40 GALLON BREEDER w/ the new Solana 34 gallon Mantis Shrimp tank

[jerzsky]

hey, i updated mine, now you need to take your sweetheart out n let her update hers!! i gotz more comin!!! (peer pressure stinks, dont it??) lol j/k

[RLC]

hey, i updated mine, now you need to take your sweetheart out n let her update hers!! i gotz more comin!!! (peer pressure stinks, dont it??) lol j/k

 

The update is coming. Last weekend the LTS had 50% of SPS sale 2 new corals were bought. This weekend we are going to buy a new powerhead and a friend of mine started his own LFS/upkeep kinda thing. We are going to his house on Saturday to get a Ric or something else . Then after all of that we are going to a frag auction @ 1:30 on Saturday at some bar in Scottsdale AZ. They have it every other month and this will be our first time going so this should be a fun weekend.

[RLC]

So today will be one of those days that we do a big update on what has gone down with the tanks since the last up date. She took out the 3 gallon pico tank that was in her sump. We were using the 3 gallon as a simple holding device to keep her cheato in place. She is in a battle with red slime but we will touch more on that in a bit. So the thought is to take out the pico and more cheato and just fill up the whole sump to kick the red slime out of the tank. So we took down the 2.5 we started a couple of weeks ago and got the 3 gal pico up and running.

3 Gallon Pico info.

18 watt Current light.

5 pounds of live sand with 2 8oz cup scoops removed and put in the sump on the 40 breeder. 5 pound bag was a little to much.

3 pieces of live rock. 2-3 pounds we guess.

1 little frag of Green Star taken out of the 40 breeder.

4 Red Mushrooms taken out of the 40 breeder.

2 small frags of Kenya Tree taken out of the 75 Gallon.

1 Honey damsel.

 

So here are some pics of the pico. The blue background has been fixed and is no longer all messed up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RLC]

 

 

 

2 pics with the background fixed.

 

[nanoty]

All these freaking pico tanks makes me want to start one. Good job.

[RLC]

Here is a top down view of the pico.

 

 

A few night time shots.

 

 

 

 

 

[RLC]

All these freaking pico tanks makes me want to start one. Good job.

 

Yea it should be fun.

Cost so far on the Pico ...

Light = $30 was 2 - 3 month of use on it.

5 pound bag of sand = $10

Fish = $6

Liverock = $10

Tank = $42 from Dr. Fosters. I don't remeber the shipping but around $10.

Corals = Free kinda of as the corals were taken from other tanks.

[RLC]

Now back to the 40 breeder...

 

New corals were added the last 2 weeks. This was 50% off so she paid 12.50 for it.

 

 

 

 

Same coral with flash on. Its crazy how the color changes so much with the flash on. It is a nice pine green with the 20K on.

[RLC]

She also got a blue Chalice for $12.50. The frag plug is still on and we are going to remove it this weekend.

 

She got this sweet Green Ric last Saturday. She said she wanted to take the rock that the Ric is on and fill it up with other Ric's until it is completely filled up.

 

 

This is what her tank looks like at night. I wish when I was growing up I had a night light that was cool like this.

 

 

[cracker]

If you're having issues with the way photos are turning out with your aquarium shots, a lot of the digital cameras nowdays have pre-sets for certain kinds of lighting. Two of my last ones even had an "aquarium" setting, so it might be worth looking at your manual. It'll help you get a better color-corrected shot, and it will adjust for the flash if you're using one. Your tanks look awesome!

[RLC]

If you're having issues with the way photos are turning out with your aquarium shots, a lot of the digital cameras nowdays have pre-sets for certain kinds of lighting. Two of my last ones even had an "aquarium" setting, so it might be worth looking at your manual. It'll help you get a better color-corrected shot, and it will adjust for the flash if you're using one. Your tanks look awesome!

 

Thanks for the advice . The ones that have color are without flash. I will look in to it tonight.

[RLC]

Here are some random fish pics.

 

Sea Star

 

 

Red Scooter

 

 

Keyhole Angel

 

Clown hanging out on the right side of the tank.

[RLC]

Now for some random coral pics.

Zoa/Paly I can never tell them apart. Feel free to ID them for her. They started to open back and are doing fine.

