Aaarrrggg's 144g Half Circle

[mFrame]

One of my favorite threads in a long time, I was just able to finish reading through the whole thing. Completely amazing!

[RobR]

Wow been a while since I last read this thread, the tank is coming along quite nicely. Congrats on the jawfish addition, he is an absolutely gorgeous fish, and glad that he settled in so quickly!!!

[Aaarrrggg]

That's awesome, congrats on the beautiful jawfish! I have to ask, though, is Guybrush's last name Threepwood, by chance??

Guybrush Threepwood... mighty pirate! And his beautiful Onyx wife is Marley; short for Elaine Marley. (My middle name is Elaine so it seemed weird calling her tha!)

I loooove all the old Lucas Arts point & click games.... Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Indiana Jones... Mmmm good times.

My watchman goby acts like a jawfish and will leave me mounds of dirts in different spots of my tank. If you plan on trying your hand on some SPS let me know I have a couple small frags you can have.

Awww that's so sweet of you thanks! I might try my hand at them one day. I'm too into my softies for the time being though. I like em wiggly!

Someone else made the comment before but I think it is worth repeating. The placement of your tank is awesome. It looks like it was made for your location. The curve of the tank matches the curves above the windows. Very balanced, fits perfectly.

Thanks! I couldn't believe it when I measured between the windows and it was the perfect fit! There's also a semi circle detail on the ceiling opposite that you can't see in the pics. It was fate!

I've read every post in your thread. Cannot get enough! Congrats on winning the blog contest, BTW!

^ +1

One of my favorite threads in a long time, I was just able to finish reading through the whole thing. Completely amazing!

Wow been a while since I last read this thread, the tank is coming along quite nicely. Congrats on the jawfish addition, he is an absolutely gorgeous fish, and glad that he settled in so quickly!!!

Awww thanks guys!

[fjr_wertheimber]

I love this thread... Really one of the most fun build threads I've ever come across.

[Aaarrrggg]

I love this thread... Really one of the most fun build threads I've ever come across.

Awww thanks! You guys... you're making me blush!

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. We've had some mates from the UK over to visit so we've been spending most of the last 2 weeks showing off Austin.

Well it seems I might have spoken too soon about my "happy" Jawfish. A few hours after posting last, I heard a loud "plop" come from the tank. I went over to find Kululu sitting on the sand looking agitated after presumably jumping out and bumping his head on the plastic edging at the top of the tank. Well at least my jawfish defenses seem good enough to prevent carpet surfing!

The next day he was nowhere to be found in the tank. Growing increasingly panicked, I searched the floor... nope, not there either (whew!) Then I took a flashlight and checked the sump... nope. Finally, I shone the flashlight into the top of one of the overflows and there was a tell-tale splash. My procrastination at covering the overflows had finally caught up with me and the little sod had decided to take advantage of it and jump on in.

There's an idiot in there somewhere...

He had made his grievances clear. He wasn't happy with the burrows (or lack thereof) he could make in my tank. Be it the fine sand or the swirling flow of the Vortechs... something wasn't working for him and he needed help to build a home.

I found some excellent jawfish condo designs from this doughnut one to this long one. Inspired, I started to plan a crazy complicated burrow network with pipes and holes everywhere! ...But then I realized if the burrow was "complete" then Kululu would probably just sit in it all day and be bored (and boring!) No... he didn't need the whole thing made for him. He was a great digger, he just needed some help stopping the doorway from collapsing in.

I ended up using a 45° 3/4" elbow for the door and inserted it into a slightly larger pipe (I can't recall the width, but it fit inside snugly without glue.)

The back of the burrow will be left open so that sand can pour in and will have to be maintained by it's jawfish tenant... thus promoting his natural behavior.

I used some of my left over E-Marco 400 mortar to disguise the tube. I was originally just going to coat the entrance, but I decided to cover the whole thing (minus the inside and base) just in case it happens to get dug up.

Ta da!

After burying the new faux burrow in the sand, the next step was to liberate Kululu from the overflow.

Husband's weapons of choice for this battle: Tiny nets taped to long pipes...

After a lot of swearing, splashing and tripping the GFCI (oops!) ...Kululu was back in the DT!

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't include a picture of the completed jawfish condo buried in the sand earlier. Well the reason is, I didn't get a chance to take one before Kululu claimed it!!

Since moving in, he's opted to completely uncover the other end of the tube, so now he can pop out of either end...

I found this behavior curious because I'd expected him to be worried about something sneaking in the unguarded exit. I've provided him plenty of rock rubble so he can cover up either end if he likes, but he usually decides to keep them both open, suggesting he prefers having 2 bolt holes.

