drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

Drum....

Another question: Do you seem to find a bit of fine particulate in your water column. The black background seems to show it well. I have been having a bit of an issue. I am running filter socks for now and they definitly help a lot. I just don't think I want to run them long term and I see/know you haven't ran them.

Also how often are you having to clean the glass or how often are you seeing a film develop?

Awesome looking frag again!!

I really only have an issue after I feed, especially Nori. My Yellow tang loves to rip it off the clip and then it finds it's way into the Vortech blender. Haha. I'm trying to stay away from filter socks for the most part. A little floating particulate doesn't bother me when it happens, I just want to keep the system as low maintenance as possible at this point. Right now I'm cleaning the glass maybe every 3 days or so. It really consists of some brown film algae, no coralline on the glass yet so it's a 5 minute job.

 

[psteeleb]

UPDATE:


Full Tank Shot, 1-21-2010.

looking good, looking real good :dance:

 

[drummereef]

looking good, looking real good :dance:

Thanks Pete!! :thumbsup:

 

[psteeleb]

are you feeding anything to the gorg, maybe phytoplankton?

 

[drummereef]

are you feeding anything to the gorg, maybe phytoplankton?

I haven't yet. Nanook told me it was a photosynthetic gorgonian. I presumed it only needed light...? Do you think it would be a good idea and what particular product do you recommend (since I'm not culturing my own phyto)?

 

[psteeleb]

I haven't yet. Nanook told me it was a photosynthetic gorgonian. I presumed it only needed light...? Do you think it would be a good idea and what particular product do you recommend (since I'm not culturing my own phyto)?

I like DT's because it' live. I use it everyother day (maybe a teaspoon) but I'm feeding clams, dusters, sponges and pods.

keep an eye on the gorg at night or when it has good polyp extension, it may like something more meaty then phyto, like frozen rotfers or cyclopseze. These are all good nutrients for softies, LPS and some SPS corals, just keep an eye on the trates and/or the skimmer as you start to increase the nutrent levels in the tank to make sure most of what you feed gets consumed and doesnt end up as DOC's.

I feed pretty heavily every day but it gets consumed by the fish, corals and CuC in just a mater of a few minutes, I'll have to video it so people can get an idea

 

[Nanook]

I haven't yet. Nanook told me it was a photosynthetic gorgonian. I presumed it only needed light...? Do you think it would be a good idea and what particular product do you recommend (since I'm not culturing my own phyto)?

It is photosynthetic. In the two years since I've had it, I've fragged it at least 7-8 times. I'm sure it gets lots of other food from my system though due to my feeding habits as well.

 

[drummereef]

I like DT's because it' live. I use it everyother day (maybe a teaspoon) but I'm feeding clams, dusters, sponges and pods.

keep an eye on the gorg at night or when it has good polyp extension, it may like something more meaty then phyto, like frozen rotfers or cyclopseze. These are all good nutrients for softies, LPS and some SPS corals, just keep an eye on the trates and/or the skimmer as you start to increase the nutrent levels in the tank to make sure most of what you feed gets consumed and doesnt end up as DOC's.

I feed pretty heavily every day but it gets consumed by the fish, corals and CuC in just a mater of a few minutes, I'll have to video it so people can get an idea

OK great. I fed a little Ocean Nutrition Cyclops to the tank tonight. I figured the corals might like it too. I'll pick up some DT's over the weekend if I get a chance. I'll let you know how it goes!

It is photosynthetic. In the two years since I've had it, I've fragged it at least 7-8 times. I'm sure it gets lots of other food from my system though due to my feeding habits as well.

Thanks Nook. I'm assuming I'll need to feed the tank more aggressively now that there's some new inhabitants to keep happy. I'm still feeding my tang and cleaner wrasse nori, flake and occasionally some Rod's, but I should probably bolster the 'tanks' diet with some smaller foods. Seem like a OK idea?

 

[cromedogg33]

Brett,

I have a couple questions for you on how you cycled your tank and what you would have done differently.

I had the same fears of you with pests and unwanted stuff in my tank so I used all dry rock and dry sand.

I remember you having a minor problem with algae growth on your rocks during/after your cycle and you said you would have dosed MB7 from the begininning you would have thought that would have fixed most your problems.

