardless, I'm not really enjoying the fish very much tonight. I got this pair of clowns a couple days after I moved out from my parent's, and they kind of symbolized independence to me, I guess. I love my fish, but it's not often that one is assigned meaning in my brain. These guys were different.

RIP Syf.

 

Man, today sucks.

I've been treating my pair of Ocellaris (Wyoming Whites) clowns in a bucket for ich. Some of their tank mates had it, so I treated everyone for it and tore down the tank. I kept the water line around 4" below the lip of the bucket. My female jumped. I found her on the floor after work. She was still wet, so it was probably within the past couple of hours. I dropped her back into the bucket immediately, but she didn't revive.

Man, I loved that fish.

I stopped at the LFS on the way home and picked up a couple cool critters - a 2" long frogfish (for another tank), and a harlequin shrimp for this one. This one is male (I think), so I'll keep an eye out for a female so I can pair this guy up. I'll just keep some starfish in one of my FOWLR's and drop stars into this tank as these guys need to be fed. I'll probably have to remove the cleaner shrimp, as I've heard they can be somewhat territorial towards other shrimp in small tanks. We'll see.

Here the little guy is in his acclimation cup - he's feisty, if nothing else. Beautiful animal.

View attachment 750047

Regardless, I'm not really enjoying the fish very much tonight. I got this pair of clowns a couple days after I moved out from my parent's, and they kind of symbolized independence to me, I guess. I love my fish, but it's not often that one is assigned meaning in my brain. These guys were different.

RIP Syf.

Wow, that really blows. I'm so sorry about your clown. I know it's a huge downer to lose a fish that's meaningful like that.

The new additions sound really cool though! I hope we get to see a lot of the harlequin shrimp. They sound a little daunting to keep fed!

Hope tomorrow's better!

 

Wow, that really blows. I'm so sorry about your clown. I know it's a huge downer to lose a fish that's meaningful like that.

The new additions sound really cool though! I hope we get to see a lot of the harlequin shrimp. They sound a little daunting to keep fed!

Hope tomorrow's better!

Thanks! It means a lot.

The feeding requirements are a bit daunting, you're right. It's why I've never ordered one online - but, this one is in seemingly good health, and was actively hunting and eating in the store. The owner knows I go for weird stuff, and he basically immediately led me to the tank and was like "You're gonna wanna buy this." Guy knows me well.

The plan will probably be to buy a chocolate chip starfish and keep him in my mantis tank (most mantises won't murder starfish), and feed a leg to the shrimp every 3-4 days, plus throw in some asterina stars from my LFS. I'll have to buy a new chocolate chip starfish every month or so, and I'm not particularly enthused about mutilating them, but it is what it is.

These shrimp are actually kinda terrifying. In the wild, they'll find a starfish, flip it over, and eat it from the tips of the arms to the center. They do that so it lives longer while being eaten. They'll also force-feed it to keep it alive.

That's metal, man.

Metal.

 

Thanks! It means a lot.

The feeding requirements are a bit daunting, you're right. It's why I've never ordered one online - but, this one is in seemingly good health, and was actively hunting and eating in the store. The owner knows I go for weird stuff, and he basically immediately led me to the tank and was like "You're gonna wanna buy this." Guy knows me well.

The plan will probably be to buy a chocolate chip starfish and keep him in my mantis tank (most mantises won't murder starfish), and feed a leg to the shrimp every 3-4 days, plus throw in some asterina stars from my LFS. I'll have to buy a new chocolate chip starfish every month or so, and I'm not particularly enthused about mutilating them, but it is what it is.

These shrimp are actually kinda terrifying. In the wild, they'll find a starfish, flip it over, and eat it from the tips of the arms to the center. They do that so it lives longer while being eaten. They'll also force-feed it to keep it alive.

That's metal, man.

Metal.

oh, you have a good LFS, for sure. everyone should have an enabler like that.

hahahah I did NOT know about the force-feeding part. man, do I REALLY want one of those now. metal is one word for it. the other word I can think of would get the good old fishlore asterisk treatment, I'm sure.

 

I hope this guy does well for me! They definitely add a little something to the tank. So far mine is still in hiding - I'll feed him a few asterinas tomorrow while I wait for my larger starfish to come into my LFS.

