Let's Plan a 120g Upgrade

[msn711]

I know people plumb skimmers remotely all the time, I just haven't seen any instructions on how to do it. If it's as simple as putting a pump in the sump, connecting the pump to the skimmer with appropriate sized flex tubing, and then putting another tube on the skimmer's output going back to the sump, then no big deal. But other than that, I'd prefer plug and play.

At the same time, I don't want to buy another skimmer that just won't cut it.

Oh, and I can move the bed over by getting rid of my nightstand. That's not too big a deal; I'd just prefer to keep everything clean and under the tank. I think I'm even going to go with manual top offs rather than putting a holding container next to the tank (unless of course I'm on vacation). Just trying to get a cleaner look this time around. People come into my apartment and they love the tank, but they always want to know, "why do you have all this 'stuff' out? Shouldn't it be hidden somewhere, like the ones on tv or in magazines?"

[Darkstar04]

I know what you mean about trying to hide the components, it looks a lot cleaner. The concept I am trying to convey is to maybe replace your nightstand with some sort of cabinet-fronted piece of pre-made furniture, in which you could hide your skimmer (and maybe even an auto top-off resevoir). Drill a couple holes in the back/side to run pvc or tube. You could still use the top as a night stand.

It might still be too far out there for you, and you would have to find the right piece of furniture. Might serve your purpose, though.

[msn711]

Today's water test:
pH b/t 8 and 8.3 (the only options on a salifert kit)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite .1
Nitrate 25
Alk 9.6
Cal 430

I'd say things are looking pretty good.

I also ordered the AC Jr (base, lab grade pH and temp, and DC 8 package), plus the Current USA Outer Orbit 2x250w MH/4x54w T5/18 Lunar Lights.

I think for a skimmer, I'm just going to try the Tunze 9010 at some point. I think the AC Jr and lights were enough damage to the wallet for at least a couple of weeks.

[msn711]

Latest water test:
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

I went ahead and moved everything from the holding tank to the 120. I put my coralife clip on 150's on the sides of the 120 until my new lights get in on Thursday. I think I'm going to move the lights around to the front just so I can put the glass covers back on the tank. I feel like I'm gambling too much at the moment with the possibility of a fish jumping. Everything seems much better in the 120 than they did in the holding tank.

I got a chance to stop at a LFS, something I rarely get to do since I don't have a car, and I couldn't resist making a purchase: blonde naso tang, baby niger trigger, and an open brain. The brain is great for testing the vortech. I placed it on the right side near the vortech, and the left side of the brain was getting blown in too much. I turned the vortech down and moved the brain to the left. I need to look into the features on the controller.

So far so good. All of the fish are eating. The naso did pick on the nassarius snails. He literally seems to be biting their tails off. Is that normal?

I think that's all for now. Gotta get some pics tonight, prep a water change, and test the alk/cal/mag levels.

Still need to order the tunze skimmer. Also going to research UV sterilizers and merck/lamotte phsophate tests.

[msn711]

I hadn't heard anything from aquarium specialty about my ac jr since I ordered it last Wed. So, I went ahead and emailed them about my order. Not sure why they didn't just tell me upfront, but it's being shipped directly from Neptune. I won't get it in until Monday, so I'm going to have to grab some old light timers out of my box of aquarium stuff to get the actinics running. I can run the halides on my coralife power strip in the meantime.

I also ordered a bunch of random stuff from marine depot:
4xfilter socks
frag cutters (mostly for cutting off damaged parts, and not because I plan to do a lot of fragging)
joe's juice (aiptaisa from the old rock I never bothered to take care of)
some epoxy (tired of ripping corals off of frag plugs to put somewhere in my tank...just gonna epoxy the plug down from now on)
a 3-outlet gfci (I've never used one, bad reefer, I know)
seachem reef advantage magnesium (gonna try these out since it's a powder form and is supposed to last longer than ESV's B-Ionic. Not that B-Ionic isn't good, but if the powder versions last longer, why not?)

