Dr. Felicia's Predator Paradise - Retired

[plainrt]

Yeah it seems like a pretty nice little frag rack. Here's the link to it on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/191503960364?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Nice rack As much as I hate them In display I'm tempted to order one lol

[Felicia]

Nice rack As much them In display I'm tempted to order one lol

Its definitely a nice rack!

[gena]

Not really. I think his species is considered average on the finicky scale. Not the easiest species to get onto frozen and not the hardest. Weirdly, the fu manchu is supposed to be the most difficult species to wean onto frozen, but Mushu was already taking frozen at the LFS so he's been the easiest for me. Draco is quite the cutie, so I forgive him. He hasn't eaten much in two weeks, so you should have seen him attack the live ghost shrimp I gave him earlier. He practically jumped out of the water at it before I could even get the tongs down into the water in front of him and he ended up with both the shrimp and the end of the tongs in his mouth

He sounds super stubborn. Obviously he was hungry but holding out! Good thing you have a live food system figured out for him .

[Felicia]

He sounds super stubborn. Obviously he was hungry but holding out! Good thing you have a live food system figured out for him .

He's definitely a stubborn little guy. Oh well, the live food isn't that difficult. A bit of a pain, but not too bad and I'm hoping over time I can coax him onto frozen. So far the breeder box full of shrimp in the refugium seems to be working fine.

 

 

 

Last night I did all my water testing followed by a water change. I actually let the tank go 16 days between water changes this time, so I was curious what would be going on with the water parameters. Surprisingly it was all good! I may end up changing from weekly to biweekly water changes.

 

Alk: 8.3

Ca: 435

Mg: 1350

Nitrates: 7.5

Phosphates: 0-0.03

[Felicia]

A few minor updates. I ordered those 4 acro frags through one of my LFS's ebay auctions. When they arrived, 2 of them were doing great (other than some browning out), but the other two had some death around the base that wiped out the frags in a couple days. I went into my store to get replacements, but they didn't have any similar sized frags that I liked. I specifically wanted blue since the two that died were a light blue tort and a blue tenius. However, the LFS had gotten in a bunch of nice maricultured mini colonies, so I took store credit for the two frags and paid a little extra to get one of the mini colonies that's a nice light blue. Hopefully it does well.

 

Also, Eddie sent me another shipment of corals since we had some issues with the first shipment. Here's the frag rack right now! The two acros in the back are the two from my LFS that are browned out from shipping. Hopefully they'll color back up soon.

 

And here's the antennata hanging out on the frag rack

[yoshii]

So pretty! That blue acro looks good! Have you planned out where you're doing to put stuff?

[Felicia]

So pretty! That blue acro looks good! Have you planned out where you're doing to put stuff?

Thank you! I really like the blue acro. The picture makes the blue show up a bit darker than it is in person. Its more of a baby blue along the tips with a cream colored base. I really need to get all the SPS pieces placed. Still figuring that out exactly, but most of them are going on top of the bonsai pillar (right back rock structure). Then there will be a few on the top middle of the front right rock where I left space for a couple SPS pieces.

[Felicia]

My replacement for the little Aqueon Evolve 2 pump arrived Friday so I was all excited that it would fix the overheating issue, but this new pump does the same thing! The tank was sitting at 74 degrees, I turn on the little pump and over 3-4 hours it hit 82 F before I turned off the pump. Never ever had a pump do that, so I assumed it was a malfunction, but apparently not since the replacement does the same thing. Ugh! I just ordered a tiny fountain pump off of Amazon, so hopefully that will work better!

[plainrt]

Dang how many watts is the little pump that makes that much heat?

[Felicia]

Dang how many watts is the little pump that makes that much heat?

5 watts...seriously not sure how it does it, but two of them are doing the same thing, so I can't be crazy!

