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Pong's 20L College Reef


awpong

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boomeraudio
Here's another cool side tank shot. I like this one better than the first. The glass is actually clean, and the coral is more open. Also, you can see some of the pictures I just taped to the glass. I'm trying to entice the clowns to host my frogspawn :) .

 

I've got a frogspawn too and am trying to figure out how to get them to host. They currently hang out in the back left corner and the female has cleaned out all the sand so there just glass. What type of pic did you tape?

 

Did you buy your star polyps like that or did they attach to the rock and grow? If they grew, how long.

 

Again, super nice tank man.

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doppelganger
Here's a really good guide on how to DIY an AC 70 fuge: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=601201

 

To be honest, I bought mine from someone else on this forum lol. It's not the AC, but rather an 100% DIY 2.4g acrylic one (made from scratch). I considered building one myself, but then I found this one for a really good price. I used to have a really good link that gave step by step instructions to build a fuge like the one I have, but I don't know what it is anymore. If you want, I could try and find it.

 

ur suppose to send them links from NR! :P

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry2004830

 

great looking tank! Hope the plate will do well!

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Update: Tomorrow I'll be replacing my Korallia with an MP10. I'll post pics tomorrow with the MP10 installed.

 

I've got a frogspawn too and am trying to figure out how to get them to host. They currently hang out in the back left corner and the female has cleaned out all the sand so there just glass. What type of pic did you tape?

 

Did you buy your star polyps like that or did they attach to the rock and grow? If they grew, how long.

 

Again, super nice tank man.

 

To be honest, I tapped pics that uwwmatt posted on this site. No luck so far, but it's only been a little while.

 

And I purchased the GSP on the rock like that, but they grow really quickly and will mat onto anything.

 

ur suppose to send them links from NR! :P

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry2004830

 

great looking tank! Hope the plate will do well!

 

Haha, blame google :P

 

And the plate's doing well-ish. Hasn't really expanded anymore, but he definantly hasn't gotten any worse. He's pretty eager to eat, so I think he's healthy... his skeleton is just in a ####ty condition and he isn't able to attach to it. I'm hoping he'll fix it somehow, or at least build a new one - no idea how that's going to happen though.

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Thanks. It's a shame I need to break it down in a week and a half.... The dilemma of a tank in college. Good news is that I'm only transferring the tank 100 yards to my biology building. It's gonna chill in there over the summer.

 

But I should be doing research on campus from June 5th until August 12th, and then I'm moving back to campus for the fall semester on the 27th. Luckily one of my professors offered to take care of the tank in my absence. Just gotta teach her what to do and hope for the best.

 

PS: There are plans for this tank to be upgraded to a 20H next semester along with the addition of a 40B dwarf lionfish tank!

 

Big plans for the future :P

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All right... well the MP10 is officially installed. I'm still trying to mess around with the settings to figure out which one my coral prefer best. The main concern is my frogspawn and the recovering plate.

 

Here are some pics:

IMG_20110429_140113.jpg

IMG_20110429_175536.jpg

IMG_20110429_161611.jpg

As you can see, the plate coral is getting blown to one side.

 

 

And here's a video:

th_VID_20110430_124601.jpg

 

The frogspawn aren't as open as they usually are, but I'm still trying to find the right setting for them.

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Awesome build! I'm going to use your success as inspiration for my college tank I have in the works lol

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Awesome build! I'm going to use your success as inspiration for my college tank I have in the works lol

 

Thanks!

 

Glad I could help and good luck on your tank!!

 

PS: Here's a better video of the tank after I centered the MP10. It makes a huge difference when the unit is centered in the tank vs. more towards the back wall.

 

th_VID_20110502_114552.jpg

 

Setting is on Reef Crest (30%)

 

The noise in the background is not from the MP10, it's actually from my gerbils chewing on a paper towel roll - I swear.

 

I tried to catch the shimmer in the video, but my phone sucks hardcore.... but I tried.

