New 125 On The Block - Watch The Process! *Pictures Inside*

[TJcop]

Last Of the Pictures

Last Of the Pictures

Last pics for now. The first is of my new Long Spine to help eat up the Dictyota, per Dr. Ron's instructions. The second pic is of my new clam. Sorry I couldn't get a better pic, but the camera doesn't focus well on an angle through the glass. The last pic is of my goby sittin on top of some pineapple. Maybe the Urchin will eat all the Xenia too

 

[TJcop]

An Update

An Update

Just a quick note: lost one of my Chromis over the night. Must've been stressed from the trip...sigh. On a good note, mother nature took over and the cleaner shrimps and crabs ate everything except the bones! I guess I don't have to worry about ammonia buildup from him! (sick and sad...but true).

Everyone else seems to have acclimated just fine. The fish ate like monsters this morn, and I'm going to feed my new clam now.

 

[TJcop]

Calcium

Calcium

As you can seen from the above pictures, everything is going really well in the tank. But, I would like to raise my calcium levels, especially since the addition of SPS and a Maxima.
My levels are at about 350-400 (but usually more towards 350) and I would like to get to that 420-450 range. I replace evap with a Kalk dripper. I am thinking of going with B-Ionic to get the levels up, then maintain with my Kalk.
Also, should I get rid of my Halemida, which is a calcium user, to help conserve my calcium supply?
Oh, one more thing, what do you think about Phosban? Should I use it. I don't have any detectable PO4, but the presence of algae tells me there is some in the sand. Thanks all.

 

[minfinger]

TJ,

You sdhould look into Dowflakes instead Bionic Part 2. I think for Part 1 you can use Baking soda or something like that. It's insanely cheap to use dowflakes and the baking sode or what it is, is really cheap too. Search around for it.

 

[mrconclosion]

If you are having chronic low calcium, then I would definitely do one of the following:

1. Remove the halimeda, it does use up calcium at an incredible rate.

2. Dose some type of low-impact calcium suppliment such as Kent "Liquid Calcium."

I use C-balance 2-part formula in my tanks, but in some of them the calcium drops faster than the alkalinity. Instead of dosing an uneven amount of the 2-part chemistry, I add liquid calcium once or twice a week to make up the difference. I prefer this to kalkwasser and its pH worries. Kent Liquid Calcium is pretty cheap in the 1/2 gallon size.

I also use PhosGuard or SeaGel in all of my tanks (Sea Gel is a 50%/50% mix of PhosGuard and Activated Carbon) with good results.

ALSO: The HOT magnum will not remove the green haze you're having problems with. That's because the Magnum "micron cartridge" is NOT a 1-micron cartridge, it's about 20-micron in reality. I use a Wisper DiatomMagic and a System-1 diatom filter (both are also hang-on or hang-in type) with pool-supply-store diatomaceous earth and sometimes Vortex powdered activated carbon with FANTASTIC results. These will both filter down to 1 micron and remove the green pretty fast.

 

[TJcop]

Thanks for the tips mrconclosion!
I am considering removing the Halimeda to help conserve on the calcium. I was finally successful in get the level over 400, so I want to keep it there. As far as the green haze, that was taken care of a long time ago. It seemed to clear up on it's own as the tank matured. Water clarity is great right now, and things are getting very stable.

On the new side: I'm setting up my nano tank again! It's about 7 gallons and I plan on keeping softies in there. I took the tank down after transfering everything into the new tank. I just filled it up with tank water, and early next week I'm placing cured LR in it, so it will be an instant tank! Pics will be up next week.

 

[NewSchool04]

TJ, use the Kent Turbo Calcium to raise your Ca. Any two part solution won't cut it in a tank of your size. Go to the Reef Chemistry forum and look up "calculator" and it will pull up the Ca calculator for all different methods of adding Ca. You will notice that with any liquid addition, the amount needed to actually raise Ca is astronomic! You can raise the Ca easily and safely with Calcium Chloride / Kent Turbo or any other form. I haven't kept up w/ all 10 pages but if you aren't, you may think about lime or kalkwasser drip also.

 

[TJcop]

Well, I got two new LARGE Acro's from ReeferMadness So far they look good, but no polyp extension yet. My Acro frags are doing well, so I know the water is OK. Does it sometimes take a few days for these things to open up? Just a little more worried than usual since these are some large (6") pieces that weren't exactly cheap (altho considering the size, kinda a steal!). Pics tomorrow!

 

[ReefWraith]

Hey TJ! Still looking forward to seeing the pics of your new acro's! It may take a few days to weeks for them to adjust and open completely. Any update on how you like your Maristar lighting? Are you running any moonlights with it?

