Greybeard's Wide, Shallow Peninsula
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OP
OP
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Weather sux, My wonderful wife made a big pot of chili... hanging out at the tank/bar having a few Captain and Cokes on a Friday evening. Took a few cell phone shots.
Ok, photographer, I'm not.
Ok, photographer, I'm not.
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OP
OP
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Just a quick update... Things are going well.
Went to SLASH's spring coral swap this weekend. Probably been to the last half dozen of their events... I should probably join, but being 4 hours away, well, we'll see.
Nice event. If I were into SPS, they had a great selection. LPS less so, but still not bad. Softies, if you're not wanting zoanthids, you're pretty much out of luck. I was hoping for some deals on clams... I saw two. Maximas, 3", $80. No, thanks.
I picked up a nice elegance, a bubble, a small green wall hammer, a single polyp duncan, a florida ric, and a nice peach colored zoanthid. Prices were reasonable.
Went wandering around St. Lou for a while, looking at marine shops.
Corner Reef: Bought a Pom-Pom crab. Nice store. Lots of very expensive corals... Nothing I was looking for, though.
Corals and More: Have they changed hands recently? Low stock levels. Tanks were clean. Didn't buy anything.
Seascape Studio: Very nice shop. Clean, full, well stocked... Bought a juvinile Lamark's Angelfish, and a pair of ochre striped cardinals.
Right across the street from Seascape Studio is a pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom. Awesome calzone, good drinks :)
Found a single Aptasia growing from the rock I bought with a cabbage leather. I've had that rock for a year, never noticed anything before... look the other day, great big Aptasia. The plan is to excise the part of the rock with extreme prejudice... and a hammer, after work tonight.
Went to SLASH's spring coral swap this weekend. Probably been to the last half dozen of their events... I should probably join, but being 4 hours away, well, we'll see.
Nice event. If I were into SPS, they had a great selection. LPS less so, but still not bad. Softies, if you're not wanting zoanthids, you're pretty much out of luck. I was hoping for some deals on clams... I saw two. Maximas, 3", $80. No, thanks.
I picked up a nice elegance, a bubble, a small green wall hammer, a single polyp duncan, a florida ric, and a nice peach colored zoanthid. Prices were reasonable.
Went wandering around St. Lou for a while, looking at marine shops.
Corner Reef: Bought a Pom-Pom crab. Nice store. Lots of very expensive corals... Nothing I was looking for, though.
Corals and More: Have they changed hands recently? Low stock levels. Tanks were clean. Didn't buy anything.
Seascape Studio: Very nice shop. Clean, full, well stocked... Bought a juvinile Lamark's Angelfish, and a pair of ochre striped cardinals.
Right across the street from Seascape Studio is a pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom. Awesome calzone, good drinks :)
Found a single Aptasia growing from the rock I bought with a cabbage leather. I've had that rock for a year, never noticed anything before... look the other day, great big Aptasia. The plan is to excise the part of the rock with extreme prejudice... and a hammer, after work tonight.
OP
OP
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Wish I could get a good shot of the little Lamark's angel I picked up. Georgous fish. Just too active to catch on camera :)
Love that Duncan. Kindof an afterthought... was buying two corals from a vendor at the SLASH show, wanted him to toss something in to make it a decent deal. It was a $10 frag. Didn't look that special under the show light, but the darned thing looks awesome in my tank. Duncan's usually grow pretty fast. Here's hoping... a big colony of those green Duncan's wouldn't bother me at all :)
Love that Duncan. Kindof an afterthought... was buying two corals from a vendor at the SLASH show, wanted him to toss something in to make it a decent deal. It was a $10 frag. Didn't look that special under the show light, but the darned thing looks awesome in my tank. Duncan's usually grow pretty fast. Here's hoping... a big colony of those green Duncan's wouldn't bother me at all :)
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OP
OP
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Lost my Lamark's angel the other day. Jumped out. Grandson found him on the floor.
Eh... I give up.
I love the open top look, but that's the 2nd fish I've lost... in what, 3 years?
Ordered an OctoLid. At least, if I have to have a lid, it doesn't have to be an ugly one :P
Always trying to look at the bright side... I'm in the market for WRASSES!
Eh... I give up.
I love the open top look, but that's the 2nd fish I've lost... in what, 3 years?
Ordered an OctoLid. At least, if I have to have a lid, it doesn't have to be an ugly one :P
Always trying to look at the bright side... I'm in the market for WRASSES!
OP
OP
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Anyone with direct experience removing a sand bed wanna talk about it?
