metrokat Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hey cool research on the ID of the coral Polar, it's amazing how they differ and yet are the same family. Yes, I still believe quality (fresh) live rock is the best, unfortunately, almost impossible to come by these days, except... for those large plugs that come with Indo mini colonies, they are the most diverse and easy to come by transports for a host of microbes. Not sure if you have seen my post in my 7 gallon thread but I recently acquired a baby plate coral off one of those man made Indo plugs, and a host of other interesting corals in the past. Simply amazing! However, I have also acquired AEFW eggs off the same plugs in the past. Uncured rock. The best all natural bacterial slime one can get. I don't have the place for it but I'm seriously considering another uncured shipment just to inoculate my tank with the bacteria. 1 Quote Link to comment
Newtybar Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 The more I get into this hobby, the more I realize how amazing your tank is. 1 Quote Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 This has been in my tank for some time, now taking over one of my Millepora colony, very invasive once it gets going. Wish I had never put it in the tank. Caution! 2 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 The more I get into this hobby, the more I realize how amazing your tank is. Why thank you. Happy to see you've got a replacement tank set up! This has been in my tank for some time, now taking over one of my Millepora colony, very invasive once it gets going. Wish I had never put it in the tank. Caution! It is isolated on it's own rock just in case. If it's the same species, maybe it can share the back wall with GSP. Happen to know what that piece is? Pavona, other? 1 Quote Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 It is isolated on it's own rock just in case. If it's the same species, maybe it can share the back wall with GSP. Happen to know what that piece is? Pavona, other? Deb, I wish I was smarter back then, it's not on it's own rock unfortunately. Not sure the species, never been able to pin it down for sure, maybe Leptastrea sp. Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Deb, I wish I was smarter back then, it's not on it's own rock unfortunately. Not sure the species, never been able to pin it down for sure, maybe Leptastrea sp. I have very good luck with boiling water. Just the other day I took out a vermetid worm trying to live inside the newly recovering SS acro. About 1/8" of the acro flesh around the worm died, but it's already growing back. 1 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 You know, now I'm wondering if there's anything like a coral playoffs website. Who wins in a typical battle... So far I have clementine zoas < setosa < sunset monti < spongeodes < duncan sunny D paly and dragon zoas < Miami hurricane chalice purple whip gorg < spongeodes acan < blue ochotes 2 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 You know, now I'm wondering if there's anything like a coral playoffs website. Who wins in a typical battle... So far I have clementine zoas < setosa < sunset monti < spongeodes < duncan sunny D paly and dragon zoas < Miami hurricane chalice purple whip gorg < spongeodes acan < blue ochotes I like it! so far my Millepora beats caps and monti's and my Pocillopora beats Monti's and stylo's. Xenia hasn't bothered anyone but my shrooms burned my purple stylo. Seems sps is very weak when it comes to battles. Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I experienced hammer > setosa today. Oops... Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 I like it! so far my Millepora beats caps and monti's and my Pocillopora beats Monti's and stylo's. Xenia hasn't bothered anyone but my shrooms burned my purple stylo. Seems sps is very weak when it comes to battles. Ooh - good to know about millepora. I've been eyeing a pink one that can replace the colorless bird and poccis in front of the spongeodes. I also had a pocci hold back the sunset monti. Crazy that the shroom won. I would have guessed the other way around. Buuut, now that I think about it, no one is anywhere near the rhodactus. Maybe it can even beat GSP, which is coming off like Zeus. Big surprise. I experienced hammer > setosa today. Oops... Urg. This is exactly why coral playoffs could be so handy! 2 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Ya- poor sps's are wimps in the coral world. So did you decide to keep the Monti cap in the middle? Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Ya- poor sps's are wimps in the coral world. So did you decide to keep the Monti cap in the middle? On the fence still. I liked the idea of putting it low on the center column, but then it will block flow to the right 1/3. It's still growing on the sand until something works or a local reefer wants it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 On the fence still. I liked the idea of putting it low on the center column, but then it will block flow to the right 1/3. It's still growing on the sand until something works or a local reefer wants it. I just love caps- hoping it will win you over?. I am dealing with flow issues now too from the growths but I don't dare add a powerhead to this Nuvo glass. I am looking at putting one in the sump and plumbing it in and putting another spin stream on the tubing Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 I just love caps- hoping it will win you over. I am dealing with flow issues now too from the growths but I don't dare add a powerhead to this Nuvo glass. I am looking at putting one in the sump and plumbing it in and putting another spin stream on the tubing Don't blame you one bit for being cautious. Is your glass the thinner variety on the 16? IM seemed to think that the jaebo 25 I have on my glass is OK because there's a rubberized magnet and a little plastic collar holding the actual powerhead which absorbs mechanical energy. Also, what about attaching it to the plastic back wall? 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Don't blame you one bit for being cautious. Is your glass the thinner variety on the 16? IM seemed to think that the jaebo 25 I have on my glass is OK because there's a rubberized magnet and a little plastic collar holding the actual powerhead which absorbs mechanical energy. Also, what about attaching it to the plastic back wall? I sent my serial number into them and they wrote back saying my tank is "fine" that really didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy- then recently on here a gen 2 blew out. Another one came apart on the back wall and separate from the main tank? I thought about adding to the back wall - that seems the safest but I need flow to go along the back of the tank in those areas. I haven't researched the jaebo 25 but I am not sure I would "trust" what IM says - I am sure they haven't ran test on all pumps on the tanks. I'll put together some crazy pluming attempt to get some more flow in there- not a huge issue coming from the sump and adding soft tubing in but now I'll have to make a new screen to allow for the tubing- no biggie- my wife made my last one- she's on it! ? Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Still trying to beat back the red turf algae. New partners in crime for the tuxedo urchin are two dime-sized mithrax crabs and two smaller mexican red-leg hermit crabs. This guy's name is either Fleabag or Rhesus. The scratching cracks me up http://vid137.photobucket.com/albums/q235/polarcollision/6BA4EA8A-D49A-4DF1-A3FD-0CAABB968D98_zpsw5ocobj8.mp4 HOW DO I EMBED VIDEO FROM PHOTOBUCKET? 4 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I want some puh sammocora but any piece around here, no matter how small, starts at $50. This is when I hope my nearby LFS gets a frag in without knowing what it is and I can snag it. Yours look fantastic. I was wrong. The store that has a nice orange and green one want's $60 for it. It's in the same tank as those acros I bought and I told her it's going to be just like these acros, I'll wait it out until the price drops. "But it's Jason Fox!". http://vid137.photobucket.com/albums/q235/polarcollision/6BA4EA8A-D49A-4DF1-A3FD-0CAABB968D98_zpsw5ocobj8.mp4 HOW DO I EMBED VIDEO FROM PHOTOBUCKET? Upload it to YouTube. 1 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 I was wrong. The store that has a nice orange and green one want's $60 for it. It's in the same tank as those acros I bought and I told her it's going to be just like these acros, I'll wait it out until the price drops. "But it's Jason Fox!". Upload it to YouTube. Gah. Youtube hates me too. All movies turn grainy. Go get your coral, man. ;-) Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Deb, I wish I was smarter back then, it's not on it's own rock unfortunately. Not sure the species, never been able to pin it down for sure, maybe Leptastrea sp. Leptastrea has small distinct craters, like a miniature version of favia coral. This looks more like a leptoseris to me.http://www.coralhub.info/cf/a-z/leptoseris/ I was wrong. The store that has a nice orange and green one want's $60 for it. It's in the same tank as those acros I bought and I told her it's going to be just like these acros, I'll wait it out until the price drops. "But it's Jason Fox!". Upload it to YouTube. PEA has a nice one on the under $15 sale section You know, now I'm wondering if there's anything like a coral playoffs website. Who wins in a typical battle... Somebody should make a fantasy coral game thing. Like fantasy football. Oh, for fish too, fantasy fish. 2 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 COIL DENITRATOR We're very close to resurrecting the Nuvo 8 