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Friar's 4 gallon Finnex - R.I.P.


friar1

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Here it is! No light stand yet, got some really nice live rock from Strictly Fish in Lakewood, My wife brought it back from her trip to LA really nice rock.

new4g.jpg

yes I will have to adjust the sand bed. Will do that when the dust settles some more.

Equipment 03/23/12 is:

  • Koralia Nano
  • LED's 5 RB and 3 CW+1RB, controlled by two Inventronics Dimmable Drivers
  • Turtle Canister Filter
  • Hydor Koralia Nano
  • Hydor Theo 50 watt heater
  • 4 Gallon Finnex Tank


3 pounds live rock
about four pounds Agra Alive Fiji Pink sand

Livestock as of 05/16/12:

 

  • 3 dwarf Ceriths
  • 3 regular Ceriths
  • 1 Nassarius
  • 1 Astrea Snail
  • Red People Eater colony- 19 Polyps
  • Miami Vice colony - 5 Polyps
  • 5 Ricordea - one has four mouths
  • 2colonies-- Eagle or Dragon Eyes mixed with green Zoas
  • Duncan - 8 or more heads (hard to tell)
  • 3 Mini-Mini Carpet Anemone
  • 3 Caulastrea colonies
  • Large Red Brittle Star
  • Feather Dusters
  • Bristle worms
  • Anonymous Clam(?)
  • 3 Acans


Let the cycle Begin!

FTS 04/24/11

picocfts.jpg

FTS 05/15/11

4gfts2.jpg

FTS 05/20/11 Everyone is moved from the Tetra 1.5 Gallon to here!
4gfts52011.jpg

FTS 06/02/11 New additions, temp placement
FTS060211.jpg

FTS 06/07/11
FTS_06_07_11.jpg

FTS 03/25/12

FTS1.jpg

FTS 05/16/12

pico05_fts.jpg


FTS 07/27/12

pico3.jpg

 

 

FTS 01/20/13


gallery_52093_8_674337.jpg

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not plating coralline imo still neat and you are ready for this tank!!!! glad you proved old books wrong.

 

started with 1.5, succeed, then upgrade to 4, will succeed. all the old stuff said you had to start with 50 gals

lol

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not plating coralline imo still neat

 

@brandon, Macro algae then?

 

I will be adding live rock from my Tetra 1.5, but I want to wait for the cycle.

 

I need a better scape, but I also need to leave room for the live rock and corals from the Tetra tank.. oh decisions.

 

By the way, that big heater in the background will be gone, it is just there for the time being.

 

Anyone have ideas for a 'scape? i am the worst conceptual artist in the world! What I have now would be great for some fish that like caves, I have two little caves right now, but I am also trying to envision coral. I cannot for the life of me figure out how I am going to incorporate my current tank into this one lol

 

I am still planning on an AC 70, so at least I can put Chemi_pure Elite and my (future) heater in it. I hoep to mod the AC 70 into a Fuge, but at least I will have a phosphate sponge and hide my heater in it.

 

I am very happy I chose to paint the background black, and I really like the Koralia Nano, it creates a nice, turbulent flow.

 

Friar

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you are ready for this tank!!!! glad you proved old books wrong.

 

started with 1.5, succeed, then upgrade to 4, will succeed. all the old stuff said you had to start with 50 gals

lol

 

 

lol

Thanks,

brandon

 

It was quite scary for a while, you see that much GHA and you want to give up, since it is not only ugly, but it seems to stress the corals. It also makes it impossible to see the smaller life in the tank. And then, you want anything you try to be the "fast" solution. But it is not fast. I could have spent a long time just playing with removal, but starvation was key to getting it under control IMO.

 

But you still have to export the nutrients, so removal also is a task to be done.

 

BTW, I am keeping the ideas about spot treating GHA with peroxide in the back of my brain, just in case! I like that idea better than burning!

 

Friar

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yep I think I like it too, will only burn now for bad infestations. peroxide was the bomb, it still zapped even my red algae it just took longer. love the stuff

 

noting its the only spot of coralline (?) I wondered how it would grow without any others being on the rock closest to its side. the plating coralline are record-thin whorls, that has some friging physicalities that look different from the main body

 

my guess is a colonial hydroid but I don't know, couldn't id that for a $50 bill will see who else has some idys

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Darn!

