NC12: diary of an L.A. tank

[Goonie0]

Yeah, I had trouble last year keeping my temp down as well. Did the same thing with my 12X, propped the lid open and every so often directed a fan at the opening if it was really overheating.

 

One thing that I did to minimize heat issues is to go on a reverse cycle, e.g. turn the lights on at night, and keep them off during the day when the ambient temperature is hotter. That actually worked out pretty well for me since I'm at work during the day anyway, so it's nice to come home and be able to see the tank during the evenings.

[spanko]

Very nice tank. Following along.

[gena]

Yeah, I had trouble last year keeping my temp down as well. Did the same thing with my 12X, propped the lid open and every so often directed a fan at the opening if it was really overheating.

 

One thing that I did to minimize heat issues is to go on a reverse cycle, e.g. turn the lights on at night, and keep them off during the day when the ambient temperature is hotter. That actually worked out pretty well for me since I'm at work during the day anyway, so it's nice to come home and be able to see the tank during the evenings.

 

I may have to switch the time of my light cycle this summer. I'll have to see how it goes. As long as the A/C is on in the house it doesn't go above 84ish, on a hot day like we've been having.

 

 

 

Very nice tank. Following along.

Awesome! Thanks

[Rinehart77]

Nice tank! I'm going to be following along! I really like the colors of those 'shrooms.

[gena]

Here's the latest FTS from today. In the second picture you can see my new blue and peach St. Thomas mushroom (bottom center) that I absolutely adore! Can't wait for it to grow. It's still getting itself settled in.

 

I moved my mp10 to the front side of the tank to provide room for a toadstool that I was given. The toadstool is very small right now, but it has plenty of room to grow into it's space. Maybe Squirt will host in it someday.

 

My frogspawn is getting big too. Looks like it has two mouths on it now!!!!!!

 

 

 

Nice tank! I'm going to be following along! I really like the colors of those 'shrooms.

Excellent!!!! Thank you

[Carriegiesler]

Gena,

Youre tank is amazing

I love all your mushroom varieties. I am the same way with Acans

 

Here is a link to my setup. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=267742

(hopefully it works)

Giesler 24 Nano

[Deedoo]

I love your tank !

 

What kind of coral is the blue one on the right bottom just before the zoas ?

[gena]

Gena,

Youre tank is amazing

I love all your mushroom varieties. I am the same way with Acans

 

Here is a link to my setup. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=267742

(hopefully it works)

Giesler 24 Nano

Thanks, Carrie!!!! Acans are so pretty too. The colors are I wish I had more room to add some...but like you, I'm happier with a nano sized tank!!!!!

 

I love your tank !

 

What kind of coral is the blue one on the right bottom just before the zoas ?

Hi Deedoo! That's my new St. Thomas mushroom. It's my favorite new addition. I got it from Coral Morphologic, here in the US.

 

I left a comment on your tank thread. I'm so happy to see you started one, so that I can follow along

[squirrelieygrrrl]

nice st thomas! macro please!

[gena]

hah....a macro shot is a real test of my camera skillz which are sorely lacking

 

Here's the best I can do. Some rics thrown in there for good measure too.

 

Isn't it pretty?

 

 

And my darling Squirt. She was feeling photogenic today

 

[Deedoo]

I want to say "Je veux le mêêêêêêêêêême !" (I want the saaaaaaame !)

 

Love Squirt, I think I'll take a pair for my 28 G when I'll succeed in killing all my aiptasias and bryopsis in it

 

I love rics too but none of them want to live in my tanks ! They all die in few days, I don't know why

[gena]

I was playing around with the camera this morning and was able to get a better shot of the St. Thomas. I'll throw in a few extra photos that I took too.

 

Blue and peach St. Thomas Mushroom:

 

 

Zoa Rock:

 

 

 

Pink cabbage leather polyp extension:

 

[gena]

I want to say "Je veux le mêêêêêêêêêême !" (I want the saaaaaaame !)

 

Love Squirt, I think I'll take a pair for my 28 G when I'll succeed in killing all my aiptasias and bryopsis in it

 

I love rics too but none of them want to live in my tanks ! They all die in few days, I don't know why

You should get the same!!!!!

 

I wonder why you are having trouble keeping ricordeas in your tanks? Is your lighting too strong, maybe? I hope you can figure it out so that you can keep them.

[squirrelieygrrrl]

hah....a macro shot is a real test of my camera skillz which are sorely lacking

 

Here's the best I can do. Some rics thrown in there for good measure too.

 

Isn't it pretty?

 

And my darling Squirt. She was feeling photogenic today

 

 

I was playing around with the camera this morning and was able to get a better shot of the St. Thomas. I'll throw in a few extra photos that I took too.

