Oceans upgrade. Now 5 gallon reef.

[constantocean]

mandalay bay has the giant shark tank you can walk "through" and take a cheesy picture where the photoshop a scary shark next to you.

 

congrats on the aquarium position!

 

im jealous of your step-seahorses too... i wanted to have one of those tanks but I just dont have the space in my apartment for ANOTHER tank (and brine shrimp hatching factory)

 

and i looked back far enough to see your ink. where's the eel?

 

hmmm its in the center of the reef. between the two pieces of acropora looking pink coral. the green fishy looking thing. theres a walkthrough tunnel at the nj state aquarium too. but the one in vegas you ride a waterslide under the tank! and step seahorses haha i've turned into their sole care taker.

[B_Kurzweil]

More Pic's and updates Please!

[constantocean]

More Pic's and updates Please!

 

ASAP. getting more coral super soon.

[constantocean]

I felt like I should update in some way or another.

I have been far too tight on money the last few weeks to get any corals, but I'm out of that sticky situation now and I should have my tank more or less fully stocked within the next two weeks.

 

I have added since last update:

8 random mushrooms which I scraped for free off the bottom of the 200 gallon softy coral tank at the store I've been cleaning tanks for.

5 heads of some type of zoanthid. gathered in the same manner. nothing special, no crazy zoaID colorations just basic zoos with green mouths. (They look almost like Green Stardust PE's tho, they very well may be, I have no idea, nor do I care too much as they were free.)

An orange and blue ricordea with a neon green mouth.

 

I want to get a yellow clown goby, I'm really biting at the itch to get a fish without setting up either the 10 gallon or 75 gallon that I have lying around, I'm trying to save those for future projects. If I do get the ycg, I'll get it after I get my AC70, so theres more water volume for him to fowl up.

 

I'll get pics soon.

 

I havent been experiencing any real problems like everyone says they do in a tank this size.

ammonia and nitrite have been zero for weeks.

nitrates have been very low.

temp has stayed stable at 79-80.

salinity has stayed stable with a top off every afternoon after work.

calcium and alk are both in check.

and thats all I test for.

[TheChosenReefer]

Same here I have no problem keeping the tank healthy. I think many people that say there hard or ether lazy reef keepers and let it go or never had one. As this was my first saltwater tank and it is easy to me.

[constantocean]

awww nooo check this out

 

so yes, I got a trimma goby

 

"The tiny Trimma sp. Gobies are rarely available to the trade, originating from Japan. You may not want to put this one on your wish list because they're available only a few times yearly, if you're lucky. Be sure to act immediately when available because they're never plentiful and sell out very fast."

 

 

stock photo, couldn't get a picture of him in my tank as he has already disappeared and is extremely fast rarely showing his little head.

 

best part?

$20....what a deal.

$70 average price online.

 

i'm jealous of myself.

[el fabuloso]

Nice! Update us on how well this fish does in your tank. I've been thinking about adding one of these in mine or maybe an eviota. Where did you get yours from?

[evilc66]

Thats really cheap! My LFS has one right now for $80. It's cute and 1" long fully grown!

[constantocean]

Nice! Update us on how well this fish does in your tank. I've been thinking about adding one of these in mine or maybe an eviota. Where did you get yours from?

 

a place called the pet shanty in jersey, they only had two.

arent there like 50 different species of eviotas? i thought eviota was a genus name.

 

and yeah man i know talk about a deal! i wonder if they even know what they had?

[el fabuloso]

a place called the pet shanty in jersey, they only had two.

arent there like 50 different species of eviotas? i thought eviota was a genus name.

You're right. I'm looking at either the red neon or the gold neon eviota. Not sure which.

[constantocean]

You're right. I'm looking at either the red neon or the gold neon eviota. Not sure which.

 

I just looked them up!

Cute little guys.

They actually had the gold neons in the tank with the trimmas. Altho I didnt know what they were at the time. I stuck with the trimma since I knew what it was.

[el fabuloso]

They're cute. My LFS has some red neon eviota in their 24g display tank but they're not for sale.

[constantocean]

A few pics I guess.

 

My sexy shrimp has gone MIA.

 

I just took out every single rock in my tank one by one and looked for him, so strange. Just saw him yesterday. Sometimes I think when something dies in *someone* elses tank in my house, they just take it out of mine and hope I wont notice.

 

Anyways, when putting my rocks back in I went with a new scape.

 

 

the white toned light you see is from a desk lamp in back of my tank that I keep on my filter since its got some chaeto in it. not exactly a fuge, just a little bit of a nutrient sponge.

 

 

My orange ricordea, the only coral I have paid for so far:

 

 

none of my zoos are open right now since they were just out of water:

 

on left, they have a green skirt with a bright orange center and mouth area.

on right, some type of people eater. i'm not really into the whole 800 different names for color morphs.

 

 

these guys are pretty nice, just little yellow skirts kind of camo centers.

