cbachman Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 So I've had a saltwater tank for many years. Originally it was a fish only set up with no special lights, no skimmer and just a plain ol hang on back filter. It housed a stonefish and a snowflake moray eel. When i went to college about five years the system came down. About a year and half ago while in school i started the hobby again this time with a 20 gallon long display and a ten gallon sump with a sea clone 100 skimmer and some 65 watt PC's with a 50/50 bulb. With little luck at keeping any kind of corals I eventually upgraded to halides. Its the oddysea with 150 DE bulb with two 65 watt actinics running along side. I need some money so i can upgrade to 14000K phoenix. There is about twenty or thirty pounds of live rock that is mixed with about ten pounds of old live rock that spent the last two years in my garage. I have had very little luck with reef keeping. I was looking to keep mostly coral because it was one part of the hobby i was never able to tackle. I think alot the trouble came from improper or lack of dosing. Ever time i would get new corals they would do ok for a while and slowly start to fade away. The only luck ive had is with some green starburst polyps and a simple finger leather coral that is still with me today. Fast forward to today and I just moved into a new apartment. I tore down the 20 long and set up the 55 gallon as the display with a 10 gallon refugium. I have the same halide setup as well as skimmer. This will be my first reef keeping journal. I decided to do it because I love the reading other members logs (PodRod, SeeDemTails, Mini_GBR, and evilc66) and journals about their successes and downfalls. I hope to learn what I've been doing right and what I've been doing wrong. I will accept any and all critiques or advice. Knowledge is power and that is especially true in this hobby. So after getting the tank all setup and cycling using water and filter material from the old tank I purchased Kent Marines Nano Reef part A and B as well as Reef calcium and have been dosing manually and properly for a few days. I plan on setting up a two part dosing system that I saw in one of the DIY forums. Ill hopefully get some money this week to add some fish and some easy corals. What Id really to do is fill with lots of color. I love all the different types of zoas. The Acans in the TOTM blow my mind. I also very fascinated by the incredible colors of zoas and rics. Im sure im probably leaving some info out so feel free to ask any questions. PICS!!! Be warned my camera sucks almost as much as my photography skills FTS Another FTS From the left From the right Refugium with skimmer cheato and pc's Blurry under the blue actinics Lol well it looks like im running past my tank but really its my super steady hands Better pic under the actinics I also got a red monti and i six line wrasse that I will be getting pics of soon. The wrasse is to combat a recent problem with rust brown flatworms. I was also thinking of picking up a mandarin to take care of them as well. Any advice? Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Its been less than 24 hours and I can already tell the six line has made in the flatworm population! Maybe I wont need the mandarin after all. Any ideas for other tank mates? Link to comment
Kraylen Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Welcome to the 4 foot beast club! Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Thanks man. Your tank looks great! Ill be sure to keep you updated on the progress. I appreciate everyones encouragement here. Reefing isnt exactly a huge hobby in Omaha NE. Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 I had some free time today so i dug out my tripod to get some better pics. Everything is starting to reopen after the move and the tank is looking better and better every day. Now i just need to start adding more stock. I did add a sixline wrasse and red monti. A better FTS. If you look close you can see i put caps in the two returns and drilled holes in them to try to create a stronger flow. Closer view of main rock structure A little from the right Finger leather starting to extend polyps New red monti. The color isnt not even close to right. Its much deeper red. More and more green star polyps opening everyday A few random green star polyps that started to grow over some rocks when it was in the old tank Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 So I know that the bulbs on a MH system should be changed about every 8 months. I think might are getting close to being that old, but I dont remember for sure. Are there any signs that a bulb is getting too old? I think I remember reading something about increased algae growth maybe? It seems like im getting lots of new algae growth. Not like the hair kind just the stuff that I always scrape off the glass. Could this be part of the cycling process since i just upgraded to the 55 gallon from a 20L? I used all the old filter stuff and rocks so I didnt think there would be much of a cycling process. The green starburst polyps and six line wrasse are doing great! So is the new monti! Thanks! Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 I got bored so I check some of the parameters of my tank. Nitrite - 0 pH - 8.4 (is that a little high?) Nitrate - 0 Ammonia - 0 Ca - about 400 Everything seems good so far! Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 26, 2009 Author Share Posted June 26, 2009 I got back from a trip to Idaho for a buddies wedding earlier this week. The gf did a good job lookin after the tank. The growth on the red monti is pretty amazing. Should to stuck to rock (not just wedged in there) in no time. Everything is lookin good. Just need money for upgrades now. More corals, diy automatic doser, maybe a k2, stuff like that. Ill clean things up and take a few pics tomorrow. Probably wont be anything special. I got a graduation party this weekend so hopefully ill get some cash to spend on my tank.......or a 360. Decisions decisions. Link to comment
