newreefbishop
Premium Member
DUDE whos tank is that its ridiculous....IM IN LOVE.....geez I have a long way to go.
Step-by-step account of my first reef (with lots of pics)
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Dudester
Premium Member
techreef - Thanks for posting the extra info, and sorry if I caused some confusion. I decided on the yellow assesor and not the fanged, poisonous, toxic child-slayer (geez, it looks we're giving this nice fish a bad rap).
Clint - Oh, SNAP, no you di'int just post pics of more dead corals :eek2: . Crikes, mate, I thought we'd at least have a couple left over for each of us. I hope those last remaining corals hold on. If they do, they'll certainly be prized in our tanks in the future. Ah, memories.
Thanks, also, for showing pics of that tank. Maybe some new thread followers will become confused and think it's my tank! For those who don't know, that reef is the inspiration to my upcoming office tank. The tank shown is 8' long and 4' deep. My office tank will be 8' long but only 3' deep (only
). newfeefbishop - more info on that tank can be found here. It belongs to my buds, Marcus and Dallas. They've done an exceptional job with that tank, and they've also received help from my man John (thedude) and Brian (longhornreefer), both of Kingfish Aquariums here in Austin.
In addition to checking out that monstrous reef, I changed out my bulb for a Reeflux 12K. It burns a bit whiter than my previous Phoenix 14K, and it has a much better PAR rating. I think my corals are going to love it. It's off for the night, but soon I'll get some pics so y'all can see the difference it makes. I need to photograph my new montastraea that I got a couple days ago anyway.
Clint - Oh, SNAP, no you di'int just post pics of more dead corals :eek2: . Crikes, mate, I thought we'd at least have a couple left over for each of us. I hope those last remaining corals hold on. If they do, they'll certainly be prized in our tanks in the future. Ah, memories.
Thanks, also, for showing pics of that tank. Maybe some new thread followers will become confused and think it's my tank! For those who don't know, that reef is the inspiration to my upcoming office tank. The tank shown is 8' long and 4' deep. My office tank will be 8' long but only 3' deep (only
). newfeefbishop - more info on that tank can be found here. It belongs to my buds, Marcus and Dallas. They've done an exceptional job with that tank, and they've also received help from my man John (thedude) and Brian (longhornreefer), both of Kingfish Aquariums here in Austin.In addition to checking out that monstrous reef, I changed out my bulb for a Reeflux 12K. It burns a bit whiter than my previous Phoenix 14K, and it has a much better PAR rating. I think my corals are going to love it. It's off for the night, but soon I'll get some pics so y'all can see the difference it makes. I need to photograph my new montastraea that I got a couple days ago anyway.
fishypets
New member
Kfowler,
I belive two things played a part in the QT crash:
1st. I did a stupid thing by performing an (in-tank) treatment and not adding the corals to a bucket that already had Fluke tabs mixed up. When I added the solution to the tank the first coral to get hit with the treatment was a big birdnest colony. After one day he started to RTN and the rest is history.
2nd Lack of bacteria allowed the RTN to continue until I added some filter floss from an established tank. Then it slowed to STN. The few acros that are still with us are showing the early signs on STN, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Mike- Yeah you are right bud. I feel if these corals can survive the QT they will be our prized sps. Down the road we can sell them as "bullet proof sps"
bubblethumper
Premium Member
Anxiously waiting to see! I don't know if you recall, but before you got rid of all your acros, you said that you were having some colouration issues with your SPS corals (decent growth, slowly losing color).
Well.... I also have the same Phoenix 14k bulb. Lots of people have been happy with the Phoenix bulb, but perhaps it's the problem we've been having with color?
Anyway, keep us posted with pics of that Reeflux!
Dudester
Premium Member
Yesterday, while feeding the tank, a large chunk of squid landed on the open brain. Fortunately the fish were already well-fed and they did not steal the food morsel. The brain's very large mouth opened and consumed the bit, and the red color deepened and intensified right before my eyes. It was sooooo cool! It makes me want to target feed this coral on a regular basis, but I'll have to get one of those long Kent Marine feeding basters to facilitate this. I initially thought that by just feeding the tank it would get its share, but the color definitely has faded since I got it and it's only been rejuvinated after this recent meal. I figure I'll target feed it at least weekly, if not more.
