Project 150!!

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

Actually the Thorite really looks great, I can see how that would cover up purple really quick. I guess you already checked into this but I'm sure this stuff once dried is safe & won't leach anything. As for as the lighting, I really like it, I'm sure it will work out great. This gives me ideas, even though I don't have room to make a raise & lowering system, I can make it so the lights slide in & out like a cabinet drawer. I was planning on a fixed system but with the fixtures your using I could make access to the back easier. I see many benefits in using such fixtures over the open reflectors in my situation I'm limited in space so this is very important in design.
 
Had a bunch of stuff kicking up lately....Little brother is also in town from NY, so havent had much time to get farther on the tank. I did manage to add a little more Thorite to the one rock rack I've already got going....doesnt change the outline a whole lot, but does make it better. One thing to deal with on the Thorite is the quick set time....it goes from soup to brick pretty rapidly, so it makes it interesting to work with.

I have another rock rack to coat w/ Thorite, but I'm going to try something different this time. I have some waterfall rock foam from an earlier attempt at this sort of thing, some thinking of using some of that to initially break up the shape of the other rack, and then coating it w/ Thorite. The problem w/ the waterfall foam is that the stuff is so bouyant, I couldnt get my initial rack below the surface of the water....so I'm hoping that limited use of the foam, and the weight of the Thorite will overcome the foam's bouyancy...

Pics will come later.

Nick
 
Thanks Krish, I'm hoping so....anything is better than PVC.....

Nick
 
05-22-07

I'm on afternoon shift right now, (2:30 pm - 10:30 PM) so its hard to get much done lately. I'll be going to midnights here soon, so I expect I'll be able to get more accomplished then.....maybe.

Ordered a Virgate rabbitfish and Blackcap Basslet from www.vividaquarium.com and put them in the 120. I wanted to give them the best opportunity to get acclimated before I added the other fish from the 58 over, (Red Sea Regal Angel, Tomini Tang, Pair of Onyx percs, and a large Royal Gramma).

The Blackcap Basslet didnt make it....It ate two times and then never left its hiding spot. I sent Vivid pics of it today....so hopefully they will send out a repacement soon. The Virgate rabbit has made the transition to broccoli just fine...eats it willingly and doesnt really seem to be too stressed out when my hands are in the tank to put food in. I havent tried Nori on the clip again...think I'll try that today.

Here are some pics just to keep things going here....

This is a way to semi organize all the electrical stuff that goes into this hobby. Its not meant to be a pretty set up, this is just a temporary one to get me through. I will be building a nicer looking one later...I dont like how all the cables are hanging out everywhere.

Control_center-1.jpg


I put bulbs in and fired up the lighting. After several hours, the tank hits 84 degrees with the lights on. This is up from 79 degrees w/o lights on. I dont think I'll need a chiller, I should be able to get by w/ a fan for cooling purposes. The structure on the left is the PVC rock rack. Still not wildly happy w/ its appearance, but it looks better than PVC. The rack will have the rock from the left side of my 58 sitting on it.

FTS_0522-07-1.jpg


Here is a pic of the Virgate rabbitfish hiding behind the new rock rack...

Virgate_hiding-1.jpg


Here is a better pic of the Virgate....

Virgate_05-22-07-1.jpg


I was going to go with a purple tang, but my wife felt it looked too much like stuff I already had in the tank...(?????). She liked the looks of the Virgate Rabbitfish...so we got it. I dont mind it, and if it gets her a little more interested in the tank than its worth it.

Nick
 
I've got the replacement blackcap in the tank right now. Its sitting in a basket style net breeder to keep it in an area where I can monitor its food intake. Once its eating like I want it to, I'll release it into the 120 and let it get settled. Once its settled, I will be transferring everything from the 58 over to the 120.

I got the actinic VHO's wired up. The most annoying part with the IceCap VHO ballasts is keeping the rats nest of wires organized. I would up using zip ties and cable keepers, (the things you mount on the baseboards of your home to keep your phone cord from spilling out all over the floor from the jack), to keep it semi presentable.

I'm trying a fan blowing into the canopy to see if that will keep temps below 84. If it does, (and I think it will), I can see putting the fan on a temp controller to kick on once the temp hits 82 and off when it hits 80.

Not going to be a lot of tank related stuff for the next couple of weeks til the blackcap gets acclimated. I'm hoping it gets acclimated sooner rather than later, as the I'm noticing some squabbles between the Tomini and the Regal Angel....Regal's winning as she's the Queen of the tank...

Its nothing serious, but I'd rather it not be happening at all...

More updates as events warrant.

Nick
 
Thought I'd post up some pics of my Red Sea Regal Angel.

I got her Sept 24th of 06 from www.phishybusiness.com

She's gotten fat in the tank...which is nice. Please disregard all the bubbles etc in the water...if I turned off the pumps, she'd hide

Fat_Regal-1_05-26-07.jpg


Fat_Regal2-1_05-26-07.jpg


Regal2-2_05-26-07.jpg


She's about 4 inches in length and eats primarily brocolli, but also inhales mysis, brineshrimp and other meaty foods. She wont go near Nori and completely ignores Angel Formula frozen food...

Nick
 
Sweet Regal Nick! I would like to have one when I go big again...not for another year or so though:rolleyes: Your project is coming along quite nicely.
 
Thanks Todd,
I almost lost her to malnutrition. All she would eat was Mysis and brine shrimp for the first couple of months I had her. Leebca here suggested wilted/blanched broccoli for her, and she attacked it.

