Conskis 34 Gal Solana Build

[Conski]

Decided to start a new thread because the old one referred to a quick transfer which i am no longer doing.

I set the tank up and build the stand (first time working with tools independently) Got my 32 Gal Trash can filled with my RO and went out and bought PVC to do the floating reef. Heres some pics of progress, ill have new live rock and the sand (which i have already rinsed and dried) and clean RO in the tank on monday which i will let cure for 2 weeks before moving my current live rock into the tank.. let me know if you think i should change the PVC. the current tank will be moved all the way to the right into the corner and rehooded and the solana underneath the MH.

[Conski]

i dk why its not uploading all the pictures haha but thats the biocube stand and theres the PVC pipe set up

[Ace25]

Not really liking the PVC.. not quite sure what your trying to accomplish with that layout.

First, I would use smaller diameter PVC pipe. Then make a smaller structure. You mentioned before you wanted a valley going diagnal, so I would make 2 small triangles out of pvc with legs/feet depending on how deep you want your sandbed. I am guessing your not going DSB on such a small tank, which is fine, I wouldn't do a DSB either in that tank. You still want it tall enough for the sand to still have about a 1/2" gap between the bottom of the PVC and top of the sand so flow can go all the way across the sand (if your using sand at all, you may be going barebottom).

If your going with sand, make the PVC structure smaller than what you think so you give yourself room for a sand area. Believe me, tanks don't look nearly as good with rock all the way to the glass. I wish my PVC was just an inch or 2 smaller all the way around to give me that much more sand area... but nothing I want to change now. When you know you have the PVC just right then I would silicone the legs to the bottom so they don't move. You don't need much, just a few dabs at the base each leg just so it doesn't move. Also, you don't have to glue the PVC together.. I did and then realized it wasn't going to move anyway, no way it would come apart from not being glued.

Hope that helps.

[Conski]

I think i understand what you mean. i am using sand.. not a big fan of barebottoms to be honest. AND SINCE YOUR the master of the floating reef (least on this forum) so i think im going to follow your advise.. i had to read it a few times over but i think i understand what you mean by the gap between sand and pvc.. i want it so that the sand gets flow over its surface so there's supposed to be a little gap in between sand and PVC.

Ill go with my original plan and have two piles one in the upper right hand corner in the back and one in the front left hand corner.. so your saying i should make two small triangles? to rest the rock on?

[Conski]

i might just work with what i have and use squares

[Conski]

tomorrow after school im going to home depot and ill by the smallest PVC there is (one below mine) and buy more then ill need so im sure ill have enough... and ill see what i can do with it

[Conski]

I changed my mind up. No more Reef i feel like it would be to hard and dangerous with it so close to the class. im going to make a 3D rectangle and put in the back 10 inches from the from(it'll be against the the black panel) t of the tank and 4 inches from either side.. that way i have 10 inches of sand infront and 4 inches on either side of the rock.. im going to try and make sort of like a pyramid meaning the part of the rock touching the PVC will be biggest and as it goes further up the shelves will gradually get smaller.

Im very picky with live rock so if i dont like this ill be changing.. took about 8 trys with my 14 to get it to where i liked it.. i might even do that in this one on a bigger scale

[Conski]

Okay i began today actually building a legit PVC structure(not one i made in 4 minutes lol) by actually incorporating math and measuring.. which are not my favorite things nor am i very good at so making one is hard enough haha..

my sand bed is 2 inches deep so i made my structure come out exactly 3 ( i know you said 1/2" inch above) but i figured 1" wouldn't make much of a difference just more cave space for my shy scarlet shrimp to go under if he does. since its 20" across i made it so that i have 4" of space between the rock and glass. The first 12" bar is exactly in the middle of the black filtering panel against the back off it and goes from one side to the other.. there is another 12" bar which is 8" across and connected by 3 beams. CONFUSED YET? this leaves me roughly 9 or 10 inches of sand space in front of the rock structure which i can hopefully make into some sort of covey pyramid.

Ill post a pic once i have it finished tomorrow and put into the aquarium.

[Conski]

Ok here is the final product.. took a while but its as good as i think i can do.

I bought a smaller sized PVC as well. Exactly 4 inches from the glass. 12 inches wide and 9 inches long. I used Cable ties in the gaps where there was no PVC just for extra support i guess.. my dads suggestion and i liked it so i rolled with it.

The sand bed is 2 inches deep and the pvc is 1 inch above the sand, extra space but whatever i dont think it matters to much. i also have about 8 to 10 inches from the rock to the front so alot of nice sand space.

Hopefully its better then the last one(even though it wasn't my original idea) so here ya go....:nilly:

[Ace25]

I would leave a 1" gap between the back PVC and the wall so flow can come up the wall as well. Some rocks may hang over and block it but at least it wont be a complete blockage like with the PVC. The zip ties.. I wouldn't do it. I can see fish getting hurt by it. When you put your first layer of rock in, first make sure it is the most stable and best layout, then when you think you have it just right I would epoxy the spots where the rock touches the PVC to secure it even more.

Also, one addition I would make to the frame is to cut the center support piece and put a T on there as well facing down, then PVC-Slip-Threaded coupler and put a threaded plug on the end for adjustment. This will give the center of your frame support with a leg.

Edit: Here, couple quite MS Paint pics to show 2 different methods.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/3905219015_e86281170f_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2461/3906000034_4f974a7e87_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3508/3905220259_2b74b1625a_b.jpg

[Conski]

Alright i have finished it to the specifications you have suggested and i hope its ACE approved :clap:

[ESOXLUCIOUSS]

keep it coming

[Conski]

Buying all new LR. 30 pounds on Monday then the water goes in and it cycles for a week or 2 and this way ill be sure to have a definite AK and CA level.

Im keeping al;l the rock i have in my 14 gal but taking everything about except my favorite thing ever.. mr harlequin shrimp who grew his left defensive claw back :)

[Ace25]

Yup, looking good. :D Last suggestion on the floating reef, those Bar codes that are in black ink on the PVC.. you can take a piece of sandpaper and sand that ink right off to make it all white. Makes it look sooooo much better and just takes a couple seconds to sand them off.

[Conski]

I think i will do that, also i think i am going to buy the mp10 before the live rook, id rather have all the equipment before i start even though its gonna kill me to wait another 2 weeks.

i edited this.. i think the mp10 will be plenty.. i dont plan on upgrading again and in the videos of the mp10 in my exact tank it works great with SO much water top disturbance.. i plan on following the video to make a short pulse wave on the top

[Ace25]

Oh ya, one more suggestion. Drill several small holes randomly around the PVC. 6-8 tiny holes, a few on the top, would make it so it doesn't hold air and really float. You want the water and it is ok for a little sand to get inside the PVC as well. If you make a couple holes slightly bigger, big enough for copepods to move in and out, it would make a nice little refugium inside your tank. :)

Also.. got another idea. I will post again with a pic with my idea for ya to think about.

[Conski]

im loving how i am getting alot of advise from you man haha suggest ideas until your masterful heart in contempt

[Ace25]

ok, another dirty MS Paint job.. but what the picture is showing is a setup similar to mine.

Right back corner, replace the elbo with a T, on the top part of the T put a Slip-Barb adapter, get black hose the diameter you need, hopefully the loc-line and the barb are close enough for this to work with one short piece of black hose. What I would do, because you really don't need the Y splitter/loc-line return since your going to have the MP20, is I would remove the Y splitter and have the entire return coming out one loc-line piece. This would provide the flow to make the floating reef actually work for you more than just as a rock holder. I would drill 5 holes at the spots I put in the picture and drill them at an angle you think will work best. Start with 5 small holes, but big enough so grains of sand wont get stuck in the holes, and if they are like little jets then you can drill a hole at a time after that until the flow is just right. You want it to just be enough to keep the water moving upwards so stuff doesn't sink to the sand.

This is just brainstorming on my end.. don't feel any obligation to actually do this if you don't think it is what you want.. this is YOUR tank, so do what you think is best. :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3907707037_895cdace46_b.jpg

[Conski]

i am so confused man hahah, so i would actually be putting water in through all the piping coming from where the Y Splitter is and have the water blast out of the holes?

[Ace25]

Yup. Mine is run by a closed loop pump, but it does the same thing. The return water, clean water, will be forced out the holes from the bottom of the tank, creating an updraft and pushing the dirty water to the top so the overflow can skim the bad stuff out of the tank. No rule that says your returns have to look the way they do and I like to make things just a little different to try out new things because the "normal" way of stacking rock and adding flow to the tank leaves a lot to be desired, ie, just stacking rock and putting in a normal powerhead. With the MP20 you will have all your flow needs covered so this return mod will be aiding more in the clean water area vs the adding flow to the tank area.

Still.. just something to think about while your waiting to get the tank going. ;)

Here is mine again.. the center hole on the back is my intake hole for my closed loop, and it gets returned into the 2 floating reefs through the back of the tank and out the holes I drilled around it. I have a 1100GPH pump attached to mine.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2157/2547250440_11b7bfe549.jpg

[Conski]

i really like the idea and i think i grasp how to do it so im going to attempt to. the only thing i see being a problem is the hose being attached to the part where the Y comes out!

[froglover007]

Don't mind me asking, but what is a floating reef? I want to get in to saltwater after a little saving ;) so I am just considering my options and a floating reef sounds cool.

[Conski]

its interesting to say the least. is sort of like a fram made of PVC that the Live rock will rest on.. this way the rock has all surfaces showing and is not at all buried in side.. better filtration.. hopefully like aces is mine will have water shooting upwards towards the top of the tank to create an updraft and make the clean water shoot the poorer water up to the top to be skimmed!

[Conski]

okay i really LIKE this idea now the more i think about it. i was trying to figure out what to do with the Y thing because i will have an mp10 anyways! this is perfect! I THOUGHT ABOUT PUTTING CHETO in the pipes as well but that would require light but that would be so awsome

[Ace25]

Take off the Y and just snap one of the Loc-Line flexi arms directly to the back wall instead of the Y. Then you can flex it down and use a shorter piece of hose as long as it is close in diameter. If the hose is just a little small you can use a hair dryer on high for a minute or dip the end of the hose in boiling water for a few seconds to soften it and try and slip it over the loc-line. As it cools it will be a tight enough fit that you won't have to worry. On the barb/PVC side I would probably suggest a plastic hose clamp as an extra precaution, but I really can't see a way it would come off on its own if the hose it cut perfectly to length, which with the loc-line arm it doesn't have to be that perfect because you can adjust it a little.

