Marchingbandjs
New member
How did u do ur aquascaping... whats holding rocks togther...
tas5tas' 237g Total System Build
- Thread starter tas5tas
- Start date
tas5tas
New member
The rocks are held together with 3/8" acrylic rod. I had to pre-drill the rocks and I used reef-safe silicone in the holes before sliding the the acryli rod into place. It works great and the rod is completely unoticable. The formation is NOT one big structure though. There is a total of 8 independant structures so they can be pulled out for coral mounting or for other purposes.
melev
Well-known member
The s5100 doesn't have interchangeable lenses. You might want to spend some time on DPreview.com's Fuji section and get some answers before you purchase anything. www.cameragear.com has all kinds of add-ons that don't cost a lot. I've purchased what I needed from that site in the past for mine.
tas5tas
New member
Here is an up to date list of the corals currently in my tank......
SPS
ORA Orange Monti Cap
ORA Blue Voodoo Stag
ORA Turquoise Stag
ORA Brett's Purple Rim Monti Cap
Tyree Superman Monti
Green Pavona
Unknown Teal/Blue/White Acropora
ORA Rose Mille
ORA Cali Tort
ORA Nathan's Green Mille
Purple Tip Acropora Turaki
ORA Joe the Coral
Green Table Acro
ORA Tri-Color Valida
ORA Red Planet Table
ORA Bali Green Slimer
ORA Green Digitata
ORA Orange Digitata
ORA Blue Mille
Tyree Ponape Birdsnest
ORA Purple Digitata
Tyree Idaho Grape Monti Cap
LPS
Orange Crush Acanlord
Green Tip Hammer Coral
Purple and Green Fungia
Teal and Pink Cup Coral
Green Center Candy Coral
Blue Ice Chalice
Pink Eye Chalice
Green Alveopora
Softies
Mantis Zoas
Incredible Hulk Zoas
Pink Panther Zoas
Green Stardust PPE Zoa
Nuclear Sunset Zoas
Solar Zoas
Mettalic Green Star Polyps
ORA Toadstool
SPS
ORA Orange Monti Cap
ORA Blue Voodoo Stag
ORA Turquoise Stag
ORA Brett's Purple Rim Monti Cap
Tyree Superman Monti
Green Pavona
Unknown Teal/Blue/White Acropora
ORA Rose Mille
ORA Cali Tort
ORA Nathan's Green Mille
Purple Tip Acropora Turaki
ORA Joe the Coral
Green Table Acro
ORA Tri-Color Valida
ORA Red Planet Table
ORA Bali Green Slimer
ORA Green Digitata
ORA Orange Digitata
ORA Blue Mille
Tyree Ponape Birdsnest
ORA Purple Digitata
Tyree Idaho Grape Monti Cap
LPS
Orange Crush Acanlord
Green Tip Hammer Coral
Purple and Green Fungia
Teal and Pink Cup Coral
Green Center Candy Coral
Blue Ice Chalice
Pink Eye Chalice
Green Alveopora
Softies
Mantis Zoas
Incredible Hulk Zoas
Pink Panther Zoas
Green Stardust PPE Zoa
Nuclear Sunset Zoas
Solar Zoas
Mettalic Green Star Polyps
ORA Toadstool
tas5tas
New member
Ok, it seems that I have either hit the tank maturity stage or some rare sweet spot with my water parameters.......
Over the past week I have had some outrageous growth on ALL of my SPS!!!! Finally!!!
My bali green slimer has sprouted 10 new branches this past week and each one is between 3/8"-1/2" long. All of my monti caps have added around 1/2"-3/4" of growth this week as well. My new frag of red planet has encrusted about 3/8" over the epoxy I mounted it with. My turquoise stag has grown 5 new branches about the size of the new ones on my bali green slimer. My blue voodoo has grown 2 new branches about 1/4" each and has also grown upwards about 1/2". My cali tort has started to branch out as well. There are 2 branches on the top now around 3/8"-1/2" each and 1 on the backside around 1/4".
I am amazed at how a tank can go through a transformation of this magnitude in a week's time. I've had more growth on the acros and stags listed above in the last week than I've had in the 9 months this tank has been setup. I was told by some "experts" that I should notice my tank taking off around December or early January....I guess it came a little early. I will admit that I had started to become discouraged about the lack of growth in my tank and even contemplated selling everything. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong or what I wasn't doing right. This just goes to show that with the right advice, husbandry, equiptment, and lots of patience anything is possible.
I would like to thank a few people that have made this journey possible so far....
