Selfish JBJ Nano 28 Build Thread - Page 4

chad p · 06/25/2012, 11:37 PM

I'm in SoCal heading home tomorrow. Thinking of picking up these tank mates at a LFS. I've been wanting a yellow clown goby for a while and the mandarin is HUGE and fat. The store owner says he's eating cyclops and brine shrimp. Might have to pull the trigger on them.

Can't figure how to add the photo so I'll do it later.

chad p · 06/27/2012, 02:05 PM

OK so here are the new additions. They were tank mates the the LFS down south.

Here's the mandarin in my tank. I had the store owner feed him before I picked him up and he ate frozen brine. Not a guarantee that he'll thrive in the tank by any means but it was at least a little reassuring.

I'm loving these guys and they seem super happy and comfortable after just being added last night. I love the little yellow clown goby. He stays perched on the rock but always seems to be on top and out in front. I'm not sure why I don't see these guys more in nanos. The fish store had some clown gobies that were a teal with purple stripes too that were awesome.

Looks like my tank is done as far as fish go. Or at least until I suffer some inevitable losses at some point.

The mandarin didn't show much interest in eating today but I'm going to keep trying to spot feed him with various foods.

Here's a shot of the tanks from the front. She's slowly taking shape.

The lights just turned on so the ricordea and frogspawn aren't opened up all the way.

chad p · 06/27/2012, 02:30 PM

Quick question for folks that I wanted to ask.

How many of you feed cyclops just as a general fish food?

The guy recommended it for the mandarin so I picked some up. I fed it today and the fish loved it but man...it's like a snowstorm. I'm sure that more ended up in the filter than the fish's bellies. One thing I like about it is that it gives all the fish plenty of time to get their share so that the clown isn't hogging it all.

Just wondered what people's opinions were of it.

chad p · 06/27/2012, 10:31 PM

Yellow clown goby likes to perch on my green ricordea. I love this little guy.

ange062 · 06/28/2012, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chad p

Quick question for folks that I wanted to ask.

How many of you feed cyclops just as a general fish food?

The guy recommended it for the mandarin so I picked some up. I fed it today and the fish loved it but man...it's like a snowstorm. I'm sure that more ended up in the filter than the fish's bellies. One thing I like about it is that it gives all the fish plenty of time to get their share so that the clown isn't hogging it all.

Just wondered what people's opinions were of it.

I do, and really like it. Corals will grab and eat it also which is a plus. Typically what I do is just add a little bit every 10-15 min, which gives everything a better chance of eating it before it's sucked into the overflow.

Really like the new fish! That mandarin IS fat!!

chad p · 06/28/2012, 01:14 PM

Thanks for the reply ange. The fish seemed to love the cyclops and it did disappear before too long.

Any tips on getting my mandarin to eat? It's only been one day but so far he hasn't shown much interest in tiny pellets or anything else. He has been picking a lot of stuff off of the rock so maybe he's just satisfied until he runs out of copepods.

And yes...he is fat. Look at his tail in this picture. Reminds me of a great white with how thick it is. He's huge too. I really dig this guy which is why I'm already nervous about being able to keep him fed successfully.

NMC · 06/28/2012, 01:15 PM

That little yellow clown goby is cute! I want a yellow fish down the road and was considering an assessor, but this guy is pretty cute. I read somewhere that they are known to nip at SPS corals. Do you have any SPS in there and have you noticed that to be an issue?

chad p · 06/28/2012, 01:41 PM

No SPS yet. Kinda bummed to hear that though. I hadn't read anything like that about them but I'll have to look into it now. I hope I don't have any issues because I do plan on adding SPS and I love this little guy. I did see 8 or 10 of these guys in a mixed reef (the one on page 3) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with a lot of SPS. Of course a place like that has the resources to just replace corals whenever they need to. If I have any problems with him and SPS I'll post it here so you can steer clear.

BTW, I got the fish at Fontana Tropical Fish on Sierra right off of the 10 fwy. Probably not worth the 20-30 minute trip for you because it's not the greatest store ever but they did have a few unusual fish. Pretty much zero corals for sale there.

NMC · 06/28/2012, 02:12 PM

Found this on LA's website:
overview
The Yellow Clown Goby is a cheerful addition to any marine aquarium. In addition to its vibrant body color, the active and peaceful Yellow Clown Goby is often seen perched on live rock or coral right out in the open or hovering in the water column in plain view for hobbyists to enjoy. Though the adult size is a mere 1-1/2" in length, the stocky shape and very large head gives the Yellow Clown Goby a quiet, yet commanding presence in the home aquarium.
Native to the reefs of the Indo-Pacific, Gobiodon okinawae usually congregates among soft and hard coral colonies. Since the Yellow Clown Goby is peaceful, it makes a wonderful addition to any reef aquarium containing colonies of polyp corals. Here, this member of the Gobiidae family will swim and perch amongst the polyps. Care needs to be taken, however, with SPS corals since the Yellow Clown Goby may nip at the smaller polyps.

For the best care, house single specimens in a 10 gallon or larger aquarium, preferably with branching coral to best recreate the natural habitat of the Yellow Clown Goby. It will rarely demonstrate aggression towards other fish, but will fight with its own kind especially in smaller aquarium systems. Therefore, it is best to keep the Yellow Clown Goby with other docile species.

