You and me both. The Rapids Pro protein skimmer leaves a bit to be desired. But then you would need a overflow solution to your 20gal sump, right? Are you thinking about using a siphon overflow? Honestly, I don't know much about how these operate, but I understand there is a much higher risk of flooding caused by power outages when the power comes back on and the siphon doesn't restart. Perhaps SPS20 can answer this same question for me in his other thread. Somebody sell me and I'll make the switch.



They'll always think of something. Reef technology is moving just as fast as tech-technology. All of our gear will become obsolete in less than 1 year. Rapids Pro today, Rapids Wireless 3000 by X-Mas.

Ok. that surface skimmer is made by FLUVAL and it cost me $8 from the LFS. You won't require a surface skimmer so long as you have an overflow that adequately skims scum off the very top of the water. Most AIO tanks do this very well. Most internal overflow boxes also do this very well. It's when you must resort to a HOB filter or canister filter where surface scum can become an unsightly problem and make your display tank look like a huge protein skimmer with no collection cup. Anyhow, here's how it works.


As shown above, water from the surface is sucked under water through a tube that's attached to the intake of a pump like a MaxiJet600 which then circulates it back into the tank OR a canister/HOB intake pipe which runs it through the filter then back into the tank. I use the first method. Depending on the flow rate of the pump you are attaching it to, the surface skimmer must be adjusted accordingly. Otherwise, the circular collection cup you see in the photo could take in too much water, causing air bubbles to enter the tank, OR no water at all. As a plus, your MJ600 would add more flow to the tank. Bottom line, it makes your water surface sparkly clean and clear for maximum light penetration.

You can see where the surface skimmer connects to the MJ600 via a flexible horizontal tube.

All in all, an internal overflow is better than a siphon overflow, no question. However, a properly designed overflow box is pretty damn reliable provided nobody messes with it and you aren't trying to put too much flow through it. I made a big fat hairy post about siphon overflows in my tank thread. I explain there why (at least with the siphon overflow box I use) there is no problem with restarting the siphon after a power failure. The short version is, the siphon never breaks on my system, with or without power. The bottom line: yes there is probably an increased risk of a spill, but the risk is slight if you are diligent. Internal overflows are better, but siphon overflows can work fine too.

As for the above discussion about protein skimmers. I have seen one small reef tank with the tunze nano skimmer on it. That skimmer is little but mighty. In my opinion, pretty much everything tunze makes is extremely effective at the task for which it is designed. I have heard some complaints about the mounting brackets on some of their products and strange language in the intruction booklets, but their basic performance is excellent.

IT'S NUTS TRYING TO MAINTAIN TWO TANKS AT ONCE. 2X Maintenance and 2X Cost! So I finally began to migrate ALL CORALS from my BC14 into this ADA.







I still have some rics, xenia, and leather to move over. Oh and a purple firefish and cleaner shrimp. I'm sure they'll like their new home.

untill now i have only see ADA tanks used in freshwater planted tanks i like the look of the SW ADA tank though very cool. and i wish my parents would let me do waht you did with the Island that is an Amazing Idea.

Thanks! Here's a better top angle shot. Had to use my Sony-T1. My JVC camera does not like the blue 20k bulb the least bit. I think I'll be using this camera for FTSs from now on. But still, true colors in any of these photos don't pop out like the naked eye.

i wouldn't move a firefish to an open-top tank. they're known jumpers.

I'm moving this firefish from an open tank to another open tank. He's been in there for 9mos and hasn't jumped yet. Unfortunately, I don't have another place to put him.

Experimenting on how to take better pics. Still can't get it right.





ZOAS ON A SNAIL!

Try this forum:

http://aquatic-photography.com/forum/

Thanks. I'll check it out for some tips. Figured out the JVC 3CCD camera can take pics under 20k after all. Adjusted the White Balance, Aperture, etc until I found something that worked. Here are some random FTSs with no photoshop adjustments. Still not as good as the naked eye, but better.

THE FINISHED PROJECT! (For today anyway)








Check out the beast that guards the cave. TORCH!

Personally, I think your pics are breathtaking. Probably because your tank is, too! How wonderful to have beautiful views from 3 sides. (Too bad the maxi-jet housing isn't black... )

What is the coral on the right side of the top pic in post # 258? (Next to, uh, an Echino, I think?)

