Acclimating Zoo's

[mikeyjer]

I spent ALL day working on the new tank's plumbing!!! My friend dropped by and helped me out with it, neither one of us have ever done this before. He also brought over a little gift, some sort of Floria LPS coral. It's kinda cute. Well, we ran into a problem, the sump won't fit underneath the cabinet, either have to get a smaller sump, which can't do a fuge within, or get a 20L and built it myself. Another thing would be cutting into the stand in the back to fit it in then brace the back of the stand. I told my friend that I'll have to think about it. After he left, I start working on it myself. I pulled the stand with the tank outwards away from the wall so the sump/fuge would fit between the stand and the wall, it fits perfectly!!! So I then went ahead and installed everything myself. It was pretty simple. All I need now is rocks and water, then I'm ready to cycle. I think I'll return the mag 7 pump, I found one online a lot cheaper then the LFS, I paid $99.99 for it, but the online cost was $60.99 plus shipping $8.99, total $69.98, that's $30 cheaper!!! :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
I spent ALL day working on the new tank's plumbing!!! My friend dropped by and helped me out with it, neither one of us have ever done this before. He also brought over a little gift, some sort of Floria LPS coral. It's kinda cute. Well, we ran into a problem, the sump won't fit underneath the cabinet, either have to get a smaller sump, which can't do a fuge within, or get a 20L and built it myself. Another thing would be cutting into the stand in the back to fit it in then brace the back of the stand. I told my friend that I'll have to think about it. After he left, I start working on it myself. I pulled the stand with the tank outwards away from the wall so the sump/fuge would fit between the stand and the wall, it fits perfectly!!! So I then went ahead and installed everything myself. It was pretty simple. All I need now is rocks and water, then I'm ready to cycle. I think I'll return the mag 7 pump, I found one online a lot cheaper then the LFS, I paid $99.99 for it, but the online cost was $60.99 plus shipping $8.99, total $69.98, that's $30 cheaper!!! :happyfish
That is good that it fit after all!!! See that wounldnt of been my luck! I would have just given up!!!! lol So that is good you did not! The net usually has cheaper than what you can find localy... I always look all over the net to find good deals!!! But congrats on the pluming going in.... now you just need to take your WALLY WORLD trip..... ODD PEOPLE HERE YOU come!!!!!

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
That is good that it fit after all!!! See that wounldnt of been my luck! I would have just given up!!!! lol So that is good you did not! The net usually has cheaper than what you can find localy... I always look all over the net to find good deals!!! But congrats on the pluming going in.... now you just need to take your WALLY WORLD trip..... ODD PEOPLE HERE YOU come!!!!!
I'm checking around for canopy pricing. If I can't find one at a reasonable price, I'm just gonna do it myself. I'm gonna built a frame inside of the canopy myself and attach wood boards inside of the canopy, so no plastic is showing inside of the canopy. Before putting on the wood, I would cover the plastic with aluminum foil. That would keep the heat off the plastic. I'm also gonna seal the wood and also get a piece of acrylic shield to go underneath it, maybe, I don't think there's enough room. I'll be getting rocks tomorrow at the club meeting. Then Wally world here I come!!! :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Sweet I cant wait to se it up and runnin!!! Here are some new Zoo's that I picked up!!!!

 

[mikeyjer]

Those are some nice zoas there!!! I just got done looking at DIY plans for my canopy. I'm gonna take that plastic canopy back. It doesn't seem that hard to built one after all after I took a look at the plan with pictures. Then I can have the retrofit kit that I wanted. I'm getting pricing on a 48" retrofit kit with 2-250w DE HQI MH 14k with IceCap Ballast and 2-110w VHO URI Super Actinics running with IceCap 660 ballast (I can add two more VHO later if I wanted to, but I don't think there's enough room) Then I would built in fans on both sides of the Canopy running in on one side and out the other side for air circulation. Then do a Moon Light, then I'll be set!!! :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
Those are some nice zoas there!!! I just got done looking at DIY plans for my canopy. I'm gonna take that plastic canopy back. It doesn't seem that hard to built one after all after I took a look at the plan with pictures. Then I can have the retrofit kit that I wanted. I'm getting pricing on a 48" retrofit kit with 2-250w DE HQI MH 14k with IceCap Ballast and 2-110w VHO URI Super Actinics running with IceCap 660 ballast (I can add two more VHO later if I wanted to, but I don't think there's enough room) Then I would built in fans on both sides of the Canopy running in on one side and out the other side for air circulation. Then do a Moon Light, then I'll be set!!! :happyfish
That is alot of work.... I am glad that you are doing it....cause I sure could not do it!!! Then I would get frustrated and problably give up the whole hobby!!!!

