SKH AP24

[skh]

Here's my AP24. I've made several of the standard AP mods: replaced the stock pump with two mj900s (one to the split locline and one to a hydorflo), and replaced the stock fan with two 60mm silent fans and dremelled out some of the internal vent covers.

 

I've also added DIY air-powered ATO and plan to complete the refugium mod and the 2x40 watt light mod this weekend.

 

I bought 24 lbs of cured live rock from reefermadness (highly recommended) and am mixing my saltwater using IO salt and RO/DI water from an Air, Water, Ice mighty-mite.

 

Current stocking is 2 ocellaris, branching frogspawn, branching hammer, gsp, candycane, a few zoas, a green ricordia, and a couple of red mushrooms.

 

The obligatory FTS with a floating bag of chaeto.

 

The (hopefully) recovering frogspawn and its neighbor, the hammer.

 

Some zoas.

 

My sole ricordia.

 

 

The GSP.

 

A couple heads of the candy cane.

 

One of two red mushrooms and a hitchhiking zoa.

 

The clowns.

[jsw]

Looking good! Can't wait to see this shape up as you keep stocking. Just make sure things are stable. Your tank is still young.

[chaostactics]

nice keep going, push the limits

[skh]

Thank you. I think I need to take a hammer and chisel to the two rocks in the front of the tank. They were extras when I was aquascaping and I think I can use them as rubble in the chamber I'm turning into a fuge.

 

There's a strange polyp on one of the rocls that I hope someone can identify. It hasn't changed any in appearance since I first saw it a few weeks ago, so whatever it is it may be dead.

 

[reefone]

looks like aptasia

[skh]

Here's a branching torch I added today.

 

 

And the new arrangement on the sandbed after getting rid of the extra live rock.

 

[Toomin]

Cool!

go get some brain corals!

[skh]

An open brain (Trachyphylliidae) is definitely next on the list. I've heard that the red ones tend to come from deeper parts of the ocean, while the green ones are found closer to the surface in turbid lagoons.

 

I had to move the candy cane today to keep it out of the way of the torch's sweepers. It sustained a few stings but hopefully nothing too serious. You can see the white spots in the picture where the sweepers stuck. It's now on the other side of the tank, upstream from all of the euphyllids.

 

[travisurfer]

looks nice. argent had a similar rock anemone in his tank if you wanted to check that out.

[skh]

In order to keep the chaeto out of the main tank I decided to implement the rear-chamber fuge mod (where the back vinyl is cut off and an external light is pressed against the glass to light the chamber). I ordered the Odyssea 13" 24w PC light from www.aquatraders.com to use as the refugium light, which seemed approximately the right size, although perhaps a little on the large and high-powered side.

 

It turns out that the light fits much better than I expected, and can be put snugly and securely against the back of the tank without any fastening aids. It also looks very sleek and clean.

 

You can see how snugly it fits against the back of the tank when you stand it on one end.

 

The connector on the bottom ensures that most of the light is actually up against the upper parts of the chamber and not at the very bottom where the live rock usually is put.

 

Not bad for $24.99 (as long as you order enough items to make the exorbitant shipping worthwhile). Although the build quality is not particularly great and the included bulb is a 50/50 10k-actinic that isn't ideal for chaeto, I have no complaints at that price.

[skh]

I just did the 2x32 watt to 2x40 watt light upgrade this morning. It's trivial to do if you leave the connectors loose rather than drilling new holes in the reflector. This "mod" is highly recommended. However, note that I already dremeled out some of the vent covers beneath the reflector and added two stealth fans to deal with any excess heat.

 

Those who are even more ambitious should try natureboy's 120 watt mod.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Also,here's a new mushroom/paly rock I picked up on Friday from a fellow Bay Area reefer. It's not in an ideal location with the hydorflo blasting it every 15 seconds, but it's the best place I can find for it at the moment.

 

It came with a couple of small serpent star hitchhikers, which I'm happy about. I didn't have any of those in the tank up until now.

 

 

[skh]

Here are the latest additions to the tank. I've also added a pompom crab, but he wouldn't cooperate for the pictures. I'm now looking for a nice red brain coral to add some additional color.

 

Yellow Clown Goby:

 

Zoas

 

 

Edit: I noticed that the clown goby sometimes hops into the frogspawn right next to the candycane where it's perching. It will sit in the FS for a little bit and then will get irritated by the tentacles and bite them. I hope this won't be a problem for the FS in the long run.

[skh]

Here's skunk cleaner #2 who replaces the one that didn't make it through the first night. His permanent location is at the front of the tank next to the frogspawn. He's now quite aggressive at feeding time and is willing to go toe-to-toe with the clowns for prime morsels of frozen and freeze-dried cyclopeeze.

