Klarion's Tongan Scape

[klarion]

Looks like things are coming along for you very well, keep us posted. I have a one year-old nephew that likes to get into the aquarium stuff now. Lucky for me, he can't jump on top of the tank.

 

Welcome to the thread, AdriftQuasar.

 

It's my pleasure to post here for your and my enjoyment, or at least I hope that it's so.

Your nephew is getting into this hobby quite early. Just wait about 4-5 years, than you'll have to install some metal guard rails around the tanks

 

Just kidding, I'm sure he's really nice. Do you have a thread here as well?

[klarion]

ARRIVAL

 

Finally. I waited for the package all day hoping not to miss the delivery guy. Having shipped my live rock overnight, it would really suck if I didn't get it right away. FedEX rolled up around 3:30 and I got my box.

 

I ordered 24lb of Tonga branch live rock. Since my tank is tall, I wanted to use slender building materials to reach quite high, yet not to overload the aquarium with too much rock. It's probably a good idea to leave some room for water, I thought.

 

So here is how it came from Live Aquaria.com

 

I cut it open because there was no way I could pull out the inner "uni box"

 

I opened the box with trapidation, and there they were

 

I worked vigorously all day long to get the rocks into water ASAP. First, I washed over the branches in a bucket of salt water and sorted them by size and where I thought they might go in the tank. Next, I put them in. It took me about 2 hours to get the basic layout, and I continued working on the finer details until about 8:30.

 

Pics coming in the next post.

[klarion]

Live Rock Aquascape

 

So here are my first pics of a working reef tank with some life in it other than bacteria.

I think I saw a worm that came out already. wha.........

 

Here we go: FTS and two upward looking close ups of FT

 

 

View from the Right Side

 

Close ups of the coraline

 

View from the Left Side and the Back of the reef.

 

And finally, the Central Cavern

 

Phew........

It took a lot of tinkering to make all the pieces fit solidly together. Eventually, I was successful I guess, I wasn't wasting time playing with constructor sets when I was a child . The most difficult part was making sure that the branches don't touch the glass and are stable. I used all the putty I had and it looks like I need to us that much more to secure the scape. I tried to create several perches on which I'll later place corals. The design is centrally oriented and I think that was pretty much the way to go with a narrow and tall tank.

 

Now I'll be doing water changes for like 2 weeks

 

Thanks for looking,

B.

[klarion]

The Morning After

 

Checked Ammonia and Nitrite as soon as I got up this morning.

Both were spiking at the top of the charts (API) test kit. AMMO at least 8ppm, Nitrite at least 5ppm (salt water tests don't show higher). I freaked out. Changed 35% of the water with R/O mix I prepared over night and added Ammonia removing media to the trickle filter. (I'm also running Activated Carbon, PhosZorb, Ion Exchange Media for Magnezium and trace elements).

 

Now Ammonia tests at 2-4ppm

Nitrite 1-2ppm

Nitrate 5ppm

 

PH is down to 8.2 from 8.4

Alkalinity 12dKH

Calcium 280ppm (I used Osmo-Prep Marine in the R/O mix to raise Alk. and CA)

Temp is 78f

SG is 1.021 (keeping it on the low side for now)

 

It looks like I caught my Cycle on the upswing when I added the LR last night. (AMMO was up, but nothing else was detectable). I'll be doing another 30% water change ASAP. Also, It's confirmed that I have at least one visible creature in my tank. It's a sessile worm of some sort. Very small and black in color. It came out for some fresh water last night after I set up the live rock and was waving in the current, extending out about 1/3 of an inch. It didn't like my water change though, and retracted so now I can only see the tip of it.

 

The Coraline have lost some color and there is some bleaching going on. I hope I can minimize that with frequent water changes.

 

Edit: After the second water change today,

Ammonia is 2ppm

Nitrite is 1ppm

Nitrate is <1ppm

Edited December 21, 2007 by klarion

[PurpleUP]

Live Rock Aquascape

 

So here are my first pics of a working reef tank with some life in it other than bacteria.

I think I saw a worm that came out already. wha.........

 

Here we go: FTS and two upward looking close ups of FT

 

 

View from the Right Side

 

Close ups of the coraline

 

View from the Left Side and the Back of the reef.

 

And finally, the Central Cavern

 

Phew........