It is common for the Yellow Clown Goby to spawn in an aquarium. Caution should be exercised if the aquarium contains Acropora sp. or similar SPS corals. The female Yellow Clown Goby will lay her eggs on the underside of the coral's branch, which will cause tissue recession in that area of the coral. However, under good conditions, the coral will regenerate the lost tissue.

The Yellow Clown Goby's diet should consist of a variety of brine shrimp, frozen mysis shrimp, table shrimp, and frozen food preparations for carnivores.

"nip at smaller polyps," not sure what "smaller" means. Smaller than a breadbox?

Thanks for the heads up on the fish store. Always looking for decent ones

chad p · 06/28/2012, 04:59 PM

Thanks NMC. After doing some more reading it sounds like they're generally "reef safe". Like the LA link says (thanks for that BTW) they tend to perch in coral which can wear on that spot. There won't be a mated pair so hopefully I won't have to worry about the egg laying issue.

People seem to say that even if they do nip from time to time it's usually not enough to do real damage. However, I'm definitely going to be starting my SPS with small frags and not large colonies so we'll see how it goes. I'll definitely update once I get some SPS in there which will hopefully be soon. Gotta find some time to head up to my favorite not-so-local fish store.

BTW, the fish store in Fontana is decent at best so keep that in mind before making the trip but if you happen to be out that way...

ange062 · 06/28/2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chad p

Thanks for the reply ange. The fish seemed to love the cyclops and it did disappear before too long.

Any tips on getting my mandarin to eat? It's only been one day but so far he hasn't shown much interest in tiny pellets or anything else. He has been picking a lot of stuff off of the rock so maybe he's just satisfied until he runs out of copepods.

And yes...he is fat. Look at his tail in this picture. Reminds me of a great white with how thick it is. He's huge too. I really dig this guy which is why I'm already nervous about being able to keep him fed successfully.

I'd say just keep trying to spot feed him with a turkey baster so that he gets used to seeing it, Yoshi took a few days to get "unscared" of mine. Now he gets all excited when he sees it and swims right up

It's normal for fish not to eat for a few days when in a new tank, I wouldn't worry just yet

chad p · 06/28/2012, 08:19 PM

Sounds good. I usually use a small syringe with some airline tubing on it for spot feeding but I think I'm going to start using the turkey baster. I think that way he can see it coming better.

Also, and this one may be a long shot but...I noticed that both of my cleaner shrimp have eggs. I'm wondering if they're able to carry them until they hatch if that may end up feeding my mandarin? Of course, it would only be a short term temporary food source but...

I remember you mentioning adding copepods...how many/often would it take to sustain one with copepod additions? There's a guy on ebay with good feedback who sells them for $9.99 shipped. He claims that there are 250 in the bag but also acknowledges that there's no way to count them. I'd be willing to buy those every couple of weeks if it would sustain this dude. Would I just be waisting my time though?

Anyways, hopefully I'm able to get this dude to grub and I won't need to even consider that. Thanks for your input BTW. Always appreciated.

chad p · 06/29/2012, 02:45 PM

I was able to feed my spotted mandarin today!! So siked! Probably a little more siked than a grown man should be over feeding a fish but...

I fed mysis shrimp and after putting a dab in for the general population I put some in a syringe mixed with tank water. The mandarin was perched on some rock and I just placed the tip of the airline tubing on the rock in front of him and pushed out some mysis. He immediately starting gobbling big pieces down.

I think the key is just finding a way to keep their food stationary long enough for them to eyeball it and decide that they want it. In the future I think I'm going to turn off the powerhead when I feed him. The rock did a good job of "holding" the mysis in place but sometimes he's on the sand and food won't stay put that long. Hopefully he'll learn the syringe and move in and take it without studying it so long at some point. Anyways, I'm glad that he's taking food for me. I don't mind spot feeding this guy daily in order to keep him fat and healthy. We'll see if I'm successful in the long run but I'm pretty optimistic at this point.

chad p · 07/03/2012, 04:08 PM

OK so just a quick update on a few minor changes to equipment for anyone who may read this down the line as they set up their own nano cube.

First, I moved my Eheim 300 for my phosban reactor from the left corner to the left corner under the skimmer inlet, similar to ange's I believe. I did this because I wanted to get more flow in the tank and turn over the display water more. This allowed me to put the original pump back in that corner for a return. The only problem is that now my media basket is on the verge of overflowing even after removing the chemi-pure. I think I may remove my bag with carbon and try running in the reactor with the GFO and hope that it doesn't grind to dust.

Also, I'm ordering another Eheim 300 to use for the ATO. The aqualifter just isn't cutting it. It's down to a drop every 5-8 seconds or so and even with the JBJ ATO safety timer adjusted it just can't keep up before pump is cut off. Aqualifters are pretty popular for this application but with the 3 to 4 feet lift needed I can't say that I recommend them for running an ATO unless the top off container is almost level with the display.

