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rb1685's Rimless BC14 - 3.5 Years and counting


rb1685

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the tank has flatworms. :angry:

 

They're the little greenish brown bastards and they just showed up today. I stared at the tank for an hour yesterday and either didn't notice them, or they weren't there. I didn't see any on my corals, but I've seen some horrific pictures of them swarming a tank. I'm really eager to dose something, but I don't want to kill the corals. Any suggestions?

 

Maddevil, I know you have had a problem with red flatworms for a while, any luck getting rid of them?

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oncorhynchus

Hey RB, I got some flat worms too. Not panicking yet, mine look alot like Amphiscolops. See this pic:

 

96f5154f.JPG

 

Supposedly they are harmless and wax and wane like pods and algae. I'm going to hang tight before going hostile on them. If I do need to move against them I'll probably try flatworm exit.

 

Your rics and corals look good. Let's see a FTS.

 

Dave

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the tank has flatworms. :angry:

 

They're the little greenish brown bastards and they just showed up today. I stared at the tank for an hour yesterday and either didn't notice them, or they weren't there. I didn't see any on my corals, but I've seen some horrific pictures of them swarming a tank. I'm really eager to dose something, but I don't want to kill the corals. Any suggestions?

 

Maddevil, I know you have had a problem with red flatworms for a while, any luck getting rid of them?

 

In my last tank I was able to get rid of them. I used Flatworm Exit and had a sixline that ate them. Since your tank is still pretty young, I would treat with flatworm exit. Do a water change before you treat to siphon most of the flatworms that you can see out (they will release toxin when they die - get most if you can). Then treat with FWE and do a BIG water change afterward. See how that goes and maybe repeat again if necessary in a couple weeks. I have come to the conclusion that AAF is where I get mine from. I havent used FWE in my BC14 cause I was trying to get rid of it the natural way, siphoning thru water changes and sixline. I still have them, but the sixline keeps them under control, and if i start to see them more, I siphon out during my water changes and occasionally dip the corals I see them on if I can remove them. Once you rid your system of them, make sure to dip every coral before you put it in your tank!

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I have iodine dipped everything I've put in my tank since your GSP. I dipped the rics I got last weekend and you should have seen the variety of life that fell off. Worms, amphipods, and this crazy looking crab thing with long legs. Somehow I suppose the flatworms made it through. Since I cannot put a fish in my tank for about 2 months (the ick), I'll have to go with the FWE. I'm going to some of the LFS's today or tomorrow to see if I can find some. It's always something isn't it?

 

Otherwise, the tank is doing great. The algae seems to be subsiding and I have had a recent spurt in copepods. All of the zoas and rics are open and doing well. I actually saw a ric poop yesterday. It's easy to forget they're animals until they poop.

 

I am having a bit of difficulty controlling the temp. The temp is fluctuating between 76.5 to 78.5. The weather has been so sporadic that apartment A/C is not enough to keep the temp in one place. I'm thinking about getting a ReefKeeper Lite. I just can't convince myself to buy a $400 chiller at this point.

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I have iodine dipped everything I've put in my tank since your GSP. I dipped the rics I got last weekend and you should have seen the variety of life that fell off. Worms, amphipods, and this crazy looking crab thing with long legs. Somehow I suppose the flatworms made it through. Since I cannot put a fish in my tank for about 2 months (the ick), I'll have to go with the FWE. I'm going to some of the LFS's today or tomorrow to see if I can find some. It's always something isn't it?

 

Otherwise, the tank is doing great. The algae seems to be subsiding and I have had a recent spurt in copepods. All of the zoas and rics are open and doing well. I actually saw a ric poop yesterday. It's easy to forget they're animals until they poop.

 

I am having a bit of difficulty controlling the temp. The temp is fluctuating between 76.5 to 78.5. The weather has been so sporadic that apartment A/C is not enough to keep the temp in one place. I'm thinking about getting a ReefKeeper Lite. I just can't convince myself to buy a $400 chiller at this point.

 

While your at the LFS, buy some Coral Rx and use Coral Rx as your dip, I dont use iodine unless its to treat zoas or after I frag. And yes, its ALWAYS something!

 

As for your temp, a 2 degree fluxtuation isnt that bad......with a chiller, you'll fluctuate that much everytime the chiller comes on. If you want it more stable though, just set your heater closer to your higher temp. And if you think $400 is a lot for a chilller, estimate how much its costing to cool your apt to keep the tank at the temp you want. Cause with a chiller, the A/C doesnt have to run.

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Yeah, I've been looking for Coral Rx and no one seems to have it. I might just have to order it online.

AAF doesnt have it? I always see it there.

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He didn't have any last weekend when I was there. Maybe I missed it. I was focused on getting a ric, which I didn't end up buying there. He wanted $70 for a yuma. I paid $10 each for mine.

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He didn't have any last weekend when I was there. Maybe I missed it. I was focused on getting a ric, which I didn't end up buying there. He wanted $70 for a yuma. I paid $10 each for mine.

 

$10???!! Where?

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While your at the LFS, buy some Coral Rx and use Coral Rx as your dip, I dont use iodine unless its to treat zoas or after I frag. And yes, its ALWAYS something!

