My new marine tank *photo update 10-4-07*

[chrissyoscar]

I was inspired by Ben and Nick, both have given me some good advise and this is what i have come up with.
I will take some recent shots soon as i have a few more corals but at this stage I only have the one fish, a butterfly.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pc6250b2308d39d317e2b28c98557e391/ea5ae424.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p4793cfb6f8e4071a593e808ba8989aca/ea5ae3f7.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pec157b8796f9443dbd945908461df4a9/ea5ae3cb.jpg

It's a 48x18x24 tank and I can't believe i finally have a marine tank. i've always wanted a marine tank but like many thought it was to hard. Although it's not for the beginner it's no harder than keeping discus.

Hope you like. Oscar

[Nathan]

lookn good, what type of filtration u running, got a skimmer going?

[Kingkat]

Oscar, Looks good but maybe it should be in Marine Mayhem!

[chrissyoscar]

lookn good, what type of filtration u running, got a skimmer going?

Filtration is basically done by 40kgs of live rock and a skimmer i have in the sump. The sump is just to house the skimmer and heater.


Oscar, Looks good but maybe it should be in Marine Mayhem!
:oops: When did that get added to the forum?

[Kingkat]

Just recently mate don't stress. If the powers that be want to shift it they have the ability.

[Ben]

*flick of the magic wand and its done!*

Great looking set up Ossie!

Keep us posted as it develops.

cheers
Ben

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Ben.
More photos soon to come.

[mcloughlin2]

Great looking tank.

Wait to the algae hits. :evil: :roll:

Algae is the main thing stopping me going back to marines. Made my tank look ugly! :lol:

[chrissyoscar]

Algea! what algea, why does everyone keep talking about this algea. :cry:
Seriously though I hope it isn't to big a problem. I'm starting to get it so it might be time to get a clean up crew for the tank.

[nicholas76]

yeaah nice work Oz,, i love it .. Cant wait till you cover it in corals.



aah that algae. starts of with shades of purple then green. YOu clean it one day and its back the next.

Ben ozzie,,,guys, can you get a small M/H for a baby jebo? Im still thinking about a tiny marine setup.

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Nick

I know you can get 70w MH that are used for nano tanks but where from or how much i don't know.

[nicholas76]

Benn,

mentoned you cant so im thinking is there an alternate light source i can use instead


people any ideaS?

[Dee]

Heya Oscar,

Nice rig mate ... well done !!! :thumb: keep the pics comming. I like your aquascaping too mate.


Algea! what algea, why does everyone keep talking about this algea. :cry:
Seriously though I hope it isn't to big a problem. I'm starting to get it so it might be time to get a clean up crew for the tank.

You'll get an algae bloom at about 2-3 week mark and when it hits, it hits BIGTIME !!! first youll get the brown diatom algae ... then green filament which will then move onto to coraline algae (the purple stuff we all want and love). I would persianlly get some Trochus snails in there mate, I got mine from Mentone for around $7 each ... they decimated my algae and have since kept it in check ... a well worth while adition IMO.

All the best wth the rig mate and keep us updated ;)

Cheers,

Dee :fro

[Dee]

im thinking is there an alternate light source i can use instead
people any ideaS?

G'day Nick,

you could try one of these if you can find them in OZ, would most proberly set you back double what ya tank will cost ya, but if you need MH on a Nano these are the ducks nuts ;)

http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=223

cheers,

Dee :fro

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Dee.

I'm also happy with the aquascaping as i have lots of little caves which is great for the fish. Well will be great for the fish, I still need to get some
:D

[DiscusMad]

very nice

[chrissyoscar]

More photos

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p6e9125916c37d02818c59187c0bdc775/ea4ca02c.jpg
Christmas tree worms, I have red, blue, blown , white and about 15-20 in total
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pae6d74dec4a5071b959189cae427f083/ea4ca01d.jpg
Duncanopsammia
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p38159840a78f97a412a48c0c50b6dbfe/ea4c9fe0.jpg
Elegance, as you can see it's in a bad shape thanks to my former butterfly kleini
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/peb48803ce393abaa84d5bb367775c136/ea4c9fb3.jpg
Green stars
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p0881fe18c6c2e44a524f2690e2234e41/ea4c9f8b.jpg
Hammer coral, I've only had it a few days so it's still settling in.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p9ed22772ab409e11cd81d432b6d2619b/ea4c9d67.jpg
Finger leather, organ pipe, torch coral and zoanthus (colony polyp)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p99d851d7e313767a6ea3e8528e98e2c5/ea4c9d1a.jpg
Don't know what this one is so if anybody knows it please let me know.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p3c56fbd9c8872bfb8bbd7cc170979aa9/ea4c8b65.jpg

Well that's it for now.

