mardi 31 janvier 2017

All 50 states - I've been everywhere Man

Talked to a guy with an air B and B today so Maine looks good.

Only got the Dakota's left to do. I can recommend things if any of you are out to discover the country.


1970 17' Stortriss Mk 1 Restoration

Hello everyone! Although I dont have a reef tank still, I recently purchased a 1970 Stortriss Mk 1 for a steal. Unfortunately the previous owner was not kind to the boat, but luckily I am set on restoring it to a very good condition! I was very surprised to learn that the boat is Swedish in origin, as I live in Kansas of all places, so pretty darn cool it see it 4000 miles away from home!

It needs quite a bit of work, here is the current list:

Complete sanding of old paint and rust removal from keel, new paint
new interior - it is currently bare
new electronics system (has solar panel and some lights, but wring is extremely poorly done)
new bow window
window gasket replacement on all windows
new mast step
other various hardware replacements

I need to track down a new bow window as the current one is cracked, as well as a mast step for the boat as the current one is very bad and doesn't even allow for a pin to hold the mast to the base. So if anyone has any leads to those parts let me know!

you can see the broken bow window and mast step in 3rd and 4th pictures

Happy reefing er.. sailing!

link to album 1970 Stortriss - Album on Imgur

















Yellow vs Purple Tang

This is a common question but I am looking for an answer to my situation. I have a couple clowns, goby, fire shrimp, hawk, filefish and Purple Tang that have been in the tank for quite a while. I recently added a Yellow Tang that had been quarantined for a while. As expected, the Purple was not pleased and did his best to kill him. They are similar size. I have removed the Purple and moved him to Q in hope the Yellow settles in. I also have a Blue Hippo and Copperband Butterfly on the way. I am trying to figure out the best way to get them all somewhat happy. I understand they will fight for territory and such. Its a 125G tank. Please dont say the tank isnt big enough. Its fine, i had all these fish successful in the same tank before Brooklynela wiped it out. These would be the last of my fish to get it back to where it used to be. Just wondering when to put Purple back and when to add the Hippo and CBB. The other thought was to get an Idol instead of the CBB. I know Tangs tend not to do well with Butterflies. Any help would be appreciated!!


Rotifers

Anyone growing any locally? I want to raise my clownfish eggs.


Rotifers culture

Does anyone local grow rotifers? My clowns have been laying eggs consistently and I want to try to raise them.


Distance away from water for 8 bulb t-5 lighting

[IMG][/IMG]


Built this for my tank. I was planning on putting my light on top but not sure if it would be to far from the water. The height would be around 21" is there a certain height it should be from the water.


Tuesday at your service

Good mawnin', TRT!

Coffee is ready. Blueberry waffles with Dave's VT maples syrup to get us started. There will be more to come as folks chime in for duty.

Jeff - Great news for your foster and your own doggies. It's hard having puppieness around older dogs. ;)

Wonder if someone beat me to the first post?

Lots of love and hugs and peace to everyone.


Weird things in my tank.

So I have some weird stuff that showed up in my tank. First, there's a group of tiny white worm looking things on one wall of the tank. Second, there's s group of tony things moving around like fleas or ants on the sand and rock. Those are different colors, mainly like a brownish color. I can't get a picture because they're so small but I can see them clearly with my eyes. Any ideas?


lundi 30 janvier 2017

HELP! 4 year old poured entire bottle of food in reef tank OVERNIGHT!

Saturday morning I woke up and found my fish tank so cloudy I couldn't even see the rock. My three cardinal fish were dead by the glass in the front. I noticed the entire bottle of fish food had been dumped into the tank. After investigating, my 4 year old confess' and told me that he did it even though we've talked time and time and time again about the fish food and somehow he miraculously grew and shrunk 3 feet overnight to reach the food. Who knows.

Info about the tank;
-75 gallon main display
-20 gallon refugium
-(3) 50 gallon barrels to be used as sump (connected but just holding water at the moment)
-130 pounds live rock in display
-4 inch sand bed (not sure of weight)
-(prior to accident) +-14 fish, 2 stars, 20+ frags, 2 dusters, 30+ hermits, 3 shrimps, surely I'm missing something else)
-(after accident) 1 fish, 1 star, 15 or so frags hanging in there, 2 sickly dusters, 30+ hermits

Parameters before accident; I couldn't tell you honestly but I know they were in check 3-5 days prior. Temp somewhere between 74-76.

After accident, cleanup, total water change; KH 13.5 (not sure if that's a good reading, or what to do about it); PH 7.5, Nitrite .5, Nitrate 20.


Here's what I need help with;
- Bringing nitrates/nitrites down
- Correcting KH and PH
- How do I clean all this live rock?
- Can I still use the same sand bed?

