Myka's 20 gallon Zoa reef (pics Nov 15)

[Myka]

Hey thanks for the offer Steve, but I'm headed back to camp in a few hours. I do have a second cord somewhere, but I can't find it. I might have thrown it out thinking, "What do I need two of them for?"

Hey Mark, it's nice to be home, even if it's only for a few days. I got done early on Friday morning, so I took advantage and snuck home for the weekend.

Ya, Laurie that was great to meet you and chat for what...2 hours?

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Well, I put an MJ600 for the return, and it did lower the water line by a couple millimeters, but not enough. I'm going to take the eggcrate out, cut off the bottom trim of it, and glue it back in. That should give me another couple millimeters. I need to raise the media rack too since the floss is floating. Grrr.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Myka

Ya, Laurie that was great to meet you and chat for what...2 hours?

Ya it was around that, I do tend to talk a lot

[mseepman]

So any news on this tank?

[Myka]

I have photos ready, but Photobucket isn't working. Grrr.

EDIT: Funny, we both posted at nearly the same time. Hehe.

[Myka]

Ok, photos!

Here it is all set up with the Hagen lights on top (not running):




Here is the overflow in action, just one baffle (1" off bottom). I have since moved the media tray up as high as it can go. I switched out the pump for a MaxiJet600, as well I trimmed the bottom bit off the eggcrate overflow part. Both changes resulted in a 3-4 mm lower water level in the tank. These photos are all taken before I made these changes.





And here it is in all its cloudy glory!! (lol) I have since epoxied some of the branch rocks into more vertical branch-lilke positions. The aquascape is made up of lots of small rocks on top of a bigger rock in hopes to aid in making frags later on. I added a Ricordea and 3 Zoa frags last weekend, but no pics. I'm going home for the weekend again later this morning after a short shift, and I will take some more pics. The rocks have been cooking for about 15 months, so they are stark white. I have been feeding the rocks mysis weekly though, so there should be some denitrifying bacteria still alive. The few colorful rocks in there are from my sump to seed some coralline and more bacteria. Btw, this photo is taken with a "spotlight" 50/50 bulb, not the T5s.

[mseepman]

Good to see it's on it's way. I think this tank could be a lot of fun with some of the ideas you've suggested you have for it. Have you decided on whether it will have seahorses?

[Myka]

Well, I moved most of my Zoas over and added some sand. I'm not happy with the rockscape...I might try to get my hands on some decent sized pieces of Tonga branch - I just have real small pieces. The shape of the tank is really awkward to work with being kind of L shaped because of the overflow and much bigger at the top than the bottom. I think the finer look of the Tonga branch would accent the shape better. The current rockwork I think looks too bulky and takes away from the elegant shape of the tank. Plus...too much rock in the sand. It will give me headaches with restricted flow.

Well Mark, I've been tossing around some ideas for critters. I have been looking at the tank thinking it really isn't designed with seahorses in mind, but with the new plan to go with Tonga branch rock it will be much more pony friendly. I'm not sure if seahorses mind hitching up to Zoa covered rock though...anyone know?

Here are some options I have been considering...

~ 3-5 Flaming Prawn Gobies aka Griessinger Goby OR Yasha Goby (neither are very good choices for open top tank though)
~ Bullseye or Candy Stripe Pistol shrimp
~ Pair of Seahorses (not sure which specie...something smallish for sure)

OR

~ Blue Assessor (if I manage to catch him out of my reef)
~ Maybe something yellow like a Clown Goby or Watchman?

OR

Dwarf Golden Moray (also not a good choice for open top)

OR ???

[Reef_surfer]

a small tang would look nice....... lol liking the build so far. i have moved my zoas over from my 17g into the pico but im thinking the lights are not enough for them as they are starting to reach for the light.. whats the length of the legs on your hagen light?

[bignose]

Very cool tank. Is there an advantage with flow at the bottom of the tank with the rounded sides?

[Myka]

Ya there would be...I do plan to put a powerhead down low behind the rocks, and probably eliminate the one on the top right.