PDA

View Full Version : Mini Reef Aquarium(35g-90g) Finally! A tank to be proud of...



cg5071
12-21-2010, 08:00 AM
Well, I traded in my algae dominant tank for one that resembles a reef :) The rocks were totally covered in a brown smelly algae for the first few months of reefing. I have been reefing for a little over a year now. It took ALOT of hand picking of the algae to keep the corals alive. The process of ridding of the algae took several stages.
hand weed the nasties
changing carbon often
cuc, which helped but not as much as needed
added a lawnmower blenny and a kole tang
used chemi pure for awhile
added purigen too, lol
reduced feeding and had to learn to give smaller meals
got a ro/di
added alot more flow(random) with a second powerhead when I could afford it
placed a ton of rocks in the refugium instead of adding more sand
I have some dark cryptic areas in the fuge as well
added a 70hps light over the fuge as I read that someone got the best algae growth with that color of light, about 2600k I think
Now I pull out handfulls of frothy green clumps of algae every week, not sure what it is
almost killed my chaeto at first, it disolved into a wad the size of a quarter,lol with the new light it has grown by large amounts, a couple of handfulls now


So now I have a tank that I can show the whole thing! instead of just a frag or small area that didnt have all the nasty algae. All of a sudden one day the tank was clear of almost all the algae. I did notice it thinning a bit but then BAM!

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1916&thumb=1 ('http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1916')
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1919&thumb=1 ('http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1919')
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1920&thumb=1 ('http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1920')
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1921&thumb=1 ('http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1921')
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1922&thumb=1 ('http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1922')

AJ :)
12-21-2010, 08:17 AM
Great looking reef!

Lots of cool corals. Funny thing though is the GSP is a great stand out.:thumbsup:

AJ :)

Tom@HaslettMI
12-21-2010, 08:51 AM
Looks great.

How about some details... # gallons (looks rim-less), lighting, ect.


Tom

marc49127
12-21-2010, 02:26 PM
Wow that is a good looking tank. I can't wait until my algae tank cleans up like yours!

jimsflies
12-21-2010, 03:00 PM
Very nice. We need more pics!

BTW- if you can use the photobucket link on the new post editor to sign up for and upload/post photos here on CR. You can then use the img tags to post lager versions of your pics. I'd recommend, keeping the size to less than 1000px so that they load faster.

Manoj's Reef
12-21-2010, 03:14 PM
sweet progress!!!

vittleking
12-21-2010, 03:15 PM
great news!!! Your tank looks great!!!

MizTanks
12-21-2010, 07:49 PM
Sweet!!! Some men do clean up nicely, lol. Great pic too!

creefer
12-21-2010, 07:54 PM
This tank looks great. Additional details would be nice too.

schminksbro
12-21-2010, 08:44 PM
Your right! This is a tank to be proud of!

Sir Patrick
12-21-2010, 10:40 PM
Very nice!!!!

cg5071
12-22-2010, 10:31 AM
Wow thanks everyone! I wasnt blowing my own horn,lol but I am very happy with it. I still need to do a little rockwork and attach some monti frags in permenant areas. I want a larger rock in the back left area that is directly under the 250w halide. I am also setting up a frag tank to clear some floor space in there. I just got a HUGE long tenacle plate coral to place in there somewhere. I would love one of those magnetic reef shelves here for the left side also, we will see about that :)

I also love that piece of GSP. Unique I think. I got it from a reefer who was getting out.

I will keep updating this thread with stuff I am doing in this tank. Actually today that includes adding a 3rd 39w hot5 to the 2 I already have. I ordered some legs from ebay and they just arrived. My lights before were a clumsy looking diy,lol.

I do have info in my reef showcase but it has been a while since updating it. I need to I guess.
for lights I have a 250w MH and 2 x 39w hot5 soon to be 3. I have several lighting areas in the tanks. Darker with both high and lower flow and the same with the bright areas. And one area of very high light.

It is a rimless 80g tank. 36" x 30" x 18" by Great Lakes Aquariums. I also bought the tank second hand. The back is painted black and the right side 30" faces my bed. The left side has some working room but is only 8" or so from the wall. It is up on a 36" x 36" x 36" home made stand. With a Gl*******s 1500gph overflow.

The 30g sump/fuge underneith connects to another 38g tank, which is becoming my super peacfull softi with seahorses, pipefish and pinkstreaked wrasses tank. In the spring I will likely add a pair of yellow headed jawfish in hopes of breeding them. The rest of the creatures in there too.

I have a total of 2500 to 3300 gph flow but will soon be changing that a little too. I got a 1" scwd and another 1200gph pump. I guess that is all for now, I can update my reef showcase when I have a little time.

If you ask though I am sure I can answer any questions you might have about it. I have photobucket it is just an extra step in the process, I guess I can use it though if it is better.

