Wesley's 40 Breeder Sumpless

[Wesley42079]

Update on 6/15/12

I got a 2.5 gallon container, filled it with 1.5 gallons of RO water and began to pull rocks covered in algae and began to scrub. Below is a picture of 1 hour of scrubbing.

This is how the aquarium looked (4:17pm PST) after I placed all the scurbbed rockes back in. Oh, and if you are asking what is inside of the green net, well, that is most of the gha that I was able to fish out of the subtrate and rocks.

Here is how the tank looks after all the dust settled (7:17pm PST).

I sure am glad at how the 40 Breeder looks again after scrubbing majority of the rocks. Maybe now, my cuc (clean up crew) will be able to handle the rest.

 

[Wesley42079]

Here is an update on how the Tunze 9002 has been working.

6/14/2012 @ 7:50pm

6/15/12 @ 4:16pm

6/15/12 @ 7:18pm

As you can see, within a 24-hour period, the Tunze 9002 was able to skim some waste out of the water. I sure hope this will assist in fighting off the gha.

Another thing to note, I removed the decaying piece of shrimp I used to seed the aquarium last week. I was surprised that it didn't fully decay. I assume that this was also contributing to the gha outbreak.

One other thing that I will not be doing is turning on the ATI 6x36w fixture. The bulbs haven't been replaced in over 1-year when I purchased it from a fellow reefer. I will have total darkness except for ambiant light in the aquarium, for the next 24-48 hours.

 

[Wesley42079]

I decided to visit my LFS (Neptune Aquatics) to get 5 gallons of saltwater to do a water change and 5 gallons of RO for any evaporation top off.

Next, we travelled to Aquatic Gallery to purchase the following:

-24 blue legged hermit crabs
-(1) sand sifting starfish
-(1) emerald crab
-15 lbs of tonga rock

Here are a few pictures of our blue legged hermits

I really like this picture of one of the blue legged hermit crabs. It's almost like he's looking at me to let me know that he will take it upon himself to eat up all the gha.

 

[Wesley42079]

Here is my little helper dropping in the emerald green crab. I am trying to get my son to love the reefing hobby, as much as I do. Hopefully having him assist me with tasks like this as well as going to the LFS to get RO, saltwater and corals will spark a little fire in him.

I hope that the crab will assist me in eating up all the gha.

 

[Wesley42079]

UPDATE 6/20/12

Sorry for the delay in updating. Here are (2) updated tank pictures:

Also, here are my results from the Salifer test kits.

Cal = 450
Alk = 8.8
Mg = 1050

 

[Wesley42079]

UPDATE 6/21/12




I finally purchased 2 false percula clownfish today. My son, Jordan, was so excited that he specifically hand picked the fish at Neptune Aquatics in Milpitas, CA. By the way, thank you Garrett for assisting us with all of our reefing needs.

Jordan was so happy to introduce the new clown's into their 40 breeder home, that he assisted me with acclimating the fish and then placed them into their new home.

If you are at all interested, their names are Nemo and Marlon.

 

[Wesley42079]

UPDATE 6/24/12

After visiting Neptune Aquatics on 6/21/12, I fell in love with another fish in the 200+ gallon display tank. The fish I saw was a small, elongated, torpedo like fish with a yellow face/head and orangish/red lateral lines stretching from its nose to the caudal fin. Cerissa informed me that it's calld the Rainford's Goby

I believe it was love at first sight, but then again, how many times have we gone through that "love at first sight" with a brand new fish or coral? Since this is my 2nd reef aquarium, but first 40 breeder, my excuse is ignorance is bliss.

Well, today I began my journey to find the Rainford's Goby. I ventured out to Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas, CA. The only attractive fish I saw was the Bartlett's Anthias. I really wanted to purchase the fish, but it wasn't the fish I was hunting for. Next, reef store I visited was Dolphin Pet Village in Campbell, CA. After looking at each aquarium, I was able to finally find the Rainford's Goby and Hector's Goby. I kind of hesitated in purchasing the fish, since it was a little expensive. I checked Live Aquaria's website and the dollar amount was a little higher at Dolphin Pet Village. In I purchased the Rainford's Goby and was happy to finally get home and place him into its new home; However, I wanted to visit one more reef store, King Aquarium, San Jose, CA.

As soon as I stepped into the lfs, Jordan's eyes were wide as can be. In front of him was a 500+ gallon aquarium with a 3-4ft black tip shark. After staring at the shark for 10 minutes, I moved on to the reef section to see which fishes they had available. I saw a blue spotted jawfish, but I wasn't looking to purchase that fish yet. I think I am holding out for a pearly head jawfish. As I got to the last few aquariums, I finally saw two Rainford's Goby. In a sense, I was in shock. I thought that the Rainford's Goby was hard to find, but now I am standing here and see two perfectly fine fish at a considerable discounted price.

I considered in rushing back to the previous LFS, but they have already closed for the day. This just goes to show you fellow reefers, to not jump at the gun to make a purchase, but to take the time and shop around. Oh well, live and learn.

By the way, my son named the Rainford's Goby, "Shark Slayer." He got the name from watching the movie, Finding Nemo.

Well, without further delay, here are two pictures of the "Shark Slayer." Enjoy, I know I will.

 

[Sahin]

Nice setup. Love the shark slayer, cute fish.

 

[mallorieGgator]

Looks great! Your son is adorable! It's really nice to see youngin's enjoying the hobby.

 

[Wesley42079]

Looks great! Your son is adorable! It's really nice to see youngin's enjoying the hobby.

Yes, my son loves coming with me to the lfs. He gets so excited looking at all the salt and freshwater aquariums.

