Video of my FOWLR tanks 11 foot and 6 foot

[jmccown]

My camera really sucks but here is a short video. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBaE-9U3oh0

[johno4]

The tank looks great. Some of those fish are so big its hard to get a graps of how large that tank really is.

[triggerfreak]

Nice video jason.Where is the titan.And what made you put the queen in the 150 with the undy.How are they getting along.

[jmccown]

the image quality is so poor it takes away alot of the color and movement. I need to get a good camera so I can do some high def.

[jmccown]

I just wanted to see how the undy would react to a tankmate and the queen was really the only fish that I would dare putting with it, that could stand it's own ground and not back down. The queen will be going back into the big tank in a few days though. The undy still chases the queen from time to time, but they never brawl. I'm going to get the undy a 75g tank of its own, a 150g is just too big for one fish. I'll move some of the smaller 11 foot inhabitants to the 150g.

[myerst2]

That new clown trigger will be quite the new addition. Hope he behave himself.

[ronhjr]

great tanks. How do you keep the tanks so clean and w/o algae. I'm currently fighting grren hair on my 180 fowlr. What time of filtration. Any problems w/ ich in the tanks consideirnf they are heavily stocked

[jmccown]

nope, haven't seen ich in 3.5 years.

I'm hoping the new trig behaves as well T. We'll see on Thursday.

I think using live rock and a good skimmer are key. I use the SWC300a on this tank.

[triggerfreak]

Yeah if it does not work out for you.Contact me and i have a guy in michigan that is looking for one that size.I will put him in contact with you.nope, haven't seen ich in 3.5 years.

I'm hoping the new trig behaves as well T. We'll see on Thursday.

I think using live rock and a good skimmer are key. I use the SWC300a on this tank.

[popper231]

what order did you add the fish?

[jmccown]

Worst case scenario with the clown trigger he gets the 150g all to himself. I'm picking up a couple extra tanks this weekend.

[Juice It]

Awesome fish! looks like they love that flow!

[brookers]

thats one of the best tanks on here ! will be even better when your CT arrives. will you do another vid for us then jason ?

[jmccown]

Long as he arrives okay you can bet on it.

[C-Water]

Nice active tank. And even a cleaner wrasse!

[jmccown]

yep, that cleaner wrasse has plenty to keep him busy. His working hours are from 6 p.m. till 9 p.m. that's about the only time you'll see him. But during that 3 hour window he works his butt off, lol.

[Crazy One]

Who's the boss in the 11 footer?

[jmccown]

The acanthurus blochii tang is the boss.

[jwm2k3]

Holy crap thats a lot of fish! Looks awesome

[kirkaz]

Looking good Jason...Those Vlamingi make even an 11 foot tank look a little smaller.

[fish stalker]

very nice! really good to hear the c/t is doing well. Can't wait to see pics of it in the tank

[jmccown]

Well, tonight the CT is back in the hands of Fed Ex. Hoping for a better ending this time.

[Recty]

Looks great man.

[barbianj]

Very, very nice Jason! Had to watch that one a few times. Great work.

[DEERE G]

Very nice... Love all of the activity.

[ahumahuma]

Jason,
What time is the big guy arriving?

[jmccown]

Fed Ex usually runs around 4 p.m. here.

[triggerfreak]

Today is the big day ( for both of us ).Getting a little excited?Fed Ex usually runs around 4 p.m. here.

[jmccown]

Oh yeah. I can't wait to see Bubba (as he has been named). Can't wait to see your little guy triggerfreak. I'm counting on pictures from you.

[triggerfreak]

You know it.Can't wait to see your pics too.Is he going right in the big tank.My little one is going in a 55 ( my grow out tank ).I also have a 2 inch red emperor snapper in there .Oh yeah. I can't wait to see Bubba (as he has been named). Can't wait to see your little guy triggerfreak. I'm counting on pictures from you.

[triggerfreak]

Well i just got her and the water was ice cold and she was pretty much upside down.I put her directly in the tank and she is swimming around a little.We will half to wait and see how she does.She is a little smaller than 2 inches.I hope she makes it trough.I did snap a couple pics and will post in a couple hours.I half to go out for a while.Keep you fingers crossed.

[jmccown]

Queen triggers are extremely tough, very hardy fish. I'm sure it will be fine. Water temp is my concern too. It has been in 20's and 30's for weeks here. I'm sure it's the same, if not cold where you're from triggerfreak.

