Randy's 180G Reef-Photo Journal
- Thread starter rdmpe
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rdmpe
New member
So is Kenya Tree a decent soft coral or is it a weed? It seems to be growing like crazy in my tank right now. I have four decent sized frags, in the 2" to 4" range. And I have several little tiny ones here and there that have appeared unexpectedly. I thought maybe they were a weed status since I seem to be good at keeping them. Then I found that they are not exactly cheap
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=652
http://www.thatpetplace.com/LiveFis...Class/SOFT+CORAL/T1/F93+0045+0350/Detail.aspx
Here are some not-so-good pictures of them...
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=652
http://www.thatpetplace.com/LiveFis...Class/SOFT+CORAL/T1/F93+0045+0350/Detail.aspx
Here are some not-so-good pictures of them...
rjwilson37
New member
Looking very nice, I like the rock scaping a lot.
rdmpe
New member
The cat is a real character. She was a feral kitten living around my office with two other kittens and their mother. I think she is about 7 or 8 months old. She became somewhat tame around me from feeding her and my wife and kids finally talked me into bringing her home :rolleye1: She has been here about one month. She is still very shy and hides a lot during the day, especially when my 7 and 9 year old boys are home making a lot of noise...
rdmpe
New member
My Mg levels are up now. I didn't really think I was adding that much epsom salt, but it has gone from 1245 on the 24th up to 1320 tonight. I just read that Oceans Blend part 1 adds some Mg in addition to CA so that plus the epsom salts must be working out well for my Mg levels.
My cycle looks like it is fading, never was much of a cycle anyway really. Latest test results from tonight. Tested just before dosing 30 ml of Oceand Blend two part.
Salifert test kits:
7:45 PM
Temp = 83.3 (a little warmer than I like to see)
PH = 8.2
NH4 = 0 (unchanged)
NO2 = 0.01 (down from 0.05 on 24th)
NO3 = 0.2 (down from 1.0)
PO4 = 0 (unchanged)
KH = 8.3/2.97 (down from 8.6/3.09)
CA = 420 (down from 425)
Mg = 1320 (up from 1245)
I just added 2 tsp of baking soda to a gallon of top off water which should bring the KH up by approx. 0.20 or so, then dosed 30 ml of Oceans Blend two part. I've been dosing 30 ml when my levels look OK. If things look to be dropping a little I'll dose 60 ml a few times, then back down to 30 ml. So far things seem to be holding pretty steady. I have only done one real water change since starting the tank back at the beginning of December. That was approx. 40 gallons done around Jan 9th when I also pulled out about 40 lbs of sand (had too much in there). Coraline is continuing to expand, I have spots of it on the baserock as well as the plumbing and the back glass & overflow as well. I am finding that I have to clean the glass every few days too if I really want it to be free of algae. The cleanup crew is doing a great job of controlling algae on the sand and rocks though. No problems there.
My cycle looks like it is fading, never was much of a cycle anyway really. Latest test results from tonight. Tested just before dosing 30 ml of Oceand Blend two part.
Salifert test kits:
7:45 PM
Temp = 83.3 (a little warmer than I like to see)
PH = 8.2
NH4 = 0 (unchanged)
NO2 = 0.01 (down from 0.05 on 24th)
NO3 = 0.2 (down from 1.0)
PO4 = 0 (unchanged)
KH = 8.3/2.97 (down from 8.6/3.09)
CA = 420 (down from 425)
Mg = 1320 (up from 1245)
I just added 2 tsp of baking soda to a gallon of top off water which should bring the KH up by approx. 0.20 or so, then dosed 30 ml of Oceans Blend two part. I've been dosing 30 ml when my levels look OK. If things look to be dropping a little I'll dose 60 ml a few times, then back down to 30 ml. So far things seem to be holding pretty steady. I have only done one real water change since starting the tank back at the beginning of December. That was approx. 40 gallons done around Jan 9th when I also pulled out about 40 lbs of sand (had too much in there). Coraline is continuing to expand, I have spots of it on the baserock as well as the plumbing and the back glass & overflow as well. I am finding that I have to clean the glass every few days too if I really want it to be free of algae. The cleanup crew is doing a great job of controlling algae on the sand and rocks though. No problems there.