No issues so far with the cleaner shrimp... The harlequin, cleaner, and YWG all came to a standoff in the middle of the tank a few minutes ago. The harlequin and cleaner kind of stared at eachother for a bit before the cleaner turned and scuttled away. The whole time the goby was sitting there with his dorsal fin extended and his body flexed - I guess he might have sensed the tension. The cleaner will be rehomed to a 50 once the tank is cycled.

 

Tested the tank with (gasp!) a test strip today. Nitrates were undetectable according to the strips, so they were somewhere under 5. Ph was 8-ish. Pulled out my liquid kit for phosphate and it was between 0.05-0.1. Phosphates are a little high, but I've been feeding reef roids every couple weeks. I'll blame that.

Everything except for the dang bird'snest looks great. Lowering the lighting definitely helped the softies out, and the monti has started to grow flesh and polyps over the new skeleton I showed on the last update. Exciting stuff!

I have all softies plus an lps and the mushrooms were doing horrible but the lps was doing amazing. I just started lowering my lights this week and they are already staring to open up more.

Man, today sucks.

I've been treating my pair of Ocellaris (Wyoming Whites) clowns in a bucket for ich. Some of their tank mates had it, so I treated everyone for it and tore down the tank. I kept the water line around 4" below the lip of the bucket. My female jumped. I found her on the floor after work. She was still wet, so it was probably within the past couple of hours. I dropped her back into the bucket immediately, but she didn't revive.

Man, I loved that fish.

I stopped at the LFS on the way home and picked up a couple cool critters - a 2" long frogfish (for another tank), and a harlequin shrimp for this one. This one is male (I think), so I'll keep an eye out for a female so I can pair this guy up. I'll just keep some starfish in one of my FOWLR's and drop stars into this tank as these guys need to be fed. I'll probably have to remove the cleaner shrimp, as I've heard they can be somewhat territorial towards other shrimp in small tanks. We'll see.

Here the little guy is in his acclimation cup - he's feisty, if nothing else. Beautiful animal.

View attachment 750047

Regardless, I'm not really enjoying the fish very much tonight. I got this pair of clowns a couple days after I moved out from my parent's, and they kind of symbolized independence to me, I guess. I love my fish, but it's not often that one is assigned meaning in my brain. These guys were different.

RIP Syf.

Sorry about your clown. Got any pics of the frogfish?

 

I have all softies plus an lps and the mushrooms were doing horrible but the lps was doing amazing. I just started lowering my lights this week and they are already staring to open up more.

Sorry about your clown. Got any pics of the frogfish?

Yeah, lowering the lights seems to help softies - the mushrooms aren't super happy yet, but the Pink Clove Polyps are looking better and actually look a bit more pink now.

Excuse the state of this tank - the algae doesn't bother me too much, and this is a FOWLR, so I just kinda let it go... maybe a bit too far. But, here's a picture of it up close, and then a FTS so you can get a sense of size. He's in a 55 for now.






That's not ich on him, either, from what I understand. Part of their camo technique. They're called "Spinules".

I tried to feed him a ghost shrimp this morning, and he was actually receptive to it - I put the shrimp into a net, lowered it into the tank in front of him, and slowly (over the course of 5 minutes) he moved the 4" to the net and struck at the shrimp. He missed (it was probably too big for him anyway), and the shrimp ended up getting eaten by the lion, but I'm just enthused that he's showing interest in food. I'm trading for a new tank today, so I'll get some smaller feeders for this guy and some stars for my Harlequin.

 

Alrighty, so I did... a thing. Found a deal on some stuff that I couldn't pass up, so I'm hoping this tank is mature enough for it. First off, I picked up this (what I believe to be?) Acan frag for $30. It's bright pink and mint green! Obviously the color has been altered in the pic, but the colors on the coral are similar to what they are to my eye. It's also pretty PO'd, as I just added it to the tank.




I also found a small Green Bubble Tip Anemone for $25... I bought it. It looks relatively healthy (not completely bleached, decent color, and rather sticky) so I think I got a good deal. It's definitely a smaller tank for a nem, but I've seen people do these in 10's with plenty of success, so I look forward to trying it. I placed it at the top of the tank, and decided to let it choose where it wanted to go naturally. I've got the lights lowered down to 20% whites and 60% blues to avoid shock.






