My 120 built in with updates
- Thread starter trido
- Start date
TY. I guess Vitz must have caught a spam in this thread a few days back.
Since its up front I guess Ill give an update.
Two months ago, due to my lack of QTing anything, I came down with Acro Eating Flat Worms in both my 120 and My frag system. I removed all of my acros from the display, fragged the biggest colonies to make them more managable and began the iodine dipping process. Fortunatly for me I detected the problem early enough and had no causalties other than some loss of color. I figured that while the tank was empty of near 20 acro colonies I'd reaquascape. Alot of local reefers couldnt understand why because my rock work was so unique with only 12 pieces of LR making up a nice reef wall.
Let me tell you, a reef wall can look cool but is a real PITA to maintain if its too close to the front of the tank. To reach the corals near the bottom, you have to get around the corals near the top. Also the corals on top eventually block the light of those on bottom. Eventually a task like reaching fallen frags or even cleaning the glass can be difficult. I dont have the coolness factor of my wall but am already much happier with an open slope to mount corals to. I added near 20lbs more LR and was able to make more realestate and get more corals in it.
Also, I just swiched to reeflux DE 10k bulbs. Little did I know, my phoenix 14Ks were shot after near six months. I lost a blue tenius, nearly lost a couple torts and as you can see in the pic, even my purple montipora (upper right) started to bleach due to lack of light. Only about five of near 50 corals showed stress from the weak bulbs but it was enough to make me switch. I dont want to buy bulbs every six months.
Here is a pic of the tank today
Since its up front I guess Ill give an update.
Two months ago, due to my lack of QTing anything, I came down with Acro Eating Flat Worms in both my 120 and My frag system. I removed all of my acros from the display, fragged the biggest colonies to make them more managable and began the iodine dipping process. Fortunatly for me I detected the problem early enough and had no causalties other than some loss of color. I figured that while the tank was empty of near 20 acro colonies I'd reaquascape. Alot of local reefers couldnt understand why because my rock work was so unique with only 12 pieces of LR making up a nice reef wall.
Let me tell you, a reef wall can look cool but is a real PITA to maintain if its too close to the front of the tank. To reach the corals near the bottom, you have to get around the corals near the top. Also the corals on top eventually block the light of those on bottom. Eventually a task like reaching fallen frags or even cleaning the glass can be difficult. I dont have the coolness factor of my wall but am already much happier with an open slope to mount corals to. I added near 20lbs more LR and was able to make more realestate and get more corals in it.
Also, I just swiched to reeflux DE 10k bulbs. Little did I know, my phoenix 14Ks were shot after near six months. I lost a blue tenius, nearly lost a couple torts and as you can see in the pic, even my purple montipora (upper right) started to bleach due to lack of light. Only about five of near 50 corals showed stress from the weak bulbs but it was enough to make me switch. I dont want to buy bulbs every six months.
Here is a pic of the tank today
- Location
- Newport News Va
What type of Power Inverter did u use and what items did u connect to it during your move to Washington. Was it battery powered or from the cigarette lighter switch. How did u connect it to ur truck, and how many outlets did u have for usage.
Planning to move from VA to TX, and was afraid of having to sell my fish and stuff when the time comes.
Is there a particular brand or model. If there is web address on item - please post it
Thanks a bunch.
Lost in Translation
Planning to move from VA to TX, and was afraid of having to sell my fish and stuff when the time comes.
Is there a particular brand or model. If there is web address on item - please post it
Thanks a bunch.
Lost in Translation
- Location
- Newport News Va
Love ur beautiful corals and the way u have it setup in tank. Beautiful display. Yes I do agree the wife would definately love this setup - very eye appealing (Im female too - hee hee)
Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation
- Location
- Newport News Va
Im new to the saltwater thing - how long do u quaranteen ur fish, corals, etc before putting them in ur large tank. Read that u have to quaranteen at least a min of 2 weeks - does that also include corals, and inverts as well???
Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation
Thanks for the nice words of praise guys and girls.
