Fish's new cube diary

[ninjafish]

Let me know how it goes for you distantfire.

 

 

glxtrix,

I knew what I wanted but I had never seen such a lamp before so I was totally pumped to come across it. There are getting to be fewer and fewer metal lamps that are big enough to take the retrofit!

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

fishfreak,

 

I will grab some more photos on Monday. I just added 15 new snails and some really nice gracilaria (sp?) macro to the display.

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

I just received a PM about my lighting and cannister filter and I thought I would answer it here, incase any one else needed some clarification.

 

My light fixture is a 150w de halogen desklamp from Staples. I took all of the guts and wiring out of the lamp and replaced it with a 70w metal halide reflector and bulb. The bulb that I am currently using is a 70w, 20k Reef Grow.

 

My cannister filter is an Eheim 2128 which puts out 280 gallons per hour. I am guessing on about 30x's turnover after losses. I would prefer it a little higher if I could but it does the job.

 

I live in Canada and I think that the desklamp is also available in the States. I order most of my hardware from online (based in the States as well). The metal halide retrofit is from Ebay. I hope this answers the question.

 

- Chad

[cah1982]

yer mate it looks cool, just a shame i can never seem to find supliers over here for a light like that. Myabe they`ll be along soon .

 

Any chance of pics of how u did the light and changed the ballast thing.

 

 

Cheers

[ninjafish]

I just happen to have a photo:

 

 

 

 

You should be able to find a desk lamp that will do the trick. Just make sure it is made of metal and is wide enough to fit a halide bulb. It might be sold as a 'drafting lamp' or something like that. As for the halide, there are getting to be a lot of places that sell the 70w.

Good luck,

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Updated photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you like 'em

 

 

- Chad

[schaadrak]

Gotta get another keyborad, I just drooled on this one, too.

 

Excellent job, Fish.

[ninjafish]

Hahaha I hate it when that happens.

Thanks for the compliment and for following the thread for as long as you have.

 

- Chad

[adinsxq]

^

[ninjafish]

Haha cool avatar

[rickjg]

Chad,

 

I been checking on your cube since you started this post and I have to say it is looking FINE.

 

Rick

[Fishfreak218]

ya.. i agree it does ook good.. is the mantis still in there??

[ninjafish]

Chad,

 

I been checking on your cube since you started this post and I have to say it is looking FINE.

 

Rick

 

 

Rick,

Great to meet ya. And thanks!

 

Fishfreak,

 

Yup Ike is still in there but nowadays he doesn't come out to hunt as much as he used to.

I found an awsome deal on snails from a local reefer so I usually have between 10 and 15 snails in the tank at a time - Ike has just been grabbing them as they pass in front of his cave. The lazy bugger. The only excersize he's been doing is busting shells. I'll try and get a photo.

 

- Chad

[ram man]

fish, do you no if they get more timid with age? mine hasnt been out for a while, i see his beady eyes and sometimes that meral spread, but i havent seen him in the front of my tank like usual, i also wish my smithii turned back to that nice emerald green color, he is a brick read now

[ninjafish]

Hey ram man! I really don't know. With Ike, it seems like he was most active when he was hungry. I'm just assuming that the change to his feeding schedule is what has made the difference.

If your's has also changed color, is it possible that it is molting? Ike always got really dull and hid away for a while when he molts.

Cheers,

 

- Chad

[ram man]

i put some of the corals from his tank into my new 10 gallon reef and he is out and about now, i guess they will hide if there isnt enough room to roam.

[Carinya]

Continues to look gorgeous. Nicely done.

[ram man]

any new pics of ike?

[ninjafish]

Thanks Carinya!

 

ram man,

I will snap a couple pictures of Ike but it may take me a couple days. Tomorrow I am going to move the tank from work back home.

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Yesterday I brought the tank home from the office. I put it on the bookshelf in the kitchen but I am still looking around for a better piece of furniture so that I can keep the 360degree visibility. The topoff sits on the left of the bookshelf and the cannister filter is to the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As seen from my chair at the dinner table:

 

 

 

 

I haven't forgotten about my promise to take some more mantis pictures. Ike was a little ticked off about the move and was staying inside his cave.

 

- Chad

[ram man]

do you have a small table near a couch? might not be to many places were you could fit it because of the filter system...

[ninjafish]

I'm looking to buy a buffet or hutch that I can hid the equipment inside. The end tables by the couch are not quite high enough for the cannister filter and hosebarbs.

 

- Chad

[distantfire]

Your tank look's great like alway's. My tank need's considerly more help. I got the cannister filter hooked up and running. Thank's again for reminding me to use tape on the hose barb's. I'm using a 96watt powerquad on this little 5.5. So I know that for soft corals it has enough light to grow them. I went with a bare bottom and I think that is why the gsp are not fully extending. My PH is high using reefcrystals salt after 1 hour in fresh RO my PH is at 9.0. And the LS in my 10gal helped to buffer the PH. The macro algae in my 5.5 is doing fine and my blue mushroom is also unaffected by the high PH. I just can't get my gsp's to fully extend. I know you have a shallow sand bed in your tank. Are you adding anything to help keep your PH stable? Or are you just doing the regular weekly water changes?

[ninjafish]

distantfire,

When I moved the tank home from the office I scooped out all the substrate, so now I'm bb as well (except for a little bit that has accumulated in the front. I don't know if it is true or not, but I have heard before that the affect of aragonite on ph is greatly overrated and that only if your water was very acidic (more than is healthy for your livestock) would it even come into play. Again, I don't know where I heard it and I'm not a chemist-type so take it for what it's worth . If it was me, I would just wait it out to see if it is a growth or new-environment issue. My gsp has awesome polyp extention but when I fragged a bit for my buddy, it barely even came out in his tank. It continued to spread but it didn't really start extending until it had been in his tank for a while, then it was the same as mine had always been. In my 20g I once moved some gsp from a spot of low turblance to a spot of high turbulance only to find that the polyps stopped extending. I left it for a while and it eventually "got acclimated" to the new location and went back to the way it had always been. Maybe your's just needs time to get accustomed to the new tank...

 

- Chad

[deacon hemp]

If you stick a peice of starboard in there it will atleast give the appearence of sand from a distance. Ive been toying with the idea of a starboard bottom and covering it with gsp to make a lawn.

 

The last batch of pics were bad a$$ chad. Deacon