Ben's Mixed Reef

[class clown]

yeah i can see it, i can also see a green aptasia dood

aww no gabs.. those are the special green miniature anemones (very rare). they are highly desireable and not pest-like at all. wanna buy? I'll give them to you for cheap :badgrin: :badgrin: :badgrin: :badgrin: :badgrin:

yeah.. so in all seriousness... once I get rid of the red bugs, I'll try to figure out a permanent solution for those too. one pest at a time, ya know

 

[steven11]

Hey Ben- sorry to read about the heater in the other thread!
For your red bugs, you should pick up a pipe fish or two. They are very cool fish. I dont have red bugs but my pipe is always scanning my sps for what ever he can find.
Also, I seen that you lost you puple slimmer in the electro event. I have a frag that i will give you. Its about a 2" stick but i am sure in your system that it will fill out nicely. All you need to do is pick it up!

 

[class clown]

Hey Ben- sorry to read about the heater in the other thread!
For your red bugs, you should pick up a pipe fish or two. They are very cool fish. I dont have red bugs but my pipe is always scanning my sps for what ever he can find.
Also, I seen that you lost you puple slimmer in the electro event. I have a frag that i will give you. Its about a 2" stick but i am sure in your system that it will fill out nicely. All you need to do is pick it up!

Thanks Steven. yeah.. it's just sad looking back on these pictures on the post now. After some encouraging words from Barrier Reef guys who experienced a similar electrocution event in the past couple months, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I may not have the total fall out that I was expecting.

Pipe fish may be a good addition once I get things straightened out - they sure are neat looking creatures and one I've never had before.

Your a good man Steven, and I may take you up on that offer for the purple slimer - It was one of my favorites and actually took me a while to find. Again, would want to wait until things get straighted out w/ my tank situation first, but don't be surprised if you get a PM from me in a couple months.

 

[steven11]

I'll be around, just let me know!

 

[jnarowe]

Hey guys! Tell me more aboutpipefish. They look awefully delicate for a high flow SPS tank. Are they OK with that? and what about compatibility with other fish?

 

[steven11]

They do awesome! Mine is always hugging the rocks. I know Dang also has a pair that are in his tank that are doing well. For flow in my tank, I have a mj1200 and about 300gph from my return in a 36 gal bf. I would definately recomend them. As far as tank mates, they will not do any damage.As for others, he pays no attention to the clowns that push him away from their nem or the tang that flairs at him. So as long as your fish wont do any physical damage to the pipe, you should be fine! (sorry so long winded)

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Hey guys! Tell me more aboutpipefish. They look awefully delicate for a high flow SPS tank. Are they OK with that? and what about compatibility with other fish?

You are right, all sea horses and pipes require lower flow and do not handle agressive tank mates. Dang has a huge tank packed to the gills with awesome coral colonies and Steven's bowfront is the most "good karma" dialed in little system I have seen.

 

[jnarowe]

very interesting indeed. they are really cool fish but I have mentally slotted them with seahorses in terms of their ability to handle flow. my tank currently has about 18,000 gph and I am adding another 3000 gph this weekend. Another 6000 gph will be added by the end of the Summer. I have had a hard time positioning the few LPS I have but I suppose that the pipefish would find their niche. Maybe if Dang visits on the meeting day, he can give me an educated opinion on whther they will have a fighting chance in my system!

 

[MAGDRL Mom]

And anyone who has met me will tell ya I'm an equipment type of guy.. so, here is what I'm currently using to support the system:

• 55 gallon display (IAP acrylic) - yeah I know, of course I want to go bigger
• 45 gallon sump/fuge (from Big T)
• 2 250W PFO MH ballast running 12k reefluxes
• 2 55w PCs for actinics
• Neptune Aquacontroller III
• Euroreef skimmer
• Geo Calcium reactor
• Iwaki return
• Pacific Coast Chiller c280
• TLF Phosban150 reactor
• 6 Mj1200's for oscillating current

Most of the equipment is housed out in my garage. I've had one to many overflows and decided to go this route last summer. I've been very satisfied so far with everything being out in the garage b/c it is so much easier to access and I don't have to worry about spilling.

here's under the tank..

