Window Food

[BC United]

Hi Everyone,

I thought that I would finally start a thread on my nano.

Current FTS:
June, 2012
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=353&pictureid=3034

Equipment:

Tank: Standand 29 gallon glass
Light: 150watt Phoenix 14K DE bulb, Lumen Max 3 pendant, Galaxay eBallast
Cooling: Air King clip-on fan
Heater: Aqueon 150watt (replaced due to internal condensation build-up)
Eheim Jager 100W
Circulation: 3X Koralia 425
ATO: JBJ
Filtration:
1. ~25lbs live rock
2. CPR BakPak2+ protein skimmer (Biobale removed)
3. AC50 with Chemipure Elite and biomax filter media (biomax removed)
Modified with media basket from InTank in order to run polyfilter before Chemipure Elite
Stand: Solid Oak stand from Great Lakes Aquariums
Canopy: Home made open top oak canopy

Fish:
2X True Percula clownfish, tank bred
Sixline Wrasse

Corals:
Soft:
1X Ricordea yuma
Ultra Orange mushroom, Actinodiscus
Frilly/hairy mushroom, Rhodactis indosinensis
GSP, at least two varieties, Pachyclavularia
Zoanthus
Kenya tree, Capnella

LPS:
Blastomussa merleti
Duncan, two color variants, Duncanopsammi
Frogspawn, Euphyllia paradivisa
Caulastrea, three varieties
Chalice, Echinophyllia
Lobophyllia

SPS:
Montipora digitata (green, purple, red and unknown browned out frag)
Birdsnest, Seriatopora hystrix

Inverts:
Baby bubble tip anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor
2x scarlet red reef hermits
~4x red tip hermits
1x zebra turbo snail
2x cerith snail
other hitch-hiker snails

Background:
This is my second saltwater tank. The first I had in 2002 when in grad school, and this was a 20 gallon tall FOWLR, in which I kept a single oscellaris clownfish. My initial intentions for this current tank was to simply replicate the first tank, but slightly "upgrading" to a 29 gallon. This aquarium has now been up since May 2010. After about 6 months, I got the itch to try my hand at keeping a few easy, low light corals. These included the Kenya tree and button polyps which I still have. About the time I got the first corals I upgraded from 55watts of 50/50 PC lights to 110watts. I was never really happy with the color of these lights, not much blue tint (it seemed the 50/50 PC lights had better color on my first tank, and it is possible those were a different brand). Some corals did OK under these lights. I began to collect some LPS and I think the only way these were kept alive is through supplemental feeding. In September 2011 I had a major set back, which was a partial tank crash. I think what likely caused this was stirring up the substrate too much while trying to vacuum clean it. Interestingly the crash hit the mushrooms and button polyps hard, taking out most them. Of the LPS, only frogspawn looked sick, but it did not lose any heads. Two major upgrades were made in January 2012. One was the switch from PC lights to metal halide. The MH light has done wonders for all the corals. I would never recommend PC lights to any new reefer, although some people seem to have success with them. The second upgrade was from a iron stand to a furniture grade solid oak stand (more of a safety driven change). A third small upgrade was the addition of the AC50 with chemipure elite.

Full tank shot:
January, 2012
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=326&pictureid=2681
Image is a little more blue than the tank looks to eye...still need to work on camera settings

ETS:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=326&pictureid=2683

Caulastrea and one of the Duncans:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=326&pictureid=2682
I really like the blue Caulastrea (right)...especially under actinics it has a beautifal, streetlight-like glow to it...hopefully I get a picture of it sometime

Well, that is it for now. When I have more time there are other things I would like to talk about... equipment upgrades and corals and fish on the wishlist...Other challenges I have had with the tank thus far.... Looking forward to your input. Eventually I would also like to have the appropriate scientific name listed above for the tank inhabitants, and I will work on updating the tank profile with that over time.

Thanks,
BC United

PS. the tank name "Window Food" comes from my 2 year old son...I will have to explain later

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Thanks for sharing your tank!