Another odd thing is that despite having enough room in the burrow to completely hide, he always peaks out. Even at night or when I stick my hand in the tank. Such a fascinating fish!!

[+Grog]

Almost needs a caption of, "Peek-a-boo!"

[+Hydro]

aaaarg, I just read through part of your build thread for the first time. I have to agree with everyone, you have done a great job!!! I love the aquascape, love the jawfish and the home you made for it, and I love the way you documented everything. I'm really impressed with your qulaity of work too. I'm tagging along!

[Aaarrrggg]

Aww thanks!

I need to do an update actually... I've been busy so I haven't had a chance to really add much, but something pretty exciting happened...

[Nwehrman]

Nice tank build - thanks for all the detailed instructions! Love the tank!

Nicole

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Mays]

I have the same tank as yours and have a skunk clown (the male, I think) that has taken a bachelor holiday into the overflow twice. The first time, I was able to get him out by shutting off my drain and letting the overflows fill higher and shutting the tank down for a little while. He just swam to the top and i was able to scoop him back into the main tank. the second time i did the net thing, and boy what a pain! I need to get some plexiglass to just set over the top. I also have some of the light diffuser panels on the back of my hood like you do.

Great posts. Thanks for sharing!

[Aaarrrggg]

Nice tank build - thanks for all the detailed instructions! Love the tank!

Thanks!

I have the same tank as yours and have a skunk clown (the male, I think) that has taken a bachelor holiday into the overflow twice. The first time, I was able to get him out by shutting off my drain and letting the overflows fill higher and shutting the tank down for a little while. He just swam to the top and i was able to scoop him back into the main tank. the second time i did the net thing, and boy what a pain! I need to get some plexiglass to just set over the top. I also have some of the light diffuser panels on the back of my hood like you do.

Great posts. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for your thread too! I found it when I was researching 144g. Definitely helped my choice on purchasing it! Such beautiful tanks!

[Aaarrrggg]

Doesn't time fly?! I can't believe it's been over 2 and a half months! Sorry for my lack of updates. Work's been hectic and tbh not that much as been happening in the tank. I know it sounds nuts but I still only have 5 relatively small fish in a 144g!

My main concern has been QTing. I took down my Elos Mini (it's too nice a tank to keep using as a QT) and diligently cycled a cheap 20g system in the utility room. Technically it's been ready for fish for a while now, and I've even seen a few fish at the LFS that peaked my interest; but they've never been quite charming enough to tempt me through 3-4 weeks of QT. It's bad I know, I'm just so terrified of buying something and then killing it with too many meds and/or not enough water changes! Thank goodness for All WYSIWYG! I'm just going to buy all my fish through them now! Yay for pre-QTed fish!! I've got my first couple of orders over there now, so if all goes well you should be hearing about them in 2-3 weeks.

I did have a couple of new arrivals since I last posted; 2 pairs of shrimp:

The skunks have been rather sweet together, hanging under the same shelf at nighttime. I'm afraid I can't say the same for the fires though...

Cannibal! (This was taken only an hour or so after adding them!)

I guess the other reason for the lack of updates is the tank was looking a bit blurgh. I'm not sure if it's something that just happens when you use dry rocks to start out, but both this tank and the nano before it have come down with a nasty case of cyano around the 5mth mark. I left it for ages hoping it would sort itself out, and if I'm honest, out of morbid curiosity...

Not too bad...

Hmmm kinda gross...

...ARGH!

Here was the FTS from March 11th. You can't see it so well in this but the sand was pretty lousy with cyano and diatoms.

[Aaarrrggg]

When the sand started looking like Fraggle fur I gave in and treated with Chemiclear. Worked wonders on the cyano but the diatoms remained pretty bad for a while. I guess adding that extra bag of sand (=silicates) just before introducing the BSJ didn't help matters there.

Apart from the obligitary (old fashioned) large water change after the Chemiclear dose; the WCs have been performed soley by the Litermeter automatic waterchanger. I even left everything on auto pilot when we went away for 5 days!

Speaking of the waterchanger... we decided to spruce up the fish cupboard a bit with some decals!

When the tank started getting grotty around the 5mth mark I began to worry that slow/constant WCs might not cut it long-term; but the tank came through that (with a little help from Dr Tim's Waste Away bacteria) and it looks better than ever now! Here are some close ups of the Marco rocks getting nice and purple!

Shot looking down on highest shelf rock (the yellow circle is the top of the lawn marker peg used for aquascaping)

IPSF critter update!

