TeenyReef's 10g Fusion - ATO Disaster

[markalot]

It's the same size as your tank. Dammit, me and the page flips.

I think I mentioned that I won a free AI Hydra 26 in a contest over on Aquaticlog. I got it in the mail about three weeks ago, along with the four foot long mounting rack.

 

Their mounting system is interesting - very nice looking, fairly flexible in terms of moving things back and forth, as long as you get the right extension bar size. But your choices for attaching the extension bar are limited to either a hanging kit or a four foot tall mounting rail that get mounted to the wall or the tank stand. And the rail can only mount at the top of the four foot bar.

 

So I basically couldn't use the mounting system at all on my frag tank, which sits on a low table about two feet off the ground

 

I debated just selling it outright, but I really wanted to try it out on the frag tank, so eventually I did a home-made mounting bracket out of some scraps of wood. I expect I'll eventually sell the light, so I didn't put too much effort into the bracket. I do wish I'd made some kind of channel to hide the power cord, though...

 

AI Hydra 26 by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[Tioman]

I have been following a number of threads on Nano-Reef, including the threads on both of your tanks and you do a great job. After a bunch of research I have recently started a Fusion 10. Like you, I had a reef tank years ago made out of DIY pond parts and grow lights, so the learning curve to start up a reef tank with the new technology is fairly steep, I know in the thread there is post that mentions what filtration media you a using in your media basket, could you refresh my mind. Any words of wisdom if you were starting out again would be appreciated.

[teenyreef]

It's the same size as your tank. Dammit, me and the page flips.

I was pretty sure once I saw the four foot tall mounting rail that it wasn't really optimized for a 4g pico It really is literally the size of the tank. I could lay it on the floor of the tank with about 1/2" to spare all around.

[teenyreef]

I have been following a number of threads on Nano-Reef, including the threads on both of your tanks and you do a great job. After a bunch of research I have recently started a Fusion 10. Like you, I had a reef tank years ago made out of DIY pond parts and grow lights, so the learning curve to start up a reef tank with the new technology is fairly steep, I know in the thread there is post that mentions what filtration media you a using in your media basket, could you refresh my mind. Any words of wisdom if you were starting out again would be appreciated.

Thanks, and good luck with your new build!

 

I'm running filter floss right on top of a small bag of ROX carbon and GFO in the top section of the InTank basket. I took out the separator between the middle and bottom sections, and I have chaeto in that section, with a refugium light on the back of the tank. Finally, I've got the IM Desktop Ghost skimmer in the second chamber of the back.

 

I don't know if the chaeto really does much since there isn't room for much of it, but since the tank seems to be doing well, I'm just letting it ride.

 

If I were starting this tank from scratch again...hmmm, that's a good question.

 

I'd definitely move quicker in getting the uncured live rock into the tank after unboxing it, so that more of the hitchikers could have survived. Also, I think I would have been more patient with getting the algae cleared off on it's own, and held off on getting the crabs. They did a great job of cleaning it all up, but they ate all the desirable macroalgae too, and I eventually had to get rid of them because they were stealing food from the corals. Same for the starfish...same with the overly aggressive hermit crabs that snuck in with the snail order from Reefcleaners...

 

I think the upgrades that were really important were (in order)

- RODI filter

- InTank basket

- Tunze ATO

- Nanobox light

- Apex controller

- Automated dosing (still haven't installed this one yet)

[teenyreef]

I've been struggling with my rics on the sand bed. I buried their plugs under the sand, but the snails dig them up all the time and move them around, and they end up getting blown around and separated instead of nestling up against each other they way they like to be.

 

So I tried an experiment. I took them all out and glued the plugs onto a small piece of fiberglass mesh screen, Then I buried the plugs with the screen, and put them right against the acan rock so they are a little more sheltered. I had already glued a couple other rics onto the shady side of the acan rock anyway, so they all kind of go together now.

