Matt's loaded Aquapod 24g

[Mstefa1]

Updated: So apparently it's customary to start your first post with your most recent update. Unfortunately I'll never be able to do that because my tank changes often. However I will try and keep this post updated with my most recent full tank shot.


Taken 01/15/2013
More pics from this shoot on post 55









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Now back to my regular first post!
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Ok, I'm finally getting some pics up of my Aquapod 24. I took it down a few years ago after loosing the battle with hair algae but I'm back with some new hardware and more motivated to succeed. The tank went through a quick cycle. After the diatoms, I got a small CUC. Next I slowly started getting some frags. Then some green algae started to pop up. All normal.

I'm still having a few spots of this green algae that kind of looks like a fern. My parameters are great so it may just be a result of the new tank but I'm closely monitoring it.

All of the pics are taken with standard auto settings on my camera with the flash off, except for one of the exterior pics. U can see my tank, 150w MH Sunpod with my Phoenix bulb, Aquafuge 2 with Tunze skimmer, Tunze ATO mounted on the wall, and 1/10th chiller (I know oversized but I always thought I'd get a bigger tank). I moved something around this morning and stirred up some sand it still looks silty but not too bad anymore.











Some more for ya!







Squiggles kept getting in the way so I increased the shutter speed and he smiled for the camera!



I've got thick skin. If you think it sucks, then tell me. But also be kind and tell me what sucks so that I can improve.

[CLR]

Very nice, I've got an aquapod 24 gal too. How did u mount the aqua fuge on the back?

[Mstefa1]

Very nice, I've got an aquapod 24 gal too. How did u mount the aqua fuge on the back?

Thank you for your nice comment.

Sits right in there very nicely. It's the Aquafuge 2 medium that I bought (new) locally wishing that I ordered the PS (skimmer) model. But I'm impatient and they didn't have the skimmer model locally. I have the stock light too but it won't fit with the skimmer. I'm using a small LED light but I'm not sure how well that will grow macro. If that don't work out I'll custom an LED setup as I can't find a basic light to fit nicely over the top even with a cover I made. The sweet part that I didn't know when I bought it before was that I can get a Tunze skimmer in the Aquafuge which is working out awesome! Not having a skimmer was one thing I regretted before but I wanted a refugium (and more tank volume) and I couldn't put a skimmer in the chamber with the Aquafuge hanging on the back. If I could have sold the Aquafuge I would have just put on an overflow and attempted to build a custom sump under my small stand. Eventually I was going to mod the right pump side to hold a custom media basket, have the middle for a skimmer, and the left side for chaeto, mud, & rubble. Not sure anymore, will probably get a BRS reactor as I still have room for another pump in the rear chamber.

 

Also note that my big pump powering my chiller & return is externally located in my stand.

[Mstefa1]

Found some friends in here. Sunday night a brittle starfish was popping his legs out of the live rock. Nice free hitch hiker! This morning I found my fish attacking the glass. Pod explosion!

[CLR]

That's awesome u have a hitch hiking brittle star and pods, I got one too on a tiny frag but haven't seen him in a couple days. Save u some money on ordering the pods from online or local. Are they tiny or large enough u can make out body parts?

 

What's the green and brown coral in the 6th picture?

[Mstefa1]

Pineapples coral. He's beautiful. Pictures don't do justice. was expecting the pods as the live rock is fresh. Haven't seen any in my fuge but its hard so see up against the wall.

[Mstefa1]

Well my pineapple coral isn't doing well at all... Looks dead to me. I don't understand as everything else is doing fantastic. All my parms are normal. I know they don't want to be under intense lighting which is why he was at the bottom not in the center of the tank. He was under LEDs before, now MH.

[MeepNand]

I have never heard of a pineapple coral. Where did you get it?

[Mstefa1]

I have never heard of a pineapple coral. Where did you get it?

 

That Fish Place / That Pet Place

 

Just a single head... i think he's gone. Everything else is doing wonderful.

[owenj]

Nice tank! Hope that Blasto pulls through for you, I've found mine to be pretty resilient.

[moze229]

Nice tank setup - I like the rock design. I had mine looking nice like that a while back and now I've changed a few rocks over time and it doesn't look that good anymore.

 

What are you finding your tank temp at without the chiller? I never had to use one when I had my halide.

[Mstefa1]

Thanks Moze. I was seeing 85+ when it was hot outside and my AC wasn't running because nobody was home. Were talking just a couple of weeks ago. I've always had the lid on but these days I keep it off when I'm not working. I had an excellent fan but back then I didn't have ATO and my evap was crazy. I have it hooked up again as my cycle was quick and I wanted to stock and not worry about temps. Right now it kicks on maybe once in the afternoon and the heater runs @ night.