.... But that sounds like a great set up!!!! How much LR are you getting from your meeting?
That is going to be alot of water to carry to your tank from wally!!! That is alot more work than I would ever do!!!

 

[mikeyjer]

Forgot to also mention that Nemo and Bozo doing the pre-spawning jitters yesterday while my friend was over helping me with the new tank. He was laughing at them, we thought they were wayyy too young to do that yet. Bozo have been taking food to the Zoo colony it sleeps and plays in. Nemo goes there and play in it too off and on, he mostly plays in the Candy Cane Coral and sleeps in it too. I need to catch'em in the act next time and take pictures!!! :happyfish

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
That is alot of work.... I am glad that you are doing it....cause I sure could not do it!!! Then I would get frustrated and problably give up the whole hobby!!!!

.... But that sounds like a great set up!!!! How much LR are you getting from your meeting?
That is going to be alot of water to carry to your tank from wally!!! That is alot more work than I would ever do!!!
I'm not sure how much rock he's got for me?? And YES that's a lot of water to carry!!!! It's frustrating right now for me, but it will be worth it later, my partner supports me all the way. I'll have to keep my chin up and go on with this project until I'm done, I want to get it done before June 11th, deadline date for my club meeting that I'm hosting. :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
Forgot to also mention that Nemo and Bozo doing the pre-spawning jitters yesterday while my friend was over helping me with the new tank. He was laughing at them, we thought they were wayyy too young to do that yet. Bozo have been taking food to the Zoo colony it sleeps and plays in. Nemo goes there and play in it too off and on, he mostly plays in the Candy Cane Coral and sleeps in it too. I need to catch'em in the act next time and take pictures!!! :happyfish
Yeah ...... Well my Two Clowns...... Pain in the A and Hellian..... I was situating my new Xina in my tank, and one of them came over and bit me....lol.... I couldnt believe it!!! It scared me ... I jumped... now I have to keep looking for him when my hand enters the tank!! They both stay way close to my hand... Now my Coral banded shrimp is getting very daring .... he is comming after my hand.... he does this really weird twitching thing and comes towards my had! Man he makes me nervous!!!!!

 

[kpptn]

Hey Mikeyjer! Fellow Davidson county resident here! I have a RO unit I never use. Live off of West End would be happy to give the RO unit dirt cheap and possibley join reef club. Except just now starting to get into reef aquairums. Still learning and not rushing into it. What LFS you frequently visit? AC?

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by kpptn
Hey Mikeyjer! Fellow Davidson county resident here! I have a RO unit I never use. Live off of West End would be happy to give the RO unit dirt cheap and possibley join reef club. Except just now starting to get into reef aquairums. Still learning and not rushing into it. What LFS you frequently visit? AC?
I just got back from the club meeting. I visit AC the most since I don't live far from it, about 15min drive from me. What kind of RO unit is it? I can give you a jump start on learning if you just hit me up on my e-mail Mikeyjer@comcast.net

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
Yeah ...... Well my Two Clowns...... Pain in the A and Hellian..... I was situating my new Xina in my tank, and one of them came over and bit me....lol.... I couldnt believe it!!! It scared me ... I jumped... now I have to keep looking for him when my hand enters the tank!! They both stay way close to my hand... Now my Coral banded shrimp is getting very daring .... he is comming after my hand.... he does this really weird twitching thing and comes towards my had! Man he makes me nervous!!!!!
Were the clowns hosting the Xenia? If they are hosting it, it was probably trying to protect it. After looking at the host's tank tonight at the meeting, I'm gonna go with 2-250w DE XM 20k's. His tank looks VERY nice!!! But I may end up getting a chiller for my tank though! :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
Were the clowns hosting the Xenia? If they are hosting it, it was probably trying to protect it. After looking at the host's tank tonight at the meeting, I'm gonna go with 2-250w DE XM 20k's. His tank looks VERY nice!!! But I may end up getting a chiller for my tank though! :happyfish
Nope the Xenia were sent to me on Thrus... and the ones on the rock all died but there were some on some netting also, and those are doing fine. I was just adjusting the netting on the frags, and wham.... he got me...lol....

