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NaughtyCashew's Money Pit


NaughtyCashew

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NaughtyCashew

True, but re-doing my plumbing is a pain, and tacking on some acoustic panels should be a snap...(ditching the idea of bed foam).

 

Anyways, can't let this page go by without a picture, so here is a new full tank shot.

 

fulltankshot_1_12_06.jpg

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NaughtyCashew

Yup, the neon cloves have all opened - well, except for one that a stupid snail knocked over. I think the yuma is doing good as well, it has gotten some flourescent green/pink color.

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I have constant issues with micro-bubbles in the display.

 

 

Are you getting microbubbles cause of water rushing down your drain pipe? I had a bunch of microbubbles due to all that water rushing down into my sump but then i got a 100micron bag to attach to my drain pipe and my microbubbles went away. So i got a few and change them out every 3 days, so that it doesn't become a nutrient factory. Throw them in the washer with bleach and air dry.

 

Someone mentioned to me that i should've put a ball valve on my drain so that you can control the flow down the drain. Turning it back a bit to have laminar flow through it so it isn't so chaotic with bubbles.

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NaughtyCashew

The bag was a good suggestion, it really takes away some of the microbubble issues. It's kind of a pain to change the bag so much, but it does do a decent job of filtering all the stuff coming down from my ovefrlow. I'm thinking of making some sort of live rock bubble diffuser with tupperware...

 

Well, I just came back from a weeklong sales conference (my wife took care of the tank for a couple days) and I seem to be missing my goby, from my shrimp / goby pair :eek: I'm hoping the shrimp didn't do anything rash while I was gone and food was limited....

 

To console myself I went to the local lfs to browse around and ended up getting a few frags:

 

Blasto - part of its skeleton was exposed and it seems to be recovering

$20

blasto_1_19_06.jpg

 

Green Candy Cane

$10

candy_1_19_06.jpg

 

Assorted Zoas

$10

pinkzoos_1_19_06.jpg

 

I also ordered some mean green zoas from a guy on Reef Central. He ended up shipping it while I was away at the sales conference, but they ended up making it when I returned

 

Mean Green Zoas

meangreen_1_19_06.jpg

 

Finally, some mushrooms that are finally starting to recover from the transition to the new tank (from my old 12g)

shrooms_1_19_06.jpg

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NaughtyCashew

Well, I found my goby...

 

I was cleaning out my filter socks when PLOP! a gasping fish falls onto the floor.

 

He was in really bad shape considering he has been stuck in a filter sock for nearly a week. I put him in a small tupperware container and hope he will pull through.

 

I ended up going to a SCMAS (Southern California Marine Aquarium Society) meeting and got some new frags and a rbta

 

rbta - the anemone crab loves it, but I think he is irritating the anemone.

anemone_1_25_06-1.jpg

anemone2_1_25_06-1.jpg

 

new acans and a blue ric

acan_1_25_06-1.jpg

 

new rics

ricordia_1_25_06-1.jpg

 

also, Proraptor gave me some nice xenia from his tank

xenia_1_25_06-1.jpg

 

Looking back I have waaay too much stuff happening to my tank in a short period of time! My clown has some sort of disease, my gobe got caught in a filter sock, my crab is irritating the hell out of my anemone, and I saw a tiny glass anemone peeking out of my rocks...

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Nice dude! I PM'ed you back about the anenome crab let me know....

 

Those Acans are nice especially for the little money you paid for them

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NaughtyCashew

Yep, I get out of work around 5:30-6ish so I think I might swing by our place a little later. Can't wait to see the new clams you got.

 

My rbta moved from his awesome spot and is now on the glass of the tank. That's pretty much when I decided that the crab had to go (he rode the anemone all the way there).

 

I'm gonna feed the rbta another piece of silverside tonight to make him happy. Is every other day too much? I want him to get big and healthy...

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Feed the anenome as much as your bio-load will handle is my philosophy...I think once a day will be fine

 

Thanks for the crab BTW.....He still hasnt moved from the front corner but he has his fans out and it catching food

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NaughtyCashew

I'm glad the crab will get a good home :)

 

The anemomemomenene is still on the glass toward the top of the tank. I'm guessing he is still not happy, but his tentacles were looking better than yesterday. I fed him a piece of silverside which he was more than happy to consume.

 

The best news of all is my goby who seems to be like he is on the road to recovery. He was eating today and looking 500x better than yesterday. I think he wants to be released into the tank, but I will hold him in the aerated tupperware for another day or two to observe and feed.

 

Oh, and the fungus looking thing on my baby clown has receded to a large degree. Amazing what a water change and a new filter sock will do...

 

Finally, I'm seeing some sweeper tentacles on my candy cane, which I thought wasn't doing very well. Woo Hoo, an awesome day on my mini-reef !

 

:lol:

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Glad to hear most of your problems are going away....Awesome...I wish I could say my problems are going away....Stupid aiptasia are starting to take over again....

 

Im going to have a joe's juice party tonight!

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I'm going to be setting up a 40 breeder over the summer, more than likely anyway. How exactly is your overflow plumbed. I saw the big hole, and then something white in the back in one of the pictures, but I couldn't tell how exactly you did the plumbing. Also, are the two smaller holes returns, or extra overflow? I was thinking about having some type of overflow like you do, but I also just thought about drilling the tank and putting a strainer over the overflows. I'm not sure what to do, about this because I want enough flow to have some SPS up towards the top, and the softies I have now towards the bottom. I'd like to go without a closed loop. However, I may just build an HOB refugium and have a closed loop instead of having a sump. Ideas? I'll probably start my own thread soon, but I figured I'd ask you first. Thanks

 

Brandon

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NaughtyCashew

My plumbing is relatively simple. I have a 1.5" bulkhead fitted with an external durso. This drains down to my sump and gets returned by a mag 18. There is a SCWD in the return line that alternates flow between the two 3/4" returns.

 

I really think the sump is a great way to go. The added water volume helps dilute waste and allows me to go on vacation without worrying too much about top-off.

 

If I could do it over again I might have used more soft plumbing. I use a bigger pump to get the same amount of flow as I would with a smaller pump and less 90 degree bends.

 

With the amount of head-loss I encounter I estimate that I am getting about 1,000 GPH to 1,200GPH out of my returns (as opposed to the 1,800 the unit is capable of producing). That should be enough to eventually keep some sps, especially if I get an auto top-off and a chiller to regulate my temp.

 

I really didn't want powerheads so I went with a more powerful return pump instead.

 

Please feel free to ask me any more questions, I love talking about my tank :D

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My plumbing is relatively simple. I have a 1.5" bulkhead fitted with an external durso. This drains down to my sump and gets returned by a mag 18. There is a SCWD in the return line that alternates flow between the two 3/4" returns.

 

I really think the sump is a great way to go. The added water volume helps dilute waste and allows me to go on vacation without worrying too much about top-off.

 

If I could do it over again I might have used more soft plumbing. I use a bigger pump to get the same amount of flow as I would with a smaller pump and less 90 degree bends.

 

With the amount of head-loss I encounter I estimate that I am getting about 1,000 GPH to 1,200GPH out of my returns (as opposed to the 1,800 the unit is capable of producing). That should be enough to eventually keep some sps, especially if I get an auto top-off and a chiller to regulate my temp.

 

I really didn't want powerheads so I went with a more powerful return pump instead.

 

Please feel free to ask me any more questions, I love talking about my tank :D

 

Why do you have a durso draining to your sump rather than soft plumbing? I have sumps on both of the 20H's I have now, but I just soft plumbing for both. I'd like to have a sump, but if that's not possible (for weight reasons) I'm going to have a hang onthe back fuge. I think I'm gonna go with the coralife super skimmer as well. Would the only reason you'd use more soft plumbing be because of the head loss in the return or for another reason?

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oceanhighz- He is talking about his returns....Istead of plumbing it with PVC he wished he used vinyl tubing instead. The problem with his return plumbing is he used too many 90 degree elbows and it restricts the flow from his pump too much.

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NaughtyCashew

Yeah, I got the "Fire & Ice" Zoas, and boy are they are really small. BAH!

 

I am not very happy with them, especially considering they cost $40 when you counted in shipping!

 

zoas_1_6_06.jpg

 

I also got a new Conch

 

conch2_1_6_06_sml.jpg

 

My goby has made an amazing recovery since being sucked down to my filter sock. I think it changed him a bit, because he is always out and about, and far less shy when it comes to grabbing food

 

gobeshrimp_1_6_06_sml.jpg

 

Finally, I gently moved my anemone from my back glass, back to one of his previous "spots". It is an awesome place for him, so I hope he stays! Those Mean Green Zoas are really starting to look nice too.

 

anemone_1_6_06.jpg

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NaughtyCashew
I love your goby/pistol pair, they look really happy =)!

 

Thanks!

 

I'm glad they are back together. When my Goby went AWOL through the overflow, the shrimp hardly ever came out. He even stopped maintaining his burrows.

 

Now that they are back together, he is out and about; protecting their burrow from errant snails and whatnot.

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NaughtyCashew
Awesome conch where did you buy it Ive been looking for one for awhile now...

 

I got the new conch from Coral Oasis (the one in Skypark Circle).

They seem to have a couple different types of them.

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