SPS20 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Ok, this is a placeholder.... When the board crashed last night it did so while i was saving a post to this thread, which apparently resulted in the entire thread being deleted. So, I'll repost tonight. Lets pretend its a new build, since the build info is gone now. EDIT: Tonight I will re-do the original post with an equipment list, etc. For now, it is a 40BR with: - Drilled internal overflow, plumbed herbie style - 2 x 150w HQI Coralife pendants, with XM 10k bulbs, on 12 hours per day - Mag 5 Return - Vortech MP20 and Seio Prop 530 for circulation - Litermeter III with 2 channels dosing B-Ionic - Tunze Osmolator ATO - Neptune Aquacontroller III controller - MSX200 Skimmer in custom acrylic sump - 1/15 HP chiller by Current USA It was set up about 2 weeks ago, to replace my 20L, which was broken down during the assembly of this system. A link to the 20L thread can be found in my sig. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 I wonder if this means that I am the one who brought the whole site down last night? I mean, if the site were saving my thread at the moment it crashed, this result would make sense. Link to comment
Mojorizn Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 That BIG skimmer...gone. Bummer. Thanks for the info and yes....post it up again. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 Wait... I still have the photos in photobucket! ... carry on... EDIT: Apparently it isn't just me: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=202422 Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 Thanks all! Tridacnids have always been among my favorite reef critters. So, last night I was testing my tank, and my Nitrates and Phosphates are somewhat elevated above where is preferable. They have been steady at 10ppm Nitrate, 0.3ppm Phosphate, for the past week. My 20L always ran steady at undetectable levels of both, and I think I know why. On my 20L, I had a refugium packed with various macroalgaes. This tank has no refugium at the moment. So, this weeking I am going to get a 15 gallon perfecto, place it on the table to the left of my display tank, plumb it into the system, and set it up as a refugium. I think I'll light it with a 2-bulb T5HO system, maybe the one from Current USA, as it is fairly cheap and will do the job. I'll set it up such that it is lit when the main tank's lights are off. I'll probably order an overflow kit from www.glass-holes.com, paint the back black, and plumb it in that way. If I am going to put a refugium on this system, I would like it to at least look nice. I thought about dosing a carbon source instead, such as vodka, but the ancillary benefits of a refugium can't be ignored: The pH will be more stable between day and night, and it will provide a nice place for copepods, amphipods, and mysiids to breed and help feed my tank. Plus, refugia can be alot of fun to watch, with all the neat little critters that tend to infest them. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 Some new pics, taken last night just before lights out: My fluffy gorgonian A close up to show polyp detail My hitcher Goniopora and a small colony of Pocillopora. Note the lovely Derbesia causing problems. Ugh. A better pic of the chocolate teardrop maxima people seem to like. You can see his colors and pattern a bit better in this shot than the one above. As you can see, everything is a little browned out from the move and past stresses, but seems to be healthy enough. I'll worry about color later, right now I just want to get my nitrates and phosphates back to zero. I think the fuge will help, and i'll do a water change tomorrow, which should also help somewhat. More to come, - Josh Link to comment
divecj5 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Way to crash the whole forum . I'm sure you weren't the reason but at least they have it back under control. Sure it sucked for you to come back and your whole thread be gone though Welcome back...again. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 lol, thanks div! In my old 20L aquarium (which became this 40BR) I had an absolutely gorgeous green Heliofungia actiniformis. Sadly, I had to give it away, as it just kept growing far past what I thought the specis was capable of. The thing just got too big for my tank, so it got re-homed into a friend's 220. It was the nearly the size of a dinner plate, and just didn't fit in a 20L anymore. So, a week ago, I added a (smaller) Heliofungia. This one looks alot like the one I used to have, but smaller and with pink tips. It is expanding nicely under the lights, but still has some small "crinkles" on the tentacle tips. Heliofungia tend to get these after being moved, I have noticed, and they clear up over a couple of weeks. Characteristic of its genus, it is eating like a pig. It has been my experience that heliofungia do better the more often you feed them. Here are a couple of pics: The fang blenny hogging the limelight as usual. A close up, with slightly more accurate color. (better choice of shutter speed i think) More to come, - Josh Link to comment
divecj5 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Very cool new addition to the tank. How quickly do they grow? I'm assuming that their characteristics are similar to that of the other fungia plates? Link to comment