It took a lot of tinkering to make all the pieces fit solidly together. Eventually, I was successful I guess, I wasn't wasting time playing with constructor sets when I was a child . The most difficult part was making sure that the branches don't touch the glass and are stable. I used all the putty I had and it looks like I need to us that much more to secure the scape. I tried to create several perches on which I'll later place corals. The design is centrally oriented and I think that was pretty much the way to go with a narrow and tall tank.

 

Now I'll be doing water changes for like 2 weeks

 

Thanks for looking,

B.

 

Very unique rockscaping. Interesting choice of branch rock. Coralline comes in orange too? I noticed I have some on a couple of my rocks in my old BC14. It would look cool covered with bright zoas. You can use a centerpiece coral right at the very top of your structure. Like a majestic king on his throne.

[klarion]

Cycle Update

 

It's been 24 hrs since my last water change. I just got home from work and ran some tests:

 

Ammonia is tending lower of 2ppm. It seems that overnight bacteria have caught up with ammonia production and I expect these levels to drop sharply after tonights water change.

 

Nitrite is spiking at the top of the chart (5ppm or higher) and Nitrate is at 20ppm. So from these results I can deduce that both nitrosomonas and nitrobacter are working happily. After the initial shock, the coraline bleeching is slowing, I think. I haven't seen too much of a difference since yesterday except in pink coraline that have lost some color.

 

 

Evening Update, after a 25% water change:

Ammonia 1.5ppm

Nitrite 3ppm

Nitrate 15ppm

 

I'm having a lot of trouble reading those color strips. Can anyone reccomend good testing kits that are clear to read?

Edited December 23, 2007 by klarion

[klarion]

Very unique rockscaping. Interesting choice of branch rock. Coralline comes in orange too? I noticed I have some on a couple of my rocks in my old BC14. It would look cool covered with bright zoas. You can use a centerpiece coral right at the very top of your structure. Like a majestic king on his throne.

 

Thanks, I was affraid people would hate my scaping. I wanted to use branch rock because I can extend the structure upward without displasing too much water and also create lots of space and caverns in the rocks to make my future inhabitants happy .

 

Now I have to think of what coral would be worthy of that central spot

 

I had no Idea about the orange coraline before I got this live rock (tonga), but It's not handling the transition very well. I hope some of it will remain and multiply.

 

PS: I just started reading your ADA thread. Man, It's long (but cool). Hopefully I'll get to the end soon....

Edited December 22, 2007 by klarion

[H20]

As you know alot of folks say not to do WC's during your cycle, and not to run carbon, etc., but from reading your post about liking to watch the small life in the tank, I am assuming that you are choosing to prolong your cycle in order to save the hitchhikers that you can. That is cool, I love hitchikers. The first few weeks of my tank, I did not think I had any cool hitchhikers except a few featherdusters that were tiny. Over the next few months, I began to see worms of various types, amphipods and copepods, a mini brittle star, a mantis or pistol shrimp (haven't seen it yet, but its there), a stomella snail, and just over the past 2 or 3 weeks, I have found 3 new hitchhiker crabs that are tiny. Not sure if they are good or bad, but they are cool to watch. I removed one, but am going to leave the other 2 to see what happens. I have found that I love watching my inverts and looking for hitchhikers, much more than any fish that I had put in the tank. Looks good, I bet with that 'scape you will be able to make some cool coral 'levels' in it. Keep up the updates!

 

Edited to add: API (Aquarium Pharmaceutical) makes a great water test 'kit' that is easy to use and accurate. Most people on N-R.com like the API's.

Edited December 23, 2007 by H20

[adinsxq]

KITTIES!!!

[c est ma]

Boris,

 

Stupid ISP! I only got a new email about your thread today! I nearly missed all the excitement.

 

I think the new rock looks very cool and when I came to the pics I could see why it took you hours and hours to work with. I'm surprised you were done so soon! I sure hope you can save some of that orange coralline as it really stands out. You seem to have lots of other nice corallines as well.

 

It sounds as if your previous efforts to jumpstart your cycle along with your frequent H2O changes are having the effects you desire. I'm sure it won't be long before you're posting pics of hitchhikers.

 

I don't envy all that putty work. I have a heck of a time with it. I can see why you'd need it with so many rock pieces to deal with, though. I've never had Tonga branch--is it relatively porous feeling, or heavy and solid?

 

Great start!

 

--Diane

[klarion]

As you know alot of folks say not to do WC's during your cycle, and not to run carbon, etc., but from reading your post about liking to watch the small life in the tank, I am assuming that you are choosing to prolong your cycle in order to save the hitchhikers that you can. That is cool, I love hitchikers.

