Mikee's 90g tank

[Mikee]

Hi everyone! i dont post very often here but id like to share my tank with you all. I am taking everything real slow and adding very slowly so its nothing compared to what some of you have. I have had my ups and downs like many others but i think its slowly getting there :). The pics,

FTS
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/045.jpg


http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/074.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/075.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/070.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/071.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/012-3.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/013-4.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/011-2.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/0162.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/0012.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/015-3.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/016-2.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/021-3.jpg
As you can see i do not have many corals yet.. but Greg will be hearing from me soon :) after i get my Korallin 1502 calcium reactor.

[Mikee]

Newest addition that i got from J&L..i love this fish when he comes out from his cave he/she is beautiful! he/she is about 3", thank you J&L! so far no touching of my shrimp but if he/she does i dont mind.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/001-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/002-4.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/003-2.jpg

My other hobby which i love just as much as my reef!

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/191.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/332.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/271.jpg

and my Doberman guarding my BMW 325IX :)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/093.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/125.jpg

Thanks for taking the time to look!

[Mikee]

Oops i forgot my 3rd hobby :)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/084.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/051.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/026.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/018.jpg

[LeeR]

Your tanks looking awsome its nice to see more people from vernon getting into these hobbys... i used to live in vernon.

Also is that black and white poke a dot fish a marine betta?

If you want some awsome broms go to the art knapps in kelowna they have some really nice ones right now.
just picked up 2 hanging baskets with 7 to 8 brom pups in them.

did you get thoughs darts from someone in vernon?

[Mikee]

Thanks for the compliment and yes thats a Marine Betta :). I'll check out art knapp..i was thinking about adding a couple on the left side of the tank. I got my darts from http://www.understoryenterprises.com/.

[LeeR]

Thanks for the link.

I should start a vivarium thread.

[pastout]

ice tank man i just bought the exact some tank with the mega overflow to. its an upgrade from a 55. how do you like the mega overflow?

[Snappy]

Hey that's quite a zoo you have going there, very cool. Your tank is coming along great and your corals look really healthy.

[Mikee]

pastout - i have no complaints on the mega overflow..i like them a lot. I only wish my tank was wider than 18" to prevent less deadspots near the back and well more front area for zoas + more swimming area.

I have learned a lot from when i first started going through almost everytype of algae..just constantly battling problems one after the other.. but with the help from these forums i have been able to solve most of them. I believe the more automated my system gets the better it gets. I will be switching out the Koralias for something smaller in size, with lots of flow, and controllable and that will be the new MP40W Vortech's gen2. Once my calcium reactor comes next week and have it dialed in hopefully that will maintain fairly stable levels if not i can always dose extra with topoff but i dont think i will have too because i do not have that many corals yet.. but one day im sure :). After the Vortech's come the last thing i think i will get equip wise is a Reefkeeper Elite controller or Profilux.

Snappy - Thanks! it means a lot coming from the master ;). I get that a lot from people telling me i have quite the zoo but you have to do something with 10 acres right? :).

[Mikee]

I should also get a pic of the birdsnest..man that thing is growing fast..its true what people say either they do well and grow fast or they die haha.

That green montipora when i first bought it was really pale and in rough shape but the size was quite large to begin with so i bought it.. and its slowly coloring up. The center you can see it died there but it seems to be recovering quite nicely.

That last zoa pic of the green one (cant remember name) is now touching the glass :). I think you can tell with the FTS.

[Mikee]

New toy!

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/024-2.jpg

[tang daddy]

Hey man nice tanks and birds you're gonna love the new ca reactor I got the same one maybe bigger, also that dart frog is really a dime piece love the colours although I seriously though about keeping one feeding it live food was a huge issue. I guess you hatch your own flies?

Cheers Chris

[OCDP]

Beautiful tank.

[LeeR]

Hows the tank coming along? Any new pictures?

[Mikee]

tang daddy - thanks! i love the new calc reactor. I got my CO2 filled up and got it all setup and running. I have been getting it dialed in but i hope to get some more SPS soon from Snappy so i will most likely have to increase the bubble rate/drip rate again. The dart frogs are really easy to keep the tank is very low maintenance all i do it top up my bucket with RO/DI water for my mistking system and feed the frogs a couple times a week. My creeping fig is getting out of control but i love the jungle look in there and i bet the frogs do too! I make my own cultures usually 1 or 2 new ones a week. I have been having problems with them lately because i made too many FF's and couldnt feed them all so they crashed. Right now i have 2 going and i think i will stick with 2-3. It takes maybe 5 minutes to make the cultures so its prob the cheapest and lowest maintenance hobby i have :). My birds are doing great i have lots of new babies (about 9-10 i think) that are ready to come out of the nest and some new ones that just hatched. I did however lose 1 female - not sure why.. i heard her sneezing so i treated my whole birds and all other ones are doing fine again but she didnt make it sadly. These birds are like SPS of SW lol.

