2014-06-18: Tank moving 8

Second of the two tanks I have combined. This is just a standard 20G high all glass aquarium. The top has been removed to make is rimless. The previous owner also enhanced the calking, drilled the back, and inserted an overflow. It also comes with the stand, the net top (to prevent jumpers) and a bent rod for light hanging.

2014-06-17: Tank moving 7

This is one of the two tanks I have combined. It's a Marineland 27Gallon with the stand. I think I kept it at a very good shape. Despite of two years of usage, there are no scratches and all the parts still look very good~! It's a great tank to begin with. I have not decided whether I will sell this tank yet. I might hang on to it in case an occasion for a species tank arises- such as seahorse, mantis shrimp, etc.

2014-06-16: Tank moving 6- The semi-aggresive ones

So here comes the big dilemma- some of the semi-aggresive fish I have had in the previous system
The valentini puffer is really adorable but I know it will post a threat to my beloved shrimps (and all other inverts) as well as the smaller gobies.

I made the mistake of putting a hawkfish with a couple fire fish before. This is not the same hawkfish but I am not about to make that mistake again.

The six line wrasse can be aggressive, but this guy is actually kinda shy, so I am not so worried about it.

2014-06-15: Tank moving 5- Clowns

Here is the part I took a gamble- mixing clownfish is always a hit or miss. Sometimes they will bond and pair off. Sometimes they will fight tip one (or both) drops. But with a larger tanks and a lot more hiding space, I thought it's worth the gamble
Here is a clown I raised for about two years, it was less than 2" when I got it. And I think it must have came from a poorly managed farm it was so malnourished it took a long long time to grow to current size. He also never adopted to hosting anemones

The once below was acquired as a juvi too from a frag swap actually just this winter. The fish quickly grew into good size and hosted anemone right away. This is my prized snow-onyx designer clown. I will leave a bit suspense for now and let you know how did the two turn out when I mix them.

20140614-Tank moving 4

Now comes the two dominant fish of the two tanks I am combining- the dwarf angels. They are, if you will, the little angry bitches of the sea- very territorial and aggressively guards their territory.
I found this Bellis Angel at a local shop at a really good price. I struggled for a long time because even for a "good price" I can still get probably a handful of, let's say, six line wrasses for the price of this one. But the beauty of this female Bellis angel is just unrivaled by most of my fish.

Another fish that I contemplated for a long time before I committed- the African flame back angel. This angel is known to have an attitude. But the fish was in the store for a while. I keep seeing it week- after -week- after- week. And finally I decided I cannot pass on a very healthy, eager to eat, and at a good price.

20140613-Tank moving 3

Here is the peaceful group. All fish featured in this post are the best community fish one can find. They are also all very hardy*
The blue-eye cardinals are not rare, but they are also not very common in stores as they are one of the pricier cardinals. on the other hand, the bangaii cardinal is almost reaching goldfish status in saltwater (the percula clown already has). They are hardy, peaceful, and very easy to breed. People can often rear young's in their tanks since they are mouth brooders.

The fire fish are elegant, and fun to look at. They are also very peaceful and hardy- so peaceful that you must not keep them with any aggressive fish, especially with an open top tank, because they can "fly" out of the tank with ease.

The ranfordii Goby is inexpensive, cute, low maintenance and hardy. I put an asteric on the word hardy previously because they do have a specific requirement- You must have sugar grained size sandy bottom as their main diet is filter feeding the sand. Crushed coral and larger grain aragonite sand won't do because they cannot take it through their gill.

20140612-Tank moving 2

As many aquarist know, tanking moving/cleaning can be one of the few opportunities to view a creature normally not visible- like this tiger pistol shrimp.
I do see this shrimp about once every other week. Most of the time instead of seeing it, I "hear" it.
Pistol shrimps can produce a very loud sound much like my mantis shrimp from the past. My wife loves it as it reminds her of the mantis shrimp, which she adored.
This pistol shrimp actually bonded with my fire fish goby and was a master engineer. He had dug an entire subway system in the tank.

My cleaner shrimp began bearing eggs a month after I got them in the tank and I have never seen them without eggs since then. It's almost impossible to raise young shrimp since they have a rather long planktonic stage. But it sure is a nice feast for all the other critters in the tank when they release the eggs.

Lastly, this nice and big coral banded shrimp has amazing blue marking that is not commonly seen on others. It's the king of the tank and takes no non-sense.

2014-06-08 Tank moving 1

This was a project long time coming- Ever since I did my most recent energy bill and tank wattage analysis, I realized having one larger tanks is a log more energy efficient than having multiple small tanks- even when the small tanks sums up to a smaller water volume.

The opportunity finally came when one of the local aquarium stores: Living Art Aquarium, had a store move. They've been very successful over the last few years and decided to expand store size.

As they move, some of the tanks from their previous location are now up for sell. I was able to obtain this 75Gallon mega flow with half the regular retail price + overflow kit included. I also decided to obtain a 29Gallon to function as a sump. The rest of the project was relatively inexpensive- but tedious as I cut wood and PVC pipes to put together a stand and the plumbing. The entire progress took about 48 hours (including cleaning up the old tanks). I will break down the play by play in the next few post in case anyone is interested in learn more about plumbing, livestock transport, cleaning tip.

2014-06-01 Species Spotlight- Desjardini Tang

Tangs, or surgeon fish, are among the most popular for community reef tanks. Not only most of them do not grow of an exceedingly large size, they are beautiful, mostly hardly, and also utilitarian since they are algae grazers in nature and does not harm invertebrates or corals.

If one asks for my opinion on the most beautiful tang in the world, there is no doubt my answer will be Desjardini Tang (Zebrasoma Desjardini), also known as the Redsea Sailfin tang.

They can sometimes be confused with their closely related cousin, the Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma Veriferum). However, upon close examination, you can see they are distinctively different, especially as they age. Here are a couple links to general information and a sample photo for comparison:

Desjardini: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product

Sailfin: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product

Like all other tangs in the Zebrasoma family, this fish is very hardy, active, and display lots of personality. However, you should also follow the general rule for tangs- do not keep multiple of them unless they are introduced at the same time, and also that there is adequate room for multiple- which comes the catch for this fish- they get BIG.

Among the commonly available surgeon fish for sale in the North American aquaria, this fish definitely ranks among the top 5 in adult size (among the larger tangs in the trade: Vlamingi, Naso, Sohal, Clown, and Orange Shoulder Tangs) The Desjardini Tang can reach up to a foot and a half in length. And when this fish fully extends its dorsal and anal fins, it is the tallest Tang in the trade (see illustration below)

For the sake of its size, please do not consider housing this fish unless your tank is at least 120Gallon (with lighter bio load), and no smaller than 180 gallon if you plan a fish-packed tank.

Besides full-reef quality water parameters, you must also provide ample vegetable matter for this herbivore to dine on (warning, you might hear many reef hobbyists suggest clipping terrestrial vegetable such as lettuce for tangs to eat, this might actually harm them as land vegetables are far less nutritious in the amount of mineral and amino acid their marine counterparts contain). 

Also you do not need to spend big money purchasing marine algae to clip on like this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product

Just visit a local Asian grocery store and puchase the Nori (seaweed) sheets used for sushi wraps. It's the exact same stuff but 10 times cheeper.