72 Oceanic Reef Ready Bow Front Evolution...

[Pili]

Tank looks great Mike as always! I think that the torch though is a hammer. The shape of the tips are more flat like a hammer than a torch's which are more like a sphere.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Pili,

 

Thanks to your comment I took a closer look at my frag and discovered you are right, it's a hammer frag; I'm excited because I thought it was another torch and I already have one of those.

 

Here are couple of pics with a higher resolution...

 

Mike G.

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Knowing that LFS save a lot of SPS from certain death after RTN is detected, I decided to give it a try.

 

I'm no expert on fragging but I asked around and found out what some LFS use to get the job done.

 

I purchased this cool set of clippers for only $9 at Home Depot. Here are pictures to show you my work.

 

I also use BSI glue which my LFS swears by, and I also believe it's the best glue out there for its price, only $9 bucks.

 

Mike G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[proraptor]

Hey mike you should have just bought the surperglue gel at home depot its only like $2 or $3

 

Tank is looking good! Did you get that refugium algae problem under control?

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Proraptor,

 

Thanks for the heads up on the glue at Home Depot, I've never bothered to look and I will never buy it again at my LFS.

 

I had credit at his store so I guess I won't kick myself too much. Regarding the light in the fuge.

 

I got rid of my setup and sold it to my LFS, he wanted it to possibly seed his live rock that comes in.

 

I then puchased the 18 watt coralife fixture with 6,700 k bulbs and am very happy with how the light is directed downward and not light escapes my sump.

 

With my last setup it was light everywhere and bad algae started to flurish, well that's taken care of.

 

Mike

[Rott]

Love the tank! Mike how noisy is all that stuff you got in there. what is the loudest thing in there?

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Rott,

 

Believe it or not, my tank is super quiet compared to reef tanks my size that I have seen.

 

I curved the gurgling sounds by dropping the return line straight with no loops, also I placed in PVC piping all the way just before it hits the surface.

 

Also I have a really thick nylon filter sock that absorps all the bubbles and noise.

 

You will hear a humming sound from all the water pumps as I have a total of about 6 of them in different locations.

 

About one week ago I started noticing a loud buzzing sound that was comming from my Calcium reactor; I thought well I guess I can live with this loud noise but it irritated me soon as it got louder and I never recall it from the start.

 

I checked and noticed that the recirculating pump on the skimmer was up against the wall of the tank and was rattling. I centered it back and then my tank became quiet again.

 

My loudest noise would have to be when the chiller turns on, it's like a small refrigerator and then it shuts off, no big deal.

 

Mike

[xavier1]

mike, pm sent

[wheatbre]

gorgeous tank!! and nice pink milli what level you keep that at in your tank? Mine has terrible color

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Wheatbre,

 

My pink milli is at the very top of the surface but I've been battling some serious RTN in my tank.

 

I lost my really large Acro that had stayed healthy for about 3 months untill one day it just went from good to bad and died.

 

All parameters were good except nitrate at about 20 ppm; but this alone could not be the sole reason it died.

 

I lowered my trates down to 10ppm it's been a battle to get them here and I'm finally growing macros so that's helping a lot.

 

I hope to get my trates down to 5ppm or 0.

 

Well, having said that, my milli about 4 days ago started RTN from the bottom up, so I intervened this time with trying to frag.

 

I'm a little too late because if you look under the branches of the milli where I fragged, the polyps are not healthy, first signs of RTN.

 

I pulled it out of the tank and did a coral dip for 7 minutes today and I replaced it back in, I hope maybe one part of the frag makes it but it doesn't look good.

 

I'm left with one two more acros and if they go, I will have to pause and wait to see what I'm doing wrong.

 

I am in the process of injecting ozone to my tank but I'm still researching which unit to get; I will not compromise here, I am determined to pick up the best unit money get buy.

 

I didn't spend all this money not to have acros, they are just very difficult to keep.

 

Mike G

Edited February 3, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[reffer9391]

WOW thats what I'd like my 90g to look like down the road.

[proraptor]

Im sorry to break it to you mike but you arent going to keep acros very successfully with all those fish...I also found out the hard way with the acros and my fish....You will probably end up spending more and more money and still wont be able to keep them....They need super clean and stable water which really cant be acheived with a bioload like yours

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Proraptor,

 

You speak with experience and you are perhaps right to a certain degree but not the sole reason my Acros are dieing, more research into my system has to be analyzed. I've been fighting nitrates ever since my first acro died and then the pink mili went up in smoke.

 

Remember, I fragged the milli best I could and it all died except the small branch in the front, it's living and doing well in my tank.

 

My LFS which has the most beautiful SPS I've yet to see has told me 10 ppm of nitrate are not the sole reason my Acros have died; their is much more to the story.

 

I'm not saying you are wrong Proraptor, I'm just saying that I'm learning a lot with SPS and I'm at RC everyday reading in the SPS section and posting and getting info.

 

Proraptor, people with zero Nitrates and conditions that far exceed my tank in maturity lose acros every month; it's a area of much debate and misunderstanding.

