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20 Long.... Reborn!


tiepilot68

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tiepilot68

Hey guys and gals! back in '04 I started my 1st saltwater tank. had decent luck with it and was on my way to growing a great nano reef, for the equipment I had.

 

Well... DUM DUM DUM DUM!!! My wife and I had a baby! (the smiling tyke in my avatar pic) and having time to do anything with my tank was near impossible!

 

Welp, he's grown up a little now... and LOVES anything to do with coral reefs! Picked it up on his own! I have a DvD called coral reef adventure and he just watches that any time I will let him! He even goes to sleep watching it at night.. part of our routine now. lol

 

So I cleaned up my tank.. (algae had won).... Took 2 days of scrubbing, wiping, picking by hand... etc etc. But got it cleaned and healthy.

 

My good ole tomato clown (are these ok for nano's? I would hate to stunt his growth) was still fine and fit as was my coral banded shrimp. I appoligized to em for keepin such a crummy home for them. :P

 

I got rid (donated to LFS) of some ugly live rock.. (had WAY too much for a 20l.. didnt think that was possible but it was!).. and changed the water every week for a month.

 

Added some zoos, and mushrooms, and a crocea clam.. all thriving... and a healthy cleanup crew of turbos, and blue leggeds.

 

Now, my question to the fine folks here. What would you do:

 

I currently have a 130w coralife 50/50 PC unit above my tank. Should I keep this (yes i changed the bulbs lol ) and spend my "tank fund" on tons of coral that do ok with 130w PC, or go ahead and upgrade my lighting to MH (150w coralife hanging pendant) and just buy coral a little at a time as I keep adding to the tank fund??

 

Another option is to buy one of the 70w jbj vipers and hang it along with my 130w coralife PC. A little leary of the jbj though. But at its price I would have some fund left over to add a few pieces of coral and up my total watts. (also... if anyone has a decent used complete MH system for sale that would fit my 20l PM and i will start a thread in the classifieds so we can do business there... dont want to clutter up this post with an OT subject)

 

OH... I did just buy a cascade 1000 canister filter, and will be adding a skimmer float to the intake soon.

 

OK... What do you guys and gals think????

 

Thanks ahead of time! Nano-reef members Rock!

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Deleted User 7

I don't know. I run that exact same light over my 20 Long and it does great. Really, with a tank that shallow, you shouldn't need too much more. I'm going to add a 36 watt strip of T5's flanking the pc's, but that's just to be safe. I think you'll be fine with that lighting. Personally, I would put in a sump with a refugium first. Just my opinion though, I am by no means an expert on anything.

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moonlightxpress825

i would upgrade the lights..makes the corals look so much better i think..just my 2cents..i have a 20l also.. :D:D

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tiepilot68
YEAHHH! Another 20L!

 

 

I love yours! wow. I really should have painted my background a darker color. Its way too light blue now... know of a way to change this without scraping the old paint off?? lol

 

 

 

Prowland... I'll add some pics when its starting to look better lol Kinda of barren now. On upgrading the lighting... scrap the 130 PC and put in the 150 hanging MH or add the JBJ 70W viper making my total watts 200???

 

 

Dr. Daggett I honestly have no confidence in my ability to do the work of adding a fuge LOL Sounds bad but I'm a terrible plumber!

 

Thanks guys!!

 

I'll add some pics soon!

 

Keep the great comments coming!!

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I currently have a 130w coralife 50/50 PC unit above my tank. Should I keep this (yes i changed the bulbs lol ) and spend my "tank fund" on tons of coral that do ok with 130w PC, or go ahead and upgrade my lighting to MH (150w coralife hanging pendant) and just buy coral a little at a time as I keep adding to the tank fund??

 

Another option is to buy one of the 70w jbj vipers and hang it along with my 130w coralife PC. A little leary of the jbj though. But at its price I would have some fund left over to add a few pieces of coral and up my total watts. (also... if anyone has a decent used complete MH system for sale that would fit my 20l PM and i will start a thread in the classifieds so we can do business there... dont want to clutter up this post with an OT subject)

 

If you plan to have SPS corals or clams then go with the MH. I'm just in the process of converting from PC to MH and I think it was the best thing I could do. It's a much nicer light and the corals will look a lot beter! If you do make the switch either go with 150W or two 70W. My total cost of a DIY 150W HQI (Ballast, bulb, pendant) was $150 CAN (probably can do it for less if your in the US). It cost me that for my 130W CL PC fixtures :slap:.