 

[BarbH]

Looking good and nice additions, love the names of the clowns and nice looking Rainford's Goby. It is great that your son is taking an interest in the hobby and hopefully that interest will continue to grow.

 

[Wesley42079]

Well, I upgraded my lights. I got rid of my ATI 6x39w T5 fixture and replaced it with Kessil's a350.

I don't really have any corals in my aquarium yet, but I did notice a difference. I currently have the 40 Breeder setup in our bedroom and evertime I walk in, I just feel a huge gust of warm air circulating in the room. That's what I get for running those T5 bulbs. Well, after the very first day of running the Kessil a350, I no longer feel that gust of warm air. So far I am liking the small light fixture already.

Now my tank size is 36L x 18W x 16H; However I do get pretty good coverage with the a350. I was really considering in purchasing the a350w for the spread, but I guess the a350 is good enough.

Now I do get about 30+ inches of coverage from left to right. This will be fine, since I wll place low demanding light corals in that area, or if I am able to purchase another Kessil a350 used, then I will go that route.

Since I am only looking to stock LPS and z's & p's, I'm not really too concerned about too much light demanding corals.

Well, without further adu, here are some pictures I took this evening.

I just used the same metal conduit to hang the Kessil a350. I know it looks a little weird with the left side conduit pointing to the middle of the aquarium, while the right side conduit is still facing straight. If I purchase another Kessial a350, I'll just hang it on the right side conduit.

As you can see, coverage isn't that bad. The fixture is hung 12.5" above the water line.

The dark black mass you see on the right hand side is my Tunze 9002 skimmer.

Here is the right hand side of the aquarium. The lights aren't as bright as my ATI T5's, but I sure am enjoying not having to purchase replacement bulbs every 9 months as well as the heat I no longer feel in my bedroom.

Here is a shot of the Kessil a350 chamber. This thing is so tiny, I can't believe how much light it produces.

 

[Wesley42079]

Here is a hammer coral I purchased from Neptune Aquatics.

This was located in their $10 section. Not a bad purchase if I say so myself.

So far so good. I acclimated the coral for over 4 hours. I wanted to make sure that it will survive as compared to my last frogspawn I placed in the aquarium last week. It was a 4 headed frogspawn that I purchased from one of the local reefers. The thing was a beauty, but for some reason, after I placed it into the aquarium, hour by hour, the coral just started to melt. I think the high temperatures (85 degrees) or dosing straight magnesium (120ml) directly onto the coral didn't help.

Well wish me luck with this hammer, because I have been getting discouraged for the last few weeks in my ricordea and frogspawn melting in 1 day.

 

[Wesley42079]

Ok, I was able to find pictures of the frogspawn I placed into my aquarium on 7/31/12.

As you can see a slow progression of tissue damage within a 2 hour time period.

 

[Wesley42079]

I placed my order on Dr Foster & Smith's website for the Neptune Apex jr controller. Now I get to watch and wait for the next two days for the pacjage to arrive...how exciting.

I tried checking with all the lfs around. Either they only have the LITE version available or they don't stock the Apex controller.

I am tired of continually monitoring my temps and having to manually unplug the heater for a few hours, wait till my temps drop doen to 76 degrees and then plug it back in.

Now the waiting game begins...

 

[Wesley42079]

Here are a few pictures of corals I've picked up in the last few weeks.


Orange Pavona

Orange Pavona mother colony from a local reefer.

This coral is a beauty. One look and my mouth dropped.

I had to take a picture of the colony and post on Reef2Reef since I didn't know what I was looking at. Since this is a SPS, I had to place it at the top of my tank so the Kessil a350 can give it as much light as it needs.

Here is the Darth Maul.

I know this is known to melt easily, I just figured I would try it out since the colors are so bright red.

Here is what might be a Pink Zipper. Below is a picture I took when I took the frag home.

Here is a better picture of the Darth Maul (left) and Pink Zipper (right). All polyps are fully extended and happy.

 

[Wesley42079]

Here is a bright green candy cane coral I purchased from Neptune Aquatics. I've been looking for this coloration for the last 2 months.

I had to move this Frogspawn to the far right hand side of the aquarium. I wanted a spot that had a lot less flow and sure enough, the coral likes its new spot. The expansion is great. Plus, I'm happy that it's lived longer than 3 days. Looks like my water levels are in check.

GSP. I know, this grows like a week, but I love how it looks swaying in the current. I'll probably place it on a branch rock and just let it go to town.

 

[Wesley42079]

Here is a FTS of my 40 Breeder. As you can see, the coverage with 1 Kessil a350 hung 12" above the waterline does a great job. I am debating if I really need to purchase another a350.

The Kessil a350 was 100% White and 0% Blue.

 

[Wesley42079]

I finally received my Apex jr from Dr Fosters and Smith yesterday. I wanted to set it up earlier, but family duties trump everything, including the aquarium (according to my wife).

 

[Wesley42079]

After running my Apex jr for 2 days, I have got to say that I am very happy.

I purchased a mercury thermometer that gave me readings of 86-88 degrees F. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so I found an old digital thermometer that gave me readings of 75 degrees F. For some reason, I relied more on the digital than the mercury thermometer...Wrong idea.

Well after a few months of running the tank, I decided to purchase a Neptune Apex jr. As soon as I placed the temperature probe into the water, I glanced at my computer screen and the reading was at 85.5. I was in shock. I immediately turned off the heater and placed it into the Apex Jr slot 4. I set my perameter's to turn on at 79 degrees and to turn off of 81.

As you can see from my graph below, within a few hours, the temperature dropped from 85.5 to 80 degrees.

I love how I can see a histogram of my temperature readings and how the thermometer will automatically turn on when the temps reach the threshold of 79 degrees.

Purchasing the Apex jr has got to be one of the most favorite equipment I decided on.