 

As for your temp, a 2 degree fluxtuation isnt that bad......with a chiller, you'll fluctuate that much everytime the chiller comes on. If you want it more stable though, just set your heater closer to your higher temp. And if you think $400 is a lot for a chilller, estimate how much its costing to cool your apt to keep the tank at the temp you want. Cause with a chiller, the A/C doesnt have to run.

There's a guy on MARSH reef forums who is breaking down his tank. I bought all of my zoas and rics from him. He's given me a few freebies each time too. He said one of the heads is a yuma, but it's hard to tell because it is still quite small. I bought six rics, and he gave me three zoa frags for free. He had some really nice Blue Hawkins Echinatas for like 20 bucks a piece. His screen name is xskyzx

 

http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=...pic&t=50653

http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=...asc&start=0

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A few pics from this weekend. I got my zoa garden in place. I'm not sure what to do with all of the rics yet. I discovered that I have 6 heads of ricordea florida, and two heads of the ricordea yuma.

 

FTS 3/6/2011

post-55375-1299504793_thumb.jpg

 

post-55375-1299504371_thumb.jpg

 

post-55375-1299504819_thumb.jpg

 

post-55375-1299504840_thumb.jpg

 

Oh and I forgot to turn my heater off during the water change yesterday. It exploded. :angry:

post-55375-1299504887_thumb.jpg

 

Luckily, it just broke into two big pieces and didn't shatter. I was able to reach into chamber one and pull it out. I hope it didn't release anything poisonous into the tank. Another good lesson learned in this hobby.

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I just found out I'm getting a profit sharing bonus on the 15th. That means lighting upgrade.

 

After much research and reading of opinions, I've narrowed it down to two different options:

 

Nanotuners BC14 LED upgrade

-or-

2 Evil Par38 LED Spots in some sort of clamp-on fixtures.

 

I've been looking around at all the LFS's in Houston, and I think I like the look of LED's the most. Plus the temps/energy consumption are a big factor. I like MH, but I want a little more options with color and dimmability (is that even a word?).

 

Opinions?

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I just found out I'm getting a profit sharing bonus on the 15th. That means lighting upgrade.

 

After much research and reading of opinions, I've narrowed it down to two different options:

 

Nanotuners BC14 LED upgrade

-or-

2 Evil Par38 LED Spots in some sort of clamp-on fixtures.

 

I've been looking around at all the LFS's in Houston, and I think I like the look of LED's the most. Plus the temps/energy consumption are a big factor. I like MH, but I want a little more options with color and dimmability (is that even a word?).

 

Opinions?

 

Hopefully you have better luck than I did with using LEDs wrt colors on corals. For some reason, my corals dont react too well to the RB LEDs. I would do the PAR 38s just because thats the only thing I couldnt do with my setup, move the LEDs further off the water.

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oncorhynchus

RB - I'm definitely going to follow your lighting upgrade. I've been wanting to go LED's too, particularly after seeing a display tank at a LFS. It was a Biocube14 with two panorama modules and one reefbrite. The panoramas were mounted where the stock PC lights are and the reefbrite was mounted under the feeding door (which was bolted shut after the mod). With this combo of lights their tank looked awesome. I really wish there was a way to see the nanotuners LED kit in person for comparison...

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Hopefully you have better luck than I did with using LEDs wrt colors on corals. For some reason, my corals dont react too well to the RB LEDs. I would do the PAR 38s just because thats the only thing I couldnt do with my setup, move the LEDs further off the water.

 

If I do the Par 38s, I'm thinking about doing the rimless mod. Bubba17311did this on his BC29, and I like it alot. It's kinda scary to think about doing that kinda work so close to the glass. I also like that I'd be spending a lot less on the setup. $88 each for the bulbs and $25-50 for a fixture from Lowe's. The disadvantage to them would be that I lose my moonlights, which I LOVE :wub: . I'd have to rig up something to compensate. The Nanotuners mod with the dimmer module and Crees is like $460. I considered DIY, but I figure if I'm spending that kind of money on a tank I've already invested enough in, I'm not going to allow my lack of knowledge with electronics screw it up.

 

 

RB - I'm definitely going to follow your lighting upgrade. I've been wanting to go LED's too, particularly after seeing a display tank at a LFS. It was a Biocube14 with two panorama modules and one reefbrite. The panoramas were mounted where the stock PC lights are and the reefbrite was mounted under the feeding door (which was bolted shut after the mod). With this combo of lights their tank looked awesome. I really wish there was a way to see the nanotuners LED kit in person for comparison...

 

Yeah, I haven't seen the Nanotuners upgrade in person, but I've seen a lot of pictures around NR. I saw a NC29 with LEDs at the LFS and I liked the look a lot. I'm really addicted to that MH shimmer. I'll update when I make a decision.

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New acquisition this weekend:

 

Aussie Blastomussa

post-55375-1300105745_thumb.jpg

 

Hopefully, I'll get to order my LED upgrade this week. I think I've decided on the Nanocustoms upgrade kit. It has everything I want in one place.