Spagetti (aka Mama Mia) worm burrows have popped up throughout the whole sandbed. (Extreme close up, those are grains of sand)

I accidentally turned up one of the sand clams, so they're alive and well too. Managed to snap this pic before it disappeared below the surface again (they're surprisingly fast.)

Around the time of the "Supermoon" (extra large full moon) I started noticing these tiny "Metroid" looking things appearing on the glass:

After some research I believe they are Strombus Snail eggs! I've been careful to avoid them when cleaning the glass.

The pods have continued to multiply. Looks like amphipods have a taste for the strombus snail egg sacks:

I'm resisting the urge to run out and buy a mandarin. Being a good girl and waiting till Christmas.

[Aaarrrggg]

With the tank looking a bit better after the Chemiclear; I treated myself to some corals from AquaSD. They sadly didn't all make it as I discovered a little too late that my Halloween hermit had developed a taste for LPS (bye bye golden torch... ow.)

I also picked up some nice looking zoas at River City (skirts go a nice bright yellow under actinics.)

Here they all are together in the tank:

My existing corals have been multiplying/growing... well except for my orange Yuma, which has been with me about a year now and doesn't seemed to have changed one bit!

Growth pics of green toadie from KimP.

Oct 2011

Today (May 2012)

Good news on the cardis! One day Miria was looking super fat:

...and the next day Issac had a mouth full of eggs!

Issac is carrying the 3rd spawn at the moment. The first one was held for 29 days, then he was allowed 9 days off for R&R. The second really had me worried as he held onto them for 35 days (5 weeks!) He was famished when he was finally able to eat again. I've been upping the feedings during his "free" time. The poor thing never gets long though; 9-10 days later Miria always "has her way" with him again. I've yet to catch the actual transfer of eggs, or the fry being released, or a single baby for that matter. Sadly I think they might fall victim to the overflow monster...

Well at least I know where my brittlestar got to now!

At some point I'd like to have a go at raising the fry, but I've been so busy I haven't gotten around to figuring out rotifers.

I've been trying to catch a good shot of the babies peaking out of his mouth. This is the best I've managed so far, but we just got a new faster camera so I'll hopefully be able to get a sharper one this month.

[Aaarrrggg]

Kululu the Blue Spotted Jawfish has settled in nicely and continues to be the star of the show.

I've heard him jump once more, but after last time we added foam covers (made from filter foam) so there's been no more "overflow adventures." (Canopy off in this picture... definitely NEVER try a jawfish in an open top tank!)

He didn't end up staying very long in my "jawfish condo," opting instead to make his own 2 burrows on the right side of the tank. There's the spacious "manor house" and more modest "vacation home"...which he visits occasionally to keep up on maintenance.

For a while the manor house would keep collapsing, at which point he'd switch to the holiday home and look at me as if to say...

I'd dutifully demolish the manor and try a different arrangement. He'd then move back in and make adjustments to my design. It's rather weird collaborating on a project with a fish, but through trial and error I think we've finally developed something we're both happy with.

The trick in the end was sinking a large-ish piece of LR rubble under the sand to act as a foundation for his front wall. Before this, I'd just been piling the rubble up on top of the sand; but of course as soon as he starting moving the sand around the rubble would shift and front wall would collapse. I think my other mistake was adding that fresh bag of sand just before his arrival. Now the sandbed has aged it doesn't blow around as much, so he's not constantly fighting to keep it out of his burrow (and piling it up in ugly sand dunes outside!)

It's been fascinating to watch his home improvements. He definitely likes having at least 2 entrances, (preferably more!) which is surprising because most man-made "jawfish condos" only have one. The manors configuration shifts around, but it usually has 3 or 4 doors which he enjoys popping in and out of like a gopher.

The other odd thing about him is he never sleeps! If anything he becomes more active when the moonlights come on, practicing diving in and out of the various burrows and performing maintenance on the vacation home. In the last month I've noticed a marked improvement with his skittishness. He seems to have developed an understanding for how the glass works and isn't so easily freaked out by lights being turned on and off nearby. He's also spending a lot more of the daytime swimming in the water column, begging to be fed.

[Aaarrrggg]

No spawning from the clowns yet, but they have definitely paired. They spend most of their time together and Marley lets Guybrush into the rubber nem in the daytime... although he's still relegated to the back of the tank come bedtime.

Thanks to my new camera I finally got some better pics of them both...

They spend most of the day begging for food, but I have noticed them paying some attention to the rock around the base of their fake nem. I'm hoping this might be some sort of cleaning/nesting behavior, but it's been going on for a little while now with no other signs, so maybe not?