Tom

FYI - I only see the first pic of the clown and frogspawn... which both look very happy!

[MizTanks]

Same here, seeing only the one pic :( but it sounds beautiful :)

[BC United]

Strange that not all the images are visible... I can see everything in the thread currently...let me know if you still can' see the other images in the text. Thanks for looking!

[BC United]

This Duncan is one of my favorite corals:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=327&pictureid=2717
I picked this frag up at the Ann Arbor swap this past fall. It started with two heads but now has five. Its "tentacles" really stretch out. I had to remove some GSP and kenya tree near it because a few tentacles were retracting apparently due to contact. The Duncan really seems to be a gentle giant.

Slipper coral:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=327&pictureid=2713
This guy has been in the tank for about a year. It seems to be a very hardy coral and is a monster when it comes to feeding on mysis. The clowns were using the slipper coral as a host until they moved on to the frogspawn.

Ricordea Yuma:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=327&pictureid=2712
This is one of two Yumas in the tank. I really like the orange/purple coloration. This guy was a free gift from my LFS! I would like to collect some R. Florida as well.

Cool tube worm village:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=327&pictureid=2715
I really like this little maze of white tube worms. These came on some live rock. Anybody know what a more accurate/correct name is for these filter feeders?

[slapshot]

Careful of the tube worms they will overtake your tank. I started with two on a piece of Rick and befit I knew it they were everywhere. On the plus side it allowed my to get a copperband butterfly who ate them all in a month. He was fat and happy and switch to frozen food easily.

[Sir Patrick]

Tank is looking great!!

[Captain]

Looks nice! I like the shroomie!

[BC United]

Careful of the tube worms they will overtake your tank. I started with two on a piece of Rick and befit I knew it they were everywhere. On the plus side it allowed my to get a copperband butterfly who ate them all in a month. He was fat and happy and switch to frozen food easily.

Thanks for the heads up! I am thinking about adding a sixline wrasse again...I wonder if he would chow down on them too. But for right now, they are fairly localized in the tank and I think they are cool.

[BC United]

Tank is looking great!!
Thank you Sir! I think the tank pales in comparison to many of the tanks on this site...but I am happy with it thus far and I am learning a lot about reefing from this tank. I look forward to when the coral frags grow out some more.


Looks nice! I like the shroomie!

Thanks!

[purerebel]

Tank looks great BC! please keep us updated on it!

[BC United]

Tank looks great BC! please keep us updated on it!

Thank you!

[BC United]

I found these on these attached the aquarium glass this morning:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=2720
I suspected they were snail eggs as nothing else in the tank really climbs on the walls. I found some images of cerith snail eggs on google that look just like these. I have a few ceriths in the tank...hopefully I will have a bunch more...my CUC is on the lean side right now.

[BC United]

I found these on these attached the aquarium glass this morning:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=2720
I suspected they were snail eggs as nothing else in the tank really climbs on the walls. I found some images of cerith snail eggs on google that look just like these. I have a few ceriths in the tank...hopefully I will have a bunch more...my CUC is on the lean side right now.
Well, I do not think that the Cerith eggs ever hatched...have not seen any signs of baby snails. The eggs were getting a lot of attention by what I think were amphipods. It looked like they were eating the eggs...not sure if amphipods would do this or not. While watching the eggs get munched on one night after light out, I got a surprise by what I think was a peanut worm, which may have been feeding on the amphipods...this thing looks a bit scary (I could not get a picture of it), but from what I have gathered on-line, it is nothing to be concerned about.

[BC United]

OK, well, I updated by 'scape this past week.
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=332&pictureid=2742
The rock is pushed back a little and there is now more a single "mountain" which gives the aquarium a look of more depth I think. The Caulastrea like their position up on top. Also, found a new setting on the camera which I think results in color in the image more representative of how the tank looks to eye. Still a little too blue.

Another shot of Ferdinand and Lucinda in their hangout.
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=332&pictureid=2741
The frogspawn is now positioned a little lower in the tank. The left side of the tank is his essentially. You can also see the blue anthelia in the image...this started as a single waving hand that was left from a frag I returned to the LFS...glad it grew back!