And I think this guy thinks he's the wrong kind of clown!

 

Yeah, lowering the lights seems to help softies - the mushrooms aren't super happy yet, but the Pink Clove Polyps are looking better and actually look a bit more pink now.

Excuse the state of this tank - the algae doesn't bother me too much, and this is a FOWLR, so I just kinda let it go... maybe a bit too far. But, here's a picture of it up close, and then a FTS so you can get a sense of size. He's in a 55 for now.

View attachment 750216
View attachment 750217

That's not ich on him, either, from what I understand. Part of their camo technique. They're called "Spinules".

I tried to feed him a ghost shrimp this morning, and he was actually receptive to it - I put the shrimp into a net, lowered it into the tank in front of him, and slowly (over the course of 5 minutes) he moved the 4" to the net and struck at the shrimp. He missed (it was probably too big for him anyway), and the shrimp ended up getting eaten by the lion, but I'm just enthused that he's showing interest in food. I'm trading for a new tank today, so I'll get some smaller feeders for this guy and some stars for my Harlequin.

Sweet, I want one now. How big do they get?

 

Sweet, I want one now. How big do they get?

They're very cool! Some only reach 4-6", while others grow much larger. I'm trying to ID this guy, so I can figure out the answer to that question myself.

He ate a ghost shrimp! I put a smaller one into a net, lowered it down in front of him, and he eventually got it. It was like 75% of his size... oof. He's got a big mouth! His lure was going crazy the entire time, too. Definitely an awesome fish, especially when they're moving fast - they bound, sort of like deer do. Or, like a frog would. Hence the name. He only gets fed 1-2X a week, since the food can actually rot in their stomach before it's digested. Yikes!

Here he is perched in a 6" net, for size reference. This was right after he ate the shrimp.

 

They're very cool! Some only reach 4-6", while others grow much larger. I'm trying to ID this guy, so I can figure out the answer to that question myself.

He ate a ghost shrimp! I put a smaller one into a net, lowered it down in front of him, and he eventually got it. It was like 75% of his size... oof. He's got a big mouth! His lure was going crazy the entire time, too. Definitely an awesome fish, especially when they're moving fast - they bound, sort of like deer do. Or, like a frog would. Hence the name. He only gets fed 1-2X a week, since the food can actually rot in their stomach before it's digested. Yikes!

Here he is perched in a 6" net, for size reference. This was right after he ate the shrimp.

View attachment 750375

So cool! Definately do updates on him.

 

Still waiting on the starfish to come in for the harlequin shrimp... he was out hunting for food today. Gotta get him some more asterina stars in the meantime!

The two clowns have begun to quarrel - I think they've hit sexual maturity. Hopefully the smaller one cedes female rights to the larger one without too much of a fight.

The new BTA has found the darkest area of the tank it can - which is surprising, since I've lowered the lights down so low. I've moved all corals away from it, too, as I think it's already done a number on some of the mushrooms.

 

The frogfish is so cool. The acan and anemone both look pretty killer, and the hungry harlequin and maturing clownfish sounds like they're all a handful!

Do you think asterinas reproduce quickly enough to be a decent option for feeding the harlequin, or would you just end up buying a bunch every month?

 

The frogfish is so cool. The acan and anemone both look pretty killer, and the hungry harlequin and maturing clownfish sounds like they're all a handful!

Do you think asterinas reproduce quickly enough to be a decent option for feeding the harlequin, or would you just end up buying a bunch every month?

Neither would work well, I think. The asterinas would never be able to keep up with the harlequin, and buying more would be unsustainable over time. I'm going to be feeding portions of chocolate chip stars, and I think that'll be the easiest way to keep this guy fed.

 

Neither would work well, I think. The asterinas would never be able to keep up with the harlequin, and buying more would be unsustainable over time. I'm going to be feeding portions of chocolate chip stars, and I think that'll be the easiest way to keep this guy fed.

