So, I went to Iowa City on Sunday and picked up the rest of Sipe's LR, a bunch of his sand and his cleaning crew. I also transported the clowns and Sabae for Joel(cute little guys and really wish the tank had been up and running cause I woulda took em).
Anyway, Sunday was a MAD rush to get everything up and stabalized and ready for the LR to be put in.(Thanks to Joel and Jerry for the RO/DI water!!!)
So, everything is in the tank, flow is good, lighting a bit weak but looking to improve that this weekend and everything is healthy(lost one small Xenia clump and nothing else in the move). The water params are Am=0ppm Nitrites=0ppm Nitrates=<10ppm...the color looks like it is ALMOST 0 but not quite.
I am going to wait at least 2 weeks before even considering new livestock.
The great news is Walmart is reimbursing us for the cost of one Maroon Clown, one B/W Damsel, 5 red legged hermits, 15lbs of Live Rock @ $6.50/lb, a packet of Bio Spira, and a little extra for our trouble.
So that is going to be our fish budget. The remainder of this week, I am going to do some rearranging of the aquascape as I want the turquoise shrooms to be very visible as they are simply gorgeous. And the Xenia are pulsing like fiends. Going to add another light fixture and 10k T5s to help with lighting and to give us a dual stage lighting.
Also going to add another 300gph powerhead. Right now running around 300gph flow through the pump, and another ~200 from a powerhead I had. I figure 800gph roughly is good for a vertical tank this size. Going to see about living with the hang on fuge for now as the stand doesn't allow much room for a good sump/fuge combo. If this doesn't work or I get more addicted, then I will build a stand and hood for it with everything hidden except the front of the DT.
I have to say, there is some amzing stuff going on in this tank. Just watching the crabs and snails doing their jobs and the sand shifters sorting the sand...amazing.
I can't wait for better lighting to help what little color I do have to pop and to get some fishies in there...only mildly disappointed at not having a longer tank so that I could house a PBT...gorgeous fish but I refuse to stuff it into a vertical tank.
The aquascaping plan is to build something of a reef shelf kind of coming to a point towards the upper levels of the tank.
I have some rock I wasn't able to fit into the DT so I am going to take the small tank I have in the basement and start up a little nano reef maybe or just do a few Damsels in it as they are fun fish to watch.
Anyway, thanks so far for the help guys. I am sure I will constantly have more questions. And I hate the fact that I have yet another addictive hobby...added to Motorcycles and high end computers. Oh yeah, and landscaping, and maintaining my hottub and camping and...hehe
Anyway, Sunday was a MAD rush to get everything up and stabalized and ready for the LR to be put in.(Thanks to Joel and Jerry for the RO/DI water!!!)
So, everything is in the tank, flow is good, lighting a bit weak but looking to improve that this weekend and everything is healthy(lost one small Xenia clump and nothing else in the move). The water params are Am=0ppm Nitrites=0ppm Nitrates=<10ppm...the color looks like it is ALMOST 0 but not quite.
I am going to wait at least 2 weeks before even considering new livestock.
The great news is Walmart is reimbursing us for the cost of one Maroon Clown, one B/W Damsel, 5 red legged hermits, 15lbs of Live Rock @ $6.50/lb, a packet of Bio Spira, and a little extra for our trouble.
So that is going to be our fish budget. The remainder of this week, I am going to do some rearranging of the aquascape as I want the turquoise shrooms to be very visible as they are simply gorgeous. And the Xenia are pulsing like fiends. Going to add another light fixture and 10k T5s to help with lighting and to give us a dual stage lighting.
Also going to add another 300gph powerhead. Right now running around 300gph flow through the pump, and another ~200 from a powerhead I had. I figure 800gph roughly is good for a vertical tank this size. Going to see about living with the hang on fuge for now as the stand doesn't allow much room for a good sump/fuge combo. If this doesn't work or I get more addicted, then I will build a stand and hood for it with everything hidden except the front of the DT.
I have to say, there is some amzing stuff going on in this tank. Just watching the crabs and snails doing their jobs and the sand shifters sorting the sand...amazing.
I can't wait for better lighting to help what little color I do have to pop and to get some fishies in there...only mildly disappointed at not having a longer tank so that I could house a PBT...gorgeous fish but I refuse to stuff it into a vertical tank.
The aquascaping plan is to build something of a reef shelf kind of coming to a point towards the upper levels of the tank.
I have some rock I wasn't able to fit into the DT so I am going to take the small tank I have in the basement and start up a little nano reef maybe or just do a few Damsels in it as they are fun fish to watch.
Anyway, thanks so far for the help guys. I am sure I will constantly have more questions. And I hate the fact that I have yet another addictive hobby...added to Motorcycles and high end computers. Oh yeah, and landscaping, and maintaining my hottub and camping and...hehe