Only issue I can think of is the hose not being thick enough and a rock possible crushing the hose if you rest a rock against it.

[froglover007]

That is very cool. Does it look good?

[Ace25]

The frame? I dunno, I don't really look at the frame in my tank. LOL ;)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3787128317_52b581192a.jpg

[froglover007]

It actually blends in pretty good. Looks great actually. Will the whole frame become purple eventually?

[Ace25]

Yup, eventually the frame will be completely purple. The the closer you keep your alk to 12 the faster the purple coralline will grow.

[froglover007]

ok. I also noticed some corals growing on the ledges in your aquarium. Did you put them there?

[Conski]

i love how WHITE your sand is.. like incredibly clean... i hope mine is the same way going through all this effort :)

[Ace25]

The ledges are magnetic frag racks so when I trim the corals I can mount them somewhere to grow and give to others.

Ya, your sand should definately be as clean as mine.. your Vortech is going to make sure of that with the floating reef.. I am betting you won't be able to turn up the vortech over 75% without sand blowing around. I just try and keep the flow right on the edge where you see just a few grains of sand getting blown around every once and a while.. then you know you have plenty of flow across the top of the sand to keep it clean.

[ESOXLUCIOUSS]

wonderful idea and a great set up Ace, really cool...

[Conski]

yea they are on frags.

Ace the one Single loc line basically touches the PVC. i fully understand how to do this now but do you think there will be enough pressure in these pipes to literally jet water out? i made holes, not large at all but they are there.. ill post pictures tomorrow after class at 1ish. if my sand stays as clean as that this will just basically make me incredibly happy

[Ace25]

That is the idea of the flow from the floating reef.. to NOT be jets.. you want a gentle flow.. but it is far easier to drill more holes than to have to go back and fill holes. So start with 5, and if that is too much flow, jets coming out the holes, then add more holes until it is just a gentle flow. You want just enough flow to keep things moving upwards.. not shooting out of the tank. Similar type of flow that you would give a phosban reactor if your familiar with those.

[Guillo1]

good job so far and you wont regret doing the floating reef. Its incredible how clean Aces sand is, seems like no fish waste acumulates under his rock. I wished i had done some sort of floating reef on my tank.

[Conski]

The Single line attached to the backwall where the Y was comes basically right down to the PVC. I could probably skip the barb and just put a small peice of hose right from the PVC to the Black Flexi arm. unless you think i need the BARB

[Ace25]

If the hose will fit snug on both sides then no reason to get the barb attachment.. Just can't picture in my head how a hose will meet up to a PVC T and make a good tight fit that won't fall off.

[Conski]

I WISH I HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THIS BALL ROLLING ALREADY! by thursday ill have my MP20 or 10 I CANT DECIDE. but then i have to wait until next next thursday possibly later for all the lr! UGH! i need to get these clowns out of this 14 gal they are starting to unlove eachother!

[Amphiprion]

MP20 ftw. :D

Seriously, however, I believe that it is a good fit for the tank, as the MP10 would be be borderline sufficient. You also have to keep in mind that the flow from these pumps is entirely different than what most are used to, as it is far more diffused.

[Conski]

mp20 it is.. finishing the frame work today. have to go find a hose to fit both loop and t

[Conski]

The frame is finally done and connected to the pump.. was a little bit of a task to figure out how to connect it but i got the job done.. theres 10 holes you can see in the picture to create a simple updraft.. all said and done i hope it meets your mark ace. lol

[Ace25]

ummm, you drilled holes down low? Uh oh. Think about that one for a second.. holes.. under the sand.. blowing water up.. what is that going to do to the sand? Blow it all over the place.

[Conski]

WOW WHAT WAS I THINKING! ill just replace those lol

[Conski]

there fixed haha i had so much extra pipe i could fix it no problem, i also fixed the middle support beam, it wasnt touching the ground perfectly

[Conski]

that was seriously a pain in the *** i thought it was gonna be real simple but im glad i put the work into it and actually followed all your advis.this is gonna be awsome :) btw has anyone seen DSR!? id love to have that guys opp. hope hes alright!

[Ace25]

See, another good reason to NOT glue them together. ;) Cost you probably 10cents to fix the oops. I have a feeling your holes are going to need to be bigger so they don't clog.. but time will tell.

[Conski]

yea i was thinking the same thing but well see when waters in there.. the mp20 will be orderd on saturday.. then probably the following week ill have the LR then one more week for cycling and im all set... just 14 more days of waiting :( hopefully no disaster strikes my 14 gal in this time!

[Conski]

Mp 20 ordered and is being shipped :y220e::hi:! 301 dollars

went to LFS today and got my LR price estimate, im just gonna get the best grade they have, 240 dollars isnt to bad for 30 pounds

[Conski]

I made bigger holes,

https://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+5&ddid=71627
if this coral is out by the time i get my tank set up im gonna be so upset.. i love this thing

[Conski]

Mp20 is here.
im gonna attempt the acrylic box idea suggested by ace... though i dont quite know how im gonna go about doing it?

Im pushing back the live rock another week so i can order the following:
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals RENA SmartHeater 150 Watt (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=AP7151&idCartRow=17021663&isKit=0&child=AP7155)
Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite Controller - Level 1 (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=DA1131&idCartRow=17021664&isKit=0&child=DA1131)
Captive Purity Refractometer with Calibration Dial (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=CP2111&idCartRow=17021665&isKit=0&child=CP2113)

I want a digital thermometer but everyone on marine depot doesnt really like theirs.. any ideas?

[Ace25]

Nice! I was waiting for an update. :D Skip the digital thermo, your getting a reefkeeper, that is your digital thermo and much better/more reliable than any stand alone digital thermo IMO. My RK and Chiller thermos are exactly the same, all the hang on digital ones (Coralife/Toms) have been 1-3degrees off in either direction from my experience. Your equipment list sounds fine as is.. the heater + controller + refractor. With your reefkeeper you can program it to turn off lights if your tank reaches a certain temp to help cool it down, another nice feature.

If you don't have a chiller already I would start saving a little bit each week now so by next summer you will have enough to buy one. I know your going to want to buy fish/corals between now and then but put like $5 aside as much as you can so you have $200-$300 saved up for a good chiller. Also may want to save up for the RK upgrades so you can have a pH probe. Chiller being the more important though, but as fall/winter is on its way it probably won't be something you willl have to worry about for the next 6 months.. still a month+ before the tank is even ready for livestock at this point, which means it should be cooling down quite a bit in your area by the time your ready for corals and fish in the 34.

[Conski]

im gonna do the Cure method suggested by Pacific East(http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/curingrock.aspx). I am just gonna use my 14gal BC hood to do it and just run antics for the 2to4 week process.

The saving idea sounds good, i will most definitely need one in summer, this summer was a disaster with temps.. and it didn't even get as crazy hot as buffalo does on random days out of nowhere...and im not having that with all SPS. btw how does the RK tell the temp... i editied i figured it out lol it has a probe.. okay i think itd be better if i just got the level 3. this way i dont have to upgrade later.. btw i never tested PH do i want this between 7 and 8?

Also i was thinking of doing a different skimmer if this stock one doesn't work out to hot.. i know nano skimmers are bunk, but i was thinking of the TUNZEE or a AqauRemora.. there was one more AMP stated but i don't remember it at the moment.

This Acrylic box idea seems like its going to be a challenge because i feel like i am going to be the one who has to make it.. i just wanna know the thickness i should use.. if you have a suggestion.

Either way im glad im closer to this thing being well on its way to being an actual non newb well thought out SPS tank, i have been looking at some wicked sps online and cant wait to get my hands on it.

O yea Revive and B-ionic i am going to be buying as well but not for a while

[Conski]

bump

[Conski]

Everything is ordered.

this makes me happy, besides a chiller i now have all my equipment.
should be a week before i go out and buy my Live rock.

[Conski]

Aghh okay so the equpiment will be here tuesday, and that day im FOR SURE MOST DEFINITLY without a doubt going to get my live rock.

we have a problem though, my new LFS has beautiful brach rock that i can see myself aquascaping for hours.. using it has props and everything..

i was wondering bout incorporating both my PVS FR with the bracnh rock and maybe putting it in between the slots and all around the pvc but still using the pvs to push the water upwards, im sure i could make it look awsome while incorporating both aspects.

what do you think?

[Conski]

going to buy my live rock now :clap:

[Conski]

nvm im going to set all this stuff up first then get my rock tomorrow UGH THE ANTICIPATION

[Conski]

The guy at my LFS said that in my phosphate remover i should use about halfof my ROWAPHOS. i have 250ml of it, does this sound correct?

Im gonna install my mp20 on the side 3 inchs below the the edge (sadly) i have no will power to do the mod suggested by ACE with the acrylic box in the back of the tank.

Luckily my dad gets off on the crazy details that go along with the RK so im gonna have him set it all up and teach me.

Btw ace the guy at my LFS said in theory my floating reef was perfect so thank you very much for all the help

[Ace25]

250ml on a 34G sounds like A LOT. I would cut that in half easily. 100-125ml max.

As for the MP20 mod... you could always ask scootrnerd to make the box for you and pay him for it. He is great at stuff like that.

Oh ya, don't see it in the picture, did you get a pump for the Phosban reactor?

Come on.. wanna see water in the tank finally. ;)

[Conski]

dude i wanna putting effing water in this POS so bad its driving me nuts! im using my oceanic pump, that i replaced with the maxijet 600 from my biocube.

good idea on asking scooter nerd, he never posts on my threads! let him know im interested if you could man id appreciate it. tomorrow is the big day for sure.

I have the option of buying fantastic branchrock from the new place, do you think i should use that and still keep the PVC to push the water upwards, with the branch rock i can put some of it into the sand and use it to hoist up more rocky pieces and other pieces on the PVC.

MY LFS guy said that he doesnt know if the solana pump will be strong enough, im sorta hoping it isnt so that it actually a very gentle flow

[Conski]

mods, excuse the "effing" and clumsy grammatical errors please

[Conski]

btw im putting lr rubble in the back with cheto, would an 8watt light be enough to support growth? ill just put it on the other side of the glass right against it

[Ken b]

I'm happy for you Conski. Even with all the best laid out plans it will take some time to work out all the bugs. Sometimes those cherry picked pieces of equip work out sometimes they don't. Tweeking here and adjusting there will be the order of the day for a while. I know. I've been doing alot of that myself. I got a skimmer that I thought would work well. After tweeking and modding for 2 weeks it just isn't enough for this tank. I'm currently waiting on an ETSS sump buddy to arrive. This puppy is rated for a 250g tank. It should do the trick on my 90g. My halides will be here tomorrow. 2 400w Ushio 14K's and already got 4 48" 110w vho actinics for sups. The only thing missing is a Neptune aqua controller to do the light cycles,heating wavemaling etc. etc etc. Then it's just the waiting game for everythig to get sweet over the next couple months.

