boognish

bump - anyone?

anything new Chris? hows it going?

I have moved a couple small hearty frags (one german blue digi and a few Palys) over from my 75 gallon and they are doing great. I have many more that I want to move, but I have a pretty minimal photoperiod right now to combat the 'new tank' algae. I noticed the usual brown diatom algae appearing on the marco rocks about 3 weeks ago. I was hoping to avoid this by cycling that rock with all of the Fiji live rock as it cycled for a month and half, but no dice... the cleanup crew was happy it arrived and went to town on it immediately. A week later, that algae tuned to (or was replaced by) a bright green short surface algae. It has been there for almost 2 weeks and is still ONLY on the marco rocks, so I am assuming it is surviving on silicates since my PO4 tests nearly 0. This is not a picture from my tank, but exactly what I am seeing:

I have the photoperiod reduced, I'm using Rowa-Phos in a phosban reactor, I've added extra snails and hermits, and my skimmer is going nuts with what appears to be algae by the color. I am hooking up my UV filter soon. I have to feed the clowns, so I am doing weekly changes of about 15 gallons. From what I'm reading, this is a normal tank cycle and I just need to be patient. I am pretty confident so far since it is only on the new/dead rock and not on any of the Fiji live rock or the established rock I got from Hydro. It sure stands out though in front of all that nice purple.

I want to add some fish that may work on the algae and increase the bioload. I want to catch my Kole Tang and move him from my 75g, but he's pretty elusive and the rockwork and racks make it nearly impossible without tearing it apart. I'm open to recommendations as to which fish to add first. All that is in there right now are 2 juvenile (1.25") Black Ocellaris and a RBTA. They aren't hosting after 3 weeks in there with the anemone, so I am also hoping that adding some other fish will cause them to seek shelter/protection in the anemone.

This past weekend, I repaired and set up a 29g BioCube as a QT with 75% water from a water change and 25% new water, so I'm ready to get some fish! If you have experience with which fish to add first, I'm listening! I am shooting for mostly SPS mixed reef, so only useful reef safe fish.

I have this one up for grabs still:

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/22984-marineland-instant-ocean-seaclone-protein-skimmer/

1 Bucket or Red Sea for me

Thanks all. Mike brought by a 12g I can use to QT.

Good plan... and I probably will. Problem is, I don't have a quarantine system set up. Anyone have a quarantine setup I can drop them in for a couple weeks?

I am looking for 2 black Ocellaris clown fish. Prefer a mated pair, if possible.

I am looking for another eb8 to extend my Apex controller.

A couple of MP40's would look so much cleaner in there.

Argh!!!!! Must. Fight. The. Voices.

The cleanup crew arrived last week. As usual, ReefCleaners.org http://www.austinree...-reef-cleaners/ came through with a healthy order of several types of snails and hermits in 100+ heat. There were plenty of empty shells for the larger ones to move into - they did and were fun to watch as they fought over the shiny white shells. Of course some didn't make it (100+ Temp before 11am... ), but I put a lot of them in just to test the tank stability and give the survivors some nourishment. There were no measurable changes in tank parameters, so I think it's ready for a bio-load.

I saw one tiny aiptasia appear on the glass the first week after adding all of the fiji live rock, so I bought a filefish from RCA. I haven't seen another aiptasia, but I've seen him investigating all of the rock pretty closely and nipping occasionally. Since the tank managed the dead members of the clean up crew without a hitch, I've been throwing in a little cyclopeze and phyto when I feed my 75. The file fish is like a cat when he sees the smaller hermits scramble for food... I may need to trade him in soon or I'll need a replacement clean-up-crew. I think he is culling the pod population, too. I want a goby or 2, so he will have to go soon. Anyone have an aiptasia problem (or want to prevent one, like I did), and want a filefish?

The tunze wavebox 6206 is producing about a 3/4" wave that I'm 'OK' with until a good deal on a full size wavebox comes along. I have a couple Koralia 4s for flow, but it's still probably not enough. I REALLY HATE powerheads in the tank. After spending so much time on a fairly minimal setup and getting the pillars and aquascaping how I like, powerheads just stick out like sore thumbs even when I cram them in a corner. I am not going to fork out the $$ for MP40s because I am not in the mood for a divorce and ugly custody battle.

The Apex controller is hooked up, but I'm not done programming it yet. I am starting off minimally with the 3 T5s and variable speed canopy fans on first, then the 3 400W MHs (possibly one at a time over a few hours) + cooling fan. The chiller/heater has an integrated thermostat, so I am only using the apex to cut power to it and send/sound alarms at extreme high or low temps beyond what its thermostat is set to control. I will eventually move moon lights to it, but I don't see a reason to use it for any pumps other than the Reeflo.

I think I've been patient enough... time for coral. I'll be moving some of the easy stuff from my 75 over the next couple of weeks and monitoring. I'm starting with the pulsing xenia. It's hearty and only helps clean the water. **note to self: Do NOT let the xenia touch any rock I want to keep.**

Here's a few shots with the 3 T5s on. Pay no mind to those powerheads... they are either gone, soon to be gone, or have been moved...

Didn't get home until 11. What a day.

I win - didn't get home till 1am...

And apparently, according to Andrew (the guide) we were very fortunate to be able to speak with mark. Who is a big deal at sea world.

I'm not sure everyone caught it because of the noise in that room, but he came in on his day off when he heard our reef club was coming in.

Thanks for organizing, Mike.

