Girly Gears
New member
Lol, I have that same algae right now and my tank is about 9 months old, now I have some light at the end of the tunnel! It still looks great, it makes me want to go max out a credit card on some acans.
DIY 20g Long Build Thread
- Thread starter JasonBJones
- Start date
JasonBJones
New member
Tank is coming along nicely and the algae is starting to dissipate. This has started increasing my motivation to put a lot of energy back into the tank. I am considering adding a few SPS pieces back in, I miss them. I also added a rainfordi goby as I couldn't handle the tank being fishless any longer.
I also had been lazy and hadnt set the shelf up in my new apt that the light hangs from, so it had been sitting directly on the tank. Although I was only running 2 bulbs, it was bleaching some of the corals. I have raised it up, hopefully this will help.
Here are some updated pictures. I am really happy to see the rocks really starting to become purple.
I also had been lazy and hadnt set the shelf up in my new apt that the light hangs from, so it had been sitting directly on the tank. Although I was only running 2 bulbs, it was bleaching some of the corals. I have raised it up, hopefully this will help.
Here are some updated pictures. I am really happy to see the rocks really starting to become purple.
JasonBJones
New member
Have a couple of new additions to show. Today I found a phonape birdnest and a beautiful rock to mount it on, and couldn't pass it up the deal. I have been itching to have at least one SPS growing in the tank, as the next tank will be SPS dominate and I enjoy SPS more than anything else. The price on the piece was great, and I have always loved birdsnest. For such a "beginner" and basic SPS, they are striking.
I was also tired of having no fish. The rainfordi goby was never to be found after the first day, so that was a waste. I wanted to put a couple of fish in there but didn't want to spend much. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to make my wife happy. Every time we go into a store, she always oogles over the damsels. While it always amazes me, she is completely consistent and will point them out and talk about how pretty they are before she knows what they are. So I decided to get a couple since there will be no other fish in the tank. As my best man told me on my wedding day, "A happy wife is a happy life."
I was also tired of having no fish. The rainfordi goby was never to be found after the first day, so that was a waste. I wanted to put a couple of fish in there but didn't want to spend much. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to make my wife happy. Every time we go into a store, she always oogles over the damsels. While it always amazes me, she is completely consistent and will point them out and talk about how pretty they are before she knows what they are. So I decided to get a couple since there will be no other fish in the tank. As my best man told me on my wedding day, "A happy wife is a happy life."
JasonBJones
New member
Time for another update. Tank is continuing to turn around and do well.
On the livestock front, I picked up a german blue polyp digi from a local reefer recently. Seems to be doing well and the bright blue polyps are really nice. The white damsel harassed the blue damsel pretty much non-stop. The blue damsel stopped eating and then disappeared a couple of days later, very sad. The white damsel gets to rule the tank alone now I guess.
Finally got around to replacing the bulbs. I went with 3 ATI Blue+, and ATI Purple+ and an Aquasun UVL. I have also raised the lights up about 6" higher. I lost several rics this summer from bleaching them out by having the lights to close. With no SPS in here that are extremely light demanding, I thought I would raise it up and see what results I get. I have never been able to get my encrusting montis to color up well, this seems to be helping. I have also started feeding the LPS a couple of times a week, seems to be helping the growth.
A few new shots, I tried to do some from different angles than normal. Really wish I had a better camera.
On the livestock front, I picked up a german blue polyp digi from a local reefer recently. Seems to be doing well and the bright blue polyps are really nice. The white damsel harassed the blue damsel pretty much non-stop. The blue damsel stopped eating and then disappeared a couple of days later, very sad. The white damsel gets to rule the tank alone now I guess.
Finally got around to replacing the bulbs. I went with 3 ATI Blue+, and ATI Purple+ and an Aquasun UVL. I have also raised the lights up about 6" higher. I lost several rics this summer from bleaching them out by having the lights to close. With no SPS in here that are extremely light demanding, I thought I would raise it up and see what results I get. I have never been able to get my encrusting montis to color up well, this seems to be helping. I have also started feeding the LPS a couple of times a week, seems to be helping the growth.
A few new shots, I tried to do some from different angles than normal. Really wish I had a better camera.
Sinclair81
New member
Looks great, keep it up!
JasonBJones
New member
Just wanted to post a quick update and give an acknowledgment to the great customer service at ORA.
I purchased an ORA phonape birdnest Oct 25. The coral looked great and had nice pink tips. The coral was also a good size frag, as you can see from the earlier pics. Since purchase, the coral has been growing extremely well and has already added many new branches that are now 2-3mm in length--I have been extremely happy with the growth.
Unfortunately, the tips were beginning to lose the pink color and where becoming more white. I contacted ORA to see if they had any input on what was causing the condition and if they had any suggestions to help the pink tips return. Not only did they provide a great response, but they did so in eight minutes. Below is the response:
"Hi Jason,
When Birdsnest corals grow quickly, their tips tend to turn white where the new growth is occurring. You might not be seeing that pink color because new growth is occurring very quickly, lightening the tip color. As the colony becomes more mature, growth may slow some and the pink tips should return.
Hope this is helpful and thanks for contacting ORA!
Alex Pilnick"
That is great customer service and one of the reasons I try and buy ORA whenever possible.
I purchased an ORA phonape birdnest Oct 25. The coral looked great and had nice pink tips. The coral was also a good size frag, as you can see from the earlier pics. Since purchase, the coral has been growing extremely well and has already added many new branches that are now 2-3mm in length--I have been extremely happy with the growth.