Well I took the comment as a good starting point with mine as well. I have dosed the reccomended 1 capful per 25 gallons from day one of the tank. I have 5 chromis in the tank from day 1. My problem being I never really ever saw an ammonia spike and still have my nitrates reading 0. This friday will be the last day of "seeding" the tank with bacteria and will move to the low nutrient system and which point my ecobak and smr1 should be online by then.

Do you think the tank would be cycled by now without an ammonia swing? I've had 0 deaths in fish and the only side affect I've had from dosing this much bacteria is my substrate had become hard which I've been breaking up daily and is getting better.

I'm in no hurry to add livestock/corals to the tank but didn't realize I wouldn't have a conventional "cycle."

Any thoughts?

 

[drummereef]

Brett, I have a couple questions for you...

Hey Josh, that is indeed strange why the tank never saw a cycle. Refresh my memory on how long it's been running again? Pretty much any tank will cycle on it's own withing a 4-8 (give or take) week period even if the tank is left on it's own without a significant ammonia source. But in any event, with fish in the system from the beginning there was certainly enough ammonia to efficiently cycle the tank. With that said it's also possible the MB7 worked overtime in your tank and was extremely efficient at breaking down the waste as it was being manufactured, especially since you followed the directions and dosed liberally over the last few weeks. Just crazy to think the stuff would be THAT good. You didn't mention nitrite but I'm assuming you never saw any of that either, since normally you would see a spike shortly after the ammonia spikes.

With all that said, yes, I still think it's rather strange that a base rock / dry sand system never saw a traditional cycle. Do I think it's OK to move forward with your plans, yes. Just take it very slow. There's obviously a nice balance happening there you don't want to interrupt by adding to much livestock at once. I'd go ahead and start adding a cleanup crew and take notes on how the tank progresses. Good to know you are and want to take it at a snails pace.

 

[justin_g]

Amazing!

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Here's the latest full tank video. Shot 1-26-2011.


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[Nanook]

Pretty cool how the cleaner wrasse follows that yellow tang wherever he goes I love that gorgonian as the center piece:thumbsup:

 

[psteeleb]

great video Brett
the tank is realy looking great

 

[vexeclipse2007]

man don't i wish I was swimming in a pool of money

 

[drummereef]

Pretty cool how the cleaner wrasse follows that yellow tang wherever he goes I love that gorgonian as the center piece:thumbsup:

Yeah, it's funny how much they follow each other around. They seem like the best of friends. I agree, I really dig the movement the gorgonian brings to the tank. I tried to put it more in front but there's so much flow it was falling over. It's tucked nicely behind the center island but I think it really accents the tank perfectly.

great video Brett
the tank is realy looking great

Thanks Pete. I'm still trying to capture the colors better. I've tried different things to get the white balance right but still not there yet for some reason. Maybe I need to get a piece of white plastic or pvc and hang it in the tank or something, then do the "one touch" white balance setting in the camera. The color is really in between the still photos and what's coming up on the vids.

man don't i wish I was swimming in a pool of money

Me too vex. :lol:

 

[psteeleb]

Thanks Pete. I'm still trying to capture the colors better. I've tried different things to get the white balance right but still not there yet for some reason. Maybe I need to get a piece of white plastic or pvc and hang it in the tank or something, then do the "one touch" white balance setting in the camera. The color is really in between the still photos and what's coming up on the vids.

the white paper trick seems to work the best, I'll set the paper down right next to the base of the tank where it catches the light and do the "one touch"

 

[canyousee]

+1 Great water flow in the tank,the surface is agitating nicely and the bottom is perfect. The gorgonian on the center island is flowing back and forth like its part of a Voodoo ceremony. Mike:fun4:

 

[drummereef]

the white paper trick seems to work the best, I'll set the paper down right next to the base of the tank where it catches the light and do the "one touch"

Great! I'll give it a try.

+1 Great water flow in the tank,the surface is agitating nicely and the bottom is perfect. The gorgonian on the center island is flowing back and forth like its part of a Voodoo ceremony. Mike:fun4:

Ha! I definitely stand by the Vortechs. They are doing a great job.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Couple of new videos for you guys. Here you can see how much the Vortech MP40's are stirring things up. The Purple Millepora is on the center island. You can see how much flow there is, even at 3 feet from each Vortech. Seems like the corals are getting comfortable, good polyp extension and the colors are really starting to come out. The Mille seems particularly happy. What do you think?


Purple Millepora

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Green Acropora

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