I ran a bunch of tests:
S.G. 1.026
pH 8.17
Ca 430
alk 8.0
Mg 1230
Nit 0
Phos 0
I added some B-Ionic Magnesium to increase the level to 1300.
I was getting ready to order the OceansMotions Omniflex nozzles for my CL returns in order to increase flow, but after thinking about it more, the flow would probably decrease by changing from the 3/4" LocLine to the 1" Omniflex nozzles. Instead, I think I'll just replace my LocLine with the hopes that the salt creep will be better controlled. To increase flow from the CL, I'm either going to get the 1" SCWD when it's available, or get an OceansMotions Squirt. Any votes out there? BTW, I am going on the wait list for a Tunze nanostream as well. It'll replace the MaxiJet1200 that's currently in the tank.
techreef - I did some more research (that is, I read the article more closely) and you were correct in that the yellow fang blenny does indeed secrete a venom when it bites. While the link you gave indicated that these fish may be unsafe, the AFM goes on to say that the envenomation feels like a "mild bee sting." I just wanted to clarify this point, and to thank you for educating me.
bubblethumper - Yes indeed, the acro crash of 2006 did not erase my entire memory bank. I was having problems with faded colors, although that may have been more a phenomenon of infestation as opposed to a bulb problem. As you mentioned, most folks are quite pleased with the colors they achieve with the Phoenix 14K, although having seen the ReefLux in person, I personally much prefer the latter bulb. With that in mind, here's what it looks like on my tank.
Phoenix 14K
ReefLux 12K
Here's the left side with the Phoenix 14K
and here it is with the ReefLux 12K.
The angles and magnifications are not identical, but I think you can appreciate the color difference. I can't wait until I have some acros again - they look so sweet under this light! You may have noticed some differences in the corals along the left reef (2nd set of photos). The blastos are gone
, but there's a new teal green montastraea.
I ran a bunch of tests:
S.G. 1.026
pH 8.17
Ca 430
alk 8.0
Mg 1230
Nit 0
Phos 0
I added some B-Ionic Magnesium to increase the level to 1300.
I was getting ready to order the OceansMotions Omniflex nozzles for my CL returns in order to increase flow, but after thinking about it more, the flow would probably decrease by changing from the 3/4" LocLine to the 1" Omniflex nozzles. Instead, I think I'll just replace my LocLine with the hopes that the salt creep will be better controlled. To increase flow from the CL, I'm either going to get the 1" SCWD when it's available, or get an OceansMotions Squirt. Any votes out there? BTW, I am going on the wait list for a Tunze nanostream as well. It'll replace the MaxiJet1200 that's currently in the tank.
techreef - I did some more research (that is, I read the article more closely) and you were correct in that the yellow fang blenny does indeed secrete a venom when it bites. While the link you gave indicated that these fish may be unsafe, the AFM goes on to say that the envenomation feels like a "mild bee sting." I just wanted to clarify this point, and to thank you for educating me.
bubblethumper - Yes indeed, the acro crash of 2006 did not erase my entire memory bank. I was having problems with faded colors, although that may have been more a phenomenon of infestation as opposed to a bulb problem. As you mentioned, most folks are quite pleased with the colors they achieve with the Phoenix 14K, although having seen the ReefLux in person, I personally much prefer the latter bulb. With that in mind, here's what it looks like on my tank.
Phoenix 14K
ReefLux 12K
Here's the left side with the Phoenix 14K
and here it is with the ReefLux 12K.
The angles and magnifications are not identical, but I think you can appreciate the color difference. I can't wait until I have some acros again - they look so sweet under this light! You may have noticed some differences in the corals along the left reef (2nd set of photos). The blastos are gone
, but there's a new teal green montastraea.
Dudester
Premium Member
Here are some better shots of the montastraea.
This is the small frogspawn frag I got at our reef club meeting about 2 months ago. It's quite happy with its green and purple tips, and it's growing several little fraglets at the base.
And here's some short, white xenia.
I try to control this so that it doesn't take over my tank. It's on a little rock apart from the main aquascape, although I know to be on the lookout for babies that may pop up anywhere in the tank.
This is the small frogspawn frag I got at our reef club meeting about 2 months ago. It's quite happy with its green and purple tips, and it's growing several little fraglets at the base.
And here's some short, white xenia.
I try to control this so that it doesn't take over my tank. It's on a little rock apart from the main aquascape, although I know to be on the lookout for babies that may pop up anywhere in the tank.
Dudester
Premium Member
danch - I'm not familiar with that tune, but I do like Leonard Cohen. I'll power search for that one on i-Tunes.
jessp - Most of my acros would have been considered "frags," and Clint did frag some of his. Problem was, they were nearly all infected with AEFW, and the "frags" had to be treated as well. Fortunately a few of the frags are being kept in John's tank, including Clint's CA tort, and he may be able to recover a few. Out of my stock, only the montipora digitatas have survived the quarantine and treatment period.
jessp - Most of my acros would have been considered "frags," and Clint did frag some of his. Problem was, they were nearly all infected with AEFW, and the "frags" had to be treated as well. Fortunately a few of the frags are being kept in John's tank, including Clint's CA tort, and he may be able to recover a few. Out of my stock, only the montipora digitatas have survived the quarantine and treatment period.
kfowler
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8728386#post8728386 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by techreef
Coming home, I walk towards my apartment building, and can see the window next to our tank lit up from the actinics that pop on at 4:30PM. I can't believe the cops haven't knocked on our door to check if we're growing pot.
I thought this same thing when looking at the blue hue coming out of my basement window.
Dudester
Premium Member
I'm getting a little tired of dealing with pump seizures. Last night, after the feed mode had completed, the Mag5 sump return pump seized (again). I had a long day and the last thing I wanted to do at 10:30 was remove the pump to clean it, but that's what I had to do. There were minimal visible calcium deposits on the impeller and on the housing where the impeller resides, and I didn't want to take the time to clean the unit in vinegar or muriatic acid, so I cleaned out the pump the best I could and just replaced the impeller with a spare that I had. The malfunctioning impeller shaft was essentially glued into place and wouldn't move up and down like the new impeller shaft is able to do, so there must be some precipitates inside the black impeller housing that I can't see. I'm going to soak this impeller in muriatic acid and see if I can loosen it up a bit, but if I can't then I'm just going to get rid of it.
I tried to put myself on a schedule to clean my Mag pumps and avoid these problems, but this has not been successful. The closed loop pump is on all of the time, even while feeding, so it only stops working after 4-5 months. On an every 3-month schedule I'm pretty sure I can keep this one (a Mag12) going well. The sump return pump, on the other hand, turns off daily with feedings, and it's more susceptible to problems. I looked back on my aquarium log and my sump pump seizes about every 1-2 months. Since setting up the sump 14 months ago, I've had 3 return pump impellers break, and I've cleaned unbroken impellers another 3 times. Does this seem excessive? I'm going to do one of the following:
1. Buy another Mag5 so that if/when a seizure occurs, I can simply replace the entire pump and clean the other one at a convenient time.
2. Clean the pump monthly.
3. Change to a different pump.
Any votes or advice out there? I think a combination of #s 1 and 2 is probably the best option.
I tried to put myself on a schedule to clean my Mag pumps and avoid these problems, but this has not been successful. The closed loop pump is on all of the time, even while feeding, so it only stops working after 4-5 months. On an every 3-month schedule I'm pretty sure I can keep this one (a Mag12) going well. The sump return pump, on the other hand, turns off daily with feedings, and it's more susceptible to problems. I looked back on my aquarium log and my sump pump seizes about every 1-2 months. Since setting up the sump 14 months ago, I've had 3 return pump impellers break, and I've cleaned unbroken impellers another 3 times. Does this seem excessive? I'm going to do one of the following:
1. Buy another Mag5 so that if/when a seizure occurs, I can simply replace the entire pump and clean the other one at a convenient time.
2. Clean the pump monthly.
3. Change to a different pump.
Any votes or advice out there? I think a combination of #s 1 and 2 is probably the best option.
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