Be patient. Thats the main thing. You've done well so far, so don't rush anything now.

Just a thought.Instead of dosing Ca and alk maybe you should consider getting a small Ca reactor in the near future. They are much better than dosing any day. I got my lifereef LCR1 for 200 bucks full of media. Another $150 for the co2 tank,regularor and needle valve. But for a small tank ,like yours ,a used one would be far less.

Anyway enough of my rambling. Good luck tomorrow dude!

[Conski]

ill definitely look into a ca reactor, i was looking into a UV steralizer as well..
most important thing i need equipment wise now is a chiller for next summer, how my 14 gal didnt die is a mystery. im gonna test this skimmer out that came with it before i research and buy a different one.

for now i have what i need and have been paitent enough, im gonna be aquascaping alllllll dayy tomorrow :)

[Ken b]

Don't waste your money on a UV. They really have no place on a reef tank. It will detsroy more beneficial life forms than it is worth. If you've done your homework on keeping SPS the you know that planltonic lifeforms are a food source for that genus of coral. The UV would definitely kill all the planktonic life that passes through it, pods etc. if it is functionig properly. IMO the best application for UV is on a fish only system to kill pathogens harmful to the inhabitants.Use of one on a reef tank is antiquated thinking. In the early eighties they were the rage, until knowledge and technology caught up in regards to reef systems. If you were able to keep SPS back the you truly were a reef god.

Put your money where it counts. The 4 big items with regard to equipment as far as I'm concerned are powerful skimming, powerful lighting and powerful circulation,and stable Ca and alk. These provided for, the rest is kind of easy IMHO.

Don't take thus the wrong way, but the money spent on the phosphate reactor would have been better applied to a Ca reactor. Do you have, or plan on having a high phosphate level? If so,then finding the source and how to eliminate it is the key. Anything else is treating a symptom not the cause A powerful enough skimmer will remove a fair amount of phosphate on its own. Macro algae such as the type found in a refugium will remove it as well. It's truly exported when the macro is harvested out of the tank.

I guess my point is that reefing is expensive enough as it is without making uninformed purchases. Mis-spent money can keep you from affording what is truly needed to make keeping your system as easy as possible while keeping your dad off your back.

Good luck today. We want to see pics when the water clears

[Ken b]

BTW:

Instead of a chiller why not an air conditioner. It will keep the tank cool and you'll benefit from it as well.That's I've always done,and it works.

[Ace25]

Don't take thus the wrong way, but the money spent on the phosphate reactor would have been better applied to a Ca reactor. Do you have, or plan on having a high phosphate level? If so,then finding the source and how to eliminate it is the key. Anything else is treating a symptom not the cause A powerful enough skimmer will remove a fair amount of phosphate on its own. Macro algae such as the type found in a refugium will remove it as well. It's truly exported when the macro is harvested out of the tank.

JMO but smaller tanks usually = smaller sumps which in turn = smaller skimmer options. It is much easier to get a good skimmer rated for a 34G tank, like a Del-Tec, and couple it with the phosban reactor. Sure, if you had a 200G tank, 100G sump, and could throw in a BubbleKing skimmer the Phosphate reactor would be negligable, but in a small 34G tank the phosphate reactor becomes much more critical to have IMO. Phosphates swing pretty drastically in small tanks, especially around feeding time from my experience, and most people don't want to put a skimmer the same size or bigger than the tank they are running just to remove DOCs. Only those crazy TOTM on RC people do that with their home made 8' tall skimmers. ;)

I still do not have a CA reactor on my tank, 2x the size of the 34G, 1-1/2 years of SPS growth, and I can still handle Alk/Ca easily just with Kalk ATO water and a little B-Ionic. It is going to take many years before a CA reactor should be even close to required on something as small as a 34G tank. I am still not even considering a reactor yet for my tank... a better skimmer is something I need before I need a CA reactor.

[Conski]

hahaha im okay with my skimmer for now ive heard they do the trick,

No UV for me then lol, but a ca reactor as tempting as it sounds is expensive and im kinda sick of spenidng the money on stuff when i can do just fine right now with all the stuff ive bought!

I WISH I HAD AC, my dad will by a motorcycle and a bmw but not ac, and a personal one for my room wont fit so im forced to get a nice little chiller! i have the hottest room in the house too.

[Ace25]

I agree on the UV, I wouldn't use one on a reef tank.

CA reactors can easily end up running $500 for a small setup when all the parts are bought. Used is definately the way to go if you can because you can get it 1/2 price usually. There are a few big dollar items that go with a CA reactor. Are they helpful? Obsolutely. They make CA and Alk levels much more stable than other methods, but the cost of them has kept me away so far since my method seems simple enough and does the job just fine. Sure, it takes a minute of my life each day to dose a little b-ionic but I am right there at the tank anyway so it isn't a big deal. If someone walked up to me and gave me a CA reactor I would set it up in a heartbeat, it is just one of those "down the road" items for me to add to the wish list.

BTW, chillers heat up the room even more when they run.. so if your room is hot you need a way to vent the chiller. If the chiller is too hot and the ambient temp in the room is too high it won't chill the water.

So.... wasn't today the big day? Where are the updates?

[Ken b]

Yeah! What he said!

Updates updates yeah yeah!!

Picked up my halides and mounted them toay. Can you say twinkle twinkle ?

The dude who was buying the tank decided he didn't want the fuge cuz he's going FO. I wound up w/the fuge the light forit some rubble that was in it and a big ball o' chaeto. Hooked it up too. The new sump buddy coming on Monday. God ! It's like Christmas in October.

[Conski]

GOOD GOD WHAT A LONG DAY!
So my new LFS had some tonga branch rock so i picked some of that up and then 19 pounds of rock (sounds like to little but wait till you see the pieces)
CAME HOME AND GUESS WHO CALLS! WORK! PLEASE COME IN TODAY AT 6. it was 3 so that left me with 3 hours to hook up EVERY SINGLE Piece of equipment and mount and calibrate both the RK and the MP20! (didnt even get to put the temp probe in or make my wave! anyways its alot of clutter and the LR isnt the way i want it right now (its a maybe though) and the phostphate remover tubes i need to shorten up and make look a little better a bloody mess though.. btw ace the pvc just wasnt working out, theres already to much in the tank and the amount of rock i have is enough already on the eyes!

my stupid phone wont sync to my laptop so no pics as of now!

BTW WHERE THE HELL IS DSR?

[Conski]

it syned... no light really so heres some pics of it at night, not really gonna be able to see the rock to well in the pic! much better pics are gonna be up at around 2 tomorrow.. btw the skimmer is making alot of foam im diggin it!look at all those damm wires

Tomorrow list of to do;
drain a little water
Redo aquascape
shorten phosphate tubes.
set in temp probe.
Turn back into fuge by mounting an 8w hood light from my freshwater to the back and adding cheto and rock rubble
MAKE MY WAVE :clap:
mount mp20 devise on wall
learn how to use this refracto
replace sponge filters with poly filters


sounds about it i guess. then leave it alone lol

btw if i got a chiller id put a fan blowing on it to keep it cool

[Ken b]

Good deal. It'll all come together. As soon as I get over my lack of tech saavy I'll get some of my pics posted

[Conski]

alot of work these past 2 days, i basically made myself a flat top table with my live rock lol, just ALOT of surface area.

making the wave is kind of annoying and hard. its just on lagoon reef mode.
do some readings tomorrow, sorry about no new picks, had to drain the water becuase it wasnt level in the back and wasnt fillig correctly, some water went on the wires and i got electrocuted, dk how good that is by my right hand feels odd

[Amphiprion]

Bravo on the aquascape. Your configuration will allow you the best situation possible to maximize water motion and light coverage. It will also allow for the most room for coral growth. Any way we can get a pic :)?

Edit: You can do better than lagoon mode. I wanna see 10000 gph of sloshing :D

[Conski]

hahahaa i will get that wave tomorrow amp i promise!

ill do a pic in the day tomorrow i was supposed to have pics today but had no time due to the amount of time already put into it. im glad that LR aquascape didnt come out in the first pic, it was awful and a quick job!

[Ken b]

Like I said,the order of the day for the next month is going to be fussing over every little thing.

[Conski]

Heres some pictures of how it is now!

I got my wave, not a crazy one but it works and is definitely a wave :woot:
the aqua scape is like a table with caves underneath it!

The one pic is of the boiling rowaphos in the reactor

Ill do tests tomorrow

only thing that is really annoying is the tube comming down the middle!

[Conski]

the boards have been so dead but heres hoping someone answers..

i aquascaped again.. lol very pick about my rock
Wondering when i should put the lights over the tank or get the CC.
Did my tests today, no ammonia no trite or trate, by Wednesday itll be set up for a week.

Alk is 9 didnt test CA.

So when do i get the cc and the MH's over it.. the rock was already curing for 3 weeks at my LFS

[Amphiprion]

You can go ahead and light it now Don't add any herbivorous animals until you actually get algal growth. Otherwise, you'll starve them. Once you get a bit of algae, slowly add snails until you can get algae to a manageable level. After a while longer, say another month, you can add things that would clean the sand, like ceriths, a cucumber, etc. The key is to make sure there is something for them to actually eat. After you turn on the lights and get coralline algae growing, be sure to check on the big three parameters--calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. It is better to get a good dosing regimen down now and have things stabilized than to wait until after you get your corals.

[Conski]

Wow thanks for the quick responce thought it wouldve taken a day or so. Okay tomorrow im gonna go buy a new phoenix 150watt 14k bulb for my Sunpod then hoist that bad boy over the tank. all my corals in my 14 gal are gonna have to suffer with the stock hood light of the biocube for a while until i get it all done.

[Conski]

Imm gonna buy the RKM SL2, that way i dont have to buy the elite and i can still monitor PH on my lite RK

[Conski]

hey mods can you change the title of the thread to "Conskis 34 Gal Solana Build" its not so much an update anymore as just a full blown thread

[Amphiprion]

hey mods can you change the title of the thread to "Conskis 34 Gal Solana Build" its not so much an update anymore as just a full blown thread

Done.

[Conski]

thank you very much

[Conski]

I got my BC hood back, im gonna leave the Antic (sp) on over them for 6 hours a day for the remaining 2 weeks, after this 2 weeks is up im going to by a clean up crew, then the 5th week im going to put my clowns in it and go from there!

