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Pong's 20L College Reef


awpong

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FTS November 2012
November12012.jpg

Display: 30" x 12" x 12"
Sump: Proflex Model 1 Sump
Biological Filtration: ~10lbs of live rock, 20lbs of live sand
Lighting: (1) 150 Watt 14000K Metal Halide Phoenix, (1) 24W ATI Blue Plus, and (1) 24W ATI Purple Plus
Protein Skimmer: SWC 120 Cone Skimmer
Controller: Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite
Heater: 50W Tetra + 100W Tetra
Water Motion: 1x Eco-Tech Vortech MP10ES + return
ATO: Tunze Osmolator



Livestock
  • 2x Ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
  • Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani)
  • Crocea Clam (Tridacna crocea)
  • Blood Red Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius)
  • Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes ohshimai)
  • Maxi Mini (Stichodactyla tapetum)
  • CUC from reefcleaners.org


Maintenance

 

 

  • Weekly 2.5-3g water changes.
  • Refill ATO reservoir (5 gallons) every week.
  • Daily dose of 20 ml of Tech M Magnesium.
  • Daily feedings of a mixture of Selcon enriched Frozen Mysis, Cyclopeeze, Nutramar Ova, and Rod's Food. I also throw in a few pinches of Formula One pellets every time I walk by the tank (~5 pinches spread throughout the day).
  • Daily dose of 5 ml of each part of 2 part B-Ionic
  • Clean the glass every other day.
  • Clean equipment in vinegar bath every 4-6 months.
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Tank History

 

November 2010

IMG_20101129_163957.jpg

 

January 2011

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April 2011

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May 2011

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July 2011

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August 2011

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November 2011

FTSDecember2011-1.jpg

 

January 2012

FTS2012FISH.jpg

 

March 2012

FTSMarchJPG.jpg

 

April 2012

FTS1.jpg

 

June 2012

FTSJune2012.jpg

 

August 2012

FTS.jpg

 

September 2012

FTSAugust2.jpg

 

October 2012

OctoberFTS.jpg

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

The Beginning!

 

I've been on here for a while, so it's about time I made one of these threads.

 

I've been running a 10 gallon nano reef out of my dorm room for the past 3 months :P

 

So here are a few pictures:

 

IMG_20101101_114505.jpg

 

 

Leather.jpg

My leather when he's happy

 

TorchwUrchin.jpg

My favorite coral. My torch is such a bad ass!

 

IMG_20101101_084155.jpg

My new coral frag that I got this weekend. To be honest, not entirely sure what it is. I don't think it's a glove polyp, so I'm gonna probably go with waving hands.

 

IMG_20101031_121037.jpg

My other new frag of zoas.

 

6.jpg

 

 

4.jpg

 

 

5.jpg

 

I know it's not as colorful as a lot of other tanks, but I'm working on it. It doesn't help that my urchin keeps devouring my Coraline algae.

 

One thing you may notice is there are currently no fish in the tank :'( .

About 6 weeks ago I had a little spat with Clownfish Disease and poor Goose and Captain didn't survive.

 

IMG_20100913_111906.jpg

R.I.P.

 

Since I am in college, and I'll be gone during winter break, I've decided to wait until January to buy a new pair.

 

Anyways... The current stock consists of:

 

1 Cerith Snail

2 Blue Legged Hermits

1 Long Spine Sea Urchin

1 Large Featherduster and a few other tiny hitch hikers

2 Mini Bristle Stars (Hitch hikers)

~75 mysid shrimp that are able to thrive due to my lack of fish.

 

1 Torch Coral

1 Kenya Tree Leather?

2 Mushrooms

1 colony of zoas

1 waving hands frag?

 

Since the tank is so small, I do not have a refugium or sump, but do weekly water changes of ~2 gallons.

My only filtration lies within the biological one hidden in my 7-8lb of live rock and 12lb of live sand.

