Novahobbies official 110g rebuild thread
- Thread starter novahobbies
- Start date
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
If I may ask, where did you get your H. diphreutes from? It's hard to find them actually LISTED as diphreutes. I think the wholesalers are scared to imply "reef safe" when even they have a difficult time telling the critters apart. Not that I blame them.
I didn't go by the divided anal fin (even though the fish has that characteristic). I went by the deep, slightly angled breast and the somewhat upturned "pug" nose. The accuminatus seems to have a bit of a more streamlined look on the chest and the beak is angled "out" rather than "up." But really even with these criteria, it's a guessing game.
I wish I knew exactly where she came from. I can say this for sure. According to international records, H. diphreutes occurs in Hawaiian waters (and elsewhere, but we're focusing on Hawaii for a reason), while H. accuminatus does not....at all. So if you KNOW your fish came from Hawaii, you're much better off.
I didn't go by the divided anal fin (even though the fish has that characteristic). I went by the deep, slightly angled breast and the somewhat upturned "pug" nose. The accuminatus seems to have a bit of a more streamlined look on the chest and the beak is angled "out" rather than "up." But really even with these criteria, it's a guessing game.
I wish I knew exactly where she came from. I can say this for sure. According to international records, H. diphreutes occurs in Hawaiian waters (and elsewhere, but we're focusing on Hawaii for a reason), while H. accuminatus does not....at all. So if you KNOW your fish came from Hawaii, you're much better off.
S
siptang
Guest
sweatervest - move down!! lol.
Rick - which whole saler are you going to? or is it Matt?
Rick - which whole saler are you going to? or is it Matt?
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Man, that tank is coming along beautifully!! keep up the great work man. I'm totally jealous of your success!
rlablan
Active Member
Mine was just listed as a heniochus banner fish but it was from a hawaiin shipment. I got him here in town at an LFS. I did a little googling before I decided to make the purchase. This guy is definitely a Diphreutes, he has the stubbier snout, as apposed to the long snouted accuminatus and he is more like an "s" shaped breast instead of the more triangle shape of the accuminatus. I like the guys at my stores but I don't bother asking about stuff like that since they would surely just tell me what I wanted to hear.
I probably still would have bought him even if I did not know that he was from Hawaii, just because the characteristics on mine are extremely easy to spot.
I probably still would have bought him even if I did not know that he was from Hawaii, just because the characteristics on mine are extremely easy to spot.
fattytwobyfour
Member
I love all of the space in your sandbed. I have a pretty cramped tank. But after viewing this thread, I went today and redid some of my rock work, and now I can actually clean around all 3 sides of my tank. So thank you for this thread, b/c it inspired me. 
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527857
Man, that tank is coming along beautifully!! keep up the great work man. I'm totally jealous of your success!
Thanks, I keep pluggin' away at it! I can not take much credit, I have as many failures as successes I think. Biopellet reactor: FAIL. No supplemental lighting (reds and greens): FAIL. Twopart dosing and letting the daily additive slide: ONGOING FAIL (I still need to switch to Kalk here). Cat who took a dive into the tank and knocked a live electrical cord into the water while my hand was in the tank: WIN. (I call this a win because, despite the havoc that ensued, it proved to me that my GFCI was working properly and nobody was killed). And let's not forget the poor fish that never made it out of QT when the main stocking was going on.......sigh.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlablan http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527872
Mine was just listed as a heniochus banner fish but it was from a hawaiin shipment. I got him here in town at an LFS. I did a little googling before I decided to make the purchase. This guy is definitely a Diphreutes, he has the stubbier snout, as apposed to the long snouted accuminatus and he is more like an "s" shaped breast instead of the more triangle shape of the accuminatus. I like the guys at my stores but I don't bother asking about stuff like that since they would surely just tell me what I wanted to hear.
I probably still would have bought him even if I did not know that he was from Hawaii, just because the characteristics on mine are extremely easy to spot.
Similar to the way I chose mine, yeah. Although I have to say that Lance and his wife are good people...she was even warning me that it might not be totally reef safe, even if I WAS thinking it was a diphreutes. I have to say that this girl didn't touch any of the zoas in the QT tank rock, but she DID nip at the little featherdusters. That doesn't bother me in the least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fattytwobyfour http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527922
I love all of the space in your sandbed. I have a pretty cramped tank. But after viewing this thread, I went today and redid some of my rock work, and now I can actually clean around all 3 sides of my tank. So thank you for this thread, b/c it inspired me.
Wow, thanks for the kind words! I appreciate them!
The tank has definitely been a labor of love
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527857
Man, that tank is coming along beautifully!! keep up the great work man. I'm totally jealous of your success!
