joel sandoman Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I was gonna say put the sand in last but hey it's too late now isn't it. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 I was gonna say put the sand in last but hey it's too late now isn't it. I move rock around too much for it to matter anyhow. I did move a lot of sand away and grind the bottom rocks down to the glass, it's the best I can do. There are no rocks piled three high, so the risk of a serious rockslide is pretty low. Another advantage of the shallow tank Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 New pics for all my special friends! Water cleared really well last night. Here is how it looked this morning. I really like the 'cove' look, and it makes lots of nice overhangs for skittish fish. Here's a bit of a closeup. The biggest issue is that this really messes up the flow in the tank. It tends to spiral in the cove and it's really digging into the sand. That little rock in the middle is just a big flow deflector right now. So, I re-aquascaped a bit. Moved those rocks that were more in the middle have been moved to the front right, but that's it. Everything else still looks good. I installed the Nano cleaner this afternoon too. Forgot to take a picture of the gutter guard, but it looks pretty much like what you would expect. DUH. So it's sandstorm round two, but you can sort of see the new rock layout in this pic. Temps were about 79.5 this morning, and it got up to about 80.9 this afternoon. A little high but not too bad. Looks like evaporation is going to be about 12-16oz a day at those temps. Not terrible. If the swing is this big again tomorrow, I'll move the heater up a half degree or so to keep the swing to 1 degree a day. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Looks like the nano cleaner is adding some heat to the tank. Was 80.3 when I got up this morning. Oh well, if the temp swing stays between 80 and 81 I can deal with that. A bit warmer than I would like considering it's the winter, but we keep the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so we should be fine. I'll do the first water tests tonight. I'm suspecting that this rock is going to be fully cured though. Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Well things are really moving along now. Wet water, sand and rocks! Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Well things are really moving along now. Wet water, sand and rocks! AND THE KIA INCHES CLOSER!!!!! Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Water's cleared up again. Here is the new aquascape. Getting some dunes along the front now, but that's from the nano cleaner bouncing off the front glass. I'm going to adjust it to shoot across the length of the tank more. Here's the new left side. You can see some turf algae growing on the rock if you look closely. And the right. You can see the nano cleaner in this one, but it fades into the black background fairly well, as I hoped it would. BOOM-SHA-LAK-LAK-BOOM! Link to comment
got2envy Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Very Nice! I am using a Tunze nano cleaner on my 46 works great for such a small filter you make meh proud Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 I can't say it's doing a great job of surface skimming though. Lots of particulate on the water surface still. I only have the pump at half power. I need to redirect the nozzle and crank it up to 11. I'll try that after doing my water quality checks tonight. Link to comment
andresmirt Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I can't say it's doing a great job of surface skimming though. Lots of particulate on the water surface still. I only have the pump at half power. I need to redirect the nozzle and crank it up to 11. I'll try that after doing my water quality checks tonight. yours go to eleven too? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d54UU-fPIsY Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 These go to eleven. So, time to sort out my stocking list. I know it's only a 24" tank but there is no rock on glass anywhere, so swimming space is decent. Oh how I love my shallow tank. So two fish are a must: some sort of clown and the six-line. Those will be the last two added in that order. I think I can probably handle two more. I would prefer non-jumpers since this is open top, but if I need to put down some strips of acrylic in front of and behind the light fixture, that would be reasonable. They need to be shrimp friendly as well since a pep and a blood are also non-negotiable in this tank. So no long-nosed hawk, which sucks, cuz I want one. Suggestions? Yasha Goby maybe? Link to comment
Lalani Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Looking good. Yasha goby/shrimp pair! Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 That'd be a lot of shrimp. Wouldn't a pistol give the blood/pep and snails trouble though? Link to comment
Lalani Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Is the other one a blood shrimp or pep shrimp? Not sure about a blood, but the pep would be just fine with a pistol, imo. And my pistols never bother snails... or anybody for that matter. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Is the other one a blood shrimp or pep shrimp? Not sure about a blood, but the pep would be just fine with a pistol, imo. And my pistols never bother snails... or anybody for that matter. I think I'm getting a pep and a blood. So what does your pistol eat? Do you hand-feed? (well tong-feed anyhow) Time to hit shuffle too... Link to comment
Lalani Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Ah, I've heard of problems with blood shrimp, but can't remember exactly what. My pistols eat flake food or pellets, they aren't picky. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Dunno? They are just cleaner shrimp with a solid red colour. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Sixlines are jumpers, as are any type of Wrasse. BibleSue had one for months in her 10g tank and she kept a glass top over it. She was doing some maintenance and forgot to put the glass top on one night, and the next morning we found the sixline all dried up on the carpet. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 I just don't want to do eggcrate. Would look kinda ugly. Maybe if I painted it black or something. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I just don't want to do eggcrate. Would look kinda ugly. Maybe if I painted it black or something. What about windowscreen material, wrapped around a frame? Easy enough to make, and you sound handy. I probably ought to make one myself... Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 What about windowscreen material, wrapped around a frame?Easy enough to make, and you sound handy. I probably ought to make one myself... Either that or just use eggcrate, and then built a slide-on canopy. I just don't want to trap any more heat. The tank is a steady 80.2-80.8 and that's as high as I want to go. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yeah, I wouldn't want to go higher either. What kind of light are you using again? Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Current Sundial 24" 4x24w T5HO. I have to have it close to the water though, due to the height restriction, it's less than an inch off the glass braces. I might just cut some acrylic strips for the front and back. They are the only places a fish could jump from, otherwise they'd whack off the light fixture. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Did my water tests tonight, and I had an ammonia reading but no trIte/trAte at all. Wierd. My test kits are two years old though so I picked up new ones tonight. I'd test again right away but my freaking Koralia Nano fell off it's mount and landed in the sandbed at some point tonight. Starting at step one with the sandstorm again. BOOO. Of course, a local reefer has purple mili, red monti cap and pink birdsnest frags right now for $10 each. BAH. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yay! New water tests with a new kit this morning came out 0/0/0 which is what I was expecting. I'll verify again tomorrow night, and then get my CUC and start stocking. Link to comment
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