I thought for sure I was having fish sticks last night...lol

. They hang out near the Hammer coral I have.. but they aren't hosting it....
Will those lights fit in your current setup? I bet those would be way nice!! That will give you a nice blue look!!! So did you get rock for your set up?

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
Nope the Xenia were sent to me on Thrus... and the ones on the rock all died but there were some on some netting also, and those are doing fine. I was just adjusting the netting on the frags, and wham.... he got me...lol....

I thought for sure I was having fish sticks last night...lol

. They hang out near the Hammer coral I have.. but they aren't hosting it....
Will those lights fit in your current setup? I bet those would be way nice!! That will give you a nice blue look!!! So did you get rock for your set up?
No I didn't get the rocks today, he didn't have time to bring'em to me today. He said maybe tomorrow, he's got a modification part to give me yet so he has to come to see me one of these days anyway, plus he wants to take a look at my tank setup. When those Xenia died, you didn't take'em out did you?? Remember when my Xenia died? I didn't remove any parts, they started growing just like that from those fallen polyps. :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
No I didn't get the rocks today, he didn't have time to bring'em to me today. He said maybe tomorrow, he's got a modification part to give me yet so he has to come to see me one of these days anyway, plus he wants to take a look at my tank setup. When those Xenia died, you didn't take'em out did you?? Remember when my Xenia died? I didn't remove any parts, they started growing just like that from those fallen polyps. :happyfish
Nope rock and all are still in the tank! Nothing was removed! The ones on the rocks I know are gonners! But I like the frag rock they are on! I will put some more coral frags on the rock frags....... My tank is startin to bloom..lol.... All types of fun stuff is going on in there! Now I just need to take my CBS back to the LFS ..... he is a pain in my back end! He has done a wounderful job with the bristle worms.... but he is starting to go after my hand when I put it in the tank..... and with those pinchers on him...... He's gotta go!!! I will replace him with a Peppermint shrimp... I hope my LFS has one! They ALWAYS have royal grammas in..... and this week I wanted one..... NOTHING!!!! You ever notice that.... do not want something.... every where.... then when you wnat it ..... NO WHERE!!!!

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
Nope rock and all are still in the tank! Nothing was removed! The ones on the rocks I know are gonners! But I like the frag rock they are on! I will put some more coral frags on the rock frags....... My tank is startin to bloom..lol.... All types of fun stuff is going on in there! Now I just need to take my CBS back to the LFS ..... he is a pain in my back end! He has done a wounderful job with the bristle worms.... but he is starting to go after my hand when I put it in the tank..... and with those pinchers on him...... He's gotta go!!! I will replace him with a Peppermint shrimp... I hope my LFS has one! They ALWAYS have royal grammas in..... and this week I wanted one..... NOTHING!!!! You ever notice that.... do not want something.... every where.... then when you wnat it ..... NO WHERE!!!!
I know exactly what you mean!!! I was wanting to get Peppermint Shrimp once, they had nothing!!! But when I didn't think of getting one, they always had a bunch available. Those CBS are kinda kewl though, but they can be a pain. I think I found my canopy! I found a custom made site for under $200. We'll see what they say Monday...I e-mailed them and waiting for answers. I looked EVERYWHERE!!! I never thought it would be soooo hard finding custom made canopy. Most places charges a fortune ordering one. I hope I get lucky on this one!!!! I like my Peppermint Shrimp, he can't be seen most of the time though, the only time he comes out is when he's begging for food... :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
I know exactly what you mean!!! I was wanting to get Peppermint Shrimp once, they had nothing!!! But when I didn't think of getting one, they always had a bunch available. Those CBS are kinda kewl though, but they can be a pain. I think I found my canopy! I found a custom made site for under $200. We'll see what they say Monday...I e-mailed them and waiting for answers. I looked EVERYWHERE!!! I never thought it would be soooo hard finding custom made canopy. Most places charges a fortune ordering one. I hope I get lucky on this one!!!! I like my Peppermint Shrimp, he can't be seen most of the time though, the only time he comes out is when he's begging for food... :happyfish
is your peppermint Shrimp pretty well behavied? I just dont want another CBS on my hands!!! lol I like him... but I draw the line when he wants to come after me..... I LOVE shrimp cocktail!!!! LOL
Anything coustom made is going to cost you some bread!!! That is for sure!!!! But that sounds like you found a sweet deal on a canopy!!! Hopefuly it turns out well for you!