Thanks, I keep pluggin' away at it! I can not take much credit, I have as many failures as successes I think. Biopellet reactor: FAIL. No supplemental lighting (reds and greens): FAIL. Twopart dosing and letting the daily additive slide: ONGOING FAIL (I still need to switch to Kalk here). Cat who took a dive into the tank and knocked a live electrical cord into the water while my hand was in the tank: WIN. (I call this a win because, despite the havoc that ensued, it proved to me that my GFCI was working properly and nobody was killed). And let's not forget the poor fish that never made it out of QT when the main stocking was going on.......sigh.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlablan http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527872
Mine was just listed as a heniochus banner fish but it was from a hawaiin shipment. I got him here in town at an LFS. I did a little googling before I decided to make the purchase. This guy is definitely a Diphreutes, he has the stubbier snout, as apposed to the long snouted accuminatus and he is more like an "s" shaped breast instead of the more triangle shape of the accuminatus. I like the guys at my stores but I don't bother asking about stuff like that since they would surely just tell me what I wanted to hear.
I probably still would have bought him even if I did not know that he was from Hawaii, just because the characteristics on mine are extremely easy to spot.
Similar to the way I chose mine, yeah. Although I have to say that Lance and his wife are good people...she was even warning me that it might not be totally reef safe, even if I WAS thinking it was a diphreutes. I have to say that this girl didn't touch any of the zoas in the QT tank rock, but she DID nip at the little featherdusters. That doesn't bother me in the least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fattytwobyfour http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527922
I love all of the space in your sandbed. I have a pretty cramped tank. But after viewing this thread, I went today and redid some of my rock work, and now I can actually clean around all 3 sides of my tank. So thank you for this thread, b/c it inspired me.
Wow, thanks for the kind words! I appreciate them!
sweatervest13
Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527993
Thanks, I keep pluggin' away at it! I can not take much credit, I have as many failures as successes I think. Biopellet reactor: FAIL. No supplemental lighting (reds and greens): FAIL. Twopart dosing and letting the daily additive slide: ONGOING FAIL (I still need to switch to Kalk here). Cat who took a dive into the tank and knocked a live electrical cord into the water while my hand was in the tank: WIN. (I call this a win because, despite the havoc that ensued, it proved to me that my GFCI was working properly and nobody was killed). And let's not forget the poor fish that never made it out of QT when the main stocking was going on.......sigh.....
Similar to the way I chose mine, yeah. Although I have to say that Lance and his wife are good people...she was even warning me that it might not be totally reef safe, even if I WAS thinking it was a diphreutes. I have to say that this girl didn't touch any of the zoas in the QT tank rock, but she DID nip at the little featherdusters. That doesn't bother me in the least.
Wow, thanks for the kind words! I appreciate them!
The tank has definitely been a labor of love
I did not know you had attempted to do biopellets. Can you tell us a little more about your experience?? I have been researching BP's and I am seriously thinking of getting one.
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/1380#post_3527993
Thanks, I keep pluggin' away at it! I can not take much credit, I have as many failures as successes I think. Biopellet reactor: FAIL. No supplemental lighting (reds and greens): FAIL. Twopart dosing and letting the daily additive slide: ONGOING FAIL (I still need to switch to Kalk here). Cat who took a dive into the tank and knocked a live electrical cord into the water while my hand was in the tank: WIN. (I call this a win because, despite the havoc that ensued, it proved to me that my GFCI was working properly and nobody was killed). And let's not forget the poor fish that never made it out of QT when the main stocking was going on.......sigh.....
Similar to the way I chose mine, yeah. Although I have to say that Lance and his wife are good people...she was even warning me that it might not be totally reef safe, even if I WAS thinking it was a diphreutes. I have to say that this girl didn't touch any of the zoas in the QT tank rock, but she DID nip at the little featherdusters. That doesn't bother me in the least.
Wow, thanks for the kind words! I appreciate them!
I did not know you had attempted to do biopellets. Can you tell us a little more about your experience?? I have been researching BP's and I am seriously thinking of getting one.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Huh, OK, here you go:
When I started the tank, I reserved a spot for a biopellet reactor because of all the GOOD things I'd read about them. Things like coral feeding off of the bacterial biomass that the pellet reactor produces. A "remarkable and significant drop in nitrate" as I remember one article mentioning. The reasoning about why biopellets SHOULD be good at what they do seems like perfectly sound logic....and it probably does work for many people.
BUT...it didn't work for me. Let me tell you what I used, what I observed, where I think I went wrong, and I'll let you make your own decision.
