A Saga: Nikki's 120 gallon

[Scooterman]

Wow Nikki sorry things aren't going as planned, the RTN must hurt along with everything else. I'm sure you will get going on the right track & not look back for some time. If your husband used 316L stainless for that band you wouldn't have to worry about rust or paint. The "L" is for Low carbon, less chances of rusting in salty conditions.

 

[spongebob lover]

Nikki, like i said before i'm really really sorry you are going through all this .
But on the good side, at least now you would know more about plumbing and i'm glad you got your kalk reactor working .
I also like the idea of using 2 skimmers and every since you said that, i've been thinking about reparing my old skimmer and put it to work .
ohh yeah and there's nothing better than your husband doing it, that way at least you can see what he's doing .

 

[CarlaW]

Thought I would give this thread a boost, enquiring minds need to know!!:lol: :lol:

 

[Krish]

Sorry to hear about all the problems Nikki...That sucks!!!, but atleast you got some new equipment that will make things better this time around. I wish you luck and I'm sorry all that happened to you...

 

[NaH2O]

I still have rocks cooking in the basement, then I will change up the aquascaping a bit. Coralline has really taken off in the tank on the rocks, which is great...I didn't really have this much coralline on the rocks before. There still is a small amount of algae that I could live with....the rock in the tank was not cooked or boiled, but I removed as much algae as I could. I'll try and post up some pics soon...even if it is before the re-scape.

On a good note, after removing all the skeletons from the tank, I left a rock that had a purple encrusting monti on it in the tank....I thought it would make a good rock to mount frags too. I turned it over and I now have new growth! It is about the size of a quarter (the coral before was the size of my clenched fist), and just as purple as ever....so I'm glad to see the RTN is over and regrowth is beginning. After I get stuff all switched around, then I'll be ready to add corals again.

I did get 2 Lumenarc IIIs that I need to install (the AC ones), so I'm excited to finally have some decent reflectors. Since I really don't have much in the way of coral stock, now is the perfect time to make my last few changes to the system.

 

[spongebob lover]

i'm happy to hear you got some coralline and that your coral grew ... that's a really nice thing.
I can't wair to see some pictures.

 

[cheeks69]

I did get 2 Lumenarc IIIs that I need to install (the AC ones)

Very cool Nikki ! Please post a pic when you have a chance. I'm also considering getting one but not sure L III's or the Mini. Do you have to make any adjustments to your canopy ?

 

[NaH2O]

I will Robert, and I'm not quite sure how I want to change it just yet. I have some thoughts in my head, so hopefully in the next week or so I'll get it figured out.

I went with the LIIIs instead of the minis because of the A/C upgrade on the LIIIs. I want to have the glass for the reflector (do the minis come with glass?) because with such a great reflector, I don't want them to get all gunked up from the water. I like the idea of being able to get the heat out of the unit with the A/C. I'll probably use 2 of the 4" fans I have on the canopy for the A/C.

 

[cheeks69]

(do the minis come with glass?)

Yes they do but I was thinking that using the glass may reduce the light ???

I e-mailed PGS and if I remember correctly they will eventually add the AC to the mini but that doesn't help you now.

Are you going to start a different thread about the reflectors or post it on this one ?

 

[jlehigh]

You can expect a 6-10% decrease in PAR using glass. With clear water 6-10% is virtually nothing. The glass does tend to need cleaning ever few weeks though.

You can also get low iron glass with anti-reflective qualities to improve the clarity but I dont think your tank is deep enough to justify the extra expense.

 

[NaH2O]

Robert - I heard about the minis going A/C, but I don't know how long it will be before it is available (I think it was in the PGS RC forum?). As the reduction in light, I figured having to clean the glass would be better then trying to clean the reflector.

I will probably start a new thread on the lights, and stick a link to it in this one, so everyone should be able to find it once I get it going.

jlehigh - thanks for the numbers. I wondered what the loss was from the glass.

 

[Elmo18]

Hi Nikki. Can you update me with a photo of your onyx clowns for a bit

Best,
Ilham

 

[Scooterman]

Nikki where did you order your LIII's?

 

[MikeS]

Glad to hear things are turning around for your tank, Nikki...hang in there buddie...and if all else fails, just throw some sand at the problem...

MikeS

 

[Maxx]

Glad to hear things are turning around for your tank, Nikki...hang in there buddie...and if all else fails, just throw some sand at the problem...

MikeS

Niiiice Mike. Here we are trying to build her back up and you kick her when she's not looking. Way to go buddy...



Nick

 

[NaH2O]

Nikki where did you order your LIII's?

I got them through a club's group buy that I couldn't pass on.

Mike – sand, huh? How's that BB tank working out for you again?

 

[NaH2O]

Hi Nikki. Can you update me with a photo of your onyx clowns for a bit

Best,
Ilham

My clowns have been wonderful! They eat very very well (the female will take food from everyone), and are healthy with thick bodies. I love watcing their behavior. They seem to get irritated when a snail wanders in their area, and the female will press her face against the snail's shell. I'm not sure if she's trying to get it to move along, or what she is doing, but most times when a snail goes in the clown spot, she does this.

Please excuse the poor quality of the photos....I have a very dirty front on the tank, and the fish were being very uncooperative....I had just fed them, and everyone thought I was going to put more food in....so they were all racing around wherever I stood.

I looked back to compare the clowns to when I first put them in the tank, which will be a year this month! Wow! How they have grown!!!

Click on the attachment number to see when I first received them a year ago: View attachment 4860

Female now...

I'm not going to upload the photo of the male to my gallery, as it is really really bad....I couldn't get an unblurred shot of him to save my life...this is him at the top of the water expecting more food...and the very dirty top of my tank:
(click on image to enlarge) View attachment 10985

 

[spongebob lover]

Nikki!!! your clownfishes are just gorgeous !!
Seriously, i really really like them a lot

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks Gabby! They are my favorites....

 

[cheeks69]

They look beautiful Nikki ! Did you get them from PA ?