27 clowns in the same tank 27 months~Thread of the Month

[hypnoj]

Mobert,
What brand and temperature of MH lights are you running now? What are the specifics of your light cycle as well?
Thanks

[mobert]

Originally Posted by hypnoj

Mobert,
What brand and temperature of MH lights are you running now? What are the specifics of your light cycle as well?
Thanks

I'm running PFO ballasts to power 3x400 watt 20K XM bulbs. The Hamilton SuperBlue Actinics VHO 2x160 watts bulbs on the Icecap Dual ballast have burned out and I have not replaced them.

MH1 on at 1030 off at 1630 (7 Hours)
MH2 on at 1130 off at 2000 (8 1/2 hours)
MH3 on at 1200 off at 2100 (9 hours)

LED moon lights on at 0700 off at 0200 (19 Hours)

when the VHO's were running they were on:
LT1 on at 0900 off at 2100 (12 hours)
LT2 on at 1000 off at 2200 (12 hours)

With the VHO's running, the tank had a real sunrise/sunset feel with the tank gradually getting brighter, sun coming up on the left side and setting on the right. It looked really nice but I no longer want to run 1520 watts of lights. The energy cost with the lights and the air conditioning is more than I want to continue doing.

My XM bulbs are almost 2 years old. I used to put in one new bulb every three months to replace the oldest bulb that was 9 months old at the time. Moving the newest bulb to the highest light requirement area (Newest over Magnifica, 3 month old bulb to bubbletips and 6 month old over the middle of the tank.

Instead of investing in new bulbs, I plan to purchase a LED set up before the hot summer months. Probably the new higher par, yet to be released Kessil or an Aqua Illumination set up or something else that I don't know about yet.

[mobert]

Pictures of original equipment at set up here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=660686

[Overgrown]

Wow killer pics

[m758b033]

God this thread never gets old!

[eino]

I love your tank. I've been wanting to do something like it with mine, but on a much smaller scale. :P

[dela]

Thanks for sharing. This is a really cool thread.

Has anyone tried this with Ocellaris clowns? Or are they less compatible for group living? I have a batch of juveniles that will eventually need a home. It would be awesome to keep some of them.

[hypnoj]

Originally Posted by dela

Thanks for sharing. This is a really cool thread.

Has anyone tried this with Ocellaris clowns? Or are they less compatible for group living? I have a batch of juveniles that will eventually need a home. It would be awesome to keep some of them.

yes, I have. Here is a link to my clown thread.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2160924

[mattanderin]

love this thread. i thought we were pushing the limits with 11 b n w misbars but this i some next level ****

[Finsky]

I moved a green BTA from the right side where it had been for a year and moved it to join the pair of green and pair of red BTA on the left side. I used to expand 12" to 14" and then I can only guess that it split like the two on the left side and a smaller half survived?

I then put a real Carpet Anemone in its place on the right side going on two weeks.

I do notice that the green BTA I moved to the left side has stayed in place so far and the color is coming back very slowly from a clear green tint.

I suppose it could take months for it to regain its deep green color from what I hear here.

I still have my breeding pair of Tomato Clowns for 5 1/2 years and the female did sleep in the True Carpet the first night and now is back to the BTA's on the left end laying eggs.

My favorite thread.

[only_mnh]

Beautiful tank !! Keep up the good work.

[z's_N_p's]

how are the BTA's recovering? hope they are doing much better nowadays. if not fully colored up, I hope they are at least expanding to their normal size.

[reefinginsocal]

thanks for sharing.

[ReefAdventure]

WOW! I love clowns. I hope to have a breeding pair and be successful at raising the fry. I've studied hard and prepared all the equipment for the day I hope will come. I would prefer to raise clowns to pair themselves instead of buying a mated pair....seems like cheating and not as rewarding.
Anyway, Thanks for sharing!

[OKCchief]

Truly jealous.

[Tmoriarty]

Just added 2 more magnificas to the tank and realize that if/when my clowns breed I will never find the clutch, to many places for them to hide the eggs, lol. Lets see some new pictures Mobert.

Tyler

[Finsky]

I think it would be fantastic to have a pair of breeding clowns in five BTA's and a Damsel hosting in a Carpet Anemone in the same tank.

I had two green bta and two red rose bta on the left side of my tank with one green bta on the right. I moved the right one to the left end and he has stayed in place over three months. The two green bta and two red rose used to one each until they split.

Anyways, I have a six year old tank with a regularly spawning pair of Tomato Clowns. I recently added a True Carpet Anemone on the right side and it has remained in the "hole" in the live rock where it anchors its foot. I have fed it silver side pieces wrapped in razor clam for five weeks since I put him in the tank. He is about six to eight inches with ripples and I got a large 3" Clarkii to host in it except the female Tomato chase him until he found a cave next to the left end where the BTA's are where he can reach out for food without being bitten.

To coolest thing is I finally found a large three spot damsel which could stick up to the pair of four stripers and I read on Drs. Foster and Smith the Domino Damsel will host in a Carpet Anemone when it grows. I am just hoping he will survive as I picked him up at the local fish store as a return because he was "mean". He was actually the exact size I was looking for to survive my tank with all the damsels, tangs, two starry blennies, three zebra dartfish, one splendid dottyback, and one female Fijian Dusky Wrasse.

I also have a Blackmouth Damsel which is a troll in a cave near the front center of the live rock along with two yellow tails, two Fiji Blue, and one Blue Azure.

[LIFishGuy]

Simply incredible!

[Emergy96]

Your tank is amazing. I looked through the thread and saw all of your pictures. This is my dream tank. Right now I have a green carpet anemone and I love it!! It hosts to black clown fish. It likes to stay in the corner and moves a little when it is ready to be fed. Thank you for posting pictures of you tank. I love all your anemones.

[Finsky]

I am impressed with the move to two species of anemones. Hopefully your bubble tips will regain color as soon as they can.

I finally had my dream come true which was to have a host in my True Carpet Anemone on the right side of my tank. The left side has two RBTAs and three GBTAs where my breeding pair of Tomato Clowns host. I have had the pair six years and they refuse to accept any other clowns so this made it impossible to have a host for my True Carpet Anemone. I did put in one Clarkii who has survived for a month and a half with his head stuck out of a crevice near the BTAs where he can eat passing food. The Tomatos both chase him back into his hole when he comes out at all.

Then one day at the lfs I saw a bag floating with a medium Domino Damsel which was accepted by the store since the customer said it was "mean". He ended up hiding for a month from my two similar sized four striped damsels. Long story short I took him home for free as a read they will host in a True Carpet anemone if one is present.

Today was my biggest excitement as I witnessed for the first time this morning the Domino Damsel "in" my True Carpet Anemone.

I think the magnificas are a challenge to keep although worth the effort.

Good luck!

[Finsky]

I would like to see some new pictures of the magnificas and BTAs.

[gb530]

sweet setup!!!

[gb530]

Really awesome tank! Thanks for the pics!

[no1fishman]

any photo update?

[BDN]

Wow took me about 2hours to read this thread that's cool