I chose a TLF reactor with the biopellet "conversion kit", and I mated it with a 250gph powerhead. I used the recommended dosage of TLF biopellets for the starting dose. And I discovered that, with the pump running wide open, I got decent tumbling in the reactor tube.
Within a week, I started to see a clear, stringy "algae" on all my rocks near the water's surface. It wasn't quite algae, and it wasn't dino either. In fact, they were bacterial mats....growing on the rocks in the DT, and in the sump. It was stringy and snot-like, and it wasn't terribly pretty. Meanwhile, the reactor and the powerhead had started to show problems. The powerhead wasn't tumbling the pellets any longer, and the bacterial mats were also growing on the screens inside the reactor, further slowing flow through the tube. I could shake the reactor, releasing clouds of bacteria into the tank, but the pellets would clump up again within a few hours or less.
After a couple weeks of this I realized another issue: Some of my SPS corals looked pale and inconstant rather than dark and vibrant. My Bird of Paradise and my Green birdsnest were the biggest offenders here; these had been deeply colored before the biopellet reactor was running, and they were faded back rather badly by this point. I was still getting growth, but color? Not so much.
By this point I said "Eff it," and I shut down the reactor. It was too much hassle for what it was worth (for me) and I didn't have the funds or desire to try some different options.
NOW.....if you try biopellets, here's what I think I did wrong. First, with all due respect to Julian Sprung and his famous TLF reactors....I don't think they're the right reactor for the job when it comes to biopellets. Too easy for them to gather and clump. Look for one that has an angled bottom, where the pellets can't all gather at once. This might also maximize the flow. Second...whatever pump the reactor says to use.....go BIGGER. People say these should "tumble;" I say they should be swirling around in the reactor as much as possible. Don't give them a chance to bond and clump. And finally, make sure you're skimming wet. This is the only way I can see to get the bacteria mats skimmed out before they become matted to your rock.
Remember, this is usually used for Nitrate reduction. Just as we do with every other nitrate tool at our disposal - Macroalgae, water changes, etc - the end product needs to be HARVESTED in order to really export the Nitrate. In this case, "export" means "skimming."
When I started the tank, I reserved a spot for a biopellet reactor because of all the GOOD things I'd read about them. Things like coral feeding off of the bacterial biomass that the pellet reactor produces. A "remarkable and significant drop in nitrate" as I remember one article mentioning. The reasoning about why biopellets SHOULD be good at what they do seems like perfectly sound logic....and it probably does work for many people.
BUT...it didn't work for me. Let me tell you what I used, what I observed, where I think I went wrong, and I'll let you make your own decision.
I chose a TLF reactor with the biopellet "conversion kit", and I mated it with a 250gph powerhead. I used the recommended dosage of TLF biopellets for the starting dose. And I discovered that, with the pump running wide open, I got decent tumbling in the reactor tube.
Within a week, I started to see a clear, stringy "algae" on all my rocks near the water's surface. It wasn't quite algae, and it wasn't dino either. In fact, they were bacterial mats....growing on the rocks in the DT, and in the sump. It was stringy and snot-like, and it wasn't terribly pretty. Meanwhile, the reactor and the powerhead had started to show problems. The powerhead wasn't tumbling the pellets any longer, and the bacterial mats were also growing on the screens inside the reactor, further slowing flow through the tube. I could shake the reactor, releasing clouds of bacteria into the tank, but the pellets would clump up again within a few hours or less.
After a couple weeks of this I realized another issue: Some of my SPS corals looked pale and inconstant rather than dark and vibrant. My Bird of Paradise and my Green birdsnest were the biggest offenders here; these had been deeply colored before the biopellet reactor was running, and they were faded back rather badly by this point. I was still getting growth, but color? Not so much.
By this point I said "Eff it," and I shut down the reactor. It was too much hassle for what it was worth (for me) and I didn't have the funds or desire to try some different options.
NOW.....if you try biopellets, here's what I think I did wrong. First, with all due respect to Julian Sprung and his famous TLF reactors....I don't think they're the right reactor for the job when it comes to biopellets. Too easy for them to gather and clump. Look for one that has an angled bottom, where the pellets can't all gather at once. This might also maximize the flow. Second...whatever pump the reactor says to use.....go BIGGER. People say these should "tumble;" I say they should be swirling around in the reactor as much as possible. Don't give them a chance to bond and clump. And finally, make sure you're skimming wet. This is the only way I can see to get the bacteria mats skimmed out before they become matted to your rock.
Remember, this is usually used for Nitrate reduction. Just as we do with every other nitrate tool at our disposal - Macroalgae, water changes, etc - the end product needs to be HARVESTED in order to really export the Nitrate. In this case, "export" means "skimming."
