MikeTR Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 So I'm fairly new at the hobby but have always had an interest. My brother has had many a tank running for years so that's where I got the itch. I got the opportunity in January to pick up a BC14 from a friend who needed the money, $100 plus a subwoofer which I valued at about $150. He got the better end of the bargain, but he needed the money and I knew he would give me frags for retarded cheap so I went with it. I had quite a battle with what I originally thought was a pH issue (mainly because my friend said it was)..for the first couple months I did everything humanly possible (except aerate the water outside..doh!) to try and get the pH to even stay above 8.0. I've since given up and it runs at 7.7-7.9.. has been for months and looks great! I've been on the forum for a few months and it's time to put up some photos. I actually picked up a new P&S camera and got to take some shots with it. Still don't know if I like the camera.. but here's the pics anyways. FTS 07/22/2009 Clownin Around Eagle Eye Zoas Candy Cane 'n Stuff Link to comment
MikeTR Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Notice the German blues on the sandbed.. with growth? They're hiding behind the isolated GSP. It is possible to grow some SPS with the BC stock lighting. Wanting to give some green birdsnest a try, but I'll probably put that up higher.. Before I do I want to put a little bit more flow in the tank. Looking for a smaller powerhead like a Catalina Mini to create a bit of turbulence. It's mostly softies in here so I haven't wanted to blast anything with a Koralia. Also just picked up a JBJ ATO and Aqualifter that I'll be installing this weekend. Livestock includes: Orange and Blue FL Rics (splitting!) Red,Purple, Green Striped Mushrooms GSP Frag of Blastomussa (hiding behind GSP) has grown 5 new heads!! Candy Cane Toadstool Leather Eagle Eye Zoas Other various Zoas and Palys Kenya Tree Xenia German Blue Digitata Hammer Coral Feather Duster BTA anemone (was fairly bleached when I obtained the specimen, starting to color up) 8 Blue Leg Hermits 2 Scarlet Hermits 5 Astrea snails Some unknown yellow hitchhiker polyps.. they are cool, they suck all the way into the rock. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Here's a pic of the yellow hitchiker polyps... Can someone ID? They suck back into the rock. Here they are sucked into the rock. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Just posted pics of hitchiker. Please ID. Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 They really look like zoas to me. Where did you get the rock? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Got the rock out of a tank at the LFS.. they were removing a bunch of rock to catch shrimp.. They don't have any type of mat like a zoa does. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Hopefully not Haven't seen it spread anywhere else though.. I haven't even noticed if they've multiplied. They do look like they've grown larger since I've first gotten the rock. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Can anyone ID the polyps? Link to comment
mg4015 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 could be an ornamental zoanthid like tubeworm, less feathery. maybe a hydoid? have never seen these Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 Some updated shots. Took out some of the palys and rearranged the zoa garden a bit. Have a few additions as well. Had a few casulties with the digitata.. FTS: 09/01/2009 Orange Delights Bam Bams Candy Cane (can see a few heads have split since the last pic) Hammer coral looks way better since I moved it up in the rock work.. Link to comment
ccLansman Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Wow great looking tank! I really like your layout. Can you give us some of the specs? Lights, skimming? ect... Thanks Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 +1 ^ Did you ever ID your hitchhiker? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Thanks.. it's come a long way in 9 months. Lighting is just the stock 24w 10k and Actinic. Only have a few mods.. media rack in center chamber running floss on top, chaeto with 5w submersible light 24/7, purigen/chemipure on the bottom. Have a JBJ ATO installed. Evap is about 1/2 gal/wk. For water movement I upgraded the return pump to a maxijet 600. I've considered adding a koralia nano again..but when I had it before I thought it was too rough on my softies.. also I took the feeding lid off in case a fan goes bad it won't heat the tank.. that happened once and toasted some stuff. I dose 2.5ml of B-Ionic almost daily.. I skip a day here and there. pH is always low.. 7.65-7.8 due to indoor CO2 issue.. darn newer homes. I'm patiently waiting on some birdsnest colonies.. and for some tubs blues to recover. Can't wait! Hitchhiker is still a mystery. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 LED Build.. coming soon.. WOOOHOOOOOOOO Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 OK so maybe I should have went to bed a little earlier last night.. while I was sitting on the couch I felt this sharp pain in my ass.. SPS bug bit me and I bought 8 Cree Q5 XR-E Royal Blue, 8 Cree Q5 XR-E Cool White, and 3 BuckPuck drivers. I've got a few leads on a spare hood so I can take my time on the build..I believe this is what's left to buy.. 2 pots for dimming, 8.5" x 5" Heatsink from heatsinkUSA, some wiring, and probably lunch for our maintenance dept at work to drill and tap the heatsink. I have a couple older Dell powersupply's..need to check what they are.. but they'll probably work.. anything else I'm missing? Link to comment
rrcg50 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 i wanna do this so bad i might be getting that same bite Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Is it too late to tell you to use 2 Meanwells instead of 3 pucks? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Well i bought the drivers already... what's the advantage of using the meanwells besides not needing a power supply? I should mention I'm only going to run 12 LEDs. Decided to have a few spares handy if needed. Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 The meanwells can handle 13 LEDs each. If the pucks can handle 6 each and your old PS works and can handle it then theres not much advantage at all besides the Meanwells remove one component and some wiring. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 LEDS came in the mail a few days ago.. just waiting on my heatsink and these slackers on this forum to find me a spare hood so I can start the build! New additions 09/09/09. LFS had it listed as Red Meteor Shower.. looks like war coral to me..I thought it was a steal at $25. The eyes were a bright green under the LFS lighting.. the LEDs should bring this out. Can't Wait!!! Blue Cloves.. (not in this tank though) FINALLY!!!! Blastomussa Welsi.. not really new, but never had a good shot posted. FTS.. the anenome was looking fat and happy at lunch today. Link to comment
JBM Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 led's will make this tank look awsome! like the nem Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Here is what the nem looked like at the beginning of May when I purchased the specimen. If I had known then what I know now.. I might have gotten a healthier one, wasn't aware of the bleaching at the time. But after scrutinizing karensroseanemones.com for a while.. i quickly figured out how to save him. Just stable parameters and twice weekly feedings. I think it even lost it's stickiness for a week or two.. which made it even more difficult to feed, I just carefully placed the silverside in its mouth during that period. And for those that care... you can definitely see the benefit of running chaeto and chemipure.. look at all that algae!!! Don't have that problem now. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 So I almost have everything I need for my build.. just need to find some pots, fans, and get our machine shop to tap the heatsink for me. I really don't have the desire to drill it myself . I'll need to order some pots as our local radio shack is a hole in the wall and the selection sucks. Everything they have has got a 2" post..or some that are labeled audio with some extra hookups.. unsure if those would work..in either case none of them are the 5K. Only 10k on up. I was able to test that all the LEDs fired.. i'm hoping I didn't ruin anything by lighting them individually at full blast. I used the luxeon 1000ma driver powered by the supply mentioned below and just touched the wires of the puck to each LED for a few seconds each and blinded myself 16 times. Fun! It's a good thing I ordered a few extras as one of the plastic lenses is loose. I have some questions on how many fans I can wire up.. or if I may need an additional power supply. I had planned on using 2 20v 3.5A dell branded PS so I can run the whites and blues separately. I was hoping I could run 4 fans (2 on the heatsink, and the stock fans) but I think that if each fan is 12v, I'd need a 24v supply to run 2 fans off each supply along with the 6 leds.. some input req'd here.. Link to comment
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