My 55 gallon reef project

[bigbenji]

Great thread, and keep posting even if you think its boring. We want to know how it's going.

FYI: ONE peppermint shrimp finished off the 7 or so (that I could see) glass anemones in my 75g. It only took him about 4 days. I'm still amazed, and haven't seen another anemone since. A friend used a Copperband Butterfly for his aiptasia problem with similar success, but the CB seems to like clam mantles and softies too.

Great work and keep posting!!

 

[dcombs44]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8892884#post8892884 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by larryp
hello. im in spfld also. went from a 55 to a 75. had the 55 for many years. if you ever need any help im close by let me know!

Nice to know there is someone in the area. I hadn't seen too many people on the forums from Springfield. Lot's of Bloomington-Normal and Champaign people, but not too many Sfield. I still find it hard to believe that there's not a variety of Salt Water Fish Stores in Springfield. I have been to Fish Man Pet Center a couple times. They have decent variety on dry goods and most of their fish seem fairly healthy, but very expensive. I guess that only makes since when you've got the market cornered in the city though. (My apologies if you have any involvement with the store, just my $.02) I did do some quizzing of the staff there, and they seemed to somewhat know their stuff. At least, I don't think they'd recommend a 3 foot long shark for my 55

 

[Benny Z]

Just stopping in to say hello from Bloomington.

Tank is looking good.

Cheers!
- Ben

 

[Cuby2k]

Hey D, what do you do to feed your hammer? I just got one about the same size and was using my baster to squirt off some rocks and just grazed the polyps and about 1/3 of them flew off. Dang I thought for sure I had killed it but it's coming back I think. But it still doesn't look as good as yours in the second photo so maybe I am not feeding it properly.

 

[dcombs44]

Well mine used to be beautiful. If you look in my first pic at all the dead skeleton, well that used to be totally filled out. I paid probably 50 or 60 bucks for this coral originally, but between the end of my old tank and the trip to the lfs, it faded quickly. Melev suggested feeding cyclop eeze every day or every other day with a turkey baster. He said to shut the pumps off for about 10 minutes to make sure it got a meal. I did that twice, and now i'm just spot feeding it a variety of things including cyclop eeze with the pumps on. It seems to no longer have a problem holding on to it's meal with the pumps running so I don't bother turning them off. Good luck

 

[dcombs44]

For any of you EuroReef doubters out there. Here's a pic of mine on my very lightly stocked 55 gallon. This is about 6 to 7 days worth of skimmate.

I'm pretty sure I've got it dialed in. Skimming wet of course.

 

[dcombs44]

and a couple shots of my fish

Aren't they just precious!!

 

[JmLee]

Very nice Dcombs44, Just ordered my 65 Gallon AGA + Stand today. Im also upgrading from a 29 gallon. Good times man.

 

[dcombs44]

Thanks! Have fun! It's amazing how this hobby can consume you. It's hard work, yet stress relieving all at the same time. Very good times.

I've got a couple of coral donors that I hope to meet up with in the next week or so. I will be sure to give credit where credit is due once I meet up with them. I love RC. I sound the need for frags on the forums in my area and people respond with DONATIONS, not sales, in minutes. Unbelievable.

 

[jnarowe]

that's a nice shot of nog!

 

[dcombs44]

nog huh? I like that. I think I'll use your term if you don't mind! HAHAHA.

 

[jnarowe]

not mine...I borrowed it!

 

[dcombs44]

crny1 was kind enough to help stock me up on corals. I got quite a variety of frags. Here are the pics so I can update the progress.

A cabbage leather frag

GSPs

Anthelia

Xenia

This is some species of brain that was dying under his lights. He's trusted me to try to revive it.

An itty bitty piece of a colt

Some orange and green zoas

I think this is a finger leather or similar

He also gave me 10 or so mushrooms of different varieties. I hope they all take well to their new home.

 

[akbuuur]

Can i see a pic of your sump with the miricale mud?

 

[dcombs44]

This is about as good as I can do with the way I have the sump positioned. There are four chambers, the 2nd is the fuge with the mud and my skimmer. If you have any specific quesitons about it, feel free to ask. One thing: If I had it to do over again, I would probably do the baffles a bit differently to avoid microbubbles.

 

[akbuuur]

I have a 92, and im trying to figure out how to set up the sump underneath the tank. I can fit a 20 high but in that i could only put my skimmer and return but i def want a fuge... i think i can get 2 10 gallons underneath, one for fuge and one for skimmer but im not sure if thats the best idea and even then... the water would go to the fuge first and then the skimmer sump... thinking that would build detritus in the fuge.

 

[dcombs44]

I actually put my tank in a corner so I could turn the tank sideways underneath it, so part of it hangs out the back. Most people would probably say to have the skimmer section first. You could put a sponge or a filter sock on the overflow outlet to catch the detritous etc. Marc Levenson (Melev) is an expert with sumps. You may send him a pm or check out his thread to ask questions. I'm by no means an expert. You could plumb 2 10 gallons together but you don't want the water to come directly to the fuge (it would stir up the mud/sand, etc) You would have to divide where the water hit the sump from the fuge section.

Best of Luck. If I can be of any more help let me know.

 

[akbuuur]

Thanks man i appreciate it and i must say this is one of the nicer 55's ive seen even though its in the begging stages.

 

[dcombs44]

A pic of the first zoa opening.

 

[00nothing]

dcombs that las frag that u thought might a finger leather looks like a kenya tree to me used to ahve a huge one that I would frag