A shot of the other Yuma in the tank
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=332&pictureid=2744
Really like this one...

And finally, the new fish (Lou):
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=332&pictureid=2745

[Sir Patrick]

I agree- new scape does add depth.

[BC United]

Well, I do not think that the Cerith eggs ever hatched...have not seen any signs of baby snails. The eggs were getting a lot of attention by what I think were amphipods. It looked like they were eating the eggs...not sure if amphipods would do this or not. While watching the eggs get munched on one night after light out, I got a surprise by what I think was a peanut worm, which may have been feeding on the amphipods...this thing looks a bit scary (I could not get a picture of it), but from what I have gathered on-line, it is nothing to be concerned about.
I think some of the snail eggs might have hatched after all...this morning I noticed three very tiny snails on the glass. I wonder how long they will last with the new wrasse...

[BC United]

It has been a while since I updated my thread. I have been busy with life outside of my tank. I will likely be moving from Ann Arbor to the Twin Cities area in the next few months and have been busy with those plans. Unless things get too crazy as the move date gets close, I fully intend to move this tank and most of its inhabitants with me. I have posted for sale on this site some of the corals from the tank, but they haven't moved and I will likely keep them rather then sell them back to the LFS. I have plans for how to move the tank, and I will discuss those in a later post.

OK, in the past couple months there have been some changes to the tank as far as equipment and livestock.
Equipment changes:
1. The submersible Aqueon heater I had in the tank showed much internal condensation build-up. I removed it and replaced it with a heater by Eheim Jager.
2. One extra Koralia 425 added for a total of 3
3. I modified the Aquaclear 50 HOB filter by insertion of a media basket from the company InTank. This basket allows water to be first filtered through a poly-filter pad before entering a second chamber containing Chemipure Elite. Without the poly-filter pad the fine mesh bag holding the Chemipure Elite gets covered in debris over time.
4. Added ~$20 Air King fan (also sold under Sunlight Supply brand name) to keep tank temps under control during summer. The 80 degree March weather provided a nice test for tank temp stability under the new MH light.

Livestock changes:
I decided to venture into the realm of SPS. I purchased several frags of Montipora digitata of red, green, and purple color. The purple digi frag was browned out and had tissue loss at the LFS, so I got a large discount on it. It is healing well now, but still has not regained its purple color which I witnessed when it first arrived at the LFS. I also have a second brown or browned-out digi frag that I hope will change colors. I also have a nice Bird's Nest frag. This I started too high in the tank and it lost some tissue on its tips. I moved it to the bottom and it is 100% recovered now.

Also added a peppermint shrimp which has effectively reduced aptasia population.

Top down view showing green digi at top
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=344&pictureid=2886
Top view of Bird's Nest
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=344&pictureid=2888
Another top view showing various corals including Duncans:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=344&pictureid=2887
That's all for now. I am using a different camera, but still not very good pics...

[BC United]

I added a JBJ ATO unit to my tank after thinking long and hard about which ATO to go with. Thanks to MizTanks and Speedracer for their input on the JBJ unit in a different thread in the hardware forum. I wanted a very reliable ATO and was leaning towards the more expensive Tunze unit for sometime. I finally convinced myself that the less expensive JBJ unit would be very reliable with very low risk of overflowing the tank, if set up correctly properly.

