[jacksonpt]

I know there are a few of you who have at least a passing interest in fish/aquariums. I spent the bulk of yesterday afternoon getting new corals and rearranging the tank. The tank is 5 weeks old:

12g Aquapod
MJ-900 (replaced stock pump)
54w PCs

15lbs live rock
20lbs live sand

Clean-up Crew:
- 3 Astraea snails
- 5 cerith snails
- 5 nassarius snails
- 5 dwarf Zebra hermit crabs
- 4 scarlet Reef hermit crabs
- 1 emerald crab

Fish:
- 1 fuzzy dwarf lion
- 1 maroon clown

Corals:
- watermellon mushrooms
- red mushroom
- hairy mushroom
- blue/green ricordia
- leather
- toadstool
- candycane
- zoos (4 different varieties)
- green/purple frogspawn
- orange cap monti
- gsp
- pulsing xenia
- capnella

I took this pics this morning before I left for work, so some polyps aren't fully opened yet. Only the actinic lights were on, so I try to color-correct the photos a bit. Not great, but not bad for a rush job. I'll get more/better pics when I have more time.

Full Tank Shot - I'm pretty happy with everything as is. The lether is about half way up on the left... I may move that as it's blocking a nice hole/opening in the rockwork. We'll see.

Left Side

Right Side

Zoos

Red Mushroom (lousy pic, sorry)

Toadstool

Orange Monti Cap

 

[Skookum]

Cool stuff, i'm wondering why the fish population is so low, and i'm curious to why the cleanup crew population is so high? And aren't those snails going to breed and try to take over your tank?

 

[Da Peach]

Wow, that's one awesome aquarium. I'm going to be inheriting fish tank duty when my roomy moves out. Its about a 50L or 60L fresh water. A bunch of angel fish and a black sharky looking cleaner fish and a bunch of others. Hope to keep it together...

Yours is really impressive though...

 

[TreeSaw]

Very nice! We've always said we wanted to set up a salt water tank, but we don't have the time right now. Maybe when Syd's older.

 

[firemandivi]

Very nice, what's your light set up?
My only problem is small tanks=more work to keep everything balanced. Looks great, lets see some photos of everything open

 

[jacksonpt]

Cool stuff, i'm wondering why the fish population is so low, and i'm curious to why the cleanup crew population is so high? And aren't those snails going to breed and try to take over your tank?

The fish population is so small because both fish will outgrow the tank as it is. The lion is a messy eater, and both fish produce a lot of waste. It's crucial to the long term health of the tank to keep waste in check as it can very quickly polute the water.

That's why the clean up crew population is so high. Many of them are scavengers that feed on leftover food and fish poop. They keep the delicate balance of things.

And no - saltwater snails don't reproduce like freshwater snails.

 

[jacksonpt]

Very nice, what's your light set up?
My only problem is small tanks=more work to keep everything balanced. Looks great, lets see some photos of everything open

Lights are 2x27w PCs - one 10k, one actinic.

Small tanks don't require any more or less work than big tanks, they are just more sensitive. If you plan things out and are smart about your feeding and how you stock the tank, they are the same amount of work as big tanks.

Actually, you could say that they are less work if you consider the fact that top-offs and water changes are soooo much smaller.

 

[Total Heckler]

Wow thats a nice Salt water tank!

I have a 35 gallon tropical tank. I always wanted a salt water one but its quite expensive to start and maintain.

Maybe I will post some pictures of my tank and fish. =]

 

[firemandivi]

Lights are 2x27w PCs - one 10k, one actinic.

Small tanks don't require any more or less work than big tanks, they are just more sensitive. If you plan things out and are smart about your feeding and how you stock the tank, they are the same amount of work as big tanks.

Actually, you could say that they are less work if you consider the fact that top-offs and water changes are soooo much smaller.

I've never tried salt water, I will one of these days. I found my 90gal. required a lot less maintence than my 20gal. It took about 6-12 months though for all the fish and everything to get nice and stable.
Once all my fish die in the 20 I have, I'm going salt . Problem is these darn fish live too long. probably another 4-7years before they die to natural causes.

