holy carp Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Putting together a build thread on the Mr. Aqua 12G Long in my bedroom. I'm going to keep editing this first post with progress, so I apologize in advance if it gets long... Tank Map: January 2016: Reverse Chronological FTS log : April 2018: Prior FTS: Spoiler October 2017: July 2017: April 2017: January 2017: October 2016: June 2016: March 2016: January 2016: October 2015: August 2015: July 2015: June 2015 (Launch): YouTube video tours: 2017-01 Prior Videos: Spoiler 2015-11 2015-07 And the full view: 18 Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted July 11, 2015 Author Share Posted July 11, 2015 Build details: Mr Aqua 12G Long on section of white countertop on Craigslist credenza (probably homemade, but not by me) Aqueon 10G sump Baffles cut from regular glass 9" deep at drain and 8" deep for fuge Current USA Orbit Marine 36"Aqua Medic DC runner 1.2 return pump Reef Octopus VarioS 2 with Apex Control added 5/21/16 75W NeoTherm heater 8W PAR20 5000K LED grow light over sump Tunze 9004 skimmer Topoff using Aqualifter running on Apex timing Apex Controller added 5/15/16 BRS 1.1ml/min dosing pumps for 2-part Plumbed with: 1" bulkhead drain - skimming with elbow 1/2" bulkhead drain - full siphon 1/2" bulkhead return reinforced vinyl tubing Filtration Contents: Pukani rocks CaribSea Ocean Direct sand (~5lbs) Marinepure 8x8x4 ceramic bio block Rox 0.8 Carbon and Phosguard in media bags A clump of chaeto from LFS [EDIT: chaeto got infested with pink cotton candy algae, so it's been replaced by a Tunze 9004 skimmer] Added poly filter to manage the phosphates and algae Carbon and Phosguard in media bags Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Current Residents: Fish: 1 Ocellaris Clown 1 MochaVinci Ocellaris Clown 1 Orchid Dottyback 1 Randall Shrimp Goby Corals: Purple Bonsai Acropora Green Slimer Acropora Elegance Coral Purple Torch Coral Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris 2 Ricordea Yuma with babies Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas Green Protopalythoa GSP 2 Acan Micromussa Lord Bam Bam zoas JF Red Hot Setosa JF Spit Fire Leptastrea Optimus Prime Acro Red War Coral Dendrophyllia Jingle Bells Cyphastrea Green and Blue Maze Brain Sunset montipora unknown green acro Oregon Blue Tort unknown pink polyp monti Darth Maul Porites 2 RFA's Tangerine Juice Leptoseris Orange/teal plate coral Rainbow Monti Utter Chaos palythoa Blue Hornet Zoas Blue Hornet zoa Jason Fox My Miami Chalice Pink Boobies Chalice Other Inverts: 1 Randall's Snapping Shrimp 1 Porcelain Crab 2 Scarlet Hermit 2 Pom Pom Crabs Resident Chronology: 06-15-15 Bruce Jenner the Clownfish purchased at LFS as Perculia (sic) but definitely Ocellaris 06-16-15 Red Shrimp the peppermint shrimp (found half eaten on 12-14-15) 06-16-15 Sammy the blue coral banded shrimp (dead on 06-19-16) 06-16-15 Astraea and Margarita snails from LFS 06-28-15 Bandido the Orchid Dottyback, jumped 07-31-15 06-28-15 corals from Reef-A-Palooza (elegance, purple torch, green slimer acropora, purple bonsai acropora, and jack-o-lantern leptoseris) 07-03-15 dwarf ceriths, nerites, nassarius, and DOA florida ceriths from the internet 07-17-15 Snuggles the emerald crab - found dead and smelly 08-02-16 no tears, that asshole attacked 2 fish 07-24-15 Tail Spot Blenny - jumped to his death same night or morning of 07-25-15 07-26-15 Randall's Goby - jumped to his death through the egg crate lid on 09-03-15 07-26-15 Hector's Goby - hid 24/7 and found dead/half-eaten 07-29-15 08-13-15 Randall shrimp for hopeful pairing with goby 08-13-15 Lenny the clownfish boyfriend for Bruce (now Caitlyn?) jumped 7/14/17 RIP little dude 08-13-15 Bandido 2, because such a beautiful fish had to be replaced 08-14-15 Ebay purchase: Eagle Eye Zoa (eaten by Emerald Crab on the first night) Radioactive Green Zoa Emerald Green Protopaly purple Ricordea pink Ricordea (pink Ric was unattached and never was able to reattach to rock or rubble RIP) 10-24-15 Picked up 3 little Acan Micromussa frags at the Reef Shoppe: 1 green/blue (spontaneously covered in mucus and melted) 1 bright orange 1 purple/dark orange 11-08-15 Manhattan Reefs Frag Swap JF Red Hot Setosa JF Spit Fire Leptastrea a green and blue maze brain fathead dendro sunset montipora Optimus Prime Acro Bam Bams Utter Chaos Paly (single polyp, didn't survive) Jingle Bells cyphastrea and some other unknowns. 01-17-16 frags from a Manhattan Reefs local in Brooklyn. Oregon(?) Blue Tort unknown acro Plus FREE RED BUGS! 03-17-16 a half dozen nano-conchs 03-26-16 porcelain anemone crab last seen 11-13-17 04-11-16 birdsnest and pink polyp monti 05-06-16 Darth Maul porites 06-26-16 Reef-a-Palooza 2 Rock Flower Anemones Tangerine Juice leptoseris? Utter Chaos paly Purple Hornet zoa (dying...) Rainbow montipora tiny orange and teal plate 10-24-16 Manhattan Aquariums Tail Spot Blenny became dendrophyllia feast on 10-27-16 scarlet hermit banded trochus 12-11-16 Manhattan Reefs Frag Swap Jason Fox My Miami Chalice banded trochus 01-15-17 Manhattan Aquariums 1 large nassarius 3 large ceriths 2 banded trochus 03-11-17 Connecticut Frag Farmers' Market Pink Boobies chalice 06-20-17 Reef-a-Palooza Yellow Acan Some LPS 08-19-17 Manhattan Aquariums Name TBD the Randall Goby 03-03-17 Connecticut Frag Farmers' Market Red Hornet Zoas Scrambled Egg zoas Katropora - Atlantis Raspberry Limeade Acropora 04-01-18 Manhattan Aquariums Bialetti the Mochavinci Clownfish 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Nice build! Clean and aquascape looks amazing! Quote Link to comment
