Rocket's 125 Gallon

[jcw8712]

So....how about those pictures.........

[Rocket]

Yeah um those pictures.... I found the camera, now to find the time to take good photos!

 

Tonight when I get home I'll try to post some shots.

 

I did my first water change after 2 months. I plan on 1 month water changes from now on. In the process I managed to splash water onto my timers, so they shorted out and "released the white smoke." I've have since promised myself that I will finish the stand before doing anything else. Well besides waiting for my Powdered blue to come in. Can't wait for that fish. Tank seems so dead with only two clown fish swimming in one corner of the tank all the time.

 

Everything has grown. Even the Acropora, and monti's JCW sent me. I'm well pleased. I even have a 2 month growth shot of the Ricordia garden I'll through up here on the photo update.

 

 

Cheers,

[nano2u]

looking good. makes me wish i kept my 125 around for a nice sps or softie reef

[Rocket]

Due to the forums going corrupt I have to repost again. I'll try to update what I can remember.

 

Changing water on July 11 23 gallons total. Needed the water change due to calcium, for the first time ever, being below 400.

 

Changing lights to 20k Radiums, The 10k look of Ushios is just not cutting the color I'd like to see.

 

Photo update:

 

 

Cheers,

[Rocket]

New additions to the tank tonight. Went to the LFS with the girlfriend. Damn had to hold her back or she would have bought the whole store. We came home with 9 more fish.

 

5 Green Chromis

1 Yellow tang

1 six line wrasse

1 male Maldives Lyretail Anthia

1 Blue Mandarin.

 

Pictures will come after my 150 hour photo log of burning in 20k Radiums @ 12 hour intervals. Should be a cool thread once I complete this project.

 

Oh and I'm having a hard time programming my Reefkeeper LT1 for some reason after I program anything I can't get back to menu I have to wait 3 minutes for the system to go back to the home screen so I can save it. Am I missing something?

[Christo]

New additions to the tank tonight. Went to the LFS with the girlfriend. Damn had to hold her back or she would have bought the whole store. We came home with 9 more fish.

 

5 Green Chromis

1 Yellow tang

1 six line wrasse

1 male Maldives Lyretail Anthia

1 Red Mandarin.

 

Pictures will come after my 150 hour photo log of burning in 20k Radiums @ 12 hour intervals. Should be a cool thread once I complete this project.

 

Oh and I'm having a hard time programming my Reefkeeper LT1 for some reason after I program anything I can't get back to menu I have to wait 3 minutes for the system to go back to the home screen so I can save it. Am I missing something?

 

 

Nice additions, looking forward to the pics, Ive been tagging along. I think your tank will be awesome when your done. I like the Anthias and Mandarin additions even though it may be a little early for the Mandarin. Are you going to be feeding him, or hope that there will be enough copepods kicking around?

 

No exp with Reefkeeper.

 

Keep up the great build log!

[Rocket]

Pods everywhere. I sometimes freak out at night when I look at the tank. The sandbed moves I have so many pods. Tank is 5 months old but some of the LR came from my 42 hex.

 

Another note worthy: My snails are reproducing like crazy. I started with 8 snails. Now I can count 15 new baby snails. And what I believe to be snail egg hatchlings sprouting even more. At least 30 of these "hatchlings" are in the sump/fuge.

 

What I have been doing as the snails grow I move them from the fuge to the display. "

 

Tiger banded trochus snails. paid $2 each for them 2 years ago. About time they start making me money.

 

P.S. I will photograph this phenomenon also.

[Christo]

Nice! Well in that case I think you will have a happy Mandarin. And yah you should let us have a look at these baby snails.

[fewskillz]

Tank is looking good!

 

haha, Look at all the 125s where they belong, the Top!

[Fish_Wiz]

Tank is looking good!

 

haha, Look at all the 125s where they belong, the Top!

 

LOL, 125's dominate!

[Rocket]

Nice, thanks guys. I tried last night to find all the 125's on the site. I like seeing how they are doing and what is working for you guys. I think there is 2 125's in the members aquarium section though, I wish they would move here though since this is primarily a Nano forum. I consider us big guys experimenters and with good results can trail down to the nano's.

[fewskillz]

I consider us big guys experimenters and with good results can trail down to the nano's.

 

I feel like it's the other way around. I treat my 125 like a big nano. Good flow, good live rock, a little bit of chaeto, and a medium bioload. The volume allows me to be a little slack with the water changes, but everything I needed to know about reefing I learned with my first 20 gallon.

[got2envy]

Rocket, I researched your thread when I was setting mine up so it helped in a way to convince myself that I could do a large reef

 

I look at my 125 is like it's a really big 20 long

 

nice bump for all the 125's fewskillz!

[Rocket]

Well Today has been interesting. I come home to this:

 

 

Yeah that is correct. My 20K Radium 150w center bulb has turned RED. I've sent Hellolights.com a email. Awaiting return procedures.

 

Well I tried to do a 100+ hour 12 hr interval photo log of a MH bulb burning in and it failed today.