[Merrilyn]

Looks fantastic Oscar. Are christmas tree worms a good or bad thing. They look great.

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Merrilyn.

Christmas tree worms are great but I've read that after a certain size they are hard to keep.
I've also heard that they are hard to kill and it's the coral they live in that's hard to keep.
Who know's they look stunning so i'll enjoy them for now and hopefully will keep enjoying them for a long time.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=541&N=0

[Nathan]

that bottom coral looks like an open brain coral, maybe wrong but yeah. lookin tops mate.

i got some of those green stars came in with the live rock an got a couple xmas tree worms to.

is it cycled the tank?

what fish are you going to add?

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Nathan

So it looks like an open brain coral, i think you might be right going by the pics I just saw on the net.
The tank was cycled but because I've been adding corals just a little to quickly I now have a trace of ammonia.
Nothing drastic so hopefully it'll settle after a few days.
Those green star polyps look awsome but I've read that they spread so place them on a rock that's away from everything or they'll spread through the tank. I love my christmas tree worms and the coral they are in is a beauty hope it stays that way.

[Dee]

Hi Oscar,

Must say I much prefer the new arrangment mate :thumb: Your new corals are all looking good ... in time they will settle in and extend and colour right up, some of mine took over a week or so to look happy.

Your Elegance should bounce back no worrys now the butterfly has been banished ;) At one stage I thought my Elegance was going to craok, still not sure why :? but it has made a full recovery ... here's a pic about 2 days after I was gonna piff it thinking it was a goner :roll:

And that last pic is a brain of some sort IMO, but just not sure which type :oops:

Cheers,

Dee

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Dee

That elegance looks stunning. After seeing that I'm not sure if what I have is an elegance or not. Looks different to yours, I much prefer what you have :D
Yeah I'm happy with the new look as well except one peice of LR I have but the wife loves it so for now it'll stay.
I'll post more pics of fish when i get them, I love your flame angel, how do you find it with the corals. I've heard angles can also nibble corals.

[nicholas76]

hmmmm the wife loves the piece of live rock?

sounds like a hidden agenda * dont let him spend more money.

[chrissyoscar]

You're probably right Nick, I also have 2 clam shells one small and one large that I'm not fond of.
Christine has already told me there's no negotiation the shells stay.
They take up to much room especailly the large one and that's a spot a nice coral could go.
That's ok though I'll show her how nice clam shells look in the bathroom as soap holders.

[chrissyoscar]

Here are some more pics of the tank and corals.
I had a lot of bad luck with my two little angels as they both died on me.
The only thing I could put it down to was high salinity as my refractometer was broken and I was waiting on a replacement. when it finally came I checked the salinity and it was 1.031 which is way to high.
I'm going away for 2 weeks in May so i'll wait till I get back before purchasing another few fish.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/tank.jpg

I love this little coral it's really looking stunning now. Much much nicer now than when i got it and I'm thinking about getting a couple more as they are so strange and nice looking.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/brain2.jpg

Got this one from Ben and it's a real stunner. It's actually got a little more current running over it now and is only half the size it was when it had very little current running over it.
That's the problem with corals in tanks, you can't keep them all happy.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/1.jpg

I love my Christmas tree worms, I have white, brown, red and blue.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/bluefeather.jpg

Got this one from Ben as well and it's also a very nice looking coral. Don't think it's coloured up properly yet as i think it should be green but hopefully it does soon.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/disc1.jpg

This is my elegance and it's starting to look nice now after the Butterfly I had almost killed it.. It's still quite small but hopefully it'll bounce back.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/elegance.jpg

I have 2 Hermit crabs, this is the smaller one I have.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/hermie.jpg

I'm in luck as I have discovered I have some morphs as well. They must have been on the liverock I got and are starting to grow nicely. I have 5 purple morphs and a white pinky fluffy morph.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/morphs.jpg

It took a while for the pipe Organs to settle but now that they have they are stunning.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/pipeorgans.jpg

This was one of my first corals and still my favorite.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/torch1.jpg

I'm not sure what these things are but I have quite a few in the rocks and I suspect they are worms of some sort.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/worms.jpg

These are strange little things, I have no idea what they are but they do look interesting.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s217/chrissyoscar/wormthing.jpg

[Robdog]

Great pics there Oz. Tank is coming along really well. Beautiful goni in one of those top pics and great healthy Torch too. Those bottom 2 pics. I think the 2nd last one looks like the legs of a Brittle Star. The last one looks like coral vomit/poo. I've noticed this stuff come from the mouth of my torch on occasion.

