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Hey, y'all...
I tried to respond from my Blackberry (note to self... Self, don't use the blackberry for this board... wait till you get to a computer.... yes.... you can make it that long....)
Linda, thanks for touching base with me on this.... the tanks which I referred to as working had a sump underneath them of roughly 1/4-1/3 the size of the tank itself (well.. actually, the 250 gallon had a 120 gallon sump). Other than that, there was no other other water volume (although it is a neat idea... when I replace this tank with a larger tank, I'll have to see how I can make that work).
I'm amazed about the tank's success so far in a salon, too.
The water has always tested perfectly except for a slight variance a couple times and a slight rise in ammonia a couple weeks ago that has since gone back down. I would have thought at least once I would have come back to a dead tank or something. It's not sealed, but it is canopied and the sump is behind the tank exposed to the elements, although the fumes don't usually seem to go down there very much if at all.
I DO think that I need to triple its size, though (I had to pick my addiction.. fish tanks or crack!)
The only problems I've been able to see over the past few days are that the dottybacks and the 6-line don't seem to like each other, but they'll typically leave each other alone unless territories get breached... I haven't seen any "let's go chase the other fish" or the tank ganging up on him yet.
The emperor angel and the flame tang bristletooth are very shy in the tank... I'm thinking that the yellow tang is keeping them somewhat at bay under a rock, although the emperor has started venturing out much more recently.
That ghost shrimp has either molted and been disappeared for a few days, or it died right there on the spot a few days ago. We'll see.
Other than that, all the fish are doing surprisingly well with each other... even the dragon goby has started coming out and swimming around. The anemone is almost consistently fully extended and inflated, and the coral banded shrimp is behaving itself... and the tank *seems* to be doing well (although we'll know for sure after a couple weeks to see where things end up).
Brandon, I admire and respect the passion. I've been working in the restuarant industry for the past five years or so and there has always been at least one saltwater tank in each location. I have seen/been through/learned a lot of painful lessons.
For example, one time, one of the employees was told to turn off the light in the fish tank and he turned off the entire system. Nobody knew until the next morning when several thousand dollars' worth of fish were dead on the bottom of the tank.
That was the morning that I started taking interest in tanks as someone who wanted to learn about them and know how they worked and to never let something like that happen again.
Hence, the reason for all my questions.
I'm viewing this hobby as a very happy hobby, and like any other hobby, it ignites some serious fires of passion (you ought to see what certain top chefs say about each other.... MEOWWWW!). It actually reminds me of a couple things...
I value the advice - and don't worry, I've got thick enough skin to separate the advice from the passion.
Whenever I meet someone who says "it can't be done," I remind myself that just recently, about one or two years ago, scientists and physics experts around the world...
...proved that the bumblebee could fly.
(they're still working on proving that helicopters can fly)
So please, just as respectfully, accept that I have seen other environments and biotopes succeed in tanks, and please accept that I am working in that direction... and when I separate the advice from the passion, please understand that it is just that, and that there is nothing personal being taken or implied.
And even though you're a Broncos fan and even though they thrashed the living shinola outta my falcons in the superbowl that year (okay... Eugene Robinson kinda thrashed the falcons that day... once I heard, I knew that the game was over hours before kickoff), I still love ya and admire the fact that you're willing to help a newb like me!
I'll keep y'all posted!
I tried to respond from my Blackberry (note to self... Self, don't use the blackberry for this board... wait till you get to a computer.... yes.... you can make it that long....)
Linda, thanks for touching base with me on this.... the tanks which I referred to as working had a sump underneath them of roughly 1/4-1/3 the size of the tank itself (well.. actually, the 250 gallon had a 120 gallon sump). Other than that, there was no other other water volume (although it is a neat idea... when I replace this tank with a larger tank, I'll have to see how I can make that work).
I'm amazed about the tank's success so far in a salon, too.
The water has always tested perfectly except for a slight variance a couple times and a slight rise in ammonia a couple weeks ago that has since gone back down. I would have thought at least once I would have come back to a dead tank or something. It's not sealed, but it is canopied and the sump is behind the tank exposed to the elements, although the fumes don't usually seem to go down there very much if at all.
I DO think that I need to triple its size, though (I had to pick my addiction.. fish tanks or crack!)
The only problems I've been able to see over the past few days are that the dottybacks and the 6-line don't seem to like each other, but they'll typically leave each other alone unless territories get breached... I haven't seen any "let's go chase the other fish" or the tank ganging up on him yet.
The emperor angel and the flame tang bristletooth are very shy in the tank... I'm thinking that the yellow tang is keeping them somewhat at bay under a rock, although the emperor has started venturing out much more recently.
That ghost shrimp has either molted and been disappeared for a few days, or it died right there on the spot a few days ago. We'll see.
Other than that, all the fish are doing surprisingly well with each other... even the dragon goby has started coming out and swimming around. The anemone is almost consistently fully extended and inflated, and the coral banded shrimp is behaving itself... and the tank *seems* to be doing well (although we'll know for sure after a couple weeks to see where things end up).
Brandon, I admire and respect the passion. I've been working in the restuarant industry for the past five years or so and there has always been at least one saltwater tank in each location. I have seen/been through/learned a lot of painful lessons.
For example, one time, one of the employees was told to turn off the light in the fish tank and he turned off the entire system. Nobody knew until the next morning when several thousand dollars' worth of fish were dead on the bottom of the tank.
That was the morning that I started taking interest in tanks as someone who wanted to learn about them and know how they worked and to never let something like that happen again.
Hence, the reason for all my questions.
I'm viewing this hobby as a very happy hobby, and like any other hobby, it ignites some serious fires of passion (you ought to see what certain top chefs say about each other.... MEOWWWW!). It actually reminds me of a couple things...
I value the advice - and don't worry, I've got thick enough skin to separate the advice from the passion.
Whenever I meet someone who says "it can't be done," I remind myself that just recently, about one or two years ago, scientists and physics experts around the world...
...proved that the bumblebee could fly.
(they're still working on proving that helicopters can fly)
So please, just as respectfully, accept that I have seen other environments and biotopes succeed in tanks, and please accept that I am working in that direction... and when I separate the advice from the passion, please understand that it is just that, and that there is nothing personal being taken or implied.
And even though you're a Broncos fan and even though they thrashed the living shinola outta my falcons in the superbowl that year (okay... Eugene Robinson kinda thrashed the falcons that day... once I heard, I knew that the game was over hours before kickoff), I still love ya and admire the fact that you're willing to help a newb like me!
I'll keep y'all posted!
