My 72 Gallon Bowfront Reef Tank

[Chingon]

looking good!zoas are happy!

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Most of them at least! I think I lost 2 frags to cyano >x(

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Quick update...

Bryopsis took over the tank...lost quite a few corals. Most corals are in fact dead or don't look good....anemone is also dead. Acan's (what little are left) look absolutely terrible, the Fungia died (It went into the anemone and never recovered....that is one that wasn't my fault). Pretty much no rock is visible. Kind of depressing....I am currently trying to find the motivation to find the time to put into the tank...

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Alright...
I did quite a bit of work in the last few days. More coral survived then I had originally thought. Nuke Greens are doing great along with the watermelons....a few others. The bad water quality over the past few months has been killer for most of the acans . 1 frag has done surprisingly well...lost a couple. There are probably 3 or 4 frags that survived but look poor, and 1 that somehow did fairly well...lets hope that getting my water quality back up to par will save the other acans and corals

I am working on a diagram of my tank currently...I am hoping to upgrade the sump, or to add a fuge...still trying to decide the best method here.

I will hopefully have the diagram up tonight

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Alright, diagram of my setup:

Anything that should be changed? Moved?

 

[Luckedout]

I would make sure you have a good bubble trap between your return pump and the rest of the sump. Otherwise looks ok to me

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

So Magnesium arrived yesterday. Got a half gallon, and just now found a gallon cheaper then my half gallon Dx

Test kit shipped earlier today...Can't wait for that to show up, then I'll be able to start the process of removing Bryopsis!

About to order a box of Sea Crystals....then I will finally be able to make my own water!

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

What is it with me leaving huge gaps in updating? Haha

So, I'll have to fill people in on the last few months of the tank soon...

 

[Somethings Fishy]

lets see a new pic of the tank!!

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Well, after 6+ months of no losses of fish, my Mandarin Goby jumped to his death. There was literally one hole in the top he could have fit through, and he found it. My father found him on the top of the tank this morning dry as a block of wood. Attempted to stick him in cold water to 'revive' him, but a whole night without water was too much for the little guy. First bad thing that has happened since I started dumping more and more time into the tank...oh well, we gotta be used to this type of thing in the fish keeping hobby. Granted, if we didn't 'mourn' their deaths, questions could be risen about our dedication to the hobby and the well-being of the animals we keep. I don't know, a couple words of 'wisdom'.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

So I got rid of the Maroon Clownfish and the Damsel fish. Here is the last pics I have of each:

Clownfish:

Damsel:

And now some recent pics!

Radioactive Dragon Eyes:

Frag of Radioactive Dragon Eyes:

Magician Palys:

Ocellaris Clowns:

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Over a year later, time to update I suppose!

Added two Black Ocellaris clownfish! I will post pictures as soon as possible!

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Alright, I left for college and the tank is still running. It has been having some issues, so I am going to work on automating the process. I am going to install an ro/di auto shut off that will fill up a 55 gallon barrel and an auto top off that will pump water from the barrel to the tank.

All for now, hopefully more later.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Purchased a brand new skimmer and a new return pump! Excited to get this thing going right again.
Will be back in Washington on Saturday, with equipment and parts arriving between Monday and Wednesday. A lot of tank work in the near future.

 

[1guydude]

Wooohoooo I'm excited for u

Need update on everything. Ur thread goes back. Did u have a sump back than?
Gonna go see the pages.
Thxs for sharing.
D

 

[cruzanm]

Yeah, look man I don't want to be a debbie downer but the clown/damsel fishes time is going to be up sooner or later with that serpent star and the eel. The serpent star is a great match with the eel because he can eat the messy leftovers but they are both predators. I have one I named "kraken" living in my sump by my return pump that earned his exile by eating two fire gobies in one night. "good lord the serpent looks huge today, what happened....where are the gobies?....oh crap Im a booooob".

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Wooohoooo I'm excited for u

Need update on everything. Ur thread goes back. Did u have a sump back than?
Gonna go see the pages.
Thxs for sharing.
D

Always used a 10 gallon sump with this tank. Sump houses heater/skimmer/phosphate reactor/media reactor and all that kind of stuff.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

Yeah, look man I don't want to be a debbie downer but the clown/damsel fishes time is going to be up sooner or later with that serpent star and the eel. The serpent star is a great match with the eel because he can eat the messy leftovers but they are both predators. I have one I named "kraken" living in my sump by my return pump that earned his exile by eating two fire gobies in one night. "good lord the serpent looks huge today, what happened....where are the gobies?....oh crap Im a booooob".

Serpent star has been gone for years, haha. I don't think I owned him for more than a week.

I don't house small clownfish anymore. While I still haven't seen the eel eat a fish, I am playing it safe and housing larger fish. Right now I am housing a huge black ocellaris clownfish.

Thanks for the advice though

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

This tank no longer houses coral, however. Coral simply requires too much maintenance given I am gone for 2-3 months at a time. FOWLR is a better way to go for now.

Eventually, once I finish up college and have my own place, I will get back into the coral game!

 

[Craiz]

Yeah, look man I don't want to be a debbie downer but the clown/damsel fishes time is going to be up sooner or later with that serpent star and the eel. The serpent star is a great match with the eel because he can eat the messy leftovers but they are both predators. I have one I named "kraken" living in my sump by my return pump that earned his exile by eating two fire gobies in one night. "good lord the serpent looks huge today, what happened....where are the gobies?....oh crap Im a booooob".

I had a very similar experience. Got a serpent star from liveaquaria when I first set up a reef tank. Everything went well for a while and the serpent star seemed like a great addition as it was great and tracking down excess food. After a couple of years, the excess food wasn't enough or grabbing dead food wasn't exciting enough. He too was banished to the sump.