Well wouldn't ya know it. I wasn't planning on SPS any time soon, but I was talked into some as they are easy
Now I'm gonna have to test regularly :surprise:
Thanks for the Montis tang daddy :mrgreen:

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01093.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01091.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01092.jpg

i keep forgetting a person should test from time to time i think my last test was 6 months ago...maybe.. well congrats on the corals:) filler up

Great build, love the scaping! Hard to resist corals! Like Doug said, filler up!

:mrgreen:
yay! CORAL!

Hey Greg it was nice meeting you yesterday and seeing your clinical set up, very pristine.... Also redundancy redundancy redundancy!!

The montis we traded are lime green montipora capricromis, red cap, and green cap with blue polyps which is alittle colored down ATM but will definitely colour up with the Ati blasting them!

Thanks, Chris, it was great meeting you and having you over
I'm off to solve the readings issue

Don't know how I have missed this thread...Very nice build Greg. I am loving your attention to details which I really lack...:redface: I would love to come over and check out the tank if you are ever available. I would love to see you over my place for the same reason. I know you are coming out to the frag swap and let me tell you its gonna be a blast.

keep up the good work!
BTW We love pictures.

Thanks Rich
You're welcome anytime, just give me a call

Where am I now, sump v4.0 ? Or is it v5.0 ?

Here's what I did today ...
I hot-plumbed a swing check valve into the return .. gotta tell ya, no better way to increase your blood-pressure - no spare parts and just have at 'er :angel:
Put a heater in the DT, the Vortechs kept the flow goin' and the soon-to-be-removed sump 1262 kept the sump active enough that the Ranco never kicked on with the back-up heaters :wink:
So, I waited about an hour for the PVC stuff to air-out with some air flow and back into the system it goes
http://www.emofaces.com/en/emoticons...d-emoticon.gif

Turned out just fine, and now the return is actually quiet :whoo:
No more humming through the lines, nor the wall from the sump room :cheer2:
I extended some lines so nothing would touch the wall anymore. Poor fishies though as the sound is still in the tank :redface:

It may mean nothing to some of you, but I'll tell ya, it means the world to me when I can make it quieter for the wife
She never complained, but I know that if it was enough to bother me, she was only being 'nice' about it :razz:

So, once that was done, I knew I had to remove the sump circuit stuff from the wall clamps ....
I ran an eheim 1000 for the chaeto and an eheim 2000 for the UV/Chiller and I'll be dammed, it's SUPER quiet :mrgreen:

New check valve, but it's only there to stop the splashing when the pump restarts ...

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01094.jpg

Before the sump re-plumb

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC00944.jpg

After the re-config

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01100.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01099.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01095.jpg


http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01098.jpg



I have temporarily hooked up a Maxi 600 for the GFO ( last pic ), and it has a T
I may do this permanently for the GFO and Carbon ( I don't have the Carbon reactor running yet as I see no need to )

It's just a T near the valve that came with the TLF Reactors and it dumps back into the sump, so it doesn't matter what size of pump I use

SUPER happy with the new setup

Now I'll have to sell an Eheim 1262 that I bought brand new last month as I already have a spare :biggrin:

Your scape is ingenious!

Thanks Paigee :smile:

The Alk was dipping below 5 and the Ca was about 390. I hadn't touched the water for about 3 weeks as the system was new
I'll chalk up the drop to the new LR and Coralline sucking up the minerals
I dosed Alk over the weekend and brought it back up. Then, when I tested the system today, the Ca was back up now on it's own

All looks good and the NSW from the IO bucket almost matched the DT perfectly. I'm going to run the system for a week and see if WCs will keep up with the params without dosing
Although my current params are not ideal, they are manageable

After today's 10% WC the readings are;
Sg 1.025
pH 8.2
KH 10.5
Ca 440
Mg 1350
NO3 0
PO4 0
80 F

I am going to keep the temp where it is for now as there are so many arguments about temperature and I like it where it is
The tank is stable for this time of year with our very minimally insulated home and is easy to maintain

The QT got a 50% WC and then some critters

Ocellaris from the Vancouver Aquarium that were traded in @ J&L
I missed out on the one black guy I saw last week, but being less than 3/4", I was nervous about feeding the poor little dude
So, today I grabbed this feisty little one. He/she is all over the QT, but owns the 5" PVC :lol: Such an active little critter, so the pics suffer

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...wOcellaris.jpg

I watched a tank of PJs for awhile and picked out a pair for the wife, but I like them too :wink:

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...NewPajamas.jpg

And a locally bred Bangaii who is quite eager to play with us. Comes straight to me during the whole acclimation and liked having his/her picture taken :smile:. Should be a good survivor
Lots of blue in the pec fins

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...NewBangaii.jpg

And, ya, they're just basic fish, but they are our first SW ones, so it's a start :razz:

Family is family!

