Colleen & Scotts 100g build

[Brighteyes_13]

After 7 years of being tankless my hubby and i decided to start a new build together. This will be the first build ive been responsible for where ive had the time and money to do it exactly the way i want.

At first we were thinking of going with a 30-40 cube all in one setup, but i have always enjoyed having a larger tank. I like the idea of having room for my own choices on filtration and water management.

My previous setups have included a 60g that melted down due to shattered heater and no gfci protection, and a 90g shut down due to life situations.

So Following the trend this time we decided on a custom 48"l by 20"w by 24"t tank. External overflow on the end to allow for use as a peninsula or two long sided viewing.
After posting looking for information on where to shop here in Calgary i went to Concept and ordered tank, stand and sump.

So now while im waiting to have my tank built i've started my shopping and wishlist.

For lighting i am sold on a kessil ap700. I love the all in one controlability. with having a longer tank i think i am going to mount it slightly down toward the non overflow side.

For a return pump so far ive heard good things about Sicce syncra silent 4.0 or Eheim compact+ 5000. Both have a reputation of being quiet with great water moving capacity. and are cheap enough keeping an extra on hand for cleaning and backup is practical.

For in tank flow i like the looks and idea of the Maxspect Gyre XF230 or 250, suplimented with a smaller powerhead.

For skimmer i got a great deal on a bubble magus.

Scott is pretty handy with electronics and is planning on building a controller for the system with display for the hood.


So, any feedback is gladly accepted and appreciated.

[maron6977]

I had concept build my peninsula tank . I built my stand & canopy . Only regret - should have paid the extra & had the 2 vertical glass corners polished. Don't get me wrong , it's a nice tank , but that would have finished it off really nice . Considering the rest of the glass edges are covered with wood trim.

[Myka]

Sounds like the start of an awesome tank! I love the dimensions! I have an Eheim Compact 3000 on my tank and love it. It's so quiet that I have to look for water flow when I turn it back on to see if it's running because I can't hear it start up.

I'm not a fan of LEDs though. Maybe you could be persuaded to T5? :D

[Brighteyes_13]

I had concept build my peninsula tank . I built my stand & canopy . Only regret - should have paid the extra & had the 2 vertical glass corners polished. Don't get me wrong , it's a nice tank , but that would have finished it off really nice . Considering the rest of the glass edges are covered with wood trim.

Funnily enough we did decide to get the 2 vertical edges polished. I'll have to post pics when we pick it up.

[Brighteyes_13]

in the past ive run MH with t5 to supliment. I always liked the shimmer, and i never could get used to the flatness of the t5 only. i may again supliment with t5 if i dont find the light coverage to be enough. For the price of fixtures i really dont think i'll go straight t5 though.

[maron6977]

I run Kessils with T5's . Works pretty good & still have the shimmer

[Skimmer Juice]

I run Kessils with T5's . Works pretty good & still have the shimmer

same here I run 3 t5 bulbs and 3 a360we kessils . Best of both worlds and the pendants really made it easy to mount them with the t5's . Tank sounds awesome I have always loved the look of peninsula tanks cant wait for pics :biggrin:

[tang daddy]

I already had the shimmer of mh but not the pop so I recently added a couple a360 and it's looking great, you can't go wrong with a couple t5 and LEDs...

I am just wondering why you opted for a 24" gig tank instead of 24 wide?

A deeper dimension and lower tank is easier to work on and better to view scape wise....unless room was the issue.

The kessil ap400 looks like a decent light forsure, I've checked some of the reviews on you tube but I don't think one light is going to span 4'.

If I ever did it again and had a 48"x 24"x 20" tall I would run a 8 bulb dimmable ati with 2 kessils a360.

Looks like you're off to a great start...