My wife...for supporting me in this venture with SPS
My brother-in-law...for getting me started in the hobby 5 years ago
Mike and Jeremy @ Reef Specialty...for great customer support, prices, and availability of products
SunnyX...for helping to convince me to change to T5's and for his dosing advice
Lrnasd90...for the frags we've swapped and the advice given towards overall setup
Greg @ Reefgeek...for putting up with me and my multiple questions about T5's
Grim Reefer...for helping me get the perfect T5 combo
Melev...for tips with my sump design, tips for photography, and being an overall great person
Colt @ Aquatic Habitats...for moral support, finally carrying SPS frags, and help with system design/equiptment selection
R-ballJunkie...for the awesome hookup on the frags when I first setup my tank
Dobber99...for the insight behind your system and the corals I received from you
SETRS, MARSH, and Reef Central...for educating us hobbiest, your conservation efforts, and for the great relationships formed through your organization
Over the past week I have had some outrageous growth on ALL of my SPS!!!! Finally!!!
My bali green slimer has sprouted 10 new branches this past week and each one is between 3/8"-1/2" long. All of my monti caps have added around 1/2"-3/4" of growth this week as well. My new frag of red planet has encrusted about 3/8" over the epoxy I mounted it with. My turquoise stag has grown 5 new branches about the size of the new ones on my bali green slimer. My blue voodoo has grown 2 new branches about 1/4" each and has also grown upwards about 1/2". My cali tort has started to branch out as well. There are 2 branches on the top now around 3/8"-1/2" each and 1 on the backside around 1/4".
I am amazed at how a tank can go through a transformation of this magnitude in a week's time. I've had more growth on the acros and stags listed above in the last week than I've had in the 9 months this tank has been setup. I was told by some "experts" that I should notice my tank taking off around December or early January....I guess it came a little early. I will admit that I had started to become discouraged about the lack of growth in my tank and even contemplated selling everything. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong or what I wasn't doing right. This just goes to show that with the right advice, husbandry, equiptment, and lots of patience anything is possible.
I would like to thank a few people that have made this journey possible so far....
My wife...for supporting me in this venture with SPS
My brother-in-law...for getting me started in the hobby 5 years ago
Mike and Jeremy @ Reef Specialty...for great customer support, prices, and availability of products
SunnyX...for helping to convince me to change to T5's and for his dosing advice
Lrnasd90...for the frags we've swapped and the advice given towards overall setup
Greg @ Reefgeek...for putting up with me and my multiple questions about T5's
Grim Reefer...for helping me get the perfect T5 combo
Melev...for tips with my sump design, tips for photography, and being an overall great person
Colt @ Aquatic Habitats...for moral support, finally carrying SPS frags, and help with system design/equiptment selection
R-ballJunkie...for the awesome hookup on the frags when I first setup my tank
Dobber99...for the insight behind your system and the corals I received from you
SETRS, MARSH, and Reef Central...for educating us hobbiest, your conservation efforts, and for the great relationships formed through your organization
tas5tas
New member
Tank Update....
Ok, I finally got around to upgrading the return flow of my tank. I added a second Quiet One 4000 to the mix to help boost my turnover from 4.5x-5x/hour up to 9x-10x/hour. While adding the second pump, I also re-did the plumbing on the first one. I took the feed to my calcium reactor off of my return pump and placed it on the maxi-jet 1200 that feeds my GFO and carbon reactors. Now the return pumps have no valves or anything else to cause additional head loss. I can also shut them off to feed without stopping my calcium reactor effluent as well. Hopefully the increased turnover will benefit the tank in many ways......one of which being stabilizing the pH through the night. I may end up adding a kalk reactor to balance the pH during the lights off period and have it run only at night.
Ok, I finally got around to upgrading the return flow of my tank. I added a second Quiet One 4000 to the mix to help boost my turnover from 4.5x-5x/hour up to 9x-10x/hour. While adding the second pump, I also re-did the plumbing on the first one. I took the feed to my calcium reactor off of my return pump and placed it on the maxi-jet 1200 that feeds my GFO and carbon reactors. Now the return pumps have no valves or anything else to cause additional head loss. I can also shut them off to feed without stopping my calcium reactor effluent as well. Hopefully the increased turnover will benefit the tank in many ways......one of which being stabilizing the pH through the night. I may end up adding a kalk reactor to balance the pH during the lights off period and have it run only at night.
tas5tas
New member
Ok miracles are possible............
I just come to find out yesterday that since I first set my tank up it's been running between 83 degrees and 87 degrees respectively for the last 10 months. I thought it had been running between 78.5 degrees and 81.5 degrees. Mostly between 78.5 degrees and 80 degrees.
Here's what happened......
Wake up Thursday morning to find several frag plugs knocked out of my frag rack. Stick hand in tank to retrieve plugs......oooh that water feels a little cool. AC/JR says the tank is at 78.5 degrees. I grab the laser thermometer that my dad brought me home from work.......83 degrees!!!!! Double check......83 degrees!!! Check the temp of the sump.... 83 degrees!!!!
