Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Pocillopora now... Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Hitchhiker feather duster then... Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Closeup of my hydnophora... these guys can get mean but so far no stingers... Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Here's a litophyton I have around the corner... Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 One of my two purple gorgonians that with feeding has gotten super fuzzy, I got this guy with just three branches, and now count em woo hoo:D Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 This ricordea has moved to the shade under my yellow cup, and left behind two new ones after pedally lacerating??? Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Closeup of my newest gorgonian that has brown polyps but an almost silver base when it closes up... Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Green nepthea that's a little closed up in this pic... Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 An older shot of my other ricordea that split... I have since given the one away and now it's splitting again... Link to comment
R*Frost* Posted April 25, 2003 Share Posted April 25, 2003 Outstanding looking tank !!!!, deserves to be nano of the front page. One ques i ahev i no that your tank is a 10 gal i was wondering what the size of teh tank was i.e 10x10x10. I am thinking of maybe getting better lighting PC for my 16 gal so i may have a chance of growing some sps . p.s Keep up the great nano Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted April 25, 2003 Author Share Posted April 25, 2003 Thanks Rfrost... it's a standard 10 gallon 20x10x12 Link to comment
R*Frost* Posted April 25, 2003 Share Posted April 25, 2003 i think i have a chance then of growing some sps sice my tank is around 24x12x12 so it's quite shallow. OOOOOOOOOO im gonna have loads of FUN Link to comment
Qckwzrd Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 I know you might have answered all the questions I might be asking but how long have you had the tank set-up, has anything died, and give me the run down on the tank as far as equipment goes? ...you make me proud to be from Brooklyn :-) lol Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted May 2, 2003 Author Share Posted May 2, 2003 Set up is as follows... lighting is a 2x36 watt ahsupply.com retrofit, with bulbs from hellolights.com (one 10,000k and one actinic). Above the tank is a 7 gallon refugium (critter keeper) with two 15 watt NO "Lights of America" kits from Home Depot that cost about $7 a pop. I run those 24/7. In the tank I have two Minijet 606s at each corner (upgraded from original 404s) and I have an Aquaclear 150 on the back, drilled to fit another Minijet (404) that pumps up to the fuge. The fuge then gravity feeds back to the tank. I have another powerhead in the fuge for circulation, which helps grow the macro. I have an ebo-jager (I think 150 watt) in the fuge. I now drip about a half gallon full strength kalk (1 tsp per gallon) every night, and on top of that have been recently adding about 4 mLs of B-ionic as the kalk cannot keep up now. Calcium stays between 400 and 450 and I try and keep my alk around 3.0 meq/L. I do just over a one gallon water change a week, and dose 10 mLs DT's every other day. I've lost just one sps frag, but it was my fault. It was an acro that was one of the faster growing ones in my setup. I added the big pagoda cup turbinaria, and I didn't realize it was shading the base of the acro. It began receding and then RTNed straight up. All the other sps has done well, along with the other stuff. If you do a search on my name or for kitchen nano you'll see it's progress. I gave away my BIG squamosa as it was just too big and stirring stuff up everywhere. The tank was set up last summer. If you have more questions I'm happy to answer. Johnny Link to comment
RogueCorps Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Hey Johnny, You're tank is amazing! And next to the stove...?! Truly truly a beautiful tank and an inspiration. Geez... do you have an auto topoff other than the drip when you go on vacation? Thanks for great pics and your contribution to the hobby... -Rogue Link to comment
