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Twan's NanoCustoms 3.24 12g


twan

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nice work! Very nicely done journal as well. You can tell you put a lot of effort into it!

 

Thanks!

 

Nice work Twan. The tank looks great! How about some candycanes to add some contrast? Keep up the good work.

 

I have some, they are over to the side hidden from FTS view. I dont have a current shot of it so here is one from when it was just acclimated. Its in the lower bacl right hand corner of the tank:

 

111606candycanext5.jpg

 

The only thing I want to add is....you guessed it, yellow figi leather. I lost the 1st one due to shipping.........and have not been able to find one locally.

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  • 1 month later...

No new inhabitants to the tank.

Fish are happy.

GSP is taking over.

Hydnophora is a lil unhappy after I moved it from the encroaching GSP.

Xenia is growing TOOO MUCH. I might place some frag plugs in the direction that it is heading in hopes that it will migrate and I can give a few stalks away.

 

I ordered replacement bulbs from Chris today to have them on hand as the tank is now about 9 months old. Should I replace them at the 1year mark or now? Should I replace only 1 per week over 3 weeks in order to not ### off the corals?

 

I also ordered replacement fans as the stock ones have gotten noisy over time: http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php...products_id=374

 

I will post updated pics this weekend and report back on those fan installs next week. In the meantime can any1 help answer my questions on bulb replacement? Thanks!

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I will post updated pics this weekend and report back on those fan installs next week. In the meantime can any1 help answer my questions on bulb replacement? Thanks!

Glad to hear that things continue to go well. I change my PC bulbs every 6 months. Keep up the good work!

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Thanks for the reply junkitu. My bulbs are at about 9 months as we speak so when they come in I will replace the actinic week 1, one 10k bulb week 2, then the last 10k bulb week 3.

 

Here is a picture update as promised:

 

3/26/07 FTS:

32607ftsrw5.jpg

 

3/26/07 Zoa:

32607zoofj2.jpg

 

3/26/07 Wrasse and Shrimp:

32607wrasseoq3.jpg

 

3/26/07 Clown:

32607clowngc3.jpg

 

3/26/07 Unhappy Hydnohora and some Red Slime:

32607hydqb9.jpg

 

The relocated Hydno into the lower flow area seems to have angered it as it doesnt open all the way. Also the Red Slime/Cyno in the area tells me there is too little flow there to begin with. Everything else is fine. I had to disassemble and clean out my pump for the 3rd time in 9 months which is to be expected.

 

To close here is a FTS compare shot from 12/29/06 & 2/1/07 and the most recent, 3/26/07. Look at that Xenia and GSP go! Enjoy!

 

FTS Compare:

ftscompareoo3.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I got my bulbs in and I am going to replace 1 a week to be cautious. Here is a pic where you can see the new 10k versus the old 10k. It was time to replace it for sure.

 

lightreplacedh3.jpg

 

I also replaced both of my fans with these SilenX 60x25mm Fan - 16db fans (http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=374)

ixp-34-rear.jpg

 

They push the same amount if not more air and they are 200% quieter then the stock ones. This thing is whisper quiet now no joke. I should have done this ages ago cause the tank is in my bedroom. Seriously, I would push this on anyone replacing their stock NanoCube fans. I had to enlarge the mounting holes but the connections were plug and play.

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I got my bulbs in and I am going to replace 1 a week to be cautious. Here is a pic where you can see the new 10k versus the old 10k. It was time to replace it for sure.

 

Now that is a great picture showing how the bulbs light output changes with age. I am changing my PC's every 6 months.

 

Fantastic looking tank!

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Yeah that old bulb was just about 9 months old. I plan on replacing them every 7-8 months in the future.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

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  • 2 months later...

1 month shy of my tanks 1 year anniversary!

 

Everything is doing well except for the red/brown algae that I showed a pic of in the March picture. It has gotten thicker and spread to a bigger area. This is also the lowest flow area of my tank.

 

Possible causes:

  1. Normal tank aging and it will go away.
  2. Phosphates from using distilled to top off
  3. Lack of flow / filtration

Right now I do not have access to RO/DI water so I went ahead and placed an order for an additional powerhead and some RowaPhos Sponge 4" squares.

