n0rk Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Because it's the thing to do, here's the most recent FTS. Link to comment
spazizz Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 If that rack wasnt in the back id say that tank looks cool. Link to comment
n0rk Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 The rack is in there for a purpose for now. I'm more focused on growing frags out in this system than with actual aquascaping, so that I've got decent-sized stuff to put into the new tank. I agree though, it does detract a lot visually. Link to comment
JDigital Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Looks like some nice SPS on that rack. That blue tip does stand out in the FTS though. When is the new tank coming? link? Link to comment
n0rk Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 Sadly, it won't be coming for quite some time. There's been a few hiccups in recent times which've taken the wind from my sails, so instead of jump into the new project half-cocked, I'm just going to focus on making the most of what I've got for now. The bigger system will eventually happen, likely after I return from the US, but I just can't commit to it now. I lost a whole bunch of coral due to a power-out two nights ago. Some of my nicest pieces bleached out, and the ones that didn't are in heavy distress. The really annoying part is I didn't have photos of most of them. My Stylophora has undergone some RTN on the tips of most of its branches, the remaining Poccilopora frag (I had 2, one disappeared) is an absolute goner (totally bleached itself), my Acropora millepora colony is in heavy distress and I'm not holding out much hope for it recovering, 3 Acropora frags (a white with purple polyps, a toxic yellow deepwater one, and an ice blue with royal blue tips) have bleached totally, my Montipora is showing signs of heavy distress, and I managed to break a few of the frags and broke some off of the blue tip Acropora colony. Everything else has lost all signs of its colour aside from brown (except the greens, they're just as bright...?). I'm kinda shattered over it, as I'm sure you could imagine. So, instead of the bigger system, I'm going to do the following; - New stand which I can fit a sump and inline frag tank under. - Drill the display, likely just straight-through overflows with no weir (or a coast-to-coast Calfo with Beananimal setup). - Bigger skimmer. - ZEOvit, Basic 4. - Battery backup for the VorTech. - Change to NSW. - Get more colonies. - Lower pendant. This is the last FTS I got before everything went wrong. I changed the 'scape after basically deciding the new tank was on hold (I know, slightly sloppy, but it's not finished... my tank is too low to work in for long periods and I didn't get to place things right, plus, I'm waiting for stuff to grow in. A new bit of base rock will fill the hole, and another will sweep down the front on the right). I kinda preferred it when I was keeping softies and LPS and I could basically pour Lye in the tank and have everything survive. Eh. Oh well. Link to comment
n0rk Posted January 4, 2010 Author Share Posted January 4, 2010 Changes, changes. Too many changes, too many incomplete changes. The sump is finished (the 2.5x2x1.5' I ordered ages ago) and I'm looking at a 3x2x1.25' display to go with it. We'll find out tonight if I get it or not. If I do, I'll be excited because I'm starting to feel the limitations of the smaller tank. If not, I've got one identical to the current one that's drilled and I'll be changing over into it. We'll see. Also, got asked on my main forum how my tank is doing, so I figured I'd post a picture or two here. The blue-tip is quite considerably more blue now than it was before things screwed up... somehow it's held its colour fairly well too. I can't quite explain it, but I'm happy. The mille colony is still showing that it's one of the more difficult Acropora species to keep. Starting to get a brilliant blue/green shimmer to the tips and starting to get some PE again, we'll see how it goes once I convert to NSW. Two corals hit the hardest by it all... they're slowly starting to come good again. And, the obligatory FTS. We'll see how it pans out. Link to comment
Lalani Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Dang, sorry about the troubles with the tank, but it's looking nice. Link to comment
fewskillz Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 To have had such hurdles with this tank it looks pretty darn good. I like your skunks. I think I might get another pair. Link to comment
n0rk Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Thanks guys definitely get a pair of Skunks, they're great to watch. These ones are particularly friendly, they tend to swim into my hands when I'm in the tank. On the upside, good news on the horizon - this tank is a goner. I got offered the tank I spoke of (3x2x1.25) at a price which I was unable to refuse. It's a rimless () with 3 overflows, which should suit my sump well. I pick it up on Monday night, hopefully will be changed over into it in the next ~2 weeks or so. I'm itching to get it on. Speaking of the sump, this is how we set 'em up over here: Basically, there's a semi-weir for the infeed, flows under to the skimmer section, over a cutout into the 'fuge (which is now a frag tank...), over the baffle into the return. There was supposed to be a bubble trap but it got lost somewhere in translation, though with the flow I'll be putting through it I'm aiming to only have a very slow flow over the last baffle. I just need to get a 150W pendant and ballast now (I'm dropping back from the 250W, adding in a pair of T5s), and the plumbing, my new skimmer, and the ZEO gear and I'm fully ready to roll. I really can't wait to get this thing plumbed up and running. Ahhhhhh, the wait is a killer. Link to comment