 

After two days, they seem to be really happy. Even the little orange one that keeps getting buried is spreading out a lot more. This picture is from my cell phone, and white balance isn't quite right, but I like that you can see all the rics, the acans are nice and puffy, and you can even see Fitzgerald, the pink striped wrasse, peeking out from the back corner

 

Rics and Acans by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[teenyreef]

Woke up this morning to find I'd left the return pump and MP10 off all night after I took some top down pics. Arrrghhh. Temperature dropped from 79.5 to 76.5. We'll see how things look when I get home from work tonight

[kimberbee]

Aww dang, that stinks. I'm always worried I'll forget to turn something back on!!

[TigerLily]

I've been struggling with my rics on the sand bed. I buried their plugs under the sand, but the snails dig them up all the time and move them around, and they end up getting blown around and separated instead of nestling up against each other they way they like to be.

 

So I tried an experiment. I took them all out and glued the plugs onto a small piece of fiberglass mesh screen, Then I buried the plugs with the screen, and put them right against the acan rock so they are a little more sheltered. I had already glued a couple other rics onto the shady side of the acan rock anyway, so they all kind of go together now.

 

After two days, they seem to be really happy. Even the little orange one that keeps getting buried is spreading out a lot more. This picture is from my cell phone, and white balance isn't quite right, but I like that you can see all the rics, the acans are nice and puffy, and you can even see Fitzgerald, the pink striped wrasse, peeking out from the back corner

 

Rics and Acans by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Great solution and a great pic! I love how fluffy rics and acans look together.

 

A word of caution… one of my rics is an acan killer. I had my rics and acans all mixed together until it happened. It is a weird looking ric and has really long "tentacles" (got it from KPA - they called it an "oddball") so yours are probably fine - they look normal, but mine zapped one of my healthiest rics (5-6 heads) in a day after I put them next to each other. I've since separated them and isolated the "killer."

[Tioman]

Thanks for getting back to me with your advice, I ordered the InTank and Tunze ATO this morning, more to come after the bank account recovers.

Hope all is well with your tank after the lack of movement over night. Your tank is amazing and the Ric's look great, I hope to get some in the future. The lady I got my rock from, has a Green Pocillopora frag that she think would be an easy SPS starter for the tank, I am to pick it up today.

Patients is not one of my strong suits, I wanted to see some movement in the tank, now I am second guessing my crab additions, I will keep an eye on them.

[markalot]

You know forgetting things is only going to get worse, right?

 

This is why I have everything automated and only use the APEX to turn things on and off. If I feel like I forgot something I can log in from anywhere to turn it on. Of course if I forgot that I forgot something ...

 

[HarryPotter]

You know forgetting things is only going to get worse, right?

 

This is why I have everything automated and only use the APEX to turn things on and off. If I feel like I forgot something I can log in from anywhere to turn it on.

 

 

 

Anddddd thats why I want an Apex rather than the DA Archon

[teenyreef]

Of course if I forgot that I forgot something ...

That's the real problem

Everything is hooked up to the Apex already. When I feed the tank, I use Apex Fusion on my phone to manually turn everything off and then back on again. Last night I just forgot to turn everything back on again.

 

Embarrassing disclosure time...I majored in computer science and used to write military simulation software back before I became a manager and was forbidden to write code, so you would think I could figure out simple automation scripts. I know the Apex has feeding mode buttons that will turn things off and then automatically turn them back on again, but I've never bothered to configure them because I've been too lazy to figure out how to do it

 

I guess now that my geek cred is on the line I need to get busy

Aww dang, that stinks. I'm always worried I'll forget to turn something back on!!

Unfortunately it's not the first time I've done this! I think everything should be fine. But there's always something to worry about in this hobby

 

Great solution and a great pic! I love how fluffy rics and acans look together.

 

A word of caution… one of my rics is an acan killer. I had my rics and acans all mixed together until it happened. It is a weird looking ric and has really long "tentacles" (got it from KPA - they called it an "oddball") so yours are probably fine - they look normal, but mine zapped one of my healthiest rics (5-6 heads) in a day after I put them next to each other. I've since separated them and isolated the "killer."

Great point! I have definitely seen cases where the rics get spread out and cover part of an acan, and the acan loses every time in that scenario. I don't have any long tentacled ones like you described, but I'll have to watch out for problems as the rics get bigger.

