Diver's Paradise: The Sequel (Vacation Pics pg. 48!)

[Felicia]

Thats weird you musta just had a little run with bad luck, healthy fish don't generally get stuck to powerheads... I run a mp40 on 100% and feed directly over it and no one has any issues even.... stupid fish lol Either way hopefully the new wrasse will work out good and stay healthy for a very long time

Yeah, so normally I would have assumed the flasher got sick or beat up or something if I'd just found him stuck to the powerhead. However, I saw it happen because it was while I was feeding the tank. I normally drop the cube of thawed mysis a few inches in front of the MP10 so that it gets distributed all over the tank for the fish and all the corals. Because of this, the fish know when its feeding time that the food will be added near the powerhead, so they all lurk around the powerhead when its time for food. I was feeding as usual one day and I dropped in the food and the flasher just got a bit overenthusiastic chasing food and got right up against the side of the MP10 and got sucked against it. I only run it at 50% power. I immediately shut if off and freed him, but flashers are kind of delicate and I guess he was just too injured to recover. Stupid fish. I felt so bad for him. I've been dropping the food farther away from the MP10 now to train the fish not to go over there at feeding time.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your wrasses. I know how much you adored your leopard wrasse. (You've even got me checking them out when I go to LFS now!) I hope your new wrasse settles in well. He is a handsome fish.

 

 

I have 1 of the wide reflectors for sale in the classifieds.

I know. The poor little leopard wrasse was my favorite. Unfortunately, I need 3 of those wide reflectors, so I'd hate to get them one at a time and pay shipping on each one. Thanks though!

 

They will definitely help out, and in addition will 'brighten' it up as it will have more distributed light.

 

People say they need a 'deep sand bed' but they really don't, I've had about an inch, maybe inch and a half in some spots, for a long time and my leopard wrasse is still around.

 

This. Don't worry too much about it. I didn't see mine for two months in a tank that had about 6" of water and almost no rock.

Ok, I'll look into getting the reflectors. I really think that will help.

 

Well that's good to know. I just don't know how they can survive that long if they don't come out to eat? I won't give up hope yet since you guys think this is normal. She was just always out and about and I've never had her hide for any period of time, so this is weird. We'll see what happens.

 

Same here, I have had 5, 4 of which lasted much longer then most and still have one (potters male found a weak point in my screen lid around the return pipe, regular female and ornate male disappeared shortly after my 70 split the seams)..... I add sand to the top of the "black trim" on bottom and they have been perfectly fine with that. My potters female has been with me for over 2.5 yrs now. My male potters was with me for 1.5 yrs, ornate for a year, and regular female was in captivity for over 4 yrs.

 

 

Shipping/ travel is generally their biggest downfall.

Yeah my sand is just about the bottom black trim, so I thought it would be sufficient. Well I'll keep hoping she reappears. She was doing so amazing well for me and was always out and about and never shy, so this is weird. Also, how can they live for so long if they don't come out to eat?

[Felicia]

Ok I just bought 3 of the white 120 reflectors from Marine Depot since they finally had them in stock and I had a coupon for no CA sales tax Since they ship from SoCal, hopefully it will only take them a couple days to get here.

[FlowerMama]

oh gosh, sorry to hear about the misfortune w/ the wrasses.

[gena]

Not the leopard wrasse :( So sorry to hear that.

 

 

Let me know what you think of the reflectors. I may just replace mine as well. For the clams. Specifically the maxima clam .

 

Just watched that awesome video. That horseshoe crab cracked me up. Thanks for the closeup of the brain. And your squamosa is gorgeous!

[Chris!]

Yeah my sand is just about the bottom black trim, so I thought it would be sufficient. Well I'll keep hoping she reappears. She was doing so amazing well for me and was always out and about and never shy, so this is weird. Also, how can they live for so long if they don't come out to eat?

 

Weeks.... some months even. Sometimes they sneak out at night and eat pods while everyone is asleep even..... crazy lil fishies lol

[Felicia]

oh gosh, sorry to hear about the misfortune w/ the wrasses.

Not the leopard wrasse :( So sorry to hear that.

Weeks.... some months even. Sometimes they sneak out at night and eat pods while everyone is asleep even..... crazy lil fishies lol

Yeah its a bummer. I guess I'll keep holding out hope though based on what Chris and Ben said. Maybe she's just lurking down in the sand still. I never saw a body, so its possible. We'll see if maybe she surprises me.

 

I the meantime, the new exquisite wrasse seems to have really settled in well. Now that he's used to the tank, he's super brave and is always out in the open swimming. That's what I love about these colorful wrasses. I'm a bit obsessed.

 

 

Let me know what you think of the reflectors. I may just replace mine as well. For the clams. Specifically the maxima clam .