[msn711]

Signed up for some email notifications on when a couple of online sites get in the wrasses I want, and I got an email not too much later yesterday confirming that someone had lineatus fairy wrasses in stock. So today, I went ahead and ordered the lineatus and a scotts fairy from australia. I think the australian scotts are much nicer looking than the cook island or fiji variations. Hopefully, I get confirmation on that order shipping out tonight for arrival tomorrow. But those are some expensive fish...skimmer might get pushed back.

[msn711]

Well, no shipping confirmation on the wrasses. Maybe tomorrow.

But...

Massive Picture Post

Full Tank Shot from afar:


Acan Lord:


Cool C. Columna I really like:


Encrusting hydnophora that's actually grown despite the water quality issues from the past month and a half:


Niger Trigger:

[msn711]

Right side:


Left side:


Another FTS:


Open Brain:


RBTA (not so red right now, but hopefully recovering as water quality improves):

[msn711]

Red Chalice:


"Chronic" Chalice (recovering its green color nicely):


Not so orange cap:


What's left of a lobo hemprichii:


What do ya think?

[MarineGirl411]

looks great. How is your trigger doing? Any nipping or picking on other corals? Really pretty.

[msn711]

The trigger is actually pretty shy. He stays in the back right corner, but comes out whenever food hits the water. Him and the naso actually got into a tug of war match over a piece of shrimp that got away from the anemone. The trigger is only about 1.5" and the naso has to be 5 or 6".

From my research, niger triggers don't bother corals. He might one day start going after any left over inverts though.

Surprisingly, the only issue I've had has been the naso picking on the tails of the nassarius snails when they come out.

[msn711]

Got the new lights yesterday. They're a little bit yellow, but they seem to bring out some colors in the fish that I never noticed with the old lights. They're obviously brighter, but since they're in a fixture, there is less light spillover into my room. The halides are running for 4 hours for the next week, and then I'll increase it by one hour every week. Somehome, I didn't realize that the outer orbit comes with its own timers...definitely a nice touch.

The t5s don't offset the yellow at all. We'll see how it looks after the bulbs have burned in, but I may have to look for a more "white" bulbs...maybe something around 12k.

The moonlights are nice, but the white ones are too bright. I was thinking I could just leave the moonlights on all the time, but I may have to turn them off at night since the tank is in my room. I'm a little too old to be sleeping with night lights.

I gotta upload the pics off of my camera.

Also got a call from vivid yesterday about shipping the wrasses. I checked the tracking number this morning, and they were delivered about an hour after I left for work. I'm going to run home during lunch to get them in the tank. Stocking is moving a little faster than I was planning, so I'm going to hold off on fish for the rest of the month. Everything else on my wish list should be easy to get. I just couldn't pass on the lineatus and wanted to introduce him at the same time as the scotts.

I should also be getting those misc. items from Marine Depot today. And the AC Jr. on Monday.

I think that's all for now.

[msn711]

Went home for lunch and acclimatted the Scott's and Lineatus. Really beautiful fish, but wrasses always come in looking super stressed out. They're both went into hiding as soon as they hit the tank, so pictures of them will probably be a few days. But the other fish didn't react to them being added at all. (I fed the fish when I put in the new wrasses.) I also figured out where my Pylei has been sleeping at night, and he didn't bother the new wrasses at all (even though they're pretty close to his hide out). Still not sure where the niger hides at, but it is coming out more and swimming around the tank now.

[msn711]

Metal Halides only:


MH + T5:


T5 Only:


Lunars:

[msn711]

I should also add that the ballasts run much cooler than the coralife ballasts. There seems to be a cooling fan inside the ballasts to help with this. There was no such on the coralife units, and the ballasts got so hot that you couldn't touch them when the lights were on.

The fan is a little loud, but it's only on when the lights are on. I also managed to get my tank as a whole much quieter by lowering the adjustable drain pipes in the AGA mega flow kit as low as I could.

I added the filter socks yesterday, and I tried to cut off the dead skeleton from the lobo with the coral cutters I got, but the skeleton is just too thick.

