2 Month Anniversary - Lots of pics
- Thread starter dutch06
- Start date
omgsaltwat
Member
Very cool :cheer:
***)
seannmelly
Active Member
nice looking tank
zanoshanox
Active Member
Great looking tank, that sand bed is huuuuuuge!! lol AWESOME
dutch06
Member
Thanks for the responses. LOL about the sand bed. It measures about 7' inches on one side of the levee and 4 on the other side. It's a nice casual grade between the two levels. I used crushed shells and about 20 pounds of LR buried beneath the sand to reinforce it.
I tried to buy the right stuff the first time around. I never understand why somebody spends months planning a tank then is upgrading equipment less than a year later.
The one thing I'm amazed about is how much my sand has settled. If I didn't know better I would swear somebody is stealing sand. If you look at the level of sand in the first pictures compared to the second, the sand has settled at least 3 inches throughout the tank.
A real quick note that I'm sure I will get flamed about is I haven't done any water changes and I really don't plan on doing any major ones any time soon. I dose 10ml of B-Ionic, Alk and Calc every other day. That keeps my Calc between 380-420, my Alk stays at 160-180. No measureable levels of anything else. PH seems a little low, but that depends on the time of day I'm testing anyway. Usually between 7.8 and 8.1. I have about 2 gallons of evaporation a day which I replace with RO. The salt content of the B-Ionic is high enough to replace any through normal creep and loss. After I go through a gallon of the B-Ionic, I will backwash about five gallons of water and replace with RO to keep my SG in the appropriate range. I have a very small bio-load, (4 chromis and a dottyback) and only plan on maybe two more fish. My fish "guru" has done one water change in three years and his tank is unquestionably the best tank I have ever seen. I know everybody swears by water changes and I question him about this method about once a month, but I'm going to trust him and see what happens.
One other quick note: I started with 100 hermit crabs and 16 turbo snails. I have probably lost about 5-8 crabs due to a little crab carnage. But all the snails are still there, the two combined do an excellent job of keeping the sand clean and I have virtually no unwanted algae build up anywhere.
I tried to buy the right stuff the first time around. I never understand why somebody spends months planning a tank then is upgrading equipment less than a year later.
The one thing I'm amazed about is how much my sand has settled. If I didn't know better I would swear somebody is stealing sand. If you look at the level of sand in the first pictures compared to the second, the sand has settled at least 3 inches throughout the tank.
A real quick note that I'm sure I will get flamed about is I haven't done any water changes and I really don't plan on doing any major ones any time soon. I dose 10ml of B-Ionic, Alk and Calc every other day. That keeps my Calc between 380-420, my Alk stays at 160-180. No measureable levels of anything else. PH seems a little low, but that depends on the time of day I'm testing anyway. Usually between 7.8 and 8.1. I have about 2 gallons of evaporation a day which I replace with RO. The salt content of the B-Ionic is high enough to replace any through normal creep and loss. After I go through a gallon of the B-Ionic, I will backwash about five gallons of water and replace with RO to keep my SG in the appropriate range. I have a very small bio-load, (4 chromis and a dottyback) and only plan on maybe two more fish. My fish "guru" has done one water change in three years and his tank is unquestionably the best tank I have ever seen. I know everybody swears by water changes and I question him about this method about once a month, but I'm going to trust him and see what happens.
One other quick note: I started with 100 hermit crabs and 16 turbo snails. I have probably lost about 5-8 crabs due to a little crab carnage. But all the snails are still there, the two combined do an excellent job of keeping the sand clean and I have virtually no unwanted algae build up anywhere.
dutch06
Member
I started with 100% fully cured LR. The rock had been "brewing" for about 6 weeks in a 150 gallon rubber-maid tub before it went into my tank. It went from one "tank" to the new one in a span of about 30 minutes. I had virutally no die off.
I started with 250 pounds of live sand. Of that, I had two of the 25 pd bags of true live sand to seed the rest of the sand bed.
I had the smallest amount of nitrite and ammonia for about 3 days. Within five days I had a nitrate level of about 20. After a week, nothing. (And they say you can't cylce in less than a week!)
My clean up crew went in, no problems, no losses. Along with the clean-up crew, I put in a bag "bugs". Stomatella (sp?), spagetti worms, bristle worms, etc. Put a frogspawn in after two weeks to see what would happen. Again no problems, opened up fully within hours.
Two more weeks went by and added the Green Slimer, Capricornus and a Montipora. I also have one favites frag. Everything has doubled in size except the favites. He looks very healthy, great colors, I guess he just hasn't decided to grow onto the adjacent rock yet.
Since then I have added about 5 or 6 more corals all with noticeable growth. The only thing I lost was a feather duster. The guy threw his crown and was headed to build a new tube when he became a hermit crab buffet.
One more thing, I have never put anything in my tank except the B-Ionic. I did not use any "kick-start" cycle products. Personally IMO pre-planning is simply the best recipe to a successful tank.
Good luck with yours Cabin.
I started with 250 pounds of live sand. Of that, I had two of the 25 pd bags of true live sand to seed the rest of the sand bed.
I had the smallest amount of nitrite and ammonia for about 3 days. Within five days I had a nitrate level of about 20. After a week, nothing. (And they say you can't cylce in less than a week!)
My clean up crew went in, no problems, no losses. Along with the clean-up crew, I put in a bag "bugs". Stomatella (sp?), spagetti worms, bristle worms, etc. Put a frogspawn in after two weeks to see what would happen. Again no problems, opened up fully within hours.
