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Desert Bus
May 9, 2004

Take 1 tablet by mouth daily.

Hood Ornament posted:

I have a very small moonlight that I plan to upgrade, and the tank is actually in my office at work so I'm not there so often at night. :) I do like the little fella even without his anemones, but LiveAquaria did give me a full credit for him which I will gladly use on another purchase, probably more coral frags.

I never knew Pom Pom Crabs existed until now. That is a really neat adaptation.

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Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

Hood Ornament posted:

I want more pictures from everyone! Grr!

Assorted images from my aquariums over time:

















Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

Assorted images from my aquariums over time:






I love whatever coral that is! And firefish are awesome. :)

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
The one on the right is a neon-green hammer coral. On the left is a purple-tip frogspawn.

Oddly enough (because I thought the picture sucked), I won an award for that firefish picture. Picked up a 48" normal output T5 fixture from it.

csammis
Aug 26, 2003

Mental Institution
Posting pictures of the setup and assembly of my new 3 gal nano tank so Hood Ornament doesn't die of deprivation :v:

I bought a 3 gal Picotope a couple weeks ago, intending to use it as a betta tank in my office, but after browsing Reef Central I decided to make it a nano reef in the general style of Sandeep's 5.5 gal with in-tank refugium. I didn't go the full refugium route, but I really liked the idea of partitioning off the hardware with the addition of an overflow.



The bare Picotope, it's about 11" x 8" x 8".



The piece of plexi I cut for the partition. It's 3/32" thick, with slats for overflow and a hole for the return powerhead. It's about to be painted with Krylon Fusion flat black and set in the tank with GE Silicone I.



The tank is masked off and ready for the equipment area to be painted with Krylon Fusion satin black. I ended up masking off the bowed part of the equipment area so I had a place to look in and make sure things were working okay.



Looking into the equipment area after the painting. The powerhead (MJ400 or 600, I forget) and the HOB Taam Rio Nano skimmer are visible here. Note the plastic screw on the skimmer - that's not stock. I didn't like the way it was hanging on the back, so I got some little rubber stick-on feet and fixed them to the skimmer against the glass, then used a securing screw from an old HOB skimmer to get a tight fit. No rattling = good :)



The tank on its stand in my living room. The lamp that comes with the Picotope is a 9 watt PC 50/50, which I may be upgrading at some point.



Water + sand + rocks from an older tank added. There are a lot of microbubbles, which will hopefully go down as the skimmer activates.



Already churning away :shobon:

For stocking, when the time comes, I'll probably stick with ricordea and zoas.

solar energy panel
Apr 30, 2007
Ah Psimitry, my Frogspawn is directly behind my Hammer coral as well.
Those guys are fast growers, and both at 10-14 heads from 2 heads when I first got them about 18 months ago.

For those of you who like crabs, yet understand their destructiveness, may I suggest Porcelain Crabs (which are not actually true crabs, but squat lobsters).
They are filter feeders, and wave their paddles in the air whenever you feed, or the sandbed is disturbed. They are pretty and completely harmless in smaller tank settings.

I don't get anything from this site, but they have an example of the species of Porcelain crab I have (blue w/ red spots):
http://sea-secrets.net/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=115

Ramen Pride!
Jan 13, 2001
I posted this in the basic aquarium thread, but around the beginning of May I finally couldn't stand not having a tank anymore, and made a simple one for my kids. It's a small ten gallon built with what few components I could salvage from my parents' attic the last time I took the family to visit them.

As a matter of fact, the tank and more than a few components are left over from Fugly the octopus.


Click here for the full 2000x1320 image.


It's doing spiffy, and is fully cycled, but the water here (inland, farming area, lots of cows and horses and fertilizer) is so full of phosphates it's scary. Hence the huge bloom of red slime. I've never had it this bad ever. Psimitry gave some good advice though, and if it doesn't start clearing up by itself in a month, I'll use it.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

Lt. Tanaka posted:

Ah Psimitry, my Frogspawn is directly behind my Hammer coral as well.

Euphyllids[sic] get along surprisingly well with each other. I had it up against each other for a long time and they grew without any problems. Another guy I know had his frogspawn and hammer coral next to each other, and they cross-bred. Now he has a euphyllid that has the polyp branch patterns of a frogpawn with hammer shaped tips.

Ramen Pride! posted:

Psimitry gave some good advice though, and if it doesn't start clearing up by itself in a month, I'll use it.

Yeah, I used to have a nasty problem with it in my Nanocube. Now I have a patch about the size of a quarter, which I let live. But I walk by and wave the chemi-pure in front of it every once in a while to remind it that I can nuke it at any second. It's sort of my India to the Pakistan that is me.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
I've been having a slighty frustrating week or two.

