Chucktown BC 29 Mixed Reef

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Yeah, it's the 20 incher. I got it from Pet Mountain.com since they pretty much have the best deal around on the Sunpods.

Long time no see bud. Glad you stopped by the thread to check things out. I have to admit that I was really scared to get into SPS as well. I didn't think that I would be able to have them but actually, since things in my tank have been pretty stable, I've had some great growth on them. My suggestion would be to try some monti caps, encrusting montis (like the orange and purple polyped ones I have) and some birdsnest (like I have). I definitely have a good amount of flow in my tank with the Koralia 2 and the upgraded pump but other than that, I am still able to keep LPS and zoas without any problems. I dose about 10 mL of A and B Ionic every other day and that's it. I do 15% water changes every Saturday and skim 24/7. I have found them pretty easy to keep.

 

I would say give it a go with a couple frags and see what happens. With you living out in Cali and gaging on how many people are from Cali. on here, you shouldn't have ANY problems getting some cheap SPS frags. I would start with those and then maybe try some acros down the line. I might get a green acro at some point to try a little harder one.

 

i have a koralia 1 and a stock return pump, is that enough flow?

[divecj5]

dive, how loud do u find the skimmer? also how high does th water level have to be.

 

The skimmer is actually really quiet. It is a recirculating style skimmer so there isn't really any noise at all. The only time when there is some noise is after a waterchange in which it gets submerged when I turn the main pump off. Other than that, it is quiet.

 

 

i went to petmountain and checked out the prices on the 20" 150w and its listed at $224 which is above the $200 at the current website. and on top of that it says that price is 60% below regular! who are the chuckleheads charging $562 for a light.

 

or are they just BS'in

 

Not sure which unit you were looking at. I know that I got mine shipped for around $215 at the time. The 20" 150w Sunpod from Drs. F&S runs around $280 and that doesn't include shipping. I'd say Pet Mountain is a steal.

[divecj5]

i have a koralia 1 and a stock return pump, is that enough flow?

 

I would think that would be a good enough amount of flow. It really just depends on where you place the SPS in relationship to the flow. I have my birdsnest and orange monti right in the flow of the Koralia 2 and they love it. I would think you would have enough flow for sure. They will let you know through their polyp extension if there isn't

[divecj5]

Nothing new or really exciting to update on. I did want to put in here an observation that I had over the weekend. I have read about other people doing this as well and I started doing the same with this tank. About every two weeks, I turn off all of my lights and keep them off for a day. I did this this past Sunday and on Monday when the lights turned back on and were on for a while, the tank look amazing and all of the corals looked twice as good as before. I'm not sure if there is any correlation between two but I didn't change or add anything between the two days. It could just be some sort of placebo effect that I think that they just look better

 

Anyone else have any experiences with that?

[TUDIZZLE]

I had a cyano outbreak early on and I used the lights out, cover it up method to get rid of it. Left my substrate pearly white. I never thought of doing it as part of a regular maintenance thingy.

 

 

Shipping to you today....do you have cheato already? I could throw in some if not, makes a nice packing material when using the thermos method.

[divecj5]

Yeah, I never really thought about using the lights out every once in a while either but I think I'm going to do it every two or three weeks since it seemed to help out.

 

Can't wait for the "package" bud and no, I currently don't have any chaeto. I'm not sure where I would put it in the tank so that it wouldn't spread. Any suggestions?

[TUDIZZLE]

I sent some to digg and I think he just put it in his 1st chamber. Since you guys are running topless I think it gets enough light spillover to be fine. Its time for a trimming anyway so I will throw some in and you can do what you want with it.

[ClowningAround]

 

You could always put it in the dsiplay, here is a picture from H20's tank where he uses a soap dish...just a suggestion

[TUDIZZLE]

ick!

[ClowningAround]

ick!

 

 

Whaaa? it adds color

[spanko]

ick!

:haha:

[divecj5]

Haha...you guys are a trip I think I will try and stick it in the first chamber and see how it does. If not, I can always put the ol' soap dish in there. I've seen that before but that one actually doesn't look too bad. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Can't wait to get the goods tomorrow Tudizzle.

[TUDIZZLE]

Coming to a tank near you!

 

You can see my soap dish tray, I only use it when getting frags ready to go, Its been driving me crazy all week!!! Glad to see it go, for now.

[divecj5]

Awesome ....can't wait to get them Tudizzle. I like the tray idea for holding frags after they are freshly cut. With the amount of flow I have in some areas of the tank, they always end up floating around for a bit before I catch them. Looking forward to getting the package since they look like some sweet frags. Thanks again bud and I'll hit you back with some after the wedding.

