Step-by-step account of my first reef (with lots of pics)

[melev]

Sorry about the loss of your goby/shrimp pair. I've never tried to keep either of those. Maybe one day I'll do something crazy and put a pair in Casper's tank. I don't know if they are compatible with a Seahorse or not though.

You can use the Aqua Controller Jr to control things, but not the IceCap fan. I tried it, and the x-10 controller ruined the power supply to the fan. Since I had two fans and two x-10s and both died, I don't think that is a workable option.

You can install a moonlight and that fan easily over the tank in that relative area. The benefit of removing the big white fan will be worthwhile.

 

[Dudester]

Guess I should follow this up with some good news. I was a little gun shy of fish at this point, and I missed that blastomussa frag so much (you getting this, John?) that I went and got another one, this time a 7-polyp colony. Everything I've read about this coral suggests that they should be kept under low light and moderate flow, so I placed it at the bottom of my tank on the substrate. Unfortunately some sand blew onto a few of the polyps, and they began to die. I immediately repositioned them higher in the tank, still under moderate flow but certainly with more intense light. One polyp suffered about 70% tissue loss (including the mouth), another about 30% tissue loss, and another about 20%. Remarkably this coral has bounced back completely, and the only evidence of loss is the polyp that suffered the most damage. It's beginning to grow a new mouth, and I think it will look great once it's completely healed. I'm not sure why it's doing so well under direct MH lighting, but I'm not going to knock it!

Here's what it looked like at the time of maximal tissue damage.

See how fleshy the guy up top looks? That's how it's supposed to be. The 2 polyps on the left look fairly denuded of tissue and quite unhappy.

This is a different angle of the same coral, and here you can see the damage once again. Notice how fleshy the polyp at the top is, its tissue projecting up and away from the skeleton.

Happily, today it's a totally different-looking coral. It's all "fleshed out" and healthy. I spot feed it every day, and it's fun to watch the flesh curl around the pieces of food that I offer. I'll get an updated photo of the coral soon so you all can appreciate the difference. I may want to move it in the future, since it's in a prime location for some SPS once I increase the flow a little.


While I'm posting pics, here's a view of the tank looking up from the front. This shows the rippling of the water at the surface pretty well.

You might be able to see that blasto colony in the front left, perched upon the upper LR "shelf." Just beneath it, on the lower shelf is my green Ricordea colony. You can also appreciate the anti-siphon hole I drilled into the sump return plumbing (grey), as well as the number of holes I drilled into my CL drain PVC pipe.

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Dudester]

melev - I think I recall reading in your thread the troubles you had with the x-10 controller and your fan. Guess I could use the ACJr (or similar device) for everything EXCEPT thermal control, eh?

I believe the holidays are again approaching, so I think an IceCap fan and moonlight are in my future! Anyone have experience with the moonlight I linked above, or is there a different light I should consider?

Here's one more photo of my system, this time looking from the left and a little from the rear.

Excuse the orange bucket in the background - I had just done a water change. I'm also noticing that I need to route that one electrical cable into the powerstrip inside my cabinet. It goes to my MH timer that's currently plugged into a socket on the other side of the column. There's currently no room on that powerstrip, but I have an idea ...

 

[Bax]

Dudester

Very nice set up. Really good work, I love seeing all the gadgets on "nano" tanks.

One thought, Christmas is coming, so consider asking Santa for a Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper. I started using one recently on my 75g (an upgrade from a 26 bow). It controls lights, pumps, heaters and fans using a temp probe & timers to coordinate up to 8 outlets. I use two 4" 64 cfm AC computer fans from Radio Shack.

A great benefit is a feed mode for your CL, you can set it to go off as long as you like to feed your critters and it automatically comes back on. That way they actually get a chance to eat in all that crazy flow you got going on there.

Mine runs actinics, MHs, sump lights, two fans, one of two heaters, and one of two CLs.

Not cheap, but is cuts out a lot of independent timers and the need for a temp controller and is very small in over all size. Over all it costs about the same a a temp controller and several Intermatic timers. It has solved several control issues for me.

... anyway, nice job so far, don't be discouraged by the shrimp goby thing.

 

[bcoons]

Dudester - OK, your last couple of posts raise two questions in my mind:

1. Quarantine tanks - I wasn't as patient as you were in adding fish. After my tank water and live rock had stabilized for two weeks I added four fish, three shrimp, three hermit crabs, and the Condi anemone over the next four weekends. So far, so good (knock on wood) as everyone is still doing OK on day 47 since the tank going "live." Never used a Q tank. I have a new 10 gal tank, filter, air pump, heater, light, etc. all ready to set up as a Q tank, but I always wondered how you keep the bacteria colonies going between uses? Seems to me that the colonies would die off between uses, and I've heard of just adding some sand or live rock from the main tank to get it started again, but does that really work? Is there enough bacteria there to really "jump start" a system from scratch? So, is one supposed to set up a Q tank from scratch each time you need one, or is there a way to keep it "live" between uses?

