Begow's 10g Fusion // Huge Photo Update

[vlangel]

I love this tank with the scape and black sand. If I were doing a small tank I'd like to start out just like this!

[Begow]

I love this tank with the scape and black sand. If I were doing a small tank I'd like to start out just like this!

 

 

Thank you

[Begow]

None of my corals are mounted, but will be later on tonight.

 

FTS:

 

 

 

So as of now, corals in my tank are:

 

GARF Bonsai mini colony

Reef Tech Starburst Monti

Rainbow Acan

Bleeding Apple Scolymia

Rasta Zoanthids (not a fan of how small these are in person)

Sunny D Palythoa

Utter Chaos Palythoa

Oh and I finally picked up my Pom Pom Crab! WOOHOO!

[reefernanoman]

None of my corals are mounted, but will be later on tonight.

 

FTS:

 

 

 

So as of now, corals in my tank are:

 

GARF Bonsai mini colony

Reef Tech Starburst Monti

Rainbow Acan

Bleeding Apple Scolymia

Rasta Zoanthids (not a fan of how small these are in person)

Sunny D Palythoa

Utter Chaos Palythoa

 

Oh and I finally picked up my Pom Pom Crab! WOOHOO!

looking good!

[da1001]

Pom Pom Crab? Pics or it didn't happen!

[Begow]

Pom Pom Crab? Pics or it didn't happen!

 

I will try to snag one once he comes out of hiding!

 

So my Nano Box Mini-Tide came in today. The light looks 100% amazing over the tank, I have never seen a color spectrum like this and I love it. I finally have a tank that I think look professionally done, and looks great in our house.

 

BUT.. I bought the light thinking I could dim it, without a controller. I guess I was mistaken to think that, so I'm really hoping this Mini-Tide isn't going to fry all of my corals, until I can afford the storm. Does anyone have any insight on this?

 

I am just seriously shocked with how good the light looks and the color is just AMAZING. Huge shout out to Dave, I won't get another brand of LED's again. Good stuff bud!

[cju84]

Let's see some close up pics of those tats! Also, the scape looks awesome with the black sand.

[Begow]

Some shots of the tank today:

 

Utter Chaos:

 

 

Scoly:

 

 

Scoly Video:

 

http://tinypic.com/r/2n8y2s1/8

 

Rastas (still not pleased with how small these guys are:

 

 

My GARF Bonsai, finally starting to color up now. It was dull brown a month ago:

 

 

Rainbow Acans eating, hence the odd shape:

 

[JMarcink91]

Everything is looking great!

Rastas do have smaller polyps on them, but once they start growing out you will like the colors for sure

[Rehype]

 

So happy for you man...this literally made my day. I was praying for ya. Im a new dad myself so I cant imagine what it was like going through that but im glad its all over. Gotta by honest brought a tear to my eye.

 

Congrats again man.

[Begow]

Everything is looking great!

Rastas do have smaller polyps on them, but once they start growing out you will like the colors for sure

 

Ah maybe, I think I prefer Palythoas over most honestly!

 

So happy for you man...this literally made my day. I was praying for ya. Im a new dad myself so I cant imagine what it was like going through that but im glad its all over. Gotta by honest brought a tear to my eye.

 

Congrats again man.

 

Thanks buddy. I finally feel normal again. It's so nice having him home, we are all happy again!!!!! It makes me value having him home so much more

[Begow]

So I tested my water today.. Nitrates were 0, ammonia was detectable but not readable. everything else was on point, although my calc read like 520, so I feel like I probably did that one wrong. I've been in a rush all day with errands and such, but once I'm home tonight around 8PM I'm going to do a water change, and then test again after about 45 minutes. I'm also having my LFS test for me as well.

 

Everything looks good besides my scoly, he's been acting funny. I moved him today, i think he's getting too much flow. Is it okay if an occasional 3-5 pieces of sand get on him?

[Polarcollision]

It can be tricky to rinse the media - I fill my GFO to the desired level then gently pour in some RODI water a few times until the water is clear.

 

Wait. I'm supposed to rinse phosban before adding to the basket? Damn. What happens if you don't?

 

This statement is interesting. My SPS seem to be doing great after like 3 months with no dosing. I have about 4 frags. I do 1 gallon water changes per week. I was thinking about starting to dose Kent Marine part A and B, but I don't know if it's worth it.

 

Just test alkalinity right before and right after a water change to see what the tank is using up. You want a maximum swing of 1 dKH, even better if the swing is 0.25 dKH. If the swing is less than 1 and you don't have any acros, I wouldn't bother with dosing. Most SPS can handle the 1 dKH swing, but acros typically don't like more than the 0.25 KH swing. If your coral are doing great, then there's not likely any need to change things up until the frags start using up more alk. :-)

 

BEGOW, congrats on the Nuvo! They're great tanks and you're going to love it. Especially they way they showcase smaller colonies and frags coral as they grow out. Everything looks bigger than it actually is.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Wait. I'm supposed to rinse phosban before adding to the basket? Damn. What happens if you don't?

 

 

 

Just test alkalinity right before and right after a water change to see what the tank is using up. You want a maximum swing of 1 dKH, even better if the swing is 0.25 dKH. If the swing is less than 1 and you don't have any acros, I wouldn't bother with dosing. Most SPS can handle the 1 dKH swing, but acros typically don't like more than the 0.25 KH swing. If your coral are doing great, then there's not likely any need to change things up until the frags start using up more alk. :-)

 

BEGOW, congrats on the Nuvo! They're great tanks and you're going to love it. Especially they way they showcase smaller colonies and frags coral as they grow out. Everything looks bigger than it actually is.