[divecj5]

Huge update coming with about 18 pics!!!! I ended up getting my wedding/care package from Tudizzle and let me say, it will probably be the best gift we get....well to me at least Kidding of course but I really do appreciate it and as the saying goes, I will definitely pay it forward and hit you, Digg, Spanko, and others back up for following the thread and contributing all along. What a great community we've got going for sure. First off though, here is a picture of the puppy that we are planning on getting in December. We are really really excited about it as we have been searching around and planning on getting one for a while. It's name is going to be Aspen:

 

On to the corals though

 

Purple zoas that weren't open at the time:

 

Ric Garden (Will be shipping one of these to Digg and one to Tudd after the wedding)

 

Some sort of PE paly that I hope will grow nicely for me

 

Awesome zoa frag from Tudd (these are definitely my favorite)

 

More zoas that opened pretty much immediately when put in the tank

 

Baby Euphylia frag that has an amazing glow to it. I can't wait for it to totally expand

 

I got a little crazy with the top down shots so bear with me as there are quite a few

 

Looking down on the brain

 

 

Purple Polyped Montipora...you can see the new lighter color growth

 

Green Birdsnest SPS

 

GSP, Birdsnest, and Frag from Tudd

 

 

His hair plugs are starting to fill in finally

 

 

I really like this shot of my purple firefish

 

I put the chaeto that Tudd sent me in Chamber 1 and I will just monitor to see how it does. I do not currently have a fuge light and I'm not sure how much light it will get from the halide since I'm running topless I might just snag a soap dish from Wally World today and put it in there just to make sure it grows and serves it's purpose. I have seen people just stick it in their rock work but honestly, I don't want anymore algae in close to my rocks I am kind of retentive when it comes to that.

 

Let me know what you guys think of the frags and the pics. Hope you enjoy.

[spanko]

Know what you mean about the algae by the rockwork. I have that awful razor-viney-caulerpa shizizzle and it is a bummer to keep pulling out all the time. However I do have a ball of Chaeto sitting in the back corner of the display that I just clipped the other day. Seems to be doing fine and so far is not attaching to anything, plus added benefit of a safe have for all sorts of bugs.

On another note I just ordered the 20" 15o watt Sun Pod.

Now have to think about open-top vs. getting a pc. of glass cut to fit from back wall to just where the bow starts up front, this could be a fairly rectangular pc. then maybe something in the bow part like some netting. I don't know, it makes my brain hurt....................

[divecj5]

I had razor caluerpa in my 55 gallon tank and it frustrated the daylights out of me. I think I am going to try and see if I can find a nice light to put over chamber 1 and see how that does. Maybe if I can find the Azoo Palm Lite locally I will get that and see how it does. I also have to monkey around with my topoff setup since the aqualifter isn't cutting the mustard anymore. I might just dump one of my MJ 1200s in there and hook that bad boy up. I know that it will have PLENTY of pressure to get the water to the right level. It might be too strong though

 

So you're coming to the BRIGHT side then Congrats on the new light....you will not regret it. I promise. I can't wait to see what it looks like on your tank. I would say go open top for the time being. I am still trying to figure out some rig like you mentioned with netting but since the tank isn't square, I'm not sure how to deal with the slight bow in the front and rounded edges. I really don't want to have anything hanging over on the edges.

 

What did you think about the pics?

[spanko]

Your picture skills are enviable. I love the pup, is it an Alaskan? I also think the top down of the fire fish is cool. Your tank is looking good. After this long are you getting the reaquascape bug?

[divecj5]

Thanks for the compliments on the pics. I really enjoy taking pics of the tank although I often don't get that much of a chance to do so. Sometimes I just have to stop and sit and enjoy the tank instead of tinkering with it all the time No, haven't got bitten by the scaping bug yet....although every time that I add something, I think that I may need to....just using some restraint for right now.

 

The puppy is a "mini" australian shepherd....should get around 13-16 inches tall and about 25 pounds or so. We are really excited about getting her.

[nUgZ]

Great pics and a beautiful pup!! Your tank keeps getting better and better.

[divecj5]

Thanks nUgZ for the compliments on the pup and the tank. I am happy that my tank continues to progress as it has been. When I started my 55 gallon tank about a year ago (now taken down) I skimped on a lot of things and things just got a little out of control. Everything was thriving in the tank but it just wasn't what I had in mind. This time around I made sure that I did things right the FIRST time and with the money from the corals from the 55, I was able to buy better equipment from the start.

 

There are always things that I would love to do differently in the tank but that's what keeps this hobby fresh for me. If I just went out and bought whatever I wanted and set things up real quick, then I would just long for another tank. Plus, I don't have the money to do that

 

That's what makes this site better then, **cough cough,** because it seems like more often than not, the people on here take things a lot slower and don't just go out and buy the best of the best and all the corals they want from the get go. Just seems like people are more economical and more DIYers here. Just my take on it though.

[AcroporaLokani]

Looks cool, and the markings on your new puppies face are really neat.

[divecj5]

Thanks for taking a look at the tank and the pics. Yeah, we weren't really sure how she would end up looking when we got the pictures when she was first born. We thought that she would have half her face be black. She is a blue merle female with both blue eyes. We can't wait.

[TUDIZZLE]

Great pics as always. Cool to see the thermos did the trick for shipping. The purple palys are one of my favorites as well. They seem to reproduce fast as well

 

That new puppy is sweet, I never knew they did minis in that breed. Super deep blue eyes, very nice.

[c est ma]

Awwwwww--puppy!

 

Oh, uh, yeah, the other pics are nice, too.

 

I'm really intrigued by that brilliant little Euphyllia and I love the toupee's progress!

 

--Diane