Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 I'll be working very hard on this tank and my little 6 gallon that I have started. With lots of time on my hands I will make sure to do it right; going slow and having patience is the best way to go. MG Quote Link to comment
proraptor2 Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 How do you have a lot of time on your hands? I wish I had a lot of time....stupid work!!!! Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 7, 2006 Author Share Posted October 7, 2006 Raptor, My work has engulfed a lot of my time but I've learned from trial and error in the past to go very slow with reef tanks.... I hate going to my LFS and they try selling you crap you don't want, livestock that is.... I use to listen to them and come home with crap I didn't like and now I'm very picky what I place in my reef tank as we all know, once the tank is filled it's over.... MG Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 as we all know, once the tank is filled it's over.... Bull. Just frag stuff out to make room Quote Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 (edited) Bull. Just frag stuff out to make room or sell stuff to local reefers after you have had it a while OR (i like this one better) set-up more tanks for more room Edited October 7, 2006 by Fishfreak218 Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 set-up more tanks for more room I like that two. Mike, You need more tanks. Two isnt cuttin it. Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 8, 2006 Author Share Posted October 8, 2006 You guys are funny.... I already talked my wife into letting me keep my 6 gallon nano and I'm not about to ask her for more until I get both tanks fully stocked... Then I'll see if I can purchase my 120 gallon baby.... Yeah that would be nice.... Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 15, 2006 Author Share Posted October 15, 2006 So last night I decided to transfer some corals from my 6 gallon to my 72 and I shut off the powerheads in order to glue them on to the live rock. I had to shut off the chiller since it was running; normally I don't do manual override since when I service the tank the chiller is not on and I simply push one button and everything shuts off. Well, this night was late and I glued the corals in place and I went to bed really late. When I finally got around to checking my tank it was around 1:30pm. I noticed that only one of my Metal halides was on and the other one off. At first I thought okay it has reset itself because of a power failure but as I got closer to the reef keeper 2, the light was not blinking. I take a closer look and see that my temps are 88.9 going and the auto shutoff light turns them off at 88 degrees factory set. I scan my entire tank to see how much loss I have and notice nothing melted just very recessed on corals and shrooms. Fish are acting very normal still feeding off the rocks; I quickly remember that I forgot to turn back on the chiller and I flip the switch and on goes the chiller. In about 1.5 hours the tank is back at 79 degrees and every coral is wide open and back to normal. I only wondered how long my temps were up so high, I guess in the early morning since my lights turn on at 9am. If it wasn't for the auto shutoff on the reefkeeper 2 I would've lost a lot of corals since I would of went into the 90's since I have closed tops both in my sump and tank. My lesson was not to service my tank late at night, when you are tired; a simple over look could've costed me tons. Lesson learned and shared for others to follow... MG Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Updates? How's the recovery going? Quote Link to comment
wettank Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Mike,how are you doing with the mantis? Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 (edited) Wow, You guys remember the mantis. Okay so here's what happened with the Mantis. Against my better judgement I brought home a very small strawberry dottyback that my LFS said would get along with my very small six line wrasse. Well, after a quick acclimation they went at it with the sixline winning the fight; next thing you know the dottyback is in a corner all scared. I wake up in the morning to see him still in the corner but scared. Then I go to work and come home to see him sticking out of the live rock that I suspected the mantis lived in. I figure, cool he has found a home that he can hide in and will no longer be bothered by the wrasse. I take a closer look and notice that he looks a little pale but is still moving back and forth. I then say wait a minute he's dead but why is he still moving. I reach in with my hand and tug very lightly on him and something literally tugs back. Okay so I now know where Mr. Mantis is at. I take my hand out of the tank and go to the kitchen to pull out the rock and also make up a small cup of tank water to catch the mantis. I go back to the tank and shut off the power and dislodge my clam and another coral that I had clued to the rock. I'm a little upset because the clam had mounted on to the rock by the base and it's bad to move them at this point. But hey, I need to get this mantis out of the tank as I know he will grow and kill everything in his or her site. So I tug one last time on the dead dottyback to make sure he's still there and sure enough he tugs back. So out comes the premium live rock and I go to the kitchen and run some tap water in the holes of the live rock to see if he will come jumping out, nope. So then I submerge the rock completely into tap water for about 4-5 minutes with zero results again. At this point I don't care if he dies or lives I want him out. So I expose the entire rock to hot tap water and still he doesn't come out. Okay, so I'll go outside and see if I can shake the rock really hard and he'll come out since he's proberly dazzled, nope. Then as I shake harder the rock slips out of my hand and smashes on the concrete, bam out comes the mantis and the premium rock is destroyed; he's dead and I'm upset that I lost both him and the rock. He was no bigger than my fingernail but he had taken out my dottyback and it was only borrowed time that he would kill all others in his domain. I've had problems with evil fish eating crabs in the past but never a mantis, if I would have known that he was in the rock I would have never placed a cleaning crew and would have set it up as a mantis tank. But the lesson learned is you take chances in reefing and just when you think it's safe to enter the water out comes a mantis; what can you do? MG P.S Can you imagine if I would have decided to place this premium piece of live rock into my 72 gallon bowfront? Edited October 29, 2006 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
Izzue Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 ^^^ Well at least you got him out. I would imagine in your large tank...he would have gotten the size of a lobster...lol Izzue Quote Link to comment
wav3form Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Rock is cheap compared to losing more livestock due to some tard mantis. Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 23, 2006 Author Share Posted November 23, 2006 (edited) Update, I no longer have a my Canon S500 digital camera, I gave it away to my brother in law. But all for a good reason, Santa (Wife) is getting me the Canon SD 800is I am so excited just a month away. This new camera has all the features I was looking for, 3cm Macro mode whereas my old canon was really bad a close ups. It also has an aquarium mode, that's right an aquarium mode, can hardly wait to try that out. I can also purchase a underwater case for in the tank pictures can you imagine that? My tank is starting to look really nice with the LPS look. I have a lot of colors in my tank and the movement of the polyps really adds to the look. I feel a movie is in order for you guys to appreciate the new look. I have added lots of new fishes to my tank: 1 blue tang (Dory) same one I always had. 1 black oceleris (Nemo) same one I always had. 1 black salfin algae blenny (Johnny) new. 1 super small 6 line wrasse (Trumpet) new. 1 blue neon goby (Skip) new. 1 yellow gum drop (Squirt) new. 1 yellow hogfish (Blaze) new. 1 cleaner wrasse (Sweeper) new. 1 Powder blue tang (PB) new. 1 Kole tang (Kole) new. 1 Royal Gramma (Gurgle) new. 1 Moorish Idol (Gill) new. Pictures are to follow... Nuff said... MG Edited November 23, 2006 by mikeguerrero Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted November 24, 2006 Author Share Posted November 24, 2006 Just wanted to share with your the power behind the PF 509 Deltec reactor... Can you say hello purple coraline... Deltec PF 509.. Before the Deltec... After the Deltec... MG Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 Nice. You better get a new camera real soon. Or borrow one. Quote Link to comment
Jordon Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Just wanted to share with your the power behind the PF 509 Deltec reactor... Can you say hello purple coraline... Deltec PF 509.. Before the Deltec... After the Deltec... MG what happened to your tank? and what about your old tangs? Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Read the entire thread. Short story He moved, most fish didnt make it. Quote Link to comment
Jordon Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 (edited) After getting my Calcium reactor up and running, I've noticed that my powerhead were getting covered in hair algae. It was a couple of spots here and there and then within the week it was completely covered and looked awful. The odd thing about it was it was only growing on the powerheads and not on my live rock; I feel it's because my live rock are cycled and keep the bad algae at bay. My first reaction was okay am I overfeeding, and have too much nutrients? I knew that was not the case since I was only feeding two fish out of the 20 I use to have. I even had connected the phosphate reactor with new rowaphos as the tank launched on day one. So off to the LFS I went and came back with: 1. One powder blue tang (medium size) 2. One yellow tang (really small size) 3. One sailfin black blenny (small size) 4. One lettuce nudibrach (small size) 5. 10 margarita snails (small size) 6. One kole tang (medium size) The next morning I wake up and the powerheads are bald; I was in shock and very pleased with the results. As the lights kick in I notice that all the tangs are nipping all over the reef clearing out more bad algae and ocassionally go to the powerhead and pull on the small strings of hair left. Sad part is I believe the lettuce nudi will die as there is no way the tank will keep up the ugly hair algae. I was really concerned that nothing would eat the hair algae and I was totally wrong, all those that were listed went to town on the stuff. I did watch and wait at my LFS to see who was eating algae prior to purchasing; keep your eyes on the tangs that do this and bring them home, if they do it at the store they will do it at your home reef. MG you should get rid of all the tangs with exception to the kole tang and buy a another Chevron tang and a Purple Tang. Juat think of how much beauty they would bring to your tank! With the contrast of those colors it would be magnifasent Edited December 17, 2006 by Jordon Quote Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted January 7, 2007 Author Share Posted January 7, 2007 I got my Canon 800is and here are a couple pics of my tank; I'm getting use to the new features more to come later... MG Quote Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 FINALLY!!! Very nice. How is everything doing? Quote Link to comment
coraln'fish Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Wow! This is probably my favorite aquarium on this whole entire website. That is beautiful, great job on picking out the fish, and I love the powder blue tang. Great tank, my new idol. ~Ryan Quote Link to comment
mjhonda2002 Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 yea this is an awesome tank. Hey mike could we please get a final fish list. Matt Quote Link to comment
CyCLOnE Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Very Nice !! That Bubble coral is awsome. Quote Link to comment
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