Kaplanm Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 is there any risk with that 2 part epoxy leeching chemicals back into the water that are bad for the livestock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 No, you can buy the reef epoxy from River City and you will be just fine. I think you can buy it from Pet Smart as well. It smells bad when you mix it but you will be good to go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Just to clarify, when I mention the 2-part, I mean the reef epoxy... which is like putty. Not the stuff that you see in Home Depot that is like a syringe with 2-parts of separated and you mix them together to form the bond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 I had already picked up 2 kinds of putty that River City stocked. Both the purple and the green stuff. I just get jittery any time I'm putting stuff in the tank that doesn't *need* to be there. If I later decide I'm not happy with the rock structure, is it something simply like striking the putty bond with a chiseled to get it to release, or is this one of those "when it's done, it's for life" type deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 You can get this stuff off. It is used to place corals that you can pop off to move in case they are in a bad spot or something. It is easier with rocks because you actually have leverage to apply pressure. Long story short it isn't permanent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 It holds enough but gives a little and can break if you provide enough force. You will typically notice your skimmer go crazy for a couple hours after using it but that's the only side effect I've noticed of having used it for more than 11 years now. That and your fingers turn gray or purple, depending on the color of the epoxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 How heavy are the pieces your trying to cement? I used a Hydraulic Cement called Quikrete to create my rocks. If they are heavy pieces I don't know if the putty will hold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Oops, I meant to say hydraulic cement, not portland cement. I've corrected my previous post. Thanks Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Some of the bigger pieces are over 10lbs a pop. Particularly the 2 big plates. (See photo below) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Take a look at my tank build to see how I did my pieces. Not sure how high up you want those shelves but tonga branches already give it a unique look rather than just piles of rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Huzzah! We're off to the races. I still need to re-distribute the sand a bit, but all the rockwork is in place, the lights are hooked up, skimmer and pumps are running. So I'm going to give it another few days and then it's going to be time to add Cleanup Crew.I'm going to stay away from Hermits and I think in the end I'm not willing to take the risk on urchins. So right now the leading contenders for 'da crew are:15x Astrea snails 5x Nassarius Snails 2x Ophioderma appressum : AKA Banded-arm brittle star (Introduced later) 1x Valenciennea puellaris : AKA Yellow Diamond Watchmen Goby (Introduced later) I know buy count for my 60 gallon bow that's a light list, yet especially this early on, I'm going to keep the numbers low. As I see things start to pop up I'll bolster the crew as necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Great crew! Only thing I'd add is maybe an emerald crab or two down the line once there's actually stuff to eat. I like the brittle star additions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 My concern with the Emerald Crabs is that aren't they known for being a bit nippy on the corals? Since my major though process going into this tank is a heavy coral/inverts tank I don't want to do anything that'll seriously jeopardize that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I've had plenty over the years and I've only had one ever take a chunk out of a coral. Typically, they just pinch their claws around... almost as if tasting it with their claws but never trying to tear at it. They are opportunistic feeders so there is always the possibility. For me, it's typically been the exception to the norm. Even the one that took the chunk out of the pagoda cup never really went back to do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Alright, you've sold me on them. I've always thought they were kinda cool. How about Sally Light-foot crabs? They're creepy, but I wouldn't mind adding at least 1 to my Invert menagerie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Haha, knowing my luck the emerald crab will terrorize your tank and hold your fish hostage! I've never kept Sally Lightfoots so I can't comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm going to need some help picking out some SPS specimens soon. I know I want to run some Acropora, and I love Montipora. Any other recommendations? I'm looking for either incredibly vivid color morphs, or incredibly unique shapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 If I'm that convincing, maybe I can talk you back into the urchins. I love them and have 5 tuxedo urchins in my tank. They are fascinating to watch and I've never seen a more indiscriminate live rock cleaner than urchins. They'll literally cruise by and remove anything that is not the rock itself. They'll clean my powerheads too for me and not even really damage the plastic with their beaks. Their recent mating/spawning activities in my tank have been fascinating! I for sure have at least 3 males and 1 female. Not sure about the last one... we'll call it Pat for now (old school SNL reference there). Their only downsides would be that they can knock over frags that aren't glued well and have a tendency to pick up small things and put them on their back to carry around. One of mine has been carrying fire and ice zoas for 2 months now. I actually think they are sprouting more heads! Altogether entertaining and highly usely in a reef environment. Their decline in the Caribbean caused coral reef decimation in those areas as algae overgrew the corals. If that's an indicator as to how important they are to a reef environment, sign me up for a couple in my tank... was my thinking! [emoji106] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Don't they have a habit of jostling rock work. I'm only about 70% confident in the stability of my rock work at this point. I'm either going to drop some zip ties in or maybe bust out the putty (which works MISERABLY). I tend to glue all of my frags directly to the rock work, so I'm not too worried about them grabbing frags. I do love the way they look and act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I've never experienced them jostling rock work but most of my pieces are 20 lbs and up so there's a reason for that. I'd imagine the rock boring urchin is what may have sullied the names of urchins for a reef tank. I'd be very surprised if a tuxedo urchin moved around any rocks. If you end up getting one, you'll end up mastering how to glue frags down. Give them a corner to lift or an angle to squeeze themselves behind the frag and be assured, they'll knock it loose eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Most of my rock is <5lbs. (There's a few outliers, but nothing bigger than 20). I managed to track down some *seriously* light rock. We were at the store and both the clerk and I couldn't believe how much volume the 40lbs of rock I selected came out to be. River City Aquatics FTW when it comes to live rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Are you sure it wasn't pumice? Just kidding! Well, I still don't think the urchin will move any rocks but that depends on if there are any crevices it can shove itself into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 And the first of the livestock goes in! Today we added the cleaning crew:20x Astrea snails 5x Nassarius snails 2x Emerald crabs 2x Serpent Stars (look like they may be Ophioderma rubicundum) 1x Peppermint Shrimp I also took the liberty of adding an ornamental I'd wanted for a while 1x Coral Banded Shrimp I also got myself a couple of corals to start with 1-3x Xenia (The colony looks like it's on 3 little rocks. I'm debating whether to divide) 1x Birdsnest 3x Blue Mushrooms (They're really tiny, but I know these little guys grow fast) I'll grab some photos of them in a bit. I'm letting them acclimate to the tank for a couple hours before I start to ramp up the lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 You may need to feed the nassarius snails, they are pretty hungry little guys and I had a hard time keeping just 1 fed in my 32 gallon tank. Not sure how much algae you have yet but you might need to supplement for the astreas too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaplanm Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Algae is *not* a problem. My Hydra 26's are causing it to grow at an outrageous rate. I'm not too worried about the Nassarius snails, I've got 2 living quite happily in my 5 gallon. They're just so cool how they rise from the deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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