 

I do have one question for all of y'all who read this thread. My Leather has never really been the happiest

thing in my tank. His polyps are always open, but he is incredibility limp! I've increased flow to his area and it hasn't really improved anything. I've had him for a little over a month and a half, and I've only seen him truly erect once - within the first week that I purchased him. Ever since then, hes been pretty slopped over. He will retract at night and does move throughout the day, increasing/decreasing his limp, but overall, he is just LIMP! This being so, my roommate and I have named him "Limpy!"

 

It's gotten to the point where I'm considering treating him like a chili leather and hanging his grumpy ass upside down.

 

Any suggestions on how I can help Limpy?

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Get rid of the urchin if you want coraline.

 

Your leather may not be happy in it's current location. Have you moved it around and tried different lighting levels? Also what is your lighting setup?

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I just moved my leather the other day. He looks like he's trying to stand up, but keeps falling over and giving up. Then he'll try again, and just keeps limping over.

 

IMG_20101101_132359.jpg

IMG_20101101_121911.jpg

 

To be honest, the whole lighting situation bores me, and my ADD starts to take over. Therefore, I'm by no means an expert on lighting. Regardless, I currently have 2 of these things.

 

097612053012c.jpg

 

Zoo Med Reef Sun 50/50 Compact Fluorescent Bulb

* A 50/50 combination of 6,500K trichromatic daylight phosphor and actinic 420

* Provides high intensity full spectrum illumination

* Ideal for all marine aquariums, reef aquariums, African Cichlids and Discuss fish

 

 

Regarding the Urchin, I love him too much to sell him back. He's got too much personality :)

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I've been doing some rearranging of currents and rock placement - trying to find a happy medium between aesthetics and coral health.

 

Although I think my leather enjoys his spot a bit more than before, my torch has been struggling. I think he'd be happier a bit further back in between the two rocks, but he'd also be harder to see. He's my favorite so I'd kinda like for him to be the centerpiece.

 

Other than that, my xenia seem to be growing quite quickly, and my button polyps are surviving. However, last night I did notice my sea urchin hanging out on top of their rock, and this morning 3 of my pink zoa polyps are missing. Coincidence? I've never heard of sea urchins consuming zoas before. Any one else? Perhaps he knocked them off and their stranded behind my rock's ledge?

 

Anyways... PICTURES:

 

IMG_20101109_123029.jpg

IMG_20101109_123037.jpg

IMG_20101109_123044.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

New Update:

 

I got a new piece of live rock with some GSP and 2.2 gallon fuge from another member on this forum.

 

Since the rock was kinda large, I rescapped the tank. I think it looks much better now.

 

IMG_20101123_112057.jpg

New tank set up

 

 

IMG_20101121_110901.jpg

GSP starting to open up

 

IMG_20101123_112225.jpg

New fuge up and running

 

 

Adding fish in February (after winter break)

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Came back from Thanksgiving Break, and thankfully all of my coral survived.

 

FTS:

 

IMG_20101129_163957.jpg

 

My GSP finally started to open up fully too.

 

IMG_20101129_163947.jpg

 

 

Still fishless until late January... However, I have decided upon getting a pair of false percs, and a banggai cardinal. Lets hope there's no conflicts between them.

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save up for some good lighting. It doesnt have to be expensive either. www.aquatraders.com sells 150w lights for about $100.

 

Youll see a lot of growth and color come out of your corals. Either way, the tank looks good dude!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I took your suggestions into mind and upgraded my light system. I bought the 150W MH off of another member on this site, and will soon install them on my tank. I don't really know how to acclimate the coral to the new lights. I've read about shortening the time exposure and also about using sheets of mesh, removing 1 every 3-4 days. I'll worry about that later when I install the lights. I still need to buy legs for them, so It might have to wait until after Christmas break.

 

Anyways, I tested the lights and here is a picture of my GSP in the actinics.

