Nola Bear Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Gold torch you say?? I just picked one up for my fusion ten a few weeks ago. It is absolutely stunning and is certainly the showpiece in the tank. Its is a bit big though, with four heads. Make sure you don't blast it with flow. I would love to see pics! Gold torches have been on my list for over three years, and I finally bit the bullet, best decision ever! I keep my temp at a steady 78. I found my corals were happier there than any other temp. I would save your money and spend it on a nice digital heater. I use a Finnex 100watt but my room is also 60 degrees in the winter. However, it has a nice controller and in the three years of constant use it has really done well. Of course, if you don't mind spending more, people here love the neotherm heaters. Thanks for the heater advice. i will def check out the finnex and neotherms. I think I might be dialing in on the marineland. I've logged the last 48 hrs, and I am staying within a 1* variant. Pics of what I'm currently working with to follow 1 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 I really like NeoTherm heaters. They work. But I don't have a controller to log temperature so I don't know how precise they are, 1 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 I really like NeoTherm heaters. They work. But I don't have a controller to log temperature so I don't know how precise they are, Thanks. I've seen quite a few people on here that I respect have them. I'll definitely look at these, and keep the marineland for qt tank or backup Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Picking up my clowns tomorrow for my daughter's christmas present. Can't wait. Paid for them two weeks ago. I have a fancy clown and a black, both juveniles (3/4 - 1"). Here's to hoping for a smooth acclimation. Here's the dillema. I'm going to get these guys in and see how they do for a little while (at least a month), make sure the tank handles them well. But, I am thinking about the trifecta fish though. I am tossing it up between these four: Court Jester Goby Tail Spot Blenny Green Clown Goby Green Banded Goby I think I already know Teeny's vote is the GBG. Any ideas or suggestions...? Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 PHOTO DUMP (So I broke out the wife's fancy-schmancy camera tonight and went to town. I even got the thumbs up from her on some of the pics, so I've got that going for me) Rics Torches and Frogspawn Acan Elmo, Burton, Scarlett & Johann Actinics Latest FTS 7 Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Looking good! +1 for a NeoTherm heater. Have one on my 20G, have never had any issues, had one on my 8G when I had it running, same thing, works flawlessly. 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Nice pics! I've got both the Finnex and the Neotherm, and they are both great. Although, I have noticed twice that the Neotherm didn't start back up after cycling the power, but that's after hundreds of on/off cycles changing water over the years. Nobody else has ever reported this so I think it's just something with my particular unit. I personally prefer the Finnex. It's smaller overall (the Neotherm is thinner but much wider). It also has the temperature controller outside the tank, where you can see it and adjust it more easily. 2 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 Well it's Christmas Eve and I got the young clowns from the LFS. I will try to get a good pic tomorrow at some point. I got one black and one fancy. Both are very good looking I wasn't too keen on buying the black, but now I'm happy I did. At the very least it's very easy to tell them apart. They seem to be acclimating well. Defintely staying near the glass. Look forward to watching them explore the rocks and such. In due time....Definitely taking care of the copepod colony I had. Most importantly, I can't wait to see Nola wake up in the morning and go see her tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 Merry Christmas to all. Here are the tank mates (yet to be named) 4 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Awww, they look great! Merry Christmas! 1 Quote Link to comment
lostsol95 Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Your aquascaping looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Looking great! -Dave 1 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 Your aquascaping looks great! Thanks?. I'm a nut about moving things around though. Moved my largest torch up and am thinking about moving a shroom too. I'm glad I'm happy with the rocks though. Moving those would be a pita. Awww, they look great! Merry Christmas! Thanks teeny. We are going back and forth on names. My daughter's vote is two and four? the other set of names is ting (black clown named after Jamaican soda) and tang ( for the fancy clown). Ting, more commonly known as four, is definitely the dominant one. Better watch out because my favorite is definitely tang, more commonly known as two.? 2 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Looking great! -Dave Thanks! Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Moved a few things, got a few things, have some zoas from zepo coming in the mail next week. plan to get a tailspot and a couple acans in february. Until then, I'm locking it down. My favorite new purchase is the plate. My green torch (first thing I bought for the tank) is getting massive. 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Wow, everything looks really good - happy New Year! 1 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Wow, everything looks really good - happy New Year! Thanks! Now I need to work on my photos a bit. Have to find out how to get that purpling to go away. Some are certainly better than others. Its a canon 50d, I think, with way too many switches and nobs adn doodads. 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Thanks! Now I need to work on my photos a bit. Have to find out how to get that purpling to go away. Some are certainly better than others. Its a canon 50d, I think, with way too many switches and nobs adn doodads. I know how you feel. Fixing the white balance in pictures was a huge challenge for me in the beginning. Some ideas: 1. Temporarily increase the white lights just for pictures. That alone can make a huge difference because it only takes a little more white light to help the white balance sensor on the camera get it right. 2. Set up a custom white balance in the camera by taking a picture of the sand and using it as a reference picture for the custom white balance. 3. Take pictures in RAW and adjust the white balance in post processing using Lightroom or any one of several free picture editing software apps. Ultimately this is the best approach to getting really nice pictures because you can adjust everything to your liking from RAW. But it takes the longest to learn. But you will have mastered a new hobby in the process 1 Quote Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 PHOTO DUMP (So I broke out the wife's fancy-schmancy camera tonight and went to town. I even got the thumbs up from her on some of the pics, so I've got that going for me) Rics Torches and Frogspawn Acan Elmo, Burton, Scarlett & Johann Actinics Latest FTS Nice! Nice pictures and progress. 1 Quote Link to comment
Droy008 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Really looking good. You seem to have a good problem with all that purple in your tank! 1 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Nice! Nice pictures and progress. Thanks man. I'm looking forward to some new year videos from you Reefers like you give noobs like me something to aim for~ Really looking good. You seem to have a good problem with all that purple in your tank! I wish I could say that the purple was all natural. I'm still dialing in this fancy camera that my wife has. To be honest, my coralline is just starting to purple. 2 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 So it's been a week now and these zoas , which are pretty awesome, decided to stretch out their necks and clam up a bit , but not completely. You can sort of see what I talking about in this pic below. This is when I first noticed it. They were still popping out new babies, but clearly not happy. I've read that it could be lighting or flow, and really don't think it is that. So I pulled them and did a FW iodine dip. I did one drop of Lugol's to four cups. I've never done this before, and I hope that this helps. Any and all advice is welcome. This is what they look like immediately after dip. Strange looking transparent bubble around the top????? 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 They look OK to me for a post dip picture. In the FTS, it looks like they're reaching for light. Do you know your PAR, or how intense your lighting is? 1 Quote Link to comment
Nola Bear Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 I have a nanobox, only two channel (plan to upgrade to the four channel...) Morning blues 45 whites 30 Midday blues 65 whites 45 Evening blues 55 whites 15 Night blues 0.2 for moonlight effect 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 You might try gradually ramping it up a bit. I was deliberately running mine dim to see if it helped with acan coloration (didn't work, btw), but I normally run mine at about 70% blues / 35% whites at peak. And I've been thinking about ramping it up a little bit more. You've got mostly LPS which are happy with less light, so it's not that big a deal. But you might need to move those zoas higher to get more light. Whatever you do, if you change the light, do it really slowly, about 2-3% per week, and watch for any signs of stress, especially with the LPS that are high up. Edit: PS: you're using the Bluefish controller, right? 1 Quote Link to comment
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