My 30 Gallon Reef

[CWebHokie]

My 30 Gallon is finally starting to look like an actual tank these days with coral and a few different fish so I figured I would post a couple pics to share. I'm not great with a camera so my shots are not the best but you get the idea.

This is a closup of the pair of misbarred oscellaris that I got from Ultimate Aquariums in Salem. These guys are just too cool. Been wanting some for a while, glad I got them.

Another random pic

Thanks to Ade and Nanofool, Matt hooked me up with a Frogspawn and a Hammer frag that you guys each left with him after the last crawl. Greatly appreciated, and I look forward to returning the favor soon.

 

[ade]

Corals and fish look very happy. Great job.
Ade

 

[CWebHokie]

Thanks Man :thumbsup:

 

[surfnvb7]

lookin good eric.

is that a purple dotty back / psuedochromis? or whatever their name is.

i've been wanting to get one but heard they may bother cleaner shrimp

 

[ade]

I think it is a royal gramma or it could be a brazillian gramma. Yes they can eat small shrimp, the brazillian has a larger mouth than the royal and can be a lot more aggressive. In all a great and colorful fish.

 

[jocoxVT]

Matt has a fridmani pseduchromis whcih look really similar but I am pretty sure that they are fine, at least of my knowledge, but the purple pseudochromis/dotty back is a different fish and can harrass other fish of similar size, I tried one since they look identical to the fridmani but cost less then half as much and mine harrassed my 6 line non stop.

JC

 

[CWebHokie]

As far as I know, it is a royal gramma (that's what C&P called it when I payed $15 for it). It was the first fish that I tested the waters with. I waited a long time for fish. The tank has been "setup" for a long time but not what I would call "functional". I did get a really good picture of it today which should shed some light on what it really is... I'm pretty sure its a Royal Gramma.

It was a complete dick to my bicolor blenny the first couple of days that I had him in there. I attirbute it to their similar coloration being in a small tank. They get along fine now. He was also ****ed when I put the Insane Clown Posse in the tank yesterday, but that only lasted a couple hours.

The Clowns names are Shaggy2Dope and Violent Jay because I couldn't think of another name for a pair of black and white clowns. Here is another picture of the Insane Clown Posse.

Sorry I just think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Here is a pretty cool pic of my bicolor chilling in the rockwork.

This fish has serious character, I would sugggest buying one to anyone. The only thing is that he picks on new zoanthid colonies. Not sure if he is messing with the zoo's themselves or eating the associated algae off of them when they are closed up. I had some issues with some Zoo's that I bought from ZQ. (Probably mostly my fault, long story.) He beat the **** out of them for a while, but they are making a comeback, here is a picture (under actinics). There were over 100 on this rock, now I have 15-20 good polyps on this rock. They are nothing special but I liked the green-on green color.

Well that's enough for me for now. The 40 Gallon Breeder project is coming soon. I have the tank, stand and sump @ my place (thanks jfloydjr) but I am waiting for tax return time to make it happen. It will be pimp, at least I hope. With the guidance of the people in this area, I feel like I can't go wrong!!

 

[AIMFish]

Yes that's a Royal Gramma. Typically nicer than Bicolor and Purple Puesdo's, that's why I had Chris order me one As mentioned they are less expensive than Orchid Dottybacks, being captive bred brings their price up. Make sure you keep your lid shut, they can be a little flighty

 

[CWebHokie]

Update...

Update...

It's been about a month since I posted any pics of my 30 gallon and a good bit has changed since then, so I figured I would put some new pics up.

The 40 gallon breeder project is coming close to what I would call "full swing" so things will be pretty busy in the next couple of months. I was going to just leave my 30 running and do a 40 breeder with a 20 gallon sump but I came into another 40 breeder cheap (thanks Ade) so I decided to do dual 40 breeders with a 30 gallon sump. Should be pretty cool when its all done. I scored 2 175 MH's (thanks Matt) for one 40 and will probably go with a T-5 Teklight setup for the other. I got some pretty good live rock from a local friend real cheap. Here is a pic of half of it.

I still have to build a stand and I have another that needs to be finished and painted. Matt and I built a canopy tonight, just need to put some finshing touches on it and paint/stain it and wire up the lights. Once the stands are ready, all I need is a pump and plumbing to get things circulating. From there, IT'S ON!!!

I also recently (a week ago) setup my old minibow7 as a nano tank with a few relatively cheap items. This tank has the potential to be real cool. I'm thinkin' heavy zoanthids with a small soft coral and a small goby, maybe a shrimp too.

Pics of the coolness coming in a few minutes.

 

[surfnvb7]

if you need some sps to try out under those new MH's let me know, i have a couple of sps's i need to clear out in order to make room for new goodies.

 

[CWebHokie]

30 Gallon Update w/Pics

30 Gallon Update w/Pics

Okay, I promised pics. Just got to rambling for a few minutes... It happens.

Here is a full view of the tank tonight.

(Pardon my picture taking ability, it isn't the best.)

Things are perking up in my tank. I started dosing Kalk this weekend, thanks to Matt. I think it has improved and stabilized my water chemistry making everything a lot happier in general.

