Reef Down South

Reef Down South Welcome to our saltwater aquarium, where we share our experiences as amateur aquarists.

02/15/2023

Our new snowflake eel 😍

LARRY LIVES!!! ⭐️It’s Larry’s leg you guys! For the record, his legs are all we see of him. He lives in the rock. We lov...
02/03/2023

LARRY LIVES!!! ⭐️

It’s Larry’s leg you guys!

For the record, his legs are all we see of him. He lives in the rock. We love our starfish! We just wish we could see more of him.

P.S. Research marine life before you purchase to make sure they’re going to be out and about instead of invisible most days.

➡️ THIS!!! ⬅️
02/02/2023

➡️ THIS!!! ⬅️

Flame invading Big Burd’s space. He loves to push Big Burd’s buttons! Big Burd opens his mouth wide to bite him, but I t...
02/01/2023

Flame invading Big Burd’s space. He loves to push Big Burd’s buttons! Big Burd opens his mouth wide to bite him, but I think it just tickles Flame because it definitely doesn’t phase him!

🪸 OUR ZOANTHID CORALS 🪸 Zoanthids are colonial soft corals found in tropical and sub tropical reefs. Zoanthids are photo...
02/01/2023

🪸 OUR ZOANTHID CORALS 🪸

Zoanthids are colonial soft corals found in tropical and sub tropical reefs. Zoanthids are photosynthetic, meaning they house symbiotic zooxanthelitic algae which produces much of their nutrition. Zoas can adapt to a wide range of lighting, but do best in higher light environments. The better the light, the bigger and faster they will grow and more pronounced the colours will be. They can also capture small food items in their tentacles.

These are one of the first corals you can introduce to your reef aquarium. They actually do best in dirtier water. They don’t require feeding, which is nice. But be careful when handling them, because they are toxic, but some are more toxic than others.

We love our coral! 🤗

BIG BURD!!! You grumpy lil baby! He doesn’t like it when someone comes close to him & John Wayne’s home. Lol on his name...
01/16/2023

BIG BURD!!! You grumpy lil baby! He doesn’t like it when someone comes close to him & John Wayne’s home. Lol on his name, because he’s truly a tiny little thing. See 2nd photo of my hand for size comparison. 🤣

THE TRUTH ABOUT DAMSELFISH:Back to the beginning…It’s important to note that the only types of fish you’re supposed to a...
01/14/2023

THE TRUTH ABOUT DAMSELFISH:

Back to the beginning…

It’s important to note that the only types of fish you’re supposed to add to a new saltwater aquarium are Clownfish & Damselfish because they’re the only fish hardy enough to withstand the nitrogen cycle. They’re actually from the same family of fish.

Once you put the fish in, follow up with beneficial bacteria & a product like Seachem Stability to hurry along the cycle. You can also add Seachem Prime to make the fish more comfortable when your ammonia spikes high.

Now, on to damselfish. We love our Fiji Blue Devil Damselfish so much! He’s our favorite fish. He loves to interact with us, zips in and out of the rockwork, to-and-fro, living life to the fullest. He had no issue with our Clownfish, Fred & Wilma, so we thought that the bad reputation this species had wasn’t going to apply to our fish. WRONG!

He’s a bully, and once we added more fish, even fish that were bigger than him, he was on a rampage. We had to move him to his own tank because we didn’t want him to kill our other fish. It was nonstop terror for the others, and it did not subside over time. He did not decide to be friends with them, no matter what we did.

Removing him was very difficult, as they are extremely fast. We had to remove all of our rockwork from the tank, disturbing the entire habitat, just to get him out!

That being said, we still love him, and he’s enjoying his new home in our kitchen tank. We do miss seeing him in our bedroom every day, as he’s so active and a beautiful blue color that is unmatched by any other fish.

So, don’t just buy a damsel simply because you’re impatient and want to add more than Clownfish at the beginning… unless you’re willing to provide the damsel with another aquarium after the cycle.

And I may get some backlash for this, but I don’t agree with using damsels just to cycle the tank, and bringing them back to the store for someone else to use for cycling. Cycling is okay, but I can’t imagine what it would be like for fish to go through cycling over and over again for the rest of their lives. They’re beautiful fish, and they admire their owners. They can get along with more aggressive species too.

BACK TO THE BEGGINING:October 29th - Started building our rock sculpture for the new aquariumWhat We Immediately Learned...
01/14/2023

BACK TO THE BEGGINING:

October 29th - Started building our rock sculpture for the new aquarium

What We Immediately Learned:

1) It’s best to map out the bottom of your fish tank with tape so you can make sure everything fits properly

2) Putty worked best for holding rocks together; better than gel super glue

3) If you want to hide the putty, spread super glue on the putty in a thin layer & quickly sprinkle crushed rock on the glue

4) Place the rock in your tank before you cover the bottom with sand because some of your fish might be sand burrowers in the future, which could cause your base rock to tumble

What We Wished We Had Known:

1) Negative space aquascaping (NSA) is cool, but after purchasing a new tank, we’re even happier with simply stacking different shapes & colors of rocks on top of one another (no glue - no mess)

2) Even with putty applied, your rock pieces can still break apart when you move them

3) The higher you build your rock structure up, the more you’re going to see your cave dwelling fish out & about

4) Aquascaping can take some time. You’ll see the messy house in the background of some photos. Chores may temporarily be neglected to set this up. It’s okay. Have fun!

MEET MORTY… our new Melanaurus Wrasse fishy. 🐠 He is lovingly named after Fran’s dad on the show, The Nanny. Melanurus W...
01/14/2023

MEET MORTY… our new Melanaurus Wrasse fishy. 🐠

He is lovingly named after Fran’s dad on the show, The Nanny.

Melanurus Wrasses can be found in the western Pacific from Japan to Samoa and Tonga and south to the Great Barrier Reef. They spend most of their time swimming around, hunting invertebrates such as snails or clams. They make excellent pest control for various pests, like bristleworms. These wrasses burrow under the sand when they are afraid and at night to sleep.

OUR FIRST CORALS 🤗 🪸Zoanthids
01/14/2023

OUR FIRST CORALS 🤗 🪸

Zoanthids

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Augusta, GA
30907

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