And here's outside in the garage...

Awesome set up! Do you have the specs on the configuration somewhere that I can read?

 

[Jan]

It's so clean....it's disgusting. :lol:

 

[class clown]

Awesome set up! Do you have the specs on the configuration somewhere that I can read?

What kinda specs are you interested in? be happy to tell ya more about it, just let me know what you'd like to know.

It's so clean....it's disgusting. :lol:

Yeah, I wish it looked like that now. My husbandry has taken a bit of a dive lately b/c I've just been concentrating on trying to get the new one up and running.

 

[MAGDRL Mom]

The first thing that caught my eye was the wireless router. Are you using that for the lights and a wave maker, et al? We have talked about going completely digital on everything to monitor the tanks via computer with the ability to dose whatever we need to dose electronically based on defined parameters. Also setting up automatic water changes. Haven't seen any software that will do it "ALL" but your conditions clicker seems to be a place to start.

I also notice that you are hooked directly to the water heater. Is that just for the water, or are you using it to heat?

Is your tank and control area back to back or do you have it plumbed from another area of the house?

I guess that's enough to start! Or you could just come on out to Virginia Beach and "show" us.

 

[class clown]

The first thing that caught my eye was the wireless router. Are you using that for the lights and a wave maker, et al? We have talked about going completely digital on everything to monitor the tanks via computer with the ability to dose whatever we need to dose electronically based on defined parameters. Also setting up automatic water changes. Haven't seen any software that will do it "ALL" but your conditions clicker seems to be a place to start.

I also notice that you are hooked directly to the water heater. Is that just for the water, or are you using it to heat?

Is your tank and control area back to back or do you have it plumbed from another area of the house?

I guess that's enough to start! Or you could just come on out to Virginia Beach and "show" us.

Well, my tank is hooked up to the internet through that router - pretty much anything that's important is hooked up to the controller - lights, heaters, chiller, calcium reactor, return pump, powerheads, etc. Although they have their own regularly scheduled cycles, I can control any of them (off or on) from the internet anywhere I go. I also have it hooked up so that it'll send me an e-mail if any of the conditions are out of whack. The Neptune Aquacontrollers are a pretty cool piece of equipment, but it did take a while to setup. Here's the code in case you are interested:

ACT$-A01
MH1$-A02
MH2$-A03
PM1#-A04
PM2#-A05
PM3#-A06
PM4#-A07
PM5#-A08
HT1%-B01
STR$-B02
CHL%-B03
CO2&-B04
RET#-B05
SKM$-B06
KWR$-B07
ALM&-A09


