My own piece of reef!

[phases]

Thanks Phases. I'm guessing you're the one with the Acan tank on AP? Very nice. I'm not much of a fan of Acans, but I like a few that you have there

 

And yes, those Dendros are from NAFB. I spent about half an hour picking out my favorite one.

 

I wish I had that tank. Actually I've got a 75 thats just getting going. http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthre...?threadid=32445

 

I did the exact same thing when I got my dendro. I couldn`t decide between a few huge ones or lots of medium polyps. I chose the latter.

[fellbeast]

Oh what a nightmare.. a Mantis in that tank.. good luck! I'll pray it's a pistol shrimp.. Cool tank.. I too have never seen a 10 tall. I'd recomend Halide lighting, because your tank is so tall... what is it 20"-24" tall?

[nematoad]

Yeah, I got a dendro that had a few large heads, and a lot of medium heads. They're starting to grow new heads already. And I've fragged a few heads, so I've already made half the cost back

Ah, I thought that Acan tank was yours...good luck on your build. I don't have the space for a big tank....the biggest I can hope is to sneak a slightly larger 'cube' set up in one day.....

 

No, I don't have a mantis. I saw it yesterday for sure for the first time. It's a little tiny pistol shrimp it looks hardly big enough to take on my tiniest electric blue leg hermit. So no worries, just like to have it out so I don't hear that damn clicking all the time.

 

As for the lights, I won't ever do MH (well, I don't want to). I'm going to see if I can do everything T5HO, as it's just an easier setup to go with (for me) with fewer potential problems. Hopefully the T5HOs will allow me to keep some SPS at the top and middle sections and some lower light montis near the mid/lower reaches (caps, digis, etc), and some LPS or shrooms etc to round it out. We'll see how the current inhabitants do under the T5HO lights when it arrives, and stocking will go from there.

 

I added another unknown amount of sand to the tank a few days ago. It clouded everything up a bit, but no RTN from the acros (I hope!), so everything is well. Hopefully it'll be seeded and "alive" by the time it's ready to go into the bigger tank.

[fellbeast]

Cool, yeah I prob won't ever do halide either, I'm waiting for all LED hoods to go down.. $$$.. besides they are way cool!

[nematoad]

Cool, yeah I prob won't ever do halide either, I'm waiting for all LED hoods to go down.. $$$.. besides they are way cool!

 

Yeah, I was all set up to buy a Aquaillumination LED fixture, but then the Canadian dollar went to hell, and it would have been over a grand for a 12" light....not happening.

 

Hopefully in the next 5 years or so the price will drop dramatically enough to be able to easily justify the cost.

[fellbeast]

Yeah, there's a 14" at Marine Depot for 900.. I want the 24" for my 40 gal breeder project for next year.. muahahahaha!

[nematoad]

Well a wee picture update.

 

Things have mostly been going well in reef tank land. The purple tip staghorn acropora frags keep RNTing on me for one reason or another. 6 were stable (including the large 2.5" frag), but a few days ago a monti frag was put next to them, and it touched three of the acro frags, and so they decided to call it quits and RTN.

Today I got home and found one leaning against a zoa colony I meant to glue down, but was on the frag rack temporarily. Also all white with little bits stuck to it after RTNing. So that leaves me with two (1 1inch frag, and 1 2.5 inch frag). As long as the big guy survives, all is not lost.

 

I can't wait to have more tank space to install my Tunze 9002 I picked up from Sea U Marine (Good deal as usual). This should give you a good idea why:

That's the filter floss I had in the overflow part of the AC70 HOB refugium I set up (even with that crud, my parameters are all zeros for Nitrogenous wastes and phosphates). It was in there for 3.5 days.

Clearly, the Skimmer will have a marked impact on crap in the water. Can't wait.

 

My chili coral hadn't been looking so hot the last three weeks or so, never puffing up fully, and I figured out why: detrius had collected on it and it was irritating the hell out of it. I shook it out and placed in higher inthe tank so it would get more flow over night, and then replaced it to it's usual place and tonight, it's alive!!

It's getting there. I also added 2 ml of phyto so hopefully it's eating too.

Also, it's not usually sitting on the sand. It's just there right now cause I added at least 5 or 6 lbs so I can seed it before everything goes into the new twenty gallon 'cube' tank. For now, every few days I'll go in there with the pipette to blast out the crap. When everything goes into the 20, I'll mount it under an overhang somewhere for it's permanent home.