 

Edited to add: API (Aquarium Pharmaceutical) makes a great water test 'kit' that is easy to use and accurate. Most people on N-R.com like the API's.

 

Yes, I have considered several methods of acclimating live rock and trying to preserve all life appeals to me (at this point). I tried the other method before, but with cured live rock from an LFS and was never happy with biodiversity from that. I thought if I'm to go through the trouble of ordering this type of LR from the Internet and all the added expense of getting it and shipping, I should try to preserve all life to get the full benefits and if I do get unwanted pests, remove them later and still keep all the goodies. Just imagine all the fun we'll have when I start bugging everyone in the ident forums .

 

I agree with you that watching even the smallest thing grow as though out of nothing in our tanks is a small miracle.

 

About the API kits. For me, the jury is still out on those. Yes, they are easy to use and economical. My problem is how they print their cards. Mine have some colors on a gradation chart that look identical. Some times the intermediate colors are not the right hues at all. I work with color a lot and have seen how complicated printing correct colors gets, so it seems that I either got cards from a bad batch or API printing is really off.

 

I understand that finer definitions don't matter much if we're looking to see 0 in those tests, I guess I'm just being a pain....

 

 

I don't envy all that putty work. I have a heck of a time with it. I can see why you'd need it with so many rock pieces to deal with, though. I've never had Tonga branch--is it relatively porous feeling, or heavy and solid?

 

Man, that putty was hard to work with. I kept putting it in and than nicking the rock. It would move and all that putty work was off, over and over. Finally, I came up with this method for the second day: I made sure the rock was locked in place and not rocking, than I shaped a piece of putty to fit the crevice where it would go, and put Crazy Gel on both sides. I slid the putty into place and gently spread it to fit. If I was careful not to move the rock and worked quickly enough, the putty made a great seal. Than I would work from the opposite side of the rock to make sure it's locked in. Also, if I couldn't get the rock to lock before putting in that putty, I held it carefully in place while applying the first treatment and tried not to move the rock when I let go. If it stayed put, the putty would work, if not.....................try, try again.

 

Tonga branch rock is semi-porous and I didn't know what that meant exactly when I read it off Live Aquaria website. It's mostly comprised of one or several species of dead SPS corals (I think) that grow in a branching form. From the pieces that broke off, I could tell that the center of each individual branch is very solid (to the eye). From it radiate fine (less than 1mm, even tubules that probably ended in polyps when the coral was alive. Mine came covered in multiple species of coraline including orange, pink, burgundy and velvety types. There were tiny red macro algae but they bleached. This rock is not as random as Fiji and doesn't have as many larger crevices, caves and holes as Fiji does. There are, however, many holes that were probably made by later inhabitants like sessile worms and fans, etc.

In fact, one spot looks like it was a colony of them.

 

Thanks for checking my posts and sharing your opinions. Makes it all worth while on a completely different level.

Edited December 23, 2007 by klarion

[klarion]

I've never had Tonga branch--is it relatively porous feeling, or heavy and solid?--Diane

 

Macro Cross Section of the Rock:

Edited December 23, 2007 by klarion

[klarion]

KITTIES!!!

 

This one's been banned from my room untill the 'scape gets fully set up :

[Krayon]

This one's been banned from my room untill the 'scape gets fully set up :

 

HOLY S*&$. that is one scary cat! nice tank btw, i will be following this post 8)

[klarion]

HOLY S*&$. that is one scary cat! nice tank btw, i will be following this post 8)

 

Thanks Krayon and welcome to the thread!

Princess, my cat, is one finnicky creature. That one was taken when I was shooting some pictures for a friend and she decided that I should take photos of her instead and sat in front of the camera. I had no choice, but I bugged her for it and she was trying to get me.

Edited December 24, 2007 by klarion

[varanus37]

That 'scape is awesome. With your tank dimensions and the rock you chose, that's going to look incredible with coral in it. Very nice.

 

Bill

[klarion]

That 'scape is awesome. With your tank dimensions and the rock you chose, that's going to look incredible with coral in it. Very nice.

 

Bill

 

Thanks a lot Bill,

 

I can't wait to be able to put some coral in the tank. Trying to stay patient and wait out the cycling, than the CUC and Fish and Corals last.

