Xiaan's 180G Reef Tank & Move

[zoom111]

...Tiger Direct ships fast, at least.

And i noticed they used UPS, but within the same country their should be no hidden fees correct ?? (Ive ordered UPS from the states before and brokerage will getcha)

[Greatwhite]

Yeah, buying in canada = no exchange and stuff.  They just dropped it at my door and left.  I don't even think I signed for it.

Anyways - back to Xiaan's 180!  Nice setup!

[White Lightning]

Wow!!!

Tank looks awesome.!

[xiaan]

Here is an update on the tank. I am currently in the process of socking up the tank with fish. I have had some losses in the past few weeks most likely due to the stress of the move.

I lost two of my older fish the Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto) and Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas) both around 3 years old. since I love those two fish I will be replacing them. I also lost my Randall's Shrimp Goby in QT after a week most likely due to the fact he was not eating and there was a big salinity change from where he was 1.017 to 1.026 (I guess 5 hours was not long enough)

I also picked up a couple of fish last week two Helfrichi Firefish, Neon Goby, and five Bartlett's Anthias all in in the main tank an are looking good.


Here is my current stock list in the tank.

Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)
2x Blackspot Lyretail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos)
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
2x Blue/Green Reef Chromis (Chromis viridis)
2x Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris helfrichi)
Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
Bluespotted Jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti)
5 x Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum)
Six Line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)*

* Currently in QT

I am still looking at replacing some of the fish that I lost and added a couple more.
Here is the list of fish I am currently looking to put into the tank.

Randall's Shrimp Goby (Amblyeleotris randalli)
Yellow Pyramid Butterfly (Hemitaurichthys polylepis)
Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto)
Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)
3x Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)
2x Fairy Wrasses ( real nice ones )

If I get the Wrasses then my six line will have to live in my Frag tank as I will not risk adding it to the tank and fighting with the Fairy Wrasses. also that leaves me with the possibly of getting a Mandarin in the future.

Also my LED lights arrived on Friday and now have completely gone LED so far everything looks good but only time will tell.

[Cheebs]

Very cool, I'm excited to see some pics, especially with the all LED steup. I just picked up a Helfrichi Firefish myself, and it's one of my favorite fish so far, visually and behavior wise

[xiaan]

Time for another update on the tank.

I have had another loss in my tank my Blue spotted jawfish passed on I really never got it to eat. I find it is really hit an miss with this jawfish and it really hard to please in a normal reef tank I will probably not try one again (this was my second the first one lasted about 8 months before passing on).

Last weekend I picked up a four more fish for the tank.

Smith's Blenny (Meiacanthus smithii)
Wheeler's Goby (Amblyeleotris sp. I was told it was a Wheeler's Goby But I think it might be something different)

I also picked up two really nice Fairy Wrasses.

Rhomboid Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis)


Lineatus Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus linneatus)


Another bit of bad news when I was acclimatizing my new fish I was looking at my current tank mates and my Male Swallowtail angle look like he had something on his mouth. over the last week I have been watching him and he has been eating fine but there seems to be a fungal infection around his mouth. today I removed him from the display tank and am currently setting up a QT for him and I will have to treat him with an anti bacterial/fungal medication (currently on order and should arrive by next friday).

Also one of my AI units decided to go for a swim I thought I got it out in time but the control borad is fried. I orded a new one directly from AI in the mean time I will have to be only lit by 6 AI SoBlue modules.

Here is a the current list of fish in the tank:
Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)
2x Blackspot Lyretail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos) (* Male in Frag Tank)
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
2x Blue/Green Reef Chromis (Chromis viridis)
2x Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris helfrichi)
Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
5 x Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum)
Smith's Blenny (Meiacanthus smithii)
Wheeler's Goby (Amblyeleotris sp.)
Rhomboid Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis)
Lineatus Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus linneatus)
Six Line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)*

* Currently in Frag tank

And here is the list of fish I will most likely be getting in the next couple of months.