 

Incidentally the carnation coral frag I got in week 2 is much healthier now too. It's starting to have PE!

 

Dendro is happy as usual, as long as it gets fed. And fed it will be.

 

My finger leathers seem to be happy enough. They're even growing baby fingers now:

 

And lastly my montipora capricornis. Earlier shots show it a dull drab tan. After repeated treatments with teh TMPCC to get rid of the monti eating nudis, it's really started to come around and even has some green coming in:

 

All this with my crappy 65w PC 10000K bulb. Can't wait for the NEP 6x18W T5HO to come in....

[iglowce]

nice progress... seems like u were dealing with all kinds of bugs. but you managed to battle against them. good job! btw isnt carnation coral one of the harder LPS to keep? good luck on it

[nematoad]

nice progress... seems like u were dealing with all kinds of bugs. but you managed to battle against them. good job! btw isnt carnation coral one of the harder LPS to keep? good luck on it

 

Yep, Carnation coral is supposed to be one of the harder ones to keep because of it's need to feed on phytoplankton almost constantly. I've been keeping up with microfoods, but it's only recently tat it's started to look good. And it's a tiny tiny piece that fell off of a colony that I originally wanted to keep but decided against.

 

Yep, had my share of bugs and glitches. The learning curve has been steep, but I think I'm doing pretty good now.

[edge0310]

your pictures are awesome

[kd5vlj]

+ 1

 

I LOVE your tank!!

[nematoad]

Thanks guys for all the compliments. I really like where the tank is going too. I just wish that I could get the lights soon. Hopefully tomorrow the LFS will call me to tell me that they got the lights in.

 

Despite the light, I'm happy about the coral growth. In the 7 weeks since it's been set up, the zoas are starting to grow and multiply, the dendrophyllia has sprout a new head (thanks, and the Duncan coral has sprouted about 10 - 15 new heads And the monti cap is definitely looking healthier, but there are some white patches again on the bottom, so I've been looking over it meticulously, and haven't seen one in a few days. I read that Monti caps are sensitive to changes in Magnesium, so maybe that's the problem. Unfortunately, I don't have a Mg test, so I'll be looking to get one when I head to Sea U Marine next.

 

Also looking to get an ATO. Probably the Tunze Osmolator. It'll make maintenance easier, something that's always a plus. That and I'll be away for 3 weeks, in which time the gf will be looking after the tank, so it's one less thing for her to worry about too.

 

My 20g build is coming along nicely. I just have to find two street ell mipt x slip fittings and I have all my plumbing. Hopefully I can make it to the store this week. Then I have to get my tank drilled for the 1" drain, and find someone to make me an overflow box, or make one myself. Oh, and make the stand. I think I'll get on that one this weekend.

In terms of other parts, I'm going to order two Coralife digital power centers to power the tank. I think I'll get those one-plug GFCI things to plug the coralifes into, that way, if one trips, the whole tank isn't without power, as would be the case if I used a GFCI protected outlet.

 

I'm thinking of running them like this:

Power center 1:

daylight plug: Actinic lights (on at 12 pm, off at 12 am)

night plug: DIY LED moon lights

 

constant power plugs:

150w heater

Eheim 1250 (sump return pump)

 

Power center 2:

daylight plug: Daylights (on at 1 pm, off at 11:00 pm)

night plug: Refugium light

 

Constant power plugs:

Vortech MP-20

 

I figure with this configuration, if one GFCI trips, the tank won't be completely without light or water circulation. I was going to have two heaters, but if the sump pump goes out, then the heaters (which would be in the sump) would be useless anyways, so I decided against having two in there on different bars. I might go with two smaller heaters just so things don't get fried, but we'll see.

 

The rest of the plugs would then be occupied by things like the pH monitor, skimmer, ATO and other things that might end up in there. I was thinking it would be nice if I could install a switch box of sorts on the outside (or cut a hole for one) on the side to easily turn off pumps for feeding, but we'll see. that might be upgrade 1.1. The other reason for the ATO is that I checked my salinity on thursday and it was a whopping 1.030. Oops. And I had just run out of RO/DI water from the lab, so I had to rush out to Shoppers drug mart to get 2 4L bottles of distilled water. Did a WC with fresh SW with RO/DI added in, and then checked salinity, and added a little more RO/DI. I'd like to take this chore away, and I think in the long run, the cost of the ATO will be worth it for sure.