Reef On!

 

[TJcop]

Hey ReefWraith! Thanks for checkin' in
I'll probably have new pics up tomorrow. I just got some new stuff in today, and more on the way tomorrow morn! It should be a good picture update. Plus, I've got the nano of 'shrooms and zoos up (not much in at the moment).
As far as the lights, love 'em! They are working out just fine, but I may change the bulbs at the end of the year over to 20,000K. That seems to be the way to go (anyone have any comments?). And, yes, I have been running moonlights since day 1 (cool to watch at night).

 

[ReefWraith]

Sounds like your tank will soon be busting at the seams with all the new inhabitants! Let's hope that doesn't literally occur like it did to poor AlgeMan however. I'm not sure if I would want 20k's with the t5's... seems like it would be really blue! How about compromising and going with Hamilton's 14K's? Have you seen a setup in person with 20k's and strong actinic lighting? Often is appears quite blue ... but I guess its all subjective! Looking forward to you pics TJ. Keep up the great work.


Reef On!

 

[TJcop]

Huge Picture Update

Huge Picture Update

Well, here is a BIG picture update. I'll post equipment/tank stuff update tomorrow. Enjoy!

Here's a side shot of the tank. The cloudy look is due to me doing some aquascaping and placing new corals today. Otherwise, the water is nice and clear!

A cleaner shrimp doing the upside down thing.

Some Zoo's and GSP's hangin' out.

A clown and his Slipper Coral.

Coral (I'll post types later)

New addition, still hasn't opened up.

Coral

Unknown, got it free with a coral order (added today)

Pineapple

Birdsnest

 

[TJcop]

Pics continued

Pics continued

Pavona (added today)

Acro (newer, still hasn't fully extended polyps)

Monti w/ green polyps (added today)

Added recently

Pocillopora (added today)

Blue/teal Acro (added today)

Open brain

Plate w/ green highlights

Full tank shot

New nano (not aquascaped yet)

 

[herbert4]

TJ
Great looking corals. Sorry if I missed it but where are you getting your frags from? I am getting close to finishing my plumbing and will hopefully be looking to getting some myself soon .

 

[minfinger]

Very nice TJ!

 

[TJcop]

Thanks for the nice comments! Still a work in progress tho...

Herbert: I've gotten most of my corals from liveaquaria.com (DrsFoster & Smith) and reefermadness.us Both are great, but reefermadness is where you want to go for the larger corals. Awesome customer service too!

 

[TJcop]

Learned a lesson...

Learned a lesson...

Well, I learned a valuable lesson today.
I was freaking out the last two days over a very high pH reading. Today, my Pinpoint monitor said 8.8 and I was trying to figure out what happened. No new supps or Kalk was added, aeration was the same, same lighting, nothing dead.....so what could it be?
Then a lighting bolt hit the dolt...I changed the battery in my monitor and did re-calibrate it...doh!!!
After using my pH 4 & 7 calibration liquids, I was happy to see that my true pH was 8.13, which is a little low. Whew. Put the Kalk drip back on and now I can rest easy.
Tank is doing great! The PhosBan is melting the brown algae away (slowly but surely) and the new corals have all adapted and have great daytime and nightime extensions. I did have to take down my mini reef tank, since it was too much additional work that I don't have time for right now.
I'm going to give the little tank to my brother for a small freshwater system, and I'm waiting for my 45gal tall freshwater tank to die out (don't worry...still taking care of everyone..no rush) so I can make it a nice SW softie tank.

 

[gene01]

hmmm, I am supprised that you never installed a uv sterilizer light to try to help eliminate the green and the brown algae.... I had the same problem in a tank of mine years ago, I didn't believe in them at the time, was told by my neighbor to install one, the problem went away in less than one week.....also added an ro with a do, cured all of my water, rock and tank problems right away...

 

[ReefWraith]

Hey TJ!

Just checking in.. and the corals look great. Did you every determine the species of the "unknown freebie" coral you apparently received from ReeferMadness? That's a nice looking piece. Yes, calibration is a good thing! :^)


Reef On!

 

[TJcop]

Gene: I've done tons of research regarding UV sterilizers, and it seems that most people are against them. My algae problems are pretty much gone, as most of them were associated with "new tank" issues. But thanks for the tip!

ReefWraith: Glad to see you again! Yes, the corals are looking awesome, even better than the pics I posted. The acro's are starting to get some purple, pink and green tips on them! The freebie was determined to be a favites. Really weird looking since it is three colors all in one: green, purple and brown.