[Brighteyes_13]

With our current living space set up we were limited to 20" depth. Our original design was only 48x20x20. With the ap700 needing minimum 15-18" for light spread we were expecting a 18-20" hood. I thought that a 30" stand, topped with a 20" tank, topped with a 20" hood would look a bit off. I talked the Hubby into going 4" deeper. Personally i could have just gone with mounting brackets on the kessil but he insists on a hood. He hates the look of wires, and is planning to install a touchscreen for the controller in the hood.
I dont know exactly if it will make much difference in my viewing space, but im ok with my height.

you never know... i may hate it and redesign the stand or tank lol.

[Myka]

I like the dimensions. I prefer deeper tanks rather than wide and shallow. If you can get with deep and wide then that's the ultimate! :D My tank is 21" high (21" wide), and I don't think I'd ever go shallower than this ever again. I preferred my previous tank's dimensions of 18" wide and 24" tall. I think yours being 20" wide will be even better. :)

[maron6977]

I agree the 24"H is good . Keep in mind: 24" overall . My tank bottom is approx 7/8" thick , euro brace - 1/2" & water doesn't run right to the top of tank .
My tank is 24"H , but just over 21" overall water viewing !

[tang daddy]

I guess I just have short arms... 24" deep tanks I feel like I need the ehiem tong to get to the back, sure my fingers touch the bottom but if you're at the front of the tank reaching to the back your ears get wet.

20" tall is good IMO but I guess I like the rock off the glass so it's easier to do maintenance hence going with a wider tank and keeping the rock work in the middle like an island. Ideally 48" long 30" wide and 20" tall is prime.

When will the tank be built? I guess your expecting to get it wet after the new year?

[Brighteyes_13]

The tank was ordered last week. Still another couple before I get to pick it up. I'm expecting I won't have it running til the new year as my big expenses are still coming up with lights and live rock.


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[Brighteyes_13]

So aparently i dont want to wait until new years for my tank, LOL.

Yesterday i picked up salt and bins, and a couple powerheads to mix. Today i picked up 100lbs of liverock. I figured i'll let it sit in bins with a powerhead for a week or two until i get my tank. It was less of an expense than i was budgeting for so its moved things ahead a bit quicker than i planned.

New timetable is tank set up with water and rock by december, and inhabitants by mid january. The rock is fully cured so i could move faster but i want an opportunity to set it up and adjust things if needed without disturbing inhabitants.

Also, Scotts Arduino arrived this week. Today hes toying with the programming and getting familiar with the setup. I dont know anything about it, but hes happy :)

[maron6977]

Just to warn you , don't hold your breath for tank to be done on time . Just my experience. Worth the wait & I wouldn't Rush them , but add a month on to their time frame !

[Brighteyes_13]

Fingers are crossed at least. They've had the order approved since the 1st. 3-4 weeks puts me end November. I'd prefer not to leave the rock in the bin for much longer than that. Any tips for keeping it healthy like that?


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[maron6977]

The rock will be fine , with heater & power heads . I had mine in a 1/2 barrel for a couple months , it gave me a chance to full clean & check parameters of the rock - no phosphate, etc

[Brighteyes_13]

im so excited. Jay sent me a couple shots of my tank. I'll be picking it up by next weekend. Hopefully have it wet by the weekend after!

[Brighteyes_13]

Looks like my tank was ready sooner than expected. Had to borrow some muscles from my cousin to get it down the stairs as my hubby is gibbled with something wrong with his ribs. So I think I'll still give it 2 weeks to fully cure the silicone and put together the plumbing.

Also, apparently all my stress about high ammonia in my live rock bin was all for nothing. They've dropped to less than 1 ppm. Did a second test to be sure. When I tested nitrites it was still reading zero though. I think maybe my nitrite test kit is no good.15548


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[maron6977]

Nice , glad to hear they delivered on time .

[Brighteyes_13]

It must be all those fingers and toes i had crossed ;)

Its nice to have it in the house already. It gives me a chance to look at how i want to lay out my electrical and plumbing. I was surprised exactly how big the sump was lol, didnt pay much attention when ordering it. It was a pretty snug fit inside the stand. Barely a few mil front to back to spare. I think i'll have to build a little shelf above the return chamber on the sump to store a couple cleaning supplies, and house my electrical.