The first thing I did was drain the water Saturday morning, tried cleaning the food out but realized it was all down in the rocks. Took all the rocks out, rinsed the food particles out as best as I could with the dirty tank water. Got two 50 gallon barrels of fresh well water and mixed in salt. Boiled big pots of water to bring the water temp from 40 degrees to 70. I let water filter through all the rocks for 6 plus hours and moved all my coral and the one remaining fish to my 29 gallon biocube. I've got all the rock in a barrel filtering through the barrel from the biocube and back into the tank. Have a canister filter attached and the biocube filter running. I've got to piece everything back together and get my rock back in my main tank, but will I be able to use the same sand bed? Will my rock be okay, or will it cause nitrates and nitrites for an extended period of time? Is there anything I can do to aggressively handle the nitrites/nitrates until the tank is settled back down?

I'm not even sure I'm asking the right questions or if I'm going about this the right way. Never thought I'd be in this situation or imagined something this disastrous could happen. The tank is newer, in the last 3-4 months. Some of the fish and corals came from my biocube but most were recently purchased.

One of the pictures you can see I had a brown algae bloom, it was corrected long before all of this happened. Couldn't find any better pictures :crap:

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Update after my hiatus

So after that disaster of my 10g, I upgraded to a 46bow. As of now I have; banggai cardinal, six line wrasse, coral beauty angel, engineer goby, flame hawk, blue dot watchman, pistol shrimp (not paired yet, hoping for it to happen soon), fire shrimp, my misc. CUC, two feather dusters and other misc. Will get a good picture tomorrow for you fellas.


What kind of zoas are these

Hey folks,

Strangest thing happened to me today. I was at the LFS and I found this pretty zoa rock. At the LFS, it was the brightest orange I've ever seen in a zoa. Really pretty and unique. The interior and exterior section of the polyp was orange.

I buy it and get it back to work for the nano tank on my desk and under my lighting it looks like a standard green zoa. What gives? My lights are a custom LED mix of cool white 460 NM blue and two UV. My candy cane coral shows the correct color. Can lighting really turn a zoa from orange to green?

Also can anyone identify this specific type's name?

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New T5HO looks dimmer - Is it just spectrum?

-155G Gallon mixed reef
-All corals in upper half of tank
-350W 48'' LED fixture, supplemented by 2 54W T5HO lamps

In the T5HO fixture I had one cheap actinic and one standard industrial lamp. I replaced the lamps one ATI coral Plus and and one ATI coral blue.

The tank use to be noticably brighter with the old bulbs. The wattage is the same. Am I just noticing the spectrum difference?

With the old bulbs my lighting seemed to pass the eyeball test for intensity, but now I'm wondering if I have enough.

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Algae Identification

The photo on the right: This is a slow growing "plant" that is only on one rock. I've searched the internet for the type of algae, but can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know what this is? It isn't cyano because it is STUCK to the rock like an ivy vine to a tree!

Photo on the Left: Also, there are two little "polyps" that have taken up residence in small holes in my live rock. When I touch them, they close up FAST and retreat into their holes. Should I get these out now? I don't know what they are. They sure are pretty, and I'd like to keep them. They are about the size of my little fingernail. Very tiny.

These photos are blurry...I tried to get them clear.

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Is my Anemone Dying?

Hey everyone,

Curious about my Bubble Tip Anemone. I currently have 3 anemone in my tank, all from the same original anemone. One of them has been closed up the last 2 days, and moving around the tank. It has been expelling some waste, but I have never seen it last as long as this time. It has moved back and forth on the same rock about 15 times over the lat day. Any information on whats happening?

Tank appears to be stable from what I can tell, and both other anemones are open, and acting normal.

Temp-79, Ph 8.1, Salinity-1.024

I noticed this yesterday in the morning, and was performing my weekly water change. Nothing has changed through today, other than the fact that it is moving.

Lighting on the tank is 2 SB reef lights, running at about 45 blues, and 25 whites. They have been under this lighting for 6+ months without any issues. This is the first time I have seen it move at all.

Thank you,
Zach




Cyano? Algae of some other sort? Help!

Hi All,
I have noticed problems with algae lately. I have always kept it under control.

I have a 94 gallon with about 50lbs LR, 2 inch LS bed.
1 bi color blennie
2 ocelarris clowns
6 pepp shrimp
2 cleaner shrimp
3 blue chromis
2 ignatus anthias

Nitrate 10-15-20 depending.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
pH 8.2
Sal 1.025-1.026
Phosphate sometimes up to .1

3 little zoa colonies. 3 kenyas. 1 neon green sinularia.

The only thing new is I bought two of those 165 watt chinese LEDs that everybody talks about and recommends on here. The corals LOVE the new lights.

I get some purple on the sand on one side and on some rocks. And some green hair algae, which is not a lot and is actually pretty - but I know it needs to go.

I am going to start increasing WCs. Could it be the lights? Should I switch back to the old .5/bulb LEDs?


Drop-Off Tank Build - Episode 2: Sump Install + Which Rock Should We Use?