Nice! I love the little perc . . . They are some much fun to watch.

Are you prophylactically treating for anything while they're in QT?

Not really treating, per se, but I am using some Stress Guard ( and Stability )
I'm just going to watch them
Right now my biggest concern is them eating. I think it's too soon as only 1 PJ is eating blood worms. The've all attempted mysis, cyclopeze and gut-loaded brine, but I think it's a matter of stress
If they aren't all eating tomorrow, I may drop the SG a bit to give them a hand

Oh SNAP! I just saw this! Nice to finally have some little friends in there hey?:mrgreen:

Awesome new additions!

I've added some teeny chromis and black and white clowns to my 55, been feeding them Arcti pods, they seem to love it.

congrats on the critters! now you've got a few more reasons to camp out in front of the tanks.

Greg, nice little fish, did you get the bangaii from Jl? If so I have the same captive bred but from batch 2 which I took the challenge of raising myself. They started off tiny but are growing quickly, I got 2 and they were fighting but now paired....

Your clown might be use to pellets if it's captive bred but they should start eating within the week.

Good that you're params are back to where they should be, my alk is sitting at the same as yours which is alittle higher than I want it, gonna try to drop it to 9.

How are the sps frags? Are they growing?

Chris, all the dudes came from J&L, so maybe the same batch as yours
Definately spending more time in the sump room right now :smile:

Things are looking up
Brine was spat out today, but now the Clown and both PJs are eating blood worms
I'll give the Bangaii another try tonight with some garlic flake

Bangaii is still not eating
Today I tried some garlic soaked ( Brightwell garlic power ) mysis, bloodworms and fortified brine shrimp
The PJs and the clown loved all of it :wink:
I went to J&L and most, but not all, of their's are eating
If this dude doesn't eat tomorrow morning, I'll have to take him back and get one of the ones that are

I don't want to stress him out with another move, but Jeff has told me to bring him back
Poor little dude :sad:

damn that suck man. Hopefully you get better luck this time :)

Did you ask Jeff exactly what the Bangaii was being fed at the shop? I find that feeding the exact same thing, at the exact same time as what the store did, and in the same manner, can really help to get fussy eaters eating.

I've been feeding the same mysis, bloodworms, vitamins and garlic that they use
I watched them feed it last night and a few of their bangaii didn't eat it, but the rest pigged it all down
Today my PJs and clown ate it all again, but the bangaii ignored all of it
I hate to do it, but he's goin' back today

any chance he's getting bullied or being stressed by anything?

No stress from the other fish that I can see. He's the biggest of the bunch and the others take no food that is near him, but after it passes by him, they will jump on it

He's acting just as the others at the store I observed last night that weren't eating;
Swims to the food, turns away from it and hovers

I've done a whole lot of reading on Bangaii not eating. What I've read has not left me with any confidence that he will turn around anytime soon
He has no belly to speak of so, in a nutshell, tonight will be 4 days and back he goes

It's all good now
The new bangaii ate before I took him/her home and just now ate with everyone else
It's also roaming around quite a bit more than the other poor dude

I feel bad that I couldn't help the first one, but sometimes it's a matter of cost over preservation :sad:

Too funny
One of the PJs was chasing the other, but now, with the new Bangaii chasing him away from his fave spot, the PJs have become friends again
The clown isn't bothered by anyone, even though he's not even half their size

I have a QO1200 running the UV and the clown owns the whole thing ...
Pump, hose, pad, it's all his
Too funny, it's like he's hosting it :smile:
He's gonna be disappointed in the DT without a pump to own

The PJs are picking pods off the glass, even after eating, so all is lookin' good

Happy little QT right now

Can't wait to add them to the DT and get some more dudes in the QT

New Bangaii, looks the same as the original, except it has a full belly and a longer second dorsal ( clown looks huge in the pic, but he's only about 3/4" )

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ondBangaii.jpg

Algae is an issue in the DT as the new LR I added still had some NO3 and PO4 leaching. I expected this and will just have to wait it out
Currently the algae is coated in diatoms so it's not too terribly nice to look at
I've been siphoning out what I can and filtering the water through a seachem 'THE BAG' and pouring the water back into the sump socks. Can't be any worse than not removing it at all

Skimmer has been working overtime so I can't complain

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01134.jpg

Also, I dropped my tank temp to 79 from 80
I'll watch how well the chiller keeps up and make a decision

Yep he looks nice and fat :)

I'd say so too
And he's not staying in one spot
Lights on or off, hes roaming everywhere
Lookin' right now, he's going after stuff that's floating ...
I'm very happy with his appetite and the fact that he's hungry and interested
Tomorrow morning should be a good time

Like I said, I feel bad for the dude I returned, but I can't save the world

The PJs are still arguing, so I'll have to see how that goes

glad to see al is well give the pj's somem time they maybeok just seeking dominance

I hope you're right about the PJs as I thought they were a pair at the store ......... :noidea: what's going on but I would swear they were a pair when I bought them
There were about 7 in the store and these 2 hang out lots
Maybe I judged their attitudes wrong and they were the bossy ones going after each other
I hope the dominance thing settles down soon ...