If anyone has any advice on the electrical my ears are open. As of now, we have plans of a 12x12x4 control junction box, housing the electronic components my husband is putting together. The part i get to play with is the relay interface for the controller. The relays will power 4 or 5 duplex receptacles. The idea was to use 2 circuits and split up the loads to ensure if one trips the tank will have a better chance to survive.

As for GFCI protection im deciding whether i want to go with inline protection or receptacle protection.

[Brighteyes_13]

i love my Hubby, he knows im itching to get the tank wet, even just to put the liverock in and circulate it in there.

I came home to find a new inhabitant.

[Brighteyes_13]

Wet test is a success! Picked up my pump and plugged it all in today to a temporary power bar. Added sand and right now its a cloudy mess but im sure by morning it will look a whole lot clearer.

The hubby is a bit concerned by the noise level of the skimmer. I might be looking to pick up something a bit quieter unless anyone has any tips to quieting pump hum.

[Brighteyes_13]

yesterday the silt all filtered out, and today the rock went in.
I tried to leave lots of hole for fish to swim around while still leaving lots of surface area for future corals.
Tomorrow i'll start re-testing the water and see what kind of cycle i get.

we managed to get the skimmer a bit quieter but its still by far the noiseist part of the setup.

I think i need to go shopping today, pick up a float mag, and a loc-line nozzle. Im also looking forward to getting the powerhead off the side and getting a gyre in there but that will have to wait until after christmas.

[Skimmer Juice]

is it pump noise or drain noise from the skimmer?

[Brighteyes_13]

i think its pump noise. When we first plugged it in it was a loud vibration hum. now its quieted a bit. i personally think its a bit too big for my system anyways.

Its a bubble magus G9, and i was considering a curve 5. lol i wish there was a way to volume test pumps.

[maron6977]

Nice aquascape
Glass cleaner - check out the : Tunze strong

[Brighteyes_13]

so the tank has been circulating for a week, with no bump in any readings. I think the month in the bins did the job for cycling my rock. Scott and i spent the last few days assembling the hood and today we are sealing the inside surfaces of the hood and stand wood. Tomorrow we will be siliconing any remaining gaps and seams and mounting a t5 dual strip to get a bit of life in the tank. While taking a break from sealing the hood i spent some time searching for life in the tank. A little feather duster survived the curing cycle. I think i scared Scott when i was telling him to hurry and come look. I was so concerned i had cooked all the little life off the rocks that i was thrilled to see something alive in there. I also noticed a bit of green algae growing on one of the rocks and on the cord to one of the powerheads. Its amazing what can survive through such a harsh process as curing.
I guess the next thing we will be looking for is the diatom bloom. Up until now the tank has had no dedicated lights over it, just ambient lighting from the room.
If the parameters stay consistent we'll pick up a small clean up crew to keep the algae in control and maybe a small fish sometime before christmas.

[Myka]

i was considering a curve 5.

Too small for your tank imo. I'd use Curve 7, or equivalent DC.

I like the aquascape, looks good!

[Brighteyes_13]

Thanks guys :). We have gotten very used to the pump sound of the skimmer. It's a large skimmer and doesn't pull out much (yet) but will handle anything I throw at it in the future.


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[Brighteyes_13]

and again im thinking of ditching this skimmer for a different one. GRRRRR.

Took out my filter socks to be cleaned and put in the new ones. Hubby noticed the skimmer going nuts. now nothing i do will slow down the skimmer. its bubbling out of control, causing micro bubbles in the tank and only producing clear, clean appearing bubbles to overflow into collection cup. it totally fills up within half an hour.

Left it off last night to see if it was just something from the socks, and plugged it back in today. Still going nuts :/
Pulled it out and cleaned it best i could and still bubbling over.

At this point i dont know if i should just let it bubble and dispose of whatever it collects or turn it off.

The crazy part is yesterday morning i had it turned all the way closed to try and get some skim with no success, now i cant open it enough to get it to slow down.

Are all skimmers this finicky?

[WarDog]

The one thing i have noticed with people with new tanks is they expect the skimmer to work flawlessly from day one. Firstly, there may not be enough junk in the water for it to even remove. My skimmer on my first tank took about a month before it started making skimmate of any measurable amount. Secondly, tuning a new skimmer on a new tank can take weeks. Make a very small adjustment and leave it for 24 hours, then adjust again and repeat. Also, make sure you are running it at the recommended depth. Thats half the battle right there. Good luck.

[Brighteyes_13]

lol, not concerned about flawless... the skimmer will skim when there's something to skim. however i am concerned that it goes from acting like there's nothing there to overflowing within seconds. What would cause that besides a major change in the water or setup?

The skimmer has been running in the tank for 2 and a bit weeks. It sits in 7.5" of water. I didnt have any instructions included with it when i got it but from what i can find online its best at 9.8" of water. If anything it should be running dryer, not wetter.
When i first fired it up i left it totally open (max flow min skim). there was silt in the water that it was helping pull out. over the first 5 days or so i emptied it of silty settlings i think twice. During week 2 i noticed my bubble level was sitting significantly lower in the chamber so i adjusted it a little bit per day. By Monday night it was at min flow max skim and the bubbles were still just barely coming up to the top of the cone/bottom of the neck. I was fine that it wasn't collecting. its a new tank like you mentioned and there's minimal algae in the water column or oils from feeding or bioload. I did want to make sure that if any started i would be on top of it.

What i am trying to understand is why it flipped on me in a matter of literal seconds. Id like to prevent from happening like that again. Id hate to have real skimmate reintroduced to the tank from an overflowing cup for some ridiculous reason that i didn't think of.

[iamfrontosa]

Maybe you stirred up detritus in the sump when you took out the old filter socks? Did you wash the new filter socks before you put them in? Are your new filter socks ones that you used previously ??

I always had similar issue with my skimmer whenever I do water change with Aquavitro salt mix.

[maron6977]

When ever I've had a problem like that it's usually from changing water height in sump , or using chlorine remover & I think new filter socks (but been a while). I just **** the cup on top of the skimmer (so it doesn't overflow in 2min) it will usually still skim the stuff out & run smooth after 24hrs.
Love the thread but let's face it - not enough pics . Lol
Did you enclose stand yet ? That will quiet down a lot of noise .

[maron6977]

Really !!!!
Another word for the **** , tilt .

[Myka]

Changing filter socks usually causes the skimmer to go nuts, but it usually calms down in about 15 minutes. When I change socks I clean the skimmer first, then remove the plug in the skimmer cup. I leave it like that for 15 mins, and then it's back to normal and I put the plug back in. I do find that using socks causes much more fuss than using filter pads.

[Brighteyes_13]

Last week after picking up the hermits we started feeding the tank as well. My levels all stayed right on track so this weekend brought a few new inhabitants into the tank. 2 clowns and chromis, along with last weeks GSP patch.

Today i also got the christmas present of a diatom bloom in the tank lol. It came sooner than i was expecting but none the less it has begun.

Last weekend also had the finishing of the hood. We still need to attach the decorative trim to complete it but it is functional.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3153.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3153.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/image12.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/image12.jpg.html)

[Myka]

Seems like a bit of a strong diatom bloom. Have you checked nitrate and phosphate with good quality kits? Just make sure they aren't too high or you will be dealing with hair algae in no time.

[WarDog]

Love the aquascape!

[DKoKoMan]

Aquascapeis nice and clean! Did you cement or epoxy the LR?

[Brighteyes_13]

Thanks :)

definitely need to snag nitrate and phosphate tests. Scott was trying to find an inexpensive but reliable probe to use but had zero luck. currently I'm just checking ammonia and nitrites. I should get out tonight and see if i can snag some at boxing day pricing!
Regardless... i do have 20 gallons mixed for a water change. I meant to do it yesterday but the holidays have a way of keeping you too busy.

the aquascaping is just fit together, no bonding. It was a bit of a place and wiggle test routine but managed to get them all pretty stable. I really should knock on wood though lol.

