Matthewdvm Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Looks great! Happy tank birthday Thanks, teeny! Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Looking great Doc. That cap has really grown Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Looking great Doc. That cap has really grown Yeah, it really took off! Link to comment
B.C. Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Nice thread here Doc. I didn't see any mention of an ato ,are you not using one?? Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Nice thread here Doc. I didn't see any mention of an ato ,are you not using one?? Nope. No ato. Sometimes I top up with ro, sometimes I just do a water change. Salinity stays pretty stable. (I know, not best practices, but so far, so good Link to comment
B.C. Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 When you say "sometimes just do a water change "do you top off first with ro before adding your saltwater? If not I think you may be raising the salinity in the whole tank after a while if you don't make the proper salinity adjustment. No? Just looking out. Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 When you say "sometimes just do a water change "do you top off first with ro before adding your saltwater? If not I think you may be raising the salinity in the whole tank after a while if you don't make the proper salinity adjustment. No? Just looking out. I hear ya, BC. If I do a water change, I don't typically top up with RO before hand. I do keep track of my SpGr and it is usually between 1.024 and 1.025. I think the water I mix up is a little dilute, typically (around 1.022-1.023), so it balances out. Then every so often, I get a bee in my bonnet, mix up 5 gallons at 1.024-1.025 and do a near complete change of the tank. Link to comment
B.C. Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Gotcha. Also the pom pom crab,crabs or shrimps go into hiding before and after molting. After it molts it hides to give it some time for it to harden back up. What you found was not a dead crab although it looks like one,its the old shell. Happened to me too. Thought my shrimp died to find it come out later. Sorry for the late reply on the subject. I just stumbled on your thread last night and enjoyed reading and looking at your pics and videos. Link to comment
redknight Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Doc, I'm setting up my first Edge 6g, couple questions. Lighting it is a DIY. I was looking at AI Prime and EdgeBrite. Also are you happy with the nano 240? I was thinking of going with two 240 hook up to a smartwave controller or even a rw4 with a lower power supply. Another member pointed me to your thread and I really enjoyed it and your tank looks amazing hopes mine turns out as good. Here is my thread with tons of questions if you have any input or advice I would really appreciated it. Sorry to hi-jack your thread. My 6g Edge build Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 I assembled all the FTS from the thread to show the progression over the last year Current FTS: 2 Weeks old:3 Weeks Old:1 month old:1.5 Months old:4 months Old:6 months old:9 months old: 9.5 months old: 12 months old: Gotcha.Also the pom pom crab,crabs or shrimps go into hiding before and after molting. After it molts it hides to give it some time for it to harden back up.What you found was not a dead crab although it looks like one,its the old shell.Happened to me too. Thought my shrimp died to find it come out later.Sorry for the late reply on the subject. I just stumbled on your thread last night and enjoyed reading and looking at your pics and videos. Great idea, B.C., but my pom-pom has moulted, and I have found that shell. This was definitely a full dead crab, not a shell. (The shells are often translucent, and this was opaque, and also it had the heft of a full animal). Still have no idea where it came from... Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Doc, I'm setting up my first Edge 6g, couple questions. Lighting it is a DIY. I was looking at AI Prime and EdgeBrite. Also are you happy with the nano 240? I was thinking of going with two 240 hook up to a smartwave controller or even a rw4 with a lower power supply. Another member pointed me to your thread and I really enjoyed it and your tank looks amazing hopes mine turns out as good. Here is my thread with tons of questions if you have any input or advice I would really appreciated it. Sorry to hi-jack your thread. My 6g Edge build Hey RedKnight! Thanks for the kind words. I rarely post on other people's threads (I don't have enough free time to even maintain my tanks and my thread, let alone closely follow many other threads), so I don't think I get much traffic to my thread, so it is nice to hear that someone out there recommended it! I bought the tank used, and the 240 came with the tank. It is more than enough power for such a small tank. I even have mine pointed down towards some rocks to reduce the flow a bit. The Edgebrite is pretty darned good - it is very bright (I'm currently running it at 45% (I went for the brightest option for the Edgebrite)), but it doesn't have the best spread - I actually still have a single 5 diode LED strip across the front of the tank to create a more even lighting. I love being able to program it, but still don't really know how I should have it set up for the best coral growth. I'll check out your thread, and see what I can answer. Biggest challenge to the tank, I would say, is that the most light-hungry corals tend to be tall sticks, and when I reach in to the tank, I tend to kick them over and have to re-glue them. And just getting at the sandbed, and the rocks further from the centre is difficult, so basic maintenance can be a challenge. I got a nimble nano cleaner which does a great job (way better than the mag float that I got with the tank). Link to comment
