Chucktown BC 29 Mixed Reef

[divecj5]

There are a lot of MSU xxx screen names around with the same avatars. I guess you all travel en mass

 

Thanks for the congrats. It is the longest that I've had a tank running to date and it is still going strong (except the flatworms of course). This time around I decided not to skimp on equipment and I think that it's paid off so far.

[MSU Fan]

Yeah, I hear that - we run in packs

 

I agree, piecemealing a set up together just makes it harder to get stable. My biggest issue is want of a skimmer, but chamber 2 is a fuge...that eliminates the 3 best skimmers (tunze, CPR, sapphire). Oh, well, crappy oceanic skimmer yay!

[divecj5]

One of the biggest lessons that I've learned over reefing for about a year and a half now is that it is better to address things early on before they get out of hand. This can apply to a number of things. I know that one of the things that I did and regret on my other tank is to just always say, "I'll get to that later or tomorrow or next week." I had a crappy Coralife Super Skimmer (some people had success with it) that never really skimmed very efficiently. I also just started off with a couple of maxi jets in the tank and some really cheap PC lights. By the end, I ditched the skimmer as it broke (didn't have money for another) but had a nice 5 bulb aquatinics T5 fixture and ran three Seio's in the tank. By that time though, algae and maintenance just got out of hand. I regret it since I had a nice acan that had about 50 heads on it, a frogspawn that I grew from 5 heads to over 50 (it was the size of a large Nerf ball) and a lot of nice zoas.

 

I just wanted a fresh start since I was falling out of love with the hobby. I have been really happy with this tank and enjoy the hobby a lot more now.

 

Lesson to be learned is to address things early on and don't procrastinate with issues. This is the wrong hobby for that

[MSU Fan]

One of the biggest lessons that I've learned over reefing for about a year and a half now is that it is better to address things early on before they get out of hand.

 

I just wanted a fresh start since I was falling out of love with the hobby. I have been really happy with this tank and enjoy the hobby a lot more now.

 

Lesson to be learned is to address things early on and don't procrastinate with issues. This is the wrong hobby for that

 

Absolutely.

[klarion]

One of the biggest lessons that I've learned over reefing for about a year and a half now is that it is better to address things early on before they get out of hand. This can apply to a number of things. I know that one of the things that I did and regret on my other tank is to just always say, "I'll get to that later or tomorrow or next week." I had a crappy Coralife Super Skimmer (some people had success with it) that never really skimmed very efficiently. I also just started off with a couple of maxi jets in the tank and some really cheap PC lights. By the end, I ditched the skimmer as it broke (didn't have money for another) but had a nice 5 bulb aquatinics T5 fixture and ran three Seio's in the tank. By that time though, algae and maintenance just got out of hand. I regret it since I had a nice acan that had about 50 heads on it, a frogspawn that I grew from 5 heads to over 50 (it was the size of a large Nerf ball) and a lot of nice zoas.

 

I just wanted a fresh start since I was falling out of love with the hobby. I have been really happy with this tank and enjoy the hobby a lot more now.

 

Lesson to be learned is to address things early on and don't procrastinate with issues. This is the wrong hobby for that

 

I guess there is always that first tank........ where things don't go exactly as planned. I had a very similar experience about a decade ago.

I'm very glad that we've got the net and these helpful forums and I could have used member feedback the first time around. I had a 55 where I used tap water to mix salt at the beginning......you get the idea.

 

I think it's best to really plan out the tank and do research before buying anything. And then, setting up all at once--ready to go.

[divecj5]

I was just feeding the tank some cyclop-eeze and Phytoplan and have never seen the corals in there react like they did. The polyp extension on the green pocillipora was just out of this world and even the mushrooms got in on the action. I should have taken some pictures.

 

I haven't feed Phytoplan in a long time and guess I will have to start doing it more often.

[divecj5]

Just wanted to give an update on the progress of the Flatworms. As I mentioned last week after discovering them, my overall approach has remained to just monitor their numbers and then act accordingly.

 

I have been using the syringe from my Joe's Juice to pull them off the glass. This little aparatis has made it really easy to suck them off the glass. I them just plop them down the drain

 

From the beginning, I had only counted at the most 10 on the glass at any given time. I usually just give the glass a good looking over at least once a day and pull them out when I see them. It seems like I am pulling out at the most maybe 5-10 daily. Yesterday it was around 5-8. I was telling Diane, I am going to start keeping a log of how many that I pull out daily so that I can get a better grasp on their numbers. At this point, I haven't seen a huge spike or decline either way. It seems like they are content with just keeping themselves in a gang of 10

 

That said, I will resort to chemical warfare if I start to see a large increase in their size and population. I am starting to wonder if my aggressive skimming and use of macro algae has helped to keep the dissolved nutrients and thus their food source to a minimum?