Good news is the Bangaii doesn't put up with their crap, so maybe it'll stop them from bickering :smile:

my clowns tried to pick on my picaso trigger when i got it.. that lasted a day trigger gave them what for and that ended that

Tonight's update
In the QT, the Clown, Bangaii and the dominant PJ are eating just fine
The other PJ is not eating as much and I may return it soon as I don't want it to starve. It's being pushed into an end of the tank and, even though food goes that way, it's not eating much. I'm disappointed as ( I've said it earlier ) I was convinced I brought home a pair that got along
Although, I won't mind having only one PJ, I thought they'd be happier in a pair, or even a group
With our stocking plans, I don't want to add any more PJs as 3 or 4 would be too much

The DT is going through a hair algae phase right now, and most of it is covered with diatoms, but it's not on all the LR, just here and there
There is some algae that looks like Bryopsis, but it's very whispy / frail looking and easy to remove
I also have some turf algae growing in small tufts, which is also easy to remove, and am not overly worried about it at this time
I'm siphoning out sand that is too ugly to look at, disturbing the algae on the LR and waiting it out
I'm sure glad I decided to add this new LR to the system now instead of after I had fishies in there, although there have been no measureable readings of anything to speak of
I only wish I had a Tang in there right now :smile:

Hmm, something to add ..
I just fed mysis, 2 kinds of fortified brine, and bloodworms, with garlic and vitamins, all mixed together
They went after it as fast as normal, but they kept eating it ( I will try this mix again tomorrow morning )
Then the lights went out and they kept eating ( as expected with the cards ) but the curious thing is, the clown kept eating too, and everyone ate the brine for the first time
The clown is all over the tank finishing off whatever he can find
15 mins and the clown is still roaming around eating every little thing he can find

Guess I was used to the clown hosting his pump and not roaming

The Bangaii is getting used to us just fine
He/she has already recognised that we are the food machines and comes right to us immediately :wink:
Great addition as the wife misses our freshwater angels

My Tunze Osmolator is sensitive to voltage changes, and the warning 'beep beep beep' goes off whenever I unplug something on it's circuit
I was going to solve this issue with a surge suppressor, but am now glad I didn't

Last night, I wasn't watching the house temp ... I hear the beeping and go to my office
Office temp was only 79, but the QT was over 81
- I've set the QT lights to turn off if the temp gets to 81
The QT lights were turning on and off. This light cycle caused the ATO to trip, which I heard from another room :lol:

Nothing like some more automation, although unplanned, to help me keep my critters safe :wink:

Today I bought a 12v power supply and wired it to a spare 120mm 1900RPM 106 CFM computer fan I had
I used some foam for dampening and a mesh screen for dust
I programmed the 12v supply on the PC4 and now the fan keeps the QT cool enough that I won't need a chiller :biggrin:

I'd post a pic, but Photobucket is doing maintenance

Installed the new impeller for my SK181 tonight
The restart issue is gone, but I'm not happy with the noise from the pump now
I was able to previously rid myself of the noise with a few re-starts, but now that's not the case
Hopefully it will change over time

I also now find I need to re-adjust the skimmer as the new impeller sits in a different location in the pump ( more forward to the venturi ) and it has changed the adjustment level ( water height wise )

Just a matter of re-tuning and I'm sure I'll be happy
I'm just dammed glad I didn't have to pay big bucks for the impeller upgrade :smile:

Ce La Vie, it works :razz:

The frag meet today @ Bblinks's was awesome
Got to meet many others
Brought home more frags than I thought I would ...

Here's some, but not all
Crappy pics with a Sony WX5 and some PO'd corals in the shots ...

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01148.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01146.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01144.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01142.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01150.jpg

I brought home over a dozen frags, but the camera wouldn't show them all

I glued one Monty to the overflow box, so this should be interesting

Stay posted as they grow :wink:

COPYCAT!!!!!!!!!!:bad-word:

jk I did it cause it seem like a good use of useless space lol.
looks like you got fragged up today bud! Can wait (as I'm sure you can't either) for it to be all full and grown in!