OK, I finaly get a project thread! My 120 had been up for a year when I found TR, so it was kinda pointless th start one for that tank, but one of my friends from my local club has given me a JBJ 12 gallon nano deluxe.
The tank looks like this (stock photo).



http://www.marinedepot.com/IMD/600/JB7133/JB7133_99.jpg

When I got it, it was pretty filthy. The previous owner had kept a snowflake eel in it that died while he was on vacation. He dumped the water, pulled out the rock, and set it on his deck for 6 months.

I got it home last Thursday, dumped the CC substrate, and scrubbed the hell out of it. Along with the tank, I got a heater, about 10 pounds of base rock and some Deltec CA reactor media to use as substrate. With everything clean, I toted it to work with me last Friday and proceded to set it up after work. I mixed 7 gallons of fresh SW (we have RO water in the water cooler :up: ) and used 5 gallons of SW from my 120 DT at home. I used the base rock, several pieces of LR from my sump and a good sized piece from my DT. I also dumped in a cup of sand from my tank and put a sponge I keep in my sump in the filtrattion department of the nano. I fired it up, tested the 2x24w PC lights and let it run over the weekend in the dark. I'll be ou of the office all this week at a training calss, so I didn't get a chance to check on it again until Tuesday, when i had to go in to pick up the palys and digi that Carmie sent me. I tested the water, which showed no amonia, .02 nitrite, a trace ammount of nitrate, SG was 1.025, CA was 350, alk was 9 dkh and phosphate was .02. Not too bad all in all. Looks like there was a mini cycle. I put the lights on a timer and called it a day.

I won't get a chance to check on it again until Monday probably. If everything tests OK, I'll probably bring in a couple of hardy frags from my tank at home. Maybe some zoas and button polyps and see how they do.

Of course, I found out today that next month my department is moving to another floor in the building, so I'll need to move it about the time everyting really gets going :roll: .

Im planning a LPS dominated tank with zoas and maybe a few softies/shrooms/ricordia. As far as livestock, I'll probably have a couple of turbos, a few nasarius, a couple of hermits, a couple of peppermint shrimp, and for fish, maybe a pair of percs and a purple firefish or a royal gramma.

I'll try to get a picture Monday or Tuesday so I can track my progress. I must say, I'm a little nervous about not having a skimmer, but changing 5 gallons a week will be super easy, and hopefuly that volume and frequency of waterchanges will keep everything in check. The back wall of this nano is plastic, and I've been toying with the idea of plumbing in a sump and using a spare 10 gallon under my desk. I could put in a DSB, LR rubble and maybe some cheato. I guess I'll see how it goes with the built in filtration, but I could do SOOOO much more with a sump/fuge.

Anyone have any commentary, suggestions, ideas, etc?

Along with the tank, I got a heater, about 10 pounds of base rock and some Deltec CA reactor media to use as substrate.

I have never heard of reactor media being used as a substrate. Does this work well?

I also dumped in a cup of sand from my tank and put a sponge I keep in my sump in the filtrattion department of the nano.

On my 24g Nanocube, I dumped the sponge and bio balls a while ago - but I have a AquaC Remora HOB attached.

As far as livestock, I'll probably have a couple of turbos, a few nasarius, a couple of hermits, a couple of peppermint shrimp, and for fish, maybe a pair of percs and a purple firefish or a royal gramma.

This is the equivalent of my bioload on my 24g. You are planning rather aggressive water changes, so maybe you can keep up in a 12g?

The back wall of this nano is plastic, and I've been toying with the idea of plumbing in a sump and using a spare 10 gallon under my desk.

I don't think the back of a Nanocube is plastic. Mine is a vinyl laminate on glass. The Nanocube is basically a glass tank with a plastic interior walls for the sump chambers.

I could put in a DSB, LR rubble and maybe some cheato. I guess I'll see how it goes with the built in filtration, but I could do SOOOO much more with a sump/fuge.

One trick is to use the center chamber to grow Chaetomorpha. The tip is to trim and peel away the black vinyl laminate that covers your center chamber, submerge the Chaeto and light it from behind with a low wattage (ie 13W) PC light or L.E.D. fixture from Nanocustoms. This provides better light penetration into the chamber for growing your Macros.

Sounds like fun. I want a second tank! Good luck!

-Scott

dood, i toyed with the same idea you did, but by the time you figure it all out, there is so much piping in the tank, and its so much work, that its not even worth it.

I also agree on the livestock. Way to much. Perhaps a clown and a small goby, MAYBE a pair of clowns if you do a water change like every other day (kind of hard to do :s)

Thanks for the input, that's why i was posting before I added livestock. I like the goby idea. My first thought was a watchman and a pistol shrimp, but I realy want a perc, so maybe one clown and a small goby is a good idea. How about the invert list? Overkill as well, or is that OK? I'd realy rather have a skunk cleaner rather than a peppermint, because they're out in the open all the time, but the pep is much smaller.

The reactor media works fine. There's no real added benefit, since the pH isn't low enough to desolve it, it's just like any other media. I used it because I had it handy.

I dumped the bioballs and replaced them with some LR rubble from my sump. The sponge is just in there to help seed the tank, then it will go back in my sump where it stays for when I need to set up QT.

The back of mine is definitely plastic. The whole filtration section is plastic, and is siliconed to the back of the tank. I wish it were glass, that sounds like the perfect solution to growing macro.

The hood on the tank is such that I can't use a HOB skimmer, which puts me back to the posibility of plumbing in a sump.

Josh, what was so difficult about it? I was thinking I could just drill 2 holes in the back panel and use some 1/2" spaflex to drain down to the sump, same for the return. I'd probably plumb the return to feed back into the filtration section and let the MJ continue to handle flow in the tank.

With a sump, I could have a skimmer, fuge, ATO, more LR and maybe a DSB, not to mention the extra system volume.

I like the goby idea. My first thought was a watchman and a pistol shrimp, but I realy want a perc, so maybe one clown and a small goby is a good idea.

I recommend the goby/pistol shrimp combo. The Yasha Hase Goby (sometimes referred to as Yashia Goby is, IMHO, a bit more pretty/striking than the watchman - and should pair up with a pistol quite nicely. Perhaps one Perc and Yasha/Pistol? Instead of the perc, you might consider a Basslet (such as Liopropoma rubre) or something else. This vendor (http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Browse.asp?Category=Fish%3A%2ENano+Fish) actually has a Nano fish page that may give you some ideas.

How about the invert list? Overkill as well, or is that OK? I'd realy rather have a skunk cleaner rather than a peppermint, because they're out in the open all the time, but the pep is much smaller.

My cleaner is quite a voracious eater of meaty foods. He is good at scavanging food, but must contribute to the bioload significantly. There are other smaller shrimp. How about a Sexy shrimp?


The back of mine is definitely plastic. The whole filtration section is plastic, and is siliconed to the back of the tank.

Hmm...that should be great for installing a bulkhead then! If so, I would definitely set up a sump/refugium.

The hood on the tank is such that I can't use a HOB skimmer, which puts me back to the posibility of plumbing in a sump.

Sapphire (http://www.nanocustoms.com/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=20&osCsid=9ab180d4cfc3a8ad0e17fcb06fcd3325) skimmers might do the trick for you. They supposedly are well regarded. Check it out.

regards,

-Scott

That's a sweet skimmer. What a good idea.

Anyone know how deep the substrate has to be for a pistol/goby combo?

Anyone know how deep the substrate has to be for a pistol/goby combo?

Mine seem to be fine in my ~2" sandbed. Just make sure your LR is seated well. My Yasha and Pistol have taken up residence in 4 different pieces of LR, literally making a network of tunnels under each one. You don't want a rockslide. I sometimes worry about their tunnels collapsing and them getting crushed under there...but so far so good.

You'll have a blast watching them. My Yasha goes from being skittish to bold back to skittish again. One time, the Yasha took up residence under a different piece of LR for a month. It seemed almost as if they had a spat and then made up eventually.

Enjoy.

-Scott

Very cool. I'll look forward to seeing it progress.

I decided to go to the office last night to check on the tank. Ammonia is still 0, and Nitrite is down to .005 or less. Assuming everything tests 0 on Monday, I'll do a 5 gallon water change and bring in a couple of frags on Tuesday.

I do not have a thermometer for the tank, but there are temperature indications on the heater (I know, they are never accurate, but the best I could do for the moment). I had it set for 78, but the water felt a little warm. One of my co-workers has a small FW tank on his desk, so I borrowed his thermometer. It showed 90 degrees!!! The lights had been off for over 5 hours, and the MJ 900 is the only other thing in the tank, so I took a look at the heater, and it was STILL HEATING! I turned it down until the light went out, and then down even further for now. Obviously I need to get a new heater....

Otherwise, everything looked fine. Water was clear, circulation looked good. There were several featherdusters that hitchhiked in on my rock out, and even at 90 degrees, there were a couple of black stomatella snails out walking around.

