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Godfathernikki's 12g Eclipse


godfathernikki

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godfathernikki

Godfathernikki's 12g Eclipse!

fts_3-12-12.jpg

 

Equipment:

  • Eclipse 12g Aquarium
  • Current Sunpod (MH 70w 14K)
  • AC70 HOB Filter with surface skimmer
  • Hydor Nano
  • Aqueon 50w Heater

 

Filter Media:

  • Filterfloss
  • Chemipure Elite
  • Purigen

 

Livestock:

  • Purple Firefish Goby
  • Yellow Clown Goby
  • Mushrooms
  • Zoas
  • Ricordia
  • Green Star Polyps
  • Candy Cane Coral
  • Hammer Coral
  • Pagoda
  • Feather Duster
  • Maxima

 

Clean Up Crew (CUC):

  • Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
  • Cerith Snails
  • Nerite Snails
  • Nassarius Snail

 

 

This tank Has been up and running for about 5 years now. The last 6 months have been really busy for me and unfortunatly the tank was neglected a bit. I had some zoas brown some from a pistol that would constantly bury them, a hydroid breakout, and just being lazy about general maintence/cleaning caused some algae issues - but I'm back on top of things now, and the pistol is gone. So hopefully I can whip this thing back into shape.

 

Recent changes include switching from the stock filter to an AC70. Removing the filter from inside the hood helped the light spread and hit the back of the tank better, it also has more flow than the stock filter.

I also added some new dead rock, which is bright white now, so hopefully it won't take long to get some growth on it. Also with the AC70 I decided to try purigen, since I dont use a skimmer I thought this may give me some cleaner water.

 

My current to-do list includes saving a pagoda I rescued, and killing the hydroids. A distant third would be to resurface the inside of my tank, it's scratched up, but I think a set of micromesh pads should do the trick.

 

Pagoda rescue: Looks like the problem was starvation or lack of Ca to me- no signs of disease that I can see. Since I got it, the polyps have opened up and the flesh has stopped receding. I'm still trying to decide if I should frag it or just let it grow out over the dead skeleton.

 

Kill the droids:Luckily I have the slow growing variety, they are brown and have a hard tube they retract into. I've tried a few things to rid them, tweezers, apstasia X, H2O2, covering them. Aptasia X was least effective, it didn't seem to do anything but irritate them. Tweezers turned big droids into little droids, and H2O2 only made them go away for a day or two. Im still waiting on results for covering them, I smothered a big patch with epoxy about a month ago, I'm going to pull it off next week to see the results - but I think I've also found a new secret weapon:

 

Boiling R/O water. I blasted them with it 2 days ago and still no sign of them coming back. The tubes also turned green when I hit them with, and they are still green today, so I am hoping that is a good sign.

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godfathernikki
I hope they are gone for good.

 

I like seeing 5 year old nanos! What a colorful tank and killer rics :)

Thanks! I had a blue ric too, but the pistol(currently residing at the LFS) somehow broke the frag off the rock and dragged it into the abyss of my rockwork. That guy sure had a thing for destroying my tank.

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godfathernikki

I decided to take the plunge and broke out with my dremmel last night to try and frag the pagoda. So far it looks like a success, no signs of stress and the polyps were opening within an hour.

 

I'm thinking that I just need to keep an eye on it for the next week or so, and make sure the cut flesh heals well.

 

Pics when I get home :)

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godfathernikki

Also moved it down into the sand, out of direct lighting. Polyps aren't fully extending, I'm not sure if that's because of the fragging or because of the move.

3-12-12_pagodafrag.jpg

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godfathernikki
Wow..... do you use a custom clear lid on yours? I have a FOWLR Eclipse 12.

 

No, but I did have to hack myself a custom hole in the lid

 

3_15_12_hood.jpg

3_15_12_hoodOpen.jpg

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godfathernikki

New zoas arrived!! Courtesy of chunkypeanutlove.

 

Acclimating

3_15_12_acclimating.jpg

 

Sunny D

One of the polyps was already open in the package, looks like he got banged up during the ride...

3_15_12_sunnyd.jpg

 

Blue Hornet

3_15_12_blueHornet.jpg

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godfathernikki
What is your average water temp with that light?

I keep it at 78-80f. During the winter I still have to use a heater, and in the summer the highest I've ever seen it get was in the 90s, probably could have went higher, but I decided to shut off the lights until I could get some fans on there(you can see them on the back in the hood shots). Nowdays, the highest it will get in the summer is 82, but it only hits that during the hottest parts of the day.

 

I've got LEDs on the way, so once those get here I can hopefully stop using the fans and cut down on some noise and evaporation.

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Water_man11

How did you apply the boiling RO water on those hydroids? I have the same kind and when I messed with them before, I ended up with bionic hydroids!

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godfathernikki
How did you apply the boiling RO water on those hydroids? I have the same kind and when I messed with them before, I ended up with bionic hydroids!

 

It is kind of difficult to use, and there can be some collateral damage such as coralline bleaching, and damaging corals in close proximity. I used a 35ml syringe that has about a 1/4 inch opening, I probably wouldnt go any larger as far as the opening is concerned.

 

Basically, you just boil some ro water to a rolling boil, then suck up about 20ml or so of water. At this point you need to make sure the tip is facing up or it will start squirting hot water all over the place(not good).

 

Then run over to your tank, pick your target, and let em have it!

 

And a couple of tips:

1. The hot water will drift upwards, so be mindful of what is above your target.

2. Water is obviously a fluid, so also be mindful of what is around your target

3. I left one of my pumps on so that any hot water would get mixed in quickly

4. I found the faster you spray, the better the burn effect. I would squirt out about 10ml in a second

5. The longer the syringe is in the water, the cooler it will get. So work quickly when the syringe is underwater.

 

A few colonies took a couple tries, but it is by far the most effective treatment I have found. Last week I uncovered a colony that I smothered with epoxy 2 months ago, and they are already coming back. So for now it looks like hot ro water is the best option.

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  • 2 months later...

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