Ken's 290 Peninsula

[Fiziksgeek]

I think we have another, much smaller, decorator crab also.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

And what the heck is this???

 

[bhargs99]

Very cool pictures of the rock! And a really weird hitchhiker at the end there. Hopefully someone can ID it. Are you happy with the rock so far?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Very cool pictures of the rock! And a really weird hitchhiker at the end there. Hopefully someone can ID it. Are you happy with the rock so far?

I am. Not 100% in love with the piece all covered with shells...they are sharp! But I got a good variety of shapes. The macro algae, sponges, anemones, etc all add some instant life to the tank. Not to mention all the flora and fauna that make up a good biome. You gotta take the bad with the good to jumpstart nature. If you think about it, I got the first batch 3 week ago, and the second batch only 5 days ago. It would take months or years to get to this point starting with dry rock.

There are 2 big disadvantages to live rock; First is cost, Second not being able to perfect an aquascape outside of the tank. But overall, I am happy with how things are shaping up.

 

[bhargs99]

I am. Not 100% in love with the piece all covered with shells...they are sharp! But I got a good variety of shapes. The macro algae, sponges, anemones, etc all add some instant life to the tank. Not to mention all the flora and fauna that make up a good biome. You gotta take the bad with the good to jumpstart nature. If you think about it, I got the first batch 3 week ago, and the second batch only 5 days ago. It would take months or years to get to this point starting with dry rock.

There are 2 big disadvantages to live rock; First is cost, Second not being able to perfect an aquascape outside of the tank. But overall, I am happy with how things are shaping up.

Ohh I didn't even think about them being that sharp, I think it would look super cool covered in some type of encrusting SPS! And yeah that cost is definitely something to think about and a sort of big hold up for me after renovating for 6+ months but then I think about how much work TBS puts into cultivating the rock so I gotta respect that. Also, was concerned about not getting the scape "right" but I think yours came out great! Will you be adding any more rock? or what is your plan moving forward?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Ohh I didn't even think about them being that sharp, I think it would look super cool covered in some type of encrusting SPS! And yeah that cost is definitely something to think about and a sort of big hold up for me after renovating for 6+ months but then I think about how much work TBS puts into cultivating the rock so I gotta respect that. Also, was concerned about not getting the scape "right" but I think yours came out great! Will you be adding any more rock? or what is your plan moving forward?

From here, I think I will let the tank settle in for a bit. If I feel like it, maybe tweak the aquascaping, but probably not significantly. No wits about establishing stability, then adding fish and eventually corals.

I need to get into a testing/dosing regiment. I've never been terrible good at doing things regularly...assuming everything is progressing well. I did get a PAR meter, so I want to do some data taking to see how we are doing there. I do have another Kessil AP9X on the shelf is I want to add a 4th light.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Did a full set of tests for the first time tonight. Previously I have just been testing a couple key items here and there. Shame on me for not being more rigorous....but here is where the tank stands:

Temp 78
Specific gravity 1.026
PH 8.1
dKH 8.2
Amonia .006
phosphate .03
Nitrate 3.3
nitrite 32 ppb
calcium 443
magnesium 1455.

Hanna checkers across the board. Magnesium is high and I believe my mag checker is after the reagent issues that they had not too long ago. But other than that, everything is in pretty good shape considering the tank is only a month old!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Hungry hungry hippo...err...Hungry hungry crabby(s)!

 

[bhargs99]

Hungry hungry hippo...err...Hungry hungry crabby(s)!

They’re putting in some work! Any other updates? Or is that tank just cruising?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Pretty much just letting the tank age a bit. Some of the macro algae is growing, and fast, so I have been pulling some out and putting it in the sump. I do have that one large gorilla crab and a small rock living down there. My son named him Herbert, so now I can kill it!

I did put in an order with Dr. Reef for the first batch of fish, not sure exactly when they will ship though. And this past weekend while I was up at my parent house I stopped in a LFS and bought the first corals, a couple hammers, which seem to be doing well. I've always had good success with things like hammers and torches in the past, so I figured why not! They seem to be doing well so far. I'll get some pics up this weekend.

Hoping to do some PAR measurements over the next couple week to sort of map out the tank and see where the lighting stands overall. Trying to determine if I want a 4th Kessil AP9x over the main display or stick with 3.