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
is your peppermint Shrimp pretty well behavied? I just dont want another CBS on my hands!!! lol I like him... but I draw the line when he wants to come after me..... I LOVE shrimp cocktail!!!! LOL
Anything coustom made is going to cost you some bread!!! That is for sure!!!! But that sounds like you found a sweet deal on a canopy!!! Hopefuly it turns out well for you!
I'm still waiting on the quote from them. If it's too high, I'll have someone locally built one for me. I'm talking to a few reefers that's gonna help me out with one. I'm also talking to a customer from work that knows how to built one, he says to talk to him about it this coming Sunday when he comes in. He's there every Sunday, a regular customer. My Peppermint Shrimp can barely be seen at all. The only time I ever see him out is when he's begging for food. That's when I will toss extra food just for him. I've been busy researching lights and canopy for the new tank, it's very exhausting!!! I'm gonna try to get aragonite sand this Wednesday and also water put into the new tank and get it going. :happyfish

 

[jerth6932]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
I'm still waiting on the quote from them. If it's too high, I'll have someone locally built one for me. I'm talking to a few reefers that's gonna help me out with one. I'm also talking to a customer from work that knows how to built one, he says to talk to him about it this coming Sunday when he comes in. He's there every Sunday, a regular customer. My Peppermint Shrimp can barely be seen at all. The only time I ever see him out is when he's begging for food. That's when I will toss extra food just for him. I've been busy researching lights and canopy for the new tank, it's very exhausting!!! I'm gonna try to get aragonite sand this Wednesday and also water put into the new tank and get it going. :happyfish
I hate when you are really excited and people procrastinate!!! Especially when it is something that you want to set up!!!! Have you ever had any astapia with your pepermint in there? I hear they eat them! I get them with joes juice, but they keep coming back!!! Doing research is very tireing, and it is time consuming too!!!! But I am excited for ya to get it up and going!!! Got any updates on your other tanks?

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Jerth6932
I hate when you are really excited and people procrastinate!!! Especially when it is something that you want to set up!!!! Have you ever had any astapia with your pepermint in there? I hear they eat them! I get them with joes juice, but they keep coming back!!! Doing research is very tireing, and it is time consuming too!!!! But I am excited for ya to get it up and going!!! Got any updates on your other tanks?
I just bought retrofit systems, 2-250w MH along with reflectors with XM-20k bulbs and ARO Electronic Ballast. It was at a very good deal that I couldn't pass up, only for $371.90 for all and free shipping!!! There goes my credit card, it's really maxed out now. I'm gonna give my partner extra money every month in helping paying it off. I don't do the payments in the house. That takes care of my lighting situation, just waiting for the canopy now, I am seriously thinking of making it myself with that customer of mine. It would save me a lot of money. I used to have Aiptasia in my tank that I had to treat with Joe's Juice, I bought the shrimp for that matter cause I was tired of treating them. He wouldn't eat'em at first, but now they're all gone, so I guess he decided he likes'em. A lot of people would lose'em after they finish eating Aiptasia. But they will have to be fed if there's no Aiptasia for them. As you know I watch my tank closely, when he does come out, it means he wants to be fed, I feed him sinking pellets or bits of frozen food that I feed my fish. He goes happy for about 4 days or so before coming out to beg again. I've had him for over 4 months now and he's quite happy. So far everything is looking just fine in my existing reef tank. I found a BUNCH of baby snails everywhere and baby stomatellas too. Which is good when I transfer some of'em into the new system once it's ready. I was given GREAT compliments lately with local reefers that come over to look at my tank. Even the owner of the LFS where I bought the tank, he delivered my new tank for me, he said that I did a great job and my tank looks great. He said some of my corals are the prettiest ones he's seen around. So I must be doing something right. :happyfish