The project is kinda at a holding point though til the blackcap begins eating happily.

Nick
 
Nice setup..hows the direct feed on the skimmer working? I tried that once without the use of a gate valve to regulate flow and it ended up being a nightmare, I use a MJ 900 for a feed pump now.
 
Working okay...but the bioload for the tank is really small so the skimmer isnt getting a work out yet.

H&S reccomends using the direct feed vs a feed pump for best skimming.....but to be fair, I dont know how much of a difference it would make. Might not be a whole lot better, I just wanted to cut down on electrical usage and heat being added to the tank from pumps etc.

So far it seems to be working too. Tank reaches 84 degrees F w/ lights on, no fan. Placing a fan to blow through the canopy keeps the tank at 81F.

Nick
 
The Blackcap is in the main tank now, and eating decently...but not as voraciously as I'd like. I'm also seeing a small white spot on the stomach of the rabbitfish that looks like it might be a small parasite infestation. I'm seriously considering dropping the specific gravity of the 120 down to 1.015 or lower for a few days just to nuke any potential worms that might be inside either of the two new fish. I'd be irate if I managed to infect the healthy fish currently in the 58 with something from the rabbit and black cap...

Whatcha think?

Nick
 
Nick - hyposalinity would be great if you think its ich. Does the white spot look like ich? You mentioned "potential worms that might be inside either of the two new fish". Hyposalinity won't help with internal parasitic infections, you'll want to feed one of the foods available that is a dewormer. You will also want to bring down your salinity to 12-14 ppt on a refractometer, as opposed to 1.015 specific gravity (converted is 19.9 ppt). If you will be treating the fish in your 120, then you might as well do the hyposalinity treatment on the fish in the 58, too. Maybe just transfer them all over to the 120 and treat them all at the same time. Unless, in the time I've spoken to you last you've treated your fish in the 58 for ich? :)

Here is the hyposalinity treatment: Hyposalinity Treatment

Here is a thread that will help if you experience low pH during hyposaline conditions: pH Problems in a QT Tank
 
Thanks for the link Nikki...

I ordered a fish trap from Dr Fosters & Smith today. Should get here some time next week. I want to trap the Virgate Rabbitfish, and give it a freshwater dip for a few minutes to ensure its not infested with any worms. As more time goes on, I'm thinking its not a parasite, but more of a small scar or something similar on the fish. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Once I've dipped it, I will lower the salinity of the 120 down to 1.012 for a few weeks, and start trapping the fish in the 58. They will also get a freshwater dip for a few minutes, and then be placed in the 120.

The goal is to ensure the 120 is free of any internal or microscopic parasites, namely ich. Every time I added a new fish, or had some sort of stressful event in the tank, (58 gallon), I would have a minor outbreak of ich. It would only last a few days, and never got to the point of having many spots on the fish, but I know its there. So I will leave the 58 gallon fish free for 8 weeks to starve out any ich left in the tank. The hyposalinity in the 120 will kill of any ich harbored inside the fish that is not visible.

After 4 weeks of hyposalinity, I will begin to increase the salinity slowly and bring it back to normal levels. After that is accomplished, I will transfer the inverts, (H.magnifica anemone, corals, clams, shrimp and crabs), and the rock work over to the 120.

I've decided to go this annoying, slow route because I've always wanted a Powder Blue Tang. I dont have one now, and would need to get rid of the Virgate Rabbitfish to have room for it...but its a future possibility. They are such ich magnets that you really need to insure that the tank is free of it (IMO) to ensure a decent chance long term with them.

Of course, going through all of this means that I will need to QT everything that comes into the tank from here on out...including corals. But since I'll have an empty 58 gallon, that shouldnt be a real problem.

Nick
 
The fish trap arrived today. Its actually a pretty decent one, IMO. Got it at Drs Foster & Smith, AquaMedic Fish Trap. Its the same type the LFS carries and rents to people for $5.00 a day, after a $60.00 deposit. I've had to rent the damn thing from them 3 times now, and never got away with using less than 2 weeks.....so I figured I'd just buy this one and have it to use on my own.

Its been in the tank less than 5 minutes. I figured since the rabbitfish is so skittish, it would a week or so before I could entice it in and capture it for a freshwater dip. I put some broccoli on a clip for it, in the trap, and as usual, couldnt get my fingers out of the way fast enough....:lol:

So it doesnt appear that I'll be having any trouble getting it out for the dip...

When I do this dip for external parasites/internal worms....should I go ahead and add some Prazi-pro to the water to hit any potential worms harder? I have plenty left over from a previous attempt at killing off AEFW's.....

The Blackcap continues to eat more aggressively, and has definately taken to the one piece of rock in there...he's already figured out about 6 different holes that are interconnecting inside....so I'm definately feeling better about mixing him with the Royal Gramma, even though its almost twice his size. I'm figuring the Royal will have his current hidey hole to hang out in, (which will be across the tank from the Blackcap's spot), and the black cap will be able to defend his territory pretty easily.

Nick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Gort
Greetings Earthlings - I come in peace.
Replies
4
Views
1K
Katchupoy
Katchupoy
M
Are LEDs killing my hammer corals?
Replies
0
Views
2K
MontanaCyn
M
barrierreefcf
Please Read - Helping Mike Foote
Replies
2
Views
1K
Scooterman
Scooterman
Vandur
40g Breeder, Tank Build(s)
Replies
16
Views
14K
spieszak
spieszak
T
Its Started!
2
Replies
20
Views
8K
Therapy1
T

Latest posts

Back
Top