I also stopped by Vivid Aquariums in So Cal on Sunday and picked up a few small pieces of livestock. I got 2 different zoas, a couple nice ricordea polyps with baby blue and yellow in them, a small green torch coral and a nice frag of green acropora (don't know what kind). The pictures are horrible and don't do the colors justice but here's a few pics. In the future I'm going to start breaking out the Canon T1i for pics though I really need to invest in a macro lens.

BTW, I'm going to remove this epoxy and attach this frag with glue but I ran out of gel super glue.

Ricordea, you'll just have to take my word for it that it's got some nice color.

Zoas, yes...unfortunately the budget calls for one or two polyps at a time vs nice colonies.

I think the focus of my livestock is going to be acans, zoas, ricordea and SPS. I'm also pretty sure that I'm going to upgrade to a Kessil A350 sometime in the next few months.

chad p · 07/05/2012, 10:33 PM

Had to get rid of the emerald crab. I cought him pinching down on my new zoa polyp. I was wondering why I found it unglued and laying on the sand yesterday. I noticed that it was rarely open too since I added it to the tank. Then as I was feeding I saw that sucker pinch down on it with his pinchers and then take them to his mouth. He's in a container now until I can take him back to the LFS tomorrow. Hopefully they'll give me a little credit for him.

Feeding the spotted mandarin is going well. I've found that the best method has been one that I think I saw on youtube. I put in a half of a plastic water bottle and squirted a bunch of mysis shrimp in it. This way the food doesn't drift away and the mandarin has plenty of time to fill up. The only thing is that you sometimes have to fight off the hermits and cleaner shrimp while he grubs.

Here's a shot of him in the cafe.

ange062 · 07/05/2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chad p

I was able to feed my spotted mandarin today!! So siked! Probably a little more siked than a grown man should be over feeding a fish but...

I fed mysis shrimp and after putting a dab in for the general population I put some in a syringe mixed with tank water. The mandarin was perched on some rock and I just placed the tip of the airline tubing on the rock in front of him and pushed out some mysis. He immediately starting gobbling big pieces down.

I think the key is just finding a way to keep their food stationary long enough for them to eyeball it and decide that they want it. In the future I think I'm going to turn off the powerhead when I feed him. The rock did a good job of "holding" the mysis in place but sometimes he's on the sand and food won't stay put that long. Hopefully he'll learn the syringe and move in and take it without studying it so long at some point. Anyways, I'm glad that he's taking food for me. I don't mind spot feeding this guy daily in order to keep him fat and healthy. We'll see if I'm successful in the long run but I'm pretty optimistic at this point.

Agree about stationary food, I try to minimize flow in the tank when I spot feed Yoshi to give him time to analyze and eat, just as you said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chad p

OK so just a quick update on a few minor changes to equipment for anyone who may read this down the line as they set up their own nano cube.

First, I moved my Eheim 300 for my phosban reactor from the left corner to the left corner under the skimmer inlet, similar to ange's I believe. I did this because I wanted to get more flow in the tank and turn over the display water more. This allowed me to put the original pump back in that corner for a return. The only problem is that now my media basket is on the verge of overflowing even after removing the chemi-pure. I think I may remove my bag with carbon and try running in the reactor with the GFO and hope that it doesn't grind to dust.

Also, I'm ordering another Eheim 300 to use for the ATO. The aqualifter just isn't cutting it. It's down to a drop every 5-8 seconds or so and even with the JBJ ATO safety timer adjusted it just can't keep up before pump is cut off. Aqualifters are pretty popular for this application but with the 3 to 4 feet lift needed I can't say that I recommend them for running an ATO unless the top off container is almost level with the display.

I also stopped by Vivid Aquariums in So Cal on Sunday and picked up a few small pieces of livestock. I got 2 different zoas, a couple nice ricordea polyps with baby blue and yellow in them, a small green torch coral and a nice frag of green acropora (don't know what kind). The pictures are horrible and don't do the colors justice but here's a few pics. In the future I'm going to start breaking out the Canon T1i for pics though I really need to invest in a macro lens.

BTW, I'm going to remove this epoxy and attach this frag with glue but I ran out of gel super glue.
Ricordea, you'll just have to take my word for it that it's got some nice color.

Zoas, yes...unfortunately the budget calls for one or two polyps at a time vs nice colonies.

I think the focus of my livestock is going to be acans, zoas, ricordea and SPS. I'm also pretty sure that I'm going to upgrade to a Kessil A350 sometime in the next few months.

That's exactly like I have the Eheim setup, and agree it puts a burden on the flow. I only use floss in my basket and have to switch it out every other day so that it can keep up. Frags look good! And zoas grow fast, so don't worry about only 1-2 polyps...

Quote:

Originally Posted by chad p

Had to get rid of the emerald crab. I cought him pinching down on my new zoa polyp. I was wondering why I found it unglued and laying on the sand yesterday. I noticed that it was rarely open too since I added it to the tank. Then as I was feeding I saw that sucker pinch down on it with his pinchers and then take them to his mouth. He's in a container now until I can take him back to the LFS tomorrow. Hopefully they'll give me a little credit for him.

