2ft Tank Almost finished !

[Juvv]

Hey guys, just thought i might post a pic of my 2ft tank if anyone is interested to see a little tank going well

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~jacob/fulltank.jpg


Picture isnt the actual BEST but its still ok, i made it just a hyperlink cause its 1600x1200 and some people might get angry! Hehee.


Anyway hope you enjoy

Juvv.

[CurvBall]

Looks good. My friend has a tank very similiar to yours.

Give us a breakdown of the tank such as lights, liverock etc.

Good luck with your tank.

[Juvv]

One 10, 000 k Coralife Super Daylight Tube
One Phillips 20W Auqa Coral Tube (which i think is 10, 000k)

Filter : Aquaclear 300 , took out the filter media and filled it with bio Balls, (21 in total if i remember correctly) and just use normal filter wool instead of aquaclear insert.
No Protein Skimmer used.



Fish:
1x Juvenile ocellaris
1x Yellow Wrasse
1x Decorated Goby
2x Blue Green Reef Chromis
1 x Toby Puffer

As far as live rock, im not sure @ all. I live in Australia so it may be from somewhere in queensland from the Great Barrier Reef, or it might be from Fiji.

[CurvBall]

I see you also got an anemone (sp?) in your tank? Is it a bubble tip?

Re: Live rock, I was curious as to how many kilograms you've got in there.

I'm from South Africa, so at least we both use the metric system

Keep us updated on your tank.

[Juvv]

yeah i got an anemone , its a bubble tip.

i think i would have around 6kg's of rock
i havent actually weighd it all cause i got half of it from work.

i put the buble tip in about a week ago, and its not opening up to its fullest, its pissing me off!

i got a white mushroom in the top middle, and i got a little disc down on the right there.

My puffer ate m y tree corals lol, but hasnt touched anything else which im happy bout

[CurvBall]

I'm many people would agree with me and say that you need to bump up your lighting for your anenome. I suggest adding at least another two tubes to your tank. If possible try get your hands on some power compacts or even better yet some T5 tubes.

Search reefland and will find loads of info about those types of lighting.

Good luck.

[Juvv]

I'm many people would agree with me and say that you need to bump up your lighting for your anenome. I suggest adding at least another two tubes to your tank. If possible try get your hands on some power compacts or even better yet some T5 tubes.

Search reefland and will find loads of info about those types of lighting.

Good luck.

these tubes are some of the best in the country!

[hcp28]

I think you need to step up to a MH for the anenome or some kind of pendent. It needs a lot more lighting than what you are giving it. Plus it looks a bit bleached, I think some more lighting and some tender loving care will do it well.

[Ninong]

Hi Juvv, welcome to Reefland!

A few observations about your 2-ft tank. First: Nice photograph!

Your bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) is bleached. That means it has expelled all of its zooxanthellae and is now surviving by consuming its own tissue. This is a dying process that takes quite some time. Unfortunately it cannot survive under your normal output fluorescent lighting.

You will need to upgrade your lighting if you want to keep host sea anemones and corals.

Second: You need to research the needs of the animals BEFORE you buy them. For starters, you need to know their maximum adult size and their dietary requirements. That way you won't make the mistake of trying to keep a Toby Puffer (Arothron stellatus) in such a tiny tank. This is a giant among puffers. Adults reach a total length well in excess of one meter; maximum size is 120 cm (4 feet). That is not a typo. You have a baby because they are easy to collect. Didn't the owner of the store that sold you this fish tell you anything about its requirements or ask you about the size of your tank? If he/she didn't do that, then he/she is very irresponsible and should consider a career change. Here is a link: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...name=stellatus

I assume that is what you have as that was what I came up with when I searched fishbase using the common name "Toby Puffer." It is difficult to communicate on international bulletin boards using local common names as they vary from country to country even among English-speaking countries. There are dozens, sometimes hundreds, of different common names worldwide for the same fish and sometimes the same common name is used for several different fish. In the U.S. there are several different species that are sold as "Scooter Blenny" and most of them are not even blennies.

Good luck with your tank but you will need to return the puffer and either return the anemone or upgrade your lighting.

[Minh Nguyen]

......
Good luck with your tank but you will need to return the puffer and either return the anemone or upgrade your lighting.

I agree with Ninong 100% and have nothing more to add.
Minh

[Minh Nguyen]

Actually after looking at your tank closer, I think your anemone is not a Bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadriclolor). Rather, I think it is a Sebae anemone which is Heteractis malu that is beached and not doing well. You need to get it better light and clean water (low nitrates and phosphates and low disolved organic), brighter light, and feed it small bits of food until it accept the food and increase the portion. IMO, this anemone is doomed in your tank. You need to get it to a better tank of another reefer or back to the LFS.
Minh

[Ninong]

Actually after looking at your tank closer, I think your anemone is not a Bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadriclolor). Rather, I think it is a Sebae anemone which is Heteractis malu that is beached and not doing well. You need to get it better light and clean water (low nitrates and phosphates and low disolved organic), brighter light, and feed it small bits of food until it accept the food and increase the portion. IMO, this anemone is doomed in your tank. You need to get it to a better tank of another reefer or back to the LFS.
Minh

Minh,

Do you really mean Heteractis malu or do you mean H. crispa? Both are called Sebae.

