The Genmay Aquarium Thread [A place for aquarists to talk]

[TheJackal]

I know that there are aquarists here as I have talked to some in the main forum so I thought I would make a thread where we could all discuss aquarium related stuff,
ask questions, post pictures, comment/recommend, etc.

My tank specs:

28 gallon bow front
Marineland Emperor 280
nine Tiger Barbs
one Rosy Barb
three Apple Snails
various other small snails
various plants (I am still learning the names so don't ask. I know that the one that looks like a bamboo plant is a White Ribbon and I have found the names of the others in an encyclopedia, but I don't remember the names)

This was the beginning of my tank.


Later.


Chinese Algae Eater (Died a few weeks ago, was ~five years old)


Chinese Algae Eater (Died last week, was ~three years old)


The same one as above.


The tank as it stands a few hours ago.


I am planning on adding a new ornament to the left side to replace the cave. Most likely driftwood. All of the cuttings I have taken have grown roots and are growing. I have read that once the plant hits the surface, it will start growing a lot of side shoots, so I am going to try that. I had one algae eater, the three year old one, live fine until I was forced to take in another one, my brother's. I know the dangers of having more than one in the tank and I ignored it thinking the tank was big enough. Well, they were fine for months until recently. Mine was found in the cave in half with snails eating his remains. My brothers was on the bottom right side.

Snails, I don't mind in there. The smaller ones (I added them to the tank) do nothing bad to the plants or anything. The apple snails I bought to replace the algae eater as they don't do much when they are old ... which they didn't. I have had apple snails before and I hope that these don't destroy the plants. I mean, they can eat the cuttings but the large ones ehhhh.

I thought about getting I canister filter to replace my Emperor, a Magnum 350 Pro to be exact. I guess it would be worthless seeing as my Emperor does the job fine, but I thought it might improve the water a little bit, if possible. Anyone have any reasons to choose a canister filter to replace this?

As for the levels of my tank, I bought one of the $10 test kits at Walmart. My water matches perfectly with the ideal range colors. That is Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness, Alkalinity, and pH. I will, maybe next trip to the pet store, get a more advanced test kit.

I have had five of the Tiger Barbs for three years, the other four were introduced a few months ago. The Rosy Barb is also three years old.

I do 25% water changes (siphon vacuum the gravel) every two weeks. I change the Emperor's filter every four weeks.

I am also planning on getting a new bulb, a flora glow one. It is $17 so it better be worth it.

[scrubbs]

i would bet that your E280 is doing just fine. I personally believe that many people think mechanical filtration is number one and bio filtering is second. I think your E280 is handling your mechanical filtration just fine, especially cayse your tank is fairly lightly loaded. The emperors also do a pretty good job with bio filtering with the biowheel. I would change water weekly to ensure you keep nitrates down, but since your tests indicate you are fine, you might want to wait until you get a test kit that is a bit more detailed.

Your tank is very lightly loaded, and looks absolutely fine to me. Don't waste your money on a magnum, or any other filter right now. With the driftwood, unless you have carbon in your filter(i rarely ran it), your water will most likely turn slightly yellow from the tannins in the wood. No harm to the fishes, but to get rid of it, run carbon in the grey compartment in your emperor.

I currently dont have any tanks going. i have a 50 gallon sitting in the basement not being used as i personally feel its too small for anything i want right now. I used to have 3 red belly piranhas that reached 8-9" and then i traded them in for a giant 10" jack dempsey that i am goign to say died of old age. It was a beautiful fish. When i move out, i am contemplating spending the dough on something big, like 150+ gallons and getting some wicked nice cichlids or something.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by scrubbs

i would bet that your E280 is doing just fine. I personally believe that many people think mechanical filtration is number one and bio filtering is second. I think your E280 is handling your mechanical filtration just fine, especially cayse your tank is fairly lightly loaded. The emperors also do a pretty good job with bio filtering with the biowheel. I would change water weekly to ensure you keep nitrates down, but since your tests indicate you are fine, you might want to wait until you get a test kit that is a bit more detailed.

Your tank is very lightly loaded, and looks absolutely fine to me. Don't waste your money on a magnum, or any other filter right now. With the driftwood, unless you have carbon in your filter(i rarely ran it), your water will most likely turn slightly yellow from the tannins in the wood. No harm to the fishes, but to get rid of it, run carbon in the grey compartment in your emperor.

