jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
I'd love to get a yellow assessor as well. But, I'm concerned with have two assessors in this small of a tank.
Aquaculture Tank Build
- Thread starter jdhuyvetter
- Start date
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Why I picked the two "rocks" from Cerameco. Lots of "goby caves"
The assessor stayed still for a second!
The Clowns!
The Onyx x Black cross. This was the only misbar in the whole clutch.
The very docile to very mean snowflake, at least to the other clowns in the frag tank (except the one shown above. they seem to have bonded already).
The assessor stayed still for a second!
The Clowns!
The Onyx x Black cross. This was the only misbar in the whole clutch.
The very docile to very mean snowflake, at least to the other clowns in the frag tank (except the one shown above. they seem to have bonded already).
muttley000
MTS Sufferer!
Nice tank with a cool theme, thanks for sharing the pics
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
This weekend I put the last of the "seed rock" in the tank. This rock is a mix of The Alternative Reef Rock and Aquamags rock. The Alternative Reef pieces (3) have been in the tank since MACNA 2010. They are the middle back piece and two of the smaller pieces in the sand. The other pieces in the sand are mariculture bases that the corals died or were transplanted. These have been in my tank from 6 to 18 months depending on the pieces. The Aquamag pieces are all on the glass. They have been in the tank for 8 to 12 months depending on the piece. The four on the left side of the tank were "cleaned" by my foxface. I am in the process of adding new frags. NOte that the light is currently up about 3 inches higher than normal for maintenance.
Pic of the lights. Fixture is from Sunlight Supply and bulbs are Geissman.
This is the only Aquamag that the foxface did not "clean". Zoas are from Coralmorphologic and Paly is from a guy in Ohio.
Pic of the lights. Fixture is from Sunlight Supply and bulbs are Geissman.
This is the only Aquamag that the foxface did not "clean". Zoas are from Coralmorphologic and Paly is from a guy in Ohio.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Red Hornets from PBMAS frag swap
Blue Hornets from PBMAS frag swap
Purple Hornets from Reef Gardener
Pic of Alternative Reef Rock and Mariculture rock. Eventually, all of these will have zoas, chalice or an encrusting monti on them.
The day after I cleaned out all of the freshwater plants and fish, I added the Caribsea sand, 50 gallons of water, some of the "rock" and a couple paly clusters from the frag tank. These will eventually come out. But, I had to start somewhere on the first day!
Blue Hornets from PBMAS frag swap
Purple Hornets from Reef Gardener
Pic of Alternative Reef Rock and Mariculture rock. Eventually, all of these will have zoas, chalice or an encrusting monti on them.
The day after I cleaned out all of the freshwater plants and fish, I added the Caribsea sand, 50 gallons of water, some of the "rock" and a couple paly clusters from the frag tank. These will eventually come out. But, I had to start somewhere on the first day!
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Last year, after MACNA, I decided that I wanted to grow four or five different Caulastrea clusters on the Alternative Reef Rock I had bought. It had space for 5 plugs, but I only got around to getting 4 frags. These all started as single heads. Some of them have been moved into the new Alternative Reef Rock.
Kryptonite from local club member
Mint green from local club member
Baby blue from local club member
Brown with neon green center (a caulastrea, but not the same species as other three). From LFS frag tank.
Kryptonite from local club member
Mint green from local club member
Baby blue from local club member
Brown with neon green center (a caulastrea, but not the same species as other three). From LFS frag tank.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Added the PJ's today. Bangai's weren't overly thrilled.
freetareef
New member
cool, tell us about your system!
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
What do you want to know that I haven't already posted?
Keep in mind, at this point it is still a work in progress. More pics and critters to come in the coming weeks.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
The goby likes the little cup caves and the assessor has claimed the small cave that goes all the way through the larger rock on the right.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Spent most of last week working on the kitchen remodel (basically, finished it after letting it sit for 3+ years). So, not much tank work.
A friend of mine did shut down a reef tank and I got a bunch of live sand out of that tank. It is black aquarium sand, but been in his reef for years. Also, had a local club member come by and pick up some frags. He brought me some chaeto. So, refugium was "seeded" last week.