 

This is what I got Consider the top photo 36 hrs:

 

12hrs:

24hrs:

Then BAM RED!!! grr... So my 9 month old USHIO 20K is filling in the spot. CENTER remember!

 

The Radiums overpower it and put out a nice blue hue, makes the Ushio almost look purple. Its funny to watch my green chromis swim the tank length, they change from green to dark blue and then back to green.

 

More photos to go once I upload them. Another post. I like to stay organized.

[fewskillz]

nice bump for all the 125's fewskillz!

 

Thanks! I just took the screen shot though, Rocket bumped them all. I just happened to be in the right place when Wiz's popped up.

 

Rocket, that's pretty interesting what's going on with that bulb. Keep us posted on what the manufacturer says.

[Kraylen]

booooooooooooo

 

55 > 125g

 

 

I need to upgrade

[Rocket]

Well I think these are what baby Trochus snails look like. Since about a month ago I watched the snails spawn. 1 snail was "smoking" for an hour and another 2 snails where releasing eggs in big puffs. couple of days latter these started to pop up. Plus I have at least 10 new tiny baby snails that I can count.

 

Find the baby!

[cmador]

Nice build, but those aren't baby trochus but are limpets (still good snails to have).

[Rocket]

Got my replacement 20k Radium MH 150w bulb from Hellolights a few days ago. Let it burn in before I take more photos.

 

Spent some time cleaning out and properly installing my 36w UV turbo twist.

Question for anybody: How long do UV lightbulbs last? This one has had 3 years of almost continual service. You can't look at UV light so I can't tell if it needs replacing. I know it still lights though as their is a indicator cap on the bottom of the unit.

 

I'll try to snap a few photos tomorrow during feeding time. Having more fish than 1 certainly drains the food supply quicker. Buying Largest mysis frozen as I can. (not cube form). I would like to mix up foods so any other recommendations either frozen or dry would be appreciated. The big fish eat a lot.

 

Stock:

1 True Perc

1 Yellow tang.

1 Mandarin

2 chromis ( 2 killed off by the others, 1 disappeared)

1 Maldives Lyretail Anthia ( Male) Need to find some females.

1 Six line wrasse.

 

 

Lastly. Fish suggestions! looking for bigger fish. I'm looking at more tangs at the moment.

[Rocket]

Coralife states the 36w bulb is effective for 8000 hours. That's 333 days Constant use. EEEK I better replace the bulb then. Looks like when I replace MH lights I replace the UV lights. BULBS are EXPENSIVE!

[Rocket]

For anyone wanting to get cheap UV bulbs I found this site.

 

http://americanaquariumproducts.com/UVCReplacementLamp.html

 

My 36 watt UV bulb from the drsfostersmith.com was $70

 

Ordered my new bulb for 40 with shipping! YAY for savings!

 

Tank is doing great. I'm busy calculating wood dimensions to enclose the bottom to reduce heat loss and try to stem evaporation rates. Tank is running great at a constant 81F now. Fish are nice big and maybe slightly fat. Like last time I ran the UV on the tank Algae buildup on the glass has been reduced. I noticed switching to from 10k bulbs to 20k bulbs a reduction in algae but the UV really makes a bigger difference. Scrape the glass every 3 days now. With the new bulb coming I hope this extends even longer.

[Rocket]

Photo update:

 

Used the flash for once!

Serpent starfish! Found it a couple of days ago. Another hitchhiker.

Group shot!

Current FTS. Slight algae build up on sand. Took Vortech pump down for maintenance for a few days.

My favorite shot out of the bunch! When I got it and almost 1 year latter!

Oldest and first coral I ever received.

Ric Garden

6 feet of clear blue marine water!

[timdanger]

nice pics. looking at your ric garden, did you buy those separately or did they all come on a rock? if you bought them separately, how do you get the rics to stick to the rock? glue?

[Rocket]

Originally had 11 rics from a ric pack order from a sponsor of this site located in florida.

 

nice pics. looking at your ric garden, did you buy those separately or did they all come on a rock? if you bought them separately, how do you get the rics to stick to the rock? glue?

 

 

I get asked this question a lot. Here is how I did it.

 

Super glue gel.

 

1. flip ricordia over

2. add glob of super glue

3. dip ricordia upside down in a bowl of tank water

4. quickly place in tank on rock

5. press gently to seal the glue

 

Step 3 is vital. You dip it out of tank to skim the super glue over. This step can leave a residue floating on top of the water if you do not dip fast enough. Also why you dip the coral upside down. Once skimmed you have a about 30 seconds to find a spot on the rock and press the ricordia down. This breaks the skim seal and glues your coral to the rock.

 

Learned this trick on this website. No need to take the rock out of water.

[Rocket]

Tonight I discovered one of my 96w PC actinic 03 bulbs by Hamilton has burned out. The bulbs tubes near the base are really black. For now I'm running my spare 460/420nm bulb.

 

Ricordia's are growing. Deciding if I want to frag them and sell or frag them and place somewhere else in the tank. Most likely will keep them as I am in need of filling up the tank with lots of coral.