[Nathan]

i thnk the last pic is a type of algea, im pretty sure.

mate the tank looks just excelent, wondering are you running a chiller? not that youd really need it this time of year

[nicholas76]

ozzie aint coming back to discus thats for sure!

lovely set up mate just awsum.

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks guy

So th purple stuff might be algea then, I better keep an eye on it then just to make sure it doesn't spread.
I don't think the other stuff is brittle star as i have one of those (hitch hicker on live rock) and it looks completely different. if it does turn out to be a brittle star then i have about 10-15 of them as that's how many seperate spots I've noticed it. Strange, as it grows (if it grows) I'll try and take better pics of it.


ozzie aint coming back to discus thats for sure!

You're right there Nick. I've always loved marines and just wished I jumped into marines sooner before spending a shit load of money on discus.
I love discus but there is definitely a wow factor about a tank full of corals and marine fish.
I had people spend 5 mins max looking at my discus when that was set up but with the marines they could spend all day looking and i'm the same. There is so much happening in the tank.

[colinM]

Yep, Its a great specimen "Open Brain" coral, (Trachyphillia geoffroyi)

Your Reef is looking great Oscar a credit to you..

Bit like Discus this marine stuff, just got to buy one more.....just one more....I am sure I can fit one more....maybe if I rearrange.....yes! I can fit one more :D

Must post some pics of mine soon (lazy)

Regards Col.

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Col
I love that Brain Coral, it's got great color and is looking healthier now. It still has a dead patch on the other side so hopefully with time it'll recover. I got it like that from the shop and almost left it there but I'm glad I didn't.


Bit like Discus this marine stuff, just got to buy one more.....just one more....I am sure I can fit one more....maybe if I rearrange.....yes! I can fit one more

Yes it's a bit like that, I find myself looking at the tank saying that'll make a nice spot and if I move that rock then that'll be another spot.
I just have to make sure I don't impulse buy as there are so many nice corals out there and you can't fit them all in so it's best to wait until you find the exact corals you want.
There would be nothing worse than saying i really wanted a Sun Coral for example but couldn't find it and now the LFS has one but I have no space for it :cry: .


Must post some pics of mine soon (lazy)

Please do it's great seeing other tanks and you learn so much by seeing how other people do things.

Thanks.. Oscar

[Ben]

Tank looks awesome Ossie! Those corals are looking very well indeed! The xmas worms look very healthy, they are a tricky one to look after so you are doing an excellent job!

Cant wait to see some fish swimming amongst the corals.

cheers
Ben

[chrissyoscar]

Those corals are looking very well indeed! The xmas worms look very healthy, they are a tricky one to look after so you are doing an excellent job!

Thanks Ben, the corals do seem to be going very well I'm feeding them that Corallife liquid food i got from you about 2-3 times a week. I've also started feeding the corals prawns mixed with flakes and they love it.
That red button I got from you shocked me as i didn't realise it needed feeding but just out of curiosity I placed some on top of it and sure enough a mouth appeared and slowly ate it.
Even the plate coral amazed me as I placed a peice of muchy prawn on it and thought the peice was to large but sure enough over a period of about 15min is ate it. The plate looked more like a volcano shape after feeding which was quite funny .


Cant wait to see some fish swimming amongst the corals.

After the disaster I had with the Angels I'm in no rush to add anymore fish to the tank. I'm going away for a few weeks late in May so when I get back I'll add some. I figured the tank will be matured by then and should be very stable.
I have noticed I have heaps of little clear shrimp and bristle worms in the tank and it's now also getting a lot of feather dusters which are great signs.
Now that I have discoverd the super macro feature on the camera ( lol if I read the bloody manual I would have realised this 2 years ago) you can expect a lot more photos.

PS for those interested if you want to host pics on a server try photo bucket.
You may have noticed that the last lot of pics are much larger than the first lot and that's because I had the first pics hosted by Sony imagestation and the last lot by photobucket.