CT 265 Build

[ca1ore]

Quick update ....

Added a quartet of pyramid butterflyfish that I had been nursing through QT. They are integrating nicely. Used a DIY acclimation box, which the resident fish completely ignored.



Also added my male bipartitus wrasse and that's not been going quite so well. My hippo tang, of all things, is giving the leopard quite a hard time.

At 26 fish, with an Achilles and naso in QT, I think I am reaching the limit for fish in this tank. The use of heavy skimming, 10% WC every two weeks and a large, dual-sided ATS is keeping nitrates at essentially zero, so no crisis yet, but I am feeding quite a lot each day.

[worm5406]

Nice... and I bet you are.

Thanks for the update.

I think we see a need to upgrade...

[ca1ore]

I think this is about as much tank as I can handle (though your addition of a 120 to your system has me thinking about the 90 that is sitting in my garage). Seems the old adage about storage space ('the amount of crap you keep will expand to fill the available storage space') applies to reef tanks also. I have managed to maintain the open look, though most would probably offer me a strait jacket for putting 26 fish even in a 265.

[worm5406]

LOL... think of it as a side room.

LOL

[ca1ore]

I have kept my prior 90 (partly because it has essentially no resale value) with the intention of making it into a FOWLR for those fish I couldn't keep in the reef. Had been undecided whether to plumb it into the same system as the reef, thus saving a bit on equipment duplication, or running it separately. Regardless, for now, in the interest of trying to maintains some sanity with the tanks, that FOWLR project remains on hold. I had also considered using the 90 as a large refugium, though again, not exactly keeping things simple!

[worm5406]

I did the same thing when I upgraded to the 180. But I did it because I knew I would want to add it into the mix. LOL

I drilled 5 holes in it last week, put the bulkhead sittings in it, and water tested and cleaned it out again and again.

Now this week/or next week I am going to plumb it in.

I hope to hear about some already live tonga/fiji branch and get this job done!!!

What are you waiting on?

[RJT]

Great looking tank.

It's really odd that the hippo tang is bothering the male leopard. Can you catch the hippo and put him in the acclimation box?

[ca1ore]

I haver tried and the hippo is just too fast. Curious thing is that I also have a female Meleagris leopard in the tank and she is left alone.

[RJT]

It's unlikely and very odd but maybe all of the other fish are female except for the hippo and leopard.

I had a similar situation when my otherwise peaceful lieutenant tang was constantly attacking one of my exquisite wrasses. I think that wrasse was cyanide caught because he was never quite right and died a few weeks later but not from the tang attacks. There wasn't a mark on him.

[ca1ore]

There is a male Dusky wrasse in the tank, but he is too busy fighting with my clowns at the moment (trying to sneak a few of their eggs me thinks). I guess time will tell with the hippo. The good news is that the male bipart continues to eat, and has actually decided that NLS pellets are acceptable.

[RJT]

Excellent! A leopard eating pellets have most of the way safe and acclimated. Good job

The dusky must be a pretty good size for the clowns not to kill em

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by RJT

The dusky must be a pretty good size for the clowns not to kill em

He is - probably almost 5". You can see him on the right side of my last photo here (though out of focus). Yesterday he and the bigger clown (female probably) were 'body slamming' each other every time he attempted to get close to where they have deposited their most recent set of eggs.

My only concern, really, with the new leopard is whether he will manage OK in a fairly aggressive and boisterous tank. Female meleagris did fine, so precedent exists, but he is quite a bit more timid.

[ca1ore]

At the three month mark ......



Very pleased overall at how the tank has settled in. My sons counted last night and is actually 29 fish (27 in the display and 2 in the refugium). Did have one of my vortech pumps 'throw a prop', but the $20 wetside health kit has returned it to as-new performance.

It is funny, after so many years in the hobby this is the first time I have actually kept a hippo tang. Never particularly liked them and was concerned about their propensity for skin problems. What I am finding, however, is that as this fish gets past 6 inches it is becoming quite the antagonist - and with my wrasses particularly. The hippo spends much of its day chasing around my 5 inch dusky wrasse, and as I noted earlier, is giving my male leopard a hard time. May be a rehoming in its future (if I can catch it).



This is the only picture I have from my prior 180 tank (circa 2006 or 2007) but I am quite amazed at how much better the 265 looks. OK, this 180 had been running for a while, and had been gradually losing the battle to green hair algae. Is an interesting comparison because that tank had a much larger skimmer and a much lower fish population, yet nitrate levels were very high. I did not run either an algal turf scrubber, chaeto or GFO though, so perhaps those things are the difference.

