Hey richie - dosing Seachem dry Mg supplement. Weetie gave it to me free (paid shipping). SO I'm giving it a shot.

Here's the lovely tank.

Looks like GHA, no??

But it's feathery like bryopsis (up close).

Always tough to tell from pics huh.

Well, to answer your question from my thread ( LOL ) I used Mg supplement from BRS.

The outbreak I had was in my 46 bow. That tank has no Sealife LR. Best guess is it hitchhiked in on a frag.

I just posted pics of a GHA outbreak in my NC 12.
( or I should say, "what I think is a GHA outbreak" )

"PLEASE. Tell me about the f**king golf shoes." -Raoul Duke

Wat?

Ok, I'll update:

You need to watch or read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

I love the new frags
looks like the GHA cleared up really nice.
How are the mangroves doing?

I'm down to 1 that hasn't died. And I don't think it's growing

I'm moving in a month and after I get my tank moved, I'm really hitting the SPS hard, and getting a fish/shrimp!

Ahhhhhh nice!

Doesn't starfire make a huge difference?

Thanks! Yeah - Starfire is night and day better.

I've gotta figure out how to get some coralline started in the display.

i have to say that of all the false walls that people have been doing recently i think you did the best job. it actually looks like a wall of rock, not foam covered in sand.

Wow! What a compliment. Thanks man! I can't wait till it's covered with coralline, encrusting montis, and other cool things.

Some crabs:

Sir Gawain



Blue-legged hermit

Nice shots D!

How is the wall holding up? Actually,more specifically, how is the sand sticking for you?

Seems as though the CUC has cleared off quite a bit of the sand coating on my wall

Hopefully it will be covered in purple soon. ( most likely Gelladium, rather than corelline. )

haha... sounds like you're having it rough, richie! My wall is actually doing very well. I think I OD'd on epoxy initially which has served me well. I haven't had a hard core CUC in there yet, though. Also, all my crabs manage to make their way to the overflow and wind up down in the fuge. I tried putting some eggcrate and acrylic to block them, but I guess the holes are still big enough.

Meh, no so bad really. I am very happy with the sps growth I am getting in that tank so I am hesitant to make any major changes at this point.

LOL at the crab situation. They dig the water slide I guess.

I keep getting those little planaxis snails in my overflow box and tube. I really don't see how the little fellas can reach the box to get in there but somehow they do

I'm having the hardest time getting coralline to grow in the display. The sealife rock coralline is also bleaching out in some places. I don't get it. I just ordered new test kits, so I'll see what my calc/alk is at. Mag is low, I know. I've got some more mag. supp. coming too.

Coralline needs Mg.

yeah - i'm sure that's part of the problem. I'll be able to raise the mg. in a couple days.

Or as soon as you can get some epsom salts. <$2 at walmart.

No Wal-Marts in Brooklyn Guess I could try them online.

True... You could get some from any place that sells drugstore type stuff.

I'll check around - we've got CVS and Rite Aid. Any particular kind of epson salts? Just look for 100% mg.?

Doesn't matter the brand, it is all magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (MgSO₄·7H₂O).

They aren't something you want to use long term (months) because you will elevate your SO4 but as a stop-gap it's just the thing.

Gotcha. Thanks.

SketchUp of the stand's frame. 2x4s for the frame. Thoughts?

Center brace for the top shelf or it's gonna bow.

True - there's a 2x4 running across the back but I didn't add a brace in the center. Good catch.

That look a lot like the one I built.
the main trouble i have with mine is their is very little room to work with thing in the sump and your looks like you would have even less room.
Edit: in your drawing you have the 2x4 butting up agents one another your really going to want to mitre those.

This is where my knowledge of carpentry hits a wall. Got a link on mitreing? The only power tools I have are a drill and a circular saw and unfortunately, buying anything else isn't an option. I simply don't have room to store anything else.

I had thought about the sump not having room - that is going to be an issue. I'm trying to brainstorm ways around it. I don't want my display fuge sitting on the floor - I'd like it up to where people could see it. I also am worried about raising the DT too high.

Anyone have experiences with high tanks? What's the best height for a small tank viewing-wise? The tank itself is only 14" tall.

I did all my work with only a handsaw, drill and a couple clamps.
mitre is when you but the 2x4s together like this.
Click to view attachment
it makes it stronger and easy to screw together.

if you look at mine the stand is 3' tall and with a 18" talk tank (20H) plus the light hood. Its a 10G for the sump I had originally plained for a 20H but it was way to big to fit. I have a 5gal plastic tub under the sump for the ATO. I don't remember how much clearance i gave the section but its just right. I believe the DT is at the right level but could be a little hire not more then 3" or 4" though.

Take a look at the pics to get a better reference.

Thanks so much, A. Big help. I'll take a look at your tank.

I had a similar problem before: just couldn't get coralline to grow in my tank for a year! Than all of a sudden It took off and covered my entire back wall. I checked magnesium level and it was optimal for a reef tank (probably needs slightly elevated levels - so I dosed very little), so was CA and alk. The only things that I did differently around the time coralline took off was (a) using a different salt mix (instant ocean) for about a month because I ran out of marine eterprises crystal bioassay salt ( dosing Iron to help macro algae out-compete bryopsis

I think that Instant Ocean salts are formulated to provide much more than "natural" concentrations of essential minerals and salts. That probably compensates for the artificial environment of aquariums. Also, more mature aquariums are more stable and that probably contributes to sustained growth. Just conjecture though...

Thanks K - I'm using DD Pro salt right now. My calc is pretty low so I'm working on getting that up and in balance with my alk. I'm hoping that when that happens the coralline will take off.

That would definitely do it!

A call for some inspiration: after the move I'll be setting up a tank as a display fuge (heavy on the display). Right now, I'd like to do a FL gulf biotope/Caribbean biotope. I'm thinking several different decorative macros, some photosyth. gorgs, and some rics/shrooms. Anyone have any really cool/quirky corals/inverts/fish I could stock it with? I'm open to whatever cool ideas people have. The tank will be around 20g with PC lighting.

my LFS has a 3gallon tank on the counter that has dwarf african pipe fish and macro algaes and it is really cool. the pipe fish are bright blue/purple and less than an inch long, but badass and fun to watch swim around. you could totally have a few of these in your fuge, they eat pods but stay very small so you wouldn't have to worry about them wiping out the whole population

Jawfish!

Also, if you haven't checked it out, Sea Life, Inc. specializes in FL creatures (that is where my jawfish, gorgonians, and blue zoas are from).

Go back to the beginning of the thread and check out some of the pics. The rocks are SeaLife

Yeah, I've been checking out his stuff. I'll probably get one of the purple gorgs, some rics, and blue zoas. I've got a guy who runs a store here that said he'd train a couple banded pipefish for me if I wanted. I might go with those if they'll eat frozen mysis.

Ah, so they are

I have had great luck with stuff from them. My last order with them was huge, and I got 3 difference hues of blue zoas.

Now if only my flame angel would stop picking on my gorgonians

Glass for new tank on Sat

Wait, what??

See Weet, this is what happens when you ignore me for a while

I'm upgrading my fuge to a true display fuge. 18"x18"x14". FL Gulf biotope-ish.

Woot!

I haven't been ignoring you, Doofus, I just haven't been commenting.
This is one of the threads I always read when there's a new post.
Don't know how I missed the Fuge thing.
That's cool though, that means we'll both be doing a Display Fuge.

Woohoo! And I've got a standing order with John M. for some nice macros from his amazing July stock too. He says he's got some top-shelf stuff for me

Ok, so are you gonna have your Display Fuge plumbed into the Display Tank you have now?
Mine will be.
I'm thinking I'm gonna use a 29g, with the Display Fuge area being 20x12 and sectioning off a 9x12 area on the end for the Octopus NW 100 Protein Skimmer I have.
I may only run the skimmer every once in while though, want to have enough nutrients in the water for the macros in the fuge and the softies and LPS in the display.

mutualism win.

Good plan.

Yes, it'll be plumbed into my current display. I'm going to use an MJ1200 for the return (the Mag5 I have now is overkill). I'm going to do some cool things with my foam rockwall skills to cover up the return pump and skimmer (I've got an aquac remora that'll hang on the back) to hopefully make it look more realistic.

I'll give more info as my ideas develop.

haha - awesome!!! I just wish there was more mutualism in the tank right now. After the move it will happen.

Did I miss it? Have you decided on a stand configuration yet?