# JulieFish's 35 gallon reef



## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Hey,

So I've really enjoyed looking through many of your tank threads, and I love to see your photos as you share the journey. My tank's been set up for almost a year now, so it will be more of a whirlwind tour journey, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

As for my history and philosophy (skip this paragraph if you hate lectures or are bored already and just want to see photos), I've been keeping all kinds of freshwater for about 20 years, nothing too challenging, but it's always been around. I consider the fishkeeping hobby my primary passtime... but I do other things too. I've been putting off going saltwater for ... well... maybe 20 years now because of a.)cost and b.)ecological cost. I also enjoy diving and I can't handle being "part of the problem" when it comes to reef destruction. As such, I'm committed to only buying my corals from other hobbyists because then they are either aquacultured or the damage has already been done, so to speak, when that other person bought the coral from the store in the first place. I know that many corals and fish are renewable resources that can and are captured responsibly and sustainably, but I also know that many are not. Being unable to tell the difference, I just buy from other people (so far at least). That being said, my rainford's goby was bought at big al's (probably from the wild but they are very plentiful in the wild) and so was my clam (I'm hoping it was aquaculted, but I don't know - moment of weakness because I REALLY wanted a clam). Also, I get my snails and crabs from stores (SUM, big als, etc.) because, again, they are in no danger of being overfished at the present time (and aren't often for re-sale). Because my corals are all gathered opportunistically , they are mostly pretty common or weedy stuff, but some are prized specimens. I've gotten a few big enough now (more than double the size of when I got them) that I would like to start fraggging, so that other people also have a source other than nature for their corals. This is just my personal feelings, I won't judge you if you get all your specimens shipped in from the reefs of the tropics... just be careful, and I ask that you consider the origin of this beautiful stuff.

huh... so I've been uploading photos but I got this message: "Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing.
If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error."

No idea what this means. I will try again in the next post.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Added marineland reef-capable lights, protein skimmer, and powerhead March 26, 2011.
I filled my old 35 gallon with saltwater on March 27.
Added 50lbs live rock on March 29 (from kijiji).
Added Clean up crew on April 9 (from SUM).
First photo is April 13.
Added bubble coral on April 19 (from GTAA member).
second photo is April 19.
third photo is April 29.

ah-ha I believe the reason I got the error message before is because I had photos with the same file names (in different folders on my computer)... good to know.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

added pulsing xenia (later melted and died) from kijiji May 10.
added kenya tree and green tree from kijiji also May 10, different person.
added 2 tank raised Ocellaris clowns and hammer coral from kijiji May 17.
first photo is May 17.
added cheato from GTAA member May 24.
second photo is May 27.
added purple mushrooms, green striped mushroom, GSP, frogspawn (I later sold this colony), ricordea (later got stung and died), yellow watchman goby and hermit crab from GTAA member June 3.
added cleaner wrassse (later jumped ), and GSP from GTAA member June 14.
added sun coral, red acan, 2 mini carpet nems from GTAA member June 18.
third photo is July 3.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

battled red cyano from about august to late January 2012. Persistance. Turkey Baster. Toothbrush. Patience.
added skunk cleaner shrimp, emerald crab and feather duster (later died) from Big als Aug. 30.
First photo is Nov. 18.
Started selling and trading frags on GTAA on Nov. 24.
Added hairy mushrooms from GTAA member Nov. 24.
added rainford's goby from big als Nov. 29.
added clam and turbo snails from big als Dec. 26.
Second photo is Jan. 12, 2012.
Third photo is Jan. 23, 2012.
Added pulsing xenia from GTAA member Jan. 26.
added candycane coral frag from Kijiji Feb. 22.
Fourth photo is Feb. 25, 2012.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

added emerald crab and hermit crab from GTAA member Feb. 28.
added torch coral and reb blastomussa (later died from too much light I think) from GTAA member Feb. 28.
Re-arranged a portion of the tank live rock Feb. 28.
First photo is March 1 (bubble is grumpy because I picked it up and looked at it's skeleton a couple days ago)
Second, Third, and fourth photos are today, March 6. Third photo shows just my blue LEDs. Fourth photo shows my parrot (reef-safe )!

