It's back...

So about 2 months back I pulled out my feather duster. The butterfly was picking at it and I was going to take it to the fish shop for a trade. Well in trying to remove it I tore it in half and then had to pull it out and made a real mess. Well last night I was looking over the tank and noticed the feather duster is still there. It is small but growing and has a real nice feather. It is in its own little cave and the butterfly seems to be leaving it alone. I will try to post a picture but it is hard to get a good one.

New Fish

I have added a new fish. It is a foxface. This is a great fish I picked up from a fellow reefer. He had an overload of tanks and was clearing out his fish room. It is about 4" long and in great condition. The coolest part of this fish is his ability to change colors. When he is scared or stressed he becomes spotted and hides. He plays dead really well! I have added a link to a description on the fish list. I will also put up a picture soon.

New Relationship

Ok so I added a Pistol Shrimp today. (link on left to see him at saltwaterfish.com...he is only about 1" so too hard to photo in the tank) This little guy is really cool. The coolest part is the relationship he has with my Randall Goby. I have added a link for you to read more about this amazing relationship. Probably my new favorite thing to check out in the tank...if I can catch a glimpse. Click the title to get the link to more information.

New Photos!

At last I have posted a whole new page of photos. The tank is looking good (in my opinion) but you be the judge. Click the photo link to the left to see more. I have put a preview below:

My Favorite Coral

Ok it was hard to choose but I think this purple polyp is my favorite!

Danger, Danger

I have added a sweet long spine urchin today! Photos to follow. Also added a Brain Coral and a Big Red Mushroom.

More adjustments

I have added some more live rock and done a bit more to my aquascape. It is really looking nice now. New photos will be up soon so you can see all the new corals. I added a branching millepora today. Looks really cool!

My favoite site

There are a lot of saltwater sites out there. I have been on the Michigan Reefers site a lot lately. Check the forums! Click here

New Gear

I have added two essentail items to the tank.

First, a CPR BAKPAK protien skimmer. This is a hang-on model good for tanks up to about 65 gallons. I have a maxi 900 pump feeding it right now. It has been taking out great skimmate from the moment I powered it up. More info can be found here.

The second item is a UV sterilizer. I have a 9 watt Coralife Turbortwist. I have it set-up as a hang on with a aquaclear 70 powerhead. This unit is good for controlling algae, microrganisms, and parasites in up to 125 gallons. I did a fair amount of research and reading and felt this was a great model to meet my needs. I am using this primarily as a water purifier and to keep ich off my tang. Tangs are very suceptible to ich and a UV is one way to assit in ridding the chances. More info on the unit here.

I have noticed some water quality improvement since adding these on the tank. I have also done a water change and some aquasaping (mostly to hide some of the new powerheads) I hope to get some pictures up soon.

Back to posting

Well I haven't posted here in some time. I have been keeping my hands out of the tank and letting it run its course. I made a deal with Emily to leave it be (and no more spending for a while) I made it about 10 days without any changes. I did have to poke at the occasional snail or crap and do some glass scraping to clear of algae but I have some tools for those tasks. I have a pair of chopsticks taped together that make for a great poker!

All that being said I have made some major upgrades to the tank and have some new items to post about. More to come...

New Corals

I have added some new corals to the tank. I have a rock with several new Xenias and a Red Monitpora Coral. This is a hard coral and is much different from what I have had up to now. I have also added a piece of Green Montipora Coral. Hopefully these will continue to grow. They look really cool under actinics!

I have also updated the photo page. Be sure to see my new aquascape (10 additional lbs. of live rock) and close-ups of the residents.

I will have my new skimmer next week and a new UV sterilizer as well. I hope to hook it all up next Tuesday. Crystal clean water here I come!

Been a while

Ok well I haven't posted in a while. I have been busy and the tank has been doing well. I made a deal with myself to let the tank be for at least a week. I had been putting my hands in and messing with it a lot. Well I made it 9 days without a hand in the tank! In that time I had a lot of algae bloom and some good coral growth. The xenias both split so instead of 2 I have 4! Also my mushrooms got bigger and so did some polyps. I will get some new pics soon.

I did have an interesting development. My tang came down with ICH! I tried to catch it (yeah right) for a quarantine and freshwater dip but that didn't happen. Instead I have started to dose Garlic. I am using Kent Marine Extreme Garlic. In 3 days of dosing the ich is gone! I am very happy this worked. I am looking into getting a UV sterilizer to prevent future outbreaks. Hopefully I can have one set up soon.

Another big development is that I have aquired a protien skimmer! I chose a CPR Bak Pak 2 This will be an excellent addition to the tank! From my reading and research this is perhaps the best addition to any reef tank. I hope it brings crystal clean water and good coral growth with it!

Thanks for reading.

Sick tang?

I have been seeing what might be ich on my tang! My just be sand though.

Update to site

I have added a new spot on the sidebar to follow my water parameters. Hopefully this is of some interest. I will try to post trends as well as I notice them. I have also updated my poll since the Copperband is going to stay.


Also be sure to add yourself to my new guestmap on the left sidebar. I am interested in who is reading this and from where.

Photos

I have put all new photos on the photo page. See the link to the left.