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My 40b Lagoon


corsair66

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Hello ARC! I figured this would be the best spot for my tank thread as I have run this system unfiltered for almost five years. It has had various iterations, but I am going to concentrate on the "new" build after breaking the tank down and moving to Austin.

I have spent the last year on the road, so all the "difficult" stuff had already been removed. When it was broken down, it was basically a pile of Kenya Trees and Caulerpa. Not fancy, but able to go months without servicing. When I broke it down, all the Kenya Trees were removed and the rock flipped over for a blank slate. Not a great picture, but this is day 1.

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You can see how giant the rock is, along with the anemone I received as a house warming gift from my dad (who owns Bird Dog & Cat Fish in Bulverde if you're ever down that way). I used new substrate and brought a few starter pieces of Caulerpa, along with the fish and some Kenya Tree filler.

The tank is a 40B with a heater, two maxi-jets and a Bio-Cube prop pump. Water is turning about 12-15x/hr depending on how lazy my MJ pumps have gotten. Light was recently upgraded to an Ai Prime. That's it! Just a giant rock and veggies to keep it clean.

About three weeks later, it looks like this

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Clown went into the nem in about 48hrs and hasn't left since, lol. The big finger leather came from Odyssey Pets in Dallas. Great place to pick up show size coral at a decent price. They get them back from service clients.

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Not that I usually stock my tanks with decor, but I swiped this from my plant tank mid-move. Silly, but it makes a nice moment off to the side. I typically keep mantis shrimp in here, so if I get another one Buddha will have to go or face certain death.

Stock list of fish is

1 black clown (my first s/w fish!)

4 PJ cardinals

1 Elegant Dottyback

1 4-stripe damsel

They've all been together at least three years and they have a good dynamic between them. Cardinals make great referees to keep the aggression in line.

So that's it so far! What do you think?

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Thanks!

This morning

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Better view of the anemone while the leather is half asleep. You can see how green the rock has gotten. I'm hesitant to get too many more algae eaters as this is probably just new tank growth unlikely to continue. The urchin is working overtime to catch up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks guys!

Well... The anemone stayed in one piece, and it hid itself back behind the leather. Kind of irritating, but nothing to worry about. The leather doesn't seem to mind.

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I added a Starry Blenny, which is taking care of the hair algae pretty quickly. I also added a candy cane coral, replacing the Kenya Trees. It seems to be settling in okay, which is encouraging. I haven't really tried LPS in here before.

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We'll see what happens. The anemone is still shifting around in its new spot. I may try just feeding it like crazy until it settles, splits, or both.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Got brave and divided the leather coral. The anemone seems firmly settled back there, so the only solution was to make a hole. Probably for the best. The leather was bound in by the front glass and harassing the other coral as it continued to expand. The left side had already grafted onto the main rock structure, so I simply cut the rock with the rest of the colony free. Should look nice in a few days.

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This little guy is doing just great. I'm excited to finally figure out some LPS for this tank. I give credit to the Prime LED. Previous attempts were under T5 HO and similar conditions.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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Updated tank shot. I like the finger leather divided. It provides much more habitat for the fish this way.

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I picked up a mantis shrimp at Aquarium Designs in San Antonio.

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Mantis shrimp have a fearsome reputation, but most of it is overblown. If you provide an adequate habitat, they don't require much accommodation. This one is just settling in, so it isn't very photogenic yet. That will pass. It already comes out to fight for turf at feeding time. Soon it will just own the tank. These fish lived with a mantis before. Without it there to keep order, they were getting a little rough with each other.

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These fish lived with a mantis before. Without it there to keep order, they were getting a little rough with each other.

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Haha, nothing like the fear of death to keep you in line! I imagine some human relationships work in the same sort of way. It looks like a Peacock Mantis from the picture. Don't worry, I'm sure the fish won't know it's a clubber! Nice bonus getting some clove polyps with that trumpet. If you separate them, then they'll look good in a tank like yours.

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Haha, nothing like the fear of death to keep you in line!

No lie. Between the clown, the dottyback and the damsel, it's a lot of attitude for 40 gallons. Things got bad after the anemone moved and shifted the clown's territory front and center. It's easier if they're all worried about the mantis popping them for causing a scene.

Once I get decent photos top and bottom, I'll be able to ID the species for sure. Aquarium Designs always has these, and calls them "green mantis shrimp." Shows a preference for living in rock vs digging a burrow, so likely a Gonodactylaceus of some sort.

It's probably this: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=g_falcatus

I had a peacock a long time ago and it was a digging fool. The ones that come out of rubble zones are less troublesome.

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