Junkitu's Mushroom House Tank Thread

[junkitu]

I have an AP 24 just like yours and upgraded to Sunpod 150w. I didn't really like the idea of a reduced photo period to acclimate. I followed the directions of others on this site and purchased some screen from Home Depot. I cut it into 4 or 5 sheets and placed it on top of the tank between the light and the water. Every couple of days remove a layer of screen until they are all gone. You will be tempted to remove much quicker or use less screen because the tank will look dim. Caution! MH is very intense light. I steped it up towards the end and found that some corals had a hard time adjusting. Never lost anything though. Trust me, your corals will love it.

Thanks! This is very helpful. A couple more questions:

- Was the screening material made of metal?

- Did it get very hot?

- What coral were you keeping and which ones had the toughest time adjusting?

[ezcompany]

Thanks! This is very helpful. A couple more questions:

- Was the screening material made of metal?

- Did it get very hot?

- What coral were you keeping and which ones had the toughest time adjusting?

 

its called eggcrate, or light screening. go to the lighting section of home depot and you'll find it there. one big screen can be cut up to fit your needs of 4 layers.

its made of plastic and will not melt or even get hot under the metal halide. your yumas will probably have the toughest time adjusting. if i were you i'd just stay with your lighting or maybe the 70 watts.

[junkitu]

its called eggcrate, or light screening. go to the lighting section of home depot and you'll find it there. one big screen can be cut up to fit your needs of 4 layers.

its made of plastic and will not melt or even get hot under the metal halide. your yumas will probably have the toughest time adjusting. if i were you i'd just stay with your lighting or maybe the 70 watts.

Thanks EZ. I've read the stuff to use is the screening used on screen doors. Isn't that different from the plastic eggrate that you see people keep frags on in their tanks?

 

I was really hoping to find a fixture that had both a 70W MH and T5 or PC fixtures for actinics but there doesn't appear to be one that will fit the AP24. As for rics, I mostly have floridas and only have a couple yumas. I may have to move the yumas down and maybe the zoa garden up in the aquascape.

[junkitu]

Well I bit the bullet and decided to upgrade from my 80W PC hood to the 150W Sunpod MH fixture. After reading everything I could and soliciting feedback from this and other forums, I decided to use the "layer" method to acclimate my tank to the more intense lighting. Unfortunately, the screen I bought from my local hardware store was very dark so I only used 1 layer of screen and kept it over the tank for over a week. I took the screen off completely on Monday and fortunately have not noticed any negative effects on my coral.

 

Here's a shot of my new topless setup. The colors are really vibrant (and blue) and the shimmer is amazing:

 

 

Finally liberating my tank of its hood has allowed me to add a 1/15 hp Current USA Prime chiller. I removed my MJ900 return pump and now have a Hydor Selz L35 pump (495gph) running externally. I've plumbed the close loop system so it draws from the back left chamber, through the chiller, and pumps the water back into the display through the stock return. I'm really happy with this little dual stage chiller. Thanks to my controller and chiller my temps are now rock solid between 77.5 and 79 degrees.

 

 

Here are some pics of the tank under the new lighting:

 

The color on these palys have really come out under the new lighting.

 

 

The zoa and paly garden appears to be getting much more light at the bottom of the tank and appears to be thriving.

 

 

I was worried that my rics would show ill effects due to the increase in the wattage and intensity of the light but so far so good. Here's my ric waterfall. The colors are so much more vibrant than they were under PCs.

 

 

Lastly, here's a shot of the top shelf. The clam is obviously benefiting from the stronger lighting but it seems like the yumas, leathers, and even my new little Australian duncans (small frag on the lower right) are liking it as well.

 

 

I hope you like the latest changes. As always, please let me know what you think.

 

I still haven't taken an FTS that I like. I'll keep trying and will post one soon.

[quy_nquyen]

nice upgrade! im still trying to save up for a chiller. is it loud when the chiller turns on?

[junkitu]

nice upgrade! im still trying to save up for a chiller. is it loud when the chiller turns on?

Thanks quy. I'd say it's definitely noticeable but not annoying. It sounds like a little fridge but it only comes on for a very short time. That's one reason why I decided to go with 1/15hp Prime instead of the 1/20 Artica. This thing can bring down temps very efficiently in my 24gallon tank. The other reason for picking the Prime is that it's dual stage and allows me to plug one of my heaters directly into the unit so it can be controlled by the chiller's thermostat.

[ezcompany]

Thanks quy. I'd say it's definitely noticeable but not annoying. It sounds like a little fridge but it only comes on for a very short time. That's one reason why I decided to go with 1/15hp Prime instead of the 1/20 Artica. This thing can bring down temps very efficiently in my 24gallon tank. The other reason for picking the Prime is that it's dual stage and allows me to plug one of my heaters directly into the unit so it can be controlled by the chiller's thermostat.

 

rics will love your new light. yumas, i don't know. i see you're slowly entering my realm

[junkitu]

rics will love your new light. yumas, i don't know. i see you're slowly entering my realm

lol. I'll make sure that I take off my shoes when I enter sensei

 

The yumas are actually more directly under the lamp than the floridas and they are showing even greater extension than they have in the past with no signs of stress. I'm actually watching my green floridas as their color has lightened slightly.