 

So I say, go for the upgrade and by corals a little at a time!

 

Regards,

 

Chris

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tiepilot68

Thanks for the advice Koolfish.

 

So you think I should do away with the 130 PC alltogether and go straight MH, instead of adding the 70w viper to it?

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tiepilot68

Im at work so I cant get to many pics... but here are a couple of pics.

 

My Zoos

zoos1a.jpg

 

My Clam

IMG_1336.jpg

 

 

I will post more as time goes on and try to get a decent FTS soon

 

Here is a pic of how it used to look about 4 months after setting up....

IMG_0134.jpg

 

I painted the painting in the background and built the cabinet / hood myself.

 

Like I said before though, I'm starting over... but am off to a decent start.

 

Hope you like!

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tiepilot68

Ok.... Just got home, set up the camera and snapped this shot.

 

fts7-3-07.jpg

 

As you can see its a great start but it needs more corals!

 

Leaning towards upgrading the lights though....

 

Add the 70w MH to my current 130wPC? or Just scrap the PC and get 150w MH? No idea which is the best route! AAH!! Nano-Reefers! help! lol I hate decisions!

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The 70W won't spread evenly....then again, neither will the 150" along 30" if they're in fixtures.

 

Will you have actinic supplementation?

 

I'd go with the 150W setup w/ a Phoenix 14KK DE bulb if I were you.

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tiepilot68

If I go with the 70w viper added to the existing PC I would adjust it over the spot my clam and any corals that require more lighting would be placed, and put mushrooms and other lower light corals off to the sides where the PC130w is plenty.

 

Also another very important question I forgot to ask...

 

Asthetics is very important to me and one of the reasons (besided healthier corals) for adding MH is to get that great shimmer that happens with them.

 

Will the overall light output of the PC 130w negate this effect if I add a MH in with it???

 

Thanks!!

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tiepilot68

Thought about it last night and I think I will go ahead and upgrade my lighting to 150w MH.

 

Should I go with a good used Sunpod, or the 150w k-2 viper?

 

Whatever route, I'm going to need to install some fans... I'm running hot even with the PC. Around 80. grrrrr

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tiepilot68

Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

I'm looking into several sales of 150w MH. Waiting for sellers to get back with me.

 

Here is hopin I may know something soon about upgrading those lights!!

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Your hood and stand look awesome! Go with the 150 MH but consider getting a chiller or blowing fans onto the water. I have T5HO's and I'm thinking of upgrading my lights... I just need to figure out how to do it without melting my hood!

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tiepilot68

Thanks! No can do on the chiller but am going to put some fans in place.. the back of the hood is completely open.

 

If I go with a hanging pendant, I am thinking of adding an upside down U piece to the hood to hang from instead of drilling into the ceiling.

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tiepilot68

Decided to re-aquascape my rock tonight... here it is. Yeah, kinda barren still but plenty of room to place corals!

 

IMG_1377.jpg

 

Just waiting for people to get back with me about MH lights.

 

Also... can anyone tell me what this milky white smooth bubble thing is on my Zoo rock?

 

IMG_1378.jpg

 

Also on the top of this rock.. hard to see in that pic.. but there is what looks like some sort of growth.. leather maybe? not sure honestly! Its pinkish in color and sorta velvety.

 

Thanks for the inspiration on this juin21!!! :D

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tiepilot68

Snapped this pic tonight of my Zoos. lol sorry to bore you all with pics of it over again... just have them and a couple of mushroom...

 

IMG_1382.jpg

 

I THINK I have a mushroom that is starting to split though.... I'll try to get some pics of it... not very pretty but interesting still, to me.

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Been noticing tiny tentacles in my zoos. Was thinking ..uh oh bristleworms.. seen several. But I THINK I spotted a disc in the center of some making me believe this rock is loaded with tiny brittle stars.

