Not too nano anymore.

[Hinecken]

Well, I like the idea of caves and shelves. And that's what I've done in my tank using Tonga branch even before I saw your tank Here. Though, I didn't go so high tech this time, but previously I even did a closed loop return with PVC just like you. It's all very strange......

 

I actually read most of your tank thread yesterday, but didn't have a chance to finish so I haven't commented yet. I can see we both share a love for branch rock. Funny thing is you are the only other person I've seen with the same 15gal I used to have. I had it in white and it was the tank that got taken out by Hurricane Wilma. I noticed the lighting you are using is quite a large fixture, I got around that problem with mine by using a small 150 HQI pendant suspended from my ceiling. Ended up working great.

[klarion]

I actually read most of your tank thread yesterday, but didn't have a chance to finish so I haven't commented yet. I can see we both share a love for branch rock. Funny thing is you are the only other person I've seen with the same 15gal I used to have. I had it in white and it was the tank that got taken out by Hurricane Wilma. I noticed the lighting you are using is quite a large fixture, I got around that problem with mine by using a small 150 HQI pendant suspended from my ceiling. Ended up working great.

 

Thanks for reading my thread. I did consider and HQI hung from the ceiling, but ended up going with a budget consideration ($60 for a near mint unit on eBay). I am planning to change the setup eventually.

 

AS far as branch rock is concerned, I completely agree that it's a a great option if you want to maximize water volume in the tank. I've got a lot of caves and crevices inside the scape but probably not as much water movement as in yours. I thought the tank was too small for a PVC loop. I've got about 30x turnover rate in the tank and some decent movement through the 'scape.

 

Looking forward to more updates and pics from you!

[Nick's Reef]

Hell yeah, snook fishing is as addictive as reef-keeping. If you're ever in S. Palm Beach and want to head offshore, just hit me up!

I go off-shore alot with my friend cause his dad runs a charter bussiness, the only problem is that my friend gets all the good fish! Btw if you ever wanted to trade frags just check my thread and give me a pm!

[SPS20]

I like the rockwork, it looks nice and open, lots of room for corals to grow into. Looks like its ready to be stocked. What kind of corals do you plan to keep?

 

- Josh

[Hinecken]

I like the rockwork, it looks nice and open, lots of room for corals to grow into. Looks like its ready to be stocked. What kind of corals do you plan to keep?

 

- Josh

 

 

Thanks! I'll be keeping mainly SPS, LPS, and Clams, but there will definitely be some choice Zoa's and Rics in the mix. I have a 29gal in our bedroom for the softies.

[Nick's Reef]

Thanks! I'll be keeping mainly SPS, LPS, and Clams, but there will definitely be some choice Zoa's and Rics in the mix. I have a 29gal in our bedroom for the softies.

If your looking for duncans when mine grows I can frag ya some for real cheap!

[Hinecken]

Ok, so I'm having a minor issue with micro-bubbles. I believe they're coming from the small hole I drilled to break the siphon if my power ever goes out. (yes, I also have a check-valve, but I'm a huge fan of redundancy.) Anyone have any suggestions?

[lilredneckman]

I go off-shore alot with my friend cause his dad runs a charter bussiness, the only problem is that my friend gets all the good fish! Btw if you ever wanted to trade frags just check my thread and give me a pm!

Yeah thad be me. If ya ever want a charter lemme know. I run Reel Native Fishing Charters.

[Hinecken]

I run Reel Native Fishing Charters

 

Got a website?

[lilredneckman]

Got a website?

http://reelnativefishing.com/

[Hinecken]

http://reelnativefishing.com/

 

I love Parker. They make a fantastic vessel.

 

EDIT: quote added

[lilredneckman]

I love Parker. They make a fantastic vessel.

 

EDIT: quote added

Yeah its a pretty nice boat. I like it.

[sayn3ver]

Nice tank.

 

Btw, do either of you do any kayak fishing? I picked one up this past summer but only managed to fish salt once with it, while the rest of the time i spent bass fishing. I'm in jersey though so its not as nice as Florida (i would assume).

[Hinecken]

Nice tank.

 

Btw, do either of you do any kayak fishing? I picked one up this past summer but only managed to fish salt once with it, while the rest of the time i spent bass fishing. I'm in jersey though so its not as nice as Florida (i would assume).

 

Thanks!

 

As a matter of fact I'm originally from Dirty Jerz, only been down here since '02. If I were you, I'd fish the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers with it. They hold plenty of stripers as well as fluke/flounder. If you get adventurous, fish the Navy channel in the bay. You can paddle out either from Belford, or paddle across from Horseshoe Cove on the Hook. The ledge of the channel holds all kinds of fish.

