juvance Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 No codium? That sucks, hopefully they send you some or give you store credit. I really want to see those mangroves start growing in too. Those mollies are growing fast. Any new births lately? Also, any plans for guppies in the near future? Link to comment
sogreedy23 Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Sundial Snail? Thinking it's a nerite? Especially since they like to venture so far out of the water. It's looking good man! I like that mangrove wall. When planting them do you have to do anything special? Thinking about making a mangrove corner in my 10 gal..I really like how this is coming out, any ideas on what you're gunna do for your next order? I like so far! Link to comment
kriskristofferzen Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 i really like the setup. i am looking to make my 10 gallon a macro algae tank. what are you using to hold up the mangroves (are they just sitting in holes in the rock). Also how do the macros hold up when part is glued to rock? i thought i read you did that? i will probably have my tank with inverts as well. doubtful, but might add a fish to it. your tank is looking great. Link to comment
paneubert Posted March 26, 2011 Author Share Posted March 26, 2011 No codium? That sucks, hopefully they send you some or give you store credit. I really want to see those mangroves start growing in too. Those mollies are growing fast. Any new births lately? Also, any plans for guppies in the near future? No births lately. The babies you see in the tank are from birth number 2. The first babies were eaten by the chromis during quarantine I think. But since there have been no other predators in there this time around, they are surviving. Guppies? I might.....it seems like the pretty guppies are always under observation at the LFS. So if I am ever there on a day when they are for sale, I might try a couple. Thinking it's a nerite? Especially since they like to venture so far out of the water. It's looking good man! I like that mangrove wall. When planting them do you have to do anything special? Thinking about making a mangrove corner in my 10 gal..I really like how this is coming out, any ideas on what you're gunna do for your next order? I like so far! Yeah, probably a nerite. It was a hitch hiker in my cheato ball. Hahaha, pretty big hitchhiker if you ask me I did not do any special planting for the mangroves. I just have a raised area of sand that is probably 3/4 the way up the tank. So there is a super deep sand bed there. I just pushed the mangroves into the sand a little bit so they would stand up on their own. I wanted them to have the cool looking aerial roots, but it might not happen since I hear if you have them in the sand, they just put roots down in the sand that look more like a normal plant. We will see what happens. I am worried a few of them are submerged too far in the water. The overall length of each mangrove varied a lot. So some are further out of the water than others. i really like the setup. i am looking to make my 10 gallon a macro algae tank. what are you using to hold up the mangroves (are they just sitting in holes in the rock). Also how do the macros hold up when part is glued to rock? i thought i read you did that? i will probably have my tank with inverts as well. doubtful, but might add a fish to it. your tank is looking great. The mangroves are just sitting in sand. I pushed them in a little so they will stand up. Maybe half an inch down into the sand. I did not glue my mangroves, but I did glue my other macros to rock since that is what the care guide on reefcleaners.org said to do until the macro roots in the sand or roots onto the rock. As for gluing a mangrove, I am sure it would be ok. They are really woody/rubbery feeling. So if you had to glue them, I am sure they would be ok with it. As long as the mangrove can still put out roots then it should work. Link to comment
doppelganger Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Yes just to confirm with sogreedy's id, the snail is definitely a nerite Link to comment
paneubert Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 This thing is going from a 10G to a 15 Long. And adding a Mantis!!!!! Thanks ReefCleaners! So what does that mean for the 10G? It means it will probably get transferred into the 15 before all the macros gets established. As Gort said to me in an email earlier today... "You're going thru tanks like a beta-tester" Comparison of general size between the two tanks.... Some of the rock I will use. The rest of the rock is in the 10G right now. So take a look at that if you want to get an idea of the total rock volume... Link to comment
kgoldy Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I was eyeing that mantis from reef cleaners... haha, nice catch. Spearer class- better keep it well fed or those mollies will be toast. I'm going to probably give the mollies a try. Though the extra food the babies contribute might not outweight the extra pods consumed. What are your thoughts on that? Link to comment
paneubert Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hahaha, yeah......I am not sure if the mother molly will stay in there with the mantis. I might throw her in my display tank so she can live a good life. The babies I will let fend for themselves. Maybe they will learn to avoid the mantis until they get to a size that is a nice snack for him. Fun hunting experience. As for your plan.....I do not think the mollies would even be that much of a threat to the pods. I am sure they would eat them if they were right up in their face, but otherwise I assume the mollies are going to act like dumb freshwater fish and just look for flake food instead of searching out pods to eat They going in the main tank? Or the sump/refugium? I would think they would be fine either place. From what I hear, it is smart to do one male versus 2 or 3 females. But if they are going in your giant tank, I am sure a 1 to 1 ratio would not be an issue. It is all about keeping the males from bothering the females a lot. Link to comment
