Mike Mays

PM Sent.

I am keeping calcium spot on at 450ppm

Here's a link to a picture of Devil's Hand http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2856+646&pcatid=646

Hey gang, My conch was cruisin' along the bottom and I noticed that it looked like he might have been scrappin! Check out the cracks in his shell. Is this a normal occurrence?

Full tank view Green bubble tip anenome Candycane Acan (Christmas gift from son), green ricordea, Mellow (the yellow tang), Cleaner wrasse that loves to get in the way, below Mellow is a beautiful patch of zoas - blue center green outside This brain has doubled in size over the past six months Marlin is the original inhabitant of the tank. He's seen many come and go. He pretty much stays on this side of the tank Not sure what kind of palys these are, but I love the mint green color and they have spread to other areas in the tank. These two Rose bubbletips just split a week ago. The pair of skunk clowns love them! The montipora on the right has tripled in size since I got it at the ARC meeting at Kevin Locklear's house (October I think?). Just below the Montipora on the left you can see a nice patch of star polyps. This maxima has the most beautiful blue flesh. The mushroom rock has sent many 'shrooms forth to populate other areas of the tank. This pair of cleaner shrimp have provided snacks in the form of shrimp spawn a couple of times. These two patches of zoas have been covering the rocks at the top of the tank. So current fish and such are as follows: Maroon Clown (Marlin) Yellow Tang (Mellow) Lavender Tang Melanaurus Wrasse Juvenile Red Coris Wrasse (looks like a clown right now) Pair of Skunk Clowns (Pinky and Yes Dear) Fighting Conch Emerald Crab Pair of Cleaner shrimp 3 peppermint shrimp All pictures taken with my iPhone Enjoy!

Argh! I've been remiss on keeping up on all the goings on here at the ARC. Sorry I missed today's meeting. Is there a way to get a premium membership w/o going to a meeting? maybe the ol' fashioned snail mail? I'll be taking some pics of my tank here tomorrow. A lot has changed!

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Mr. Cob. I was close to scrapping the whole idea a couple of times over the past month.

Well, it's been awhile since my last update. Things have been crazy! I'm now down to my maroon clown, lavender tang, yellow tang and a melanurus fairy wrasse. I believe I've been hit with a parasitic or bacteria outbreak in my fish. the fish that died (a pair of anthiases, foxface rabbitfish, Flame Angel, Green Mandarinfish, pair of banggai cardinals). Each time a fish died, they went from being aparently fine (good color, activity and eating) to very pale and lethargic, almost overnight. The latest loss was a percula clown. Just like the flame angel, the perc had good color activity and appetite and all of a sudden, I found it on the bottom of the tank almost totally bleached out. Each and every water check proved to be spot on (I even took samples to the lfg to verify). I noticed yesterday that the lavender tang was swimming somewhat sporadically and it looked like he was trying to scratch himself on the sides with his pectoral fins. (Funny I call him "him". I don't know if it is a he or she). I did some research and got some Rally Ruby Reef to dose the tank and some Metronidazole to add to the food. Hopefully I can knock whatever this out and quit killing fish. It is a bit $$$ expensive. Kenny (my son) frag'd a nice variety of zoas and small colony of star pollups and a couple of red mushrooms. One of the zoa colonies was on like a branchy looking rock/coral skeleton and there was a bonus! A small clam that went easily missed due to it being covered in coraline. it's about the size of a large marble. I will post some pictures as soon as I find the battery charger for my camera!

Dude, post the pics of the fish!

cool. thanks for the info mike. I'll add that to my weekly ritual.

no offense taken on your comment, C Lo, my wife went to the fish store and brought home many of the new guys. Hopefully, we won't lose any more and then can add another in a month or so.

Nitrites were a little high, so did a 20 gal water change this weekend. I was thinking the same thing about the number of fish added. Will not add any more for awhile to allow these guys to settle down and to allow me to get a feel for what needs to be added/adjusted. Mindflux, that is what I was thinking on my mandarin as well - not enough established goodies for him in the rock. As to the cardinal, my lavender tang has been quite the bully to all the fish. One of the Anthias is his current target. I'm hoping the Anthias will make it, but it's not looking good. The Anthias is looking a bit beat up. If I can't get the tang to stand down, I'm gonna make it one of the first fish in the FOWLR tank that my son and I are planning.

Well I've had my first two losses. My green mandarin found dead, missing most of his greenness on one sideand i found pieces of one of my Banggai Cardinals. I'm thinking there may have been a scuffle, but do not know between which fish. Or was it the giant bristleworm? gonna try to device a trap for the worm - He's easily 4-6" long and just scary looking.

Oops, forgot to mention the percula/ocularis clown. Again, I thought there would be a problem with the maroon, but I guess because the new one is bigger, the maroon has left the new addition alone.

My two pink wrasses are not wrasses but anthiases. So my tally of fish is as follows in order of add: Maroon Clown Lavender Tang Flame Angelfish Foxface Rabbitfish Yellow Tang Green Mandarinfish Banggai Cardinalfish - 2 Only two corals yet: Rock covered in green mushrooms Kenya tree

Thanks, James. I always wonder about those things that I knowingly didn't put in my tank. You know, like Aiptasia and other creepy crawlies. The maroon was the only fish in the tank for over a week, but most of the fish that have been added since are larger than he/she.

Also found this bristleworm today. Is he good or bad?

New Fish! Also got a couple of really pretty pink wrasses, but they are shy like the flame angel. A pair of Bangaii Cardinals as well, but also shy at the moment. My maroon clown (Marlin) is not sure what to think about all of the company.

Here's a pic of the lavender tang. He is fast, so tough to get him clearly! This is like the 13th snap. Got a lot of tail shots and shots of it turning, before I got this one shot. I'll get another one eventually. Enjoy!

I decided I Am going to do a fowlr tank. There are to many cool fish you can't have in a reef tank. But I also like the coral. So I decided why not have both then I can do either or. ummmm..... i thought we were doing a fowlr....

Added two new fish (lavender tang and fire angel) and a rock covered in green mushrooms. I will post pics when the fish come out from the rocks.

Thanks, Jason, I will check on that today.

Thanks for the tip, Mike. I'm going to tackle that problem tonight. I'm hoping I can adjust the pipe down far enough so no stand is needed.

Hi fishy pets, sorry for the late response. Yes, I was planning on keeping all of the rock. Do you think it's too much? It's about 150ish lbs. of rock in a 144gal tank.

Thanks, Warren, it is a euro reef and I found the owner's manual. am dialing it in now. I need to pull it out so that I can get a good grip on the locking collar for the top cup. That way when the cup gets dirty I can get it disconnected.