Starting up new tank for my GSPs

[Maggiec]

Well, they are in! Whew...spent the whole day and late into the night. At first I thought I might be dripping too fast, so I slowed it to about a drop per sec. As night rolled in, I thought, maybe I need to speed this up. My husband rolled his eyes at my setup, heaters, dripline ,etc. He was like, can't you just drop them in?

When i finally had them in a bag floating in the tank (for a last bit to acclimate the temp) they were all eager to get out. The clowns, who are the nosiest creatures, swam around them. When I finally tipped the bag & opened it, they composed themselves & swam out slowly. It was so funny. They were a bit spooked by all the space. I think Julia tried a bristle worm - she rubbed her face on the glass & flicked her head a few times. Puff surfed the glass furiously for a long time. Would you believe I slept on the couch next to the tank

This morning they have calmed down. Puff has pecked at the rock & Julia found & sat in her old fake cave for a bit. It's nice to see them exploring all the caves - the clowns never go into the rock. Their colours are so bright, especially Puff who has less spots. I can't say it's cuz they're happy (still a bit unsettled) but I guess this is how their bodies react to the salt levels.

[Hillehaus]

Same happened with mine.

Anxious at first. Colors brightened. Activity increased greatly.

[Maggiec]

I think I figured out why I can't seem to get nitrates lower. I had put a little bag of Purigen in pre skimmer & noticed water was overflowing instead of going thru. I thought it was the Purigen but when I took it out, it was still overflowing so I remembered there's a small sponge in there way at the bottom. Took it out & it had tons of yucky stuff in it. I rinsed it out & think I'll keep using it as it does pick up loose detritus. But I'll rinse often & see how it goes.

[Maggiec]

Julia discovers something new

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Puff checks out rock

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I think I like my new digs

[Maggiec]

I'll wrap up this thread with a last update. They are doing great, good appetite, loving their rock, not eating anything other than their food, etc. The clowns in fact are more greedy right now. When I drop in snails, they get to them first before they realize they don't like them and drop 'em; then puffers pick them up. I know things may change down the road but hope they will do well for a long time.

Thanks for all your support & knowledge. I'll start new threads as new issues pop up.

Here they are eating together peacefully, fingers crossed that it will continue

[Pufferpunk]

I don't expect that clown to have long on this earth.

[El Scorpio]

Wow. Really like the new tank, Maggiec! It makes me want to pull the old 40 out of the attic and rebuild my FOWLR tank. Good work!

[Maggiec]

Thanks, El Scorpio. I'm enjoying the tank so much. This hobby is so engrossing.

[Hillehaus]

I second that. I like the rockwork a lot. It looks like your GSP is happy with so much to explore. Good job.

[Maggiec]

Thanks Hillehaus! I really lucked out with that LR. Lots of interesting shapes/textures. It just instantly cycled the tank, and I think the bristle worm population is calming down a bit too. I didn't see my YW goby for a week after adding him but he's grown a lot. I'm thinking he's been feeding on the amphipods from the LR.

Btw in that last photo, those shells are the handiwork of Blondie (pistol shrimp named after the Clint Eastwood character). You can see the doorway to the burrow. The goby Snape often sits in the doorway and picks up the occasional stray bit of food. He is surprisingly fast. He opens his mouth to scare off the fish but then disappears if they come closer so he's not in the photo haha

[Maggiec]

Changed it a bit. Puffers sleep in big cave under gargoyle

[Pufferpunk]

Nice swim-throughs!

[Maggiec]

They especially love going thru those

[sgtmyers88]

Very Nice