29g Struggling Reef

[Orangutran]

Funny you should suggest that because after I went to Lowes and came out very discouraged (because they have so little) I went online and saw all that. The Ultra flex PVC looks really good in that others who use it say it won't crimp or crush. I can do simple gluing for plumbing which is all I should have. Also I saw the green flex tubing (forget what it's called) and supposedly it doesn't crimp. Actually my run should be so straight that it should not crimp or crush anyway. What did you use?

I used combination of both! Not by design, but necessity since flex PVC didn't come in 5/8 ID. So my line goes from 3/4" (pump outlet) to 5/8" (thru the floor) to 1/2" (at the return). lol Hack job!

 

Flex PVC is easy to glue together, and you can add unions. Only bad thing is that there's always a bend in it, from being rolled up at the store, and it's not as flexible as you want it to be.

[Orangutran]

FTS Update:

FTS on Flickr

 

Added:

Zoa frags - don't know names

Rics

Green/yellow yuma - with a baby

Green branching monti

Red dragon SPS - which I regret, cus I don't know what I'm doing...

[vlangel]

I used combination of both! Not by design, but necessity since flex PVC didn't come in 5/8 ID. So my line goes from 3/4" (pump outlet) to 5/8" (thru the floor) to 1/2" (at the return). lol Hack job!

 

Flex PVC is easy to glue together, and you can add unions. Only bad thing is that there's always a bend in it, from being rolled up at the store, and it's not as flexible as you want it to be.

 

I was reading the comments and 1 person used a blow dryer to heat the air through the Flex PVC up and he said it straightened out nicely when he did that. What are onions? I doubt very much that your hack job is any where near as ghetto as my current sump, ha ha! It's called middle aged lady's shouldn't do plumbing. I hope to do better on this one. Of course I am not even middle aged anymore but hopefully older and wiser.LOL

 

Very nice FTS. I really like your scape and the possibilities it offers.

[Orangutran]

I was reading the comments and 1 person used a blow dryer to heat the air through the Flex PVC up and he said it straightened out nicely when he did that. What are onions? I doubt very much that your hack job is any where near as ghetto as my current sump, ha ha! It's called middle aged lady's shouldn't do plumbing. I hope to do better on this one. Of course I am not even middle aged anymore but hopefully older and wiser.LOL

 

Very nice FTS. I really like your scape and the possibilities it offers.

 

Everything I know in life, I learned from Reefing! Examples: biology, chemistry, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, lighting, etc!

 

We learn to be creative and come up with solutions that work, i.e. your sump! Older and wiser works, the new sump will be a piece of cake!

 

Thanks, I spent so many hours on the scape, and this final version was by accident.

[vlangel]

I used combination of both! Not by design, but necessity since flex PVC didn't come in 5/8 ID. So my line goes from 3/4" (pump outlet) to 5/8" (thru the floor) to 1/2" (at the return). lol Hack job!

 

Flex PVC is easy to glue together, and you can add unions. Only bad thing is that there's always a bend in it, from being rolled up at the store, and it's not as flexible as you want it to be.

 

LOL, I just reread your 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph and now see that "you can add unions" , not onions! I told you I was old, ha ha! It makes a lot more sense to me now.

[Orangutran]

LOL, I just reread your 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph and now see that "you can add unions" , not onions! I told you I was old, ha ha! It makes a lot more sense to me now.

adding onions is the new way to prevent ich.

[Orangutran]

I was on vacation back in September, went to Curacao, and had grilled lion fish! It was delicious, and felt good knowing that we were helping with the culling of the lion fish invasion in the Caribbean! Will post more photos later, but here's the lion fish…. mmmmm…...

 

Grilled lionfish from Curacao

[vlangel]

I was on vacation back in September, went to Curacao, and had grilled lion fish! It was delicious, and felt good knowing that we were helping with the culling of the lion fish invasion in the Caribbean! Will post more photos later, but here's the lion fish…. mmmmm…...

 

Grilled lionfish from Curacao

Yum, that looks delicious! I know it seems contradictory that I love seafood at restaurants but my saying is...if it's in my tank I will nurture it but if it is on my plate I'm gonna eat it.

