pewpewkittah Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 Updates!! Lets start with a FTS on Feb 11th. The diatoms have cleared and I am already seeing coralline growth on the new rocks. Picked up a used SCA-301 Skimmer with a brand new pump at my LFS for $50 a couple weeks ago. I did a wet skim for the first week since I've never had a skimmer on this tank, then switched over to dry skimming... too much maintenance with wet skimming. It's been working perfectly - collecting tons of junk that I have to clean it every few days. I also started my first refugium with a shit-ton of beautiful Cheato from cruiZe! Skimming pretty nicely.. Since I couldn't really figure out how to build a DIY ATO, I made my own with an AquaLifter pump + Timer. It's on for 30mins per day and fed by two five gallon buckets in my closet right by the tank. Since my nitrates are nearly non-existent and I'm doing weekly water changes (10-15%)... I added some new fish and corals! After doing a lot of research I ended up getting a Dispar Anthias. I read that they are one of the few that can do well as a single species Anthias. For the first week, I never saw him... He hid in the rocks and occasionally I would see his head peek out if I wasn't near the tank. Everyday I tried feeding him a variety of foods: cyclop-eez, mysis, mysis flakes and even live shrimp. It was quite hard to see if he was actually eating. The following week I got pretty discouraged I was about to take him back to the LFS before he starved to death. But after coming home from school one day I saw him swimming about the tank!! A week later, my little Anthias has made a complete change: He's eating regularly and out most of the time (unless someone makes a sudden move near the tank). I'm quite happy it worked out, he's such a beautiful fish with a unique personality. Best pictures I have of him at the moment... Notice how everyone is trying to steal the spotlight.. After joining a local reef group (Brevard Area Reef Society) I picked up several frags of SPS (mix of acros and monti) + 1 zoa for $10 a piece from a local reefer. The frags are quite large with some colors that really pop... can't beat the price either! Bonsai Acro Seasons Greeting Monti Unknown Super Blue-tipped Acro, Blue-tipped Acro and Frogskin Acro Mystic Monti New Unknown Zoas Older SPS: Ponape Birdsnest Bubblegum Digitata The new BTA is huge, like 8-9 inches across with perfect little bubbles. I did not expect this, but within a day the GBTA was hosting my male Platinum clown!! I nearly screamed I was so excited. Unlike my female, he still hangs out around the tank during the tank so it's kind of hard to photograph him actually in the anemone. Female and her precious. GBTA in the background. Last but not least is the Diamond Goby and his buddy the Six Line Wrasse. The diamond goby was named Darude... because he's always creating a sandstorm in the tank. None the less, he is such a cute little fish. I adore watching him sifting his sand all day and destroy my OCD tank . Livestock pictures... The Stocking Schedule Jan 29th: 1 Dispar Anthias Feb 5th: Diamond Goby Feb 8th: New SPS Feb 11th: Six Line Wrasse + Green BTA I think I am done with my fish stocking list. I am already feeding twice a day for the Anthias, which puts quite a load on the tank. My boyfriend still wants a Coral Beauty Angel once the tank becomes more established. But, we'll see how my parameters are doing over the next month. That's all for now, will update if anything changes! Thanks for looking Besides the above photo, pictures were not manipulated in anyway. Taken in manual mode on my Nikon D5200 and Auto mode on my LG v10. Link to comment
cruiZe Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 ... I also started my first refugium with a shit-ton of beautiful Cheato from cruiZe! lol !! Wow that bag of chaeto puffed up huge! Beautiful BTA and clown ( do you know if your ocellaris are tank bred? ) .... I hope my clowns find the BTA that I recently added. I really like your rockscape - the whole tank is looking great. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 lol !! Wow that bag of chaeto puffed up huge! Beautiful BTA and clown ( do you know if your ocellaris are tank bred? ) .... I hope my clowns find the BTA that I recently added. I really like your rockscape - the whole tank is looking great. You're telling me!! Haha. I am gonna have to add some of the Cheato to my other reef tank. Thank you . They are both tank bred. My female started hosting the RBTA within a week or two of adding it to the tank. That was about six months ago, even through tank transfers she still is being hosted. My male never touched it in the months that it was in the old tank, even through several splits. Within a day or two of adding a GBTA, he took right to it. Even now, he doesn't touch the red anemones, only the green. It's pretty funny. I saw your new BTA, love the colors! I'd like to get a rainbow one but I'd better wait a few weeks. I hope your clowns find their home. It's so cool to watching their symbolic behavior. But, If your new anemone doesn't host your clowns, you may need to get their favorite color . I appreciate the kind words. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 Really like the scape! Thank you! I'm happy with how it turned out . I may add a few very small attachments to the rocks to give it more of a unique, random look. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Just a crappy late night phone shot. All the corals are pretty retracted, looks much fuller during the day time. Female with the new anemone. Kicked the male out Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 I lost a fish tonight... RIP Six Line Wrasse. This evening I started hearing these noises coming from my sump area. Checked the return, and then the skimmer and that was the culprit. I took some pieces off one by one and it's still having trouble pumping smoothly. Took the blue cap off the intake of the pump and there I see the little wrasse. However, I didn't get to him fast enough. Broke my heart. He's kind of small. I guess he must have slipped through one of the cracks on the overflow box because the top on the tank covers the box and prevents the fish from jumping in. Does anyone have any suggestions for mods I can do to prevent this from happening again? My Anthias came down with a sickness on Feb 24th. Even after 3 weeks of him doing real well and eating like a pig. He only swims nose down and hasn't been eating for nearly a week and a half. I tried freshwater with matched pH and temperature. No flukes. Also dosed PraziPro for good measure. Still no change in his behavior. I don't expect him to last much longer. I don't know what to do at this point. Research and posting a thread has come up with no results. I'm not having the best luck with fish right now... Anyways. That's all for tonight. I'll be updating tomorrow with a happier change I made on the tank. Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Sorry to hear about the sixline. If your fish are small enough to fit through the teeth of the overflow box, you can always put some netting or enkamat back behind the teeth to still allow flow, but block small fish from going through. You can just use some silicone to hold the enkamat or netting against the acrylic behind the teeth. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Sorry to hear about the sixline. If your fish are small enough to fit through the teeth of the overflow box, you can always put some netting or enkamat back behind the teeth to still allow flow, but block small fish from going through. You can just use some silicone to hold the enkamat or netting against the acrylic behind the teeth. Thanks for the suggestion Felicia. I'll definitely be doing that this weekend. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 I wasn't happy with my old lights over the new tank so I've been on the hunt for used lights. Luckily, I found one on Craigslist from a LFS. I picked up a 6 bulb CoralVue T5/LED hybrid fixture for $100 last weekend. It is only 24" long, but raised above the tank it leaves no shadowing on the edges. The fixture is only 8 months old and in mint condition. It even came with 6 ATI bulbs (3 blue+, 2 coral+ and 1 purple+) that are only 4 months old!! I will be replacing one of the coral+ with a true actinic bulb that's arriving from Marine Depot tomorrow. I was looking for a bit bluer hue to make the corals POP. I've checked out a few of the threads in the lighting section, but I wanted to know what everyone's favorite bulb combination and arrangement? Anyways, here's a teaser shot of the light. I'll take some more pictures tomorrow including a FTS with the new bulb. Link to comment
Droy008 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I wasn't happy with my old lights over the new tank so I've been on the hunt for used lights. Luckily, I found one on Craigslist from a LFS. I picked up a 6 bulb CoralVue T5/LED hybrid fixture for $100 last weekend. It is only 24" long, but raised above the tank it leaves no shadowing on the edges. The fixture is only 8 months old and in mint condition. It even came with 6 ATI bulbs (3 blue+, 2 coral+ and 1 purple+) that are only 4 months old!! I will be replacing one of the coral+ with a true actinic bulb that's arriving from Marine Depot tomorrow. I was looking for a bit bluer hue to make the corals POP. I've checked out a few of the threads in the lighting section, but I wanted to know what everyone's favorite bulb combination and arrangement? Anyways, here's a teaser shot of the light. I'll take some more pictures tomorrow including a FTS with the new bulb. That light! Did you hold them at gun point? lol so nice and for such a good price. let me know if your looking to sell. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 That light! Did you hold them at gun point? lol so nice and for such a good price. let me know if your looking to sell. Haha! I felt like I did! I showed up and found out it came with 6 Ati bulbs AND a hanging kit. To get a feel of the light spread, he even set it up for me over a 36" long tank. Needless to say I purchased it immediately. I don't think I'll ever get rid of this light. The colors on the corals are amazing and the PE has been even even better then before. Link to comment