Currently I am running the JBJ unit in mode A with a single float switch only (although use of a second float switch, as described below, would make the setup more fail safe), which is located in the display tank as shown here:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=350&pictureid=2973
The back of the float switch is simply attached to the black plastic aquarium rim using super glue. The water level is maintained ~1inch from the top the tank.
The water pump I have coupled to the ATO unit is a low gph Tom's Aqualifter. This is a popular combination based on my on-line research.
I had read elsewhere that the Tunze ATO is a more fail safe unit, meaning the water level sensors are less likely to fail, causing a flood in your room. For ATO units, redundancy is very important to prevent flooding. The Tunze unit uses an optical eye as the primary monitor of water level and this backed up by a float switch, and a third back up is a time out mechanism in which the Tunze controller will shut off the reservoir pump if it runs for ~10min continuously. It seems this is a pretty fail safe setup; from what I have read, the optical eye is less likely to fail than then a float switch.
However, after much thought, I came to the conclusion that the JBJ unit can also be essentially fail safe if set up appropriately. The JBJ unit relies on float switches, not an optical eye. With the JBJ controller set in mode A, one float switch, placed in the display tank in my case, is the primary monitor of water level. In this mode, there is the option to use a second float switch in the water reservoir to ensure your pump does not run and burn out if reservoir water runs low. An alternative setup, which for some reason the JBJ instructions to not describe, is the following: In mode A, the second float switch, if turned upside down, can be placed slightly higher than the primary float switch and in this way the second float switch backs up the primary float switch (like for the Tunze unit, in which a float switch backs up the optical eye). In this way, if the primary float switch fails and water level rises, the secondary float switch will be activated and will shut off the pump before the tank overflows. Again, for this to work, the secondary float switch needs to be turned upside down and the controller set to mode A. [I]I currently not using the second float switch because of additional backup mechanism[./I] Then, importantly, a final backup is that the JBJ controller will turn off the pump if it runs for longer than 3min 45sec (this time can actually be adjusted to up to ~15min). In my case, with the Tom's Aqualifter pump, there is no way that in 3min 45sec the pump will overflow the tank...pump is just too weak. There is the possibility that something could cause the primary float switch to be activated for less than 3min 45sec, repeatedly, over a short period of time, and this could cause the tank to overflow. Something strange like this could happen perhaps if the float switch was being affected by algae or a snail that liked to jump on and off of it frequently, but this seems like a remote possibility. An Also, it should be mentioned that one big benefit of using the Tom's Aqualifter is that if the reservoir runs dry, the pump will not burn out. So, with this pump, there is no need to use the second float switch to monitor water level in the reservoir.
OK, well I hope this helps anyone who is trying to decide between the JBJ ATO and the Tunze. So far I am very pleased with the JBJ unit. I do not notice any fluctuation in water level.
This will likely be the last equipment upgrade for sometime. I am really happy with the way the tank is set up now. In a later post I will talk about an important modification I needed to make to the inTank media basket I use in my AC50.

[MizTanks]

Wonderful news! I'm loving mine for sure :) Water level hasn't changed a bit since I started running it. Has helped in parameter stability big time!
Enjoy your new found freedom!! :)

[BC United]

Wonderful news! I'm loving mine for sure :) Water level hasn't changed a bit since I started running it. Has helped in parameter stability big time!
Enjoy your new found freedom!! :)
Yes, it is definitely nice not to have to manually top off the tank morning and night. With my MH light, open top and fan, the 29gallon tank loses about 5gallons in water a week. Now I can go out of town for the weekend and not have to worry about my water level dropping an inch. Thanks again for the pics you provided of your JBJ set up!

[BC United]

It has been a while since I have posted. There's not been any major changes in the tank. I have added a few small coral frags: an ultra orange mushroom (Actinodiscus) and some Blastomussa merleti. The blue anthelia is spreading quickly and I will need to find a way to contain before it takes over the tank. I will be removing a few corals this weekend likely in order to make room for some others to grow out.
Here is a FTS for today:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=353&pictureid=3034
A picture of teal and green Caulastrea (perhaps my favorite corals in the tank):
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=353&pictureid=3032
And another shot showing a few other corals:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=353&pictureid=3033
Tank temps have stayed steady at 80F even with the current heat wave...glad the MH light is not giving me any problems. I was out of town for 5days and when I got back I was glad to see that the tank water level was right where it should be thanks to the new JBJ ATO.
This tank will be moved to MN in about 7 weeks. That's a 12h drive. Wish me luck. I was originally planning to remove the substrate and replace it with something finer when I take the tank down for the move. Now I am considering keeping the substrate to maintain as much beneficial bacteria as possible. This will require cleaning the substrate very, very thoroughly using copious amounts of saltwater. I want to be sure all the fine particulate, dentritus and other possible nasty stuff is removed from the substrate. I usually do not disturb the substrate in the tank. I will vacuum clean the surface lightly but that is it. A year ago I lost some corals after I stirred up the substrate too much with a vacuum hose in an effort to clean it.