I also placed an order with Gulf Coast Ecosystems. They sell macroalgae (wild collected and aquacultured) as well as Algagen "critters". So, I got some caulerpa prolifera (seen in above photo), Tisbe pods, amphipods and mysis shrimp. This came in today. A pic before I release the critters.
I wanted to finish "seeding" the tank before adding the last round of fish. The last round will include and ORA Mandarin. It should be weaned onto frozen/prepared foods. But, wanted to start a couple cultures anyway. These fish will be ordered for delivery after Christmas. Should give the pods and shrimp time to "settle in".
A friend of mine did shut down a reef tank and I got a bunch of live sand out of that tank. It is black aquarium sand, but been in his reef for years. Also, had a local club member come by and pick up some frags. He brought me some chaeto. So, refugium was "seeded" last week.
I also placed an order with Gulf Coast Ecosystems. They sell macroalgae (wild collected and aquacultured) as well as Algagen "critters". So, I got some caulerpa prolifera (seen in above photo), Tisbe pods, amphipods and mysis shrimp. This came in today. A pic before I release the critters.
I wanted to finish "seeding" the tank before adding the last round of fish. The last round will include and ORA Mandarin. It should be weaned onto frozen/prepared foods. But, wanted to start a couple cultures anyway. These fish will be ordered for delivery after Christmas. Should give the pods and shrimp time to "settle in".
rogermccray
New member
Man I love your zoas, I wish I had that assortment. Right now I only have some orange zoas on a small rock. I would love to find some like yours 
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Well, unfortunately, I have lost two fish. The first was last weekend. One of the PJ's. This fish never really ate and stayed in the corner the whole time. The Bangaii harassed the PJ's, but never got overly viscious. When this one died, they completely left the other one alone and he stayed out. Bangaii's on the left side of the tank, PJ on the right.
Last night, I lost one of the Bangaii's. No clue on this one. Both were eating like pigs. Both were eating last night. Found him this morning on the sand between two rocks.
Last night, I lost one of the Bangaii's. No clue on this one. Both were eating like pigs. Both were eating last night. Found him this morning on the sand between two rocks.
Grace tank
New member
Bummer on the fish. The aqua mag rocks are really cool! I have a two part simp also,they are great. Good luck-it is looking awesome!
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Somedays I really love this hobby. Spent a good part of yesterday afternoon chasing leaks. Skimmer has two small leaks. Pretty sure I've got one fixed. To fix the other, I'll actually have to drain it and pull apart a coupler. I think it is the o-ring.
Second leak and this is the one that really ticks me off. Moved my old, very undersized Ca Reactor off of my 700 gallon system to put on this tank. Cleaned it (which was probably my mistake....clean=bad???), added new arragonite, new CO2 tank. Hooked it up and it leaks at the intake grommet. So, today, starting off the day with another Home Depot Trip.
Gotta get the Ca Reactor going. All the stoney's are still in the frag tank taking up to much space. I've moved in about half of the softies and about 2/3 of the LPS that I have been collecting for this tank. I'm just adding 3-4 every week and watching them. Started with corals that I had "back ups" for (either at home or got from friends)
Second leak and this is the one that really ticks me off. Moved my old, very undersized Ca Reactor off of my 700 gallon system to put on this tank. Cleaned it (which was probably my mistake....clean=bad???), added new arragonite, new CO2 tank. Hooked it up and it leaks at the intake grommet. So, today, starting off the day with another Home Depot Trip.
Gotta get the Ca Reactor going. All the stoney's are still in the frag tank taking up to much space. I've moved in about half of the softies and about 2/3 of the LPS that I have been collecting for this tank. I'm just adding 3-4 every week and watching them. Started with corals that I had "back ups" for (either at home or got from friends)
Grace tank
New member
Thank's for the heads up-I'm not touching my tanks today. Good luck.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Well, 40 mile round trip to Home Depot to get on $2.75 piece and no more leaking Ca Reactor. Now I just need to clean up the mess!