The most exciting news though is my tank finally turned 6mths old...and you know what that means...?!

Anemones!! REAL ones!

This is my dream nem, a Colorado Sunburst BTA direct from Gonzo himself! (Gonzo's pic)

Delivery day!

Looking a little bedraggled after the trip from Colorado...

After waiting 6mths to get a real anemone I was kind of miffed to have my prize vanish behind the rocks...

I had a fever... and the only prescription, was MORE BTAs!!

I'd had my eye on this beauty in the trading forums for a while and my new found nem-lust finally inspired me to pull the trigger...

Without the long journey of the sunburst, this guy (Sherman rose I believe?) acclimatized quickly and starting roaming around the rock pillar. It tried a few spots out but eventually decided to settle near the sunburst around the far side of the pillar. It seems my aquascape has yielded the perfect BTA spot in the very worst viewing spot! Oh well, eventually the whole pillar is going to be heaving with nems and they can't all fit around there (can they...?)

[Aaarrrggg]

The sunburst ended up lurking in the shadows for 2 weeks, pooping out large amounts of brown stringy zooxanthellae almost daily...

I can only assume my Radion LEDs where too much of a shock for it, although I don't really get how, as it spent the majority of that time in the dark. It remained sticky and tight mouthed so I left it be to sort itself out, although I must admit I was getting rather worried about it. To my relief, it finally decided to reach out into the light a couple of days ago and I got my first good look at it under the lights.

Freshly bleached, but you can definitely make out those famous yellow tips!

Here they are together (sorry not the clearest shot... the curved glass working against me)

Thankfully the tentacles are still nice and sticky so I've starting feeding enriched PE Mysis or small bits of Silversides every day. As much as it pains me to do so, I'm going to leave the fake nem in there for the time being while I nurse the sunburst back to it's former glory.

FTS from today:

[bige]

Nicely documented as usual. Very nice nem additions. They will be fine and your clowns will take to them. Good luck with continued success. Your tank is beautiful.

[Juiceman]

My Anemone did the same thing. It had lost all of it's color by the time it came out. Now I have 2 huge colored up anemones!

[mFrame]

They'll bleach out when they get too much of a change in light or if they're kept at a significantly higher temperature than they're used to. I've had two clones do that (one currently) and as long as there are other colored nems in the tank with them they will regain their color. Make sure to target feed it in the meantime to keep its strength up and it should bounce back.

[Mike Mays]

I concur with the feeding to help them grow back to their glorious selves. I have two Rose BTAs (clones) and a green BTA. They really like to move around from time to time. I feed them frozen krill. I read somewhere that bigger food is preferred.

[George Monnat Jr]

Great thread and beautiful tank. It's wonderful how it fits the room's dimensions and architecture.

I was feeding my anemones raw shrimp from HEB, but the last time I did that it made my big GBTA mad and the yellow Maxi-Mini crawled under a rock (and presumably died). Now I feed Rod’s Food Original Blend and just put the big chunks in the nems. I just started doing that until I get around to buying silversides, so I'm not sure how well it's working, yet.

[Aaarrrggg]

Thanks for the advice guys! Unfortunatly my prized anemones haven't been doing so well. After a few days of stretching out into the light, the sunburst BTA retreated back behind the rock and starting spitting out zooxanthellae again. I have no idea how the poor thing has any left to loose!

The rose has also been showing it's continued displeasure by moving constantly. Water params seem good, so I guess it just quite get comfortable light/flow wise. I let it go about it's business until one night I found it splatted against one of the mp40s...

Thank goodness the foam cover was on, or it could have been a lot worse! It managed to go in head first, which is the best you can hope for really. I turned the pump off and it began to crawl out:

It looked like it was having some trouble getting traction with it's foot in the air, so I held a glass up to it and it eagerly grabbed on. Once it was free, I placed it back on the rocks. It lost half of it's tentacles and looked pretty p*ssed off, but at least there was no foot damage:

Over the next couple of weeks both nems shrunk and lost all of their bright colors. They didn't bleach exactly, (in fact if anything the sunburst got darker,) they just both went an ugly brown. I kept feeding them chopped up silversides and squirts of enriched mysis/Rods food, but they just kept looking more and more like they were starving (stubby, unsticky tentacles, occasional gaping mouths.)