The RowaPhos Sponge I will just place on top of my stock cut sponge.

 

Where should I point my 2nd powerhead?!?!?!

 

Items should be in on tomorrow:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...;Category_Code=

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...;Category_Code=

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6/15/07 11 Month Check In

 

Time to battle the Red Slime and Brown Slime. It gets better after a water change and by the time next weeks waterchange rolls around it’s back. These are the actions I took today:

 

Added Rowaphos sponge to chamber 1.

Added Tunze Mini Pump for more flow.

Now using RO/DI for top off versus Distilled.

 

I will check in over the next few weeks on how my progress goes. I also threw a new HydorFlo and new surface skimmer on there, as the old ones were disgusting even with weekly cleaning.

 

The slime from far away. Note this is a dead zone as far as flow in the tank:

61507redfartn7.jpg

 

The slime up close:

61507redclosehu7.jpg

 

The suction cups on the mini would not stick to the back wall. I want to get it to push from the back to the front of the tank cause the mj900 with hydor does not offer any unilateral back to front flow. This didn’t work out cause the suction cups on the mini would not attach because of the coralline on the back wall. I stuck it on the glass for now. I don’t know how hard that coralline will be to scrape off and may leave it like this:

 

61507tunze1yw6.jpg

 

Tunze mini from the other side. It flows from left to right in the tank behind the rockwork:

 

61507tunze2pf1.jpg

 

Original Xenia shot from 10/6/06 (8 months ago):

101006zeniabm7.jpg

 

Xenia shot updated. I have gone from 1 stalk to 10 stalks including 2 on the back wall!

61507xeniaru5.jpg

 

 

 

Zoa garden, nothing much has changed:

61507zoagardendn0.jpg

 

My baby torch doing fine and my hydnophora that hasn’t grown and only fully opens up 25% of the time:

61507torchhyddv5.jpg

 

Hammer, no change in 11 months:

61507hammeryd6.jpg

 

My mushrooms and GSP that seem to spread all over the place. Wish now I had put GSP on sand bed:

61507gspmushzl8.jpg

 

FTS at 11 months.

61507ftszb3.jpg

 

My future plans for this tank is to win the war against RSA. After that my quest is to add monti’s and ricordia’s only.

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Don't bother scraping the coraline off the back wall....the suction cups don't stick regardless.

 

I wanted to do the same for mine but it didn't work so now I'm thinking about laying it on some of the hidden rocks in the back.

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Normal maintenance this week plus some RSA cleaning.

 

I turkey basted it off the rocks and it came off in clumps easy to suck up, thank god. Tank looks 1 million times better now. Lets see if it comes back.

 

I also moved the hydnophora up to a higher spot in the tank as I now read they need plenty of light. Maybe why it has not been opening very much and zero growth. If it doesn't start doing better I will give it to a friend with a MH setup.

 

I moved the tunze mini pump to the other side of the tank. Just experimenting to find the best position.

 

As long as the RSA does not come back I am going to add the last few things I really want:

  • yellow figi leather
  • monti cap
  • ric's

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  • 3 weeks later...

WOW! Very nice tank.

 

I checked out that website, and some more really colorful zoo's and a green toadstool would look really cool.

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I’m going to do two separate posts here.

1st will be updates on current corals and the 2nd will be the new additions.

 

Here are the old corals. Tank is now 1 year old.

 

6-month-old candy cane splitting heads.

71907candycanefq1.jpg

 

Dying Hydnophora. It was relocated here for better light. It’s now dying from the bottom up.

71907dyinghydqo6.jpg

 

 

Pink Zoo getting more and more polyps finally. Wish I had left these by themselves and not put them in the zoo garden. Growth has been slower then the others around it.

71907pinkzoogk8.jpg

 

More Xenia moving to the back wall.

71907xeniawallwe3.jpg

 

 

Now onto the new additions.

 

 

New Orange Monti Cap.

71907capxg2.jpg

 

New Mean Green Zoa in the back. Unknown zoo in front.