2. - Moonlight - I just bought an 18W Blue Moon Actinic flouro bulb for an extra 30" AGA light strip I had lying around. I just set it on top of the glass top of the tank at night after the main lights go out, and take it off in the morning. It seems too bright for me to be considered moonlight. I worried about ruining the fishes sleep cycle, so I have been turning it off before I go to bed. I've also read on tgunn's thread about the DIY LED light bar he made, and I have the blue and red LEDs to try that, and I'll try to build it over the next week. The LED light output will probably be much less than an equivalent 18W of flouro. So, the question is - Is there a rule of thumb for how many watts per gallon or LED lumen or candlepower equivalent one should use for moonlighting? Is too much bad? Is too little bad? Should you turn off the moonlight for a couple of nights a month to simulate new moon? Questions, questions.

I haven't looked at any automated aquarium controllers yet. I guess I'm still too new and working through the basics. But being an EE and having a passing familiarity with computers and control systems (albeit on military systems) I guess I should start looking at them. Probably not needed for my little 20g long tank, but as I was telling John at AA, I have bigger plans for the future! Anyone have any good links to sites about control systems?

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.

 

[melev]

bcoons, just turn on the LEDs when you want to see them, and leave them off the rest of the time. Dana Riddle did a study on LEDs and found that some corals bleached from the 24 hour a day spot light effect. Either use a timer, or just turn them on when you are in the mood.

 

[Dudester]

Bax - Thanks for your input. I checked out the Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper you mentioned.

http://www.digitalaquatics.com/reefkeeper.htm

Wow, this thing looks awesome! I compared it to the Medusa temperature controller and the AquaController Jr. For the price and functionality, it looks hard to beat. Love the feed mode. It also looks quite simple to use, is this the case for you? Thanks so much for the suggestion, I think I can see this device in my cabinet. I wonder if I could use this with the IceCap fan mentioned above? Anyone else out there have experience with it? I'd still like to monitor my pH on a continual basis, maybe I'll get a Pinpoint pH probe as well.

I'm not permanently discouraged by the goby/shrimp pair, as you will soon see .

bcoons - Glad you've had success with the relatively "early" additions to your tank. I was, in my opinion, quite cautious since I was not interested in killing a lot of fish, but look where that got me I guess it just goes to show you that this is as much art as it is science, and we sometimes have to make decisions based on best guesses, supported by the data that's available. Even though I thought I was being conservative by waiting 2 months before adding a fish, others would say that this was too early. Here's what Eric Borneman said in this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=249112&perpage=25&pagenumber=1.

You could add fish shortly after the cycle is over. If I were you, though, I'd wait 8 months or a year.

Regarding your questions:

1. John (thedude15810) doesn't use a QT either, and he's had great success with his fish. I didn't get one until after my next loss, which I'll explain in a subsequent post. I think the number of benefits of having a QT markedly outweigh the risk of putting a sick fish into my display tank. On a very basic level, I also enjoy having 2 tanks to fiddle around with.

It sounds like you have all of the necessary ingredients to get a QT up and running. As far as the question you asked regarding the biological filtration (bacteria), the answer is not with LR or sand (although there are several folks here on RC that DO use LR in their QTs - check out this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=699502&perpage=25&pagenumber=1). Simply place the filter sponge from your HOB filter into your current tank's sump and let it sit in there for a week or so. The sponge will become colonized with all of the healthy bacteria your QT will need, so you'll want to transfer this sponge into your filter while running your QT. This doesn't mean you don't have to do water changes in your QT, but at least your tank will be able to handle the wastes from your fish and uneaten foods. I have extra sponges and always keep one in my sump. That way, if you have to medicate your QT and the sponge becomes "contaminated," simply throw that one away and use the new one from your sump. They're quite cheap. This also ensures that you have a sponge populated with bacteria in a pinch for that impulse buy from the LFS. I think that most people recommend you tear down your QT between uses. This ensures that it's cleaned between acquisitions, and it should be quick and easy to setup for new fish, assuming that there's a filter sponge in your sump .