 

In an attempt to keep my tank under greater conditions in water quality I've purchased an German made Ozonizer and I'm just waiting for my controller to arrive next week to add it to my A+ filtration system.

 

Will that cure my Acro problem, no but it will help out a tenfold I'm certain about that.

 

I think my tank is too young to support Acros in my opinion, I've only been up and going 6 months and thats not enough time to really deal with demanding corals.

 

It's really wierd why a certain part of my milli is still alive and the other part died rapidly.

 

I'm in a whole arena all to myself, since I haven't bumped into any reefer that has my size tank with my parameters and my bioload and is trying to grow Acros.

 

I'm starting to lean on other issues other than just Mike has too many fish, I believe it's temp variations in my tank and maybe the RO/DI water that I've been using.

 

Anyways I'm not giving up yet on Acros, but you know what Proraptor, you are right, I'm not purchasing any more Acros for a while, I want to stabalize this tank first.

 

Remember I also have a blue carpet anemone that is quite sensitive to nitrates and he's been okay.

 

At first I was really alarmed because he was disappearing in the rock all day and then the next day he would be flowered out completely.

 

I posted on RC and learned that other keepers of the blue haddoni experience the same thing so knowledge is power.

 

If anything on fish theory, I really want to catch my 8 chromis and take them back to my LFS.

 

Proraptor or anyone else, any trick to catching these rapid fish???

 

Mike G

Edited February 11, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[Haagenize]

Mike, you got a lot of confidence in yourself. I like that

[Christopher Marks]

I just read through the whole thread, and I've got to say the system is really maturing nicely. Great job on it Mike.

[Sparkling_Surfer]

Same here...it is awesome!!! I'm very impressed.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Chris and Spakling,

 

Thanks for your support; I'm indeed learning a lot and I'm sharing with all of you my triumphs and my failures.

 

I've stayed honest with my post to receive both flame and praise for the direction I have taken this reef.

 

Chris, keep your eyes on my thread as I'm adding an ozonizer next week; I already have many of the parts just waiting for the controller.

 

You can bet I will clearly photograph and explain in detail my setup as I would like others to learn about ozone; I've been reading a lot on the net in the last month.

 

Mike G

[Smitten4Witten]

mike, love this setup cant wait to see more!!

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Hey Reefers,

 

All I am waiting for today is my airdryer by RedSea, my controller is due for delivery any minute, Fed Ex.

 

I just got my Ozone tubbing by Coralife so the main event will start to unfold.

 

Unfortunately, I teach classes tonight so I won't be able to have it completely going, however, I promise to take some pics of all my items that arrived.

 

Ozone skeptics, get ready to have some fun !!!

 

MG

[big0boi721]

Mike, Your tank is

 

It is a w e s o m e.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Thanks Bigoboi,

 

The tank hasn't even made it's first year; that's why I call it evolution. It's constantly evolving and changing and allowing us to learn from experience not just what others have heard....

 

MG

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Hey Reefers,

 

I've been doing a lot of research regarding Ozone in the last three weeks, tons to be found on RC. I decided in an attempt to help my Acros out I need more water purification and what better way to do that than with Ozone.

 

Since my skimmer is rated to receive and handle ozone I decided to start the process; here is a list of my equipment that I put together to make this project work.

 

Here they are:

 

All the components.

 

Coralife 8ft norprene ozone safe tubbing.

 

Hagan elite check valve and T fitting ozone safe.

 

Coralife luft air pump ozone safe.

 

Sanders 50mg/hr ozonizer.

 

Milwuakee SMS 510 ORP controller

 

Controller in place

 

I spoke to Milwaukee tech support and they let me know not to connect my controller until Saturday. They let me know that I must run the probe for at least 5 days to stabalize the accuracy of the unit.

 

He told me not even to look at the values in MV on the screen as they will flucuate like crazy as the unit begins to stabalize.

 

He was right, man did it jump all over the place and this morning it read 241 MV, which when I went to bed was at 119 MV.

 

My redsea 500g air dryer has not come in yet, hopefully today at work.

 

MG

Edited February 15, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Hey guys,

 

I came home from work at about 7pm and my tank is running PH 8.3 and my ORP was at 273 mv.

 

I proceeded to feed my fish pellets and then some flakes, in about 10 minutes I checked the ORP and it started to drop and hit 261 mv and now it's starting to go back up.

 

I'm suppose to wait till at least Saturday to make sure the ORP is fully ready to dispense ozone correctly.

 

I'm wondering how high my ORP will go before I run the Ozone?

 

Mike G

Edited February 16, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

ORP has hit 322 mv as of this morning.... Haven't even connected the Ozone unit yet...

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Update,

 

ORP reading has finally maxed out at 326 mv... I would love to run the Ozonizer now, since it's a long weekend, but I'm reluctant because my airdryer is not here it will arrive on Wednesday.

 

Any recommendations if I should wait until Wed, making sure dry air is going through the sanders unit?

 

I have placed the ozone unit in place but haven't wired it yet, here are two pics:

 

 

 

MG