-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
My 7 Gallon Minibow
- Thread starter eric65
- Start date
Here is a long overdue update on the 7 gallon minibow. I have strayed quite far from my original plan to keep this tank simple. Since the last posting, I replaced the previous Aquaclear powerheads with a pair on Nano Koralias. The flow is just right. The only problem I'm having with them is they sometimes don't start up again after I do a water change.
I upgraded the lighting from 64w power compact to a Sunpod 16.5" 70w 14k. I love the shimmer it adds but the purple coraline tailed off once the power compacts were removed. I've decided to drip kalk to see if that helps.
I added a Tunze 9002 protein skimmer since I have a high bioload. It fits perfectly in the Aquaclear 110 or whatever they are calling it nowadays. Since the Tunze is affected by water level this was a perfect place since the level remains constant.
Finally, after getting tired of working long hours and having the water level uncomfortably low by the time I got home I broke down and bought a kangaroo feeding pump for an ATO. Granted it took many "you've lost" messages, but I finally won one for under $100.
The bag on the left is plain water being fed by the Kangaroo pump. The bag on the right is the gravity fed kalkwasser bag. My girlfriend is less than thrilled with the wall decorations especially since she is a CNA and she says it reminds her of work
I upgraded the lighting from 64w power compact to a Sunpod 16.5" 70w 14k. I love the shimmer it adds but the purple coraline tailed off once the power compacts were removed. I've decided to drip kalk to see if that helps.
I added a Tunze 9002 protein skimmer since I have a high bioload. It fits perfectly in the Aquaclear 110 or whatever they are calling it nowadays. Since the Tunze is affected by water level this was a perfect place since the level remains constant.
Finally, after getting tired of working long hours and having the water level uncomfortably low by the time I got home I broke down and bought a kangaroo feeding pump for an ATO. Granted it took many "you've lost" messages, but I finally won one for under $100.
The bag on the left is plain water being fed by the Kangaroo pump. The bag on the right is the gravity fed kalkwasser bag. My girlfriend is less than thrilled with the wall decorations especially since she is a CNA and she says it reminds her of work
Looks great Eric!
I was just about to sell your old minibow and my son came to me and started asking questions about it.
During Christmas break I will be teaching him how to set it up and then it will move back to the dorm with him.
Probably just a flash in the pan, but a new reefer may be growing. We'll see!
I was just about to sell your old minibow and my son came to me and started asking questions about it.
During Christmas break I will be teaching him how to set it up and then it will move back to the dorm with him.
Probably just a flash in the pan, but a new reefer may be growing. We'll see!
Thanks! My girlfriend asked if I was going to break this tank down since we just bought a 90 gallon (I'm going to start that thread) and are going to condense the 46 gallon and 16 gallon bows into it. I was quite emphatic when I told her NO!! Even if I decide to bail out of this hobby again and maybe save money for my retirement, I will always have a minibow. They are just too easy to take care of.
As for your son- that was the whole reason I got into this hobby in the first place - the look of a well stocked minibow. When I was a wee lad however there was a show on PBS called Guppies for Groupers. I remember it being on Saturday afternoons and that planted the fish bug in my brain. Look where I am some 30 years later!
As for your son- that was the whole reason I got into this hobby in the first place - the look of a well stocked minibow. When I was a wee lad however there was a show on PBS called Guppies for Groupers. I remember it being on Saturday afternoons and that planted the fish bug in my brain. Look where I am some 30 years later!
I went to my lfs to buy some frozen food-instead I walked out with a sexy shrimp. I was hoping he had at least 2 but there was only 1 left. I thought about it for a while, explaining to him that buying only one sexy shrimp is like going into the fridge for a beer and seeing you only have 1 waiting for you. You know if you have that one you are going to want another. Besides, from previous experience they seem happier in small groups.
I decide that one is better than none so I take him home to surprise my girlfriend. After acclimating him and releasing him into the tank I get ready to take his mugshot. Just as I'm anxiously waiting for the digital camera to load up and finally getting him in focus, my girlfriend bumps into me as she's getting ready for work and I lose the shot as he bolts off into the reef. I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to find him.
I finally found him after the lights went out. Since the 2 peppermint shrimp seem to be pestering him, I'm going to post the only picture I have of him thus far. Hopefully I'll be able to find him in the morning.
