220 Inwall - Plan

[bheron]

HAha. The puppy got more than everyone combined!!

Yea, we can take them on I'm sure, after about 500 more practice shots. Which reminds me - my batteries already ran out and I've only been playing with it a few days now.

Oh, I read the manual and I'm pretty sure you can change the F-Stop. You can't manually set it to any number, but different functions you choose have different FStop ranges.

 

[weatherson]

Here's a link to some of the European hinges available. Their main advantage is that the hinge can be completely hidden from view when the door is in the closed position.

http://woodbymail.com/eurohinges.html

Joseph

 

[Knyght]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6375911#post6375911 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bheron
HAha. The puppy got more than everyone combined!!

Yea, we can take them on I'm sure, after about 500 more practice shots. Which reminds me - my batteries already ran out and I've only been playing with it a few days now.

Oh, I read the manual and I'm pretty sure you can change the F-Stop. You can't manually set it to any number, but different functions you choose have different FStop ranges.

LOL Isn`t that always the case. Sometimes the puppies are the only kids we have left at home. At least in my case, *for the moment anyhoo* Prob dated myself there

You will no doubt want to get the NiCad packs that are rechargeable. I usually get 2, that way I have a backup for those times when I am at an event and just snapping away.

I haven`t even opened the manual for the wife`s. Looks to be one of those point and shoots for the most part to me. I`m sure that no doubt being able to set the f-stop will bring the corals more into focus. Since the thing seems to be focusing on the glass instead of whats behind it.

Sure wish I hadn`t dropped my last Nikon was gonna cost more to fix than replace so I haven`t yet done either. Sure miss the bugger, however the new ones now are SO much nicer.

:beachbum:

 

[bheron]

Joseph -

Here's a link to some of the European hinges available. Their main advantage is that the hinge can be completely hidden from view when the door is in the closed position.

- Thanks. Thats not what I was thinking of, but even better. And reasonable prices too! Tough to decide which one to get, but they all look good. The first one on the list is nice b/c its nickel plated, I think? I am a little concerned about SW erosion but, so far, b/c its been so dry this winter, and I have my exhaust fan, I havent had much of a problem with that.
Thanks. I'm going to look into getting these soon.

Knyght - good info on the camera. I'll have to look into those NiCad packs b/c this is ridiculous.

UPDATE:

I received $40 from my brother for Christmas that was earmarked for my favorite coral - the Frogspawn. A good LFS around me usually sells them for $40-$45.

Well, I was browsing around my local club forum on RC and found someone selling one for $15! I've seen pics and what a great deal! And, to add to it, he also had a Green Star Polyp coral for $10! I've seen both of these corals and they have been on my shortlist for a long time now. Oh, and one final thing: his third coral in his package was something called a "Torch Coral". I heard of these but couldnt remember what they were. He sent pics and its beautiful! $15. So, there's my $40 now going to 3 different corals!! I'm very excited (as if you can't tell).

A couple of ques:

1) The Frogspawn is a LPS so it needs calcium. I dont have a reactor or any experience whatsoever on the topic. Soon I'll be putting together a DIY Kalk drip device. What can I do in the meantime? Do I need to add anything to the water?

2) On the same topic: how do I feed these guys? I know alot of corals, the soft ones, are photosynthetic. But should I be adding things like frozen shrimp for the Torch? Or Phytoplankton?

3) Finally, I know all about, and am a big believer, in QT. For Fish at least. I've heard you should QT corals? Should I QT these guys and, if so, for how long?

 

[weatherson]

Bryan,

First of all, both the Torch and Frogspawn corals are aggressive towards anything within their reach. The Torch can send out sweepers that extend beyond the length of the typical tentacle. These two are pretty much at the top of the chemical warfare chain so care needs to be taken with regard to placement relative to other corals.

As far as calcium requirements, both will do fine with basic liquid additions until you get your reactor going. Your calcium uptake is going to be minimal until you build up your coral population.

Now... with regard to the GSP. Don't do it. Seriously, while they are attractive and are great flow indicators, you will undoubtedly regret having added them later. They are extremely invasive and can kill surrounding corals. You can add them to an island rock but there's still a possibility that they will jump and start to take over surrounding rocks. My recommendation would be to resist the temptation and pass on this coral.

Joseph

 

[bheron]

Joseph, thanks so much for the great feedback...

First of all, both the Torch and Frogspawn corals are aggressive towards anything within their reach. The Torch can send out sweepers that extend beyond the length of the typical tentacle. These two are pretty much at the top of the chemical warfare chain so care needs to be taken with regard to placement relative to other corals.

- Wow. Cool I didnt know this. I'm a research nut but I really havent done enough in the coral area to know things like this. thanks.

As far as calcium requirements, both will do fine with basic liquid additions until you get your reactor going. Your calcium uptake is going to be minimal until you build up your coral population.

- This is good news. The good thing is that my goal is to have a pretty moderate coral population since I'm a really big fan of fish. Theres a shortlist of corals that I really want and I hope to stick with them for ahwile (I know! Everyone probably says this! Just wait until I get these first few and get "the bug", right?)

