OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef

[dhnguyen]

Ok I feel the need to clarify myself here about the carpet anemone incident. Before you sickos start filling in the blanks....

So you know how "sticky" carpets are... And as luck would have it, while I was handling one, some of the tentacles stuck to my fingers and got ripped off the carpet without my knowledge.... Anyway I had an itch near my mouth and went to scratch it. Well those tiny little bits of tentacle flesh brushed by my lips and OUCH! :eek1:

So the lesson here is you should always wear gloves when handling carpet anemones. Infact you should always wear gloves whenever your hands are in the tank ( I don't always do though)

 

[dhnguyen]

And J. I did have a lot of fun today. Yeah the first thing Paula said to me when she got home was "You forgot the cards AGAIN..." Sheesh strange woman that one.

 

[jnarowe]

Well, she can always bring them by the store herself!

 

[dhnguyen]

:lol: I said the same thing... She didn't think I was very funny.

 

[Hop]

OK, but what did you guys get today?

 

[jnarowe]

I got a green slimer, a mixed zoanthid colony, an urchin, and two other cool frags I am not sure of the identity.

 

[dhnguyen]

me I got a green slimer (make that neon green slimer), blue mili, and some sort of green acro with blue tips.

 

[jnarowe]

 

[jnarowe]

Just a quick update:

I am still battling the brown algae/dinos and have moved some frags back into QT just to be on the safe side. Overall the tank is getting better though.

Don and I, at Sherman's suggestion, have built a "Reef Blower" that is whicked good at blowing off the rocks. I don't have my camera handy but I will take pics when I can. It is one of Don's modded MJ 1200s with a pipe fitted on the end, creating an extremely powerful blower. It strips the rocks completely clean and rather quickly at that.

Coral health is improving and the rescue colony from Sherman's tank is showing polyp extension just a couple days after it went into the display. That is good news as we nearly lost a fantastic colony. If all goes well, I will post pics of this one when it recovers.

I have another fan on one of my Vortech MP-40s and have been able to turn that one up to 100% as well. That really seems to do the trick, but I just can't see having all those fans when I go to 7+ PHs.

Got in a shipment from SAVKO with a bunch of schedule 80 gray PVC parts, pipe, as well as some black PVC parts, and pipe. I will be using the gray to build a new airstone manifold for my skimmer upgrading to 8 x Aquatic-Eco 9" fine pore stones. I am currently using the medium pore stones.

The black PVC will be used to install Penductors on the two front corner return lines in the display tank.

That's all the news for now, well except that I have a very strange flat slug type animal in the QT. can't do it justice without pics, so I hope to snap those soon.

 

[jnarowe]

Oh yeah, and i picked up another urchin and two zoanthid colonies today...I think I NEED an intervention!

 

[mrcrab]

Need to see pics of that mod. I need a det-blower too.

 

[jnarowe]

What's going down my brown??

yeah, my camera is at the store. It's very simple though...

It is essentially this mod with a 1-1/2" pipe extension. I cut a couple of notches in the pipe to fit over the shaft cross tube and keep it snug. Works like a charm, but I don't recommend using a 1200...maybe half that would be sufficient. These pumps are so cheap, you can try a couple of sizes out.

 

[mrcrab]

If I go with the 600 do you think it will cause a sandstorm?

BTW the goldflake's eating like a pig the last couple of days. Still need to catch the rest of the little bastards in the main tank though. I think they're starting to laugh at me!

Do you know where I can buy a mod for a 600? I don't have the time or patience to try and build one.

 

[jnarowe]

Should be fine. You can vary the length of the pipe to fit your needs. If you get it too close, it will cause a sandstorm anyway. You just have to take it slow so you can learn what its range is.

How deep is your tank and how close are the rocks to the surface? (generally speaking)

You can find the mods for sale at Marine Depot.

Fish don't laugh. They smirk. I see it all the time.

 

[mrcrab]

Mine have their mouths open....they're laughing! :lol:

30" deep. I have pillars, some break through the surface and some are about 1/2 way up from the bottom.

 

[jnarowe]

I would try a 600 or a 900.

 

[Hopeful Reefer]

Premium Aquatics has it as well...and I think theirs are specific to the actual size of the pump...AND, they have a swivel mount as well in theirs that allows you to actually aim the thing...bunch of the guys in our local club have ordered them, and love them as much as their DIY mods...the swivel mount is awesome looking...pic on Premium Aquatics web site shows 2 MJ Mods on swivels connected to 1 magnet holder aimed in to different corners at the opposite end of the tank...

 

[jnarowe]

Thanks for that Jason. I didn't realize there was more than one version.

 

[Hopeful Reefer]

I haven't ordered yet, but I have looked around...out of all of the ones out there, I am gonna go with the ones from Premium Aquatics just because of the swivel...

 

[dhnguyen]

The kits sold at PA is the sureflow 1600. I have 2 and they work great.

Only thing is I don't know if the shroud ID size will be a good fit for a normal PVC pipe or not. I will have to take one out later today and let you guys know.

Barry--if you can't find one that fits a PVC pipe let me know.