sslak Posted August 21, 2007 Author Share Posted August 21, 2007 Hrmmm I'll try running the light opposite the display...it certainly won't hurt anything! Link to comment
sslak Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 Full tank shot with corals finally glued to the rocks and everything just the way I like it! (till I get something new) My favorite Zoos right now...they look really great under the actinics. The hammer coral has been growing extremely well! Frogspawn - Soft corals are so cool Neon green zoos and yellow polyps Here's my new awesome Hi-fin goby! Montipora cap. growing nicely! Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 So the monti is still doing well under your stock lighting? I might get one for myself in my other tank if it works out well for you. After I upgraded my BC14 lighting to HQI, I used the old hood w/ lights over my 10gal setup. Let me know how your monti progresses. Maybe I then can add one to my 10. NICE cave btw. Link to comment
sslak Posted August 27, 2007 Author Share Posted August 27, 2007 So the monti is still doing well under your stock lighting? I might get one for myself in my other tank if it works out well for you. After I upgraded my BC14 lighting to HQI, I used the old hood w/ lights over my 10gal setup. Let me know how your monti progresses. Maybe I then can add one to my 10. NICE cave btw. Yep, I actually have two Montipora cap. one brown and one orange. Both have grown noticably since I took over the tank. Link to comment
sslak Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 MORE ROCK! Ummm can you expand on that a little bit? Why do I need more rock? I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I really like the cave as it looks right now. Yes I could probably buy another 10 lbs of rock and just have a tank with a pile of rocks in it, but I was going for a reef tank...not a tank full of rocks. The other thing I think you failed to notice is the location of the Tube Anemone...I can't very well just pile rocks on top of the poor thing now can I? It limits my options as it's directly in the center of the tank. I plan on getting a plate coral to sit in the front corner of the sandbed, and perhaps a maze brain for the other front corner. Remember, the more rock you add the less water you're going to have, as well as a greater chance of "dead zones" in your flow pattern. When someone gives me a rational reason to add more rock I'll consider it! Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Ummm can you expand on that a little bit? Why do I need more rock? I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I really like the cave as it looks right now. Yes I could probably buy another 10 lbs of rock and just have a tank with a pile of rocks in it, but I was going for a reef tank...not a tank full of rocks. The other thing I think you failed to notice is the location of the Tube Anemone...I can't very well just pile rocks on top of the poor thing now can I? It limits my options as it's directly in the center of the tank. I plan on getting a plate coral to sit in the front corner of the sandbed, and perhaps a maze brain for the other front corner. Remember, the more rock you add the less water you're going to have, as well as a greater chance of "dead zones" in your flow pattern. When someone gives me a rational reason to add more rock I'll consider it! i've got 40 lbs of rock in my 20. i've also got about 30x turnover an hour and 20+ hermits and 20+ snails (lost count, lol) so there are no dead spots and even if there are there are no detritus pockets. more rock may mean less water, but it also means more biological stability. between the hermits, hundreds of bristle worms, and 2 lbs of rock per gallon i've had fish die that didn't even take 2 hours to disappear and caused NO spikes of any kind in my water chemistry. fish live on the reef, practically in the rock, in nature. it is death for smaller fish to venture very far from the rock in the ocean, so they won't mind as long as there are plenty of nooks and crannies for them to explore. plus more rock = more surface area to attach corals . tank does look good though Link to comment
sslak Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 i've got 40 lbs of rock in my 20. i've also got about 30x turnover an hour and 20+ hermits and 20+ snails (lost count, lol) so there are no dead spots and even if there are there are no detritus pockets. more rock may mean less water, but it also means more biological stability. between the hermits, hundreds of bristle worms, and 2 lbs of rock per gallon i've had fish die that didn't even take 2 hours to disappear and caused NO spikes of any kind in my water chemistry. fish live on the reef, practically in the rock, in nature. it is death for smaller fish to venture very far from the rock in the ocean, so they won't mind as long as there are plenty of nooks and crannies for them to explore. plus more rock = more surface area to attach corals . tank does look good though That doesn't sound possible. You run a 600gph pump? Doesn't that cause heat issues or sandstorms? A Koralia 2 stuck to the glass doesn't count as turnover by the way...I'm at about 17x turnover THROUGH my filtration media/fuge. I also have more rock than you think I do...I'm well over 1.5 lbs per gallon at this point. I'm also not the type of person to just pack my tank full of corals the first three months I own it. I want to introduce a few very small frags of choice specimens that I really enjoy and then let nature take it's course and watch the reef grow out and mature. How long has your tank been setup? What type is it? Where is your tank thread? Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 That doesn't sound possible. You run a 600gph pump? Doesn't that cause heat issues or sandstorms? A Koralia 2 stuck to the glass doesn't count as turnover by the way...I'm at about 17x turnover THROUGH my filtration media/fuge. I also have more rock than you think I do...I'm well over 1.5 lbs per gallon at this point. I'm also not the type of person to just pack my tank full of corals the first three months I own it. I want to introduce a few very small frags of choice specimens that I really enjoy and then let nature take it's course and watch the reef grow out and mature. How long has your tank been setup? What type is it? Where is your tank thread? the flow on my tank comes from: ac 70 refugium running at about 150 gph rio 180 pushing 120 gph 2 MJ 1200's, alternating on a wave maker. so at any given time there is 565 gph plus the output from my backpack2 flowing through my tank (30x is a ruff estimate). by turnover, i mean total water volume turnover, not filtration turnover. my temps stay pretty steady between 74 and 76, and that's with 130w of PC. i have a 20H, and most of the corals have been with me from smaller tanks for 2 years now. i started with a 1.6 gallon hex, upgraded to a 2.5, then to a 5.5, then to the 20. i don't have a thread for the 20, since A) i'm a crappy photographer and my coral stock is really nothing that noteworthy. i've got a lot of coral, but it's mostly stuff that i've scrounged from frags that i got for free from work, several different types of zoanthids, mushrooms, soft corals, lps, etc. (i'm on a broke college student's budget). but when i get a chance i'll break out the tripod and see if i can't get some decent photos and post you a link. Link to comment