postenje Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 do you run a skimmer or is the fuge enough? Jeff Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 Thanks fellas... Rogue I do not have an auto topoff... really I don't need it. I know it's a convenience, but I like to tinker with my tank and look forward to the things some people see as a nuisance. I drip kalk every night and I now know how many drips I need a minute to give me the topoff I need for the day, and my pH meter I watch carefully always... Luckily my recently retired father lives nearby and takes care of the tank when we're gone... he breeds freshwater angels and is getting to know my tank pretty well. Tomorrow I'm going to Hawaii on business and am taking the wife along, so he'll take the helm for about 10 days (we're overstaying for a little vacation... woo hoo!). As excited as I am to go, it always suck leaving my tank, but I call nightly to calm myself. Postenje I do not run a skimmer. I kept the possibility open when I set it up, but honestly I haven't registered a drop of nitrates since just after the cycle. The fuge is amazing really. I heavily feed the tank, and the fuge keeps everything stable. It also allows me to have a sump area, as I add everything to fuge to keep the tank as stable as a nano could be... For this reason I can't really see running both on a nano... When we get back I'll get some more pics posted... Link to comment
Joojoo Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 What powerheads are you using? Joojoo Link to comment
Joojoo Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 sorry for my ignorance, i just read the other post. Joojoo Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Ive read this and your two other posts, yet I still haven't figured out how you drip your kalk. I know you've got that bottle next to the tank, but... howsit work? Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 Hey smooth here is a pic I got from the internet of the bottle I have. It is usually used for reptiles, but also for kalk dripping. The bottle is 1 gallon exactly, and I fill it with 1 teaspoon of kalk powder and a gallon of RO water every other day. So every night I drip in about a 1/2 gallon (actually a bit less). Here's what I do. My lights stay on until about 11:15 pm. After Seinfeld is over at 11:30, I get the drip going by opening the valve and dripping in usually about 1 drop every two seconds. I keep an eye on my pH meter, and by dripping the kalk in slowly overnight it stabilizes the pH. The pH rapidly drops as the lights go out, even with my 24/7 lighting on the fuge. The pH rapidly rises with the addition of kalk. So, the two cancel eachother out. Then in the morning before I leave for work I stop the drip, and add some B-ionic to the fuge as the kalk cannot keep up anymore, even though I am now dosing full strength. The alkalinity buffer on the B-ionic (and all other alk buffers) shoots your pH up too, so I add it to the fuge, and it slowly mixes into the tank. Even by doing it this way the pH get's raised by about .2 from the B-ionic. To simplify here is a typical day with the pHs... 11 pm lights out pH around 8.2 or 8.3 kalk started 7, 8, or 9 am leave for work, kalk turned off pH 8.0 or 8.1... B-ionic added... pH goes back up to 8.2 or 8.3 for a couple hours and heads back down... 12 noon lights on with pH back down to about 8.0 or 8.1 slowly rises all day back to 8.2 or 8.3 and process started over again. Without the kalk addition my pH drops to about 7.8 at night, which I don't think is a problem at a low, but I believe the stability is more key, which is very tough in a nano, and tougher in my calcium hog nano. I hope that helps... my pH meter is a necessity, and many people have no idea how much it could swing when they just use the color tests, which are tough to read and not as accurate or precise. If you have more questions fire away... thanks again... Johnny Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 Here's the pic of the kalk bottle I use... Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Aha! That's perfect. I know exactly what you're talking about (I used to keep chameleons and they wont drink out of a bowl, only drops on leaves) and in fact I might have one laying around somewhere at my parents house. Any more info on your pH meter? Seems as though you're happy with yours, might as well follow up the good report and look into the same one. I'm very curious to monitor my levels, especially on my 2.5. Oh yeah, and I don't think I've told you that your tank is awesome yet, but its quite the inspiration. Keep up the good work! Link to comment
Brooklyn Johnny Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 One thing I should mention about using the reptile bottle... about every two weeks I soak the drip nozzle in an acid (usually vinegar) for a few hours to clean it off. An easy but necessary step. The pH meter I use is the Pinpoint pH meter... usually around $80, and is worth it's weight in gold to me. I can tell my alkalinity within .5 meq/L also just by looking at the pH and it's swings. It is convenient, accurate, and gives me so much piece of mind, especially when I wake up to take a #### in the middle of the night and quickly check out the kalk drip and pH... and the tank of course... Many people don't realize how much ALL levels fluctuate, especially in our nanos, and I think that is one of the major reasons some people fail (then usually blame it on their PC lighting ). Thanks for the compliment... Johnny Link to comment
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