And I kinda feel like it's almost full (coral-wise). I'm planning on getting a tank raised neon blue cleaner goby then a tank-raised orchid dottyback next. I may try another nice feather duster worm sometime too, and I also plan to get a sand-sifting starfish and some nassarius snails. but that's... pretty ... much... it... okay, I'd also like some purple/blue clove polyps....just to fill in a few places on the live rock... then another tank and we start all over again, right? damn this hobby is addictive!

Hope you enjoyed the tour, and I'll probably update periodically now.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Love the look of the aquarium! I also thank you for something new for me to look at  

Just a few questions if you don't mind:
what size is your powerhead?
no sump?

Also that bubble coral is huge!!!!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

I love the progression shots! reminds me of how it went with my old tank, and gives me excitement for the future with my new tank!

And I like your reef-safe parrot too, LOL


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

I've got two powerheads in there actually, the second one was added in the cyano phase, because I saw a recommendation somewhere that increasing flow can help. I don't think it really did, actually, more just letting it run it's course. Anyway, they are both koralia nano 425 gph. I may experiment with removing one... the flow blasts at the back of the frogspawn and I think it doesn't especially appreciate it.

As for a sump, no. I set up this tank more to dabble in SW and see how it went. I'm happy with the tank as is but I appreciate the value of a sump. It would be nice to get the macros out of the display tank too but oh well. More to the point, a sump will not fit under this tank with the current stand and there isn't another place to put a sump for this tank.

I always do a 10% WC weekly.

I actually do a few things a little wacky... 
-no ro/di ... just tap water carefully mixed with reef crysals and sodium carbonate solution (baked baking soda) to buffer pH.
-I mix up next week's water change water in a 5 gal. bucket then just leave it for the week... no powerhead to mix and no heater. when it is time to use it, I mix it up by pouring half into another bucket, then pouring it back into the holding bucket. Then I pour it slowly into the AC70, which is mostly full of LR rubble, with an activated carbon bag.

Glad you liked the parrot, that is my most affectionate addition.

edit: oh yeah, and the bubble coral is indeed huge! It feels like it takes up half the tank... at least a third! I'm planning on fragging it soon... it's got 4 mouths. I very recently got a dremel.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

nice tank, nice landscaping. Like it very much. Is it Bubble coral prevents you to clean front glass? This is huge one

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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

The bubble coral has grown very nicely as well as system progression in that period of time. 

I wonder what your Green Cheek Conure would think not getting recognition...LOL!


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

Thank you Julie for taking your time and sharing with us your beautiful tank and your ideas, I really share with you the conservation part and have in mind that now days so many people take corals out of the oceans but as well tons of people who are helping to plant the reefs again and propagating corals at home.
I really like your parrot, does he speak any words....whats his or her name...


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone for all the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed. And yes, I'm glad that we are all propagating corals at home to help aleviate the stress on natural reefs.

The flesh of that huge bubble does touch a big chunk of the front glass but I still clean it if I want to ... which is about once or twice a week now... keep in mind that it got big gradually so at the beginning it wasn't close, then it got close enough to just feel the current as I swept the mag cleaner by, now the mag cleaner actually has to shove the coral out of the way! It just closes up a little bit and sulks for 15 minutes when this happens now, doesn't really seem to care. About once a month I scrape the glass with a metal cleaner... at this time I also just shove the bubble out of the way.

Good eye wtac, he is a green cheek conure and you know your birds! His name is Arnie and he does talk and say many things, but is not very skilled so it is difficult to make out his words. He loves to say "Arnie", "you're so cute", "whatcha doing", "whatcha want", "you're so smart", "who's a chicken" and some other stuff. He also really likes to mimic noises and growls, coughs, beeps like the microwave, kisses, makes chomping sounds, etc. He's pretty awesome and will let anyone hold him (too bad people usually want to pet him and he will not allow that of just anyone). I've included one of his best photos - after a good bath.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I used to have a Green-cheeked Conure too, his name was Molson =D I had him with Budgies for about a year and he picked up all their annoying noises. He especially liked the really annoying ones.

Your bubble amazes me, doing great! Keep up the good work.


