400 gallon project

[untamed]

Lately, the water has not looked very clear. It was very difficult to tell if it was filled with small particles or small air bubbles. I decided that I might have a small plumbing leak in one of the closed loops, so I pulled the pump out to have a look.

The impeller was FULL of snail shells (14 in all). After cleaning those out, I pulled the other CL pump and it had another 8 shells in it. My snails must be breeding somehow, as I can't remember even having added that many snails in the first place!

Removing the shells solved the water clarity problem. The shells in the pump were pulverizing the water so much that they were causing cavitation to occur right around the impellers. So...mind your pumps!

Now that the water was clear again, good time for some more photos. These include a few of fish that I rarely get a clear photo of...

[Sebae again]

Great pics! Everything looks healthy and happy.

[Lance]

Tank looks great Brad! Nice pics too.

[lastlight]

Wow man things sure did turn around it's nice seeing so many nice big colonies and they look great too. What's the orange covering across that one big round boulder? Is it some sort of encrusting coral or what?

[fishoholic]

Wow looks great

[scherzo]

I've seen this tank in person and the pictures do not do it justice.

Brad's fish are GIGANTIC! Very healthy and active... loved seeing it up close.

[untamed]

Originally Posted by hillegom

What kind of snail is that in the pump?
Tank looking great!

I don't know. I can say that this kind of snail is ALWAYS the kind of shell that I find in my pumps, although they are usually 1/4 the size of this particular one. I believe they are a carnivorous type because they are always first on the scene of another snail's death.

Originally Posted by Travis

Love the tank!
but i was wondering how u like the g-6 protien skimmer?

G6 has long been replaced. My current skimmer is double the volume of the G6 and nearly 2 feet taller. You can read about that install. It started on pg 84!
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...=28436&page=84

[MitchM]

Beautiful!


Mitch

[untamed]

While I was looking at the tank today, I thought..."there still seems to be some microbubbles floating around...." Not nearly as many as a few days ago, but still some.

So I decided to take apart my return pump, even though it had been completely cleaned out only 2 months ago.

Here is what I found. I believe I have located the final source of microbubbles in the tank. The intake strainer in my sump had become detached and I didn't think it would matter. I guess it does.

[untamed]

Originally Posted by lastlight

What's the orange covering across that one big round boulder? Is it some sort of encrusting coral or what?

There are two orange encrusting corals on that front rock. The top is some sort of monti(?) that flouresces beautifully. The sides are a fire coral that is native to Florida where the LD came from.

The fire coral is spreading rapidly around the entire tank...even up the back wall. Fortunately, it has no defense against any acro that wants space, so the rest of the coral holds it at bay.

Unfortunately, the gorgonians do not have any defense against the fire coral and one of my gorgs became completely overgrown by it. This seems like the natural behaviour of the fire coral as both the gorg and the fire coral come from the same ecosystem.

The orange encrusting monti is actually doing a service by surrounding that patch of gorgs, preventing the fire coral from reaching them. If not for that good fortune, I would have lost all those gorgonians to the fire coral long ago. The monti is also trying to grow up the gorgonians, but is doing so at a MUCH slower rate. The fire coral can fully encrust a 6" gorgonian in less than one week. It looks like it will take the monti years to accomplish that.



If you aren't a diver, I will add that fire coral is so named because you don't want to touch it! It has zapped me a few times, but it is only mildly painful.