The 210 tank build

[NikkiT]

We are overdue for an update.

We have added a LOT of fish recently. The group of 6 gold assessors we added in October have done really well with our existing pair. We took the plunge recently and added a really nice pair of juvi randall's assessor basslets. So far, so good. The little one is only about an inch, and the large one is about an inch and a half. I had dreamed of having both gold assessors and randall's, so seeing all of them is really cool.
We brought home a pair of 1" ORA Hulafish this week, which I am REALLY excited about. We introduced them on Saturday, and they are very small but already out and swimming. I had seen these guys about 2 years ago, just one time, at Trop and I was thrilled to learn that ORA had aquacultured them and that the aquacultured fish tolerated normal "reef" temperatures.
We added a black tang after the little scopas hybrid didn't make it, and he is doing really well and growing fast.
Our pair of borbonius anthias are growing, our sunburst is doing well, and the hawaiianisis anthias we added seem to be thriving.
All in all, we are very happy with the direction the tank is taking.
Mike added a few new wrasses (a christmas present from yours truly), but I'll let him announce them himself when they are settled in and he is ready.

On a sadder note, we lost our yasha goby about a month ago, and our blue spot jawfish; our barnicle blennies are really showing signs of age, and my linkia which I had for 2 years and had appeared to be in perfect health has gone missing, which makes me sad.
Otherwise, the tank is doing well.
Absent his new additions, our current stock list includes:

False Shephardi angel (flame x rusty hybrid)
Bluestripe Pipefish
Swissguard basslet
Highfin Goby (2)
Magnificent Goby (2)
ORA Gold Assessor Basslets (8)
ORA Randal's Basslet (2)
Sustainable Aquatics neon gobies (2)
ORA Hulafish (2)
Borbonius Anthias (2)
Hawaiianisis Anthias (2)
Sunburst Anthia
Helfrichi Firefish (2)
Earls Wrasse (2)
Black Tang
Flame Wrasse (2)
Johnson's Fairy Wrasse
Attenuatis Wrasse
Picasso Clown (F)
Snowcasso Clown (M)
Barnicle Blennies
Urchin
Serpent Stars (3)
Strawberry Crabs (2)
Pistol Shrimp (not sure how many)
Coco worms (4)

Now, we just have to defeat the bubble algae and I will be really happy.

 

[kschweer]

Nice update nikki. Sorry to hear about the few small hiccups, unfortunately they happen in this hobby as we all know. Great pickup on the hula fish. They are a really cool fish and it's very exciting that they now be more widely available. Can't wait to hear what mikes present is. Best of luck with your new additions.

 

[NikkiT]

Nice update nikki. Sorry to hear about the few small hiccups, unfortunately they happen in this hobby as we all know. Great pickup on the hula fish. They are a really cool fish and it's very exciting that they now be more widely available. Can't wait to hear what mikes present is. Best of luck with your new additions.

Thanks!
Mike is very happy about his presents, and they are settling in well so far. The hulas are very cool, but they are also quite small. I've seen adults once, and I can't wait until these babies grow up. Right now, the smaller of the two is hanging out with one of our helfrichis, which is cool.
I'm loving that 14 of the fish in our display, two in our frag tank, and one in the 12g, 17 over all are aquacultured. Between what the commercial hatcheries are doing and the research that rising tide, karen brittan, chad vossen etc. are doing, it gives me hope that some day all of our fish will be captive bred.

 

[mnat]

I will see if I can get some pics up tonight, things have just been a little crazy. The new additions were both from DD, a c. cf. lancelotus (pin tail fairy wrasse) and a c. lunauts (which mighta also get the distinction as c. cf. lunatus as these are also from the phillapeans and may be different then the Japaneese c. lunatus.).

 

[kschweer]

Wow great fish. I heard the pintails were going to be around more, I think RVS has collected quite a few lately. Congrats!

 

[mnat]

RVS is bringing in some amazing wrasses right now which is pretty cool. Both fish are in really good health and color, so I am quite pleased so far.

 

[mnat]

Fishy time, I swear I will get some coral pics up soon. I ordered a little black frag rack to make it easier to take pics.
This is the wrasse post.
A couple shot of the flames:

Earlie's wrasse:

c. cf. lancelotus

c. cf. lunatus

 

[mnat]

Everything else:
Black tang:

Hawianisis:

Hula fish:

Randalli assesor:

Gold assesor:

Big borb:

 

[Mike S]

The wrasse collection is really coming along nicely! Do you have multiple female flames? If so are you worried about them all turning male? I lost a male a few months ago and having debating whether to get a few females or just one.

 

[mnat]

Flame wrasses are notorius for turning male even if you have a dominant super male. Right now we just have a pair, one male and one female. We will see how things go down the line.

 

[kschweer]

Great collection of fish guys! I'm loving all the small fish in a big tank. That earles wrasse is amazing, definitely one fish I would like to own one day. The price seems to be coming down as more are making it to the market so maybe one day it will be feasible. Good luck with the new additions.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Fish look great guys! Can't wait to see the coral pics.

 

[NikkiT]

Thanks guys
We did a lot of reshuffling over the past week, coral pics soon!

 

[NikkiT]

Great collection of fish guys! I'm loving all the small fish in a big tank. That earles wrasse is amazing, definitely one fish I would like to own one day. The price seems to be coming down as more are making it to the market so maybe one day it will be feasible. Good luck with the new additions.

Thank you!
The Earles are one of our favorites.

 

[spotter]

Wow…the fish look awesome Mike and Nikki!

 

[dppitone]

assessors are serious fish, very awesome

 

[mnat]

I promised some coral pics so here we go:
Blondies:

Granny Apple seeds from zoanthids.com

ARC Pointsettas

Snitches from Zoanthids.com (These are amazing and my picture sucks)

Joe's Cherry Cordials from JKR

WWC Sun drops

RK Stiggy Marleys (with a hallucination)

A not so good pic of the hallucination)

Utters

 

[mnat]

Some PR zoas from LRO, I have more of these but they did not want to open up for me. We did a lot of tank maintenance last night so I think everything is just settling back down.
These look like bloodshots but are not, my actually bloodshots I got from Fox in person are to the right but did not want to open

Now a really big tease:
These are my shazaams and bowsers but they really did not want to open and I did not want to mess with them

 

[jose7878]

Mike and Nikki all I have to say is you guys have a amazing fish list maybe one day own a few of them. Also a awesome coral selection as well.

 

[kschweer]

Nice selection of z and p. Poinsettias are one of my favorites. I'm really starting to get back into zoas and palys lately. So much nice stuff out there.