aggressive lagoon

[hobogato]

no, the eggs that i got at the same time for my classroom have started hatching. (6 out of 10 hatched). however, the water temperature there is much warmer, so it may take a while longer for these to hatch.

 

[DankReefer]

I'll be tagging along as well, I want to set up a 58g cuttle tank to tie into my reef system once the 120 is up and running.

 

[usefulidiot213]

And we play the waiting game...

 

[zach jay]

definitely one of the most unique and inspiring tanks i've ever seen. can only hope to have something similar in the distant future haha

 

[hobogato]

thanks for the comments. i did shine a light on the eggs yesterday and could see small cuttles still attached to yolk sacs in some. we shall see.

on a side note, i have decided to drill the bottom of the tank for a closed loop to alleviate the worry of the cuttles getting into the k4. i will also be making single bulb t5 light fixtures for the front and back top edges to get a little more color and light into the tank.

 

[montipora80]

Thats to cool! I can't wait to see your new babies!!!!!

 

[daytonben]

Im really impressed. This should be amazing.

 

[barnett8]

updates. Updates. UPDATES!

 

[hobogato]

well, still no hatches here (six of ten have hatched at the school but the water is much warmer there)

i did decide to replace the k4 with a closed loop to make is safer for the eventual cuttles. i also decided to add a single t5 bulb on the front and the back edge of the tank.

so, friday after work, i drained the tank, moved the sand aside, drilled two holes in the bottom of the tank, plumbed up the pump and put most of the water back in

here it is just after putting the sand back - that unpainted elbow will be replaced with locline
from the end

from the front

here is the pump underneath

took this pic to show how much water the closed loop will be moving - i think the pump is rated around 1000 gph

this morning i put the rocks back in and waited for the water to clear up so i could arrange them.


after finish the rockwork this afternoon, i made a couple of low profile acrylic fixtures for the t5 lights.

first i cut groves in the acrylic to make it easier to bend

here it is once the fixtures were finished and installed

here it is - water is still pretty cloudy and i still have to add a "y" and a couple of nozzles on the locline

 

[usefulidiot213]

What a pain in the A** that must have been..

 

[jhentr]

Wow, you made the drilling of the tank look so easy. Can't wait to see more, esp of the hatchlings...

 

[hobogato]

no, i started draining water and moving rock at 4:30 after work and wasnt ready to drill until about 6. the actual drilling only took 15 minutes, and by 8 or so i had most of it back in the tank. i waited to put the cuttle eggs back in until the next day when the water had time to clear up. the light fixtures took a couple of hours to make the next day.

still no hatching - starting to think that these eggs arent gonna hatch. will give them a little longer before i try to find some more....

Wow, you made the drilling of the tank look so easy. Can't wait to see more, esp of the hatchlings...

 

[Bignate]

You are a reefer with a kindred spirit. A soul reefer if you will...... I have used solar tubes to grow my favorite plant back in the day, Nothing works better than mother nature!!! I myself placed my new jbj nano cube near my bedroom window so it gets sunlight three hours a day and it loves it!

 

[hobogato]

ok, so it turns out a dumb mistake on my part caused the demise of the cuttles in the eggs before they hatched. i poured the salt in onto the sand as i was setting the tank up and mixed it as it filled. for a long time, the salinity was fine. then, whatever salt that had settled into the sand finally dissolved. it drove my sg up to 1.034 over the last few weeks. that is likely why the eggs never hatched.

so.....

instead of ordering more eggs, i am going to wait for captive laid/hatched eggs from my classroom. this should take about 6 months. in the mean time, i decided to add some blue damsels just to provide some movement. i have also added some corals.

here is a fts

here are some individual corals - some were added today and have not opened up yet.

 

[nanobuds]

awesome

 

[ocello]

sorry to hear about the eggs. Fantastic tank though!

 

[Michael_84]

I love the Tank!

 

[hobogato]

ok, so if you have ever had a tank without running a skimmer, you will know exactly the problem i am dealing with. all of the proteins in the water tend to rise and concentrate in a scummy layer on the top surface. to solve the problem without adding a skimmer, i came up with this idea.

i will put it on the tank once or twice a week for a couple of hours as needed to keep the surface of the water nice and clean. hopefully, as biological filtration gets more efficient in the tank, i wont have to use it as much or at all.

 

[stylolvr]

Could you give a bit more detail about this last surface-cleaning contraption? Is there an opening in the front of the box for outflow from the powerhead? Ingenious, if you ask me!

 

[hobogato]

that is correct stylolvr, the k4 pushes the water thru a hole in the front and pull into the box over the top edge. in the short time it has been running, it has already pulled alot of junk into the foam filter.