Ok..I begin to panic.....but don't change anything yet. Tell my wife to pick me up a stick on glass thermometer and a digital thermometer from the LFS on her way home from work. She gets home and the digital doesn't work...the LCD display is wigged out. The stick on glass reads 84 degrees!!!! We go to Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping and I pick up another stick on glass thermometer and an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer. Come home and stick the glass thermometer on the sump..... 82 degrees!!!!! Ok, next I put the sensor for the digital in the sump and it reads 83.4 degrees!!!!!
Ok...now I take an average of all the thermometer readings and average them and recalibrate the AC/JR. The AC/JR now reads 83.1 degrees.....so I reprogram the AC/JR to slowly start bringing the temperature down over the next few days.
This could be the reason for ALL the issues I've had since setting the tank up...
1. Slow growth
2. pH instability
3. Some SPS Bleaching
Here's the positive.......
I have been able to keep everything alive(so far) in these extreme temps. By lowering the temps to the 79-80 degree range it should accelerate growth. Also, lowering the temperature to where it needs to be will increase the oxygen levels in the tank therefore stabilizing the pH better. I am really looking forward to the positive effects this should have on the tank. Growth has been alot better the last 2 months, but I feel it should explode now.
Moral of the story....
Always have a backup thermometer.....or 2 or 3 or 4. just because the one you have is attached to a $$$$ controller doesn't mean it's
I just come to find out yesterday that since I first set my tank up it's been running between 83 degrees and 87 degrees respectively for the last 10 months. I thought it had been running between 78.5 degrees and 81.5 degrees. Mostly between 78.5 degrees and 80 degrees.
Here's what happened......
Wake up Thursday morning to find several frag plugs knocked out of my frag rack. Stick hand in tank to retrieve plugs......oooh that water feels a little cool. AC/JR says the tank is at 78.5 degrees. I grab the laser thermometer that my dad brought me home from work.......83 degrees!!!!! Double check......83 degrees!!! Check the temp of the sump.... 83 degrees!!!!
Ok..I begin to panic.....but don't change anything yet. Tell my wife to pick me up a stick on glass thermometer and a digital thermometer from the LFS on her way home from work. She gets home and the digital doesn't work...the LCD display is wigged out. The stick on glass reads 84 degrees!!!! We go to Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping and I pick up another stick on glass thermometer and an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer. Come home and stick the glass thermometer on the sump..... 82 degrees!!!!! Ok, next I put the sensor for the digital in the sump and it reads 83.4 degrees!!!!!
Ok...now I take an average of all the thermometer readings and average them and recalibrate the AC/JR. The AC/JR now reads 83.1 degrees.....so I reprogram the AC/JR to slowly start bringing the temperature down over the next few days.
This could be the reason for ALL the issues I've had since setting the tank up...
1. Slow growth
2. pH instability
3. Some SPS Bleaching
Here's the positive.......
I have been able to keep everything alive(so far) in these extreme temps. By lowering the temps to the 79-80 degree range it should accelerate growth. Also, lowering the temperature to where it needs to be will increase the oxygen levels in the tank therefore stabilizing the pH better. I am really looking forward to the positive effects this should have on the tank. Growth has been alot better the last 2 months, but I feel it should explode now.
Moral of the story....
Always have a backup thermometer.....or 2 or 3 or 4. just because the one you have is attached to a $$$$ controller doesn't mean it's
tas5tas
New member
Here is an article that I read last night after learning of the high temps....it says that anything over 82 degrees can be detrimental to SPS.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/6/tips
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/6/tips
tas5tas
New member
Just completed a 50g water change with my new water change setup and it was much easier than it used to be. Here is a pic of the new gravity fed setup I use.....
As you can see it is gravity fed from the bottom and is about 6" taller than my sump so makes refilling the tank a breeze. In total it took me about 5 minutes to complete my 50g water change. I'm in the process of refilling it now for next week.....already 15g in and only another 35g to go.
As you can see it is gravity fed from the bottom and is about 6" taller than my sump so makes refilling the tank a breeze. In total it took me about 5 minutes to complete my 50g water change. I'm in the process of refilling it now for next week.....already 15g in and only another 35g to go.
jollyballs
New member
cool setup
tas5tas
New member
Thanks
tas5tas
New member
I picked up 4 very, very, very nice pieces today and I think I'm officially just about out of room in my tank!!!
Here are the pieces I was able to pick up.....
Strawberry Delight Staghorn
Steve Elias Staghorn
Fire and Ice Digitata
30k Lokani
I will try to post a few pics in a day or so once everything settles in.
Here are the pieces I was able to pick up.....
Strawberry Delight Staghorn
Steve Elias Staghorn
Fire and Ice Digitata
30k Lokani
I will try to post a few pics in a day or so once everything settles in.
tas5tas
New member
I need a top down photo box......hint hint.
Also, the 30k Lokani didn't make it thanks to my wife's stupid alveopora.
I may try to snap a few pics later this evening when the sun isn't coming through as bad.