Here's another good QT thread, for those interested.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=684888

Here's something I was wondering ... what if a fish is in quarantine for 4-6 weeks, then is added to the display without ever needing medications. Is it OK to immediately add a new fish to the QT without breaking it down? I would think it would be OK as long as the filter sponge and carbon were discarded and replaced (?).

2. I'm no moonlight authority (I'm no authority, period!), and I don't know the specific watts/gallon that are recommended. I know that the ads for moonlights recommend running them the entire night for improved coral growth and stimulation of spawning, but of course they're trying to sell a product. Melev sited some data implicating moonlights and coral bleaching, so I guess this deserves some further research. I like his idea of turning them on/off as needed.

I hope you will investigate the automated controllers, you know, being an EE and all, and post your recommendations here! I didn't think I'd ever need or want one for my little 30 gal tank either, and 3 months later look where I am .


Now is anyone going to tell me how to post a highlighted descriptive name instead of a http://www link so I can graduate this thread from 100- to 200-level status?

 

[melev]

Okay, to post a link as a phrase, you can use the URL button in the regular editor, or you can manually type it out like this (minus any spaces I've inserted <b>within the bracketed tag commands</b>):

[ url=http: //www.reefcentral.com] awesome reefing site [ /url]

Whatever the address it, it goes after the equals sign.
Whatever words you want to appear as the clickable link, those words go between the URL and the /URL tags. You can still use spaces in that section, as needed, so the text reads correctly.

So it would like like "You should check out this awesome reefing site called Reef Central!"

 

[Dudester]

Thanks, Marc, I knew I could count on you for all of the highly technical consulting work :thumbsup:

 

[Bax]

Dudester

I've been using the Reef Keeper for about two or three months. It was really easy to program. I have yet to play with it since plugging it in and doing initial settings, just too busy at work.

I think it really serves a great purpose and provides excellent control of any AC devise like a fan. I don't have the icecap fans but if they are 115 AC you can run them on this controller. And the feed mode is excellent I use it not only for feeding but when I just want to take a few minutes and enjoy the tank without everything blowing all over the place, and it automatically turns back on at what ever time you set for the feed cycle ... very cool!

I use a Pin Point for monitoring pH, I have a GEO Kalk reactor collecting dust in the corner that I still need to hook up. I would not look to use a pH controller unless I was running a Ca reactor and I don't think you'll ever need to go beyond dosing Kalk with your set up. So for the cash, I still like the Reef Keeper.

JMO

 

[bcoons]

Dudester Thanks, that was exactly the kind of info I am looking for. I have a small Penguinn bio-wheel HOB filter I was going to use with the 10 gal QT tank. I don't have a sump yet, but I suppose I could just put the little bio-wheel over in a corner of the main tank and have it absorb some of the bacteria from there. It will look a little hokey, but would only do it for a little while before needing the QT tank. Probably good to put the filter sponge in there too, but I think most of the good bacteria are supposed to be on the bio-wheel in that type of filter.

I think I'll control the moonlight manually for awhile. I'll also start looking at automated controllers. My military engineering background leans me towards complex, all controlling devices, but my ham radio background leans me towards KISS. I'll have to find a compromise somewhere in the middle.

I understand about the having more tanks to tinker with thing. I now have four tanks (3 FW) in my dining room and one in my cube at the office.

I'm glad Melev answered your how to post reference names question. I asked my son (the network tech) how to do it, and he showed me, but I was having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to explain it to someone else. He does it a little different, and more complex. I like simple!

Eagerly awaiting the next installment of the saga.

Bruce

 

[fastjunkie]

nice job..keep it up!!!

 

[KingfishJohn]

I'll say this about the reefkeeper, I like it but like someone previously mentioned, it doesn't monitor or control PH. For the money, I'd go with it and if you want to see PH, go with the controller with the idea that eventually it will be hooked up to a calcium reactor, either on this one or the next.

The article Marc was referring to was a moonlight presentation offered at this years MACNA I believe. Although not able to see it for myself (hopefully Marc can expand on it) but the summation of it was that moonlights bleached corals.

Yikes those blastos did look pretty bad. I'm glad they've started to perk up. In my experience, they love almost no flow, you seem to get a much more fleshed out appearance.

And it's true, I don't run a quarantine (eeek I know). I've really never had a problem with ich (knock on wood) or any fish diseases in my tank at home. Then again, at the store we get sick fish all the time that I do have experience with, so maybe it comes down to being an extremely picky fish selector.

It also I think has to do with the fact that I only have a 30 gallon cube. A tank as large as say Marc's I can see how the QT process would be must as I don't want to infect my other 200 fish (haha Marc's slowly bringing this number down ).