 

I really like the new topless setup. It's so much easier to maintain.

[Monkeyrobb]

Can you get a dawn/dusk effect with the sunpod?

[Needreefunds]

Junkitu, tank is looking awesome as always. Colors really jump out at you with the MH. How bad is the evap / top off situation now that you're topless? Best of luck and keep up the great work.

[junkitu]

Can you get a dawn/dusk effect with the sunpod?

 

Unfortunately, no. It has two types of moonlights but it isn't the same as the dual actinics.

Junkitu, tank is looking awesome as always. Colors really jump out at you with the MH. How bad is the evap / top off situation now that you're topless? Best of luck and keep up the great work.

Thanks! Evap is about 1/3 a gallon per day.

[junkitu]

My coco worm dropped its crown a couple weeks ago. I never saw anything messing with it. The best I can tell it was either being bothered by some mushrooms rubbing up against its crown or a curious blue legged hermit. I could see that the worm was still in its tube so I repositioned the tube away from the mushrooms and left it alone hoping that it would regrow its crown. This week it re-emerged

 

 

It's no longer bright red but the crown is getting thicker and longer by the day. I really hope it recovers I continue to feed phyto and cyclopeez and I can see it grabbing pieces and bringing them towards its mouth. Any tips on how to help it along its road to recovery?

[junkitu]

I thought I'd try keeping some australian duncans. Very trendy, I know, but I really like the way they look like mini branching elgance coral. Here are a couple shots of the two headed frag that I picked up.

 

 

The colors didn't really come through on these pics so I'll keep trying.

[fraggle rockette]

nice upgrade! im still trying to save up for a chiller. is it loud when the chiller turns on?

 

i have one and love it- i think it's quieter than the fans for the lights, and it really is only on a minute or two per hour, esp on the hot days, tho it hasnt been on at all recently since my tank went topless.. lol.

[junkitu]

i have one and love it- i think it's quieter than the fans for the lights, and it really is only on a minute or two per hour, esp on the hot days, tho it hasnt been on at all recently since my tank went topless.. lol.

I agree. Hey fraggle, do you have an auto top off system?

[junkitu]

Woohoo! Thanks in large part to this site, Mushroom House has been up and running for a year!

[rbrusletto]

Woohoo! Thanks in large part to this site, Mushroom House has been up and running for a year!

 

 

congrats! Tanks looks awesome, just went through looking at the progression.

[furelosfamily]

Hey Junkitu,

 

 

I was wondering what you dose your tank with, and what you feed your corals?

 

Do you have a schedule for it?

 

 

Thanks for the help.

[junkitu]

Hey Junkitu,

I was wondering what you dose your tank with, and what you feed your corals?

 

Do you have a schedule for it?

Thanks for the help.

Here you go.

 

Feeding (3 days a week):

 

Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets

Kent Marine Zoe

Frozen P.E. Mysis

Cyclopeeze

DT's Phytoplankton

 

Maintenance:

 

Kent Marine Nano 2-part additive (Monday, Thrusday)

20% water change (C-Pure seawater) once a week

Scrub and scrape algae once a week

Top off with RO/DI as needed

[junkitu]

Summer's here in NorCal and temps are heating up...but not in my tank. The new chiller is working like a charm and keeping my temps rock solid, even with the new MH lighting. I do miss having separate actinics for dawn and dusk photoperiods but it's definitely worth the peace of mind.

 

I did swap out the stock lamp for the Phoenix 14K and I really like it. The tank is so blue and appears to have better lighting coverage with this bulb.

 

I haven't quite figured out the best camera settings to use with the new lighting. All of the pics seem dark. Here are a few new pics. Hope you like them.

 

Top shelf with rearranged florida rics and my derasa clam. I had to move stuff around when I took out the finger leather.

 

Tangerine yumas.

 

Shrooms on the left side.

 

Angel playing in the zoa and paly garden.

 

Eagle eyes growing in.

 

FTS after 1 year.

[quy_nquyen]

tank looks awesome! love the yumas

[ezcompany]

what happened to your yellow fiji? turning brown??

[glennr1978]

what happened to your yellow fiji? turning brown??

I was about to ask the same question.

[Capt_Nemo]

Hi there, nice looking tank. I really like your ricordea and zoos. Got a question for you. I tried to read your whole thread but couldn't find the part where you first put the flame angel into your tank. how long have you have it for? does it eat anything in your tank at all? I just bought one from another reefers that doesn't want it anymore. I only have it for one day so i dont' know if it will eat my corals or not. i only have frogspawn, gsp and mushrooms and zoos

Thanks.

[junkitu]

Thanks quy.

 

ez and glennr - I've had the leather for a year now and it has continued to change its color as it grows. From what I've read this is not uncommon but I do miss the bright yellow coloring that it once had. I'm seriously considering removing it and keeping a much smaller frag since it's grown so large. Removing it will also leave me some room on the sandbed for a clam.

 

capt nemo - Thanks! I've had the flame for about 7 or 8 months and he's been great. He hasn't touched any of the coral or other livestock (i.e. clam, worms, etc.). I try to keep him well fed but you never know if he'll develop a taste for something in the future. Your experience may vary since each specimen may behave differently.