stavman Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 Here's my AGA 7 gal. mini-bow tank at three weeks, let me know what you think. Specs: Born on date: 3/1/02 Tank: All-Glass 7 gal. mini-bow Lights: CSL 32 watt Smartlight retro from Chris Heater: Hagen Mini-Thermal compact 50 watt @ 78 deg. Filter: Hagen Aquaclear 300 tuned to about 100 gph with a Hagen Aquaclear Mini impeller. Powerhead: Aquarium Systems Micro-Jet 450 from Chris Sand: 2.5 inches of Southdown plus 2.5 pounds of Live Sand Live Rock: 8.5 pounds of Fiji rock Corals: 1 Green/Red Brain coral Critters: 1 Cleaner shrimp 3 Turbo snails 2 Scarlet Reef Red leg crabs 3 Blue leg crabs 1 Bumble bee snail So far the tank has been very stable and fun to watch all the different life literally pop out of the rocks and sand. I plan to slowly add more corals without overfilling the tank. I think I have about 1 pound of Live rock to much. I may remove one piece and replace it with a rock encrusted some variety of mushrooms. I also plan to add two false perculas in a couple of weeks! This site has been a tremendous help besides inspiration! Keep up the good work guys! Link to comment
stavman Posted March 22, 2002 Author Share Posted March 22, 2002 Here's a shot of my Aquaclear filter used without media as a mini-sump. It adds almost a half gallon to the total capacity of the tank. Link to comment
stavman Posted March 22, 2002 Author Share Posted March 22, 2002 Here's a shot of my cleaner shrimp grazing on some algae: Link to comment
stavman Posted March 22, 2002 Author Share Posted March 22, 2002 Here's another shot of the tank on the left side: Link to comment
stavman Posted March 22, 2002 Author Share Posted March 22, 2002 Here's the right side of the tank. Does anyone know what specific type of caulerpa that is? It's not grape caulerpa because the top is flat. It started out as a piece less than an inch long attached to one of the rocks. Link to comment
stavman Posted March 22, 2002 Author Share Posted March 22, 2002 Last one for now, a close-up of the Brain coral: Link to comment
minigeek Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 Jealous, jealous, jealous is me. Looks like a great setup. Nice work! I can't wait to get started myself. I am surprised however you added the Brain so early in the setup but it looks to be doing well. How long did the tank take to cycle? How soon after the cycle did you add the brain? The rock looks great as well. Can't wait to see how your tank progresses and keep us updated! Link to comment
My Eclipse 6 Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 Nice rock layout, it looks good. Link to comment
My Eclipse 6 Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 How soon after did you add the skunk cleaner shrimp? My tanks been running for 6 weeks and I'm still afraid of adding one of these guys... Link to comment
stavman Posted March 23, 2002 Author Share Posted March 23, 2002 Thanks for the replies guys! I just bought and added the open brain coral and the skunk cleaner shrimp the other day. I added the snails and hermits that weren't hitchhikers after the second week. Everything seems to be doing really well. I had a very fast cycle because the rock was well cured and I transported it in water, not wet newspaper from my LFS. I am certain that helped a lot. Very little die off at all! Link to comment
Cam barr Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 love the sump idea could put a skimmer in to cutdown on water changes Link to comment
Cam barr Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 howd u get the gph to 100 if its a 300gph filter???? Link to comment
stavman Posted April 3, 2002 Author Share Posted April 3, 2002 Hi cam barr To reduce the gph on the Aqua Clear 300, I purchased a replacement impeller for an Aqua Clear Mini which is rated at 100 gph. The Aqua Clear Mini, 150, 200 and 300 all use the same motor so you can swap some parts between them. However, the Intake tubes are different sizes so I'm probably getting a little more gph than the Mini because the tube is about an inch in diameter compared to the 3/4 inch tube for the Mini. Using the AC 300 with the downsized impeller really works well with my setup. It has just enough power to gently move the sand in the front of the tank. You could tune it down a little more by sanding a little off the ends of the impeller fins, but I don't think it's necessary unless you use it in a smaller tank. Good luck and let me know if you try it. Link to comment
Krusty the Clown Posted April 4, 2002 Share Posted April 4, 2002 I had a similar looking Caulerpa in my nano reef Unfortunaltey it did not last ( I was told that I lacked Iron) The LFS I bought it from did'nt know the name either, but I found what looked like the same plant in the Pet Solutions catalog (plastic seagarden plants) they call it Caulerpa Vericellata. Link to comment
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