Oh, and the phosphate reading has been bothering me. There is no algae yet, and I want to head it off at the pass. I saw a product from seachem the other day at the LFS, which is a mesh bag with carbon and phosphate remover in it. I think I'll pick it up and drop it in one of the filtration chambers and see how it does. Anyone seen or used this product?

Ran up to the office this evening to take a look at the tank. Temp was down to 80, much better. I'll get to keep an eye on it all day tomorrow at work to see ow it's doing temp wise. The AC is off on the weekends, and it was probably 80 in my office, so I may need to turn the heater back up.

I ran the important tests. Ammonia - 0, nitrite - o Nitrate - >5 phosphate - .02.

I dropped in the filter bag of the seachem carbom/PO4 remover, we'll see what the phosphate says tomorrow. I'll also be doing a 5 gal water change tomorrow. Mixed up the water while I was there and left it mixing with a small powerhead.

Seeing as the water liiks to be in good shape, and the temp is in check, I think I'll take some small frags with me tomorrow and put them in.

I noticed a few spots of coraline on the base rock, so I'm comfortable that things are going well thus far. Sometime next week I'll probably add a few snails, but I'm still going to wait a little while on a fish (mostly because I haven't yet decided what I want).

Temp stayed rock solid at 80 degrees all day. Added some button polyps, green zoas and pink zoas. All opened up quickly and seemed happy. I added 2 turbos and a blue leg hermit from my 120 also. They all looked to be doing fine when I left.

Changed 5 gallons of water, Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate all tested at 0, pH 8.1.

Anyone see any problem bringing in a few more frags this week? Probably some GSP and/or some xenia.

I think that you be OK to add a couple more frags.

pearson, how about just doing a yellow watchman and pistol shrimp combo in the little reef ??!! a smaller bio load AND very cool.

I had actualy really wanted to do that, and the LFS near me has a pair for sale, but I only have 1/2 inch of substrate, and don't want to add more at this point. It's still in the back of my mind, but besides adding the extra substrate, I'm worried they'll create a burrow in the back of the tank or somthing where I can't see them. How visible are they if the burrow isn't in the front of the tank?

a buddy of mine has a pair and they have burrows EVERYWHERE !! you can see them all the time in the front of the tank and on the sides of the tank. if you have never seen them in person and been able to really WATCH them ... take it from me ... they are a VERY interesting site to see. i AM getting a pair for my 125 !!

BTW ... my frags are doing great. how is the sun coral ??

Hmm, I'll have to go see how much the pair is. I don't recall what the goby was, but the shrimp was a bullseye. Realy quite pretty

http://k43.pbase.com/o4/35/576935/1/53554002.DPP_0964.JPG

Brought in a small piece of GSP and some xxenia this morning. 2.5 hours later, they're both open and looking happy. Xenia is pulsing away. One of my co-workers has a 3 gal pico on his desk that he is tearing down. he gave me the tank and all of it's contents. The LR and substrate are completely overtaken with HA and cyano (why anyone would want to try to keep a 3 gallon marine tank is beyond me), but I am currently aclimating the 2 turbos and one blueleg hermit that were in there.

Now I'm really torn between a goby/shrimp pair and my current plan of a single perc clown.

Oh, here's a current pic frim my crap-tacular cellphone camera. I'l bring the real camera in next week so i can do a propper job documenting.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Nano.jpg

looking great buddy !!

OK, I brought my real camera in today. Just a couple of shots:

FTS:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/FTS.jpg

The view I get from my chair:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Side.jpg

Pinks from CarmieJo:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Pink.jpg

Anthelia:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Anthelia.jpg

Cool yellow sponge growing on a rock with button polyps:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Sponge.jpg

Can you spot the impostor hiding in the zoas?
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Zoas.jpg

Strangely, I find this tank much easier to shoot than my 120. now I just need to be patient and not run right out and buy a fish.

I really like the way the zoas look in here. I think that's what I'm primarily going to concentrate on now that I have the xenia and anthelia to wave around in the current, along with one or two really nice pieces of LPS. Maybe an acan or somthing. I'd really like to have some sun polyps in here two, but 1) they're not the easiest coral to find localy, and expensive when you do, and 2) I'd be worried about the water quality with the amount they need to eat.

Gee, I feel like a reef auntie! I wish I could stick a tank on my desk at work. Of course it might impact my productivity and/or I'd end up staying at work even later than the 6:15 that I left tonight.

i wish i HAD a desk to stick a tank on at work !! it would be kind of hard to carry a tank around with me all day, especially since i work outside in the heat !!

Maybe a Thermos with a window?

Maybe a Thermos with a window?

LOL:rotfl:


As much as I'd like to go with a goby/shrimp pair, I think I'm going to be extremely unoriginal and boring and go with a clown. I'd really like to put another fish in with it though. Would somthing small be OK, or too much? I was thinking a small dottyback, or maybe a royal gramma? I'd like somthing that will be out in the open though...

Maybe a Thermos with a window?


HA HAHA HAHAHA HAHAHAHA !!

OK, here's what I'm thinking about now. It seems like nitrates are one of the biggest problems facing nanos. To combat that, I'd like to plumb in a 10 gallom tank under my desk and set it up as a fuge. I can run a DSB and grow some cheato (time to prune anyway). The filter compartments on this tank are plastic, and so easily drillable. I'd like to drill 2 holes in the back of the tank (maybe an inch or two below the normal water level? The filter compartments is where the water level varies due to evap.) plumb in two 1/2 inch bulkheads, and run tubing down to the fuge. I could use somthing fairly low power for the return. maybe a MJ 600? Anyone know what the head loss on MJs is? were only looking at about 3.5 feet here. So, does anyone see any problems here? Any problems having the drain and return in the same filter compartment? I don't necessarily want to keep filtering the same water over and over, but I want to keep the water at a steady level in the filter chambers, as the circulation pump is located in the 3rd chamber. Come to think of it, I may need to plumb it into the 3rd chamber anyway, as I eventualy want a sapphire skimmer to go in the 2nd chamber. Alternately, I could remove the LR rubble from the 1st chamber and plumb the bulkheads in there, so the baffles built into the filtration chambers can remove any microbubbles that make it back into the tank. Just thinking out loud, any input is appreciated.

Looks like I'll have some more goodies for the nano next week thanks to lReef lKeeper, and one of the local reefers here is getting ready to frag some Atomic Alien Eyes zoas too.

I know that my MJ400 cant even push 3.5ft. I use a mj1200 to do water changes. I pump it out of the trash can into a bucket, then into the top of the tank from the bucket. I dont think that it puts out all that much anyway. Maybe about a gallon a minute at that height through 1/2" tubing (fits nice and tight on the MJ outlet). Of corse I have a couple coil of extra tubing it goes through also.

My other thought is if you are going to have a fuge like that, why not hange a remora on it and get some great skimming goign on. They seem to get good reviews and mine worked well on a 10g while I cured a couple pieces of rock. (You might need a board or two under it with a remoa to have it hang nice as it is maybe an inch tall for the standard 10g tank.)

Oh and I estimate about 1 gallon per minute on my MJ1200 pumping 5ft plus a couple coils of 1/2" tubing.

yes buddy you will !! my wife is shipping them out in the morning. what you have coming from me are ... 1 polyp green ricordea, 1 polyp tri color ricordea, 2 heads of neon green candy cane, 1 head of purple candy cane, and of course the green clove polyps (i believe there are about 10-15 polyps).

That's not a bad idea at all! It's only like $30 more than the Sappire, and no doubt more efficient. 1gpm seems like just about what I'm looking for, and I think I actualy have an extra 1200 sitting around somewhere. I was thinking it might be too powerful. Even if it's double that volume or more at 3.5 feet, I still think that's more than reasonable.

Is this worth the trouble?

:dance: Bobby, you are THE MAN!!!!! :dance:

well i really appreciate what you are doing for me.you are scrtching my back, so i am gonna scratch yours in return (so they say). BTW ... if its not to much trouble, i might be intersted in a second.

I'll check tomorrow, but I think it shouldn't be a problem.

we have a fish!

Happily swimming since Friday afternoon.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/Perc.jpg

Very nice, that first fish is always fun. Good luck with him man :D

Cute little clown! Well, on the fish we our nanos are starting to look alike! I need to start adding come corals to mine.

pearson, pics of the new frags would be GREAT !!

Grrr, well, there'ss omthing wrong with my old TR account, so i've had to get a new one. here are some updated pictures, including the nice frags Bobby sent me.

The film algae is starting to grow on the rocks, but i'm hoping it will recede once the coraline starts growing. untill then, i guess I'll need for the turbos and stomatellas to keep it in check (which they do in the glass very well).

Params are still looking good. Nitrates are <5 and PO4 is holding steady at .25. I've been changing 5 gallons a week.

Front views:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3422.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3423.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3424.jpg

View fom my chair:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3433.jpg

Lonely fishie:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3432.jpg

Two Ricordia Bobby sent me:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3425.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3426.jpg

those tri color rics are just plain sweeet !! i am gonna have to try to find a BUNCH more of those. to bad i cant remember where i got them from.

the candy cane is super GREEN, isn't it !! BTW ... now i have some WHITE candies !!