[Conski]

still no ammonia reading... i dont think im going to see any. there was die off.. tomorrow ill post a youtube video of my tank and the wave on the top.

[Conski]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4w2Mf1fOD0

Heres a video of the new tank, (yes i did have a little trouble with the protein skimmer cup ;) hahaha ) the MH's went over yesterday (sat) and this wednesday the tank will be up for 3 weeks.

still no ammonia, so i doubt i will see any if its taken this long :( im getting super anxious.

sorry about the video going into my freshwater tank and my 14 gal for a couple seconds i wasn't thinking haha

[Jaykit]

What type of skimmer are you running on your tank?

[Conski]

the stock skimmer is doing its job very nicely so i plan on keeping it for now then moving to a nicer one if need be

[Conski]

i believe im starting to see some diatoms.. also little things of green algae are coming out :) i did tests today and i think im going nuts.. i have super minimial (or none) ammonia, but i think around 3 trates? which is confusing. going to my LFS today to have them test it and maybe buy my clean up crew.

[Conski]

Yea my cycles over, what little one i had atleast lol. i went out and bought my clean up crew today!

1 Tiger Cuc
10 pure white snails ( i believe cerenths)
1 sand sifting star
1 fighting conch
lol and i had a turbo snail in there from the start, he was on the rock.

I have 3 trates no ammonia or trite
salinity is accuratly at .025
Alk 9
(didnt test ca yet, will do so in 2 weeks)

Everything is going great so far, no mishaps or anything

The tank will be three weeks old tomorrow

and the 5th week is when i plan to put the fish in.. which i hope my one picaso doesnt have cancer :(

[Conski]

Picture of the ring of crap the skimmer took out.. its doing great!

and a little picture of the diatoms i can see comig

[Conski]

I told my LFS about my stock list.

they said i would be fine putting a leapord wrasse in a solana.. they had a mystery wrasse in theirs. i said i thought it needed a 55gal and they said not even.. but on websites it says they need a 50. so i think i really might just avoid that even though i love the fish.. i think im definitly going with my origional stock of the picasos, midas blenny and red flasher wrasse male.

this clean up crew is interesting enough lol im happy with it though ...Hopefully they all survive i didnt just stick with snails but i dont think my LFS would push anything on me, theyre all nice and are just ahppy to see a customer who isnt rushing and getting bad equipment

[Conski]

i will probably end up taking back the conch, hes so interesting but i can see him severely harming some SPS coral even though they are reef safe. or breaking my glass by knocking over the rock

[Ace25]

A Leopard wrasse may do ok in a Solana with that being the only fish or at most mated up with another, but no other fish. Even that would be pushing it.

What are you doing for your top? Both the Midas blenny and flasher wrasses are known jumpers. They are both suitable for the tank with the clowns though IMO.

[Conski]

yea no leapord wrasse for me. ill just admire yours for the time being.

is the reef cleaner package okay? im worried about the conch but hes just chillin most of the day

as for the top to the amount of wires in and out of the thing its really hard for me to get that top on.. im gonna try and readajust everything tomorrow to the back or cut around the spots where the tubing and stuff is coming out.

is waiting until next wednesday good to do my fish transfer or should i wait longer (i just wanna put my clowns in there so bad lol) and another week to start stocking corals... i cant even tell you how excited i am to see what your sending me and i got a wad saved for multiple corals to buy from my lfs...

[Conski]

would a pink tip anem be okay in a SPS reef tank? i want one for my clowns?! and any idea about the conch should it stay or go?

[Amphiprion]

For that size tank, I don't recommend it at all. Your clowns will do happily without an anemone.

[Ace25]

I agree, a tank that size it is one or the other, softy/anemone or SPS but not both.

[Conski]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+4&ddid=74407

Would this work out in a SPS tank? i dk what would happen though with fish if its venomous.

could i put a pink tip anem in my 14 gal reef work out? Its all softies and LPS

[Ace25]

Nooooo.. stay away from long spine urchins.. just a PITA. I have one in my 29G that I inherited from someone breaking down their tank. They knock things over and hurt pretty bad when you accidentally get stuck by one of the spines. If you must get an urchin get a Tuxedo/Pincushion urchin.

I think a 14G is a little too small for any anemone unless that was the only thing in the tank with clowns. You have a bunch of leathers in that tank and an anemone + leathers probably would not be a good idea. Zoas and mushrooms are the only thing I would put with an anemone but even then in a 14G there is a high chance any other corals with the anemone will eventually get stung out of existense.

[Conski]

lol okay sounds good, cant wait until Wednesday!

[Conski]

Acliamting fish right now!

[Conski]

After 1 hour of acclimating they are in!

Im very excited right now and hope they do okay!

The "male" (basil) is out and about swimming int he current of the tank while Lord "female" is hiding towards the back of the tank!

[Conski]

both out swimming for the first time without fighting in months! exploring every nook and cranny :)

ohh how paitence prevails :)!

[Ace25]

:clap::dance: Glad everything is working out! Congrats on having the patience to see the tank through the startup period before adding fish. :)

[Conski]

thank you! theyre doing the thing my old picaso did which i hated! they chose a spot in the tank in the corner and they just swim up and down there and never move.

im thinking about putting thier torch coral in there with them.
My nitrates are at 6
Alk 9
Salinity 1.025
Calcium 440

think it would be okay? im kinda hoping it would coax them into leaving that spot a little

I bought a tomato clown for my 14 gal he chills, likes to hide but im sure its cause hes nervious about the new setting,

[Conski]

i just went ahead and did it, itll be the only LPS in my tank.

i know theres a slight chance that a huge algae bloom could kill the coral but i dont think that it will, plus with only one coral in there for an entire month i dont think that the water params will be affected to much (im waiting for aces coral before i begin to buy my own, give my tank a bit more time to get established)

its probably the only thing im gonna rush just do i can stop being frusterated with my clowns and their little corner thing, just doesnt look natural

[Amphiprion]

I don't foresee any problems with that. Should be fine.

[Conski]

it worked! they left the stupid corner daze they were in and now hangout around their torch :) sucess

[Conski]

I bought an ORA Birdnest and An ORA Acropora to test out my tank with SPS.. day 1 hahaha

[Conski]

Got a midas blenny as well,pics later and not acropora is an monti im pretty sure

[Conski]

Okay i cant be much more paitent haha, im taking out my mystery Pinkish Orange zoas and moving them over in the new tank!

[Conski]

The Midas Blenny is so awsome looking and fun :)! hes probably five inches! he switches holes in the rock every 2 minutes lol

SPS day 2 all polyps out on them and are doing good and enjoying the wave action :)

Heres some pics!

[I Ate A Cake]

Wow.... nice pick ups.

I didn't know you had Picasso's. Very nice!

And if you dont mind, I'm just going to take those zoas you have.

[Ace25]

Hard to tell what the green ORA coral is... I am guessing a green Montipora Digitata, if so, both those corals you bought are very hardy and well suited for beginner SPS corals.

[Conski]

Grade a's man :) took me literally 3 months to decide if i wanted to buy them or not! they were 156 with their torch coral home so i honestly got one of the greatest deals ever and they provide me with so much happiness haha.

both corals were 35 a piece and the LFS guy said they were very hardy sps and great to start off with so i couldnt turn it down, the name you said ace was infact what it was called according to the guy.

those zoas just werent getting any justice done to them by being in my 14 gal, i need to get MHS over that tank

i need to find a Salt mix with lower CA count so that i can do w/c every 2 weeks without making it rise so high

[shanefee]

Alright mate just like to say the tank is coming on great ,Quick question im thinking of starting a reef again and think the floating reef is the way to go.So what size pipe have used in your tank and what size holes did you drill in to it.Thanks shane

[Conski]

sadly i didnt even use the pipework i worked my *** off to make. im pretty sure i used 3/4 pipes and the holes have to be just big enough so that theres a gentle flow coming out and so that it doesnt get clogged with something. and it should be like 2 inches or something off from the sand bed and sturdy enough to support your rock

annnnd one of the branchs on the birdsnest is bleaching and badly, but all the other branches on the thing are fine, polyps out and everything... i dont understand, it colided with a another branch with its gorwing but i doubt thats it.

Salinity is 1.025
0 trates

[Ace25]

Odd.. I had the same thing happen with the same birdsnest when I first bought it. It actually started bleaching/dying from the base upwards within a few days in my tank. I think it had to do with to much light although not sure why the problem started from the bottom of the coral and move upwards (had it at the top under 10ks) so I had to chop it up to cut off the dead areas and replant the 7 frags I ended up making out of it in different places in my tank to find its happy spot, which I did and was lowerer than I had it. Birdsnest don't seem to light high lighting. The montipora digi you got also seems to react negatively at first when placed up high under MHs but the digi seems to acclimate to the lighting after about a week (not much polyp extension for a week) but then once acclimated the digis seem to do fine most places from my experience.. the birdsnest on the other hand doesn't seem to recover like the digi when places too high in a tank. Just a thought..

[Conski]

the digi is perfect! no bleachig and its polyps are always very nicely extended. i dk what i hould do. i have no idea how to frag things and i feel like if i tried id just ruin the coral, its so wierd becuase on the backside of the coral there's so much extension but on that one branch its dieing, maybe i should try moving it lower?

[Ace25]

yes, move it lower.

To frag it if it comes to that you can just break it with your hands (birdsnest, wouldn't recommend doing that for acros though) or use scissors to cut it. It is very scary when you have never done it before but so easy once you have a few frags under your belt.

[powerkit]

Very nice sps!!!! Thanks for sharing, your thread is very informative.
oh, and sweet picasos too!

[Conski]

would i just cut it off from the dieing part? or would i cut it all up? i dont have any plugs or aything

[Conski]

i moved it lower, and examined it, one of the three main branches is great, the other 2 seem to be indeed dieing from the base, no i idea man

[Amphiprion]

If it continues, it may be necessary to clip the main healthy branch. You'll want to cut into some of the healthy tissue.

[Conski]

Bought some more ORA Acros

If i do end up having to cut my birdnest how would i put it back onto a frag?!

i can clearly see it going up from the base and affecting 2 of the three main branches, i told my LFS guy, he said that it could just die off at the bases and continue to grow off the tips and have a dead bottom..

i dk

Heres some pics

[Ace25]

Now your getting brave.. the acros are the hardest ones to keep happy. Looks like a Borealis in the first picture.. not quite sure what on the other one .. Plum Crazy maybe? As far as fragging, cut with scissors about 1/4" above the dead areas leaving some good stuff behind and then take the good piece you cut off and either put a dab of superglue gel on the bottom and glue it to a rock or find a hole to wedge it into carefully.

