My custom 233

[CarlaW]

Nice!! I like that

 

[1guydude]

+1 sweet new pumps. Sleek new light holder. Ur tank is BAMMIN man!
Looks good
D

 

[mfinn]

Thanks,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[mfinn]

A few weeks ago I ordered and received from liveaquaria 4 female leopard wrasses.
One appeared dead in the bag , but revived in the qt tank and another just didn't eat, or ate very little.

Those 2 didn't survive, but 2 others did.
I know leopards are poor shippers so I ordered 4 and was hoping 3 would survive.
2 did so I'm not terribly disappointed.
Here is a picture in my qt tank.

 

[spieszak]

Sweet.

How are they eating?

 

[NanaReefer]

Are those ever sweet!

 

[mfinn]

Sweet.

How are they eating?

I offered food ( tigger pods) 1 hour out of the bag and 3 did eat.
The 2 that survived have been eating very well. I have been feeding tigger pods, arcti pods, frozen Mysis, and frozen brine.
They Mysis is the Hikari cubes, which is the smallest I can find for my pipefish, seems a little big for these girls.

They were moved to the 233 today

 

[mfinn]

Are those ever sweet!

Thanks

I really liked the first one I had.

Not sure if I want to try and get 2 more ( I have the replacement credit from LA), or place a order for some anthias.
I really like the color of the lyretail anthias, when I had them.

 

[spieszak]

Lyretails are still on my list... since they seem to do the best (even of the anthias) of being able to be kept in groups. Mike says the squareback anthias do well too, I just don't like them much.
The lyre tails were on sale over the holidays and I almost pulled the trigger on them then, hard to give them real attention when things are that busy though.
Mine started eating with Daphnia and cylops (the crappy kind, can't find the good stuff anymore) mixed with live brine. Both the Starburst Anthias and the Leopards. They all eat what ever frozen I offer now, and the pellets from the auto feeder in between. The daphnia was probably the one that got them.

How long do you typically QT? Replacing the two leopards can be tough with a longer QT period... depending on the size, they can start to change...

 

[mfinn]

How long do you typically QT? Replacing the two leopards can be tough with a longer QT period... depending on the size, they can start to change...

If a fish comes in and never shows signs of any illness, my quarantine time is usually about 3-4 weeks.
If I have to fight a disease then it goes much longer.

Most fish I quarantine I do the drip acclimation and then let them rest in a dark tank for 24 hours. I will add a little live food ( usually tigger pods) or cyclop-ese the first day.
Second day I turn a light on and do a couple feedings.
On the third day I dose the tank prophylactically with Chloroquine Phosphate.
Then after 10-12 days I do a week of Prazipro.
Then a few days of just watching them.

With the Leopard Wrasses, I found out them may not handle Chloroguine Phosphate very well, so I asked a wrasse guy I know on another board what he does for leopards and he said, first day nothing. Then do 24 hours of Methylene Blue, then carbon and water change. Then 2 rounds of Prazipro.

Then watch for a day.

I also read where some wrasse keepers say copper is hard on them too, so I wanted to avoid that.

 

[mfinn]

Finally a update on this tank.

The picture is mainly to show the screen top I made today.
Tired of losing wrasses.

 

[CarlaW]

Took you a year too huh.............................lol. Tank is really lookin good!!!

 

[NanaReefer]

Top looks awesome on that beautiful tank. You should be proud ?

 

[mfinn]

Thanks Jamie and Carla.
The top turned out just ok.
I cut the frame about a 1/2" too narrow, even though I measured 3-4 times.
There is a gap.
BUT, this one is temporary. I ordered a custom screen top from a place called Artfully Acrylic.
I had some christmas $ and I sold a frag recently to fund it.
I built this one to hold me over until the new one is made and shipped. They say about 6 weeks.

 

[CarlaW]

That sounds like it will pass the time and keep the leapers from leaping. I have gaps in my tops also but no one has found them yet!!! I am seriously knocking on wood

 

[mfinn]

Well, I went over to Lowes and picked up a 1-1/2" x .125 x 8' piece of aluminum and attached it to the back of the screen top.
There was a 3/4" gap along the whole length of it.
So I feel better about it.
I've read that some wrasses seem to find the smallest gaps in the top and manage to get through.

 

[CarlaW]

I have firefish that will find the same gap!!!! Luckily, none have taken the fatal leap yet........................ still knockin on wood....................lol

 

[mfinn]

I have firefish that will find the same gap!!!! Luckily, none have taken the fatal leap yet........................ still knockin on wood....................lol

I'm going to try and change directions with my fish.
Thinking of getting into wrasses more.
Some are pretty expensive.

 

[CarlaW]

With beauty comes $$$$ ya know . I am pretty sure you can manage to acquire some nice ones tho, I have never known you to be shy when it comes to gorgeous fish!!

 

[mfinn]

Made a couple equipment changes.
My Vectra L1 closed loop pump failed on me again. ( second time)