Absolutely love the Pink tip[ed frogspawn, jsut brought home a couple heads of that for my 120, really a beauty when it colors up.

Make surwe you watch the zenia and anthelia, wouldnt have been my first choice in a nanocube :s

Any who, nice nano, keep up the good work :D

Make surwe you watch the zenia and anthelia, wouldnt have been my first choice in a nanocube :s



LOL, mine niether, or the button polyps or kenya tree. They were all freebies and just space fillers until I can get some other stuff in there. I've already had to cut the xenia back once.

Lol, i hear that. I had a goni that just died in my tank. Not the same thing of course (almost the opposite), but it was something i wouldnt have chose but got for free.

See i guess its a little easier with zenia in a nano, just becuase if it ends up growing on a rock, its not a big deal getting it out of there (not a good idea mind you, taking and adding LR with living things in it) but you get the point.

those tri color rics are just plain sweeet !! i am gonna have to try to find a BUNCH more of those. to bad i cant remember where i got them from.

the candy cane is super GREEN, isn't it !! BTW ... now i have some WHITE candies !!

Yeah, they almost hurt to look at. You can clearly see them from across the room. Those pics were taken right after lights on too, so they weren't all the way inflated.

I really LOVE that tri-color. Maybe my favorite thing in the tank at this point.

I'd like to see a pic of your white candycane, I've never heard of such a thing.

How's your new toy behaving?

behaving like a perfect machine !!

i cant get pics right now. my camera will not transfer pics to the new PC. i have the newest software in the mail as we speak.

Pearson your nano is looking GREAT!

Ugh, well, bad news. I guess this is one of the problems with keeping a tank in your office, you're usualy not there over the weekend.

Evidently, we had some construction going on on my floor over the weekend, and they cut the power to my side of the floor. ALL WEEKEND :mad:

The only caualty seems to be my perc, although I haven't seen my pepermint shrimp yet. The corals seem OK, the 2 turbos are fine, and I know the blueleg is OK, because he was going to work on the carcas when I got to work this morning.

I'm not sure if it was the lack of circulation, or the heat (it was in the upper 90's all weekend here), but the poor little guy is gone. I think I'll invest in one of those battery powered air pumps before i get another fish. I don't know that it would run all weekend, but it would be better than nothing....

That's really unfortunate, we lost power last week when i was on vacation. We had some really bad storms hit the midwest apparently. All i've been hearing are horror story after horror story since i've been back :(

But my tank is currently cycling with nothing but LR in it... so i got lucky, and all my freshwater guys are ok so i think i got real lucky.

That stinks Pearson. I use the Penn Plax B-11 pumps. They plug into the outlet and when the power goes out they come on automatically. They use 2 D batteries. I don't know how long the pumps run on a set of batteries. We had brown outs a couple of weeks ago for several hours and they came on every time even thought I know they ran at least 2 hours a week or two before that. Guess I should replace those batteries.

Yeah, a bummer for sure. The pep shrimp is still alive though, saw him come out around mid-day. I've heard good things about those pumps, and the Petsmart right down the road carries them. I really need to go pick up one for the nano and a pair for the 120. At least that was the oly loss.

In other nano news, I have gotten the 10 I'm going to use for the sump, and consulted the guys over at WWM on how best to plumb everything. I just need to go pick up the rest of the supplies. Boy, I'm making myself look pretty lazy here, huh?

I have one in the sump of my 54 another in the DT and a third in the nano. I think they are pretty cheap insurance.

Well, not much to report on the nano front. Things are chugging along nicely. Corals seem to be growing nicely, and I get lots of nice compliments from people walking by my office. I'm still planning on setting up a sump, but the plans are temporarily on hold until my department moves later this month, or realy next.

I have a piece of orange cap in my DT that I have nothing to do with. I wonder if the 48w of PC over the nano would be enough?

I had a piece up high under 130 watts in my 54 and it never did well. I ended giving it away at a frag swap rather than kill it.

Transfered 6 or 7 new varieties of zoas into the nano today, with several more comming tomorrow. These were frags not mounted to rocks. I picked up some superglue at the store yesterday for this project and made the mistake of getting the regular glue instead of the gel. It's almost toaly useless. I ended up having to pull pieces of rubble out of the tank and gluing the zoas to the rubble, then placing them in the tank. I foumd out the hard way unfortunately as the first colony I tried to glue blew back behind the rockwork and has disapeared. Interestingly though, while I was looking for that frag, I found a piece of digi that I had accidently added to the nano with some rubble I scooped out of my sump. To my amazement, it was all polyped out and had actualy put on a little growth. Now I'm considering again adding a little piece of orange cap to the top of the rockwork to see what it does. The zoas are all cloed up now, but I'll bring in my camera sometime this week to get updated shots of all the new goodies.

OK, even though my office move is still a ways off, I'm trying to flesh out my sump.fuge idea. For those familiar with the JBJ Nano Cube, the rear filtration section is plastic. I'm planning to use these bulkhead fittings:
Slip Bulkhead Fitting Kits (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10090+7629+4036&pcatid=4036)
in, i'm thinking 1". I'm planning to drill holes for the bulkheads in chambers 1 and 3 a few inches below the surface. The drain would be in chamber 1 and the return in chamber 3. I'm hoping I can just attach some vinyl tubing to the elbows and have it work fairly quietly. This way, the wier will surface skim the nano, and the MJ will still provide circulation in the tank, some of the water will just make a detour through the sump/fuge. In the 10 gallon I'm planning to use for the sump, I will have a DSB, some cheato and a HOB skimmer (Remora maybe?), and probably some more LR. I'm thinking I can get away with a standard 10 gallon flourescent hood to grow the cheato. Since it's in my office, I'll probably run it in a reverse lighting cycle.

So, thoughts, inputs, potential problems? Anyone see any major problems here, or anything I shoud consider? If not, I'll probably start gathering equipment soon.

you should be fine with a NO florescent for the cheato. i run a NO on my fuge and it is growing like crazy.

A few updated pics. I came into the office late to do a water change so the lights hadn't been on for very long when i took these, and not everything is open.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/1HPIM3576.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/2HPIM3577.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/3HPIM3578.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3580.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3582.jpg

Really nice zoos! Are those from your local swap? I love zoos, so much color!

Most of them are. A few from my 120 also. The canycanes and tri-color and orange ricordia are from lReef lKeeper.

I saw those too, big fan of ricordeas! Good looking out lReef lKeeper! :up: We should see if we could get our clubs together for a swap Phurst. We have a meeting this Saturday. I can ask around and see if anyone is interested. What do you think? I don't mind driving. I drive to DC almost every week so half the distance is no sweat! :p

I think that would be awesome. we're having a huge meet/swap on the 22nd. A realy great LFS has just moved into a new space that's twice as big as the old store and the meet is going to be there. One of our members is roasting a pig in the parking lot, and reps from Deltec, Seachem and a couple of others are coming and giving away prizes, including a brand new Deltec skimmer. If any of you guys can make it up, you're more than welcome. Check out the details in the meet thread at Richmond Reef Club (http://www.richmondreefclub.com)

Awesome! I will try my hardest to make it to that. I have never been to any stores in Richmond so it will be cool to see something different. Thanks for the info! Hope to see you there!

you guys should try to attend my clubs frag swap on Nov. 2 !! it will be our first annual, but if things go well this year we will be hosting one every year.

Pearson, that stuff from me looks like it is doing great for you (not that everything doesn't look great).

Yep, it is for sure. That green candycane gets SUPER fluffy. It's still the brightest thing in the tank I think.

I'll be on a cross country drive to California during that time. I can definitely stop on the way. Thanks for the invite. God bless!

I love all the zoas!

Awesome! I will try my hardest to make it to that. I have never been to any stores in Richmond so it will be cool to see something different. Thanks for the info! Hope to see you there!


I see you made it into town bright and early. Did you get to check out Atlantis?

Came in this morning to find 4 or 5 black stomatella on top of the rockwork releasing eggs. Didn't have the camera, but it was pretty cool.

Love watching your tank blossom. The different color zoas are cool.

I'm curious about your thoughts of pluming in a sump. Maybe i haven't looked hard enough, but i haven't seen any threads on doing this with an all-in-one tank. Melev on RC has a thread on his acryllic nano tank build (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1166558), I wonder if cutting a slit in the top of a pvc pipe for an overflow like he did would be a way to do it.

BTW - All hail the flying spaghetti monster :)

LOL!
I've been following that thread on RC, pretty cool stuff. I considered doing somthing similar, but Marc has had problems getting good flow/slurping noise. I think I'm going to do somthing similar to what David did in this thread:

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/diy-projects/5039-how-do-i-make-sump.html

Posts 11 & 12.

Took a couple of top down shots this morning.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1085/1447117341_d4dafaf5ff_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1257/1447117475_17543d033b_b.jpg

As much as I would like a goby/pistol shrimp combo, I have made arangements with a local club member to adopt his mantis. I'll obviously have to move the peppermint into my 120, but he should be a cool addition to the nano. I should get him Sunday.

