Putting together my "future" 75 AGA RR (progress)

[jefnalyssa]

Wendy,
I just read the entire thread. The tank looks great. Im so jelous. You should be so proud of yourself. One day i will get there. I plan on putting together a 90. I already built the stand. Now I'm learning all i can.

You might already know this. As far as always going through batteries. You should get good rechargables. They last a 100x longer than disposables.

Well now I'm off to research isopods, copepods,and amphipods. I here everyone always talking about them.


Thanks,

Jeff

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thanks Jeff.

I think I might try the rechargable batteries again. We have the charger and all - it's worth a try.

Aaah, yes, the "pods". When I saw my first one I was completely fascinated, and still am.

Best of luck with your future tank. You'll love it!

---
Wendy

 

[jefnalyssa]

Wendy,
I prefer rayovac IC3 batts. They charge in 15 mins. If you want to save a little money you can get NiMH. There is a reading on the NiMH that says mah. The higher the number the better. Good ones are around 2000mah.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Last week I went to my first frag swap and came home with following goodies:

Miyagi Tort

Blue Tort

Superman Monti

Garf Bonsai

Tyree Undata

) ...to be continued

 

[JerseyWendy]

In the beginning of October I purchased a few (large) frags from a fellow reefer. One of the frags I picked up was an Acropora Samoensis. Here is what it looked like when I first got it:

It is going through quite a transformation. Here it is now:

A couple of days ago I decided to see what the tank would look like without a background. I am really pleased with the results.

And some random pictures:

Thank you all for looking.

---
Wendy

 

[first-chevalier]

Looking really nice Wendy. I have a question though, related to posting. How do you get the picture to show in the post and not just the link? Thanks.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

first-chevalier, read this link
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=531326

 

[JerseyWendy]

When things go wrong

When things go wrong

The last few weeks have been tough - in all aspects of my life, actually.
2 weeks ago my mom passed away (in Germany). The day of her funeral I found out my older dog may have cancer, which fortunately turned out to be not so after performing more detailed tests. He will still have to undergo surgery (removal of sebaceous cyst), but hopefully he'll be with us for a while longer.

Then a couple of days ago I was made aware that I have.....RED BUGS! :eek2:

Here is a picture that is a dead giveaway.
Acropora Samoensis

After doing extensive research I called my vet to pick up Interceptor (my dogs are both on Heartguard Plus ).

I removed as many hermit crabs as I could find, removed my Cleaner Shrimp, and managed to trap my Emerald Crab and a Peppermint Shrimp. As hard as I tried, I was unsuccessful in removing my Coral Banded Shrimp and Sally Lightfoot.
All of the above were placed in an Eclipse Tank that my LFS lent me.

Last night I treated with the Interceptor. I used a little bit under 1/2 pill. I was aware I was using more than the recommended dose. Before administering the Interceptor I removed all filter material, filter sock included, and disconnected the airtubing of my skimmer, but left the skimmer running.

The Interceptor went in the tank at 6PM. At 8AM this morning I performed a water change (about 20 gallons), placed 4 cups of carbon in the sump, and reconnected my airtubing to the skimmer.

Sally Lightfoot and Coral Banded Shrimp are currently still alive.

Here are some pictures of the same coral:

And here is a picture of my Purple Nana (last month)

Today

I will try and take better pictures using a tripod later on. The Tripod is currently in my son's bedroom, and he's still asleep.

Next week I'll be performing a second treatment, probably not as heavy of a dose as last night though.

I have learned an invaluable lesson. Either quarantine all new arrivals, and/or treat them prior of introducing them into your main tank.

Lesson learned, but believe me, I feel 20 years older.

---
Wendy

 

[first-chevalier]

Travis, Thanks. You're helpful as always. I'll have current pics posted on Piper's thread shortly to show the comparison of the tank from when it started in Feb to today.

Wendy, for the uninitiated, what are Redbugs, what do they come in on, and how do you tell (for the partially color challanged among us)?