Now, surprise, surprise, the wrasses came out early. The scotts seems really comfortable, and both the scotts and the lineatus ate with the other fish. The lineatus however, goes back and just lays on the sand like he's literally resting and then gets up on occasion to see what's going on. I really expected them to stay in hiding for the first few days. No aggression issues so far, other than the maroon clown occasionally chasing fish away from the BTA. The scotts is the largest of the three wrasses, and seems to be the most dominant already. At one point, it chased the pylei for a brief second.

Enough talk, PICTURES! (I'm going to cross post these to the reef safe fish forum.)

Scott's:


Lineatus:


Group photo:


Feeding time:

[MarineGirl411]

what pretty wrasses. =) It looks good. How do you like the color on your lights? I can't wait to see how your Trigger does in the long run. I hope he doesn't hurt anyone. =/ How is the middle brace so far? Is it hard to get inside the tank to reach things? Etc? Do you notice a shadow in the middle? It looks really nice.

[msn711]

I think the MH's are too yellow, but for some reason, I feel like I'm seeing the true colors of everything. It feels more accurate. We'll see how it looks down the line, but I may eventually look for something a little more "crisp white" if that makes any sense. I really love the t5 actinics. Everything glows when just those lights are on. Overall, I'm happy I decided to do the t5/mh combo. And the blue moonlights are great too. The whites are too bright, so I'm just running the blue.

From my research, I feel good about the trigger. As long as I keep him fed, I'm not worried about the fish. And if I lose some hermits/snails...oh well. I didn't get into this hobby to look at hermits and snails. And right now, the most aggressive fish is the maroon clown, but she's just defending her BTA. I'm really hoping I can bring the BTA back to good health. I'm feeding it more, and keeping up on tank maintenance.

I don't notice the middle brace at all. There's definitely no shadow, I guess because the 2xMH's aren't directly over the brace. Even with the fixture on the tank, I haven't had any problems getting into the tank. I do have to stand on a chair to reach the bottom though.

So right now, I'm waiting on the AC Jr., which should be here tomorrow.

I've been feeding a lot, so I'm about to do my weekly water change...15g.

[msn711]

Had my hand in the tank last night, and I noticed that the water seemed really warm. The coralife digital thermometer read 81.7. That seemed odd, so I stuck an extra coralife thermometer in the tank, and it read 84.5. Needless to say, I hate coralife products, and will never buy another thing they make.

So I added 2 fans to blow across the sump and bring temps down. My AC Jr. is supposed to arrive today with lab grade pH and temp probes so I can see what's really going on. Hopefully the fans work, and I don't have to invest in a chiller. The halides are only running for 4 hours right now! I was planning on working them up to 8!

[msn711]

Well, my suspicions were right about the temps. I got the AC Jr hooked up last night. It's very easy to program, but dealing with all the wiring I have around the tank and in the stand, plus the limited space with the tank being between my bed and a wall....not fun. The lights were off for a while, while I got everything switched to the AC Jr, so the temps hovered around 83, but that's still too high IMO. The halides are only running 4 hours a day, and I was planning to work my way up to 8. So the coralife digital thermometer that was reading high was about right. The one reading low was obviously way off. Looks like I'll be shopping for a chiller. The fans don't seem to be doing much good at all, and I'm not sure why. It's always worked before. This morning the temp was down to all of 81.8 or so.

For some reason, I didn't think to order any calibration fluid for the pH probe, but it's reading 8.11 during the day and 8.05 at night, which seems about right based on my salifert test kit.

[MarineGirl411]

Hi,
I hate the coralife digital temp too. I think I told you about mine. It always reads low. I cannot trust it. I have 2 other thermometers that I use now. They are great. The best one though is the one you get for measuring temps in cars. Home inspectors also use it. It's very accurate. Have you tried doing anything else besides the glass tops? I'd ask around on RC and try to think of something else. Temps using MH or any lighting really with glass tops will be hard to control. My experience at least. Do you have any fans besides the one in the sump? I am not sure if it would work with the glass tops, but if you buy 2 box fans, or honeywell fans, and place them directly behind the Outer Orbit, have them blowing air out. I hope that makes sense. With 500 watts of MH I'd be worried about the glass tops. HTH.

[Ardeus]

Hi.

I don't know if you noticed but your layout is a bit "boxy".



I like the sense of depth you created on the right. It also creates an area of light and an area of shade, not to mention that it makes your layout look less heavy.

I think it would look better if you made the layout more irregular.



And if that "ball" right in the middle would move to a more extreme location, I think it would look good too. The bay on the left would have a more interesting shape:



And to make the layout more irregular on top, I think that moving a single rock from right to the left can make the difference:



And to make the 2 bays more different and increase depth:



______________________

[msn711]

Your suggestions work great in photoshop, but they would undermine the entire structure, bringing rocks down.

You also managed to hide one of my favorite corals, my green "chronic" chalice.

There is significantly more depth than what the pictures show. It's hard to capture that with a camera. I did the layout the way I did to create as many caves and hiding places for the fish. I don't see anything wrong with "boxy" as you put it, especially when it serves an important purpose and isn't just a wall of rock.

I assume you're just here to promote your own website, hmm???

Moving on to more productive discussions: I've read about other ideas as far as keeping fish in the tank. The problem is that with netting, egg crate, etc., fish still manage to get through. I'm not chancing a $229 lineatus wrasse because I'm too cheap to buy a chiller.

[Ardeus]

Hi again.

Yes, with photoshop is much more easier but also much more limiting, because I don't get a real idea of the rocks and their stability.

I understand what you're saying about the need for caves to satisfy the needs of the animals in the tank, but that can be done taking many other thinks in account at the same time. But if it looks good to you, great. That's what matters.

Another problem with photos is that most of the times they flatten the image and don't give a good perception of depth. I liked very much what you did on the right mainly because of that: depth.

Refftanks are always nice to look at and I guess that's the reason the layout is so overlooked, compared to what happens with fresh water planted tanks. That's what got me thinking about reef layouts and that's the reason I created a site about it a few days ago.

By the way, yes, I am promoting the site. I've been trying to learn how to aquascape reeftanks for over an year doing this "exercises" in forums but I only created the site recently, bacause I couldn't find any organised information on the web.

I own a tank which is full of things that are wrong, even to my eyes in what concerns of layout, but I won't change them either, those errors are part of what the tank is.

Sorry for the criticism/suggestions. I've done it before a few hundred times through out the last year and never occured to me that they could also be taken as offensive. Although it's been the first time, I will be more carefull in the future.

Good luck with the tank.

______________________
www.aquarium-layouts.com

[MarineGirl411]

Wow, I just saw a picture that didn't come up before when I pulled up the website. Your wrasses are so beautiful! Wow, what color! If you can afford a chiller, then I would just buy one then. Esp. since they were that much. I didn't know they were that expensive. Aquascaping is hard to do. I think yours looks great. I know it's hard to capture the real look in pictures. It is very hard with my tank. Can't wait to see more pictures.

[msn711]

[quote]Sorry for the criticism/suggestions. I've done it before a few hundred times through out the last year and never occured to me that they could also be taken as offensive. Although it's been the first time, I will be more carefull in the future.[/quote

I just don't think its right to go around photoshopping people's tanks without their permission. Everyone here puts a lot of hard work into their tanks, and I for one, want mine to be presented accurately, especially in MY thread.

Wow, I just saw a picture that didn't come up before when I pulled up the website. Your wrasses are so beautiful! Wow, what color! If you can afford a chiller, then I would just buy one then. Esp. since they were that much. I didn't know they were that expensive.

Only the lineatus was that expensive. Definitely the most I've ever spent on a fish. Compared to how much we spend in this hobby, a chiller is just one more piece of equipment. And if that's what it takes to keep my reef healthy and thriving, then that's what has to be done. If there were another solution for covering the tank that has been fail proof and doesn't involve DIY, I'd be all over it.

But, some good news: I've noticed the temps have been slowly coming down. This morning, I was down to 79. And they're not going up as high. So I'm going to give the fans more time to do their work. Had they been running from the beginning, I would probably be ok right now. Fortunately, there haven't been any bad reactions from the fish/corals.