jsw bc29

[jsw]

Specs:

- Biocube 29 (widened overflow, removed floors, no bioballs, back is pretty much empty except a few rock fragments for mounting corals and a bad crab)

- H&S A110 External skimmer fed by stock BC29 pump tuned down

- Ecotech Vortech Powerhead in reefcrest mode

- Seio 620 Powerhead

- Rio 6HF return

- No carbon

- No floss

- No chemical filtration

- 2x50w stealth heaters

- Tunze Osmolator ATO

- ACJr controlling lights, fan, dosing pumps, heaters

- Hourly dosing of B-Ionic via dosing pumps

- Reeflux 12k on 400w Coralvue ballast

 

Parameters:

- Nitrate unknown (I don't have a test for it)

- Phosphate unknown (I don't have a test for it)

- Ca 420ppm

- Alk 9dKH

- Mag 1300ppm

- pH 8.15-8.45

- Temp 79.5

 

Weekly 5 gallon water changes.

[jsw]

Lighting cycle:

- 12:00-9:30PM

 

Salt:

- MEI Crystal Sea Marinemix (it's what my LFS sells pre-mixed)

- 1.025

 

CUC:

- 12 hermits (blue, red, zebra)

- 10 snails (astrea, turbo, nassarius)

- A small white hitching crab I rarely see

- Lots of brittle stars

- Bristle worms

- Lots of stomatella

- I've seen a few random hitching tiny sea hares

- Asterinas

 

I just noticed how much the zoanthids have colored up from the first pic. They have become noticeably smaller under the bright lights, but grow at just the same speed and form a really dense mat.

 

I've fought off red bugs and zoa eating nudis successfully.

 

The clowns host the xenia (which grows like mad and I trim back regularly) and the cleaner shrimp is a pig/stomatella killer.

[jsw]

Feeding:

- I feed mysis and cyclopeeze every two days

- Every couple of weeks I'll give the tank a night time shot of oyster eggs.

 

The tank is so full now that in order to add new coral I need to take one out. Anyone have any cool coral suggestions? I'm always looking to brighten things up.

 

Current coral stock:

- A. tenuis

- A. lokani

- A. nana

- A. formosa

- A. yongei

- A. tortuosa

- A. turaki

- A. chesterfieldensis

- A. elseyi

- A. millepora

- A. prostrata

- M. setosa

- M. undata

- M. digitata

- M. capricornus

- M. foliosa

- Micromussa sp.

- Acanastrea lordhowesis

- Turbinaria reniformis

- Miscellaneous Zoanthids

- Seriatopora guttatus

- Seriatopora hystrix

- Cyphastrea decadia

- Cyphastrea ocellina

- Xenia sp.

- Hydnophora sp.

- Porites cylindrica

 

Pics coming up...

 

M. undata -- got this as a brownout. Starting to color up now.

 

M. digitata

 

A. millepora -- I love the furry stuff.

 

A. turaki -- this thing grows pretty fast. Very delicate looking.

 

A. turaki, A. tenuis, Turbinaria reniformis, Cyphastrea occelina

 

Acropora sp. -- Not sure exactly what this is. It tables. Starting to turn blue/green.

 

A. tortuosa -- starting to turn a nice blue/purple/green

 

A. elseyi -- tentative ID

 

M. foliosa -- hard to ID at this size

 

A. Chesterfieldensis -- really cool shaped coralites.

 

A. nana or A. valida -- Not completely sure on the ID. AKA Bali Tricolor

 

A. millepora

 

A. millepora

 

A. millepora

 

Seriatopora Guttatus -- AKA Birdsnest

 

A. yongei -- tentative ID at this size

[PurpleUP]

Nice collection. If it's too much trouble, would you mind editing the above posting to include the names of each one? I'd like some of those for myself.

[jsw]

Nice collection. If it's too much trouble, would you mind editing the above posting to include the names of each one? I'd like some of those for myself.

 

Done.

 

I'm still hesitant on some of the ID's at this point. Someone chime in if they think an ID is wrong.

[jsw]

Yummy.

 

[PurpleUP]

Yummy.

 

 

Boy do I miss the yummy smell of skimate. Cleaned my collection cup tonight. Hopefully, that brings some of the yummy back.

[intheb0x]

so what kit did you get from nanocustoms for the hood of the bc29 and how much did it cost?

im looking to upgrade my bc29.

whats all that on the back and on the sides and front glass of the tank?

some type of algae?

im surprised to see no coraline everywhere.

if you mind me asking where did you get the clowns and how much did you pay

also if you mind how much total do you think you have spent on your setup?

[jsw]

so what kit did you get from nanocustoms for the hood of the bc29 and how much did it cost?

im looking to upgrade my bc29.

whats all that on the back and on the sides and front glass of the tank?

some type of algae?

im surprised to see no coraline everywhere.

if you mind me asking where did you get the clowns and how much did you pay

also if you mind how much total do you think you have spent on your setup?

 

I had the 150w HQI from nanocustoms. That is no longer on the tank. Basser1 is enjoying it now. It was around $500 I think. Pretty spendy.

 

I bought the clowns locally for $80 as a mated-pair.

 

Total cost? A lot. Probably a few grand on corals and equipment. I lost track a while ago.

 

That is coraline on the glass. I have to scrape it off a lot. Here's some more coraline for ya:

 

[intheb0x]

lol lots of it!

so what light do you have on the tank now?

the Reeflux 12k?

so i can get ahold of a 400w ballast and small hood for 20$

could i just get a 150watt bulb like the reeflux 12k and would i be ok?

