mark54321
Active member
View from the top
[/url]top view by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]top view2 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
Deep and dark - Elos 120XL deepwater biotope
- Thread starter mark54321
- Start date
mark54321
Active member
My newest addition, spider sponge . I know they are hard to keep, but for that price I got I could not pass it. We will see how it does long term.
[/url]spider sponge by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
mark54321
Active member
And my spider sponge few hours later, fully acclimated
[/url]spider sponge by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
My newest addition, spider sponge . I know they are hard to keep, but for that price I got I could not pass it. We will see how it does long term.
[/url]spider sponge by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
And my spider sponge few hours later, fully acclimated
[/url]spider sponge by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
What makes these harder than other NPS corals?
How is the Carnation Coral doing?
Do you have any fish in the display, or are they all in QT?
Did you get the Ventralis anthias yet?
mark54321
Active member
So many questions
What makes the spider sponge hard to keep is that the white polyps grow faster than the sponge itself and in time overtake it completely. Then the sponge just die, and unfortunately polyps can't survive by themselves. The trick is to create balance when feeding so polyps don't grow so fast. Very few people were able to keep those for longer then a 6 months.
Unfortunately carnation coral just melted withing few days of going in my tank, I guess he was already starved or some other issues. I put my trio of Sunburst Anthias in DT about a week ago finally, but they are very shy by themselves there. I only see them when they feed , other than that they hide in rocks so far. So I need more fish in DT to make them more comfortable I guess. I have 5 chalk basses in qt right now, great small fish that gets along in group and very peaceful.Unfortunately not very popular with hobbyists. No ventralis yet, but hopefully soon.
Arkayology
Active member
Wow. All you need is a kegerator and a TV and you would never have to leave this basement. The tank looks amazing.
mark54321
Active member
Today " the ugly" part of my system. Hart of this set up is my refugium, right now it is one ugly thing, growing all kind of nasty, hair algae, byropsis, culerpa, cyano , etc. I will introduce more macroalgae soon, I hope it will overtake the hair and byropsis. But for now refugium is doing its job. I don't measure my PO4 and NO3 at this moment, but my main display stays clean of any algae so far, in fact I did not cleaned my front glass once yet, since starting this system. And I feed a lot and every day.
[/url]refugium by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
My big ATI Powercone skimmer is helping with nutrients as well, I have to empty my cup every 3 days, as it gets full of stinky , dark skimmate.
[/url]IMG_4733 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]IMG_4735 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
So my DT stays clean so far , sorry for bad picture and corals on sand , those are rescue that I have to take out and feed in separate container every night for now. When they get stronger and open in DT without a problem, they will go on main rock structure.
[/url]FTS by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
My big ATI Powercone skimmer is helping with nutrients as well, I have to empty my cup every 3 days, as it gets full of stinky , dark skimmate.
So my DT stays clean so far
, sorry for bad picture and corals on sand , those are rescue that I have to take out and feed in separate container every night for now. When they get stronger and open in DT without a problem, they will go on main rock structure.
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Looks good Mark!
I had long term issues with PO4 and NO3 until I purchased an ARID E18 chaeto reactor.
There is another thread in reef discussion about the merits of Algae Reactors vs Algae Scrubbers. Personally, I think either one will work, just depends on the system and the desires of the owner.
Have you considered something like that, or is the fuge doing just fine for you in that regard?
I agree with you regarding the Chalk basslets. Great fish with neat colors and personality. The only reason I dont have any right now is that I have this weird hang up about wanting fish and critters from the same area right now and I'm working on an Indonesian reef right now....Chalk bass are Caribbean...otherwise....
I had long term issues with PO4 and NO3 until I purchased an ARID E18 chaeto reactor.
There is another thread in reef discussion about the merits of Algae Reactors vs Algae Scrubbers. Personally, I think either one will work, just depends on the system and the desires of the owner.
Have you considered something like that, or is the fuge doing just fine for you in that regard?
I agree with you regarding the Chalk basslets. Great fish with neat colors and personality. The only reason I dont have any right now is that I have this weird hang up about wanting fish and critters from the same area right now and I'm working on an Indonesian reef right now....Chalk bass are Caribbean...otherwise....
Very nice set up.
About the anthias. You're lucky to have a large batch to choose from as there's bound to be a true supermale among them. I had one that was so beautiful... A remarkable fish.
I'll be interested to see how they go with your sunbursts though. No two tanks are the same, so hopefully YMWV, but my dominant sunburst harassed the ventralis. Not in a major way, just enough to put off one or two from eating and contribute to their demise.
But nothing looks more gorgeous in an azoo setting IMO than ventralis with Colin's Angels or if you can get them, a Tinkers pair; can't wait to see the stars of the show arrive!
:wave:
Angie
About the anthias. You're lucky to have a large batch to choose from as there's bound to be a true supermale among them. I had one that was so beautiful... A remarkable fish.
I'll be interested to see how they go with your sunbursts though. No two tanks are the same, so hopefully YMWV, but my dominant sunburst harassed the ventralis. Not in a major way, just enough to put off one or two from eating and contribute to their demise.
But nothing looks more gorgeous in an azoo setting IMO than ventralis with Colin's Angels or if you can get them, a Tinkers pair; can't wait to see the stars of the show arrive!
:wave:
Angie
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Saxman7
New member
Mark,I apologize for my hiatus but your build is looking amazing. I'm glad it's up and running finally!