[Conski]

haha i have to learn my lesson somehow, might as well try it now while i have the money, atleast its ORA and not not wild brought in stuff

hopefully itll be okay, everything seems promising besides the birdsnest.if it looks worse tomorrow ill try and frag it.

[Ace25]

Thing about birdsnest is they are extremely hardy, so even though it is showing signs of problems now if you cut it up and place it several places in your tank within a few months it will overtake those spots and you will want to remove it to make room for other corals. ;) That is the point I am at now with mine.. I removed all but 1 out of the 7 frag spots I originally placed them and gave away the frags and kept just one that has grown too big. Now I don't care for the "birdsnest" shape they take because it restricts the cleanup crew from getting in and cleaning.

[Conski]

haha i really enjoy them at the moment, i wish mine was doing better though, tomorrow ill frag, sketchy and scary but ill try it.

i hope the acros work out, i bet they will (trying to be positive) i really like them as well.. sps is awsome haha,

[Conski]

almost all of the birdnest died/dieing over night, dk what itd be worth but going to emergency frag this and see what happens

[Conski]

I feel like i did a pretty good job for it being my first time, i made 6 frags and put them in various points around my tank changing height and shade area

heres some pics

[Conski]

Switched to reefcrest mode, everything is happier, all acro poplyps are out, more digi polyps are out then usual and the 6 frags.... eh lol

[Conski]

call of duty.. over taking my life haha!

UPDATE well the frags are all not looking good except the main one connected to the plug, seems to be the only one with any REMNANT of life.

The acros are full bloomed throughout the day, and the digi is doing perfect

[Conski]

Bought a new salt Mix.. Reef Crystals.. the midas blenny for whatever reason was picking on my clowns and nipping at them so hes gone.

Picked up a different birdsnest today its ORA, well see how it does.
doing a water change as well

[Amphiprion]

Midas blennies are actually fairly aggressive to similar middle to upper water column dwellers. I've seen them bully the anthias they attempt to mimic.

[Ace25]

Hmmm.. good to know. I never had any problems with my Midas other than him chasing away my cleaner wrasse when it tries to clean it. I always thought the Bi-Colored blenny was by far the most aggressive out of those types of blennies, but I can see how a Midas could cause problems in some cases. Just thought 2 Picasso's would be able to put 1 midas in check. ;) Guess not.

[Conski]

theyre little guys lol, they even shuttered when he came near and i was like okay if theyre shuttering to a different species thats a no no... hopefully the wrasse will be better

[Conski]

Got a maixma clam and a reverse watermelon thing? i dont think its a chalice, but its cool

[Conski]

everything is going swimmingly in the tank, which makes me overjoyed! the water is so crystal clear i love looking at it.

All those frags i made are dead, i moved them into a back corner just to see if maybe some life would spring, but i got a new screaming green birdnest that is doing very promising and looks fantastic!

Nitrates are at 0
Alk 8(little low for me)

My acro frags are great! the "crazy plum" one doesnt out out its polyps but its bluish/purple always is shining through and no sign of bleeching on anything

im nervous about my clam but his mantels out and doing well.

Here ya go!(no pic of the plum! i forgot)

I cant wait for ACES frags, and my LFS is excited to see them too haha, my gfs getting me my favrotie coral for my birthday on the 13th! its a lmtd edition pumpkin patch (or mummy eyes) chalice that i love!

[Ace25]

Stop buying corals!! Dangit.. I had 3 of the corals you bought, large frags, ready to send to you and now I have to scrap that idea since you went out and bought them. Digi, Stylo, and birdsnest.. You keep it up and you will be getting just green slimer and a bunch of ORA Duncan heads. lol. I do have a large nice size "mini colony" of a Garf Bonzai I will send you along with many others.

Here is a good google picture of what the Garf looks like.
http://www.atlanticseafarms.net/media/00/a20792a124893eeea4f851_s.jpg

[Conski]

hahaha im sorry man i just cant stop buying them! im done until yours come i promise.. except for maybe some nightmare and joker zoas!

Do you know what the last frag is in the last pic? its very interesting.

Im looking forward to the Garf.. that looks awsome man! i cant wait to see what your gonna send me.

[Ace25]

Go ahead with the zoas, both of those I had problems with.. only 2 zoas I ever had problems with. Both the Jokers and Nightmare (aka Darth Maul) melted away on me after a month or so and I read that is a common thing with those specific zoas. So I don't have any of those to give out.. but I do have some awesome Sunny Delights I can frag for you.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r7/afi982/_MG_2663.jpg

[Conski]

wow thats awsome too! haha id appreciate that for sure!

[Robert04]

This is stunning.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r7/afi982/_MG_2663.jpg[/QUOTE]

[Conski]

its the first coral my gf actually thought was pretty, so that says something right there, cant wait to get a piece of it :)

[Conski]

Yea im getting diatoms, its ugly and i hate this phase

[hmotorsol]

wow that zoa is gorgeous. Nice tank. I wish i could keep mine that clean. i have a wrasse and blenny that constantly moving the sand.

[Conski]

its basically a brand new tank so im sure itll be dirtied up soon enough, i am all over cleaning my glass though and the sand is getting nicely cleaned by my cucumber star and fighting conch(which im nervous about destroying my sps)

[Conski]

holy DIATOMS! ITS SO UGLY

[pufferfreak]

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r7/afi982/_MG_2663.jpg

I like the zoa :D but your avatar not so much...

[Conski]

lol so much attention to the sunny delights i dont even have yet :(

Did tests today.. my digi is growing at a visible level, and the acros are getting taller lol but you do a double take

Nitrates 0
Alk 8
CA 400

all is well! ill change my **** icon haha

[Conski]

diatoms are worse and worse everyday. Water change tomorrow (do one once every 2 weeks) new acro frag. water doesnt smell as pleasant as my other tank, i think i just have to get used to the fact its a newer tank and its gonna go through its phases! nothing seems stressed and hopefully everythings okay, pics once the diatoms are gone.

Question about the carbon in the back compartment..
There is still bioballs back there as well, that carbon has to be around 2 months old now, should i replace that? and if so with what do you suggest? i should take those balls out and just put some cheto back there.. no light will be on it but hey it could live still from the light of the day and any excess light coming from the sunpod

[JOHNNY13]

your set up looks great!!!!! people at ARC got to know you pretty well by now.:) keep up on the pics, love to see the progress.

[Ace25]

Take out the Bio-Balls for sure. If you want to put something to replace them buy a small piece of live rock and take a hammer/chisel to it and make rock rubble out of it to stick in the back. Carbon, yes, definitely replace. You will be lucky to have ANY carbon last more than 3 weeks.

As for Diatoms.. welcome to 'normal'. I am still going through them (again) from my move over a month later.. but it is definitely getting less and less each day, especially in the last week.

Cheato may work or may turn out to be more hassle than it is worth. In theory you are supposed to have room to roll or tumble cheato, not just have it stuffed in a compartment. Something you will just have to try out and see if it works for you. The Sunpod will probably be more than sufficient light for the cheato though.

[Conski]

im known on other websites? how awsome haha

i have some extra rock that isnt supporting the base rock so ill just use that, i need to go buy a new carbon i definitly want some nice stuff. the diatoms really worry me i know its normal but it just looks so bad and it starts to grow on my sps

okay its probably like 1.5 pounds of live rock back there, its in small rock form. i took some cheto from my 14 gal and through it back there, theres not much light but hey it cant hurt to be back there.

[Ace25]

My solution to the diatoms is I put my hand in the tank daily and wave my hand above the sand to break up the diatoms. Just stirring up about the top 1/4" of sand. It really helps. For the corals/rocks I take a turkey baster and blow out all the rocks (after I am done with my daily hair algae removal).

[Conski]

bought 2 skunk shrimp
marineland carbon.

ill try the turkey baster trick i bet it helps.

[Conski]

haha I told my lfs I was getting some sunny delights and the dude got so excited. The turkey baxter helped slot especially getting it off the clams mantel

[Conski]

plum crazy is dieing :( i gave it a revive bath and put it back in heres to hoping it does okay.

any lps ive tried to put in that tank started to do poorly, my clowns torch is starting to not come out, i gave it a revive bath and switched its spot, if it doesnt workout i guess im gonna have to put it back in the little tank, the zoas that werent doing good at all that i switched back to my little tank are back to doing very good!

agh sps is frusterating sometimes :(

im guess so irritated with diatoms, its growing on my digi and my other 2 acros (i didnt post the one up yet but its awsome)
i mean i knew id have some deaths but its getting upsetting to see my corals to so poorly when i can lok at my 14 gal reef and see it doing almost perfect

[Ace25]

You sure it is diatoms on your corals and not dinoflagellates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinoflagellate)? My LFS has a bout of that stuff and it wiped out the majority of their SPS coral frag tank at one point.

Obvious question, what are your 5 major readings, Nitrate/Phosphate/Alk/CA/Mg (last one being least important because it is rarely out of whack)

[Conski]

yea its diatoms its everywhere on everything its just long webs of brown algae. ill do a test right now..(since i posted the last one the acro is almost completly bleached omg)

these are the results of the tests
ALK 7
CA 480
Nitrate 0

I dont have the other two test kids but i have a phos remover so i doubt its out of line.

Like the diatoms i think are the problem(is that possible), it grows sooooo fast its incredible and it grows of the ends of my sps?!

the alk is a little low?

[Conski]

i can tell my CA is gonna keep rising somehow to a point where i dont want it at, i do water changes every 2 weeks and 2 weeks ago it was at 420 now its up 60

i even changed salt mixes to Reef Crystals

If my borealis starts to die im gonna be so upset, its blue is stunning and i love that coral

[Conski]

Pics..

You can see from the first pic of the crazy plum how much it bleached in literally 1 hour of time ;/ is almost completly bleached now i dont undertsand, i couldnt of even came close to saving it at the rate it was dieing

i mean im not ruling out what you said ace but i wouldnt be able to tell the difference i suppose

[Ace25]

yea its diatoms its everywhere on everything its just long webs of brown algae. ill do a test right now..(since i posted the last one the acro is almost completly bleached omg)

Ummm.. long stringy web algae IS dinoflagellates! 100x worse that diatoms and a real pain to get rid of.

Alk is fine at 7, just don't let it drop much more than that. CA can be fine around 500 as well with no problems.