[triggerfreak]

Same hear.I put her directley in the tank right away.She seems to be doing fine just a little skittish right now when in front of the tank.Hear is a quict pic teaser.I will post others in a new thread.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/Triggerfreak/NewBabyQueen002.jpgQueen triggers are extremely tough, very hardy fish. I'm sure it will be fine. Water temp is my concern too. It has been in 20's and 30's for weeks here. I'm sure it's the same, if not cold where you're from triggerfreak.

[jmccown]

Well, bubba didn't make the second voyage :(

[myerst2]

So sorry Jason............ What happened??? T

[DEERE G]

Nooooo Waaaaay!!! That is too bad. Sorry to hear it.

[Recty]

Well, bubba didn't make the second voyage :(

Hmmm that sucks, what in the world happened? Water get too cold?

[jmccown]

Water was extremely cold. Fed Ex dropped the ball again, was suppose to be delivered by 10:30 and didn't get there till 3:30.

He was 11.25" long and gorgeous fish. He'll make a nice freezer trophy.

[triggerfreak]

Man that sucks.I hate fedex.Post a pic of it anyway.Maybe next to a ruler.Water was extremely cold. Fed Ex dropped the ball again, was suppose to be delivered by 10:30 and didn't get there till 3:30.

He was 11.25" long and gorgeous fish. He'll make a nice freezer trophy.

[jmccown]

I've got the pics. Just need to upload them. Not sure if I want to put up pics of a dead fish though. I'm going to talk to Michael and see if he can get another one that size.

[triggerfreak]

I sure hope they give you some kind of warrenty with it seeing all the trouble that it was with him.I've got the pics. Just need to upload them. Not sure if I want to put up pics of a dead fish though. I'm going to talk to Michael and see if he can get another one that size.

[johno4]

Wow, that really sucks.

[brookers]

no way, after all that . gutted for you jason !

hope you have better luck with the next one !

[Baldwin]

Wow man sorry to hear about the fish, that sucks! Are you atleast going to get a refund?

[jmccown]

I'm sure Michael will make it right whatever the case. He's out on vacation right now. I've emailed him, but he won't be in till Monday. I'm sure triggers that size are rarely available to distributors. I would like to get another this size, but if he can't get a CT I might go for a show size black durgeon of similar size. I've always liked them. He has a pinktail trigger that size but I don't really care much for those.

[fish stalker]

this part of the hobby always sucks. sorry :(

[jmccown]

my next addition will be a total surprise. I'm not saying a thing till I know it's healthy in my tank.

[Marc]

Awesome tank, what type of filtration you running??? Your live rock is beautiful!!!

Marc

[mattsilvester]

Sorry to hear about the fish - was really looking forward to the pics and videos......

[psilentchild]

WOW.After all of that. :-(

[saltyguy51]

Thats some nice fishes!!

[nuccadoc]

Wow, great looking tank!

[jmccown]

Thanks. I spent about 10 hours doing plumbing on my tank yesterday. I plumbed in all of my tanks and added a refugium to the system. So it has the 360 gallon or so 11 foot tank, 150g 6 foot tank, 75g sump and a 20L refugium. A total of 605 gallons. All of this is being handld by the SWC300a. This morning my water is crystal clear in all the tanks. Now I need to implement an ATO to simplify routine maintenance.

[michealprater]

Can I see a fish list? Too many to keep track of in the video.

[Marc]

Can you put some more pics on your fish room???

Marc

[jmccown]

The tanks are all plumbed together now. I have a combined gallonage of a little over 600g after I implemented a refugium to the system.

Here is a fish list.

Pair of vlamingii's - both over a foot long
8" blonde naso
8" sohal
12" acanthurus blochii
7-8" Hippo Tang
6" Sailfin
5" Queen Angel
5" Passer
8" Blueface Angel
10-11" Annularis
5" Emperor Angel
4" Maculosus
7" Foxface Lo
6" Magnificent foxface
4" Niger
4" Picasso
5" Diana's Hogfish
6" Red Coris Wrasse
3 squirrelfish

Host of crabs

In my 150g I have a 6" undulated trigger and 7" Queen Trigger

[jmccown]

Here is a post where there are some still pics from the very first week it was set up. The rockwork was changed around from that thread till now to open up the front for more swimming room. The fish really love all the extra length, especially the vlamingii's.

[jmccown]

Based on the size of the tank, the stock list and 45x turnover rate what do you guys think about adding an achilles tang to the list? I have a 5" specimen available to me from Les in hawaii that has been in QT for 2 weeks. I think my tank would be ideal, but I worry about the sohal and the blochii.

[michealprater]

I say go for it! Les told me it was nice and fat!

[jmccown]

I'm just waiting on him to send me an invoice for it now. I was really hoping for a bigger one but he says this one is really nice.

