Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[melev]

And here is a small cowrie. I have the large one already the size of a lemon (Tiger Cowrie). This one is more like the size of an olive. Often you see these types of shells used in a necklace, although they are smaller in size. I'm expecting this to work on algae, including filamentous in nature (such as GHA or Bryopsis).

[dcombs44]

Originally posted by melev
I believe it would be possible to set up a nice mixed reef tank as long as you skip the SPS entirely. LPS are relatively tough, especially since their core/stem/branches are calcified. The mushrooms can touch this and not affect them.

Clams need good lighting, filterfeed from the water, and can be relatively maintenance free.

I think your primary goal is to set up a tank that is self-sufficient. It should have everything planned out so it can sustain itself for three days unattended. That would mean multiple sources of flow, battery back up, timers, auto feeders, auto top off, and possibly computer controlled (such as "tank too hot --> Shut off lights"). If you can get the environment relatively well planned, any livestock you add should be safe. Separate circuit breakers to split the load helps to assure some stuff runs if a single breaker trips.

I have left my tank unattended for virtually 10 days in a row, back in September. I still had someone stop by daily to check that all equipment functioned and to feed. I did lose one fish in that time, but everything else survived without my interaction.

I already have an auto-topoff, what I think is plenty of light, my lights are on timers, I have a clip on fan that runs over the surface when the lights come on and one that runs continually. I would like to maybe get some probes that can be monitored online. My biggest problem is the breaker situation. My whole system is on one breaker and I live in an apartment so I have no really opportunity to change this. Maybe i could run an extension cord or something from another room to a powerhead to ensure that there is always something oxygenating the water. Thanks again for the help, that's plenty for me to think about.

[jnarowe]

crabs are cute but...

[Hop]

Originally posted by jnarowe
crabs are cute but...

But this one screams!!!! "Can we keep him? PLEASE PLEASE... We'll feed him and everything!

[jnarowe]

I know, I know...I'd keep it too. I have a couple of red crabs in my overflow.

[dcombs44]

I have a lovely gorilla crab having a field day in my sump!

[kendog261]

Mark

You said "If the tank is large enough, it should be okay." I have a 30 Gallon Cube wih no other shrimp, some snails and red leg hermits. will that be okay.

[Lunchbucket]

cowries are freaking wierd!!

nice pics melev!!

Lunchbucket

[melev]

Originally posted by kendog261
Mark

You said "If the tank is large enough, it should be okay." I have a 30 Gallon Cube wih no other shrimp, some snails and red leg hermits. will that be okay.

I had a CBS in my 29g for over 2 years. It ate a few other shrimp in that time. I had a gorgeous cleaner shrim that stayed at the opposite end, always circling to stay away from the CBS. The day I tore down the 29g to transfer the livestock to the 280g, I found the CBS red handed with my beautiful cleaner shrimp torn in two. If the transfer had been done the day before, I think I'd still have them both.

[melev]

More pictures - how about at night?

Here's the new bubble coral that looked like ricordia. I finally moved it up to the main reef. It looks like it's on fire a little bit in this shot.


And here it is with more light.



Here's the pink Branching Hammer at night.


And during the daytime, same coral:



Here is some Frogspawn that I've been banking for a club member. It finally got moved up into the reef tonight. I ziptied it to a piece of LR to keep it off the sand. I don't have a day time shot, but it is a full ball during the day. It's been in the prop section for months.



And here are some pictures from today. The A. nobilis frag is growing three tips, as I mentioned a couple of days ago. They are already more noticeable.


The Pavona has some interesting growth.

[jnarowe]

that pavona is a trip.

[melev]

This is a pink tabling Acropora sp. It wasn't doing too well, but seems better lately.


I thought I'd look around for the new cowrie today. How fun that was, seeking a 1" shell in a tank that is 64,800 cubic inches of space filled with LR and crevices galore.


The Tyree, shot under 20,000K lighting - one MH had shut off, so the colors are a bit off.


Green Hammer, with a bubble (where the head will split into two).


Pocillopora. It's been growing steadily for a long time.


This evening I took some time to clean out some clutter. I pulled out the orange M. digitata that had some button polyps growing too closely. After cutting those away, I glued some broken branches into place. A few mushrooms were removed as well. I'm tired of stinging stuff, and remove all I can when I do make the time to pull stuff out.

I removed a huge rock covered in large polyped zoanthids, and have to decide if I'll part it out or sell it as one piece. The rock had to weigh at least 5 lbs. Another 10 Devil's Hand frags were put in the prop section.

