Draco's Nano Reef Journal

sivyaleah

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What a great setup you have there Draco.  My BIL has had tanks his whole life, both fresh and salt water. He said we can take all his old equipment if we want it but we really can't find the room, our house is incredibly small. It's a great hobby, both my partner and I really love fish. Love the shrimp!  Looking forward to seeing how yours develops.
 

peaches08

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I love how the slightly darker one has smoky eyes and pouty lips!
 
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andrya

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They are beautiful  
 l love clownfish, they're so pretty.

A friend of mine has a huge set-up and has those clownfish that look like they're wearing helmets. They have pretty unusual markings.

l could watch that shrimp of yours for hours 
 

natalie_ca

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I can't wait to see which one turns female :D
I didn't understand that until I read Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellaris_clownfish

Are you going to get a sea anemone? From that article, clown fish and anemones really like each other.

Here is an article from National Geographic

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic...fish-help-their-anemones-to-breathe-at-night/

EDIT:

Ooop!  Better not. Seems they eat shrimp!!!

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001418/anemone.html
 
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Draco

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No anemone for my tank! They are destructive! They will eventually host in another coral. I had clowns host in mushrooms long ago!
 
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I picked up some corals (Zoanthids) from someone from another forum. 3 of them, cheap compared to the stores! Photo below are two of them.. the third I accidentally knocked over and it closed up. Will have to try later


And I ordered snails and crabs. Get this.. I ordered 10 snails. Ten. 10. No more, no less. Does this look like 10 snails?! Must be close to 100! I am happy with my order, lol

 

peaches08

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The zoanthids are gorgeous! And yeah, that's more than 10 snails. :lol3:
 

trixiekitty

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I just looked through this thread today, your tank is so cool! I've always wanted to have a saltwater tank, but I have no idea if I'd be able to do it successfully. I love your pictures! Especially the snail one, it looks like ten snails each invited ten other snails!
 
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thank you both!
 

I am in love with my Zoa's. I am looking for more coral ideas.. not sure if I want to get some hard corals or not.
 

natalie_ca

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Looking great! Love those corals!

So far as the snails go, you did get 10! A few just tagged along for a ride. By the looks of it, probably a "gross".

Can we see pictures of the full tank?
 
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No. The more snails the better. I am sure some of those snails are dead anyways!
 
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Not at all! I am still learning As a well! My new obsession!
 

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Whatever happened with all those snails?  If most are alive you might want to try to farm them out to others, too much cleanup crew they will just die off anyways.  I didn't really find that snails and hermits did much to matter, algae comes and goes no matter what, I haven't bought cleanup critters in years.  I do kind of miss nass. snails though, they are kind of fun to watch if you have a sandbed for them.  And shrimp are always entertaining, I had a heck of a time finding any pepp. shrimp to get rid of aiptasias, finally got one but lost him in a tank rearrange. 

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Nanocube 24 gallon/IMG_1901_zpsf09cfbc8.jpg

Not a great pic but my 24 gallon, have a pair of black occs. in there.  Your tank will be a little cramped for a pair of clowns but they take quite a while to grow anyways.  Not a fish I really recommend, they are kind of boring and nasty territorial little beasts but everybody buys them.  I was going to get rid of my female after the male jumped but a friend brought me up a replacement male so that didn't work out.  I have an 8 gallon tank as well with non photo corals but no fish, just a pom pom crab.  Had two but one must have died. 

Saltwater isn't really as difficult as it seems, startup time/research and the costs involved is more of the issue for people, salt mix, expensive lighting, everything is costly, fish, rock, coral, sand but upkeep is not so bad or anymore time consuming than my freshwater tanks.  Lot of turnover, people who jump in, rush, kill everything or end up with a really bad looking tank and sell everything off. 
 
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You have a nice tank! I wanted to avoid putting the rocks against the glass for easier cleaning. I learned that after my first tank! I like how you layered your rocks.

No worries about the clowns. My LFS said they're willing to do a trade-in if they get too big. but like you said, they take a long time to grow :)

As for the snails, they're doing well. I didn't spend much on them at all since the guy I bought from was amazing. he sent me more than I needed (a heck of a lot more than I thought, I paid for 10, not that many). No one else i know locally would take some, and the LFS won't take them. I've been tossing in some algae wafers for them to munch on.. they won't starve (I hope!)
 
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barbh

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Beautiful looking tank. I had a saltwater tank for awhile, but took it down this past spring and set it up as a fresh water planted tank with Angelfish. Definitly a relaxing hobby.
 

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If I haven't already said this, I love the reef journal.  Thank you so much for sharing it with us.  
 
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thanks, you two!

I am short on cash, so for now the tank will have to sit as is for a while. Those corals are not cheap!
 
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