As a final note to three months in: after almost completely losing my chaeto to, presumably, competition for nutrients with the scrubber; it has rebounded from a few forlorn strands to very robust growth. Water quality measures still read nitrates and phosphates at zero, but clearly something has changed. I am now removing a large clump every two weeks.

[ca1ore]

Male leopard sighting today ......



Not looking quite as beat up as before. More colorful under flash than normal tank light.

[ca1ore]

Hit the first major road bump ..... occasional spots on the Hippo have resolved themselves into a full blown case of ich. No other fish have it, but unsure of how I will proceed.

In the meantime, here are a couple of shots of my fish-room sump.

[nadinemccarthy]

Beautiful tank.

[ca1ore]

Four month mark .....



Above photo is morning illumination level. Below, Naso is the only new fish in the tank this past month; green slimmer acro the only new invert.



Male bipartitus leopard wrasse has established himself pretty well - females remain in the fuge to put on a bit of size. Clowns are regularly laying eggs - you can see the current batch just behind the right uppermost butterflyfish. Fish population is pretty close to being maxed out. I still have an Achilles Tang in QT, and would like to add a trio of bimac anthias, and perhaps a few flasher/fairy wrasses, but that will be about it! FWIW, pyramid butterflyfish are generally reef safe, though they have eaten most of the Xenia in the tank.

Also have enough corals at this point, they just need to grow up into the water column a bit (particularly the green slimmer). I still plan to add a few more clams. Just the two squammys at this point, so a couple of colourful Maximas and, if they ever become available again, a small Gigas.

[ca1ore]

High noon .....



GSP is spreading to the point where it is going to require some trimming. Will cut it back by a couple of inches and transplant to the rocks covering the right side overflow.

[Newbie Aquarist]

Your tank is coming along very well. Love the school of pyramids.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

Your tank is coming along very well. Love the school of pyramids.

Thanks! Building a fish population is a bit like playing craps in Vegas! One more fish, then another ..... then a bad 'roll' wipes 'em all out Key is to know when to stop!

[Newbie Aquarist]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Thanks! Building a fish population is a bit like playing craps in Vegas! One more fish, then another ..... then a bad 'roll' wipes 'em all out Key is to know when to stop!

You are telling the truth.

[skiwez]

Hi ca1ore,

What did you decide to do about the Hippo?

Great tank and fish selection.

I'm currently of the process of filling my tank with life, fish corals, inverts and am interested with how you will proceed. Don't want to derail your thread, but current "conventional wisdom" would say remove all fish QT everything again and let go fallow.

I don't quite believe that the best course of action, but I also don't want to fuel the flames on your tank build.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by skiwez

Hi ca1ore,

What did you decide to do about the Hippo?

Great tank and fish selection.

I'm currently of the process of filling my tank with life, fish corals, inverts and am interested with how you will proceed. Don't want to derail your thread, but current "conventional wisdom" would say remove all fish QT everything again and let go fallow.

I don't quite believe that the best course of action, but I also don't want to fuel the flames on your tank build.

No, it's an excellent question .. to which I don't have an excellent answer .....

The hippo has been showing up with periodic spots now for quite a while (probably 2-3 months), and while it did flare up a bit more than usual a week or so ago, I tried using Dr. G Anti-Parasite Caviar, which, for now, seems to have calmed symptoms. No other fish have shown any symptoms. Pretty clear that I do have ich in my tank though!

So, for now I will just 'manage' it through a combination of heavy UV and skimming, excellent water quality, and judicious use of the anti-parasite food. I say judicious, because it contains chloroquine phosphate which will do a job on your inverts if you aren't careful. I don't discount the possibility (probability) that I may eventually have to remove all the fish to a treatment tank and fallow the main display, but that will be a major logistical effort that I would really like to avoid, so we will see (I am seeding a significant amount of biomedia in the sump just in case).

The Naso that I recently added had been in my QT system for 12 weeks and really needed to be freed from the confines of a 20L. Not ideal to add it to a likely infected tank, however, the alternative of keeping it in QT seemed even less appealing. The other fish I have in QT, an Achilles Tang, is in a 30L setup as a full reef tank (the AT is through all meds, so just now fattening up), so it can remain there for a while. Adding an ich-magnet like the AT to my display seems most imprudent.

Although my longer-term plans call for a few more fish, I won't be buying any of them until I have a more clear resolution to this ich issue.

[Mikeb7467]

Where did you buy this tank?

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Mikeb7467

Where did you buy this tank?

It's a standard Marineland 265. I bought it from a LFS in New Jersey, but you should be able to get it pretty much anywhere. Wait for a ML sale though