 

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11155825#post11155825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by first-chevalier

Wendy, for the uninitiated, what are Redbugs, what do they come in on, and how do you tell (for the partially color challanged among us)?

To tell you the truth, I'm still learning about those nasty Red Bugs. From what I've gathered, I take them anytime before AEFW (Acro Eating Flatworms), but I still wish I would have taken precautionary measures.

Here is a picture of the affected coral (there were more than just this one, but this is the best picture I could come up with) I circled some affected areas, and pointed red arrows towards the actual bugs.

They come in on Acropora. If I'm not mistaken, they are usually found on "smooth" Acros, even though some people claim fuzzy acros can get them, too.

I'll try and find some links for you, hold on.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-hitchhiker-id/17081-i-got-bugs.html

http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html

There are tons of articles about Red Bugs here on RC.

And wish me luck that I won't have any more bad surprises any time soon.

---
Wendy

 

[first-chevalier]

Good luck on no more surprises and I mean that. My lighting won't let me keep acro's yet so I'm learning for the time when I get my 120 in the new house (some time in the hopefully not distant future). But that will take quite an investment and we're still getting ourselves out of debt right now. Maybe in two or three more years. thanks again.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Yup, Wendy's links are about as good general information as any. Red Bugs are just an Acropora eating Copepod, and yes they are much easier to deal with than Acropora eating Flat Worms. If you want to find some really detailed information about Red Bugs, just use Google Scholar and search for "Tegastes acroporanus"; their scientific nomenclature. You could also google search the same thing for a layman's terms kinda information.

 

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11166164#post11166164 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
Yup, Wendy's links are about as good general information as any. Red Bugs are just an Acropora eating Copepod, and yes they are much easier to deal with than Acropora eating Flat Worms. If you want to find some really detailed information about Red Bugs, just use Google Scholar and search for "Tegastes acroporanus"; their scientific nomenclature. You could also google search the same thing for a layman's terms kinda information.

Thanks, Travis. I did try the google scholar, and want to thank you wholeheartedly because I had never even heard of that before. WOW - that'll open many more doors (for my kids, too).

Today I learned that when taking pictures from "above", things look totally different. :eek2:

Here is my brand new Derasa Clam. I was NOT looking for a Derasa. I was looking for a Squamosa, but when I saw this one, my jaw dropped and my wallet opened spontaneously.

Here it is again, next to my Maxima:

And here is my "blue" ORA Millepora. Yeah, doesn't look so blue now, does it?

---
Wendy

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11215263#post11215263 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JerseyWendy
Today I learned that when taking pictures from "above", things look totally different. :eek2:

Yup, that's why they make aquariums like these

 

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11215517#post11215517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
Yup, that's why they make aquariums like these

O-M-G! That is GORGEOUS!

What is it called? What sizes do they come in?

Simply stunning!!!! (My jaw is hanging wide open)

---
Wendy

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

The name of the tank escapes me at the moment as it did when I searched for the picture. Simply searching "clam tank", as I expected it would, yielded the picture. I didn't look further in finding the actual name. Chances are since it is curved like that, it most likely is a Tenecor tank. They tend to make tanks with curved edges. That's just a stab in the dark, and is probably completely wrong.

 

[NeveSSL]

At my LFS they have some tanks that are very similar to that (most of the front is angled as opposed to part of it on that one) that have Oceanic labels on them, FWIW.

Brandon

 

[barngeatbayman]

where do you get such nice looking stuff locally? or online? If local where I'll have to hit that place

 

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11217957#post11217957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barngeatbayman
where do you get such nice looking stuff locally? or online? If local where I'll have to hit that place

Most of my SPS are from fellow reefers, the frag swap that took place in October, and the anniversary sale of Aquatic Obsessions (in Avenel). The Derasa was a find at Aqua Oceans in Toms River. Some were purchased at Tropiquarium in Ocean. They get some really nice ORA goodies in sometimes.

---
Wendy

 

[barngeatbayman]

Tropiquarium really nice but be prepared to open that wallet really wide:eek2: