Barely made the club but time for my 180 upgrade (Warning: Progress may be slow)

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Coral Snapshot Continued

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Coral Snapshot Continued

[shaggy]

Looking good

[SPotter]

hey man.....looking awesome!!!!! I will frag a piece of my green slimmer that I got from you over a year ago and send it back to you.

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by shaggy

Looking good

shaggy- Thanks for the compliments.

Originally Posted by SPotter

hey man.....looking awesome!!!!! I will frag a piece of my green slimmer that I got from you over a year ago and send it back to you.

SPotter - Steve thanks. I still have my green simmer hidden in the corner. It's in a low light area (identified by your meter) and is being stung buy my torch but it will not die. ..lol. It is still about 7 inches tall :-).

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Plumbing Repair

I have had a slight leak on the return pipe from my chiller for a long time now but it did not give me too many problems as long as the chiller was not running. I temporarily repaired it with some epoxy putty back during the fall. Over the last few days the chiller has been coming on more frequently since I had increased the light cycle. I repaired the pipe yesterday and so far no leaks.

Old


New

[nightOwl]

Well its time for another update on how things are going. This week has been full of boxes on my doorsteps.

General Updates - Memorial Day Sales

I caught a Memorial Day sale at Aquarium Specialty and was able to get a nice discount on some items I have been putting off buying. I have been trying to find 72" Super Actinic VHOs for some time locally but have had little luck. Most places kill you with shipping online so I have waited and waited. I ordered enough stuff from them to get free shipping besides the shipping for the over-sized bulbs and it worked out very well. The bulbs and EB8 were drop shipped from the respective companies.My order consisted of the following .

• 4 - 72" Super Actinic VHO bulbs
• 2 - 36" Super Actinic VHO bulbs
• 1 - Apex EB8
• 1 - ZEOvit Magnesium Complex 500ml
• 1 - ZEOvit Amino Acids High Concentrate 50ml

I have never tried the ZEOvit products but have heard great things about some of their products. Based on the dosage of the two items above they are pretty concentrated. We will see how the corals respond in the next few weeks.


This is the best packing job I have seen of bulbs in a long time. The last time I attempted to order bulbs on line the bulbs arrived smashed.






Apex EB8


Supplements


My next place was Bulk Reef Supply. They had a pretty good sale going on as well so I picked up a few things from there as well.

• GFO
• Carbon
• Phosphate test reagents
• 4 - Magnets

General Updates - Bubble Blaster Pump

My new pump was waiting on my doorstep today when I arrived home as well. I sent my old pump back to them and today I was surprised my new pump had arrived. I was starting to think it would be next week before I got my new pump back. It arrived there on Tues and I got my new one today. Pretty good turn around time. I have been feeding the tank the same as if I have had a skimmer even though I have not had a skimmer for over a week. I tested my phosphates and they were up but once I put the new skimmer pump in and plugged it in it went straight to work. I performed an 18 gallon water change tonight and will probably do another big one tomorrow. I also switched out the carbon and GFO tonight. Hopefully the phosphates will be back down in a few days. The new pumps come with a sticker on the box that says 90% efficient. I noticed that the pump looks slimmer than before. So far so good on not cutting off. While I was waiting for the pump I added some hermits and snails to the skimmer area to help keep the detritus down and get any loose pieces of food the skimmer would normally get. Before installing the skimmer today I took some time to make a snail and hermit guard.

New Packaging


New Look


Snail and Hermit Guard

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Massive Bulb Change

This morning I was pretty busy doing a tank maintenance. I changed all four of the VHOs on the main tank. The output of the existing bulbs was pretty bad. After the change it was a noticeable difference. I did a quick test with SPotter's (Steve's) meter and confirmed it. On the sandbed the average reading was around 35-40 after changing the bulbs it was around 55-60. I also increased the length of the time cycle by one hour and will eventually get back to 12 hours a day for VHOs. I changed the two VHOs on the Frag tank as well and I immediately could tell new bulbs were installed. Finally I changed the bulb for the UV sterilizer. Tomorrow will be another water change and things should be back to normal. The phosphate dropped from .63 ppm to .04 with the addition of the new GFO yesterday. Tomorrow when I do the water change I will throw out the current GFO and replace it with new GFO.

General Updates - Coral Coloration

Some corals are starting to get some of the color back and that great in my mind...LOL. A few of my corals are still looking dull but I can seen hints of color starting to come back. My rainbow monti pretty much has been bleached in the tank but tonight I noticed a few places starting to show hints getting color back. I will have to take a few top down shots to show the transition. Some of these have no change but some are starting to show promise. I also moved a couple of corals form the frag tank over to the main display. My German Blue Digi seems to shimmer under the Radium bulbs so I placed it up high to get lots of light.

