Alex's 20h

[willyboy]

cyano bad. coraline good.

 

cyanobacteria. Its usually a maroon color.

 

coraline algae, the friggin' purple stuff.

[alexmurovec]

ya, i know, i'm dumb.

 

i get it now.

[willyboy]

no, you're not dumb, just ignorant!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

j/k

[alexmurovec]

haha, ok, enough computer for now. bye.

[willyboy]

LOL. No I really don't feel that experienced at this whole reefing thing. I guess I am more experienced than some.

[alexmurovec]

ok, i picked up a decently sized turbo snail as well as a little mushroom to test things out. if the mushroom thrives and keeps growing, and the turbo eats all the hair algae, i think i'm good to go. i'll keep you guys posted with some pictures once the algae has cleared up, and the mushroom is not closed.

[willyboy]

There you are. I figured you went to the store. Good buy. Yes, we like pictures.

[alexmurovec]

There you are. I figured you went to the store. Good buy. Yes, we like pictures.

 

i know you like pictures, haha. i didn't acclimate either the snail or the mushroom, as i dont even know how yet, maybe i should have found out. i'm sure the snail will be fine though, and the mushroom was free. the snail is already charging all over the hair algae, so give it a day and i'm sure it'll be super clean! now i just gotta find a bulb for my 70W MH then i can get some real nice light on there and maybe start adding some corals.

[willyboy]

So he is eatin' the algae. Awesome. I'm glad my experience helped you.

 

Yay! CORALS LOL

 

I'm goin the LFS (not the one an hour away) to see what they got. My weekly trip. It will probably be disappointing.

[MacheteAvenue]

hey, did you end up checking out thoughs LFS's? and i bought a bit more live rock yesterday and a small mushroom to see what would happen and so far so good on my live rock there are a few small feather dust that have been poping out ever once and a while.

[Travis]

I would wait to add corals, get that algae problem under control first

 

Oh, and btw, good luck with not adding any more for a year, it's hard, I know, I have tried, and failed lol.

[willyboy]

He already got ONE coral. There's no stopping him now. Yes I waited till I got my algae under control before I even got fish.

[alexmurovec]

hey, did you end up checking out thoughs LFS's? and i bought a bit more live rock yesterday and a small mushroom to see what would happen and so far so good on my live rock there are a few small feather dust that have been poping out ever once and a while.

 

no i was not able to go to them. the one in a-z autotech was closed, and the other one i couldn't get a hold of. i finally got a hold of them (reefkeepers) and they are moving their tanks, and are open 630-9pm wed-fri until they are up and fully running again. check out www.reefkeepers.ca

 

I would wait to add corals, get that algae problem under control first

 

Oh, and btw, good luck with not adding any more for a year, it's hard, I know, I have tried, and failed lol.

 

haha ya, we'll see how i do about that. anyways, i am definitely waiting for my algae problem to get figured out before i add any more corals. i got a free mushroom from my lfs just to see if it thrives, and if so, then after my algae is gone i know i'm good to go.

 

i recently tore down my 135G african cichlid tank i had in my room, and now theres a big empty space in my room. i'm thinking about making a stand for my 20, and using a 10 as a sump. i was also thinking i'm going to buy a new 20 and drill it, so i can get everything setup while my existing tank is still running. anyways, i got a few questions regarding that.

 

- i have a mag-drive pump that i'm thinking of using, its 1200gph, but i could throttle it down. would you use it for the sump return?

 

- i want to drill 3 holes in the new 20, 2 for outputs, and 1 for the overflow. i want to drill the overflow in the middle of the tank, and have a 90 degree elbow that accepts the water, instead of having an overflow box. what do you think?

 

- there is an add in the paper for figi live rock, as someone is taking down their big reef. its only 5 bucks a pound, and i'm thinking of getting a little more rock for my tank. this new rock is from an established tank, so if i add the rock into my tank, will i see another cycle?

 

- finally, when i do transfer over my stuff from my old 20 to the new one i plan on doing, i want to rinse the sand. i didn't rinse it when i first put it in my tank, and see the side effects now. if i rinse the sand, will i see another cycle as well?

 

i'm going to keep just the snails and hermits in there, until i get the hole new system figured out. i do not want to move corals, fish, and all that other complicated stuff from tank to tank, so i'm gonna play it safe for now. but when i do move my stuff, am i just starting over by creating another start to a cycle?

