my reef GARden frenzY: April 2015

Another month has gone by so quickly. This is a significant month where Aquarium 3 is concerned because it is now predominantly LPS and soft corals dominated.

The updates are presented below.

Aquarium 1 (1 ft cube - 27 litres)

This aquarium is starting to get overcrowded with 6 fishes but I guess the fact that the Regal Blue Tang is growing too fast is of big concern to me. Well, there is the concern that it may introduce the marine ich into that aquarium since I believe all Regal Blue Tangs in the home aquarium would harbour some ich. There has also been a considerable increase in nuisance algae growth but disappearance of all green Caulerpa and bubble algae and I attribute it mainly to the Regal Blue Tang as well. I took the risk of transferring the Regal Blue Tang into Aquarium 3 this morning and so far, it seems to be fine.

I have not quite gotten to adding more colours to this aquarium because the focus was still primarily on Aquarium 3.

The list of livestock is as follows:

Fishes

2 true Percula ocellaris Clowns
Possum Wrasse
Golden Maroon Clown (from Aquarium 4)
Hector Goby
Majestic Angelfish

Invertebrates

3 Turbo Snails
Nassarius Snail
Tuxedo Sea Urchin
Cleaner Skunk Shrimp

Corals

Acan

mega Blasto
Bubble Coral
Goniopora

Soft Corals

Rose Bud Tip Anemone and Bud Tip Anemone
White Tree Coral
Orange Tree Coral

Polyps

Anthelia
Zoas
Green Star Polyps

Mushrooms

a few blue Actinodiscus mushrooms

Macroalgae

red algae

The technical information is as follows:

Atman HF-0600 HOB Filter

Maxspect Razor Nano 60W (10,000K)

Tunze Osmolator Nano

Boyu Cooling Fan

FTS

pair of true Percula Clownfish and peeping Majestic Angelfish

Hector Goby and golden Maroon Clownfish

juvenile-adult Majestic Angelfish

Aquarium 3 (3 x 1.5 x 1.5 feet and sump - 250 litres)
After I got the Hailea chiller early this month, which was slightly undersized, I am not sure if I notice any significant difference. The temperature was set at 28 deg C and there was definitely less water top up from evaporation but other than that, everything was the same and the SPS continued to deteriorate and die.

I suppose I won't go into SPS for the time being until I get a calcium reactor. All the existing LPS, soft corals and invertebrates are all looking good. It is amazing how big some of the Goniopora can expand to when fully inflated. This month alone I added 8 Sea Fans. Yes, from no fans to an aquarium of fans.

The updated list of livestock is:

Fishes

2 black Clowns
Purple Tang
2 Blue-yellow Damsels (1 was from the office Aquarium 4)
Yellow Tang
Yellow Clown Goby
Flame Angel
Yellow Wrasse
Orange Striped Prawn Goby

Invertebrates

Turbo and Nassarius snails
2 red Linckia starfishes
purple Linckia starfish
2 Tuxedo Urchins
2 Cleaner Skunk Shrimps
Fire Shrimp
Fromia starfish

Corals

Horn Coral
Strawberry Shortcake Acropora
yellow digitata
red digitata
Millepora

3 Acans
3 Hammer Corals (peach and 2 purple green)
4 Supersun Coral frags
2 yellow Bubble Corals
2 branched Octo Corals (purple and half green and half peach)
4 Goniopora Corals (shrinking pink, green tentacles and purple center and 2 purple tentacles green center)
2 Elegance Corals (pink tips green body and blue tip yellow body)
green Candy Cane
Duncan Coral
Blasto Coral
Fox Coral

Mushrooms

orange Ricordea yuma mushrooms
green Ricordea yuma mushrooms

Soft Corals

Chilli Coral
red Flower Rock Anemone
2 pink Rose Bud Tip Anemones
Toadstool Leather Mushroom
branched Finger Coral
9 Gorgonians (purple branch with brown polyps, 2 yellow branch and polyps, 2 red branch with yellow polyps, 2 white branch with red polyps, red branch with pink polyps, half yellow and brown branch)