Yellow Pyramid Butterfly (Hemitaurichthys polylepis)
Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto)
Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)
3x Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)

Here is a video of my sump: (sorry the sound is not the best)
http://youtu.be/9PzAAmKE25Y

Here is a video of the display tank:
http://youtu.be/FtasFFPn9EA

[kole18]

i had a problem same of your swallowtail female almost lost this fish a month ago, just stop eating just saw this white thing in her mouth didn't bother it to removed it in my main tank as far as i know she was doing okay for the last few months all suddenly just stop eating still swimming around in my tank all my cleaner shrimp & blood shrimp they did really well to recover this fish but then i'd lost the male which is i have no clue finding what it cause to die this fish all i know the female has white stuff around her mouth & those wrasse xiaan amazing

[xiaan]

The angle is looking worse every day. Yesterday I decided to take action I picked up some Erythromycin and set up my QT tank. He is in there right now and I hope he will start to recover I have 3 more days of adding meds to do the full douse.

[xiaan]

Well It has almost been a year since my tank move and I thought about posting an update.

Not much has been updated for equipment (I have just added a skimmer collector) and I set up my QT tank as a softy tank and plumbed it into my system. .For coral most of my SPS have been doing fine, I think I have finally won the AEF battle on one colony, and my pink birds nest took off (It is now the size of a large watermelon) My clams on the other hand have not done so well I lost almost all my clams in a couple of days in March (some where over 4 years old but my blue squamosa survived ) I have no idea what happened to them (I had pyramid snails but I had not seen any since December). Since the tank move most of my Acans slowly dyed off (except for 3 colonies) I think one of my fish took a liking to them but I never found out who it was (my two nice Utra Acans are currently in my softy tank and doing well)

I have had some fish losses but the tank has been stable since January. after the summer I decided to go with a Wrasse dominated tank I had up to 10 wrasse's at one point but I am now down to 8.

Here is my current fish list:

Main Tank
Swallowtail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos)
2x  Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum)
Golden Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)
Zoster Butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys zoster)
Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
2x Green Chromis (Chromis viridis)
Wheeler's Watchman Goby (Amblyeleotris wheeleri)
Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)
Chevron Tang (Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis)
White Spotted Wrasse (Anampses melanurus)
Red Fin Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubripinnis)
Rhomboid Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis)
Tricolor Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus lubbocki)
Yellow Coris Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus)
Lineatus Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus linneatus)
Ornate Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon ornatus)
Yellow Fin Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus flavidorsalis)

12G Softy Tank
Yellow Assessor (Assessor flavissimus)

Frag Tank
Lawnmower Blenny (Salarias fasciatus)

Here is a list of fish I have had in the last year but did not make it:
Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto) - Died shortly after the move 4 years old
Bluespotted Jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti) - Never ate well, died after 1 month
3x Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops) - 3 disappeared  after 2 months (found one in my overflow 2 months later and then disappeared again might be still in there)
2x Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris helfrichi) - 2 disappeared after 1 month never ate well
Randall's Shrimp Goby (Amblyeleotris randalli) - died in QT after 2 weeks
5x Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) - 4 died in QT in a couple of days and 1 disappeared in display 1 month
Smith's Blenny (Meiacanthus smithii) - disappeared after 1 month
Six Line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia) - jumped 2 years old
Swallowtail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos) - died in QT after 1 week of treatment of mouth fungus was 3 weeks in display tank.
3x Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum) - disappeared over 6 months
Dot-and-Dash Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus lineopunctatus) - died after 3 months possibly from aggression
Tail Spot Blenny (Salarias segmentatus) - disappeared after 6 months
Yasha Hase Shrimp Goby (Stonogobiops yashia) - disappeared after 3 weeks
Pearly Jawfish (Opistognathus aurifrons) - Never ate died in QT 2 weeks
Purple Tilefish (Hoplolatilus purpureus) - Jumped in covered QT tank after 1 week.

Here are some FTS:

Jan 2012




June 2012




For the full photosets you can go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiaan/sets/72157630045403992/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiaan/sets/72157630044525024/

[leemay]

wow good job! how big is the birdsnest, 15" or bigger?
can you post your current maintenance routine and salt brand?
much appreciated?
mike

[mmaisonneuve]

Well if it can help you....he's using Royal Nature Salt.....Back in the winter I had a chance to purchase some birdnest from Xiaan (a pink one and a green one) and both are booming like hell ! Personnaly I'm getting similar result using Tropic Marin Bio Active.