Main Rock


German Blue


Not So Purple Shamrock


Unknown


Purple Tipped Acro - most of colony died this is whats left


Blue Acro - finally starting to see more blue


Unknown but spreading


Milli


Miyagi Tort


A. Exquister

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Coral Coloration Continued

Unknown but growing


Sunset


Synchiropus picturatus


Bleached Rainbow trying to make a comeback

[Ojos22]

Very impressed with your build. Very detailed. Can you give some insight on your reefing history? How long have you been in this hobby?

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by Ojos22

Very impressed with your build. Very detailed. Can you give some insight on your reefing history? How long have you been in this hobby?

Ojos22 - Thanks so much for the kind words and sorry for the late response. Things got a little busy with work and such.

I have been in the hobby since January of 2004 and it has been an amazing ride. My first tank was a 55 gallon tank and I was so excited. The guy sold me the tank, live rock, sump, overflows, salt, stand, a dog faced puffer fish, and lights all for $100. Came to my house from Maryland and set it up for me for free. I had only became seriously interested in saltwater two months earlier. From my 55 I went to a 90 and now I am here in the big boy area.

I joined Reef Central in March of 2004 and the information I have received and the friends I have met has been incredible. People are up all times of the day and night so it feels good to ask a question and have a response in a reasonable amount of time. I have sold as well as purchased from fellow reefers and so far so good.

I try to do a lot of research on here and my local club and compile as much information as I can about different things. So far I have been pretty successful but along the way I have had a few disasters as well. If you are just joining the hobby (not sure by your post count) read and research as much as you can and most of the time you will be successful . Any more questions feel free to ask. One of the best things about this forum is information sharing . Thanks again for looking at my build .

[nightOwl]

General Updates - New Fish

After more than a year of waiting and searching for this fish I finally saw it in my LFS on Saturday. A Spotted Bristletooth/Indian Gold Ring Bristletooth (Ctenochaetus truncatus ). I rushed home and set up my QT and picked the fish up yesterday. I have not seen many of them but they are pretty and unique to me. It is small, shy, and a fast swimmer. It is still getting use to the tank and me, but has been busy today. One cool thing about the bristletooth is they always look like they are smiling.

During Drip Acclimation


Before Going In

General Updates - Coral Coloration

It is truly amazing how much light some corals need and how quickly once they receive the light they color up. They are not very visible in the picture but the green polyps are starting to come back.



I am hoping it will get back to how it use to look years ago...

[SPotter]

thats a sharp looking fish! I am sure your corals will return to their glory with the new lights and that special food you put in your tank!

[Ojos22]

Originally Posted by nightOwl

Ojos22 - Thanks so much for the kind words and sorry for the late response. Things got a little busy with work and such.

I have been in the hobby since January of 2004 and it has been an amazing ride. My first tank was a 55 gallon tank and I was so excited. The guy sold me the tank, live rock, sump, overflows, salt, stand, a dog faced puffer fish, and lights all for $100. Came to my house from Maryland and set it up for me for free. I had only became seriously interested in saltwater two months earlier. From my 55 I went to a 90 and now I am here in the big boy area.

I joined Reef Central in March of 2004 and the information I have received and the friends I have met has been incredible. People are up all times of the day and night so it feels good to ask a question and have a response in a reasonable amount of time. I have sold as well as purchased from fellow reefers and so far so good.

I try to do a lot of research on here and my local club and compile as much information as I can about different things. So far I have been pretty successful but along the way I have had a few disasters as well. If you are just joining the hobby (not sure by your post count) read and research as much as you can and most of the time you will be successful . Any more questions feel free to ask. One of the best things about this forum is information sharing . Thanks again for looking at my build .

I would consider myself a beginner. I have had in the past a FOWLR and a few small soft corals but never got into reef. I only finally set my tank back up a few months ago(after being down for over 4 years) and have been doing a lot of research and admiring of peoples tanks here on Reef Central like yours. It is good advice to do your research and I know I have A LOT to learn but I feel like I am much more capable of taking care of the tank this time around. Unfortunately I know nothing about corals. I have had my tank up and running for less than 4 months now and I am already fighting a few battles with sick fish, cyano, and now a bacteria bloom.

Thank you for the inspiration and keep the pictures coming!