I currently dont have any tanks going. i have a 50 gallon sitting in the basement not being used as i personally feel its too small for anything i want right now. I used to have 3 red belly piranhas that reached 8-9" and then i traded them in for a giant 10" jack dempsey that i am goign to say died of old age. It was a beautiful fish. When i move out, i am contemplating spending the dough on something big, like 150+ gallons and getting some wicked nice cichlids or something.

The filter cartridges do have carbon in them. I have the Diamond Blend stuff to put in the gray container. I used it for a few months until I stopped using it to let the plants take in the ammonia.

Yeah, once this "generation" is finished, I want to get cichlids. I have read that there are some big species of them that are peaceful, but I am afraid that they will destroy my plants, but I read that some cichlids respect their environments.

After the "cichlid generation," I will probably dip into salt water. I know that it is extremely expensive (my brother has two salt water tanks), but the fish are absolutely beautiful, along with the coral and shrimp.

Yeah, I suppose replacing the Emperor would be a waste of money.

Thanks.

[Ottawagoa]

Hey, I like the fish, not a fan of the plastic stuff (Love natural look) But your tank and pics are clean and that's what counts... Can't say that for these:

55 Gallon
4 Red Belly Piranha 5 Inches
1 Jewel Cichlid 3 inch







75 Gallon
Purple-Tinted Red Belly Piranha 4 Pair (1 M, 3 F, 2 Breed weekly with male)
200-300 babies, bout 500 eggs too






Those are old pics, my camera sucks ass but you'll get the picture.

Btw, if you live near the ottawa area, and pick up purple red bellies, they're mine and they're WC F1's (WC parents, first generation breeding)

[Nox]

These photos were taken a few months ago...



Here is a closeup of our Condylactus Anemone (no flash)







SUPER MACRO TIME! This is one of the many miniature hermit crabs that hang out in our marine tank. This guy is just slightly larger than a pencil eraser. (no flash)




Above you see a few more miscellaneous photos of some of our marine tank residents. You can see our Yellow Tang, a Green Chromis (Damsel), and a flash shot of the condy anemone.


Giant Electric Blue hermit crab - Video - Recorded in January 2007...

+ YouTube Video

[Nox]

These pictures were taken around Easter 2007:

We recently got a Clarkii Anemone and a Clarkii Clown a few weeks back and I snapped some more pictures:







VIDEO: Taken just a few days ago. Showing off the various creatures in our 55gal marine tank and trying to get used to my new Canon Powershot S3 IS. Starts off kinda slow because I was hoping I would catch the Electric Blue Hermit changing shells.

+ YouTube Video

[Nox]

Oh yeah, tank stats on the above pictures:

Tank stats:

55gallon standard (4 feet long)
Rena Filstar XP3 w/ various media
Seaclone 150 Protein Skimmer (I fucking hate this thing, plan to replace it as soon as funds allow)
Another Powerhead for extra water movement

Residents (that I can remember, anyway):
1x Yellow Tang
2x Clarkii Clowns
5x Assorted Damsels
1x Scarlet Crab
1x Giant Electric Blue Hermit Crab
2x Scarlet mini hermits
4x Turbo Snails
several astreus snails and mutt mini hermits
1x Sand Sifting Sea Star
1x Brittle Star
1x HUMONGUS Clarkii Anemone
1x Condylactus Anemone

[TheJackal]

Nice tanks both of you!

Ottawagoa, how often do you feed them/clean them? I remember seeing your thread here about them.

Nox ... that is just beautiful. You have lots of open space for the fish, yet it packs so much activity in it. I love it! How often do the hermit crabs molt? What do you feed them? Do the fish bother them?

[Nox]

Originally Posted by TheJackal

Nox ... that is just beautiful. You have lots of open space for the fish, yet it packs so much activity in it. I love it!

Thank you! I must admit I put a lot of effort into the saltwater tank, but I wish I had the $$$ to really put into it. Right now the filtration consists of that Rena Filstar XP3 (which are awesome canister filters BTW) and the crappy Seaclone skimmer. I am trying to save up for a proper sump/refugium setup to better control nitrates and allow us to keep more livestock without fear of losing anything. So far we've been really lucky though - our fish are happy and healthy.

