Randy's 180G Reef-Photo Journal

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Thanks Marcye,

I placed it where I thought it would do well in terms of flow and light. I think the flow may be a little on the high side but hopefully not too strong. This morning it is still in the same place, so maybe it will decide to stay.

Unfortunately, where I placed it is not a part of the tank that the clown typically visits. The clown is hosting in a kenya tree at the other end of the tank and ususally sticks around that area. So it may be a while - if ever - before the clown finds it. Another thing working against me there - I got the clown from another reefer and the clown was in a tank with no anemones, so it may habe been quite a long time since that clown has seen an anemone. It is probably very accustom to hosting in xenia and kenya tree... But I'll just have to wait and see.
 
Good idea, that's what I'm going to start doing. I have literally been feeding in the opposite corner for a long time, so the fish are pretty conditioned to hang out over there rather than where the anemone is. Of course, the tangs and wrasse really roam all over the tank anyway. But the clown doesn't. It sticks near it's kenya tree :rolleyes:
 
Great looking anenome Randy!
I really like the RBTAs... I've been hoping to get one one day for my clowns. So far they haven't bothered hosting my froggy.
BTW, really like the red linkia in the pic; how are yours doing?

Tyler
 
The linckias seem to be doing well. I'd like to see the red one get a little bigger, but if it is growing it is very slow so I can't really see it happening. As far as I can tell though they are both doing fine.

The actinics have bene on for about an hour, and the rbta has inflated it's tips so much - it really looks happy so far. Here are some pictures under the actinics, with the camera white balanced.

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180-619.jpg
 
Nice looking RBTA. I just put one in my tank but it was not nearly as big.

Those last 2 shots are nice.

The tank is coming along nicely. I love the Sailfin tang, I'm thinking about one for my tank but am worried that it will be to big.
 
The sailfins do get pretty big. There is one at the LFS here that is probably 9" long. If you could part with it when it gets to a certain size, that might be OK huh?

I'm happy that the RBTA has stayed put so far. It'll be great if it stays right there!
 
Hey rdmpe, kinda new to your thread, but I must say, very very nice. The aquascaping is beautiful. Very impressive. Nice way to represent FLA. Keep it up.

P.S nice truck too..
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7539453#post7539453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firedogg2
Hey rdmpe, kinda new to your thread, but I must say, very very nice. The aquascaping is beautiful. Very impressive. Nice way to represent FLA. Keep it up.

P.S nice truck too..
Click to expand...
Thanks! The tank is getting there...



I made a little more progress - I used a plumb bob to mark the spots in the ceiling where I need to hang the cables from for the light. Now I'm covered in fiberglass from crawling around the attic to figure out what I need to do up there for a brace to hang the light from. Turns out that it isn't going to be too difficult at all. So I started making a simple brace that will sit across the trusses.

Last Friday I picked up a Rainford's Goby (Amblygobius rainfordi) aka Court Jester Goby. He's really cool, too bad they don't get bigger. He'll only get to be about 2.5" or so I think. I was going to buy two of them, but then I found out about the anemones and I had to save a little money for it. Here are a few pictures of the Rainford's Goby...

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I don't know if there is a way to determine the sex of the rainford's goby. I'll have to look that one up. He sure is docile though. He seems to pick a spot on the bottom near the rocks and just hangs out there for days, sifting the sand a little bit. I sure hope he is getting something to eat. I haven't seen him show much interest in prepared foods yet. I need to try to target feed him tomorrow. I'll feel better if I see him eat some mysis or something.

My electric bill was pretty sky high this month, so I've been thinking of ways to help cool the tank and at the same time set the house AC up a notch or two...

LittleBlueGT got me wondering about my tap water temps, since he suggested I might be able to get a little cooling out of that. One complication in my case - my house has been replumbed and this is done through the attic since I don't have a basement or crawlspace of any type. In the Florida summer, the attic gets very hot, I am sure it is 150F up there in the middle of the day. A plus is you get a nice "free" hot water for washing hands, etc. but for cool tap water it has to clear the pipes.

So anyway, it's about 10 PM and relatively cool in the attic now. I let the water run for a couple of minutes anyway, and then measured it with a good thermometer I have from my beer brewing days... It was right on the 80 F mark. So it is pretty warm, although I'd be happy if my tank was 80F! I don't think I'll be able to get much cooling out of that though.

Just for kicks I put a good size fan blowing across the top of the tank. While running all of the lights, the fan brought the tank from 83.9 to 83.3 in about an hour. I'll be able to set up a clip fan or two blowing on the tank surface after I get my lights hanging from the ceiling. I think that is going to help a lot.

I also have to trade off some of my cheato if I can. My fuge is so stuffed with it that I don't get that much flow across the surface and I think I'm getting less cooling benefit from the fans blowing down there as a result.

I was able to feed the anemone this evening. I had tried a couple of days ago, but it didn't really seem interested in haning on to the food. Maybe just not settled in enough. But tonight it took a half inch piece of silverside and partially closed in around it. I watched for a while and never saw it let go so I think it ate. It pulled the chunk down by it's mouth and then there were tentacles in the way so I couldn't actually see the mouth eat. But the whole anemone did not close up all the way like some people say their anemones do when they eat. So anyway I'm pretty sure it ate the piece... Still seems very happy in it's nook. I can get a glimpse into the crevice sometimes with a flashlight and can see that it's foot is anchored way in the back. It extends approx. 5" or so from it's foot to where it is spread out on the rocks.

The clownfish has shown absolutely no interest in it so far. I can't even lure it very close to the anemone since there is a lot of current nearby and food will not stay in the area for long, not to mention the feeding frenzy of all the other fish... So the silly clownfish is still hanging around it's kenya tree.
 
I'm sure I'll be feeling the pain for the power bills soon enough. I have to leave my central air set to come on at 23C/73.4F or I find the tank drifts above the 81F mark where I like to keep it..

I'm just using a 12" fan from Walmart blowing over my sump. It seems to be all the cooling I need for now.. If you've got a stand fan or something like that you should give that a shot blowing across the tank. I find the larger fans seem to be quieter than the small ones and they push a helk of a lot more air.. I also find the fan does a better job cooling if you aim it down at the water surface to aggitate it a bit more.

I don't know if I'd want to coil up any tubing in the sump to get cooling from the RO/DI feed line if the water temp is already pretty warm. It's probably not going to make much of a diff for cooling. I guess I'm lucky since my RO/DI is hooked up right next to the cold water line in my house; so the water is always pretty cold when the RO/DI runs..

Tyler
 
Ours never goes below 76 but normally is at 77 or 78. It's been in the mid 90's lately and very humid a lot of the time. I must be pretty acclimated - I don't think I'd be comfortable in the house with the AC set at 73! Even at 76 it feels on the chilly side to me :) but it sure would solve my warm tank issues! It is pretty much one-to-one that the tank temperature is tied to the house temperature.
 
The RBTA seems to be doing really well. It is interesting to watch the changes when the lighting changes. When the actinics are on, the tips inflate to the point of spheres - they look marble shaped. After the MH have been on for a while, the tentacles get elongated and more of a uniform narrow shape without significant bubble tips. It seems to be extended all of the time, doesn't retract at night either.
 
This may be way out there, but with all the sunshine, would there be any economics with a solar panel and battery, say powering your little fans, possibly one of your pumps, or maybe sump lighting.

Also, this may be way out there also, but what about running your pipes underground, kind of a loop, to take advantage of geothermic cooling? I'm wondering if you would need a larger pump though that would offset your cost savings.

Not all the water would have to run underground, but say some T valve with a small flexible hose.

just thoughts, maybe someone else is already doing this.
 
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