Help? What is this anemone

:help:


Hi,


I have had my Saltwater tank for right at 6 months. It has cycled. For about 2 months I Just ran the water and LR. After a few days I had lost of live activity in the tank, bacteria, star fish, snails, etc. So I decided to add some hermit crabs, and cleaner shrimp. I went to my LFS and purchased 2 anemone they said were great for starter tanks and would be safe for clownfish, my goal to have. I added a few damsel fish per LFS direction :doh: . They were fine but one by one picked off. Bodies never found. I added a few more, no such luck. I believe that it is the anemone eating the fish. I have seen my anemones eat the new life spectrum food the LFS told me to feed the tank. The LFS told me they were bubble tip anemones. I have tried some research and I believe they are condylactis.


Also this strange brown stuff has popped up over the weekend, any clue as to what it is?


Thanks in advanced!


I would add pictures but idk how. :help:



Here are my parameters

PH is between 8.2 and 8.4
ammonia is 0
Nitrite is 0
nitrates is 0
Salinity is 1.023 on a hydrometer


Is it time to revist the value of skimmers??

First let me preface my comments by saying that if you have a skimmer you like and feel that it is doing your tank some good thats fine. If it aint broke dont fix it and there are certainly situation that I would prefer to have a skimmer on the tank. Examples

Overstocked tanks.
Tanks where water changes are kept minimal to defray cost and large tanks where the cost of water changes that make a significant impact on water chemistry are costly.
New tanks started with large quantitys of LR but most people dont do this any more.

Other than that I am really starting to question the value of these costly forms of filtration.

I started in this hobby in the early 90s and have owned probably a half dozen different skimmers in that time but have never met one I have really liked. Given proper husbandry none of them produced much and it got to the point that if they started to I took it as an indicator to examine other factors in the tank that may need attention but then again an iincreased need to use the mag float to clean the front glass serves the same purpose.

Now to my tank. A standard 75 gal with 30 gal sump. Kole tang, copper band, two yellow tail dams and a pair of false percs. Filter sock,GFO and Carbon changed weekly and a ten gal water change once a week,. I pulled the skimmer some months ago and have noticed a improvment in my coral growth and color ever since. Algea growth has remained non existant and glass cleaning has remained the same.

There are a few things different from those early 90s tanks and I feel the main one is the availability of affordable and quality GFO and Carbon. Also I am in a position now to feed foods that were alive just a few hourse prior to being finely diced and fed to the tank. I live in south FL and work at a bait shop. Diced up live shrimp crab meat oysters and fish are whats on the menue and my copper band still gives me the what the hell is this crap look if I try to sneek in any store bought foods. IMO frozen and freeze dried foods are adding more nutrients to the tanks than we realize and quite often what ends up in our skimmer cups.

Of course the day I pulled my skimmer I googled "skimerless reef tank" and came up with a few results that encouraged me.

http://ift.tt/2jNW5Fl

http://ift.tt/2jNLNVL

At this point in my reef hobby career I dont plan on ever haveing another large or overstocked tank so it is probably safe to say i have purchased my last skimmer and it seems like a relief.


*erry *onday

Morning all. At the airport off to the home office in Burlington, Mass for the week.

Coffee and Cinnabons out for the early risers.

Enjoy back to work *onday.


dimanche 29 janvier 2017

Question and guidance needed

Here is my situation, I was given a 32 gallon reef tank because the person was getting out of the hobby. The person told me that he has not maintained the tank and that it was going downhill, so I decided to tackle the challenge. Once I arrived at the house to pickup the tank the coral was brown, there were a few fish in the tank, the sand looked bad and the salt creep was out of control. I was also given a boat load of chemicals.

My wife and I broke the tank down, I brought some tubs and filled them half way and made sure the rocks were submerged fully and place all the fish in the tubs with an air lines. I left about two to three inches of water in the tank for the sand and we made the one hour plus trip home with no issues.

After doing a google search and came across The Reef Tank and immediately joined and started reading the forums. I just need a few pointers on what should be done next?

So right now:
1. Fish and rocks (fully submerged) are in tubs with airlines.
2. Fish tank is sitting on stand with two to three inches of water in it no air or heat, sand has not been removed and also has a few snails in it.
3. Have tank bubbler and one tank pump in bucket of vinegar water soaking and running.

Any help would be appreciated, I know this will take some time and work so I am prepared for the long haul. I have included a pic of the tank prior to my wife and I broke the tanks down. Thanks in advance for any help given.

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Tia

Good evening, wanted to say hello and TIA (Thanks In Advance). I am fresh water tank guy who just inherited a reef tank in dire need and found The Reef Tank while looking online for information on Reef Tanks. I have been in the fresh water tank hobby for about 4 years and currently running five fresh water tanks. I hope I can not only get the help needed but also become a contributor on the board as well. So thanks again for the boards and looking forward to learning more about reef tanks.


Peppermint shrimp full of eggs!

