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RWB's 180g fish box Update 12/29/13


redwhiteandblue

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redwhiteandblue

ok here are the updated pictures as of today.

 

there is also a pic of the ati sunpower for iDream as requested!

 

the forgspawn that split into a third head already:

IMG_0732.jpg

 

the hammer that is finally in a good spot so it opens:

IMG_0723.jpg

 

the new duncan( simply awesome coral by the way)

IMG_0730.jpg

 

red mushrooms:

IMG_0729.jpg

 

leather hitchhiker (not sure what it is yet):

IMG_0728.jpg

 

 

and the full tank shot:

IMG_0733.jpg

 

here you go iDream:

IMG_0735.jpg

IMG_0734.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
redwhiteandblue

back from my vacation so its finally the time ive been waiting for.....

 

i started stocking my tank today with more fish....i added a lawnmower blenny and a 6 line wrasse.

 

both are some cool fish with lots of personality. i will try and get some pics here in a day or two.

 

stay tuned for the DEC FTS here in a few days.

 

this tank is really comming along nicely for being almost 2 months in!

 

also, my tank survived being on autopilot for 6 days. the only thing done was water top off and feedings.

 

the only issue that happened was a little excess agae on the acrylic. good thing for mr clean magic erasers!

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redwhiteandblue

my media reactors came in two days ago. once again, BRS is great. its hard to not buy from them, i wish they had livestock sometimes.

 

anyway here are the details....

 

two deluxe reactors and two maxijet 1200s

 

very simple to install except for the black waterlines. these were rolled tight so it was difficult getting them to bend the way i needed them to in my small cabinet.

 

my biggest mistake was not rinsing the GFO enough. i have brown dust all over in my sump, but it needed cleaning anyway lol.

 

also, try to only use 1/2 the reccomended dose at first, because it will cloud up your tank. at least mine.

apparently this is common to cause a slight bacteria bloom.

 

the worst thing so far is getting the GFO to tumble properly. it is working, but only in half the cyclinder. researching a DIY fix. maybe a thin membrane of foam under the gfo to disperse water and prevent channeling allowing more even flow of GFO.

 

the carbon is a breeze. nuff said.

 

basically i cant wait until the water clears up, followed by crystal clear water, and less algae on my acrylic walls.

 

 

will post pics when the tank looks better.

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redwhiteandblue

ok here are the new pics as promised.....

 

IMG_0739.jpg

 

IMG_0751.jpg

 

IMG_0753.jpg

one of many pod breeding havens in the tank

 

IMG_0767.jpg

my new reactors!

 

and the december FTS one day early.

IMG_0761.jpg

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redwhiteandblue

BRS GFO reactor:

 

so it winds up, i did rinse my GFO properly, it isnt tumbling much at all. im still getting brown rusty film on my glass. i at first assumed algae remains, but after placing the effluent line of the GFO in filter floss, i discovered the gfo is still comming out of the reactor. i hardley have any flow through it....

a little ridiculous if you ask me.

 

to sum it up, this is trading one pain (algae) for another (phosphate dust) it just cost me 60$ for the trade...

 

i think im am going to look into another phosphate removal media like phosban, or those little white pebble deals. unless there is something im doing worng, but have researched extensivly so i dont think im wrong.

 

any input would be great......

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Nice build!

 

All I can say is that as long as you are not grinding the GFO in the reactor, there is no reason why it would continue to throw out dust if rinsed well beforehand. So rinse it until it goes clear while slowly tumbling it or rolling it around in a bag/jar/whatever you use to rinse it with.

Rinse it for a while after that with little to no agitation. Then see what happens with the reactor.

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redwhiteandblue

bump (or maybe i should ask this in the equipment forum lol)............phosguard, phosban? something other than gfo. this stuff is just too dusty. i still get dust in filter floss a week later.even is it wasnt rinsed enough, a week runnign should give me cleaner floss. and trust me, its hardly tumbling at all.

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redwhiteandblue
For my own knowledge, is it the high capacity GFO or the regular?

 

Oh, and your tank is sick! Did I miss the dimensions?

 

It's regular granular gfo

And it's a standard 180: 72x24x24

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redwhiteandblue

well the gfo seems to have settled down a bit after 3 weeks of use. all the dust finally rised out into the filter floss. it really has cut back on my film algae which is awesome. im still in the market for adifferent product though....

 

i recently got 2 new tank mates....a one spot fox face and a yellow tang. both couldnt be happier.

 

here is the updated stock list as of today:

 

fish:

2 occelaris clowns

six line wrasse

lawnmower blenny

YWG

Mandarin (and yes i have lots of pods, and hell eat mysis.)

foxface

yellow tang

 

corals:

GSP

red mushrooms

blue mushrooms

tri-color ricordea

purple tip hammer

purple tip frogspawn( found this guy hiding in a display tank at LFS)

green tip frogspawn

duncan

green zoanthids

rasberry, bam-bam, and candy apple zoa frags

 

inverts:

tiger pistol

cleaner shrimp

mini mani nem that is now lodged inside a pukani rock and im afraid he will never come out now. lol.

 

 

now each specimen was carefully added after the cycle.

the fish, about 2 weeks apart.

the corals, a couple a month.

 

everything is going great so far. im about to be done with the fish portion. the only ones left are the flame angel, powder brown tang, and maybe 2 banner cardinals.

 

the corals are just beginning. i will be adding some more LPS (brains) and my first monti-cap very soon. i cannot wait.

 

......and i was originally gonna do a fish only.....crazy

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  • 2 weeks later...
redwhiteandblue

picked up a 2"x2" red monti-cap for $10. it is already growing like crazy with just 1 week. needless to say im pretty excited about my first SPS frag

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  • 2 weeks later...
redwhiteandblue

its been a while, but here are a few pics as of jan 2. the tank is 3 months old. i am stocked up on the fish and not planning on adding anymore, unless its something small.

