Zook’s Zoa & LPS Reef

[zook]

Here's the latest FTS. More photos are at the end of the thread. Enjoy.

 

FTS 03/03/09:

 

 

Equipment:

• Aquapod 12gal AIO w/ ADHI Refugium & Nano-Prefilter Overflow

• 32lbs of Indo-Pacific Live Rocks

• Sunpod 70w MH, stock 14k

• Koralia Nano

• Tunze Osmolator Universal

• Tunze Nano Skimmer 9002

• Kent AquaDose 1400ml

 

Fish:

• Pair of Percula Clownfishes

 

Inverts:

• Feather Duster & Coco worm

• Red Banded Pistol Shrimp

• Various snails & brittle stars

• RBTA

 

Corals:

• Various Zoanthids & Palythoas

• Duncans & Dendro

• Yellow Turbinaria

• Frogspawn & Hammer

• Daisy, Blue, Palm Tree Clove Polyps

• Purple & Large-Polyped Gorgonian

• Blue Cespitularia

• Ricordea

• Blasto

• Trumpet

• Acan Lords

• Australian Elegance

 

Tank started on 7/10/08.

 

FTS 02/02/09:

 

FTS 12/29/08:

 

FTS 11/03/08: Did some fragging and rescaped a bit.

 

FTS 10/29/08

 

FTS 09/30/08

Water chemistry is still not perfect perfect yet as you can see from the expansion of the frogspawn.

 

FTS 09/02/08

I know I'm very stupid for purchasing a 4.5" Teardrop Maxima for a two-months old tank. It didn't make it, of course, and I learned my lesson from the lost of a very precious life. I'm very sorry.

 

FTS 08/19/08

Duncans are one of my favorite corals. I got a nice Frogspawn at the LFS as well.

 

FTS 08/08/08

CUC added with my first corals and fish. The Percula came with a mate, but he didn't make it )=

 

FTS 07/15/08

Everyone at work got very tired of looking at rocks for almost three weeks. . .

 

Refugium 11/03/08: Added skimmer and a few other gadgets.

 

Refugium 09/30/08

4" of mixed live fine and coarse aragonite DSB with live Fiji mud over 1" plenum and 16lb of Fiji live rock. There are so much discussion regarding issues of DSB and plenum, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try it in a fuge. I wanted to grow seagrass in here, but I'm not sure if that will ever come into play. Chaeto is doing such a fine job =D

 

Edit: Info/Photo updates. . .

[soundman]

Nice job - looks good!

[fiction101]

I think this is the first 12g ap I've seen with a sump, what's your total water volume?

[lilredneckman]

NICE!

[Lalani]

Nice variety, I like it. And that sump/fuge looks spiffy.

[zook]

My Percula hosted the return powerhead for first few months until I start noticing her "trying" out the Duncan and darting back and forth between the two. She's in the Duncan all the time now and I'm glad the Duncan doesn't seem to mind

 

(thinking of a RBTA. . .)

[fiction101]

How much did the sump/refugium w/plumbing set you back? I'm wondering if I should try it out on my 12g.

[zook]

With rock, sand, and equipment displacement, I think I actually have 12 gallons of total water volume. j/k. It's more around 18 gallons, if I'm lucky.

 

I bought an ADHI-20 fuge because its layout allowed me to try out a DSB and plenum (I really really wanted to try these). I originally wanted to grow sea-grasses in there, but I'm not sure if that idea will ever grow into fruition. The hardest thing to figure out was finding an overflow small enough that it wouldn't block the view of an entire side of the tank. I got a nano pre-filter from LifeReef, but just an outer box as I used the back chambers of the AP12 as the "inner" box. That seem to work out great. I'll post more pictures when I get the chance:

 

 

As you can see, with tubing, pump, and misc stuff, it all cost me quite a bit and there are definitely less expensive ways of accomplishing this feat. The fuge, for example, can be a DIY with a 10 or 20 gallons glass and some acrylic baffles: ideas at Melev's Reef .