[Orangutran]

Yum, that looks delicious! I know it seems contradictory that I love seafood at restaurants but my saying is...if it's in my tank I will nurture it but if it is on my plate I'm gonna eat it.

Totally agree! Love seafood too! We went back for more lion fish, but it was sold out on a busy day…

 

I'm just waiting for the day when my daughter makes the connection between our pet fishies, and the fish she eats…

[Moulton712]

Everything I know in life, I learned from Reefing! Examples: biology, chemistry, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, lighting, etc

That made me laugh. I hope you didn't learn about the birds and the bees from your tank.

[vlangel]

That made me laugh. I hope you didn't learn about the birds and the bees from your tank.

Ha ha, especially if you had seahorses! The male seahorse is the one who gets pregnant. 19 days or so later he usually delivers 100-200 fry early in the morning. By noon he puts on his dancing shoes and courts his mate all afternoon and by evening he is pregnant again!

[Orangutran]

That made me laugh. I hope you didn't learn about the birds and the bees from your tank.

Lol! Nah, I learned about that from other sources on the internet…

[Orangutran]

Added 3 small chromis yesterday. If what people say holds true, I might have only 1 in the near future! So far they look pretty awesome, being in a little school, which I didn't think was possible in a nano tank.

 

Also added a neon goby a couple weeks ago. I might be over my max bioload, but I can't imagine the goby adding too much poop. Also looking into marinepure for extra filtration.

 

Chromis on Flickr

[Orangutran]

So the smallest (just barely smaller) of my chromis was hiding today, and looks a bit weak. I have been feeding them twice a day, to keep down the aggression. Gonna up it to 3 times a day, if the little guy makes it overnight. I tried catching him to put in my sump, but of course that's impossible. And I was stressing him out even more, so I gave up and hope he recovers...

[vlangel]

I used to have a school of blue chromis when I had my 90g. Then I moved them into my 36g bowfront when I downsized. They did fine and thrived until I had a middle of the night chiller mishap. The controller went on the fritz and luckily my husband heard it since it never kicked on in the winter. The temperature was already down to 49 degrees and all the fish were swirling lifelessly on the sand. I figured everyone was toast but very slowly I began warming up the water. Amazingly my clown, my 2 anthias and my purple firefish all revived. However my chromis and my damsel perished.

[Orangutran]

Amazingly my clown, my 2 anthias and my purple firefish all revived. However my chromis and my damsel perished.

And I thought damsels/chromis were the hardier fish!! What a horrible thing to see all of them near death, glad most pulled through!

 

So I couldn't see the little chromis this morning, and after checking around the rocks I found his body stuck to the side of the vortech. Poor guy, I was hoping he would make it thru the night.

 

Really like them chromis, makes the whole tank more alive! Made the clowns more active too. So I will add another so they total 3 again.

 

Also, I think they are misunderstood... At least I did, cus I used to think they are beginner fish, but they're quite demanding in that they are plankton eaters, so you can't drop them in and feed them every other day. They're as demanding as anthias!

[Elizabeth94]

Poor little guy.

 

I like chromis. I think they are a nice fish that can add some good movement and color in a tank. Hell, even my little damsel in my fusion 10 has been awesome. I got him as the first fish for a new system, thinking I would see if my tank is ready and then buy something more expensive. But I love Charlie <3 damsels are under rated as well.

[vlangel]

And I thought damsels/chromis were the hardier fish!! What a horrible thing to see all of them near death, glad most pulled through!

So I couldn't see the little chromis this morning, and after checking around the rocks I found his body stuck to the side of the vortech. Poor guy, I was hoping he would make it thru the night.

Really like them chromis, makes the whole tank more alive! Made the clowns more active too. So I will add another so they total 3 again.

Also, I think they are misunderstood... At least I did, cus I used to think they are beginner fish, but they're quite demanding in that they are plankton eaters, so you can't drop them in and feed them every other day. They're as demanding as anthias!

