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Newman's Picotope


.Newman.

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You can find the Coralife 12" 36W fixture at any LFS really...It was on sale at DFS website a while back.

There are some great guides on these forums that will allow you to switch out the stock 50/50 bulbs for some better ones and how to add a moonlight :)

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Are the blueish pics taken with all the lights on? I just realized you and me have the same fixture. Now i can see how much of a difference the current bulbs make. I think i am going to try the pc-r's one dual actnic and one combo.

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Yes those pics are taken with the fixture ON. (one thing that is disappointing is that I cannot control the bulbs; ie. I can't JUST turn on the actinic and enjoy corals...)

It really doesn't look this blue in real life, it's just that my camera is set to detect actinics a little bit...In reality the fixture is very bright and looks like daylight.

 

 

 

Fed the carnivores today and got the hermit to eat pellet. Clearer pic of him too :)

goldifhs089.jpg

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Tested my water today:

 

Temperature- 78F(night) 80F(day)

pH- 8.3

Specific Gravity- 1.023

Ammonia- 0ppm

Nitrite- 0ppm

Nitrate- 5-10ppm

Calcium- 440ppm

Phosphate- 0.0ppm

KH- 8dKH

 

I plan on doing a small water change this Friday so that will probably bring the KH up a little bit.

Do you guys think I could be ready to add a piece of coral?

What types of coral do you suggest to begin with? Zoas, Palys, or something more unique?

Other than Yuma, I do not want to put in mushrooms until the very end of my stocking period to avoid them taking over...

I appreciate any help you guys can give :)

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It would be best if you could get the Nitrates down a little. 25% water change every few days is what I would do. In Hawke's Pico lamp I am currently do a 5 oz water change daily and a 10 oz with a sponge rinse twice a week.

 

Other then that start with a easy cheap coral and see how it goes then slowly build up to the harder more expensive corals.

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I'm thinking my Friday water change will cut down the nitrate, and I'm going to divide my Chaeto because It's taking over the fuge...

 

Ok, so I'm thinking of starting out with something like a Zoa or Paly frag...sounds reasonable? would it be risky to jump to buying a colony ?

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Ok so something weird happened to day in a matter of hours...

I tested the water early this morning, everything was at 0 (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) and my sand has remained clean for the past week despite the 8 hour photoperiod.

So I was thinking, 'cool I'm going to avoid this whole diatom bloom thing that everyone has when they start'

 

I get home after work and BAM brown sand, and orange rock (this actually looks really cool with the coraline)

Wooo, I got the brown diatom bloom. Kinda odd that it happened right after my params were as clean as possible, but I assume my water change yesterday added some CO2 to the system, and that caused the whole thing to explode.

 

I will possibly put up update pics tomorrow :naughtydance:

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Well good parameters mean no nasty ammonia by products, that is different from extra nutrients in the tank causing the bloom. The extra nutrients are converted through your "cycled" process but along the way they are also feeding a diatom/algae bloom. No worries it will subside over time as the extra nutrients are used up.

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So here are the two things I got yesterday:

 

Can anyone ID this? I think it's some sort of Rhodactis...

goldifhs095.jpg

 

And here is what I think is a green+purple Ricordea florida:

goldifhs096.jpg

 

It's actually minuscule and in the upcoming FTS you would just barely be able to see it on the left side:

goldifhs097.jpg

 

The FTS I'll post up later tonight when there is no ambient room light interference. :)

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Updated that FTS:

goldifhs098.jpg

 

goldifhs099.jpg

 

also I adjusted my camera's white balance so that the pics actually look like what you would see with your eyes ;)

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Looks good -- will post the beginning of March posts in the methodology FTS thread around 10:00 PM EST tonight. You have a great start.

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you have no idea how massive it is now...I think it must have grown a bit since I got it...

 

I will eventually put acans in here...but not ready for those yet :)

Next FTS is this weekend, I promise.

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yes I did. I want flow. otherwise I would have algae growing every where. righ now its isolated in places that get less flow.

You must be looking at the sloped sand? that happens no matter how low I turn the AC, so it's unavoidable. I have remedied it by pushing the majority of the sand back, so it looks better now IMO. Plus the sloped look looks more natural; you wouldn't really find a perfectly uniform level sand-bed in shallow water :P

 

I promise upcoming FTS pics will explain everything better!

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