[ReefWeeds]

My replacement for the little Aqueon Evolve 2 pump arrived Friday so I was all excited that it would fix the overheating issue, but this new pump does the same thing! The tank was sitting at 74 degrees, I turn on the little pump and over 3-4 hours it hit 82 F before I turned off the pump. Never ever had a pump do that, so I assumed it was a malfunction, but apparently not since the replacement does the same thing. Ugh! I just ordered a tiny fountain pump off of Amazon, so hopefully that will work better!

Man, that is frustrating!

[gena]

My replacement for the little Aqueon Evolve 2 pump arrived Friday so I was all excited that it would fix the overheating issue, but this new pump does the same thing! The tank was sitting at 74 degrees, I turn on the little pump and over 3-4 hours it hit 82 F before I turned off the pump. Never ever had a pump do that, so I assumed it was a malfunction, but apparently not since the replacement does the same thing. Ugh! I just ordered a tiny fountain pump off of Amazon, so hopefully that will work better!

Wow that's a huge jump in temp! I hope the amazon pump works better for you!

 

I had to go back and check out your fox coral. Looks like we have the same color .

[FlowerMama]

Geez. I'm sure in the winter it will be great but certainly right now you you can't have it doing that. Hoping the new pump will be golden.

[Felicia]

Man, that is frustrating!

Geez. I'm sure in the winter it will be great but certainly right now you you can't have it doing that. Hoping the new pump will be golden.

Seriously! Definitely not thrilled with the little Aqueon pumps. The fountain pump is supposed to arrive today (yay Amazon), so hopefully it will fit and not put out so much heat.

I had to go back and check out your fox coral. Looks like we have the same color .

Looks like it! Yours is so big and pretty! I hope mine will grow in to fill the space where I put it.

[Felicia]

I realize I'm slacking on updates. Got kind of busy over here! I'm going to do a water change on the tank sometime in the next couple days when I get some time and then I'll get some new photos for you guys! Otherwise, everything is doing really well right now and no major updates

[gena]

I realize I'm slacking on updates. Got kind of busy over here! I'm going to do a water change on the tank sometime in the next couple days when I get some time and then I'll get some new photos for you guys! Otherwise, everything is doing really well right now and no major updates

I realized that last week . Glad you will have some photos again soon .

[Felicia]

I realized that last week . Glad you will have some photos again soon .

That's the plan! Can't take any until I stop being lazy and clean the glass because there's too much algae in the way I just wish algae didn't have to come back on my glass in only a couple days. Annoying!

[kimberbee]

I realize I'm slacking on updates. Got kind of busy over here! I'm going to do a water change on the tank sometime in the next couple days when I get some time and then I'll get some new photos for you guys! Otherwise, everything is doing really well right now and no major updates

 

I've been doing the same with my second tank. It's gotten put on the back-burner while I re-vamp tank #1. The glass needs a good cleaning, inside and out!!

 

Can't wait for more picture updates!

[Zia]

Seriously. You slacker! Quit slacking and start picture stacking!

 

Cleaning algae off the glass, blehhh I got 99 problems but that's no longer one

 

haha

[Felicia]

Yeah...so I'm a total slacker! Finally got around to my water change last night and some much needed other maintenance. Unfortunately, my school stuff had been hectic lately (in my final year of the PhD and trying to finish it all up!), so that's taking time from tank stuff. Luckily though, this system is really performing the way I'd hoped in that I can neglect it for a bit without any major issues. Much more automated and simple now.

 

Anyways, last night I finally got all the new corals off the frag rack and sand bed and placed into the scape. I also did a 10 gallon water change, sand bed siphoning, skimmer cleaning, filter sock change, glass scraping, etc. The tank is definitely nice and clean now, so if I have time tonight, I'll snap some photos for you guys!

 

I did all my water tests last night and I was thrilled with how they came out. This was before the water change and it had been 2.5 weeks since the last water change.

Alk: 8.1

Ca: 430

Mg: 1410 (lowered the dosing a tad since this is a bit high)

Nitrates: 5

Phosphates: 0

 

Just have to say, those bio pellets are AMAZING! Perfect filtration method for the predator tank.

