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48ish gallon bow--from ugh to ooh (I hope)
day 1-December 2, 2007
Other thread where there is info and me asking for advice is here: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=37515 Went to Edmonton to get the tank. Put all the LR in buckets with SW. Saved as much original water as possible in buckets. Left the sand bed intact in the tank with an inch or so of water. First impression: This is going to be alot of work. Lots of gha on the rock and in the sand as well as on what is left of two corals in the tank. I don't see any pods. I do see alot of dead snails in the sand.... I should have taken a picture of what it looked like prior to my beginning cleanup just so I would have a better comparison point, but ah well, what can I say...I thought it looked to terrible to take a pic. :lol: By evening we got home, unloaded it all, put the rock and water into the tank after trying to brush as much gha off the rock as possible (bit hard in the dark of our badly lit living room at night), put in 15g of clean water to top it up and started the skimmer up. Added 2 caps of prime. Replaced bulbs on coralife pc fixture it came with. Then we left it alone for two days. Caught one disgusting and rather large crab--I think he is responsible for the deaths of many of the snails as well as the fire shrimp they said they used to have: http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/6...osscrabjv1.jpg For the pic hungry: http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/7...wbow002iv2.jpg http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/9...wbow007qq1.jpg tank residents before being added to the tank http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2...wbow003ii5.jpg http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/637/newbow004om1.jpg mandarin being added http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9...wbow001tg6.jpg scape that pretty much happened from me dropping the rocks in (except 3) while I couldn't see what I was doing. I like it. Wish I didn't have to wreck it to clean the tank up. :neutral: |
Day 3
Siphoned off 15g of water from off the sand whilst trying to get as much crud off the sand as possible. On second look the entire bed is filled with crud. If I go sand I am going to have to eventually remove this entire bed and replace it.... Frick I wish I knew how to do that without causing a major upset. Frustrated a bit. Took the rock all out to give it a better brushing and look for crabs or other nasties. Found one more crab. Looks alot like an emerald, but it doesn't look like the emerald I used to have so I'm getting rid of it. Only kind of crabs I like are little hermits and pom-poms, personally. Moment of sadness for the loss of my scape :sad: Ah well I knew that was coming. Going to be a while before I can put that in and have it left that way. Diatom filter pretty much cleared the detritus storm within 15 or so minutes. I am starting to love that thing. I see the skimmer is sensitive to water level... http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6...wbow014oa9.jpg disgusted mandarin hiding in the corner after the "poo-storm", notice how nasty the sand is http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/5...wbow010nv9.jpg About 10 minutes after the WC, notice the destruction of my scape :cry: wah http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/8...wbow015pm1.jpg Skimmer noticeably not working when 5gals is missing from the tank http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/6...wbow017le1.jpg diatom filter http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/3...wbow018kb0.jpg Whole shebang--yeah the backround is a bit cheesy (it's wrapping paper, lol :lol: ) I may or may not change it depending on how lazy I am. The pc light is definitely too small for the tank, eh? :razz: Edit: I sure use the words "notice" and "noticeably" alot....just had to giggle about that :P |
Yay for photos! It looks like you are making good progress with everything. I have to agree, I liked your original aquascaping too!
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SandStorm
I am sure you can get the aquascaping nice again. It might take a 2 years but you can probably do it eventualy.
I was not sure if your sand was new but there have been a few posts recently of people losing fish due to nitrate spikes from all the crap that is released when they mix up there sand. Keep the pics coming. Jon |
Update for today:
Mandarin is looking skinny to me, made up a batch of bbs to see what would happen. He likes them....slow eating them though, not sure how many he got. Thinking I will need to try and make a feeding station thingie somehow. Only thing is I dunno how to get the bbs in there...maybe a dark tube...but not sure if a turkey baster will work for squirting them in there...also don't know how/where to find a dark tube... Ideas anyone? |
Update for today.