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
I just added 2 M.bipartitus African Leopard wrasses to the tank. I gave them a short 10 day qt with Prazipro. It's risky, but it's mainly done this way because of how delicate these fish are. Here they are meeting the M. meleagris that Siptang gave me for the first time. There is a little pecking order aggression going on, but nothing serious.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Just for fun...here's a shot of my lettuce nudi doing his thing...whatever that thing may be. ...
And a couple more random shots from tonight:
And a couple more random shots from tonight:
fattytwobyfour
Member
Nice photos. Thanks for sharing. What is that coral in the third photo down? It looks like a mix between xenia and a zoa. Sorry if it is common, I just don't recognize it right now.
What is that coral in the third photo down? It looks like a mix between xenia and a zoa. Sorry if it is common, I just don't recognize it right now.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Its a red goniopora....flowerpot coral.
fattytwobyfour
Member
Oh, lol. I've got a pink one, but looks slightly different to me!
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
GAH. I'm getting a necrosis issue with one of my Acros, and I lost one of my chalices this week. Thankfully not the larger chalice.
My Birdsnests never fully recovered from the KH drop, so I'm likely going to be fragging those out and letting them regrow. Since they grow so quickly, this isn't a big deal to me...but it IS a little frustrating. Oh well.
I have an order in for those new WP-40 powerheads. I'm interested to see how they do compared to the Koralias. And finally.....one of my two African Leopards bought the farm. The smaller one just never ate as much, and probably had some picking between the other fish. The larger one seems to be doing well. The ornate leopard wrasse bossed her around a bit, but they've settled in. She has passed the mark where I'm worrying daily, and I think she's going to be OK.
My Birdsnests never fully recovered from the KH drop, so I'm likely going to be fragging those out and letting them regrow. Since they grow so quickly, this isn't a big deal to me...but it IS a little frustrating. Oh well.
I have an order in for those new WP-40 powerheads. I'm interested to see how they do compared to the Koralias. And finally.....one of my two African Leopards bought the farm. The smaller one just never ate as much, and probably had some picking between the other fish. The larger one seems to be doing well. The ornate leopard wrasse bossed her around a bit, but they've settled in. She has passed the mark where I'm worrying daily, and I think she's going to be OK.
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Awe man. I hate that you're having some problems with your corals. Keeping those chemicals balanced and stable is a lot harder then what anyone thinks it is. I envy those who have a lot of time and money to keep those huge SPS dominated reef systems. I hate that you lost your small chalice. That thing looked pretty cool.
You ordered the Jebao WP40s? The last time I looked at those powerheads they said that they were getting sued by Tunze and were back ordering everything until the issues were resolved. I guess they settled somehow?? Anyways, keep us posted. Can't wait to see yah this coming Friday/Saturday Nova.
You ordered the Jebao WP40s? The last time I looked at those powerheads they said that they were getting sued by Tunze and were back ordering everything until the issues were resolved. I guess they settled somehow?? Anyways, keep us posted. Can't wait to see yah this coming Friday/Saturday Nova.
brent mccloskey
Member
Very nice tank, Nova.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
New additions. Dipped and hanging out in the QT tank for a few days for observation.
Red Planet:
Papa Smurf:
Acropora yongei "Yellow Fuzzy"
A couple interesting chalices:
These are hard to see (still somewhat closed) but here are the zoas I picked up. I'm not a fan of some of the crazy zoa names,
And these are all on the new magnetic frag rack. It's ceramic and (sigh) MUCH nicer than the one I made. This whole rack will go into the display tank at some point.
Let's see, what else did I pick up? A bottle of coral frenzy, a topoff of Tisbe pods, a nice T-shirt with a stylized Mandarin on it from reefertees, and some cool freebies. All in all, it was quite a trip!
Red Planet:
Papa Smurf:
Acropora yongei "Yellow Fuzzy"
A couple interesting chalices:
These are hard to see (still somewhat closed) but here are the zoas I picked up. I'm not a fan of some of the crazy zoa names,
And these are all on the new magnetic frag rack. It's ceramic and (sigh) MUCH nicer than the one I made. This whole rack will go into the display tank at some point.
Let's see, what else did I pick up? A bottle of coral frenzy, a topoff of Tisbe pods, a nice T-shirt with a stylized Mandarin on it from reefertees, and some cool freebies. All in all, it was quite a trip!
sweatervest13
Active Member
Oooh. I like that frag rack!!
You picked up some nice pieces there. Glad the trip to MACNA went well!!!
You picked up some nice pieces there. Glad the trip to MACNA went well!!!