Hart's Nano SPS Reef - Deep blue shallow tank, oxymoron?!?

[hart24601]

Because as anyone could tell from this thread by now, I have a clam problem... The three from PEA all have new growth without any doubt. I have been eyeballing two others from their site for about two weeks now, somehow they didn't sell yet. I guess perhaps people have been too busy, but I finally snagged them last week and should come Saturday. One of the rainbow looking maximas and a great blue one with a teal rim. At this point the system is really 'clam' packed and perhaps my vision of a clam system will come true, just a bit more SPS reef than I thought! I really should call it good with 4 growing maximas... but again I have a problem!


I have been surprised with the amount of flow they tolerate. Much more than I ever thought.


I sure hope these two are healthy from PEA again, I don't see why they wouldn't be from the same place. I will officially have no more clam room so perhaps my addiction will be over???

 

[hart24601]

For no real reason aside from curiosity, I am putting each rp-m and the vortech on separate timers with alternating tabs pulled out (aka runs for half hour off half hour) still on pulse mode. Will be interesting since the timers will sometimes overlap and sometimes not. Should create some really random flow but almost drop flow in half total. Will keep the tunze on bottom running pulse constantly.

Even with all that flow on pulse I noticed some areas of the tank always seem to get the same direction flow. This should keep that from happening.

 

[hart24601]

Oh yea. With the storm PEA called and will delay shipment. While I was really hoping to get them it's for the best. Until next week then!

 

[hart24601]

Keeping the rp-m on the timers and turned them up. Decided the mp10 isn't really strong enough to matter on/off timer so moving it away from the timer, but I am liking having the rp-m on timers. Will see if grows algae too fast.

 

[hart24601]

Have some bleaching. Turning blues back to 50% and whites to 40%. I originally had b-50, w-30 and tried b-70,w-40 but I want a bit whiter light for a couple hours.

The clams seem to be happy so I have been hesitant to change power, but it's a delicate balance to keep them everything happy.

 

[hart24601]

I have been running the tank at 80, I think going to try dropping to 77 to see if helps bleaching as well. It's warmer than I have run in the past, normally I like 77ish range.

 

[hart24601]

Happy guy here getting a break from the flow on timers.

 

[BranchingHammer]

Following...

 

[hart24601]

I thought this was nice iPhone pic - although it's a bit clammy...

*Badump bump*

Can see some new shell in the pic! Always interesting to me how they open up so full when lights come on (here) and close up gradually.

 

[BranchingHammer]

Nice

 

[hart24601]

Got two more PEA clams but these were wysiwy. Water temp 72 - solid for winter.

Pic of my.order.

As arrived. Less growth that I hoped but the others looked similar.

 

[hart24601]

Granted the blues were on, but they look identical to the 3 I already have! All very nice and blue but not very distinct. Maybe white light will get there!

 

[AvaS]

Sorry for the noob question but how do you know what growth looks like on a clam??

 

[hart24601]

Sorry for the noob question but how do you know what growth looks like on a clam??

No problem! It's the bright white growth on the shell. After a few weeks the older growth gets covered with algae so you look for algae free rim as they grow from the edge out.

Here is the squammy shell from DD with 0 growth. You can see no growth a long time because the shell is so discolored.

Here is a Maxima in tank, top is the oldest pic and bottom the most recent. You can see the white area growing.

 

[AvaS]

Gotcha! Thanks for the info . So seeing a growing white rim below the mantle means you have a happy clam!

 

[hart24601]

Gotcha! Thanks for the info . So seeing a growing white rim below the mantle means you have a happy clam!

Exactly!!

It's really the only way we can tell. Clams can look happy for months then die. Only if you see growth do you know all is good.

 

[hart24601]

 

[hart24601]

I didn't think that top clam looks like one that shipped, due to holidays it was a long time from order to ship, talked to Dr Mac and he said if one doesn't look good he sometimes will sub, and sometimes accidents happen and they would work with me if wasn't happy, but I'm happy, just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. The one I got has some spots of color on the mantle.

Cool I was able to get a response and chat with them. Top notch place.

 

[hart24601]

Got order from unique coral, some really cool flowerpots - extended and look great right out of the bag. Don't see too many yellow.

 

[hart24601]

Saw a masterflex with easy load heads for a decent deal on eBay, $200, so I picked it up for automatic water changes.

Now the tank is one floor up, so there is more pressure pushing the water out. I installed a ball valve and adjusted it so the water out of the tank is close to water in. 98% match running 5 min, which is acceptable.

I also had a float valve around so installed it in the brute so if I forget to fill it the pump won't run. Timer set to run 5x per day for 7 min and at the lowest pump setting that is 1% daily or 3.5g roughly. Aka 30% per month.

Some pics. It was easiest to run the awc lines and ato out the heater vent as the tank is close by.