GorillaReefer
Premium Member
Are you sure those are Red Bugs? Can't really tell from your pic but they look like Flat Worms.
My new 120
- Thread starter Chrisrush
- Start date
Chrisrush
New member
I bought this coral about a week and a half ago, found out it had a ostreobium infection, and so I had to frag it. It's a shame too, because I really liked that coral. Oh well, instead of 1, now I've got 6. Time to do some trading once they heal.
And now the frags and base:
I think that I got my ca reactor tuned. I'm having a little bit of trouble with the bubble counter/needle valve staying constant. I'll have to research it some and see what comes of it. Anyone have any tips?
I am still debating whether or not to treat the tank for flatworms. I have not seen as many as I did the first night. Marine Depot has FWE on back order, so I might go pick it up locally.
I am supposed to get a mg test and a new 10k 250w XM bulb tonight. I'm replacing the bulb on the right side of the tank b/c it's about 14 months old. It was a EVC 15k 250w bulb. I liked the color but I'm hoping to get some good growth from that 10k like I am on the left side of the tank. :rollface:
Thanks,
Chris
And now the frags and base:
I think that I got my ca reactor tuned. I'm having a little bit of trouble with the bubble counter/needle valve staying constant. I'll have to research it some and see what comes of it. Anyone have any tips?
I am still debating whether or not to treat the tank for flatworms. I have not seen as many as I did the first night. Marine Depot has FWE on back order, so I might go pick it up locally.
I am supposed to get a mg test and a new 10k 250w XM bulb tonight. I'm replacing the bulb on the right side of the tank b/c it's about 14 months old. It was a EVC 15k 250w bulb. I liked the color but I'm hoping to get some good growth from that 10k like I am on the left side of the tank. :rollface:
Thanks,
Chris
Chrisrush
New member
Well, time for an update. Everything is going well. I took out the bubble tower and put a filter sock on the drain instead. The bubble tower was collecting too much detrius. This way, with a filter sock, I can just take it out, wash it and install another one.
I picked up some small sps colonies in Indy for cfrobin and myself. We ended up splitting 6 different colonies. I was a little afraid of carrying them on the plane, but it ended up working out great. I even wrapped them in wet paper towels instead of bags of water. Polyps were out that night and no color loss.
I'll be getting a small group buy from those guys (extreme aquarium.com) in the spring if anyone is interested.
Now, on to the pictures:
Full tank shot:
Side view:
Other side view:
Three of the 6 colonies that we bought:
A. hoeke frags that I took (chris got the mother colony)
Unsure what this is, Brian at EA told me, but I can't remember now:
I picked up some small sps colonies in Indy for cfrobin and myself. We ended up splitting 6 different colonies. I was a little afraid of carrying them on the plane, but it ended up working out great. I even wrapped them in wet paper towels instead of bags of water. Polyps were out that night and no color loss.
I'll be getting a small group buy from those guys (extreme aquarium.com) in the spring if anyone is interested.
Now, on to the pictures:
Full tank shot:
Side view:
Other side view:
Three of the 6 colonies that we bought:
A. hoeke frags that I took (chris got the mother colony)
Unsure what this is, Brian at EA told me, but I can't remember now:
Chrisrush
New member
We also picked up this deep water acro:
And I got a small frag of this piece, seen a few pictures up:
Everything else seems to be doing well. I need to figure out how to raise my mg a little though, I think that if Fish Gallery has some dolomite, I'll pick some up.
Blue tipped acro w/ valida in background:
Cali tort and a. albo:
And I got a small frag of this piece, seen a few pictures up:
Everything else seems to be doing well. I need to figure out how to raise my mg a little though, I think that if Fish Gallery has some dolomite, I'll pick some up.
Blue tipped acro w/ valida in background:
Cali tort and a. albo:
Chrisrush
New member
Thanks, and you are right, those pictures do seem clear. I'm not using ozone at this point, but I may in the future. I need to read up on it and get a good controller. Right now I've got 2 filter socks on my drains to help with any stray microbubbles.
BTW, I added some cyclopeeze to my tank today, man, I don't think that I've seen my sps polyps so open during the day.
CHris
BTW, I added some cyclopeeze to my tank today, man, I don't think that I've seen my sps polyps so open during the day.
CHris
Chrisrush
New member
So I've been wanting to add a few fish to my tank lately, after the suggestion of my wife and I think that I've narrowed it down to a couple.
What combo would be the best?
A Powder Blue Tang
A pair of reef safe angels - watanabe or bellus
3 or 4 anthias (1 male, 2 or 3 female)
I have a pair of clowns and a pair of PJ cardinals. I would like to get something thats colorful and swims out in the open.
Thanks,
Chris
What combo would be the best?
A Powder Blue Tang
A pair of reef safe angels - watanabe or bellus
3 or 4 anthias (1 male, 2 or 3 female)
I have a pair of clowns and a pair of PJ cardinals. I would like to get something thats colorful and swims out in the open.
