The inwall 380 starfire reborn - Page 20

jnarowe · #**476** 03/17/2007, 01:59 AM

You obviously haven't studied a crosshatch's mouth!

Sparkss · #**477** 03/19/2007, 10:04 PM

we scored a couple of fish and a bunch of corals.. both SPS and some real nice zoas. The fish were a gold angel, a magnificent rabbitfish and an orange shoulder tang. The angel came from a reef tank that was taken down the other 2 from an LFS. All 3 were and are eating.

We did some moderate aquascape changes Friday, prior to picking up the angel (we didn't know we would also be getting the other 2 this past weekend, only the Angel). We wanted to be done with major mucking about in the tank prior to inctroducing the timid little guy. After getting the frags we spent Saturday afternoon mounting the zoas (which were by and far the largest number of frags compared to the couple of SPS) on various plugs and loose rocks. These are now littering the sand bed to the front of the tank. This will change once we get the prop tank operational.. but for now that is where they will have to stay. I joked with my wife that it looked like a kids play room with toys scattered about the floor *sigh*. The SPS we got, although fewer in number, were all straight up winners. a bit shy of a dozen, almost all LEs. They are still recovering from their dip.. but do all have PE and color.. just not quite at their "show best".

Here is an FTS that you may be able to get an idea of the changes we made :

Again, try to ignore the scattered plugs on the front sandbed

Here is a shot of the right side :

the center :

Sparkss · #**478** 03/19/2007, 10:05 PM

and the left side :

and more of an angle to see the alcove on the left side of the tank :

Bax · #**479** 03/19/2007, 10:16 PM

Great! Hope the gold flake behaves

Sparkss · #**480** 03/19/2007, 10:20 PM

not a gold flake.. a golden angel. it is a pygmy angel, and this one comes from an established reef tank where it behaved for several years before the owner tore down the tank.

On a separate note, I want to get some top down shots of the tank to better show the aquascaping... there are tons of canyons, cave, nooks and crannies in the rockwork now (even more so than before) and the layout feels more open (aside from the zoas laying all around the front

)

clekchau · #**481** 03/20/2007, 06:08 AM

looking good tom !

nosh · #**482** 03/20/2007, 08:19 AM

looking great!

Sparkss · #**483** 03/20/2007, 10:16 AM

I stirred up a bunch of dust from the sandbed last night, so the picutures were not very clear.. I hope to be able to take some more later on today (hopefully better

). I checked the corals that we changed placement on yesterday, and they seemed to be doing fine.. the big test will be after a full day under the lights in their new location.. but most of them were moved to a lower light area, not a higher light one.. so there shouldn't be any major issues from that today.

Our RO/DI reservior and rest of the components for our ATO should arrive today via UPS. Now I just need to decide were to physically put the reservior

tacocat · #**484** 03/20/2007, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sparkss
But no help on IDing the corals in the numbered picts ?

It's hard to tell when they are small frags like that. give them a few weeks to color up and encrust.

Sparkss · #**485** 03/20/2007, 10:49 AM

Just an FYI that most of those are 5 months old now and have at least tripled in size from when we bought them (yea, they were that small)... granted they lost a little color when we moved them from the prop tank on the old system to the new tank, and my picture taking skills leave something to be desired, I don't see any major change in color or shape any time soon (Aside fom the ones we moved around yesterday

). Also the growth and color in our old tank was not too impressive, mainly due to the tank crash we incurred there a couple of months back.. less than 2 months before we moved them over to the new tank. Since they have been in the new tank their growth has definitely re-jumpstarted. We brought almost nothing over from the old tank (outside of livestock).. not any real amount of rocks or sand, so the new tank had a pretty "fresh" start. They also are fully encrusted on their plugs, just maybe not past the plugs onto the rockwork yet on all of them (but a few have already attached themselves)

xinumaster · #**486** 03/21/2007, 12:27 PM

Very nice Tom. lots of room for the fishes to go around. But looks like when your corals grow up you're gonna run out of room soon. You'll need to free up some space for the corals to grow. But no worry, my tank have plenty of space available. I won't mind adapting some of your nice corals.

By the way, back to SW change. I draw a plan for my continuous salt water change and RODI auto top off system. Let me know what you think of it -- check the link below. How are you planning yours?

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...33#post9531833

clekchau · #**487** 03/21/2007, 12:46 PM

perry that looks vaguely familiar

just be sure to cover the mixed saltwater to avoid evaporation, how many gallons do you plan on changing a day?

xinumaster · #**488** 03/21/2007, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by clekchau
perry that looks vaguely familiar

just be sure to cover the mixed saltwater to avoid evaporation, how many gallons do you plan on changing a day?

