Above is the most recent picture of my tank...i know its a bit dark looking, but i really wanted to bring out the blue in the new shrooms so i messed with the camera exposure and the white balance.
This is a 46 gallon bowfront. Often looked down upon by those who have the funding for 500+ gallons of water and an actual house to put one in.
But hey, i have an apartment and i do good by my tank as small as it is.
My stock is as follows (not in order of placement):
One Maroon Clown, not the gold stripe kind, his stripes will remain white.I like them better.
One Coral Beauty who weaves in and out of the rockwork and grazes all day.
One Yellow Tang *gasp* Tang Police, restrain yourselves
. She does not threaten anyone except her reflection in the glass. She swims all around the tank easily and relaxed and not in a constant mindless pattern, she glides over and through the rockwork and nibbles at the (slightly more than visually pleasant and abundant) algae. She has a great apetite, good color, she's a butterball and she loves the IPSF Tang Heaven
I also got what is referred to as "the salt water pleco" (also called a cling-fish)... an algae eating fish that resembles, you guessed it- a freshwater pleco. Actually, maybe more like a miniature monkfish. I got mixed results when i tried to get info on it. Some gave a thumbs up and said definately reef-safe- maybe it might snack on small hermits- but wouldn't dine on corals. Another oppinion was that it hardly eats algae and will make a meal of whatever snails it can fit in its mouth. I've now had him just over a month and i really can't tell for sure if he eats any algae at all....he does like to eat pods though!
Yes i do plan on a larger tank (i've been eying the 72g bowfronts). I will be moving my family to a small home within the next 2 weeks. I plan to take over the basement of this house and put all my hobbies in there. I also keep birds- canaries, tiels and a conure and semi-exotic tropical houseplants- Passiflora and orchids etc (and i may be able to garden outdoors soon!)....but i've got to redo the basement floors. The house was built in 1912 and the basement floor is remarkably level for its age- for its age. I'll have to level it by skimming a layer of new concrete and let it fully cure before the tanks can be moved in or i will have to construct some level platforms that correct the contour of the floor.
I expect to put together a minimum of a 55 gallon tank very soon after the move and continue keeping my 46 bow, i will also continue to keep my current small tanks- a 10 gallon puffertank and a 10 gallon mixed tropical tank as well as my 30 gallon goldfish tub pond..... I have the materials for a 30 gallon sump/fuge system an will be setting that up eventually. The first order after putting the 46 in the basement is to set up whatever size new tank i can decide on, Fill it with Southdown sand cycle it, put the critters from the 46 in it, clean the CC out of the 46, sell or trade it to the LFS, fill the 46 with SD and re-cycle that and replace the zoos, shrooms and leathers in it and leave the fish in the new tank. *gasp*
As i update this(3-06-03) i just want to mention that the 3 damsels i had in there have been removed to their own 10gallon tank.
Filtration and lighting, not really impressive, but i'll at least be honest.
Fluval 303, running with Kent's Nitrate Sponge, an Aquaclear 200 that i had kicking around, two powerheads, one for each back corner pointing toward the front. I have a Visijet skimmer that i run 12-24 hours once a week- its a bubble machine and the design of it is ugly and bulky so i don't like keeping it in (when i get te sump/fuge together it will go in there). Besides, i am under the impression that less skimming means more food for filterfeeding organisims. My lighting is on the low side with 3, 32" NO bulbs...one 10K Superdaylight, one 50/50 and an Actinic. I have plans and materials for a DIY upgrade soon, just havn't had the time yet.
In the last month or 3 i have also added some button polyps, star polyps zoanthids, leathers and mushrooms. My camera is not all that great (as you can tell by my tank shot above) so the pics are not impressive. I got the Lime Green Leather and the Gold Crown leather as well as the Anthelias from IPSF.com. Everything else came from my LFS (Family Pet Center, Auburn ME).
Update: 4-30-03
More shrooms, a Capnella and something called Colonial Tunicates- pics will beup in the nxt few minutes.