Thanks,
Chris
Chrisrush
New member
Well, it's been a while since I've updated this thread, especially with some pictures. I re-aquascaped a few weekend ago and I've been working pretty hard on keeping my params (ca, alk, mg) up to 400, 8-9, 1300 respectively. It's been quite a challenge when my ca reactor doesn't want to play nicely. I'm wet testing a new diy reactor that I hope to have installed in the next week or so. It's a beast, 6" diameter, 18" tall reactor chamber. I figure that this should last me a while. Next on the list will be either a) kalk reactor or b) phosphate reactor.
I added a seio 1500 from Ken on Sat. and it adds some nice gentle flow throughout the tank. Really helps with the dead spots.
I also added some DIY branching rocks when I reaquascaped. They look alright now, but it gave me some added space, which I desperately needed. Plus, they are going to be covered in corraline and corals anyways, so what's the big deal.
I added 4 lyretail anthias, 5 peps and 2 cleaner shrimp about a month ago. 1 of the anthias died the first night and 1 had a bad case of pop-eye. The pop-eye is clearing up and I do believe that adding those 3 fish and along with that the increased feedings, and bioload has really helped the colors of my sps.
In terms of corals, I added a small hammer from Marc, and a couple of other small frags from Rick, although, I had to play hack an acro with one of them due to some RTN when I was mounting it this weekend.
Other than that, things have been going well. I'm hoping to upgrade from my RK1 or get some tunze but I haven't decided what to do just yet.
Now, onto the pictures.
Small pink frag from Chris (cfrobin). Finally started to get darker, I thought that it would never recover.
Cali tort, looking better each day. Not growing too fast, but it's there (I think)
Yellow Acro frag from Cfrobin (this has started to encrust and is looking great, especially the green ring on the encrusting part)
Close-up
Valida from Peter (finally getting back the purple and darker colors, note the purple rim around the encrusting base)
I added a seio 1500 from Ken on Sat. and it adds some nice gentle flow throughout the tank. Really helps with the dead spots.
I also added some DIY branching rocks when I reaquascaped. They look alright now, but it gave me some added space, which I desperately needed. Plus, they are going to be covered in corraline and corals anyways, so what's the big deal.
I added 4 lyretail anthias, 5 peps and 2 cleaner shrimp about a month ago. 1 of the anthias died the first night and 1 had a bad case of pop-eye. The pop-eye is clearing up and I do believe that adding those 3 fish and along with that the increased feedings, and bioload has really helped the colors of my sps.
In terms of corals, I added a small hammer from Marc, and a couple of other small frags from Rick, although, I had to play hack an acro with one of them due to some RTN when I was mounting it this weekend.
Other than that, things have been going well. I'm hoping to upgrade from my RK1 or get some tunze but I haven't decided what to do just yet.
Now, onto the pictures.
Small pink frag from Chris (cfrobin). Finally started to get darker, I thought that it would never recover.
Cali tort, looking better each day. Not growing too fast, but it's there (I think)
Yellow Acro frag from Cfrobin (this has started to encrust and is looking great, especially the green ring on the encrusting part)
Close-up
Valida from Peter (finally getting back the purple and darker colors, note the purple rim around the encrusting base)
Chrisrush
New member
More pics.
Unknown blue from Exotic Aquatics (this one got eaten by something on the left hand side, I believe it to be AEFWs)
Unknown #2 from EA (also attacked by I believe AEFWs)
Close-up on Unknown #2 (This coral was very purple/green when I first got it, and I hope it returns to that color)
Tenius, tri-color and pocci
Tri-color up close from TranquilScape
Tenius up close
Tenius
Unknown blue from Exotic Aquatics (this one got eaten by something on the left hand side, I believe it to be AEFWs)
Unknown #2 from EA (also attacked by I believe AEFWs)
Close-up on Unknown #2 (This coral was very purple/green when I first got it, and I hope it returns to that color)
Tenius, tri-color and pocci
Tri-color up close from TranquilScape
Tenius up close
Tenius
Chrisrush
New member
Thanks Tyler. Corraline takes time, plus, almost all of the rock came from my old 58, so the corraline was there for a while.
I took a couple pieces of 1" pvc and bent it with a torch and then added some window screen with zip ties. I then took some watery concert and applied a few layers to it. Turned out pretty nice, but my wife doesn't really like the 90 degree turns they make. Oh well, maybe next time.
I've been following your thread as well, looks like things are coming along nicely.
Chris
I took a couple pieces of 1" pvc and bent it with a torch and then added some window screen with zip ties. I then took some watery concert and applied a few layers to it. Turned out pretty nice, but my wife doesn't really like the 90 degree turns they make. Oh well, maybe next time.
I've been following your thread as well, looks like things are coming along nicely.
Chris
tgunn
Active member
I'm just tired of cleaning the back glass; that's why I want the coralline to crop up. But you're right, all in due time.Ah, okay, sounds simple enough. That's a pretty easy way to make some complex structures. And I imagine it wouldn't suffer from the problem of never curing like the larger DIY rocks I tried making..
Thanks, yes, things are finally slowly coming along with my tank. I'm starting to regret the sandbed in some regards (tough keeping it looking pristine how I'd like it to be), but otherwise all is going well.