Stompz Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 That Heliofungia looks absolutely amazing! I've seen a few of them every now and again at the LFS and have wanted to get it every time I've seen one. Unfortunately, my NC12 doesn't have enough substrate space, so until my 29g is up, no fungia. Not too mention my clowns with zoo's for a home at the moment would beat that fungia up! You're Gorgonian looks very happy! Subscribed. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 Very cool new addition to the tank. How quickly do they grow? I'm assuming that their characteristics are similar to that of the other fungia plates? Well, my experience with Heliofungia is as follows: At first, they don't grow at all, for a month or so. The fleshy part starts growing immediately, such that they expand larger following each feeding. Once they reach a certain critical threshold of "flesh size" (don't know how else to put it), the skeleton begins to grow to support it. In this sense, they are unlike Fungia species. They tend to have much more soft tissue per size of skeleton than Fungia, when healthy. They also have a much more voracious appetite. This guy's skeleton is about 2.5-3" across. I estmate he will be about 6" across at the skeleton in a year, 8" in two, which is approaching full size. With 8" of skeleton, the animal will be about a foot across with tissue fully expanded. This is where my experience with them ends, as I have never had one larger than a foot or so across. Also, Heliofungia tend to prefer gentler current than Fungia, and tend to like to be more brightly lit. They don't recover as well from physical injuries as their less fleshy cousins, but they do tend to be about as forgiving in terms of water quality. I would even go so far as to say they would thrive in a "dirty softie" style tank with lots of detritus to munch on, except that I have noticed them to be somewhat susceptible to allelopathy relative to other hard corals. That Heliofungia looks absolutely amazing! I've seen a few of them every now and again at the LFS and have wanted to get it every time I've seen one. Unfortunately, my NC12 doesn't have enough substrate space, so until my 29g is up, no fungia. Not too mention my clowns with zoo's for a home at the moment would beat that fungia up! You're Gorgonian looks very happy! Subscribed. Thank you! Yes, I think you are correct about the clowns. Heliofungia very closely resemble aemones, and clownfish do take to them, but Heliofungia don't much appreciate the jostling. As such, housing one with a clownfish would not be something I reccomend trying. I would reccomend, if you want to try a plate coral, to try a Cycloseris. They don't get as large as Fungia and Heliofungia, and come in some very striking colors like deep purple, orange, bright pink, and deep red. Unfortunately, they are also nearly universally mislabeled as Fungia, due to the superficial resemblance. Thanks for looking! - Josh Link to comment
yankeefan Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 WOW Tank looks great, but the gorg is awesome. Link to comment
subielover Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 A local! I am in Schnecksville. Just wanted to say that I like your tank a lot! 40 breeders are such a nice size for a reef tank and you have really done a nice job thus far. I look forward to seeing its progression. Ed Link to comment
divecj5 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Thanks for all of the great information about the Heliofungia...sounds like they can get pretty BIG (a foot across). I imagine that would be a pretty amazing site. The biggest I've ever grown a coral was a frogspawn that started as 5 heads, when I sold it it had at least 40 heads and was the size of a youth soccer ball. It was really cool in my 55 but would have taken up my entire BC29 Looking forward to some more pictures of your spectacular reef. Link to comment
SPS20 Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 I have 3 fish in this tank at present: a fang blenny, Meiacanthus grammistes, about 2 inches a Starry Blenny, Salarias ramosus, also about 2 inches and a juvenile Mimic Tang, Acanthurus pyroferus, about 2 inches. When the tang gets a bit bigger, he will be going into a friend's 220. He's very small and really skinny, so I am training him to be a robust feeder and am bulking him up a bit so he will be ready for a large reef full of boisterous fish. He's just a baby now, and very timid, so perhaps in 6 months to a year he will be ready, and my friend will take him. Until then, i'm happy to let him eat my algae. A few more random pictures of the fish: They are watching me... Blenny ineffectvely hiding And lastly, this is a very lackluster Acropora that is badly browned out and bleached, and thus, was ridiculously cheap. I see potential in this colony, even though it looks pretty drab now. I also added about 40 assorted snails recently, my herbivorous critters were not keeping up with the larger tank and the new, higher par bulbs. Combined with the starry blenny and the tang, I think the bloom will go away soon enough. More to come, - Josh Link to comment
divecj5 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Great selection of fish. You don't see too many Fang blennies in peoples' tanks...or at least I haven't. Kind of reminds me of a Hector's Goby with the coloration and shape. I really like the shot of the Starry trying to "hide." You know the other fish are just thinking..."someone tell Starry that he sucks at hide and go seek" Good luck with the browned/bleached Acro. Looks like it is a really nice piece shape-wise so hopefully the color will come back. Link to comment
wimby Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I have a fang blennie a yellow 1. It's my fav fish. Good luck with yours tanks is looking good Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Looks great! I LOVE mimic tangs! I also see a lot of potential in that Acro! Link to comment
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