HM's soon to be off brand upgrade

[HM3105]

I personally would have just gone with a lower flow pump. This would avoid the flushing sound. My GH is dead quiet. I have my drain above water line I the sump going into a filter sock and it's still pretty quiet down there.

 

I hard plumbed the whole drain and used flex tubing and hard plumbing for the return. It's bad for your pump to restrict it too much.

Well that's why I went with a pump with the built in flow regulator, I guess I was hoping it would give me room for error. You're probably right though, should have gotten a smaller pump.

[HM3105]

The tank is officially cycling, I received my live rock earlier this week so now I've been working on the scape some..So far I like this one the most. I'm kind of building one and letting it sit for a few days and then looking at it again to see if I want to change anything. I figure once I don't want to change it anymore I am probably done..

 

 

I also picked up a pair of old Ice Cap MH pendants which I gutted to mount my Evil Cluster in...super excited about finding those. I'll put the pictures of that on my LED build thread when I start that process.

[HM3105]

So while the tank continues to cycle, I was thinking about my fish stock list. I would like to have a nice mix of fish at all levels of the tank with a good mix of color and activity. So how do these sound?

 

1. Six line wrasse

2. 4-5 Springer's Damsels Or Green Chromis (I'm hoping these will all stick together)

3. A pair of Maroon clowns (kind of forced into this, I already have one and he was named by the wife so getting rid of him is unlikely)

4. Something that likes the bottom? I'm thinking either a Lawnmower blenny or maybe a couple of clown gobies?

 

Does anyone have another fish they really love and would recommend?

[Lawnman]

The tank is officially cycling, I received my live rock earlier this week so now I've been working on the scape some..So far I like this one the most. I'm kind of building one and letting it sit for a few days and then looking at it again to see if I want to change anything. I figure once I don't want to change it anymore I am probably done.. http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/HM3105/media/scape_zpsf6c831ad.jpg.html'> I also picked up a pair of old Ice Cap MH pendants which I gutted to mount my Evil Cluster in...super excited about finding those. I'll put the pictures of that on my LED build thread when I start that process.

I like the scape ot looks really good.

So while the tank continues to cycle, I was thinking about my fish stock list. I would like to have a nice mix of fish at all levels of the tank with a good mix of color and activity. So how do these sound? 1. Six line wrasse2. 4-5 Springer's Damsels Or Green Chromis (I'm hoping these will all stick together)3. A pair of Maroon clowns (kind of forced into this, I already have one and he was named by the wife so getting rid of him is unlikely)4. Something that likes the bottom? I'm thinking either a Lawnmower blenny or maybe a couple of clown gobies? Does anyone have another fish they really love and would recommend?

I am not a big fan of fish. I have 3 Chromis started with 7-8. They always seem to pick one off at a time. I like platinum clowns and love yellow clown gobies.

 

Ow and I am following now

[HM3105]

I like the scape ot looks really good. I am not a big fan of fish. I have 3 Chromis started with 7-8. They always seem to pick one off at a time. I like platinum clowns and love yellow clown gobies.

 

Ow and I am following now

 

Thanks for following along! hopefully I'll have something interesting to post (new fish) next week. Think I'm going to buy 4-5 Chromis and let them see how the tank feels..

[Lawnman]

Buy 5 they do best in odd numbers. When you switching everything over?

[HM3105]

Well I hung the light tonight, thanks to a Makers hanging kit.

 

 

This is the view from the watching couch...

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/HM3105/media/FTS2_zpse647391a.jpg.html'>

 

Just a closer one...

 

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/HM3105/media/FTS_zps907c2870.jpg.html'>

 

Next on the list, program the Storm X to ramp and get it on a regular schedule.

 

 

[HM3105]

Added four Green Chromis yesterday, they're eating and swimming about the tank but they still freak out whenever I walk into the room but then they come to the front of the glass to investigate so that's a good sign. One of them has taken up residence in the center of the right rock work.