[DKoKoMan]

Thanks
the aquascaping is just fit together, no bonding. It was a bit of a place and wiggle test routine but managed to get them all pretty stable. I really should knock on wood though lol.

Worked out perfectly! I hope my 150g scape turns out like this!

[Brighteyes_13]

picked up the test kit and 5 pink turban snails to help with algae control.

HOLY COW! those snails are cleaning machines!!
This rock had a brown coat yesterday, woke up today and they had made short work of it.
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/dec%2029%202016%20image1.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/dec%2029%202016%20image1.jpg.html)

As for my water test, looks like i have 5 ppm Nitrates and 0.25 ppm Phosphates. Not terrible considering the tank is just finished cycling and being overfed. Waterchanges will help keep it coming down.

[Myka]

picked up the test kit and 5 pink turban snails to help with algae control.

HOLY COW! those snails are cleaning machines!!
This rock had a brown coat yesterday, woke up today and they had made short work of it.

As for my water test, looks like i have 5 ppm Nitrates and 0.25 ppm Phosphates. Not terrible considering the tank is just finished cycling and being overfed. Waterchanges will help keep it coming down.

Yeah, those snails are awesome!

Why were you overfeeding the tank? What's the purpose? NO3 looks good, but PO4 is quite high!

[Brighteyes_13]

The LFS who helped me set up wasnt convinced my rock was done with the cycle, wanted me to try to force a new cycle. every day i fed a whole cube of frozen mysis to 10 crabs... lucky crabs lol.

my ammonia never budged, nor did my nitrites. If anything it made me more reassured my rock was indeed fully cycled and capable of dealing with a bioload.
I think if i had lights over it the whole time i may have had a bloom sooner.

Regardless of the diatoms, i have no regrets with the feeding. A water change will help bring down some of the nutrients, and now i can adjust my feeding to be more practical.

[Myka]

I understand the theory behind that, but it's still odd. :lol: Next time, use Brine Shrimp instead of Mysis - less phosphate. :D Some GFO would do you some good now. I wouldn't be too excited to add light to a tank with 0.25 ppm PO4. :)

[Brighteyes_13]

getting into reactors and dosing pumps would be new ground for me... not going to lie and say i understand the complexities of reef chemistry.

If i run GFO dont i have to worry about alk dropping or is that only with continued use?

Ultimately id like to start eliminating my Phosphate sources, which i can identify 2 major culprits. Then maybe once we are ready to progress to hard corals start looking at dosing systems and reactors.

[Myka]

Alkalinity drops a little but like 0.25 dKH when you first add it, really not very noticeable. You can use it in a media bag in a high fow area of the sump. No need for a reactor.

[Brighteyes_13]

thats awesome news! thanks Mindy, i'll have to try that

[DKoKoMan]

i love my Hubby, he knows im itching to get the tank wet, even just to put the liverock in and circulate it in there.

I came home to find a new inhabitant.

Haha I love it :lol: at least you have something inside the glass box!

[Brighteyes_13]

The tank has been set up for a month now. Diatom bloom cleared up nicely after about a week and a bit and some algae has started to creep in.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/01afc545d633cefa0f93e7188a8a91cb5b9b474559.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/01afc545d633cefa0f93e7188a8a91cb5b9b474559.jpg.htm l)

Just after my last post we had a chromis mysteriously disapear. Not entirely sure what happened to him. Parameters were checked the day before he vanished and no ammonia or nitrite were present, all the fish were eating and active the day before. Is it possible for large hermit crabs to get the drop on sleeping fish? Ended up with a small <0.25ppm spike in ammonia (was lighter than the 0.25 but still tinged green). Tried to find it and pulled apart some of the rockwork but was no good. Was able to get the parameters under control before any damage was done.

And you know what they say, if you get your rock the way you like it and move anything, you'll never get it back the way you had it before. I salvaged the left side of the tank but the right side is sorta a rubble heap now lol. Im sure it will all work out in the end.

