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vic622
08-26-2009, 03:42 AM
System Update Feb 8, 2010

Current System:
45gal Display
29gal sump with refugium
Lifereef overflow (600gph)
Mag 9.5 return pump
Koralia 1 on Naturalwave timer
Corallife 2 x 96w CF 3x10,000k & 1xActinic tubes On ~12hrs/day
2x LED Moonlights

Refugium:
12"x12" center section of Sump
1x26w Spiral CF 6700k
Various macro
Chaetomorpha

Treatments:
IO Sea Salt 1.0028
NLS flakes/1mm
Kent Essential Elements ~5ml/week
Kent Zooplex - when I remember

Stock:
Coral Beauty Angel
Royal Gramma
2x PJ Cardinals
6-Line Wrasse
Lawnmower Blennie
Coral/Pixie Hawkfish
Tangaroa Goby/Pistol Shrimp pair
Coral Banded Shrimp
Peppermint Shrimp
Sandsifting Star
Various Little critters
__________________________________________________ __________
Hi all, I'm new to saltwater but not to tanks, been doing fw for a few years including planted tanks with co2.
I have been getting together the tank & equipment since last year and this is what I came up with:
45gal tank, 29gal sump with refugium, LifeReef overflow, Mag7 pump, Coralife 96wx2 lights.
Fast forward to 1 week ago - I rescued 45 lbs of liverock from a friends tank that needed to get taken down.
Now I have a saltwater tank!!!!
Here's the setup and pics from last weekend
Vic
4807
waiting for the water
4808
Refugium: Mag-7 with headpipe and ball valve & heater
4809
Return side of Regfugium
4810
LifeReef overflow - this is quieter than my fw tanks!
4811
Starting to fill-er up!

vic622
08-26-2009, 03:48 AM
4812
Ooops! Add a bit of salt & look what happens!
4813
Thought it might clear up after I added the substrate ...
4814
Much better! About 2-3hrs after adding the liverock - looking clearer.
4815
fuge is looking better, too
4816
1 week ago with 3x 4-line Damsels & 3x Half Yellows

vic622
08-26-2009, 04:06 AM
4817
More fish & rock
4818
dito
4819
Pencil urchin
4820
Sand shifting star
4821
Refugium with Caulerpa

I got 5 turbos, 5 Astrea and 10 nassaria snails from JL Friday and added them to the main tank
3 nassaria to the refugium along with a bunch of caulerpa.
This past weekend I added 3 blueleg hermits to the tank and 1 blueleg to the fuge.
At the same time, I picked up a Tangaroa goby (C. tangeroi) and added him to the main tank. Gonna get an Alpheus to keep him company.

I'm going to make up a batch of replacement SW, in case the rock can't handle the load and I need to make a quick, big water change.

So far, everything is looking good. All the critters are active and the rock and it's inhabitants (some sps, tube worms, brittle stars, macro) are starting to color-up and look good.

Vic

365seasons
08-26-2009, 04:51 AM
Looking good! Salt water is far too addictive. We find our freshwater getting ignored since we got into salt.
Have fun!!

Leah
08-26-2009, 11:21 AM
Hope you mean Fowlr and not Fowl :wink:
Looks good by the way :biggrin:

vic622
08-26-2009, 12:09 PM
Looking good! Salt water is far too addictive. We find our freshwater getting ignored since we got into salt.
Have fun!!

Luckily my fw tanks are pretty stable and don't need a lot of attention ... they have strong biological filtration - or is that algae?!?

vic622
08-26-2009, 12:11 PM
Hope you mean Fowlr and not Fowl :wink:
Looks good by the way :biggrin:

Ooops:surprise:
I hope that's not a sign - I think I'll go and change that right now...

Leah
08-26-2009, 12:36 PM
What other fish are you thinking of? It was pretty funny though.

vic622
08-27-2009, 02:38 AM
What other fish are you thinking of? It was pretty funny though.
I would really like a pair of Bengai Cardinals, but after reading in TFH about the trashing of their habitat, I'm not so sure anymore.
I'd also like to get either a Flame Angel, Coral Angel (C. bispinosis), or an African Pygmy Angel (C. acanthops).
Instead of the Bengai's, I might go for Pajama or Polka Dot Cardinals, instead.
The only other fish I've got in mind is a Royal Gramma.
So, I guess that's a pair of Cardinals, one Angel and the Royal Gramma.
I'll decide later whether to keep the some/all of the Damsels, later, but I'll definately keep the Goby and get it an Alpheus sp. at some point.
Not sure what all to put in the refugium at this point. Was thinking of Mangrove, but I woke up and decided that wasn't such a good idea.
P.S. Glad to be of service with the typo :)

BlueAbyss
08-27-2009, 02:49 AM
Hmm, the Bangai cardinals are threatened in the wild but easily bred in captivity, tank bred specimens are common.

So, you are going for a FOWLR? Almost looks like it's on the verge of reefism :wink: Looks good!

vic622
08-27-2009, 03:01 AM
Hmm, the Bangai cardinals are threatened in the wild but easily bred in captivity, tank bred specimens are common.