 

IMG_20101208_163009.jpg

 

FTS 12/8/10

IMG_20101208_165149.jpg

 

And since i got impatient with waiting for fish for my reef, I went ahead and set up a goldfish tank lol. I need fish in my life :P

 

Atleast I can trust my friends to take care of these little guys while I am out of the country for 2 weeks. No way in hell would i let my friends touch my reef lol.

 

IMG_20101208_163540.jpg

IMG_20101129_220608.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well I'm back on campus after Christmas break, and it looks like almost everything survived. Unfortunately, the day I had to leave... rather 20 minutes before I had to leave... my float switch for my auto top off system decided to break. When I got back, about an inch and a half of water had evaporated and left my tank at a s.g. of 1.030. Luckily I didn't have too much coral in there at this point, so the only fatality I suffered was my leather - of whom I never really liked and of whom was never happy in my tank. Ironically, his fatality was a result of my urchin, not the salinity. My urchin decided he would go on a rampage throughout my tank and dislodge a few of my coral. The leather was unfortunate enough to land in the sand bed branch/polyp-side down.

 

However, although everything made it through this 13 day absence, the real test is when I leave on Monday for 19 days as I head off to Ecuador. *cross fingers* I hope my tank is as reliant as it was before and survives to see a new day.

 

[side note: my goldfish survived happily. I have an extra strong filter in his tank and an automatic feeder, so he's pretty happy and his tank is pristine. The only drawback is that he now spends 70% of his time under the auto-feeder, waiting for food to come his way. Oh well, what can you do.]

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  • 4 weeks later...

Update: January 28, 2011

 

Alright, I am officially moved back in... AND EVERYTHING SURVIVED!

 

I've been back for a week and I've tried to nurse the very few inhabitants back to full health, and I will be going to the LFS tomorrow to pick up my Bangaii Cardinal, a blood red fire shrimp, and a $#!T ton of coral. Additionally, I finally have the legs for my 150W MH lighting, so it's gonna be a huge upgrade for my current coral... 2x 9w 50/50 screw ins to 150 w MH with 2x 14W actinics. I tested the lights to make sure everything fit and worked properly, but I need to run to lowes or something so I can purchase the screens. Until then, I'm gonna stick with the crappy lights.

 

Crappy Lights:

IMG_20110124_160953.jpg

 

Actinics Only:

IMG_20110128_154623.jpg

 

150W MH + Actinics. Its sooooooooo bright!

IMG_20110128_154811.jpg

 

I'll update later with the new tank inhabitants and the new lighting system officially installed.

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Alright, so I now have stuff to fill my tank!

 

I went to the LFS yesterday and picked up:

 

-2x False Percs

- 1 Blood Red Fire Shrimp

- 1 Colony of Frogspawn

- 1 Colony of Goniopora

 

Pictures:

 

IMG_20110130_101225.jpg

 

 

FTS: January 30, 2011

IMG_20110130_102231.jpg

 

It's a bad picture... taken with my phone's camera. I'm borrowing a friends nice camera this afternoon where I'll be able to upload decent pictures. Also, the MH are soo bright lol, its hard to get a picture without a glare

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Alright, well its really hard to take a picture without the glare, but here's a FTS for January!

 

I'm also trying to lure my clowns to host my frogspawn :P

Testing out the picture to the tank method. Additionally, I've placed my ipad against the other side and have been playing videos of clowns hosted in frogspawn, on replay.

 

IMG_20110131_132847.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

Alright update: I've added a lot of frags since my last update... and will be adding even more once my order from Mr.Coral arrives.

 

Since my last update, I've added:

- Zoas and Palys: Devils Armor, Kedds Red, Nuclear Green, Red PE, unknown pink one, and an unknown orange one that is on the Nuclear Green frag.