Ive noticed that coraline algae seems to be growing extremely fast on some of the rocks. The same rock that was cleaned ever so nicely by the snails is now really pink!

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/01eef84da1785cbd4412a8de5ff6409c7dfa1acb30.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/01eef84da1785cbd4412a8de5ff6409c7dfa1acb30.jpg.htm l)

I took Mindys advice and bought some GFO, threw 3/4c of it it in the sump in a bag. I figured today id do a full range of tests on the tank and everything is looking pretty normal for a new tank from what i can tell. I got a Nyos test for my phosphate since the api has such a huge range.
0ppm ammonia
0ppm Nitrite
10ppm Nitrate
0.025 Phosphate
240ppm calcium
125.3ppm KH (7dKH?)
8.0 pH
1.025 salinity

I think once we get the nice lights on the tank and start to buy some real corals we will have to get a better Alkalinity, and Calcium test. The range on the reading chart and adding drops to a vial just seems so inacurate, i have no idea how close my readings really are. What does everyone else use?

I also cut back on how much the tank is being fed. they only get 1/2 a cube of food per day. None of them appear to be starving and i dont see as much settling onto the sand. Whatever does the cleaner shrimp seems to grab pretty quick.

[SoloSK71]

I always figure that the great fish gods called them home and don't go looking ... once in a while they even show up a couple weeks later ... ;)

The Hanna checkers are very highly recommended, and you can back them up with a good kit from Red Sea or one of the colorimeter based ones.

Charles

[WarDog]

API for Ammonia
Salifert for Alk, Ca, Mg, Nitrate, and Potassium
Hanna Phosphorus Checker (HC - HI736) for Phosphate (take the result, multiple by 3.066, then divide by 1000).
No need to test Nitrite (IMO)....
and a temperature compensating refractometer for salinity.

Looking good! Fish could still show up, dont rule him out yet.

[Myka]

I use the same kits as Warren, and in addition I also use Red Sea Pro for NO3 and Mg as well as Hanna alkalinity checker for 2nd "opinion". Hehe. I have both Hanna po4 checkers too.

[Brighteyes_13]

Tank has been up for a few months. still happily stocking away. tank parameters have been consistent.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3227.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3227.jpg.html)

I have been waffling back and forth on my lights and finally decided (for now lol) what i want to do. im going to do a combo t5/ LED. t5 to supliment for growth, and the kessil led for looks. It will be cheaper to run in the long run than metal halides, and for the lifespan it would be comparable to bulb replacements. I dont require massive growth so im not concerned about LED. And a quote that ive seen over and over again, those that switch to LED from more traditional lighting dont like it as much as those who start out with LED.

Since the tank is still pretty new theres a few things that have been creeping in. I have this strange red macroalgae growing on my rocks. its not cyano, it feels pebbly/ rubbery to the touch (same as caleurpa?) and grows short and close to the rocks. the crabs and snails have no interest in it, nor does the tang. it seems to form short leaf like formations in little plateaus. the picture doesnt do it justice.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3220.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3220.jpg.html)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3238.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3238.jpg.html)

i dont know if its invasive, it seems to be light loving, and it doesnt seem to grow on/near any corals.

Also have a bit of spindleweed growing in the tank. it also doesnt seem to be growing out of control but does seem to pop up in the strangest places. I am keeping an eye on it to ensure it doesnt get out of control.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3231.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3231.jpg.html)

if for a strange reason anyone wants any, they can shoot me a pm and take the above little bit of coral skeleton with a bunch on it.

also noticed hydroids, both singular and colonial. they dont seem to be bothering anything and from past experience im sure its only a matter of time before they disappear.