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Update on Plate Coral:

 

We'll the plate is looking a lot better than when I originally received it. It's got a gluttonous appetite, but still hasn't re-attached to it's skeleton or septa.

 

When I received it (2-3 weeks ago):

a3.jpg

 

Now:

IMG_20110502_173236.jpg

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Plans for the future:

 

The tank will be transferred to my school's Biology Department for the summer. I will be on campus for part of the summer conducting research, but my professor and research peers will be monitoring my tank in my absence.

 

Once the Fall semester begins, I will begin to upgrade this tank into a 20L and add a bangaii cardinal and a midas blenny. Everything else will remain the same: lighting, LR, HOB, MP10, current livestock, etc... just more coral and maybe a clam.

 

Since my tank stand is only 25" long, but designed for a 20g aquarium, I plan on placing a 32"x14" piece of 1/2" - 3/4" plywood on top to evenly distribute the pressure of the 20L (30"x12"x12") tank.

 

Additionally, I will also be setting up a 40B FOWLR that will house either 2 fuzzy dwarf lions or 1 fuzzy dwarf and 1 zebra lion. The 40B will be set up with about 30-40lb of rock and equipped with a HOB skimmer rated for a 200g tank, along with a carbon reactor of equal size. The lighting on the 40B will probably be the cheapest crappiest lighting I can find since the dwarf lions are crepuscular, and the tank will be FOWLR.

 

What do you guys think? Do I have any issues in my plans?

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Update:

 

Well, yesterday I simultaneously moved and upgraded my tank into my school's biology department. I decided to go ahead and upgrade the tank to make it easier to maintain the water quality and bioload that required vigilant effort to maintain in my 10g.

 

Here are pics of the move:

 

5f2bb33d.jpg

20L that I set up 2 days before the move.

 

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Beginning of break down.

 

a304f936.jpg

Live rock half-assed acclimation. (10 min salinity and temp match)

 

d23cab1d.jpg

Coral Acclimation

 

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20 minutes after everything was added to the tank.

 

30e91602.jpg

The next morning.

 

I used about 7g of my 10g's water and added it to the 20L. My only issue right now is that the little 50W heater that I am using isn't able to maintain the tank temp. I checked on the tank this morning and found the tank at 73 degrees. It was hard to tell whether my coral was pissed off due to the transfer or the temp. I'm going to try to run to petco and buy another heater some time today - now that my MHs are on it will help raise the temp a little bit until I get the heater.

 

Also, as you can see in the background of the last picture, I set up the tank right next to an AC unit. The room that the tank is in right now gets quite warm in the summer, and the AC unit is adjustable. I'm hoping that this will be a convenient cooling system if need be.

 

I'll post more pictures once my coral starts to fully open.

 

PS: Here's a video!

 

th_3c2de422.jpg

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Coral hasn't really opened up that much more, but here are some more pics of the tank anyways.

 

a6f2147e.jpg

Left Island/Softy Island

 

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Between Softy Island and SPS Island. Kinda LPS area.

 

ea8b2108.jpg

Center Island/SPS Island

 

abd18648.jpg

Right Island/GSP Rock/Hide heater and Fuge intake pump

 

3b8332b4.jpg

Non-Head-On FTS

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has the plate responded positively or negatively to the change?

 

Not really, it's just as open as its always been. It's one of my few corals that doesn't seem to mind the change. It was actually splitting off before the move, so I might have disrupted that process a bit... but it doesn't appear any worse.

 

Here are some pics:

5c5271b4.jpg

7d744a03.jpg

 

In the second picture you can see the part of flesh that was splitting before. I'm sure it will resume/finish that process within the week.

 

I'm still hoping that this coral will recover.

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Here's a FTS of the tank on Day 3 after the move:

1dc6e726-1.jpg

 

Here's also a pic of my maxi mini. He's grown a lot since I first got him a month ago.

 

When I first got him: DSC_0643.jpg

Now: ffef373b.jpg

 

He's more than doubled in size.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm now back on campus for the summer. For the past 3 weeks I let one of my professors take care of my tank, and thankfully, I didn't lose any livestock. Unfortunately, I did come back to a tank infested with hair algae, and my SPS was beginning to bleach.