[jmccown]

looks like this guy popped up tonight so I'm gonna try this big guy in the 11 footer. http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?ddid=82757&add=1&c=2733+3

[triggerfreak]

Nice.But he is going to give your sohol a run for your money.I would of got the achillis myself.They are a stunning fish.looks like this guy popped up tonight so I'm gonna try this big guy in the 11 footer. http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?ddid=82757&add=1&c=2733+3

[michealprater]

Nice.But he is going to give your sohol a run for your money.I would of got the achillis myself.They are a stunning fish.

Oh wow! Never thought of that! A sohal and a clown.... World war 3.

[shermdawg]

Beautiful fish and tank. Could watch that video for hours.

[jmccown]

I'm gonna see if I can make it work. I think if anyone can do it it would be me. I've always got a plan B for my actions.

[jmccown]

Has anyone ever tried a sohal with a clown tang in a big tank?

[lhm nole]

Yes had the clown tang first he was around 4 inches then added the soho months later he was around 6 inches and had no problems this was a 6 ft 240. Had them together with a purple and a rs sailfin for about 6 months before I sold the set up.

[jmccown]

good to know lhm nole. Also, I didn't say I wasn't getting the achilles too. Still waiting on Les.

[triggerfreak]

Yeah i think so.Your tank is well long and big enough where it should work.And if it is too aggressive it can always be tammed down by the undy!I'm gonna see if I can make it work. I think if anyone can do it it would be me. I've always got a plan B for my actions.

[jmccown]

this guy will about finish my stocking up. Even though he isn't perfect I still adopted him :) colors are just amazing.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?ddid=82833&add=1&c=2733+3

[triggerfreak]

Very nice tang for the price.I would give them a call and make sure the packing is extra good because of the weather and maybe you will have better luck with fedex that i did or you did last time.I take it you passed on the other guy?this guy will about finish my stocking up. Even though he isn't perfect I still adopted him :) colors are just amazing.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?ddid=82833&add=1&c=2733+3

[Hydrologist]

Beautiful fish! Going to good home too

[jmccown]

Looks like the Clown Tang will be here today. Just glad it made it through the Memphis TN hub. Last fish was destroyed there. My brother in law lost 2 because of the memphis hub and a LFS lost a huge shipment there within the last month. Tracking says it will be here by 4:30, just hope the cold temps don't get to it. It's low 30's here in Kentuck.

[jmccown]

By request here is a pic of the big clown trigger that didn't make it. You guys don't know how bad I wanted this guy to make it. He was a shade over 11" mark.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1091.jpg

[jmccown]

The clown tang from Diver's Den made it okay. He is acclimating now. Despite the frigid temps this week the water was surprisingly warm. Rather than using 3-4 small heat packs LA used one really large one that covered the entire bottom of the cooler. The tang was swimming around like nothing was going on at all.

[jmccown]

Clown Tang box arrived
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1178.jpg
water a little cloudy but as you can see he is in really good shape. Good looking fish
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1179.jpg

[Hydrologist]

Looks good Jason, cant wait to see him in your tank.

[Marc]

By request here is a pic of the big clown trigger that didn't make it. You guys don't know how bad I wanted this guy to make it. He was a shade over 11" mark.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1091.jpg

That is sad the clown trigger didn't make it. I have never mail ordered fish for this very reason! When a fish arrives dead do you receive a refund from the online vendor for the money lost??? How does that work?

Marc

[jmccown]

That is the only fish I ever lost in a mail order Marc. I've had alot of luck with mail order actually.

[Recty]

Very cool. I had quit following this thread a couple days back, I didnt realize you had ordered two more large tangs. I hope everything gets along good in your tanks.

I think you'll really like the lieutenant tang, I've always liked them. If I hadnt gotten my dussumieri, I would have gone with a lieutenant.

Clown tang looks awesome, I saw him hit Diver's Den and almost bought him even though I have no tank right now ;) I would have donated him to the LFS for their big FOWLR.

Are you quarantining your new fish or you're more of a just dump them in the main tank type guy?

Clown tangs are about as susceptible to ich, at least when newly introduced, as a powder blue/brown, imo. I've had them back in the day before my 210 and they were always the first to show ich and almost always had it when newly introduced.

[jmccown]

Clown tang is already eating brine shrimp. Will try pellet and flake tomorrow.

[michealprater]

Is he in qt or dt? Pics?

[triggerfreak]

I am really glad they did a good package job for you.I was a little worried for you.Congrats.The clown tang from Diver's Den made it okay. He is acclimating now. Despite the frigid temps this week the water was surprisingly warm. Rather than using 3-4 small heat packs LA used one really large one that covered the entire bottom of the cooler. The tang was swimming around like nothing was going on at all.