Feeding the spotted mandarin is going well. I've found that the best method has been one that I think I saw on youtube. I put in a half of a plastic water bottle and squirted a bunch of mysis shrimp in it. This way the food doesn't drift away and the mandarin has plenty of time to fill up. The only thing is that you sometimes have to fight off the hermits and cleaner shrimp while he grubs.

Here's a shot of him in the cafe.

Emeralds are notorious, though mine has never really been much trouble. I think the key is keeping them well fed and they will leave things alone.

And that's a sweet idea on the mandarin cafe, I'm going to try that!

chad p · 07/05/2012, 11:39 PM

Thanks ange. I would spot feed that dumb emerald whenever he'd come out during feeding too! Yet he still felt the need to try to munch on my zoas!

I'm just glad I was able to catch him doing it now before he did too much damage. I plan on adding some colorful zoas and we all know that they're crazy pricey.

funi42 · 07/07/2012, 09:25 PM

I have a similar tank, just wanted to say thanks and great thread!

chad p · 07/07/2012, 10:15 PM

You got it and thanks for the compliment. I was out of the hobby for a while and reading so many of the awesome build threads helped me a ton! Just wanting to pass it on I guess...and ask a few "dumb" questions while I'm at it.

I'm trying to be fairly detailed about what I'm doing and changes I'm making and why along with what's working and what isn't. I know some will be bored by it but I also know that it will be helpful to others who are building up similar tanks. Glad you're liking it!!

Got some nice frags on order so I'll update with some pics in the next few days.

chad p · 07/10/2012, 07:39 PM

OK so before I get to my corals that came in today I've got to clarify my ATO issue. As I said before, the aqualifter pump just wasn't cutting it. I moved my top off container almost level with my tank and it still couldn't keep up with evaporation and water lost to the skimmer.

Here's the embarrising part...I ordered an Eheim 300 to replace it. I set it all up and it wasn't sending any water up. I pulled everything out and took it to the sink to see if the pump was working. It was working as it should, which meant that it was pushing water up the hose about 15-18" and then pooping out. What was I thinking? There's no way that pump was going to cut it.

As a temporary fix I swapped one of the stock return pumps with the Eheim and it works perfectly. Plenty of flow to top it off quickly without adding too much before it's shut off by the ATO. So I guess based on my experience, for a nano cube on a stock stand with the top off water under the tank a good flow for the top off pump is 250-300 gph or so. Unfortunately it meant I had to switch the container from my 5 gallon jug to a file holder that only holds 3 gallons. Should last a tad over a week though so not bad.

Anyways, now for the fun stuff. I was browsing the bay and I found a fairly local seller who had some pretty sweet corals and the shipping was more than fair so I put in a bid on some. I ended up picking up a mini colony of eagle eye zoas, 3 acan frags and an awesome little brain coral. I broke out the Canon T1i but for the life of me I couldn't get a decent shot. Time to invest in a macro lens.

So on that note, here's a few cruddy iPhone pics.

Eagle Eye zoas:

Acans. The pics don't do the colors justice and I think they're still not too happy. They've only been in the tank a couple hours. Still gotta decide where I want to mount them:

Here's my favorite coral up to this point. This thing has beautiful color with teal along the edges and purple with orange in the center. It's brighter in person but it's kind of weird, it's changed to a darker, less vibrant coloring since I put it in and took this picture. I'm hoping that it's just getting adjusted. If it stays this way I'll slowly move it up and see if it's wanting more light. It's in a real low light spot so I'm thinking that'll be my first thing to pinpoint. It's still beautiful even more dull, it's just more pink/purple without the nice teal and orange.

scubacane · 07/11/2012, 06:15 PM

chad p- what is your evaporation rate? Also how is your temp holding up without a chiller?
I have had same tank with HQI hood- 186 watts x 4 years. I just ordered a kessil350 that should be here next week and am psyched to go lidless and cooler. I am hoping that I will be able to ditch my chiller that I have needed with the metal halide bulb however I am concerned that I will have issues with evaporation now that I am lidless. Plan to do manual top offs unless it gets ridiculous

scubacane · 07/11/2012, 06:16 PM

I went with 350 after talking with kessil rep- I have lots of SPS

chad p · 07/11/2012, 07:16 PM

Hey scubacane, I'm kind of wishing that I went with the 350 straight away but oh well. Everything seems pretty happy under the a150 but I don't want to wonder if I could be getting better growth and/or color. Plus I like the idea of being able to fine tune the spectrum. I was never a big fan of real blue look in the tank but I'd like to be able to get a more blue look at times to really make the colors pop.

You mounting yours with the gooseneck?

I love being lidless but I think the evaporation rate will get old for you. While you might not lose a ton of water you'll have a hard time keeping up and your salinity will yo yo a little. I'm sure you could get away only topping off once a day without scavenging your return pumps but your stability would suffer. I got a used JBJ ATO on craigslist for $40 and I couldn't be happier. Once it's set up you don't have to think about it and it's so nice not to worry about topping off all the time. Highly recommend one whether you go with the JBJ or Tunze or whatever.

As for running without a chiller, that will just depend on the ambient temp in your house. The light mounted over an open top definitely won't cause you to have to run one. Living in the Monterey Bay area my house never really gets over the low to mid 70s so I don't need one. My temp is about 79.3 first thing in the morning and 80.1 to 80.3 when the lights go out. I'm sure the slight rise in temp is due to room temp, not the light.