 

my maxi mini had died this week. he left his spot a couple weeks ago, and crawled into the porous pukani rock. i think he got himself trapped in there and eventually starved. i found him 2 weeks later rolling around like a tumbleweed half rotted. sad, but the nem never really acted right since i had him. he never opened much more than 1" and i could never get him to eat any mysis, brine, or anything else. needless to say, my one and only impulse buy resulted in the only death in my tank so far.

 

i have added a bit more to my cuc to battle the random algae that pops up in the sand and glass from time to time.

 

i have also cut back my feedings 50% and everything seems so much cleaner.

 

as far as coral growth, my duncans still have 3 large heads, but in the past two weeks, about 6 small heads have developed. this should be a good lookin coral in a few weeks.

 

everything else is growing steadily, but the duncans have expolded in growth.

 

the bad:

 

vermetid snails are starting to annoy me. had a few on one rock that were quite large. ditched the rock. im down to one rock with a crapload of little ones. this rock is my "mushroom island" so as long as they stay on that rock and dont get too far away from it ill deal with them.

 

flatworms......thankfully they are the super tiny ones that hang out on the glassand not my corals. they dont bother me so much, besides make my glass dirty. im pretty sure they came in on my glass algae bloom and seem to be eating the film on the glass.

 

bubble algae.....one bubble. no idea where the heck it came from. tang,foxface, and emrald crabs could care less about it. removed bubble in hopes to terminate this.

 

all in all, im pretty happy at 3 months and expeced the tank to be up and down during this time.

 

tri-color ricordea

IMG_0789.jpg

 

zoa frags

IMG_0811.jpg

 

close-up

IMG_0824.jpg

 

another

IMG_0823.jpg

 

purple tip hammer frag

IMG_0816.jpg

 

yellow tang and foxface

IMG_0813.jpg

 

flame angel

IMG_0810.jpg

 

the jan FTS

 

IMG_0808.jpg

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redwhiteandblue

purchased a new maxi mini today to replace my unlucky one that passed a few weeks ago. will post a pic here shortly.

 

came home to a cloudy tank today for some reason. not sure what is causing this cause all params are in check? i did notice my second diatom bloom is dissappearing, so im thinking thier dieoff is contributing to the slightly cloudy water. ohh the joys of having a newish tank.

 

in other news, i now have a generator for backup power outages! it is a portable, so hopefully everything will make it till i get home should i not be around when power goes out. cannot wait for the funds for an apex to send me a text letting me know of my power outage!

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  • 2 weeks later...
redwhiteandblue

well its been a couple weeks since an update, so here it is....

 

to my belief, my reactors finally seem to be working properly. i had put the sponge in the bottom of the GFO reactor in hopes of "dispersing" the flow of water a little better. well, what do ya know, it worked. the only problem now is its almost too slow of a tumble and the MJ 1200 is opened all the way. guess ill just use 2/3 the gfo.

 

today, i broke down my red belly piranha tank , sold the 5 fish to the LFS and got a beautiful 2"x2" blood red chalice and a 5"x3" chunk of green monti-cap that is plating in a buch of different directions.

 

one of these days ill post some pics up, but it will prolly be the first of the month when i update the FTS.

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redwhiteandblue

i never thought the day would come, but i just placed an order for my neptune apex!!!! any helpful tips before i get it an start setup this weekend? and yes i ordered the wireless bridge so i can have a "mobile" aquarium.

 

any, and i mean any tips in regards to setup/use is greatly appreciated!

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i never thought the day would come, but i just placed an order for my neptune apex!!!! any helpful tips before i get it an start setup this weekend? and yes i ordered the wireless bridge so i can have a "mobile" aquarium.

 

any, and i mean any tips in regards to setup/use is greatly appreciated!

 

 

You will love it. If you have vortechs get the WMX module. Gives you full control of your pumps. There is a great user group and vendor forum on RC.com.

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redwhiteandblue
You will love it. If you have vortechs get the WMX module. Gives you full control of your pumps. There is a great user group and vendor forum on RC.com.

So far u cannot justify the money for vortecs lol . I'd love to have them but the price turns me away. But then again, I said this about a controller too lol. My opinion could change in a couple months. Right now I'll settle for my korallia evo 1400 an mag 7

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redwhiteandblue

tomorrow my apex arrives! very excited, i just hope everything turns out to be an easy install. i still have no idea how im gonna organize the sytem underneath the tank lol.

stay tuned! an please be on stand-by for assistance! j/k

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I'm not trying to add a plug for my tank here, just trying to aid you in your organization of equipment under the stand. Rather than post pictures of my tank on your thread, here is a link that will take you right to that section of my journal. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. That goes for your APEX setup as well.

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redwhiteandblue

ok, so after a little tinkering the past couple days, i now have my neptune connected to my home network along with my lights, heater, and pumps all being controlled. the only traffic jam i am having is the "outside" access, along with email and text message alerts not working. i do not have a static IP, and will not pay for one, so i may not access this from my i phone ever. unless you all have tips? as far as the email, i have tried everything, and cannot get it to even send to my gmx account. assuming there is something to do with my router stopping the message.

 

thats todays update, i will have more soon. Hopefully the feb FTS to be included

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So far u cannot justify the money for vortecs lol

 

thats what i said till i took the plunge on a mp10. At first i was like "eh" but after a few days i noticed the corals really liking it. So the "eh" went to "f*ck yea". As a bonus i owned it for a year & sold it for $20 less than when i bought it.

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