College 10g newb reef

[bucknellreefer]

Wow, thanks for all that info. I will try placing the blues higher up to see if that will make em happier. the one problem i have encountered with my aquascape is that it makes placing corals without glueing them down tricky at best. I may do some more permanent coral placement when i get settled in at school. The tank will probably on my desk which will make it easier to work in anyways, right now its on my dresser and i have to stand on my tip toes to reach the bottom even though i am freakishly tall. I am actually really looking forward to sitting at my desk and being able to watch the tank.

[nanospoof]

I just checked out your thread after seeing your post in the thread for showing 70W MH pics. I am ordering the same light and wondering if you had another picture of how you mounted the light in your canopy? My set up looks to be very similar to yours as far as the hood and everything. Only difference mine is going over a 5.5 AGA. BTW I love the shrimp and clown pair.

[bucknellreefer]

I just checked out your thread after seeing your post in the thread for showing 70W MH pics. I am ordering the same light and wondering if you had another picture of how you mounted the light in your canopy? My set up looks to be very similar to yours as far as the hood and everything. Only difference mine is going over a 5.5 AGA. BTW I love the shrimp and clown pair.

 

Here are a couple more pics i took of the light:

 

here you can see the connection between the light and the top panel which is made by using wood screws long enough to go into the top a decent amount instead of the supplied shorter screws.

 

Here are the screws from the top:

 

 

I used a hanger screw to hold the cord in place, i originally had two of them holding the cord against the top as well as against the side but i decided that the one on the top wasn't really needed.

 

as kind of a final note if i were doing this again i would not build my hood the same way, right now the top is just loose because the rear support is so thin that it would split if i tried to hinge it. I also didn't build any braces into the lid and as a result it has started to warp slightly due to the higher heat and humidity inside the hood. I may build another hood and correct these mistakes over winter break but they really aren't huge issues

[nanospoof]

Very nice. Thanks for the pics and the heads up. I am also installing some fans so while I'm doing that I might go a head and add another brace for the top of the hood. Thanks again.

[bucknellreefer]

Very nice. Thanks for the pics and the heads up. I am also installing some fans so while I'm doing that I might go a head and add another brace for the top of the hood. Thanks again.

 

Thanks

I managed to get away with not using any fans. The light puts off a lot of heat but the open back and distance of the fixture from the water keep the tank holding steady right around 80. I think that with the 5.5 you are probaly not going to want a 10inch high hood like i have (I would probably try and take a couple inches off if i was doing it again, make it look a little less bulky) so the fans sound like a good idea!

[The Propagator]

Sounds like you have the right idea Travis.

Just try and keep your hands out of the tank as much as possible for the 1st few weeks after the move.

The less you disturb it (other than maintenance) The more it will flourish in a small tank.

 

Only move the blues you have near the top if they are the NEON BLUES .

Other wise they will fade to a green blue or just fade to a white blue.

[zmckenzie]

How did the move go!?!?!?

[bucknellreefer]

well, the move has been completed. Took about 30 minutes to get everything bagged and put away in the cooler/bucket, 2.5 to drive and then another 30-45 minutes putting everything back in the tank.

I ended up leaving the base rocks in the tank with enough water to cover them, a third of the tank give or take a little. I put the other rocks in a 5 gallon bucket i managed to get them arranged so that they couldn't move and i decided to put the fish in the bucket too. the shirmp and coral went into breather bags and then into a large 30 gallon cooler. i used some socks as dividers to keep everything in place and stable. I left the clean up crew in the tank as well as some zoas that are glued to one of the base rocks. these zoas not only survived the trip, they actually remained open the entire time. most everything opened up immeadiately after being placed in the tank ( cept for the pesky carribbean blues, still looking the same after a week). the tank was pretty damn heavy with the rock, sand and water but i managed to get it up 3 flights of stairs without too much excitement.

I did a little bit of an aquascape change when i put everthing back together and i think it really makes the tank more interesting to look at. unfortunately i had to leave the nice digi at home so i don't have any pics. I will have to steal my girlfriends camera is i wanna take any.

If anyone has any questions on the move then let me know and i will do my best to answer them. It was stressful but everything seems to be doing fine now (knock on wood).

[zmckenzie]

Glad to hear that everything went good. I move my tank in two weeks and will use the same method as you with leaving base rock in with water covering it. I most likely will leave my CUC in there as well unless they are in/on rocks i put in a cooler. That actually will be the only change i will be doing. Instead of using 5 gallon buckets i am going to lay the rock in the cooler with the water i remove from the tank. Keep us updated this school year. I am sure many other residents of the dorm will be very intersted in your tank.

[bucknellreefer]

I am sure many other residents of the dorm will be very intersted in your tank.

 

I will probably get made fun of! Haha!

I really think that moving a tank of this size was more stressful than anything else, I kept changing my mind on things up to the last minute.

