45 Gallon - first reef - slow and steady :D

[phi delt reefer]

From what I have read they should be kept in mated pairs. I really like the look of them as well. They are the reason I decided to keep a reef tank

I 'll need to get some asteria stars or chocolate starfish for them to feed on.  Should be a ver peaceful tank. I wa going to get a helfrich but it looks close enough to a purple fire fish that I would rather spend the money elsewhere. A swissguard would be nice as well but I am getting pretty high up there for stock, lol

 

[Blob-79]

I think any shrimp should ideally be kept in pairs, however you may have a hard time keeping 2 of them properly fed.

 

[phi delt reefer]

seen quite a few successfully kept on nano-reef. They take a couple chocolate star fishes and keep them in the sump then cut off an arm once every week or so and throw it in the display and the shrimp pick at it all week. The starfish live and regenerate the arm - or so i have read  :

 

[pulpfiction1]

seen a couple on youtube tonight,looks neat,was reading they toss in a star every couple of weeks or so,simple enough

 

[Blob-79]

dont get me wrong, I have one in my display as well. But it was to combat a large population of asterina starfish. 1 Harlequin was able to clear up the hundreds if not thousands of asterina's in no time. I believe 1 is sustainable in my tank without "mutilating" chocolate chip starfish on a weekly basis. No chance I could sustain 2.

keeping larger starfish in the sump..only to harvest body parts every once and awhile seems kind of inhumane to me.

 

[phi delt reefer]

the industry is full of questionable feeding and other  if you think about it. People raise brine shrimp and other smaller inverts/fish to use strictly as feeders.

Think of all the live fish that are caught then chopped up and frozen for you to feed in little blocks or what not. It is what it is - for one fish to survive another must die...or in this case inverts.

I understand your point of mutilation but if i throw the whole star fish in there it will take weeks for them to eat it - slowly killing it while just wreaking havoc on my water quality.

 

[Blob-79]

your kind of comparing apples to oranges. Its kind of like saying instead of slaughtering a cow for us to eat, why not just chop off a steak every once and awhile

I do see your point about how its the nature of how these shrimp eat..I just dont think I could keep a food source in captivity, and doom it to agony for the duration of its life. (if they feel pain...idk)

Maybe consider flash freezing the starfish, and chop it into pieces.

 

[phi delt reefer]

will they eat a frozen piece of starfish? I assumed they only ate the live stuff being the finicky eaters that they are.


how are you keeping the one you have alive? do you have a source of asteria starfish?

 

[xxmurrxx]

Looks good!, Really like the horiz. deep look

 

[phi delt reefer]

just messing with the camera and here is the final scape... I think.  ;D

right island had to grow a little for future SPS;

fishes (chromis and two pyjama cardinals)!

 

[TORX]

Love the set up. You really did it right. Can not wait to see it grow.

 

[phi delt reefer]

Love the set up. You really did it right. Can not wait to see it grow.

thanks Torx - should look pretty good with all the fish which i should have realatively soon. Lots of colour with no agression - I'm not chancing it with aggressive fish so i am holding off on the wrasse and Anthias until the very end.

 

[phi delt reefer]

some much needed updates;

pick up;

RBTA
Mystery Wrasse
2 Darwin Clowns
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Blood Shrimp
2 Harlequin Shrimp
Yasha (died a couple days ago  :'() and a pistol
tailspot blenny
Conch
30 various snails
3 Choclate Chip starfish for the Harlequins

superman chalice
pink birdsnest
red/orange digi
radioactive dragon eye zoa's + a couple random hitchhiker polyps
green and red SPS of some sort
green LPS of some sort
green and maroon favia


got a little cyno (I think creeping up). I grabbed some Chemi Pure Elite and am in the process of a lights out starting tonight. I had tried a one day lights out + siphon but that clearly didnt work, lol.

sorry guys i am not doing so well with Light Room - tanks looks more 12k (super crisp white) - doesnt look blue at all yet the camera thinks otherwise

MAD SCIENCE LAB

 

[TORX]

To say it again, great set up. Photos are amazing. Should be great to see everything grow.

 

[teebone110]

Nice additions, did you just add all of it recently? Looks great!

 

[phi delt reefer]

added it all over the last couple weeks in 3 seperate additions. Been keeping an eye of the parameters. Nitrates are at 1-2 ppm and phosphates are 0. Skimmer is rated for 90 gallons heavily loaded and i have been doing 10% water changes twice weekly. I over fed the tank for a bit before adding the fish to prep the system for the bio load. It seems to be handling it well except for the slight outbreak of cyno or diatoms - dont know what it is for sure but i am going to beat it down!

 

[Fraggle Rock]

I'm guessing it's both Cyano and Diatom's with the system being so fresh and so much having been added.
Is it just on your sand bed and a little on the glass? Noticing any little gas pockets just below where it's happening in the sand bed? 
Im sure your snails will get around to it, just keep up the water changes and you should be golden.

 

[Fraggle Rock]

Really like that Anemone you have there did you put him there or it kinda just move around till it founds its spot.
And not to sound like a broken record or anything but the Tank looks really awsome keep doin what your doin.

 

[phi delt reefer]

I'm guessing it's both Cyano and Diatom's with the system being so fresh and so much having been added.
Is it just on your sand bed and a little on the glass? Noticing any little gas pockets just below where it's happening in the sand bed? 
Im sure your snails will get around to it, just keep up the water changes and you should be golden.

couple bubble pockets. i got about 10 narissus snails burried in there somewhere. I will be taking out most of that sand to put in a larger grain sand - this stuff blows around alot - even after its gummed up.

Really like that Anemone you have there did you put him there or it kinda just move around till it founds its spot.
And not to sound like a broken record or anything but the Tank looks really awsome keep doin what your doin.

anemone literally did a lap in my tank then stopped off there. i had two koralia 1050s going after and he moved again. they like alot of flow but not in your face 100mph flow. Darren at Reef exotic got it for me. He had some CRAZY ones last time i was there.

 

[phi delt reefer]

updates brah...updates

got me a twinspot yellow hogfish, high fin goby and some awesome zoas;  No pics of the high fin - dude is stealth...