 

The fuge wasn't absolutely necessary, but it was something I wanted to try. I did the mod to grow chaeto in the back chambers, but that was more work than what it's worth. I have the tank at work so everyone wanted to see fish fish fish (insert all the "Look, it's Nemo!" I hear everyday) so as the result, the tank is overstocked with fish and the fuge definitely helps.

 

Hope this answer your questions

[gulfsurfer101]

That is the best set up I've seen done to an AP12g. I was going to run a ten gallon sump underneath mine but decided against it since I would have to remove the back chambers to fit my cpr50 over flow box on it. I will just hold off till I'm ready to get things put back in my Ap24. That tank of yours looks stellar with lots of nice coral in there.

[zook]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'll try to post more info and pictures of the system when I get a chance.

 

 

That is the best set up I've seen done to an AP12g. I was going to run a ten gallon sump underneath mine but decided against it since I would have to remove the back chambers to fit my cpr50 over flow box on it. I will just hold off till I'm ready to get things put back in my Ap24. That tank of yours looks stellar with lots of nice coral in there.

[jspot]

Just wanted to say that I bought some coral off of zook and all arrived in great shape, packaged very well, and more than I expected. If you ever have more for sell please shoot me a pm, would really like to buy some more from you soon.

[zook]

Thanks JS! I'm glad the corals are doing well. Let me know when you have a small RBTA ready to trade =D

 

Just wanted to say that I bought some coral off of zook and all arrived in great shape, packaged very well, and more than I expected. If you ever have more for sell please shoot me a pm, would really like to buy some more from you soon.

[zook]

Some new additions =D

 

Just got a pair of tank-raised Banggai Cardinals. Both seem to be adults and are still alive, which might mean that the larger is a male and the smaller is a female. I hope that they're a "compatible" pair. I also got a small Percula for pair with my larger female. She seem to accept him, but it might take longer for them to pair up. She let him host the Duncan with her (which he learns only after a few days). He seem to be trying to host the frogspawn on his own and getting stung by it. You can say that I'm overstocking with fish, but with skimming and a big fuge, I don't think it will be a problem, right?

Can anyone spot the Sailfin Blenny? Hint: Zoas.

 

 

Got a Coco Worm a little while back as well. It was only $35 with a short tube so I couldn't resist. I'm spot feeding it and it's doing great; it's out all the time and you can see the new calcification. Frogspawn and hammer expand like crazy, I'm guessing the water is more stable now. The Cespitularia is getting big and sending out new clones as well.

 

 

Zoas on the left. Got my first SPS: turbinaria reniformis. It came with a blue communal crab! After I put the coral and crab in the tank, I saw two crabs and was ecstatic, but it turned out the crab shed the moment it entered the tank. Go Lugol's Idodine. Go some Candy Aple Red palys as well.

 

 

Zoas on the right. Got this giant rock of blue zoas with yellow/pink centers and green skirts. Let me know if anyone want to trade for these. The rock is way too big for my tank. You can see on the bottom right corner that green is coloring up in some so yellow/pink, green, blue from center with green skirts. Yikes.

 

Edit: Grammar. . .

[shan]

Some new additions =D

 

Just got a pair of tank-raised Banggai Cardinals. Both seem to be adults and are still alive, which might mean that the larger is a male and the smaller is a female. I hope that they're a "compatible" pair. I also got a small Percula for pair with my larger female. She seem to accept him, but it might take longer for them to pair up. She let him host the Duncan with her (which he learns only after a few days). He seem to be trying to host the frogspawn on his own and getting some stung by it. You can say that I'm overstocking with fish, but with skimming and a big fuge, I don't think it will be a problem, right?

Can anyone spot the Sailfin Blenny? Hint: Zoas.

 

 

Got a Coco Worm a little while back as well. It was only $35 with a short tube so I couldn't resist. I'm spot feeding it and it's doing great; it's out all the time and you can see the new calcification. Frogspawn and hammer expand like crazy, I'm guessing the water is more stable now. The Cespitularia is getting big and sending out new clones as well.

