megan Posted December 23, 2007 Author Share Posted December 23, 2007 OMG you are awesome! I'm running to the tank right now to try it! Link to comment
megan Posted December 23, 2007 Author Share Posted December 23, 2007 Oh, and can anyone tell me why most of my mushrooms are shrinking? Some of them are spreading and fat and happy, but most of the rics are getting smaller and smaller. I'm guessing it is a water quality issue, but what specifically??? I dose calcium and do my weekly water changes. I know when I use fresh ocean water, everyone opens up nicely, but I haven't been able to lately...RED TIDE!!! Link to comment
megan Posted December 26, 2007 Author Share Posted December 26, 2007 Merry Christmas!!! Does anyone have any thoughts on the down sides to a lighting upgrade? If I got a Sunpod, I'm worried about jumpers, heat, and the changes to my corals. I think I've seen that people introduce the light slowly by taping off and adding a bit at a time. What are your thoughts??? Also, I read something in an earlier post about a rotating power head nozel? Can you just replace the duckbill or is it a whole pump? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 bueller? bueller? (hey, remember our discussion waay back about 'big threads'? i toooold you. ) anywho, to answer/reply some of the q's recently: i wouldn't get the rotating output thingy for the PH. they eventually clog unless you do regular maintenence (which if you do do maint. then i guess it would be fine, i'm just more lazy on average). a swcd or alternating power strip/wavemaker are better options ime. can help much with the rics. my own experience is not very good with them. purty but i'm just not good on those. sorry. upgrade, can't hurt in the long run. but in the short run, the tank probably needs to be light acclimated. that process is a little complicated in that you've got to approximate the intensity with the old lights and then slowly increase it. approximate it first by hanging the new mh's higher than the previous fixture, e.g. old lights were 4" off the water surface, new lights may need to be 10" off. you kinda have to "eyeball" the intensity, get a light meter, or pay very close attention to how the livestock reacts to the new lights. then over the course of a few weeks, i'd slowly lower the new lights closer to the tank (i.e. increase the intensity) until you react the level/height/placement you want. hth Link to comment
megan Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Just thought I'd give an updated shot. It is going pretty well I guess. I have a few things to iron out. I hate how brown/purple everything seems. Do you think a lighting upgrade would improve that, or is it just my selection of corals so far? Here goes... What do you think? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I hate how brown/purple everything seems. Do you think a lighting upgrade would improve that, or is it just my selection of corals so far?depends on the type of lighting, i.e. bluer shade. for example, i just recently switched 'down' from 14000K (XM) to 10000K (XM) and noticed a significantly more 'drabness' to the livestocks' coloration. i expected that though but did the change for some other reasons beyond aesthetics. but varying some of the colors would help things stand out too. or accentuate them. e.g. cluster of red mushrooms situated next to a cluster of blue mushrooms. i'd stay away from green corals unless you plan on a very blue bulb and/or actinic supplementation to aid in fluorescing. Link to comment
spanko Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I like the color of your tank, looks pretty natural not like a Peter Max poster. Lighting would have an effect on it. An upgrade would make more of the natural coloring pop and may even morph some of the corals into different shades\colors. Link to comment
megan Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 You are a total freakshow Tiny and I love you! Maybe I'll do some rearranging tonight. I have lots of yellow, a little blue, but mostly greens and purples. I want to get a little clip on MH, but I'm worried about evap. and jumping. The solorensis jumped out the other night and smacked me in the face to then fall on the bar and flop. Nothing like getting smacked in the face with a wet, floppy critter! Hehumm... (bad attempt at throat clearing). Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Nothing like getting smacked in the face with a wet, floppy critter! Hehumm... (bad attempt at throat clearing). hey now! this is a family-oriented site! psst, i'll meet you in the premium lounge after work though! Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 hey now! this is a family-oriented site! psst, i'll meet you in the premium lounge after work though! Premium Lounge...only heard stories of that place. Tank looks good Megan. I tend to agree with tiny(because he's awesome) that lighting would only change the hue of what already exists. Picking up some varying colors of corals will do more for the overall color scheme of the tank. Tiny, my noob tale has never been "officially" removed, where do I fill out an application for review? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Tiny, my noob tale has never been "officially" removed, where do I fill out an application for review?i thought caesar was doing the majority of those "operations" these days. she seems she has a natural knack for cutting off dangling appendages. Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 i thought caesar was doing the majority of those "operations" these days. she seems she has a natural knack for cutting off dangling appendages. I don't want her to, she lacks bedside manners. I can pretty safely say that here because, unless someone links to it, she'll never see it since it's not in the Lounge. I was under the impression you were still the one who decided. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I was under the impression you were still the one who decided.nah, i might been one of the first to coin the phrase (noob-tail) but it isn't my trademark. ok, i'll do ya a quickie. turn around. bend over. now hold still. gggget rrrready? cough. eh, just kidding, i snipped it at 'hold still'. you want it in a kalk/pickle jar for posterity sake or what? btw, did you that cliffie's tail was huge! but shrivelled. sorry megan, for the hijack...welcome to NR! Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Thanks tiny, and sorry Megan, this thread will now return to it's regularly scheduled program. Link to comment
megan Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Thanks tiny, and sorry Megan, this thread will now return to it's regularly scheduled program. Like any other great programming, I'm sure it will be cancelled at some point! No worries, I'm concerned that I've been missing something as I've never been to the "lounge". WTH, I thought this was all about fish, corals, biology...Geeky sh!t. Is there something else I should know about? BTW, thanks for the tank comments. The highest complements I could be paid are those of the aquaria kind. (keep in mind you haven't seen any personal pics yet! But hey, I'm no Fraggle). Link to comment
montananano Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have really enjoyed reading this thread and all Tiny's advice. Megan's tank looks great. Makes me want to leave work and do some aquascaping. Megan- how did you get such nice coraline growth? Im about 3 months in and havent seen a change in it. Do i need to be doing a 2 part dosing thing? Some guys say weekly water changes will do it, others say dose. Which is it to get that awesome nano reef look? Link to comment
megan Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 You are seriously so sweet! I was just looking at other threads and decided to redo my scape. I can't believe how much energy I have invested in this thing!!! Yes, I do a two part. The other day my water tests showed that I had over dosed the Alk, but my Calcium was perfect. Don't be afraid to dose. If anything, I think you really have to! Cruising around this site gives so much inspiration. Keep it up! Link to comment
megan Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 So I just spent the last hour re-scaping. I'll post some pics tomorrow and I want to know what you guys think. I think the new scape shows some depth and makes it look a little bigger. I also wanted to take Tiny's opinion and get some complementary colors together to highlight the good stuff! Link to comment
megan Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 So, it is hard to tell, but I have two arches now where the fish can swim in and out. There is one pic with my shrimp hanging in upside down from the roof of one. Look over the full tank shot on page 8 and let me know which one you like better. Although, I gotta say... I'm not changing it again. I've got too much stuff now to be d!ck!n around. The first is a left side, then a right side, my happy rics and two full tank shots. You'll actually see all 4 fish in one of them. That NEVER happens! Link to comment
Pickle010 Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 I like the NEW scape best - Very nice Megan! Link to comment
megan Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 Thanks! I spent hours and it looks pretty good in person. I'm happy for the time being. Link to comment
montananano Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 i thought id show my latest incarnation and get ya'lls opinion. Its still very lightly stocked so i could move stuff around again. Link to comment
spanko Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Looks good but I suggest getting that g\Caulerpa out of there. It will become a problem quickly IME. Link to comment
megan Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 I like it. I love a planted tank, but I don't know anything about how the green stuff grows. You can't tell in my photos very well b/c it is dark in the back, but I have same arch type look now. I like it. Link to comment
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