 

[Dudester]

fastjunkie - Thanks a lot. Spent a couple of years in Cincinnati myself - God I miss Ambar Indian food and Grater's ice cream!!

thedude15810 - Yeah, unless someone gives me a compelling reason why I shouldn't go with the Reef Keeper, I think I'll go ahead and get it. In all honesty, I don't see myself getting a calcium reactor for this particular tank. First of all, there's no room to store it in my cabinet. Secondly, it wouldn't fit inside my cabinet. And lastly, I don't think I could find a place to put it inside my cabinet :lmao:. Hmm, unless I could squeeze it somewhere in my cabinet ... hmm .
The blastos did look like crap back then, but they look 100% better now. I took some pics a few days ago, I just need to upload them onto Photobucket and I'll post them here for comparison's sake.

Bax - Thanks for your follow-up info regarding the Reef Keeper. Very encouraging, indeed.

I would not look to use a pH controller unless I was running a Ca reactor and I don't think you'll ever need to go beyond dosing Kalk with your set up.

I agree that I don't need a pH "controller" since, for the 3 reasons listed above, I don't think I'll be getting a calcium reactor. I would, however, like a pH "monitor" so that I can at least ensure that my pH is stable and in range. As you know, and for the benefit of others, a severely alkaline pH can hinder ones ability to provide soluble calcium. That being said, I'm not sure that kalk alone is going to do it for the calcium needs of my system. I dose almost 3 tsp of calcium hydroxide and go through about 12 gallons of kalkwasser topoff each week. With that, I am unable to get my calcium above 380 with a minimal coral burden. As a result I began dosing ESV B-Ionic exactly 3 weeks ago with the hopes of pushing my Ca to between 400-420. My kH/alk was also a little low at 8.3/2.97. I began by adding 5 ml of each of the two part solution, and I checked Ca and alkalinity daily. After two days, I noticed a small bump in alkalinity but essentially no change in calcium, so I increased the volume of both solutions by 5 ml. I repeated the same routine (daily addition of B-Ionic, daily Ca and alk checks, with increases in the addition of B-Ionic every 2 days by 5 ml). I'm now to the point where last night my Ca was 385 and my alk was 3.31. I added 40 ml of both solutions. The instructions say not to add more than 1 ml per gallon of system water, and I've almost achieved that already without a significant bump in my calcium. My pH has been stable at ~8.4 (I think? I find the Salifert pH scale to be difficult to read. I'm fairly certain that the color I achieve with the test is the same as it was months ago, so my pH isn't fluctuating. This is why I want a pH monitor). This is why I considered a Ca reactor but, as I might have mentioned already, I don't think I can fit one in my cabinet so it's off the list.

Anybody know why my Ca level isn't responding to the B-Ionic supplement? Maybe I should check a Mg level, since low magnesium can inhibit the ability of calcium to go into suspension? I really want a higher calcium level so that I can acquire some (more) SPS. If I can fix this problem and the B-Ionic starts to work as intended, I'll have to get a dosing pump so I don't have to add it manually. Ahh, new toys .

Here's the pH monitor I'm interested in. (did you see that, melev?)


bcoons - Await no more!! The saga continues.

 

[melev]

That is the same pH Monitor I've been using for years. Great device, and sometimes you'll find them used for $50. The probe may have to be replaced though, and that can cost $30 or more.

B-Ionic is a great product. Used it for years.

My fish load is substantially lower. My tank almost looks like a ghost town now. I think I'm down to 11 fish from the 29 I had a year ago.

The ReefKeeper will do what you want, but you'll need to buy some 1' extention cords because anything with a large black power converter (aka wall wort) will eat up valuable real estate. Using those short cords lets you plug in what you want in each outlet. You can find those online or buy them at Fry's Electronics.

When Dana gave his presentation, I wasn't paying super close attention, but basically he'd observed corals getting a bleached spot where the main focused light was hitting. The rest of the coral was fine, but the target spot was bleached. So rather than leaving them on all the time, just turn them off when you don't need them, or change their orientation every couple of days perhaps. Personally, I don't mind a dark reef at night. I have Blue and Red LEDs that I bought and have yet to install.

 

[Dudester]

next fish(es)

next fish(es)

Three days after the loss of my goby, I got a young mated pair of true percula clownfish from ... you guessed it ... John (thedude15810). He had just recovered from a crash of his system due to an exploded anenome (I'll let you expand on this if you wish, John) and since he had no plans for a new anenome, he kindly sold the fish to me so that they'd have a happier home in which to live.

Apparently this was a mistake.