OCDP - Thanks!

MacheteAvenue - The tank is doing pretty good. Most SPS are growing nicely some slower than others but i am quite happy right now with growth. I dont have any new pictures yet but ill try to get some..not much has changed..still waiting till i can get some new SPS from Snappy. Recently i just added a VorTech MP40W and took out 1 K4. So for flow right now i have 1 X VorTech MP40W, and 2 K4's. I think i will be replacing the other 2 K4's with another VorTech MP40W. These things have a very wide spread flow..i love the different modes and being able to control the flow. Gotta love the battery backup too :D.

[LeeR]

ohh i want a vortech. lucky. post your terrarium pics in my terrarium thread.

[Mikee]

Update!

so.. after winning the battle with Hair Algae and Bubble Algae..which meant taking all LR out twice cleaning and adding phosban/carbon reactor and doing regular waterchange i thought that was it. Well a long came this new algae that i think i got from a coral i had bought and just didnt notice it really. Well i let it go and let it go until lots of my rock was covered in this brown encrusting rubbery algae. It got so bad that when my paly and zoas began to grow onto the rocks that it actually suffocated them. Some of this stuff would come off just when doing regular water changes but it was very difficult in some spots especially where their were corals. I finally got tired and one night said thats enough.. and started taking out my LR and scrubbing this stuff off with a tooth brush and a knife. After going through 2 tooth brushes (one which i broke in half the other that looked like someone had used it for a year + i think i have got pretty much all of it. Lesson learned from now on im going to check any frag, rock or whatever it is for any algae before placing it into the tank. Let this be the 3rd time and hopefully the last time i have to take apart my LR and rescape. If there is a next time.. i will make sure to start early in the morning..instead of 10 or 11 at night for a job that took me about 5 hours+ lol. Here is what this algae looks likes http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Algae%20and%20Plt%20Pix/Red%20Algae/Brown_Algae-3_8-21-07.jpg

and here is before and after

Before (notice the algae on the rocks and my large paly that has spread onto the rock that is getting suffocated)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/130.jpg

After (water still a bit cloudy..everything a little stressed)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/017-3.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/CreaturesNThings/0262.jpg

I kept the left side more open for a zoa garden and left more room in the front and sides which i have been wanting to do for a while anyways because before i couldnt get my magnet cleaner between the rock and glass. Still not sure on exact placement of frags but ill leave them the way they are for now.

Tomorrow i will double check any areas that i might of forgot, blow off rocks every day until the weekend, do a 5-10g WC, and put in new carbon, phos. Hopefully this is the last of it *fingers crossed*.

[Trigger Man]

I had a little of that algae in the past, my blonde Naso loved munching on it and have not seem any since. So knock on wood that it is now fully gone, but if not you could alway add a blonde.

[Red Deer Reptiles]

wow im inpressed tanks loooking great.It takes time the reason i replyed was dart frogs strawberries green /blacks mantellas send me a link maybe we could help each other. later

[Mikee]

Trigger Man - I may have to add a blonde naso in their for awhile if i do see it coming..because thats not the first time that ive heard that. My purple tang doesnt seem to interested in the stuff.

Red Deer Reptiles - Thanks, I am not sure what you mean "the reason i replyed was dart frogs strawberries green /blacks mantellas send me a link maybe we could help each other" ??

[Aquattro]

Red Deer Reptiles - Thanks, I am not sure what you mean "the reason i replyed was dart frogs strawberries green /blacks mantellas send me a link maybe we could help each other" ??

I think RDR and RDNano have been smokin' today...:)

RDR is trying to drum up business for the store, I've had to edit a couple of posts this afternoon.

[mike31154]

Very nice looking set up. I'm having a few issues with algae as well.

VorTech you say? I've been hoping to run across someone else in the area with a Gen 2 MP40W. I've had mine since April this year, but it was a Gen 1. I upgraded it with the new magnet and bearing, but still need the firmware update. Would it be possible to get together and have my controller flashed?

I was in Vancouver a few months ago to visit my daughter and took the pump with me in hopes of having it flashed at J&L where I purchased it. Unfortunately it was a weekend and the folks minding the store at the time had no idea what I was talking about. While I was gone I put 3 AquaClear powerheads in the tank for flow and they weren't even close to what the lone VorTech delivers. I've tried running it in reefcrest and short pulse wavemaking, but now run it in long pulse mode. This seems to provide the most natural flow pattern. What mode are you running yours in? I understand the new firmware allows longer pulses in the order of one minute on and one minute off. I'd really like to try that. When I get around to setting up the 90 I have, I'm pretty sure a second VorTech will be on the list of things to get.