 

Couple of plates.

 

Green Star starting to grow on the back wall like she wanted.

 

Green Ric

[RLC]

Now to end the never ending post we have a question? We would like some advice or suggestions. The red slime has made a come back. Some days there is a lot more then others. She picked up a 3rd powerhead a #1. She now has 3 powerheads #1,#2 and #3. Should have gone with a #2 instead of the #1. She started to add Reef BioFuel and it has only been a few days so we stick it out for 2 weeks and see where this ends up. This stuff is suppose to bind the extra protein so the skimmer can pull it out better and corals can use it for food. If anyone out there has used this before please leave your comments.

 

Red Slime example. It is a lot worse the pic we are posting. The whole front of the tank is covered by the end of the day. Then it is all gone at night.

 

This is what she started to use. She puts a cap full in every morning and she started this 4 days ago.

 

[Sea Slug]

Now to end the never ending post we have a question? We would like some advice or suggestions. The red slime has made a come back. Some days there is a lot more then others. She picked up a 3rd powerhead a #1. She now has 3 powerheads #1,#2 and #3. Should have gone with a #2 instead of the #1. She started to add Reef BioFuel and it has only been a few days so we stick it out for 2 weeks and see where this ends up. This stuff is suppose to bind the extra protein so the skimmer can pull it out better and corals can use it for food. If anyone out there has used this before please leave your comments.

 

Red Slime example. It is a lot worse the pic we are posting. The whole front of the tank is covered by the end of the day. Then it is all gone at night.

 

 

This is what she started to use. She puts a cap full in every morning and she started this 4 days ago.

 

 

This is a common problem with new reefers , the nutrients in your tank are out of control , this is most likely caused from you and your daughter over feeding , regardless of how it happened , lets get it out first then solve the problem . There are many products made to get rid of red slime , the best one on the market IMO is " Blue Life Red Slime Remover " I'll paste a link for you . Use this product to get rid of the slime and clean up your tank . then start testing again and find out what caused the outbreak to begin with . When using this product it is very important to follow the directions EXACTLY . When you mix the powder in a cup of salt water it does not mix quickly , you must stir it for a long time to get it to mix . Also keep an eye on the skimmer , this product will send your skimmer into overdrive . When your done , make sure to keep a strict water change schedule , I always change water on a weekly basis , not monthly . And on my 40 breeder I change four gallons every week . Attached is a link for the product and a photo of my 40 breeder with weekly water changes . HTH

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~cat...ory~FIMERM.html

[RLC]

Sea Slug we value your advice.

 

This tank is new by 3 months but we have been keeping tanks for the 4+ years. I have not been hit with red slime since my very first tank. The 75 and the 29 are doing great with no red slime what so ever. We do weekly water changes on the same day and between 5-8pm every Friday and empty the skimmer cup. We feed once night a half cube of Mysis and a half cube Brine of the Hikari brand. The skimmer is pulling the same amount and we do a deep clean of the skimmer cup once a month(scrub it clean inside and out). This is our first time with this many hard corals and we mainly had softies. We may be over feeding the hard corals. We are using a powder based coral food. We would turn off the powerheads and skimmer and use baster with a 1/4 teaspoon of the powder twice a week. We have cut down to once a week and about half of what we were doing. We adding a bigger clean crew just to help out. I will be giving this Brightwell product 2 weeks to work as well make some maintenance/upkeep changes.

 

Thank you again Sea Slug, your tanks are super sweet and we take you comments with high regard.

[Sea Slug]

Your welcome............Take this for what it's worth , but I'm willing to bet the cause of your breakout is the powder base food . These type of foods have little to no nutritional value for corals , you will find that almost all reefers agree with this . Also the picture I posted is only one of the four reefs I have , and I never feed corals , with the exception of LPS and ricordia when the lights go out , and then when I do I feed PE Mysis with tweezers and one at a time . The 40 breeder Monti Cap tank gets nothing but light and fish waste to feed on . The only food I know of that would benefit hard corals is live phyto plankton that you culture yourself , so that it is fresh . And even that can be over done . It is also possible that at three months old, the red slime break out is just a left over from your original cycle . Again " Blue Life Red Slime Remover " will make quick work of this out break and then you can go from there . Remember proper maintenance and consistent water quality is all you need to have a successful reef . Your hard corals will grow over time with no direct target feedings .