 

To my dismay, my professor only performed one water 2 gallon water change over the course of the 3 weeks and even neglected to top-off the tank. Thus, not only was the tank infested with hair algae, but it also had a salinity of 1.033!

 

Regardless, I really shouldn't complain. He did me a favor and I'm thankful that he did. Plus, I didn't lose any livestock!

 

Anyways, after daily water changes, I've slowly lowered the salinity down to about 1.026-1.027. It should be back down to 1.025-1.026 tomorrow. I also bought 3 emerald crabs to take care of the hair algae problem. I was a little nervous that my six line might harass them, but hes left them alone. He nipped at one of the crabs for a few seconds, then got bored and hasn't shown any more interest in them.

 

So here are pics of the tank now. I've had a lot of coral growth in my 3 week absence, but as you can see, there's still a lot of hair algae.

 

ff637fee-1.jpg

 

Plus, I picked up a new piece while I was at the fish store purchasing my crabs:

 

e96ca789.jpg

 

It's still a little shrunken, but hopefully after my water stabilizes it will fully recover. I know I probably shouldn't have added the Wellso so quickly after my return, especially with my tank in it's current state, but it was such a nice piece for just the right price :P

 

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE: In the next week or two, after my tank restabilizes, I plan on adding a Midas Blenny and a Bangaii Cardinal to my tank. It's going to be interesting to see how my six line reacts to them. He's never shown any signs of aggression, but I'm sure that will change with the new addition of tank mates. My plan is to hang pictures of the fish on the tank, similar to the photo training method of clowns, to get him adjusted to their presence. Then I plan on adding both fish at night while the wrasse is sleeping. Hopefully they'll have time to find refuge and adjust to the new environment over night while the wrasse is sleeping, and that any aggression the wrasse exhibits will be split amongst each fish, reducing the overall stress.

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Well I lied about getting the new fish in a week or two. I got them today haha, I was bored and wanted new fish. I'll post pics of them in the tank tomorrow. Until then, here is a pic of the midas blenny during acclimation. You can really see their ability to change their colors.

 

958cfcfb.jpg

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I'm proud to say that both of the new fish are doing excellent in my tank. My six line wrasse doesn't show any signs of aggression at all, and treats them like they've been there forever!

 

Here are pics:

 

c8dc1ce0.jpg

Lenny the Blenny

 

1afc9cb1.jpg

Marcel my little Bangaii Cardinal

 

978bf77f.jpg

Crappy picture, but it shows all 5 of my fish.

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How long have you had your wrasse, and about how big is it? How's his temper? Might want to get another one, but I'm a bit worried about my cardinal and tangaroa goby. My first one was quite peaceful, but I didn't have him long.

 

almost forgot to comment on your tank. looks nice. your candy cane is awsome...but why is the flesh all over the skeleton? mine isn't...i'm guessing yours i healthier.

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How long have you had your wrasse, and about how big is it? How's his temper? Might want to get another one, but I'm a bit worried about my cardinal and tangaroa goby. My first one was quite peaceful, but I didn't have him long.

 

I've had my wrasse for, I wanna say, about 3 months. He was the 3rd fish in the tank and has always been very peaceful. I heard horror stories about adding fish after a six line has established himself in a tank, but I didn't have any issues after I added my midas blenny and bangaii cardinal. Although the wrasse did bully the cardinal the morning after his introduction, he hasn't bothered him since. I don't think it helped that the cardinal was hardly 1.25" while my wrasse is easily 2.5"

 

As long as you're adding the wrasse last, I can pretty much assure you that it will be fine.

 

 

almost forgot to comment on your tank. looks nice. your candy cane is awsome...but why is the flesh all over the skeleton? mine isn't...i'm guessing yours i healthier.

 

Thank you. I don't really know why his flesh is all over his skeleton, to be honest. It is my first candy cane and it surprised me too when I placed him in the tank. But I love them. They're sooooo green lol.

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