Shelf with Ca Reactor and Skimmer (no, the bucket it not a permanent fixture)
Still need to clean up/organize the chords.
Next weekends project. I will be putting a waste collector on the shelf underneath the skimmer (no more bucket). I'll drill a hole through the shelf so that the tubing goes straight down from the skimmer and not out and around the Ca Reactor. Bottom shelf stays empty. For some reason, Cleveland the cat likes to sleep there. (Goby says "Hi")
Effluent from the Ca Reactor drips in front of the Sea Swirl. At some point, I'll replace this tubing with black tubing. None in the house and I'm not going back to Home Depot today!
Shelf with Ca Reactor and Skimmer (no, the bucket it not a permanent fixture)
Still need to clean up/organize the chords.
Next weekends project. I will be putting a waste collector on the shelf underneath the skimmer (no more bucket). I'll drill a hole through the shelf so that the tubing goes straight down from the skimmer and not out and around the Ca Reactor. Bottom shelf stays empty. For some reason, Cleveland the cat likes to sleep there. (Goby says "Hi")
Effluent from the Ca Reactor drips in front of the Sea Swirl. At some point, I'll replace this tubing with black tubing. None in the house and I'm not going back to Home Depot today!
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
All these parts and it still took 4 or 5 trips to Home Depot and 3 or 4 trips to ACE!
Now that I am done with the major components, I guess I should clean up my mess!
Now that I am done with the major components, I guess I should clean up my mess!
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
And now for some pics of the critters I've added in the past couple weeks:
Purple Torch (from ebay purchase...was one head when I got it, now 2 going on 3). "Rock" on the right is from Alternative reef. Zoas on it are a mix of Armaggedons (Frags-a-holics), Pink Ladies (Brian Greene) and a couple no names. Green ones are from a local club member. Orange and yellow are cut off of my frag rack eggcrate. I bought the original wild colony from an LFS.
Ricordeas from Coralmorphologic. "Rocks" are actually rock shaped plugs from Oceans Wonders. These things encrust with coraline extremely fast under T-5's.
Saint Thomas Shroom from Coralmorphologic (on a "recycled" clam shell)
Zoas from Coralmorphologic. They are grown on a plug that sits inside one of the Alternative Reef rocks.
Mixed zoas. Green ones are from a local club member and Orange ones are from Brian Greene (commercial aquaculture facility about an hour from me). Grown on an Oceans Wonders "rock".
Unkown Zoas I picked up a couple years ago at a frag swap. My Foxface ate the parent colony. I had two frags and a few loose polyps in my frag tank when that happened. This is one of those frags. It sits in another Alternative Reef rock.
Unknown Zoas from Brian Green. Last of the "colony" that the Foxface was chewing on. I stuck these on a mariculture plug where the stony coral was removed.
Purple Torch (from ebay purchase...was one head when I got it, now 2 going on 3). "Rock" on the right is from Alternative reef. Zoas on it are a mix of Armaggedons (Frags-a-holics), Pink Ladies (Brian Greene) and a couple no names. Green ones are from a local club member. Orange and yellow are cut off of my frag rack eggcrate. I bought the original wild colony from an LFS.
Ricordeas from Coralmorphologic. "Rocks" are actually rock shaped plugs from Oceans Wonders. These things encrust with coraline extremely fast under T-5's.
Saint Thomas Shroom from Coralmorphologic (on a "recycled" clam shell)
Zoas from Coralmorphologic. They are grown on a plug that sits inside one of the Alternative Reef rocks.
Mixed zoas. Green ones are from a local club member and Orange ones are from Brian Greene (commercial aquaculture facility about an hour from me). Grown on an Oceans Wonders "rock".
Unkown Zoas I picked up a couple years ago at a frag swap. My Foxface ate the parent colony. I had two frags and a few loose polyps in my frag tank when that happened. This is one of those frags. It sits in another Alternative Reef rock.
Unknown Zoas from Brian Green. Last of the "colony" that the Foxface was chewing on. I stuck these on a mariculture plug where the stony coral was removed.