A mantis is cool!

wow all that hard work must have made you phursty:rotfl:


i dont think ive seen your thread before bud, its been going for awhile & ive missed quite abit! Nice job bud, creation, redesign, then creation again..lol
i look forward to your DIY on the sump eddition.

wow all that hard work must have made you phursty:rotfl:

LOLz, you crack me up V.

My office move is slated for early November, so I'm hoping to drill holes for the bulkheads, etc when i have it partialy drained to move it.

I'll be sure to snap plenty of pictures when I get around to it.

OK, typing that my office move is so close made me realize I need to get up off my butt here. So, I just ordered the bulkheads and the diamond hole saw. this will be my first time drilling a tank. Keep your fingers crossed....

I already have the 10 gallon tank, hood, plenty of cheato and LR rubble. I'll need to procure some sand, and hopefuly some kind of HOB skimmer. I'd really like a Remora, but they're just so expensive for this application.

Awesome Pearson! I wish I could have stayed up there for the meet but I was tired and hungry and the BBQ wasn't ready hehe. Great store up there and I would definitely stop by again!

Your nano is looking awesome! :up:

OK, typing that my office move is so close made me realize I need to get up off my butt here..


yep, cause you dont want to be like me & drag projects out till the end of time....at least i have an excuse,:p ive almost finnished building my vacume pipe conveyer system from the fridge to the couch that transports the beer. Then wisks the empties away to the recycle bin out the back:showoff:

Oh man, we need to see pics of that build Veriann :rotfl:

Picked up my mantis for the nano today. Anyone wanna venture a guess as to species?

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3757.jpg

The mantis has been in the tank for about 3 hours now, and already a couple of times i have herd him babging on somthing. The pepermint shrimp that was in the tank is home in the 120, and i can see both of my turbos (I think he's still too small to take them on anyways) so he's either working on a home, or one or more of the stomatellas have run across his path. Either way, it's pretty cool.

Oh, and my drill bit arrived today :)

Since I know next to nothing about mantis shrimp I will be waiting with baited breath to find out the species.

I did get an ID. Neogonodactylus curacaoensis

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_curacaoensis

Per some folks in the mantis forum, it's a somewhat uncommon variety.

Cool! Those little "feathers" are something else.

Yeah, I'm already rather attached to the little guy.

Couple of pics today.

I was looking down the back of the tank looking for my mantis when i noticed this:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3765.jpg


I knew there was a small piece of digitata in the tank at some point. it was in with a handfull of rubble I added right after I set up the tank. Imagine my surprise to find it there behind the rockwork, just growing away. It's a poor picture, but it's polyped out, has encrusted considerably, and has started some upwards growth. I can't believe it's back there alive, at the bottom of the tank, under 48w of 50/50 lighting.

While I had the camera out shooting the digitata, the mantis stuck his head out to see what was going on. The species info i have says he is shy, but he apparently just can't resist the camera.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3766.jpg


They're both terrible shots, but still neat.

wow, so this is what responding via cell phone smells like, funny, it looks just the same. @ least through this medium I has predictive text helping me. lol

so P, is finding that lost frag a good thing? its amazing the stuff that survives, even better when all the odds are against it!

LOL, yeah, I reply via BlackBerry all the time on here.

I never intended for the digi frag to live in the nano. there was a samll piece in a handfull of rubble I used to seed the tank. I just think it's amazing that it's not only alive, but growing.

Pretty cool about the digitata it is tough stuff!

My office move has been finalized for the weekend of the 9th, so i went ahead and ordered the bulkheads today.

sweet, ok time to really cook the B@st@ard bud.
Lets see whatcha got! :p

Sooooo, my bulkheads arrived today.....

Evidently the metric system and I had a mis-understanding. The diamond hole saw I ordered was just a bit too small. Back to eBay for a slightly larger bit :( So, drilling will have to be put off for a week or so. I was all set to get it done this weekend too. Not only that, but when I ordered the bulkheads i ordered 2 thinking "well, I need 2 bulkheads...." but I guess I ordered 2 pair instead of 2 bulkheads. Closed loop in a nano anyone :rotfl: ?

Hey,
Great looking tank. What are those zoos, on the top, kinda green and red/orange. Those are cool!

John


[QUOTE=pearsonhurst;56782]Grrr, well, there'ss omthing wrong with my old TR account, so i've had to get a new one. here are some updated pictures, including the nice frags Bobby sent me.




http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3423.jpg

The ones directly over the cany cane? They're "Whamin' Watermelons".

Boy, I didn't realize how much things had grown until I saw that pic. I have to move the tank twice this weekend. I moved it to the other side of our (old) floor today so they could move my office tomorrow, then I have to move it again on Sunday into my new office. PITA, but the price of a bigger office I guess :)

with a bigger office ... will you EVER be able to ANSWER THE PHONE ?? lol

I hate to move! They made us move out of our real offices into cubes in 2005. Not only did we have to move it was a downgrade.

with a bigger office ... will you EVER be able to ANSWER THE PHONE ?? lol

Oh, I think this makes it even LESS likely. I have to find the phone now :eek:

Yeah,

the ones above the candy cane.

THANKS!

John

Has this tank really only taken 3 months to get this far?

I am completely new to marine aquatics but the collection of freshwater tanks in the house at the same time crept up to three at one point.

I have been lucky enough to dive in Indonesia, Malaysia & The Canary Islands & recently got back into SCUBA diving so I thought I'd have a dabble and got myself a Biocube 14 a few weeks ago. The original goal was to do a small attractive freshwater species tank - not too complicated.

However, I was encouraged that with the Biocube, a reef tank was manageable. I was determined to be progressive with it and sensible. I've been checking on the Internet and far from looking natural, so many reef projects seem to be a smorgasboard of different things stuck next to each other with little resemblence to what lives next to each other in the Ocean.

Having found this thread I am so impressed with what you have created. I need to read it over a few more times to see if it is something that I can get close to with my project. It would really impress the wife who was very sceptical seeing another tank appear at the house, having waved goodbye to the last freshwater tanks about 4 years ago.

Over the last 3 weeks, I have cycled the tank with 15 pounds of live Fiji rock and set it up with with lots of intracate nooks crannies and overhangs, set up a reasonably deep live sand bed with 20lb of CaribSea live Aragonite & been reading everything I can get my hands on to learn up on in books from Amazon and trawling the web the subject.

Being an engineer by trade and enjoying details, I have been testing and controlling SHG (very accurately), monitoring temperature, PH & alkalinity Nitrate, Ammonia & gently adding Calcium from a starting point of 300ppm.

Now for the confession section...the Reef shop is less than 2 miles from my house so in 5 trips...

1st trip. Tank, stand and accessories;

2nd. Live Rock, Water & Sand

3nd trip for Livestock additions:-
Small Catalina Goby;
5 Blue legged Hermit crabs;
Skunk Cleaner shrimp;

4th trip.
Yellow Feather Duster
Added two corals - I forget the type of both but one of which I need to find a method of securing better to the live rock without disrupting the tank inmates.

5th & latest trip to the Aquatics shop for some salt yesterday resulted in:-
Small False Percula Clownfish;
(Tiny) Sexy shrimp;

Amazon book collection (in addition to various related Diving books & guides I already own) has become :-
Reef Aquarium Fishes - Scott W. Michael
The Nano-Reef Handbook - CR Brightwell
Natural Reef Aquariums - John H Tullock
Oceanic Wilderness - Roger Steene (exceptionally good book)

We are heading out for a few days in the FL Keys next week when I hope I can get in a couple of dives, hopefully avoiding too many more ideas.

I've looked at the local aquatics shop and the availability of Zoanthids doesn't come close to what you have in your tank. Any advice to offer towards my own project, what to watch and be careful of would be gratefully recieved - so impressed with your tank. I did start out with the all the very best of intentions in mind but you know how these things quickly get out of hand...

Sorry if I've dived in on this post for beginner advice but your project tank seems a fantastic target to aim for.

Thanks.

Wow, thanks for the compliments!

Yeah, about 3 monts is what it's been. I had the advantage of taking already cycled LR out of the sump of my 120 and combining it with some base rock, so I saved some time in that there wasn't much of a cycle. A lot of people will tell you a nano isn't the best way to go for a first marine tank. They're right in all the reasons they give. A large tank is more forgiving, and allows for more livestock, but it's my experience that nano's can be very successful first tanks for people. Particularly if they have been a successful in keeping freshwater tanks in the past. Nano's require attention to detail, and constant monitoring of water quality, but it's certainly doable. Being an engineer is probably a huge help here :) The best general advice I can give is to go slow, keep on top of testing your water, keep up the regular water changes, don't be affraid to ask questions (here or elsewhere), and don't be affraid to fail. Everyone has setbacks (wheather they admit it or not), it's a part of te hobby, but don't let them discourage you.

I'll also say that you are probably pretty close to fully stocked as far as fishies and inverts go. I'd say add a few snails and call it a day. Corals add very littel to the bio load, so don't worry about that too much.

