Chronicle of my 180g Aquarium

[Psyire]

Thanks Robby.

So I fed this Blue Lagoon Marine Gel today and the fish loved it. I went with the medicated version because my purple tang is taking forever to put on weight so I'm thinking ihe might have an internal parasite/worm or something. I figured it wouldn't hurt to have alittle med. in my fish anyway as I have never added any to their food. (Medicated version contains Metronidazole)

I like the jello like consistency and it feeds well. I just break off little chunks and drop it into the tank. The fish then tear it up and eat it quickly, and it also dissolves/breaks-up fairly fast so the smaller fish get a crack at it too.

 

[Psyire]

Unfortunately the UPS guy is taking his sweet time, so my 'exciting' update is being delayed...

 

[Psyire]

Just a warning to anyone that follows my thread:

This starfish eats SPS Acropora. I found out the hard way today. I noticed the base of my newly aquired acro was starting to turn white a few days ago, and then I kept a close eye on it only to catch this critter latched on in the darkness. Hopefully it will recover...

 

[Bebo77]

is the starfish the big suprise?

 

[Psyire]

no, lol

 

[speedingredline]

how about a hint then?

 

[Bebo77]

k i was going to say....

 

[Psyire]

I added some cooling fans to my tank a few days ago, they are 4.75" AC fans that are fairly quiet and move a pile of air. I siliconed them to the top of the tank as I couldn't figure out a better way of doing it. Since adding the fans I can maintain my temp within 1 degree F. I haven't noticed the huge increase in evaporation that I expected, but it has increased some.

Pic:

I also picked up an Eheim Ecco 2236 Canister filter for sucking detritus out of the bottom of my sump. It will also enable me to run carbon, nitrate remover, phosphate remover and other such substances in case of emergency. (I have a phosban reactor running 24/7, but ya never know...)

Pic:

 

[Psyire]

Now for my exciting update... :lol:

Sometime early last September, I stumbled upon the Mantis forum and started reading the threads located there. After a few days I decided I had to get myself a Peacock mantis. (Odontodactylus scyllarus)

Being from Northern Alberta I knew this was going to be rather trickly as I can't just order one and expect it to show up in a few days. So I started hunting around different message boards and calling different fish stores that are located in western Canada. As I suspected I was basically told... "I'll put you on the list"

Then as luck would have have it I got a PM on a board telling me this store had one. So I called them up and had him shipped out to me. Unfortunately once he arrived I realized it was not a peacock mantis afterall, it's not uncommon for ID's of these creatures to get confused. I decided to keep her and named here Ophelia.

She's a Female Haptosquilla stoliura and lives in my refugium with my fuzzy dwarf lionfish. They tolerate one another... She's about 3" give or take.

Here are some pics from last September:

She is doing great and has molted once since being in my care.

 

[Psyire]

Ofcourse my hunt for a Peacock Mantis did not stop...

I started planning the new tank for my little friend and quickly realized that I would be getting another Custom built Starphire tank from Aquarium Obsessed. (The guys that built my 180g)

I wanted it to have a large footprint yet be only 12" high as that would give the mantis a lot of room to roam around. Something that the standard tank sizes don't have. I also had to over engineer the glass thickness as these little critters pack a serious punch and I didn't want a cracked tank on my hands.

And well... after having Starphire I couldn't fathom anything else

So I did up the following blueprint and sent it away to AO.

 

[Psyire]

I decided that the tank would sit on my computer desk next to my Reef tank and that I would plumb the whole thing into my main system. This would mean I wouldn't have to control temperature or be as worried about water quality on the Mantis tank.

I would drop a pump (Quiet One 3000) into the return section of my sump and then have the overflow flow back into the sump just before my baffles. I also decided I would be using the Coralife Aqualight Lunarlight 30" fixture. (one of few 30" fixtures avaliable)

So my plan was in action. I had my tank designed and my equipment chosen. One problem. No Peacock Mantis.

Then one afternoon somebody 6 hours away decided that they were going to sell theirs. I jumped all over this and within a few days I had my peacock. 4.5" Female Odontodactylus scyllarus Woot! She is residing in a 12g Eclipse tank at the moment.

Here's a picture of "E.T."

 

[Psyire]

Equipment and tank arrived safe and sound!

Quiet One 3000:

Coralife Aqualight LunarLight 30"

Mantis Tank:

(24g Starphire)
(Needs Cleaned)

So now all I have to do is plumb it in and get it up and running. I'm hoping this happens next week, as I am working this weekend.

 

[Bax]

That's very cool, I was just looking at one of those 30" fixtures and thinkig it would be great for a small prop tank.

 

[DCFix]

This thread has been a great read for me, and I"ve learned a lot. Thank you!

I was wondering if you could take a pic of the black sand as it is today, just for comparison. I have 80lbs sitting in the garage waiting for my 75g to be set up, and depending on how black sand looks, I may just stick with the white/brown that I already have.

 

[Psyire]

No problem, sharing my information is the least I can do to give back to RC for all the help I've received here.

I can get that pic for you but it'll be a day or two.

 

[asnatlas]

Psyire, very cool...

So the tank is 3/4" ?? If so itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s not Starphire as they only make 1/2" as the greatest thickness... If your tank is 3/4" then it's Diamante (Low Iron)... On my 96x48x30 3/4 Diamante tank I have 4" wide 1/2 thick Starphire euro-bracing and there is a quite a bit of a diff in the Starphire compared to the Diamante... The Diamante is still way better then normal float glass but when I was working on my tank this past wk I was looking at the Starphire and man, its crystal clear...

 

[Psyire]

3/8"

Don't need 3/4" for a mantis, they aren't THAT strong, lol.

You can see the difference even though it's only 3/8" thick. Check out the above pictures and look at the top of my desk. The bottom of the tank is regular glass and you can see the top of my desk is tinted green. (but not when viewed through the side glass)

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6841171#post6841171 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Psyire
3/8"

Don't need 3/4" for a mantis, they aren't THAT strong, lol.

You can see the difference even though it's only 3/8" thick. Check out the above pictures and look at the top of my desk. The bottom of the tank is regular glass and you can see the top of my desk is tinted green. (but not when viewed through the side glass)

LOL, DOH, sorry about that... I was thinking to myself that 3/4" was a little overkill, didn't think they were THAT strong LOL...

If you look at this pic you can see a big diff in the bottom and back (normal float glass) opposed to the 3/4" Diamante sides...

 

[Horst]

Psyire:

Thanks for all the great posts in this thread. I can't wait to see E.T. in his new home. A few pages back, you posted pictures of a couple of float switches attached to a holder of some sort. Could you let me know where you got the switches and the holder?

 

[Psyire]

Hey Horst,

The floatswitches and holder I use is sold by Aquatronica, Available through Aquarium Obsessed. However these floatswitches have ends on them designed specifically for use with the Aquatronica's level interface. If you are looking for your own floatswitches for use with a different unit, I suggest trying here: http://www.floatswitches.net/otherproducts.html