Good luck with the light and let me know how it works out and how your SPS like it.

chad p · 08/07/2012, 09:37 PM

OK so I finally upgraded from the Kessil A150 sky blue to the A350. I like the new light but interestingly, unless you crank it up to 100% it doesn't appear much brighter than the A150 to me at least. I'm starting with it at about 50% white and 40% blue and I'll slowly crank it up over the next couple of weeks. Here's how she looks over the NC.

I also got a new piece of purple acropora and a couple new ricordea. My ricordea rock is coming along and I can't wait for it to fill in. iPhone pics don't do them justice but I'm really happy with the rics I've picked up. I've got some nice green, orange, baby blue, teal, purple etc in them.

The tank still has a long way to go. I want to add a few more pieces of SPS, some more acros, zoas and maybe another nice piece of euphylia. I'm also planning on adding an MP10 to replace my Koralia soon. That'll probably be my next big purchase.

Everything has been really smooth with the tank so far. The ich issue I had a while back is completely gone. For quite a while only the royal gramma showed symptoms but he's been symptom free for quite a while. I've been happy with the reactor running GFO and carbon together. No more diatoms and I rarely have to clean my glass.

I wanted to share a little tip I figured out on accident for feeding the mandarin for anyone who may be interested. I showed the mandarin cafe earlier where you use a water bottle or jar or something to feed the mandarin in. It's worked well but I found one little alteration that seems to help. When I'd put food in the water bottle or cup the fish would get some but a lot of it would flow out as the fish gobbled and his fins fluttered moving the water inside. I found that if you put some sand inside the cup and sort of inject the food into the sand it allows the fish to pick it out and it's held in place a little bit more. Anyways, just a tip for people trying to keep mandarins on prepared foods. I went on vacation for a week and I had a girl feed my fish while I was gone but I could tell he didn't eat as well while I was gone and now I feel like I'm playing catch up a bit trying to fatten him up again. He continues to eat well though so I'm still hopeful that he'll be fine in the long run.

bockscar1 · 08/12/2012, 06:19 PM

Chad, Ange, and everyone I want to thank you for all the information you folks put on these forums.

As someone who has done this before but been on a long hiatus from this beautiful hobby you get information overload on items you should have, and run.

You folks pretty much got me going GFO, HOB-1, and now Kessil A350w. Thank you again folks I really appreciate it.

06/27/2012, 02:05 PM	#77
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	OK so here are the new additions. They were tank mates the the LFS down south. Here's the mandarin in my tank. I had the store owner feed him before I picked him up and he ate frozen brine. Not a guarantee that he'll thrive in the tank by any means but it was at least a little reassuring. I'm loving these guys and they seem super happy and comfortable after just being added last night. I love the little yellow clown goby. He stays perched on the rock but always seems to be on top and out in front. I'm not sure why I don't see these guys more in nanos. The fish store had some clown gobies that were a teal with purple stripes too that were awesome. Looks like my tank is done as far as fish go. Or at least until I suffer some inevitable losses at some point. The mandarin didn't show much interest in eating today but I'm going to keep trying to spot feed him with various foods. Here's a shot of the tanks from the front. She's slowly taking shape. The lights just turned on so the ricordea and frogspawn aren't opened up all the way. Last edited by chad p; 06/27/2012 at 02:11 PM.

06/28/2012, 01:15 PM	#82
NMC Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: West Covina, CA Posts: 311	That little yellow clown goby is cute! I want a yellow fish down the road and was considering an assessor, but this guy is pretty cute. I read somewhere that they are known to nip at SPS corals. Do you have any SPS in there and have you noticed that to be an issue? __________________ 28g Nano Cube LED Current Tank Info: 28g Nano Cube LED, AquaMaxx HOB 1, In Tank Media Basket, MP10, stock pumps, Apex Lite

06/28/2012, 02:12 PM	#84
NMC Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: West Covina, CA Posts: 311	Found this on LA's website: overview The Yellow Clown Goby is a cheerful addition to any marine aquarium. In addition to its vibrant body color, the active and peaceful Yellow Clown Goby is often seen perched on live rock or coral right out in the open or hovering in the water column in plain view for hobbyists to enjoy. Though the adult size is a mere 1-1/2" in length, the stocky shape and very large head gives the Yellow Clown Goby a quiet, yet commanding presence in the home aquarium. Native to the reefs of the Indo-Pacific, Gobiodon okinawae usually congregates among soft and hard coral colonies. Since the Yellow Clown Goby is peaceful, it makes a wonderful addition to any reef aquarium containing colonies of polyp corals. Here, this member of the Gobiidae family will swim and perch amongst the polyps. Care needs to be taken, however, with SPS corals since the Yellow Clown Goby may nip at the smaller polyps. For the best care, house single specimens in a 10 gallon or larger aquarium, preferably with branching coral to best recreate the natural habitat of the Yellow Clown Goby. It will rarely demonstrate aggression towards other fish, but will fight with its own kind especially in smaller aquarium systems. Therefore, it is best to keep the Yellow Clown Goby with other docile species. It is common for the Yellow Clown Goby to spawn in an aquarium. Caution should be exercised if the aquarium contains Acropora sp. or similar SPS corals. The female Yellow Clown Goby will lay her eggs on the underside of the coral's branch, which will cause tissue recession in that area of the coral. However, under good conditions, the coral will regenerate the lost tissue. The Yellow Clown Goby's diet should consist of a variety of brine shrimp, frozen mysis shrimp, table shrimp, and frozen food preparations for carnivores. "nip at smaller polyps," not sure what "smaller" means. Smaller than a breadbox? Thanks for the heads up on the fish store. Always looking for decent ones __________________ 28g Nano Cube LED Current Tank Info: 28g Nano Cube LED, AquaMaxx HOB 1, In Tank Media Basket, MP10, stock pumps, Apex Lite