What are you planning to stock as far as corals? A "zoa garden" or somthing else? I don't know if there's one in your area, but if there is, I'd strongl suggest joing a local reefing club. My local club has been a great source of corals for this tank. If you don't have a local club, and the LFS doesn't stock what you want, try asking them to order it for you. If they can't, there are a ton of great mail order companies. Most corals can be shipped by mail with no problem. you'll pay an arm and a leg in shipping usualy, but that's the price you pay I guess.

it sounds like you are off to a great start. Feel free to ask any questions you like either in this thread, or on this site. You should start a tank build thread. The folks here are great, and TR is free of a lot of the BS you'll run into at some of the other forums.

Thanks again for checking out the thread, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Just finished moving the tank into it's final location. The move seems to have gone fine, but everything is closed up and angry at the moment. I drained 5 gallons to move it and just ended up turning it into a water change. Everything should perk back up in a bit. It's about time for some updated pics. My wife gets mad when i take the camera to work though, because it's usualy a few days before I remember to bring it back ;)

Has this tank really only taken 3 months to get this far?

I am completely new to marine aquatics but the collection of freshwater tanks in the house at the same time crept up to three at one point.

I have been lucky enough to dive in Indonesia, Malaysia & The Canary Islands & recently got back into SCUBA diving so I thought I'd have a dabble and got myself a Biocube 14 a few weeks ago. The original goal was to do a small attractive freshwater species tank - not too complicated.

However, I was encouraged that with the Biocube, a reef tank was manageable. I was determined to be progressive with it and sensible. I've been checking on the Internet and far from looking natural, so many reef projects seem to be a smorgasboard of different things stuck next to each other with little resemblence to what lives next to each other in the Ocean.

Having found this thread I am so impressed with what you have created. I need to read it over a few more times to see if it is something that I can get close to with my project. It would really impress the wife who was very sceptical seeing another tank appear at the house, having waved goodbye to the last freshwater tanks about 4 years ago.

Over the last 3 weeks, I have cycled the tank with 15 pounds of live Fiji rock and set it up with with lots of intracate nooks crannies and overhangs, set up a reasonably deep live sand bed with 20lb of CaribSea live Aragonite & been reading everything I can get my hands on to learn up on in books from Amazon and trawling the web the subject.

Being an engineer by trade and enjoying details, I have been testing and controlling SHG (very accurately), monitoring temperature, PH & alkalinity Nitrate, Ammonia & gently adding Calcium from a starting point of 300ppm.

Now for the confession section...the Reef shop is less than 2 miles from my house so in 5 trips...

1st trip. Tank, stand and accessories;

2nd. Live Rock, Water & Sand

3nd trip for Livestock additions:-
Small Catalina Goby;
5 Blue legged Hermit crabs;
Skunk Cleaner shrimp;

4th trip.
Yellow Feather Duster
Added two corals - I forget the type of both but one of which I need to find a method of securing better to the live rock without disrupting the tank inmates.

5th & latest trip to the Aquatics shop for some salt yesterday resulted in:-
Small False Percula Clownfish;
(Tiny) Sexy shrimp;

Amazon book collection (in addition to various related Diving books & guides I already own) has become :-
Reef Aquarium Fishes - Scott W. Michael
The Nano-Reef Handbook - CR Brightwell
Natural Reef Aquariums - John H Tullock
Oceanic Wilderness - Roger Steene (exceptionally good book)

We are heading out for a few days in the FL Keys next week when I hope I can get in a couple of dives, hopefully avoiding too many more ideas.

I've looked at the local aquatics shop and the availability of Zoanthids doesn't come close to what you have in your tank. Any advice to offer towards my own project, what to watch and be careful of would be gratefully recieved - so impressed with your tank. I did start out with the all the very best of intentions in mind but you know how these things quickly get out of hand...

Sorry if I've dived in on this post for beginner advice but your project tank seems a fantastic target to aim for.

Thanks.

:welcome: to TR! We love pictures. <hint, hint>

Thanks. I'll have a go and see what the pictures turn out like. Could do with some advice on better securing a coral. It's balanced a bit precariously on top of the LR at the moment. Wondered if there are any techniques I can employ? It's already toppled off a couple of times...

Do you know what kind of coral it is? Generally speaking, cyanoacrilate based super glue gel is good for securing corals. It does depend on the type of coral, of course.

Credit where credit is due - tank looks great. I'll try posting a few photos of my creation. You might be able to identify the 2 corals for me...!

Applying superglue sounds a bit scary - Do you have to dry the rock or any other recommendations to avoid risk of contamination??

Hope the photos appear OK - originals before I shrunk them looked pretty good.

2137

2138

2139

2140

LOL, love the pic of the sexy shrimp, and that goby is AWESOME! I can't see to well in the top pic. Can you either post a bigger pic, or closeups of the corals?

The rock work looks nice and natural, and there's a good amount or coraline on there already.

As far as the super glue goes, it's perfectly safe as long as it's cyanoacrilate glue (most superglues are). I'd strongly recommend the 'gel' variety instead of the liquid. Reefers use it ALL the time. It instantly activates when the water hits it, so there's no contamination. Take out whatever you're gluing, dab it dry (as best you can, just so there's no standing water), apply plenty of glue, and stick it in place. Try to get it in place as quickly as possible as a skin will form immediately and the glue will start to cure. Hold it in place about 30 seconds and check to see if it's secure. There are some corals that you can't glue, so we should try to ID what you have first. Trying won't hurt them, some just won't stick.

The tank is looking really good, especially for a first tank!

The Catalina Goby is good. They said it wasn't so common to get in every week. He/she's livened up a bit more since the Clown joined in the competition for food - definitely seemed a little bit put out.

I've had some freshwater tanks before a few years ago now - this is the first attempt at a marine. Confess I did make a little cardboard model mock up of the tank before I went down and fiddled around with the live rock they had. Bit sad...

Don't know if this zoomed in picture will help the identification of the two Corals any better. The right hand one looks really good under the moonlight LED's. I knew I should have asked them to write them down at the shop. They have been pretty helpful though.

See if you can make anything better out of this...

2141

Hmm, the one on the right has pretty large polyps. it looks like it could be a cup coral (turbaneria) or possibly a gonipora. I hope it's not a goni, they don't usualy live very long. The one on the left, is that the one the sexy shrimp is walking on in the picture above? if so, it looks like some kins of star polyp. Which one are you having trouble attaching?

the one on the right ... looks like a Galaxea to me. do you see long sweeper tentacles after the lights go out ??

So, I kept going back and forth with myself in my head about how to build the sump, and when I would get it done. I decided to bite the bullet and have one of our awesome LFSs build it for me. It's a 15 gallon tank with a large wall inside to hold back the DSB, a bubble trap, and an egg crate grate to hold the cheato on it's side of the fuge. It should be done early next week :)

sweet !! i can not wait to see this bad boy up and running.

That sounds great!

the one on the right ... looks like a Galaxea to me. do you see long sweeper tentacles after the lights go out ??

Yeah the tentacles are about an inch - inch & a half - couldn't believe it when I first saw them - amazing! That's the coral the Sexy shrimp has taken residence on. Both the corals are balanced fairly precariously.

I have also had one or two things to start to worry about... I have started getting blooms of brown/purple algae all over the place and filament algae growing on the LR - this week accompanied by one or two bubbles forming on the rocks. I've been cleaning the glass off and stirring up the sand where it's formed. Haven't tested for phosphate. I have only been feeding frozen brine shrimp and apart from when I had to let my neighbour look after the tank for four days have been keeping the feed sparingly enough so the fish and shrimp clear most of it up.

I actually haven't lost any livestock but my Catalinia Goby seems to start to break out in white spot but this it seems to settle down again a couple of days after a water change. In my freshwater experience, I never had much success treating white spot effectively without losing the fish in question.

Do I need to step up or increase the freq of water changes ? I've been doing 25-30% about every 2 weeks.

Another question related to the water chances - is it OK to leave the corals exposed out of water during maintenance. The coral on the left seems to take at least a day to come back out again afterwards.

Thanks for any advice offered - & again apologies for hijacking this thread...

Sounds like cyano. It's a bacteria, and can range from purple to red to brown to green. It's stringy, and fairly easy to blow off the rocks.

If that's it, there are a couple of things you can do. It absolutely will not grow in areas with strong flow. You can try rearranging the flow in the tank, or you can add more flow. Running carbon and/or GFO will help as well. Leaving the lights off for 3 days seems to have good results for some, and of course there's always chemi-clean. It's an antibiotic that will kill the cyano, but it can be touchy to use.

The algae on the rocks will also be helped by all of these methods except the chemi-clean. What do you have in the way of algae eating snails? Sounds lie you might want to temporarily add a few more until you get the algae under control.

Temporaily exposing the corals during a water change is no problem. happens in nature all the time :)

Soooo. I'm at work right now rebuilding my laptop, and.....
















Plumbing my sump! :)

Holes are drilled.....

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0015.jpg

HE DID IT !! yeeeees !! now we are rollin' !!

Plumbed an running like a top. I'll try to bring the good camera tomorrow. I need to tune the external durso too, as it's a bit gurgley.

