Maxspect Gyre And Copperband Additions
So the tank is now 6.5 months old and I can see the maturity developing in it now. The blue/green cyano on my substrate still persists but its minimal so I’ve given up worrying about it. Zero GHA anywhere and phosphate and nitrate remain at zero with the continued use of Phosban. All other parameters are spot on and stable.
The latest exciting addition is s Maxspect Gyre XF-150. I got totally fed up with seeing the ugly cords from my three powerheads trailing up the side and back of my tank and wanted a cleaner, more refined looking tank. Having done a tonne of research on the possibilities including the Tunze programmable powerheads, the MP40’s and the Gyre, I chose the latter option. Partly because of cost and partly because of the low profile impact of the Gyre. Buying enough MP40’s would have doubled, probably tripled the cost and while they may have given me more control in terms of variable water flow patterns, the cost of that option was out of my league at this point.
The initial installation of the Gyre was disappointing. It was noisy on 80% (needed at least that much power for the water flow to reach the opposite side of the tank) and the surge option just made the noise factor even more annoying with constant on and off whining. However, within 24 hours and even more research, I realized my brand new Gyre was sporting the old mount rather than the new, noise cancelling mount. A quick discussion with the LFS and a new, replacement mount was ordered under warranty. That arrived yesterday, has been fitted and has made some difference. The noise is now tolerable, just a low whine and in fact has diminished over the last week anyway as the unit bedded itself in.
The water flow from the Gyre is pretty good. Not as astounding as I had expected but it is working within a 6ft tank so at 80% it just reaches the far end. The corals all seem to be happy with the flow although I have placed one of my small Tunze powerheads at the opposite end just to give it an extra boost. I’ve also relocated it from its original position of the right side of the tank over to the left so that its stronger flow at source can affect the SPS at the left side of the tank. Interestingly the Duncans are the only corals that seem to be a bit moody with the shift in water flow and they are still having a slight hissy fit as they get used to it all.
I’m pleased to report that all but three of the blue green chromis have now been rehomed. It has taken several weeks to catch the little blighters but I got sneaky and caught them one by one in the feeding bowl. I defrost their frozen food in a white Tupperware type bowl and they are so used to this that they just swim right into it when it slides in the tank with their dinner. One by one the stupid fish swam in and so one by one I snatched them from their comfort zone and placed them in the sump ready to be rehomed. I must admit that the tank now looks a little bare with so many less fish in it. However, it does give me more free bio load to add more fish that I really want and it reduces my bio load as well. I’m keen to add another couple of tangs but will wait until my other wishlist fish are already in and settled.
I am still trying to get a Lawnmower Blenny. They have been as rare as hen’s teeth for the last 6 months it seems. Lots of Carpet Blenny imposters around but no Lawnmowers and I’d rather have the real thing than rush in and get the wrong thing. In addition, I have ordered a Green Mandarin. Now that the tank is over 6 months old, there should be sufficient pods to sustain him but I have also asked the LFS to ensure it is eating frozen as an insurance policy too.
One of my most exciting additions to the tank in the last month has been my gorgeous Copperband Butterfly. She was eating frozen at the LFS prior to me buying her and this is one fish I had wanted for a long long looooooong time. It took a couple of weeks to get her eating once she was in my tank and I was feeding all sorts of things to tempt her. Live worms seemed to be the scrumptious delight she enjoyed the most so that was the tool to help her settle. She was swimming around, inspecting the tank and the LR without any problem right from the start and has continued to look happy and healthy ever since.
I managed to pick up some gorgeous blue zoas this week and I’ve added some more hammers and frogspawn to Euphylia garden. I’ve moved the green torches over to another part of the tank so they cant sting the hammers and frogspawn and I’ve pulled out the big growths of Xenia. There are some little Xenia’s around and I found that injecting them with boiling water doesn’t kill them off so I got some Aiptasia X and injected them with that on Monday. It seems to have knocked off all but two of them so I’ll attack those last ones in the next day or two.