71907eyeandmeanzoovz8.jpg

 

Another unknown new zoa. Ill call it “fleck” for now.

71907fleckzooiu3.jpg

 

New zoo colony on Tonga Branch. These were sold as gumball. They are a deep maroon with a pink ring and purple mouth. It maybe hard to see in these pics. According to Rob they may morph to a deep red under PC’s. Whatever they are I love them and having a piece of Tonga in the tank gives it some character. First shot is up close. 2nd is of the whole piece.

71907gumzooclosefs8.jpg

71907gumzoofarwn8.jpg

 

New toadstool leather. Its arms are out but polyp’s on the end are not fully open. I guess its still acclimating. Nice piece still.

71907leatheryj1.jpg

 

Nuclear Green Pally’s.

71907pallysf7.jpg

 

Three new Florida ricordia’s. My favorite coral. I had one Florida months ago that detached itself from a rock and never recovered. I then had a Yuma that melted for some reason. Let’s hope these thrive.

71907ricsnm9.jpg

 

7/19/07 FTS.

71907ftsqk5.jpg

 

7/19/07 Top down shot.

71907topdownvh2.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Xenia on rock all melted and got brown in less then a 12hr period.

Dont know why this happened. Temp has been a little higher but nothing drastic. Had to take that rock out as a precaution and scrub it.

Rock is back in after 3 days in a bucket with fresh SW and a powerhead.

 

The rock is back in. Ammonia went up to .25 (trace) and has now settled.

 

A few stalks of Xenia remain on the back wall. The corraline that used to be on that rock has now bleached and looks white. Other corals look fine, fish are eating. Updated shots next week

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Did a small (1g) WC on friday night and still saw a trace of ammonia.

I was outta town Saturday and when I returned Sunday all was still fine.

 

New Tests Monday

 

ph - 8.2

amm - 0

trite - trace

trate - between 5 and 10

 

Looks like whatever die off there was from the rock being out of the tank is making its way through the nitrogen cycle. Fish and corals are fine.

 

Xenia that was on the back wall is pulsing again.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Tank is probably at its lowest point after the Xenia incident.

It can only get better from here I guess.

 

 

After the Xenia incident the back wall this is all that’s left of it

xenia9407nv1.jpg

 

Very faded but still thriving Cap

cap9407dq3.jpg

 

FTS Straight on

fts9407mj6.jpg

 

Left

ftsleft9407rc3.jpg

 

Right

ftsright9407lb3.jpg

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Calcium & alkaliinity is fine. Tank has rebounded nicely. To be honest I have never checked magnesium levels. I think the mishap was from salinity change (inadvertant).

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Nice thread. Just read the whole thing for the first time. I love your aquascape, I am about to add live rock to my new tank (AquaPod 24g) tomorrow, and was hoping to make a C-shaped atoll with a cave in the middle. Yours is pretty much what I had envisioned in my head, and gives me a pic to work with.

 

By the way, how are the Rics doing?

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Good luck with your setup.

 

Of the 3 recent rics I aquired.............I lost the greenish one. The 2 oranges were relocated to an area with zero flow. I lost the green one when it became detached from its rock. I tried to bridal veil it back down onto a rock for a few days and it just melted. I am learning only to buy rics that are super super firmly attached to begin with....and making sure they get zero flow.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My zoa’s and ric’s started to extend so it was defiantly time to change out the lights. Last time (1st bulb change) I went for 9 months and noted how much the bulbs had dimmed. I wanted to change them at 6 months this time but 2 weeks shy of 6 months things needed to be replaced ASAP. Have a look

100207bulbvd8.jpg

 

I wanted to replace them with the same type, the Nanocustoms 10k but they were out of stock so I went with the JBJ 10k . As you can see not only was the NC bulb pretty faded but also I don’t think it’s a good comparison cause it was never as blue as the JBJ bulb even when new.

 

I replaced the actinic and one 10k right off the bat. The other 10k I will replace next week as to not totally shock the corals. The tank is already looking a lot better but as noted above………..it is bluer. Time will tell if I like it or not. Will post FTS next week after I replace the last bulb.

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