This is my first DIY anything for an aquarium, and my first time drilling a tank. I think it went swimmingly! :D

OK, here we go.

Here it is back in place and plumbed. Don't ask why I have a ball valve on the drain line, I just happened th have 2. The durso isn't all the way finished yet either.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3870.jpg

Here's the sump/fuge itself. I'll be adding some cheato and LR rubble to the left chamber, and a HOB skimmer and possibly a pair of phosban reactors to the right hand chamber.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3871.jpg

Here's the inside of the rear chamber of the nano. Drain on the left, return on the right. I wanted to modify it as little as possible, so I lined up the return bulkhead with the hole that was already in the front of the rear section for the stock return. I had to rig it with some clear tubing so I didn't have to drill it out to accommodate the PVC. The smaller diameter of the tubing increases the velocity of the flow anyway, so it's a win-win situation.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3872.jpg

The whole thing took about 2 hours, which included making the extra 12 gallons of salt water to fill the sump. I'm using a Mag 2 as a return, and so far, it's silent, has more flow, and the temp is considerably cooler than it was before. Cool enough that I shouldn't have any problems with additional powerheads to run the skimmer and phosban reactors, and possibly add more flow to the display.

So far, I'm really very pleased with how this has gone.

can you say ..."SPS nano" !!??

Oh yes, yes I can ;)

70w or 150w you think?

i think 70w would be enough !! lol

I think that rebuilding your laptop and working on your tank could create problems. Kind of like beer & superglue, you know? :)

LOL, thankfully, everything went fine with the tank AND the laptop.

Interestingly, about 90% of what little algae was in the tank seems to have completely died off in the last 24 hours. Corals, inverts and fish are fine. I wonder what that's about, not that I'm complaining....

Can't wait til I can say the same with my 8 week old tank. The acryllic is literally covered in brown algae within 5 or 6 hours of being cleaned. Nitrate looks fine though. I haven't tested for phosphate. I did a 40% water change at the weekend - I know it's probably too much but I was careful with the temp and salinity was spot on. Plan is to keep it at 25% every two weeks or 10% every week, depending on my mood. Haven't bothered with a protein skimmer yet either as it looks a lot of messing about to do it in the BioCube 14.

Wondering if I should shorten the length of time the lights are on a bit...I have them programmed to be on 11.30 until 9.30pm and the Moonlights are on the rest of the time. It's not directly in a window either. Let me know if you've got any suggestions or if I need to splash out on another test kit.

Also have nudged the temperature up a few degrees to see if it helps with the Ich on my two fish - False Perc & Catalunia Goby.

Any suggestions, warning or experience welcome.

Thanks guys.

Yeah, film algae can be a real pain. The good thing is, as far as algae goes, it could be MUCH worse. Are the snails you got eating it at all? If not, you may want to check with the LFS on a variety that will.

While strictly speaking a PO4 test kit isn't a necessity, it IS a good thing to have. Are you running carbon or phosphate remover in any of the filtration chambers? If not you may want to throw in a bag of carbon, and maybe some phosphate remover if the levels turn out to be high. I know I see a pretty good reduction in film algae on my 120 at home when I change out the carbon.

You could probably get away with 8 hours of lights, or you could go 3 days with no lights at all to help out with starving out the algae. If you go that route, you;ll want to do a water change on the last day to remove whatever nutrients were returned to the water by the algae.

I know raising the temp can help speed up the ich lifecycle, but I have no practical experience there. Sorry...

Thanks - I'll shorten the light cycle too. The snails are definitly making an impact in certain areas of the tank I can see a difference. I got 3 Bumblebee snails yesterday - probably not going to do too much but I thought looked great for a Nano - they are runing through the sand, and seem to clear a trail on the glass so doing something. What about Red Legged Hermits - Good algae eaters or do they introduce any problems, especially with the 5 little Blue legged Hermits I've already got roaming around or wouldn't you bother...?

Also of course being in the LFS & having sticky fingers, I couldn't resist that Torch Coral too. Was wonderig if my False Perc might actually treat it as an Anenome and move in but no sign of it happening yet.

Must get the camera out again and see if I can get some bigger size pictures posted on my own project thread. Appreciate the assistance.

I am enjoying the tank. Any recommendations for a good online source for Zoas ?

Hermits (mine at least) seem to eat more detritus than algae, although they do pick at it from time to time. If you can find some Mexican turbo snails, they will really mow through the algae.

My clowns hosted in a hammer for a while, which is in the same family as the torch. Of course even after I added my anemone, it was 6 months before they decided to live in it, so you never know.

I've gotten a lot of zoa frags locally, but have ordered from ebay as well as the buying/selling forum on Reef Central. Fraggle Reef also has a great reputation with members here and elsewhere. Our club sometimes does buys from Reefer Madness, and they have sent us some really nice zoas as well.

I do ~20% water change in my nano weekly and it seems to stay happy. Comparatively I change ~10% in my 54 with a skimmer and a sump that holds 10+ gallons.

Thanks guys for the advice. I've numbered the next few questions with some questions within each to answer - told you I was an Engineer by trade...

1. My previous experience has all been with freshwater not reef tanks but I'm happy doing 20% water change every week - sounds sensible to me. Whilst I think the BioCube is supposed to be a 14 gallon tank, with the sand and LR I've got in it, I'm sure it's nearer to only holding 10 gallons if that sounds reasonable if I added 15 pounds of LR ?

2. How big do Mexican Turbo Snails get in comparison to my Asteas ?

3. I had a question about the effectiveness or any risk associated with adding a Red Legged Hermit crab along with the current occupants which include 5 Blue Legged - any problems forseen and how big do they get to ??

4..Good news is that the Ich seems to be improving since knocking up the temperature a few degrees - hope I can be sure that's gone from the fish for the time being - Do you know how long I should wait before thinking about adding another fish ? Nothing physically big - I want to keep the tank peaceful and look after the occupants I have - thinking of a Purple Firefish ?? When might it be safe as I've read you have to quarantine fish in a QT for 6 weeks - does that mean I shouldn't add another fish until Februrary assuming no further outbreaks on the current two occupants...???

5. Do you know of any clubs in Indiana ? Is there a society for instance with varous Chapters ?? - like Muskies Inc. has for fisherman....

6. I am finding it a bit hard to keep my Ca above 350 ppm. Do I need to get into Magnesium testing and additives ? Or is this stil just a bit too soon for things to have matured and settled down ??? Although I started off using Distilled, my last water change (40%) a week ago was Purified RO water which I bought by the Gallon from the Supermarket. My salinity has always been bang on 1.024. Are there any other reasons why the Red Sea Calcium Success doesn't seem to be making the impact I was expecting...????

I'll check out the resources you mention for the Zoas. Be really good to find some bright ones - I am a bit disappointed with the ones I got for $30 from the LFS. Bit plain...

Sorry for the miriad of questions but I want to avoid any disasters if possible - particularly any which may be inclined to happen fast...!

Cheers for your help !

Still need to get around to starting my own project tank thread so I can leave you alone for a while.

1) 10 gallons sounds about right. 15 pounds of rock would be fine. The rough guideline is 1-2 Lbs/gal.

2) Mine are roughly the size of a golf ball.

3) I'm not sure on the max size, but they get considerably larger than the blue legs. Mine have never been a problem, but all crabs are opportunistic feeders. Some people have problems with them, some don't. They also have a tendency to eat snails for their shells.

4) I would wait 6-8 weeks after the last sign of ich. A purple firefish would be a great choice. I love the way they look as well.

5) I'm not sure where they're based, but there's INDMAS - Indiana Marine Aquarium Society, and IRC - Indiana Reefers Club.

6) 350 really isn't bad, especially since there's probably not a real high demand for calcium in your tank. That being said, calcium, alkalinity and magnesium are all related. If one is out of whack, the others will be too.

Always happy to help if I can :)

I got word today one of our local club members was tearing down his tank and selling off his stuff to raise funds for an in-wall build. So I went over after work and picked up 20 pounds of LR, 2 Phosban reactors, and 3 liters of activated carbon. The LR spent a while out of water, so it will live in the sump of my 120 for a couple of weeks to be on the safe side, then it's going into the nano sump. The phosban reactors will go on the nano sump tomorrow. I've got plenty of carbon now, and a couple of us split a bulk order of GFO at the last meeting, so plenty of that as well. The cheato will be going in as well.

For some reason I'm getting somthing of a diatom bloom. I guess it's from adding the new tank and new sand. I'm not too worried about it, it should run it's course.

Now, I need to decide on what I want to do about lighting. I've been looking at the sunpod, but the 16" model only comes with a 14,000K 70 watt bulb. I could get the viper in a 150 watt for about the same price. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

i would go with the sunpod. dont they have actinics and halide ?? i like the growth of 10K with the blue of actinics.

Phurst,

I had been waiting to see how you were going to drill your tank. I admire your craftmanship and your chutzpah! I'm a bit squemish about drilling into my BioCube while it's running with livestock counting on me not to screw it up.

Good work!

Thanks James. It really wasn't hard at all. I psyched myself out in my head, and even thought i had all the materials for a while, I was too nervous about trying it. It really was a snap though.