paneubert Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 It begins..........for a second time This incarnation will include some room for Mr. Mantis. Right now the 15Long has about 20 pounds out of the 30 or 40 that I will eventually add of this..... Comparison of the "old" versus the new... Hard to see how I did the rocks up to this point since I crammed underneath them with sand for some future mantis tunnels. Just imagine that rockwork as one long/flat piece that is somewhat jacked up by two smaller rocks, one on each side of the big/flat... Another view of the sand crammed rock caves... My helper helping some more... 10G tank is still fully up and running for now. I will have to dismantle it so I can use the rocks to make my mangrove area in the new tank. That will probably happen tomorrow night. The other major changes this time around will include.... Changed rack/shelf heights so that the tank is not so close to the floor. Also adjusted the distance between shelves so that there is about 6 inches more of clearance above the tank for mangrove growth and easy access. I am going to do the same general raised mangrove area, but I plan on moving it to the back left corner of the tank instead of the center. I was going to make sure I shored up any holes/sand leaks in my mangrove wall before I added water, but I forgot and added 5G of water....oops. So building and testing the wall will be the first thing I do tomorrow. Link to comment
24nanoguy Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 The wife o.k with all this going on Paul??? Your like me, I've now got 5 going and I'm getting into macros!! Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 She seems to like the concept of a planted tank. So she is ok with it. She also feels some guilt about her purcases of purses and clothes. So if she wants to feel some guilt and let me build another tank, I am not going to stop her Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 On another note, I forgot to take some photos of the "finished" product. I transferred everything over last night and did some "creative" lighting work to hold me over the weekend while I am out of town. Things look cloudy, but seem pretty satisfactory for now. Ended up with the raised mangroves on the far left side. I intended for it to be a triangle in the back corner, but the "retaining wall" rock was bigger than I thought and it ended up being the entire left wall. I angled it a bit, but the raised portion does come almost all the way to the front glass. Made a sand bed that is probably about 3 inches deep on the entire left half of the tank (not including the mangrove area which is probably 8-9 inches deep). The way the rock structure is, I only had to shore up the front couple "front to back" inches of space with some small rubble. The majority of the front to back tank floor space is naturally retained by the main rock structure. Sand bed is about an inch deep for the right side of the tank. Raised up the big flat mantis cave rock so that there is a little more clearance under there. Imagine a "Stonehenge" type structure, but looking more natural and like a table. Kludged (definition here) my 24 inch FishNeedIt T-5 so that it can rest on the rim of the tank and not risk falling in. Kludged a tinfoil reflector/enclosure for my standard screw in type fluorescent Home Depot work light for the mangrove area so the light will be directed to the plants instead of directly into my face Now for the ####ty part...... As soon as I got it filled with water and situated the rocks, the freaking wire rack decided that the front right corner needed to come loose and shift down about a quarter inch! GFY you ####ty rack! There is no way I am going to be able to fix it unless I completely remove the tank and redo all four corners of the shelf/rack. It was tough enough to just adjust the height when they were empty.....no way I can do it with any weight on the shelf at all..... So my tank has a slight dip to the right......not horrible....but noticeable if you look at the water level in the tank. The plus side is that the way the other three corners are situated, there is no way the fallen corner can fall much more just due to the way it is constructed. I guess I will live with it..... Link to comment
Magiksurfman Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 is your wire rack one of those that are held in place with rubber grommets? if it is, and if i were you before i placed my tank on it again id either drill it and pickup some bolts to secure them or get some self tapping screws and secure each leg with at least one for peace of mind. the scenic of two grommets slipping on the same side plays in my head when i think about that type of rack. A definite no bueno. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 If you are talking about how each shelf is held at a certain height, it is via two plastic pieces that snap together/into a ridge around the vertical pole. They are tapered to be bigger at the bottom so that you can slide the shelf down onto them from the top and the weight of the shelf pushes them together securing it at that level but not allowing the shelf to completely go down past them since they are tapered. I think what happened with mine is that the pieces might not have been totally secure in the ridge around the pole and so the shelf slipped down to the next ridge. If I drained the tank and had some people lifting on each corner of the shelf, I could probably fix it.......but it would be a beyotch to do. For now I think I will let it be and see how annoying the water level gets. It is only a slight lean, so if I keep the tank full, it is not as obvious. Photos to come tonight before I head out of town for the weekend. P.S. Rack claims to be rated for 350 pounds per shelf. So I did not think I would have any trouble with a 15G tank......guess I was pushing it. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 Now that I think about it...maybe I will see if I can shim the side of the tank that is slanted. When I do a water change I can drain it a lot (save some of the water to put back in) and then see if I can lift that side of the tank and slide some sheets of cardboard or something. I do not care about the shelf being level as long as it is secure. Photos of the current situation in about an hour. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 I was gone all weekend and did not take photos until I was running out the door to work this morning. So sorry about the photo quality on these..... Overall tank as of now. It is hard to explain, but there are actually different rock shelves back there. There are two roundish rocks on the bottom glass that are supporting a large flat piece of rock that is filled underneath with sand. Then I angled another large flat piece on top so that there is a cave that is rock floor and sloping rock ceiling. So the mantis can chill wherever is pleasing. I circled the main cave entrances with red. A view of one of the main cave entrances from the extreme left side looking past the raised mangrove area. A view from below showing some of the "sloped" upper cave. There is a whole different sand filled cave below the sand level. My phone decided to go blue All the dark areas are entrances to tunnels. All the rocks are well settled and wedged into each other. It looks pretty unstable right now, but I poked and pushed various directions and none of the rocks move at all. I am thinking about throwing up some sort of backing to the tank to make the caves darker.....other than that I just have to sit back and wait for my mantis/macro order to show up tomorrow. As for that...... Sargassum Fauchea (Red Dictyota) Fern Caulerpa Grape Caulerpa (second order of this since my first piece is looking sickly). Emerald/Ruby Mithrax Crab for the main tank (and for fun mantis food times if they start to cause issues in my main tank). Some Nerite Snails for fun mantis food times. I will let them chill in my main tank until it is feeding time. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 And I am officially legal now.. Proud new owner of a 2011 "ANNUAL SHELLFISH AND SEAWEED LICENSE". Now I just have to find some good spots to collect some mantis food. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 This is just a friendly reminder that your package was shipped. Woot Woot. Mantis on the way. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 Uploaded a video to YouTube of the current tank setup. A little easier to see how the rocks are set up. I will do another video after the new macros and mantis are in tomorrow! I need to play with my lighting as well....... Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Yep just make sure those rocks dont wobbble around.So thats what your getting is one of those mantis?I only seen one in a store it was like 5 inches.It looked cool though.Be fun to have a freind put a finger in there that wasnt expecting it to jump out and attack him. Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 I have seen videos where people dare their friends to stick their hand in. Some of those videos do not end well..... I plan on getting my macros in their spots before the shrimp goes in. I think after that point I will have to use tongs/long tweezers for everything Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I have seen videos where people dare their friends to stick their hand in. Some of those videos do not end well..... I plan on getting my macros in their spots before the shrimp goes in. I think after that point I will have to use tongs/long tweezers for everything You've at least gotta try hand feeding once or twice... Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 I might do some hand feeding at some point. I want to see how mean this girl/guy is first. Speaking of that.......waiting for this order to show up is hard work! Link to comment
sogreedy23 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 it's the big day i'm so excited and its not even my tank haha. i like all the caves and everything, hopefully he doesn't try to redecorate. you're going out locally to collect to feed him? what do you have by you? that sounds like hours of fun watching, be sure to post videos of it feeding! Link to comment
paneubert Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 I do not think I will be collecting for all the food. But I figured I would give it a shot for some live stuff or variety. I am going to be spending a week as a lighthouse keeper out on the coast of WA in July. So I figured I would probably do some crabbing for human consumption out there. Need a license for that! So I figured why not get it now so I can have an excuse to collect some little guys from under the rocks at low tide closer... OMG...knock at the door....it is here.....I will finish this post in a while.... Link to comment
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