45 Galllon Cube. My dream tank...only smaller!

[Reef_Noob]

Chy, is this what youre talking about?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...SdTr7JH4KPsQL3tfmGCg&ved=0CD4Q9QEwAg&dur=2743

Can you post a pic of it in your fuge? Ive seen your sump in your pics before but never a close up that I can remember...

I did have this red algae in my DT tank before....but it needed high output light read MH for it to grow...it looked very beautiful and wavy, and my coral beauty stayed away from it. It is a fast grower under MH (mine was 10,000K) and doesnt spread. When I bought this algae it was growing attached to a small piece of rock with a kinda calcareous stalk like attachment. But i dunno in detail about it.

 

[chrishayes]

Well then that wont do. The spot itd go in is to the rear of the 10" front to back fuge compartment. The light it 4" wide and the bulb is probably about 5" back from the front so it wont even be under direct light. I know the caluerpa doesnt even really grow that much back there but it does grow and spread so its not THAT dark. I wouldnt care if it grew real fast just want it for aesthetics.

 

[chrishayes]

Oh and im pretty sure chyendra just has a twisty pc in a clamp lamp over hers.

 

[skinpuppi]

I have a piece of algae that I would be more than happy to send you for this system. PM me your shipping info. It grows well, nice red color, fast grower and doesn't require a lot of light or flow.

 

[chrishayes]

I have a piece of algae that I would be more than happy to send you for this system. PM me your shipping info. It grows well, nice red color, fast grower and doesn't require a lot of light or flow.

WHat type is it? Got any pictures? Im flattered by your gesture! Reefers helping reefers! Love it.

Ive aked on the macro forum and dragons breath was the unanamous choice there. It does look like a great addition! Think ill look to see if I can find some locally if what you have doesnt work out. Let me know.

 

[Chyendra]

I'll check and see if I have any photos on my computer at home.

This website has a pretty acurate picture of what I'm talking about. Looks like reefcleaners is out of it at the moment, but they usually carry it.
http://www.segrestfarms.com/index.c...-GRACILARIA-RED-PC&Gracilaria-verrucosus.html

And you're right, I have 6500K spiral compact flourescent bulb about a foot and a half above the fuge.

 

[chrishayes]

Thanks Chyendra! That does look like a nice macro. My lighting isnt far from what you have. So, I should be ok there. You dont wanna ship some to Ohio do you? Of course id pay for it, just dont know if its worth it or not but to have something of yours in my reef would be more than worth it! The folks around here think that since a macro is not green, it should cost more green...oy yoh yoh hell they want money for stuff I throw away every month! I asked a guy, "people actually pay for cheato?"

 

[Chyendra]

Yeah, I might be able to send you some next week. When I get home I'll check and see how much I have, it doesn't grow as fast as caulerpa, but it grows

 

[skinpuppi]

Mine is dragon's breath/flame algae and Gracilaria Mammillaris

 

[chrishayes]

im not being pushy but are either of you skinnipuppy or cheyendra gonna send me some? I am thinking of just placing an order from an oline supplier but would prefer to get it from fellow reefers! I need a few other items so thats why im asking.

 

[chrishayes]

I have picked up a few things over the last couple weeks and today they get to go into the tank! Some Beautiful solid red zoas with a pink center. DOnt know if theyll melt or not in the new tank, they didnt like the old halide bulb in the qt. I also got a symphilla/lobo to go with my green lobo. Its red/orange/yellow. Beautiful coral. I got a hunk of christmas favia and some blastos. I only have a few spots left for sps and one is reserved for a jedi mind trick monty. I have a lot of room on the sides and rear of the rockwork along with plenty of sandbed but I like to keep the sand uncluttered so Ill only put lps along the bottom rock work so just a few more pieces is all I can do. Think ill do acans since they handle flow pretty well and match the scale of my tank better than large lps I think.

Will post some pics soon once everthing settles in. My clam also decided to let go of the egg crate so I took the chance to clip and remove all the eggcrate I could so that all thats left is under the rocks. Ill admit, this was a bad idea on my part. Shoulda just put the rock on stilts. Oh well, there isnt any buildup I can see yet. Still looking for red macros but I did get some off the zoas I just got. Dont know what itll turn out to be but it looks like a branching coraline. its in the fuge.

Ive also upped my dosing by going to 1min 08sec every 24hrs. Calclium is lower now with io salt at 390 but ive dosed to get it to 395-400 and alk stays stable at 8.3. Thats the sumber it stays at with equal dosing times on the pumps so I leave it at that.

 

[chrishayes]

double post

 

[chrishayes]

Man, guys im seeing less and less PE during daytime. COrals are still doing very well and growing+coloring up well with great PE at night...irritating. Ive never had this happen. Really lost. Its gotta be the coral beauty nipping everywhere all day long. Oh well, if theyre growing and the color is there I guess it is what it is.