My royal gramma has been missing since the day after I got him, and after doing a cleaning yesterday, I'm pretty sure he jumped the shark and had his little remains munched by hermits. I looked around the tank to see if he somehow jumped even with a lid on, but nothing came up.

He did manage to eat my pom-pom crab and one of my dancing shrimp before he kicked it, though.

All parameters are fine, I really think it was a fluke. I've replaced him with a much friendlier, happier firefish. He's been doing really well.

I also had issues with zoanthids and ricordeas ungluing themselves and falling into the hidden crevices of my rockwork, so I went coral fishing and planted them again.

I ordered another shipment of assorted corals and inverts for next week, and then I'll give my wallet a break for a while and just watch things grow.

Aphelion Necrology fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Aug 8, 2008

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

Hood Ornament posted:

I've replaced him with a much friendlier, happier firefish. He's been doing really well.

With crabs in the tank? No offense, but enjoy it while you have it. It WILL go missing. It's one of the things they don't really tell you about firefish - they are really vulnerable to crabs of all types for some reason. Probably because they sleep in rockwork but don't build a den like jawfishes or slime themselves in like wrasses.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

With crabs in the tank? No offense, but enjoy it while you have it. It WILL go missing. It's one of the things they don't really tell you about firefish - they are really vulnerable to crabs of all types for some reason. Probably because they sleep in rockwork but don't build a den like jawfishes or slime themselves in like wrasses.

Fishy, nooo! :gonk:

I only have little teeny hermits, mostly blue-legs, so I don't know exactly how worried I should be but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

KPD-aGgS
May 29, 2005
Killing People Dead - Its a way of life...
Here is my tank, I started cycling it last Saturday. Its about 70 or so gallon tank (60 after all the rock and sand) with 50 lbs of Fiji rock. I pray for my sanity I can put a clean up crew in there next week. I need something to look at! Should I arrange my rocks in more of a pyramid in the middle?

Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
I like the rocks spread out, kinda like mine are, but if it were my tank I'd add a lot more rock period. :)

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

Hood Ornament posted:

I like the rocks spread out, kinda like mine are, but if it were my tank I'd add a lot more rock period. :)

Depends on the tank type. If it's a fish-only tank, I like a lot less rock. I also like a lot less rock in a room divider tank (one that the 2 long sides are both viewable).

crudnugget
Nov 14, 2000

*sigh*

csammis posted:

Posting pictures of the setup and assembly of my new 3 gal nano tank so Hood Ornament doesn't die of deprivation :v:
Nice setup. Are you using an auto top-off setup on that tank?

csammis
Aug 26, 2003

Mental Institution

crudnugget posted:

Nice setup. Are you using an auto top-off setup on that tank?

Funny you should ask, just this afternoon I started making an auto top-off using a sun tea jar. The jar holds about a gallon, gallon and a half, which will be perfect for filling and not worrying about for a week or so.

I'll be mounting a shelf on the wall behind the tank and placing the top-off jar on it. Pictures tomorrow, hopefully :)

monkeyman
Sep 15, 2000
I have been keeping freshwater tropicals for a couple of years now, and am thinking of making the plunge to a saltwater tank.

The only real issue I can see is a reliable water source. Do you guys use an RODI system? or do you buy pure water from the store or what?

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

monkeyman posted:

The only real issue I can see is a reliable water source. Do you guys use an RODI system? or do you buy pure water from the store or what?

Yes. You could probably get away with tap or RO tap if you go with a fish only tank, but you'll absolutely need one if you keep a reef.

csammis
Aug 26, 2003

Mental Institution

monkeyman posted:

The only real issue I can see is a reliable water source. Do you guys use an RODI system? or do you buy pure water from the store or what?

I use this RO/DI system, which I highly recommend to any new reefkeeper. It's inexpensive (relatively) and is much cheaper than buying RO/DI from the store in the quantities you'll need.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

csammis posted:

I use this RO/DI system, which I highly recommend to any new reefkeeper. It's inexpensive (relatively) and is much cheaper than buying RO/DI from the store in the quantities you'll need.

That one is nice in that it IS inexpensive.. at least for the initial investment. Note that it doesn't use standard filter cartridges, so you have to use the ones designed for it. This one on the other hand, produces almost twice the water, and uses standard filter cartridges and has almost double the water output for $60 more. In the end, I think it'd worth the extra 60 bones.

csammis
Aug 26, 2003

Mental Institution

Psimitry posted:

That one is nice in that it IS inexpensive.. at least for the initial investment. Note that it doesn't use standard filter cartridges, so you have to use the ones designed for it. This one on the other hand, produces almost twice the water, and uses standard filter cartridges and has almost double the water output for $60 more. In the end, I think it'd worth the extra 60 bones.