Made a "feeding station" out of a spice jar. Several days later every single fish in the tank knows how to get in and steal all the food so I put in a second one. I see the mandarin in there every once in a while when the blenny isn't making a pig out of himself. I have small NLS and decapsulated brine shrimp eggs I bought off of e-bay. Siphoned a bit of sand out today...I now realize this is going to be a very long task. :razz: Ammonia is lower than it was at 0.1-0.3, nitrite is 0 and nitrate is 15 Cleaned out the diatom filter completely and put in new powder as it was full of %^&*. Rinsed out the sponges in the rena as best I could in sw. Considered throwing them out and ended up only throwing out one as I feared a spike. They are completely filthy but also covered in "things" which I am guessing are beneficial. I am hoping I didn't leave them in air too long causing die off on the bacteria population. http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3...ec12071ph6.jpg my mandarin investigates the spice jar I have put out for him with pellets and decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, his fins tend to fan the sand and whatnot all over http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3...ec12071rb0.jpg http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9...ec12071es6.jpg http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1...ec12071cq8.jpg mr. L. blenny checks out his new digs beneath "Ghagsp Rock" :P http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6966/newclownstu5.jpg clowns that came with the tank. I may have to sell one or both of them to avoid overstocking though, as I intend to add my royal gramma and my pretty black/orange oscellaris once I think the tank is stable enough for the addition. http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/6...1307104ka3.jpg mandarin fighting with his reflection http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/9...1307108rh8.jpg one of the clowns that came with the bowfront http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4...ec12071fl5.jpg the whole tank, dirty glass and all ...water looks clear though I cannot believe it but I think the 2 corals that came with the tank might just make it! Looking at the gsp I see more polyps are out than ever before and there is less GHA on it as well. The candycane is much more inflated than it was when it arrived (I thought it a goner for sure), and it looks like something has cleaned off much of the GHA from it as well (somethng besides me, I picked off as much as I was able). I think it is either a snail or the blenny. GHA is growing on the powerhead to the skimmer as well as some other things. I am hoping to try and combat it with the snails (I need more), blenny and WC's, as well as the addition of ALGONE in the rena. I am absolutely kicking myself for not having the forsight ot have cleaned the back glass before putting the tank where it is! I cannot reach back there and as you can see there are lots of salt drips all down the back of it from when we moved the tank. :redface: Ah well...hopefully when the coralline comes back no one will notice. *impatience* I can't wait until I the tank is stable so I can get my coral back and rescape! :multi: Probably going to be another month or several months :neutral: Just have to wait and see and keep on the water quality as best I can. Does anyone think I should go BB, or should I go buy some new sand once I get rid of most of the old stuff? I am tempted to go BB for the cleanliness of it, but I am worried about the mandarin on the off chance he benefits from the sand bed (creatures) at all as well as I kinda like having the option of being able to put things on the "ground" -it is more stable for the rockwork. |
In case you were wondering your mandarin is a little boy! I see great progress in between your shots, nice changes. Its great to see that you are getting off on the right foot.
Well here is a suggestion for you. Why not finish pulling out all the sand and try going bare bottom for a month or two, see how you like it. If it works for you, keep it, if not, adding sand isn't too hard! |
I wouldn't go BB with the Mandarin if I were you. He'll likely starve. You can safely change the sand out by siphoning no more than 1/6th of the sand bed out and carefully replacing it with rinsed sand (preferably "live" bagged sand as it doesn't cloud the water near as much) no more than once a week until it's all done. You won't get a spike of anything if you do it this way. Leaving that dirty sandbed in there isn't a good idea either as you'll be fighting phosphates and nitrates (and all the wonderful algaes that accompany such nuisances) forever as the sandbed will never clean itself. A couple orange lipped conches and/or a Tiger Tail cucumber would help the sandbed out.
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Do you know if your mandarin eats prepared foods? If he does you can try a barebottom tank. My mandarin eats prepared and lives happily in a bare bottom tank, so sand isn't a must.