 

Here are some pics I took with flash on to get a good view.

post-8578-1184034918_thumb.jpg

 

post-8578-1184032541_thumb.jpg

 

post-8578-1184034934_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

What do you guys think? Something I need to be concerned about? Dunk the rock in some freshwater to get rid of the critters or just let 'em grow and eat detrius and hope they dont eat anything else?

 

 

 

On another subject.... I've decided on what lights I'm going to upgrade with.

 

175W PFO hanging pendant

Iwasaki 14k bulb

Icecap electonic ballast.

 

Buying the set up friday. Will post pics as soon as it gets shipped here! Trying to decide how to best mod my hood to hang it.

 

IMG_1389.jpg

 

I dont want to drill into my ceiling.

 

 

Oh and yah, I touched my zoos to get them to close so I could get a better look at the critters in them.

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Hey, thanks for directing me here! It just so happens I've been fighting the urge to set up a 20L that's been lying around the house holding nothing for a while...

 

Well... DUM DUM DUM DUM!!! My wife and I had a baby! (the smiling tyke in my avatar pic) and having time to do anything with my tank was near impossible!

 

Well, I thought you had remarkably few posts for someone with your join date. :D BTW, I've always loved your avatar. I'd like to post a cute baby pic of my son, but he's 6'2", now, and might take exception...

 

I honestly have no confidence in my ability to do the work of adding a fuge LOL Sounds bad but I'm a terrible plumber!

 

Like it's not enough to be an artist and a cabinet-maker...I really like your whole wall there, painting to floor.

 

Your bristly arms in the zoa rock (nice colony, BTW) are definitely banded brittle star arms. That sort of H-like pattern to the bands is a dead giveaway (as would be many other features of the legs in a clearer shot). I love these guys--one of the best hitchhikers ever. Great scavengers and fascinating. You will almost never see the whole animal, unless you catch them crossing open areas at night or one of them decides it is hiding between a rock/coral and the tank glass. They will reproduce asexually, so don't be surprised to see arms waving all over. They quickly pop out and start waving whenever food is introduced to the tank. I'll try to find some pics of mine...

 

But remember--bristle worms are good to have, too. And you no doubt have some!

 

Give that toddler a hug for me.

 

--Diane

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Well, I can never find the pics I want... :angry:

 

But here are some. Couldn't find any that show the sort of "H" pattern to the color bands--which can also be an "X," or the bands are just speckled like the ones here (ignore the algae!):

 

dscn3821largehw9.jpg

 

Here's one that was "hiding" between a rock and the glass one day--dorsal:

 

dscn5878largeck0.jpg

 

And ventral:

 

dscn5938largeza4.jpg

 

And here's a ventral shot of one "hiding" between a ric and the front glass (if you look closely, you can make out some tube feet):

 

dscn0595largewf8.jpg

 

FWIW, here's the thread I started when I first acquired these stars:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...c=71847&hl=

 

HTH,

 

Diane

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Hey there Diane! So glad to have you along! By all means... set up that 20L!!! :D

 

BTW, I've always loved your avatar.

 

Thank you! I honestly didnt know what I was missing in life til he came along. :)

 

Like it's not enough to be an artist and a cabinet-maker...I really like your whole wall there, painting to floor.

 

Thanks much. My father in law helped with the cabinet some..(provided all the tools lol).. I hope to someday have my tank so well stocked and interesting that people dont even notice the painting or the cabinet. :lol:

 

 

 

I REALLY appreciate your help on this!!! I'm pretty relieved about them being brittle stars... I bought a larger one years ago... beautiful animals I think.. was thinking about adding another one but now I dont have to! wooo Free critters when ya buy corals! You know that whole colony only cost me 20 bucks!? :D:D

 

 

But remember--bristle worms are good to have, too. And you no doubt have some!

 

I know they are good for a reef... but I've seen too many over dramatic documentaries with these buggers in them and they give me the willies! :lol:

 

Thanks again for your help... did you have have a look at that white milky ball in my zoos? I have NO idea what that is... :huh:

 

Ok.. back to work! Doing weekly sales and on hand reports is SOOOOO much more fun than reading Nano-reef forums!!! (/sarcasm off)

 

Thanks!

 

Lon

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