 

Blue and peach St. Thomas Mushroom:

 

Zoa Rock:

 

Pink cabbage leather polyp extension:

 

so pretty! thanks for taking a couple of macros. i dunno what youre talking about, your photography skills seem just fine to me!

 

squirt is super cute, gotta love a baby clown.

 

that shot of the zoa rock came out really nice. i wish i could take shots where the white balance and light levels came out even a smidge as clear as your shots do.

[Deedoo]

You should get the same!!!!!

 

I wonder why you are having trouble keeping ricordeas in your tanks? Is your lighting too strong, maybe? I hope you can figure it out so that you can keep them.

 

Thank you, Nitrites start to decrease !

 

About the Rics, I think it's because my lighting's too strong yes.

[Macron]

Your St. Thomas shroom looks like mine except way cooler. Its gonna look good when it blows up.

[sdoubtit8]

Hi Gena,

I saw your thread and am definately subscribing to it! I own a 12g nc as well. In a couple weeks ill be converting it to LED!!

[gena]

Thank you, Nitrites start to decrease !

Awesome!!!!! It won't be long now

 

 

Your St. Thomas shroom looks like mine except way cooler. Its gonna look good when it blows up.

I don't know....yours is way cool I hope mine gets that big! I fed it some shrimp the other day which made it VERY happy

 

Hi Gena,

I saw your thread and am definately subscribing to it! I own a 12g nc as well. In a couple weeks ill be converting it to LED!!

Sweet! Do you have a tank thread so I can follow along? I LOVE to see other nc12s!!!!! Oh and Macron has an NC12 with LED. You should check his out if you haven't already!

 

i wish i could take shots where the white balance and light levels came out even a smidge as clear as your shots do.

 

well, sometimes I do ok with my shots and other times I fail (in other's eyes). Someone pointed that out to me with my photo entry for this months picture contest. The whole image wasn't meant to be in focus! I thought the soft pink focus of the polyps was kind of pretty, myself.

[sdoubtit8]

I don't have a thread yet, but once I get my Leds I'm most likely going to start a thread.. I have a feeling I'm going to have to rearange my rock. I've had my nc12 for a little over a year now. During November my tank crashed, so I am slowly rebuilding. Currently I have 1 false perc, and a pom pom.. thinking about getting a clown goby. I mostly have softys, but have a frogspawn, a blasto, and a frag of monti (seeing if my pc's can keep it a

live). I'm gonna go hoodless once I have my leds (2 evil par38) and, if possible, take off the top rim, and go somewhat rimless.

[gena]

I don't have a thread yet, but once I get my Leds I'm most likely going to start a thread.. I have a feeling I'm going to have to rearange my rock. I've had my nc12 for a little over a year now. During November my tank crashed, so I am slowly rebuilding. Currently I have 1 false perc, and a pom pom.. thinking about getting a clown goby. I mostly have softys, but have a frogspawn, a blasto, and a frag of monti (seeing if my pc's can keep it a

live). I'm gonna go hoodless once I have my leds (2 evil par38) and, if possible, take off the top rim, and go somewhat rimless.

Feel free to post a picture here if you want to.

 

Bummer on the crash! How did it happen? Did you lose everything? We have the same livestock right now. Until you mentioned your pom pom I forgot I had one too! I never see it! I caught a glimpse of it's "feet" the other day, but otherwise I never see it. I wonder what the heck it's eating??????? When I put my tongs with shrimp attached near it the other day it moved away from it

 

I thought about adding a clown goby. I never have had luck with them though. They would never eat for me. Plus I read recently they only live for a year! They sure are cute though!

 

I think the rims on these NCs are nicely finished (not rough). That would look pretty nice with the par 38s. I'm looking forward to seeing it completed, for sure!

[gena]

Lights just on and I find that one of my green rhodactis mushrooms is splitting

 

These really remind me of the mini anemones. The way they look and the way it splits. Nice thing is it isn't sticky and won't eat my fish!

 

You can see the separation going on in the middle:

 

[sdoubtit8]

Feel free to post a picture here if you want to.

 

Bummer on the crash! How did it happen? Did you lose everything? We have the same livestock right now. Until you mentioned your pom pom I forgot I had one too! I never see it! I caught a glimpse of it's "feet" the other day, but otherwise I never see it. I wonder what the heck it's eating??????? When I put my tongs with shrimp attached near it the other day it moved away from it

 

I thought about adding a clown goby. I never have had luck with them though. They would never eat for me. Plus I read recently they only live for a year! They sure are cute though!

 

I think the rims on these NCs are nicely finished (not rough). That would look pretty nice with the par 38s. I'm looking forward to seeing it completed, for sure!