Bobby, the Sunpod only has a 70W 14K HQI bulb and moon lights. I guess that's why it's 14K. I'd really love to have a 150w 20K.

Phosban reactors are up and running. One full of carbon, the other with about 1 1/2" of Phosban. Had to add a little buffer to counteract the alk drop from the phosban. Unfortunately, I can no longer completely close the lid on the sump now, but oh well...

I didn't bring the cheato in today, because I'm treating my tank at home with chemiclean, and want to make sure I don't accidentally bring any cyano into the nano.

Bobby, the Sunpod only has a 70W 14K HQI bulb and moon lights. I guess that's why it's 14K. I'd really love to have a 150w 20K.

in that case i would go with the Viper light for the 150w and maybe a 10k reeflux bulb. the reeflux have a pretty nice blue tint to them. check this out ...

250Watt Bulb Comparison (http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/)

those are 250w bulbs, but i dont inmagine that there is a huge difference in color on them.

:welcome: to TR! We love pictures. <hint, hint>

Well finally got around to starting my own Member Tank Project Thread

Musky Hunter's First Reef Project

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/member-tank-projects/5604-musky-hunter-s-first-reef-project-started-10-29-07-a.html

Thanks for all of the advice I've picked up from this thread. Please stop by my project thread and offer your advice. Spent the last hour or so replying to myself but at least you'll get the idea of how things have been panning out & be able to help me out ?

If anyone fancies donating any frags which will help out with the 'colourscape', they won't be wasted !!!

:agree::up:

Thanks.

Well finally got around to starting my own Member Tank Project Thread

Musky Hunter's First Reef Project

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/member-tank-projects/5604-musky-hunter-s-first-reef-project-started-10-29-07-a.html

Thanks for all of the advice I've picked up from this thread. Please stop by my project thread and offer your advice. Spent the last hour or so replying to myself but at least you'll get the idea of how things have been panning out & be able to help me out ?

If anyone fancies donating any frags which will help out with the 'colourscape', they won't be wasted !!!

:agree::up:

Thanks.

I've been playing in your thread :)

I'll be picking up my MH lighting next week :) :wow: :D :up: :rock: :party:


This one:

Oceanic Systems | Products | Aqualight Advanced Series - Hang-On Tank Mount (http://www.oceanicsystems.com/products/aqualight-advanced-series---hang-on-tank-mount.php)

From a local reefer. Used less than a month, with a couple of spare bulbs!

phursty, that looks like a nice unit.
Sweet on the thread bud, its coming along nicely.

Pearson that is a nice looking light.

Things are moving along nicely. I'll be picking up the MH fixture after work today. It's coming with a 20k XM bulb, a 14k XM bulb and a 10k XM bulb. The 20k bulb (which is the one I'll be using) has several weeks of burn time, and the other two are brand new, so it's a pretty sweet deal.

Additionally, my Remora skimmer should be in the mail, due to arrive next week.

I've applied for a new job as an applications analyst at the same firm I currently work for. I've been on 2 interviews so far, so I'm not going to set up the MH lights until I learn if I'm going to have to move to a new office. I should know something in a week or two I'd guess. I just had to move the tank a short while ago, and it was enough of a PITA even without the sump, so it should be LOADS of fun if I have to do it again. But, the position comes with a hefty raise, so I'll keep my complaining to myself :)

Good luck :)

Good luck :)

Thanks!

OK, so, I'm really impatient.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0016.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0017.jpg

Sorry for the terrible pics, but all I had was my cellphone.

I ended up taking a bunch of stuff home to go in the 120 until I know how the tank is going to run with these lights. Pretty much everything not attached to the LR is at home currently. The tank will undergo a major redesign anyway, so no big deal.

So far, heat has not been an issue, but it's only been on for 3 1/2 hours.

I bet your desk is popular with your co-workers!

Yep, people wander by and stare at it all the time. People who know nothing about aquariums randomly come by to see if ive added anything new :)

It's probably less popular with whoever pays the power bills around here :D

Yep, people wander by and stare at it all the time. People who know nothing about aquariums randomly come by to see if ive added anything new :)

It's probably less popular with whoever pays the power bills around here :D
LOL, my husband concurs.

Bobby, the Sunpod only has a 70W 14K HQI bulb and moon lights. I guess that's why it's 14K. I'd really love to have a 150w 20K.

i am going to have a 150w with actinic Current USA fixture for sale pretty soon. i just picked up a 175w pendant for the frag tank. i have to put it all together then the 150w is coming down, but you know me ... it could be sitting there for a few weeks, lol.

Coralife 24 Inch Aqualight Pro, 1x150W HQI MH Lamp + 2x65W PC + 2x1W Lunar LED (24in ) (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~ES53502.html)

i will have to think about the price i would let it go for, but if you are interested i will put you at the front of the line.

oooops ... wrong link !!

24 inch Current USA Outer Orbit 1x150W 10K HQI-MH w/ 2x65W Dual Actinic & 4 Lunar Lights (24in ) (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~CU01040.html)

That's a nice fixture, but 24" is too wide, plus I just put my new MH fixture on. See photos previous page.

The temp never got above 80 over 8 hours of the lamp burning, So that's good. I'll still be adding whatever MJ comes on the Remora skimmer, and another pump in the display to increase flow, so I'm getting pretty close to the heat threshold without some kind of chiller. I can probably blow a fan across the sump to squeeze out a little extra cooling, so I'm not really worried yet.

The XM 20k bulb really looks great, and the few zoas and other things in the tank looked really great. I think I'm going to turn the lights down to 4 or 6 hours and ramp back up to 8 hours. By the end of the day, some of the zoas and all of the xenia were starting to close, and I don't want to bleach the stuff still in there.

Maybe if things go well this week, I'll take the LR sittiing in my sump out and move it to work next week. Soon thereafter I should know about my promotion (my next interview is this week :D) so I;ll know if I should go ahead with the reworking of the rockwork or wait a bit.

dude !! you got a Viper light !!

Nah, it's a Coralife.

Oceanic Systems | Products | Aqualight Advanced Series - Hang-On Tank Mount (http://www.oceanicsystems.com/products/aqualight-advanced-series---hang-on-tank-mount.php)

oh they are pretty much the same thing !! potato potatoe, lol

Well, I'm diging it at any rate.

The other thing to think about is if they let the building get warmer over the weekend during the summer.

Hmm, that is a good point. I don't think they turn off the HVAC, but I don't spend a lot of time here on the weekends...

manual intervention if you have these in an office environment. I have a perminant sign on the door asking for it not to be closed by the cleaners, & iv'e tappered with the AC timer so it runs longer , got to buffer at least some of that temp, offices esspecially near a window can radiate a fair emount of heat no matter which side of the world your on. Just take a sec & simpathise with my case....heat rises & everything in Oz is upside down:p

That's a good point. I also need to put up a sign asking the cleaning people to not clean the tank or spray anything near it.

Is that why it's so freaking hot in the bush :D ?

the only thing hot in the bush is - bush women, annually we round em up & sell them to patrons overseas, usually to the canadians because you cant understand them ether..lol

I brought in a frag of A. exquisita that's just been sitting around on my sand bed looking for a place to live.

2 hours in the tank and there is some PE. The coloration was suffering all the way on the bottom of my tank, so hopefully it will color back up.

Brought the test kits in today for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Amonia, nitrite and nitrate all 0. This tank had been running at about 5ppm nitrate previously. I think it's too soon for the DSB in the sump to be working, so I don't know if it's just diluted in the larger volume of water or what, but I'm not complaining. maybe the cheato is using it?

pH is 8.2
Alk is 9
Calcium is 410
Phosphate is undetectable (it better be with the phosban reactor half full in this small volume of water.)
Temp is holding steady at 80.

My skimmer should be here Monday :)

I need to get some more circulation in the tank as well, but it's OK for now. We're in the middle of a huge project here at work, so between that and still waiting to hear about my promotion (another interview today), the redesign of the rockwork is going to have to waut another couple of weeks.

Skimmer showed up. The collection cup was broken in transit, but was promptly mended and is up and running.

Wow Phurst! Awesome thread and a very awesome tank. How about some pics?

I'll try to get some. Right now, the most interesting part of the setup is the gear, as I took a LOT of the corals home when I installed the MH light because I didn't do any lighting acclimation, and a lot of the stuff was stressed. Once the rockwork is redone, I'll start restocking with SPS.

Sump:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3956.jpg

Tank:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3958.jpg

I brought my Richmond Tricolor in today. It's been a dull brown in my 120 with bright tips. It would seem it's largely because of my crappy 10k lights, because it looks really nice under the 20k here.

That's it, I'm going back to 20k at home. Growth has been good under the 10ks, but I have really NOT been happy with the coloration of anything.

I think hardware procurement is done :clap:

I added a Koralia Nano for flow. I should have somewhere around 30x turnover in the tank now :wow:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0027.jpg

I also couldn't resist this nice blue/green stag ;)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0029.jpg

Started dosing kalk today with the top off as well. the tank seems to loose about 32 ounces a day. I'll start with 16 oz every other day until I get a better feel for the CA demands.