righttirefire Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 How do you like your orchid dotty... I'm thinking about one Quote Link to comment
Kijho Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Very beautiful looking tank, post more pics!! Quote Link to comment
Varano14 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Really like the white pedestal, really sets off the tank. Although it would drive my nuts that the tank wasn't centered on it. OCD showing, but love the tank so far, these are one of my favorite tanks. Quote Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Putting together a build thread on the Mr. Aqua 12G Long in my bedroom. Here's a quick view on YouTube And some photos: Display Sump Beautiful tank and build. Long tanks are so cool. 2 Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Hey, thanks to everyone for the interest and positive feedback! How do you like your orchid dotty... I'm thinking about one Bandido (the orchid dottyback) is really a great fish. He adds the most incredible color to the tank. I've heard dottybacks can be territorial and aggressive, but this one is really friendly with the two clowns and is roommates with the blue coral banded shrimp. The fish are often all hanging out as a trio. The one hiding in the cave in the video jumped (RIP) and I got another one. The personality is genetic, and this one immediately made friends. I don't think the clowns can tell the difference. (They were both Sea & Reef orchid dotties) Really like the white pedestal, really sets off the tank. Although it would drive my nuts that the tank wasn't centered on it. OCD showing, but love the tank so far, these are one of my favorite tanks. Thanks. I needed that pedestal so my beer wouldn't obstruct the view... Trust me, though, the offset is no accident. I've built a little wooden box to enclose the plumbing, and with that the margins are all exactly symmetrical. Very beautiful looking tank, post more pics!! I'll get some more pictures up soon. 2 Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted September 27, 2015 Author Share Posted September 27, 2015 I was entertained this morning when Lenny the juvi/male clownfish was trying to manage with a 1mm pellet that was intended for his wife. Sorry about the focus going in and out... Quote Link to comment
JabaReef Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 I was entertained this morning when Lenny the juvi/male clownfish was trying to manage with a 1mm pellet that was intended for his wife. Sorry about the focus going in and out... Haha that's how my little guy is Quote Link to comment
mystersyster Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Awesome tank and awesome scape! Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 OK, time to get back to updating this thread... Since this was for the bedroom, I wanted it to be small, clean, and quiet, with minimal obstruction from hoses and wires. I came across Scorched and lou99's similar tanks, but I wanted all the plumbing on one end. Initial feedback wasn't entirely encouraging, but I decided to give it a go. It turned out pretty quiet at moderate flow, but when the flow was increased, the water level would elevate above the top of the drain and then it would slurp air. Also, the surface skimming was less effective than I hoped by having the drain at the top, so I made 2 adjustments. I replaced the low profile screen on the 1/2" drain with an elbow facing upward to give it some surface skimming. A valve on this drain allows me to ensure it's silent, and a small piece of eggcrate prevents the fish from having an amusement park ride I added a snorkel to the 1" drain. This allows it to breath air like a hole in the elbow, but can still go to full siphon if the level rises and has a cleaner look than a tube from the elbow coming over the glass. For this I used a low profile Lifegard Aquatics bulkhead screen, drilled a hole roughly in line with the top of the inner diameter of the pipe, added a 90° airline elbow, and just enough airline tubing attached to the inside to reach past the elbow on the exterior of the tank. I'm pleased to say the result is completely silent. The pump is an AquaMedic DC Runner 1.2, which has 8 DC speed settings. I usually keep it running around 6. Settings 5-8 all put out enough pressure to raise the water in the tank high enough to run through the skimming elbow on the 1/2" bulkhead. Settings 1-4 run only through the snorkeled 1" bulkhead. Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 I've been taking regular photos of my green acro and decided a little time-lapse would be interesting to see. This is from mid August. I wasn't diligent about the timing and missed capturing most of September, but the photos for the most part are weekly. Can anyone identify this guy for me? I got it at reef-a-palooza at the end of June. It wasn't doing well for the first month, so I moved it in early August, and now it seems to grow noticeably every week. 8/16-12/13 For those curious, the photos are all spaced a week apart, except I missed 3 shots in September. 4 Quote Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Current Residents: Fish: 1 Ocellaris Clown 1 DaVinci Ocellaris Clown 1 Orchid Dottyback Corals: 1 Purple Bonsai Acropora? 1 Green Slimer Acropora? 1 Elegance Coral 1 Purple Torch Coral 1 Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris 1 Ricordea 1 Radioactive Zoa 1 Green Protopalythoa Other Inverts: 1 Emerald Crab 1 Blue Coral Banded Shrimp 1 Randall's Snapping Shrimp 1 Peppermint Shrimp Resident Chronology: 06-15-15 Bruce Jenner the Clownfish purchased at LFS as Perculia (sic) but probably Ocellaris 06-16-15 1 peppermint shrimp 06-16-15 Sammy the blue coral banded shrimp 06-16-15 Astraea and Margarita snails from LFS 06-28-15 Bandido the Orchid Dottyback, jumped 07-31-15 06-28-15 corals from Reef-A-Palooza (elegance, purple torch, green slimer acropora, purple bonsai acropora, and jack-o-lantern leptoseris) 07-03-15 dwarf ceriths, nerites, nassarius, and DOA florida ceriths from the internet 07-17-15 Snuggles the emerald crab 07-24-15 Tail Spot Blenny - jumped to his death same night or morning of 07-25-15 07-26-15 Randall's Goby - jumped to his death through the egg crate lid on 09-03-15 07-26-15 Hector's Goby - hid 24/7 and found dead/half-eaten 07-29-15 08-13-15 Randall shrimp for hopeful pairing with goby 08-13-15 Lenny the clownfish boyfriend for Bruce (now Caitlyn?) 08-13-15 Bandido 2, because such a beautiful fish had to be replaced 08-14-15 Eagle Eye Zoa, Radioactive Green Zoa, Emerald Green Protopaly, purple Ricordea, pink Ricordea (pink Ric was unattached and never was able to reattach to rock or rubble RIP) (Eagle Eyes were eaten by Emerald Crab on the first night) Way late, but Bruce/Caitlyn... lmfao. 2 Quote Link to comment
theleftcoastguy Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Tank looks fantastic! I like the rockscape and I can't wait to see it start filling in with corals. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Way late, but Bruce/Caitlyn... lmfao. Ha ha. I got a kick out of it when I bought that fish and named him/her. Glad it didn't go unnoticed. Tank looks fantastic! I like the rockscape and I can't wait to see it start filling in with corals. Keep up the good work! Thanks!. I'm trying to take it slow so I don't crash my first tank. I'm still trying to figure out how to optimize the maintenance / cleaning/ water change routine. The rockscape has been slightly modified - I have to get up some new FTS. Next month is the Manhattan Reefs frag swap, so I'm hoping to make improvements soon. That said, I'd really like to get some coral recommendations before I go on a shopping spree. Right now, my corals fluoresce nicely, but mostly green, so I need some color balance. I've been thinking some encrusting montis near the top, maybe an orange setosa, an Acan to bring in some nice reds or blues in the middle (but I'm still confused if I should go Acan, micromussa, favia, favites... They all seem so similar). Also been considering getting a dendrophyllia (will it eat my little clown?) and a rock flower anemone. The tough part is I've never seen another reef tank in person except at the real aquarium (which is a totally different scale), so the perspective (not to mention color) on these corals is challenging when all you see are photos online or tiny frags at a swap. 1 Quote Link to comment
theleftcoastguy Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I have limited first hand experience with corals, but I'm partial to zoanthids because they are typically more forgiving of tank parameters than other more sensitive types of corals and I think they can look really good when they grow into large diverse colonies. I can't speak to any of the particular types you've listed as I've never owned them. In your tank since you already have some sps maybe you could shoot for a mixed reef with sps up top and lps and softies filling in the lower parts of the rocks... and maybe fill the tank in with hardier, cheaper corals first so if you have any mistakes you learn on cheaper corals that might be able to live through said mistakes 1 Quote Link to comment
ABC Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Like the videos, tank looks great. Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Thanks. I finally got around to getting some FTS images up on the original post. Things seem to be going relatively well so far, except I keep having some rust-brown algae(?) in the top 3-5mm of sand. It's not on top like the diatoms were, but actually is binding the top of the sand together. Doesn't seem to grow on the glass or rocks, though. While it does prefer the low flow corners, it seems to form almost everywhere. Its color becomes visible after a few hours of light, but after the lights go off, the sand turns white again. I'll try to get a good picture of it tomorrow, but by the time I get home from work, it's usually fading again. Anybody know if that's cyano? (I was under the impression that cyano grows over / on top of the sand. Over the last 3 weeks, I've increased water changes to 20%/wk. The corals seem to like the fresh water, but the algae seems unaffected, even though I siphon a lot of it out every time. Anybody have recommendations for this? One of the LFS guys told me reducing the light period from 12-10 hours might help - just not sure if that would have detrimental effects to the corals. Right now, I'm not running any equipment, trying to keep everything as simple as possible. But at this point I'm wondering if I need to add a skimmer or some kind of reactor to clear it up. Or perhaps some type of additive? I may need to buy some new chaeto, since mine seems to be largely ineffective ever since the cotton candy took over the sump... 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Really like your build- looks a lot larger than it is? nice having all the plumbing on one side Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Really like your build- looks a lot larger than it is nice having all the plumbing on one side Thanks. I'm still pretty happy with the build, and I love that the plumbing takes up so little space in the tank, but I'm starting to wonder if the plumbing on one side will continue to provide sufficient flow without power heads. I've been having some cyano issues for the past few weeks. It still retreats at night, but it's growing pretty fast during the day. Today when the lights went down, my GSP retracted and I noticed cyano on the purple mat. That was first time I actually saw it on a coral... I don't really know why, but I sort of feel like I'm trying to minimize/avoid equipment that isn't necessary, but I'm not sure if the cyano is a nearly-6-month-old-tank phase or if I really need to change something to address it. All my searches turn up 'find the source of the problem' which isn't necessarily helpful advice if you don't know how to find the source of the problem. Quote Link to comment
BMMMW Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Usually in my experience, these types of algae come from 3 things. Too much light, too high of nutrients or too high a bio load i.e too many fish. Cyano that I have encountered is red by the way, not sure if it grows in brown... Just noticed, your drain or drains go into a sock. Maybe try splitting one off and let the fuge do it's thing. Some water can go through the sock and some through the fuge. It will all go through the sock eventually. Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 My cyano seems to come in red, brown, and even black... The sock had been in for 24 hours at that point. The lower middle is in a corner of the tank, and was previously red. The lower right shot shows another patch turning brown/black after being red. These photos were from this morning - I did another 5 gallon water change and siphoned the sand - I actually sucked out a good amount of sand, but I might just replace it with new instead of adding it back. Before doing the water change, my parameters were pH 8.2 (handheld electronic) Mg 1360 (Red Sea) dKH 7.3 (Red Sea) Ca 415 (Red Sea) NO3 0.00 (Red Sea) PO4 0.00 (Red Sea) sg 1.025 (refractometer) Things look pretty good after the water change. I just posted another video in the original post of this thread. Of course, that won't last long before the cyano is back in bloom. Quote Link to comment
holy carp Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Well, the cyano is slowly getting back under control with more aggressive sand vacuuming. The sand still turns yellowish brown, but not red anymore. The sock is still growing mucus strands, but not as quickly. But of course, this tank is a hydra, so now the latest is bubble algae. I think I may get to experience every challenge in this tank. At the Manhattan Reefs Frag Swap I picked up some bam bam zoas among other frags. I dipped them all and inspected the bases before putting them into the tank. I didn't inspect closely enough between the polyps and then found one 2mm diameter bubble algae ball in the zoa polyps about an hour later. I took it out and carefully removed the offender and scraped the area gently with tweezers. Another dip in ReVive and back in the tank. 10 days later I found these bubble algae on the catalaphyllia's skeleton and assumed that's where it originated. But now I've gone back to some older photos and I think it was already forming about a month earlier, so I have no idea where it could have been introduced. In any case, there were a good number growing inside the skeleton, and I even found one on the base of the torch coral where the superglue is holding it to the rock. They've been carefully cleaned and bathed in straight 3% hydrogen peroxide. The corals didn't seem to mind it at all and were back to normal polyp extension after about an hour. Fingers crossed... 1 Quote Link to comment
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