 

In bad news, my older of the two mp10s (blue box model) started making a weird off balance grinding noise. I turned it off a couple days ago when it started and last night I got around to cleaning the wet side. It had a bunch of algae on it, so I thought it might be jammed up. I soaked both wet sides in vinegar water for several hours and gave them a thorough scrub. Unfortunately though, the noise is still there. I confirmed its definitely the dry side by swapping out the wet side for the one from the other pump that I know works. The noise was still there with the other wet side, so it's definitely the dry side...bummer.

 

I pulled out the broken mp10 and put in my old Jebao WP10, which I though would be a good solution... But, ack! I hate it in there. I got so used to having two sleek mp10s and no wires to come out over the rim. The wire coming out of the tank messes up my lid! Also, I don't like how directed the flow is from the wp10. Where I had the mp10 works best for broad flow.

 

Anyways, looks like I'm making a trip to the LFS today to shell out $235 for a new quiet drive mp10. Ugh! But once I'm over the money, it's fun to get new equipment.

[Felicia]

Ok, so...

 

 

I just got the new MP10 installed! The flow is back to normal. So much better than the WP10. The Jebao's are good little cheap pumps, but I just don't like how directed the flow is. It really wasn't going to work with how I have the flow set up in this tank. Corals are looking much happier now that I have the flow back to normal.

 

I have to say, the all black quiet drive MP10 is pretty! Here is is next to the old blue box MP10 that went out.

 

 

Now I have one of the white controller models and the new quiet drive.

 

 

Also, just a fun photo I took last night. The big serpent star only comes out at night, so I can never get a photo of him with the lights on. He's cool though and helps keep the sand bed cleaned of the bits of food that end up everywhere after feeding the predators. Also you can see Mushu checking him out.

 

 

The tank is looking sooooooo good right now! Not to brag, but I am so thrilled that its finally running smoothly for me. I was having such a rough time with this hobby and my tanks for quite a while and this tank is finally so enjoyable! Making me want to relax and stare at it instead of stressing me out. I'm inspired right now, so you guys are definitely getting photos tonight!

[markalot]

So how quiet is the MP10 QD? The MP40 version, with just the controller replacement (upgrade) is shockingly silent. I still can't believe how quiet just a controller replacement made the MP40.

[Felicia]

So how quiet is the MP10 QD? The MP40 version, with just the controller replacement (upgrade) is shockingly silent. I still can't believe how quiet just a controller replacement made the MP40.

At first I was a little disappointed because I could hear a whirring noise when I was next to the pump. Basically just like my white controller MP10. Then after about 15 minutes of running that went away and its basically silent. I don't understand how the controller replacement can make the pump quieter! The LFS was telling me that today and I was wondering how that works. Luckily I won't be tempted to upgrade the controller on my older MP10 because its not loud enough to be heard over all the other noises of my system unless I'm right next to the dry side. I have just never been able to get my overflow quiet, but now that I'm used to it, I actually like the white noise of water trickling.

[vlangel]

I can't wait for those pics!

 

My overflow box on the reef also makes a water trickling noise that I have learned to like. It was quiet before I added the seahorse system but I stole one of its 2 returns to use on the seahorse tank, so basically cutting the return flow in half. However the overflow box is rated for the larger volume of water. It would build up bubbles in the U tube if I didn't have an aqualifter plugged into the U tube to make sure I always have a syphon. I have a nano overflow box that I could swap it out with and make it quiet but then if I need to take the seahorse tank offline for some reason I would have to use the bigger overflow again, so why bother...I like the sound.

[Felicia]

I can't wait to take them! Just waiting for it to get dark (like 2 hours from now) so that there's no glare from my windows.

 

I think the issue with my overflow is that the drain is 1.5" pipe. Its so big that there isn't enough water flow to fill the pipe, so it makes this tricking waterfall noise as it flows down the pipe. The actual overflow box I have is really quiet. Overflows are kind of a PITA It works well though and like I said, I'm enjoying the water noises. Its like one of those little water fountains people put in their house for the soothing trickling noises.