Tank Journal Archive

[pvancomp]

Got a few new additions to the tank in the past week. Went to visit a different LFS here in Sydney after seeing the good reviews about them in the forum, and have to say it was worth the 40min drive to get there. Shop was very nice and so much livestock and equipment to drool over. The staff there were amazing and attentive as well, and very happy to help with any questions and advice where needed. They even advised against particular fish I wanted who were skinny so would be a risky purchase...if only all LFS were like that :D

Got ourselves a new Palm Tree coral that has taken a few days to settle in and open properly, but now that it has it really lightens up the tank. Also rearrange the rock work and a torch coral as well, so there's more space to put new corals.

Also got a Green Spot Mandarin. I know these should only be added after the tank has been running for at least a year to ensure there are enough copepods for it to eat, but we watched him gobble up frozen copepods like an absolute pig so was less hesitant. First few days he was skittish, always hiding when we went near the tank, but past few days he's chasing the frozen copepods and even eating the leftovers off the sandbed as well.

Here's some pics for everyone:

 

[Jacques Pels]

Well done - you are ahead of me, as my tank is just 4 weeks intom the cycle, so extreem discipline called for.
Good luck
Jac

 

[potatocouch]

Went to visit a different LFS here in Sydney after seeing the good reviews about them in the forum, and have to say it was worth the 40min drive to get there. Shop was very nice and so much livestock and equipment to drool over. The staff there were amazing and attentive as well, and very happy to help with any questions and advice where needed. They even advised against particular fish I wanted who were skinny so would be a risky purchase...if only all LFS were like that :D

Which LFS was this?

 

[pvancomp]

Which LFS was this?

Hopefully not breaking any forum rules here, but it's Aquaristic in Alexandria. Much better than the previous 2 LFS I used to visit.

 

[potatocouch]

Hopefully not breaking any forum rules here, but it's Aquaristic in Alexandria. Much better than the previous 2 LFS I used to visit.

Aquaristic is good!

 

[pvancomp]

Aquaristic is good!

They are, I have 3 LFS within 20 mins of where I live, and I'd still rather do the 40 min drive. The livestock and prices are better quality than my local ones so worth it in my eyes. I won't bag out the other ones publicly.

 

[Sam Parker]

No forum rules broken, give good feedback when it is due!

Tank's looking great, nice work

 

[pvancomp]

Thanks, had a few tanks in the past but trying to make this one best so far, didn't have the knowledge I do now, before it was just pure reliance on LFS but learnt that mistake

 

[Franklin Dattein]

Even if a Mandarin is eating frozen food, it is best to not add it to new tank, because the amount of frozen food you will have to give it is huge, for him to have a chance to catch a few. That is likely to push the denitrification system to the limit and make it difficult to keep Nitrates under control.

Given the small size of your tank, it is likely you will never be able to control nitrates and keep a Mandarin well fed. Hence, you will either have to keep only hardy softies and LPS or ditch the Madarin. It is a trade off hard to make.

I would suggest to build a mandarin feeding station and research on how to train it to eat dry food, to minimise the bio load.

Good luck

 

[pvancomp]

Even if a Mandarin is eating frozen food, it is best to not add it to new tank, because the amount of frozen food you will have to give it is huge, for him to have a chance to catch a few. That is likely to push the denitrification system to the limit and make it difficult to keep Nitrates under control.

Given the small size of your tank, it is likely you will never be able to control nitrates and keep a Mandarin well fed. Hence, you will either have to keep only hardy softies and LPS or ditch the Madarin. It is a trade off hard to make.

I would suggest to build a mandarin feeding station and research on how to train it to eat dry food, to minimise the bio load.

Good luck

I realised it was a risk getting the Mandarin, and I may just be trying to convince myself of a good reason to keep it right now as we do enjoy watching him hop from one rock to another and swim through the Palm tree coral all the time.

So far we're feeding less than quarter of a cube of frozen copepods daily and it does swim around to get them and whatever is left on the sand as well. So far nitrates are still under control, fingers crossed they stay that way.

Only planning on hardy soft and LPS corals as well, wouldn't consider any SPS corals until I was able to upgrade to a larger tank.

I'll keep an eye on the mandarin and the nitrates, currently testing every few days, and see how they go. If it looks like he won't survive happily we'll return him to the LFS so someone with a more established tank can look after him.

I'll try making a feeding station for him and see how it goes.

Thanks for the feedback