My 68.8 gallon tank

[SuperPuffer]

looks absolutely amazing, can't wait until I can do something like this someday, I love your sun coral cave, it give the whole tank a little something extra

[Sinistard]

Thanks SupperPuffer. I do like the sun coral in the cave, the only bad part is feeding it. There are a lot of mouths to feed

 

 

 

A few updates on my tank.

 

The Acro I added has started to STN around the base and brown out a bit. After testing my water I found the my Kdh was low, somewhere around 5. I had an older test kit that was way off. I have been adding buffer to the tank over the last 3 day and have it up to 9 now. I don't know for sure that this is the problem that is causing the STNing but it's a likely culprit. I hope the frag does not continue to STN but from what I have read it's likely to not make it. Another possibility for STNing is flat worms, I have not examined the frag closely but I hope that this is not the case.

 

I have that DIY kalk reactor that I need to get hooked up that I'm sure will help keep my ALK and Calcium the proper levels. I'm going to hook it up in line with my top off system that I don't have hooked up yet

 

My skimmer has started to pull some gunk out of the water. I have a very low bio-load for the volume of water, just to 2 little clowns so I don't expect to get to much out of it.

 

I did have a micro bubble problem that seem to be working it self out. I have a lot less bubbles in the tank now then I did just a couple weeks ago. This may be due to the skimmer breaking in.

 

The last thing that has happened is one of my American DJ power strips is having a problem. I think something shorted out in it. I was watching a movie one night and I noticed one of the clowns swimming in front of a CL outlet with no problems, this meant that I had a super clown fish that could swim in direct flow or my pump was not working. I checked it out and the pump was off, I flipped the switch off then back on and it tripped the breaker in the power strip as well as my GFCI outlet. I also noticed a burnt smell coming from the strip. I unplugged everything from it and plugged them directly into the wall for now. The strip is working now that I reset the breaker but I don't really trust it so I need to go out and get a new one. For some reason one of the switches that never had anything plugged into it is not working at all and it may be the problem.

 

Every thing else seems to be doing well, I have added a couple more corals to the tank from my nano and a few more pounds of LR to the fuge. That's it for now.

[Sinistard]

Some new additions.

 

I got several frags from a Salt water Auction CORA held last weekend. I still need to get some pictures of most of them but here is one I picked up.

 

Lavender Milli with brown polyps (Acropora millepora)

 

I picked up a couple more Ricorodia, one from a fellow reefer and one from a LFS.

 

Orange Ricordia (Ricordia florida)

 

Orange and Blue Ricordia (Ricordia florida)

 

And Last for now I picked up a Purple Tang. He/She is a very cool fish and is eating like a pig. It still hides a lot of the time in one corner but has been out and about more and more every day. This is the best picture I could get. I need to work on my fish picture taking skills

 

Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)

 

I have a few more corals that I need to get good pictures of them I will post them.

[Sinistard]

A few more pictures of new additions. If you notice any mis IDs let me know

 

White Polyped Acro (Acropora sp.)

 

Bali Slimmer (Acropora sp.)

 

I still have a couple more additions but I did not get good pictures yet.

 

Here are a couple other pictures I liked. I snapped these while I was trying to get the others.

 

A couple of my sun coral.

 

 

 

One of the lavender Milli with the green cap in the background.

[Sinistard]

Here is another critter I added awhile back.

 

Blue Linkia Star (Linkia laevifata)

 

 

 

 

The first picture is a couple days after I got it and the others are from a couple days ago.

 

It has been in the tank now for around a month and seems to be doing well. I acclimated it for around 1.5 hours.

 

It likes to hang out in the top back corners of the tank most of the time for some reason. It will stay there for most of the day then every once and a while it will wonder down onto the LR for an hour or so then end up back up in one of the corners. It seems to like it around my cleaner magnet most and ends up on whatever side the it is on.

[richman02003]

WOW every every reefers dream. any updates?

[Coville]

What kind of bulbs you running?

 

Great looking tank, thinking about ordering one from SCC

[aquaman7]

Man, it's been a while since I've seen this thread. Any updates?

[DaveFason]

tank still up? This was one of the reasons I got into the hobby!

 

-Dave

[71vwbug]

wow thats nice i have always liked the blue linkia

[Sinistard]

Hi all, it has been a while since I posted on this thread. The tank is still going strong but I have not had a chance to make any major changes due to time and money constraints.

 

I have added a couple fish over the months and I currently have the the 2 clowns and purple tang from when I was still posting plus 5 banggai cardinals and a starry blenny.

 

I did have 2 twin spot gobies a few months back that unfortunately did not make it. I don't know if it was lack of food in the sand bed but they both lasted about a month.

 

I recently had to replace both MH bulbs because one burnt out and the other was flickering pretty bad. It seems like this was a bit premature, both bulbs only were on for around 7 months. I have no experience with these type of bulbs so I don't know how they should hold up.

 

Another thing that worries me a bit is the contact points on one end of both bulbs were either corroded or melted. One was so bad it basically disintegrated when I took it out and the other looked melted (I can post pictures if needed). Surprisingly the one that disintegrated still worked before I took it out. If anyone has any ideas on this feel free to let me know. Both lights are the 250w aqua medic ocean lights. Could there be something wrong with the fixtures of ballasts?

 

Originally I thought they were both the same bulb but when I replaced them one was a 20k XM bulb and the other was a 20k aqua medics bulb. I wondered why I could not get SPS corals to grow on the left side of the tank this explained that LOL. The SPS under the XM bulb did mush better then under the aqua medics bulb. In fact most of the SPS I tried to keep under aqua medics light started to die and I had to move them. Also the color was a bit different, the XM was more purple and brighter.

 

I replaced the both bulbs with Phoenix 14k bulbs. They have been running now for a couple days and I'm very happy with the color they put out. They are a lot brighter and I like the color better. They are more of a light blue then purple.

 

Well that's it for now. I'll try to get some pictures posted later.

[Jordon]

do you have plains on getting another jawfish?

[Sinistard]

ZOMG its alive

 

I guess its been a few days since I updated this thread so here we go. (Big post to Follow dial up run away)

 

The tank is still going strong, some weeks better then others. I have had some loses but I think I have learned from most of them. We remodled our kitchen during which the tank was coverd a lot and the heat/lack of light did a number on a few corals but all and all it came out ok.

 

I have made a few equipment additions mainly a DIY frag tank, an OM 4way and a litermeter III dosing pump for dosing a 2 part additive. I also upgraded my reflectors to Lumen Max 3s.

 

Some photos of the frag tank build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the final product in place.

 

 

I got the OM4 way used form a local reefer and plumbed it in. It seems to be generating some nice random flow.

 

 

 

 

One of the exciting things that happened along the way was I successfully bread some bangi cardinal, unfortunately the parents soon after the 3rd batch decided that they were going there seperate ways and only one servived out of the 3 I had. I have 3 of the babies left now that are adult size and have seperated the 4 i have into pairs. One upstais and one down.

 

Here are a few pictures of the babies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of breading My clown fish started mating like rabbits and now I have a fresh set of eggs every couple weeks now. Due to a lack of time I have not tried to raise them yet although it is temping some times.

 

 

 

 

 

Took a few pictures with my Sony's gimmicky Night-shot, this one turned out ok.

 

Here is a crappy video I got with my camera.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=90...94051&hl=en

 

One thing that happend recently was the discovery of the dreaded red bugs on one of my acros. I ended up treating it with interceptor and it has been red bug free for a few weeks. I treated it out of my tank so I assume they will come back and I will probably have to treat the tank but I'm hoping it does not come to that.

 

A picture of the little buggers Click to see it bigger

 

Also recently I found a few small patches of hair algae popping up which i attribute to my RODI filters running a bit to long a few months back resulting in a build up of P04. I am adding some type of GFO reactor to nip this in the bud, I don't want hair algea running rampet.

 

Those are the big things I can think of that have happened since my last post, if you actually read this huge post and have any questions feel free to fire away. I'm sure there are things I forgot to mention, if I think of any I'll add them later. Enjoy.

 

Oh and here is a FTS from today. Things are a bit more cluttered then I like and I plan to do some cleaning soon. Mainly I hope to scrap a lot of the coraline of the back wall expecialy in the middle and to organize a bit better.

 

[halberstram]

supercute babies. they make me want to cry.

[Cubby23]

This is a great thread with a great tank. Congrats on the banggais! I have a pair and waiting for him to be brooding. Mine have had some strange behavior lately. Have you ever noticed your pair being completely inseparable at night but more free spirited during the day?

[jerzsky]

omg! i just read this whole thread, and i just have to say AMAZING! what a unique setup! damn i wish i was able to set somethin up like this!! good job! very good job!!

[Sinistard]

supercute babies. they make me want to cry.

 

Baby cardinals definitly are cute

 

This is a great thread with a great tank. Congrats on the banggais! I have a pair and waiting for him to be brooding. Mine have had some strange behavior lately. Have you ever noticed your pair being completely inseparable at night but more free spirited during the day?

 

Mine spent most of the time together in my tank. Unfortunitly the original mating pairs are no longer all together. Right now I have 2 younger cardinals downstairs and 1 old and one younger upstairs. The bad news is I think the 2 upstiars are the same sex. The bigger of the 2 does not like the new one at all and chases the it away all the time. It does not look like I will be getting any new babies soon.

 

Once your male starts to brood you will know. His jaw will be very extended and he will not eat.

 

omg! i just read this whole thread, and i just have to say AMAZING! what a unique setup! damn i wish i was able to set somethin up like this!! good job! very good job!!

 

Thanks you.

[Boomboy]

first very nice tank, very creative. looks really good. and some really great shots. but why put a tang in the tank, yes you have the water volume but not the swimming space.

[Sinistard]

first very nice tank, very creative. looks really good. and some really great shots. but why put a tang in the tank, yes you have the water volume but not the swimming space.

 

Thanks.

 

I'll agree my tank is probably at the lower limit of what you should put a tang in. But with the arrangement of LR and tank dimensions it does have a good deal of swimming space. The LR on the right is actually very open on the inside and it spends most nights in there. Unfortunately there is no way for me to ask it if it's got enough room to swim but it has been in the tank for nearly 2 years and seem fat and happy so I'm ok with my decision to add it.

[jiriki76]

Sweet setup. Love the purple tang. I will be upgrading my biocube to a 180g whom I purchased from a local reefer. It is sitting on my living room floor taking up space. Purple tang is definitely on my fish list.

[nUgZ]

Very nice!! Thanks for the update.

[Sinistard]

Very nice!! Thanks for the update.

 

Thanks

[bonsai reefer]

Nice progression on the tank it is looking great

[Sinistard]

Nice progression on the tank it is looking great

 

Thanks

 

 

Updated tank pictures. Click for larger version

 

 

 

 

 

[Sinistard]

Well I have decided to stop living on the edge and add some redundancy to my auto top off system.

 

Right now it consists of a float valve in my sump being fed from a 1/4" bulkhead around 5" below the water level in a 30 gallon rubbermaid trash can I use as a fresh water reservoir. The reservoir has a float valve that is fed directly from my RO system. With this set up if the if the valve in the sump failed I would potentially end up with my RO system pumping water into the sump.

 

There is a bit of safety built into this set up. It was actually inadvertent that it worked out this way. I emptied out the reservoir one day then the next day I noticed that I did not have any top off water making it to my sump. The inside of the bulkhead in the 30g has a 10" long pieces of hose that aims down and if the water drops to far the hose will lose syphon. If it loses syphon it generally does not start back up on its own, I have to suck water back down the line. I would not trust this to work 100% since the bulk head is below the water line the syphon could start back up on it's own.

 

I guess to make it 100% safe from to much water making it into the sump I could put the bulk head above the water line in the reservoir and run a hose 10 inches of so under the water level then start the syphon, if the water in the reservoir ever fell below the hose it would lose syphon and could not start back up on it's own since the hose would come into the reservoir above the water line. Set up this way I would never get more then a couple gallons of water into the sump in the event of a float valve malfunction. The down side would be if I was out of town and the syphon failed the tank could go days without being topped off.

 

To remedy these issues my plan is to simply add a float switch slightly above the level of the float valve that is connected to a solenoid. The solenoid will shut off the water going to the sump in the event the the float switch is triggered. I will probably add a timer to the solenoid that will only be on for maybe 15-20 minutes every couple hours to allow my RO system to run for longer periods of time to avoid TDS creep. I guess potentially both the float valve and switch could fail but I think that is fairly unlikely

 

I will probably leave the bulk head where it is in the reservoir but remove the hose to avoid a syphon and the chance of it not starting back up.

 

I was looking at McMaster-Karr at solenoids and was wondering what my best option was.

 

http://www.mcmaster.com/#7877k5/=hq790

or

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5489t41/=hqndg

 

The first one is 1/8 but I guess I could get an adaptor. The second one has 1/4" quick connects built in but is 2 times as expensive.

 

I also need a float switch and was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for a good one. I think I will just go with a 120vAC solenoid so I need a switch capable of switching AC power.

 

Any critiques on my idea or suggestions are welcome.