A couple week ago I added a refugium/sump to my tank. I also picked up a pufferfish so I moved my peps (2) down to the fuge. Well today I noticed the big one is full of eggs. What should I do? I wouldn't mind having a couple more for free at that. But not really sure the steps I should take. I think my refugium my have to much flow to keep the little guys in there and if they end up in the DT they're dinner. I do have a 10 gallon QT I could set up. It'd be kind if a Pita. Is it worth the trouble? Will it disturb them if I try to move the pros to another tank?


filtration upgrade or no?

this is my stock filtration that came with my fluval spec v. Is this good enough or would i have to upgrade? My goal in this tank is to have 1 fish, a cuc, and a few soft and lps coral

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Last Chance Omega Skimmer $189.99, Cobalt Heaters, & MORE!



Help me reduce nitrates

Tank has been cycled and running since October, started with dry sand and dry rock. I've struggled with high nitrates since the beginning and thinking this is what caused some of my invertebrates to die (2 emerald crabs, skunk cleaner). I was overfeeding at first but I have cut back the last 3 months. I started using filter socks to help clear up water and such, I change them every 3-5 days (mostly 3 days). Also run a Reef Octopus skimmer 24/7 (classic 150 int model) and empty it about once a week. Before I started the filter socks there was gunk settled in my sump so I completely drained it and scrubbed it top to bottom about 2 months ago. I tried growing chaeto in my sump and it just slowly died off, shrunk, and tore apart getting tiny green/white stringy pieces everywhere in my sump and DT. I threw that stuff away. I've been using Instant Ocean Natural Nitrate Reducer for about a month to see if that'd help over time like it's supposed to (no changes as of yet..).

At first I did 20% water changes every 2 weeks. Then I tried 20% water changes every week. No changes so I went back to every 2 weeks to cut back on so much salt consumption. I vacuum the sand bed to get detritus out the best I can every water change. This past week I've been getting desperate and did three 20% water changes (2 days apart from each other). It dropped it some but not much at all.

Tank otherwise seems okay. I have purple and red coralline algae spreading like crazy across live rock. Water is really clear. My first fish seems healthy and has grown a good bit. Went through a diatom bloom that passed pretty quickly. I do have a few patches of hair algae growing atm. I've also noticed some spirorbid worms that popped up in the last week.

Tank stats: 75g with 20g sump, 2 clownfish (had a lawnmower blenny for about a month and he died), 1 emerald crab, 1 peppermint shrimp, 5-8 snails.
Ammonia: 0
pH: 8.0 - 8.2
Salinity: 1.024 - 1.025
Temp: 78 F - 80 F
Nitrate: 40 - 80 :(

I really want to get more fish and invertebrates but haven't gotten anything new in a couple months trying my best to get my nitrates down so it's a more healthy stable environment. I was gonna do a 40% water change next week but I read this idea and couldn't quite understand if this really would help more.

Quote:

Example from my 55-gallon Reef : Make up 20 gallons of fresh saltwater in a trashcan in front of your tank. Drain 10 gallons of tank water into the 20 gallons of new water, and let that mix. Pump 10 gallons of that water back into your tank, and let the power heads mix that water up in your tank for a minute or so. Then repeat this three more times. Dispose of the now polluted 20 gallons of water. Make up another 20 gallons of fresh saltwater, and repeat this procedure. As long as your temperature and salinity match the tank, your inhabitants won’t be affected adversely, and with each rotation of water, the nitrates are being diluted and removed from your tank.
Source: http://ift.tt/2jjKMZp

I'm open to suggestion, comments, and/or pretty much anything at this point.

Thanks!


Happy birthday to tims on 1/29

And here's the Official TRT Chorus® to sing......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOO YOUUUUU!!!



Happy Sunday Morning

After 5-6 years on this forum, I never realized how much I would miss the comraderie almost as much as my tank. I figured I got 20% of my investment back in dollars and and 1% of my joy. But I think I will keep checking in, as it is a part of my old life I don't have to give up that gives me the 1%' if you'll still have me.

The octopos had been hung and skinned, and today (time-zone-wise) I will be preparing it for Otar and his crew. Did I mention it is 12 ft long? I think I'll do some sort of salad, attempt ceviche and for the main course grill it with a good char. But what for a side dish for the grilled? Already did salad, pasta is hard for a group. I'd do risotto but to hands-on while grilling. If you guys can fight bryopsis and pump an overflow surely you can help me with a seafood menu!

Ps. I also have a crapload of dungeness.


samedi 28 janvier 2017

First post of the year

Happy 2017 I hope everyone is doing well. I plan to finally move my 75 into the 90 this year.


ID please

Hi, I just registered because I needed help to ID these two things I found on my rock.

Thanks,
Ardyss

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I'm back from a long 6 year break

Decided after 6 years that it was time to start a new tank. I've learned so much and was thumbing through my posts here at TRT and I got quite the laugh. Anyways just wanted to say hello and show off my now 8 week old 80 gallon rimless tank.











Help me please!

