urbaneks Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks for the reply on the fish. One of these days, I may have to try a tank like this. I'm always intrigued by out of the norm tanks. There is one here on NR that is a Volcano that is also unique and very cool. I've tried two Mandarins, both were very healthy and ate but both jumped out of my rimless tank. I later read that they go to the top at night as part of a matting behavior. Do you run a top on your tank? From the pictures it does not look like it. I'd love to try another Mandarin... Link to comment
dvsclownfish1 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Can you give some info on your lights please? Link to comment
Bello Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 @urbaneks You're right about the the tank being open top. I pretty much abhor canopies, it doesn't work too well in tropical weather, too much heat... Unfortunately, that eliminates most wrasses, and other jumpers. Did you get your Mandarins feeding? I still feel kinda bad that I can't get mine to eat prepared foods. I'm shocked that yours actually jumped out!! Never would've thought that they'd jump. Then again, didn't think that Mandarins where aggressive, but he managed to eliminate my 6-line within a day.....not sure how. Funny you should mention the Volcano tank, I tried it out and failed miserably This is what remains..... It all went wrong because this tank is at my parent's place, with NO waterchanges at all. Was meant to be a simple low maintenance softie tank. Need to figure out a better method. Still looking for that "MIRACLE" supplement that eliminates the need for water changes and provides trace nutrients for all eternity @dvsclownfish It's just DIY led lighting. - 9 Aluminum strips with 6 nos 3w led's each. - Royal Blue, Cool Whites, 420nm's, Cyan - Epistar led's (i think) - no optics Total 162 watts This should give you a better idea.... (Everything looks dark since I wanted to focus on the LED's) Link to comment
FishBro Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Love the tank Bello! It has progressed nicely! I think the Potters angel is my favorite. I'll be following! Keep up the good work! Link to comment
Bello Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks Bro ! Was wary about getting the Potter's and keeping it healthy. But definitely worth it! Now been over a year Link to comment
FishBro Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Looks very healthy so you're doing it right! Link to comment
Bello Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks Bro I love dwarf angels, and wish I could keep a whole bunch of them. Have observed that once they settle down, they can do really well in our systems, for years! I currently have the Potter's, a Flame, a Coral Beauty and a Keyhole. All in different systems. Wish I could get them all in one tank together. That would really be something...... Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Looking peachy Bello, awesome tank! Link to comment
Bello Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Lol, now if only i could get some more coral in that tank and get my folks to do water changes Link to comment
gena Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Wow...what a gorgeous tank and awesome system!!!!!! I was surprised to read it's only around 47 gallons. It looks so much bigger!!!! Very nice job!!!!! Link to comment
Bello Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks gena . I wanted a larger system, but I kinda thought to myself "If this cracks, how much water am I willing to mop up?" And sure enough, the first prototype cracked...... In the middle of the night! Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Any new corals Bello? Link to comment
Hexadron Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I can't get enough of this tank! Great work. Link to comment
Bello Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Oh crap...Haven't been checking NR for a bit now, my lil guy has been keeping me on my toes Quite a few things have happened since the last update... 1. Got ick!!! Did not QT... my fault!! 2. Observed that sps were doing fine in this tank, health wise (color is rubbish), so have been shifting frags into the tank to grow out. 3. At the same time, I need to get rid of some the softies and lps here, so working on yet another tank.... sigh... Until then, the tank is messy!! Got some frags too, will post with the messy update... hopefully in a couple days. Thanks guys for looking Link to comment
Hexadron Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Once you clean it up take some pics Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Once you clean it up take some pics +1 Link to comment
Bello Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Sorry JDH/Christine, its been too long.... I've been busy with the tank, finally removed the clutter.... Removed quite a few of the softie/lps colonies to make way for sps frags. This tank will unfortunately, now revert to its original purpose... that of a holding tank for my main sps system.. Haven't taken a new fts yet, but some coral shots.... Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the update Bello, the colour takes time, sometimes a long time, just keep them healthy and you will be rewarded. Christine Link to comment
Hexadron Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the update, can't wait for FTS Link to comment
RC1313 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 That Potter's is beautiful! My favorite fish I've ever had..what is yours eating? Link to comment