B.C. Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Doc I had thought the same as well when I saw my fire shrimps shell. It looked like the shrimp died. Link to comment
wurster Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Thanks for sharing the progression of this tank, it's amazing to see how much growth can be achieved in a relatively short time. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Great post with the progression shots- tanks looking great. That Idaho grape is getting huge ? Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 Thanks for sharing the progression of this tank, it's amazing to see how much growth can be achieved in a relatively short time.. Thanks for the kind words. It is fun to see how it has changed (and a bit scary to see how many corals did not make it). Great post with the progression shots- tanks looking great. That Idaho grape is getting huge ? It is making getting rid of the bubble algae, and other maintenance even more difficult than it already was in the Edge! Exciting times in the house! We got a NEW PUPPY!!! On Wednesday we got Dublin, an 10 week old Flat Coat Retriever! He's pretty awesome. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Omg he is so cute! Congratulations! Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Love the flatcoats. Usually a laid back happy go lucky breed. Should be a great family dog. Going to hunt with him? Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I bet with the growth it has - it will cover the width of the tank soon ?. Are those torch corals next to it- how close are they? Do they send out stingers? Your pup is awesome ? congrats! Cool pics Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Been busy with the pup and work. And an ich outbreak in the FW tank. And home renovations. Haven't had time to post much. Got a Halloween hermit crab about a month ago. Though I lost him a few times to the unknown killer in the tank, but he survives! Tonight I caught him just post moult! here's a picture of the moulted shell, then him hiding in his shell... Moulted shell: And a few tentacles sticking out of his house: And cruising around the tank: And a picture of Happy Duncan post eating: And one of the hairy green mushrooms post eating... Love the flatcoats. Usually a laid back happy go lucky breed. Should be a great family dog. Going to hunt with him? Nope. Not a hunter (unless you count with a camera, in which case dogs aren't so helpful! I bet with the growth it has - it will cover the width of the tank soon . Are those torch corals next to it- how close are they? Do they send out stingers? Your pup is awesome congrats! Cool pics Not torches. Hairy green mushrooms and some zoas next to it. Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 I have been missing your thread lately....what an adorable puppy! Your tank is really filling in nicely. Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Totally off topic, but here are some more pictures of the Pup! Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Awww, he's so cute! Nice pictures Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 So I had this thought that maybe I should be dosing some calcium in my little tank. The Forest Fire Digi is growing slowly but quite well, the the red monti cap has not grown much recently and the duncan has lots of very fleshy heads, but is not adding much to the skeleton. I picked up some Reef Complete and when I got home tested my water parameters. First thing I noticed was that I hadn't tested parameters in 125 days! I guess things were going well enough in the tank, and I do enough water changes that I didn't think t was necessary. Fortunately, everything looked pretty good, except for the Calcium, which was around 280! Whoops. No wonder I wasn't seeing more skeleton growth. So I added 2 ml of Calcium which brought it up to 300. I'll slowly try to bring it up to the 400 level and see how things go. This is my first time dosing, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know! Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 You're on the right track by doing it slowly. What's your alkalinity? It's usually a good idea to dose the same amount of calcium and alk because they tend to get more out of balance if you only dose one in an attempt to get them back in balance. If you see what I mean Link to comment
Matthewdvm Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 You're on the right track by doing it slowly. What's your alkalinity? It's usually a good idea to dose the same amount of calcium and alk because they tend to get more out of balance if you only dose one in an attempt to get them back in balance. If you see what I mean Alk is at 6 dKH right now, so I suppose you are right, I should bump that up, too. Any recommendations on a good Alk product? Link to comment
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