 

Changed another 20% water tonight:

AMMO less than 0.25ppm

Nitrite staying at 1ppm

Nitrate still 10ppm

 

Ph is 8.3

SG is 1.022

 

I guess that at this point my water changes are keeping up with Nitrite and Nitrate production, so I'm right in the middle of the cycle. Some reccomend changing drastic amounts of water during "soft" cycling. It's not very practical for me because of space limitations, bucket sizes and the over-flow style filter, which is a pain to start up if I stop it for a total volume water change. I'm mitigating these circumstances with very frequent, but partial changes.

[klarion]

'Scape Pics for December 23, '07

 

[sephroth_r1]

I Emmer Effin love tonga. That scape looks so nice from all angles, What kinda coral are you thinking about?

[Krayon]

'Scape Pics for December 23, '07

 

 

cant wait for your cycle to finish and see you put coral in it 8)

[adinsxq]

looks great.

[c est ma]

Man, that putty was hard to work with. I kept putting it in and than nicking the rock. It would move and all that putty work was off, over and over. Finally, I came up with this method for the second day: I made sure the rock was locked in place and not rocking, than I shaped a piece of putty to fit the crevice where it would go, and put Crazy Gel on both sides. I slid the putty into place and gently spread it to fit. If I was careful not to move the rock and worked quickly enough, the putty made a great seal. Than I would work from the opposite side of the rock to make sure it's locked in. Also, if I couldn't get the rock to lock before putting in that putty, I held it carefully in place while applying the first treatment and tried not to move the rock when I let go. If it stayed put, the putty would work, if not.....................try, try again.

 

That sounds like torture. Interesting about combining the putty and the gel...someone else has suggested that too. It never would have occurred to me...

 

Tonga branch rock is semi-porous and I didn't know what that meant exactly when I read it off Live Aquaria website. It's mostly comprised of one or several species of dead SPS corals (I think) that grow in a branching form. From the pieces that broke off, I could tell that the center of each individual branch is very solid (to the eye). From it radiate fine (less than 1mm, even tubules that probably ended in polyps when the coral was alive. Mine came covered in multiple species of coraline including orange, pink, burgundy and velvety types. There were tiny red macro algae but they bleached. This rock is not as random as Fiji and doesn't have as many larger crevices, caves and holes as Fiji does. There are, however, many holes that were probably made by later inhabitants like sessile worms and fans, etc.

In fact, one spot looks like it was a colony of them.

 

Macro Cross Section of the Rock:

 

Nice pic, and much more solid-looking than I would have thought. Thanks for differentiating Tonga & Fiji...I hope I'll be able to remember that till I set up another tank sometime.

 

 

This one's been banned from my room untill the 'scape gets fully set up :

 

That is one fantastic picture! (...and cat, of course.) You should enter that in some contest. My inquisitive cat has been "assisting" with the present wrapping...

 

RE today's pics--looking nice and clear and full of potential! I can see you've lost quite a bit of color--hope most of it comes back...Funny how this stage really is over so quickly and yet seems interminable at the time!

 

--Diane

[klarion]

Quick Cycle Update

 

Day 4 Morning Reading:

Ammonia <0.25

Nitrite 2ppm

Nitrate 20ppm

 

Made a 20% W/C at 12pm but didn't read test stats.

 

Evening Stats 7pm:

AMMO Undetectible

Nitrite 2ppm

Nitrate 20ppm

Edit: I was misreading earlier results because I couldn't read the cards properly. So this is an adjustment post.

 

Made another water change (2.5G) at 9pm. Stats:

Nitrite tending lower of 1ppm

Nitrate 15ppm

Edited December 25, 2007 by klarion

[Greenstar]

I really like the use of tongan branch rock. This tank is going to rock.

[klarion]

I Emmer Effin love tonga. That scape looks so nice from all angles, What kinda coral are you thinking about?

 

Hey,I was thinking of adding Xenia like the one I first saw in Diane's tank:

 

 

Than perhaps some Rics, Mushrooms, Zoas and various leathers. I would like to get corals that spread well naturally to make the tank look well......natural.....

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Let me know what corals you like best. I'll take it one coral at a time (hopefully), so we'll see how it goes. I haven't done all my research about corals that i haven't kept before.

 

 

I really like the use of tongan branch rock. This tank is going to rock.

 

Thank you Greenstar. I'll try to do my darnest to keep up Nano-Reef standards of excellence

Edited December 25, 2007 by klarion