I have to work nearly all day this Sunday, and I'm hoping to bring in the extra rock from home and re-aquascape, so i can start mounting the frags a little more permanently. i added a piece of green slimer from home today as well. Everything seems happy and polyped out.

sweet ... up for a trade ?? i LIKE that A. Exquisita !!

The exquisita is the small frag on the bottom left in the FTS above. The big one on the frag-mag on the right is a. valida (Richmond tri-color). That's the only piece of exquisita i have, but I've got loads of the tri-color.

i was just bustin your chops about the Exquisita ... i really like those. i have an ORA Valida that is growing like a little weed.

Yeah, it does. I have two colonies of it, and besides my pink milli, it's the fastest growing thing I have.

I'm at work today, so i decided to bring in the extra rock from my sump and do the re-aquascape. I also pulled everything out that wasn't an SPS, for now.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/PIC-0031.jpg

So, I'm all SPS now baby!!!!

have you been bittin by the SPS bug ??

Ya think ;)

I'm happy to have a mixed reef at home, but this will be all SPS for now.

welcome to the club, brother !! they dont MOVE like LPS and softies, BUT i think it is the satisfation of knowing that you can keep them and seeing what colors you can get out of them.

Well, since I had to be at work all day yesterday while my 120 was crashing at home, I figured I'd at least get a little work in on the nano.

I added a JBJ ATO auto topoff system. I really like this ATO solution. It's nicely packaged and works very well. It comes with 2 float valves. I have mine set up with sensor 1 in the sump, and sensor 2 in the ATO reservoir. When sensor 1 is activates, it turns on a Aqualifter pump sitting on top of a 5 gallon bucket of RO/DI, and pumps water up to the rear chamber of the nano. When the water level in the reservoir gets low, sensor 2 will activate, turning off the pump, so it doesn't run dry. it has lights on the front so i know it's on, if either of the sensors is activated, and if the system is pumping. So far, so good. it looks like I loose about 16 ounces a day through evaporation.

I also added a float to the rear chamber of the nano, and connected it to the Mag 2 return pump. It's set up to cutt off the pump is the water level gets too high. I decided to add it in the event that the drain got clogged or otherwise restricted. Since the sump is bigger than the nano, it could create a real mess. Hopefully this will protect against this happening.

Last, i added a Pen-Plaxx battery operated air pump. this pump runs on 2 D batteries. You plug it in, and it does nothing. If it senses the power is off, it will start the battery powered pump. I decided this was a good idea after a power outage a while ago cost me the true perc living in the tank at the time.

OK - Quick He-eelp !! False Perc Clown's hopped into the pump area at the back of my Biocube. As I've never had all the pipe work and powerhead out I am a bit nervous of trying to do so when he's hiding down there - don't want to squash him. I've tried putting a few floating pellets to tempt him up and dropping the tank level and then pumping the chamber out to force him to cooperate but all to no avail. Shall I send in the Purple Reef lobster yet ? ...or any other suggestions ??

I think you're going to have to pull whatever's in the rear section out (very gently), and try to net him if you have a net that small. Otherwise, you can try to cup him with your hand. Just go slow and be careful. Clowns are tough, and he'll be fine back there until you can get him out safely.

Pearson, I have a couple of those Penn Plax pumps and think they are great!. You may already know this but I read that you should just run the tubing into the tank and not use an airstone as the airstones get clogged up. It made sense to me so, that is what I do.

is the alarm working on your ATO ?? i noticed that you did not mention it in the post.

No, and I was curious about that as it does mention it in the instructions. While it would be nice, it may not be appropriate for an office anyway.

Good to know Carmie. I'll pull the airstone off tomorrow.

they are pretty loud, so you are probably right about it not being right for an office.

LOL, no sense in drawing attention to the growing mass of reef gear in my office...

just an example, but i can hear mine going on my front porch with the door and all the windows closed !! i can BARELY hear it, but i still hear it, lol.

The frag fairy visited today :D

Pics tomorrow if I can.

copy cat !!

So, some frags magically appeared in my tank yesterday. Nothing truly outrageous, but we'll see how they color up.

Please forgive the cruddy state of the bottom part of my glass, I need to get a razor in there somehow. As you can also see, I've brought on a bit of a diatom bloom by trading out the rock. It's actualy already starting to recede.

Anyway, without further ado:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3977.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3978.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3979.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3980.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3982.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3986.jpg

There are more that I couldn't really get pics of, but there are 6 zoa frags and 6 acro frags. I'll try again when I get everything mounted. Hopefully later today.

Oh, and of course, when the camera comes out, so does the mantis. He just loves the paparazzi :)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3976-1.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3992.jpg

The full monty...

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3989.jpg

yeah !! thats what im talking about !!

very nice. can't wait to see it start growing out and filling the tank

Nice additions! I like seeing how frags color up. :)

Me too, I'll be excited to see what happens. One has AWESOME neon green polyps.

I need to pick up a mag kit sometime. I've been having trouble keeping my alk up. pH has been fine 8.1-8.3, calc has been steady 380-420, but my alk was low last week, and I buffered it up to 9.6 DKH by Friday. Yoday it was back down to 6.4. I'm raising it again, but I'm going to start topping off with kalk, and test my mag, as I'd bet it's low.

Added an ORA Chips Acro today. It was just so fuzzy, I just couldn't resist :D

Well, it's been about 2 weeks since I added the SPS frags. things are moving right along, and several of the pieces have already begun some considerable base encrustation. You can sorta see on this pic.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM4034.jpg

This piece normally has super green polyps, but I cleaned the glass right before I took the pics, so they're mostly retracted.

Colors are changing a bit, and several of the pieces have new growth that I'm hoping will look nice.

Conditions in the tank are pretty stable, though require regular additions of alk and ca in spite of the fact that I'm now topping off with kalk, though not as much since i started with the kalk.

Here you cn see a poor piece of porites that had fallen behind the rockwork in my 120 and had experienced considerable dieback and algae invasion. In the 2 weeks it's been in the tank, it has shown rmarkable improvement. You can see all the new growth around the dieback.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM4032.jpg

A quick shot of the ORA Chip's Acro I added. Love the colors and movement on this piece.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM4030.jpg

And finaly a FTS, although it doesn't look all that different from the last FTS.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM4024.jpg

nice ORA Chipps !! i love mine too, it has more movement than anything else in the tank.

have you been bittin by the SPS bug ??


There is something about feeding & nurturing a cluster of polyps by hand as apposed to nuke fest tank feeding parties, although my rubber ones are a snap to feed, but some ive heard to be quite challenging. :rotfl:


Phursty, turn around for 5 seconds, & your nano starts looking way better than mine, that can't be right :huh: lol

well done brother.
Esspecially love this funky character hanging out in no mans land! :agree:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/pearsonhurst/HPIM3958.jpg

Well, the latest news on the nano isn't exactly the best news in the world. I have red bugs :(

It's not the end of the world really, and red bugs are a pest that are pretty easily treated. The problem is, Interceptor, the medication for treatment tends to kill shrimp and the like, and my mantis lives in the nano. Luckily, one of my local reefer buddies has agreed to house the mantis in his sump while i treat the tank, and is giving me some Interceptor as well. I have to trap the mantis today, which should be fun, since I'm going over to Vince's tonight to help him move his lights over to his new canopy. I'll drop off the mantis and pick up the Interceptor (and his old canopy :) ).

Wow Pearson, this tank has changed so much! Sorry to hear about the red bugs. I probably had them all over my stuff but my six line wrasse takes care of them and anything else that can fit in its mouth for that matter. It got so fat it looked pregnant! How are things in VA?

Yeah, unfortunately nothing in that tank cares about them, so I must medicate.

VA is cold and rainy, the opposite of Cali I'm sure :)

Started Interceptor treatment today. I added the first dose about 7 hours ago. So far, the livestock seems fine, and I can't find any redbugs when doing quick checks on the tank.

Well, the redbugs seem to be gone, but i have decided to put the nano and all associated equipment up fr sale. I can't work on it during work, and it's getting tiresome to drive all the way back downtown once a week to change water and do other maintenence. I'm not in a RUSH to get rid of it, so if it doesn't sell, no big deal.

Oh no, not good.

Just make sure you kill them before they go from this
http://www.projectbat.com/Aquarium/Red-Bugs-2.jpg

to this................

http://www.tinmantintoys.com/images/candm/Red_VW.jpg

cause then you'll never get rid of them! :tongue2:

Oh no, not good.

Just make sure you kill them before they go from this
http://www.projectbat.com/Aquarium/Red-Bugs-2.jpg

to this................

http://www.tinmantintoys.com/images/candm/Red_VW.jpg

cause then you'll never get rid of them! :tongue2:

LOL! I actually saw a newer red Beetle convertible the other day and the license plate was REDBUG.

Updates or revelations?

Hmm, updates....

Well, I have sold everything exept the tank, sump andreturn pump. I think I'll end up giving thoe away to some poor, disadvantaged reefer in the area :)