I added two newcomers to the tank yesterday, a colony that looks to be a tri-colour, and an unknown tang, who I think is Acanthurus sp.

New colony
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0746-1.jpg

The tang is really unique, which is why I couldn't pass it up. However This poor tang is getting the beats big time. I've employed the mirror trick, which is working, although, I'm unsure if this new tang should stay long term. It worse comes to worse, I do have somewhere he can go short term, but of course I hope it doesn't come to that.

We are however back to the PVC stick feeding
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0722.jpg

Kevin is leaving today for at least a month long work term out of town. It was quite unexpected, as in we found out the details on Thursday. This means all the tank maintenance falls to me. I'm okay with all the basics, skimmer cleaning, top-off, WCs, etc. However its things like the Ca. Reactor that worry me. I know how they work etc. but since I never really do hands on stuff with the reactor, I'm feeling uncomfortable about it.

I do know though that I miss my kalk. reactor like crazy. Ca this morning was a pathetic 300ppm. Everything else was more of less in line. PO3 is 0.3, and Nitrates are less then 5ppm. So I know what I'll be doing all this week, bumping my calcium levels!

The tank needs more clean up crew members, and in the least, a pair of shrimp, I'm thinking fire shrimp over the traditional cleaners. When I see them next I'll pick some up. I did however yesterday see a harem of 7 Tuka anthias, and resisted the urge. Even though I know they aren't right for my system, I can't help but be tempted every time.

One of my three clams that were huddled really close together on a single rock jumped ship. I think from now on I'll just place my clams on the substrate. I really hate trying to re-arrange rocks with clams on them, and its frustrating to try and predict how big a clam will grow and if the rock I want it on is right, etc.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0779-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0781-1.jpg

I think while Kevin is gone I'm going to start deconstructing the basement. The first step is the walls and ceiling have to come down. In the very least I can pry off all the moulding, and remove all the plug covers. It depends though on what Kevin leaves here for tools.

Updated shot from last week's addition. It fell, and experienced some die off before it got noticed and picked up.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0747.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0771-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0772-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0776.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0777.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0778-1.jpg

I missed adding this one. Its the fish shortly after we added the mirror to the left side of the tank.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0756.jpg

So Catherine.....

Which one are you going to keep...Kevin or the RKE? :)

Hmmm tempting...the RKE has been pretty good to me lately!

the fire shrimp i have hides all the time and is barely ever seen so for the extra price do you really want one? i probably wont unless its for a smaller tank

also mabey you need a grounding probe since kevin keeps messing up the rke mabey his animal magnitizm is messing up the corals when youve had problems
i think it might be his fault that frags keep falling over due to his magnetic field also.

Nice corals....at the end of summer we're going to have to do a frag swap. I should have some nice frags by that time. BTW I have never been able to keep that last blue coral alive.

I think so too, we have a giant swap in August possibly. I'm hoping most everything will have grown out considerably by then. So far the blue blob coral hasn't been doing much. Its SLOWLY spreading its base out I think. The thing is such a slow grower its a bit hard to tell.

Kevin's just forbidden to touch the RKE now, and my new phone, 'cause I'm afraid he'll screw it up.

It has begun...

If you remember this from a little while ago, this is now what constitutes a before shot.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0424.jpg

Then there was this...me being silly, and its starting to become a tradition. I did it on the 230g build, and I did it tonight!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0789.jpg

Some "quality" work had been done before hand putting up this wall. The studs ranged from 22" to 26" on center. The electrical wiring is also running quite hot to the touch. Kevin believes its aluminum. He also wants to re-route plumbing, electrical, and the heating vents while the ceiling is down.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0791.jpg

Next we knocked down the wall to expose the extra ghetto bathroom we have in the basement.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0807.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0808.jpg

The ducting that has an offset with no purpose. The offset is the reason for the bulkhead. When we re-route everything we'll be downsizing the pipe, assuming its okay to do so.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0810-1.jpg

Where we've left off. There is still clean up to do, and a lot more ceiling to pull down.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0806-1.jpg

My new little tang did eat today, and the aggression between all the fish has diminished to almost nothing. I'm still waiting in hopes of getting a photo or two for ID.

I also wish that I'd purchased better quality garbage bags. Those, along with a wet/dry shop vac is on the list of stuff to purchase in the near future.

Not gonna start a new thread for the big tank?