Hi. My name is Brandon and I am new to saltwater fish keeping. Today I bought a piece off live rock with 3 loose mushrooms. I was able to place 2 of the mushrooms in a spot where they would stay put. However the 3rd I could not get to stay on the rock. It would come loose and float around aimlessly. I'm scared I may have killed it due to over handling and stressing it out. It is finally in a spot where the current won't sweep it away. How will I know if it's dead and if it isn't how long until it secures it's self?


Kessil A80 with Fluval Edge? PAR numbers?

My Fluval Edge 12 gallon is almost 15 inches deep. I'm wondering if the Kessil A80 will work well or if I need more power like the A160. Has anyone seen a PAR chart for this light?


Clownfish not eating much, twitching, swimming vertically and staying near bottom of

Hi! We have a clownfish of 6 years and she's been acting strange lately. She has a mate (who survived ich 3 years ago) who's trying to 'snuggle' and mate with her. Problem is she doesn't want to and she hasn't been eating a great deal, has been twitching a bit (sort of like she's in a spasm), swimming vertically and in a pattern and staying near the bottom of the tank. The only problem we know of is high nitrate and we recently had a problem with high salt (but that is resolved now). Recently, we had a yellow goby die, he wasn't eating much and was quite old. We're not sure whether they are connected but would hate for the clownfish to have the same end.

Any help would be much appreciated!

P.S. The 2 clownfish are the only fish on the tank as of now.


How do put your rocks

I can't decide if i'm putting my rocks directly on the glass and then cover with sand or if i put them on top of the sand, or in between . Any thoughts ; thanks for your time. :arg:


Go Fund Me

Have anyone set up a go fund me for their tank. Did you raise anything?


A sea-shore Saturday

Good morning TRT Friends, and.....HAPPY SATURDAY! Been awhile since I was the one to open the door in the morning.....cool! Looking like a 'heading out to breakfast' day today....when everyone starts to stir. Got plenty of coffee and pink milk to hold you off till we dine. Planning a trip to the shore today to do a little collecting from a tidal pool for our son's science project, and honestly not beyond doing a little pocking around for my own selfish interests as well. Looking like an O.K. day around here....after the chance of a few flurries, partly sunny and in the upper 40's. Hope all are well, and have cool things on their agenda, and all the best,
Hack


vendredi 27 janvier 2017

Water.

Does anyone have a whole home water treatment system for their home?
If so does this work for using water for water changes?
Ive got a good friend that is a plumber and I was asking him about these. He gave me a link to Northstarwater.com
Is this something that would work instead of going to the fish store to get water?


looking for a biocube

looking for a biocube or similar aio tank, or possibly a small tank/sump setup


Live rock question

Hi all, I'm returning to the hobby soon with a 17 gallon nano reef. I have a couple of questions.

1. If I have a protein skimmer and a refugium, do I need a mechanical filter?
2. My friend is giving me back a beautiful live rock I gave to him when I broke down my last tank. He has had aiptasia and what not on it. Is there something I can do to get rid of it before I add it to my new tank?

Any advice appreciated! Thanks!


Noisy overflow... :/

I do have a question with my current setup, the overflow is VERY loud. See my video - http://youtube.com/watch?v=9DGbb0FzkVY
Unsure of what the spiral is, but see pictures of the "overflow pipe" below;
imgur.com/a/VkKFK

I have tried sponge in the pipe, but it doesn't seem to work very well at all, quietens a bit, but very audible still. Have tried removing the spiral, still no effect. Hoping to get this sorted before I drain and prepare for salt water. Any tips? Am I better off removing the whole black pipe, and utilising the predrilled hole in the tank to make my own overflow pipe etc..?


Rapid dimmable LED trouble shooting

I have used these kits in the past. Actually the non dimmable. Anyway i just purchased a kit for my frag tank and added extra leds from 400 to 445 nm so i wanted to be able to dim the intensity. I currently completed the project and the rb string lights up fine.
I plugged in the uv/white and nothing. I traced all wires and connections seem fine all leds are linked in the same direction. Dimmer turned to 50percent.
Still nothing . Heres what really confused me . I unplug the unit and 8-10 zeconds later the string lights up a second.
Does anyone have a clue what im doing wrong or how i could toublesboot the string? Also is there a way check the driver with a multimeter?
Thanks in advance.


Switching from Salt to fresh.. how?

Hi everyone, my 75g reef is just not where I want it to be. Ive done saltwater for 3 years now, and have upgraded lights, filters switched to RO/DI water even upgraded from my 55g to the 75g. This is tank is costing me a fortune in corals and having to buy ro water weekly. Ive been intrigued by discus tanks for a while and thinking I should give one try a try. In a perfect scenario I can sell all my livestock and corals and rock and start fresh with a freshwater tank. Now lets say Im in that scenario, what do I do. Is the equipment I have now good enough? I have a fluvial 306 canister, 75gph hob, a 4 bulb t5s set and orbit leds also, a heater, 2 950gph powerheads and my 75g tank. I know I would have to rinse everything really good and clean the salt off, but where do I go from there. I definatly want to do a planted tank so what substrate do I use? Are discus difficult to keep compared to a reef tank? Also can the tank have other freshwater fish. Really have no freshwater experience only salt, any tips would be great:agree::confused:


Is my light ok for a 30 gallon reef?

I've added a frogspawn to my 1+year old tank since about 3 weeks ago.
Water conditions are ok and I've been told that frogspawns are not picky about light but regardless its location in the tank, I dont see its tentacles opening as I've seen in videos/stores

I though it was the current and already upgraded to a koralia 1200-1500 with no change in the way it behaves so I am thinking if it might be the light.

I am currently using 2x beamswork EA FSPEC LED (Lumen: 120, LEDs: 27x 0.50, Config: 16x 10000K, 6x Actinic 460nm, 3xRed 620nm, 2x Green 520n)

Is my light sufficient or totally inappropriate?


Feedback appreciated.
Thanks


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Rose Bubble Tip help

Morning all, As I have been reading here, I too made the mistake of buying a bleached rose tip anemone. It hid in cave for 2-3 weeks, looking very shriveled and shrunken. A week ago it floated out, and has been on a rock ledge since. The color in the trunk has improved, but it's not increasing in size, everything else I have in the tank is doing awesomely. My green tipped anemone has exploded to almost 10in diameter.

45 gal
Fluval sea full spectrum lights
2 power heads
ph- 8.4
salinity- 1.025
nitrite/nitrate- 0
ammonia- 0
fluval 306 canister
Eshopps 100 protein skimmer

I have been trying to feed the bubble tip chopped silversides with not much luck. It'll take some brine shrimp every 4-5 days. Is there something else I can try to feed it?

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Pellet reactor advice: 125G reef

Looking to purchase a bio pellet reactor, but want something beefy and effective. Prefer the soft tumbling type versus cyclone and nice design without clogging worries. MRC seems to build some high quality equipment, but haven't seen one of their pellet reactor in action or reviewed. Model appears to be BPR-422. Does anyone have one in use or any info on it? Whatever I purchase it will be sized for my next upgrade: 210 gallon.


jeudi 26 janvier 2017

HO T5 lighting for 55 gallon

I have a couple questions. So I think I'm ready to try to get some corals but I have a lighting question. When I moved to the 55 gallon I decided to use a HO T5 fixture that I had from hydroponics. It's a 48" fixture with 8 bulbs each 54watts and has two switches so I can run just 4 at a time. Well the bulbs I had in there were toast they grew algae fast so I got 4 ATI Coral plus bulbs. I only run 4 bulbs at a time because all 8 is overkill. Well are those bulbs ok for sps and lps? Do I need to add some different colors in there? I added an RBTA anemone a few days and it's been hiding under a rock for 2 days. is it too much light for it? My lights runs 12hrs a day. Should I get a cheap led and only run the HO T5s a couple hrs a day? Any input would be nice thanks.


2 cool inverts

Hi everyone. Im too new to post vids and pics yet but.... I got my first order of live rock from TBS today. Not my first ever LR.. I got a small sea spider (def not a star) but I have seen 2 things that behave like a sea horse of some type but they have heads like an ant, white in color and about a half inch tall. Looks like they have 2 arms and then lower down 2 more.. Any ideas?


Par38 Lighting

'm looking at the ABI 12 watt par38's for my 10g nano reef. im mostly looking to grow zoas, sofites, and lps from the euphyllia family, but i do like the idea of maybe stopping into lfs and picking up some other random lps coral every once in a while. They have one thats half white and half blue, and another thats all blue. their non controllable and non dimmable, so i was thinking of getting one of the mixed and one of the blue, to be able to control blue from white. by changing which ones i plug in. would this work, or would their being only one of each make the coverage shady? should i just go with two mixed? and what would be the best placesment if i get a white and a blue to make them seem as if their both over the center when only ones turned on, and could i turn both the whtie and blue on during day, or would the blue over power it? also would a single 24 watt one be strong enough with decent coverage? sorry for the long question but i only wanna do this once i wanna make sure i do it right


New Giant, Air-Breathing Fish Discovered

Arapaimas, also known as paiche or pirarucu, are large Amazonian fish that can breathe air.

http://ift.tt/2k72bn4


Win a Tunze Nano Reef Prize Pack (a $375 value!)

Win a Tunze Nano Reef Prize Pack (a $375 value!)

To help keep your tank healthy and looking its best, we've teamed with one of the best in the biz to give away an amazing Tunze Nano Reef Prize Pack!

One lucky hobbyist will receive:

Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152
Tunze NanoStream 6040 Controllable Pump
Tunze Comline DOC Protein Skimmer 9001
Tunze Care Magnet Nano Algae Cleaner 0220.010





Starting a new tank need recommendation

Hi guys, I am starting a new tank from scratch. I used to have a 30gal one before for 5 years but had to sell it while moving form condo to a house. Now got lots of space in basement for a new startup. While I am changing the floor in basement I am looking for a new tank to order. Basically my goal is to setup a reef tank with plenty of corals, sump with refugium (never had before will be a challenge) and some fish. The fish I really like to have are:
Pair of maroon clowns
Pair of Bangai Cardinals
Foxface
Yellow and Hippo tang (probably introduce the last)

those I thought about for now. So my big concern is Hippo what really size of tank do they really be happy with. I am thinking to go with either:
72X18X24 125gal
72X24X24 180gal
72X18X30 170gal

my big concern is a height of the tank as I think 30 might be very inconvenient to take care of because of the height. I used to have 24 before and was hard to reach to bottom.