Yeah, your chocolate chip star dismemberment plan seems to be the popular option for keeping these guys. i considered planning my pico around a harlequin instead of sexy shrimp, and then i found out about feeding them. that idea lasted about ten minutes lol. i'll gladly live vicariously through you!

 

Yeah, your chocolate chip star dismemberment plan seems to be the popular option for keeping these guys. i considered planning my pico around a harlequin instead of sexy shrimp, and then i found out about feeding them. that idea lasted about ten minutes lol. i'll gladly live vicariously through you!

Yeah, I'm not especially looking forward to mutilating the poor starfish - but, little guys have to eat, huh?

I'm scraping glass and doing a 2 gallon water change today. I'm also going to maintenance my HOB, as it's been kinda finicky lately. It's a cheap one, but I don't really want to have to replace with an Aquaclear just yet.

Most things seem pretty happy - the BTA has started to peek out for parts of the day and is showing decent color, and the Acan is still pretty crazily colored. The green birdsnest is basically gone, but I think I may have just burned it into oblivion with my lighting. Pics to come tomorrow after it's cleared up.

 

Alright, so I got super lazy on Tuesday and didn't actually do the water change till yesterday morning... and last night when I got home, the tank was clear, but I ate and went straight to bed I'm determined to update today, dangit!




I should be picking up my feeder star today, as well as about 2 lbs of clams... I got some hungry puffers, lol. Hoping to get the little harlequin fed. I found an asterina and hand-fed it to him yesterday, but from what I'm reading, they need way more food than that to maintain a healthy weight. No issues between the cleaner and the harlequin since their initial meeting, which I've been surprised about - although, I do think I'll still move one or the other out of this tank as soon as I have a suitable alternative tank. I think I may also need a larger CUC, as the nerites and micro ceriths just aren't keeping up. I'll probably be making an order for some new tanks soon, anyway, so I'll just put extras into here.

Here's a quick video of the tank - do you guys prefer Imgur or YouTube for videos? I find that Imgur integrates in a forum post better, but at a notable loss of quality.

https://imgur.com/IvitykB

In the video, you'll notice one clown is all up on the camera, while the other is hiding. They're pairing - and the male isn't submitting as quickly as some do. He does submit - y'know, their little seizures they do to show submission - but he doesn't do it until she's chased him all over the tank. I still haven't seen any biting/lip-locking, so I assume it's going alright, but I'm going to keep an eye on them.

The two gobies are fine - the YWG is doing well, and is becoming more and more brazen, although I really do want to get him a sandy bottom and a pistol shrimp. I think he'd benefit greatly from it. The clown goby is having trouble finding food, I think, since I feed this tank so lightly. The clowns and shrimp always gobble the majority of the food from the surface, while the rest either gets blown away or the YWG eats it before the CG can get it. I think he might end up being a good pico inhabitant - maybe not so great for a lightly-fed nano. Still, he's at a healthy weight, and I make sure he gets some food, so he'll be okay for now.

You might notice a lot of the corals have been moved - that's thanks to the BTA. It chose to settle right next to the green mushrooms, hammer, and Pink Cloves, so I moved the mushrooms back a couple inches, moved the hammer to the front of the tank, and the Pink Cloves to the top. So far, everyone seems happy (the mushrooms are still kinda meh, but I'm still blaming too much light). The clove polyps were fine, but I knocked them off while feeding everyone this morning and they're still upset over that. I'm very happy with how the hammer is turning out - it's just a normal green variant, but it's got a nice pattern on the flesh and is very bushy. The Gracilaria Hayi is filling out a bit (it's hard to tell, but if you compare it to the first pic I posted, the difference is there), and so is the Grape Caulerpa. The mushroom that's attached to the same plug is also splitting, although I'm not sure how obvious it is on camera. There's definitely two distinct mouths! The montipora has definitely grown some when compared to the first pic I posted, although it seems kind of off today. Still, growth is exciting! The Monkey Nipple palys also got moved, but mainly because I wanted them to blow a bit more in the flow to get their skirts moving. I think they're gorgeous - probably my favorite coral in the tank.

I also discovered some Halimeda (macro algae) growing on the dead feather duster tube - it must have hitchhiked in. Hoping it grows! It's kinda bleached out, at the moment.

