Novahobbies' 37g Seahorse Tank Journal

teresaq

Active Member
I think the best powerhead I have in my tank is the maxi jet clipped to the top with a piece of pvc pipe attached. I drilled holes in the pipe like a spray bar and can move it so I get flow across the top and middle. its along one whole end of the tank.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Slight edit: a few new aquisitions came home with me today. 3 new Golden turbo snails (smaller than Mexicans), 3 more atlantic grazers, and of course there was a beautiful little zoa frag and Hawaiian feather duster who had to come home too. I've always wanted the feather duster, but never bothered with it in the main tank after my angel made a snack out of the first lime green duster. Hope this one has more luck.
Corals and snails are acclimating. Pics tonight maybe!
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Some new pics...

Here he is just doing his job. Not bad for such a cheap little "assorted" goby!

Hawaiian Feather Duster under actinics only. The new zoa colony in the one immediately above the 'Duster....

And now under full lights:

A little closer....

And finally, an updated FTS under 14000k lighting:

That's probably going to be it for a little while, until I get the algae back to a low roar. I tested my Mg tonight, and I was at 1260. Instructions say you should only safely raise Mg levels by 25 per day, so I have 2 weeks of consistent Mg addition to bring the levels up to 1600, which is the point where hair algae starts to wither away. I'm not too fussed by that...if it does the job, I'll be a happy camper!
Other stuff that got done today: I replaced all the filter pads, swapped out Purigen pillows for 2 new ones, and added 125mL of new Phosgard to the filter. Now I get to sit back and just enjoy the look of a fresh, clean aquarium!
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeresaQ http:///forum/thread/366648/seahorse-tank-mock-up/160#post_3346854
your tank looks great, I dont even see the algea. Love the new light
T
Thanks for the kind words! I love the new light too....... SO much better then either of the Odyssea bulbs I had.
The algae is much better after the cleaning, but I still have some to worry about on the Frilly gorgonian and in some of the zoa colonies. Here's a laugh: For a (very brief) moment, I considered buying a juvenile foxface or kole tang to help mow some of it down. I would have returned the fish for a little credit when the job was done..... but I think that would just be too much for the poor little seahorse.
I'm pretty sure she'd be at the glass giving me the middle fin-ray if I tried to pull that stunt....
 

flower

Well-Known Member

Looks really clean to me as well. The duster and zoa looks good in there, the duster really stands out.
 

gill again68

Active Member
Every time I see your tank I want to run out and buy one and set it up just like that. I think I will eventually. Very clean and well thought out. The new light does look great.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the kind complements! They're not fully deserved of course...naturally the camera (or the person behind the camera) tends to shy away from the more problematic parts.
For instance, I could use some advice. My Frilly gorg has a LOT of hair algae on it, and I can't seem to get rid of it manually. I don't think it's going to last through the Mg treatment. The hair algae isn't such a big deal near the bottom of the gorgonian, so.....should I consider fragging it? Wish there was a way to gently remove the algae without hurting the gorgonian tissue, but it's so delicate that I suspect even the softest toothbrush would scrape the tissue off the rod.
 

teresaq

Active Member
My purple seawhip has some on the tips, I just pull it off. It reasently shed big time so its pretty clean right now with the exception of one branch. not sure, maybe you can move it to more flow to help with the algea.
T
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I don't think my Acans like the extra Mg I'm adding. I think I'm going to have to slow it down further and let the coral get used to it. All the other corals seem fine, but the Acan looks very shriveled and mad at me right now.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Close call today. Had a burst hose in my bathroom sink..... flooded my bedroom, the bathroom, and the den. I keep my plugs up for the aquarium, and my MH ballast is on a plank of wood, not on the floor itself. The water got all the way around to the ballast. If I hadn't had it up just those few inches, I'd be looking at a lot more than a simple matter of a flooded floor....or rather, I might have been looking at a lot LESS of the house when I got home. o_O Yikes.
"Simple Matter," I say. Huh. These floors are bamboo hardwood, glued down by yours truly. I'm going to have a hell of a time cleaning, and hope to God it doesn't ruin my floors for good. GrouchWhineComplain. Hmph.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/366648/seahorse-tank-mock-up/160#post_3348007
Close call today. Had a burst hose in my bathroom sink..... flooded my bedroom, the bathroom, and the den. I keep my plugs up for the aquarium, and my MH ballast is on a plank of wood, not on the floor itself. The water got all the way around to the ballast. If I hadn't had it up just those few inches, I'd be looking at a lot more than a simple matter of a flooded floor....or rather, I might have been looking at a lot LESS of the house when I got home. o_O Yikes.
"Simple Matter," I say. Huh. These floors are bamboo hardwood, glued down by yours truly. I'm going to have a hell of a time cleaning, and hope to God it doesn't ruin my floors for good. GrouchWhineComplain. Hmph.

I would report it to my insurance anyway, that way if the wood comes up they have a record of when there was a flood....I believe insurance would cover a busted hose like that, I would be checking.
Put your ballasts up a little higher and stay safe. What a bummer to have such a cleanup, but like you said..it could of been much worse.
 

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///forum/thread/366648/seahorse-tank-mock-up/160#post_3348041

I would report it to my insurance anyway, that way if the wood comes up they have a record of when there was a flood....I believe insurance would cover a busted hose like that, I would be checking.
Put your ballasts up a little higher and stay safe. What a bummer to have such a cleanup, but like you said..it could of been much worse.
+1 for reporting it.....we had a laundry line break a few of years ago...and I ended up getting my whole room redone with the indureance money :)
BTW this is now my FISH ROOM HAHA
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Water change night! Yeah, I'm going to frag my purple frilly gorgonian - the ends are too far gone. Might get another one anyway, if the diver in the keys gets in the water sometime next month. Kinda chilly right now I imagine!
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Man I'm tired! Water change is done. Frilly Gorg got fragged, although I was able to save more tissue than I expected. We'll see how she does. Filter change tomorrow morning, and I might sneak out to grab a large acan colony that came in to my lfs today. Still have a little $$ to spend on that gift card I got for Hanukkah, don't ya know.
I am so tempted to get a second K1 powerhead. The problem area - where the frilly gorg was - is mainly because of a linear flow in that area. The current is constant and mild, so the gorg winds up acting sort of like a "net" that catches debris, floating HA strands, etc. I'm trying to find a way to create a random flow without making too much flow for the horse.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
New pics of the recent acquisitions:

Rusty Gorg. Photosynthetic, but needs slightly lower light levels, so I'll keep it near the back of the tank methinks.

Large Acan colony. $49.99. If you're wondering why it looks...funny..... its because I just fed it. Some heads are swollen up with feeders out, some are shrunken in because they're chewing on something. So to speak. BTW I'm a completely hooked Acan addict now!!
 

rispa

Member
I'm beginning to think that the aquarium hobby is one hook with a scrumptious and expensive bait after another. Your inspiring tank keeps becoming more and more inspiring. Can we have a full tank shot with these new additions?
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I'm going to hold off on FTS until I get the gorgs placed to my liking. Right now the hair algae battle is about mid-fight, and I don't want to permanently glue down any of the gorgs again until I know I won't be snapping the glue off again to clean the buggers.
And yes, this hobby is full of addictive little things that drain the pocketbook! Not all of them have to be so pricey, though -- my LFS has a number of very nice frag zoas that just run 10 bucks each. Usually those colonies are 15-25 polyps, so if you think about it you can slowly collect enough to make an impressive zoa garden over the course of a few months. The photosynthetic gorgs can be found at good prices if you keep your eyes and ears open.... this one was the priciest one I've purchased at $20.00.
 
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