I underdose Iodine about once a week and use reef fuel as well when I remember it. In my experience it seems to help grow coraline. I do a 10% waterchange on the whole system (about 120 real gallons I would estimate ) every other week.

OOPS! It is a mixed reef so far and probably will be but I am moving the mushrooms and any other softies to the other tank. This will have zoas, lps and sps. I am really loving montis right now but the acro bug hasnt really bitten though there are a few I would sure like to collect. I wouldnt trade in my lps for them though so we all have to get along :)

Thanks, yes, we men do clean up well sometimes.lol.

cg5071
12-24-2010, 01:48 PM
Pics of my new pet! The LT (edit Helio)fungia. Terrible pics but the neighbor took her camera back for the holidays.
He was $70 but I traded in frags for him. The new LFS owner charges too high for alot of things but I can say he pays fair prices too. He mentioned that if he could he would buy all local tank raised/bred stuff. Hopefully I can help him out in that area. :)

nate_newton
12-26-2010, 04:43 AM
Wow Chris the tank looks great. Love the big gsp rock. I need a bigger tank lol.

cg5071
12-26-2010, 11:31 AM
Thanks. Yes you do need a bigger tank :) I would like to go larger myself but deffinately cant and we may move next summer soooo. This one is a pretty good size for what I need. You can keep most fish you want and it has a large floor area for corals. I did keep the second (my first) tank running so that I could do a specialized one as well. The first of the yr I should be getting my pinkstreaked wrasses. The ghostfish didnt get in on this order so hopefully we can straighten that out as well. Along with some pipefish.

Chelle's Ocean
12-26-2010, 04:36 PM
Great job Chris! Looks incredible :)

You mentioned another frag rack..... have you been on this site?:

http://www.aqua-mags.com/index.html

I will be placing an order this week.... like the thought of the 3 dimensional look coming off the back wall. I still have SO MUCH space on the back I need to fill in...

Like the tank shots- great work :)

cg5071
12-26-2010, 07:35 PM
Thanks for the link. i saw the mag disks at brs for about the same. Guess it would depend on shipping ect. Though the shelves are a good price, might not be able to afford the other ones but they are nicer. Thanks for the comments too.

My new pet measures a full 8"+ when all stretched out and comfy. I read they were fine with their own and favias also but the welso doesnt or isnt bothered by him touching and neither are the rhodactis mushrooms. He sure takes up some space,lol.

I am also trying out the reef bugs we were talking about on another post. Any searching led to either good reviews of people that tried them or bad ones from those who hadnt tried them but their oppinion was based on who they were by. My shrimps were SO STUFFED after eating all that I thought they would explode,lol. The GSP and toadstools seemed to close up, but from being full or otherwise? Everybody seems to really like the bugs (fish/coral/shrimp) I dose at a little smaller dose than called for and deffinately less often. Every 3 days so far. Will see how they do longterm and if they contribute to my own population of pods ect. It looks an AWEFUL lot like my reef chilli, exactly actually. That would make the bugs a way better deal if going by price 12-14$ for 3/4 oz of reef chilli compared to 3 oz of reef bugs for 15-19$.

Should have some more shots coming up.

Chelle's Ocean
12-26-2010, 08:32 PM
Well.....if you like the Reef Bugs, send me your address thru a pm...I will send you a box, I have an extra :)

nate_newton
12-27-2010, 02:35 AM
Well.....if you like the Reef Bugs, send me your address thru a pm...I will send you a box, I have an extra :)

Same here, I've barely touched my box. I like feeding frozen, and Brightwells Microvore & PhytoChrom

cg5071
12-27-2010, 11:11 AM
Sweet! lol. I also have Microvore. It is nice to not have to do anything before feeding but it really smells like fish,lol. I have been adding it to the mix for feeding response hopefully. I have been trying forever to get some dendros to open but they flat refuse so far. I even put them in a dish with alot of food to get them to react.

With reef chilli their recomendation is a tiny spoon that they say for every 20g, the bugs are much much more. So I am feeding about half of the recomended dose less often. I will sure take you guys up on that if I keep feeding it to my tank. thank you.

nate_newton
12-27-2010, 11:26 AM
For the dendros have you tried frozen and direct feeding to there mouths? I'm thinking you have but didn't see it mentioned.

steve&mari
12-27-2010, 11:44 AM
Looking really nice. My sons doin the algae fight right now but slowly gettin there going to point this thread out to him so he can see there is light at end of the tunnel of algae lol and with work you end up with a sweet tank. Keep us updated. Big Steve.


Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

cg5071
12-27-2010, 11:54 AM
Thanks Steve and Mari. it was a battle but I loved my tank even when it was ugly,lol. You just wouldnt believe the amount of algea this tank had before. I got tired of reading the same replies to getting rid of algae everytime it was mentioned but in the end, that is exactly what worked.

