Dnic Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 This hobby all began as a freshwater adventure, but after a little research, I decided I wanted a reef tank. I have a 29 gallon rectangular tank (30x18x12), an aquaclear 70 filter (300 gph), a 150w heater, and 2x hydor koralia nano 425 gph. I have considered adding a refugium for copepods etc., but that will have to be added later, I don't have a suitable tank stand yet (to hide a refugium). I have had the tank going for around 8-10 weeks with 40lbs of live sand in it. Today I drove to get 40lbs of live rock from a guy off craigslist, and got away with the 40lbs of rock including two rocks covered with zoas for $100. Really nice rocks too, lots of coraline. After putting all of the live rock into the tank, and adding the new light (Aquaticlife 4x HO w/ Lunar Lights), I have noticed quite an amount of hitchhikers in the live rock. Link to comment
Dnic Posted July 24, 2010 Author Share Posted July 24, 2010 Today I went to a local store and bought a nice piece of LR, a coral and a critter. I finished my aquascaping- takes a lot longer than I thought, puzzling the pieces together. Fun though. Link to comment
Dnic Posted July 26, 2010 Author Share Posted July 26, 2010 Went to the LFS yesterday and had planned on just looking around. I almost got an anemone paired with two clarkiis, but instead i got a nice torch coral and a skunk cleaner shrimp. Right when I put the skunk shrimp into the tank, the blood shrimp chopped one of the skunk's antennae in half, then ate it. Hopefully they will begin to co-exist, but right now they are just staying on opposite sides of the tank. Here is the current aquascape. I think i'm going to move the ricordeas somewhere, but Im not sure where would be good. Any suggestions? I want a ricordea garden eventually. I gave the torch some spot-fed brine shrimp last night, and it appeared to gobble them up. Link to comment
bhskicker18 Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 If you started this tank on July 22, you have way too much in it. It hasn't had enough time to cycle yet and when it does, it will kill your tourch coral and probable your shrimp. You need to let it cycle for a while (it can range from a rew weeks to months) then you can add your live stock. You can't rush things in this hobby. Now you can put Instant Ocean Bio-Spira in the tank and it has bacteria that won't cause a cycle (some people think this stuff is good, and others think its bad). But in my opinion, you need to let it cycle first. And to Nano-Reef! Link to comment
Dnic Posted July 26, 2010 Author Share Posted July 26, 2010 Thanks for the advice! The tank has been running for around 10 weeks with sand in it. I added the live rock soon before I started posting here, which came from a tank that had been running for about 10 years. I believe that my tank is fully cycled, as all the readings are still 0 ppm, but I'm no expert, so.. Let's hope that everything will be alright, everyone looks happy in the tank so far. Link to comment
jarred1 Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 you should get some kind background so you cant see all the cords other than that the tank looks sweet!!! Link to comment
Dnic Posted November 19, 2010 Author Share Posted November 19, 2010 Here it is four months later. I have been trying to clean the back glass with each successive water change. Wish the corals would grow quicker Link to comment
Dnic Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Got a new Octopus HOB skimmer, working pretty well for 1 week of operation. Already filled the cup 2 times. Also painted the back of the aquarium, I like it better. My firefish jumped , but my LFS is getting a tailspot blenny for me soon . Link to comment
Dnic Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 In addition to my new skimmer, I've recently gotten a new BRS 75gpd Plus unit, along with a tailspot blenny and a new mag-rock. Pics: Anyone see their mandarin hang out in the equipment? Link to comment
Dnic Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 Thanks pmcaree! My clowns are starting to play in the torch, so i'm hoping that they will make it their home soon. If not i'm going to buy a BTA for them. The tailspot is settling in quite nicely too. Link to comment
kthehun89 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 just put the name together lol, sick tank dude. love those clowns Link to comment
Dnic Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Yeah I just got a dna helix acan, dragon soul prism favia, and a tyree fire echino today, i'm going to take some pix soon once they are happier. And my mandarin died, had him for about 6 months He disappeared a week ago and I never saw him again. I never even had an ammonia spike. Link to comment
Tarbot Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Nice looking tank... Your Mandarin on frozen food? Link to comment
Dnic Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 He was on frozen food. And he was eating pellets too. And I have pods. But he disappeared I suspect I have another crab I haven't seen. Link to comment
Dnic Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 He's doing fantastic, he likes to swim with my clowns, even though they aren't very particular of it. I'll snap some more pics of him Link to comment
msujeff Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 He's doing fantastic, he likes to swim with my clowns, even though they aren't very particular of it. I'll snap some more pics of him Sounds great. Is he out in the open a lot or hides/perches? Link to comment
Dnic Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Here's what's been going on lately.. Got a new dna helix acan, dragon soul prism favia, and tyree fire echino. The acan needs to do a lot of coloring up, or else I got ripped. Also check out how the torch has grown in the past five months.. First, FTS: Second, Tailspot: Torch with no flow! Anyone need a hollywood frag? This thing grows like 1mm a day. Sounds great. Is he out in the open a lot or hides/perches? He is very active, but very camera shy. As soon as the camera comes out, he goes to his safe place. He is usually out all day long, checking around the tank for some algae. I like the fact that he will stay small because my small male clownfish is very uneasy around larger fish. Link to comment
Dnic Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 My reef octopus hob skimmer broke, after 1.5 months The acrylic seams are coming apart between the reaction chamber and the overflow Coralvue said they would ship me out a new body asap, though! Link to comment
TinyGiant Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 i was just looking into getting a tail spot blenny yesterday! i dont want the normal old man lawnmower blenny. Tail spot is just different enough to make it interesting he looks like a tribal warrior with facepaint Link to comment
Vermonter Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 That tank looks GREAT! Definately gives me something to look forward to. Great pics, and that torch looks awsome! Link to comment
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