The female had a 3 mm lesion of (suspected) lymphocystis on her gill when she was acquired, and the male had pinpoint lesion as well. They were inseparable and cruised the tank together, eventually hosting in my frogspawn. They both ate hardily and looked well until the 48 hour mark, when the female began to develop labored breathing. Check out this thread for all of the gory details but suffice it to say that after 72 hours she was gone :sad2:.

The male continued to do well but looked very lonely :sad1:. Having tested all parameters (nit 0, phos 0, ammonia <0.25, all else unchanged from before) and being unable to conclude exactly why she died, I decided it was time to get a quarantine tank for future acquisitions. My first would be another percula clownfish. My hope is that the current male will assume a female sex, and the new juvenile will become a male and they will pair up and eventually mate. The details of this will have to wait until a later installment, as I have to get some other things accomplished today. Oh yeah, and after a few more months of stability, I'll get them an anemone.

 

[Dudester]

whoops, I meant "anemone"

 

[bcoons]

Yeah, unless someone gives me a compelling reason why I shouldn't go with the Reef Keeper, I think I'll go ahead and get it.

I agree that I don't need a pH "controller" since, for the 3 reasons listed above, I don't think I'll be getting a calcium reactor. I would, however, like a pH "monitor" so that I can at least ensure that my pH is stable and in range.

I downloaded and read the manual on the Reef Keeper. Looks like a handy little unit, especially given the price. Seems it handles lights, powerheads, and temps, which are the only things I actually have on my little 20 gal tank right now. The feeding feature is neat. I like that it looks pretty simple and fail-safe.

I would also like to have a pH monitor. I too have problems accurately interpreting the color on the test strips. Looking at the unit in your link, I see that for about double the cost, one can get the controller rather than a monitor. Although I don't have a calcium reactor yet, nor plan to get one for my little tank, I'm thinking ahead to maybe a bigger (90 gal) tank sometime in the future. Then I may want a calc reactor and a pH contoller. Gotta do some more studying on calc reactors. Right now I'm not adding or dosing anything, but I don't have any corals yet. I'll have to figure this stuff out before I add any corals. (John, I'll be down asking more questions!)

Here's the pH monitor I'm interested in. (did you see that, melev?)

Fast learner, I see.

 

[Dudester]

melev - I almost didn't see your post. Since you've been using B-Ionic for years, do you have any explanation as to why my calcium level seems to be refractory to increases in dosing? Should I just keep titrating it up as I am doing?

I'm all too familiar with how those power converters can eat up space on a powerstrip. The 1' extension cords you're talking about are a great idea, and I have an even cheaper option. I currently have 2 timers, and the power converter for the Tunze Osmolator is just as large. I bought some 3-prong male and female adaptors and some thick electrical wire. I had planned on mounting the timers and the power converter inside my cabinet, then make my own extension cords with the above supplies, custom cut to the exact length needed. Now, however, I'll use them to plug into the Reef Keeper that I plan to get. I'll be sure to post pics of the inctricate construction of my custom-length extension cords when I undergo the project. Whew, running a thread is a lot of work, and comes with homework to boot:mixed:.

bcoons - Thanks for your comments on the ReefKeeper and pH monitor. It is interesting that for 2x the price I could have a pH "controller." I, too, plan on having a much larger system in the future, but since I'm sure I won't have a calcium reactor for my current system (for reasons I can't quite recall ) I think I'll just go with the pH monitor. Who knows what will be available once I'm ready for my monster system.

And since you mentioned corals ...

 

[Dudester]

next frag

next frag

My main man John hooked me up once again. (Of course now he gets my next child)
Just before adding my percula pair, John got me this tiny frogspawn frag. The colors were/are amazing! Bright green with pink/purple tips. It came with only a tiny piece of skeleton, and this was cracked so that it was unstable (hey, beggers can't be choosers). It wasn't heavy enough to remain upright in my tank, so I decided to mount it to a small piece of LR using super glue gel. When I manipulated it the frag twisted in half 360 degrees and I actually saw its mouth become corkscrewed :eek1:. I untwisted it and mended the crack in the skeleton with more super glue gel, being careful not to get any on the fleshy tissue. I placed it in the tank and it's been happy ever since. I haven't posted any pics in a while, so here it is.

This was placed in my tank about 6 weeks ago, and it's already showing some growth. This left side view of my tank gives you a better idea of just how small this frogspawn frag truly is. It's sitting beside the blasto colony I showed previously.

I'm hoping it grows nicely, and I hope that I'll be able to pry or cut it off of the LR once it grows its own sufficient skeleton (?). Any frogspawn experts out there who can confirm or refute this as an option?