I've got some cool new Zoo's. Some of them from a pretty unlikely source. A friend of mine works at C&P and I recently convinced her to order some zoanthid frags. The first time she just ordered one so I decided to go look at it. It was pretty plain under the NO fluorescent lighting but I had a feeling there was some color in there somewhere, so I bought it. (Frags are cheap) It colored up pretty well in my tank. It's some kind of Paly I think, nothing worth a name but I like it.
Here's a pic:

Today, I got a call that they had some more in, so I checked them out. These looked very bland in the tank, but the lighting is crap so I decided to give 'em a shot. I was happy to see when I got home that there was some color there.

A couple of pic's of the new C&P frags:

(The bright orange one's in the back center were off of a bigger rock from Chris @ Ultimate in Salem)

Here is a better pic of the Zoanthids I bought from Ultimate. (This is about half of the rock, I decided to break it up and put some in the MiniBow when its ready.)

A few more pics of random stuff

The Posse:

Actinic makes things look cool....

Frogspawn frag doing well.

That's all for now. A few pics of the MiniBow7 coming up in a few.

 

[CWebHokie]

MiniBow7 - a work in progress

MiniBow7 - a work in progress

Well, on a whim, I decided that my empty MiniBow7 needed some love. (A cool little tank like that shouln't sit empty...) So, I found a decent little PC light on Premium Aquatics and got it. I wanted to run a skimmer because I used to have this setup with saltwater but no skimmer and it was just problems. I stumbed over an el-cheapo Rio Nano skimmer for $40 new, so I decided to give it a shot. The little sucker actually skims... It has a needewheel on a rio-110 pump. It is a little funky to adjust but once you get it rocking it seems to keep working till you mess with it. (Unlike my Seaclone...)

Pic of the skimmer box:

Skimmer on the tank:

(There's some fresh skimmate there...)

A few pics of the tank:

 

[CWebHokie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8704571#post8704571 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by surfnvb7
if you need some sps to try out under those new MH's let me know, i have a couple of sps's i need to clear out in order to make room for new goodies.

I am a little bit off from needing frags but in a month or so I will take 'em off your hands no prob.

I might actually have a Zoo or two that you want after they spread out some.

 

[surfnvb7]

hey eric,

have you had any problems with your 6025 tunze nanostreams yet?

just curious, b/c i just sent both of mine back to tunze to be replaced. one of them started having a terribly loud vibration last week. i took it apart, then took the impeller out of the casing and the metal shaft fell out. its supposed to be glued to the motor mount. i PM'd them about it, b/c i was fine with just gluing it back inside, but they said it probably wouldn't hold long term.

the real problem apparently resides with the size of the magnet on the impeller. its too small, and caused small vibrations that eventually shook the shaft off its base.

sounds like they are also having problems with the first batch of 6045's, since they were all hand built in order to satisfy all the early orders. seems like there was a bit of human error involved in the building of them.

just a thought, but you may want to hold off on putting up the big $$ on the 6055's until they work out all the bugs. seems like all the new pumps, vortecs/nanostreams all had small problems with the first batches built.

i dont mind sending my 6025's back, since they said they would replace them free of charge. but i just wonder how long it will take to actually get them back, ya know?

anyways, just wanted to let you know. and see if you are having similar problems.

 

[jocoxVT]

How long did you have your 6025s before they started that Alex. I got a set about 2 weeks ago and have been extremely satisfied and was even going to purchase a 6045 now that you say that I may hold off on the 6045 until later in the spring.

JC

 

[surfnvb7]

my 6025's came from the first batch, or about the first batch. i got them back in late october/early november. something like that.

tunze stated that these flaws were typical of about 10% of the first batch or two. although thats probably a generous statement.

i didnt notice the large vibrations until just 2 weeks ago from one of the pumps. the noise was pretty loud, but not quite as loud as the sound when they first start up. but other one makes a little bit of noise, its more noticable if you put your ear up to the glass of the tank.

i didnt even think to take them apart and check to see if the shaft was still attached, or if the impeller shaft felt "lose" inside the motor mount until that one started making that loud noise.

i'm still very satisfied with them. i love the versatility and the flow. so as long as i get my new ones back in a reasonable amount of time, i will still have respect for the product/company.

just based on all these problems with the "first batches" in these new pumps, may want to hold off until they get all their 1st production bugs out, say about 3-4months after they finally come out.

 

[CWebHokie]

No problems yet. (Knocking on wood...) I've read about a handflul of people having the same problem that you are, I guess it's just the risk you take with buying a new product. I haven't heard of anyone mistreated by Tunze though. It seems like Roger is bending over backward to make everyone reasonably happy. I plan on waiting as long as possible for the 6055's but now they say that they will not be available until april so I may get a pair from the first batch with the faith that Tunze will look out for me if I have a problem. I do love the 6025 though, it is a slick little water mover. (I won't call it a powerhead because that label doesn't do it justice.) I'm sure with some time and patience they will get the bugs worked out.

P.S. - I probably will not be on to check for responses for a few days bc I am traveling to Kansas to see some family. So if I don't respond to posts, I am not ignoring just not online.

 

[surfnvb7]

well, i got my replacement pumps back from tunze. only took a week, great customer service.

there is definitely a difference b/w the new ones and the old ones. the well/hole in the motor is smaller, and fits more snugly around the magnet on the impeller. hopefully this will lead to less vibrations in the motor itself as the impeller is turning.

just wanted to let everyone know. its still a good product, just some first production bugs b/c maybe the development was rushed a bit.