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by SPotter

thats a sharp looking fish! I am sure your corals will return to their glory with the new lights and that special food you put in your tank!

Steve - I am hoping that will be the case. I went by the Asian Food Store tonight to pick up some ingredients for my special delight...LOL.

Originally Posted by Ojos22

I would consider myself a beginner. I have had in the past a FOWLR and a few small soft corals but never got into reef. I only finally set my tank back up a few months ago(after being down for over 4 years) and have been doing a lot of research and admiring of peoples tanks here on Reef Central like yours. It is good advice to do your research and I know I have A LOT to learn but I feel like I am much more capable of taking care of the tank this time around. Unfortunately I know nothing about corals. I have had my tank up and running for less than 4 months now and I am already fighting a few battles with sick fish, cyano, and now a bacteria bloom.

Thank you for the inspiration and keep the pictures coming!

Ojos22 - Sounds like you are on the right track with the research. Confidence is a big part of it as well. I had a few people try to talk me out of buying my first tank. They told me how hard it was. I find it really easy once your get past the initial few months. Then it is just maintenance and enjoyment. SPS are my favorite coral or should I say the ones I have had the most success with. For them stable water parameters are mostly what is needed along with ample light. I have tried zoas, palys, and acans. And have a few in my tank now.

What sickness does your fish have?
How often are you doing water changes?
What type of circulation do you have in your tank?
What type of lighting and how old are you bulbs?

I hope to finish a top down box this weekend so hopefully next week new pictures will come .

[Ojos22]

Originally Posted by nightOwl

Ojos22 - Sounds like you are on the right track with the research. Confidence is a big part of it as well. I had a few people try to talk me out of buying my first tank. They told me how hard it was. I find it really easy once your get past the initial few months. Then it is just maintenance and enjoyment. SPS are my favorite coral or should I say the ones I have had the most success with. For them stable water parameters are mostly what is needed along with ample light. I have tried zoas, palys, and acans. And have a few in my tank now.

What sickness does your fish have?
How often are you doing water changes?
What type of circulation do you have in your tank?
What type of lighting and how old are you bulbs?

I hope to finish a top down box this weekend so hopefully next week new pictures will come .

I am not sure what the sickness is yet with the fish, I have a copperband butterfly in the tank to eat up all of the aptasia which he is not, he might be eating the small ones because I am not see any new aptasia surface. Anyway he has something black on his one fin and it keeps growing, it looks like a parasite but he is not acting abnormal, it kept getting bigger and bigger and eventually came off. But a new one is starting and it looks like his fin has either been nipped at(mistaken for food) or it is eating his fin what ever is on there.

I am doing water changes around 25 -30 gallons in my 130 gallon tank every 2 weeks. I have one MP40 in there and just bought a second MP40 and a brand new Reef Octopus (rated at 150 gallons) last night. I replaced my Kent Marine Nautalis skimmer which was really hard to dial in. This new one is awesome.

I am getting plagued by Cyano, my phosphates are high 25-50 ppm and I cannot figure out why. The only thing I can think of is that I was not rinsing my frozen mysis(I am now). I bought a phosban reactor last week and added these pellets that are supposed to create bacteria to help reduce the phosphate. I was also told to add bacteria to help kick start that and I had a bacteria bloom in the tank that came up over the last 3 days. I think the worst is over with that and the new skimmer and added water flow will help.

As for light I have 4 Kessil A150s (10k) hanging over the tank. They were purchase in Feb when I set up the tank. I don't have a PAR Meter to take any readings but until the bacteria bloom everything seemed to be doing great in terms of color and growth. My zoo frag has multiplied from 12 polyps to like over 20 polyps in the last 2 months.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Also if I don't want to take over your thread with what I am doing wrong as a beginner so if you want to PM me that is ok too.

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by Ojos22

I am not sure what the sickness is yet with the fish, I have a copperband butterfly in the tank to eat up all of the aptasia which he is not, he might be eating the small ones because I am not see any new aptasia surface. Anyway he has something black on his one fin and it keeps growing, it looks like a parasite but he is not acting abnormal, it kept getting bigger and bigger and eventually came off. But a new one is starting and it looks like his fin has either been nipped at(mistaken for food) or it is eating his fin what ever is on there.

I am doing water changes around 25 -30 gallons in my 130 gallon tank every 2 weeks. I have one MP40 in there and just bought a second MP40 and a brand new Reef Octopus (rated at 150 gallons) last night. I replaced my Kent Marine Nautalis skimmer which was really hard to dial in. This new one is awesome.