Any good suggestions ?
Thank you


Fresh to the saltwater theme

Howdy everyone! I posted what I plan to stock on the intro, so here I'll just discuss what I have and am in the process of getting.
I currently have a 55 gallon tank with stand. I really wanted to put a sump underneath but I really dont think it'll support the room.

-I have a used 48'' odyssea and have read mixed reviews on it. I've been running it 2-4 hours daily for over a month and half and it seems to work fine. The hood doesn't get too hot and it seems all the end caps work. It houses 4 bulbs 2 of which I already have 2 65w 12k bulbs. I want to get the 65w actinics to go with it. It also has 4 moonlight led's. The 2 fans also work on it. I know I'll have to upgrade in the future but as of right now, I figured it was fine.

-I have 60 lbs of dry crushed aragonite white sand. But I only want to use enought to cover the sides of my support base rocks. So im guessing it'll come to either 1-2" with 2.5" being the max/

-currently in the tank is a hydor 1500gph circulator. I have a hydor smart wave to go with it, but after reading about the clicks I'll more than likely be using it just to save socket space for two circulators. I was thinking of adding a hydor 850 to ramp up flow. Will this be too much for the space I have?

-I'm really wanting to get a Reef Octopus 1000 hob.

-I was going to start off with tap water but after researching wanted to DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME and get a rodi system.

-Since I wont have a sump and will be going with the hob skimmer, I was thinking of going with 2 100w heaters close to the circulators so as to limiit the amount of visual items in the tank. What do you all think?

Thats really all the major things I can think of. Once I reach the post amount to post pics and get more items, I'll start posting pics. Of course I know I'll need test kits, salt, and a good routine to be successful.


Fresh to the saltwater theme

Howdy! My name is Derrell and I am in love with this site! So much wonderful and helpful people. Well, after visiting the site for over 2 months I decided it was time to start posting. My wife bought me a tank and stand for my birthday many months ago and I have beeng doing nothing but researching since. I am currently in the process of setting up a 55gal mixed reef.
I hope to stock:
-scarlet reef hermits
-a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
-cerith, nassarius, nerite, and a bumble bee snail
-birdsnest, plate long tentacle, bubble, toadstool leather mushroom, spotted mushroom, and radioactive dragon eye
-ritteri anenome after a year (hopefully if the corals haven't taken over)
-bicolor blenny, firefish, royal gramma, ocellaris and blackwhite clown, and I was thinking possibly a six line wrasse

I am completely open to suggestions and hoping they will come. Thanks again and I will post my tank specs in the tank specs forum.


Thursday calling

Good mawnin', TRT!

Coffee is ready. Oatmeat with chopped dates, pecans, cinnamon and brown sugar. Cream of Wheat, too. Oh, and hot chocolate to warm you to your toes.

Off to Civitan in a sec,

Lots of love and hugs and peace to everyone!


mercredi 25 janvier 2017

Home Reef Tank Large Enough to Scuba Dive In

30,000 liters of water, 50 tropical fish of 30 different species! CHECK IT OUT!

http://ift.tt/2k5yof5


Help needed asap

My tomatoe clownfish in down in the sand almost dying seems to have problems with breathing, don't know what to do


Carpet Anemone

Hello everyone!

I am thinking about getting a carpet anemone.
I know with normal anemone you should wait 1 year to add them, does the same apply to carpet anemones?


VIDEOS: Selcon Food Booster, FR-Series Reactors, and Oceanexus Frag Racks

Selcon Food Booster, FR-Series Reactors, and Oceanexus Frag Racks

More fast facts about our customers' favorite products!



Freshwater dipping corals

I wish I would have taken before pictures so you all could see the difference but you will just have to take my word for it.

I have these two different frogspawn in my tank. One never really opened a whole lot in the past 4 months. The other did till about a month ago. I looked closely at both after being puzzled and found little white dots all over both of them that moved around. Still aren't sure what they were. So I reef dipped them with seachem 3 times each. No go. Even added much more than recommend and still...no go. The little bugs wouldn't go away. So finally I was sure that if I didn't fix it somehow the coral would end up dead. So I freshwater dipped them with RO/DI water at the same temp as my tank. Left them in there for 5 minutes. The most awful amount of slime and gunk and brown crap( that wasn't there before) came off. I figured if they were gonna die they were gonna die. Now 4 days later, they are open more then they have in the past few months. And no bugs! I'm hoping they open more and more each day. But this is way better!