I have to disagree with you on the identification. I am almost certain it is not H. malu. Too many tentacles and the tentacles are too long to be H. malu. Besides, he lives in Australia. I believe it is a bleached Entacmaea quadricolor. He can always check it for verrucae, E-quads have none.

[Minh Nguyen]

Minh,

Do you really mean Heteractis malu or do you mean H. crispa? Both are called Sebae.

I have to disagree with you on the identification. I am almost certain it is not H. malu. Too many tentacles and the tentacles are too long to be H. malu. Besides, he lives in Australia. I believe it is a bleached Entacmaea quadricolor. He can always check it for verrucae, E-quads have none.

Ninong,
My bad. I mean to say that it is a H. crispa. I ID it according to this picture in another thread, not this one. It show the anemone better. The purple tip and the fat tentacles are what cause me to ID it as a bleached Sebae. I have seen tons of these at LFS.



Minh

[Ninong]

I hope Scott sees this thread and reduces the size of that picture a little.

Again, he can check out the column. If it has verrucae it is NOT Entacmaea quadricolor. If it does not have verrucae, it is E. quadricolor.

[Juvv]

i really dont think that its bleached , i think ill try and take another pic. im taking them @ 1600x 1200 because you can see more detail, i think its the flourescent lighting thats making it look bleached.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...=21&pCatId=247
Here is a link to a puffer thats in teh same family as my one, they look VERY similar. As stated on that website its max size in aquarium is 5"

Im looking at the anemone now, its quite open, its tentacles are almost fully extended, but i bet as soon as i turn the light on, within 5 mins its shunk a little bit, it always deceases the size of its tentacles. i was thinkin of getting another small pump for water movement and point it towards teh anemone and see if the water flow help its feel more comfortable.

As far as lighting goes, this daylight tube is one of the strongest if not THE strongest 2ft tube u can get.

How bout if i move the anemone closer to the surface?

[Juvv]

Ok , ive taken a pic with the lights OFF and one with the lights ON, i have also taken several pictures of the anemone as i have turned the light on, just to show how quickly it retracts. it foesnt retract all the way , but certainly more than it should. (mainly because it shouldnt at all lol.)

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~jacob/lightsoff.jpg - Lights off pic. As you can see, you can see the pink tips quite well in this pic. The actual colour of the tentacles are like a white / minty green colour which the digital camera doesnt really pick up on.

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~jacob/lightson.jpg - Lights on pic. now in this pic it looks alot more "bleached" to me anyway . I really hope this helps you guys out!

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~jacob/s...ng_anemone.rar - Here is a rar'd file containing about 6 pics of the anemone shrinking over about 1 minute of the lights being on. The last pic is where it stops shrinking and will stay like that forever.

I just dont understand why when i turn the lights on it would shrink. Oh and i have also fed it once 2 days ago, i gave it a half of a prawn (shrimp i think americans call them lol) and it accepted it, then i noticed all the fish hovvering above the anemone so i had a look and it had spewed it back up, so i just split it in half again and it munched down that bit. So obviously it was just a bit too big of a piece for it hehe.

Anyway i would just like to thank all of you for your help im really greatful that you are so concearned !!

[Ninong]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...=21&pCatId=247
Here is a link to a puffer thats in teh same family as my one, they look VERY similar. As stated on that website its max size in aquarium is 5"

Well, that would certainly be good news as far as size is concerned but it still doesn't help you when it comes to the fact that puffers are not reef-safe. BTW, all puffers are in the same family, Tetraodontidae. (P.S. -- Wait a minute! I just took another look at the picture of your 2-ft tank. That tank is MUCH TOO SMALL for the six fish you have. Are we talking about a 20-gallon tank here???)

As far as lighting goes, this daylight tube is one of the strongest if not THE strongest 2ft tube u can get.

Sorry but it's still just a 20w normal output fluorescent lamp. You need a lot more light than that for an anemone.

How bout if i move the anemone closer to the surface?

Won't help. You need to replace your normal output fluorescent lighting if you want to keep anemones and photosynthetic corals. You just can't do it with only two 20w tubes.

[Juvv]

what types of tubes do u reccomend ninong?

I see alot of american lighting forums talk about T5's , i dont have a clue what they are , i think ill do a little bit of research on them. But i dont think we can get them over here.

[Ninong]

what types of tubes do u reccomend ninong?

I see alot of american lighting forums talk about T5's , i dont have a clue what they are , i think ill do a little bit of research on them. But i dont think we can get them over here.

I'm not sure what you can get in Oz. T5's are 5/8" HO (high output) fluorescent tubes. PCs (power compacts) look like a twin T5 that makes a U-turn at the end. They also make VHOs (very high output) in 24" lengths. You might even consider a single 150w 10,000K HQI DE metal halide lamp over that size tank but you can certainly get by with just PCs or VHOs. Once you upgrade your lights, then you will have to make your selections accordingly.

What you can't get by with is the assortment of fish that you have right now. The wrasse and the puffer will have to go because they just won't make it in that size tank. Check out this link with pictures of three dozen different puffers to see if you and identify yours: http://species.fishindex.com/54

[Juvv]

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/tetraodo...pilampraen.htm


This is it right here.


Ive got him up on a forum for sale at the moment, i wanna piss him off.

the wrasse has been in there for around a month now, he is loving it!!!
why do u think he will not make it in this tank?

he only grows to about 4"