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## Flexin5 (Nov 12, 2011)

nice tank! 

and awsome green cheek! i had one just like him, (funny because he would like to say "whatcha doin" all the time too). i ended up giving him to my cousin but now i'm looking for a sun conure or a red factor conure chick.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Thanks for the kind words re: my tank, bubble continues to amaze me too.

Aww... it's awesome that other people here like parrots too, Arnie can be really, really annoying when he wants to be (his screams can make your brain feel like it's shaking in your head), but usually he's just a good little birdie, and I really love him, but they are definately not the pet for everyone. I try to avoid re-enforcing the annoying noises, but it is difficult and they are so smart and like to get their way. Re-direction helps to get him to stop with the annoying noises but doesn't stop him from making them to begin with.


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## protempsfish (Jan 19, 2012)

I have seen this tank in person and it is indeed lovely. If/when you frag your bubble-let me know  Good work Juliefish. The frags you sold me are doing great BTW.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

JulieFish said:


> Thanks for the kind words re: my tank, bubble continues to amaze me too.
> 
> Aww... it's awesome that other people here *like *parrots too, .




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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Thanks protempsfish for your comment, I really enjoy sharing my tank and my frags.

Sig... I don't get you, but that's okay.

Just wanted to share a photo from today: my skunk cleaner shrimp is carrying around some eggs! I know they won't hatch because I only have one shrimp, but it's fun nonetheless (this is the first time I've seen her with eggs).


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## darthvictor (Aug 16, 2011)

free fish food~ 

Anyhow, I envy you for the beautiful bubble coral  it is huge!


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

JulieFish said:


> Thanks protempsfish for your comment, I really enjoy sharing my tank and my frags.
> 
> Sig... I don't get you, but that's okay.
> 
> Just wanted to share a photo from today: my skunk cleaner shrimp is carrying around some eggs! I know they won't hatch because I only have one shrimp, but it's fun nonetheless (this is the first time I've seen her with eggs).


Sorry,did not mean to offend. just tried to say your words different.

you can say "People like parrots", but it could be translated as "people looks like parrots" 

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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

sig said:


> Sorry,did not mean to offend. just tried to say your words different.
> 
> you can say "People like parrots", but it could be translated as "people looks like parrots"


LOL Russian humour 

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

haha Russian humour    

No worries, I'm not at all offended, just rather confused


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

*coral progression*

Two purposes here: 
to share my progression with this coral over the last 9 months, and 
to ask the experts here exactly what it is... it was sold to me by an experienced reefer as a "red micromussa"... is that correct? What are the differences between acans and micromussa and others that look similar? Edit: I'm quite sure it's an acan.
First photo: July 3, 2011
Second photo: November 18, 2011
Third photo: February 25, 2012
Fourth photo: March 31, 2012

Thanks everyone and I hope you enjoy the pictures.


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## darthvictor (Aug 16, 2011)

Wow that's a lot of growth  great job!


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## jmb (Mar 20, 2012)

Juliwfish, what is the coral that is pink in the centre with yellow tentacles?


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

jmb said:


> Juliwfish, what is the coral that is pink in the centre with yellow tentacles?


It's my Dendrophilia, sometimes called a sun coral, but other corals are also called sun coral so it's better to use the scientific name on this one. It is a little shy in the light and likes to be in the shade. Gets most of it's nutrition from feedings (as opposed to photosynthesis), and can eat fairly big chunks of meat if/when I feed them. When I got it, it was just the big polyp plus a tiny little baby polyp. Now it's got three healthy little babies that are getting pretty big.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Just wanted to post a current FTS and a few of my favorite corals. I was away on vacation for 2 and 1/2 weeks and everything seems to have survived - relief.

I fragged the bubble a while back. I miss gigantor bubble. I'm sure it will grow big again though.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

JulieFish said:


> It's my Dendrophilia, sometimes called a sun coral, but other corals are also called sun coral so it's better to use the scientific name on this one. It is a little shy in the light and likes to be in the shade. Gets most of it's nutrition from feedings (as opposed to photosynthesis), and can eat fairly big chunks of meat if/when I feed them. When I got it, it was just the big polyp plus a tiny little baby polyp. Now it's got three healthy little babies that are getting pretty big.