Unfortunately, the tips were beginning to lose the pink color and where becoming more white. I contacted ORA to see if they had any input on what was causing the condition and if they had any suggestions to help the pink tips return. Not only did they provide a great response, but they did so in eight minutes. Below is the response:
"Hi Jason,
When Birdsnest corals grow quickly, their tips tend to turn white where the new growth is occurring. You might not be seeing that pink color because new growth is occurring very quickly, lightening the tip color. As the colony becomes more mature, growth may slow some and the pink tips should return.
Hope this is helpful and thanks for contacting ORA!
Alex Pilnick"
That is great customer service and one of the reasons I try and buy ORA whenever possible.
ange062
New member
I can't agree more, ORA has been awesome to me and so my 10+ SPS collection is all ORA. The birds (especially the hyacinth) are white at the tips but insanely fast growers. Enjoy!! Look forward to seeing more.
JasonBJones
New member
I read through this whole thread last night, mainly to procrastinate from studying. A couple of things struck me. First, I really miss many of the pieces that I lost to the power outage this summer. Second, it is really exciting to look back at some of the early pictures and see how far some of the corals have come. I decided to put together a couple of pictures to show the growth and thought I would share them here.
I have a couple of new acquisitions. I purchased a dendro frag in houston a couple of weeks ago. It has 1 main head and three baby heads. I have wanted one of these for a long time but have not found one for the right price and in good health until now. I also have three new zoa frags: 7 polyps of purple hornet, 25+ polyps of blue steel, and best of all (to me at least) a 5 polyp frag of dragon eyes. Dragon eyes have always been one of my favorite zoas and I have been looking for some since I set up my tank. I had a colony in my old tank back in 04 or 05 but sold them off when I converted it to SPS only. I always missed them and am glad to have some again. They may be old school, but the colors are just awesome.
Here are the pictures of the growth shots
I think these are the first zoas/palys I bought for the tank in Sep '10 and now:
I picked up this duncan in early October of '10. I wish it had kept the deep purple.
Here is a 1 month progression shot of the ORA phonape birdsnest. Oct 25 to Nov 27:
Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving
I have a couple of new acquisitions. I purchased a dendro frag in houston a couple of weeks ago. It has 1 main head and three baby heads. I have wanted one of these for a long time but have not found one for the right price and in good health until now. I also have three new zoa frags: 7 polyps of purple hornet, 25+ polyps of blue steel, and best of all (to me at least) a 5 polyp frag of dragon eyes. Dragon eyes have always been one of my favorite zoas and I have been looking for some since I set up my tank. I had a colony in my old tank back in 04 or 05 but sold them off when I converted it to SPS only. I always missed them and am glad to have some again. They may be old school, but the colors are just awesome.
Here are the pictures of the growth shots
I think these are the first zoas/palys I bought for the tank in Sep '10 and now:
I picked up this duncan in early October of '10. I wish it had kept the deep purple.
Here is a 1 month progression shot of the ORA phonape birdsnest. Oct 25 to Nov 27:
Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving
JasonBJones
New member
Decided to change skimmers. What do you guys think of the new one, I am a little worried it won't be enough.
SaintMark
New member
After I studied the picture for a long time and re-reading my notes, it is my belief that the new skimmer might have just enough power/volume to run your entire tank lol:lolspin:
Wow that will add about 1gal of water volume to your tank. It might be so big that you might have to have have a larger Tank installed :crazy1:
looks great keep the pics rolling
JasonBJones
New member
I think it would add 50% water volume if I hooked that monster it, it is gigantic. I am planning on starting a 130-150g sps tank next year, so I am slowly buying parts as I find them for the right price.
Some big changes are coming in the next couple of days. I finish my last final tomorrow, thankfully. Stay tuned
Here is to an "A".:beer:
venom550pm
Member
Great thread, glad to see you posting the lows along with the highs of this journey, a lot of people don't do that.
Any pics of the Dendros? I have a colony in my tank, it started out as three heads 1 1/2 years ago and now has 12 last time i counted, i feed them all the time!
Tagging along!
Any pics of the Dendros? I have a colony in my tank, it started out as three heads 1 1/2 years ago and now has 12 last time i counted, i feed them all the time!
Tagging along!
SaintMark
New member
That sucks :debi: why keep us waiting... Should have given us a hint
thejerzboi
New member
read through this entire thread, what an awesome build!
I am currently building my first 20L reef tank and your thread helped me to get an idea of different corals.. now I have a good idea of some that I would like..
What ever happened to your pistol shrimp and goby?
I am currently building my first 20L reef tank and your thread helped me to get an idea of different corals.. now I have a good idea of some that I would like..
What ever happened to your pistol shrimp and goby?
JasonBJones
New member
Thanks. Let's hope. The good news about the third year of law school is your grades are far less important.
Thanks, Venom. It is sometimes hard to talk about the rough patches, but it is a part of the journey. Hopefully we can all learn from each other's mistakes.
I havent taken any shots of the dendro yet. I will do that shortly. I have really enjoyed feeding him. I love in the morning when his tentacles are super extended.
Anticipation makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that. I will give you a little hint... Since the tank crash, I have been disappointed in the ric rock. Time to make some changes in that area.
Thank you for the compliments. Glad the thread has been helpful. Unfortunately the shrimp died during the May crash. The goby was the only fish that survived. He made the move back to Austin at the end of the summer. I set the tank back up and saw him dart behind a rock. That was the last time I saw him. Sad.
thejerzboi
New member
So fish wise, is the white damsel the only fish in there at this point? And what were you using for dosing your corals?
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