That was when I read a thread on another forum about other peoples BTAs declining in a similar fashion. Although it wasn't conclusive, one thing that seemed common among everyone's tanks were cleaner shrimp. My 2 had been making it incredibly difficult to feed my nems and I had seen one of them stealing food right out of the mouth of the rose before. I really like cleaner shrimp, but I decided it would be better for the nems if I traded them in.

With the shrimp gone the rose at least appears to be on the mend. No more gaping mouth and it's beginning to get some rosiness back on the tips of it's tentacles.

Unfortunately after being stationary for the longest time, it's off on the move again. I don't know how it's managed it but it turned up on the center pillar yesterday. I was planning on containing the nems to the right pillar, but I guess it had other ideas...

The jury is still out on whether the sunburst will recover or not. It's looking decidedly awful, but it gives me hope that it's still hanging on in there. It's still in a very hard to reach spot, but I've been squirting enriched PE Mysis/Rods food over it's tentacles whenever I see it inflated.

The most frustrating thing about all of this is I did great with BTAs in my first tank! It didn't have a sump or an ATO, so the params were all over the place, but that rose never left the rock I bought it on and gave me 4 happy clones! I thought I knew what I was doing with BTAs, but I just can't seem to make these ones happy.

[Aaarrrggg]

I've been fighting some pretty horrible cyano on the sandbed on the left side of the tank; pulling out the big clumps whenever I have the canopy off.

I wish I could go back and tell "past me" to bring the side pillars in a little so the mp40s have a bit more room. I didn't really think about pump placement when I aquascaped and it's resulted in the side pillars shielding the tank somewhat from the flow. Ideally the powerheads should be on the side of the tank facing each other, but as the glass is curved, that option is completely out. I may have to add another dose of chemi-clean, although I'm trying to hold off on doing that in case it upsets my already fragile nems.

My large brittlestar is still stuck in the thin bit of the overflow, so he hadn't been any help in keeping the sand clean. I bought a fighting conch and couple of tiger tail cukes to help out, but none of them have moved much yet. Maybe once they settle in they might head towards the cyano sand.

But it hasn't been all doom and gloom! I was using a torch to check on the sunburst nem around the back of the rockwork and a darting movement caught my eye. Would you believe it, it was a baby Bangaii Cardinal!!

(see medium magfloat for scale)

Extreme close up:

Issac (Dad) is already holding a new clutch so the baby must be at least 2 weeks old. Considering cardinals are supposed to be reared in a dedicated tank with live foods, it's amazing that he's survived in the DT! He's quite close to the sickly sunburst nem, so I wonder if he's been noshing on the enriched mysis/Rods food that I've been squirting in that end of the tank?

None of the other fish ever venture to that part of the tank and the fire shrimp that lives there doesn't seem to notice him so hopefully if I keep turkey basting in his direction he'll continue to grow. Nature is amazing!

[Aaarrrggg]

I have a few more frags and a couple of new fish! It was going to be 3 new fish, but unfortunately the Copperband didn't make it through the ALLWYSIWYG's QT... which in retrospect might not be the worst thing in the world for my ailing nems!

Meet one half of the Pikachu twins! (aka Yellow Clown Gobies)

I know, I know! I need to stop stocking like a nano owner! But I liked the idea of playing Where's Wally/Waldo with them.

One of them has taken up residence on the right pillar, almost constantly visible hopping in and out of the Marco rock (man they love Marco rock!) He's even been getting brave enough to sneak into the fake nem, although I hope I'm not encouraging bad habits for later on down the road!

I hadn't seen the second one since adding them and figured he must have perished, but suddenly the other day at feeding time he came streaking out of the left side LR and landed in Kululu's burrow! Kululu was not pleased with the uninvited guest and before I could do anything to stop it, he ate him!!

Now I've read that yellow clown gobies secrete a poisonous mucus to protect themselves, and it looks like Kululu might know that now too, because a few moments later he spat him out in a coughing fit. Pikachu #2 was a little stunned for a moment, but then swam off to the safety of the LR. I haven't seem him since, but I hope he's in there somewhere.

I've also been buying a few frags. Nothing too photogenic yet, but I wanted to document them so I can have some growth shots later.

Thought I'd take a chance on some easy care SPS. Much to my surprise they seem v happy:

New yuma makes my old one look pale in comparison!

Eye of Ra zoas

There are some more zoas scattered about but I couldn't get a good shot of them (curved glass does have its drawbacks.)

The open brain has been looking a bit withdrawn lately so I moved it into a more shaded spot. After further investigation it sounds like the red ones are from deeper waters. Really hope it recovers because it's one of my favs.

I didn't realize until I compared this FTS with the last, but the frogspawn and green toadstool are growing like crazy!