A concept that I've been messing alot with is taking advantage of a systems tendencies to create ideal environments for species of specific requirements. Taking Things such as your fuge's potential to run consistently messy as a opportunity to house some difficult species that may thrive because of it and potentially even do/balance the work for you! A great example I have found with auto fed/nps style tanks is the sand bed makes the ideal food ground for organismslike sea cucumbers or medusa worms... Or in my current case sustain a pair of twinspot gobies! And they keep it well managed! Maybe there's some critters that could really make your fuge a game changer!
Something to consider for your tank is something that I started noticing with keeping more deeper dwelling species such as anthias and tilefish..(and I'm sure you're aware) a lot of them can be flighty and jump.(lost my male randall's right after I got him some ladies to this and a chameleon tilefish too. :/ ) I've found that on larger shallow tanks, constructing a euro brace-like rim around the tank works well without taking away from the rimless look. Simply getting some cuts of glass to create a frame that resessed about 6 inches in seemed to do the trick.
I have found my marine Betta to be an absolutely phenomal model citizen to my reefer tank that I'm doing as a deepwater tank. the dim lit environment really pushes his inner character to come out. Working with them at work constantly aswell, I have really found them to not be a problem with small fish and only the tiniest shrimp (like emperors and sexys I guess would be a potential worry). Their hardiness is also incredible. I would highly recommed one at some point for your tank Mark!
Loving the chalk basslet group aswell. I have found both Randall's and yellow assessors to work well in groups too. They would look awesome swimming vertically up and down the sides of your rock structure!
I hope you have plans for auto feeding fridge. My tanks have been through some horrible luck latley with a couple of really lame incidents of fish losses and jumps but everything else has done very well and I have made some exciting discoveries with auto feeding. I'll post a thread soon! Keep it up Mark!
A concept that I've been messing alot with is taking advantage of a systems tendencies to create ideal environments for species of specific requirements. Taking Things such as your fuge's potential to run consistently messy as a opportunity to house some difficult species that may thrive because of it and potentially even do/balance the work for you! A great example I have found with auto fed/nps style tanks is the sand bed makes the ideal food ground for organismslike sea cucumbers or medusa worms... Or in my current case sustain a pair of twinspot gobies! And they keep it well managed! Maybe there's some critters that could really make your fuge a game changer!
Something to consider for your tank is something that I started noticing with keeping more deeper dwelling species such as anthias and tilefish..(and I'm sure you're aware) a lot of them can be flighty and jump.(lost my male randall's right after I got him some ladies to this and a chameleon tilefish too. :/ ) I've found that on larger shallow tanks, constructing a euro brace-like rim around the tank works well without taking away from the rimless look. Simply getting some cuts of glass to create a frame that resessed about 6 inches in seemed to do the trick.
I have found my marine Betta to be an absolutely phenomal model citizen to my reefer tank that I'm doing as a deepwater tank. the dim lit environment really pushes his inner character to come out. Working with them at work constantly aswell, I have really found them to not be a problem with small fish and only the tiniest shrimp (like emperors and sexys I guess would be a potential worry). Their hardiness is also incredible. I would highly recommed one at some point for your tank Mark!
Loving the chalk basslet group aswell. I have found both Randall's and yellow assessors to work well in groups too. They would look awesome swimming vertically up and down the sides of your rock structure!
I hope you have plans for auto feeding fridge. My tanks have been through some horrible luck latley with a couple of really lame incidents of fish losses and jumps but everything else has done very well and I have made some exciting discoveries with auto feeding. I'll post a thread soon! Keep it up Mark!
Rickyrooz1
Acropora Nut
Mark, do you still have the original ATI AC pump or did you have to make the switch to the Jebao DC pump? Mine finally kicked the bucket and the ATI was pulling 3,485 LPH air on my PowerCone 250 but the Jebao is maxing out at 2,654 LPH.
mark54321
Active member
Thank you for your input, I did see those threads and did my research, I decided to go with refugium for two reasons, it does export nutrients ( same as ARID reactor and algae scrubber) but also it does produce tons of live food that gets in my DT. So far my fuge is doing great.
Thank you, only time will tell how my fish will get along. Just finished qt with my chalk bass and new batch of fish will go in qt soon, hopefully I can find ventralis, I am ready for them now. Colin's angel would be great If I could find one, good suggestion.
You have great tank, good luck with NPS corals, just make sure to feed them a lot.
Same thing, NPS mostlyGlad to see you back Mark. I always admired your NPS tank. Going for the same this time around?
Good to hear your feedback, I will consider the euro brace like cover, as I can't put a full one , because of my rocks above water line. Marine betta , very interesting, but I don't think it is for me
.Auto feeding fridge is in planning stage, and I hope to have more time to complete this project later this year. Right now manually feedings 2-3 times a day will have to do. I can't wait to see updates and pictures on your tank.
Hi, unfortunately the pump crapped out and I was also sent the Jebao 4000DCT, it works well enough, but I have to run it on almost full power. My digital air meter isn't working anymore , so I can't really say what it is pulling. I am considering making a switch in future to Lifereef skimmer.
mark54321
Active member
Long time , so my chalk bass group finished qt and was transferred to DT yesterday. I lost one for apparently no reason, so 4 out of 5 made it . I did add more corals and tank is starting to look fuller. I am also finding small baby sun polyps around my tank, I guess they are thriving and spawning. My trio of sunburst anthias still doing great, but are very shy. I hope new fish will help them to feel more secure and I will be able to see them in open more. I am looking now for a batch of Ventralis antchias to go to my qt as next fish. Now some new pictures :
[/url]nps tank1 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank3 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank8 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank5 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank4 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank7 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]fts1 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank2 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]nps tank9 by Mark Mikina, on Flickr[/IMG]