- SPS: Purple Monti Cap, 1" Birds of Paradise frag, and a 2.5-3" Pink Birdsnest

- and a colony of Anthelia

 

My order to Mr. Coral is:

- Whip Cream Double Shortcake Zoas

- W^1725 SUPERMAN ZOAS

- R^194 BACK TO THE FUTURE ACAN LIMIT 1

- Z^29 SUPERBOWL PALYS

- R^241 HONEYMOOM IS OVER ACAN LIMIT 1

- R^232 Funky Cold Medina Acan Limit 1

- R^231 GREEN HORNET ACAN

- O^3 Maxi Mini Carpet Anemone LIMIT 1!!!!

- O^2 SUPER ULTRA BLASTO LIMIT 1

- R^187 Symphyllia Wilsoni $10? Come on man!!

- R^180 THE JACKAL

- R^92 MR.COOL FAVIA

(there are too many so I'm not going to attach pictures of them. If you want to know what one looks like, just let me know and I'll add a picture)

 

I've also added a 1.5" six line wrasse to my tank. I know that it's pushing the limits on my stock, but I don't plan on him becoming a full time resident. I only need him in there for 2-3 weeks to take care of my bristle worm and amphipod issue. (...unless he grows on me and I decide to keep him full time...)

I already do weekly 20% water changes, so I believe I'm on top of my nutrient exports.

 

Anyways... PICTURES!

 

Here's a FTS that I took today. My corals aren't fully open because I had just had my hand in the tank rearranging some frags. I'll take another one once everything is open and happy.

 

April 2, 2011

IMG_20110402_131458.jpg

 

IMG_20110402_131637.jpg

My two birdsnest frags

 

IMG_20110402_131716.jpg

some of my zoa collection

 

[img}http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss28/awpong/IMG_20110402_131727.jpg[/img]

Monti cap and Anthelia

 

IMG_20110401_164102.jpg

Birdseye view of front half with actinics

 

IMG_20110402_131421.jpg

Picture of my SLW, Ted (My clowns are named Lily and Marshal, and I have a goldfish named Barney :P), and my other zoa frags.

 

More updates to come after my Mr. Coral shipment arrives.

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Got my Mr. Coral shipment today!!!!

Everything is alive for the most part.... There are a few frags I'm gonna keep a close eye on due to their exposed skeletons and flesh recession. I'm hoping they'll recover.

 

Pictures... with crappy phone camera under 2x 14W Actinics and 4 LED moonlights. I placed 4 screens over the tank to reduce the light stress.

 

 

FTS: Jammed full of frags... had to move some frags behind my rocks.

IMG_20110406_131520.jpg

 

IMG_20110406_132011.jpg

(left to right) Wilsoni, Back to the future

 

IMG_20110406_132022.jpg

Blasto

 

IMG_20110406_132016.jpg

(left to right) Green hornet, Green Lantern, Jackal

 

IMG_20110406_131956.jpg

Maxi Mini Anemone

 

IMG_20110406_131947.jpg

Mr. Cool Favia (and other zoa frags)

 

IMG_20110406_131938.jpg

(left to right) Kedds red, Superman Zoas.... which apparently are apparently kedds red lol, par 4 favia, devils armor

 

IMG_20110406_131930.jpg

(left to right) Devils armor, Superbowl Paly, Dragon Soul Prism, Eye of

 

I'll try to borrow my roommates camera and take better pictures that actually can express the colors on these things.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Updated Picture:

DSC_0658-1.jpg

 

Also, while I have access to my roommates good camera, here are a few pictures of my coral and fish.

 

Fishies :)

DSC_0636.jpg

 

DSC_06082.jpg

DSC_06092.jpg

DSC_06172.jpg

DSC_06112.jpg

DSC_0620.jpg

wrasse decided to photo bomb...

DSC_0644.jpg

Blastomussa

DSC_0643.jpg

Maxi Mini

DSC_0641.jpg

part of my zoa collection

DSC_0619.jpg

horrible picture of some of my scripps acro

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Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate them!

 

Nice tank, I especially like that huge colony of frogspawn.

 

I love my frogspawn :) I've been considering getting a Hammer and/or Torch to keep it company on that side of the tank. Eventually.

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