Chris George Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 This is looking sweet! You're moving much faster than I am. Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 This tank is awesome sick! good work there socal! how many fish you have now in the tank? Link to comment
MGDMIRAGE Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Wow just found this, tank looks awesome and i love all the wrasses! Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 This is looking sweet! You're moving much faster than I am. Thanks. My tank is stable and I like adding stuff This tank is awesome sick! good work there socal! how many fish you have now in the tank? Thanks bud. I have 8 now unless there is a rogue fish swimming around lol 1 perc 2 carpenter flasher wrasse 1 ornate leopard 1 bluehead fairy wrasse 1 possum wrasse 1 pink bar goby 1 flame angel Considering waiting for a really nice fairy wrasse or another leopard for the 9th and final fish, but that will be in a couple months. Wow just found this, tank looks awesome and i love all the wrasses! Thanks! Wrasses and SPS are what I like Link to comment
kevin_f Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Looks great! I'm looking for my first fish for my 50g cube right now. :0 I have a similar setup Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Looks great! I'm looking for my first fish for my 50g cube right now. :0 I have a similar setup Thanks! What are you planning to add to your tank? BTW, I am heading up to UC Berkeley for a conference and wondered if anyone reading this lives near the UC Berkeley area and has frags for sale? I'd love to pick up some stuff while I am up there. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Looks like things are progressing. How are you liking the new reactor? Keep in mind that phosphates and carbon are linked in carbon dosing. I can't remember exactly how it goes but one is a limiting factor with the other. If no phosphate is present then nitrate reduction is limited (when one runs out the other hits a wall and won't reduce much more). Part of the reason for increased feeding (once pellets have been established) other than for fish/coral is for feeding the bacteria feeding on the pellets. This is also why they don't recommend running carbon or gfo and some get mixed results. You should see a decrease in phosphate as the bacteria colonizes the reactor. It may hit a slow point around the 4 week mark as bacteria dies off and then establishes itself with the change in nutrient levels. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Looks like things are progressing. How are you liking the new reactor? Keep in mind that phosphates and carbon are linked in carbon dosing. I can't remember exactly how it goes but one is a limiting factor with the other. If no phosphate is present then nitrate reduction is limited (when one runs out the other hits a wall and won't reduce much more). Part of the reason for increased feeding (once pellets have been established) other than for fish/coral is for feeding the bacteria feeding on the pellets. This is also why they don't recommend running carbon or gfo and some get mixed results. You should see a decrease in phosphate as the bacteria colonizes the reactor. It may hit a slow point around the 4 week mark as bacteria dies off and then establishes itself with the change in nutrient levels. Thanks for the advice. I think I am going to wait another month or so to see how my phos levels are before I run a GFO reactor. I have noticed a definite reduction in the amount of film algae on the glass and my skimmate smells horrible, much worse than before. The reactor itself is great. I have a nice tornado of biopellets spinning and no clumping at all. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 As the pellets really start working you will see a higher production skimmate and possibly even a change in color. I would give it about 2 months before you try something else for the phosphate. The pellets can take about 2 months for the bacteria to colonize well enough to see good results. I've been using them on my tank now for about 5 weeks and they have been kicking in lately. Slime algae and film algae are greatly reduced now and I'm able to feed more often now (1-2 times a day). The last time I used them for about 3 months and they worked great. Polyp extension has also increased. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 I found the male Carpenter Flasher Wrasse on the floor dried up like fish jerky. It found a way through the mesh top somehow. Link to comment
Jstn Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 That sucks, i did notice upon starting vinegar dosing, the skimate definitely become alot nastier. Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Dude sorry about your fish! Hope everything will get better Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Thanks everyone! I added another star a few days ago from a tank that was being broken down. It is a smaller star than the last and is red. It is cruising around the tank and doing well. As for the bluehead fairy wrasse, it has not come out from it's hole to eat for a couple days. I don't have much hope for it lasting too much longer. My phos levels are at 1.5 according to the Hanna meter! I think part of the problem is that I did not have enough biopellets in the reactor. I had about 1.5 cups in which did not even fill the reactor up half way even when they are spinning. I added another two cups today in the hopes that more will give me the extra push i need to get things where I want them. I don't want to have to get a GFO reactor. Getting some decent growth from my SPS despite the phos issues. I will post some pics when I get the time. I have three sections to teach and all my research to boot so there is not much time for pictures. I will see what I can do though. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 I decided to pick up a couple TLF 150 reactors on sale. I will use one to start off with carbon and gfo. When my biopellets start working I will most likely switch to solely carbon. I have the second just in case I end up using one for gfo and one for carbon. Time for some tank shots- Growth shots Notice the purple encrusting on the rock from the pink lemonade below the yellow base. I know some people wanted pictures of my sump. Well, here it is. Left side is the drain with the biopellet reactor. The reef octo inlet is right at the outlet of the biopellet reactor. I have my dosers hanging on the right with b-ionic 2 part. It is a little cramped, but it works. And the FTS Link to comment
latteslave Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Tank is really looking great! that's some awesome SPS action going on there! Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Tank is really looking great! that's some awesome SPS action going on there! Hey Latte! Ya, the SPS is really starting to take a hold. All the frags that I got a couple months ago are now encrusting really nicely. I am getting some upward growth in some while others seem to either be waiting to grow up or are simply encrusting. Everything is showing great colors and the ones that were not doing so well are showing improvement. Just took a phos reading. My levels are finally acceptable! I am at .02ppm, down from .18ppm. Hopefully this will be sustained and I will a great response from my SPS. How is your tank doing? Link to comment
latteslave Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 incredibly dry... Have not moved out there yet - hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 incredibly dry... Have not moved out there yet - hopefully in the next couple of weeks. So it is down? Any plans on getting a new tank set up? Going bigger? Link to comment
Criley7 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks everyone! I added another star a few days ago from a tank that was being broken down. It is a smaller star than the last and is red. It is cruising around the tank and doing well. As for the bluehead fairy wrasse, it has not come out from it's hole to eat for a couple days. I don't have much hope for it lasting too much longer. My phos levels are at 1.5 according to the Hanna meter! I think part of the problem is that I did not have enough biopellets in the reactor. I had about 1.5 cups in which did not even fill the reactor up half way even when they are spinning. I added another two cups today in the hopes that more will give me the extra push i need to get things where I want them. I don't want to have to get a GFO reactor. Getting some decent growth from my SPS despite the phos issues. I will post some pics when I get the time. I have three sections to teach and all my research to boot so there is not much time for pictures. I will see what I can do though. How is the blue head fairy wrasse? Did he make it? Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 How is the blue head fairy wrasse? Did he make it? No, it hide for a week and then was in a corner breathing heavy and not moving one morning. After prodding it for awhile and it swimming erratically, I decided to put it down via freezer. Too bad... it was a very nice looking fish. I am currently looking to get a second fairy wrasse and bipartus leopard wrasse. Link to comment
Criley7 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 No, it hide for a week and then was in a corner breathing heavy and not moving one morning. After prodding it for awhile and it swimming erratically, I decided to put it down via freezer. Too bad... it was a very nice looking fish. I am currently looking to get a second fairy wrasse and bipartus leopard wrasse. Sorry to hear. You definitely have to get those wrasse. I have the wrasse bug myself. I'm just waiting to find the right ones. Link to comment
jedidad Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 how do you attach your acro frags to the rock. I have some and want to get rid of the frag plugs. tank looks awesome by the way. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Sorry to hear. You definitely have to get those wrasse. I have the wrasse bug myself. I'm just waiting to find the right ones. That is always the hardest part right? Finding the right ones. how do you attach your acro frags to the rock. I have some and want to get rid of the frag plugs. tank looks awesome by the way. Thanks. I use TLF reef epoxy if there is a frag plug or BRS "thick" glue to attach a frag directly to the rock. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 I picked up a 1.5'' Macropharyngodon meleagris Leopard Wrasse yesterday along with some filler zoas for color. I hope the Leopard survives. It was eating in the store and went into the sand. I guess we shall see. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.