07/07/2012, 09:25 PM	#93
funi42 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: naples Posts: 23	I have a similar tank, just wanted to say thanks and great thread! __________________ reefer

07/10/2012, 07:39 PM	#95
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Minor Livestock Update OK so before I get to my corals that came in today I've got to clarify my ATO issue. As I said before, the aqualifter pump just wasn't cutting it. I moved my top off container almost level with my tank and it still couldn't keep up with evaporation and water lost to the skimmer. Here's the embarrising part...I ordered an Eheim 300 to replace it. I set it all up and it wasn't sending any water up. I pulled everything out and took it to the sink to see if the pump was working. It was working as it should, which meant that it was pushing water up the hose about 15-18" and then pooping out. What was I thinking? There's no way that pump was going to cut it. As a temporary fix I swapped one of the stock return pumps with the Eheim and it works perfectly. Plenty of flow to top it off quickly without adding too much before it's shut off by the ATO. So I guess based on my experience, for a nano cube on a stock stand with the top off water under the tank a good flow for the top off pump is 250-300 gph or so. Unfortunately it meant I had to switch the container from my 5 gallon jug to a file holder that only holds 3 gallons. Should last a tad over a week though so not bad. Anyways, now for the fun stuff. I was browsing the bay and I found a fairly local seller who had some pretty sweet corals and the shipping was more than fair so I put in a bid on some. I ended up picking up a mini colony of eagle eye zoas, 3 acan frags and an awesome little brain coral. I broke out the Canon T1i but for the life of me I couldn't get a decent shot. Time to invest in a macro lens. So on that note, here's a few cruddy iPhone pics. Eagle Eye zoas: Acans. The pics don't do the colors justice and I think they're still not too happy. They've only been in the tank a couple hours. Still gotta decide where I want to mount them: Here's my favorite coral up to this point. This thing has beautiful color with teal along the edges and purple with orange in the center. It's brighter in person but it's kind of weird, it's changed to a darker, less vibrant coloring since I put it in and took this picture. I'm hoping that it's just getting adjusted. If it stays this way I'll slowly move it up and see if it's wanting more light. It's in a real low light spot so I'm thinking that'll be my first thing to pinpoint. It's still beautiful even more dull, it's just more pink/purple without the nice teal and orange.

06/25/2012, 11:37 PM	#76
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	I'm in SoCal heading home tomorrow. Thinking of picking up these tank mates at a LFS. I've been wanting a yellow clown goby for a while and the mandarin is HUGE and fat. The store owner says he's eating cyclops and brine shrimp. Might have to pull the trigger on them. Can't figure how to add the photo so I'll do it later.

06/27/2012, 02:30 PM	#78
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Quick question for folks that I wanted to ask. How many of you feed cyclops just as a general fish food? The guy recommended it for the mandarin so I picked some up. I fed it today and the fish loved it but man...it's like a snowstorm. I'm sure that more ended up in the filter than the fish's bellies. One thing I like about it is that it gives all the fish plenty of time to get their share so that the clown isn't hogging it all. Just wondered what people's opinions were of it.

06/27/2012, 10:31 PM	#79
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Yellow clown goby likes to perch on my green ricordea. I love this little guy.

06/28/2012, 01:14 PM	#81
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Thanks for the reply ange. The fish seemed to love the cyclops and it did disappear before too long. Any tips on getting my mandarin to eat? It's only been one day but so far he hasn't shown much interest in tiny pellets or anything else. He has been picking a lot of stuff off of the rock so maybe he's just satisfied until he runs out of copepods. And yes...he is fat. Look at his tail in this picture. Reminds me of a great white with how thick it is. He's huge too. I really dig this guy which is why I'm already nervous about being able to keep him fed successfully.

06/28/2012, 01:41 PM	#83
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	No SPS yet. Kinda bummed to hear that though. I hadn't read anything like that about them but I'll have to look into it now. I hope I don't have any issues because I do plan on adding SPS and I love this little guy. I did see 8 or 10 of these guys in a mixed reef (the one on page 3) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with a lot of SPS. Of course a place like that has the resources to just replace corals whenever they need to. If I have any problems with him and SPS I'll post it here so you can steer clear. BTW, I got the fish at Fontana Tropical Fish on Sierra right off of the 10 fwy. Probably not worth the 20-30 minute trip for you because it's not the greatest store ever but they did have a few unusual fish. Pretty much zero corals for sale there.