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Nice blasto! I love mine! It took ages to start multiplying and all of the sudden I had like 20+ mouths.

Your tank is coming along really nice!

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Nice blasto! I love mine! It took ages to start multiplying and all of the sudden I had like 20+ mouths.

Your tank is coming along really nice!

 

Thanks! One day I'll have a tank like yours. One day.....

 

Yeah, it's my first LPS, so we'll see how it goes. I've been told to spot feed it for the first week or so. It seems to be doing well so far.

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I spot fed the Blasto and the Yuma last night with some brine shrimp. It was sooooo cool to watch those things eat large food.

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Tested a few things on Monday. The dKH came in at 7 degrees, which is pretty low. Any suggestions to bring it up? I've been dosing Tropic Marin Bio Calcium, so my Calcium was 480 mg/L, which is at the upper end of the desired range (according to the instructions).

 

Most the zoas are growing new polyps, so I assume they're happy. I find the overabundance of amphipods to be a total nuisance, but they don't seem to be bothering the corals.

 

For the flatworm situation, I'm keeping their population at bay with daily siphoning and Flatwormocide. I'm thinking about doing a slight over dosage of the treatment followed by a 40-50% water change to hopefully wipe them out entirely.

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Tested a few things on Monday. The dKH came in at 7 degrees, which is pretty low. Any suggestions to bring it up? I've been dosing Tropic Marin Bio Calcium, so my Calcium was 480 mg/L, which is at the upper end of the desired range (according to the instructions).

 

Most the zoas are growing new polyps, so I assume they're happy. I find the overabundance of amphipods to be a total nuisance, but they don't seem to be bothering the corals.

 

For the flatworm situation, I'm keeping their population at bay with daily siphoning and Flatwormocide. I'm thinking about doing a slight over dosage of the treatment followed by a 40-50% water change to hopefully wipe them out entirely.

 

How are you dosing the biocalcium? I dose about 1/2 tsp (I dont use the scoop) every other day and your tank isnt as stocked as mine, keeps my dKH at 8-9. Have you tried testing you new saltwater to see its parameters before a water change. It might be high in calcium and low in alk. If thats the case, you might want to add Kent Marine SuperBuffer dKH to your new saltwater. Also, make sure your Mg is in check.

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How are you dosing the biocalcium? I dose about 1/2 tsp (I dont use the scoop) every other day and your tank isnt as stocked as mine, keeps my dKH at 8-9. Have you tried testing you new saltwater to see its parameters before a water change. It might be high in calcium and low in alk. If thats the case, you might want to add Kent Marine SuperBuffer dKH to your new saltwater. Also, make sure your Mg is in check.

 

Since my calcium has been adequate, I only dose the Biocalcium about once a week. I don't want to overdo the calcium to correct the dKH. I need to get a magnesium test too. I haven't tested the new water for Calcium, but I was testing it for phosphates and dKh. The dKh seems consistently low across the board. It's been around 6-7 degrees the entire time. Actually I think they have the Kent Marine Buffer at PetsMart, which would save me a trip to the LFS.

 

Thanks for your help Maddevil. I always appreciate the advice.

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Since my calcium has been adequate, I only dose the Biocalcium about once a week. I don't want to overdo the calcium to correct the dKH. I need to get a magnesium test too. I haven't tested the new water for Calcium, but I was testing it for phosphates and dKh. The dKh seems consistently low across the board. It's been around 6-7 degrees the entire time. Actually I think they have the Kent Marine Buffer at PetsMart, which would save me a trip to the LFS.

 

Thanks for your help Maddevil. I always appreciate the advice.

What salt are you using? I actually decided to just buy RO/DI water from AAF and mix my own saltwater. I ended up going with Red Sea Coral Pro. This is the salt AAF uses, and the container says its high in everything, even though I heard its low in Mg. I'll have to run some tests when I make a fresh batch.

 

When you dose the Superbuffer, mix it with RO/DI fresh water (or distilled) and pour it into the tank.

 

Seems like your corals are using up the alk and not the calcium. You need some more SPS! :P

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What salt are you using? I actually decided to just buy RO/DI water from AAF and mix my own saltwater. I ended up going with Red Sea Coral Pro. This is the salt AAF uses, and the container says its high in everything, even though I heard its low in Mg. I'll have to run some tests when I make a fresh batch.

 

When you dose the Superbuffer, mix it with RO/DI fresh water (or distilled) and pour it into the tank.

 

Seems like your corals are using up the alk and not the calcium. You need some more SPS! :P

 

 

I'm using Oceanic. I bought a whole bunch when I first started. I'm considering trying a few different salts.

 

Well, I did it. I ordered my new lights today. I ended up deciding on the Nanotuners LED Retrofit kit with the CREE option added. It wasn't cheap, but I love this hobby so much, so why not? Each color has its own dimmer so I can control the variance of blue/white ratio. I also wanted the colors on separate drivers so I can eventually have auto-dimming with a Reefkeeper further down the road. It's SPS time. There's a local guy who has several Blue Hawkins Echinata frags for cheap.

 

I also paid $1000 on my credit card in the same fell swoop, so my parents don't ##### at me. Hahaha.

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