 

One problem I have noticed is that sometimes one tentacle from the hammer will extend just enough to touch a ric, and then the tentacle gets stuck to the ric. I'm not sure who is the sticker and who is the stuckee, though. So far I just unstick them and neither one seems to be damaged as a result.

 

 

Anddddd thats why I want an Apex rather than the DA Archon

I love my Apex

Thanks for getting back to me with your advice, I ordered the InTank and Tunze ATO this morning, more to come after the bank account recovers.

Hope all is well with your tank after the lack of movement over night. Your tank is amazing and the Ric's look great, I hope to get some in the future. The lady I got my rock from, has a Green Pocillopora frag that she think would be an easy SPS starter for the tank, I am to pick it up today.

Patients is not one of my strong suits, I wanted to see some movement in the tank, now I am second guessing my crab additions, I will keep an eye on them.

Awesome! You will be very happy with both. I had some notes early in this build thread on what I did to make the Tunze ATO work well, but basically, I mounted to overflow sensor on the separate mount, so it could go much higher in the tank, and I added an adjustable air valve on the return line so I could restrict the flow. Otherwise the ATO filled the tank too fast and it got too full before cutting off.

 

Don't worry about the crabs - just enjoy them for now but don't hesitate to evict them if they don't work out

[markalot]

That's funny. I'm also a developer turned manager and encouraged not to write code ... but I still do.

[teenyreef]

That's funny. I'm also a developer turned manager and encouraged not to write code ... but I still do.

It's a perishable skill. I've moved from software engineer to email engineer.

[teenyreef]

Back in February, I posted a picture of a very small mystery crab that was hiding in the GSP:

Mystery Crab Closeup by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

A couple weeks ago, I found this on the sand:

Mystery Crab by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

1. I don't know if it's the same crab.

2. I don't know if it's a dead crab, or just a molt.

 

Either way, it has pointy black claws which is supposed to be Not Good. I'm hoping this was a dead crab, not a molt.

[Slowtwitch]

Looks like a molt. Is it hollow?

[teenyreef]

I can't ever tell. At least without taking it apart

[FlowerMama]

Does the back underside open?

[teenyreef]

Hmmm, I didn't check. Unfortunately, this pic is from a few weeks ago and I don't have the shell any more. This is what I get for not posting for a few weeks

[teenyreef]

Kat identified this guy as a banded aiptasia a few months ago. He's grown a bit but still hangs out in the shadows under the monti cap. But when the light is right you can see he's really kind of pretty.

 

Banded Aiptasia by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[FlowerMama]

I love mine. He was a quarter and now he's the size of an orange. And I just found a nickel size in the back of the 34g so I'll have an eventual move of it too to Gertie's tank like this one. I love how they react quickly to light, kind of like a clam, very speedy.

 

[teenyreef]

I love mine. He was a quarter and now he's the size of an orange. And I just found a nickel size in the back of the 34g so I'll have an eventual move of it too to Gertie's tank like this one. I love how they react quickly to light, kind of like a clam, very speedy.

 

I love that tank. He fits in so well with the RFA's and the GSP

[FlowerMama]

Yeah, I just don't like it when Gertie beats up on the rfas. I love that they're so low maintenance. Never have done anything for it. You gotta love 'em.

[teenyreef]

So I've noticed that the zoas and palys near the front of the tank seem kind of stunted, but the ones further back are fine.

Poor Palys by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

I think this video explains the problem.

 

Silly clowns

[vlangel]

Kat identified this guy as a banded aiptasia a few months ago. He's grown a bit but still hangs out in the shadows under the monti cap. But when the light is right you can see he's really kind of pretty.

 

Banded Aiptasia by TeenyReef, on Flickr

I have one of those in my reef and it was called a curlyque anemone, which might be another name for a banded aiptasia. I researched them when I first got it paired with a candy cane pistol shrimp. If they are not fed too much they won't grow or divide as fast. I have had mine for over 2 years and it is still the same size and has never divided.