The tank should have a slightly new look to it tomorrow with the minor changes.

[drummereef]

Those nightime pics are tight! ...like i'm saying the daylight pics aren't All the pics are great!!!!

[antesco]

A M A Z I N G nightime pics Marc. Quite an inspiration !!!

You didn't use a flash, did you ?

It seems as if you were spotting light with a torch ?

[melev]

Correct. I used Shutter Priority of 10, f/2.8, ISO 400, and a LED flashlight to target the subject.

[melev]

I woke up to a strange sucking sound this morning. It's funny how we know instantly from a room away if our reef isn't working correctly.

I got up fearing the worst (that's usually our paranoia kicking in), and looked at the tank. Full of water. (check) Water moving. (check) No fish on substrate. (check) Enter fishroom, all equipment running as it should be. (check) Floor dry. (check)

Study the first overflow. Water level constant. (check) Move on to the other overflow, and the water level is rising and falling. (Aha!)

Knowing that a Durso standpipe can clog over time usually with salt creep, I took 30 seconds to decide if I wanted to deal with it now or go back to sleep. Finally I took off the black acrylic cover that keeps the overflow shaded, and reached up to feel for the vent hole. To my surprise, a small cerith or hermit was the blockage, and this is easily 3" above the water line. I tossed it back in the reef, put the cover back into position, and went back to bed.

[melev]

Here is the frogspawn during the daytime. (Actinics were off in these pictures)




And the new bubble coral.


And the pink Millepora looks better now that I cut off some neighboring Scripps branches.

[jnarowe]

Cool Marc. That is exactly what my hammer looks like with the bubble. It's a bit freaky looking! So are you removing all button type polyps from your system?

I have some in my system and I have moved them away from SPS. I find that the polps don't do well against aiptasia though, so in the scheme of things, the stings vary greatly from one species to another...On the top are aiptasia, then polyps, LPS, and then SPS? Is that correct?

[melev]

If you look to the right of this image, these are what I was removing specifically. The brown buttons, as well as any mushrooms that were unfortunate enough to be on the same rock.


Stings vary from coral type to coral type. For example, and Acan can do serious damage to a neighboring SPS or LPS, and a mushroom can do the same to almost anything. Mushrooms can keep Xenia in check. And then you have anemone stings that can kill whatever is in their path.

Aiptasia are problematic, but I don't recall having serious losses due to them. They are just ugly, and do a little damage to what they can touch. I'd say mushrooms were the bigger destroyer. And then there is Anthellia, which can overgrow a healthy coral quickly, smothering it as it grows larger...

For the most part, try to keep space between all corals when you can.

[jnarowe]

Yeah I have some of those brown buttons. I don't have any mushrooms in my system at all, based on past posts by you and others. I have no problem keeping space between my corals for the sheer size of my display, but when I look at tanks like yours, I see a lot of close together specimens. I am working on a philosophy of growing some very large dominant SPS colonies with a few "weeds" as ground cover.

It is hard to pass up buyig a new coral, but I think moderation will be my best technique in the long run. Because of the 35" depth of my tank, I have the opportunity to grow some fairly large coral heads. The digitata, mille, and acro heads I have are growing quickly and I am getting a glimpse of what the tank will look like in a year. Today I will work on cleaning the glass and hopefully taking some pics.

[melev]

Yes, as you look at my tank, there are lots of areas where corals are near each other. Some can live in semi-harmony, others cook the weaker one. Mushrooms are just a plague from my 29g, unfortunately.

Even the beautiful lavendar frillies are eating up some great real estate, but they are so pretty. Plus one clown hosts in them, and I don't want to take away its home.

Something I'm giving serious consideration to is setting up a secondary tank in the front doorway of my home, which will tie into the main reef/sump. I saw the ideal setup on reefvideos.com, and would love to do something similar. All I would need is to run the plumbing through two walls to the sump, and run some electrical through the same walls. The rest would be cared for in the tank.

If you want to see the tank I fell in love with, look for the video that says Ricordia & Seahorse tank.

[jnarowe]

very cool concept. I have considered a "show" refugium but haven't gotten my mind around it yet. The tilted viewing pane is very interesting. I wonder if the reduced surface area affects ORP?

[melev]

I doubt it would matter, because the water is constantly being replaced with new reef water from the main system.

[Lunchbucket]

nice pics!!

glad nothing was wrong w/ the tank. i HATE waking up or coming home to a dark tank or when you know something isn't right. your heart goes crazy

Lunchbucket

[kendog261]

Great photos Mark . Happy Turkey Day