[Ace25]

ok, first thing, take those SPS corals out, swish them in a bucket of tank water really good to remove the bad algae, and toss them in your 14G until your 34G is back to "good" condition. I have no doubt from those pictures every SPS coral you have will be dead within a week with that outbreak. The stuff IS that nasty. Seen it in person wipe out a 225G frag tank full of SPS corals.

Also, had I known that was what you were talking about before I would have not advised using a turkey baster in the manner I did. It only makes the problem 10x worse very quickly blowing them around. If it were just diatoms, no problem doing the turkey baster, but with dino's you must remove them manually (suck them out of the tank with the turkey baster, not blow them around to break them up!)

[Conski]

omfg! what should i do my ligthing isnt good enough on my 14 gal to support sps!?!
how do i get rid of of the crap?
I WS EVEN BLOWING THEM OFF MY CORALS! bahhhhhhhh

will it kil my clam? which is doing great his mantels out completly!? theres so much dino i dk how i could possibly manually remove it?

[Ace25]

Storms happen in the ocean all the time.. corals go days with dark clouds above. They will be fine with limited lighting in your 14G for a week as long as the water quality is good.

[Conski]

thats the thing i dont thinkt he quality is even half as close to as good as my 34, i just did a quick transfer didnt acclimate. im gonna ask my LFS to help me out. how should i get rid of the bad crap?

[Ace25]

Pretty much do a 100% waterchange with using just the turkey baster to remove water (ie, sucking out all the bad stuff one squeeze at a time). It will take quite a while to do and not be fun, but the quicker you do something to get rid of that stuff the quicker the tank will be good again. It won't go away on its own. I am not sure myself on how it starts out, my LFS used great water, good salt mix, all parameters where spot on, but after about the second month of setup on the new frag tank within just a couple days those dinos took hold and made the tank look like a bunch of white sticks with brown snot streaming all over the tank. Bad bad stuff that kills SPS corals very quickly.

You could ask your LFS to QT the corals for you if they have a QT tank setup for that. That would be the best option if it is one. Definately mention to them why you need to do that so they don't stick corals from your tank into a high value tank of theirs.

[Conski]

I called my LFS.. nothing they wont take my frags for a little bit.

He said dino wont kill corals either.. "from everything hes read"

and that i should just turn the lights off in the tank for a little bit?

100% .. with a turky baster.... :(you got to be kidding me, theres so much of the stuff i dont even think i could get it all if i work the entire night..

are you sure its not diatoms... omg you have to be kidding me :( :(

[Ace25]

Turning off the light will definitely help.. as far as Dinos not killing corals.. I watched with my own eyes about $10,000 worth of frags get "smothered" to death from dinos, they can most certainly kill SPS corals. Not by attacking/poisoning the corals, but by smothering/irritating them so the polyps don't come out, zoox expels from the corals (bleaching out), and given just a little time, since polyps won't come out, it can't feed and it dies.

[Conski]

what about my clam? with no light that sucker will die and hes beautiful

[Conski]

Im gonna do basically the only thing i can do.

Im gonna switch the lights on my tanks that way my sps doesnt suffer neither does my clam.

Im gonna buy a viper like i shouldve in the first place.

and im gonna do the baster trick all day tomorrow until my tank is 100% perfect again.

why out of all the people who do this hobby did this happen to me

[Conski]

well on the brightside of all this... my 14 gallon looks absolutly amazing with the light over it, the clam in there and all the sps

[Conski]

i might just end up making my 34 gal into a super FOWLR.

Buy an mp10 for my 14gal
buy a big *** anem for my picassos and a nice leapord wrasse in there too.

im so upset right now i dont even know what to say

i really am so happy looking at my 14gal right now though.

i might even swtich the fish too put the tomato int he 34 and the picassos back in here just cause such beautiful fish shouldnt be in a lonely tank with nothing to make their colors pop

[Ace25]

LOL.. you can't get discouraged that easily in this hobby.. believe me.. there is always some problem that pops up that requires immediate attention, more so when you get into the SPS coral arena. Your problem isn't a new one, just not a common one, but it is certainly beatable. I know today is discouraging but it will only get better. At least you moved the corals to another tank.. I think that alone will save their lives at this point vs keeping them in the tank with dinos.

[Conski]

i got my father so mad haha, he is so sick of switching that light from tank to tank mounting that light into the ceiling lol.

My 14 gal looks incredible i love it haha. tomorrow is going to be a very long day which is gonna take alot out of me i know that for sure. and i suppose i should either ask you to wait to send that package or adjust my 14 gal to make room for that package. either way the tank is well beyond established has enough flow and now enough light to sustain anything you send.

i tried putting my mp20 on it... mistake.. even on low flow that sucker was shooting things around

[Ace25]

If you can remove the rocks and do the swishing around in a bucket thing with those it will save a lot of time with the turkey baster. When my LFS had the outbreak it was in the frag tank, which had little rock but lots of Egg crate, and that was were all the dinos stuck to when it wasn't sticking to corals. Talk about a major PITA to get rid of it off of egg crate.

Again though, lights off will only help get rid of it so that is good advice your LFS gave you in that respect. Unfortunately your corals would die long before all the dinos died off so that alone isn't a good solution by itself. Doing that in addition with manual removal is the best way. I have never heard of any "chemical in a bottle" that deals with Dinos so I think manual removal is pretty much the only option.

Also.. I would love for anyone else to offer advice, especially if anyone else has an opinion on the problem that is other than mine. I believe it is dinos in the tank, but always feel better when others confirm or deny it.

[Conski]

agh my rocks are the way i want them but i suppose i could do it, its better then having a crap shoot of death and no corals in the tank..

ill start with that then go right into the turkey baster.. i dk what im gonna do about the fish and shrimp though.. they are the most interesting skunk shrimp ive ever seen or owned.. as soon as my hands in the tank the rush to it and pinch it and crawl on it haha

even if it turn out to be just diatoms im glad i moved everything over becuase its still was getting on my corals. and it obviously bothered one so much it died. if it woulda been my borealis or green acro i woulda have been so mad. and my clam took right to my other tank. mantel was fully out within minutes.

[Ace25]

Do it very gently/carefully and 1 rock at a time. The fish/shrimp shouldn't be stressed out nearly as much as the corals from the dinos. Maybe do just the top layer of rocks in a bucket 1 at a time and turkey baster for your base rocks so your not disturbing all your rocks. The biggest problem with Dinos vs normal Diatoms (dinos are a type of diatom) is that dinos are sticky, just like snot, so when you blow it off/around the tank it will just stick elsewhere and spread where as normal diatoms won't really stick to anything other that other diatoms.

[Conski]

i switched clowns from tank to tank, i dont want them getting hurt or stressed in all the commotion that is to come tomorrow

[hmotorsol]

By dino u mean the red slime algae that takes over everything. If so i used a product called chemiclean it worked great but gave me some grean algae. Just make sure you follow the directions completely.

Whoops had dumb moment i was thinking cyano. disregard this post unless you get that.

[Conski]

lol thanks anyways man :)

[Conski]

:/ long long day.. worked for 5 hours getting it to what i hope will be parasite free!

i started out buy taking out 50% of the water with a turkey baster.
then i took the rock out and laid it out.
i then used a gravel vac and sucked everything that even resemled the color brown off the sand bed until it was at 25%
i scraped the back walls off and got it all off there. cleaned out all my equipment
took the rest of the 25% out with the baster

Then i filled a cooler up with water (not RO i didnt have enough to do that and fill the tank) and put salt in it really quick and gave each rock a bath then laid it on the sand which i double checked each rock for ****face parasite.

filled the thing back up with clean RO then got the Salinity back up to where it needed to be.. big problem here was my RO was so cold becuase its in a celler that my shrimp and snails went into immediate shock.. i evaced the shrimp into my little tank.. ones starting to move now.. the other is battle for his life.. hope he lives :/

what a sad day, i hope my cucumber and conch and star are okay in there and the snails.. and definitly the tomato clown i put through so so so much trouble.. if he lives hes definitly gonna be named Odysseus haha

Black out in the tank for a week.

give me good vibes please hope this worked out, i put alot of effort into it

only upside to all this is the fact that my new rock layout looks so good im very pleased with it

anything else i should do? i take it ill probably have a mini cycle?

[Conski]

OMFG, I LOOK INTO MY LITTLE TANK AND MY TORCH CORAL IS VOMITTING UP A HUGGGE BATCH OF DINO. I TOOK MY BASTER AND SUCKED IT ALL UP BEFORE IT GOT OUT AND AROUND.. i hope it doesnt start to go in my little tank or im screwed..
im so happy i went back upstairs to just look at my tank for a minute and saw that.

one shrimp is back on track and happy in my little tank and sadly the other one has passed. my clown fish is alive and the tank is now at 71 degrees.

i realllllly reallly hope my little tank doesnt get it now

[Ace25]

LOL... hahahaha.. funny. No, your torch is not vomiting Dino's, that is the normal "poop" that comes out of torches on occasion I am betting, although I agree, it does look like dinos.

The tank that is 71.. there isn't any livestock in that tank yet at that temp is there?

[Conski]

hahaha o wow then i guess im again indeed a fool. but i sucked that right out of its mouth quicker then you can blink.. the reason i thought it was dino was becuase my torch was in 34gal and i watched it eat some dino.. so i thought it was expelling it..

yea my clown fish is in there, nowhere else to put him.. all the snails and cucumber are in there as well.. the clown is okay, hell pull through. im worried about the cucumber but i think hes fine as well... the temp should be fine within a few hours.. the shrimp are out though, if affected them immediatly

[Ace25]

Ya, the temp is right on the edge of being too cold.. 71/72 would be the absolute coldest I would ever let a reef tank get, and I would try my hardest to never let that happen. I wouldn't do anything right now if I was in your position though.. just let the heater slowly heat the water... moving livestock around anymore will just stress them out that much more.

If your torch did eat dinos it probably digested what it could. I am betting the poop coming out was a little darker/thicker than the dinos I was seeing in your pics a couple pages back.

Well, just sit back and relax for a little while.. it was a long tough day I am sure.. but you absolutely did the right thing IMO and you should feel real good about that. I have no doubt your tank will recover. :)

[Conski]

this is my 14 gal at the moment lol

and i will do just that.. should i expect a mini cycle or something?! and is lights out for a week the right thing to do?

[Ace25]

If your running phosphate remover I doubt you will have any noticeable spikes in any of the bad parameters like ammonia, nitrites, or phosphates. Always good to run tests to verify but I don't foresee anything that would be considered dangerous to the point of life threatening to anything.. may cause a little stress but that should be it.