I don't really want to for the sake of simplicity, although maybe I should...thoughts?

I say a new one would be good.. lol :mrgreen:

Alright, I'll probably start another one. Although I'm keeping my RC one all together for the sake of simplicity. Its hard to keep multiple threads together and organized!

And it begins:lol: lookin forward to watchin this one evolve.

My new tang didn't make it. :(

Oh damn.... sorry to hear that! Just too much aggression from the others?

I don't think so, they were all fine together last time I checked. Although I wasn't watching them all the time, so who knows. It sucks, big time, and I have some serious guilt over it.

Im sorry Catherine. I posted this quote in another thread but perhaps it applies here as well "I think we underestimate the effect of stress and lactic acid build up in fish. Im an angler and it has been long known that a certain percentage of released fish will die due to not being able to recover from the latic acid build up caused from the stress of being caught. Every time we put a net to a fish it causes a stress probably equal to that of a fish caught on a line." Perhaps this coupled with the initiation from your resident tangs was too much for the newbie. Did it have ich?

I honestly have no idea what happened. There was no ich when I last saw it alive, however what remained of the corpse had little white bumps, similar to ich, but I can't confirm it was actually ich.

The bad behavior from my other tangs stopped immediately after I put the mirror up to the glass. I think I once saw my bristletooth dart after the same piece of food as the new tang, and the new tang did shy away. However that in and of itself isn't conclusive either. In the end it just flat out sucks that it died, and I feel responsible.

Info Dump, skip if you don't care about clams:

I just need somewhere to store this information because my documents holding the data keeps getting deleted:

Papers with online access:

Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA)
http://www.ctsa.org/PublicationList.aspx (Dec 11, 2008)

CTSA #143. Ellis, S. 2000. Nursery and Growout Techniques for Giant Clams (Bivalvia: Tridacnidae). 99 pp.
(http://www.ctsa.org/publicationDetail.aspx?pID=1018) (Dec 11, 2008)


CTSA #139. Ellis, S. 1999. Lagoon Farming of Giant Clams (Bivalvia: Tridacnidae). 6 pp.
(http://www.ctsa.org/publicationDetail.aspx?pID=1022) (Dec 11, 2008)

CTSA #130. Ellis, S. 1998. Spawning and Early Larval Rearing of Giant Clams. 52 pp. (with companion video while supplies last).
(http://www.ctsa.org/publicationDetail.aspx?pID=1031) (Dec 11, 2008)

CTSA #114. Leung, P.S., Y.C. Shang, K. Wanitprapha and X. Tian. 1993. Production Economics of Giant Clam Tridacna species Culture Systems in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. 30 & A-14 pp.
(http://www.ctsa.org/upload/publicati...0866637652.pdf) (Dec 11, 2008)


FAO:
Hatchery operation: culture of larvae basic methodology, feeding and nutrition, factors influencing growth and survival, and settlement and metamorphosis.
Entire Document, Pts 1 -5
(ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5720e/y5720e00.pdf) (Jan 15, 2008)

PT 5.
(ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5720e/y5720e04.pdf) (Nov 12, 2008)


Artificial propagation of bivalves: Techniques and methods
UNDP/FAO REGIONAL SEAFARMING DEVELOPMENT AND
DEMONSTRATION PROJECT (RAS/90/002)
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/...739E00.htm#TOC) (Nov 12, 2008)


Papers with no online access:

Genetic structure of Linckia laevigata and Tridacna crocea populations in the Palawan shelf and shoal reefs By: M. A. Juinio-Meñez; R. M. Magsino; R. Ravago-Gotanco; E. T. Yu. Marine Biology, 2003, Vol. 142 Issue 4, p717-726; (AN 130619988205786) (Dec 11, 2008)

Effects of copper and decreased salinity on survival rate and development of Tridacna gigas larvaePreview By: Blidberg, E. Marine Environmental Research, December, 2004, Vol. 58 Issue 2-5, p793-797; (AN 231801984821884) (Dec 11, 2008)

Fitt. W.K., Fisher, CR., and Trench, R.K., 1984. Larval biology of tridacnid clams.
Aquaculture. 39: I8 l-195.