sslak Posted August 31, 2007 Author Share Posted August 31, 2007 Cool, well I can't imagine fitting 4 pumps into my Biocube. I'm really happy with it the way it is, so for now "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted September 1, 2007 Share Posted September 1, 2007 Cool, well I can't imagine fitting 4 pumps into my Biocube. I'm really happy with it the way it is, so for now "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" yeah 4 pumps definitely wouldn't work so well in a biocube 14 . like i said, the tank does look good though, and from what you've said you should have plenty of live rock and good flow. although you could always upgrade the 900 at 240 gph to the 1200 at 295 gph... haha i guess there's a reason my coworkers call me the tim taylor of reefs. Link to comment
sslak Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 I'm trying to decide if I should get a pistol shrimp or another cleaner. I fear that my anemone has developed a taste for shrimp so the bottom dwelling pistol might be the best bet. I think a cleaner shrimp is a great benefit for the fish however to keep parasites and such under control. Hrmmmm perhaps both. Link to comment
sslak Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 Well yesterday when I got home my pump was blasting micro-bubbles into my tank!! Chamber 3 had been pumped dry and chamber 2 was very, very full and had a nasty film on top. Problem: Bag of Purigen in the bottom of chamber 2 is a bad idea. The bag should be used as chemical filtration...don't try to use it as filter media Lesson learned. Solution: Dig all the LR from chamber 2 and move the bag of Purigen to chamber 1 with the heater. Replace LR rubble in chamber 2. Problem solved! My flow is now much faster, but I notice occasionally that I still get a few micro-bubbles. I am thinking about how I could make a sort of baffle in chamber 3 to let those bubbles escape before the pump sucks them in. I think they are coming from the water falling into chamber 2. The bubbles must make their way all the way through my LR rubble and into chamber 3. This might also be because I've changed up the "plumbing." Maybe once everything settles in that problem will disappear. Link to comment
HoomHow Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Any updates? Pics? Don't leave us hanging! Link to comment
sslak Posted September 19, 2007 Author Share Posted September 19, 2007 As I suspected the micro-bubbles disappered once the tank settled in a bit after making those changes. I will post more pictures when I have the opportunity. My Nitrates are 0 for the first time since I aquired this setup! Link to comment
sslak Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 Here's some updated pictures! Enjoy! Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I am printing this whole thread and going to the store after work!!! quick question: what are the corals near your intake to the filters? I am new and was wonder what would do well near those grates? whatever you have back there seems to be doing alright! oh, what what is the grassy looking stuff that glows bright green?! Link to comment
sslak Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 The really bright grassy stuff is Neon Green Star Polyps! You can keep most anything near the intakes as long as it doesn't get sucked into the grates. There is plenty of flow there for most things! One thing I would suggest is that you add as much rock as you want to have when the tank is finished right away. Once you have inhabitants adding rock is a bit scary as you can create a mini-cycle. I got my tank already stocked so I found out the hard way that it's pretty difficult to add rock later on. Glad you like it! Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 green star polyps! awesome...that pic is looking down so it looks like less rock. also, that big one on the right has a huge hole in it that a fragged something would fit perfect in. edit: now that i look at the picture in my sig, it isnt the one looking down. I just want more room for the fish to swim! I have 12 lbs in the main tank and 2lbs in the back chambers Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 another questions....I want to upgrade my stock pump today. do you like your mj900? should i get the rotating head? and should I also get the hydor flo? i saw you said you experienced TOO much flow? Link to comment
Darklyte24 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 too much flow stock pump is fine Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 dont you have a mj900 on your bc14? or are you "too much flowing" to the additional hydor flo? Link to comment
Darklyte24 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 im using the stock pump i tried the mj900 Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 well....i was thinking i needed it!! what do you think about one of those heads that splits into 2 directions? or the 360 degree spinning head? any of that needed?! I face mine up of the surface of the water towards the front glass. sorry for hijacking your thread ss. Link to comment
sslak Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 I disagree with the Darklyte24, I think the MJ900 is an excellent upgrade for this tank. I did not like the HydorFlow as my corals always seemed irritated and I didn't get the polyp extension from the frogspawn and hammer that I like. The MJ900 is not only more reliable than the stock pump, but it has a higher GPH rating and uses LESS wattage, therefore creating less heat! Link to comment
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