Myka's 90 gallon build & 3 province move (Pics Feb 6)

Myka · #1 05-28-2009, 05:58 AM

I just added the rest of the live rock I had cooking. I was checking the rock out, and so far I have found:

1 Hairy crab (rehomed yesterday)
1 plastic button covered in coralline and calcified into the rock (pried out)
6" of heavy fishing line covered in coralline and running through the middle of a chunk of rock (pulled out with pliers)
3 little anemones (!!!) ...i haven't IDed yet, but I think they might be "Ball" anemones.
5 or 6 patches of hydroids

GHA starting (ack!)

I will test the tank tomorrow and see what the new rock has done to the water. Seeing as I have over 150 lbs of live rock I get to cherry pick my pieces and sell the rest. I'm pretty stoked on this as I have never in my life had excess rock. I put it all in the tank where I can take a closer look at it for pests, and get some aquascaping ideas.

The tank is still about 4" low for water which is where the overflow box has been drilled for a return line. I have to cut a bulkhead shorter to fit in there otherwise the end protrudes into the Herbie stand pipes.

BONUS!! After using the MJ1200 with the SureFlow mod as a salt mixing pump because it's so frickin noisy I have figured out how to quieten the thing! Turn it kinda upside down pointing at the surface. It's now fairly silent. Woo hoo! My tank NEEDS that flow right now!

So this is what a 90 gallon looks like when you cram 153 lbs of live rock in it.

I actually think it looks kinda cool. Some awesome caves goin on, but this is SO not how it's being left!!!

Here's an angle shot so you can see the cool caves.

BlueAbyss · #2 05-28-2009, 08:39 AM

Wow, you cooked the rock for that long and STILL had hitchhikers? Goes to show you how tenacious some things are. I'll bet the fishing line that was through the middle of the rock has been embedded in that rock for like 50 years, laying on the bottom of the ocean has that effect on things

Looks full, but not bad at all. I like it, actually, even if you are planning on removing some of the rock. Which should come live in my rimless 29 gallon

Myka · #3 05-28-2009, 04:38 PM

Oh you need to cook rock for several months to kill off all the hitch hikers. 6 weeks isn't even enough to kill GSP, polyps, or bubble algae. Although I think most/all of the hydroids are actually dead, and it's just the tubes left. I don't see any little heads poking out anywhere. Those nems still aren't out yet. I think I shocked the crap outta them though. That rock was in 1.012 (was in hypo at 1.009, but evaporation raised it), and the temp was 86. The tank is 1.026 and the temp is 78. So I don't think the nems liked the change.

The excess rock will be for sale in the next couple weeks for sure, if not sooner.

LOL, ya I think that fishing line is antique!! Maybe I will sell it on Ebay!

Tested the tank just now:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm
Phosphate 1.0+ ppm (it's at least 1, but definitely not near 3...I wish the Salifert kit had some gradients in between)

Eep!

Phosphate is even higher now, which is what I suspected would happen when I added the rest of the rock. I ordered some GFO from Bulk Reef Supply, but it won't be here until next week, so I'm going to see if I can go find some locally for a decent price.

Myka · #4 05-29-2009, 05:22 AM

So, of the handful of hydroid colonies I found it appears as though they are all dead since there are no little heads poking out, just the tubes. Weird. BUT GOOD!!!

I got a pic of one of the anemones. Definitely ball anemones. The balls look orange in the pic, but look bluish grey in person...that's weird too. I will try to get a better pic at some point, but for now this is what I managed:

Myka · #5 05-30-2009, 02:10 AM

I added 5 Astraea snails today from Bayside Corals. There are 3 Astraea tecta, and 2 Astraea caelata, the latter of which I find to be the better algae eater, and super hardy. I also got some epoxy, so hopefully I will get going on the rock formations tomorrow.

mseepman · #6 05-30-2009, 02:30 AM

Very cool. I'm looking forward to this.

Blom · #7 05-30-2009, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myka

I added 5 Astraea snails today from Bayside Corals. There are 3 Astraea tecta, and 2 Astraea caelata, the latter of which I find to be the better algae eater, and super hardy. I also got some epoxy, so hopefully I will get going on the rock formations tomorrow.

And now your ahead

Myka · #8 05-30-2009, 04:06 PM

Thanks Mark!

Too funny Blom!

Weird thing I've noticed is that the ball anemones dislike light. They come out at night, but even with just the natural light from the sunlight room they close up. Maybe they just aren't very acclimated yet. Tank lights are off 24/7 at this point since the phosphate is so high right now...trying to prevent some algae bloom.

Oh a bit of a setback, my livestock won't be arriving until Monday June 8th now.