[jmccown]

It is in DT. Eating everything that has been offered so far.

[Recty]

How does your other fish react to him?

[jmccown]

no problems at all so far. He's eating NLS pellets, flake, mysis, nori. Everything so far.

[triggerfreak]

When does your other tang get there and did you ever decide on the other fish from the west side?

[jmccown]

The big Lieutenant will be here Tuesday. Decided to pass on the other for now due to weather and shipping concerns. If you're interested in that one I'll be glad to PM you the info.

[triggerfreak]

Yeah go ahead and give me the info.I can get ahold of that other guy hear in mi. that wanted one.Thanks!The big Lieutenant will be here Tuesday. Decided to pass on the other for now due to weather and shipping concerns. If you're interested in that one I'll be glad to PM you the info.

[jmccown]

So after staying home all weekend and being able to watch the Clown Tang he seems to be doing really well. None of the tankmates gave him any flack. The only one that seems to annoy the clown tang is a little 3" orange shoulder tang that I saw him give chase to the 2nd day. Clown tang seems to like Nori and NLS flakes the best so far. He has eaten some 3mm NLS pellets but doesn't seem to care much for them yet.

As for the tank I finally ordered a JBJ auto topoff with aqualifter pump. Now that all of the tanks are plumbed together the evaporation rate is much faster so I'm not going to fool with lugging buckets around. Gonna get a 30-50g container and see how long that takes me between topoffs. On my heating issue I found out why I couldn't get my temps up. I have one of the Hydor heaters that are being recalled. I pulled it out of the sump Saturday to find that it wasn't even working. I am also running a 250w Ebo Jager and a 100 watt Visi Therm unit. So 350 watts of heating is all I was getting. I didn't know the 400w Hydor wasn't working. I also got a Ranco controller to keep things regulated. I'm about to get things automated like I want finally. I'd like to change my lighting around a bit to more of a 10K range. I got the T5 ready fit units and they are a little more blue than what I like so gonna start looking at color combinations as my next project. Maybe I can just supplement a 10K fixture to correct the blues.

Big Lieutenant will be here tomorrow. I think I'm more excited about it than the clown tang. This one will finish off my stocking for the 11 foot tank. As many fish as I have now surprisingly they all disappear in the rock work during the night. If I turn the lights on in the morning you won't see a single fish.

With my 150g I'd like to pick up a miniatus grouper to go with the undy and queen trigger.

[triggerfreak]

So you did decide to keep the undy and queen together?

[jmccown]

Yeah, they are getting along really well so I left them alone in the 150g. It is unreal how fat they are both getting. With just the two in the 150g it allows me to target feed them. In the big tank it was just a free-for-all, grab what you can before the other fish gets the food type of event. The undy is ungodly thick, I would classify the undy as obese. The queen is just beefy, on the way to obese. I know that in a few years the queen will be a monster. I plan on keeping this one for life. Hopefully by that time I will have my MONSTER tank in construction. My next one will be at least 1000g. But will require a new house to be built around it :)

[jmccown]

Got the auto topoff installed last night. I went with the JBJ unit and am quite pleased with it. I have to get a suitable container as my evaporation rate is pretty high. I went with the aqualifter pump and am now wondering if it is too small. I had to extend the time to the full 14:00 mark.

9" Maldives Lieutenant tang will be here this evening.

[michealprater]

The time to fill feature sounds awesome. I plan to get one of these soon.

[jmccown]

Factory default is 3:00, but you can extend all the way up to 14:00. It is a good feature that prevents floods as well as burning your pump up.

[Baldwin]

Jason, if the aqualifter is too small I would suggest a maxijet 400. It's just about the perfect flow for a ato.

[michealprater]

Factory default is 3:00, but you can extend all the way up to 14:00. It is a good feature that prevents floods as well as burning your pump up.

Can it be shortened? to say, a minute?

[jmccown]

no, 3:00 is minimum.

[Recty]

I used a JBJ that just had a float system, you could put one float in your sump and one in your topoff container. If the one in the sump stopped floating, it pumped water from the topoff. If the topoff container float stopped floating (in other words you ran out of water in your topoff) then it cut power to the pump. It worked really slick, I used mine for over a year and never had any problems.

There is nothing on it to configure though as far as run time, it's just a simple float system. I think it ran 10 second minimum each time the pump tripped on, that way a small wave in the system wouldnt make the pump continually start and stop.