[jsw]

400w Reeflux 12k on a Coralvue ballast. There is a definite trade-off going with a very high powered light like that on a small tank: heat, inability to keep lower light corals and light acclimation becomes very important. Other than that the SPS love it.

[basser1]

Yes, I and the clam and sps corals, as well as the other corals are enjoying it. Incredible colors and growth! The clam has 2 new rows of growth on its' shell! And that Sapphire skimmer is making some nasty skimmate to!

[intheb0x]

i wish i could get a Sapphire skimmer, i dont have a skimmer on my bc29 and im looking for a good one i can fit somewhere

[jsw]

i wish i could get a Sapphire skimmer, i dont have a skimmer on my bc29 and im looking for a good one i can fit somewhere

 

I see them up for sale used every once and a while. I know the Tunze DOC skimmer will fit in the back too. I believe there are a few other skimmers that will fit in the back chambers too. I'm sure there is a thread on here somewhere about this subject.

[jsw]

Did some coral rearranging tonight. My tank is full and moving stuff around is a real chore.

 

I have a nice piece of Montipora setosa that's been really finicky. It'll grow quite a bit then recede. Then grow then recede repeat. The only thing I can really attribute this to right now is high light, because it only recedes in the parts that get the most light. I did some reading and it sounds like the setosa does a little better lower in the tank (it was at the top in mine), so down it came.

 

Of course there is no room for me to put it down any lower, so I decided to move a A. millepora that I've had a while that never has quite colored up to what I think is it's potential. It was time for a swap. I pulled the millepora off of it's spot and glued the setosa in it's place. Perfect, the setosa's polyps came popped right out and it looked as happy as can be. The setosa is a really gorgeous coral and I've found it to be quite finnicky at times.

 

It really is necessary IMO to move corals around until they find a spot that they can really thrive in. With observation you can notice what is ailing a coral -- be it low flow, high light, etc. Just because it's an SPS doesn't mean you can blast it with light and flow. I've had a few SPS that do not tolerate high flow, others that won't thrive unless they're in constant turbulence, others that won't color up unless they're under brightest light and others that will only color up under lower light.

 

There are lots factors I look at to determine if a coral is doing well:

 

- Growth

 

Growth is a dead giveway. If the coral is receding in places it shouldn't there is something wrong.

 

- Color

 

Color is a bit more difficult. When it starts to go really pastel it might be getting to much light. I've also noticed that too much light can make some corals go unnaturally dark in places -- like they're getting burnt. This is always bad I've found. It's spelled tissue recession in the corals I've seen this happen with.

 

- Polyp extension (controversial among some)

 

This one tells me a lot about the flow a coral is getting. Some corals won't extend there polyps if they're getting too much or too little flow. It's pretty easy to tell which one it is.

 

Bugs and pests are a whole other thing, but I do keep an eye out for those all the time.

[jsw]

I buy lots of brown coral in hopes of them coloring up.

 

This A. lokani is starting to starting to get it's purple. I paid next to nothing for this thing because it was completely brown. I have feeling almost the whole thing is going to go purple. This is the purple it has started to show in the 3 wks it's been in my tank.

 

This guy was the drabbest brown and very sorry looking when I picked it up for $5. It's starting to go green but new growth has a purple hue. Not sure what this guy is going to do in the end.

 

Just picked up this monti today. It's kinda beat up (cheap).

 

This A. tenuis has really nice blue tips. I mostly like the polyps on it. It's a pretty shaggy looking coral. I hope the blue becomes a little more prominent on it, but we'll see.

 

And my slimer. This guy is crazy green...

[jsw]

The happy couple:

[divecj5]

Stunning picture you got there....perfectly composed in every way.

[jsw]

Stunning picture you got there....perfectly composed in every way.

 

Thanks!

 

When I purchased these two perculas -- close to a year ago -- they were the same size. With this pic you can really tell the size difference between the male and female now. They definitely did duke it out to establish the pecking order. They're great fish.

[divecj5]

I really like the face on the larger female....kind of looks grumpy though

[jsw]

I really like the face on the larger female....kind of looks grumpy though

 

She's all business. I've never seen her smile

 

You can see their beds behind them. The female sleeps on the left. The male the right. They share during the day. They're never away from the xenia for more than 30 seconds.

 

Although many consider xenia a nuisance I personally think it's a great addition to the tank. It loves the strong current. Doesn't mind the 400w halide. It's super easy to trim back or peel off rocks. It won't toast another coral if it touches it. It's a bomb-proof host. And it just looks alive with the pulsing polyps and all. It's pretty darn cool coral in my book. You just need to stay on top of keeping it in check.

[bluesky]

The happy couple:

 

 

nice pic and nice silver hand at the background ...

[jsw]

My tank is officially a year old now! And the coolest thing happened to tonight. There was a 2" sea hare on the back wall of my tank! It was just cruising around eating. Where the heck did that come from?! It's incredible it had to have been in my tank for a long time. I haven't added anything new to my tank in quite a while -- and never one of those. Anyway, it made my night.

[sprite]

how do you like the vortec? im thinking about getting one this weekend

[jsw]

I love it. I run it in reef-crest mode. I think I have it at about 50-60%. If you don't want to design your aquascape, coral placement, etc around it then it's probably not for you -- because it will knock rocks over and rip the flesh off corals.