Eisernes Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 I think I'm going to build one of these pvc deals so that I can run without a sock and not have tons of bubbles and salt creep.. without a sock, I have bubbles like crazy, popping at the surface and covering everything in salt.. I think having a filter sock on 100% of the time has cut down my pod growth/population.. my old setup didn't bubble as bad out of the overflow drain.. I removed this today and replaced it with a traditional filter sock set up. I don't think I was collecting enough debris with it. I bought 2 felt socks to use after deep cleaning and water changes and 2 nylon socks for every day use. In just a few hours the sock was turning brown so hopefully it will help with my diatom outbreak. Nice addition! Thanks! I want to get her a male companion in a couple of weeks. Link to comment
markalot Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 This thread needs a catchy title. Nice 40, looking forward to seeing the progress. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 My new male solon fairy wrasse and his woman in the background. It has been a stressful 24 hours for me and the fish. This time yesterday I was contemplating putting him out of his misery but here he is! He is a little pale still but there is no sign of disease or trauma. The female is a mean little heifer though. Hopefully in the next day or so he will be fully recovered and start exerting his dominance. I think this is it for my fish stocking. Link to comment
DannaM Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Nice scores on the fish Glad your male fairy wrasse is doing okay. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 I just found the coolest little hitchhiker in my tank. A little tiny acro crab made the journey on that purple mini colony. It's only a few mm and white. I saw it yesterday but thought it was just a piece of mysis that got caught in there. I saw him move tonight and looked a little closer and it's a crab. Of course I am just assuming it's an acro crab. Are there any bad crabs that would live on an acropora coral? Link to comment
4x5 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I just found the coolest little hitchhiker in my tank. A little tiny acro crab made the journey on that purple mini colony. It's only a few mm and white. I saw it yesterday but thought it was just a piece of mysis that got caught in there. I saw him move tonight and looked a little closer and it's a crab. Of course I am just assuming it's an acro crab. Are there any bad crabs that would live on an acropora coral? I was at an LFS earlier in the week and nearly all the acros had one, it's the first time I had seen so many. Super cool. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Got a delivery from reef gardener today and it's looking good. I will get some pics and gush about how awesome Morgan is this afternoon. Link to comment
Coastie Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Digging the tank! How're you liking the photon? I ordered the value but would like to keep the light a bit lower, which causes dark spots on the edges. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Digging the tank! How're you liking the photon? I ordered the value but would like to keep the light a bit lower, which causes dark spots on the edges. Mine is about 12" above the water and the spread seems just right. There is no disco effect either. Overall I like it for the price. My only complaint is I can't find the right settings for taking pictures. Link to comment
Coastie Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Mine is about 12" above the water and the spread seems just right. There is no disco effect either. Overall I like it for the price. My only complaint is I can't find the right settings for taking pictures. If youre using a camera phone turn the blues down. I guess camera phone lenses dislike the wavelength of the blue leds. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 I ordered a few frags from Reefgardener as part of her latest sale. We had a miscommunication about shipping and they did not go out Thursday like I thought they would. I contacted Morgan and she said she was going to ship Monday. Well, we are getting another one of those arctic blasts that is supposed to last the rest of the month. She was not aware of the weather situation so she sent the order out yesterday for a Saturday delivery and did not charge me the extra Saturday fee for it. She even sent me two free frags instead of just the one from the promotion. Can't describe how happy I am with the service I received and she will definitely get more of my business. There was a problem between my phone and photobucket so some of the pics didn't load properly. I will have to retake them. Also experimenting with a macro lens that I bought for my Galaxy s4. This is not from her. Just playing with the lens. Still have some work to do with it. Z-Factor Montipora foliosa. Green with purple polyps and rim Terrible shot of Orange PE's and the two freebies, Radioactive Dragon Eyes and Eagle Eyes maybe? One of the green polyps has a big yellow center. Also have a bright green and yellow tortuosa and a bright purple monti cap. The cap broke into three pieces during transport so now I have three of them. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Terrible picture of my little crab. He is hard to get a shot of because he is small and stays hidden within the branches most of the time. He is also very aware of me when I approach the tank. Another one of the acros I got from reef gardener. FINALLY received my WP10 from China today. Took just shy of a month to get here . Packs a punch for it's size and cost but I think a 25 would be much better for a 40 gallon. It would be nice for a softie or LPS tank but it just seems insufficient for SPS. I will probably replace it with another MP10 or a WP 25 eventually. I am starting to see some small bit of coralline taking hold. There is also a good but of lime green film type algae growing on the rocks. It is kind of nice not seeing bright white all of the time. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Decided to replace the LED's. This was my first real adventure with them and I'm really not happy with the colors. I have tried many different combinations with the channels and just can't seem to find the right mix. Going back to T5's. I have a 6 bulb ATI SunPower on the way. If I ever do try LED's again it will probably be Kessils. I am also considering ditching the zeovit system for biopellets and GFO. Link to comment
ChouDawg Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Should go best of both worlds T5/LED hybrid The 6 bulb ATI will be awesome for sure too though. I have the same exact mini spots of pink coraline and the lime green algae on the rocks too, makes me smile to finally see some color since I started with dead rock like you. What makes you want to switch from Zeo? Link to comment
Eisernes Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Should go best of both worlds T5/LED hybrid The 6 bulb ATI will be awesome for sure too though. I have the same exact mini spots of pink coraline and the lime green algae on the rocks too, makes me smile to finally see some color since I started with dead rock like you. What makes you want to switch from Zeo? Actually I almost did a T5/MH combo. I was a little concerned about heat this summer though. I would say the cost is the biggest thing. Now that I need to add the cost of new bulbs it really started setting in just how much those blue bottles will cost me. I think I can accomplish the same thing with biopellets at a fraction of the cost. It will be a little more work initially dialing in the pellets but once I get it right it will be almost no maintenance. Anyway, I will have a vertex zeo reactor and a 24" photon for sale soon if anyone is looking. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Started the change over today. I modified a TLF 150 reactor like to make it suitable for biopellets. Started it off with 100mL. I will add another 50mL next weekend and the last 50mL the week after as long as things go well. Once all of the pellets are in I will remove the zeo reactor. I will probably shut down the zeostart doser in a few days. Also started dosing MB7 instead of the zeobak. I got a marineland MJ 1200 for the reactor because that is all my lfs had and it isn't going to cut it. It is strong enough but it sounds like a chainsaw compared to the rest of my set up. I need a quiet pump in the 300-350 gph range. I'm thinking a Sicce 1.5. Any thoughts or suggestions? Link to comment
ChouDawg Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Ya MH/T5 would be a heat monster, my two T5s put out more heat than my entire LED fixture. Planning to go from GFO/Carbon/Chaeto over to bio pellets as well soon on my tank, interested in seeing your progress. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 My great LED experiment is over. Switched to T5's like I used to have. I just didn't like the look of the LED's. Got a 6 bulb ATI fixture and things look much better to my eyes. I was starting to have a nitrate problem while on the ZEO. I think it was a combination of not having the flow set right on the reactor and over dosing. Since the switch to BP's my nitrates have been steadily dropping. I lost a few frags in the process but we live and we learn. On the plus side my yellow torch finally looks yellow again with the T5's and my orange PE's are orange and not brown. Link to comment
ChouDawg Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 That ATI fixture is sick! How many BPs did you start with, did you mod the TLF to be recirculating or just for BPs? I just got my reactor and parts to make my own recirculating BRS reactor but haven't decided on how many pellets to add. You have virtually the identical setup so I'd like to piggyback off your experience if you dont mind. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 That ATI fixture is sick! How many BPs did you start with, did you mod the TLF to be recirculating or just for BPs? I just got my reactor and parts to make my own recirculating BRS reactor but haven't decided on how many pellets to add. You have virtually the identical setup so I'd like to piggyback off your experience if you dont mind. Just modified for the BP's by removing the lower red disk. I started off with 100mL of pellets and dosed 5mL per day of MB7 for 2 weeks. It dropped my nitrates from 40 to 5 in two weeks with a wet skim. Link to comment
ChouDawg Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Oh wow that's awesome, are you monitoring your phosphates as well? That's the one most people seem scared to drop too low too fast. Link to comment
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