I decide that one is better than none so I take him home to surprise my girlfriend. After acclimating him and releasing him into the tank I get ready to take his mugshot. Just as I'm anxiously waiting for the digital camera to load up and finally getting him in focus, my girlfriend bumps into me as she's getting ready for work and I lose the shot as he bolts off into the reef. I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to find him.
I finally found him after the lights went out. Since the 2 peppermint shrimp seem to be pestering him, I'm going to post the only picture I have of him thus far. Hopefully I'll be able to find him in the morning.
Sigh......as if it isn't hard enough trying to get fish to live together, now I have come to learn shrimp don't get along either. After not seeing the sexy shrimp all day I look over at the tank with the lights out and I see him-then the peppermint sees him and now I don't see him.
As for the six-line, I imagine he'd make a quick meal of the lil' guy. I wouldn't even risk it.
As for the six-line, I imagine he'd make a quick meal of the lil' guy. I wouldn't even risk it.
Woke up this morning to see that the clam had jumped up onto his new perch. Mind you, this is really frustrating the shrimp goby. Now he has to share his cave with the Black Perc who likes to sleep just outside of his burrow. And what does he see when he first wakes up?? A giant clam (to him at least) blocking his view from the guy who brings food daily. It ain't easy being a goby.
Went to aqua Oceans yesterday with the sole intention of buying more salt for the big tank move next week. Upgrading from a 46 to 90 gallon. Instead, I wound up taking home 2 Panda Gobies and a Wheelers Watchman/pistol shrimp combo.
Here is a picture of 2 titans of the minibow taken this morning:
Greenbanded Goby and Panda
Here is a picture of 2 titans of the minibow taken this morning:
Greenbanded Goby and Panda
I like your tank. Really cool fish.
I have a green banded goby in my 120 (didn't really think before I did it). Anyway mine doesn't even move from his hole. He doesn't come out more than an inch or two and when he does it's only for a quick second. I threw him in and thought I lost him but after a month I found where he was hiding.
So anyway I'm jelous that yours is so active. Keep up with the photos.
I have a green banded goby in my 120 (didn't really think before I did it). Anyway mine doesn't even move from his hole. He doesn't come out more than an inch or two and when he does it's only for a quick second. I threw him in and thought I lost him but after a month I found where he was hiding.
So anyway I'm jelous that yours is so active. Keep up with the photos.
Thanks for the compliment. I had to tear the minibow apart trying catch the black perc that was in there. After reading about how rare the panda Gobies are, as much as I loved my aquascaping he had to be moved. After he attacked my sexy shrimp last time I wasn't about to feed him a Panda Goby.
As for my greenbanded goby, he has grown tremendously since I bought him in October. He is the exact opposite of shy. When he sees me he either makes it known he wants to be fed, or he does this weird little dance which I think is his way of saying back off;
Here are some more shots of the Panda Goby:
As for my greenbanded goby, he has grown tremendously since I bought him in October. He is the exact opposite of shy. When he sees me he either makes it known he wants to be fed, or he does this weird little dance which I think is his way of saying back off;
Here are some more shots of the Panda Goby:
I went to see Steve today at Aqua Oceans, you forgot to mention you bought all the pandas he had. He is gonna order me some for next week. Along with a shrimp/gobie pair.
Great looking pics. Thanks for sharing.
He is gonna order me some for next week. Along with a shrimp/gobie pair.Great looking pics. Thanks for sharing.
Since it was my credit card my girlfriend had no problem saying "We'll take both!!" They were much smaller than I had imagined. Almost as small as one of those $150 spike fin gobies. So far the one that I can easily find has not eaten yet and that apparently is an issue with Pandas. From what I've read in other fish forums almost nobody has had success keeping these lil' guys. Yet every online store that sells them says they readily take food. As for the other Panda goby- I did not see him today.
The Wheelers Watchman/pistol shrimp pair is going into the 15 tonight. I'm using water change water from the 46 and using a bunch of live rock from the 46's sump. She's getting on my case to get the 90 up and running.
The Wheelers Watchman/pistol shrimp pair is going into the 15 tonight. I'm using water change water from the 46 and using a bunch of live rock from the 46's sump. She's getting on my case to get the 90 up and running.