- With that said, what liquid additive would be best? Should I make a mix or can I get something in a bottle? I'm asking b/c I'm picking up these corals at a LFS which is supposed to be really good.

Now... with regard to the GSP. Don't do it. Seriously, while they are attractive and are great flow indicators, you will undoubtedly regret having added them later.

- Uh oh I've heard about these types of corals but had no idea this was one of them! Figured, "oh, a polyp. real simple." Bad news is that I already paid for it. I do have lots of open space in my tank, as well as two small, isolated "island" type rocks that I can use.

Wow, when you say "jump" is that how they spread? Man, I wish I hadnt bought it, but since I've paid already (onlt $10) I'm stuck with it for now. I'll have to do some more research on this.


Again, Joseph, thanks for the input and advice. I feel much more confident going into this now.


***EDIT: Hey, while we're on the topic of placement and the pic above, any suggestions on where to place these corals? I know the Frogspawn is moderate flow and moderate light, I think. I pretty much have the entire tank to work with, so let me know if anyone has any suggestions as far as placement, especially based on what Joseph said. Thanks!

 

[tgunn]

Bryan,
You'll really like the frogspawn; it's a very beautiful coral to watch. It adds a lot of "movement" to the tank.

At the moment I feed all every second day with cylopeeze. It's a frozen 'pod of some kind that's raised up in the Canadian Arctic (of all places). I've watched my acro, galaxia and frogspawn all gather up cyclopeeze as it floats around in the tank. Of all things the acro is the most greedy usually taking up a dozen or so little pieces. The frozen cyclopeeze is kinda pricey (I think it was around $50 CDN forr a block), but it will definitely last a long time.

My shrimp and fish all go nuts for the cyclopeeze as well.. So I use it in place of regular feeding every other day....

For calcium and alkalinity supplementation I'm using Randy 's 2-part supplement. It's very easy to make and dirt cheap. works like a charm. I definitely need to get a kalk reactor made up though since I go through about 20ppm of calcium per day....

Tyler

 

[bheron]

Thanks Tyler. Good stuff man. I'm guess that I'll also need a test kit for calcium and alk, huh!? Would make sense.

 

[gkarshens]

Hey Bryan, great pick up on the corals. I love my frogspawn. I am using Red Sea Calcium +3 right now, but I have heard a lot of good things about B Ionic, so I plan to switch to that once I run out. I dose once a week according to the directions and the frogspawn has grown and even produced 3 new heads.

 

[weatherson]

You can't go wrong with ESV. They are the makers of the B-Ionic. You definitely will want the Calcium and Alk test kits as well as Magnesium.

The "jumping" I mentioned regarding GSP, it wasn't meant literally. Basically, if a small piece breaks lose and lands elsewhere, it will start growing there.

Joseph

 

[melev]

Since your bioload is so small currently, you'll have enough calcium in the water from regular water changes. It comes in the salt mix. If you see that the numbers are too low, you can dose various products to bring up Alk and Ca as needed. It costs quite a bit to raise those numbers in 220g though, so B-Ionic wouldn't be the wisest choice economically.

However, there are items you can make yourself, like Randy's article that was posted. And some of our club members by a product at the pool suppply store called Hardener Plus, which is a pure calcium product that costs $5 or so. Pretty cheap. Do more research though, to make sure you get the right stuff.

Kalkwasser will help maintain Alk and Ca levels, but eventually the Calcium Reactor is the way to go on a system of this size.

I've had GSP in my 280 since I set up the tank, and Nibbles loved eating it. Now that she's dead, it is coming back here and there. As Joseph pointed out, it can get out of control. However, if you keep it growing on nearby rubble, you can give those frags to fellow reefers or take them to your LFS for store credit.

The Frogspawn will probably do best in the lower half of the tank in an area of soft flow. The torch would be about the same, maybe a bit higher up.

 

[bheron]

I am so thankful for this forum and everyone here on it (which reminds me - you'll be seeing a little "I support RC" logo real soon next to my name).

Anyway, thanks for the input in helping me buy my first corals. All went well yesterday! Met a great guy through the forum here (Embryoguy) who really helped me out. And, I wound up discovering another great LFS in my area - "Something Fishy" in Northampton PA. Met the owners who are really cool. I hear he works for Champion Lighting during the week and has this place open Fri, Sat and Sun.

So I picked up the corals yesterday and drove an hour back home. I acclimated for about 2 hours just to be sure. As mentioned above, here's what I got:

- Frogspawn: 3 heads
- Torch Coral: 2 heads
- Green Star Polyp: came with a red mushroom attached to it!

I've been toying around with placement for all of them, and will have pics later tonight or in the morning. I still think the Torch placement needs some tweaking b/c Im thinking its not fully opened. But, all are well. I love the frogspawn!!!! So, I'll have pics soon.

In the meantime, I picked up a few things at the LFS:

- ECV 2 Part B-Ionic: After hearing what some people had to say, figured I'd try this out. I agree with Marc - it'll be hard to keep up this 200g with liquid dosing like this. $15 for 2-32oz bottles of the stuff. I think its saying to dose 1ml per 4 gallons, which means 50ml per dosage. I have to double check this, but this might get me like 20 doses?