I think most people call it Dendro(phillia), definitely not a sun coral. Dendro is much nicer than sun coral as it opens up most of the time. It is one of my favorites and I have one that's dying because I haven't fed it for more than a year (to control nutrient level). It shouldn't be shy to the lights though, it doesn't seem to care much.

Nice tank you have by the way. Could you share details of your lighting system? It appears to be LED. Sorry if this was already discussed, haven't read entire thread yet.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Sure I can tell you about the lighting system: it's just one off-the-shelf 36 inch reef-capable marineland LED light. I've been quite satisfied with it, but there are a few drawbacks. in the end as long as my corals and my clam don't die, I'm happy (corals are growing and clam seems happy).


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

*Well this is irritating... (rant post)*

So a bit of a nasty surprise today when I went to look at my tank: the light is not on (it's on a timer).  Long story short I'm planning to replace my LED strip with two of those par 38 bulb things.

In the meantime, I've placed my T5HO on it so that the coral etc. livestock doesn't get stressed, stolen from my poor cichlids (those guys won't mind being in the dark for a few days)

Weird: the tank looks better in photos with the fluorescent lights, but worse in person. huh. Compared to LED lights.

At this point I'm planning to order from Bright Aquatics, and use 2 of the 24 watt ones, mounted in these:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90089408/

input? suggestions? comments? Would be appreciated.
question: am I going to want to incorporate a dimmable option (is it worth more money/work and why)?


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## jmb (Mar 20, 2012)

The ikea pendant with the par 38's would look good. Are you going to keep the white shades on them?


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## smcx (Mar 31, 2012)

I have a par38 bulb over my 14G biocube. Not a fan  I don't think all par38's are created equal, and it's nearly impossible to find any good long-term info on which one actually grows coral. Mine does not grow any algae at all, and all my coral have shrunk. I actually just transferred everything to my home tank under metal halide to revive it while I research different options for the little tank.

Hope your par38's work better than mine


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

I am running par38's from boxboy on my 41g osaka and the corals are thriving. I have NO experience of other Par38's so nothing to benchmark against. I can bring over one of the bulbs to show you Julie when i come to pick up the macro


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

kamal said:


> I am running par38's from boxboy on my 41g osaka and the corals are thriving. I have NO experience of other Par38's so nothing to benchmark against. I can bring over one of the bulbs to show you Julie when i come to pick up the macro


I'm glad your corals are thriving! How long have they been under the par38s? what kind of growth have you seen in that time? What kind of corals do you have? I've got mainly LPS with a few montipora and a crocea clam.

Thanks!


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

jmb said:


> The ikea pendant with the par 38's would look good. Are you going to keep the white shades on them?


If I go with this option, I plan to keep the white shades. I'll experiment but yeah, I'd rather hide the par38s I think.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

smcx said:


> I have a par38 bulb over my 14G biocube. Not a fan  I don't think all par38's are created equal, and it's nearly impossible to find any good long-term info on which one actually grows coral. Mine does not grow any algae at all, and all my coral have shrunk. I actually just transferred everything to my home tank under metal halide to revive it while I research different options for the little tank.
> 
> Hope your par38's work better than mine


Thanks so much for sharing your experience. too bad about your lights

where did you get yours?


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

JulieFish said:


> I'm glad your corals are thriving! How long have they been under the par38s? what kind of growth have you seen in that time? What kind of corals do you have? I've got mainly LPS with a few montipora and a crocea clam.
> 
> Thanks!


Only a couple of weeks, but my frogspawn looks bigger and fuller since I switched from the t5's. I have softies and the frogspawn. Like I said I will bring over the bulb and you can get an idea for the colour


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

kamal said:


> Only a couple of weeks, but my frogspawn looks bigger and fuller since I switched from the t5's. I have softies and the frogspawn. Like I said I will bring over the bulb and you can get an idea for the colour


the colour is less of a concern to me than being a good energy source for the corals  But it would still be awesome to get an idea of the colour before I buy. Are you available today?


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

I am not going to be free tonight until after 9. Sunday if that works better for you


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