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My first death... : (

I am sad to report that I've had my first loss of a fish, a newly introduced Coral Beauty.

Here are a few of the details.
12-3 > Tank established and all going well since then. Water parameters good.

12-27 > Added 2 Clowns. Doing great!

1-18 > Water Tested, same good parameters
Salinity = 1.024
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
PH = 8.2
Calcium = 480
Phospherous = 0
KH = 7

1-20 > Added Coral Beauty
Followed LiveAquaria acclimation. All went well. Seemed healthy, but shy

1-21 > Water tested
Salinity = 1.024
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
PH = 8.2
Calcium = 460
Phospherous = 0
KH = 7

1-22 > Weekly 10% water change. First time using LFS water. Tested water before using and all parameters were good. Same as my water.

1-23 > Coral Beauty still shy and not eating, but still seemed healthy

1-24 > In the morning, Coral Beauty seemed to be breathing heavy and hiding in a LR cave, but visible. By nightfall, dead.

1-25 > Water tested
Salinity = 1.024
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
PH = 8.2
Calcium = 480
Phospherous = 0
KH = 7

Really not sure what happened. Everything seems to be going well. The 2 clowns are very health and happy. All of the clean up crew are doing well. The only thing that was different was the water from the water change, but since the parameters were the same as mine, and all of the other livestock is doing well, I don't think that was an issue. The Coral Beauty wasn't eating. Maybe sick from the beginning, but didn't seem like it.

Any ideas or things I'm missing? :help::confused::bawling:


Up and at em Wednesday!

Good morning TRT Friends, and....HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Been a bit since I led off this early.....love vacations! Buttermilk waffles, and maple sausages to go with our coffee and pink milk for eye openers. Heading into the boatyard for a bit today....odds and ends are awaiting my attention. Mrs. H. is running Pop to a Dr. appointment, and 'Lil' Hack will be out with them. No rain today, but may return tomorrow a little, but still warm'ish around here. Hope all the best to all,
Hack

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mardi 24 janvier 2017

Can anyone tell me what coral this is?

Hello I just started a Nano tank. I bought the fluval Evo 13.5 gallon. I just purchased a piece of live rock from my LFS and its teaming with life I have a sponge, 4-5 feather dusters, couple snails, and two orange corals. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what type of coral the two orange ones are? I found one online (the great star coral) that looked like it but it said they only open at night, so I figured that could not be mine since it's open almost 24/7. The small one looks a little bleached but it was like that when I got it.

I also have something next to the sponge that I'm not sure if it's a coral or even a living thing at all. I pushed on it with something and it was hard like rock.

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Lighting Help!

Hello All,
I just bought two of the LED sets that many of you have suggested from eBay. They really make the tank look nice. I think the corals and fish love them.

However, I don't like the way I have them set up. I have them on brackets on the canopy of my 94 gallon corner bow.

I know they can be suspended from the ceiling, but that isn't really an option. I am not handy and I don't want to damage the ceiling.

Is there not a canopy setup that I can buy (one of those long, low profile setups) that have enough wattage and blue and white LEDs?

Picture attached.

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Help, need advice with white spots on purple tang

Recently I've noticed spots on my purple tang's face, they aren't small like your average white spot, they are slightly larger in diameter and only
On his face.. any advice what it is and how I can treat it?

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What to feed fish and coral

I have a pair of clownfish and a crommis fish and i'm feeding them freeze dried midis stuff but i want to start feeding them better food like frozen food and have looked at Rod`s Food Original Blend 6oz that has a good price for it to feed my fish and coral and i'll be buying more coral in the future too. any reccomendations on the best goods and should i get this one?


help with yellow tang

I bought a yellow tang 4 days ago, it looked very healthy at the store swimming normally. when i brought it home it was on laying on its side. I figured it was because of stress but didnt add him to my display tank. since i dont have a quarantine set up yet i put him to my 80 gallon reef only tank, all parameters were checked and are perfect but his fins are rotting very quickly. he doesn't seem very pale but does have some large white spots on body. and is laying on his side he tries to swim around but cant get up. he is also breathing very heavily i dont know what i can do to help him. i really dont think he will make it through the night but any idea what it might be?


saltwater tank 125 gal

i just bought this 125 gal tank and they was using it as a freshwater but i want to change it over to salt. i need some good this from start to finish i don't need nothing that's to prices i just want to get started and down the road i will get the top of the line products. like some of you'll guys have


Too early Tuesday

Morning all. At the airport again. It is a 50's day in North Carolina and headed home.

Overpriced crappy coffee and water is all I can offer. Hope later folks can provide something palatable.


lundi 23 janvier 2017

Platyhelminthes (Flatworm) in my reef

Well, I thought I got rid of them all....I hadn't seen one in probably a month now and...BAM - I see this guy on the glass. I immediately siphoned him out and watched him swim around in the bucket for a while (pretty amusing). Here it is though with very high magnification and a macro lens. Can you believe this pic was taken with a cell phone? It was maybe 3 mm in length.

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