Lights out.. ya, again, nothing bad can come of keeping the lights out.. it can only help. It will reduce the stress on your livestock as well as remove a food source for the dinos if there are any left.

[Conski]

then im just gonna wait, and just hope it goes okay thanks for the help!

[Ace25]

Now.. next time you go to your LFS you gotta tell them "My tank was over run by Dino's" and see what their reaction is.. some people may know what your talking about but some may think your saying Dinosaurs took over your tank. LOL. You may want to also politely mention to your LFS guy that dino's can kill corals via smothering them.. it isn't like one coral stinging another coral to death like I bet he was thinking when he told you dino's can't kill corals. Tell him it is more like a big spider making a spiderweb all over a flower, to the point the flower can no longer open up during the day because the web is holding it closed.. that is similar to what dino's do to SPS corals, LPS may be able to break the webs and survive much better than SPS.

[Conski]

When i called the LFS that i have been pretty well acquainted with, it was the owner that i talked too. he made me feel rather foolish, and i wasnt gonna argue with a man who owns a store with various high end corals with several expensive system that he assembled himself. He didnt seem to want to take it into consideration what i was telling him could be on any use to him because all hes read about dino is that it cant kill any corals and my one coral probably died by some fluke, like "your torch corals arm probably came off and stung it when it floated by".. i told him my torch is in great health.. and so is my water and that my coral was being covered in brown algae.. what im trying to say is that i dont think that he honestly cares what i think because to him im not experianced enough to talk to him.. i dont usually do buissness with him anyways, i go with younger guys there who are alot more open to what your gonna say to them.


o well maybe a dino outbreak will strike his own personal tank, and hell just turn the lights off and everything will just die and hell realize he coulda used some advise(although i hope this doesnt happen im not that sort of person)

its so wierd that i got a dino outbreak at the same time a diatoms outbreak is usually going to happen. i truly hope that if i get more brown algae its just diatoms.. except at this point ill be very scared if that happens cause i wont have any idea how to tell the difference. either way im mad at myself for just assuming i had diatoms, even though i guess it was a normal mistake, bcause you said dino is uncommon. i shoulda posted pics quicker and solved my problem faster

ill go to my other LFS where they are all very very aquainted with me and know basically everything about my tanks, theyre awsome there but their selection isnt as good. i bet if i told them i got dinos theyd ask more about it..

[Conski]

god the 34 gal water smells awful

[Ace25]

Do you have any fresh carbon? If so I would put some in there, even if you just did a few days ago.

[Conski]

wow really? i just out some in 2 days ago i think but ill do just that

[Ace25]

With all that has happened in the tank it would not surprise me at all if your 2 day old carbon is completely used up. If your tank is smelling that is a good indication it is used up.

[Conski]

well i was gonna change the carbon today but when i woke up the water smelled much better

[Conski]

Heres the work i did.

I really like the new rockscape alot. alot more surface area, and space for flow to go under the rocks and more caves!
i turned the light on for a couple minutes to observe.. i dont see any brown as of yet.. still no light will go over that tank for a while. my clown is swimming on his side which is sketchy but well see what happens.

[Ace25]

Dang that rockscape looks awesome!! And clean again!

[Conski]

i like the very top rock it has so many holes in it and itll be perfect for corals that need extreme flow and extreme light!

and hopefully it stays clean. i kinda just wanna see your corals in my 14 gal now. my sps is visibly growing in it haha i know once you send them im gonna stock my 14 gal get a picture and then begin to move it all over to the big guy. (kind of like a QT) should i revive the corals you send?

[Ace25]

I would recommend to anyone to dip any and all corals they get before going in their tank no matter where they come from. Worst case if you follow directions, nothing happens to the coral.. best case you kill some nasty hitchhikers before they go into your tank.

[FasterShrimpo]

Looks great!

[Ace25]

Just got back from the frag show... I picked you up a nice size rainbow monti (http://www.reeffarmers.com/limitedmontiporarainbow.htm), bigger than mine actually, as well as a large size montipora confusa (http://www.reeffarmers.com/limitedmontiporaconfusa.htm). I have several small pieces of that one in my tank as well but nothing fragable so I bought one for you. I will post pics after I acclimate them.

I also won a couple things in the raffle, every bottle of stuff Reef Nutrition makes (Phyto, rotifers, tigger pods, arctipods, oysterfeast, etc... and a gallon bottle of SeaChem balance which I needed. I paid $20 for raffle tickets and walked away with $150 of stuff. Flomojo on here, who is a good friend of mine, always wins big.. bought $100 worth of raffle tickets and walked away with well over $400 worth of stuff.

Pics of most of your frags to come.....

Edit:
ok, here is a picture.. note, this is NOT all the frags I will be sending. There will be some birdsnest, and a couple others I will throw in. That rainbow monti is SICK! I am jealous! Mine doesn't look 1/2 as good as the one I picked up for you! On the right side of the picture there are 2 frags of Superman Monti, you will get the large one on the disk plug on the right.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2638/4161194265_95d4070482_o.jpg

[Conski]

you have to be kidding me dude. i literally just just jaw dropped... i am so speechless now i cant even contain myself... your sending me more coral then i even own at the moment.. omg omg hahahaha im so excited you have no idea on earth how much i will apreciate this your are the ****ing man

[Ace25]

Glad you like.. I just photoshopped what my LFS charges for these corals just to get an idea of what they would go for "retail".. I am a hobbyist and like to spread corals around so the $$ means nothing to me. Just put them on there to show what I would pay for these at a LFS. I don't look at it as money I am losing. I look at it as corals I am saving in the ocean when I give them out.

Just what is pictured comes out to $595 if I were to buy all these at my LFS and paid full retail for them. I forgot to add $30 on the slimer pic.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4162459646_f1f4949431_o.jpg

[Conski]

:bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::b owing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bow ing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowin g::bowing:

595 DOLLARS? ARE YOU SERIOUS MAN I SENT YOU LIKE 140 DOLLARS WORTH WITH SHIPPING OF STUFF!?

YOUR BEYOND THE MAN!

AS THE OTHER GUY SAID IM NOT WORTHY:bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bow ing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowing::bowin g::bowing::thud::thud::thud::thud::thud::jaw::jaw: :jaw::jaw::jaw:

THAT SLIMER IS HUGE! and that rainbow monti.. omg

[Conski]

im curious as to what the one to the left marked 20$ dollars in next to the 80 dollar one (more towards the middle not the 80dollar garth?)

[Ace25]

Front Row Left to Right:
Garf Bonzai (been growing this one over 1 year myself from a tiny grain of rice)
ORA Red Planet (I will be sending you a bigger frag of this than what is pictured)
Sunset Monti (Same, I will send a much bigger frag of this than what is pictured)
4 Polyps of Sunny-Ds @ $20 per polyp is what they went for today at the show. They are closed up because I just moved them
Seasons Greetings Montipora
Psammacora

Back Row Left to Right:
Orange Digi
Wild Purple/Teal Green Acro
ORA Blue Polyp Digi
Green Slimer

Sand Left to Right:
Confusa Montipora
Rainbow Montipora
ATL Pink Polyp (aka Strawberry Patch) Montipora
Superman Montipora

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2638/4161194265_95d4070482_o.jpg

[Conski]

agh its the sunset monti... its so well colored wow man.. when i get these i might explode from sheer happiness. that psammacora looks awsome too.. and that slimer is huge, the strawberry patch is phenomenal. i cant wait for a plate monti and that orange digi is gonna do so well in my tank i can already see my green one growing fast.. i dk man your such a nice guy, i feel so grateful, even the red planet.. i cant find there here and i have been looking for a while

thank you so much, im gonna test my tank on wed the 9th and if they go okay ill swap the lights back and then give you the okay to ship them.. im gonna give them a revive bath and then QT them in my 14 gal until i figure out where i want to put them and then from there im jst gonna be a happy camper.. thank you again so much if you want any extra money or bills stuff or anything else i can help you with let me know by all means!

[Ace25]

Here are some closeups of some of your frags... I had to make a bigger/better frag rack in the sand for all your frags so some of the frags have the polyps a little closed up from moving them around. I was too impatient and wanted to take pics.. then my battery died before I could finish so here is the pictures I have now..

ORA Blue Polyp Digi
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2513/4164577446_fb5a293c0f_o.jpg

ORA Hyacinth Birdsnest
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/4163818571_fb3d27fa35_o.jpg

ORA Nathan's Green Milli
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/4164577402_02ca1737a1_o.jpg

Wild purple/teal tabling acropora
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/4163818537_0649c1141a_o.jpg

ORA Spongodes Monti
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4164577374_77ef362576_o.jpg

Strawberry Patch Monti
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/4163818477_c2ede3c14b_o.jpg

Rainbow Monti
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2796/4164577320_6e19eff584_o.jpg

Superman Monti
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/4164577286_95db20949d_o.jpg

Confusa Monti
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4163818383_1e8e83d780_o.jpg

Seasons Greetings Monti
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4164577138_93acd3fdbf_o.jpg

Psammacora
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4164577106_06edb7d962_o.jpg

Sunny-D zoanthids
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/4163818243_32c06ef2fd_o.jpg

ORA Red Planet (Freshly cut and mad)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4164577022_509e3bb2df_o.jpg

Orange Digi
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/4164576954_ec33cd657d_o.jpg

Garf Bonsai
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/4164576918_937d5eee7e_o.jpg

Green Slimer
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/4163818617_137097c8ce_o.jpg

[Conski]

o man, im even more excited now, the spongodes is something i havent seen... and my god that rainbow monti is incredible. I really like that seasons greeting monti alot.. and those sunny d's. people at my lfs are already asking for frags of it lol.

gotta say man you really out did yourself, i cant thank you enough, hopefully by friday or thursday i can see the awsome frags in my new tank parasite free! i am still nervous about the hyan birdsnest though. mine died so fast it was scary

[Conski]

Lesson of night to anyone who owns a mp20 vortech.. cover it.. i didnt want to and now i think i should

learned that the hard way when i came up stairs tonight and saw that by some crazy feat my ****** tiger cuc was lodged into it and was getting cut in half until i turned it off and the the thing turned into a little ball..i reallized right away o **** this thing is gonna explode venom all over my tank(I THINK?) so i took the wetside out real quick and as i was it exploded a little into the tank then the rest into my ****ing hand and garbage.. nasty

I liked that cucumber too, he was a good worker. UGHHH yet another set back in my glorious 34 gal disaster so far :( when will i get a break :(


by covering my vortech do i lose output?