[Brighteyes_13]

Quick update on tank.
Added a green wrasse last friday, he settled in quickly and now the tang seems to follow him around.
Tried adding an Eibli angelfish, and the tang and he had a very unhealthy disagreement. wripped out the rocks to seperate them. Beautiful fish but my tang is a jerk. The angel wasnt tolerating his bullying, but rather than accepting he wasnt the toughest fish in the tank he kept going back for more until the angel started hunting him. He was the definite looser in the situation. Rather than risking either of them i thought it best to seperate them and send the angel to a new home.

so for the third time i had to rework my rock.... LOL, never goes back the same way twice.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3255.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3255.jpg.html)

[maron6977]

Still looks good .
My purple tang & coral beauty hunt down every new comer & show them who's boss . Takes a few days to a week & all good .
Sometimes the trick is , add a couple fish at a time .

[Brighteyes_13]

Finally purchased my lights yesterday! After all the humming and hawing, i ended up with the ap700 afterall. have started an aclimation cycle, beginning with peak hours running 50% intensity and running my t5s during peak hours only. I really like the ramp up/ramp down ability. The first thing i did notice is all my pictures are now much bluer.
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/a4550f32-6ec1-4b9d-ade6-cd44d27f5291.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/a4550f32-6ec1-4b9d-ade6-cd44d27f5291.jpg.html)

Over the last 2 weeks I also picked up a one spot foxface, and 2 chromis. Again my tang showed a bit of territorialness but it subsided much quicker this time. I think the suggestion to add a couple at once was the right move. Now that pecking order is established we have no issues. Im thinking we are getting close to our stocking limit for fish. We have 2 clowns, 2 chromis, 1 kole tang, 1 green wrasse, and 1 onespot foxface now. Id still like to try a pigmy angel again, and maybe a firefish or two, but otherwise i think im pretty happy with what we have.
The one addition i regret (sort of) is an urchin. it grabs stuff off my frag rack and drags it all over the tank. So far ive had to rescue a frag of green zoas twice, and have lost another frag altogether. if im lucky i'll find them fluorishing wherever they ended up. If im not, well... i guess i'll have an excuse to buy some more. lol

Ive also started to get the power control center set up. it will be nice to get everything off the power bars and onto proper receptacles. Scott is still working on the programming in his spare time and im impatient to get it all up and running. I wired it to have 8 non controlled spots, and 8 controlled spots.
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/ColleenM_13/100g%20tank/IMG_3267.jpg (http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ColleenM_13/media/100g%20tank/IMG_3267.jpg.html)
Each side is supplied by a seperate cord, ensuring if one side trips there will still be flow in the tank. I know its overkill but it will be useable when i eventually upgrade to a larger system.

[DKoKoMan]

I like your clown veggie clip! :smile: Also the tank is looking really nice and healthy with the corraline growth. Keep up the good work.

[iamfrontosa]

I am thinking of gettting ap700 too. They get good review.

[Myka]

I noticed your last posted Ca and alk were 240 and 7 dKH. Have you dosed to adjust these numbers yet?

The red algae looks to be a type of Botryocladia spp. which can be a real nuisance or it may just go away on it's own. I'd keep a close eye on it, and in intervene if needed. The green tuft algae is Neomeris annulata and not usually a problem.

[Brighteyes_13]

after a change of salt a few weeks back my ca was at 340, and my alk at 6.5. Ive started dosing RedSea reef foundation A and B. I also picked up a mag test... it was 1350 so not too bad at all. im going to test again tomorrow and see how the dosing affected the overall.

[tang daddy]

Are you dosing manually or using a doser?
What salt are you using?

[Myka]

after a change of salt a few weeks back my ca was at 340, and my alk at 6.5. Ive started dosing RedSea reef foundation A and B. I also picked up a mag test... it was 1350 so not too bad at all. im going to test again tomorrow and see how the dosing affected the overall.

Yeah, that's still not good.

Does Red Sea Reef Foundation have trace elements added to it? I think it does. If so, you shouldn't use it to increase ca and alk that much, it should only be used to maintain. Adjustments should be made with pure calcium chloride and sodium (bi)carbonate products.

[Brighteyes_13]

Yeah the calcium is tied with barium and strontium, but the all is carbonate and buffer


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