The full set of replacement filters, including DI for the Mighty Mite is about $30, as opposed to $55 if you order through Melev...and what in the gently caress, he runs a referral program for reselling RO/DI units? He doesn't even say where they come from, or if there's a warranty. I like Melev's tanks, he gives very good advice, but personally I'd rather order factory direct.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
That's why I don't order replacement cartridges from him. :D

If you want to know where he gets them, they come from http://www.thefilterguys.biz/ro_di_systems.htm. I don't necessarily know the brand, but that's the EXACT same system (the 75GPD... makes me wonder if Melev's site is optimistic about the GPD rating? I've never tested mine. I don't know).

Coincidentally, that's also where I order my cartridges and DI resin from.

monkeyman
Sep 15, 2000
Sometimes I really dislike living in Australia.

Thanks for the help though.

Time to start looking around here.

Tsioc
Sep 12, 2007
Nice tanks. I always thought small reef tanks were a bad idea, but you've inspired me to try... just not today.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
I find my 14G tank to be much more difficult to manage than my 90G tank. The fact that I was able to get a good skimmer for it was a godsend (especially since the guy who makes them no longer does).

The Interpolator
Jan 20, 2004
Unorigional Bastard
My new tank is finally up!

Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.


Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.


Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.


Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.


Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.


(The floating stuff is mysis shrimp because I was feeding them while taking these)

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Random picture day! This week has been...interesting to say the least. I'd ordered more inverts and corals from a few different people, and every time I was sent different things or freebies. I don't complain, but now I have many mystery corals and some weird inverts. I also have a few very cute baby inverts that will not be able to live in my tank when grown (urchin, serpent star) but I'll let them stay with me awhile. I'm just playing it by ear at the moment.

On a side note, lettuce sea slugs are the hands-down cutest saltwater creature. :3:

Now, pictures!

Full tank shot as of 8.14.1008

Click here for the full 1077x382 image.


Blurry firefish


Blue hermit and Scarlet hermit have a stare-down


Baby pincushion urchin


Urchin carrying some rock, I imagine him using it to club hermits.


Baby serpent star, whose movement kind of freaks me out.


Anemone shrimp, who is made of nothingness


Hopefully better picture of anemone shrimp


Bubble-tipped Mushroom


More mushrooms


Some really weird zoas, dunno what they are...


Mystery Coral #1


Mystery Coral #2


Alien-eye Favia, with neat glowing green centers!


Sea slug riding a snail

Click here for the full 816x612 image.


Spider slug, spider slug, does whatever a spider slug does

Click here for the full 816x612 image.


Sea slug is so :3:


I have a few questions regarding my slugs. First off, I was told they only eat macro-algae, so I will have to go down to my LFS and buy a bag. Is this true, or will they eat other algae? Also right after the spider-slug picture, he fell down and was almost sucked into my powerhead :gonk: is there something I can do to prevent this? Is there a net or something I can put over my powerhead?

tgijsola
Apr 27, 2008

orange
Pillbug
Your tank's looking awesome! I agree that sea slugs are badass. I want one or two for my 30 gallon but I really know nothing about them other than that they are awesome. If anyone has experience with them I'd love to hear what you need to do to keep them.

Mystery coral #1 looks like a group of zoas, can't tell what #2 is. Maybe some sort of weird encrusting zoanthid or monti frag? Got a better picture?

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

tgijsola posted:

Mystery coral #1 looks like a group of zoas, can't tell what #2 is. Maybe some sort of weird encrusting zoanthid or monti frag? Got a better picture?

I'll try to get a better picture soon, but I guess I dropped it in a spot where it's hard to get a good photo. It is hard and looks just like the skin of a strawberry, kinda weird but neat. I emailed the guy asking what he actually sent me and so far he's just told me "some extra frags". Thanks, man.

Also, forgot Mystery Coral #3

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
Mystery picture #1 is definitely palythoas (very similar to zoanthids, except bigger, taller stalks, etc). Mystery #2 is a form of encrusting monti called "Superman Monti." It's a nice (and pretty valuable) coral, I just hope you have the lighting for it.

Edit: the picture that you have that is labeled zoas are also most likely paly's, but I usually just refer them as zoos anyway.

Mystery #3 is kind of a toughy. The picture isn't too clear so it looks like it could be some form of mushroom or perhaps some form of leather.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

Mystery picture #1 is definitely palythoas (very similar to zoanthids, except bigger, taller stalks, etc). Mystery #2 is a form of encrusting monti called "Superman Monti." It's a nice (and pretty valuable) coral, I just hope you have the lighting for it.

