murphy_5 Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 OK well I thought what the hell I'm turning my FOWLR into a full blown reef...so all I have in here is a Royal Gramma, Ocellaris clown, and a skunk cleaner. (I won't have this stocked to the brim) About 55lbs of caribbean LR and about 12lbs of Crushed coral/30lbs. Caribsea sand. I fragged some of my rics/zoanthids from my 29G and took out the gorgonians that were given to me one hasnt looked to hot since I owned it, so I may take it to my LFS. First off I am trying to decide between the Nova Extreme T5HO $215 or a TEK T5HO for $250 or a MH system on Aquatraders for $359. My dilema I'm not going to keep any SPS or anything so I don't think I really need the MH but I do like the look of a nice MH system so I don't know it maybe worth the money. Either way I should have something by the end of the week. As far as flow I'm going to get 2 Koralia type 3's I will replace the crappy ones I have now, I do have a modded AC110 fuge and another Tetra HOB filter and a Fluval 305 Canister filter. I am going to get another AC110 and get rid of the Tetra I think??? that should give me close to 50X turnover rate. I'm not sure about my stocking list but I definetly want frogspawn, bubble coral, lots of zoanthids, rics, I would love some sort of Toadstool leather too. I'll have to do some research but mostly LPS. Any suggestions are welcome, something I might not have thought about??? Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 Ok so now I'm thinking of the Aquactinics TX5 unit after I found out that you have to buy the lights separtly I'm not interested in the nova extremes anymore since they don't have individual reflectors! What is better The TEK or The Aquactinics. I can't go with the 6 bulb design since it isn't a wide enough tank. So I'm really leaning to the TX5 fixture. Link to comment
rhoople Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 First of all, if you can afford the MH, get them. They add a rippling effect of natural sunlight to the aquarim that none of the others do, and it looks way more natural. Go right to Hamilton Tech. They are by far my first choice, and you can get the bulbs right from them. I upgraded to the 80 CFM fans just because of the heat. And, I also have a box fan behind my tank blowing all the time to keep it cool. How deep your tank is will dictate how may watts you want to run, anything over 18" will need 250W 10,000 K bulbs. I run a 10,000 and a 20,000K in mine, but it's 24" deep. Anything less you only need 175W bulbs. I started with the 175W, but upgraded to 250W soon after. Depending on your climet, air conditiong is almost a must. Your rock scape looks fine, but I would add some new fresh LR to fill in some of the voids you have. Figure a 1 to1.5 LBS per gallon of water. And, for circulation, take a look at my posts ( Starting all over) I adapted a system for circulation from my LFS and it works super, I used 3/4 PVC with some neck dows to increase flow. Don't glue anything, you may want to adjust at times for the right positions. My water curents are going every which way, and only two pumps to opperate (RIO 3100) for now, but the mag drive 12 or 18 will be much better when I get those. I also have 2 maxijet 1200 in the front sides (corners, I have a 92 Gal. corner tank) to add to the effect. Now your stocking list. The bubble coral (I prefer to us the scientific name to eliminate confusion) if you get the PLEROGYRA, varity it doesn't do very well, it's a 5 out of 10 rating. It never lasted for me, maybe 1 to 2 months then it dies on me, but it just might be me. The Frogspawn (EUPHYLLIA) isn't much better with a rating of 6. Read the book on corals by Julian Sprung. If this is your first attempt at SW reef, try to stay with the soft corals as much as you can for a while. They are much easier to keep, in my opinion anyway. I would want you to have a successful first time so as not to get discouraged. Keep us posted as to how things are going, and what you decide on, welcome to the SW Reef world, you'll love it once you get it established. Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 Well I have had a very Successful 12G nanocube for about a year until I sold it to a buddy I now bought t back after he couldn't keep up with it...in the process of rebuilding (thats another story) I did upgrade my pump to a Maxijet 900 and went with the 4X24W nanocustoms hood with moon light fix, and bigger fans. So I am experianced in that respect, but this is my first reef of this size. My thoughts were once the stuff gets too big in the 12G I can frag it out and stuff up my 55G. Anyway I have my cold air return behind my 55G tank planned to perfection so I'm not too worried about the heat issues I will get bigger fans though if I go MH. I have had Frogspawn and Hammer in my nanocube with good results. I have also kept a BTA, Colt coral in there at the same time till it got too big I'll see if I have any pics of it. It was a beautiful tank! I'm leaning on the MH system just in case I go a diff. route in the future (tired of buying upgrades) Link to comment