If Time > 00:00 Then SKM ON
If Time > 00:00 Then RET ON
If Sun -090/120 Then ACT ON
If Sun 120/-110 Then MH1 ON
If Sun 110/-120 Then MH2 ON
RND 005/005 ON/OFF Then PM1 ON
RND 005/005 ON/OFF Then PM2 ON
RND 005/005 ON/OFF Then PM3 ON
RND 005/005 ON/OFF Then PM4 ON
RND 005/005 ON/OFF Then PM5 ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then CHL ON
If Temp < 77.0 Then CHL OFF
If Temp < 77.0 Then HT1 ON
If Temp > 77.5 Then HT1 OFF
If Temp < 50.0 Then HT1 OFF
If Temp < 50.0 Then MH1 OFF
If Temp < 50.0 Then MH2 OFF
If Temp < 50.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 81.0 Then MH1 OFF
Max Change 020 M Then MH1 OFF
If Temp > 81.0 Then MH2 OFF
Max Change 020 M Then MH2 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then PM1 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then PM2 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then PM3 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then PM4 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then PM5 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then SKM OFF
OSC 010/240 ON/OFF Then STR OFF
If Time > 20:01 Then KWR ON
If Time > 20:02 Then KWR OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then KWR ON
If Time > 00:01 Then KWR OFF
If Time > 02:00 Then KWR ON
If Time > 02:01 Then KWR OFF
If Time > 04:00 Then KWR ON
If Time > 04:01 Then KWR OFF
If Time > 06:00 Then KWR ON
If Time > 06:01 Then KWR OFF
If Time > 08:00 Then KWR ON
If Time > 08:01 Then KWR OFF
If Time > 09:00 Then KWR ON
If Time > 09:01 Then KWR OFF
If pH > 08.05 Then CO2 ON
If pH < 08.00 Then CO2 OFF
If pH > 08.30 Then KWR OFF
If Timer MH1 = ON Then ACT OFF
If Timer RET = OFF Then HT1 OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ALM OFF
If Switch1 OPEN Then ALM ON
If Switch1 OPEN Then RET OFF
If Switch2 CLOSED Then ALM OFF
If Switch2 OPEN Then ALM ON
If pH > 08.45 Then ALM ON
If pH < 07.70 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 76.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 82.0 Then ALM ON
If Time > 00:00 Then ALM OFF

 

[class clown]

I also notice that you are hooked directly to the water heater. Is that just for the water, or are you using it to heat?

Is your tank and control area back to back or do you have it plumbed from another area of the house?

I guess that's enough to start! Or you could just come on out to Virginia Beach and "show" us.

Sorry, forgot to answer a couple questions. Although it looks like it is hooked directly to the water heater, It's actually my RODI unit tapped directly into the main line of the house. I had some trouble w/ water pressure so thought taping into the main line woudl be best. It was also very convenient there. So yeah, sorry to dissapoint, but no hot water there..

As for configuration.. picture an "L" shape. My tank is the top portion of the L and my sump is the bottom part of the L. They run perpindicular to each other on opposites sides of a 9" sheer wall.

 

[steven11]

How's the tank doing Ben?

 

[class clown]

Hey Steven... Actually, I'm getting ready to move it this weekend out to the garage. Since I'm working on that new tank I was going to move it all eventually, but the wife got a little crazy and purchased a dry bar for the niche where my 55 resides currently and it get's delivered on Wednesday . So yeah, long and the short is it should be a "fun" weekend, moving fish, moving corals, moving the tank, and patching walls. :lol::lol::lol:

if you're bored and get the itch to want to swing by, you're welcome. Duane (trido) is coming over and we're going to try to knock it out on Sat, but the more the merrier.

As far as how the corals are doing - most of them seem to be getting their color back after the electrocution event. I know when I saw you last, I said I only lost about 15 frags/colonies, but i've actually had a few more STN on me recently that had been trying to hang on for dear life, but just weren't strong enough I guess. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the move...

 

[spongebob lover]

what's a dry bar dood ?
sound like a bar for doing ballet or some sort of dancing pole hmm ??

 

[class clown]

your'e funny gabs. A dry bar is a bar without a sink in it.

The tank is now torn down, cleaned, and in my garage.... I'll likely be putting it up for sale here on the forums in a bit (just need to take some pics).. if anyone is interested in it, just shoot me a pm.

I'll probably be selling the euroreef skimmer too here in a bit if I can't find a use for it - same thing, pm me if you think your interested in it.

don't worry - tank inhibatants are all safe & sound. They're in a couple rubbermade makeshift temp tanks in the garage waiting for their new home to be finished.

 

[spongebob lover]

your'e funny gabs. A dry bar is a bar without a sink in it.

OHHH ..... LMAO !!! :lol: .... you mean a bar for serving alcohol, that's awesome dood !!! .
uhhh i'd definetly could use one of your maxijets .

 

[dailydriven911]

So Ben have you figured out a fish list for the new tank yet?