fewskillz Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Thanks guys definitely get a pair of Skunks, they're great to watch. I used to have a pair. A power outage killed the female. The male died a few days later. He was literally lost without her. It was a sad few days, he seemed so miserable. Link to comment
n0rk Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Aye, I've found that when I've kept mated pairs, if one mate dies the other tends to not be too good. Healthy, sure, but not so much happy or displaying regular behaviour. I guess it says a lot about us that we don't seem to be so phased by interaction... New tank has landed. It's low, it's rimless, and it's going LED. Looking at a pair of 120W Baisheng units with modified panels to go over it, which if the PAR values the members of my reef society have pulled hold true... I should be seeing about 450 on my sandbed over my tank's height (13"). I'll have so much light I could pro'lly just run it barebottom and power my in-sump frag tank off the same fixtures or som'in. Just need the stand made... the stand I bought the tank with is 3.5" too thin front-to-back to fit my sump under... crap. Getting barrels for NSW and plumbing this week, then just gotta wait for my supplier to get more NSW in. Then, acquiring bits and pieces to go with it... new skimmer, a ZEO kit, then a smaller LED fixture to go over the frags (60W pro'lly), then dosing pump set. Maybe an electronic ATO, for now it'll just be manual everything still and gravity-fed top-off. And maybe a pair of MP10s, one for the display on the back wall, and one for the frag tank. Possibly. I may just end up going for cheap knock-offs for the frags because I could still push about 100x the chamber volume with the smallest one I can get. We'll see how financial I am. For scaping, my idea has differed greatly from the original plan - I was planning on having it open at one end and a largish structure in front of the weir with SPS colonies on, but now I'm thinking I'll be doing something inspired by Hu Haiwei's 210g SPS reef, with tighter-growing Acros on the left and stags on the right. One thing I know for sure is I want to find a yellow A. formosa to be a centrepiece, that should be fun... though not impossible. For now I've ordered a pair of stunning purple colonies of A. nana and A. tenuis I believe, I pick them up once the new tank is running. Gotta love stock dealers who'll give you a discount and then hold stuff eh? Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Because I'm a giant d-bag and can't be bothered doing much lately, here's some new coral: Can't really see the green polyps, but they're there. I think I need to move it to a more direct path of the VorTech. Either way, it's starting to get colour already, Pete! :thumbsup: It's difficult to get a shot of it because it's hiding behind like 10 frags and I can't be bothered moving them :konk: Starting to get a mad cream/purple to it. The transition from red to pink to blue is much better in life, tis one just doesn't want to expose right no matter what I do. Either way, it's a nice bit! This one... I was sceptical about at first. But my sister picked it out and I got it. Looking at this photo I really am glad I decided to... this thing is absolutely STUNNING. All up I can count about 6 different colours in it... And now some oldies... A frag I made of the Dallas I got off of snaz. It's not got the body full green, but in honesty I prefer it like this. This one is going to have a new home in my pico once my LED is built. Get the Dallas some international recognition! This one changes colour so bloody much. When it was in the other tank it was a pretty heavy blue with purple and a dash of pink, but now it's moved it's turning a beautiful silver with green, red, blue, and purple. I think I'm gonna refer to this one as the Bubblegum once it grows out... I've got a few brown-outs and a few that have lost a lot of colour, but that's to be expected when you throw a bunch of SPS into a tank that's been set up for less than 4 hours under a light 8" closer to the water (in a tank 4" shorter...). I guess we'll keep an eye on these now that they're in their final resting spot for a while! Maybe someday I'll actually get around to setting the new system up... Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Heeeellloooooo ladies sup? Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Oh what the hell, you can have a flower too Out of those corals... I'm putting a frag off of the top one and the Dallas into my pico. I'm trying to pick some others out but failing... Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 Gotta love getting paid on the day of a coral sale... Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 What can I say? I like to do things properly. None of this, "ooooh, I think I might get a tiny frag" bull####... NONE! I got most of those colonies for $15, though one did cost me $26... Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 What can I say? I like to do things properly. None of this, "ooooh, I think I might get a tiny frag" bull####... NONE! I got most of those colonies for $15, though one did cost me $26... WTF Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 My supplier was having a sale to get rid of old stock. I was more than happy to oblige by getting 9 colonies and 2 Monti frags. And 2 Acro frags. And some macro. And a little bit of Pocci... Link to comment
n0rk Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 +1.. It had to be done! For reference, this is how it looked at 5pm yesterday, as opposed to 5:30pm after all the coral had gone in: Link to comment
Fratitude Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 wow, looks so cool like that too Link to comment
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