 

 

 

 

Also, I found out there are going to be TWO good size frag swaps this month PLUS I will be doing my first order from CGA.

 

I changed my original stocking plans as well, my wife has agreed we can trade in the gold strike maroon so now I can get a pair of black phantoms or perhaps a Picasso. My wife said the black phantoms were "ugly"

[pismo_reefer]

What does this have to do with "Of mice and Men"?

[HM3105]

What does this have to do with "Of mice and Men"?

 

Well I didn't document my bumps as much as I should have but in brief...

 

I spent three times as much as I planned on building the stand but that's what happens when you rebuild it three times. Then I ran into some plumbing issues where my overflow was being noisy. Its a little quiet now but still not as quiet as I'd like. I'm planning to redo half of the plumbing next month because I didn't use enough unions in there so kind of frustrating but that's to be expected I suppose.

 

Anyway, I guess I should look at this on a positive note in that I actually have a nice fresh new tank ready to go so that is exciting.

 

My wife just told me how that book (play?) ends so changing the name again..

[HM3105]

Buy 5 they do best in odd numbers. When you switching everything over?

 

Gosh don't know how I missed this, anyway, I got 4 but maybe I'll add another. They are pretty good size and were already schooling (shoaling?) at the LFS so I figured they would be nice.

 

I'm going to move some of my zoas next week to see how they do, I've got two decent frag swaps this month PLUS I'm hoping to order from CGA so I should probably actually put some coral in the tank prior to that...

[glennr1978]

I kept 4 in my last 40 for a couple of years without issue. They started as 5, 1 died soon after going into the tank but the others did great .

[HM3105]

So I'd like to ask for some advice, if I may, from all you experts.

 

I bought some CARs around 5 months ago (see post #18), at the time it had one bigger polyp and two babies. Since then, the bigger polyp went away but I have 6 baby polyps. Baby polyps are defined as approximately 1/2" the size of the original bigger polyp. I have them placed mid way up the tank near the center of my PAR38. I would say they are getting moderate flow at the moment.

 

At that same time, I bought some Midas' Gold, Red People Eaters, and Utter Chaos all of which have more then doubled in size.

 

So, what am I doing wrong with these CARs that is causing them to grow small polyps instead of "normal" size polyps?

[jedimasterben]

Corals expand when they aren't receiving enough light, or shrink when they're receiving too much, this is their first defense against overillumination.

[HM3105]

Corals expand when they aren't receiving enough light, or shrink when they're receiving too much, this is their first defense against overillumination.

 

Ok I'll move them into some lower light and see how they do, thank you for your help!

[HM3105]

Updated the OP with a new FTS with the Chromis Brothers and the first new corals are being transferred. They seem to be happy so I'm going to continue moving the Zoas into the tank. I may hold off on the LPS for a few more weeks though.

 

 

Next week is a frag swap so I'm hoping to get a chalice or two and maybe some Zoas, I am also hoping to pick up a sixline wrasse and an anemone within the next two weeks. I may wait on the anemone though as the diatoms/hair algae, cyano, outbreaks haven't started yet due to me not having a light above the tank during the cycle.

 

I tested the water last week and the parameters were good so that was a nice surprise. I expected to have a lot of nitrates and phosphates but the kits didn't really detect any. Yes I know the phosphate kit won't detect the low level stuff, but still I expected something.

 

On the short term list of things to do, I need to figure out how to get my LED's to have the same crisp white my PAR38 from Exotic does. Just requires tinkering I'm sure.. UPDATE: Found the answer! it helps to run them higher than 1/4-1/8 of their maximum power setting. I used the settings from the Nano Box thread, all of those folks use the regular Storm Controller but if you multiply those settings by 16 you arrive at the settings for the Storm X Controller.

 

Anyway, hoping to have something good to update with next week.

[HM3105]

So I went to my club's (DFWMAS) Fall frag swap this weekend and picked up some new Z's and P's, thought I would share as the dusk setting was coming to a close.