The equipment got a good cleaning yesterday, too. I took the HOB off the tank, replaced the carbon, rinsed the sponge I keep for QT purposes, and soaked the HOB housing in vinegar. The powerhead just got a good rinsing, as I don't worry about keeping them "clean", just clear of debris - I think a clean powerhead looks out of place, while a bit of algae and muck tends to help them blend in better. Same with the heater. I cleaned the salt creep off of the LEDs, and also went ahead and turned them down another notch. I'm waiting to see the coral start reaching for light, and I haven't really found that point yet, I don't think.

Pic dump!

 

That hammer is looking good! Just curious, what made you go with a bare bottom? Also are you able to keep some nitrates in the tank? I can't seem to up my nitrates, they just stay at zero which isn't good for my shrooms.

 

That hammer is looking good! Just curious, what made you go with a bare bottom? Also are you able to keep some nitrates in the tank? I can't seem to up my nitrates, they just stay at zero which isn't good for my shrooms.

Thanks!

I personally prefer the barebottom maintenance routine. With a sandbed, gunk can get caught down in it, and it ends up being a pain to keep clean sometimes. Plus, it a smaller tank, I've had trouble with powerheads throwing it around the tank, or exposing bare glass in certain corners of the tank where flow is highest. Barebottom is just less work, and I find that it ends up making life easier. I've even got a tiny spot of pink coralline growing on the bottom glass, so hopefully that'll fill in and get rid of the sterile look.

As far as nitrates, mine hover somewhere under 5 PPM throughout the week. I do have 4 fish in this tank, which is probably too many - so I can imagine that when I start removing fish (down to just the clowns, eventually), my nitrates will probably bottom out.

The safest thing to do is probably to get some Potassium Nitrate (stump remover) and dose small amounts of that to bring it up to 2-3 PPM whenever you notice it running at 0. It's easy, safe (as long as you measure correctly), and extremely cheap. What are your phosphates at?

 

Thanks!

I personally prefer the barebottom maintenance routine. With a sandbed, gunk can get caught down in it, and it ends up being a pain to keep clean sometimes. Plus, it a smaller tank, I've had trouble with powerheads throwing it around the tank, or exposing bare glass in certain corners of the tank where flow is highest. Barebottom is just less work, and I find that it ends up making life easier. I've even got a tiny spot of pink coralline growing on the bottom glass, so hopefully that'll fill in and get rid of the sterile look.

As far as nitrates, mine hover somewhere under 5 PPM throughout the week. I do have 4 fish in this tank, which is probably too many - so I can imagine that when I start removing fish (down to just the clowns, eventually), my nitrates will probably bottom out.

The safest thing to do is probably to get some Potassium Nitrate (stump remover) and dose small amounts of that to bring it up to 2-3 PPM whenever you notice it running at 0. It's easy, safe (as long as you measure correctly), and extremely cheap. What are your phosphates at?

Idk what my phosphates are at, the test kits can't be shipped to my location so I am waiting for when we make the next 200 mile trip to the nearest saltwater store to get one.

 

Idk what my phosphates are at, the test kits can't be shipped to my location so I am waiting for when we make the next 200 mile trip to the nearest saltwater store to get one.

Gotcha.

I wouldn't dose Nitrates without being able to test for phosphates, as if one bottoms out while you still have some of the other, you're going to get some bacterial/algal issues. So maybe feeding a little more or adding another fish is what you want to do.

 

Gotcha.

I wouldn't dose Nitrates without being able to test for phosphates, as if one bottoms out while you still have some of the other, you're going to get some bacterial/algal issues. So maybe feeding a little more or adding another fish is what you want to do.

I want to add some sort of blenny but, I am not sure if there is enought space as I thinl they are teritorial like clowns.

 

I want to add some sort of blenny but, I am not sure if there is enought space as I thinl they are teritorial like clowns.

Blennies are typically only territorial with conspecifics (or fish that look extremely similar), so something small like a Tail Spot blenny wouldn't hurt. I'd also look into Green Banded Gobies and Shark Nosed Gobies - having had both, they've got tons of personality.

I also just noticed that you're running a skimmer. Does it work well? If so, that may be why your tank is running so low on nutrients.