Droy008 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Haha! I felt like I did! I showed up and found out it came with 6 Ati bulbs AND a hanging kit. To get a feel of the light spread, he even set it up for me over a 36" long tank. Needless to say I purchased it immediately. I don't think I'll ever get rid of this light. The colors on the corals are amazing and the PE has been even even better then before. It looks like a quality piece of equipment, any FTS with it up yet? Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 It looks like a quality piece of equipment, any FTS with it up yet? It is. I'm really happy with it. I promise I'll have a quality FTS up today with the new bulb in! Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 I know I promised updated pictures, but I got caught up studying for my midterms . I'll take some pictures tomorrow after a water change. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Long overdue for some pictures. I've been trying to improve my camera skills. After reading some advice on NR, I actually adjusted a few of the million different settings on my Nikon 5200. Threw them into Light room and came out with some decent looking shots . Of course I'll gladly take any critiques you guys may have. Thanks! You can see our new tank in the reflection Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 We picked up some insane corals and designer clown fish this last weekend through an Ebay sale on Exotic Reefs. Our new showpiece. Rainbow Wellso . We got it for $60 and it's 7+ inches across with two mouths! You can see how big it actually in this FTS. Rainbow Acans Light Pink Finger Leather Pair of Bullet hole Snowflakes for my boyfriends new IM 10g. I think hes hooked Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted March 24, 2016 Author Share Posted March 24, 2016 I made some DIY controller holders last weekend; they are simple to make and cheap too! Picked up two of these little buggers and velcro from the Dollar store. Cut holes to run the cords through and velcro'd the controllers to the wire for stability. They hang nicely over my shelf. I tucked them under my power strip and velcro'd them down to the shelf for good measure. With the door closed: fits perfectly. And finally, a shot of the sump area. I even organized and zip tied the cords in the back! Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Nice, creative DIY solution Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 Hello everyone! I cannot believe I haven't done an update since March! I am going to clinical rotations every day and it's hard even keeping up with water changes. A lot has changed since the last update. My boyfriend and I went to ReefAPalooza and it was an absolute BLAST! We picked up a couple of SPS colonies for a great deal! The boyfriend is quite knowledgeable when it comes to electronics/programming and has taken it upon himself to build me a system controller. The controller will include an ATO, dosing system, temperature and pH monitoring and a LCD screen. He started with an ATO that's controlled by an Arduino Mega and it's working beautifully. If anyone is interested I can post detailed pictures of the build. He's assembling the rest of the controller system in the following weeks and I need to figure out how to work in an area for the electronics. I want to remove one of the pieces of oak/plywood from the side of the stand and reattach it as a door, then add a piece of wood on the inside that will isolate a narrow area from the sump. It will act as an area for the plugins, controller and cords. Anyways, enough with the essay. Here are some updated pictures from yesterday . New goodies... Jebao PP-4 pump and a synthetic frag rack from The Alternative Reef. Anemone corner. As you can see I got some Rainbow bubble tips from a local guy a few months ago for $35 a piece. They are all so nicely behaved and stay in one little group away from all my other corals . Purple Whip Gorgonian that I picked up when snorkeling down in Miami. It's been doing great and growing fast in the short time I've had it. Bam Bams and Fairy Dust Zoas And finally... Link to comment
Felicia Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Great update! The tank is really filling in nicely. I absolutely love that scape btw Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 Great update! The tank is really filling in nicely. I absolutely love that scape btw Thank you so much . I love how the scape turned out as well. Now to just let everything grow in . Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted December 12, 2016 Author Share Posted December 12, 2016 Quick picture/video dump before bed... I'll do take some real pictures with the actual camera sometime in the next week and do a write up for everything that's changed. Lots of new growth! New ATI . That's all for now folks... I really need to do better about updating this thing more often. School is a bitch... Link to comment
Droy008 Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 It's looking great! I love your video, so much activity going on in there. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted December 12, 2016 Author Share Posted December 12, 2016 It's looking great! I love your video, so much activity going on in there. Thank you! I was long overdue for an update. I think I am going to do some videos more often... It's hard to capture the life of a tank in still images. Link to comment
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