What do you think of my BB tank?

[NoSchwag]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6256096#post6256096 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kabboord
NoScwhag,
I like the tank, looks off to a good start. My question is, I noticed the screen name 'NoSchwag' and was wondering if you had bougt the lights especially for the tank, or had them 'left over' from some other hobby. I'm just playin, down here in the south we don't use the word Schwag. On that note, I always wonder what my neighbors think of my lights, I have 2 x 250 watt halides on a 90 in my neighborhood; it looks quite bright from the street, thank God I use 14ks, so it doesn't have that 'tell-tale' yellow tint to it. I wonder if anyone with a reef tank and bright lights, and high electric bill has ever been hastled because they thought it might have been something else.
Good luck with the tank, looks good.

LOL.. All I had laying around were 600 watters

 

[NoSchwag]

Here is a birdsnest I got from a lfs. It looked like this what I got it. (and I wonder why I kept losing corals. :lol: )

Here it is after it's haircut. I actually got 2 frags from it, but this is the one I'm keeping.

This one has also grown since I've had it.

 

[NoSchwag]

This one is really small.

 

[NoSchwag]

This is a side shot of the tank.

 

[NoSchwag]

The royal gramma does nothing but hang out in this cave with the fire shrimp.

 

[NoSchwag]

Can someone tell my how to adjust this picture in paintshop so that it's more accurate? This coral glows neon green.

 

[NoSchwag]

 

[kabboord]

Thats funny about the Royal Gramma, I have one too, and all he does is hang out in his cave also; only upside down. I swear, he just sits there upside down in the middle of the cave, perfectly healthy and normal. He rights himself when he ventures out or when I feed but other than that I can count on him just chillin under there upside down.

NoSchwagg, I wonder has anyone ever tried running an SPS tank on 1000 watt High Pressure Sodium bulbs. Aside from the heat issues I wonder how that would work out.

 

[rccarlton]

Just found this thread. Very nice tank, NoSchwag. Almost makes me want to try BB on my new tank. Any updated pictures?

 

[NoSchwag]

I'll have to take some when the lights go on.

Nothing much has really changed except the birdsnest. I swear I can see that thing growing.

One update is that I will be getting rid of my urchins (maybe) Either they just got a taste for snails, or I haven't been watching close enough. Tonight I saw my black long spine hop from snail to snail

 

[Lowredranger]

are you sure that they are not just eating a dead snail or eating algae on the snail shell b/c i have 3 black urchins in sumps and they have never messed with the snails.

 

[NoSchwag]

I don't know man.. I do know that urchins are meat eaters, and there are a bunch of empty shells rolling around.

Nothing else in my tank would eat the snails I don't think.

 

[rccarlton]

I wouldn't be too quick to blame the urchins. I've had cleaner and peppermint shrimp go after snails if the shrimp is hungry enough or the snail is weak/dying.

 

[REEF-DADDY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6256406#post6256406 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NoSchwag
Here is a birdsnest I got from a lfs. It looked like this what I got it. (and I wonder why I kept losing corals. :lol: )

Here it is after it's haircut. I actually got 2 frags from it, but this is the one I'm keeping.

This one has also grown since I've had it.

Man where the hell did you find that?


Love the dressed up skimmer!

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

really nice start shwagg!

 

[NoSchwag]

Thanks chaotic. After Christmas i'm gonna really start stocking the tank, keep an eye out..

Steve I got it from house of fin :lol:

I actually made a frag for you of some pieces that broke off as a tank warming present

 

[REEF-DADDY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6352466#post6352466 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NoSchwag
Thanks chaotic. After Christmas i'm gonna really start stocking the tank, keep an eye out..

Steve I got it from house of fin :lol:

I actually made a frag for you of some pieces that broke off as a tank warming present

 

[Wiskey]

Earler in this post I saw you write that the closed loop may not be enough flow, and you were going to get another poserhead because there is a bunch of deatris still on your rocks. What ever happened with this? Did you end up getting the powerhead? Have the rocks cleaned themselvs up on their own? Or are you still blasting off tuns of deatris every couple of days?

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[NoSchwag]

Wiskey a lot had changed since then..

I used the closed loop pump as a sump return with the penductors, got a beckett skimmer with the same pump, designed my sump different, and set up the flow differently. I think the way I had the penductors pointed was doing more harm than good.

There is still some build-up on the rocks but it's no where as bad as how it was. I still blow the rocks "off" every few days with a 2' turkey baster and blow the rocks "out" with the baster once a week. Some of the detritus forms little piles on the starboard, and a lot of it ends up in the skimmer cup.

The rocks still let out a cloud of smoke when I baste them out every week, in hindsight I should have probably added some sort source of ammonia when I started cooking the rock.

 

[Wiskey]

Ok, so do you have your flow pointed so both streams of water converge at the front glass still? Or did you change that too, and to what? Did you get another closed loop pump, if so what kind? Are you using the penductors on your return?

Normaly I would look back and try to find some of the answers myself, but right now I am on dialup and it took over 3 min for this page to load, and it did not compleatly load any of the pics for some reason.

Thanks,
Whiskey