H20's Nano-Reef AquaPod 24

[RC51 in SD]

Love the Ric! I've been looking for one with those colors at my LFS but with no luck.

[H20]

Another try at an Emerald:

 

 

I hope I don't end up regretting this, but I decided to take another shot at an Emerald Crab. My first one (I took him back to the LFS) was nipping at my corals, so I got rid of him. I did realize that they are great cleaners and keep the rock clean, and are constantly at work. SO I saw a tiny one at a LFS and decided to try another one and see if he will be a little more reef friendly. This guy is very small, so I hope he will be better behaved. I will be watching him..........

 

 

[dustins]

First I have to say great thread. Thanks.

 

I hope your new emerald crab works out for you as I ound mine to be an awesome addition and a really effective algae combatant.

 

I do have a question about your HOT Magnum. I think it is a great idea and I am now thinking about getting one. Do you know if it is possible to put any other chemical media in the carbon container, such as phosban etc.?

[H20]

First I have to say great thread. Thanks.

 

I hope your new emerald crab works out for you as I ound mine to be an awesome addition and a really effective algae combatant.

 

I do have a question about your HOT Magnum. I think it is a great idea and I am now thinking about getting one. Do you know if it is possible to put any other chemical media in the carbon container, such as phosban etc.?

 

Thanks. On the question about the HOT Magnum, honestly, I am not sure about other media like phoban, etc. I know that you can run carbon in one of the filters that comes with it, but not sure about others. I mainly just use the micron filter for cleaning up the water. Actually, just last night I used the Magnum for my water change. I hung it on the front of my tank, turkey basted the rocks and top layer of sand and scrubbed the walls, and kept the Magnum running until the water was clear. I would occasionally turkey baste everything back up again that had settled, to make sure the Magnum could get everything that I could, and let it run till it was clear again. Took about an hour or less. Then I took it off and did my water change. I have found this HOT Magnum to be awesome, to use every once in awhile to polish the water, or to do major cleanings, or to use during a re-aquascape. I can't speak highly enough about it.

[pprwngs]

Have you used VividAquariums and if so how are they? I was thinking about using them since they are only an hour away from where I live. And I have to agree with who ever it was that said it but Vivid has really nice looking zoos!!! And many other corals!

[Prowland]

Tank looks awsome! I have been considering rearranging the rockwork to fit more corals and give more space for my tourch.

 

What are you running in your back chaimbers?

 

Nice job on the fragging.

[H20]

What are you running in your back chambers?

 

 

Right now, in the back chambers (it only has two actual chambers, but I break it down into four since two of the spaces are large and two small), in the first chamber that has the filter grates, moving right to left, I have an eggcrate shelf that I made for filter floss to sit on, so that the water can pour onto it from the top grate. That is my mechanical filtration. The filter floss sits on top of a bag of Purigen, which sits on the eggcrate shelf. In the next chamber I have my digital temp probe, then in the next small chamber, my heater, then in the last larger chamber, my MJ1200 return pump. Thats all I have running in the back of mine at the moment.

[RC51 in SD]

Have you used VividAquariums and if so how are they? I was thinking about using them since they are only an hour away from where I live. And I have to agree with who ever it was that said it but Vivid has really nice looking zoos!!! And many other corals!

I placed an order with Vivid this past Wed. I'm sure they wont get to my order till tomorrow because of the holiday. I ordered some white bubble coral and orange supernovas but the zoas aren't in stock.

[pprwngs]

I placed an order with Vivid this past Wed. I'm sure they wont get to my order till tomorrow because of the holiday. I ordered some white bubble coral and orange supernovas but the zoas aren't in stock.

 

If you could please let me know!!

[H20]

Have you used VividAquariums and if so how are they? I was thinking about using them since they are only an hour away from where I live. And I have to agree with who ever it was that said it but Vivid has really nice looking zoos!!! And many other corals!

 

 

 

Sorry, I haven't tried them yet. They have awesome looking pics, wonder if they look that good in person. I will probably try them out sometime soon.

[H20]

A few odds and ends:

 

 

I was just watching the tank tonight after feeding it, and happened to have my camera nearby, and caught a couple of odds and ends in my tank.

 

 

Mini Brittle Star: Apparently, I have a mini brittle star living in a piece of rock that my zoas are on. He comes out in full force at feeding time, grabbing at everything in sight. I occasionally give him a piece of mysis shrimp and it is funny to watch his little tentacles wrap around it and jerk it out of my tweezers. He is one hungry guy! You can see his arms here, flailing about.....

 

 

 

 

Bristleworm:

 

I did not think I had any bristleworms in my tank, but after close examination tonight, it appears I have at least one....

 

 

 

 

Amphipod:

 

These little guys look like something out of the 'Alien' movie. I happened to see this one dart out into this open space, do a cartwheel, and run back into cover. They are odd looking.

 

[c est ma]

Sweet pics, H20! Nice finds. Personally I find the hitcher/micro fauna in my tank every bit as interesting as the stuff I added on purpose.

 

--Diane

[H20]

Another try at fragging:

 

After I lost my first attempt at a frag (due to a certain Peppermint Shrimp feeding on its flesh), I decided to take another stab at fragging the mother coral. It is actually looking very healthy, shortly after I mounted it and put it back into the tank. Hopefully this one will fare better than my last frag, although i think it will now that the Peppermint has been removed. I have been told that the Peppy shouldn't eat coral, but I witnessed him numerous times tearing at my Trumpets flesh. And now that he is removed from the tank, I see the flesh growing back where he had torn it off the mother colony. Go figure.