I use Red Sea pro and I add about 2 1/2 cups of salt for 5 gallons

+2... I just mixed approx 200 gallons using Red Sea pro over 2 days.

Bump - make me an offer.

For Sale or trade: Gently used Marineland Instant Ocean SeaClone Protein Skimmer 100 w/ new Maxi-jet 1200 powerhead.

HOB or in-sump.

Includes all parts, pump, and owners manual.

$50.00 OBO.

For sale - 1 Marineland Emperor 280 BIO-Wheel Powerfilter

$20.00 OBO.

Used for 3 days. No filter cartridges.

If anyone is going up to Killeen to pick up any of these goods or wants to organize a pickup, pm me.

Would like a full setup, but will take it in pieces if you have them.

Calcium reactor for approx 220gallons

CO2 tank

CO2 regulator

man that looks awesome, coming along good now. I may have to come by and look at it this weekend. Pillars turned out great. When you get ready to switch thing over LMK im just right down the road.

Thanks, Jeremy. I am pretty happy with it so far. I'll be here this weekend - just call and swing by.

I Just ordered a cleanup crew from reef-cleaners and a new float valve from reefs-2-go for the gravity fed auto-topoff. Today's specials form these two sponsors couldn't have come at a better time!

Current params in the tank:

ph: 8.0

Alk: 9.5

Calcium: 420

Ammonia: 0

Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 0

Phosphates: 0

I used API tests, so there may be some of those last 4, but I'm not worried since there's nothing but live rock, a few snails, some limpets, and some teeny tiny brittle stars.

I can quit any time. Really. Just one more fix!

Aquascaping Update

The 50 lbs of premium Fiji live rock I ordered cycled with the 60 lbs of Marco man-made/dead rock. While that cycled, I filled the tank with approximately 1" of fine aragonite crushed coral as a substrate/sandbed and saltwater, and dropped in 70 lbs of fully cured, purple coralline covered rock. Since the tank had fully cured rock, I didn't see much of a cycle other than Nitrates slightly elevated for a few days during the 2nd week. I left the live and marco rock for about a month until it completed the Nitrogen cycle and I tested no Ammonia, Nitrites, or Nitrates.

Once all the rock was cured, I started combining it and building the pillars. To build the support for the pillars, I cut several ~2" square pieces of 1/8" acrylic, stacked 8 of them, covered them in #16 acrylic glue, and clamped them to make a cube... three times. I got a good deal on 1/8" acrylic, so I used it, but if you get thicker acrylic, you can save time. I left them overnight to fully cure.

I drilled holes in each block using a 5/8" masonry bit and glued them to the center of a 12" x 12" square of 1/8" acrylic. Once bonded (~10 mins), I glued an 18" tall 5/8" acrylic rod and allowed to bond overnight.

I mixed and matched pieces of the marco rock to create the towers. I just eyeballed the shape, drilled holes, stacked, unstacked, added different rocks, etc. until I had shapes and shelves I liked. Any acrylic rod over the top rock was cut off with a Drimmel tool.

First pillar In the tank:

There are a few live rock pieces in each tower, but the shape and texture of the marco rock stacked much better. I used the reef safe mortar that came with the marco rock to fill in the less natural areas between rocks and to hide any spots where the rod was visible. I mixed small pieces of live rock rubble and aragonite with the mortar to hopefully accelerate coralline growth.

I exposed some areas on the bottom, dropped them in, covered the base-plates, then stacked the remaining live rock around them. I was going for as much surface area at all levels as I could without stacking up piles of rock and creating some dead spots. I also plan on having as much exposed sand areas for a zoa garden and my giant clam that is currently outgrowing my 75 gallon. (Fingers crossed it makes it's 2nd move).

One of my favorite aquascaping jobs out there is Steve Weast's at OregonReef.com. Particularly the center canyon. I didn't have quite the room as he did, but I tried for a canyon on the left side between the center and right towers.

I extended my breaker box as far as I could without running a new line from where it comes into the house to add a socket with a dedicated 20amp fuse. Otherwise, most of the tank would run on the same fuse as EVERYTHING in the garage and both the front and back outside sockets which trip the fuse all the time. This week/weekend I am going to hook up the apex and lights and get this thing lit up! Ordering a cleanup crew this week. I still need a wavebox, calcium reactor, and in-tank pumps for flow... and I'm sure as soon as I get all of that, I'll need something else... I am resolved to the fact that I will never finish this tank.

Purchased 4 for park + tour.

We are in! Looking forward to it.

4 for adminssion and 4 for tour. Submitted poll. Will purchase tix tonight. We may add 2 for both adminssion and tour if the in-laws decide to go before the deadline tomorrow.

Chiming in late on this one... Did you find the problem yet? If not, what are your parameters? Specifically alk, calcium, and magnesium. Before using a calcium reactor, I was dosing turbo calcium and buffering my topoff water. I could never get my calc over 300. At one point, the calcium precipitated into the water column making the tank pretty cloudy. Through research, I found this article which details the relationship between alk, calcium, and mg.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

I started dosing magnesium and the water column cleared up and my calcium began to rise to over 400. Added bonus... I used Kent mg and it cleared up some bryopsis I had growing.

Thanks. I have found a couple that are just enough flow till I figure out what I am going to use in the end. This community rocks!

Thanks, Patrick. I will touch base with you if I can make it out there. I've been over once before for the heat-pump, so I know the way.

-Chris