rb1685's Rimless BC14 - 3.5 Years and counting

[Maddevil1]

So I bought a BC29 yesterday on a whim. Looks like my BC14 may be retiring soon.

 

Dont retire it. Use it as an experiment tank or quarantine or something. Thats what I plan on doing with my BC

[rb1685]

Dont retire it. Use it as an experiment tank or quarantine or something. Thats what I plan on doing with my BC

 

I've considered it, but space is rather an issue in my 650 sq/ft apartment. We'll see.

[msscha]

Here's some pics:

Beautiful tanks! What about using the BC 14 for frags?

[Aquanist]

Updates?

[rb1685]

Updates?

 

Yeah I've been meaning to post something.

 

The tank is still up and going. It's been through some good times and is kinda of in a slump now. I've been trying to prompt my B&W Clowns to breed, so I've been feeding more frequently. As a result, I have had a recent bloom of red and dark green cyano. I've turned up the flow on the MP10 and reduced the feedings a bit. I'm just waiting on things to settle back down.

 

On a lighter note, I've seen some ridiculous growth with all of my corals. My Scripp's Acropora has grown about 3" since the last update. It actually has branches sticking out of the water!

 

 

I've also bought a few frags in last couple of weeks: green slimer, stylopora, and a green birdnest.

 

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to take pictures of my tank with my new camera. It is the Olympus Tough TG-810. Most of the pics I took were washed out and/or blurry, so here's the best FTS I can do for now: (sorry about the flash)

 

 

I promise I'll try to get a better one soon!

 

I'm going to be moving to another town in October, so I'm trying to decide if I want to move all of this livestock or not. I might break down this tank and start anew with the BC29! (thinking about removing the rim on that bad boy too )

[rb1685]

Oh and I almost forgot. Amazing story about this Acan:

 

 

So on May 8th, I bought a BC29 used on Craigslist. When I went to pick it up, the previous owner was still in the process of draining it. He left about an inch of water and a 2" sandbed in the tank. I toted the beast back to my house where it sat untouched until that weekend. After about 5 days of it stinking up my apartment I decided the new purchase was going to get a thorough cleaning. At first inspection, I just though there were lots of shells and dead coral skeletons in the tank.

 

The first living thing I found were a handful of donax. It's a type of burrowing clam typically found at the beach in wet sand. Many of them were dead and I read they don't keep well, so I decided to toss them out with the sand I was throwing away. The second living thing I found was a small Nassarius snail. It was, and still is, alive and well (though completely dwarfed by my monstrous Tongan Nassarius).

 

Lastly I found a small clump of coral skeleton. When I first pulled it out I noticed it was still covered in slime. My inital reaction was that it was just sludge from the bottom of this poorly-kept tank. However, I noticed the slime began to move when I pulled it out of the water. IT'S ALIVE!!!

 

I dipped it in some Coral RX, then acclimated it to my tank, still not knowing for sure what it was. About three hours later, it opened up into the Acan pictured above. It is now very plump and healthy, and as of yesterday has 6 new heads budding! It just goes to show how resilient some specimens are. This thing sat in cold, dark water for about a week, and has survived. I'm definitely keeping this colony for as long as I have a tank.

[msscha]

That's awesome! Nice looking acan, too. In my neck of the woods, that would've cost at least $30, so woo hoo for unexpected treasure !

[Maddevil1]

Moving to another town? Out of Houston? Man, who will I give all my frags to now?!!!

[rb1685]

Moving to another town? Out of Houston? Man, who will I give all my frags to now?!!!

 

Haha. Yeah I'm moving back to my hometown of Bellville for awhile. It's only about 35 minutes from Katy. It's closer to work (and girlfriend), so I think it's a convenient move for the time being.

 

When I get there, I'm actually thinking about ditching BioCubes altogether for one of these.

I'm really digging the shallow rimless look right now. I've never set up a tank with a sump, so it should be an adventure. No matter what, though, I'm going to try to keep that GSP colony you gave me. I have yet to see one with colors as good as that (and it was my first coral!).

 

By the way, I wanted to raise my NC 3.6 LED Fixture above the water, so I took it out of the hood. Even though the fixture was dimmable, I wanted the same color temperature but with a bit less intensity. So, I built a pipe-stand similar to yours and ghetto-rigged the fixture to it. It's a little off-centered, but it's just a temp fix until I can get a box built for it. I'm much happier with the colors, and all of the corals already look better. I'll snap some pics when I get home.

[rb1685]

As promised, more pics (even though they're iphone4 pics).

 

New light hanging rig:

 

Happy Duncan

 

FTS

[Criley7]

Nice I love the FTS!

