UWWMatt's 25G Journal

[StevieT]

yeah, I switched member names.....

 

I am in Menomonee Falls now, only an hour away from Mad town. I did register for the wisconsin reef socity forum last night, I will check out the one you linked to as well.

 

If you ever want to get the Biocube contest going again shoot me a line.

 

I just use a rebel xti you can get them used for a few hundred.

 

good point. It is a needed expense right now for product photos

[uwwmatt]

Well everything is finally clean. What a difference a day makes.

 

Before 5/14

 

 

After5/15

 

I still have some work to do. The sump is still curing and I have to redesign the plumbing, but at least my apartment is clean. Just in time to because my fiancé's family will be here in 30min.

 

May 16, 2009

 

My new fish seem to be acclimating to the tank well. All the fish are getting along fine. I was concerned about my blenny, but he basically ignores them. The chromis likes to swim around the trio, it is kind of fun to watch.

 

The coolest thing about these new cardinals are their eyes. It doesn't show up in photographs, but they look like they are glowing blue. Almost like they have blue laser coming out of their eyes.

 

 

[scottyreef]

Very cool cardinals there buddy what was the total price for the lot? Cool eyes are great on fish i had a Yellow Eyed Hawaiian Kole Tang that had one yellow eye and one bright purple eye

[uwwmatt]

Here was my order details. I thought a trio of fish for $45 was a reasonable price. I also got Acropora Crab, but he sort of scurried under a rock the moment I put him in and have not seen him since. He was pretty sweet looking and I really hope he finds my Acropora and hosts in it.

Item Details:

SE-47901 CF - Giant Green Polyp Duncan, Single Head - Aquacultured CCGC 30 Day, Qty:1, Price: $19.99 each = $19.99

 

0511091133 Diver's DenSpotgill Cardinalfish (Trio), Qty:1, Price: $44.99 each = $44.99

 

0512091509 Diver's DenAcropora Crab, Qty:1, Price: $14.99 each = $14.99

[uwwmatt]

My Livestock List

Fish

1 Orange Spotted Goby (2 years old)

1 Bicolor Blenny (1 year old)

1 Blue-green Chromis (6 months old)

3 Spotted Gill Cardinals (New)

 

Crabs

1 Porcelain Crab

1 Pom Pom Crab

1 Emerald Crab

1 Acropora Crab

1 Electric Blue Hermit Crab

6 Assorted Blue and Red Legged Hermits

 

Shrimp

1 Cleaner Shrimp

1 Bumblebee Shrimp

1 Sexy Shrimp

 

Snails

Dwarf Ceriths

Florida Ceriths

Dwarf Planaxis

Nerites

Nassarius Vibexes

Zig Zag Periwinkles

Collonista snails

Astraea

 

Clams

1 Golden Maxima Clam

 

Corals

I am working on the list...

 

Hitchhikers

Asterina Starfish

Microbrittle Starfish

Mystery Crab (I have never seen it move, ever)

Limpits

Feather Dusters

 

Macro Algae (in sump)

Cheato

Grape Caulerpa

Unidentified Red Macro Algae

Mangroves

[knight]

wow looks amazing I love the new cardinals. How big are they?

[Yamato]

great thread.

 

Thanks for writing up with pictures.

 

And to add, I crossed my eyes and it worked for me. Let me ask, did you take the pictures from two differenct angles, to create the two different perspectives your eyes will see, (Left vs Right)?

 

Keep up the good work, those cardinals are sweet.

 

On another note, as we are all nature lovers, I watched Earth the movie last nite and it was great...check it out!

[uwwmatt]

wow looks amazing I love the new cardinals. How big are they?

Thanks. The cardinals are about 2.5 inches long but they are pretty thick so it makes them seem even larger. The funny thing is the addition of the cardinals has made my chromis less skittish. He likes to hang out with the group, and no longer hides when people go up to the glass.

 

great thread.

 

Thanks for writing up with pictures.

 

And to add, I crossed my eyes and it worked for me. Let me ask, did you take the pictures from two differenct angles, to create the two different perspectives your eyes will see, (Left vs Right)?

 

Keep up the good work, those cardinals are sweet.

 

On another note, as we are all nature lovers, I watched Earth the movie last nite and it was great...check it out!

 

I am glad you liked my tank thread. The trick to taking those pictures is to shot one image and then move the camera over only about 2 inches and shoot another photograph. The angle stays the same, just move the camera along parallel to your subject. I will have to take a look at that movie.

 

 

 

In other news I sold my 14G Biocube today. I now can focus all my attention on this tank. Over the last few months I have sold my 8G biocube and taken down my 2.5 pico.

[TheStar]

Nice recovery!

The Tank looks wonderful.

Lots of growth. Do you do any dosing?

[scottyreef]

So you found your bubblebee?

[Nanobuds]

he said yes to that a while ago...

[uwwmatt]

Nice recovery!

The Tank looks wonderful.

Lots of growth. Do you do any dosing?

Thank you. I purchased some two part solution about a month ago, but I haven't really used it yet. I know this will sound bad, but I have never tested my reef for anything...ever. Actually I have never used any test kits on any of the 4 aquariums I have run. The only thing I monitor is specific gravity and temperature. I certainly don't suggest others do this, and it goes against what most people say on this website, but I don't find testing to be necessary. No matter what test you do if you get a negative reading the steps to fixing the problem are the same. Water changes. So if something doesn't seem right in my tank, I just do a water change and any problem level out. Anyway to get back on topic, maybe someday I will use my two part solution.