So, you are going for a FOWLR? Almost looks like it's on the verge of reefism :wink: Looks good!
Thanks!
Do you know if anyone on the board is breeding the Bengai's?
Was thinking of adding some softies, but sps or lps - haven't decided whether to remortgage or not to get some more lights...

vic622
08-28-2009, 12:29 PM
Things are starting to color up and the Tangeroa Goby has decided the Damsels aren't going to eat him and he came completely out of his cave, last night. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch him on the sand, but you can see his head :wink:
Vic
Hmmm, pictures won't upload - hopefully tonight I can post the updated pics. V.

vic622
09-07-2009, 05:42 AM
Okay, here's the frag delivery I got this week from Interior Reef. Chris was a lot of help.
They're real nice, started to open up while I was still acclimating them.
Vic

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/new%20frags/IRcoralsarrive3sept2009-01.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/new%20frags/IRcoralsarrive3sept2009-03.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/new%20frags/IRcoralsarrive3sept2009-34.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/new%20frags/IRcoralattached6sept2009-08.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/new%20frags/IRcoralsarrive3sept2009-29.jpg

Doug
09-07-2009, 01:28 PM
I will move this to the journal forum for you Vic. Coming along nicely.

vic622
09-08-2009, 12:37 AM
Thanks & Thanks.
Its hard to see in the pictures how much the coraline has picked up since the rock went in, but it sure is looking better than day 1.
I'm discovering more hitchhikers every day - found a 4mm diameter x 2cm long brown tube worm/crab today hiding in the rockwork!
Vic
I will move this to the journal forum for you Vic. Coming along nicely.

vic622
09-22-2009, 04:11 AM
Just a few pics of how it looks tonight with Macro from FitoPharmer in Kamloops - Thanks, Matt!

First ~ The fuge with a bit of macro:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/macro/fuge2.jpg

And a few of the tank with macro, Cardinal & Royal Gramma &
one of the Candy Canes from Chris @ Interior Reef hiding in the macro:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/macro/macro4.jpg

The Green Zoa (?) I got from a friend isn't doing so good, but
the Green Yuma, Orange Recordia & the Blue Zoa's
I got from Chris @ Interior Reef seem to be doing just fine :biggrin:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/macro/macro5.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/macro/macro6.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/macro/macro7.jpg

vic622
01-17-2010, 07:15 PM
Tried to get some shots of my Pistol Shrimp & Tangaroa Goby who have paired up.
I had the Goby in the tank for about 2mo's before adding the Pistol. They paired up right away, then started building a house on the back of the reef :surprise:
They now have tunnels from the back to the front under the live rock. A lot easier to see them that way. Even when I couldn't see it, I knew the Pistol was doing good 'cause every once in a while I'd hear him click his claws at someone. Its not easy to get good pics, the Pistol does his bulldozer impression then scoots back in the hole.
Also got some pic's of some of the newer residents, Peppermint Shrimp, Lawnmower Blenny, Coral Beauty Angel and Coral Banded shrimp.
If anyone can ID the Pistol, I'd appreciate it.
Vic
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/Pistol-Tangaroa4.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/Pistol-Tangaroa3.jpg
Peppermint Shrimp
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/Peppermint1.jpg
Homer, my Lawnmower Blenny
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/Homer1.jpg
Coral Beauty Angel
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/CoralBeauty1.jpg
Coral Banded Shrimp
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/CoralBanded1.jpg
Purple Xenia & Blue Zoa
The Xenia has a lot more color, just kinda washes out in the photo.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Shrimps/XeniaZoa1.jpg

vic622
02-09-2010, 03:02 AM
Since I removed and replaced all the liverock to make the 4-lines go to a new home, some things are good and others not so good.

All the fish are happier and the Coral Beauty is coming out a lot more frequently. The lawnmower Blennie and the Coral Hawkfish are trying to decide who rules the rocks - so far they just have the odd "I was here first" kinda discussions ... nothing major.

I'm having some problems with the softies that have me scratching my head.
The Zoa is doing great and the orange ricordia - which took a tumble the night before last - is very happy in its new cranny.

Something is disagreeing with the Mushrooms the Xenia and the Colt Corals. Most of the mushrooms are looking a bit distressed, not fully opening. Not sure why. Also the Pulsing Xenia and the Colt Corals are looking worse for wear. Actually the Pulsing Xenia has broken the stalk/leg and dropped to the substrate and the Colt's are all droopy.

It almost seemed as though there was too much current, so I've put the Koralia 1 on a timer to see if this helps. I don't know for sure if this will help the softies, but the Candy Canes are going freakin nuts, but in the good sense.

I've got an AquaC Remora coming this/next week - hopefully this might take care of any condition problems that I might have.

Got a few more hardware changes to make over the next few weeks. I'll post when they start to happen.

Current System:
45gal Display
29gal sump with refugium
Lifereef overflow (600gph)
Mag 9.5 return pump
Koralia 1 on Naturalwave timer
Corallife 2 x 96w CF 3x10,000k & 1xActinic tubes On ~12hrs/day
2x LED Moonlights

Refugium
12"x12" center section of Sump
1x26w Spiral CF 6700k
Various macro
Chaetomorpha

IO Sea Salt 1.0028
NLS flakes/1mm
Kent Essential Elements ~5ml/week
Kent Zooplex - when I remember

bvlester
02-23-2010, 06:17 AM
you see this is tirning into a reef and is no longer a FOWLR tank.

looking good,
Bill

vic622
02-23-2010, 02:04 PM
you see this is tirning into a reef and is no longer a FOWLR tank.

looking good,
Bill

Thanks, I'm starting to think there should be an Acronym:
FOWLR-until-I-get-Hooked-on-Inverts
"FOWLR-UHI" :mrgreen:

Picked up a leather & ~10 Zoo's this weekend in Calgary ... :lol: