Militant Jurist Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Thanks for the support. So far, so good! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 I just tested for nitrates today (after a 10% WC yesterday) and they are down to around 5ppm. Is that alright for a softies tank? Link to comment
beefytang Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 I just tested for nitrates today (after a 10% WC yesterday) and they are down to around 5ppm. Is that alright for a softies tank? 5ppm is not bad for mushrooms. They're pretty durable. They can even handle an initial cycle. Nitrates hit 40+ppm in my tank once and they didn't flinch a bit. Mine are mostly the purple/blue variety. My GSP and zoas did well too. But 5-10ppm is kind of average in my tank even after cleaning detritus and 50% water change. Typical of new tanks from what I understand. As a suggestion, and anyone else feel free to correct me, but it would probably be a good idea to stock your tank with items that can handle high nitrates for the first year your tank is in operation. Mushrooms, ricordea, certain zoas, serpent starfish, blue damsels, etc have been doing well in my 6 month old tank. However, I have had a few varieties of zoas that bit the dust. They seem really touchy (zoas) and appear prone to nudibranches and other types of infections I do not fully understand yet. Zoas are great but I am going to hold off on adding new ones for awhile...which is tough because I like them a lot. Siphoning the gunk in your sump/filter will help reduce nitrates if they get out of control. A bag of purigen won't hurt either. Just my experience...maybe I'm incredibly lucky. PM if you ever want to swap tips. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 17, 2008 Author Share Posted March 17, 2008 Thanks for the feedback! Sadly, brook/ich made a re-occurrence in my tank, after I'd treated for it a while back. It wiped out my clown, and I'm not sure if the neon is hiding within the rock work or if he became lunch. There was no ammonia spike, so the jury is still out on that one. I'm going to use the chance to get the nitrates down some more though, and really focus on the corals. One of my zoa frags has doubled (from 3 to 6 heads) and the other is doing fairly well too. My green mushrooms can't seem to decide where they want to be, but the red seems to be quite happy and growing! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share Posted March 19, 2008 Looks like I've got sponges growing now! I'll post some better pictures soon. Link to comment
bobby Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Tank looks awsome! That is alot of sand though. How deep is the sand bed? Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 Today, I got several types of GSP for my tank! I've now got Green and White, Pink, and Rose GSP. There's also an encrusting gorgonian in there now, all of it thanks to Six! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Update: I moved over the summer, and unfortunately the GSP didn't fair well in the move. I think there might still be a trace left of it, but it isn't looking good for them. The rest however, faired pretty well, and I've decided to do some updated photos. FTS: Close ups: The radioactive dragon eyes (I believe) haven't been growing as well as I'd like, but they started as an oddly shaped clump that was somewhat ingrown. It's spreading a lot more now though, compared to the first couple of months. The other zoa color morphs in the photo don't seem to be doing too bad. I have a relatively new Ninja Star Astrea, and I think it scared my scarlet reef hermit so bad that he climbed the heater! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 My photography isn't the best, but I thought I'd post a shot of my growing mushroom island. The red has multiplied fairly well; there is one decent sized growth to the right of the large red, and several 1/4" new growths behind it. +EDIT+ That powerhead in the pic is not active. It is just chilling there until I can rig up a screen on the intake to prevent further snail suicides. It will be getting moved, so as to not disturb the ric. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 I've made some modifications, and I have a few new additions. I've added some Trumpets, Frogspawn and Blastos within the last month. Oh, and it's amazing how much my red mushrooms have grown from the first little knob (see earlier posts). Here is the FTS: And the close ups: Link to comment
AcroporaLokani Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 looks nice, And its nice to see some one that has T8 on this site. Your mushroom island looks nice and the frogspawn and candy cane coral look like a nice contrast next to each other on each island. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 Thanks! It's my first go at a saltwater aquarium, and I've been fortunate so far. I was worried about the lighting, but it's worked out just fine it seems. I still don't have reflectors on the bulbs yet (unless tin foil counts! ) but I'm going to use some aluminum duct work and try to give it some shine to get a bit more reflection out of those bulbs. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Here is an updated FTS. It has my brand new chalice (which is HIGHLY POed right now. Also, this is the first FTS with my new T5HO fixture! It's a 2x24 24" Nova Extreme with 1x 10000K and 1x Actinic. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 I know! I'm going to miss it when I do the upgrade to the 20L DIY AIO. I'm going to scrape a bunch off the glass and siphon it into the new tank though to give it a good start for re-growth! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Ok, photo update time. I've got a new acan lord, and my chalice is turning back to the original color it was showing at the LFS, but doing so in spots. At least it has started covering some of the expose skeleton after it receded from too close of contact at the LFS. Acan lord Chalice Update "Anchor" of RDE The frog in the mushroom garden The trumpets are tooting their own horn! The rics Blastos, the zoas, and still the trumpet wants attention! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Well, the Columbus area was hit hard by a storm a short while back, and I lost power for about 24 hours. During that time, my chalice took a turn for the worse. I'm still trying to save it, but it doesn't look pretty I'm afraid. Everything else has managed to come out no worse for the wear. Sorry, I just realized that it's an awful picture. I've been sick all weekend and I'm running on 1/10th of normal power, so I'll retry tomorrow evening. Oh, and the newest addition: Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Brand new blue zoas! I managed to get this small frag before they were even priced for sale. Talk about perfect timing! Updated FTS: Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks! That's the look I'm going for, and I'm hoping to be able to keep that when I move think tank into the 20L. I'm taking a look at some pictures of the reefs in the ocean trying to get ideas for how to get the most natural looking tank, while still having enough real estate high in the tank for the more demanding corals. Thanks for looking! Link to comment
aussie-conrod Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks! That's the look I'm going for, and I'm hoping to be able to keep that when I move think tank into the 20L. I'm taking a look at some pictures of the reefs in the ocean trying to get ideas for how to get the most natural looking tank, while still having enough real estate high in the tank for the more demanding corals. Thanks for looking! Nice zoas! love the tank. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 Nice zoas! love the tank. Thanks! One thing that I want to do with the tank it's moving into is to have the RDE zoa rock take more of a center role, just because of how cool they look growing on it! Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 This is likely to be the last FTS for the tank. The upgrade should take place next week! Edit: The chalice managed to make a comeback! It's got several new mouths and has expanded a fair amount beyond it's original size. Link to comment
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