 

 

Zoas on the left. Got my first SPS: turbinaria reniformis. It came with a blue communal crab! After I put the coral and crab in the tank, I saw two crabs and was ecstatic, but it turned out the crab shed the moment it entered the tank. Go Lugol's Idodine. Go some Candy Aple Red palys as well.

 

 

Zoas on the right. Got this giant rock of blue zoas with yellow/pink centers and green skirts. Let me know if anyone want to trade for these. The rock is way too big for my tank. You can see on the bottom right corner that green is coloring up in some so yellow/pink, green, blue from center with green skirts. Yikes.

 

Beautiful tank!!! I would take the zoas off your hands BUT I also have a 12g!!! darnit!

[clownfish1124]

you haz 2 manyz prity coralz! i want dem all!

(or at least the fire and ice in the corner...)

btw. nice scroll in the middle

[zook]

Are those really Fire and Ice? I had no idea =D

 

What I really love are the Orange Delights. Orange and blue center. Yum. I have only a couple of polyps of it.

Sorry for the blurry picture. I'll update with a better one later.

 

 

you haz 2 manyz prity coralz! i want dem all!

(or at least the fire and ice in the corner...)

btw. nice scroll in the middle

[dubsmcfly]

some of those zoas look familiar hahaha hows everything going?

[zook]

Hey Dubs! Long time no talk, how are things? Thanks for the awesome zoas and the GBGs! Everything is doing great. I need to start fragging them. Let me know if you need some to start your new tank =D

 

 

some of those zoas look familiar hahaha hows everything going?

[jokercykoe]

Nice tank. Your tank is packed!

[zook]

Thanks! That's the one problem with having such a small tank, I want to have a little bit of everything in there =D

 

Anyone want to trade some corals?

[zook]

So I was fragging some corals and ended up rescaping the rockwork and guess what I found. . .

 

. . .EGGS!!!

 

I'm pretty sure that these belong to the Green Banded goby pair as the eggs were found where the male usually hangs out. I'm so excited. I'm reading up info on raising them, but I'll be away on vacation this week so I hope they don't hatch until I get back )=

[douglam]

Zook im planning to add a sump to my 12 gallon so just lime you have but I'm curious how you prevent backflow into your sump from your display through the return line. When you loose power doesn't a siphon start in your return line draining your display down to the powerhead. Also did you drill through your tank for the return line or does your return go into the back chambers?

[zook]

Hey Doug,

 

Looks like your AP12 is the same as mine. To answer your question, I didn't drill the tank and did nothing to prevent backflow through the return line from the display tank to the fuge. I connected my return line to the stock return output (where the Deflector is) so when the pump is off, water will only drain to that level, which is only a few inches from the top. All my corals are below this water line.

 

If you don't want any backflow at all, a check valve connected to the return line can solve the problem.

 

I had a lot more trouble draining water from the tank than returning it. Let me know if you need more info on that as those little slits on the back wall are quite troublesome.

 

Edit: Just curious, how's the RBTA in an AP12?

[douglam]

By RBTA is doing great. it was only about the size of a baseball when i got it and now its bigger than a softball. its awsome and my clowns love it. it did wonder the tank for a little while though. it was happy one place and then it moved and how it hasnt moved again.

 

My next question for you is what size tubing did you use for the return line as i was reading that the maxijet 1800 utility accepts a 3/4 or inch tubing but the return whole in the tank accepts a 1/2 inch tubing. Did you just jam the 3/4 inch into the whole?

[zook]

Hey Doug, I was thinking of a RBTA for my clowns, but I believe that RBTAs get too big and I just don't have the room. Both my percs are hosting a Ducan, but the Duncan gets annoyed sometimes when the fishes go crazy through it. The male also hosts a frogspawn, but he's getting stung. Oh well for now.

 

I'm using 3/4" tubing as you're completely right in that the MJ1800 accepts this diameter. My overflow and fuge also accepts 3/4". You're also right in that the return output in the tank is around 1/2" and I did convert from 3/4" to 1/2" for the return line with a u-tube and some tubing. I'll take some pictures when I get a chance.