[moze229]

Thanks Moze. I was seeing 85+ when it was hot outside and my AC wasn't running because nobody was home. Were talking just a couple of weeks ago. I've always had the lid on but these days I keep it off when I'm not working. I had an excellent fan but back then I didn't have ATO and my evap was crazy. I have it hooked up again as my cycle was quick and I wanted to stock and not worry about temps. Right now it kicks on maybe once in the afternoon and the heater runs @ night.

 

Wow - that's warm. I've always had mine open with no cover, of course we have a large carbon footprint and leave our AC on even when we aren't home. We just set the thermostat at a certain temp and it just does what it does. lol

 

I loose about 1/3 gallon to evap per day. I'm just now getting an ATO setup myself. I've been lugging top off buckets for years now. I think it's time I graduated from that.

[Mstefa1]

Wow - that's warm. I've always had mine open with no cover, of course we have a large carbon footprint and leave our AC on even when we aren't home. We just set the thermostat at a certain temp and it just does what it does. lol

 

I loose about 1/3 gallon to evap per day. I'm just now getting an ATO setup myself. I've been lugging top off buckets for years now. I think it's time I graduated from that.

 

Well you figure if it's 95 outside and nobody is home so the windows are open... Plus put 150 MH heater I mean light on top of it...

[Mstefa1]

Update: Now I'm running a BRS deluxe dual reactor with BRS GFO slightly rumbling on the bottom and ROX 0.8 on the top in between the two foams - powered by a maxi 1200 I had laying around. I purchased the deluxe model not for additional features... I just wanted the black bracket over the white so it hides on the side of my stand behind my chiller. The maxi is dialed back considerably given the head pressure and its silent as long as it's not vibrating against the side wall. My only concern is that the foams inside the reactor sandwiching the carbon may get clogged requiring constant adjustment of the flow valve as I don't have a prefilter on the maxi. I was considering changing out the carbon (2 tbsp) every 2 weeks & and the GFO (4tbsp) monhly.

 

I'm still battling cyano but I've been keeping it in check with a turkey baster. Nitrates are low, phosphates are undetectable tested via Salifert (before adding GFO), and I only feed my fish a very small amount once daily, sometimes only every other day. I spot feed my coral a small amount once per week. Perhaps I'm missing something or maybe I just need to use Chemiclean and move on.

 

Even with all of my filtration, I still plan on changing 3 gallons / week. I'm currently changing twice per week. I'd like to minimize the need to dose by performing water changes with quality reef salt keeping my levels in check.

 

My new MH bulb should be in this week - perhaps the spectrum is off fueling the cyano.

[Mstefa1]

Ok, I've got an update for you. After failing to have any impact on the cyano, I've resorted to medicating with Chemicure. I'm still inside the 48 hour treatment peroid (it ends @17:30 today) however I can finally see my rock again! I've had no growth since treatment and everytime I remove the dead cyano nothing has grown in it's place. So far, so good! I have observed a slight ammonia rise but I guess that can be expected since we are killing bacteria.

 

What I've done is turn off my Aquafuge that is full of live sand, fiji micracle mud, a little bit of rubble, and chaeto. Wow with no flow in here the pod population is exponentiontal! I've done this intentionally in hopes of preserving all of the good bacteria in the fuge. Chemicure states that it does not harm good bacteria but who knows. I will say that if the cynao immediately comes back then this action may be the culprit. There is no cyano growing in my Aquafuge.

 

I'm all prepared to perform an 8-9 gallon water change right at 17:30, fire up my GFO / carbon reactor, and turn my fuge back on. I'll only have a short time to monitor it before leaving for work tonight but I'll be watching it all weekend and performing another water change & media change on Monday when my work rotation is complete.

 

I will say that I have seen NO negative impact from Chemicure. I had to estimate my water volume as it is a 24 gallon tank so I used just under 2 scoops do to water displacement from the rocks.

 

All of my zoas haven't opened up but what do you think?

[Mstefa1]

My tank is still nice and clean! I've got a small patch of green algae... Possibly green hair algae that I haven't been able to successfully remove. It hasn't grown much but if it continues then I'll go postal! Yes, that is a turbo snail in there. I got him to do some house keeping after cycling but I never got rid of him. I feed him dried algae once a week so that he doesn't die. Supprisingly, he hasn't been very clumpsy. All my frags are glued down and I've only ever seen a crab dislodge a coral, not his big butt. I was advised by a fellow refer to keep him and keep feeding him dried algae but I know sooner or later he will knock something agressive over and I'll be in bad shape so he will eventually hit the LFS. He shows no interest in the formentioned hair-like algae. I do have reinforcements from ReefCleaners.org coming in a day or so. While I have an assortment of snails & crabs, I've never defined a systematic CUC.