Hi CC, it's actually a compilation of all the info I got in this thread. The containers are covered. I think the water change rate would be about 8 to 10g a day. Not sure about the LMIII spec -- if it can handle that rate.

clekchau · #**489** 03/21/2007, 12:53 PM

i think it could handle an upwards of 7, that is why i planned mine for 7 gallons a day. i could be wrong though.

xinumaster · #**490** 03/21/2007, 01:03 PM

I just read LM3 spec says 25ml/h which is 0.396g/hr. That means it can handle 9.5g/day if pump is working 24hrs. So 7g/day might be more realistic.

Sparkss · #**491** 03/21/2007, 01:39 PM

Ahh, ok.. I had asked the sme question in your thread Perry, about how many gals per day you planned to exchange

. I started writing up my post and got pulled away and only just now got to hitting the submit button..

Well, For those that asked about the new fish, here is a shot of the new angel. I had to take it from a distance becuase it is still shy and whenever I get to onear the tank all I see is the back of his tail as he dissappears behind a rock or into a cave *sigh*. So this pict is the best that I can do for now

Here is the magnificent rabgit fish (still a little shy, but getting better).

And the orange shoulder tang coming in from the back forty, where it likes to hang out :

and a nice group shot of 2 of the new fish (I had already spooked the angel, so won't be able to get another picture of him for a while

).

One thing about the new additions.. they are still skittish and not quite getting along with us like the others do (sailfin tag follows us along the front of the tank and the mandarin will swim up and around my hand/arm when I have to go into the tank to fix a coral, etc.. they are definitely not afraid of us). But the new fish get along great with our existing fish.. no fighting, bullying or other issues that I have seen, so that is a good thing

clekchau · #**492** 03/21/2007, 01:46 PM

i just ordered a magnificent foxface from diver's den because i saw yours along with a "small" naso brevirostris

are you worried about the angel eating your corals?

jnarowe · #**493** 03/21/2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by xinumaster
I just read LM3 spec says 25ml/h which is 0.396g/hr. That means it can handle 9.5g/day if pump is working 24hrs. So 7g/day might be more realistic.

From the SpectraPure web site:

"This incredible lift enables the LiterMeter III™ to pump over 60 feet above itself at a flow rate of over 250 ml/min."

This isn't the first time I have seen tthe wrong specs. posted regading the LiterMeter III...I am sure it can do a whole lot more than 7 - 10g per day, since I have mine dosing 12g/day right now and it's off most of the time.

invincible569 · #**494** 03/21/2007, 03:16 PM

Love the foxface. Let me know if your orange shoulder shows intense agression over time.

xinumaster · #**495** 03/21/2007, 03:51 PM

You're right its 250ml/min and not 25ml/min which actually translate to 4g/hr. A 95g/day rate if run continuously.

Sparkss · #**496** 03/21/2007, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by clekchau
i just ordered a magnificent foxface from diver's den because i saw yours along with a "small" naso brevirostris

are you worried about the angel eating your corals?

The angel came from a reef tank, where it had been a model citizen for the past couple of years. According to what we read about this particular angel zoas, clams and LPS are the main things to be concerned with. So far he has lived up to his "model citizen" label (although it is early and I am usually very skeptical).

Be sure to share picts of your new fish when you get them

. We saw the rabbitfish at the fish store and after much thought finally brought him home (I was just not sure I wanted one that big.. but even if I had found a smaller one.. it would have eventually gotten this big). And this guy already did a fair job on a small patch of bryopsis that had travelled along with one of our frags, so he is living up to his purchase price

clekchau · #**497** 03/21/2007, 04:47 PM

95 gallons a day, wow the possibilities

Sparkss · #**498** 03/21/2007, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by invincible569
Let me know if your orange shoulder shows intense agression over time.

Are they known to get more aggressive ? I had thought that they were one of the more timid acanthrus species.

Sparkss · #**499** 03/21/2007, 06:27 PM

On a slightly different note, we are contemplating adding a medium sized school of Bartlett Anthias, 6 - 8 or so (maybe up to 10). We are being recommended those as a scholling addition to our tank. anyone have any thoughts on these as the schooling choice ? Just a note that we did the chromis on our last tank and really want something different for this larger tank.

Thanks

jnarowe · #**500** 03/21/2007, 06:32 PM

well, how about any other schooling fish? I have heard from more than one experienced reefer that anthias rquire a bit more attention in regards to feeding. I have 7 chromis in my tank butam contemplating another school of small fish...Have you thought of any others? I would like a fish that remains mostly in the water column.