Color has faded a bit as ive upped the photoperiod over the last couple weeks. Im up to 7.25 hours of halide now. Im gonna leave it alone for awhile and let the coral catch up. I have increased feeding to usually 3 small feedings of frozen reef fusion or rods(finally found a lfs that carried it). Ill try to get some pics today, promise.

Oh, im still doing 5gal WC weekly. I shutdown all pumps then turkey baste the rocks then gravel vac out 5 gals. I probably should stop vaccing to let my sand get caked a bit so it will stay put. Im tired of sticking my arm in the tank everyday to push it all back. It knocks my skimmer down for an hour or more. its irritating for sure. I do think im gonna throw some cc in there. I like the more varied grain size look anyways plus like I said I vac every week so it shouldnt be an issue. Anyone think otherwise?

 

[tegee]

I personally think you are doing too much inside the tank. Corals get irritated very easily and i have been told by some very experienced sps guys to keep your hands out of the tank. Simply 10-20% weekly water changes is all I do. Very little dosing and keep parameters rock solid and all corals are very happy.

IMO...the more you fuse within the tank the more irritated they are going to get. KISS.

 

[Reef_Noob]

Hey Chris
Show us what you got show usssss your new corals
Hmmm you couldn't resist the LPS eh join my club
PE during night and none when lights on is pretty common. And it's not an indicator for coral health. Some like to do it with lights on and some like it in the dark As long it's being done things are on track
If ya gonna disturb ur sand bed with every water change then it's fine. The problem is when u you leave the sand bed undisturbed for quite a while and it gets disturbed. So if ya vaccuming sand do it routinely which IMHO is a great practice, as it leaves sand as good as brand new and your DT looking clean. Since you hav a successful you don't have to worry about upsetting the filtration by sifting/vacuuming. Disturbing sand bed in tanks employing DSB is a no no.
This is my take
Happy Reefing!!

 

[chrishayes]

I personally think you are doing too much inside the tank. Corals get irritated very easily and i have been told by some very experienced sps guys to keep your hands out of the tank. Simply 10-20% weekly water changes is all I do. Very little dosing and keep parameters rock solid and all corals are very happy.

IMO...the more you fuse within the tank the more irritated they are going to get. KISS.

Yeah, I see your point but I gotta do the maintenece and feeding...and when sand blows from one side to the other, I gotta fix it. Itll cover corals on the sandbed so its a must. Also, this is my hobby, so its impossible for me to not play with it some...if not, why not have a picture on the wall right? Again, I understan and appreciate what youre saying and ill try to keep my hands to myself for awhile and see if that helps.

The thing is, ive always been hands on but this is the first time ive seen decreased PE during the day.

Hey Chris
Show us what you got show usssss your new corals
Hmmm you couldn't resist the LPS eh join my club
PE during night and none when lights on is pretty common. And it's not an indicator for coral health. Some like to do it with lights on and some like it in the dark As long it's being done things are on track
If ya gonna disturb ur sand bed with every water change then it's fine. The problem is when u you leave the sand bed undisturbed for quite a while and it gets disturbed. So if ya vaccuming sand do it routinely which IMHO is a great practice, as it leaves sand as good as brand new and your DT looking clean. Since you hav a successful you don't have to worry about upsetting the filtration by sifting/vacuuming. Disturbing sand bed in tanks employing DSB is a no no.
This is my take
Happy Reefing!!

Ive uploaded 53 photos to the bucket. Of course I wont post them all so go look if you want to see more than what I post here in a few minutes!

Yeah, im sorry but im going to keep siphoning my sand. My last tank had a medium sb which I didnt touch and it routinely got rock hard and stored a lot of junk. I feel having larger gravel size sand in this tank was on purpose for the sole reason of being able to vac it. My system is very healthy as im sure youll agree when I post pics. Im having zero trouble with anything aside from slightly decreased daytime PE. Its not the end of the world, ive got enough experience to tell the difference between corals in poor health and those that just refuse to throw their polyps to the wind day and night...just wish I knew why. Ill take tegee's advice and see if that helps. Hes a heck of a reefer so ill head his advice! Pics in a few. Dont forget if you have time, hit me up on pm I have some phone questions for you!

 

[pulit]

great tank looks awesome and well built , keep up the great work

 

[chrishayes]

Here are some updated pics. Im gonna post a lot, just cause I had time, hope you guys dont mind. 10-24-11

First up some coral shots

The new red zoas are on the right, I put some in the fuge too to contrast all the green.

 

[chrishayes]

 

[chrishayes]

The green lobo has put on a LOT of color and is almost 5 polyps now!

Had to move my fungia to behind the rockwork, it was starting to bleach as you can see. Also this shows how much room I left behind the rock for flow and the ability to vaccum.

Clammy in his new home

This is a wild acro that ive had to frag just to try to get more new growth out of. As you can see the new growth is different than the wild growth so it looks kinda odd

Heres the corals that are showing less PE during daytime. Slimer, yellow acro and Birdsnest. all are otherwise healthy