Need help please!!!

D

dndbenson

New member
I have gotten myself in quite a pickle. I just purchased about 50 pieces of coral, all different types and all good size colonies. I have a 120 gallon tank that has been up for a few months so I came across a deal that seemed to good to pass up so now I have tons of coral. So you are probably asking, Whats the problem? I have never had to mount coral to the live rock in mt tank and I was wondering if there was anyone local to me that may be able to stop by for a bit and show me how to do this. I would be happy to frag off some of this coral to whoever could help. I live in Moreno Valley. Here are some pics of the coral and my tank. Full Tank Pics

Image008.jpg
 
Well, it's a problem a lot of people would like to have---but I'm a bit far to benefit. ;)

Get some rubble bits of rock or coral. Get some superglue, IC-Gel, or the like, and dry off the end of your coral: blot it on a towel will do. Then make a big glop of glue on the end, apply the rubble bit to it and hold it rock solid for about a minute until it takes. Then put it in the water again.

To frag: get a new pair of rose-clippers, and snip a bit that won't ruin the look of the coral: do the same with it. Caution: some corals are explosive in little bits. Wear goggles when doing this.

Superglue was originally invented for medical purposes as a wound sealant. The good version is the original simple version that doesn't have any complications. It should smell like strong vinegar when you're working with it.

I'm sure you'll get takers.
 
Looks like u might need more live rock so u can move the acros up. Acros require higher lighting and depending on what kind of lighting u already have, u might need to move them higher up in the tank.
 
Note: only use superglue GEL. And turn off the pumps while working with it. Beware of curious fishies that might come over and want to eat it.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am guessing that you can glue under water? Or do I have to take the rock out? I plan on adding about 50lbs more rock to accomodate the coral and to try to get the sps up as high as I can. The offer still stands for anyone that would like to help but I will probably give a shot on my own tomorrow if there are no takers.
 
YOu can glue underwater, but it 'takes' better and more lastingly if you can do it in the air. You can also glue the frag to a scrap of dry rock and then glue the rock to your main rock structure, the latter bond being made underwater and held more by the shape of irregularities in the rock than by the actual bond itself.
 
dndbenson - Nice score! Wish I would have saw this earlier. I am in Corona and could have made the trip, but you'll see it is pretty easy with some practice. You will need quite a bit of superglue with 50 corals. You can also go to Home Depot and buy Aquamend in the tube, mix the 2 parts and stick the coral in it.
 
What you will have to do is get your basic test kits and test and log the results daily. I started corals in my second month and have good growth by the 5th. I'm also an old hand at reefs and learned lab work in things far more exacting than reef tanks. It can be done, but you do need more live rock, really live rock: some lfs can probably be persuaded to part with a couple of big pieces out of display that will bring in some hitchhikers like worms. You need bristleworms, and any other poop-converter you can find. That will help feed these jewels. I hope like everything you have a sump and a skimmer.
It can be done: it's just going to take some meticulous testing and attention to trends.
The three key things besides steady temp [80 is good] and salinity [1.025 is good] is alkalinity first, then calcium; and magnesium if the alk and cal won't rise. Once that lot starts growing, you're going to be adding alk daily and calcium by the fistful. But that would be a good thing.
 
I know it will be alot of work and have prepared my tank for this type of coral. I know it seems that it may be soon but alot of the rock and sand was transfered over from a 50 gallon tank that I upgraded. My new tank is equiped with a refugium, a large sump, skimmer calcium reactor, phosphate reactor, reactor for carbon, chiller, 2 - 250w metal halide 14k bulbs, 2 - 96w 10k cf and 2 - 96w atinic cf.The circulation is provided by 1 Iwaki MD70RLT rated @ 1500 gph and I am currently using 1 Seio M1500 but have another M1500 that is still in the box that I can add if needed after I place all of the coral, that should give me around 4000 gph if I aquate for the loss of flow for the return pump. I am about to add another 50 lbs of rock today that would put my tank at about 150lbs of rock. My sand bed in my tank is about 2 to 3" and about 5 to 8" in my fuge. I do agree that it is a lot of work but I think that I have all the tools that I need to be successful. I also spend alot of time on my tank. I am sure that I have alot to learn but that is part od the fun.
 
What I like to do is get a dremel and make a little "pit" on the LR. Dry the pit with paper towel and make a little pool of superglue in it. I buy the superglue @ Walmart...its like 4 tubes for a buck (black and yellow packaging). It doesn't have to be the gel, but u might get better results or easier with gel. Carefully place the frag in the pool of superglue and then a few drops of tankwater on it to cure it. Apply some more glue around the base to secure the frag and again few drops of tank water. After a few minutes drop the frag in a little container with tank water and leave for 5 min or so, then its ready to go in ur tank...
 
What I like to do is get a dremel and make a little "pit" on the LR. Dry the pit with paper towel and make a little pool of superglue in it. I buy the superglue @ Walmart...its like 4 tubes for a buck (black and yellow packaging). It doesn't have to be the gel, but u might get better results or easier with gel. Carefully place the frag in the pool of superglue and then a few drops of tankwater on it to cure it. Apply some more glue around the base to secure the frag and again few drops of tank water. After a few minutes drop the frag in a little container with tank water and leave for 5 min or so, then its ready to go in ur tank...
Remember, any area the superglue touches will die off...but the base usually grows back and encrusts.
 
Well, I got them mounted yesterday, I ended up using putty to hold the coral. They were too heavy for the super glue. I am not totally happy with the arrangement but for now they are all mounted and should be getting the proper lighting. Next project is to finish my sump shed and start up my calcium reactor. Here are some pics of the finished product.

Sump shed that need finishing. Moved everything outside because I ran out of room under the tank.
Image010-1.jpg


Front veiw
Image008-1.jpg


Right side
Image007-1.jpg


Left side
Image009-1.jpg
 
Looks good! How hot does your shed get? I used to have my sump outside and kept hitting high 80's when peak summer hit.

Jim
 
I was reaching mid 80's then I switched my lighting schedule and dropped it down to 83. My chiller is only 1/10 hp because it was all I needed when my sump was in the house. I am going to try to install a gable mount fan in the shed to incrase air flow over the sump and chiller to see if that makes a difference. If not I am going to have to swing for a larger chiller.
 
I have an Iwaki MD70RLT rated at 1500gpm am currently using 1 seio M1500 and 1 more in the box that I will be installing this week to give me a total of approx 4000 gph taking into consideration of the head loss from Iwaki. I would hope this should be enough.
 
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