 

So I got a handful of new frags from Mike @ ASR. Wow his frag tank is stuffed! After acclimation & dipping, I spent hours on getting my sun coral frag to open up. Success the first day! You will also see a hairy shroom rubber banded to a piece of rock. Hopefully he attaches. I've been stocking heavily - want my tank looking good by the end of October for my kiddies birthday party.

 

I've been itching to pick up an SPS frag or too and give it a shot. I've got plently of lighting. In fact, the top, center of my live rock is empty and would be the pefect location considering lighting and flow. I may put another Koralia on the otherside and put them on alternating timers. I just need to learn what I need to test for besides the basics... ca, alk, mag, po4, no3, etc. I will certainly get a clam again as I have sucessfully kept one before. At this time I feel my tank is too young.

 

 

 

Enjoy the pic and let me know what you think!

 

 

Oh, here is a cell phone pic of my sun coral frag after I got him to open up.

[Mstefa1]

Updated FTS

 

And another!

 

And some treats

 

Maybe one day I'll learn how to take pics with my old dslr. lol

[owenj]

Sweet plate! & all the corals are nice too

[Mstefa1]

Sweet plate! & all the corals are nice too

 

Thank you very much!

[JR!]

Also note that my big pump powering my chiller & return is externally located in my stand.

what timers are those?

[Mstefa1]

what timers are those?

 

Ingraham Digital Timer

 

I love these timers. I bought my very first one in a retail store somewhere and I only ever had 1 crap out (probably due to saltwater). They are on little 1 foot extension that I purchased on ebay as they wouldn'd fit on my power strip. They have like 20 on / off settings, a ground wire, and capaciters that retain their programming for days if disconnected from power. I currently have 1 on my MH, 1 on my LED moonlights, and 1 cycling 30 minutes on / 30 minutes off with a Koralia. I don't know if they are still available online but I lost one a couple of years ago and was able to purchase a replacement. I like them so much that I would never lelt them go even though they are being replaced by an Apex on Monday.

[sfnt125]

Looking great! I think im going to go with the small CPR Fuge. I already have an AC 70 on the back and the medium would take up too much space, enough that I don't think I'd be able to fit a skimmer on the back. But it looks like you've got the Tunze 9002 in the Fuge. Like it?

What have you heard of the CPR fuge with skimmer combo?

Also, those sun corals are non-photosynthetic aren't they.

How often do you feed them?

[Mstefa1]

Looking great! I think im going to go with the small CPR Fuge. I already have an AC 70 on the back and the medium would take up too much space, enough that I don't think I'd be able to fit a skimmer on the back. But it looks like you've got the Tunze 9002 in the Fuge. Like it?

What have you heard of the CPR fuge with skimmer combo?

Also, those sun corals are non-photosynthetic aren't they.

How often do you feed them?

 

If you have a good skimmer picked out then go with it. I'm assuming your referring to HOB. Otherwise, get the medium. I've regretted not getting the CPR with the skimmer built in but I've always heard that they are noisy and so so at best as far as skimming. Still, the difference between having a so so skimmer and no skimmer at all... If I had room for a sump and had buyers for everything I'd go that route but then I'd be looking at paying for a custom sump and still may not have room for it anyway.

 

Then I discovered that I could fit the Tunze 9002 inside the Aquafuge and I was very excited. The Tunze is dead silent and produces great skimmate! The water level is constant so the skimmer is always at peak performance. I still have plently of room for my chaeto and the medium fuge adds like an additional 3.5g of volume. The onlything I haven't been able to do is find a light for it. My clip on LED light isn't powerful enough and my halagon submersible light doesn't stay very well. I have the stock Aquafuge light which looks great however it won't fit with the skimmer installed so I'm looking for other options. I don't want anything ugly of spill-over into my display. Eventually I'll put a DIY LED together.

 

I think if you got an Aquafuge med then you wouldn't need the AC70.

 

I feed my sun coral almost every day then I usually skip about 3 - 4 days straight when I'm working 13 hr shifts. Day 1 I spot fed it in a cup to get it to first come out. After that, I spot feed where it's at. I have had previous success with them. If you stop feeding for a long peroid it will perish.

[Mstefa1]

 

Of course he looks much better when well fed!