Tank pics - 8 months (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

It's been a long time since I posted tank pics, so I took some tonight. My tank is right at the 8 month mark - I think some of the growth could have been better, but as many times as I've changed lighting and flow...

Here's a full tank shot to start with:

A good overall shot, with a nice view of my white-cheek tang:

This was the best shot I could get of my Potter's angel:

One of my favorite pieces - a nice peach ricordia:

I really like these metallic blue mushrooms. There's also a really nice blue ricordia on that rock, but the anthelia is completely obscuring it (time for some more pruning):

The obligatory "clownfish in the anemone" pic:

The best shot I could get of my mandarin - he's usually not shy at all, but as soon as I got out the camera, he wouldn't come near me:

A couple of actinic shots of my favorite brains:

 

[imsuperjp]

nice...your running t5s right?

 

[Guest]

nice...your running t5s right?

Yes, I'm running 6x54w T5-HO's.

 

[Guest]

I like, I like.

Looks really good Mike, and I can see why the peach ric's are your fav's

Robert

 

[Guest]

Looks great. I really like the white cheek Tang.

 

[Guest]

isnt that a powder brown?

nice tank mike!

 

[Guest]

Nice tank, good pics.

 

[Guest]

isnt that a powder brown?

nice tank mike!

Thanks everyone.

There are 2 species that are commonly called "powder brown" tangs. This one is a. japonicus, aka white-cheek or white-faced tang. A true powder brown (a. nigricans)has just a white slit under the eye instead of the whole cheek being white, and it doesn't have the orange stripe on the rear half of the dorsal fin. Every LFS I've been to has labeled them as powder browns, so it's important to look for the physical distinctions, since there is a huge difference in their survival rates. Here's an article explaining the difference:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/GoldRimSs.htm

 

[landfish]

Cool Tank!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great Pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

ohhh ok, well then some of the books are labeled wrong too?

ive read the article and am still confused

at Aquatic Center i like to thumb through the books and the books ive read that i have at home all label Acanthurus Nigricans or something like that as White Cheek because it has that bone like marking directly under the eye. and White Cheek tang they also call Gold Rim tang because of the distinctive yellow on the top and bottom fins and also on the tail.

also the tang you call powder brown and i call white cheek are mostly dark purpleish to black right?

why would it be labeled brown if it isnt brown?

i thought powder browns were identified by their brown color and orange to red mark on the top fin?

 

[Guest]

It's pretty pointless to argue about common names - that's why we have scientific names. But you are right - even some of the books don't agree. Scott Michaels book has the species descriptions backwards, and claims that a. nigricans is easier to keep than a. japonicus, which is the opposite of what Bob Fenner says or what seems to be the consensus among hobbyists. There are several threads on RC discussing this issue, and most people seem to have had more success with a. japonicus.

 

[Guest]

ohh ok

too bad A. Nigricans is harder too keep i like the colors on it much better than A. Japonicus

 

[KarenB]

Very nice, Mike! Your tank has come along very nicely since I saw it a couple, three months ago...........that was before you changed all your lighting and plumbing up

 

[Guest]

Awesome!

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone. After all the hard work of setting it up, and redoing the lighting, pumps, and plumbing (numerous times), it has been nice to watch it start to take off the last few months. I can't wait to see what the next 6 months brings.

 

[AggieBrandon]

knowing you....6 months will bring 2-3 more changes in something

 

[Guest]

Not likely - my wife is onto the whole "I can upgrade this and after I sell the old one, it will only cost me this much" scheme.

 

[Guest]

How big of a tank is that?

 

[Guest]

It's a 75g Oceanic RR. As of this week , here are the equipment specs:

Filtration: 30g Ecosystem sump/refugium w/ 20 lbs. of miracle mud, 120 lbs. of live rock, Pentair chemical filter module, currently used for carbon (I've started running carbon 24/7 because of the leathers)

Pumps: Blueline BL1100 return pump, PanWorld PS150 closed loop pump running to a SCWD with 3 outlets on each side of the SCWD.

Lighting: 6x54w T5HO's with SLS reflectors running on Triad ballasts. Bulbs are (2) AquaBlue 11000k, (1) Aquasun 6500k, (2) Blue Plus, (1) Actinic.

Cooling: Pacific Coast 1/4 HP chiller (don't really need it anymore, but it's good insurance), (2) 4" Orion fans blowing on the sump, (4) 3" PC fans ventilating the canopy.

Topoff/Dosing: Kalk is dosed via a Kangaroo KG324 peristalic pump, additional topoff is controlled by a Lifereef float switch connected to a solenoid. Evaporation is about 1.5g a day, about half that is made up with dripped kalk, the rest with plain RO water.

Other: Pinpoint pH monitor, Ranco dual stage temp controller (used now just as a backup to shutoff chiller/heater if temp gets out of range), Aqua Ultraviolet 40w UV sterilizer.

 

[Naka]

Nice tank pictures!