The Velvet Sea Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Full Tank Shot 11/1/07 Hello Nano-Reefers, I'm pleased to introduce myself and my new Nano! I've been an aquarium keeper for 15+ years. This new aquapod will be my third reef but my experience is much deeper than those tanks. I've done quite a bit of work related to our amazing hobby. Worked at the LFS as a kid, earned a degree in fisheries, and worked for a top notch aquarium maintenance company as the senior reef keeper. The largest tank I was responsible for was 600gallons. Eventually I moved on from that and got a job working at an aquaculture lab that supplied animals for toxicology studies. We bred 3 fish species. Sheepshead minnows, Silversides and Fathead Minnows. We also raised lots of various inverts, Mysidopsis bahia, Acartia tonsa (marine copepod), rotifers, brine shrimp, and 3 species of daphnids (water fleas). While I worked there I helped to develop reliable methods to raise Leptochirus plumulosus which is a burrowing, tube forming marine amphipod. Got lots of business due to those little critters. Not many labs around here then were raising leptos successfully. Last but not least, we raised the beginning of the food chain, marine brown algae Skeletonema costatum and freshwater green algae Selenastrum capricornutum. Anyhow, now I'm just a hobbyist again and am enjoying it all just for the fun of it. Enough about me, time for the tank. 24gallon Aquapod 70w HQI MH 14000k stock bulb CSS65 Skimmer 2x MJ 900, 1 replaced the stock pump, 1 running through an extra bulkhead and locline fittings Visitherm Stealth Heater 150w 10gal RO Auto topoff system with a float switch from Autotopoff.com Current Stocking: 40+ lb. live rock from Pacific East Aquaculture 4 Turbo snails 4 Nassarius 3 Magaritas Time for the pictures, please excuse the quality. My lack of photographic talent is only surpassed by my camera and monitor's lack of quality. Full tank shot! Full tank shot aquascape Cave shots! there is a locline nozzle hidden in the darkness of the second pic Closeups of Dr. Mac Liverock I hope you enjoyed my tank! Soon it won't be so empty. A nice assorted frag pack arriving next week! Blastos, Acan lord, zoanthids, GSP, some blue Actinodiscus mushrooms and my one SPS to start the tank of right, an orange monti cap. Pics coming soon. Thanks for checking it out. Link to comment
zachxlutz Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 nice aquascaping. i'm excited to see where this one goes! Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 Thanks for the kind words you both. I'll be receiving my frag pack this Wednesday and it will be so nice to have more in there than just rock and snails. I'm still debating if/what I'm going to put in as far as fish are concerned. Currently leaning towards just an aquacultured pair of Banggai Cardinalfish. Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Thanks for the kind words you both. I'll be receiving my frag pack this Wednesday and it will be so nice to have more in there than just rock and snails. I'm still debating if/what I'm going to put in as far as fish are concerned. Currently leaning towards just an aquacultured pair of Banggai Cardinalfish. Those should be fine,but they do better in 30+gallons.But since there tank bred thet would be smaller. The tank looks great!I love lots of LR! Hehe alabaster allright! "I am the mack daddy of himleck county!" Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 lol yeah I figured Alabaster fit in with the Velvet theme going on here. I am also concerned about the banggai in a nano. I'm open to hearing alternate suggestions and I am not set on banggai. I'm looking for aquacultured species only, preferably kept as a pair. Breeding isn't a major goal but ease of breeding is a plus. They will be the only two fish. Ok now I'm going to add one more bit of criteria that will really cut down my options... No Clowns. Ideas? Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 lol yeah I figured Alabaster fit in with the Velvet theme going on here. I am also concerned about the banggai in a nano. I'm open to hearing alternate suggestions and I am not set on banggai. I'm looking for aquacultured species only, preferably kept as a pair. Breeding isn't a major goal but ease of breeding is a plus. They will be the only two fish. Ok now I'm going to add one more bit of criteria that will really cut down my options... No Clowns. Ideas? A pair of black clowns?You don't need a pair but maby 2. Have my avatar if you want it Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 Black clowns are sexy for sure. I have a grudge against clowns that I just can't get over. Once I had a pair kill a beautiful Goniopora by hosting it Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Chromies damsels (bleah) but like domino damsels or blue damsels hawkfish (nah) Anglers? I think cardnals should be fine.With a few black clown gobys and some blue mushrooms. I am stumped,I want to get a pair of banggi cardnals for my 30g tall but they are more of a deepwater fish. I will report back later. A PIMP NAMED SLICKBACK! Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 A pair of gobies could very well be what I pick. I've been looking over the selection of fish from Inland Aquatics as it seems they have the best selection of tank raised pairs for sale. I was thinking about Pseudochromis fridmani but I'm worried about aggression. That is something I may talk over with the people at IA and based on their advice I may do that. Not sure if my tank will need any more purple in it though, so maybe a different species of Pseudochromis, but I have read that the Fridmani is the least aggressive so I've not decided. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Damsels are extremely aggressive and get large (at least three inches on most, many the size of your hand), and chromis are not very hardy (buy five, you'll end up with one or two). A pair of Fridmani would be beautiful, as would a pair of clowns, but yes, they don't always host anemones, and sometimes kill corals hosting them. Fridmanis are less aggressive than other pseudos, and only toward other fish. If they're your only two fish, then it's not an issue anyway. EDIT: An angler would be awesome. You couldn't have any shrimp, though. Safe with snails and hermits. (Maybe hermits) Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...cfm?pCatId=1115 Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 I dig the springerii Fugu. That is one cool looking dottyback. Inland also sells sexed pairs of springerii. A dottyback was my first choice, but I have never kept pairs of them before. I was expecting aggression towards similar species in small tanks. If that is not the case then I'm probably leaning back towards a dotty again. Thanks for the help you two. Link to comment