 

 

Unfortunately there's no sign of the new pompom crab. Hopefully he's okay and hasn't had a fatal encounter with the emerald crab.

[skh]

I'm totally stoked about the two brain corals I picked up tonight. They fluoresce so nicely under the actinics, especially the red brain.

 

 

But I can't possibly be as stoked as my little yellow clown goby.

He's absolutely in love with the red brain.

[vtysl]

Wow, nice brains. Such intense colors especially the red one.

[skh]

I finally managed to get pictures of the emerald and pompom crabs. The pompom is still very reclusive but hopefully he'll start to feel more comfortable when he realizes that no one is interested in eating him.

 

 

 

 

Here's a frag of "ultra pink" zoas I picked up last week. Hopefully they'll stay pink under my PC lighting.

[agileTuan]

Very nice tank. I really like your frogspawn and hammer pics. And the pink zoas looks pretty.

[skh]

Here are the newest additions to the tank: a fire shrimp and a second pompom crab (and a bristle worm hitchhiker).

 

 

They've been in the tank for about a week and a half now and the fire shrimp has just started to come out from behind the rocks during feeding. He's really shy considering he's the biggest thing in the tank so far. The pompom didn't have anemones when I got him and so far hasn't convinced the other pompom to share. His current home is under the edge of the green open brain.

 

Here's a more up-to-date top-down picture. I've since trimmed all of the green macro algae that's covering the rocks.

 

[skh]

Last week I added a second clown goby, this time a brown (red) one. At some point he must have jumped into the rear chamber of the aquapod. He was back there for at least four days before I found him chilling in the chaeto. I had to take out everything from the chambers -- chaeto, live rock, pumps, heater before I could pull him out. Hopefully he'll stay put now. He seems much shyer than the yellow clown ever was.

 

I haven't been able to get a good picture of him since he's hiding all the time but this is exactly what he looks like. I'll update with an actual picture as soon as I can.

[skh]

I currently have 2 small false percs (<2") and 2 clown gobies (one yellow and one fivelined). I want to add one or two gobies (shrimp and/or hover). The two most important criteria for me are no jumpers (I prop the lid to keep it cool in the summer) and only peaceful fish.

 

Right now I'm thinking of getting one shrimp and one hover goby. For the shrimp goby I'm leaning towards a randall's or a wheeler's. For the hover I'm thinking either rainfordi or hector's.

 

Any thoughts? Do you think this will be too many fish for a 24 gallon? It's currently running 0/0/0 with once daily feedings.

 

Edit: The five-line disappeared after a few days and has not been seen since. Sad.

[jdp]

The tank looks great. where did you put the second maxijet?

[skh]

Thanks. Both mj900s are stacked in the left chamber. The output line from the second mj900 runs under the partition between the chambers and to the hydorflo.

 

The tank looks great. where did you put the second maxijet?

 

 

Here's some interesting macro algae that sprouted from the liverock. Any thoughts on what they are?

 

[CarterNichols]

ever find the five line?

 

your crabs don't go after the shrimp?

[skh]

No I never did. I'm pretty sure he's gone. It might have been due to being chased/stressed by the YCG or the smaller clown fish. I'd love to get another and have two clown gobies in the tank, but I'm not sure if that's workable. Never had a problem with the hermits/pom-pom attacking the clearners. There's a large red-eyed xanthid crab lurking somewhere in the back that I'm a little worried about though. One of these days I need to trap him and the hitchhiker mantis.

 

ever find the five line?

 

your crabs don't go after the shrimp?

[skh]

All right, after a 5-month hiatus I have a status update -- not a good one. Since the last post there have been a lot of casualties, some unexplained and some likely due to less-than-great maintenance (no water change for nearly a month). The tank is now getting back on an even keel, but damage has been done. In total, I lost a fire shrimp (for unkown reasons), my YCG, and just a few days ago a firefish (shock from the overdue water change?). They will be missed.

 

The only survivors are two ocellaris clowns (doing great), a skunk cleaner, and a couple of scarlet hermits (and probably also the hitchhiking mantis). The coral in the tank is so-so -- the green brain is almost completely bleached out, the red brain is a little bleached but getting better daily, the branching hammer and frogspawn are alive but have seen better days, and the GSP is almost completely bleached out but still comes out every once in a while. On the other hand, the trumpet coral, pink and red zoos, and the torch are doing great.

 

Once everything is doing well again (probably going to give away the green brain so it can recover) the current plan is to get a six-line wrasse and possibly a banded coral shrimp. Good idea?