[Mr. Microscope]

Nice tank! I think that first Yuma is actually a St. Tomas mushroom. Very nice.

That slipper corals is really cool! Is it like a long fungia or something?

Keep an eye on that wrasse. Mine was a nasty SOB!

[BC United]

Nice tank! I think that first Yuma is actually a St. Tomas mushroom. Very nice.

That slipper corals is really cool! Is it like a long fungia or something?

Keep an eye on that wrasse. Mine was a nasty SOB!

Thanks Mr. Microscope. It could be that the first Yuma (orange guy) was actually a St. Thomas. Believe it or not that Yuma/St. Thomas was given to me free by my LFS. Unfortunately I do not have him anymore. He perished when I tried to glue down the live rock rubble he was attached to.

The slipper coral is in the same family as fungia. One of the neat things about them, and maybe this is the same for fungia, but the slipper coral can actually inflate and move itself around. Mine never moved much; certainly not so much as to cause a problem. However, I need to update my FTS because as of about a week ago I no longer have the slipper coral. I have been downsizing my livestock in prep to move this tank to MN. Like the slipper coral, soon the frogspawn and one of the duncans will be taken to the LFS. I feel somewhat bad about taking the frogspawn out of the tank as the clowns call him home. However, the frogspawn stings the crap out of the clowns, so removing the frogspawn is probably in clowns best interest. I have baby a BTA, about the size of a nickel, that I hope one day will be large enough to replace the frogspawn as a host for the clowns. The BTA is a bit of an experiment in this tank; I am feeding it lots of mysis in hopes to accelerate its growth.

I love the six-line wrasse. Maybe mine will develop a nasty personality as it gets older, but right now he doesn't seem to have a mean personality. The wrasse certainly doesn't attack my hand like the clowns do.

[BC United]

I moved my aquarium from Ann Arbor to Minneapolis, MN, two weeks ago. It was a bit of an adventure, with a few complications, but all the fish and all the corals made the 700 mile trip, which included a night stay at a hotel in Madison, WI. I will detail the trip later.
Here is a photo of the aquarium set up at the new apartment:
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=3119
Excuse the kitchen table; I did not take the pic.

[MizTanks]

Wonderful to hear/see everyone made the trip safe and sound :)

[dputt88]

wow, thats an accomplishment, congrats on the safe move.

[BC United]

As stated in an above post, I moved my 29 gallon from Ann Arbor to Minneapolis. Here is a little bit more about the move.
First off, this trip by car is between 650-700miles. I have driven this several times in the past 6 months and frequently drive the whole way in one day, which takes about 12h. Completing the trip in one day was the plan as I was concerned about keeping everything alive. However, with a 26ft moving truck and a 3 vehicle caravan, the one day trip turned into two days, with an overnight stop in Madison.
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=3123
The worst part of the trip is always Illinois, especially aroiund Chicago with the heavy traffick and construction, but also because of all the darn tolls. In total the whole trip took almost exactly 24h.

This is a list of a few things I did before the move:
1. Decrease bioload. I sold a number of corals to the LFS.
2. Purchase various consumables such as salt, chemipure elite, fish food to have on hand in MN so no rush to find new LFS was required.
3. Purchase used 10gallon tank for temporary set-up at new apt. I had wanted a 15gallon, but LFS only had a bunch of used 10gallons, and it worked out fine.
4. Purchase new 29gallon Perfecto tank with black silicone. I wanted to replace the old 29g tank which was purchased from Salvation Army and was fairly beat up. In particular I was concerned about some bowing in the tank.
5. Purchase 20lb of new Caribsea Arag-Alive substrate (Bimini Pink)
6. Make up ~15gallons of freah saltwater to have on-hand at new apt.