aquakevem Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 nice rocks from Dr. mac's, tonga fusion or fiji? Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 They will terrorize the tank if you have any other fish in there. Dottys and damsels are devils. I wouldnt keep a pair in that sized tank.And I think they eat inverts.... Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 nice rocks from Dr. mac's, tonga fusion or fiji? Thanks very much. It's Dr. Mac's Fiji, but I got the uncured drop shipped 48-50lb. box, so technically it is Dr. Mac's supplier's Fiji LR I used all of it, minus some tiny rubble, so it may be 45-50 lb of LR actually. Rock is 7 weeks old. Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Blue velvet nudis?Hehe,a bit of a hassel! Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 28, 2006 Author Share Posted November 28, 2006 Here are a few pictures of my filtration. It took several different arrangements to get it all how I like it. I was very pleased with the final skimmer setup. The skimmer pump is directly below the Aquapod surface skimmer and the effluent from the skimmer returns to the display. All in all, there are 2 MJ 900 and the skimmer which are pumping from the rear sump to the display so there is a significant amount of flow. Also, today I will be painting the white PVC with black krylon fusion so it doesn't stand out as much. Skimmer Effluent Plumbing Modification Side View of Skimmer Plumbing Please forgive the retro skimmer stand, I'm working on a solution Chamber 2: ATO Float Switch, Extra Locline Bulkhead, and Heater Closeup Shot of Hidden Locline Nozzle Thanks for looking. Lets get this thing to page 2 so I won't be out of space to post pictures when my frags arrive tomorrow Link to comment
rubadakis Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Hello. Very nice start!!! I read that you were involved in the culturing of pods. I just started a tigger pod culture tank to feed my new mandarin. Any tips? The culture tank is 5 gallons. Should I have some light? I am feeding them phytoplankton...should i add an air pump?....thanks! Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Damn that hidden nozzel is sexy.I want my 30 tall to be a sleeper like that!I am still learning about sumps and what they do and piping layouts. I will start a thread soon... Nice work! Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 28, 2006 Author Share Posted November 28, 2006 Hello. Very nice start!!! I read that you were involved in the culturing of pods. I just started a tigger pod culture tank to feed my new mandarin. Any tips? The culture tank is 5 gallons. Should I have some light? I am feeding them phytoplankton...should i add an air pump?....thanks! Thanks very much! You'll have to forgive me, I have a decent knowledge base but I'm no expert. I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with "tigger pods." The only copepod I have experience with is Acartia tonsa. It was one of the simplest setups we had in the entire lab. An AGA 10gal tank with an acrylic top. We fed it every day with phyto and this was important because when left with no food A. tonsa is cannibalistic. There was a rigid airline into the tank that slowly bubbled large bubbles, there was no airstone. Other than that, the tank was completely bare. It was only lit by the flourescent lights in the room. The only trouble we had with this copepod was that we had to be very careful transferring them for toxicology tests. It was very easy to injure them while transferring, and that could result in dead copepods in the experiment control which would get us into lots of trouble with the project managers. I also only have experience with 1 amphipod species and it was much more intensive than the copepod culture. Leptochirus plumulosus burrows into soft silt/mud type sediment. We had to sieve mud which was collected from local estuaries to make sure it was free of everything a small sieve would trap. I'd spread a 1" layer of the mud on the bottom of several shallow plastic tubs, fill with seawater and toss in adult Leptos. The Leptos would then dig into the mud and make their tube homes. They were fed tetramin flake food which I had pulverized in a blender and then passed through a small seive to make sure all of the food was very small size. The tubs were under heavy aeration with ceramic airstones. They were fed a few small pipettes full of the wet tetramin food 3 times a week. 25% water change twice a week without disturbing the sediment. The tubs would be completely broken down once every month or so, maybe sooner if the mud went anaerobic on us. The water is poured off and then the mud is rinsed into a stack of sieves which would catch and grade the leptos to size. The adults and babies would then be used to restart the next culture and the juveniles would be used in the toxicology studies. Hey Fugu, I really love the hidden Locline as well. I had to shine one of my dive lights on it to get a decent picture. It isn't even that noticeable under the tank lights. One thing you need to know about Locline, if you use any serious length of it, it can really reduce the flow so you might want to think about over sizing your pump if you do use it. Other than that, it works perfectly. Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 What is a locline?A tube from a PH (power head) that just pumps out water like a normal PH? Sorry for my noobness Link to comment
The Velvet Sea Posted November 28, 2006 Author Share Posted November 28, 2006 What is a locline?A tube from a PH (power head) that just pumps out water like a normal PH? Sorry for my noobness No worries. Locline is flexible segmented hose. Dr. F & S Locline Fittings I followed icenine's mod for my locline plumbing, I just put my bulkhead in chamber 2 instead of chamber 1 like he did. Check pages 8 & 9. Icenine's Locline Mod Also here is Steelhealr's thread with Locline info: Steelhealr's Locline Info Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I see, I see them evereywhere and I have never heard of the term "locline" Have you solved your fish chosing dellema? Link to comment
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