That's just the saltwater, I've got 6 other tanks to post pictures of. I've got the camera batteries in the charger now.

Originally Posted by TheJackal

How often do the hermit crabs molt? What do you feed them? Do the fish bother them?

The time between molts varies... the mini-hermits seem to molt quite often, sometimes two or three times in a single month. The larger ones like the Giant Electric Blue molt once every few months.

I feed the fish a varied diet. Some days I feed them processed brine shrimp pellets, some days frozen brine shrimp (a treat, they love it), and often times I feed them dried seaweed or fresh greens (they like romaine lettuce or broccoli florets).

The anemones get fed frozen freshwater shrimp. I buy the shrimp fresh from the seafood section at the grocery store, bring it home, peel it, slice it into chunks, and then freeze it in gallon sized ziplock baggies. Really convienient to reach in and get a couple chunks, and thaw it in tank water before feeding the anemones. They get fed twice a week.

The crabs are scavengers for the most part and will eat whatever crap falls to the bottom of the tank. They are pretty lively and will scramble when it's feeding time, eagerly searching for a piece of food to call their own.

The starfish are also scavengers and tend to eat leftovers although occasionally I can get them to eat a chunk of shrimp.

[18B<rambone>]

nox what lighting are you running to keep that sebae anenome alive?

[Nox]

Originally Posted by 18B<rambone>

nox what lighting are you running to keep that sebae anenome alive?

Nothing special, Coralife 50/50 flourescent bulbs (2x25w). Yes, this is underpowered for what the Sebae needs but I didn't buy it, my roomie did without asking me first. I'm planning to switch to a Power Compact Flourescent setup soon to better suit it's needs.

Despite the lack of proper lighting the Sebae (Clarkii) seems to be thriving, he was huge when we got him 2 months ago and since then he's increased his mass a good 10 - 15%. He eats readily and thanks to a really attentive Clarkii clown he gets a lot to eat.

[18B<rambone>]

Originally Posted by Nox

Nothing special, Coralife 50/50 flourescent bulbs (2x25w). Yes, this is underpowered for what the Sebae needs but I didn't buy it, my roomie did without asking me first. I'm planning to switch to a Power Compact Flourescent setup soon to better suit it's needs.

Despite the lack of proper lighting the Sebae (Clarkii) seems to be thriving, he was huge when we got him 2 months ago and since then he's increased his mass a good 10 - 15%. He eats readily and thanks to a really attentive Clarkii clown he gets a lot to eat.

Awesome, you should try and get metal halides if money allows. The sebae will thrive. Im working at a saltwater fish store since its right next to campus so the discounts help alot in maintaining my system.

[18B<rambone>]

top down shot

full tank shot under actinics

hammerhead coral under actinics

zoanthids

side shot

pagoda cup close up






system specs: tanks been running for 2 years
-2x 40watt pc (upgrading to 150w 14k metal halides next week)
-filtration is provided by live rock, deep sand bed, and macro algaes, power heads are used for circulation
-mated pair of tomato clownfish
-2 masked gobies
-1 mandarin goby (not pictured)
-4 ricordea florida anenomes
-pipe organ coral
-sun coral (tubastrea sp.)
-hammerhead coral
-pagoda cup (turbinaria sp.)
-shit load of xenia sp.
-various caulerpa species
-colt coral
-clean up crew :shit load of blue leg hermits, scarlet reef hermits, turbo snails, cerith snails, and nassarius snails

Im currently dealing with an aiptasia problem so I recently introduced some peppermint shrimp from my other tank


-sorry for the shitty camera

[Nox]

Originally Posted by 18B<rambone>

Awesome, you should try and get metal halides if money allows. The sebae will thrive. Im working at a saltwater fish store since its right next to campus so the discounts help alot in maintaining my system.

I would kill for a metal halide setup, but sadly it's just sooo far out of my price range.

I can get a decent 48" PCF (4x65w) for under $200 and while it's not MH it's still leaps and bounds better than a standard $20 flourescent.

[notwhatuget]

this is a badass thread, makes me want to get one