I've never done bare bottom. Thought about it, early on, with this tank, but just couldn't do it. Now... nearly 3 years in, I'm having the same sorts of trouble I've had in the past with maturing tanks. PO4 rising slowly, NO3 no longer unmeasureable, getting cyano spots, corals starting to be a bit less open...
I ordered a marine pure block the other day. Once that's here, and been in place for a week or so, I'm going to start siphoning out my sand. I figure a weekly 15% water change, removing perhaps a quarter of the sand bed each time, until it's gone.
Then, I'm going to add a couple Rossmont Mover 3k pumps, blowing right across the bottom.
Might even be considering adding some sort of mechanical filter... floss, socks, rollermat... My problem with these type of filters is me. I know me... and I don't belive that I will change them out often enough. In my experience, born out by BRS's testing, more than once a week is required to see any real benifit... and I'm just NOT going to do that. So... Rollermat, or one of it's offspring... Then, the problem becomes... how to I set that up?
My sump is a standard 55g tank. Inlets into it are short, tank is right up against the wall, no way to hang anything there... ref section of the sump is something like 18" deep (standard 55 is 21", ref is nearly full height). Just not sure how I could mount something like a rollermat. Suppose I could just add a pump, instead of trying to feed it from my overflow...
I've never done bare bottom. Thought about it, early on, with this tank, but just couldn't do it. Now... nearly 3 years in, I'm having the same sorts of trouble I've had in the past with maturing tanks. PO4 rising slowly, NO3 no longer unmeasureable, getting cyano spots, corals starting to be a bit less open...
I ordered a marine pure block the other day. Once that's here, and been in place for a week or so, I'm going to start siphoning out my sand. I figure a weekly 15% water change, removing perhaps a quarter of the sand bed each time, until it's gone.
Then, I'm going to add a couple Rossmont Mover 3k pumps, blowing right across the bottom.
Might even be considering adding some sort of mechanical filter... floss, socks, rollermat... My problem with these type of filters is me. I know me... and I don't belive that I will change them out often enough. In my experience, born out by BRS's testing, more than once a week is required to see any real benifit... and I'm just NOT going to do that. So... Rollermat, or one of it's offspring... Then, the problem becomes... how to I set that up?
My sump is a standard 55g tank. Inlets into it are short, tank is right up against the wall, no way to hang anything there... ref section of the sump is something like 18" deep (standard 55 is 21", ref is nearly full height). Just not sure how I could mount something like a rollermat. Suppose I could just add a pump, instead of trying to feed it from my overflow...
OP
OP
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Some of them. Not all wrasses are sand dwellers. Fairy wrasses (Cirrhilabrus), which is the type I'd probably select anyway, are more interested in hiding places in the rocks than burrowing under the sand.
Dartfish, Anthius... lots of species I've been avoiding due to running an open top system. All are on the list, now ;)
293482398
Valuable Member
Regarding bare-bottom + wrasses
https://aqua-tecture.com/collection...oducts/vidarock-barnacle-assorted-size-3-pack
I purchased some of these ceramic barnacles + filled them with sand, they just sit on my bare bottom. It seems to work fine for my yellow coris wrasse.
p.s. One of them is just gathering dust in my spare parts pile if you want it. I can snail mail it to ya if you want it
https://aqua-tecture.com/collection...oducts/vidarock-barnacle-assorted-size-3-pack
I purchased some of these ceramic barnacles + filled them with sand, they just sit on my bare bottom. It seems to work fine for my yellow coris wrasse.
p.s. One of them is just gathering dust in my spare parts pile if you want it. I can snail mail it to ya if you want it
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minus9
5000 Club Member
Sorry to hear about the angel. Matt makes great lids, I have one and wouldn't hesitate to order another from him.
Regarding removing the sand, do it in steps. This gives your system more time to adjust to the bacteria loss and minimizes mini cycles and nutrient spikes.
I would suggest removing it during water changes using a large vinyl hose and carefully drawing up the sand with water. This prevents major disturbances and minimizes debris in the water column. Depending on the size of your system (sorry, forgot how big your tank is) try removing a 6" or 8" square area of sand at a time?
Regarding removing the sand, do it in steps. This gives your system more time to adjust to the bacteria loss and minimizes mini cycles and nutrient spikes.
I would suggest removing it during water changes using a large vinyl hose and carefully drawing up the sand with water. This prevents major disturbances and minimizes debris in the water column. Depending on the size of your system (sorry, forgot how big your tank is) try removing a 6" or 8" square area of sand at a time?
I have to say @Greybeard this tank is coming along nicely!! Its been a while from the last time I bought up on it. Keep up the great work ! I love the long Shallow wide reef tanks one of my favorite style of builds I feel. Well done !!!
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