Anyway, I'm excited to see pictures of your lieutenant tang, I really like them :)

[jmccown]

Lieutenant arrived okay. However, due to some poor scheduling on behalf of my wife yesterday evening and her having to pick up a truckload of girl scout cookies because she volunteers as a girl scout leader, I was forced to do a rather quick acclimation because we had to pick up stupid cookies. I had to work late plus a bunch of other crap like my kitchen cabinets being delivered and the delivery guy was too big of a wimp to pull the pallets off the truck by himself and I had to leave work for an hour to go unload the truck. Just a bad day yesterday.

Anyhow the lieutenant arrived okay. Water was a little colder than what it was with the clown tang. But he seemed fine. I acclimated him and then added him to the tank and turned the lights off and left for about 3 hours. I came back home to check on him and found that the big blochii tang had seriously beat the crap out of him. The blochii is at least 12, maybe 13". The lieutenant made the mistake of not backing down from the blochii when he was showing his authority and as a result the lieutenant was slashed bigtime by the blochii scalpel. It is a really big gash. When I had the lights on the lieutenant just kept swimming around the blochii even though it was seriously injured. The blochii was seriously ticked that the lieutenant wasn't scared of him and knew it could end up very bad. So I took a piece of eggcrate and sectioned off 4 foot of my tank for the lieutenant to keep the blochii in check till the lieutenant heals up. To my surprise the lieutenant does not seem bothered that he has a huge laceration on his side and is fearless of the big blochii tang. He was eating flake and even NLS pellets last night after the squabble. So even though he got swatted bigtime he is fine and eating already. He does not hide at all. I'm hoping the two get along, I think they will with time. It was just a bad introduction, and my fault for not being there to seperate them and monitor things more closely.

[michealprater]

If he is not harrassed, he will heal up quickly. Lets hope they learn to live with each other.

[jmccown]

I think they will be fine long term. You just have to understand how the blochii rolls. He is the boss of my tank. He never harrasses the other fish because they know he rules the roost and is never challenged by any of them. I think the initial meeting probably had the blochii showing his strut and the lieutenant was like "yeah whatever" and kept trotting over his signals and it ticked the blochii off. I wasn't there to witness it but when I came back I got a pretty good idea that the lieutenant wasn't intimidated by the blochii at all. I think once he is healed up and more established they will get along fine. Good looking fish, but his mouth is sort of unattractive because it is so big.

[michealprater]

Your fish and their silly gang warfare............ :D

[Recty]

We need a new video, dude.

[jmccown]

Give me a few days and I'll get one up. Lieutenant is still doing fine. Clown tang is already part of the gang, I'm glad I got these guys. If I hadn't got these I would have bought the 14" Blonde Naso that came up on DD last night. But I'm done stocking this tank for now.

[jmccown]

Here's a picture of the gash from the blochii tang
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1187.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1186.jpg
here's the culprit...this guy is a beast
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1190.jpg

[jmccown]

quick snapshot of the clown tang, scared of the camera.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1193.jpg

[jmccown]

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/jmccown1/DSCF1191.jpg

[jmccown]

pics are even worse because i used my daughters cheap digi cam. Couldn't find the memory card for my canon camera.

[michealprater]

I love that emperor.

[Baldwin]

man that's a really bad gash jason, I hope you have some antibaterial meds handy just in case.

[jmccown]

Yep, I keep a fully stocked fish pharmacy at the house. In the event I don't have something my brother in law keeps everything as well.

[Recty]

That's a pretty bad gash and overall condition of that fish doesnt look very good either. Like he has a lot of small bruising and scrapes all over his body. I wonder if the bigger tang was running him into the rocks or something.

Hopefully he recovers, healthy fish should be able to handle that kind of a beating as long as they are allowed to relax and recover.

[jmccown]

Yeah, no denying he took a beating Recty. It was my fault for not being able to be there to monitor the situation. This has been the only new addition that has been tormented by a tankmate. He does have alot of scrapes and I dont' really know what it was from because I wasn't able to be home to check on things. However, I am confident he is okay because he eats like a champ and still cruises in his 4 foot section.

[Recty]

That's cool ;) I forgot you had him eggcrated off, I'm sure that will go a long way towards letting him heal.

Soft body tangs and non patterned tangs like the lieutenant tangs just show a beating real easily I think. If the same thing happened to your clown tang, you'd pretty much just see the cuts and none of the bruises.

I'd like to see a video of the two new fish still :) If the new clown tang is afraid of the camera, just either use a tripod or set it up on some boxes if you dont have one, then start the video and walk away. I found with my more timid new fish that as long as I wasnt holding the camera, they werent shy at all.

[Baldwin]

Let's see a new vid J.