Project 150!!

[maxxII]

In dont know for sure that its not eating them, but I've watched it closely for a couple of days now and havent even seen it look twice at them. There are several that are by themselves and could be easily eaten but it hasnt gone after them. The aptasia that have disappeared were in the immediate area of where I placed the Berghia nudibranchs originally.

Its just a guess on my part, but I think its valid one.

Nick

 

[jnarowe]

Very interesting. Have you seen the Berghia out at all? They were one option I had considered for quite some time. Are they at all toxic when they die like some other similar animals?

 

[saltyunderground]

Berghia are not toxic when they die. It's unusual to see them once in your tank. They are nocturnal and tend to blend in with the rock since they take on the color of the aiptasia when they eat. Sometimes you can catch them with a flashlight at night.

 

[etrigo29]

nice looking tank so far. I'd love to see the build some time, there are a few of us from KC that were talking about making a trip to stl to check out the lfs and do some shopping =)

I was setting up my 120, upgraded from my 58 as well, and I was planning on drilling some rock too to setup some columns. Is there anything in hindsight you would have done differently when drilling? I'm going up to a plastics place tomorrow and getting the same thickness rod and get a masonary bit.

Thanks

 

[maxxII]

To be honest, the only thing I would have done differently would be to have bought a drill that accepted 1/2 bits, so I could use 1/2 inch thick acrylic rods instead of the smaller 3/8th's inch rods.

None of the rocks, (in the 58 or in the 120) are weak structurally speaking, but I wouuld have felt better knowing I had stronger support.

Got the RF CO2 gauge and needlevalve going today. Good construction, easy to adjust. For some reason, it did not work initially, even though the solenoid was powered up, (orange light indicates power...no light = no power to solenoid), the tank was fully open and so was the needlevalve. I unplugged the solenoid, and plugged it back in...and got a giant stream of CO2 bubble's....so things are working perfectly now.

Thanks to Mark at The Reef Stop for sending that out to me. Evidently, the Gen -X Media is tough to get at the moment, so its either on back order or Mark was going to help me find something else comparable...not really sure which.

Saw a Berghia today...it was out in the open with the lights on....and looked white. According to Lisa, that means its really hungry. So I used the pippette that she thoughtfully supplied with the nudi's and moved it to another area where there are some more aptasia. It went right after the one I placed it close to.

There are more aptasia still in the tank....but oddly enough, some of the smaller ones in different areas than where the Berghia were placed are disappearing. So...either the Berghia are reproducing, (which would be nice) or the butterfly has decided to go after some of them, (which would also be nice)

We'll see.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

09-06-2007

Update

Its been a good news/bad news week for me all over the place...including the tank.

Good news.....aptasia have been disapearing slowly but surely.
Bad news.....the cool carribean long nose butterfly has gone MIA. One of three things happened:

He jumped and landed somewhere I cant find him.
He jumped and one of the dogs found him. They've eaten dead birds and drywall in the past, I'm not putting it past them....
He got eaten by the Ritteri anemone.

If he jumped, thats the second time in a few weeks fish have jumped from my tanks. Its been quite awhile since that happened to me.....I'm definately going to make up some sort of screen or mesh netting to allow air/light through, but keep fish in for the tanks....

Bad news....another smaller, but brightly colored Ritteri anemone I ordered from Phishy Business didnt make it. I had hopes for this since PB is where I got my original Ritteri anemone that I've had for a year and half.

Good news....woke an hour ago, (I'm on midnights), and discovered my clowns spawning. Got excited and took several pics.

I have no intention of trying to raise the fry.....waaaaaaayyyy too much work for my limited free time right now...

I also just got 20 lbs of Gen-X calcium reactor media, and 6 large bottles of Seachem's Magnesium additive. I have a small bryopsis problem in the 58 and want it gone before I transfer it over to the 120. Raising the magnesium levels of the tank to over 1500 for several weeks kills off bryopsis.

So thats it for now.

Nick

 

[jnarowe]

I love the Gen-X media. Good shots of the spawning too...

Don't feel too bad about the jumpers. I put 12 mollies in my fuge on Tuesday evening. Went to bed around 9pm. Realized at about 11pm that I forgot to turn on my RO/DI system and went down to the tank room, bathrobe, slippers, barely awake to turn it on.

While I was down there I noticed a black spot on the floor. The room was fairly dark except for the fuge lamp. When I bent down to get a closer look, I realized it was a molly...and in fact, as I glanced around some more, I found all of the mollies on the floor in various spots around the room.

 

[maxxII]

The jumping irks me because its something that is entirely preventable.



I only wish these fish cost as much as molly's.....

Nick

 

[jnarowe]

yeah, I had one other jumper while I was away on a fishing trip. My wife called me to tell me that the Rhomboid wrasse I had in QT did a Fish Stick. That hurt the wallet, but really it gripes me whether it's a cheap fish or an expensive one.