Jackopus Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Nice, I'll keep an eye on this project, as I am considering swapping my 55g FW to SW.. I have been drawing up plans. I think I am going with e Refug rather than canaister though.... Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 Nice, I'll keep an eye on this project, as I am considering swapping my 55g FW to SW.. I have been drawing up plans. I think I am going with e Refug rather than canaister though.... Yeah its going to be an interesting one I have a modded AC110 fuge and will be adding another one or a CPR I'm not sure yet wich one. Like I said earlier I won't have a ton of Fish in here just corals that type of thing. So I don't feel like i really have to set up a Sump since I am (will be) running 2 fuge's with Chaeto LR and LS. The tank has also been up for a while, so all has been stable for a while now. Link to comment
Jackopus Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 The tank has also been up for a while, so all has been stable for a while now. Ahh, oki, was wondering how you got it "Cycled" so damn fast, HA! Was looking for the magic bullet from the grassy knol again.... Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share Posted June 4, 2007 Ok well my newest additions were a Firefish, and a Disbar Anthias (eats Frozen brine, mysis already) Great additions they both are out all the time! Beautiful fish! Waiting on my MH & PC combo lights from aquatrader.com I am very excited to see these things in action. My tank is covered as of now...but does anyone here know a good thing to use to cover my tank when my MH's show up??? Egg Crate??? And where to find it??? Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted June 5, 2007 Author Share Posted June 5, 2007 Next will be some more LR I'm thinking Fiji My LFS has some really nice purple pieces that will add some color in there!!! Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 Ok well, the aquatraderlights.com lights I was just about to order wouldn't fit the fixture is 15'' and my tank width is 13'' Really glad I saw that before I paid for them...sigh of relief...so I did the next best thing went to petmountain.com and ordered a nice 48'' Sunpod 150 X 2 MH. Should be real nice for LPS Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 OK also just ordered me 2 Hydor Koralia series 3 pumps from fishsupply.com shipped for $86 not too bad!!! Its going to be like christmas in June when all my stuff comes in. I'll take some pics and keep everyone updated. (if anyone is following Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 OK after a slight delay in shipping problems my lights and Koralia pumps are finally here, I also removed my Firefish and put him in my 12G Nanocube. I don't want him jumping out. He is the only fish in there. Here is one of the fish in here Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted June 23, 2007 Author Share Posted June 23, 2007 Ok so here's a bit of an update...not that many people are following but I have added a nice green frogspawn, and a very nice T. Crocea clam just recently OK and my best new addition is my mated pair of Black Clowns!!! Awesome fish!!! I love them, well worth the money! Here are some more pics and an updated FTS! As you can see the female clown is taking a liking to my frogspawn already! Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Ok well I have had a couple problems since I posted last. Trying to get my Disbar Anthias to eat better and adding DT's phytoplankton. I had a bit of Cyano outbreak...used red slime remover. Did one 20% waterchange a couple days later, waited a couple days and did another. I just finished one earlier today too all gone now. During all of this I started getting some Green Hair too. During my waterchanges I scraped it off. Nitrates are now at 5ppm I also started using Phosban again just incase (don't know why I stopped I even have a jug of it) I think some of this problem was from the Crushed Coral I have read so much about...when it was only a FOWLR I wasn't too worried about it, but now I am. I think I may scrape out the 10 lbs off the top of the sand bed??? I wanted to add a Jawfish in the beggining so I thought it would be god to have it so he could use it to help with his holes. Now that I have an open top tank I'm not going that route. Last week I also added about 15lbs more Fiji LR (very nice Coraline growth) to help with filtering. This came from my other tank. The rock has been in that tank for about a year or so. It had some nice Green, purple, blue mushrooms and some assorted button polyps, and a small finger leather frag also. Now I'm waiting for them to open up all the way. Really added some color/variety to the tank. Some good news though my LR is really starting to grow coraline all over them now I'll try to post some updated pics soon. Also took more pics of my black clowns my pride and joy. Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Ok here's a couple pics A right side and a couple new clown pics Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 I like your clowns. Thank you they are the best! I can't wait till I get some more money so I can really start filling this tank Link to comment