 

I will keep you all updated on how it continues along. In the meantime, my corals have never looked better. My puppy is getting spayed as we speak so while my wife and I hang out with the pooch during recovery this evening, I am going to take some pics of the tank. Maybe even a video

[divecj5]

Since I had a little down time last night to mess around with the tank, I decided to take a short video of the tank. I have some more pictures that I need to go through but those will wait til this afternoon. Sorry the video isn't longer, I didn't realize the memory card was almost full before I started.

 

[Nick's Reef]

Very cool video! I love the shimmer of mh I hope to upgrade from pcs soon.

[spanko]

Nice. Is that some type of macro algae about mid way up on the right, kind of pinkish color? If it is better watch out Weetie will be looking for some!!!!!

[divecj5]

Very cool video! I love the shimmer of mh I hope to upgrade from pcs soon.

 

Thanks Nick. That is one thing that is definitely unique about having metal halides. It is even more noticeable in person. I used to have a little more surface agitation but it got to the point where the shimmering was so much that it was making my eyes buggy

 

 

Nice. Is that some type of macro algae about mid way up on the right, kind of pinkish color? If it is better watch out Weetie will be looking for some!!!!!

 

Thanks Spanko. Yes, that is a type of macro algae although I've yet to put my finger on a direct identification. I have had it in the tank for a little while now and I just trim it back where necessary. It all comes out of about 3 different parts of the rock and has not spread from those parts.

 

If there was some way that I could separate it from the rock and get it to continue to grew, I would definitely trade some around

[diggman08]

dive whats up stranger... im Back .. tell all the BC29 peeps im back on here and gettin my tank back in action...

[divecj5]

Hey man...good to see you again on here. Hope all has been well with you and your tank. Looking forward to seeing and hearing all about it. Good to have you back.

[diggman08]

check out my thread ive posted in it... thanks bro

 

anything new and exiting that i missed over the past 5 months llol.. with your tank.. howz it doing?? i think the last time i remember you were just getting married.. i havent really been on since then..

[divecj5]

Wow Digg. I guess it has been quite a while since you've been on here since the last you heard it was before I got married. Lets see if I can do a quick recap of the last 3-4 months:

• Got married on Nov. 24th
  
• Went on honeymoon to San Fran and Monterrey the week following
  
• Got an 11 week old Miniature Australian Shepherd the week we got back
  

 

Those are the major life things other than the usual work stuff. As far the tank is concerned, I kind of slacked off on it for about a month to a month and a half. Didn't really keep up with the water changes, changing the filter pads, pumps, etc. Sounds like you and did the same thing although you did let yours get more out of hand . I then got tired of looking at it the way it was so I decided to change my approach on things (see a couple pages back) and just not get so worked up over this little speck of algae or this little bit of detritus. Following Diane (c est ma) philosophy, I just started checking out the smaller things in the tank and just trying to enjoy it more. I of course cleaned the pumps, got back to water changes, changed the Purigen that had been in there for months, and the tank hasn't done better.

 

I haven't gotten really any new corals....well I did get an awesome frag pack as a wedding gift from Tuddizzle so those corals are in there (some zoas, chaeto, octospawn frag). Other than that, I haven't had any money to get any corals so I've just been enjoying what I've got. I plan to add some things over the next month or so but probably not too much.

 

I guess that pretty much catches you up in a nutshell....

[diggman08]

sweet dude.. ... its hard to be religous on a tank. for 9 1/2 months like ours.. i mean it takes alot of dedication... and especially when you have work,play and etc... so hopefullly our tanks will make the comeback....im at work now... so i cant see any pics.. but illl check all ur previous pages/pics out later... im sure your tank is in a lot better shape than mine....

[divecj5]

Just wanted to put this link here for any that didn't know that Koralia was coming out with a controllable pump:

http://blog.marinedepot.com/2008/03/best-n...l-pet-expo.html

 

Sounds pretty sweet. Gotta love Koralia making great products at cheaper prices than Tunze.

[diggman08]

wow that thing is sweeeet... im thinkin maybe i dont need that for my lil 29g biocube though... but when i get my 75g tank .im def. getttin one. nice link dive.

[divecj5]

I hear ya....not sure how big the pump is in comparison to the others they have out now are. Maybe they are just making controllable versions of the ones they have now. I haven't been able to find any other info. about them.

[klarion]

Just wanted to put this link here for any that didn't know that Koralia was coming out with a controllable pump:

http://blog.marinedepot.com/2008/03/best-n...l-pet-expo.html

 

Sounds pretty sweet. Gotta love Koralia making great products at cheaper prices than Tunze.