06/28/2012, 04:59 PM	#85
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Thanks NMC. After doing some more reading it sounds like they're generally "reef safe". Like the LA link says (thanks for that BTW) they tend to perch in coral which can wear on that spot. There won't be a mated pair so hopefully I won't have to worry about the egg laying issue. People seem to say that even if they do nip from time to time it's usually not enough to do real damage. However, I'm definitely going to be starting my SPS with small frags and not large colonies so we'll see how it goes. I'll definitely update once I get some SPS in there which will hopefully be soon. Gotta find some time to head up to my favorite not-so-local fish store. BTW, the fish store in Fontana is decent at best so keep that in mind before making the trip but if you happen to be out that way...

06/28/2012, 08:19 PM	#87
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Sounds good. I usually use a small syringe with some airline tubing on it for spot feeding but I think I'm going to start using the turkey baster. I think that way he can see it coming better. Also, and this one may be a long shot but...I noticed that both of my cleaner shrimp have eggs. I'm wondering if they're able to carry them until they hatch if that may end up feeding my mandarin? Of course, it would only be a short term temporary food source but... I remember you mentioning adding copepods...how many/often would it take to sustain one with copepod additions? There's a guy on ebay with good feedback who sells them for $9.99 shipped. He claims that there are 250 in the bag but also acknowledges that there's no way to count them. I'd be willing to buy those every couple of weeks if it would sustain this dude. Would I just be waisting my time though? Anyways, hopefully I'm able to get this dude to grub and I won't need to even consider that. Thanks for your input BTW. Always appreciated.

06/29/2012, 02:45 PM	#88
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	I was able to feed my spotted mandarin today!! So siked! Probably a little more siked than a grown man should be over feeding a fish but... I fed mysis shrimp and after putting a dab in for the general population I put some in a syringe mixed with tank water. The mandarin was perched on some rock and I just placed the tip of the airline tubing on the rock in front of him and pushed out some mysis. He immediately starting gobbling big pieces down. I think the key is just finding a way to keep their food stationary long enough for them to eyeball it and decide that they want it. In the future I think I'm going to turn off the powerhead when I feed him. The rock did a good job of "holding" the mysis in place but sometimes he's on the sand and food won't stay put that long. Hopefully he'll learn the syringe and move in and take it without studying it so long at some point. Anyways, I'm glad that he's taking food for me. I don't mind spot feeding this guy daily in order to keep him fat and healthy. We'll see if I'm successful in the long run but I'm pretty optimistic at this point.

07/03/2012, 04:08 PM	#89
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	OK so just a quick update on a few minor changes to equipment for anyone who may read this down the line as they set up their own nano cube. First, I moved my Eheim 300 for my phosban reactor from the left corner to the left corner under the skimmer inlet, similar to ange's I believe. I did this because I wanted to get more flow in the tank and turn over the display water more. This allowed me to put the original pump back in that corner for a return. The only problem is that now my media basket is on the verge of overflowing even after removing the chemi-pure. I think I may remove my bag with carbon and try running in the reactor with the GFO and hope that it doesn't grind to dust. Also, I'm ordering another Eheim 300 to use for the ATO. The aqualifter just isn't cutting it. It's down to a drop every 5-8 seconds or so and even with the JBJ ATO safety timer adjusted it just can't keep up before pump is cut off. Aqualifters are pretty popular for this application but with the 3 to 4 feet lift needed I can't say that I recommend them for running an ATO unless the top off container is almost level with the display. I also stopped by Vivid Aquariums in So Cal on Sunday and picked up a few small pieces of livestock. I got 2 different zoas, a couple nice ricordea polyps with baby blue and yellow in them, a small green torch coral and a nice frag of green acropora (don't know what kind). The pictures are horrible and don't do the colors justice but here's a few pics. In the future I'm going to start breaking out the Canon T1i for pics though I really need to invest in a macro lens. BTW, I'm going to remove this epoxy and attach this frag with glue but I ran out of gel super glue. Ricordea, you'll just have to take my word for it that it's got some nice color. Zoas, yes...unfortunately the budget calls for one or two polyps at a time vs nice colonies. I think the focus of my livestock is going to be acans, zoas, ricordea and SPS. I'm also pretty sure that I'm going to upgrade to a Kessil A350 sometime in the next few months.

07/05/2012, 10:33 PM	#90
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Had to get rid of the emerald crab. I cought him pinching down on my new zoa polyp. I was wondering why I found it unglued and laying on the sand yesterday. I noticed that it was rarely open too since I added it to the tank. Then as I was feeding I saw that sucker pinch down on it with his pinchers and then take them to his mouth. He's in a container now until I can take him back to the LFS tomorrow. Hopefully they'll give me a little credit for him. Feeding the spotted mandarin is going well. I've found that the best method has been one that I think I saw on youtube. I put in a half of a plastic water bottle and squirted a bunch of mysis shrimp in it. This way the food doesn't drift away and the mandarin has plenty of time to fill up. The only thing is that you sometimes have to fight off the hermits and cleaner shrimp while he grubs. Here's a shot of him in the cafe.