Bello Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the update, can't wait for FTS Thanks jdh, been looking for your build thread, but it doesn't seem that you've started one yet Good luck with it, and I hope I can contribute. FTS should be up soon That Potter's is beautiful! My favorite fish I've ever had..what is yours eating? It was eating NLS pellets. I had it for a year and a half. Completely reef-safe too. Just lost it recently due to disease. My fault. Proved to be difficult to get out of the system for treatment I'll probably be off Centropyge's for a while now. Link to comment
Bello Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the update Bello, the colour takes time, sometimes a long time, just keep them healthy and you will be rewarded. Christine lol, you've pretty much nailed the problem I have 4 different frags, that look identical right now. Everything is just green and brown. I'd like your thoughts on a couple observations, I've gone off zeo on the main system (couldn't walk the "tight-rope" too well). That tank is still pretty close to ULNS at the moment. Colors come back reasonably quick, PE is not as great. What I've noticed, is that zeo strips down nutrients and the brown zooxanthellae layer pretty quick to expose the underlying colors. Pastel but good. It seems that to repeat the process in the drop off, I'll have to aim for close to ULNS and observe. Fortunately, health and growth seem to be great, and I don't want to risk jeopardizing that. Any thoughts/suggestions to improve color? Not dosing anything thus far, apart from 2-part. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 lol, you've pretty much nailed the problem I have 4 different frags, that look identical right now. Everything is just green and brown. I'd like your thoughts on a couple observations, I've gone off zeo on the main system (couldn't walk the "tight-rope" too well). That tank is still pretty close to ULNS at the moment. Colors come back reasonably quick, PE is not as great. What I've noticed, is that zeo strips down nutrients and the brown zooxanthellae layer pretty quick to expose the underlying colors. Pastel but good. It seems that to repeat the process in the drop off, I'll have to aim for close to ULNS and observe. Fortunately, health and growth seem to be great, and I don't want to risk jeopardizing that. Any thoughts/suggestions to improve color? Not dosing anything thus far, apart from 2-part. It really depends on the colours you want to improve. You could add some elements (in small amounts), potassium, iodine. I would get a good test kit for both before adding K and I. Remember iodine is present on both organic and inorganic forms in your tank, this makes it hard to test for so make sure you have a kit that tests for total iodine. You don't need to go over 0.06ppm of iodine, that amount is NSW level. Potassium is also tricky to test for, you need a good kit for it. Raising K to 400ppm has shown to increase blues and purples in acros and colour monties in general. It also improves growth to some degree. As you already know, keeping low nutrients in the system is the best way to bring out the colours in corals. Running full Zeovit should not increase your chance of killing corals if the recommended principals are followed. Zeovit simply helps maintain a nutritionally and biologically balanced system that in turn strengthens your corals and improves growth. The real danger is keeping ULNS and not supporting the corals with the proper biology, nutrients and elements, this is where people run into problems. Colours fade, corals become weak, and STN/RTN begins. I feel there is more danger in keeping unsupported ULNS as opposed to a supported ULNS like Zeovit. Bio-pellets is a prime example of that, they are effective at reducing NO3/PO4 to the point of starvation in the tank, that is of course when the proper elements and nutrition are not replaced equally. Also increasing light intensity (slowly) may help improve colours a bit. If your tank is starving I would increase food, this will give the corals more colour to some degree because you are also giving them vital elements in the process. There are many ways to go, just remember balance is the key in a ULNS. Hope this helps a little Bello. Christine Link to comment
Hexadron Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks jdh, been looking for your build thread, but it doesn't seem that you've started one yet Not yet. I didn't want to start one right away and have nothing new to post. Just got it wet actually. So exciting! My water was pretty cloudy the first day anyways, but just because it's you, Here's a sneak peek Link to comment
Bello Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for the tips, Christine, and yep, there's no way I would run BP's, may as well return to full zeo. I believe the mistake I made was in getting the nutrients pretty low, and not balancing correctly. Add to that, I'm using a DIY led fixture of about 300w on a 100g, its fairly intense coupled with the low nutrients. In any case, I can't tread that line anymore. Coral health is still primary. Good thing is I still have a lot of the zeo supplements, so currently using CV, AA's and some Start3 in the main system. Already have the RedSea K and I test kits, but too lazy to test Need to add some fish, need to consider adding some iodine, and finding that......BALANCE!!! Not yet. I didn't want to start one right away and have nothing new to post. Just got it wet actually. So exciting! My water was pretty cloudy the first day anyways, but just because it's you, Here's a sneak peek Now that is a great start!!! You shoulda seen my first tank...... not pretty! What are the dims? Are you using LED's? Stocking goals? Think its time that you do start a thread Link to comment
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