NCreefwannabe
New member
wow 22 pages I just read lol. Guess I shoulda came in earlier... Looks like everything worked out so far.
I did have an idea about hiding you pvc tho.
Instead of stacking rocks around it. What about drilling through peices to sit in on the pvc. once you get to where they veer out, drill a smaller rock and put in over those stacked on the others. That way your flow would shoot out of the rock itself?? Ive thought about doing this with my future plans on a bigger tank.
I did have an idea about hiding you pvc tho.
Instead of stacking rocks around it. What about drilling through peices to sit in on the pvc. once you get to where they veer out, drill a smaller rock and put in over those stacked on the others. That way your flow would shoot out of the rock itself?? Ive thought about doing this with my future plans on a bigger tank.
rock455
New member
just noticed the reference to red LEDs for night viewing -- Just wanted to share that I tried the reds and changed out to blues --
I got them at Radio Shack - - they work great -- I had a spare 3v transformer from an old answering machine and used that to power them -- it is capable of pushing 500 mv and the LED were pretty cheap -- the rest of the project just took some solder and wires -- I know your not scared of electrical work from the light work that you did
the total project cost me $8.00 cause I had the transformer.
IMO the blue is much better for viewing -- I have added a white LED but it was too bright so I removed it.
I got them at Radio Shack - - they work great -- I had a spare 3v transformer from an old answering machine and used that to power them -- it is capable of pushing 500 mv and the LED were pretty cheap -- the rest of the project just took some solder and wires -- I know your not scared of electrical work from the light work that you did
the total project cost me $8.00 cause I had the transformer.
IMO the blue is much better for viewing -- I have added a white LED but it was too bright so I removed it.
tgunn
Active member
I have both blues and reds. I like the blues for general overall viewing. But I find the reds are nice because I can light up the tank pretty bright and nothing is the wiser. If I shine the blue lights at a bristle worm he'll scurry away quickly, but they don't seem to notice the red...
Tyler
rdmpe
New member
I think this setup would work much better if I had room for larger tubs. Since I'm working under the stand it is difficult to set things up right. So I'm not really thrilled with it. For instance, where the fuge drains back into the sump, I don't have any way to trap bubbles from that spot.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6684780#post6684780 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stile2
I have a question about your sump setup. You have two tubs, one sump skimmer, and the other is the fuge. Is that right?
Yep
Where is the return?
There is a 2" bulkhead in the sump tub that feeds a dart
How are you dealing with microbubbles?
Tolerating them for nowI think I'm getting microbubbles from where the refugium drains into the sump tub...
My drain is fully submerged, so it doesn't create any bubbles. The drain goes into a bubble trap contraption. The skimmer pump also sits in there and the skimmer returns there. So that part is working pretty well I think.
I am thinking of plumbing out to my garage and using a similar setup....
My biggest problem is that I am really limited in what size of tub or tank I can get into the stand. So to get enough volume, I really need to use two seperate tanks. I'd like to replace these with two acrylic tanks some day since that would enable me to set up baffles and stuff.
Here's the bubble trap thing I made:
Here are some pictures that show the return pump and the intake line coming from the sump.
rdmpe
New member
I just realized, those pictures show the old sump return setup that I had, not the current one. The old one used a Sequence Tarpon and an actuated Jandy valve to switch flow. I had to remove that since it didn't work well with my silent overflow and I had to make the silence a priority. The new setup is very similar but with a dart and the flow just splits to the two branches with no flow switching.
So I have made some more progress on the tank, got some more rock set up. I now have two of my three "islands" done. Unfortunately, I probably need about 30 to 40 lbs more LR to finish the third island.
I haven't had time to take pictures yet, busy with some other things going on around here... But I do want to get some pictures up. I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out so far...
So I have made some more progress on the tank, got some more rock set up. I now have two of my three "islands" done. Unfortunately, I probably need about 30 to 40 lbs more LR to finish the third island.
I haven't had time to take pictures yet, busy with some other things going on around here... But I do want to get some pictures up. I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out so far...
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