 

Personally, I have nothing against Kayak fishing, I just prefer 450hp of outboard.

My whip...

 

[Nick's Reef]

Nice tank.

 

Btw, do either of you do any kayak fishing? I picked one up this past summer but only managed to fish salt once with it, while the rest of the time i spent bass fishing. I'm in jersey though so its not as nice as Florida (i would assume).

I do I catch snook to the point of bordom kayak fishing. Just a simple white jerk bait pictch under the bushes normally does the trick. I've had so many huge 25+ pounders get off thou do to me loving to fish super-light tack (ml action wright & mcgill rod and quantum boca 20 spooled w/10lb. power pro and 20lb florocarbon leader) but where I fish you mostly get under slot fish that put up a nice fight on light tackle. Btw Hineken if ya want to know where this is it's the no motor zone in j.d macarthur state park. Right behind burnt bridge, easy acess by parking down the road and walking or just pay toll to get in the park. it's fairly shallow so you could wade. I've been back there and a guy had been wading for 45min. and had a nice stringer of 2 gator trout, a red and a 32in snook! I ussually only go during the mullet run cause thats when the big slobs of a snook really bite.

[Hinecken]

Good looks Nick! As soon as this front pushes through, I'll hijack my old man's kayak and hit the NMZ up. BTW, are elec. trolling motors allowed or is it strictly paddle/push-pole??

[c est ma]

Darn it! I replied to this thread last night! It was a great reply, too, if I do say so myself. I proofed it and everything...everything but hit the SEND button, apparently...

 

So--I know I told you how much I loved your 'scape under the new lights! It looks fantastic in the following pics--so large and light at the same time, with all the little nooks & caves and all...it's not something one can grasp with a quick glance; each little area is intriguing in its own way.

 

 

UPDATE: 1-14-2008

 

So it's been a few months since my last update, but yesterday my tanked reached a major milestone. It's ready to kick a$$ and take names. My family and in-laws all chipped in and got me the money I needed for my lights to help complete the set-up.

 

Lighting:

 

2 x 250w ARO Electronic Ballasts ( thanks Hellolights.com)

2 x 14,000k Hamilton mogul ended MH's. " "

2 x bat-wing reflectors. " "

 

Taaaa Daaaaa!!!!!

 

Straight On

Standing

Left

Right

 

 

And I really enjoyed this post, too. I'm really impressed with those pillars you pieced together. How intelligent to plan in advance for clams! Your aptitude for forethought borders on scary.

 

 

Thanks man! Hey, lemme know if you ever need any Chaeto, I throw piles away bi-weekly. I'd be happy to deliver some for some nice Jupiter snook holes. Do you fish?

Much appreciated.

Since I can finally photograph the aquascape decently, here's a grand tour. What do you guys think?

 

 

 

A quick note about my clam shelves. I started purposefully building shelves in my tanks for the past 7 years or so and highly recommend them. My clams always seem to love them and you can get them to settle at just the right height. If you don't have the good fortune of attaching them with the rocks dry, you can always use super-glue gel to put one in an established tank.

 

 

 

 

I know I told you how I went back to the beginning and read the thread again to review your specs and beginning steps...beyond that, whatever other brilliance I had to offer is gone...

 

So, do you have a timeline for stocking at the moment? Since you've been cycling since the dawn of time, are you going to start adding livestock shortly or wait for coralline?

 

Final note--rereading your thread I was struck by this advice you gave a poster:

 

Why is that 65 just sitting in your garage if you're saving up? It would be much better off in the house filled with water and sand and cycling. What's the worst that can happen? You take 6 months to save up and start stocking a tank with a mature sandbed? Take it from me man, find a home for it inside your house and fill'r up with sand and water. Throw in a powerhead or HOB filter if you can't swing the main circ. pumps yet.

 

While that's so simple, it really sort of just "clicked" with me. I'm always thinking of starting another tank "some day," and at the same time kind of cowed by everything that goes into doing so. (Though in fact, my present tank had very much of a similar start, but that was by accident and not on purpose. ) But you are so right, and I want to thank you for giving me a whole new "paradigm," as it were. Hmmmmm.

 

--Diane

[Nick's Reef]

Good looks Nick! As soon as this front pushes through, I'll hijack my old man's kayak and hit the NMZ up. BTW, are elec. trolling motors allowed or is it strictly paddle/push-pole??

push-pole and paddel only. My dad wanted to take the minn kota riptide off his bay boat a through it on our canoe cause paddling against the wind sucks!

[Hinecken]

Darn it! I replied to this thread last night! It was a great reply, too, if I do say so myself. I proofed it and everything...everything but hit the SEND button, apparently...

 

So--I know I told you how much I loved your 'scape under the new lights! It looks fantastic in the following pics--so large and light at the same time, with all the little nooks & caves and all...it's not something one can grasp with a quick glance; each little area is intriguing in its own way.

And I really enjoyed this post, too. I'm really impressed with those pillars you pieced together. How intelligent to plan in advance for clams! Your aptitude for forethought borders on scary.

I know I told you how I went back to the beginning and read the thread again to review your specs and beginning steps...beyond that, whatever other brilliance I had to offer is gone...

 

So, do you have a timeline for stocking at the moment? Since you've been cycling since the dawn of time, are you going to start adding livestock shortly or wait for coralline?

 

Final note--rereading your thread I was struck by this advice you gave a poster:

 

Why is that 65 just sitting in your garage if you're saving up? It would be much better off in the house filled with water and sand and cycling. What's the worst that can happen? You take 6 months to save up and start stocking a tank with a mature sandbed? Take it from me man, find a home for it inside your house and fill'r up with sand and water. Throw in a powerhead or HOB filter if you can't swing the main circ. pumps yet.

 

While that's so simple, it really sort of just "clicked" with me. I'm always thinking of starting another tank "some day," and at the same time kind of cowed by everything that goes into doing so. (Though in fact, my present tank had very much of a similar start, but that was by accident and not on purpose. ) But you are so right, and I want to thank you for giving me a whole new "paradigm," as it were. Hmmmmm.

 

--Diane

 

Diane,

 

First let me thank you for your kind words, I think you made me blush! I do have a loose timeline for stocking the aquarium. Now that I know I don't have a temp problem with my lights on and that my parameters are in check, I can start adding corals whenever I want. Recently I ordered some ricordia from Reefscavengers' eBay store. They're going to be my test. Should they fair well, and I don't see why they wouldn't, in a week or two I'll cash in my gift certificate to Reefscience.com. As far as motile inhabitants go, snails will be the first, followed by crabs a month or so after, shrimp a month after the crabs, and hopefully sometime in June I'll get a couple of fish.

I'm glad I've given you a new "paradigm." It's how I basically start all of my aquariums. As it is, I have a 29 cycling in my bedroom, and it has been since November. IMHO there is no better way to start an aquairium. Just let them run while you go through all the planning and research and eventually when you are satisfied and confident about what your're going to do, it's just a matter of running down your list. This method helps to save a ton of money too since you get a chance to thoroughly research all aspects of the aquarium before purchasing any equipment or livestock.

Again, thanks for the kind words and stay tuned for updates in the near future.

[Nick's Reef]

hey just wanted to add, The first mangrove island you see is were the fish normally are, or just fish the grass flats for a good chance of a slam, and if you go during a steady blow out of the north have fun paddeling!

[Hinecken]

UPDATE for Sunday, January 20th, 2008.

 

Got my first coral in today WOOT!! My ric's haven't arrived yet so yesterday I stopped by my LFS to pick up some tubing for my top-off. In talking with my buddy who runs the place, I asked if he had anything interesting in. He showed me a rock with quite a few orange and green zoa's on it but it had a bit of algae on it. Here's where it's good to know people. He took the rock and placed it in the tank with about 50 emerald crabs and hid the price tag. I went home, set up my top-off and buttoned up some wiring, then returned today to check on the crabs' progress and pick up some LR for my cycling 29. (It has since been commandeered by my fiance who now wants a tank of her own again. I'm a lucky guy, couldn't imagine being with someone that complained every time I brought home coral!) Low and behold the crabs wiped the rock clean. I mean there wasn't a single spec of algae anywhere near it. So, of course I couldn't resist and snatched it up.

 

Params:

PH: 8.3

SG: 1.024

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 0

Kh: 9

Calcium: 420

Temp Halides On: 78.5

Temp Halides off: 77.8

 

And now, the pics:

 

They're still angry from me breaking the rock in half, but you get the idea. I plan on documenting the growth and progress of my corals with photographs from the day I get them.

 

 

 

 

The other half of the rock is really angry still.

 

And an FTS for documentation sake.

[lilredneckman]

Oh wow sweet zoas!

[Nick's Reef]

Nice zoos!

[travisurfer]

awesome

[NAL]

This is an awsome tank, I am going to watch this one, and learn something for sure.