[Hookup]

Wow...  Great stuff...

[xiaan]

wow good job! how big is the birdsnest, 15" or bigger?
can you post your current maintenance routine and salt brand?
much appreciated?
mike

It is around 15" but I say it grows around 1/2" to 1" every month.

Most of the stuff is automated but here is my maintenance:

Every Day:
Feed 2 cubes of frozen food (Brine Shrimp/Spirulina & Mysis)

Every week:
Change Filter socks
Test parameters
Check balling salt levels

Every two weeks:
10% water change with Royal Nature Salt
Clean Skimmer

Every Month:
Replace Carbon (ROX Carbon in NextReef reactor)
Replace DI (I am on a well and it sucks up my DI )

Every 3 months:
Replace GFO (Bulk Reef supply High capacity GFO in NextReef reactor)
Top off Bio Pellets if needed (Bulk Reef Supply Bio Pellets in NextReef reactor)

Automated Stuff:
Refill RODI reservoir 2 times a day
Auto Skimmer Cleaner 4 times a day
Auto Feeder 2 times a day (Mix of several pellet foods)

Balling & Additives (all automated)
Ca 132ml/day (1kg Calcium Chloride + 2.5L rodi water)
Alk 480ml/day (2.5 Cups of Sodium Carbonate + 5L rodi water)
Mg 90ml/day (1kg Magnesium Chloride + 125g Magnesium Sulfate  + 2.5L rodi water)
MinS 2ml/day
Ultra Amin 6ml/day
Power Trace 1 1ml/day
Power Trace 2 1ml/day
Power Trace 3 2ml/day
Power Trace 4 2ml/day

[kole18]

That's a lot of maintenance for me, all I'm dosing for my tank is kalk/mix, mag stronium & iodine through my ato. This is really amazing but can't afford those equipment to dose those addietives, I also dose a amino acid 2x a week 5 drops atleast. But your tank is so high tech that makes your corals really happy then, as far as i can tell those birdnest gone really crazy in your tank man & good job as well fish selection amazing.

[JetJumper]

Replace DI (I am on a well and it sucks up my DI )

There is a way to fix this!  I had the same issue and installed a DIY degaussing system.  DI lasts forever now! 

[Hookup]

Why the different trace element levels? 

[xiaan]

That's a lot of maintenance for me, all I'm dosing for my tank is kalk/mix, mag stronium & iodine through my ato. This is really amazing but can't afford those equipment to dose those addietives, I also dose a amino acid 2x a week 5 drops atleast. But your tank is so high tech that makes your corals really happy then, as far as i can tell those birdnest gone really crazy in your tank man & good job as well fish selection amazing.

I am thinking about be cutting back on some of the additives (Amin & Power Trace) and see if it affects anything (I also used to douse Bak and Ultra Organic but since have stopped) this would also ge me down to just 4 dousing pumps (instead of 9)

There is a way to fix this!  I had the same issue and installed a DIY degaussing system.  DI lasts forever now! 

I would love to know how you set that up I was thinking of trying something like that.

Why the different trace element levels? 

It was an experiment to see if there is any change in the coloration when I change the Power trace levels.  the results are inconclusive (I forgot I was doing it) my next experiment tis to remove all power trace and see if that changes anything.

[JetJumper]

I would love to know how you set that up I was thinking of trying something like that.

This is what I did to combat the dreaded CO2 Levels.
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=52155.0

[xiaan]

This is what I did to combat the dreaded CO2 Levels.
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=52155.0

I also found of another way of doing it. before putting the Water through your RO you can bubble it for 24h that should allow suffisent gas exchange. I was thinking about doing this by having a reservoir of tap water and constantly bubble it. The reservoir would feed into my booster pump witch would lead into my RODI system. Every couple of days my controller would fill up the reservoir with fresh tap water. I guess this system would not be as efficient as I would have to store 1-3x the amount of water needed to make water. If I was to do it your way I would feed the RO water to a bucket that is always toped off then put a pump that would turn on when ever I needed RODI water.