eddie29 Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I like them too, I can't decide between True Percs, some Picasso or some Onyx clowns or some B/W (like you have)... Yeah I hear you on the money. We almost have the same size tank (I got a 58 + sump) so it'll be interesting to see how things go with your tank Eddie Link to comment
Socalsuperhero Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Ok so now I'm thinking of the Aquactinics TX5 unit after I found out that you have to buy the lights separtly I'm not interested in the nova extremes anymore since they don't have individual reflectors! What is better The TEK or The Aquactinics. I can't go with the 6 bulb design since it isn't a wide enough tank. So I'm really leaning to the TX5 fixture. I can't say enough good things about the aquatinics light. I just got a 36" one for one of my 40gallons. The tank looks amazing, and coming from a 150watt 14k pheonix over a smaller, the sps I've put under it colored up within a couple hours and is literally, exploding. Plus, the fixture oozes quality. It's just a matter of time before I get a second one for my other tank. Link to comment
eddie29 Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I went with the Tek light should be here next week. I got mine for 175 with brackets over at the RC forum. I waited for a month or so but you'll find something used and I think I got a steal because the legs alone are 60 dollars Link to comment
eddie29 Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 oh yeah go to reefgeek.com the Tek lights are sold with bulbs for a bit more then you'll find just the unit by itself, that is if you are impatient but I did see a 48" unit on RC this morning. Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 oh yeah go to reefgeek.com the Tek lights are sold with bulbs for a bit more then you'll find just the unit by itself, that is if you are impatient but I did see a 48" unit on RC this morning. Yeah I ended up going with the MH Sunpod I have heard so many good things about the TEK and Aquatinics fixtures but for the same money I couldn't pass up the MH system plus I wouldn't have been able to get the 6 lights or the 8 light fixtures because of the width of my tank Oh well I am very happy with the Sunpod though. I like them too, I can't decide between True Percs, some Picasso or some Onyx clowns or some B/W (like you have)... Yeah I hear you on the money. We almost have the same size tank (I got a 58 + sump) so it'll be interesting to see how things go with your tank Eddie Yeah it was filling up fast but then I ran out of Reef money but I'll have some soon enough...you know I should take it slow anyway. So it can't do anything but help. Have you seen the Picasso clowns on the Clownfish contest? I think they are Helfrich's chich or something like that, I love those fish!!! You should really check them out! As for mine I love them and would never get rid of them, well worth the money! Link to comment
eddiet29 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 yeah i've seen them and I think I'm in love all the the Cinn clowns I saw at the lfs this evening looked pretty good. Yeah I just purchased the last of the rock, well except for the arc that I finally found, and I'm broke again well at least pay day is Friday. I had my water tested and I read no ammonia and almost 0 nitrites. So I'm itching to put something in there this weekend but I really need that RK2, i'm getting tired of turning off and on the lights Link to comment
murphy_5 Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 Yeah I hear that I'm going to Tenneessee this weekend and I can't get my stupid timer to work that came with the Sunpod!!! I can't wait till I have more money for my tank, its going to be a bit a couple weeks at least. I have 5 fish (2 black clown, Disbar Anthias, Royal Gramma, Firefish is back in again) I was thinking one more but I don't know what??? Then I'm stocking up on corals!!! Cinn Clowns are nice can be a little Aggressive though so watch them...I guess they all can be when they find a host. Link to comment
eddie29 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 well if you need a timer I got one, just not enough for the lights so I figured I might as well turn them all on and off by hand Link to comment
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