The breather bags were great. they allow O2 in and let co2 escape, eliminating the need to have any air in the bag. this made packing stuff much easier than it would have been otherwise and i would like to thank The Propagator for giving me the idea on those. I managed to save all my water but some was kinda funky cause stuff fell off the rocks so i replaced a gallon. I will do another gallon water change in a couple days and then go back to normal 15% changes once a week

[zmckenzie]

What exactly are breather bags? Where did you get them?

[bucknellreefer]

What exactly are breather bags? Where did you get them?

 

I got them from Kens Fish.

They let in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, allowing you to bag stuff without having any air in the bags. I got the medium size and they were just right.

[zmckenzie]

Thanks!

[bucknellreefer]

No real new info on the tank, it seems to have taken the move well. A lot of things looked kinda ###ed off for a few days but now everything is looking good again. The only casualties have been half the carribbean blues which i had to remove because they were starting to melt, I am still holding out hope on the rest but they are probably going to start melting soon too. I also damaged the smaller of the 2 green yumas, it wasn't attached to anything and got blown under one of the rocks and i beat it up pretty bad trying to get it out. it doesn't look so hot but i hasn't melted so i am holding out hope that it will recover.

 

I think that by moving the tank i restarted the algae cycle. I got a diatom bloom last week which is something i hadn't seen since when the tank was about 3 weeks old. Now that they are receding i am getting a green buildup on the glass, another thing that stopped after about a month and a half. I think there might be some cyano too but i have chemiclean to zap it should it become a problem again.

 

the other exciting news it that i have my next tank purchased. I heard about the $1 a gallon deal at petco and managed to coerce my parents into picking me up a 33g oceanic cube for, you guessed it, $33. I am really pumped about this tank and I can't wait to see it in person. I can't say when I will actually get a chance to get it going but this was just way too good a deal to pass up.

[zmckenzie]

Glad to hear almost everything survived the move. I will be moving my tank this thursday, but i don't have near as much in it as you. It is going to be interesting when i actualy have fish and more corals. Sorry to here about the blues and the yumma.

[bucknellreefer]

Glad to hear almost everything survived the move. I will be moving my tank this thursday, but i don't have near as much in it as you. It is going to be interesting when i actualy have fish and more corals. Sorry to here about the blues and the yumma.

 

yeah, the yuma was something i should not have lost (assuming it does die). the blues have unfortunately been on their way out for some time so it really isn't too much of a surprise that they have finally started to disintigrate. the key is to be careful and make sure you do things right the first time. mistakes are stressful, both for the animals and for the person trying to transport them.

 

On another note, my aquaclear 110 HOB filter is making a racket and annoying the hell out of me. I think the impeller is out of balance or something because it sounds like it is just brushing something and making a rattle. I have fiddled with it a couple times and it stops for awhile but it always starts rattling away again.

[zmckenzie]

what does your roomate and others think of your tank?

[bucknellreefer]

what does your roomate and others think of your tank?

 

I don't have a roommate but everyone else seems to like it. i think that the shrimp is everyone's favorite creature. I do find that most people just sort of notice that i have fish unless they look more closely and see that everything is alive.

 

On another note, there must be something in the water, cause my stomatellas are multiplying like crazy. I am pretty sure i started with 2 but now at any given time i can find 10+ in plain site. They vary in size from tiny to about an inch and a half.

[MagElvs]

You said you moved around the rockwork, any pictures?

[bucknellreefer]

You said you moved around the rockwork, any pictures?

 

I don't have any pictures because i have been using my parents camera all along and now that i am back at school i no longer have that privilage. I should however be able to borrow one at some point, hopefully tomorrow, and at that point i will throw up some new pictures.

[bucknellreefer]

I finally managed to steal a camera and snap some quick pics of my tank. MY birthday is on monday(21 woot woot!) so my girlfriend took me to the only reef store i know of in the area and got me a little present! The place is called miller's reef in bloomsburg, and the guy who runs it was really nice, he even opened up the shop a couple hours early for us. Here is the new coral, some really bright red blastos, i don't which kind they are but they look sweet!

 

 

Here is a FTS which shows the changed rockwork:

 

 

I got a tiny free acro frag from the guy, it was really browned out at the bottom of one of their tanks. He offered it for free and i thought it would be a good chance to see how it does under the 70w halide. right now its sorty of a orangey brown but it has bright yellow/green polyps so we shall see how it does. I don't have huge expectations but who knows.

[bucknellreefer]

Today I noticed that i am starting to get some really good purple coraline growing on the back, powerhead and aquaclear surface skimmer. All my corals and fish seem to be doing alright with the exception of some of my zoas which aren't opening up.

[irishtexan]

Happy Birthday!

 

The tank looks really good. Great job!

 

 

 

 

texx

[zachxlutz]

Your tank is looking amazing. I like what you are doing with it.

 

From one college reefer who just turned 21 to another college reefer that just turned 21... sweet tank.

[ReefDreams]

wich maxi-jet is this one ?