It surprised me as well. Like you I thought chromis and damsels were hardy. Apparently not when it comes to cold. I was thrilled that any of the survived. I still have the clownfish now in my 10 gallon tank. A friend of mine recently took the anthias.

[Orangutran]

Poor little guy.

 

I like chromis. I think they are a nice fish that can add some good movement and color in a tank. Hell, even my little damsel in my fusion 10 has been awesome. I got him as the first fish for a new system, thinking I would see if my tank is ready and then buy something more expensive. But I love Charlie <3 damsels are under rated as well.

Yeah, I looked into damsels too! I would love to get a Tracey's damsel from live aquaria, man they are beautiful!!! But they are totally unavailable up here… Did you decide on a tank mate(s) for Charlie?

 

 

It surprised me as well. Like you I thought chromis and damsels were hardy. Apparently not when it comes to cold. I was thrilled that any of the survived. I still have the clownfish now in my 10 gallon tank. A friend of mine recently took the anthias.

 

Maybe the smaller fish gets affected by the cold more, their body just shuts down quicker. Fish are funny. How old are your clown(s) now?

[Elizabeth94]

Yeah, I looked into damsels too! I would love to get a Tracey's damsel from live aquaria, man they are beautiful!!! But they are totally unavailable up here… Did you decide on a tank mate(s) for Charlie?

 

Well I picked up a pretty big female onyx clownfish yesterday (3"). She was in a tank with really low flow when I bought her and I had to lower the flow for her when she came home. Not sure how she is handling it but I guess only time will tell. She is the last fish I add.

 

To be honest, I might even take out Charlie and only have her and maybe a shrimp. Ill tell you though, if I didn't go with a big clownfish, little charlie would have had a field day beating up the new fish. He is only the size of a quarter but he is mean

 

EDIT: Her name is Priscilla

[Orangutran]

 

Well I picked up a pretty big female onyx clownfish yesterday (3"). She was in a tank with really low flow when I bought her and I had to lower the flow for her when she came home. Not sure how she is handling it but I guess only time will tell. She is the last fish I add.

 

To be honest, I might even take out Charlie and only have her and maybe a shrimp. Ill tell you though, if I didn't go with a big clownfish, little charlie would have had a field day beating up the new fish. He is only the size of a quarter but he is mean

 

EDIT: Her name is Priscilla

Nice, hope to see pictures on your thread! Are they getting along?

 

Like your fish names. My 3 yr old daughter has named our clowns Sammy… and Sammy.

[vlangel]

Yeah, I looked into damsels too! I would love to get a Tracey's damsel from live aquaria, man they are beautiful!!! But they are totally unavailable up here… Did you decide on a tank mate(s) for Charlie?

The clown I have now is one I raised from my mated pair. I had re-homed it's parent and siblings when I broke down my 90 gallon. He was born in '09 so I guess he's 6. Since he is by himself he still seems juvenile-ish, which is fine by me. They get so mean and bossy when they turn female.

 

 

 

 

Maybe the smaller fish gets affected by the cold more, their body just shuts down quicker. Fish are funny. How old are your clown(s) now?

 

[Orangutran]

The clown I have now is one I raised from my mated pair. I had re-homed it's parent and siblings when I broke down my 90 gallon. He was born in '09 so I guess he's 6. Since he is by himself he still seems juvenile-ish, which is fine by me. They get so mean and bossy when they turn female.

 

 

 

Oh no way, I never knew this! That they stay juvenile (small) when they are by themselves! No wonder, my old clown (single) I had for over 5 yrs was pretty small, but the female in my new pair is pretty large already, even though she's probably only 6 months old! Learn something everyday.

[vlangel]

Oh no way, I never knew this! That they stay juvenile (small) when they are by themselves! No wonder, my old clown (single) I had for over 5 yrs was pretty small, but the female in my new pair is pretty large already, even though she's probably only 6 months old! Learn something everyday.

I don't know if a single clown always stays small but mine may have because he was in with his mom and dad for a couple of years. He had a sibling with him but mom was very aggressive and killed that one. Baby however was being hosted by a large thick finger coral and mom couldn't get into where he was.

[Learn It]

Good job eating that lionfish haha and nice sump pic