 

 

That's about all, I've wanted YCG forever and havent been able to find them in over a year and now we have them at the shop. Go figure. I want to keep my trimma tho. I might just set up a little fuge to increase water volume so I can have both.

[el fabuloso]

My sexy shrimp has gone MIA.

What?! Where did your sexy go?

[constantocean]

What?! Where did your sexy go?

 

You know what, to be entirely honest, I really think that *someone* in my house takes things out of my tank when it dies in theirs and puts it into their tank. cus this isnt the first time something like this has happened!!

 

got a picture of my fish!

finally, this took me a week to be able to snap. Cameras been sitting next to the tank waiting.

 

 

 

I got two new frags after yesterdays update, check it:

 

purple/pink zoos.

 

bright green/i think they are whammin watermelons in the back.

 

MY other zoos all opened up:

 

 

New FTS:

 

[MushyCat]

I like your tank. I just set up my Toms' 3 gal. last night to start cycling. I used black sand and really like how that looks. Now the waiting game for it to cycle.

[constantocean]

I like your tank. I just set up my Toms' 3 gal. last night to start cycling. I used black sand and really like how that looks. Now the waiting game for it to cycle.

 

thank you! I've actually been thinking about switching out my substrate for black sand...Might do it...I just used the current substrate because it's all I could get my hands on from a fully cycled tank and I didnt want to wait thro too long of a cycle as this is my first new tank in over a year and I was very anxious to get it going (the worst trait you can have in this hobby, haha, have to remember patience is key! d'oh!)

[constantocean]

I bought a 5.5 gallon AGA today which I am going to be using as my new display tank, I will be drilling it to drain into the tom deco which will sit in back of it and from now on be used as a refugium. Stay tuned for updates. This should all be complete within two weeks or so, and I will still be buying corals in the meantime.

[Snippyman]

Hey, I'm looking for a light like that. Where did you get that for $28 shipped? I can only find a 24W for $30 shipped.

[el fabuloso]

I bought a 5.5 gallon AGA today which I am going to be using as my new display tank, I will be drilling it to drain into the tom deco which will sit in back of it and from now on be used as a refugium. Stay tuned for updates. This should all be complete within two weeks or so, and I will still be buying corals in the meantime.

This should be fun and interesting. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

[constantocean]

Hey, I'm looking for a light like that. Where did you get that for $28 shipped? I can only find a 24W for $30 shipped.

 

Ebay!! the ultimate shopping tool.

[reefnewbee]

Can you post the dimentions of the hood that you built. I have the same tank, and I want to build a stand and hood for it.

[lilredneckman]

Great new additoins! They looks good!

[lilredneckman]

Great new additoins! They looks good!

[constantocean]

Can you post the dimentions of the hood that you built. I have the same tank, and I want to build a stand and hood for it.

 

I just took them for you.

Here we go:

left to right: 12 1/4"

front to back 7 5/8"

top to bottom 5 1/2"

made using 7/8" thick pine.

 

lilredneckman: thanks! I actually just got more, picture time!

 

The new

 

 

two new frags, one is solid all one color, the other has about 4 different colorations on it. (zoanthids of course)

 

frag 1:

has greens, watermelons, blues, and one other color morph

 

frag 2:

All pinks, I actually purchased this cus I felt bad going into this guys store without getting something cus nobody is EVER in there and I dont know how he stays in business. But then I brought it home and it looks AMAZING so I'm glad I got it.

 

Here is my new FTS (since of course you cant have an update without one)

My tank likes to wear its canopy to the side, its gangster.

gotta love the finding nemo stickers, they were actually up for years before the tank, I tried to take them down when I put the tank there to avoid being cliche, but they are like permanently stuck. Yes, I am 21 years old and have finding nemo stickers in my bedroom.

 

Under the hood:

I removed the hood just so you can get a glimpse at the full set up:

 

those lights actually used to be a 30" long 2x65 watt fixture. But I scrapped out the ballasts, cus the reflectors to size, and am now using it over my tank as a 1x65 watt with a 50/50 since one of the ballasts was bad in the fixture.

 

random shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tank is still running very nicely, I havent had a problem with any levels (thanks to religious and generous water changes). The new 5.5 that this thing will be getting used as the fuge for is still at the store waiting to get drilled.

 

In other tank news: One of my zosterae (dwarf seahorses) died last night. I'm having trouble with nitrites right now. Despite the fact any zosterae source will tell you not to put rock into your tank I think I'm going to have to drop a few pieces in to get a better bio filter going. I just bought them a new tank too, so I hope I don't lose the other two. I'm trying to acquire a few new ones through work to bring home once I get a hold on this situation, it's not really a big deal, it's an easy fix, it just sucks I had to lose one and this wouldnt have happend if I caught the problem earlier. I also battle with cyano in their tank due to lack of flow, but thats nothing a daily wipedown doesnt take care of. (can't increase the flow, these guys are like dust in the current)

 

that is all. enjoy the pictures!