 

As for the tank inhabitants. everyone is well. The skunk cleaner and the peppermint don't get along well, but oh well. The peppermint is quick Parameters are normal:

 

pH: 7.8 (API)

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 0 ppm

kH: 9 dKh

Calcium: 440 ppm

Phosphorus: 0 ppm

sg - 1.026

[nematoad]

Ah, no body cares about my ramblings about PVC pipings. Fair enough.

 

I'm really happy about the A Echinata I brought home from Sea U Marine. It's browned out a little cause my lights suck, but it's 'healthy' and has got some polyp extension on it too:

 

I responded to an ad selling a brand new CO2 tank and regulator (The guy won it at the Peel region auction) two days ago, and went to pick it up today. ReefFanatic Regulator/solenoid/needle valve and a 10lb tank for $150, all brand new. I'm thinking I might put a Calcium reactor on the tank. Yes, it's only 30g of water, but I have seen many nanos with Calcium reactors. All of those tanks were SPS heavy, which is where I'd like to be eventually. Also, all of those people eneded up having to dose a lot o two-part, so instead of that, I could use a calcium reactor. It would further automate things, which is nice. One less thing to have to constantly worry about. I have the CO2 tank and regulator set (I'm selling my FW CO2 set), and a pH controller for the reactor, so all I need to do is find a good small calcium reactor. Research to follow.

 

When I was there, I asked to see his set up, and he had some really nice zoas (he brought them in from the states..some really neat ones). He also had a frag of a really nice purple Montipora digitata. Yes, I know, you're all saying, "Well Eric, don't you possibly still have montipora eating nudibranchs in your tank?" Yes, possibly I may still have them. But for $5 for the frag, I couldn't say no.

 

I scrubbed the frag plug, and did a light once over of the frag with a toothbrush, then did a 15 minute dip in Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (double strength), and then scrubbed the plug and coral again, and did a rinse in the TMPCC and then went over the frag a few times with a pipette and clean SW. I really need a QT system.

Anyways, when satisfied that is was clean (a few more scrubs of the toothbrush over the whole thing), it's up on my frag rack so I can closely monitor it.

 

[Aqua newbie]

love the tank.

[nematoad]

Well guys, it's here. I have talked about it for weeks now, and it's finally arrived. Nova Extreme Pro 20" (6x 18W T5H0).

 

 

It's pretty freaking sweet. When I first saw it in the store and we hooked it up, it's definitely very bright. And big! 20 x 4 x 12 (my tank is 16 x 8, so it's bigger by 4 inches in both directions!). There's a lot of blue, but that's probably because I've gotten used to the color temp of the 10 000 K bulb with no actinics.

 

The only downside to the fixture is the fans. They're LOUD! Any ideas on quieting them down?

 

As for the corals, everything has more pop and colour. The monti cap is actually green!! The pictures don't capture it, but the polyps are all nice and green

I think looking back, you can tell that it's grown a lot in a few weeks. I was a bit concerned that the underside was getting white and maybe being eaten again my monti eating nudis, but the size of the area and the progession and lack of damage to the coral made me think otherwise. I think (and Quang agreed) that it's the fact that the coral is growing and that part of the underside no longer gets light, so its white now. Let hope that's true!

 

Finger has been really growing well, with new fingers coming up:

 

The Acro echinata is looking so nice! You can't tell from the pics, but it has a light green/jade colour flourescence to it. very nice

 

And the requisite FTS (has been a few weeks since the last one):

[clifford513]

Very informative and thorough posts. That's a good looking tank.

[nematoad]

Thanks Clifford. It's all in the details; I think it makes it more informative for anyone else out there who wants to know what I'm doing and how I did it, or what to watch out for. The best tank jornals I have read are those that really go into the nitty gritty, so that it's that much easier to replicate myself, rather than guess what I need to do and fill in the blanks. Guess it's the researcher in me reporting like I always should

 

Anyways, got some fraaaaaaags!! Won an auction for them on a local site (AP) - $160. The list:

Green base brown polyp Acropora milipora

Tan base, green polyp Acropora granulosa

Blue/turquiose Acropora tenius

purple tip staghorn

pink with green tip bird's nest

Acropora loripes

purple montipora digitata

Montipora sp. (lavender base with green polyps)

 

The pictures:

 

(The crappiest picture) Staghorn and Acropora tenius

 

(From L to R) Acropora milipora, Acropora granulosa, Acropora tenius

 

(L to R) Acropora loripes, pink with green tip bird's nest

 

Purple montipora digitata

 

Unidentified montipora

 

Now for a major rearrangement of everything. I won't be removing the plugs (they're all encrusted), and since I'm moving the tank soon (don't know exactly when). I'll just leave them be for now and stick them wherever they fit, or crazy glue a few that are mounted to LR.