Icecap 250s.ChrisRD":263kf2il said:
I used an 800 Watt coleman inverter found at the local auto parts store. Its hard mounted under my hood straight to the battery so it will always be there when I need it for camping etc.. For my tank move I used two air pumps with limewood air stones and two heaters. I didnt worry about the LR that didnt have corals attached.worldflow":263kf2il said:
Until recently, I never QT'd anything. My tank is not ich free but that does not concern me. Since this tank has been set up Ive had red bugs, Monti eating nudibranches, and now, Acro eateing flatworms. I will never add another coral to the tank without going through a QT process. I would recommend it to anyone who asks. Ive been real lucky with my plagues. :wink:worldflow":263kf2il said:
- Location
- Newport News Va
Thanks for the info - will keep the inverter in mind when I get ready to move locally or out of state - its a great idea.
I will definately quaranteen any new items I receive - how long should quarantee be - can't afford to lose what I have in tank thus far (not that lucky)
Lost in Translation
I will definately quaranteen any new items I receive - how long should quarantee be - can't afford to lose what I have in tank thus far (not that lucky)
Lost in Translation
bleedingthought":8n14bngl said:
The tank is very much more spacious. I am very happy with that aspect of the new aquascaping. I only wish the female maroon was. She keeps throwing a very large stag across the tank.
The lighting is very much more yellow than before. Mostly the pics look yellow because I didnt let the MH get hot and whiten before I shot the pic.
I am already getting better growth, and hope to see some better color in certain corals.
The reason I asked about the ballasts is because I've been told by a couple of lighting experts that running the DE lamps on an electronic ballast will shorten lamp life. Apparently they don't fire them correctly or drive them to the true M80 spec (which is why output is better on M80s) which supposedly accelerates wear.
Personally, I've only used regular M80/81s with DEs and lamp life has always been very good (even decent with crappy 20K lamps), but I've heard some complaints about lamp life when running DEs on electronics so maybe there is some validity to this...
Personally, I've only used regular M80/81s with DEs and lamp life has always been very good (even decent with crappy 20K lamps), but I've heard some complaints about lamp life when running DEs on electronics so maybe there is some validity to this...
ChrisRD":3hip2deq said:
Maybe I am one of these cases. IM still a relative NEWB so I couldnt guarantee anything.
Too bad, I really like the color and growth I get from the Phoenix 14Ks. In the first six months anyway.
I am now wondering if a sudden spectrum shift or drop in Par was the cause of my sudden RTN and ultimate loss of three torts last fall. I dont remember clearly but it does seem close to the time I changed out my first set of them. The bulb change was around the six month mark, shortly after the deaths.
Hey, where did the picture go?trido":1yxt3w6p said:TY. I guess Vitz must have caught a spam in this thread a few days back.
Since its up front I guess Ill give an update.
Two months ago, due to my lack of QTing anything, I came down with Acro Eating Flat Worms in both my 120 and My frag system. I removed all of my acros from the display, fragged the biggest colonies to make them more managable and began the iodine dipping process. Fortunatly for me I detected the problem early enough and had no causalties other than some loss of color. I figured that while the tank was empty of near 20 acro colonies I'd reaquascape. Alot of local reefers couldnt understand why because my rock work was so unique with only 12 pieces of LR making up a nice reef wall.
Let me tell you, a reef wall can look cool but is a real PITA to maintain if its too close to the front of the tank. To reach the corals near the bottom, you have to get around the corals near the top. Also the corals on top eventually block the light of those on bottom. Eventually a task like reaching fallen frags or even cleaning the glass can be difficult. I dont have the coolness factor of my wall but am already much happier with an open slope to mount corals to. I added near 20lbs more LR and was able to make more realestate and get more corals in it.
Also, I just swiched to reeflux DE 10k bulbs. Little did I know, my phoenix 14Ks were shot after near six months. I lost a blue tenius, nearly lost a couple torts and as you can see in the pic, even my purple montipora (upper right) started to bleach due to lack of light. Only about five of near 50 corals showed stress from the weak bulbs but it was enough to make me switch. I dont want to buy bulbs every six months.
Here is a pic of the tank today
While I'm at it, might as well ask for more!
The mods go through and delete photos that arent neccesarily attractive or pertinant to the thread after a while to help keep the forum/server moving more quickly. Since this was an update, rather than a build pic. I guess it wasnt worth keeping around.
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