North Dakota Mini-Ocean
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
lost in it all
New member
Dave I was wondering if i could come over again to look at some of the equipment a little closer I forgot to save your number.
Well, it took me about 6 to 7 hours of reading, but I have caught up with the rest of you on this build. I have learnd alot and must admit, alot of it was over my head, but very impressive. I am looking foward to more pics of your fish as they come in and I want to make sure you are going to post pics of the of the finished DT room. When in doubt, post a pic for us, lol.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Well I thought I would give a much overdue update on the tank...
Last time I posted was in June and I just added Crosshatch Trigger pair, Tinkerii pair, Conspic, and couple Tangs...Well about end of June I ended up having some ick and other pests wipe out 50% of the fish livestock.
- My Naso, Yellow, Purple, and Vlagamini are only tangs still around.
- One orange Anthias is left
- All Chromis are alive
- Mystery and 2 Six Line wrasses are left
- One Heniochus Butterfly is left
Everything else has been gone since first week in July. So to say the least I was bummed and just kinda got depressed about the whole deal. I did not quit or make rash decisions. So here is what I did...
- I took the UV, Ozone, DeNitrator, Carbon, and RowaPhos off-line.
- Then I stopped feeding 2x everyday and changed to 1x every other day. In the beginning I actually didn't feed for 3-4 days.
- Finanlly, I actually took the calcium and kalk reactors offline. I am just dosing Bulk Reef Supply Kalk that is mixed in a 5 gallon bucket and dumped into the sump in morning (probably 1/2 gallon per day).
- I am on the road Monday-Thursday for work and decided that I would let the tank run its course what ever that would be...other than my wife doing the feeding and kalk dosing, the only other thing I do is clean the skimmer every weekend.
***What happened next might be pure luck...
- Corals have much better coloration, growth, and PE. I actually can't believe how great they look. Much better than when I had all the equipment running on the tank.
- The fish have also have much better coloration and the chromis literally "shimmer" in the tank. The chromis actually school and its pretty fun to watch when I get time.
- The Coralline Algea has absolutely rediculous growth and has 3 main colors in the tank (Red, Purple, Pink) with a few spots of orange and blue.
I don't know when I will add more fish or corals...Probably sometime around start of 2010. I did not lose much in corals (maybe 1-2 colonies). I had around 75-80 fish at the peak and I think I could still have that many, but i need to do a much better job in QT'ing them and making sure everything that goes in is eating well and free of pests.
Stuff happens, Life goes on
Sorry for not updating sooner but I just needed time to reflect and gather my thoughts on the whole ordeal.
I need to clean the front acrylic pane and then I will get some updated pictures...Hopefully this weekend.
Last time I posted was in June and I just added Crosshatch Trigger pair, Tinkerii pair, Conspic, and couple Tangs...Well about end of June I ended up having some ick and other pests wipe out 50% of the fish livestock.
- My Naso, Yellow, Purple, and Vlagamini are only tangs still around.
- One orange Anthias is left
- All Chromis are alive
- Mystery and 2 Six Line wrasses are left
- One Heniochus Butterfly is left
Everything else has been gone since first week in July. So to say the least I was bummed and just kinda got depressed about the whole deal. I did not quit or make rash decisions. So here is what I did...
- I took the UV, Ozone, DeNitrator, Carbon, and RowaPhos off-line.
- Then I stopped feeding 2x everyday and changed to 1x every other day. In the beginning I actually didn't feed for 3-4 days.
- Finanlly, I actually took the calcium and kalk reactors offline. I am just dosing Bulk Reef Supply Kalk that is mixed in a 5 gallon bucket and dumped into the sump in morning (probably 1/2 gallon per day).
- I am on the road Monday-Thursday for work and decided that I would let the tank run its course what ever that would be...other than my wife doing the feeding and kalk dosing, the only other thing I do is clean the skimmer every weekend.
***What happened next might be pure luck...
- Corals have much better coloration, growth, and PE. I actually can't believe how great they look. Much better than when I had all the equipment running on the tank.
- The fish have also have much better coloration and the chromis literally "shimmer" in the tank. The chromis actually school and its pretty fun to watch when I get time.
- The Coralline Algea has absolutely rediculous growth and has 3 main colors in the tank (Red, Purple, Pink) with a few spots of orange and blue.
I don't know when I will add more fish or corals...Probably sometime around start of 2010. I did not lose much in corals (maybe 1-2 colonies). I had around 75-80 fish at the peak and I think I could still have that many, but i need to do a much better job in QT'ing them and making sure everything that goes in is eating well and free of pests.
Stuff happens, Life goes on
Sorry for not updating sooner but I just needed time to reflect and gather my thoughts on the whole ordeal. I need to clean the front acrylic pane and then I will get some updated pictures...Hopefully this weekend.
jnarowe
New member
Damn dude...sorry to hear about all that. JMO but I think 30 or less fish is about right for that sized tank, if you want to keep them well fed. I know there are many that would and do have more, but I feel it is an extra element of risk.
I would love to see some pics of your corals when you get the chance.
I would love to see some pics of your corals when you get the chance.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Im not even dosing 2-part...Just Kalk. keeps my pH around 8.3. Bad Luck is part of this hobby. The scale is just so small and things that go wrong do so very fast. Maybe if I had a 20K gallon tank...
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
I don't check anything anymore...I just look at the Profilux for pH and have my wife dump in Kalk until it hits 8.25-8.3. I would assume the Ca and Alk are around 480ish and 8.
I will probably add all the equipment back on in due time...But it will be one at a time and spread over the course of 6 months.
I will probably add all the equipment back on in due time...But it will be one at a time and spread over the course of 6 months.
benihana
New member
How long have they been off line? If it has been a while, it might be interesting to test and see where everything is at, even if just to have a target to shoot at going forward since everything seems to be responding nicely.
I just finished my tank build a couple months ago, and just got my Kalk Rx on line a couple weeks ago, once I get that dialed it, I am going to add my CaRx, but I agree, slow and steady wins the race
I just finished my tank build a couple months ago, and just got my Kalk Rx on line a couple weeks ago, once I get that dialed it, I am going to add my CaRx, but I agree, slow and steady wins the race
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
I did list everything I have in the above post...There is probably around 20 fish in the tank. Moorish was one of the fish that did not make it through the ordeal in June.
Fish Density depends on so many factors. But I would say you could house around 75-100 fish.
Fish Density depends on so many factors. But I would say you could house around 75-100 fish.