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My Mandarin was happy and great in my barebottom too....until he swam head first into a tube anemone....might of been an act of suicide......but anyways has since been relocated to its own confined tank.......called the death tank.....
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Quick update:
Started the main sand clean up and siphoned out quite a bit of it last week with a 15g water change. I decided it was safest for the mandy's sake to reastablish a sand bed. Added one bag of clean sand to one side of the tank (put all the dirty sand to the other side) and still need to get rid of the majority of the dirty sand on the other side, then mix in some of it with new sand to seed it. GHA is majorly growing on the gsp coral which is a shame. Not really much I can do for it at this point as my options are limited due to finance. Can't even pull it off without damaging the coral. Decided to sell off one oscellaris as I think 6 fish is too much for this tank. One or two more WC's until I can rescape I think. Water params are still not ready for coral, so will have to wait and be patient. As a side note everything eats out of the food stations I set up. The blenny is the fattest pig I have ever seen! The mandy while not fat does not look emaciated either, so still crossing my fingers on that one. As a side note my blue damsel in a different tank died today of unknown causes :cry: :sad: |
I think we need a new FTS. :)
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Quote:
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Re-organized the rock. I may add the rock that is supposed to be in my BC, but have not decided yet. Added some more clean sand and got rid of the last of the dirty sand excepting a bit to seed the new sand with. Also changed the seio to mount on the side open instead of with the flow directional deal on it and added a koralia 2 to the other side (still not entirely sure that is where I want it though). Will be getting rid of the largest clown soon in favor of my (probably black) oscellaris--have grown attached to him I guess :redface:
Also bought a pc light off another canreefer that holds two 21" bulbs and added that to the existing 2 small pc's that were there. It doesn't all fit properly on the tank, but I can't afford better lighting than this right now. I think for what I am putting in the tank though that everything will live. Just waiting to hear back from slickfork to get my coral back :D I am so glad he was kind enough to babysit it for me after the BC crashed. The people here are just great. Pics are nothing special but here you go anyway. very bad pic of my gsp--it is still struggling with the gha that came with it http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2...1307118vq0.jpg candy cane surprisingly alive http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9...1307117yr8.jpg http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6291/dec1307120tk7.jpg http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2...1307121vz2.jpg |
Lookin good!! :)
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And I got my coral back woohoo!!!!! Thank you to Slickfork for babysitting it; and also thanks for the snails, chaeto, red/pink macro, gsp and birdsnest frag.
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5...n142008dl3.jpg http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4...n142008ms6.jpg http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/6...n142008ym8.jpg http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8...1407034sw0.jpg Current tank setup: Coralife super skimmer (with fishing line mod on the needlewheel and another small mod to reduce bubbles) 30" x2 pc coralife light (actinic, 50/50..--> soon to be another 10k when I get some money) 20" x2 pc coralife light (actinic, 10k) hydor koralia 2 seio 820 rena xp2 (currently has 2 sponges in it, ceramic media and algone--will likely be getting rid of the sponges/ceramic) diatom filter (temporary) Current inhabitants: lawnmower blenny royal gramma 2 oscellaris mandarin 1 blue legged hermit crab 2 small tuxedo urchins 4 trocus 1 astrea 1 conch 2 money cowries and a few other small snails I don't know the name of http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3...n142008jc1.jpg Corals: ricordea zoos (what's left of a frag) toadstool frag (very tiny) hammer frogspawn acan mushrooms bright green gsp metallic green gsp m. digi purplish base with tan polyps birdsnest (unsure what color will be as it is a bit bleached--looks like maybe yellow) http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/7...n142008ad1.jpg ...and lastly a very small green bubble tip anemone, who is currently in a place I cannot photograph http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/7...1407033gc0.jpg |
New tank member introduced today. Cute little dragon sifter (AMBLYGOBIUS PHALAENA, I think) given to me by dustinjm (thank you! :mrgreen: ). Will post a pic soon as I get one (he is still setling in). Hopefully he will get along with the other tank mates in my display. Really like him, looks like one of those "personality" fish, fun to watch. :biggrin:
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Here are some more critter pictures for those who like them, and as promised pics of the goby :)
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/8035/jan21051hx0.jpg http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/8749/jan21017qr2.jpg http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2117/jan21058cq1.jpg http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/6852/jan21002eb9.jpg http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/927/jan21031nb8.jpg http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/2104/jan21063hg8.jpg http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/3944/jan21027bj0.jpg http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5285/jan21008lb1.jpg |
hair algae
Are you still having issues with the algae?
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So far the only places showing gha that continues to be a nuisance are on the gsp and candy cane coral that came with the tank. Unfortunately I cannot boil the gha off a coral. Have added an AC110 refugium with chaeto to try and export nutrients as best I can and also try and manually take the gha off the 2 infested corals.
I guess we shall see what it looks like in another three months. So much waiting in this hobby, hehe :razz: |
Forgot to include a top-down shot of the gbta. He is in the back so this as as close as I can get to him. (Really not interested in getting him to move at this point, he isn;t hurting anything where he is) I did not have any problem with him attaching when I added him to the tank. He was on the rock he came on and the next morning he had found a spot. So far clowns are hosting a spice jar and not him, which is good because he is very tiny. Like around 2"
His bubbles come out very nicely at different times during the day. (Didn't catch them nicely on the photo though). http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5...tjan202it6.jpg |
sea hare
You may want to try to borrow or buy a sea hare. I couldnt believe it when I got one. Like a lawnmower on hair algae. I also used an aquaclear 500 with some rowaphos in it as well. Results were great in about 3 days.:biggrin:
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A pair of tweezers work well for getting GHA off of corals.
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upgrade soon...so soon? yes so soon, lol
Update:
We have decided to do what we had always planned with our drilled 120g and upgrade. The upgrade will take place probably in two months or so. The bow is a bit crowded now with a couple new additions, but should be fine for only the couple months they will be in there: -signal goby -cleaner wrasse Was watching the tank today and I think it is just so cool how well fed these fish are. The spice jar idea feeds pretty muchall fish in the tank and everything is fat and healthy. I never feed anything sprinkling it over the water any more, the fish come and go from the "station" as they please, and it is emptied by them 1-2 times per day. I cannot get over how lucky I feel having a lawnmower blenny, cleaner wrasse and sand-sifting type gobies that all choose to eat NLS (and decap brine shrimp eggs, everyone's favorite). The cleaner wrasse has also joined in on the fun. My fish teach the new additions how to get the "smorgasbord". The mandarin also eats from the jars when he decides to, but he isn't the brightest crayon in the box if you know what I mean. :multi: After reading about problems people have had getting certain fish to eat I think it is just ever so cool. As a side note the birdsnest frag has colored up nicely (it looked rather bleached/browned prior). Yellowish/bronzeish with bronzeish purplish polyps. I seem to have no luck with that pretty red macro, it is in pieces and I cannot get it to stay put or grow :'( also no luck getting my new xenia frag to attach. Used fishing line and glue and it still got away so I locked him in a clear box and glued mesh to the top of it so he couldn't get away and run himself through the powerhead or get stuck somewhere...hopefully it will attach to the rock that is in there instead of the box...but knowing me and xenia...:P yeah.... |
can't wait for the bigger tank. so far so good eh?
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If you keep that birdsnest under moderate lighting, it will go colour up even more nicely, you'll see some really nice green in it.
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ooh sweet! can't wait to see what it will look like when I get halides
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Oh you are so right I do see green in that birdsnest now :D I put the xenia into a little clear box (I normally use this box for acclimation) and then put some crafters mesh on the top of it. I stuck a rubberband on the xenia and a rock and it has not come off or died, so yay :smile:
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Figured I should re-update this. I made a little picture slideshow dealie :)
http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=5bd4e3c8.pbw |
That's looking really great. All the hard work is paying off!