 

If I've got any of the ID's wrong (it's what I got from the seller), let me know

[OkcKoolaid]

so with that light does a lot of it flood over the 10 gal, i thought the bulbs were 18 inches so it almost fits perfect with the bulbs

[nematoad]

so with that light does a lot of it flood over the 10 gal, i thought the bulbs were 18 inches so it almost fits perfect with the bulbs

 

With a normal 10 gallon tank, it would fit perfectly over it. However my current 10g tank is actually a 10g tall so it measures 16 x 8 x 20 (foot print of a 5.5g), so there's considerable spillover the front and back.

However, when moved to my 20g cube (16 x 16 x 21) it should fit perfectly over the top.

[nematoad]

Seeing another thread (I think ScottyReef?), I think the mystery monti I have is a bleached out pokerstar montipora.

 

Anyways, today I traded some duncan heads to a local member for a 10g standard tank and another heater. I've decided, after some input from another member on a local forum (the one who I got the frag pack from) on this layout for the sump:

 

The only thing that is different is that the drain/return side is 4.5 inches wide, and the tunze will be mounted on the inside wall of the drain side, with the return basically just coming straight down from the t fitting.

With this design, there were several things considered. I wanted to use the refugium as a propagation/hospital area, so I wanted to have as much usage of the area as possible. Second, I got wind of and picked up a great deal on an 18" T5HO fixture (uses the same bulbs as my DT main fixture), so I wanted to take full advantage of the length of the fixture. So I came to the length wise design. The drain line empties into the drain area where the Tunze 9002 is mounted. After which is a bubble trap which spills over into the refugium/prop area. The refugium/prop area is about 4.5" x 19.75" x 9". The return section is 11.75" x 4.5" x 9", so at 317 GPH (full flow at 0 ft head on the eheim 1250), it takes the pump about 20 seconds to empty the compartment. To combat this, I put teeth into a 7" section of the baffle, as this can handle over 400 GPH (according to the RC overflow calculator).

 

Here are some pics of it pre assembled. I used weldon 4 to bond and weldon 16 to seal the joints:

Parts:

 

Drain side (with bubble trap):

 

Over top:

 

I also assembled the overflow:

Parts:

 

From the front:

 

Inside:

 

I cut all of these today on a table saw with a blade meant for plastics, finishing, etc. I think the teeth look pretty good, considering they were done mostly freehand. Mostly all straight cuts

 

I was in the process of gluing everything, but I ran out of silicone. Silly me. So the overflow is siliconed in, but I have to trim the silicone tomorrow to clean up the job a bit. The sump baffles are mostly in, but I didn't have enough to finish two of the plexi to glass junctions, so I'll have to get some more silicone and finish that tomorrow. Sorry, no pics of everything so far, I forgot my camera at my parent's house.

 

I also cut all the spa-flex plumbing and put the fittings for the true union valve and the eheim 1250 onto the return side. Hopefully I am ready for a leak test by mid week, giving everything 24~48 hrs to cure. In the mean time I'll finish off the stand.

 

And, since I have not had one in a while:

 

FTS 16-11-2008:

[nematoad]

Well, I got the baffles and overflow siliconed in saturday night (squeezed every last bit of silicone, and I barely had enough), so today I did the leak test, and all the compartments held water independently. Also got the overflow on and it's looking good too.

 

Overflow siliconed in:

 

Drain/return plumbing:

 

Sump with plumbing running into it, and return pump hooked up:

 

Drain/return side

 

Refugium/prop side:

Looks like a cadlights tank from this side

 

All hooked up (just to see the mess that it will become):

 

Lights on on the refugium/prop side:

 

I made the center divider out of black acrylic so that I don't get algae issues in the drain and return sides from all the light from the refugium/prop area:

 

Lights on, both sides:

 

You can see that the fuge/prop side is fully lit, but the drain/return sides are pretty much dark.