[willyboy]

Sorry, I can't really help with drilling or plumbing (or any DIY as a matter of fact). I used to do cichlids. I think the next naturally step in fishkeeping after cichlids is SW. I have two ten gallons that have a few small cichlids in them and when I get the resources... well.... u know.

[MacheteAvenue]

awsome, thank you i will have to check them out someday soon..

 

i will put some more pictures up.

[UCLA.irie]

I don't think you should rinse the sand, it might release harmful nutrients.

 

$5 for fiji is not that good of a deal from someone tearing down their tank. Where do you live?

 

I have a 30 gallon tank w/ some fake cichlids (blood parrots) in it and couple of turtles.

 

Can't wait to see pics

[alexmurovec]

I don't think you should rinse the sand, it might release harmful nutrients.

 

$5 for fiji is not that good of a deal from someone tearing down their tank. Where do you live?

 

I have a 30 gallon tank w/ some fake cichlids (blood parrots) in it and couple of turtles.

 

Can't wait to see pics

 

well when figi rock is 9.99 a pound, 5 bucks is a great price. i live in kelowna, BC, Canada. i thought the same about rinsing the sand, i'm not going to. it might be awhile until i get a build on this stand. my dad says hes pretty busy with lots of stuff that he wants to get done around the house, so i might end up building it on my own, with his tools, haha. i'll keep you guys updated.

 

 

awsome, thank you i will have to check them out someday soon..

 

i will put some more pictures up.

 

your tank is looking great, looks like the diatoms are starting to kick in. looking foward to seeing some progress.

[alexmurovec]

well mom and dad dont agree with another sump tank. we had a little flood with my 135G because some sort of reverse syphon happenned during a water change once. we had everything rigged up for water changes, top offs, and all, but somewhere along the line something was wrong. looks like theres not going to be any change to my 20g now. it's going to stay on my desk, and i'm going to build a little lid for it. since i'm getting MH i dont want the light spread to be all over the room, so the lid will keep the light in the tank.

 

for a 70W MH over a 20H, what would you guys suggest for height of the pendant off the water? i can add some fans if i get heat problems, but i'm thinking somewhere around 2-3 inches off the glass top.

[Travis]

3 inches will be fine, heat shouldn't be an issue.

[alexmurovec]

3 inches will be fine, heat shouldn't be an issue.

 

great, because i didn't want a huge 12 high canopy do you think the light will spread enough throughout the tank though? i'm using a zenith halogen pendant from home depot.

 

heres a picture...

 

[Travis]

I have a 150w over my 20H and with it about 5 inches off the water it just lights it to both sides of the tank. If you raise the 70w too high, it won't be strong enough, or be comparable to PC in terms of light intensity, but if it's low, it probably won't light the sides of the tank very well, you'd have to keep your light loving corals in the center of the tank.

[megan]

How do you get such clear pictures??? What are you using and what are the light parameters?

[alexmurovec]

I have a 150w over my 20H and with it about 5 inches off the water it just lights it to both sides of the tank. If you raise the 70w too high, it won't be strong enough, or be comparable to PC in terms of light intensity, but if it's low, it probably won't light the sides of the tank very well, you'd have to keep your light loving corals in the center of the tank.

 

travis, do you have a link to your own tank. i remember i strolled across your thread once, and was it ever inspiring. but i can't find it anymore

 

How do you get such clear pictures??? What are you using and what are the light parameters?

 

my pictures clear? i think they are terrible, they are so grainy and just plain bad. but, i'll tell you what i do to take them. i have a canon 5.1 digi camera, just one of those small family type ones, ya know. anyways, i put it on manual setting, use about 1/60 shutter and the lowest F i can, like 2.6. then i set whitebalance to some underwater setting it has, and iso at 400. i have yet to take a picture of my tank that i like, but i guess someone likes them

[alexmurovec]

right now it seems that the only thing growing in my tank is hair algae. i have cut down the lighting from 8 hours a day, to 4 hours a day. my turbo snail i recently got is starting to munch away at it, and he is going strong.

 

my little hitchhiker colony of polyps are still growing and splitting. i dont know an exact name for them, so i posted a picture. if anyone could give me a possible ID that would be great. right now they are very small, and even though the water flow isn't that strong, they are getting pretty beat on because of their size, but they are still extended. anyways, heres the picture.

 

[MacheteAvenue]

a random picture for you all....

 

 

 

 

just a little update.

 

I have about 10 little bristle worms in my live rock and im not sure what i should do with them. any suggestions.. aswell i have a evil red eyed crab he doesnt really do anythign but run around the edge of my tanks mixing up my sand all night... not sure waht to do about that either...