Love the zoas on the snail. Kind of hard for me to imagine how that happened! (Sure it's not a HC? )

--Diane

Thank you very much, Diane. The back (4th) side is actually the next best side to the front- in rockscaping- but the overflow, skimmer, pumps, etc cause too much of an obstruction to take good pics. Everyone called me crazy for placing it smack down in the center of the kitchen, but I couldn't think of any other place in the home where I could walk circles around the tank and see something different from each side. Yeah, the grey MJ housing bothers me too. Might need to go with a different brand.

Not sure what the coral is in pic #258. I've been meaning to pic up a metallic orange one just like it at the LFS. When I do, I'll get the name.

It'd be even cooler if the snail were alive. LOL. I placed an old shell next to my green zoa colony hoping that would happen someday. What's an HC?

Can anyone make a positive ID on this thing? I never noticed it until I moved the coral to this tank.

^ could be the deaded a-i-p-t-a-s-i-a! i had some of those in my tank. i don't know if they here aiptasia or not. someone told me they could be hydriods or something like that. my peppermint shrimp wouldn't touch it (it ate other aiptasia) i kept my water quality high and they seem to have disappeared.

awesome tank.

have you condsidered switching to koralia nano or tunze mini powerheads to free up precious real estate? i don't know how much flow is coming out of that filtration box but maybe a scwd w/ 2 alternating hoses?

i aspire to be like you

I have one of those in my tank as well! Been watching it and it doesn't seem to bother anything and it doesn't look like any aiptasia I have seen.

I hear you, Man. I have a personal vendetta against aiptasia. Although, I'm not sure this would be it. Just looks way to cool to be something BAD, I hope...I actually do have a Koralia Nano standing by if necessary, but I prefer the greater flow of the Koralia1. What's an "scwd?" I was thinking of attaching a split loc-line to divide flow. haha. Thanks for the inspiration.Looks alien-like, doesn't it?! I was wondering if it might be the regeneration of my long lost fire anemone. Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

I was wondering if you could just find some little black plastic container about the same size & cut out a couple of sides so it would just slip over the MJ...but then, I'm ghetto...



Whatever it is, I love the way it looks.



Ooops. I should have thought of that... HC = hermit crab




Sure looks like a Pseudocorynactis/Corynactis to me (probably the former). Check out these links:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/invert.htm

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...ctis+corynactis

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry1320875

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...seudocorynactis


--Diane

From those threads they seem to be bad......


I'm gonna try and feed it.

Thanks for the replies, Diane. I might just try your black box technique. Pseudocorynactis? Just great, it eats fish. But it looks so innocent. I hate to do it, but it's gotta go. A quick scrub-a-dub-dub with a toothbrush should handle it. The things I must do to maintain the overall safety and serenity of my lil ocean.

MIGRATION COMPLETE. My poor lil BC14 ain't much of a tank no mo. It was my 1st successful reef. August '07 NTOTM. Born Feb '07 and taken down 10mos later. Nothing but random zoas and live rock remain.

[pause for silence]

But the corals live on

Threesome. I couldn't help but worry about these guys getting along. The three of them were actually together in my 20G office tank at the beginning of this year, only to be separated when I bought my BC14 for the home. Almost looks like they remember each other.


Ricordia. Re-scaped a little. Grouped these shrooms closer together.


Caveman. This resilient anemone isn't as healthy as it once was 1yr ago. Hoping to learn more about it and give it greater care. It's tentacles expand at night, so I figure it likes the dark. In the cave he lives.


There's still more work to do... This side needs coral, but I'm in no hurry.


One big happy family.

Added Xenia for that zen mood.


Top Down. Coco worm didn't cooperate for the photo.


Another group shot.

Don't Touch!

OMG your tank is amazing! So colorful and lots of corals

Its not an aptasia, i have a few of those in my tanks and they don't hurt any thing, I so rarely see them if im not intentionally looking for them so im not sure how many i have.


I like how your tanks turning our, What type of bulb are you using, 20k?

Damn, I already destroyed it with a vibrating toothbrush. Oh well. I'm using a 20k HQI. Took me a good 2mos to adjust my camera settings correctly for all that blue light. It's coming along better than I had hoped so far, but my Millepora is having a tough time adjusting. There's still plenty of room to add coral on the 3 other sides. Figure I just take it slow, since it's such a new tank.

Aw, crum, I may need to add some other links to my "Pseudocorynactis" file...the ones that say that they take a long time to grow into problem size, and many keep them in their tank for several years before they're a threat to fish...

