lakshwadeep Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Just ordered a vortech mp20! I'm still on the fence about a skimmer, even though the acro frag pack is coming tomorrow. Instead, I'll be doing some 50% weekly water changes (I normally do 25%) and see how the frags do. Also, I found my porcelain crab dead a week ago. I should have known this was coming because of my low, usually every 2-3 days, feeding (the two gobies are small enough to pick on pods). Link to comment
Lalani Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Sorry about the porcelain. You're going to love the mp20 though, I put one in the 40br and it's FUN. Link to comment
Ando Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Nice tank! very unique coral in there! Link to comment
dtfleming Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 send me one each of the 12 frags you got. kthxbye Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 lalani-I'm looking forward to playing with all the vortech controls ando-thanks dtfleming-first send me twelve 20 dollar bills. So, my plans are to set up a sump for a Tunze nano DOC 9002 skimmer that will come in a while. I was thinking of getting a HOB skimmer, but I eventually want a ATO and some sort of automated dosing system. I've been trying to avoid a sump, but it doesn't seem likely without cluttering the display tank. Currently, I'm looking at how to add an overflow box from melevsreef.com. If anyone has suggestion for adding a sump to an existing tank, feel free to chime in! Link to comment
dtfleming Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 i did it to my 26gal. I basically just add the sump with new sw and off it went. I keep an eye on my levels for awhile. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 I got my corals! The seller was nice enough to switch a few frags for a better variety of colors. The list is currently: 1-tricolor 2-paletta blue 3-miami orchid 4-accardi stag 5-purple valida 6-green monster table (in two pieces) 7-rose mille 8-yellow bottlebrush 9-green efflo 10-sky blue 11-green/orange mille 12-yellow tort And some freebies! 1-Ultimate frags blue stag (3 pieces) 2-dragon eye zoas Pics will come soon. Link to comment
divecj5 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Looks like you got some killer sticks man. Great selection. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 If anyone has suggestion for adding a sump to an existing tank, feel free to chime in! Either don't do it or drill. Srsly. IME, overflow boxes don't act right unless you run them close to their max flow. If you absolutely must do one, the U-tube type seems to be less failure prone than the type that require an aqualifter to bleed out accumulated air. If you can stomach it, pulling everything but the sandbed out for a couple hours while you drill your drain and return(s) will leave you with a setup that you will love. You will never lie awake at night wondering if your overflow is accumulating air and you will never worry about what will happen if the power goes out while you aren't home. Plus, it is the cleanest, takes up the least amount of display real estate and it is very flexible. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Thanks for the tip fosi; I was seriously thinking about draining the tank and removing all the rocks. Currently, I'm in an emergency as I found out that my stealth heater fails to work. The tank temperature in the morning was a chilly 72º. I don't know how or how long my pocillopora and montipora hitchhikers survived this ordeal, but some of my new frags began RTNing yesterday. Already, three frags are dead/dying. I bought a new hydor theo, and I can see the visible ripples of heat, which gives me some hope. I now realize how important having supplies for setting up a quick QT tank is, and I'm currently using a bucket to place those frags that are starting to RTN. :/ Link to comment
Lalani Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Oh sheet, hope everything else is ok. Link to comment
Kraylen Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Weak man..... weak.... ID my nems! Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 That sucks. At least when my theo heater failed to shut off all it killed was 3/4 of my massive chaeto ball. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Thanks guys. Current dead: miami orchid (it was stressed from shipping and probably started the RTN cycle), sky blue, and the green table. I made a mini frag of the accardi stag, which hopefully will recover with stable temps. A few of the remaining frags are showing light patches, but none are showing clear bottom-up peeling of flesh. And to think that my worry before getting the frags was how to evict some of the hydroid colonies. I guess this is my baptism of fire into keeping acroporas. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 Okay, so 6 frags died and 6 are alive. Ironically, 4 of the survivors were ones that the seller had switched from the original pack. On a lighter note, I've setup my vortech and been playing with the settings. I've left one of my koralias, unplugged, in the tank because I need to something to attach my growing halymenia. I really like the broad flow from the vortech, but one con is that there is no easy way to turn the motor completely off without unplugging or removing one side of the pump. This is annoying since my 25% water changes will cause the pump to be exposed above the water line. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Quick update: orange millepora gone (had STN-like symptoms) The five remaining acroporas are doing well. As much as I like their names, I want to avoid claiming their scientific classifications are correct, so I'll try to refer to them by their appearance from now on. The freebie zoas unfortunately suffered the same regression and eventual disappearance as some previous frags awhile back. I'm not sure if the pink zoas I got from zoanuts is influencing what happens. The pocillopora and montipora hitchhikers are doing great with the heater. With the bright green pocillopora, I'm glad to have at least one coral that I'm 99% sure was captive bred. The monti is slowly growing over some vermetid snails, so I may try to scrape them off before they get enveloped (there is already one that has survived being smothered). The $5 mushroom has very nice colors with greenish bumps and a teal streaking on the polyp. Pics! I took these with my phone without any processing, yet. I'll probably update the links after I run the photos through iPhoto to adjust colors. No FTS because I only scraped algae off the glass in front of the corals Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Also, I got two emerald crabs. I'm not sure, but they appear to be a male and female... Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Thanks. At least I know I'm doing something right if the yellow-green and bottlebrush acros have already begun encrusting their bases. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 quick pre-photo updates: The emeralds have been very well behaved, as far as I can tell. I got them mainly to attack hydroids, but that hasn't happened. My Aiptasia war is not going well. I tried using Mrs. Wages pickling lime to smother the ones I found, but they are still here. I had some 5 ml syringes that were from my organic chemistry lab, but I can't seem to find them. The gobies have been okay, even though I wait for many days to feed them. Pods seem to be enough for them. This week I bought a tiny Trimma cana goby. It looks very malnourished, so I hope to start feeding more regularly and see it eating pods. I also kept water flow high by turning on the koralia (which is where my halymenia is attached to). Finally, I again ordered a sps frag pack (arrived yesterday), and I paid special attention to stable water parameters and used my skimmer. My Trimma purchase was not a wise choice, so I'm going to do 2 25% water changes in the next week. I raised the lights to around six inches off the tank for the skimmer to fit and to help with the light acclimation of the frags. I'm really excited about some of the frags (especially two nice "tricolors"), but I was dissapointed that the seller (who won TOTM at RC) didn't label the bags for identification. Anyway, I'm just admiring the colors and hoping they won't brown out or bleach. I will need to change the bulbs since they are approaching a year in age. Pics will come soon! Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I found peppermint shrimp to do really well against aiptasia, but make sure they stay fed lest they eat your corals. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Yes, I used to have two peppermints, but they died without eating most of the aiptasia. I'm thinking about getting an aiptasia-eating nudibranch. I'm really annoyed by my giant amphipods. They are nibbling on the frags' bases, but I'm worried they will irritate them to the point of RTNing. The current problems I've seen are a small piece (broken off) that is nearly dead (I accidentally left it in the tank while gluing the rest), and my "green with small corallites" has a portion that looks like STN. I'll stop talking now... flash pics: just T5s: Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.