Two more weeks went by and added the Green Slimer, Capricornus and a Montipora. I also have one favites frag. Everything has doubled in size except the favites. He looks very healthy, great colors, I guess he just hasn't decided to grow onto the adjacent rock yet.
Since then I have added about 5 or 6 more corals all with noticeable growth. The only thing I lost was a feather duster. The guy threw his crown and was headed to build a new tube when he became a hermit crab buffet.
One more thing, I have never put anything in my tank except the B-Ionic. I did not use any "kick-start" cycle products. Personally IMO pre-planning is simply the best recipe to a successful tank.
Good luck with yours Cabin.
dutch06
Member
In regards to your tank, I run 1/2lb bag of granulated carbon in my sump. I don't remember the name brand but it's the good stuff. It's changed faithfully, once a month. I think my water "clarity" can be attributed to that. Also, the Euro-Reef is amazing.
With your Alk, are you dosing at all? I dose both alk and calc. When I started (after about a month) my levels were 120 and 300. I used the B-Ionic every other day, 20 ml of alk, 30 ml of calc until I got them were they needed to be. My alk hit 200, then I cut it back to 10 ml. My calc went to 480, cut it back to 10ml, and it has leveled off. Don't worry if it goes a little over, it will come down naturally.
In regards to the ph, I wouldn't worry about it. From what I understand your PH fluctuates throughout the day. Anywhere from 7.9 to 8.2 depending on time and location in the tank your testing. My "guru" says he doesn't even test for it unless there's a problem somewhere else.
Please remember I have only been doing this for two months and my advice could be way off. For the most part I'm just repeating what I have been told by somebody who I trust very much and what has worked for me.
With your Alk, are you dosing at all? I dose both alk and calc. When I started (after about a month) my levels were 120 and 300. I used the B-Ionic every other day, 20 ml of alk, 30 ml of calc until I got them were they needed to be. My alk hit 200, then I cut it back to 10 ml. My calc went to 480, cut it back to 10ml, and it has leveled off. Don't worry if it goes a little over, it will come down naturally.
In regards to the ph, I wouldn't worry about it. From what I understand your PH fluctuates throughout the day. Anywhere from 7.9 to 8.2 depending on time and location in the tank your testing. My "guru" says he doesn't even test for it unless there's a problem somewhere else.
Please remember I have only been doing this for two months and my advice could be way off. For the most part I'm just repeating what I have been told by somebody who I trust very much and what has worked for me.
dutch06
Member
Every other day I use the cup method. I took a six inch tupperware bowl and cut three small holes in the top. I put that on top of the sun coral and a rock on top of it.
Using a turkey baster, I put about 1/4 squirt of cyclopeeze in one of the holes and wait about 15 minutes for him to come out fully.
Then I put about 1/2 to 3/4 squirt of cyclopeeze in the bowl, rotating from hole to hole to ensure each polyp gets some in his direction. (The syringe in each individual polyp IMO is overkill and something I just can't commit too.)
I leave the bowl on there for about 5 minutes. (By this time, I have a line of hermits just waiting for the bowl to move.) Then I remove the bowl before the excess food has time to sit on the sand bed for too long.
It's interesting how the tentacles extend about 1/4 inch prior to removing the bowl, after the bowl is removed the tentacles reach probably about 1/2 inch. I'm guessing it has something to do with current and food blowing around and it trying to get every piece he can.
I have at least five new heads growing and the pink tissue has extended to cover the coral entirely. I would love to try some mysis, the guys picture on here where you can see the mysis hanging out the mouth is awesome, but I have had so much success I can't justify the switch right now.
Pro's
See the picture.
Con's
25 minutes every other day.
Looks like a pink blob 45 out of 48 hours.
The fact that it's pretty unappealing 95% of the time may be enough to justify not getting one, BUT those 3 hours or so that he does stay open after feeding is a showstopper.
TIP: Feed 30 minutes before guests arrive, they won't see another thing in the tank.
Using a turkey baster, I put about 1/4 squirt of cyclopeeze in one of the holes and wait about 15 minutes for him to come out fully.
Then I put about 1/2 to 3/4 squirt of cyclopeeze in the bowl, rotating from hole to hole to ensure each polyp gets some in his direction. (The syringe in each individual polyp IMO is overkill and something I just can't commit too.)
I leave the bowl on there for about 5 minutes. (By this time, I have a line of hermits just waiting for the bowl to move.) Then I remove the bowl before the excess food has time to sit on the sand bed for too long.
It's interesting how the tentacles extend about 1/4 inch prior to removing the bowl, after the bowl is removed the tentacles reach probably about 1/2 inch. I'm guessing it has something to do with current and food blowing around and it trying to get every piece he can.
I have at least five new heads growing and the pink tissue has extended to cover the coral entirely. I would love to try some mysis, the guys picture on here where you can see the mysis hanging out the mouth is awesome, but I have had so much success I can't justify the switch right now.
Pro's
See the picture.
Con's
25 minutes every other day.
Looks like a pink blob 45 out of 48 hours.
The fact that it's pretty unappealing 95% of the time may be enough to justify not getting one, BUT those 3 hours or so that he does stay open after feeding is a showstopper.
TIP: Feed 30 minutes before guests arrive, they won't see another thing in the tank.
jcarroll
Member
hello! Tank is awesome! I had a question about the green algae on the rocks though. I have recently set up my tank again after a cross country move. I had a green algai outbreak on my rocks before and couldn't seem to get rid of it, but noticed that you said you had no unwanted algae outbreaks. Is the green algae not a bad thing then? Besides it not looking good at all in my last tank?