Edit: the picture that you have that is labeled zoas are also most likely paly's, but I usually just refer them as zoos anyway.

Mystery #3 is kind of a toughy. The picture isn't too clear so it looks like it could be some form of mushroom or perhaps some form of leather.

For the Monti, does it need extreme lighting, do I need to place it higher up in the tank?

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

Hood Ornament posted:

For the Monti, does it need extreme lighting, do I need to place it higher up in the tank?

Depends on the type of lighting you have. If you have power compact lighting, you need to get it as close to the light and in the center of the tank as possible (but not under any brace or shade).

If you have IR-T5's or even 150W halides, you'll be fine.

I was wrong BTW - it's still a monti, but it's not the "Superman Monti." That actually has the opposite coloration of what you have (red polyps on blue base).

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

Depends on the type of lighting you have. If you have power compact lighting, you need to get it as close to the light and in the center of the tank as possible (but not under any brace or shade).

If you have IR-T5's or even 150W halides, you'll be fine.

I was wrong BTW - it's still a monti, but it's not the "Superman Monti." That actually has the opposite coloration of what you have (red polyps on blue base).

I have PC's, I'll put him up higher as soon as I can. They can still be superglued, right? Otherwise my urchin will probably be wearing a Monti hat.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

Hood Ornament posted:

I have PC's, I'll put him up higher as soon as I can. They can still be superglued, right? Otherwise my urchin will probably be wearing a Monti hat.

Oh god yes they can be superglued. Make sure you use a gel glue (obviously), but yeah. They can be.

Ideally though, you really should look into getting stronger lighting if you plan on keeping SPS. You'll do fine with zoos and whatnot, but as soon as you venture into the SPS or (non-euphallyd (hammer/frogspawn coral)) LPS arena, you need stronger lighting. And EVERYONE who keeps corals eventually moves into those arenas.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

Oh god yes they can be superglued. Make sure you use a gel glue (obviously), but yeah. They can be.

Ideally though, you really should look into getting stronger lighting if you plan on keeping SPS. You'll do fine with zoos and whatnot, but as soon as you venture into the SPS or (non-euphallyd (hammer/frogspawn coral)) LPS arena, you need stronger lighting. And EVERYONE who keeps corals eventually moves into those arenas.

I'll look into it, but right now I really can't drop money on halides, though I really want to. I didn't plan on getting this Monti, really, it was pretty drat random. The seller confirmed that he just "grabbed a random frag" and that he has no idea what he sent me. :byodood:

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
Halides aren't necessarily what you need (especially if you have a low canopy because they have to be placed 8" or higher off the water's surface. In addition, you're going to ideally want a 150W setup, and those are hard to come by in the cheap-o brands.

Individually reflected T5's on the other hand are good times.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

Halides aren't necessarily what you need (especially if you have a low canopy because they have to be placed 8" or higher off the water's surface. In addition, you're going to ideally want a 150W setup, and those are hard to come by in the cheap-o brands.

Individually reflected T5's on the other hand are good times.

I'm not very familiar with T5's at all. Right now I have a Coralife 20" PC fixture. Would I need a new fixture or can I adapt my current one? Do you have an good brand recommendations?

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Life in the tank is interesting today.

My sea cucumber dug up my blue zoas and is now hiding under them, so it looks like he's made of zoas. It's pretty wierd but neat at the same time.

My mystery palys opened up and they are very pretty shades of purple and pink.

Mystery Coral #3 has "bloomed" and now has a stalk and a plume, I think it might be a Duncan Coral. My anemone shrimp is hosting it.

I covered my powehead in netting to keep sea slugs from being sucked up.

I glued down my "Monti" frag, which now has teeny polyps emerging.

parkieus
Mar 14, 2007

"Cute lil plant.. O GOD IT CUT MY ARM OFF!!!"
Some AWESOME looking tanks on this thread guys!

Here is the FTS at the beginning;



Here is is after I added a In-Tank Fuge (Way too big for my 40gallon);



And here it is last week now with H.O.B. 3 gallon fuge and 20 gallon Sump;


Here is my first fish who is a beast compared to when I got him as a
little fish, his name is Abraxus;



I Just got a 2x175 watt Hamilton fixture for my 40 about 3 weeks ago, The difference from T-5s is ridiculous! Now Im trying my hand at some different acropora.

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Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
New randomness.

Sexy shrimp pair, hosting my red mushroom


My "Monti" frag, with little dark purple and sky blue polyps


Purple mushroom and upside-down urchin, still carrying his rock-club


Sea cucumber wearing my yellow-eyed zoas


Mystery zoas/palys, fully open


Mystery palys, mostly open


My purple/green mushrooms


Mystery Coral #3, opened, hosted by anemone shrimp

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