So it begins, part two (120G)

Tank09-05-21005.jpg



Not much to show yet but an updated shot none the less.
 
TankQuarantine09-05-21001.jpg



This is my quarantine tank. If I need to medicate I will remove the rock, the Midas is ready to move into my 120 just waiting to get my screen tops completed. The last Midas Blenny I had went carpet surfing and I'd like to avoid that again if at all possible. They are such beautiful fish and have neat personalities.
 
i dont thin i have seen a fish w/ reflective eyes, like a dogs in pics, before...

it looks like the midas is still mad.. the redness should fade from the body when it calms down..
 
I forgot the red eye reducer function on the camera. :D



Actually the Midas is looking good. Even from the photo he is always out swimming until I come into the room. He retreats to his hole but then is quick to come out and look around in hopes of being feed.
 
I had one last year and lost him due to carpet surfing. This one came from AltpersOna. He said he has lost one to carpet surfing as well, so it must be a common trait with these guys. I also picked up the Yellow Watchman and Flame Angel from him.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14936177#post14936177 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by carb850

Here is the fish stocking list that I'm kicking around.

30G
Purple Firefish
Yellow Watchman Goby w/Pistol Shrimp
Tail Spot Blenny
Pecula Clown Pair
Chalk Bass



I been thinking about this stocklist. Would the Clown's be too aggressive for these other tankmates in a 30G cube? I'm starting to fear they may because the others are so peaceful. Thoughts?

Oh, I also added the Chalk Basslet to my list.
 
Not much new to report on the tank. I made changes to my mesh tops to allow room for the cables leading to the Tunze. Since the mesh tops are in place, I went ahead and moved the Midas Blenny over also. Fish are all health, tank is staying clean, and the few SPS frags I have are looking healthy. Tomorrow I will be doing my first water change and replacing the carbon. Something seems to be picking off my hermits slowly. Not sure if it is one of the larger hermits, emerald crabs, or even one of my fish.

I'm wanting to start adding more SPS as test pieces but I'm trying to hold off until I get the last few hardware components first. I want to get the 30G cube hooked up (waiting for my stand and return pump), hook up my the Kalk reactor, and replace the MH bulbs in the fixture over the 120. Then, I want to start slowly adding more coral. I also need to get the Tunze 7096 some were in that mix.

While I'm waiting, I fine tuned my potential fish stocking list a bit more.


30G
Purple Firefish
Yellow Watchman Goby w/Pistol Shrimp
Tail Spot Blenny
Ocellaris Clown Pair

120G
Bangai Cardinal (already have)
Bluegreen Chromis (already have)
Midas Blenny (already have)
Flame Angel (already have)
Blue Stripe Neon Goby
Mandarin
Undecided Clown Pair
Undecided Small Tang
Undecided Fairy Wrasse


I think I prefer the Percula Clowns to the Ocellaris but it seems most people think the Ocellaris are more peaceful. Because of the other tankmates of the 30G cube, I want the most peaceful variety I can get.

I picked up a Flame Angel for the 120G which I didn't originally plan but was a fish I always wanted. So with the addition of that guy, I think a group of Anthias will just be too much load so I will replace them with a Fairy Wrasse if I can find one that is colorful and not overly aggressive.
 
I ended up doing reset on my 58 gallon system, and really liked you stand, so i copied it, expect that mine is red mahogany. I just really liked your stand design.

BTW, I'm doing a mesh top as well and was wondering where you picked that mesh up. I didn't see that size at HD. Maybe I missed it.
 
drouner, I'm glad you liked it. Do you have a photo of your completed stand? PM sent on mesh.


Well, the Osmolator install didn't go too well. I hooked it up yesterday the initial test had the water cutting off exactly were it should. During the night, I awoke to an alarm going off and I knew what it was. Going to my tank in the adjoining room the water was up to the secondary shutoff which stopped the water and triggered the alarm.

I'm all but certain the problem is microbubbles. The electronic eye is covered with them so I believe that tricked the sensor to believe the water was too low. So the Osmolator is back offline until I solve the microbubble problem.

I spoke with phjless this afternoon and had a few suggestions but one I think will work. Installing a piece of PVC pipe and having the water dump into it. I'm stealing an idea from my skimmer and integrating it into this design. Instead of having a simple hole in the bottom I hope to feed a piece of PVC pipe (1" dia) though the side then cutting holes in the bottom of this horizontal piece. That will draw water from even deeper in this PVC pipe hopefully reducing microbubbles even more. IF this works not only will it significantly reduce my microbubbles but it will also but a huge reduction in the salt creep. I hope to get the first mock up some evening this week.
 
Thanks, hopefully the above mentioned device will help. However, the fun continued this evening.

I did my first water change tonight, complete disaster. Things started off great as I got a mouth full of water starting the siphon. Once I got it going the hose came out of my bucket resulting in water spewing everywhere. It soaked the floor pretty good so I had to stop to get it dried up. I finish cleaning the tank bottom on that side then went around to the other. Almost the same thing happened with me stopping to dry the floor again. Then as I'm putting new water back into the sump I found myself trying to hold the hose over my sump and reaching around the stand to plug in the pump I'm using to put the water in. At some point when trying to unplug the pump the hose comes out again dowsing everything one last time. I'd say, I had about a half gallon of water on the floor each time. If I had carpet, this one water change would have ruined it. All in all this water change took me almost 2 hours and I had the water ready to go.

Lessons learned.

(1) Never do a water change alone. Keep someone station on both ends of the hose at all times.

(2) Forget siphoning water out. I have a large mag drive pump to put water back in my tank but it is so large I'm not able to vacuum the bottom of my sump/tank. I need a pump with a hose both on the intake and return so I can use the intake hose as a pinpoint vacuum.
 
Looks good!! Sounds like you are on the right track. I didnt see if your osmo was new or not, but if it is it will do that until it breaks in.
 
It was a new unit. You think that is more the reason of the problem than the microbubbles? Either way, I have it unplugged for now and hope to get the test device in later this week. I'm crossing my fingers.
 
Picked up the stand for my 30G cube today. I hope to get 3 coats of polyurethane on it this weekend and the light suspended from the ceiling. Photo's will be posted once I get to that point. All I will be missing is sand and return pump. The pump is an Eheim 1250 which is currently on order from a LFS.

So, what do you guys think of this sand?
https://www.marcorocks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=66
I believe it should be enough to give me a 2" SSB in the cube, I just worry about it potentially blowing around. My alternative would be the CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand.
 
I think the marco sand is nice looking and would probably look great in the tank but I think you would have way to many problems with it blowing around all over the place. It looks really fine and would probably make a mess.
I am slowly taking my sand out of my DT and putting it in one of my 29 gallon tanks for now until I decide what I want to do with it. I might setup a 29 for strictly zoa's and use it in there.
 
This 30G cube will be mainly for Zoo's and Rics, maybe an LPS or two so I won't be putting a monster amount of flow in it. Most likely start off with a couple of maxijets but considering the Vortech MP10 at a later date.
 
I went with the Carb Sea Indo Pacific sand which is a black and white sand. The LPS, rics and zoas really pop against the background. I did it would be as nice but I like it. Just a suggestion.
 
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