The two clowns have taken semi permanent residence in the right hand side of the tank, ususally sleeping in the sand in the front right corner at night. I don’t have an anemone and I’m a little hesitant to get one in fact so I tried putting a little clay flowerpot in there for them as a home site. Apparently it is not acceptable accommodation they tell me so it sits abandoned in the back right hand corner just in case they change their mind.
I’ve also glued some green mushrooms to an old magfloat glass cleaner I had and have placed that on the left back wall of the tank in the hope that the mushrooms might grow up the back wall. On the other side, I’ve glued a mat of Green Star polyps to another spare magfloat (how the heck I ended up with three spare magfloats I have no idea!) in the hope that this will grow up the back wall there. So far the mat has settled into place well and is beginning to grow upwards.
I also got a smidgen creative this month and created a few things for the tank. The first is my pod farm that now sits in my sump as a home for amphipods and a place for them to breed. I purchased one sheet of Corflute from Bunnings for less than $5 and cut it into strips. Corflute has two plastic sheets held together with a corrugated sheet of plastic in between them so there’s heaps of little spaces to hide and breed.
I then cut the strips into squares and held them together with a rubber band.
The Corflute will float so I held it down in the sump with LR. The idea is that when I need more pods in the display tank, I can take out one or two squares and shake them into the DT. So far after almost a month, it’s looking to be working with pods already making it their home.
I also made a little sea veggie feeding thingy from an idea I saw on a Facebook group. I’m fed up with the fish ripping the seaweed off the clip and then it floating round the tank and into the weir. Wasteful. It’s simply a piece of white plumbing tube with a cap on each end. One end cap is jammed on really tight and the other end is just on lightly. I have attached a length of fishing wire to it so its easy to drop in and pull back out of the tank. I wrap a sheet of sea veggies round the tube and hold it with a rubber band.
Then I take the loose cap off and fill the tube with tank water, then replace the cap. Then simply drop the feeding thingy into the tank and voila! No wasted seaweed and the fish seem to really enjoy it.
So all in all, it’s been a productive month for the tank. Some new additions, some improvements and still the most relaxing, divine space in my house :)
The latest exciting addition is s Maxspect Gyre XF-150. I got totally fed up with seeing the ugly cords from my three powerheads trailing up the side and back of my tank and wanted a cleaner, more refined looking tank. Having done a tonne of research on the possibilities including the Tunze programmable powerheads, the MP40’s and the Gyre, I chose the latter option. Partly because of cost and partly because of the low profile impact of the Gyre. Buying enough MP40’s would have doubled, probably tripled the cost and while they may have given me more control in terms of variable water flow patterns, the cost of that option was out of my league at this point.
The initial installation of the Gyre was disappointing. It was noisy on 80% (needed at least that much power for the water flow to reach the opposite side of the tank) and the surge option just made the noise factor even more annoying with constant on and off whining. However, within 24 hours and even more research, I realized my brand new Gyre was sporting the old mount rather than the new, noise cancelling mount. A quick discussion with the LFS and a new, replacement mount was ordered under warranty. That arrived yesterday, has been fitted and has made some difference. The noise is now tolerable, just a low whine and in fact has diminished over the last week anyway as the unit bedded itself in.
The water flow from the Gyre is pretty good. Not as astounding as I had expected but it is working within a 6ft tank so at 80% it just reaches the far end. The corals all seem to be happy with the flow although I have placed one of my small Tunze powerheads at the opposite end just to give it an extra boost. I’ve also relocated it from its original position of the right side of the tank over to the left so that its stronger flow at source can affect the SPS at the left side of the tank. Interestingly the Duncans are the only corals that seem to be a bit moody with the shift in water flow and they are still having a slight hissy fit as they get used to it all.
I’m pleased to report that all but three of the blue green chromis have now been rehomed. It has taken several weeks to catch the little blighters but I got sneaky and caught them one by one in the feeding bowl. I defrost their frozen food in a white Tupperware type bowl and they are so used to this that they just swim right into it when it slides in the tank with their dinner. One by one the stupid fish swam in and so one by one I snatched them from their comfort zone and placed them in the sump ready to be rehomed. I must admit that the tank now looks a little bare with so many less fish in it. However, it does give me more free bio load to add more fish that I really want and it reduces my bio load as well. I’m keen to add another couple of tangs but will wait until my other wishlist fish are already in and settled.
I am still trying to get a Lawnmower Blenny. They have been as rare as hen’s teeth for the last 6 months it seems. Lots of Carpet Blenny imposters around but no Lawnmowers and I’d rather have the real thing than rush in and get the wrong thing. In addition, I have ordered a Green Mandarin. Now that the tank is over 6 months old, there should be sufficient pods to sustain him but I have also asked the LFS to ensure it is eating frozen as an insurance policy too.
One of my most exciting additions to the tank in the last month has been my gorgeous Copperband Butterfly. She was eating frozen at the LFS prior to me buying her and this is one fish I had wanted for a long long looooooong time. It took a couple of weeks to get her eating once she was in my tank and I was feeding all sorts of things to tempt her. Live worms seemed to be the scrumptious delight she enjoyed the most so that was the tool to help her settle. She was swimming around, inspecting the tank and the LR without any problem right from the start and has continued to look happy and healthy ever since.
I managed to pick up some gorgeous blue zoas this week and I’ve added some more hammers and frogspawn to Euphylia garden. I’ve moved the green torches over to another part of the tank so they cant sting the hammers and frogspawn and I’ve pulled out the big growths of Xenia. There are some little Xenia’s around and I found that injecting them with boiling water doesn’t kill them off so I got some Aiptasia X and injected them with that on Monday. It seems to have knocked off all but two of them so I’ll attack those last ones in the next day or two.
The two clowns have taken semi permanent residence in the right hand side of the tank, ususally sleeping in the sand in the front right corner at night. I don’t have an anemone and I’m a little hesitant to get one in fact so I tried putting a little clay flowerpot in there for them as a home site. Apparently it is not acceptable accommodation they tell me so it sits abandoned in the back right hand corner just in case they change their mind.
I’ve also glued some green mushrooms to an old magfloat glass cleaner I had and have placed that on the left back wall of the tank in the hope that the mushrooms might grow up the back wall. On the other side, I’ve glued a mat of Green Star polyps to another spare magfloat (how the heck I ended up with three spare magfloats I have no idea!) in the hope that this will grow up the back wall there. So far the mat has settled into place well and is beginning to grow upwards.
I also got a smidgen creative this month and created a few things for the tank. The first is my pod farm that now sits in my sump as a home for amphipods and a place for them to breed. I purchased one sheet of Corflute from Bunnings for less than $5 and cut it into strips. Corflute has two plastic sheets held together with a corrugated sheet of plastic in between them so there’s heaps of little spaces to hide and breed.
I then cut the strips into squares and held them together with a rubber band.
The Corflute will float so I held it down in the sump with LR. The idea is that when I need more pods in the display tank, I can take out one or two squares and shake them into the DT. So far after almost a month, it’s looking to be working with pods already making it their home.
I also made a little sea veggie feeding thingy from an idea I saw on a Facebook group. I’m fed up with the fish ripping the seaweed off the clip and then it floating round the tank and into the weir. Wasteful. It’s simply a piece of white plumbing tube with a cap on each end. One end cap is jammed on really tight and the other end is just on lightly. I have attached a length of fishing wire to it so its easy to drop in and pull back out of the tank. I wrap a sheet of sea veggies round the tube and hold it with a rubber band.
Then I take the loose cap off and fill the tube with tank water, then replace the cap. Then simply drop the feeding thingy into the tank and voila! No wasted seaweed and the fish seem to really enjoy it.
So all in all, it’s been a productive month for the tank. Some new additions, some improvements and still the most relaxing, divine space in my house :)