 

The big one on the right is Callie the Paly (my wife picked it out, it was her first frag swap so I thought she should have something to remember it by..)

 

 

The blueish gray one in the middle is from the swap, the rest are transfers from the old tank.

 

 

These were transfers from the Spec V

 

These some made up name Zoa's, Their skin is that blue and white/lightblue like people eater's have but the rest of them is bright red. For some reason the camera isn't catching the glowing.

 

 

I'm a day behind on my water change which is why the bottom looks so dirty. I usually do them on Monday nights but the Spec V light turned off before I could get to it and most of the corals/fish were already closed and in sleep mode so I decided not to stress them out.

 

More to come by the end of the week then I'm done with livestock for a bit while I let things settle in..

[HM3105]

I got my corals from CGA today, they are definately very nice and my poor photo skills don't do them justice!

 

From left to right, Lunar Eclipse, Killer Bees, Gobstoppers, Blue Eyed Girl, Indo Sunrise and Bam Bams.

 

Also got two chalices, these went into my older established tank. I am planning to wait another month to move the LPS into the new tank.

 

 

Lastly, and very excited, when I did the water change in the new tank last night I was cleaning off the diatoms from the HDPE sheet and I found specks of coraline starting...yeah coraline...very excited.

[wildbill79]

 

I was told these are utter chaos

 

What are the palys on the white frag disk on the left?

[HM3105]

 

I was told these are utter chaos

 

What are the palys on the white frag disk on the left?

 

They were called "Blue Orgasims" I picked. Them up at a frag swap locally. They ended up melting on me. If you want I can ask around my club and see if I can find the guy I got them from.

[HM3105]

Current FTS

 

This is my Spec V, which is being replaced by the current tank.

 

New chalice (well got it last week but never posted)

 

I posted these earlier but I finally got a better picture of them. This is pretty close to how they look but more glowy still.

 

 

So on tap for next month is redoing the plumbing in my sump and moving the heatsinks in my LED array up.

 

For my plumbing, I didn't use very many unions plus I'm getting a bunch of micro bubbles in the DT. I check the pump chamber and I couldn't see any micro bubbles in there so I'm wondering if the return line is letting in some air which is causing the micro bubbles?

 

For the lights, they sit about 1/2" up inside the fixture, problem is when you sit and stair at the take from the couch the LEDs are basically right in your eyes. I can't imagine that's good plus its distracting. So I'm going to move them up an inch or two inside the fixture which should help.

 

Oh by the way, does anyone have any good mods for powerheads to help spread out the flow more? I currently have some Eheim Compact Pumps in there but they basically just shoot water out of a 1/2" hole. I was thinking about slipping a 45 degree elbow on them both and putting them at the bottom of my tank, would I end up with gyre flow since I am pushing all the water up and to the other side of the tank or is that not how it works?

 

 

 

[jedimasterben]

Oh by the way, does anyone have any good mods for powerheads to help spread out the flow more? I currently have some Eheim Compact Pumps in there but they basically just shoot water out of a 1/2" hole. I was thinking about slipping a 45 degree elbow on them both and putting them at the bottom of my tank, would I end up with gyre flow since I am pushing all the water up and to the other side of the tank or is that not how it works?

Pretty much just get some different powerheads lol. If you're on a super tight budget, Marineland version of Maxijets come with a propeller mode that moves stupid amounts of water.

[HM3105]

Pretty much just get some different powerheads lol. If you're on a super tight budget, Marineland version of Maxijets come with a propeller mode that moves stupid amounts of water.

 

That's Christmas I think, going to move to a pair of jebaos. Haven't decided between the RW or WP lines though.

[jedimasterben]

That's Christmas I think, going to move to a pair of jebaos. Haven't decided between the RW or WP lines though.

Depends on which clone you prefer, Ecotech or Tunze

[Lawnman]

Nice new additions man. Those Utter Chaos palys will grow really good for you. I have those chalices from Glenn they will get a dark red and blue streaks as the get bigger.