now a 20g salt

[cocoa_pleco]

since my 20g planted is empty because the fry are out, its going to be saltwater. thats the good news, the bad news- the person who took care of my tanks when i was in europe screwed up my salinity bad accidentally, and it was at 1.50. i though all i lost was my mushrooms originally, i thought all the other corals would pull through. all have died, about $250 worth (OUCH), but the damsel and shrimp are fine. im not mad at them since they did their best, and i wont tell them the corals died (hes so nice i could never have the guts to say he killed all of that). the last to go was the hammerhead coral just now. i fixed the salinity right away aug. 21 but i guess they all slowly died from the salinity. anyways, the 33g is now just LR and the fish and inverts, plus 3 surviving mushrooms, and the 20g will be a brand new reef, with new corals (im not going on anymore vacations!). also, some clowns and goby's.

[Dave66]

I learned long ago not to let other people care for my tanks. I use an auto top-off system that is well-nigh foolproof, and if I'm gone a week, the fish go without food a week. Well, not really, as there are refugiums pumping 'pods in 24/7. But, save for the daughter of some friends of mine who I've trained on how to care for aquariums since she was six, no one, not even the beloved girlfriend, touches my tanks.

Dave

[cocoa_pleco]

noone else touches my tanks but the month in europe had to be a exception. im happy to work with another salt tank, and the 33g wont have corals again, just the 5.5g and 20g

[cocoa_pleco]

the 20g is running SW now, ive got-

20g high
2 powerheads
heater
100W light
mini hang-on canister filter
crushed shell substrate
RIO skimmer

tomorrow when i get stuff for the 5.5g i'll get some LR for the 20g, and after i get paid friday i should have 25lbs LR

[Drumachine09]

1.50?


Is that even possible? The reef salinitiy is 1.026, isnt it?

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, but it was frying here when i was gone so there had to be alot of evaporation addings to the tank, and i told them how to do the salinity but they added too much and my hydrometer was through the roof. and this morning at 5am someone came running to tell me that somethings wrong with the aquariums, and all i could think of is ones leaking, but a powerhead in the 20g got clogged and was making sound. its cleared up fairly well now, and i have lots of good lighting and filtration, so im gonna pick up 8lbs LR today, then friday get another 12lbs and a fish and shrimp, then later corals

[cocoa_pleco]

heres the 5.5g and the clown, and the 20g with 8lbs LR. friday is when i get 12lbs more LR

[tropfish]

looks good so far cocoa. You alone fund the SW industry lol

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, thanks! the clown LOVES the PVC pipe. he scoots through it and goes to the back of the tank, then back to the front!

[tropfish]

Its like one of those pipes at the playground! WEE haha

[cocoa_pleco]

well, thanks to 2manyfish, ive got the 20g sorted out (2manyfish has helped me TREMENDOUSLY with my salt tanks). 25lbs LR, 1 royal gramma, 1 firefish, 1 peppermint shrimp, 2 turbo snails, and some tough corals and some easy ones, RIO skimmer (acts as a skimmer and a filter), 100W light, 2 aquagarden powerheads, crushed shell substrate, and submersible heater.

[Rocky06fx4]

One time my g/f (at the time) overheard me telling a friend that I would get rid of my G/F before I got rid of my Fish.... Boy cost me a $600 bracelet to recover from the damage.

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, good one.

i went on a spree today, even though i bought 8lbs LR yesterday and said 8 more today, i bought 12.5 today so i have 20.5lbs total, prefect. i asked about the royal gramma and they have 3 in quarantine until friday (all shipped fish there go through a 2 week quarantine) so thats perfect, i get paid friday

[squirt_12]

WOW!!! Looks awesome. And the 5.5g that the clown is in seems alot bigger than a 5.5 when you look at it in th pic. lol Well the 20g sound like it is going to be very nice!!!!

[RobbieG]

Great work on the tanks cocoa - they are all excellent!

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, clowny is small. he LOVES his 5.5g though. i was gonna consider moving him to the 20g but he seems fine. ive got the stocking ready, and its-

1 blue devil damses (5$)
1 royal gramma (40$)
1 peppermint shrimp (23$)
crapload of corals (150$)

and i got everything down thanks to 2manyfish! helped me all along the way!

[Dave66]

Boy that Royal Gramma is high. Usually they are well under 20, lot of times under 10. They are being captive bred now, so the price should drop lower than that.
Good list, though. Add the damsel last.

Dave

[cocoa_pleco]

i couldnt figure that out either why the price was so high! i think its just one of the few hard to get fish here. since the damsel and gramma are territorial i have a good tank for it, some pieces of my LR have caves in them.

[cocoa_pleco]

here we go! as soon as i rigged up the skimmer and canister filter it cleared up. so far its got 20.5 lbs LR, and will be stocked fishwise and invert wise friday, and a few easy corals. the tough to care for corals come in december when the tank is established.

EDIT- and on the bottom middle piece of LR, notice that hole towards the top. its a cave! perfect home tor the royal gramma. sorry about the brightness but its the bright tank lights

[2manyfish]

Looking good Cocoa!! thumbs2: