johnmauser Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Hi all! Heres a little background info, Ive been keeping SW for about 15 years and I'm also an aquarist for the NC Aquarium at PKS. I've always kept fowlr but was recently bitten by the coral bug. My wife graciously allowed me to put a fourth aquarium in the house. I plan to keep this post updated as I go along. So far I have the Oceanic 30g cube, stand, cpr bakpak skimmer, and Sunpod 150 MH set up. I have live sand and about 15lbs of rock that I will be moving out of another tank I'm taking down. I also have another 20lbs of Haitian live rock curing at work. I also have a maxi jet, a rotating powerhead, and a titanium heater on the way. I'm shooting for a caribbean theme with the main Corals being ricordea florida, zoanthid polyps, gorgonians, and acropora. I'll also throw in a cleanup crew, a cleaner shrimp and some sort of peaceful caribbean fish or two. Here's a few boring pics. They'll get more exciting as I go. Thanks John Link to comment
jervismun Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Keep posting! Interesting to see a thematic nano reef tank... Link to comment
Rene Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Nice! I'm going to be doing a Gulf of Mexico tank in a few years, so I'm curious to see where this goes. Link to comment
florida8 Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Cool idea! I will be watching too Link to comment
jafoca Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 jawfish! best caribbean fish ever (pearly or blue spot) Link to comment
johnmauser Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 My mom has a yellowhead jawfish in her reef tank. They're definitely the coolest fish. I also have a caribbean themed 50g breeder that I set up a few months ago. It has 40# hatian live rock, caleurpa, blue legs, atraea, queen conch, cowrie snails and a small french angel. I'll post pics of that too. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 where in NC are you located? great tank too. i wanted a carib tank, but my 20H is supposedly too small for a cherub. keep us posted. Link to comment
johnmauser Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Travis, I live in Swansboro but work for the NC Aquarium at PKS near Atlantic Beach. I take it from your sig that you live on the coast too. As far as the cherubs go, people reccomend at least a 30g...but most of those fish don't grow over 2" so I don't think they would be too cramped in a 20g. where in NC are you located? great tank too. i wanted a carib tank, but my 20H is supposedly too small for a cherub. keep us posted. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 i live down in Wilmington. i heard the problem with cherubs is that they like room to graze. Link to comment
johnmauser Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Makes sense... I lived in Wilmington for 4 years. i live down in Wilmington. i heard the problem with cherubs is that they like room to graze. Link to comment
johnmauser Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 Here's an updated pic of my cube. I added about 15lbs of live sand from another tank and mixed another 15lbs of argonite sand. I added two "kinda sorta live" live rocks from another tank also. I still have 20lbs of live rock curing and the powerheads and heater will be here Wednesday. Still looks pretty boring but that will hopefully change soon. John Link to comment
annamarie421 Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Very excited to see how this project progresses!!! Tagging along... Anna Link to comment
Carinya Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I've considered putting together a biotope tank several times but any ONE area doesn't seem to have enough really colorful/interesting corals. Maybe I'm just a bad researcher though. I'm interested to see how this goes for you. Best of luck! Link to comment
johnmauser Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 I've gotten pretty hardcore about biotopes. It really freaks me out to see fish from different sides of the world mixed together. I think setting up exhibits and matching species for the NC Aquarium has gotten me that way. I've also spent some time in places like cozumel and belize and I love to try to recreate what I saw. Of course I can't really get caribbean hardcorals, so I'll use pacifics that are very closely related and look the same(ie. acroporas and porites). But all the softies will be from the caribbean,(ricordea florida, zoanthid polyps, gorgonians). All the cleaners will also be caribbean. It may not be as colorful as some tanks but I'll be plenty happy with it. ps. I got my powerheads and titanium heater today. Once step closer... I've considered putting together a biotope tank several times but any ONE area doesn't seem to have enough really colorful/interesting corals. Maybe I'm just a bad researcher though. I'm interested to see how this goes for you. Best of luck! Link to comment
johnmauser Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 Well my live rock has finally cured and I plan to put it in tomorrow. I'll post some pics once it's in but until then, here are a few pics of some of the cubes caribbean residents. Ricordea florida Blue leg buddies Chalk bass hiding behind rock Chalk bass sneaking out for food Link to comment
szesteve Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Looks like you're making great progress! How do you like your sunpod so far? Link to comment
cpvince Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 looks good! i'll be using the same setup soon hehe Link to comment
yardie Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Great setup. Being from the caribbean I will definately be watching this one. Link to comment
pico1 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 put the heater where the bio bale would normally go in the bac pak skimmer Link to comment
johnmauser Posted April 7, 2006 Author Share Posted April 7, 2006 szesteve I'm reallyliking the sunpod. The LEDs are great. pico1 wow, never thought of that. I wonder if the tank temp would stay as warm as what the thermostat would read in the bio bale chamber. By the way I caught 5 pepperment shrimp tonight and added them to the one thats already in there. John Link to comment
travisurfer Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 tank is coming along nicely. how do you like your bakpak? Link to comment
johnmauser Posted April 7, 2006 Author Share Posted April 7, 2006 tank is coming along nicely. how do you like your bakpak? Travis, its a love hate relationship. I love them because they pull so much gunk out of the water but hate them because of the microbubbles they put in the tank. I put a bubble trap on it but I'm still seeing bubbles buncing around in the system. The tank has such a tiny bioload right now that the skimmer's not pulling much. On the other hand, the bak pak in my 50 gallon's sump almost explodes with gunk. I feel like there's been tiny bits of progress with this system but not much. As soon as I get the new cured liverock in this system, I'll order a batch of softies, and it'll really start to take shape. John Link to comment
pico1 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 When I was shopping for a skimmer that was a big plus for the bac pac that I could put the heater in the second chamber. Link to comment
ZenMastr1968 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Looks good - I love the shape of those tanks.... I'll have to graduate to one of those at some point in time. I hear you about trying to model something with your reef. I've been keeping a Marshall Islands theme in the back of my head. I can't wait to see this little piece of the Caribbean. Best of luck. Link to comment
ecotoxlady Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Great theme! I think you're off on the idea of it not being colorful. Some of the nicest stuff I have came from the carribean - there are lots of blue zoas from there! Link to comment
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