tank. It's currently quarantine and diet training grounds for a tiny blue mandarin dragonette. The ONE thing holding us back is the lack of workhorse skimmer options. There's more food going into this tank in 2 days than in an entire week for the 24 gallon. Enter the coil chamber denitrator. Pretty simple device for converting nitrates to nitrogen gas, and with a little luck, phosphates will be reduced as well. Picture a 2" ID tube of ABS/PVC. Inside is 1/4" ID tubing coiled like a spring. One end of the tubing accepts water from tank. The other end moves water into the inner portion of the coil which then exits back to the tank. As water slowly makes it's way through the coiled tubing, bacteria use up all dissolved oxygen. This creates an anaerobic chamber inside the coiled tubing where dentrification completes. More on how it works later. For now - here's today's shopping spree: 2" ID ABS pipe. Fits perfectly in back chamber of Nuvo 8. Flat end cap for the base, a female fitting for the top, and a removable male cap for the top. All ABS. ABS cement to glue everything together. Water- and air-tight. Top removable cap. Intake and output holes will be drilled here. Two elbow joints will pass through top cap and connect to airline tubing, which brings water to and from the denitrator. One elbow joint will connect to 1/4" ID polyethylene tubing which will coil against the inner wall of the 2" ABS pipe. Should be inert as well as impermeable to oxygen. Very important! The label says less than 0.25% lead, which RHF says (in a forum post) is required wording if there's any lead in the product. He writes there's likely less and that it should not be a problem for the reef. 5 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 COIL DENITRATOR (pt 2) Polyethylene tubing heated and coiled into pipe. Hardest part of the whole project, with sore muscles next day. An elbow joint is sealed to the tube end and also to the pipe with ABS glue. A little messy, but the bacteria won't mind. Hole drilled into center of cap to pass airline tubing (connected to polyethylene coil) which needs freedom to rotate as the cap is screwed in place. A second hole accepts another elbow joint which is also secured and air-tight with ABS glue. Final assembly - just waiting for glue to cure before assembling the cap. Plumber's teflon tape should guarantee an air-tight seal through the threads. Inline on the return side will be a Tom's aqualifter prefilter filled with crushed coral to raise pH of exiting water. 4 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 INSIDE TANK CONTINUOUS BBS HATCHERY Made this yesterday and installed it this morning. Crossing fingers tomorrow brings lots of BBS with very little effort. Plz excuse messy pics - I forgot to snap clean ones this morning before the install. Incubation chamber: 8" x 1.5" x 3" Diner: 1" x 1" x 2" Top. Angle to encourage loop water flow and hole for airline tubing. Bottom, now sealed. Elbow bracket connects airline tubing to base of incubation chamber, creating a counterclockwise loop current. Another angled plate directs flow into a loop pattern which keeps cysts suspended and helps BBS find the exit. Collection chamber/BBS diner Glued bottom-right of incubation chamber. Clear plastic lets in light that BBS swim towards. Holes drilled are just large enough for BBS to exit and low enough that dud cysts don't end up in the main display. 6 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Woah! Awesome DIY projects. I cannot wait to see how these work! You're super impressive I hope you're doing well. I need to go back and get caught up on everyone's threads. 1 Quote Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Woah! Awesome DIY projects. I cannot wait to see how these work! You're super impressive I hope you're doing well. I need to go back and get caught up on everyone's threads. I had to mod the hatchery so that BBS cysts didn't collected in the diner. It meant rebuilding it, but now it looks tons better too. The revised hatchery works flawlessly. There are sooooooo many nauplii, much better hatch rate than the water bottle setup. They get out in the water column at night. It's kind of a nauplii storm - perfect for dwarf seahorses! Crossing fingers the PAR38 bulb arrives this week so I can start stocking and put up a build thread. Verdict is still out on the denitrator - could take 4 weeks to grow the biofilms. Oh good lord. In Nuvo24 news, THIS is happening in the middle of the night. On the bright side, there's no question he's my spirit cat... 5 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Glad to hear you got the BBS hatchery working so well. So you're setting the tank up for dwarf seahorses? OMG that cat! I love it! I love how she's all wedged under the light. I hope she doesn't break the lid! 1 Quote Link to comment
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