Author: Huang
Title: Locomotion and Aggregative Response in Juvenile Fluted Giant Clams (Tridacna squamosa)
Source: Eos [0096-3941] yr:2006 vol:87 iss:36

Author: Hirose
Title: Establishment of the photosymbiosis in the early ontogeny of three giant clams
Source: Marine biology [0025-3162] yr:2006 vol:148 iss:3 pg:551-558

Author: Hean
Title: A growth model for giant clams Tridacna crocea and T. derasa
Source: Ecological modelling [0304-3800] yr:2003 vol:163 iss:1-2 pg:87-100

Books:
- Giant Clams (1996) Daniel Knop
- Coral Propagation (2007?) Anthony Calfo
- Giant Clams in the Sea & Aquarium (2007?) James Fatherree

Need to source out:
Author: Sheppard , Sheppard
Title: Perkinsus olseni detected in Vietnamese aquacultured reef clams Tridacna crocea imported to the USA, following a mortality event
Source: Diseases of aquatic organisms [0177-5103] yr:2008 vol:79 iss:3 pg:229-235

Gwyther, J. and J.L. Munro. 1981. Spawning induction and rearing of larvae of tridacnid clams (Bivalvia: Tridacnidae). Aquaculture. 24:197-217.

Fitt WK, Trench RK (1981) Spawning, development, and aquisition of zooxanthellae by Tridacna squamosa (Molusca, Bivalvia) Biol Bull 161:213-235

hey just looking at your pics there and your ducting that you think serves no purpose, could very likely be where your upstairs vent connects. this loooks like the cold air return. if this is the case there is no downsizing as it will restrict you circulation.

Its actually the offsets that serve no purpose and we want to re-route. The ducting is from the previous furnace, and wasn't changed out when a new one was installed in November 2007. If we can downsize, or re-route the ducting, then that would be great, if not, we'll find an alternate work around.

My bristletooth tang recently started developing what looks to be the beginning of streamers
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0844.jpg

I also removed the clove polyps from one colony yesterday:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0811-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0814-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0822-1.jpg

A few colony updates:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0858.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0869-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0817-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0870-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0818.jpg

I think this guy is darkening up a little bit
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0832-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0823-1.jpg

Some birdsnest growth;
12/29
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0566.jpg

Today
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0820.jpg

Nice growth :biggrin:

*patiently waits for the new pics*

Soon...lights come on in 26 minutes...the stuff looked awesome yesterday before I left for the evening, here is hoping it looks just as good this morning.

Updated FTS
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0873.jpg

New green digi from Nixon
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0874.jpg

New goodies
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0875.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0876.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0877.jpg

A little bit more of a close up of the right side of the tank
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0878.jpg

I think I MIGHT be able to fit two more colonies, and maybe a bunch of small frags, and then I will be out of space. I need more rock, and regret turning down a recent opportunity to obtain some.

Looking good Catherine!

Well you know there is more than acros and clams at the shop:razz:

yep an he ^^^ is for sale to :)

Like I need any more temptation to shop! :lol:

I've been working on sorting out our, well Kevin's, RKE issues, and we will once again be receiving a new head unit. This will be our third unit. Digital Aquatics is abandoning the capsense buttons the original two head units arrived with. It seems that Kevin is not the only new owner to have these issues. So provided that this new head unit, and its new components, fix my two biggest issues: Kevin's button issues, and the clock, I'm going to go ahead and expand a bit more on the RKE.

They are doing pre-orders for the RKM-Net which will give me the connectivity I've always wanted when I'm out of the house. It will email me, etc. should anything happen.

I'm also going to try and pick up the SL2, and the associated salinity probe. I'd also be nice just to glance and get an idea of the SG without having to pull the refractometer.

We need a couple more power bars and I want LEDs. However it seems that the moonlight which was supposed to be free with our original pre-order is lost somewhere. DA says they shipped it out, but don't know where, or when they did so. They are looking into it and will get back to me.

Someone on the DA forums has also pointed out that you can make a water sensor by hooking in a Water Bug Leak Detector to your RKE. The RKE can then text, or email you phone to let you know. This feature alone would probably give me a lot of peace of mind.

My tank also looked awesome this morning at 6am. I turned on the lights and the polyp extension was fantastic. I should have taken a photo or two. Things are finally starting to fall back into place, and I'm starting to be happy with my tank again. Yes, there is tweaking to do, but overall as a system I'm not frustrated anymore, and I'm not annoyed about having to do maintenance, etc. Its a good day to have a tank!