 

So you found your bubblebee?

I did...but I have lost him again. The move may have spooked him, the sexy shrimp and all the other things seem fine though.

 

On a side note; I went for a walk today and took a picture of this bug. I am really happy with the way the picture turned out so I thought I would share it. It is my new computer background now.

[Yamato]

I don't do a whole lot of testing either, but I have found that KH in my BC 8 drops pretty fast, especially when I had two frog spawns in it. Now that I sold them, I find my KH doesn't drop as fast.

 

Water changes doesn't exactly bring parameters back, or to ideal level right?

Like in my case, I found KH doesn't go to where my LFS dude suggests to me, which is around the 10-11 degrees mark. If left unchecked, I get KH at around 7-8 which is low.

 

I do weekly water changes of about 20%

[uwwmatt]

I don't do a whole lot of testing either, but I have found that KH in my BC 8 drops pretty fast, especially when I had two frog spawns in it. Now that I sold them, I find my KH doesn't drop as fast.

 

Water changes doesn't exactly bring parameters back, or to ideal level right?

Like in my case, I found KH doesn't go to where my LFS dude suggests to me, which is around the 10-11 degrees mark. If left unchecked, I get KH at around 7-8 which is low.

 

I do weekly water changes of about 20%

 

I always assumed my water changes replenish enough of whatever my corals need. I have the test kits, maybe I will break them open and do a test this week . I have frogspawn and hammer both of which started as one head and have now become 7-9 heads in the past year. So they seem to be getting what they need.

[Yamato]

well if your coral are doing well, I can't argue with that

But I would be interested to know what your KH reading is like, I am dose KH pretty much every day to maintain 10-11 degrees. But other than that I don't dose anything else. Like you, I rely on my weekly water change to deal with the rest.

[9thwonder]

Hello Matt. Your thread inspired me to start a 25g. I am new to SW (but with plenty of research and lots of questions I think I'll do ok). I have a 25g already, but was wondering what the dimensions of your tank are.

[uwwmatt]

Hello Matt. Your thread inspired me to start a 25g. I am new to SW (but with plenty of research and lots of questions I think I'll do ok). I have a 25g already, but was wondering what the dimensions of your tank are.

 

Hi 9thwonder,

 

I am glad you like my tank. I have been really happy with the size, I like the extra height to it. The dimensions of my tank are 24 1/4 x12 1/2 x20 3/4. I would be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

 

Matt

[uwwmatt]

May 26th, 2009

 

Here are some pictures of the redesigned plumbing. I was able to make it out of the original design, and only had to buy one pvc connector. I was worried that I would have to start from scratch.

 

You can also see where I painted the return portion black. This will look much better against the black tank background.

 

 

old version:

 

I still need to glue the pvc. I would have had it done last weekend, but I couldn't find any of the 4 cans of primer/sealant that I know I have somewhere.

 

I will be happy when the sump is up and running, and I can install my ATO again. I feel like I am always topping off the tank. This will be my first summer with this tank, and I can already tell that I am going to need to get a larger container for my RO/DI water.

 

The cardinal fish seem to be getting along well. I noticed a small patch of cyanobacteria the other day which is no doubt the result of the increased feeding and waste from the new fish. It doesn't help that my skimmer is not running now either. I expect the problem to clear up once the sump is up and running again.

[uwwmatt]

I bought a VorTech MP20 today. It should arrive sometime next week. It was a pretty ridiculous impulse buy, but every hobby has its costs...right...?

[ADAreef]

I bought a VorTech MP20 today. It should arrive sometime next week. It was a pretty ridiculous impulse buy, but every hobby has its costs...right...?

 

 

Awesome buy. Well worth the price, I'd say.

[BlueAbyss]

You will love your Vortech, and all other powerheads will from now on feel cheap and inferior. Congrats on a great impulse buy! Love your tank BTW, the diversity of your reef is refreshing.

[uwwmatt]

Awesome buy. Well worth the price, I'd say.

Thanks, I am really looking forward to removing my 2 Koralias and 1 MJ. They really distract from the beauty of the tank. Plus the wave function on the MP20 looks pretty sweet.

 

You will love your Vortech, and all other powerheads will from now on feel cheap and inferior. Congrats on a great impulse buy! Love your tank BTW, the diversity of your reef is refreshing.

Thank you

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Continuing the trend of impulse buying I just picked up the MightyMite RO/DI today. With summer coming I have been running my fans longer and man does the water evaporate fast. I go to the grocery store twice a week to replenish water. Plus I am always putting off water changes, so this should be a big improvement.

[Needreefunds]

Two great purchases IMO.

 

As the others have said, you should really enjoy the Vortech.

 

As for the Ro/DI, there is nothing like being able to make water when needed. No running out, lugging bottles or buckets etc.

 

Impulse buys, perhaps, but in the long run I really think you will be happy you did it.

 

Good luck with both.

[TheStar]

My only regret with the Vortech was waiting to buy it.

[uwwmatt]

Oh God I can't control myself I just bought the Reefkeeper Lite