Oh, well, who'd miss it with all that other beauty!! All those pics are out of this world. I esp. like the "one big happy family" one!

What is your feeding regimen? How are your maintenance needs--demanding? Pretty easy to keep up with...? (Siphoning, glass cleaning, etc....)

BTW, that "caveman" sounds and looks as if it might be a cerianthid (tube anemone)?

--Diane

how have you kept any of your fish from going counter/kitchen floor surfing?

also: can you recommend a good central valley LFS (hopefully a reasonable drive from modesto)

edit: i forgot a word!

No problem at all, I've learned from past mistakes not to let any critter get past me without a positive ID. Learned my lesson from zoanthid eating nudibranchs to flatworms. Good looks can clearly be deceiving in reef world.



I feed Mysis Shrimp once every other day and direct feed my brain twice per week. On days I don't feed, I add DT's live phytoplankton. Still trying to determine my dosing routine, so I've been testing water params for alkalinity, pH, and Calcium at least twice per day. BTW: I work from home as a mortgage broker for 3 days out of the week, so it's easier to keep up. I dose purple up gradually day as it's a relatively new setup, supplementing with Kent Marine superbuffer dKH and Turbo Calcium. I can already tell that I will have problems with too high pH due to heavy calc/alk demands of my corals. Looking to try B-Ionic 2 part for daily dosing via a automated dosing pump.

As far as maintenance goes, I clean 3 sides of the glass EVERY DAY with a Kent Glass cleaner on a 2' extension. Fish breaks, that's the secret. It's truly therapy actually, since I don't leave the home for lunch that often. This is easy b/c aquascaping doesn't touch glass on any side. Only the pumps and overflow make it somewhat difficult to clean the back, which I clean once per week. 3 gallons of DI water changes are done routinely every Friday or Sat.

Yeah, it's definitely a tube anemone. I've had it for a year now. Still don't know what or if it eats though! I've got some reading up to do.

Beutiful pics Randy!! i noticed your new tank has a bluer hue than the 14g, Do you think it might be due to the new light?

Thanks Patty! I'm still deciding on where to put your blue tubs. I expect that they would be bluer than blue, especially with this 20K light - just not as blue as solo actinics. But yes, the lighting definitely contributes to the overall blue hue. Through the naked eye, it doesn't look as blue once you get adjusted to eat. It definitely pulls the colors out though.

tube anemones will eat anything they can pull from the water column. my friend used to feed his bits of silversides. i believe they're non-photosynthetic.

be careful feeding them too much or they'll get big and their stingers will murder your other corals. they're very powerful.

also, be careful not to touch those stingers w/ your bare hands. your hand will swell for days regardless of whether you're predisposed to anemone sensitivity.

with that said, i think tubes are beautiful. i hear it's impossible to determine age -regardless of size. so that thing you are staring at could be 100+ years old!

There have been MANY advisories about jumping firefish, and I do admit having lost one before in another tank. So far so good with these guys here. I've been watching their behavioral patterns, and so far this purple firefish hasn't shown any interest in darting up and out.

You may want to check out Exotic Aquarium in Sacramento off of Highway 5 and 47th St. HUGE store with a large variety of SPS and steady incoming shipments. I'd go there all the time if it weren't 40+ miles from where I live. If you're looking to buy SPS, it's definitely worth the drive.

Thanks for the advice. Very interesting about it's age. I'll try to feed him some silverside later today. I thought they were partially photosynthetic, so I pulled him out from the cave yesterday. If it doesn't require any light whatsoever, I might just as well put him back in, but that would make it more difficult to feed. I know I'm not treating this guy like I should b/c it's tentacles used to be 3" long with a brighter neon green center. I'll start with the food and take it from there. Check out this pic. Snapped it just now.

This can't be comfortable.

REEFDAN, you were right. IT EATS. I stuck 3 pieces of mysis shrimp in it's tentacles and it closed up on them FAST. I'm such a noob. I wonder how this anemone was able to survive UNFED for the past year. It's gotta be photosynthetic too. I feed so sparingly that there are hardly any scraps for it to pick up. I'm gonna stuff it's face for a little while until it shows some better health.

Hey, what's this black slug? I know I've seen a pic of one around NR sometime ago. It's been in my 10G quarantine tank for the past 6mos now. Looks kinda cool and I'd like to add it to this ADA so long as it won't wreak havoc. Also, it's got a slit down it's back. Thinking it might have been sliced by a rock perhaps.