cbachman Posted June 28, 2009 Author Share Posted June 28, 2009 I picked up two new pieces today. I got my first zoa colony. Its got like a purple center and a green skirt. I also got another colony of green starburst polyps. I already have one colony and I know they grow super fast but the color of this one was amazing. Extremely neon green, almost yellow. Ill post pictures soon. My gf took my camera out of town. Shell be back Tuesday so ill get pics up on Wednesday. I think i got a little hitch hiker too. I spotted the little guy on the glass so i could only see the under side but i think it might be a nudi. Should i be worried? Care? I've read the nudis tend to look like what they eat. Although i havent seen him from the top he looks like he might have a few extensions that resemble green starburst polyps. Ill try to get a better look at him and get some pics of him as soon as i can. Link to comment
cbachman Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 Also if any one has any advice on taking better photos id love to hear it. I read its best to take them with the pumps off and with all lights off except the main display light. I dont know much about cameras. I think mine is ok. Its from walmart which counts as negative points but its a 10mp which is positive points. Any advice/ tips? Thanks. Link to comment
cbachman Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 so I think somehow I lost a page off my journal here. I know that I had more posts and replies from other people but now they arent there any more. What gives? Link to comment
cbachman Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 So I've been gone for just a few weeks. Got a job doing some lawn work stuff until I get a real full time job. While I was gone there was a data crash and I lost some updates and posts and what not so Im gonna try to get everyone caught back up. There has been a whole lot going on. I picked up a new Zoa colony that has really opened up and is looking good. I got another GSP colony that has an amazing neon green color! I added a red monti that has encrusted onto a rock and is doing very well and is growing very fast. Im hoping it expands into a giant vase. I added a nice hammer coral too. I really wanted to get a clownfish and something to host it. The LFS has some awesome rose tip anemones but they were a little out of my price range at the time. A yellow tang also now calls my tank and has been named Sunshine by gf. She gets along great with the sixline and the my cleaner shrimp which was named Shrimpy. As far as the tank goes the only changed have been painting the back black as well as the returns. Looks much better. Enough talkin, here are the pics. FTS Close up of rock work FTS Side shot Neon GSP Zoas Painting Shrimpy Old GSP An old shot right after the move, before all the new additions and painting Monti FTS under actinics Zoas under actinics Well I think thats most of what was lost. If I find any more Ill put them up. What Im doing now is just saving money. I want to add a couple K2's on opposite sides of the tank. Someone said I shouldnt waste money on them and get some K3's instead. Does that sound right or is that too much flow? Im also gonna add gonna add an automatic two part doser that I found here on the site. I think that about covers it. Link to comment
Warehouse41Ant Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hey man, Nice to see another NE reefer. Saw your post on evil's thread and realized you were also living "The Good Life" Tank looks good. Keep coming with the pics. No idea what would have happened when all the posts were lost. You're and kraylen are the only ones that show up in your thread! Maybe sometime we'll have to meet up and trade frags or something? I don't have much right now, just a kenya tree, GSP, and a frogspawn. You can see most of them in my thread, although the FS and tree have grown quite a bit. That's pretty relative though, as the tree started small. I've had the tree for maybe 2 months and it has doubled in size though. Once I get a better light/bigger tank I'd love a bit of the monti you're growing. Also a nice patch of GSP would be great. Mine is taking forever to get off the piece of LR that it came on and onto my main display rock (I'm just impatient). The problem is the rock is really porous and the mat is nearly impossible to discern on there, so I've been unable to find a suitable area to pull some off to attach to my rock. Anyway, long post. Keep us updated! Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Nice tank! Just an FYI be careful what you wish for with the GSP. I remember wanting the stuff to grow everywhere when I started my tank. Now I have to rip chunks out every few months to keep it from growing over my other corals! Omaha isn't such a bad place. My grandmother lives there... off Blondo or something I think... Link to comment
Warehouse41Ant Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Nice tank! Just an FYI be careful what you wish for with the GSP. I remember wanting the stuff to grow everywhere when I started my tank. Now I have to rip chunks out every few months to keep it from growing over my other corals! Omaha isn't such a bad place. My grandmother lives there... off Blondo or something I think... AJ, you wanna send some of that my way? Haha, I'd rather have a "too much" coral problem then what I have now, which is no coral on my rocks. Link to comment
Warehouse41Ant Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Hey man, nice to meet you too. Just wanted to drop ya another line and let you know that if you are ever looking to sell/trade frags to hit me up. It'd only probably be like a 20 minute drive to meet up (maybe Ashland or something). Link to comment
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