General strategy: Transfer ~50% of old tank water for new set-up. Transfer all livestock including 4 fish, various corals, and live rock. The live stock would be transferred in home depot buckets with lids. Each bucket with live stock would be aerate with battery operated Azoo pump. The old substrate would be thrown out. I chose to throw out the old substrate because I was concerned about dentritus or toxic junk that might spark a crash or large cycle. Also I wanted to switch to a finer grade substrate.

The plan for night before moving day:
1. After lights out, take down and pack MH pendant.
2. Take down, rinse out and pack HOB aquaclear filter.
3. Prepare 15 gallons fresh salt water.

The plan for moving day:
1. Early in the morning, drain about 50% water into home depot buckets and in these buckets also place live rock, corals and fish. I had the not so bright idea of using a large styrofoam box to transport fish and corals in while I was taking down the tank. I thought the styrofoam box would be useful because it would provide better thermal insulation than the buckets, and because it was white, would better resist heating by sunlight while in the back of my car. After adding water and livestock to the styrofoam box (given to me for trip by LFS), I had a problem on my hands. Water was leaking out of the box. I figured there must be a hole or something. I happend to have another larger, more heavy-duty styrofoam box, and transferred everything to that...no apparent leaks
2. Discard all remaining water, substrate and tank.
3. Drive to MN in one day. Well, driving a 26ft truck and needing to follow lower speed limits, meant the trip took longer than planned. We would up stopping at a hotel in Madison. The fish, coral and live rock were taken into the hotel room for the night (luggage carts were very useful for this). For overnight, in addition to the air pumps, I controlled temp using plug in heaters. In the morning, I noticed the table the stryofoam box was sitting on was quite wet, which could have only meant that this styrofoam box was leaking too! :doh: So lesson learned, stryofoam boxes (at least the two I used) are like dense sponges and allow water to slowly leak out. All live stock was transferred to home depot bucket, the original plan
4. When arrive at new apt (now the next day), set-up temporary 10g tank with all livestock, heater, water pump and AC50 running new chemipure elite. This temporary set up would provide me time to figure out where best to set-up the 29gallon tank. This was a very useful thing to do as it took some time to figure out where best to put the furniture and the tank, and when I did get to setting up the 29gallon, it took quite a bit of focus, which would have been hard to muster immediately after the long trip, especially when so much other work needed to be done.
5. Set-up 29 gallon tank the next day. After adding substrate, mix all old water with 50% new salt water. Then gradually transfer livestock. As a child proofing step I used nylon strapping attached to heavy duty eye screws that were achored into a wood board that was attached to wall studs behind the aquarium. This was to prevent the stand from possibly tipping forward.

That is about it. All live stock made it, but some of the stony corals were damaged/fragmented due to bouncing about over the course of the trip. The tank has been set up for 2.5 weeks now and still everything looks great.

[Mr. Microscope]

Yikes! I hope everything works out for you.

[BC United]

It's been a long time since I last posted anything. As mentioned before I moved my tank from Ann Arbor to Minneapolis back in August 2012. Other than a recent cyano outbreak that I think (and hope) I finally licked, the tank is doing great. Here is a picture showing some of my favorite corals.
http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=388&pictureid=3446
Still love the Caulastrea, but hard to name a favorite coral in the tank. The orange digi is a little brown after 3 days lights out in my war against cyano.

Recently I my clowns have started to lay eggs inside a live rock cave. This was very exciting at first and it was fun researching and buying materials and live foods to try to raise the larvae. Unfortunately, I have not successfully raised any of the larvae past meta with the first three clutches of eggs. My rotifer culture is still going, so I will probably keep trying.

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=388&pictureid=3447

I have picked up a few new corals and gotten rid of a few others. I will update later on one of my favorite new pieces once it fully recovers from the light out period.

I miss my LFS back in AA. Fish Doctors was awesome! Have not found a comparable LFS here in Minneapolis yet.

[jimsflies]

Looking great!