Kelley's 37 gal system. from the start
- Thread starter kelley_mc
- Start date
kelley_mc
Active member
I'm going to take it slow. I did put in a small clump of GSP, some xenia I got from ReefKrazy. I also put in some cool blue coral, not sure what it is that I got from him.
I don't have a ton of time to maintain the tank so most SPS will probably not be going in, at least right now. I am going to stick with some softies and LPS and take things slowly to see how it goes.
Any suggestions?
I don't have a ton of time to maintain the tank so most SPS will probably not be going in, at least right now. I am going to stick with some softies and LPS and take things slowly to see how it goes.
Any suggestions?
Rustylugnuts
Powdered Toast Man
My personal favorites are zoo's and rics. They frag well and there are TONS of color morphs (gotta chatch em all!).
kelley_mc
Active member
I love both choices. I actually almost picked up an orange ric yesterday but I decided to go with the a torch and trumpet coral. I don't want to add too many at once but rics will be one of my next choices.
I love zoos and have had some in the past but I lost most of them. I couldn't figure out why until I stumbled across a post about a zoo eating asterina stars. I found out that these little guys eat zoos and I noticed that as my zoos population dropped my asterina star popular exploded! So until I get rid of the asterinas, no zoos for me.
I did see that Harlequin shrimp can be trained to eat them so I may give that a try. The problem is that when it's done eating my stars, I need to either get rid of it or start adding starfish to my tank for him to eat.
I love zoos and have had some in the past but I lost most of them. I couldn't figure out why until I stumbled across a post about a zoo eating asterina stars. I found out that these little guys eat zoos and I noticed that as my zoos population dropped my asterina star popular exploded! So until I get rid of the asterinas, no zoos for me.
I did see that Harlequin shrimp can be trained to eat them so I may give that a try. The problem is that when it's done eating my stars, I need to either get rid of it or start adding starfish to my tank for him to eat.
kelley_mc
Active member
I've been puttering with my tank and did a few more things. The first was I built a simple kalk dripper. Easy to do and hopefully will save me some money on calcium and alkalinity additives. I used the instructions here: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/nftt/index.php
I built a holder for it using egg crate and zip ties. If I remember, I'll snap a pic of it and post it here.
I also added a UV sterilizer to my sump. It was a cheap one so I figured I would give it a try. The 24 watt version only cost me $50. Here is a link to a AOL video on it.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/green-killing-machine-aa-uv-sterilizer/2315806880
Finally, I added a couple new corals, a torch coral and a candy cane coral.
I built a holder for it using egg crate and zip ties. If I remember, I'll snap a pic of it and post it here.
I also added a UV sterilizer to my sump. It was a cheap one so I figured I would give it a try. The 24 watt version only cost me $50. Here is a link to a AOL video on it.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/green-killing-machine-aa-uv-sterilizer/2315806880
Finally, I added a couple new corals, a torch coral and a candy cane coral.
kelley_mc
Active member
Since I started the kalk dripper, my corals have opened up even more than I thought they could. This little device is well worth the 15 minutes it took to make.
Also, my nitrates have been running around 10 for over a year and since I added the chaeto to my sump, I've watched them incrementally drop down to 0!
Also, my nitrates have been running around 10 for over a year and since I added the chaeto to my sump, I've watched them incrementally drop down to 0!
Reeftanks6
Active member
Question for you kelley_mc i have the same skimmer for my 90 how are you using yours
kelley_mc
Active member
Hmmm.... not sure what you mean.
It's in my sump and I run it 24 hours. I did do the mesh mod on the pump impeller and to me it seems to have helped 100% with the water level fluctuations. Since I did the mod, it stays very stable.
The pump tube is cut so the pump sits just a couple inches below the water surface.
I modded the outlet tube with 1 inch pvc. Not for any reason other than I find it easier to work with. I am not using the bubble box because it takes up a lot of room and because I have a bubble trap after, I don't worry about the bubbles it produces.
I hope that helps.
Reeftanks6
Active member
kinda of helps but are you wet skimming or are you dry skimming and what is your red knob at which dot
kelley_mc
Active member
I'm not sure where my red knob is but I do know that is not the most effective way of comparing it. Because I have modded the impeller and outlet of the skimmer, my water level will run different than yours. I skim pretty dry. What you see in the collection cup is probably 3 days worth of skimmate. I can skim wetter and get much more, but my tank seems happy this way and now my nitrates are down to zero so I don't feel the need to change it.
Reeftanks6
Active member
ok thanks
kelley_mc
Active member
I did do the enkamat mod. I forget the details of it but I know I cut all but the lowest section of needle wheels. Then added a couple layers of the enkamat and tied it together with fishing line. It took me maybe 10 minutes to do and I was really impressed with the changes. The biggest improvement in my mind was the water level stayed stable. For the longest time I would get fluctuations and I was always tweaking the red knob. Since the mod, I don't have to touch it. Set it and forget it.
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