[RLC]

I think she is done with the powder. Thank you Sea Slug when we look back it does seem to be around that same time the red slime started up.

[Sea Slug]

I think she is done with the powder. Thank you Sea Slug when we look back it does seem to be around that same time the red slime started up.

No Problem.......I'm sure once it's cleaned up it won't come back . Just be careful when feeding fish , it is better to feed a little two or three times then alot all at once , and if for some reason on certain days you don't have time to feed slowly , don't feed at all . Your fish will not starve to death by missing a feeding here and there . They go for days without eating in the ocean , because they have to hunt down/search for there food and some days hunting is not so good in the ocean .Only fish that eat live coral get to eat all the time .

[RLC]

Since the last post talking about the red slime outbreak we have some good news to report. The red slime is almost gone since she stopped feeding the corals with that coral powder food. The tank still has a little left over but it is almost gone. With the routine of 5 gallon weekly water changes (we have always done this) and the stopping of the powder the red slime has slowly starved to death. She also added to fuge. During the water change this week she took some photos that she would like to share.

Here is a left/middle FTS. You can see a little red slime in the middle. A week ago the whole bottom was covered with the slime so this is a big improvement.

 

You can see here that her fuge is starting to fill up. This is also helping with the slime removal.

 

This is what the skimmer is pulling out on a weekly basis.

 

Black and Tan anyone?

 

We clean out the skimmer cup each week. By the end of the week this what she gets. For some reason she makes me clean this out. "Ewww it stinks"

[RLC]

She took some pics of the Montipora Capricornis to document the growth.

Here is what it looked like from the first pic posted on Jan 18. It was about the size of a dollar bill cut in half.

 

Here is what it looks like as of this weekend. As you can see it is starting to split.

 

Here is a top down view.

 

This is a good shot of how it is splitting and taking shape.

 

Here is a FCS (Full Coral Shot)

 

[RLC]

As you know she likes to keep everyone updated with pictures of the livestock in her tank. Here are some pictures of the what is her tank.

First up is the French Urchin. You can tell it is French by the hat it has on.

 

 

Tiger Goby checking in.

 

 

The Scooter wants in on the action.

[slick fish]

you should try removing the filter floss/sponges they trap food and let it rot ,plus skimmers remove food, but leave inorganic nitrate and inorganic phosphate in the water.

 

inorganic wastes should be floating threw the hole system to feed the corals naturally like a real reef!

 

your sump looks kinda clustered allowing a lot of waste to get traped like in the chato and the sand

this might help if you have the right amount of lr than you should b ok

lets see wat people on this site say bout this?

[RLC]

This is the last of the photos she took this weekend.

The green torch is doing fine. We haven't seen any new heads pop up but we have our fingers crossed.

 

Green Slimmer Acropora is doing well. We can see a little growth since brining it home.

 

She has started a Ric Rock. It may be hard to tell but the rock that Ric's have been attached to looks like a soap dish. She plans on filling it up with a few more Ric's. This rock is in the middle of the tank and at night the moon light hits them and glows brightly.

 

 

Top down view of the right side of the Ric Rock.

 

And last but not least is the Zoa. If anybody out there can ID this please do. This is a top down view.

 

you should try removing the filter floss/sponges they trap food and let it rot ,plus skimmers remove food, but leave inorganic nitrate and inorganic phosphate in the water.

 

inorganic wastes should be floating threw the hole system to feed the corals naturally like a real reef!

 

your sump looks kinda clustered allowing a lot of waste to get traped like in the chato and the sand

this might help if you have the right amount of lr than you should b ok

lets see wat people on this site say bout this?

 

Thanks for the advice slick. The sump has been redone. The pico was pulled out she also took out the filter pad. She did add a HBH phosphate pad this weekend. We also added alot more green in the fuge area. She plans on adding some more LR to the sump also.

[danktank]

Best.

 

Christmas.

 

Ever.

 

 

 

If that's the kinda stuff you get for being a good kid, it explains why my Christmases are always such a disappointment.

its a little late but i agree with xbwolfx