 

I thought it was coraline!

 

Well, I am still a newbie

 

There actually are some other, smaller spots similar to this. I will have to see what happens!

 

I posted the picture in the ID forum, see if anyone comes up with an answer.

 

:)

 

Friar

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naturalwonders

Oh..this would be nice. I have the same tank somewhere, been thinking about turning it into a small macroalgea tank.

Please keep updating.

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Water test at 3 days.

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 0

Ph - 8.0

 

Do I need to worry about my low Ph right now? If so, what would be a good way to increase it?

 

Of course, I can't check for alk because I do not have an Alk kit! :blush:

 

SG - 1.023

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Friar

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Anyone have any ideas on a better scape? I am thinking I want ot take the middle rock and lay it flat across the other two.

Any suggestions would be appreciated :blush:

 

I am still planning on moving most of the rock from my 1.5 G over to here after the cycle is done.

 

Thanks for looking, tank is still the same. Oh, and that heater will disappear.

 

I am thinking about getting InTank's Media Rack for the AC 70. I am getting the AC 70 in May.

 

picocfts.jpg

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pH not critical now with no animals. if you ever want to bump it Id start the dosing trick or just do a nice water change but everything is fine so far. Im no scape consultant I just pack them in till its ugly and see if they'll agree lol

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Hehe

 

I will test params again tonight, including caclium. Still waiting for some kind of action, algae bloom, ammonia spike, something!

 

Friar

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how about the 2-1 amano scape where on the left its two rocks thick towers and on the right its one rock thick tower with open swimming space in the middle. pure sps and nothing else

 

with bright lights and a strong feed/change regimen it'll grow sps right off the bat as the first corals. it'll need good feeding to make up for lack of a benthic community that provides a little extra nutrient for the sps corals but it will be fine. sps are easy starter corals, the old adages are wrong.

 

well that's what I recommend

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Oh ya, I wasn't thinking it was a bad bloom, just excited something was finally happening. Although all my readings are zero still. <_<

 

I will keep monitoring it. I don't trust a fast cycle, so I am going to wait it out.

 

Friar

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how about the 2-1 amano scape where on the left its two rocks thick towers and on the right its one rock thick tower with open swimming space in the middle. pure sps and nothing else

 

with bright lights and a strong feed/change regimen it'll grow sps right off the bat as the first corals. it'll need good feeding to make up for lack of a benthic community that provides a little extra nutrient for the sps corals but it will be fine. sps are easy starter corals, the old adages are wrong.

 

well that's what I recommend

 

I will not do SPS, yet. I wish to move my current livestock into this tank. But... I could use that idea when moving the Tetra live rock into this tank. Rock towers on either side, lower space in the middle, flatten out and lower towards the front for lower flow, lower light. Keep the high spots for later SPS and or Torch or frogspawn.. I really like how much more room is in this tank. Maybe next is my Ten gallon? Oh right, then I need a bigger house, and more money, and more time, and oh yeah I would have to move out of the Pico forum into the "Real" forums ;) of Member Aquariums.... lol

 

oh to twelve again, like Mini Dude!

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So,

I have Diatoms, a little bit of algae growing on the glass (just barely).

 

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 0

 

I am not sure what this means. I thought I was going to see some kind of ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate spiking, but I have not.

 

I am not sure what this means. Tank is seven days old.

SG 1.025

79 Degrees

 

Live rock was 6 hours from its tank, but packed in plastic bags, no real smell. Appeared to be "Cured" live rock, and seven days later no hitch hikers that I can see, other than some foraminiferans and coralline.

 

Sand was Carib-Sea Bagged Live Fiji Pink

 

So do any of you anticipate a cycle to happen? I mean obviously something is happening since I do have diatoms probably using what I would otherwise read, but even they are not a massive bloom. I am just wondering why I have no spikes of anything yet.

 

Too Soon to cycle?

 

maybe the Rock being already cured has delayed the real start of a cycle?

 

Any suggestions? Pretend I have not been doing this for a year. The Tetra tank was the same, but a few months later I began my war with GHA, I suspect because I did not let it cycle long enough to begin with, but that is really speculation.

 

I would take my water to an LFS to be tested independently, but I don't have an LFS hehe

 

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Actually I probably just need to be told to WAIT!

 

Thanks,

Friar

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