 

[jacksonpt]

can you trade them in at an LFS for store credit that you could put towards salt?

 

[brungeman]

nice Jackson!

looks great! you are really getting some nice corals and stuff in there! looking great! the tank really looks much bigger than you would think a tank that size should look!

 

[eaterofdog]

Problem is these darn fish live too long. probably another 4-7years before they die to natural causes.

Get a bang stick. Life expectancy: 4-7 minutes.

I'm kidding. I have a bearded dragon that's over 12 years old.

 

[eaterofdog]

You should learn to set the white point manually on your camera. It's well worth the 5 min. effort.

 

[jacksonpt]

You should learn to set the white point manually on your camera. It's well worth the 5 min. effort.

Those pics are taken with blue lights on in the tank... so the tank is actually much bluer than those pics show (I tweaked them a bit in photoshop). Don't you need something white in the pic to set teh white balance?

 

[eaterofdog]

You can hold a piece of paper next to the tank so the light falls on it. If that's what it really looks like, I'd be hallucinating when I sat next to it. Not that that's bad...

 

[Konabumm]

thats a nice setup - I haven't gone salt water yet - looks like too much work.

 

[stosh]

The fish population is so small because both fish will outgrow the tank as it is. The lion is a messy eater, and both fish produce a lot of waste. It's crucial to the long term health of the tank to keep waste in check as it can very quickly polute the water.

That's why the clean up crew population is so high. Many of them are scavengers that feed on leftover food and fish poop. They keep the delicate balance of things.

And no - saltwater snails don't reproduce like freshwater snails.

Sometimes I'm amazed at the stuff/hobbies out there that I have NO idea about.

 

[jacksonpt]

Here's a better shot...

 

[Hunter]

Very cool setup man. I have a buddy who has a huge corner aquarium. It's like 50 gallons. Took him a while to get the salt water gig all set up and right, but its very stable now and has some cool stuff in it. Expensive little hobby though, and takes quite a bit of time to do right.

 

[Skookum]

Sometimes I'm amazed at the stuff/hobbies out there that I have NO idea about.

No doubt, i'm in the same boat, as my next comment will demonstrate....

Here's a better shot...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You got one o dem Nemo fish....

 

[jacksonpt]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You got one o dem Nemo fish....

*sigh*

 

[Squeaver]

Nice tank. I currently have 4 FW tanks up and running, but since I am in the military, the last thing I want is to set up a SW just to end up getting orders and have to try and move all of it wherever we go. So I have to wait until I get out for good before trying saltwater. I've got a 30g African Cichlid tank, a 20g tropical. A 10g with some goldfish, and a 5g planted tank with a Betta in it. Woke up this morning and decided to re-aquascape my cichlid tank, they werent too happy. I will post up some pics tomorrow, or I will start a thread for those of us that keep aquariums. Again, nice setup. Great shots too. How about some close-ups of the lion?

Parker

 

[jacksonpt]

How about some close-ups of the lion?

 

[Da Peach]

Wow. I take it back. My roomy doesn't have an aquarium...it's more like a bucket of dirty water...

 

[dhfalife]

WOW. Great setup! I really like the variety of coral you have, any issues with compatability? I keep African Cichlids myself, haven't ventured into SW yet...soon though, fish already take up too much of my living room as it is

 

[jacksonpt]

any issues with compatability?

not so far... though some things are still getting acclimated.

 

[Squeaver]

Nice shots, nice lion. I am definitely jealous now. That is a fish I would absolutely have to get when I start up a saltwater aquarium.

 

[firemandivi]

Love the fuzzy dwarf lion. Talking about fish, my pictus catfish I've had for over 6 years was dead when I got home from work yesterday. Talk about Karma.

 

[hooples3]

cool looking tank set up.. but did you take the pictures in the buff??? you really need to watch out for those reflections!!!