Let me know how the new DIY Ca reactor turns out. I've been tempted to give a DIY reactor a try.
Tyler
Chrisrush
New member
Well, this will be my second go at a DIY reactor and hopefully my last. If this one doesn't work out then I'm going to buy one instead.
Some days I would like to see how the tank would look with a ssb, but then again, it sure is nice to have the tank clean.
I cured the rocks for about 3 weeks in both fresh/salt water just to be sure. The water when I finished had a pH of about 8.2 so I figured that it was about right. There isn't much concrete on the structure so I doubt you would need that much time for it to cure anyways.
Why are you cleaning your back glass? To get rid of the algae? I have thought about scraping mine to see how it looks w/ the black, but it's getting harder to do that. Plus, if I can keep my hands out of the tank as much as possible, things look better.
Chris
Some days I would like to see how the tank would look with a ssb, but then again, it sure is nice to have the tank clean.
I cured the rocks for about 3 weeks in both fresh/salt water just to be sure. The water when I finished had a pH of about 8.2 so I figured that it was about right. There isn't much concrete on the structure so I doubt you would need that much time for it to cure anyways.
Why are you cleaning your back glass? To get rid of the algae? I have thought about scraping mine to see how it looks w/ the black, but it's getting harder to do that. Plus, if I can keep my hands out of the tank as much as possible, things look better.
Chris
tgunn
Active member
So was your last attempt just not keeping up with the demand? Or was there another reason you decided to try another? Are you going for a fancy acrylic unit or just doing a PVC pipe type setup?
I think my problem is I just need more sand sifting creatures. I got a brittle star that was supposed to sift around in the sand but all he does is hang under one of my rocks and keep off the sand... My conch was doing great until he got lazy and started burying himself in sand for days at a time. :lol:
I haven't cleaned it off in a little while but the brown algae on the back glass keeps coming back every now and then. I think I have enough snails to keep it in check now though.
Tyler
Chrisrush
New member
That's what you think and then they are start starving, it's a tough balance to get. You hate the algae but you hate losing snails. Could just be the cycle still.
Can't help you there, I never have had a sand bed to work with.
It's a acrylic unit complete with keyhole flanges and all. I'm pretty stoked about finishing it, but I just need time to work on it.
The old one may be keeping up with the demand, but I can't tell since I can't get the pump to operate 24/7. For some reason, when the pump is on, I get no effluent. So, instead of trying to fix it, I figured that it would be better to just build a new one.
Chris
Can't help you there, I never have had a sand bed to work with.
It's a acrylic unit complete with keyhole flanges and all. I'm pretty stoked about finishing it, but I just need time to work on it.
The old one may be keeping up with the demand, but I can't tell since I can't get the pump to operate 24/7. For some reason, when the pump is on, I get no effluent. So, instead of trying to fix it, I figured that it would be better to just build a new one.
Chris
Chrisrush
New member
Alright, so anyone watching this thread, I've got a couple of questions. Right now I've got my setup like most peoples, skimmer --> return --> fuge (ca reactor).
I'm getting a pair of 6100s this week and so I wanted to re-do my plumbing and remove my mag 9.5 and switch my CL pump (gen-x pcx-55 pump) from a CL pump to my return pump. My sump has a 1" hole in the upper left side where the skimmer is. I was originally planning on installing a hook over the back of the sump so that I could get the water from the sump to the pump, but then I thought about using the 1" hole that is in the back of the sump. Anyone see anything wrong with this?
The only thing that I have a real question is regarding the pressure rated pump and the 2 other devices that I power with my return pump, namely the ca reactor and phosban reactor. Will hooking those up to the gen-x pressure pump be a problem?
While I am re-doing the sump pump, I thought about re-doing the sump as well. I have the fuge on the right hand side but there is no macro algae, just my ca reactor. Anyone think that pulling out the second baffle and just keeping the one up-and-over baffle and making the sump a 2 baffled sump a bad idea? This would give me more room for my skimmer, ca reactor, etc. I could also pull my phosban reactor into that section as well.
Thanks,
Chris
_________________
I'm getting a pair of 6100s this week and so I wanted to re-do my plumbing and remove my mag 9.5 and switch my CL pump (gen-x pcx-55 pump) from a CL pump to my return pump. My sump has a 1" hole in the upper left side where the skimmer is. I was originally planning on installing a hook over the back of the sump so that I could get the water from the sump to the pump, but then I thought about using the 1" hole that is in the back of the sump. Anyone see anything wrong with this?
The only thing that I have a real question is regarding the pressure rated pump and the 2 other devices that I power with my return pump, namely the ca reactor and phosban reactor. Will hooking those up to the gen-x pressure pump be a problem?
While I am re-doing the sump pump, I thought about re-doing the sump as well. I have the fuge on the right hand side but there is no macro algae, just my ca reactor. Anyone think that pulling out the second baffle and just keeping the one up-and-over baffle and making the sump a 2 baffled sump a bad idea? This would give me more room for my skimmer, ca reactor, etc. I could also pull my phosban reactor into that section as well.
Thanks,
Chris
_________________