Looks good Catherine. Glad all your hard work is finally paying off :biggrin:

The tank is starting to settle down and mature a little bit right now. I'm finding that its gulping down more FW per day then it was about a month ago. Before I was looking at about 3g per day, now I'm looking at around 5g per day. I haven't changed anything related to the tank, so I suspect either the skimmer is removing more crap, or the humidity/temperature in the basement is the reason behind this.

The orange digi recently grew into its neighbour the tri-colour. I have been so busy lately that I didn't catch it in time and the digi's extended branch died off as a result. They've since been further separated. I'm finding the same goes with a lot of colonies I have, and the urchin isn't helping things. I'm glad I chose not to glue anything down because I probably would have glued them too close together as I didn't account for how quickly things have taken off recently.

I'm finding I have to dose Calcium every second day manually because the Kalk. reactor is still not up and running. I just found a Mag 5 pump, so hopefully this weekend I can once again have a running reactor! The cost of manual dosing is really expensive overall, about $30 a month in supplements. With the reactors I think I was looking at about $120 to $150 a year total for everything.

The plans for now is just to keep up with the 180g, water changes, cleaning, etc. while we work on the basement. I'm just so busy right now that its really difficult to find time for the basics from Mondays to Fridays. Originally I was feeling pretty confident about having a lot done by the end of February, but at the rate I'm moving, nothing is happening.

If for some reason you are unable to get your reactor up and running properly and have to manually dose, I recommend the 2part from bulkreefsupply. The package is about 150 bucks after shipping costs but i've used about 15% of the total supply in one year. I am heavily SPS stocked and dose close to 100ml per week of alk/cal over the course of a week.

2 cups of ca powder makes 4 litres of calcium and you get a good size tub of the powder.

Absolutley. I too use the 2-part from BRS and find it fairly reasonable

Glad that you are getting the tank the way you like it.. It’s been a long road there with you tank for awhile. How about some pictures, KIDO And with all my frags that I have I’m still using the Kalk reactor to run the ALK and CAL in the tank. May have to bum up the drip to keep up, looks like that I’m getting around 8 DKh out of my Kalk reactor with a drip every 2-3 sec.

Catherine what about going with the Proflux controller. if you are having that much trouble with the RKE. I have been hearing a lot of crap about them WRT pushing the elite model and ending up having programs problems just something to look in too.

When and if I get one it will be a Pro flux and I will be getting the doing pumps to go with it too.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0869-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0817-1.jpg


I really like the look of this piece, you are lucky to aquire such a gem!!

I'll definitely look two-part if I decide not to put the reactor online, or if I can't put it back online. Thank you for the suggestions.

I turned the lights on to pick up a couple of pieces that had fallen today. Just after the lights came on I got a quick view of some great polyp extension on this piece.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0903-1.jpg

This piece is spreading out quite rapidly all of a sudden. I had to move both the above colony, and the orange digi out of its way.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0905-1.jpg

The birdsnest looks amazing. It has a green sheen to it, and that purple you see, it actually looks like that in real life, its not a camera figment.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0911.jpg

Alright some pre-cleaning photos. The tank needs a bit of an overhaul before I head away next week.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0944.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0928-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0931-1.jpg

MHs only, which is more realistic
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0937-1.jpg

A comparison; with T5s:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0936.jpg

MHs only
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0939-1.jpg

Re-arranged right side to provide more space for the growing cap
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0925.jpg

From V-day
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0919.jpg

Some photos from just after I came back from San Diego.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0667-1.jpg

I love how vibrant this piece looked when I got home.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0662.jpg

Everyone's accounted for
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0669.jpg

This showed up in the mail today, replacement head unit to deal with the capsense problems we were having. So far Kevin can use it with no problems. He even re-set up the RKE and made a bunch of great little changes.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0675.jpg

Moon lights showed up too finally
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0672.jpg

Moon lights look really nice too, but the photo doesn't do them justice
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0678.jpg

We fixed the top-off switch problem, added the moonlights online, and made a few small changes to the system. Kevin fixed the excessive bubbles we were getting in the Ca. reactor. As well the Kalk. reactor is back online and its all programed for easy kalk. powder additions. I'm so excited, it means that tomorrow is the last time I'll have to add any more powdered Ca. and the timing couldn't be any better, I'm on my last little bit of powder!

I'll get around to the photos of the San Diego Sea World later...its time for bed.

Atleast you coulda put Canreef on your comp when you took the pic LOL