[rb1685]

Nice I love the FTS!

 

Thanks! I'm kinda torn on whether I'm going to break down this tank or not. I've grown so attached to some of the corals.

[Maddevil1]

Haha. Yeah I'm moving back to my hometown of Bellville for awhile. It's only about 35 minutes from Katy. It's closer to work (and girlfriend), so I think it's a convenient move for the time being.

 

When I get there, I'm actually thinking about ditching BioCubes altogether for one of these.

I'm really digging the shallow rimless look right now. I've never set up a tank with a sump, so it should be an adventure. No matter what, though, I'm going to try to keep that GSP colony you gave me. I have yet to see one with colors as good as that (and it was my first coral!).

 

By the way, I wanted to raise my NC 3.6 LED Fixture above the water, so I took it out of the hood. Even though the fixture was dimmable, I wanted the same color temperature but with a bit less intensity. So, I built a pipe-stand similar to yours and ghetto-rigged the fixture to it. It's a little off-centered, but it's just a temp fix until I can get a box built for it. I'm much happier with the colors, and all of the corals already look better. I'll snap some pics when I get home.

 

Wow, that tank does look nice. Yea, I want a bigger rimless tank for my next tank. But that will come when I move to a new house. I really like my 20L right now and debating what I should do with my BioCube. Well good luck on the move!

[rb1685]

So my beloved torch coral died the other day.

 

It was doing great - for over a year it was always inflated, good color, and it was starting divide two new heads. Then about two weeks ago it just closed up. Within three days it was gone. I have no clue what caused it. All params are in check and everything else looks good. The only thing that I changed, was I took the lights out of the hood and made a pipe stand/hanging kit for the fixture. It broadened the light penetration, so I turned up the intensitiy a bit. Could this sudden change have killed it?

 

Thoughts?

[rb1685]

I moved the tank yesterday. Only a 45-mile trip, but I am NEVER doing it again. Updates to follow.

[rb1685]

Oh and I bought a 40 Breeder the other day. New tank approaching!

[rb1685]

So I guess it's time for an update.

 

The tank is coming up on its two-year birthday, and it's nowhere near where I want it to be. Meh. Oh well. It's been a funt adventure so far, nonetheless.

 

Over the last two years, I've battled every problem a noobie reefer can battle; ich, flatworms, poor lighting, poor water quality, temperature issues, calc issues, 2-part overdosing, cyano, STN, and a tank move. (I'm certain there's something I left out).

 

I'd say that with all that the tank has endured, the tank move was the worst thing to happen. I think this triggered a small cycle, and several of my SPS began to STN. I had to frag my acros, even my beloved Blue Hawkins Echinata. The strange part is, my Monti has exploded in growth recently. I don't know what I did right, but it has probably gained about 1/2" of growth in the past month. It has also showed more color than it ever has.

 

Anyway, on to the pics:

 

12-5-2012 FTS

 

The "survivor" Acan

 

War Coral

 

Xenia/GSP Clusterf*ck

 

Ol' Blasto

 

Duncan Hines

 

Green Scripps Staghorn - this was once my biggest acro colony

 

Green Birdsnest

 

Zoas & Palys

 

Side view

 

Blurry Top Down

[msscha]

Looks great, despite the problems! Happy 2 year tank-i-versary!

[rb1685]

Looks great, despite the problems! Happy 2 year tank-i-versary!

 

Thanks!

[rb1685]

Quick update.

 

Still battling cyano and still losing SPS corals to STN, but my Red Monti is growing almost a quarter inch/month. Still doing about 50% water changes once a week. Could this be my problem? Should I reduce the WC's to 10-20%? I've been doing 50% for two years.

 

No pics this time.

[rb1685]

Some more top down shots. Taken with my iPhone 4 1-25-2013

 

Green Birdnest. Doing fairly well - anyone know what the sludge is on my back wall? It showed up immediately after I removed the BC14 hood, and I haven't been able to get rid of it since.

 

Xenia, GSP, Red Monti, and War Coral

 

 

Lots of new growth on the Monti's

[rb1685]

A couple of photos.

 

I don't know why, but I've been really into top down views lately.

 

 

Still getting obscene growth with my Monti's:

 

[rb1685]

Moving some stuff around yesterday, I accidentally fragged my purple monti. It was growing so nicely. ARGGGGHHH

[rb1685]

I really miss being able to see my live rock. Stupid blue clove polyps. #firstworldreeferproblems.

[rb1685]

Well I decided to get a new fish. I've been wanting a bottom-dweller like a blenny or goby, so I found this guy at Petco (believe or not).

 

Orange Banded Prawn Goby (Amblyeleotris steinitzi)