 

[maxxII]

09-10-07

Good news w/ no bad news for the moment.....
Yesterday I saw a rather large Berghia nudibranch before going to work...it was pale which meant it hadnt eaten for several days, but it was crawling towards an area where the majority of the aptasia are located in the tank....so I expect to start loosing more aptasia here shortly.

This evening, just before coming to work, I found the Caribbean Longnose Butterfly, (hereafter referred to as CLB cause thats annoying to type out all the time). It was in my sump, in the same section as my protein skimmer...happily eating all the mini feather duster worms it could find. I netted him/it out and placed it in the main tank, and put a screen on the top this time. No more jumping out of that tank.

I need to make a screen or cover for the 120.

Nick

 

[iwantone]

Try using white egg crate

 

[maxxII]

Thats what I have over the 58 gallon right now. I dont like how it diffuses the light from the MH's. I'd like to have something made from a light weight thin plastic....

I have some ideas in the works....

Nick

 

[JxMetal]

fishline

 

[spooda420]

Nick,

sounds like the tank is going through some changes.... need a couple updates with pictures... hardware and tank shots...

 

[Pkelley228]

Whats going on Nick? Just curious to see if anything is happening with the tank.

 

[maxxII]

Hey guys,
sorry, I've been bad about keeping up with this thread....that will change shortly...I promise.
Been stupid busy w/ work and other assorted things in life...

Anyway,

I moved the Derasa clam over to the 120 about a week ago.....it had gotten so large that every time it shifted position, it caused a rock slide. I would come home and find the H.magnifica anemone pushed up against the fronmt glass of the tank. Fortunately, it never seemed too bothered by this and didnt move around...it just sorta waited patiently for me to come home and fix the problem....clowns seemed pretty annoyed with the cicrcumstances though....

And naturally, right after I moved the clam over, the Wavy Sea unit quit moving. Water flow wasnt halted, it just quit rotating back and forth....ANNOYING!

I had to remove the motor and send it back to WavySea for possible warranty work. Evidently, they have a one year warranty after purchase.....so we'll see what happens after they get it.

I think over all the Wavy is a good idea, but it definately bugs me that the thing isnt water proof and getting it wet will void the warranty. I'm not 100% convinced I shouldnt have just bought another Tunze Stream instead of the Wavy Sea.

As soon as I get the WavySea back, I will be moving everything over to the 120. I was trying to get rid of the Bryopsis in the 58 first, but I'm getting to the point that I'd rather move everything over and deal with it there....fewer tanks to maintain and I can concentrate on one thing instead of 5-6.

On a good note...The Red Sea Regal Angel hit the one year mark in my care on 9-27-07....

Nick

 

[maxxII]

10-21-2007

Got the WavySea motor back and installed it again. Nice to have it back. I moved over the Ritteri anemone and the clowns today, and the Lava rock with the brain coral on it. In the midst of the transfer, the brain hit the floor and crunched a spot...., but it looks like it will make it. Tomorrow I will move other critters over, and try to post pics.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

Yesterday, I cleaned up the calcium reactor and filled it with new media. Got it running on the 120 now. I also managed to get the large rock the Royal Gramma called home out of the tank without him, and with only minor difficulties. The ORA blue tort frag which had been encrusted on the rock broke of during the move....but other wise fine.

Today I hooked Actinics up again. Need to get a timer on them, so I can run them as Dawn/Dusk lighting. I also ordered two Sure Flow 1600 Maxi Jet Upgrade Kits from Premium Aquatics. Also ordered two MJ 1200's, and magnets to mount them. I want to creat more flow in the back of the tank down low to sweep detritus. I dont think these are controllable with any wavemakers out on the market. I do have a Natural Wave timer that I will try it out on though...so we'll see.

I've discovered that Tunze evidently stopped making the Stream 6000, which is the "smallest" of the full size Streams that is speed controllable. It ran up to 1850 gph...and I have two of them. I'm guessing they werent selling well compared to the 6100's and once they introduced the Nano Streams, they just decided to quit making the 6000's. I plan on eventually buying a pair of 6055 NanoStreams for the 120 as well.
I figure with the 6000's in the front of the tank, and the 6055's in the back of the tank, I can set them to work catty corner of each and get a racetrack/gyre water flow pattern out of them and have that alternate every 30 minutes or so...and with the WavySea as a return and the Maxi-Mods sweeping the back and down low...I should have some pretty good flow.

I'm going to move the rest of my SPS over to the 120 today. Then I have to go to work.

Thats it for now...pics will follow, I promise.

I'm also going to be looking for a home for the CLB and most likely the Royal Gramma.....anyone interested?
The CLB is neat, and eating prepared foods, but he's not eating aiptasia, and thats the main reason I bought him. BTW...zero issues w/ coral nipping or with my anemone....

Nick

 

[JxMetal]

May be interested in the butterfly

 

[maxxII]

He's a little bit bigger than a silver dollar.
I paid about $100 for him after shipping, and would like $60.00 for him. I'm also willing to look at trading him for some SPS frags, as long as they're free of AEFW's....red bugs are no problem, AEFW's are a deal breaker.

Obviously, a combination of the two works also...



Nick