 

Here's the sump full of water during my full leak test (passed with flying colours!)

 

I had to dial the eheim back a bit since it was filling the DT faster than it was draining. Not sure why though, I think the drain (1") isn't keeping up as fast as it should. Any ideas why? I have a tiny hole drilled on the cap of the durso; will making it bigger increase the flow rate? Any ideas? I'd rather not have to dial the return pump back if at all possible.

 

How it all looks right now:

[Kamao]

Nice tank!

I have a question regarding the vortech. Can you turn down the flow, if so, how low can you turn it down?

[AdriftQuasar]

Great tank! It's incredible to see so much rock in a 10 gallon tank. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a 10 high. I can't think of any other competent expression of how impressed I am with this tank.

[nematoad]

Nice tank!

I have a question regarding the vortech. Can you turn down the flow, if so, how low can you turn it down?

 

Yes, the vortech can be turned down. It has a variable flow rate of 500 gph to 2000 gph. But it's a very gentle flow at 500 gph since it's moving water across a very broad areaa. For more info see:

http://www.ecotechmarine.com/products/mp20.php

 

Despite some of the issues I've had it, if you have the funds for it, I highly recommend one.

 

Great tank! It's incredible to see so much rock in a 10 gallon tank. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a 10 high. I can't think of any other competent expression of how impressed I am with this tank.

 

Thanks! I've put a lot of thought and planning into it, so I'm glad some others besides myself get something out of it too.

yeah, It's a lot of rock. My actual water volume is probably closer to 6 gallons or so after you consider the displacement of the rock and sand.

 

Stay tuned for the 20g build. It's going to be twice as big!!

[nematoad]

Been doing the leak test since monday, and so far, no leaks and everything runs great. I initially had a problem with the overflow not being able to keep up with the Eheim 1250 return pump, so I had to dial it back. I solved that by making the teeth wider by removing two of the teeth:

You can see that two large gaps are made. But this way I don't have to dial back the return pump, and now it's at full blast.

 

Stand is 99% finished. Now I just have to apply two or three coats of the stain, and do some finishing touches, and it's ready to go. I hooked up almost everything, and it's already a mess of cords. Hopefully I can cram everything in there and still keep it somewhat organized.

 

Looking at the 10g, I've decided to run either chemi-pure or activated carbon, so I got a two little fishies phosban reactor in a trade for rics. I'm washing it out tonight with vinegar just to clean it up, and went to BA to see if they had carbon or chemi-pure, but they don't so I'll just order it from petsandponds.com tonight. Hopefully this improves my water clarity so I'll have better colours from my SPS corals. Right now they're doing pretty good, but I definitely think the water could be clearer.

 

After losing my two-spot goby about a month ago, the sand bed has been getting progressively dirtier, despite the hermits coming through it daily, so I went up to Sea U Marine today to get either some Narcissus or cerith snails. Ken only had Narcissus, so I got three Tongan Narcissus snails. I'll probably get more in the future, but for now, 3 was good. Hopefully Menagerie has some ceriths still.

 

Also, while up there, I got another cleaner shrimp, since I was missing the shrimps. I also picked up a beautiful little Six line wrasse!! I've had my eye on one for a while, and was definitely going to get one. He's happily swimming about now. Every time he passes by the sexy shrimp, it freaks out and starts to wag his tail like mad at the six line wrasse. Guess he knows that eventually the wrasse will try to eat him. I'll take him out before that.

 

Here are a few pics of the little guy:

 

Checking out the new digs:

 

A bunch of shots just cruising around:

 

 

 

 

I held off on more corals. Ken had some nice frags, but I just got a whack of frags, and I'm getting at least 2 or 3 more next weekend from fragalot. So I held strong and just got what I came for. Well, except for the magnesium test. Picked up a Salifert one on Ken's recommendation. Apparently the Elos test kits go in gradations of 75 ppm, whereas the Saliferts go by 25 ppm, so Salifert it was.

 

I can't wait to have everything move over to the 20. I can't believe the real estate that will open up with twice the space. A lot more room to muck about in! Actually, all I have planned is to maybe make the rock wall into a 'C' shape, and have a bommie (rock island) in one of the front corners, and lots of sand in the rest of the parts. Can't wait!