 

Just watched that awesome video. That horseshoe crab cracked me up. Thanks for the closeup of the brain. And your squamosa is gorgeous!

I'll let you know what I think! I'm hoping they make the tank look brighter and distribute the light a bit better so there aren't hot spots. I also have a shadowing issue where I have screen frame over part of the tank. My current lid is two pieces, so there's a strip of framing that goes across the tank like a brace where the two screens meet. That was totally fine with my old fixture because the light was better distributed, but now I have a big shadow from that.

 

Thanks! The horseshoe crab only comes out in the open about once a week, but when he does, he is such a ham. I love my squamosa! The silly thing just likes to lurk behind the derasa, which is much bigger, so its always hidden. Everytime I've moved it to where it can be seen better, it moves back haha.

[Chris!]

Yeah its a bummer. I guess I'll keep holding out hope though based on what Chris and Ben said. Maybe she's just lurking down in the sand still. I never saw a body, so its possible. We'll see if maybe she surprises me.

 

Just be patient it really isn't uncommon for a leopard thats been spooked to lose faith and act like a newb.

 

I the meantime, the new exquisite wrasse seems to have really settled in well. Now that he's used to the tank, he's super brave and is always out in the open swimming. That's what I love about these colorful wrasses. I'm a bit obsessed.

 

 

Glad to hear the exquisite is settling in nicely, they are a beautiful fish

[Felicia]

Just be patient it really isn't uncommon for a leopard thats been spooked to lose faith and act like a newb.

 

 

 

Glad to hear the exquisite is settling in nicely, they are a beautiful fish

Will do! I'm not giving up hope!

 

Thanks! The exquisite was a great replacement for the flasher. He seems less delicate and shy and he has the same nice bright pink/red color as the flasher.

 

 

 

So my new Blue Life Resinator arrived today! I ordered it at MACNA but they had sold out of the units at the show and had to ship it out last week. It seems very well made and its sooooo much smaller than my current single BRS media reactor. Its supposed to be much more efficient since its pressurized and forces all of the water through the media. Also, the phosphate media and organic scavenger media are little beads that are completely dust free and don't pack into a clump like GFO. It makes the media much easier to deal with. The canister came completely full of media, but that seemed like too much for my little tank, so I removed half of the media and will store it in Ziploc bags for when I need to replace the media. The canister came with 3 different medias - a really high quality, low dust carbon on top and then a mix of the phosphate media and the organic scavenger media. The carbon is separated from the other two medias by a grated piece of plastic and a thin cotton disk. The reactor came with all of the fittings and tubing needed and it hooks up to an MJ1200 pump, which is what I was using for my old reactor. Set-up was a breeze and it fits so nicely into my stand. This little thing freed up so much more space compared to the bulky BRS reactor.

 

http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/Resinator1.jpg.html'>

 

http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/Resinator2.jpg.html'>

[Felicia]

I started a thread with my first impressions and a review of the new Resinator. Here it is:

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/351123-blue-life-resinator-first-impressions/

[Felicia]

Gotta love ordering from companies located in CA. The reflectors arrived this morning for my Maxspect Razor and I got them installed on the light already. Its pretty simple to switch them out, so that was good. We'll see how the light looks once it turns on for the day. I really hope this makes the tank look brighter and fixes some shadowing issues I'm having.

[jedimasterben]

Your photoperiod hasn't started yet at 1:07PM? dang.

[Felicia]

Your photoperiod hasn't started yet at 1:07PM? dang.

Yeah, I have my light on from 2 pm to midnight because I like to have lots of time to enjoy the tank after I get home from work

[FlowerMama]

Yeah, I have my light on from 2 pm to midnight because I like to have lots of time to enjoy the tank after I get home from work

 

yep, that's my schedule too except from 1-11 cuz the longer I have the light on the longer I stay up too late and don't wind down.

[gena]

I replaced my BRS reactor too! What are the dimensions of your new one? I've been looking for something small to use on my 8g., but I don't have a sump or back chambers on that tank so that makes it tricky. Can you only use an mj1200 with that reactor?

[Mr. Microscope]

I go like 12:30-10pm, but a slow ramp up/down.

 

The new reactor looks really cool! Be careful with that phosphate media. It's really easy to strip the water of phosphates too fast and bleach your corals before you know it.

 

Good luck! I'm gonna go check out that review thread.

[Felicia]

yep, that's my schedule too except from 1-11 cuz the longer I have the light on the longer I stay up too late and don't wind down.

I'm a night owl, so midnight is perfect for me

 

I replaced my BRS reactor too! What are the dimensions of your new one? I've been looking for something small to use on my 8g., but I don't have a sump or back chambers on that tank so that makes it tricky. Can you only use an mj1200 with that reactor?