Nevermind. I found out what it is, and it likes to eat bird's nest corals so no thanks.

Couldn't resist buying a couple of captive raised SPS frags from ORA at Exotic Aquarium in Sacramento, CA. My fish guy explained these were captive raised for 7 generations. The black plugs have "ORA" embossed on them, whatever that's worth.

Green Polyped Bird's Nest $40


Rosco's Blue Green Acropora $50

Nice, ORA frags are very nice, but pretty pricy. Do you have a reef club in your area that you can trade with other people?

Very pricey indeed. I'm part of NCNRS, but we're a new organization and I haven't met with anyone to trade, YET.

do u think any stock i get will make it the 90-100minute drive from my place in modesto to sacramento?

i would hate to go make some sort of investment (being a broke a$$ emt sure makes anything more than $5 or $10 an investment) and have the stock or coral die or be damaged before i even get it home...

I'm sure all of it will make it. A 2hr drive should be quick enough. Remember, internet orders can take up to 48hrs for stock to reach your door. Maybe keep the car heater running @ 76º on your way home. The ORA frags I bought from there yesterday were higher priced than their wild caught stuff. You can actually get large colonies of SPS for $50-60 there. I'd call them first and ask when they expect to receive their new shipment of corals, since you may visit them only once in a great while. If you decide to buy anything there, PM me with shots of your new stuff!

did you order the cube off of the ada site? oh and how much did u pay for that coco worm?

At first, I ordered it from www.adana-usa.com, but it arrived with a scratch on the glass. Packaging was excellent though, and it came quickly. The store in San Francisco was nice enough to replace it, so I drove down there and picked up this cube. I can't remember how much I paid for the coco worm. From what I recall, maybe $69? The store owner sold me by saying it could live up to 150 years. So far he's right. I've had it for 9 months now, in 3 different tanks.

Couldn't resist posting this new FTS while I'm in here.

Firefish slithers from the cave...

RAPIDS PRO UPDATE

The Rapids Pro has been running for 2-3 wks now, and so far it's lived up to my expectations. Just like the ads promised, it hasn't overflown once. The protein skimmer was my absolute greatest concern at first, but once it was dialed in I haven't had to tweak it. It's been skimming ever since with it's original stock pump and air stone - NOT high performance skimming, but at least the darn thing works. I am very pleased to say that I've been able to adjust the height of the overflow just low enough that it's now able to take in water from the top surface. NO MORE NEED FOR THE ADD-ON SURFACE SKIMMER AND MJ600 THAT POWERED IT. I've got plenty more space inside the tank now. So much more that I added a Koralia Nano to the mix. See pics.

LEFT There's much more visibility to the rear of the tank, where I can now grow swirling Monti Caps.


LEFT REAR CORNER


REAR


TOP REAR

PurpleUP, can you tell me what this slug is called?
Also where did you find information about it eating Bird's Nest Corals?

Thanks in advance.

It's called a Scutus, or elephant slug. More information can be found here. I can't locate where another forum had specifically mentioned it eating bird's nests. General consensus is that it's an algae grazer, but I wouldn't want to take chances.

Thanks Purple. I have 1 and have always wondered if it was reef safe.
Mine also has the slit on it's back. I haven't seen it harm any of my corals, so I assumed it was safe.
I'm glad I saw this post. I was considering a birds nest colony as my next purchase

O, btw... Your tank is AWESOME. Very very nice setup and coral selection.

What make/model of MH bulb are you using? It will be time for me to change my bulbs soon, so I wonder what bulbs other people are using. I like the color of the bulb you are using.

Maintenance, Dosing, Feeding, Temp, Salinity Etc. LOG

This week I decided to monitor my params extremely closely and keep log of my findings in a simple spreadsheet. At first, I was thinking about buying a Neptune AquaController, Calcium Reactor, CO2 injector, etc, but since I work from home most of the time I thought the extra gadgets would be a redundant waste of cash. I figure after a couple of steady months, my dosing routine will become more constant, which will allow me to simply dose without much need for testing/logging. For those interested in what I do for this tank:

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY TANK MONITOR LOG IN REAL-TIME
*but you have to have a Google account or email address to see it.

Aqua Medic AB. It's bluer in real-life. My camera just can't capture the full effect.

Who can tell me what this is called?


You can barely see it growing onto the red shroom rock here.


I'm trying to propagate it on the other side of my tank. It'd be nice to have this growing all over.