[Ace25]

I had a similar experience with a lettuce nudibranch.

Ya.. it doesn't lose much at first but it does clog pretty easily.. you have to rinse the foam cover really good in the sink at least once a week to keep the flow consistent.

[Conski]

sounds good, its better then witnessing that grusome scene again.. it musta got high up on my rocks and taken by a current. poor thing :(

[Conski]

Alright everyone before finishing this please pray to god or whatever you believe in that my tank is the way it should be again.

honestly.. through all the crap its been through.. (horribly set up unorganized, dino outbreak, cucumber explosion power outages) the tank looks so good right now! the new rock work is amazing (least i think so, the sand is cleaned of crap!

if nothing else goes wrong (PLEASE GOD) i think im gonna have one hell of a sps tank once aces package arrives.

MHS back over giving it a little period of trial till monday to see if that dino is really gone.. which im honeslt y hoping for so bad!!

Anyways test results
Alks up to 8(where i wanted it at)
CA 400
Trate 0

Gonna get a leapord wrasse and put it in there with my tomato clown.. my clowns are staying in the 14 gal.. theyll get a 70watt mh viper on their tank next week after my bday on sunday :)! so their colors can pop then!

Heres a few pics.. cannot not wait for the package from ace!
o yea and my gf bought me a 1inch miami hurricane frag from Fins and Critters.com they are incredibly nice on the phone and i suggest to anyone to go out and buy a chalice from them

send good vibes people please haha i cant bear another set back

[Ace25]

You do realize that once you get my "frag pack" your tank is going to be completely filled and then you will have nothing to do but watch it grow.. no more buying corals... so.. maybe I better not send them or else you may "relapse" back to your old ways. hahaha.. J/K!

I am going to dip ALL your corals before I ship them as well. I get very paranoid about "bugs/pests" and I am treating someones tank after work today for a Red Bug infestation. After I saw all the red bugs in his tank yesterday I went home and my brain went into over drive and every little spec that looked out of place on my corals I thought the worse.. I cut up some of my purple acro and green slimer that appeared to maybe have an issue, but under a magifying glass, dips, and FW to kill the coral piece and see if any nasties were on them I can say with honesty that I did NOT find a single bad guy in my tank. My mind sure wanted me to think there was though.. up until 1am with a blue LED keychain light inspecting every little nook and crany of every coral I could see... all because I saw someone elses tank that had pests. Talk about being paranoid of your own tank.. I think I take the cake.

[Conski]

i guess you do hahaha i would stress just as hard i bet... and i really think you should send um anyways ;) ill make room you can count on it!

Well everyone buffalo is about to get hit very very hard tonight or tomorrow.. theres already 30mph winds.. and i still dont have a generator (why i dont is beyond me) and the backup batteries are still not at my lfs for the vortech.. if the power goes out im gonna go nuts! especially because i have a chalice coral coming tomorrow from cali.

i dont even wanna know what red bugs look like or ill go looking everywhere for them too

[Ace25]

DON'T GET THE VORTECH BATTERY! Too expensive. Go to Office Depot/Staples/Best Buy and just buy a APC Battery backup for like your computer. Just don't plug your heater or light into the "battery" part of it, usually there is a surge only side and a battery backup side on them.. if you plug a MH, heater, or chiller into the battery side it will drain the battery in minutes, but just a couple powerheads (the big requirements in a power outtage) will last hours on a $99 battery backup for a computer. Myself, I have a server/rackmount APC 1500 (http://www.unbeatablesale.com/syn6276.html?utm_source=Googaffila4&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=SYN6276&ci_src=15781033&ci_sku=SYN6276), biggest one they make that will fit in a 110 socket.

[Conski]

ill go and look for one, yours is listed at 900 bucks lol

[Ace25]

Ya, I wouldn't recommend mine for the "average" person. I got mine for free. The $99 800VA ones, or around that size for that price, is the one I usually recommend. If you just plug in your Vortech and return pump into the battery you should easily get 6+ hours out of it, and have the added benefit of having filtration during power outages instead of just flow from the vortech since that is all you can plug into the $150 Vortech battery backup is their powerheads.

Actually, just went to bestbuy.com and found this one (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/APC+-+1500VA+Battery+Back-Up+System+-+Black/9307831.p?id=1218081367518&skuId=9307831&st=APC&cp=1&lp=4), APC 1500, like mine although not quite the features mine has, for only $170, just a few $ more than the Vortech one. Seems to have excellent reviews as well compared to the cheaper line they sell. The one I linked to looks really nice and fancy.

*Note* - Their backup times (164minutes on the one I linked) is referring to if you have a computer plugged into it that uses 300w.. you will use about 20w total for 2 pumps at most, so it will last A LOT longer than what is stated.

[Conski]

hmm only 164 minutes of life? you think with just a vortech, and the filters plugged into it that it will run for like 6 to 8 hours?

[Ace25]

I did an edit above to explain that. ;)

Oh, and red bugs look like little red dots moving on your coral like little fleas, in case you wanted to know. They are easy to spot compared to things like flatworms.

[Conski]

nice yea i bet it would even last 10 hours which all it usually takes to get power back, unless its really bad like our little october storm!

well its either this or the viper.. hopefully alot of birthday money will come in and ill have enough for both, if not id rather have security (even if its never used) then more light

[Ace25]

Agreed, the battery backup, while not as "fun" to buy, is a much more critical piece to a tank IMO.. plus you don't really need a Viper on your 14 with just softies.. it is just a nice luxury. ;)

[Conski]

i planned on putting my zoas and chalices into that tank? think the miami hurricane will do well in my 14gal.. i know 150watts is over kill for it, even charlie? said it should be in the shade under that tank!

definitly gonna get that bb though, im 60 short but i shoulld have it by saturday.. hopefully no power outages until then.. which is highly likely right now

[Ace25]

Charles is the walking encyclopedia. His advice is top notch and he is correct about the chalice, it would do fine in the 14G with the lighting you have now. If/when you put it in your 34G it will definitely need to be on the bottom and possibly partially shaded.

[Conski]

charlie was really nice, he seemd excited about the order too haha and he told me to raise the ph of my tank to help rid of the dino.. i dk know how to up the ph nor do i wanna use a buffer? but its at 8 i think right now so i thinks its high enough

[Ace25]

I am using Seachem Balance right now to do just that.. raise the pH without raising the Alk or CA. You can easily raise it up to 8.4 and not have issues, but do it over the course of a few days, not all at once. Remember, pH is always at its lowest in the morning and highest right before the lights turn off, this is natural. The best way to dose Alk is to do it overnight and not at all during the day because pH drops at night and the Alk will help keep the pH up.

[Conski]

o man im gonna be so worried when it comes down to me having to dose im gonna need a full on crash course.. i think even when your corals arive ill be able to avoid dosing alk and CA by doing once a week water changes.

should i raise it or is okay where it is?

[Ace25]

I would try and maintain a 8.2-8.4 range during daylight hours and a 7.9-8.2 range for the dark hours.

Wanna know the easiest solution to dosing? HERE (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/pumps-and-plumbing/dosing-pumps-and-auto-top-off-systems/brs-2-part-doser-1-1-ml-per-minute.html). 2 of those, 2 digital timers, 2-Part, and test kits to get the dosing regiment dialed in with the timers and your on easy street for dosing.

[Conski]

sounds good, ill keep it in mind once the time comes!

[Ace25]

Couple pics to tease you with.. ;)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4177619719_8c2a6f34c8_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4177619691_dea3312dd7.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4177619707_e0ffc77bf4_o.jpg

[debaric]

i really dislike all you of you guys, do you know that?

You have nicer tanks than mine. :(

[Amphiprion]

I think Ace's tank has that effect on everyone, lol.

[Conski]

i worked really hard, and spent alot of money on mine and time :) if you did the same you could have just as good a tank man, and im sure yours is great! your newer as well man! just give it time every tank takes off with time.. (and money lol) but aces is on a other level then ours lol

[Amphiprion]

Patience is a big factor. It takes time for a good tank to fill in.

[Conski]

Birthday Present.. its only 82 minutes instead of the 160 but it works for me, but it was free, and saves me money, now i can buy my 70watt mh, and leapord wrasse

[Ace25]

Sweet! That will save you in a short term power outtage.. next thing you need to save for is a generator (http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Generators-Portable-Generators/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zb8xq/R-100660525/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) for around $240.

Always just a couple hundred more for this.. and that... and.. and.. it never ends in this hobby. LOL.

[Conski]

haha im set with the 8 to 10 hours ill get with this bad boy for now.. my mom and i have been on my fathers back about getting a hefty generator for a while, i wont be buying it. next piece of equipment is a chiller :)

Im buying a 70watt viper for my 14gal tomorrow, and a leapord wrasse next week.

im gonna messge ya

[Conski]

Today was christmas for me :) aces package came and there was 23 frags total.. (maybe more alot to count) only one mishap being the death of a birdnest which he predicted would happen anyways.

um IM IN SHEER SHOCK AT THESE MONTIS! so many corals i dont even know what to do with them or what is what once i put them in the tank! thank you so much ace :) heres some pics right now, barelly any of them are opened becuase they have only been in the tank for like a half hour in these pics!

Ace the garf is starting to come out a little bit, it seems really stressed though! those polyps are incredibly green, and the psa green is astounding i was blown away by it i didnt expect it to be that green

[Conski]

alot of broken peices i need to figure out what do with becuase although alot of them are slimer, theres some i cant id right now.

[Ace25]

I agree, that Garf looks very unhappy. Just make sure it is getting good flow for today and hope for the best on that one... Looks like the little Blue Polyp Digi took a beating in shipping as well.. no biggie.. Keep posting pics as they open up. :)

[Conski]

yea the blue polyp digi did, it broke off its plug and i glued it back on right away and put it back in the bucket, im gonna post a picture of one that i thought was slimer but its not but i have ALOT of peices scattered around my tank lol.

i need to place these better, the montis are fine in the sand but the rest look dumb where they are cept all the acros at the top.

[Conski]

ok here it is.. four frags of it and one bigger one.

the two slimer frags (besides the huge one arent doing to good at all)

[Ace25]

The 2 broken slimer frags where the ones I cut right before I dipped the pieces and they were down low and out of the light so they didn't look to good to start with. I figured I was going to end up cutting them off and just letting them fall and die in the sand anyway so may as well send them to you and if they live, great, if not, no biggie. I have slimer frag pieces in my sand all the time dying off.. I don't mind that one because it grows so fast.