 

Not sure on the phosguard- I just rinse my GFO cause it's dusty and it helps when the reactor starts up not to send the dust into the tank

 

 

 

[R1sky_Biz]

Great looking tank! I'm setting up an 8g nuvo right now so I'm definitely following along for this one. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Begow]

Great looking tank! I'm setting up an 8g nuvo right now so I'm definitely following along for this one. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

Thank you sir, good luck!

 

 

I did a big water change tonight, I had a little ammonia reading today, my calc was a little low as well (400). Hopefully the big water change helps replenish the calc and lower the ammonia. I really need to get around to gluing all my corals down.

 

I want to find a gold stripe cleaner goby, or a nice Possum Wrasse.

[jack1978]

Get a possum. ...awesome little fish.

[Begow]

Get a possum. ...awesome little fish.

 

My LFS has one, $55 though! I guess I've paid more for a fish but still.

[teenyreef]

Looking good! Did I see that you are running your Nanobox full blast without a controller? It's got great color but I'm sure you've noticed by now it's also got great power

 

I run mine at about 50% with the controller. I would worry about it being too strong at 100% especially without giving the corals time to acclimate. Are yours doing OK?

[Begow]

Looking good! Did I see that you are running your Nanobox full blast without a controller? It's got great color but I'm sure you've noticed by now it's also got great power

 

I run mine at about 50% with the controller. I would worry about it being too strong at 100% especially without giving the corals time to acclimate. Are yours doing OK?

 

I'm not sure if it's at 100% or not, the dimmer is inside of the box which is impossible to get to. I ran it for 9 hours yesterday and my corals weren't shriveled or sunken in at all. I'm doing the same today, so I will see how it is when I get home.

 

The gentlemen who owned it before me could have had it dimmed and I didn't know, we will see.

[Begow]

I'll leave you with this video of my son giggling. Happy Dad! My wife and I had him on the couch having some family time and I was pretending to eat his teething toy. Love this little dude.

 

http://youtu.be/nN_cpo12BKk

[Begow]

So it's been a bit since I've updated. With the holidays life has been crazy, both of our families are in town and want to see the baby. I finally got around to glueing my corals down, and I did a nice water change today. I also changed out my carbon in my reactor. Cleaned everything up etc. Oddly enough, when I did my water change all of my corals instantly looked like crap. I turned the lights off immediately after so I'm hoping they look better in the AM. Hopefully if anything was wrong the carbon will pick that up. I've used this alt bucket before so who knows.

 

Anyways, on with the pictures!!!!

 

Utter Chaos

 

 

Sunny D

 

 

Utter Chaos

 

 

Rastas

 

 

Rainbow Acans

 

 

My baby, love this Scoly!

 

 

GARF, finally coloring up and growing some.

 

 

FTS

 

 

FTS

 

 

 

Top down GARF

 

 

Rastas and Acans

 

 

Sunny D

 

 

FTS

 

 

 

I also bought a Frag Pack from LPS1212 on R2R. Included was:

 

1p Latin lovers

1p Red Hornets

1p Chuckie's Bride

1p Yodas

1p Aussie Pops

 

Pics from him, not WYSIWYG, but from his tank.

 

Latin Lovers

 

 

Aussie Pops

 

 

Chuckie's

 

 

Yoda's

 

 

 

I don't have a picture of the hornets, but I'm sure they're nice.

 

 

What do you guys think?

 

Oh yeah, here is a video of my son saying his first words @ 7 months old:

 

http://youtu.be/8ET1lJ2e3mw

Updated coral list:

 

Reef Tech Starburst Montipora Cap

Rainbow Acans

Rasta Zoanthids

Latin Lovers Palythoas

Chuckie's Brides Palythoas

Yoda Palythoas

Red Hornet Zoanthids

Aussie Pop Palythoas

GARF Bonsai

3 inch Bleeding Apple Scolymia (my favorite coral easily)

Sunny D Palythoas

Utter Chaos Palythoas

[da1001]

I have heard too many times about corals getting pissy after water changes, but it hasn't happened to me so I cant chime in on that though. Did you pour the fresh water into the front with the scape or slowly into the back chamber 2? I always poured mine into the back and they didn't get offended when I had my 3g running.

[NorthGaHillbilly]

I expect the PH was off on the wc water, but I might be wrong. Did you ask Dave how to get to the dimming pots? I can't imagine it being harder than removing the case and using a jewelers screw driver to adjust them

[Begow]

I have heard too many times about corals getting pissy after water changes, but it hasn't happened to me so I cant chime in on that though. Did you pour the fresh water into the front with the scape or slowly into the back chamber 2? I always poured mine into the back and they didn't get offended when I had my 3g running.

I put a small bowl in the tank and then pour it into that. Everything looks good, besides my sunny d. It's still closed.

 

I expect the PH was off on the wc water, but I might be wrong. Did you ask Dave how to get to the dimming pots? I can't imagine it being harder than removing the case and using a jewelers screw driver to adjust them

Yea I figured out how to turn the light down and everything has been great ever since. I never check my PH on new water, just the salinity and temp. Now I'm nervous. Will this cause issues? Everything looks fine besides my sunny d.