- Picked up a test kit for Calcium and Magnesium. Didnt see one for Alk so I'll need to get one later. Once I test and do a WC I'll know how far off my numbers are.

- Finally, I was going to get some cyclopeeze, but the owner was selling this new stuff he has and says he thinks is much more concentrated. Its called "Liquid Live - Marine Phytoplankton with Cyclopeze". Anyone ever hear of this stuff? It cost $10 for a 1oz. bottle. For $10 I couldve gotten a frozen "popcicle stick" of cyclopeze, but I figured I'd try this out.

I hear people do it every other day, also heard some people target feed versus just dropping some in the water. I do know I have to turn on the pumps while its in there?

So, I guess I have one question: how much and how often should I feed these to the corals?



Pics later!

 

[melev]

You should buy B-Ionic by the gallon, or 5 gallon (10g to a set) if you plan to go that route. It is a product you have to dose daily, first thing in the morning when the pH is at its lowest. This stabilizes the system for the day.

Cyclop-Eeze is better, money-wise. I've used Liquid Life, but as you pointed out, it isn't much. And you'll be squirting a tiny amount into 200g of water. Odds are that won't impress you much.

The corals you got don't <i>need</i> to be fed, but if you'd like to drizzle some mysis or cyclop-eeze over their heads once or twice a week, that would be fine. (Torch, Frogspawn) Both have mouths than can eat food the size of krill or chopped silversides, but you don't have to do it all that often. They'll feed from the water when you feed your fish daily.

I wrote a pretty lengthy article about feeding, if you want to read it you know where to look.

 

[bheron]

ah! Good stuff, Marc. THanks for the feedback. Didnt realize I'd haveto dose daily to keep the levels up. Oh well. I can start with what I have. That brings up a basic ques:

- what happens if the calcium, etc, levels are too low? Is it bad for the coral, or does it just not grow? if its too high, also what happens?

Glad you know about this liquid life stuff. Thanks for the feedback. I'll give it a try - was hoping it might make the colors more vibrant!


*EDIT*
Just thought I'd share another lesson learned in this hobby. I've been baffled and have been thinking my new WOn Pro heater might be busted. Yesterday I used my LittleBig digital thermometer while acclimating my corals. I then decided to use it to cross-check my Won heater. Well, the readings were TOTALLY off from one another. The WON said 74 and the other said 84. I dont have another backup thermometer, but I was sure it was the Won. Well, I just realized that the little piece that sits in my sump to detect the temperature was actually out of the water!! Yep, so it was reading the room temp, not the water temp. Darn. :eek2:

 

[melev]

Low calcium and high calcium are about the same. They both inhibit calcification. So corals, snails, etc that take up calcium can't do it.

With good water parameters, your corals should look pretty vibrant if they grow happily.

 

[tgunn]

Bryan, sounds good about the new corals! I found it took my froggy a few days to really start opening up. And I also had to rework some flow patterns because it was in too high of a flow area and wasn't opening up much.

Good point on the won bros heaters; I had one of my temp probes come unstuck as well. I had that happen too. I've moved them such that if the suction cup comes off the tank the probe won't be out of water now. Kinda scarey to see that though!

Tyler

 

[bheron]

Marc - interesting point about the calcification. gotcha.

Tyler - my froggy is opening up nicely. its the torch that i think might be in too high of a flow area.

also, about the Won, right now the Won bros heater (with fully submersed sensor) is still3-5 degrees off of my littlebig digital thermometer. will have to buy another one this week to make the deciding call! Either my tank is 78 or 82. Not sure.


I finally added the LiquidLife cyclopeze tonight. Pretty cool! My fish definitely liked it and I think the corals did too. I have to tweak the process a bit: i took some of the slushy stuff and dissolved it in a cup of tank water. then I shot it throughout the tank with a turkey baster. Its funny, they sell this stuff in a bottle with a press down ejector top, so that you can squirt it out easily.....but, they tell you to keep it frozen!! Sp what arte you supposed to do! But it was defintiely fun giving them all a tasty, healthy treat.


Ok, now for some promised pictures...



First, pics of my three fishes!

Blue Hippo

Yellow Tang

Clown

And now the corals:

Frogspawn

Torch

(not sure if this is full opened or not)

And here's another one of the whole room on New Years Eve, from a different angle..

I dont have one of the GSP b/c it was closed when I took these -- I moved it slightly and it closed up.

 

[melev]

The frogspawn is a nice size. Score!

The Liquid Life food is keep frozen, but doesn't solidify. You can squirt it into the tank or into a cup of tank water or RO water, then pour that into your tank or baste it on the corals.

I wish my fishroom looked that nice. I have got to do something with the walls, and get some woodwork done one day.

 

[Airman]

Pet the dog and don't feed him the camera. I enjoy the pictures to much.

 

[gkarshens]

That is a huge frogspawn for $15! There was a similar one here that went for $88.