 

 

Great Video and Awesome link!!

Also, I lucked out on some reasonably sized (and priced corals), particularly the GSP, Blue and Red Marble shrooms and yellow polyps. So, I'm all set in that department and thanks for your offer. Now I'll be hunting for some rics and zoas.

 

Looking forward to more Pics,

 

Boris

[divecj5]

Thanks Boris. I just saw on your thread that you were able to get your hands on some nice corals. Congrats on your first corals!!!

 

I actually have about 30 pics to go through from the other day so hopefully I will have those up later today. I also made about 5 frags with about 3-5 polyps of zoas yesterday afternoon so I might have some zoas that you might be interested in once they settle in for a bit.

[divecj5]

Time for some pictures. Not sure how many will fit in one post so sorry if it gets cut off at some point. I did some fragging yesterday of some zoas that I have. I made about 5 frags total with about 3-5 polyps on each. I will have to take some pictures of them once they settle in. Looks like some of them were already open about an hour after fragging. First time I've done any fragging in a while Figured it would be good to have for trades or sharing down the line.

 

First thought I would post a picture of our puppy, Aspen. She is almost 6 months old now and she just got spayed on Tuesday. She is now back to her normal hyper self so now the fun has been trying to keep her calm for another day or two. Pain killers that they give hardly knock her back a step

 

Rocking her British bandana....

 

 

Here is a full tank shot since it's been a while:

 

Left Side:

 

 

 

Right sand bed:

 

Ric field:

 

I made a nice frag of these zoas:

 

Need to still frag these. Some of the heads don't look so hot for some reason:

 

Orange Monti is getting a nice darker green and spreading down on the rock:

 

Green birdsnest....wish it would spread up already

 

Purple Firefish

 

Jacques

 

Pierre

[klarion]

Time for some pictures. Not sure how many will fit in one post so sorry if it gets cut off at some point. I did some fragging yesterday of some zoas that I have. I made about 5 frags total with about 3-5 polyps on each. I will have to take some pictures of them once they settle in. Looks like some of them were already open about an hour after fragging. First time I've done any fragging in a while Figured it would be good to have for trades or sharing down the line.

 

First thought I would post a picture of our puppy, Aspen. She is almost 6 months old now and she just got spayed on Tuesday. She is now back to her normal hyper self so now the fun has been trying to keep her calm for another day or two. Pain killers that they give hardly knock her back a step

 

Rocking her British bandana....

 

 

Great, Maybe I could be first in line for some zoas and.......

Dogie! I love the dogie!

 

So, do you have two cleaner shrimp? If so, are they very territorial or social with each other?

 

I forgot to mention that I got one polyp hitcher zoa on the GSP frag. This time it's definitely a zoa (not like the polys I called zoas for a while before).

[divecj5]

Thanks for the compliments on the pooch....she is our little sweetie for sure

 

You can definitely be inline for the frags....I am going to let them settle in for a while first and then see if I can get some growth out of them. I plan on making some more frags as well so I will have to put some pics up of all of them after there are done and opened.

 

I do have two cleaner shrimp and they've never messed with one another. They are just always out and about messing around with things. Not sure their life is all that exciting since sometimes they just hang around and don't do a whole lot. This is until I put some food in the water and then it's Katie bar the door.

[divecj5]

Quick note...I picked up some of Seachem's new premuim line of additives Fuel from the LFS this afternoon. They had a 40% off coupon so it was only $7 for a whole bottle. Not sure if it will do anything for growth but it is supposed to contain some good stuff. I didn't get the other Calcification or 8.4 product because I am still happy dosting the two-part solution for keeping up with Ca and Alk. I will let you know if anything changes as it suggests dosing 2X per week.

 

Here is the linky: http://aquavitro.com/

 

Here is how it is different from their other products as it contains Chlorella:

 

Chlorella is a unique algae that grows in fresh water. It is extremely high in enzymes, vitamins and minerals, including the full vitamin-B Complex. It is over-flowing with unsaturated fatty acids, amino acids, and proteins. There are also vitamins found in Chlorella including: Vitamin C, pro-vitamin A (B-carotene), thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), niacin, pantothenic acid, folic acid, Vitamin B12, biotin, choline, Vitamin K, lipoic acid, and inositol. Minerals in Chlorella include: phosphorus, calcium, zinc, iodine, magnesium, iron, and copper. It contains a higher level of amino acids than spirulina and is FDA approved for use with ornamental fish.

 

Could just be a gimmick but considering I skim pretty wet and keep up on water changes, figured it was a good thing to add some more trace elements. And for $7 I figured it was worth a try. At $3.11 a gallon for gas, I might as well have bought something for the trip to the store At least that's what I tell myself...