 

 

New Frag:

 

[shaz1971]

Goodluck on this one H2o, I hope it survives.

[H20]

A couple of pics of some Zoas:

 

 

I snapped a couple of pics tonight of two zoanthus that I have on the substrate. They turned out pretty good, so I thought I would post them. They are under dual daylight and dual actinic PC lights. No 'Photoshopping', camera was on auto settings in macro mode.

 

 

[c est ma]

Wow, nice shots, nice colors! Nice frag job, too.

 

--Diane

[ClowningAround]

awesome blue ones, where did you get them?

[H20]

awesome blue ones, where did you get them?

 

 

I picked them up from LiveAquaria.com on their Diver's Den section.

[c est ma]

Hey, that's good to know! I'd not been aware they had such reasonably sized pieces on Diver's Den. (Funny how those divers found them already on a frag plug, huh? ) Not that I have room for anything anyway, of course...

 

--D

[klarion]

Hi H2O,

 

I had a great time reading your saga, and I'm glad I did because I'll be returning to reef keeping soon and will use your tank for inspiration and ideas.

 

One question (since I must have missed the answer in the thread) when you say that you use 'super glue gel' to bind your corals, do you mean the super glue from the local hardware store or is it some brand of aquatic glue I'm not aware of? Please advise.

[H20]

Hi H2O,

 

I had a great time reading your saga, and I'm glad I did because I'll be returning to reef keeping soon and will use your tank for inspiration and ideas.

 

One question (since I must have missed the answer in the thread) when you say that you use 'super glue gel' to bind your corals, do you mean the super glue from the local hardware store or is it some brand of aquatic glue I'm not aware of? Please advise.

 

 

Thanks for the kind words, I am adding some new corals tomorrow and hope to get an updated front tank shot up soon.

 

In regards to the Super Glue Gel, yes, it is the household kind that you can buy at WalMart, Walgreens, hardware store, etc. It works great in the tank. Just make sure to buy the Gel form of it and not the regular.

[H20]

Goodbye:

 

 

I said goodbye to my purple firefish today. Took him back to my LFS today for credit. He ended up being a slight menace and bully to my other two fish. The Yellow Clown Goby would not come out anymore and stayed hidden; and the Tail Spot Blenny hid alot, and when he would come out, the Firefish would chase him off, and run him around the tank. He had a tear on his dorsal fin from the firefish harrasing him. I had enough of that, and decided to remove him. It was interesting to me to watch this unfold over the past week. I had always read that Firefish are shy and peaceful, but this guy was a bully. Kinda surprised me.

 

I sat here looking at the tank, thinking that I am never going to be able to get this Firefish out of my tank. I have too many hiding places and live rock, and the guy is lighting fast. I was figuring that I would have to live with him. Then I thought I would try something imaginative. I got a one gallon sized Ziploc plastic bag, sunk it in the tank with a piece of rock rubble in it to weight it down, and opened up the mouth of the bag wide as I could underwater. I then got some flake food and put it into the underwater bag, so that the food was kinda floating around in the bag. (this is with all my pumps turned off). The Firefish came up looking at the bag and tried to nip at some of the flakes through the plastic. After a few minutes of this, he decided to be brave and venture in to get some food.

 

As he was in the bag, I reached in and didn't close it fast enough (I tried to lift the bag out without fully closing the opening, dumb me) and he darted out and hid in the rocks. I figured that was it. That was my one chance to get him and I blew it. I figured he would not be so stupid as to wander into that bag again. So, I sunk the bag again and put some more food in it. Sure enough, a minute later he wandered back out of the rocks, and ventured towards the bag. After a minute, he swam into it again to get some more food. This time, I made sure to move slowly as not to scare him, but as I got my hands in the tank and near the bag, I clenched the opening shut. He was trapped inside and I lifted him out. I was actually quite surprised at how easily I caught him. I figured he was never coming out of that tank unless I tore it down.

 

Now, my Tail Spot Blenny and YCG are out in the front of the tank again, swimming around happily like all is right in the world again,

 

I believe that I may be done with fish for awhile, as I have gotten more pleasure out of watching my corals, inverts, and hitchhikers, than I have the fish. Although I love my Tail Spot, he has the best personality.

[xADUBx]

Glad to hear you got the fire fish out without too much trouble.

I have a Tail Spot and he also has the best personality. All day long he is out eating (looks as though he is head butting) pods and munching on algae.

[c est ma]

Wow, H2O, what a story! It not only had a happy ending, you invented a new method to catch fish!

 

So glad you restored the tsb to happiness and sociability. He is SO full of personality.

 

Congrats!

 

--Diane

[breebauer]

This is the best thread ever!!!

 

I feel like I'm hooked on some kind of reality show. I even feel the pain of defeat and the joy of victory right along with you! And you document everything so well! I know this is none of my business, but I'm curious what line of work you're in, now. It kind of adds to the reality drama. (Sorry if I'm being too nosy!)

 

I still can't believe you cought that firefish. Both of mine seem to have the ability to move through time!!!

 

I think I even want to go buy that same tank now...

 

(Did I really just say that? )

 

Must..... not..... buy..... anymore.... fish tank stuff..... ... holidays.....