07/05/2012, 11:39 PM	#92
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Thanks ange. I would spot feed that dumb emerald whenever he'd come out during feeding too! Yet he still felt the need to try to munch on my zoas! I'm just glad I was able to catch him doing it now before he did too much damage. I plan on adding some colorful zoas and we all know that they're crazy pricey.

07/07/2012, 10:15 PM	#94
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	You got it and thanks for the compliment. I was out of the hobby for a while and reading so many of the awesome build threads helped me a ton! Just wanting to pass it on I guess...and ask a few "dumb" questions while I'm at it. I'm trying to be fairly detailed about what I'm doing and changes I'm making and why along with what's working and what isn't. I know some will be bored by it but I also know that it will be helpful to others who are building up similar tanks. Glad you're liking it!! Got some nice frags on order so I'll update with some pics in the next few days.

07/11/2012, 06:15 PM	#96
scubacane Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 24	chad p- what is your evaporation rate? Also how is your temp holding up without a chiller? I have had same tank with HQI hood- 186 watts x 4 years. I just ordered a kessil350 that should be here next week and am psyched to go lidless and cooler. I am hoping that I will be able to ditch my chiller that I have needed with the metal halide bulb however I am concerned that I will have issues with evaporation now that I am lidless. Plan to do manual top offs unless it gets ridiculous

07/11/2012, 06:16 PM	#97
scubacane Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 24	I went with 350 after talking with kessil rep- I have lots of SPS

07/11/2012, 07:16 PM	#98
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	Hey scubacane, I'm kind of wishing that I went with the 350 straight away but oh well. Everything seems pretty happy under the a150 but I don't want to wonder if I could be getting better growth and/or color. Plus I like the idea of being able to fine tune the spectrum. I was never a big fan of real blue look in the tank but I'd like to be able to get a more blue look at times to really make the colors pop. You mounting yours with the gooseneck? I love being lidless but I think the evaporation rate will get old for you. While you might not lose a ton of water you'll have a hard time keeping up and your salinity will yo yo a little. I'm sure you could get away only topping off once a day without scavenging your return pumps but your stability would suffer. I got a used JBJ ATO on craigslist for $40 and I couldn't be happier. Once it's set up you don't have to think about it and it's so nice not to worry about topping off all the time. Highly recommend one whether you go with the JBJ or Tunze or whatever. As for running without a chiller, that will just depend on the ambient temp in your house. The light mounted over an open top definitely won't cause you to have to run one. Living in the Monterey Bay area my house never really gets over the low to mid 70s so I don't need one. My temp is about 79.3 first thing in the morning and 80.1 to 80.3 when the lights go out. I'm sure the slight rise in temp is due to room temp, not the light. Good luck with the light and let me know how it works out and how your SPS like it.

08/07/2012, 09:37 PM	#99
chad p Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Monterey Bay, Ca. Posts: 320	New Light, Mandarin Cafe renovation etc! OK so I finally upgraded from the Kessil A150 sky blue to the A350. I like the new light but interestingly, unless you crank it up to 100% it doesn't appear much brighter than the A150 to me at least. I'm starting with it at about 50% white and 40% blue and I'll slowly crank it up over the next couple of weeks. Here's how she looks over the NC. I also got a new piece of purple acropora and a couple new ricordea. My ricordea rock is coming along and I can't wait for it to fill in. iPhone pics don't do them justice but I'm really happy with the rics I've picked up. I've got some nice green, orange, baby blue, teal, purple etc in them. The tank still has a long way to go. I want to add a few more pieces of SPS, some more acros, zoas and maybe another nice piece of euphylia. I'm also planning on adding an MP10 to replace my Koralia soon. That'll probably be my next big purchase. Everything has been really smooth with the tank so far. The ich issue I had a while back is completely gone. For quite a while only the royal gramma showed symptoms but he's been symptom free for quite a while. I've been happy with the reactor running GFO and carbon together. No more diatoms and I rarely have to clean my glass. I wanted to share a little tip I figured out on accident for feeding the mandarin for anyone who may be interested. I showed the mandarin cafe earlier where you use a water bottle or jar or something to feed the mandarin in. It's worked well but I found one little alteration that seems to help. When I'd put food in the water bottle or cup the fish would get some but a lot of it would flow out as the fish gobbled and his fins fluttered moving the water inside. I found that if you put some sand inside the cup and sort of inject the food into the sand it allows the fish to pick it out and it's held in place a little bit more. Anyways, just a tip for people trying to keep mandarins on prepared foods. I went on vacation for a week and I had a girl feed my fish while I was gone but I could tell he didn't eat as well while I was gone and now I feel like I'm playing catch up a bit trying to fatten him up again. He continues to eat well though so I'm still hopeful that he'll be fine in the long run.

08/12/2012, 06:19 PM	#100
bockscar1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Nevada Posts: 10	Chad, Ange, and everyone I want to thank you for all the information you folks put on these forums. As someone who has done this before but been on a long hiatus from this beautiful hobby you get information overload on items you should have, and run. You folks pretty much got me going GFO, HOB-1, and now Kessil A350w. Thank you again folks I really appreciate it.