I have tried direct feeding Nate. It doesnt like the flow of the turkey baster even though it is very slight. It looks like it want to come out but never completes the task. I read about the bowl of food trick and it worked on a previous one. I hate to say it but I wouldnt order any dendros from MR.coral. Both the problematic ones came from them. I have a couple of other colonies that are doing great. I think it has something to do with the amount of time they let stuff heal. I have had them going on a month now though, that is too long to not eat.

steve&mari
12-27-2010, 12:08 PM
We were lucky and had algae blooms but I busted butt on it n as you said it pays off and we never got badly over ran from it. Times seemed as what I did the night before didn't happen cause in the am it was right back but ya cannt give up. I tell my son that a lot work work work its key to life. Even hobbies take time knowlage cash ect. A sweet tank is a work of art that lives and grows ever changing in it demands and needs. We cannt just toss in few things n poof its done or we wouldn't be so proud when it becomes what we seen in our mind way before it is there for others to enjoy.

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

cg5071
12-27-2010, 12:23 PM
True for sure :)

cg5071
01-06-2011, 01:08 PM
I got a nice delivery today. I got some roti's and copepods plus some different micron sized sieves. Food for culturing also. I have been doing alot of talking w/ the lfs owner and basicly anything that I can breed/propagate/culture locally he will pay or trade for. Very good news. He is really fair about the prices he offers too so it doesnt feel like I am getting the bad end of the deal.

Here is also a pic of my new pink streaked wrasse and my original 38-40g tank that I have been working on. it is plumbed together w/ the 80g and 30g sump. The wrasse isnt too shy at all. Now on the 3rd day it is totally in the open and exploring flitting in between the rocks. I was supposed to get 2 of them but after waiting 2 weeks the night before they shipped,one went carpet surfing.

I suppose that is it for today. Oh I am raising my cal again to correct levels and alk too so I can start dripping kalk. Hope that helps out. Both are a little shy of where they need to be. I lost a blue digi to shock I think. It took 2 days to go completely white. Bummer, It was such a nice frag, more like a med sized colony from Happy Coral.

MizTanks
01-06-2011, 09:18 PM
Looking good Cg! Prime example of hard work paying off.
Reefer beware those red shrooms spread like crazy :)


There is nothing like being a REEFER!

cg5071
01-07-2011, 07:14 AM
Thanks. Yes I have already gotten rid of one rock of them. Those palys are going nuts too. It was just a frag like 2 months ago, now I have to chip some off already. I have had them before and did a good job of keeping that rock seperate from others. Luckily the lfs owner is a good trader :) and I am stocking a friends tank too.

MizTanks
01-07-2011, 12:54 PM
Those palys are they green implosions? If so I finally got rid of mine. They too were taking over my tank.
We need to start a thread of what not to put into our tanks. ;) :)


There is nothing like being a REEFER!

cg5071
01-07-2011, 02:27 PM
No those ones are leapard paly's. Very pretty really. I had texas trash before but traded them in. I also have green implosions but have been trading them in a chunk at a time,lol. Need to fund the reef habit.

I wouldnt listen to what not to put in my tank :) I have read it all about xenia palys and stuff but I still had to try them. GSP wouldnt grow for me and that is one of those weeds.

Sir Patrick
01-07-2011, 11:00 PM
Love the wrasse!

cg5071
01-08-2011, 11:10 AM
I feel so bad for the newest tiny engineer goby. Last night he wasnt acting right so I was checking him out. He had a head and facefull of bristles. Poor guy. I added selcon to his food and also added some melafix hoping that would help him. He is rubbing his head against stuff and looks like about 50% came out and he is swimming around much more active right now. Hope he makes it and it looks like he should atm.

Thanks, I love the wrasse too. It was supposed to be a pair. He/she is really growing on me so I think I will reorder another at some point. It will be so cute the 2 of them jigging around hunting. I also am going to add one of the pygmy wrasses sometime, not sure which one yet. Either yellow banded or the white barred I think it is called.

cg5071
01-19-2011, 12:22 PM
Well both the wrasse and engineer are no longer w/ me. The wrasse had to jump out of the end of the tank (overflow) as the rest was covered w/ black gutter guard. He made it out and into a measuring cup that I have hanging on the sump. Crazy. The engineer has just not shown up to dinner and he was looking so much better.

I just want to post a few pics. Does anyone know what the first pink thing is? not the sponge, the thing w/ tenacles.

cg5071
01-19-2011, 12:27 PM
A few more.

cg5071
01-19-2011, 12:35 PM
And a few more for your viewing pleasure.

cg5071
01-19-2011, 12:47 PM
Miz tanks, a better pic of the leapord palys. + a couple more :)

Sir Patrick
01-19-2011, 01:07 PM
Looks like this tank is really coming along!