 

[bhargs99]

Nice! Herbert is a cute name for a hairy gorilla crab lol. Can't wait to see the fish from Dr. Reefs, they have a great selection of fish. Can't wait to see some updated pics!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Starter corals have been in for a week. Still cant believe that basically a month after adding the first live rock/sand that I dared put anything in there, but they seem to be doing fine! Unfortunately looks like my Dr. Reef order won’t ship until first week of Jan.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Running on the generator all day today...power went out a little after 5 this morning.

I got a message a couple days ago from Dr. Reef saying my fish were going to ship Thursday for delivery today, which was a surprise, because when I called, they told me shipping Jan 5th for arrival Jan 6th. I believe they reconsidered given the weather...not sure why that wasn't predictable give the forecast...needless to say, Dr reef decided not to ship, which was the right choice.

I have been looking for some rock rubble for frag mounting. I bought a couple items. I am unsure about final locations, so I dont necessarily want to attach stuff directly to the rock work, but I also dont want unnatural looking plugs in my tank. Everything below is chilling in the frag tank. Hoping they will start to pick up some color before I really need to use them.

Caribsea rubble - There are probably some usable pieces in there, but for the most part, they are smaller than what I was looking for and will likely just end up in the fuge

Marco Rock 9lb reef save frag mounts - good variety of sizes, some way to big for using with frags, some too small.

This is a flat bottom piece the size of my hand...its a legit rock, not a frag size...

These are pretty reasonable.

Some flatter pieces

3. Reef Smart Aquadome frag mounts. more weight then regular frag plugs.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Got an Apogee MQ-510 and set out to characterize the tank. The current program a max peak hours for the Kessils is 50% color, 75% intensity, violet, red, and green channels all 50%. Here are the results:

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Also took some data with the PAR meter in a fixed spot and varied some of the lighting parameters. The spot in a little higher than half depth, about equal across the 36" width and near directly under one of the end fixtures. I did not turn the other fixtures off.

Conclusions:

1. Of the individual channels, Violet add the most PAR to the mix.

2. PAR remains pretty constant when you vary the "color", but is at its peak around 50%, which gives a nice bluish/white look to the tank. I think this is what Kessil advertises, ease of use, you pick the color setting that pleases your eye, and they maintain PAR.

3. PAR really starts to drop off when "intensity" is below 70%.

So, did I unknowingly pick the sweet spot in terms of efficiency (50% color, 75% intensity) for my initial mode?

Here is what manual mode in the Kessil App looks like for those who haven't seen it:

Here is the profile that I Have been running:

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Still trapping gorilla crabs...getting annoying now! This guys is a smart one!

 

[bhargs99]

Lol, he knows there’s no coming back!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Been busy since my last post. Decided to go with 4 of Kessil Ap9X on the main display to minimize shadowing. I had a spare on the shelf, but not anymore! The way the stand canopy was designed had cross bars top and bottom that divided the tank into thirds. I really think it was total overkill, so I removed the bars from the bottom of the canopy which gives me nice wide unobstructed opening with with the eurobracing. I've been hanging the lights with some eye bolts that I got for the extruded aluminum. Still need to find something better than the zip ties, but it works for now!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I pleased an order for some corals with Cultivated Reef out of Maine. For those interested, they ship overnight in an insulated box with heat packs. Each is double bagged, heat sealed, and labeled! Cultivated reef was great with communication!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I got the following:

Oregon Blue Tort
Pinky the Bear
Purple Lush
Red Robin
Blue Planet
Blue Slimer
Pink Cadillac
Purple candle tip
ORA Frogskin

Everything went well with shipping. One of the tips from Pinky the Bear was broken in the bag. Its small, but I glued it to a frag rock anyway just to see if I could salvage it. I picked up a frag transport container from Slide-loc and used the insert to hold the frags for a dip, the transferred them into my frag tank. All the corals seem to do pretty well except the pink cadillac. Most of it died off. I cut off the last branch showing life and separated it from the rest, we'll see how that goes. I actually re-mounted everything onto the rubble that I put into the frag tank a month ago and moved them up to the main display today. The frags are starting to color up slowly after the trip. The oregon tort is super blue! I am excited to see how things will shape up!