 

Well, to make a long story short, some dumbass had poured a beer in my fish tank (before i had moved it out of my living room) and either the beer or something had screwed it up. I started getting really bad nitrate spikes and I had just gotten very overwhelmed. Only a few things had survived (my 2 clowns, frogspawn, blasto, a couple zoas and kenya tree), my entire CUC had died. My tank was COMPLETELY full of GHA. It took me about 4 hours to completely clean. But now everything is slowly getting back to normal. I kind of have a nitrate problem.. not sure why. I think its the rubble I have in one of my chambers. My LFS told me it would be great, and its the only thing they use in their AIO tanks, BUT im slowly starting to doubt this method because of my nitrates! Damn LFS..

 

One of my rocks has a cover of GHA and weekly WCs don't seem to be helping. I'm looking into getting a media basket with purigen and chemi-pure elite. I have a lot of detritus as well.. my CUC is a bunch of slackers!! I'm hoping that once i get my LED's this detritus will be under control, along with my GHA.

 

Any advice on my nitrate problem would be very appreciated!

[gena]

Well, to make a long story short, some dumbass had poured a beer in my fish tank (before i had moved it out of my living room) and either the beer or something had screwed it up. I started getting really bad nitrate spikes and I had just gotten very overwhelmed. Only a few things had survived (my 2 clowns, frogspawn, blasto, a couple zoas and kenya tree), my entire CUC had died. My tank was COMPLETELY full of GHA. It took me about 4 hours to completely clean. But now everything is slowly getting back to normal. I kind of have a nitrate problem.. not sure why. I think its the rubble I have in one of my chambers. My LFS told me it would be great, and its the only thing they use in their AIO tanks, BUT im slowly starting to doubt this method because of my nitrates! Damn LFS..

 

One of my rocks has a cover of GHA and weekly WCs don't seem to be helping. I'm looking into getting a media basket with purigen and chemi-pure elite. I have a lot of detritus as well.. my CUC is a bunch of slackers!! I'm hoping that once i get my LED's this detritus will be under control, along with my GHA.

 

Any advice on my nitrate problem would be very appreciated!

 

Ugh! Beer in the tank! I've heard of that before

 

What is your nitrate level right now? It very well could be the rubble in the back chamber if you don't clean it out. I've always had a GHA problem in my tanks. It always turned out to be because of the water I was using. LFS water is notoriously high TDS from my experience. As soon as I started testing the water with a TDS meter and not using any that went above 5 TDS, it was ok.

 

I don't know if this is possible, but maybe the rock absorbed the beer which is still fueling the GHA. I think the purigen or chemi-pure elite might really help you out.

 

So far the refugium I have going in the first back chamber is keeping my nitrates at 0. I still have algae, bryopsis, but it's not getting any worse. It's just very slowly growing, not overtaking. Maybe try a refugium when you get things going again.

 

I just saw this thread about someone else that derimmed the NC12. Check it out if you haven't already!

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry3314958

[sdoubtit8]

Ugh! Beer in the tank! I've heard of that before

 

What is your nitrate level right now? It very well could be the rubble in the back chamber if you don't clean it out. I've always had a GHA problem in my tanks. It always turned out to be because of the water I was using. LFS water is notoriously high TDS from my experience. As soon as I started testing the water with a TDS meter and not using any that went above 5 TDS, it was ok.

 

I don't know if this is possible, but maybe the rock absorbed the beer which is still fueling the GHA. I think the purigen or chemi-pure elite might really help you out.

 

So far the refugium I have going in the first back chamber is keeping my nitrates at 0. I still have algae, bryopsis, but it's not getting any worse. It's just very slowly growing, not overtaking. Maybe try a refugium when you get things going again.

 

I just saw this thread about someone else that derimmed the NC12. Check it out if you haven't already!

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry3314958

 

Ya.. the joys of college!

 

Not sure what my nitrates are at right now. i'll be testing tonight. I need to get that rubble out, and order my media basket and purigen/chemi-pure elite ASAP!!

 

Nice! that rimless nc will be cool. So glad it's possible to take that rim off! Think i should take everything out of my tank while im trying to get that rim off?

[gena]

Ya.. the joys of college!

 

Not sure what my nitrates are at right now. i'll be testing tonight. I need to get that rubble out, and order my media basket and purigen/chemi-pure elite ASAP!!

 

Nice! that rimless nc will be cool. So glad it's possible to take that rim off! Think i should take everything out of my tank while im trying to get that rim off?

The rimless looks awesome. You'll have to let me know how it goes for you. At some point, if I upgrade the lighting, I may do the same! That would probably be way down the road though. I'm still in love with it as it is

 

It would probably be easier to do empty.

 

edit: I'm off to the LFS to see if he could get me a Tailspot Blenny. I'm not holding out much hope, but I am crossing my fingers!