Its like 12" long including the fittings and then about 2-2.5" in diameter. You could use the brackets and hang in on the back of your 8 gallon if you wanted. They recommended an MJ600 or MJ1200 but not, you can use any pump that works with the fitting. I forget what size fitting it is, but its the same one that comes with the BRS reactor; the white push on fitting.

 

I go like 12:30-10pm, but a slow ramp up/down.

 

The new reactor looks really cool! Be careful with that phosphate media. It's really easy to strip the water of phosphates too fast and bleach your corals before you know it.

 

Good luck! I'm gonna go check out that review thread.

Mine does ramp up and down slowly over a couple of hours, so its not at peak intensity that whole time.

 

Yep, that was one thing I was worried about, so I removed half the media. I'm keeping a close eye on things to make sure all the corals look happy and so far so good. The water quality looks great today and none of the corals look to be losing any color or are closing up.

[Felicia]

The 120 degree reflectors really seem to have improved the lighting. I'm getting less shadows and the light seems more soft and blended. I was also able to lower the fixture quite a bit, since I had it very high to get the full 36" of width covered.

[gena]

Its like 12" long including the fittings and then about 2-2.5" in diameter. You could use the brackets and hang in on the back of your 8 gallon if you wanted. They recommended an MJ600 or MJ1200 but not, you can use any pump that works with the fitting. I forget what size fitting it is, but its the same one that comes with the BRS reactor; the white push on fitting.

Ok...I may consider one of these. Size wise of the container is fine. I don't mind seeing the canister sticking up above the tank...I kinda like an industrial look...my concern is having a giant pump in the tank. Not only taking up space, but also the heat that would be added in such a small tank. I think those are 1/2" fittings. Is that blue tubing a rigid tubing like the one BRS uses? Or is it more flexible?

 

The 120 degree reflectors really seem to have improved the lighting. I'm getting less shadows and the light seems more soft and blended. I was also able to lower the fixture quite a bit, since I had it very high to get the full 36" of width covered.

This is good to hear. I probably will do this too at some point .

 

Oh...have a great weekend . I'm sure it will be fun!

[Felicia]

Ok...I may consider one of these. Size wise of the container is fine. I don't mind seeing the canister sticking up above the tank...I kinda like an industrial look...my concern is having a giant pump in the tank. Not only taking up space, but also the heat that would be added in such a small tank. I think those are 1/2" fittings. Is that blue tubing a rigid tubing like the one BRS uses? Or is it more flexible?

 

This is good to hear. I probably will do this too at some point .

 

Oh...have a great weekend . I'm sure it will be fun!

You'd definitely see the canister a bit, but it's still much smaller than the brs reactor so it'd probably look nicer with that little tank. I'd say you could probably get a smaller pump that would still work with it. The water would just go through it slower but that could be better because of longer dwell time in the media and you don't need as many fog turnover on a little tank like that to get good filtration. The tubing is harder plastic, so not like airline tubing. It's similar to the brs tubing but since it's so much smaller it's much more flexible. I had way less issues getting it to go where I wanted than with the brs tubing.

 

Yeah I think you'd like the wider angle reflectors. They blended the light better and since it scatters more and isn't so direct, it brightens up the shadows in the tank. I like not having so many shadows now.

 

I will! Thanks you have a good weekend too! Got any fun plans with the family?

[Felicia]

I'm in a tiki bar in San Francisco hanging out with an awesome NR guy. Can you guess who it is? Hint: recognize the hand?

 

[Go Tigers!]

That blue life resonator is super cool !

[Zia]

Those cups are a bit creepy but that hand looks somewhat familiar, haha

[Polarcollision]

Just getting caught up over here. Sorry to hear about the flasher. Darn fish! And I'm crossing my fingers the leopard is in hibernation somewhere in the sand. Tank is looking great. Love the new additions, especially the fairy wrasse. Did I read somewher that you're changing directions with the seahorse tank?

[Felicia]

Just getting caught up over here. Sorry to hear about the flasher. Darn fish! And I'm crossing my fingers the leopard is in hibernation somewhere in the sand. Tank is looking great. Love the new additions, especially the fairy wrasse. Did I read somewher that you're changing directions with the seahorse tank?

Yeah, it was a silly freak accident with the powerhead. Frustrating, but at least the new wrasse is settling in well. I sure hope the leopard is just hiding for a while. Time will tell though Thanks! I am going to change it up! The seahorse tank is coming down and I'm going to start a ~25 gallon coldwater tank. I loved talking to the Coldwater Marine Aquatics guys at MACNA and I want to do a Monterey Bay biotope tank like what I see here diving.

[gena]

I'm in a tiki bar in San Francisco hanging out with an awesome NR guy. Can you guess who it is? Hint: recognize the hand?

 

I know who