Critique my 120 (mainly coral placement). Also, pls ID this Anemone

[connpatd]

I'm working on my first Saltwater tank and hope to get some feedback.

Based on the first pic, can you tell me if my coral placement is ok?

Based on the second pic, can you I.D. the Anemone? I was told it is a Green Bubble Tip Anemone, but it doesn't look like any of the pics I've seen of green BTA's. It looks more like a Carpet to me based off one pic I've seen recently.

My 120!




I.D. Please.

[connpatd]

Here's some of the kids...

[Agu]

Looks good to me. Be sure the elegance is well anchored as a tumble from that height could be fatal.

Although I hesitate to attempt to make IDs from pics, I had a"bubble tip" anemone without bubble tips. It looked a lot like your pic.

[connpatd]

And the corals....

Elegance


Hammer


Frogspawn


Mushroom


Zoa and Toadstool


Elkhorn (I think) on the left, Elegance on the Right...


Cap one


Cap Two


And a brain that I bought half price due to injury. Hope it lives....

[kau_cinta_ku]

placement looks good for lighting wise. but not sure on your flow.

i have to doubt that you have an elkhorn though. those are very rare and I don't think hobbiest can keep them. only zoo's and such.

[kau_cinta_ku]

as for the anemone it looks like a bleached rose bubble

[tmz]

I don't know waht you lighting is so it's hard to comment. But I would be happier with the elegance(Cataphylia jardenei) on the sand with a bit of shelter from excessive flow. The anemone looks like a bubble anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). It should be placed higher in the tank. It is likely to move up on its own and may sting corals in the process.

[tmz]

Regarding the elkhorn. There is a montipora variety of elkhorn which is relatively common. The rare endangered coral is a elkhorn acropora.

[connpatd]

My lighting is 2x 250w Metal Halides.

I only have 1 powerhead right now, so flow isn't too turbulant right now, anywhere in the tank, but it sounds like I should put the Elegance in the sand.

As for the Anemone, what would cause it to bleach, and will it recover or turn back to normal?

Also, it has been in the same spot for 3 to 4 weeks now. Wouldn't it be moving around if it wanted to be higher up? I'll move it up if you think that is needed, but I thought I read that you let them chose their spot and then you leave them be.

Thanks for the replies.

[tmz]

With 250 metal halide perhaps the anemone will stay put . Mine have always moved up sooner or later. The usual comment on placement is put them where you wan't them and hope they stay there. If it starts to move about you may have to box it in with a bit of relandscaping later on. Bubbles do well in aquariums and can get large and often split and split some more giving you more than you need with negative consequences for the neighbors.
The bubble in the last photo on this thread(sorry couldn't figure out how to bread it out) was smaller than yours a few years ago and was placed just about where yours is now. There are now two living in close proximity and I have already removed one and sold it.



http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1222848

[Deb91]

connpatd, I sent you a pm.

[demonsp]

Your flow is low,powerhead in the center is bad , it prevents proper circulation. This tank looke very young and over stocked.SB looks void of any kind of food source fot the goby.

[connpatd]

Here's a link to some info on Elkhorn Montipora for sale at liveaquaria.com

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=2576

[connpatd]

The tank is 9 months old, although we moved a few months ago and had to tear it all down, moved it, cleaned/scraped the glass, replaced the live sand, and put it all back. That was October. Not sure if that is why it looks young or not.

Good info on the pump. I'll move it to one of the sides tomorrow. There's 10 fish (7 of which are between 1 and 2 inches, 3 of which are 3 inches) and only a few crabs, maybe 30 various snails.

Also, the Diamond Goby has been eating flake, frozen, pellets, and anything else I give him ever since his quaranteen when I first got him, in addition to pods. Of all the fish he is the one that eats the most. He's quite chuby too, or at least seems to be. Also, he only gets around to cleaning the sand on one side of the tank. The other side is alot dirtier. I wish he would go over there and sift the sand some.

Is this overstocked for a 120 gallon with 30 gallon fuge/sump?

Diamond Goby - 3 inches
Fairy Wrasse - 3 inches
Yellow Wrasse - 2 3/4 inches
3 small firefish - 2 inches
2 small clowns - 1.5 inches
1 sixline wrasse - 1 inch
1 lubock wrasse - 1 1/4 inch.
1 Arrow crab
1 porcelain crab small
1 emerald crab small
oh yeah, forgot the small coral banded shrimp
various snails

[ACBlinky]

I'm not sure exactly how much flow you've got, but I think it's safe to say you need some more. My advice would be to invest in two Tunze powerheads, one for each end of the tank, and experiment with moving your locline and the powerheads so the flows intersect and/or bounce off tank walls - this should give you random flow patterns. If you watch a given coral (hammers are great for this), you should see its tentacles waving around in one direction, then another, without a distinct pattern - if it's going back and forth like a metronome, adjust the powerheads. It could be tough to get the flow right in your tank, given the selection of corals - shrooms tend to like low flow, long-tentacled LPS like to be moved gently, and SPS like a fairly high degree of water movement but dislike being blasted from one side.

demonsp mentioned the goby, and I think that's worth addressing too - sand-sifting gobies often starve in new or too-small tanks because they eliminate the microlife from the sandbed and then can't catch enough food at feeding time to sustain themselves. I had a sixspot that was as fat as the rest of my fish, but it took work to get him that way. My solution was to feed mysis and other wholesome, meaty foods soaked in vitamins and push them under the sand using a pipette with a long tube attached. I used my homemade feeding tool to 'inject' about 5ml of food in several spots about 1" below the surface, where none of the other fish could find it, and the goby would sift it out over a few hours. He also learned to take food from the water column, but without his special hidden meals he would quickly lose weight.

My advice on the nem is to leave it be - if he's unhappy, he'll find himself a new spot

[BangkokMatt]

Looking good. Place the elegance in the sand and increase your flow. I don't think you are overstocked but I wouldn't be adding anymore fish. Also - your BTA might not like it underneath that overhang but it will move on its own accord if it feels fit.

[tmz]

I don't think it's overstocked. The diamond goby should be fine if it is coming into the water column to eat. I have one in my 120g with a relatively shallow sand bed . It has been thriving for 14months.Carefull, the diamond goby will likely jump and turn into a potatoe chip on the rug if the tank is uncovered.

One other potential problem worth noting is the sixline. When it grows a bit it will almost assuredly attack your other wrasses and probably harass your firefish. Perhaps you will avoid this scenario since you placed them early in a large tank and the six line is very small. By the time it grows up it may not be territorial as far as the fish already in the tank are concerned but then again it might just do what sixlines do. This fish is also a jumper. It can terrorize an aquarium.

[demonsp]

You said you replced the SB, did you also replace the water?

[tmz]

ABC Blinky, Thanks for sharing the tip on hidden meals for the goby. Mine's doing ok but I'm going to try your technique since one can always improve husbandry and it sounds easy enough.

[connpatd]

You said you replced the SB, did you also replace the water?

I brought perhaps 50% of the water from the old house to the new one to keep the Live Rock in water and dumped all of it back in the tank after I got the tank setup again.

[Diver4life]

Nice looking tank, like the rock work. GL

[TheOtherReefer]

Looks nice. Hope to see another pic with growth soon.