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http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...swmarch075.jpg
see the little Paguriita hermit crab hanging out in the hole just above the yellow x-mas tree worm? http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...swmarch077.jpg Thanks Gold's for the lovely Christmas tree worm rock :D |
What a fun mothers day present! Thanks to Snappy for the new coral! I'm a bit nervous about the milli and acros as I have not been brave enough to try keeping them just yet. My favorite corals are the pink birdsnest and the green milli.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...1/frags005.jpg http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...1/frags001.jpg For the moment these guys have to rest in this little frag box. Why the netting you ask? My urchins seem to adore nothing more than dragging around frags :razz: so I would just as soon they stay where I put them, :lol:. We are about a month behind on setting up the 120g, but looks like we should be back on track soon as long as nothing unexpected drains all our cash flow again. All we need to do is get the FW fish out of it, give it a really good cleaning, test for copper, re-paint the stand in tremclad (rust issues), buy bulbs (mH), buy 2 250W ballasts and do the plumbing and odds/ends. We do have the skimmer for it (RS135), lumenbright reflectors, powerheads and some other odds and ends. other updates: gsp on the right hand side of the tank has taken off and looks great, the gbta has really grown and is about the size of my palm now, the p. bippinata has also grown and I have decided I would like more of those (really nice little easy gorg), pom-pom xenia has grown onto the glass, one rock (got from someone getting out of the hobby) in the back of the tank had several aptasias on it and was growing hydroids....I sooo will not put up with hydroids again (so as this was the only rock with em, it got boiled and thrown in the sump holding my extra LR). Extreme? Yah, but I would rather have one dead rock than lots of rocks full of pesty stinging creatures. |
Nice looking frags, that pink birdnest is REALLY pink! How about a FTS? :D
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FTS looks like crap because the frag box is hanging on the front of the tank :lol:
How about this older shot from before I had to uglify it with 2 frag boxes (other one is holding some pipe organ I accidentally fragged several times :redface: ) http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...uq1/myreef.jpg The green in the corners is a couple balls of chaeto I strung up in there for the heck of it. The jar on the left is my feed station and is on there with a magnet (very handy). The acan is banished to the left side of the tank for not playing nice with other corals. (It's on a rock now though not a box). The magnet feeding station was very easy to make, just a bit time consuming to make sure the plastic coating cured properly. |
Oh and this isn't really related to my build, but I like to be a show off every once in a while, and it's my thread :razz: Click the link for a slideshow of some other types of pics ;)
http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=950d9745.pbw |
Awesome slideshow!!!
Wow, your tank has made a great turn around! Good job! :) I like the feeding station too. |
reef meet fun day
I had a really fun day today. Hit almost all the sw stores. Here's a couple pics of what I came home with. Also came home with three frags from the reef meet; 2 sps and a nice little zoo frag all from the Coral Master. :biggrin:
I bought a pom-pom crab (I was thrilled he still had his poms) and I bought a "bumblebee shrimp"...at least that is what the guy in the store said it was. I have a terrible weakness for cute inverts. http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/797...ay24030hh6.jpg http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4...ay24036fa8.jpg http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/1...ay24022bt7.jpg http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/6...ay24018gr2.jpg I looked up bumblebee shrimp and it says this: Quote:
Luckily I don't have any starfish in the tank that I would be super put out if they were eaten, just brittles. This little guy seemed to enjoy the spirulina enriched brine shrimp I fed the tank shortly after putting him in and I also noticed him picking things off the rock. He isn't exactly in a nano for "easy viewing", but hey ya can't have everything, :lol: Maybe next time I am in town I can get him a buddy seeing as it says they do well in pairs.... |
Beautiful tank and AMAZING artwork!! (I love the koi)
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Wow Kelly.Great artwork. Nice to finally meet you btw. I too like the koi fish drawing(I have a large koi fish tattoo on my leg), in fact all of your drawing would make great tats.
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I love the pom pom crab, its so adorable!
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