I am getting plagued by Cyano, my phosphates are high 25-50 ppm and I cannot figure out why. The only thing I can think of is that I was not rinsing my frozen mysis(I am now). I bought a phosban reactor last week and added these pellets that are supposed to create bacteria to help reduce the phosphate. I was also told to add bacteria to help kick start that and I had a bacteria bloom in the tank that came up over the last 3 days. I think the worst is over with that and the new skimmer and added water flow will help.

As for light I have 4 Kessil A150s (10k) hanging over the tank. They were purchase in Feb when I set up the tank. I don't have a PAR Meter to take any readings but until the bacteria bloom everything seemed to be doing great in terms of color and growth. My zoo frag has multiplied from 12 polyps to like over 20 polyps in the last 2 months.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Also if I don't want to take over your thread with what I am doing wrong as a beginner so if you want to PM me that is ok too.

Ojos22 - Just hopped on and saw your post...I will shot you some suggestions on the issues you are having via pm. Hopefully it will get you going in the right direction.

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Rainbow Monti

I finally got a chance to play with my old top down box. I am in the process of making a new prototype so I will not have to modify how I use my old box. The other day I showed a picture of the color starting to come back and mentioned the green polyps that were starting to show. Here are a two pictures of how things are coming along. The raised areas on the coral are starting to gain color fast.

[kdpuffer]

Hey, i just read through your thread and your tank is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by kdpuffer

Hey, i just read through your thread and your tank is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

kdpuffer - Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully you read something that was beneficial to you.

General Updates - Fish Jerky

Routine is one thing you expect from your fish in this hobby. Today when I came home from work I was expecting to see my wrasse doing his normal dance in front of the tank flashing and saying "feed me feed me" as he swam back and forth in front of the glass. After about 20 mins of searching and looking in the tank in all the normal hiding places I started to get worried. An hour later I was frantically searching around the the tank. I found him laying on the floor near the chiller all dried up. I am still unsure how he was able to jump out. As a result I need to rethink my whole multiple flasher idea and or revamp my screen cover. I always sucks loosing a fish but even more when it could have been prevented. R.I.P.

[Ojos22]

I am sorry to hear about the wrasse. Do you have a top over your tank?

[poakley723]

Got all the way to page 8 of the post but it is time to go home so I will finish reading there! Very nice build. Have to finish reading to page 8 is just barely where fish start coming into the picture!

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by Ojos22

I am sorry to hear about the wrasse. Do you have a top over your tank?

Ojos22- I thought I had the tank covered pretty good but wrasses are known escape artist. I am going to revamp my cover. Hopefully the new and improved cover will be more wrasse proof.

Originally Posted by poakley723

Got all the way to page 8 of the post but it is time to go home so I will finish reading there! Very nice build. Have to finish reading to page 8 is just barely where fish start coming into the picture!

poakley723- Thanks for the compliments. You came at a good time. A new fish will be added over the next few weeks. I have my eye on a new fish but have to wait for my QT to free up.

[nightOwl]

General Updates - New Frags

Back on 6/9 I picked up two new frags. I wanted to see if they were going to keep their color before posting pics and so far so good. In the next week or two I am going to try to find some old shots and show some progression/regression shots of existing corals in the tank.

Blue Milli


Green unknown

General Updates - Spotted Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus truncatus)

I have decided that the bristletooth looks healthy enough to join general population. I drained the water from the QT set up and will run a vinegar bath in the next day or so. Qt was set up the same as before. A 20 gallon tank, 10 gallon sump, heater, AquaC 120, ammonia alert, ATO, and cover. The only thing I did differently this time was not run a light since it received light from he main tank and frag tank.

He is still shy but hopefully he will improve with more hiding places and space.

Good riddance QT





Hello cage...



He did not seem to happy about the cage but I think its best until him and the Yellow Tang - (Zebrasoma flavescens) get use to each other. After about 15 mins of hiding he began to come out and the yellow tang was instantly curious. Within minutes of identifying each other as tangs they both began to do what I describe as back it up...LOL. I guess they were not aware they are separated by plastic. It was funny to see. I am glad I decided to put him in the cage as I he does not seem to be backing down at all during the displays of dominance. I will monitor their aggression towards each other. For such a small fella he is very feisty. e

[BowieReefer84]

Henry, what size BB pump is that? What was wrong with the old one?

I picked up a Reef Octopus 8" skimmer body, and BB3000 for my new setup. Just curious as what I should look out for. I bought it used, so the pump has a year or two on it...

Looking good as always.