Pets MEGA Cats VS Dogs - POLL!

[chrissie]

Thanks!
:D

 

[junglejuice]

that was me...forgot xsie was signed in.
edit wouldn't work, has anyone noticed BL being buggy?
:D

 

[n3ophy7e]

No but another BLer mentioned something to me about that yesterday.....I'll bring it up with the admins.

 

[junglejuice]

Corals are so beautiful. How difficult would you say is keeping them?

Sorry...forgot to answer!

I will say that it is very difficult until you fully understand the chemistry and biology of what is going on in your tank. Water quality is key, using biological filtration which is bacteria that live in the live rock and live sand, and mechanical filtration such as a good protein skimmer. Circulation is very key in order to replicate ocean currents and keep detritus from settling.

Another HUGE thing is lighting. Corals are photosynthetic and need intense light to thrive, particularly stony, branchy corals. My aquarium light would give even you sunburn, Jamshyd.

Once you have the water quality established and up to par (0ppm NH3, 0ppm NO2, 0ppm NO3), then it is up to giving them the other essential nutrients that they need. First and foremost, corals need calcium, an alkalinity supplement and magnesium. When kept within certain parameters, corals are able to use these elements to build skeleton and grow. My corals are growing like crazy. After that, supplements such as strontium, iodine, and various amino acids enhance them even further, but are still necessary. It's all about finding a routine and keeping it stable. Unfortunately I don't have a peristaltic dosing pump array (I covet them) so I can't continually dose my 2-part alk/CA supplements or top off evaporation so I have to do it manually. Here are my water parameters as of last night.

Salinity 1.024
NH3/NO2/NO3 0ppm
Calcium ~420ppm
Alk 9-10
Magnesium ~1280

Those are pretty ideal conditions, but you do have to keep on top of them in order to maintain the stability. It's a commitment for sure. When I have the money I will definitely automate my next tank as much as possible.

 

[junglejuice]

Oh...I got an iPhone 4 and the camera is much nicer...new pics.

Those pics are much more accurate in terms of the ˚K that my light puts out.

:D

 

[junglejuice]

Got a couple new things and rearranged the tank a bit.
I've got over 50 corals so I need to make sure they all have space.

Full tank shot

A lil closer in

My new fave/challenge, a Yellow Finger Gorgonian (Diodogorgia Nodulifera)

That Gorgonian is awesome, but needs nearly constant feeding.
Those little white polyps are all extended to feed on plankton.

:D

 

[n3ophy7e]

That is awesome jj!!!

 

[Moral Decay]

Last week a guy in my apartment building who works at the local fish store knocked on my door with a bucket of free fish cause he is moving to Texas (left today). Nothing big; a few guppies a pleco, some corys and a really cute little clown loach.

When he stopped by he asked me if I wanted to buy his 45 gallon tank and stand for $100. I actually have the exact same tank but the stand he hand made with two by fours and stained it to match the fake wood trim on the tank where as mine has a store bought professionally made cabinet stand.

The tank was not looking too pretty, he said that when he bought it it was not water tight so he sealed up the leaks himself. Well he did not do to nice of a job and all the corners are messy, but other than that the tank is in great shape. I decided not to buy it because I got my current 45gallon tank for $85 bucks. I went down to his place a few nights ago and told him i wanted to buy it but my wife thought I should spend the money on things we need instead of a 4th fish tank.

So today he moved out, I had run to the sporting goods store to buy bullets for the gun range on Friday and on my way into the garage I passed the trash area and noticed the tank and the stand in there and it was still in perfect condition, the only downside is that he used it to hold a chinchilla for the week and it was full of stinky mulch and some sand about 3 inches deep. I used a dust pan and brush to scoop it into a trash bag.

I couldn't believe that he just trashed it, If it were me and I offered it to a guy who said he couldn't afford to spend the money but was interested I would have offered it to him for free at the last second. But alas I got it anyway. The funny and frustrating part was that we both live on the 8th floor, he is about 2 doors down from me. He had to carry it all the way down to the ground floor and then i had to carry it all the way up. Had he dropped it off we both woulda done less work.

Oh well, either way he didn't have to bring it to he new place and i got a free 45 gallon and stand. =)

 

[junglejuice]

Nice one!

I'm buying any future tanks on craigslist...they pretty much go for pennies on the dollar. So many people see reef tanks and say "I WANT THAT" without know how to even maintain it. Fortunately they get frustrated, give up, and sell everything cheap.

I got some MORE stuff and redid my 2.5g pico...my habit is out of control

 

[Jamshyd]

Sorry...forgot to answer!

I will say that it is very difficult until you fully understand the chemistry and biology of what is going on in your tank. Water quality is key, using biological filtration which is bacteria that live in the live rock and live sand, and mechanical filtration such as a good protein skimmer. Circulation is very key in order to replicate ocean currents and keep detritus from settling.

Another HUGE thing is lighting. Corals are photosynthetic and need intense light to thrive, particularly stony, branchy corals. My aquarium light would give even you sunburn, Jamshyd.

Once you have the water quality established and up to par (0ppm NH3, 0ppm NO2, 0ppm NO3), then it is up to giving them the other essential nutrients that they need. First and foremost, corals need calcium, an alkalinity supplement and magnesium. When kept within certain parameters, corals are able to use these elements to build skeleton and grow. My corals are growing like crazy. After that, supplements such as strontium, iodine, and various amino acids enhance them even further, but are still necessary. It's all about finding a routine and keeping it stable. Unfortunately I don't have a peristaltic dosing pump array (I covet them) so I can't continually dose my 2-part alk/CA supplements or top off evaporation so I have to do it manually. Here are my water parameters as of last night.

Salinity 1.024
NH3/NO2/NO3 0ppm
Calcium ~420ppm
Alk 9-10
Magnesium ~1280

Those are pretty ideal conditions, but you do have to keep on top of them in order to maintain the stability. It's a commitment for sure. When I have the money I will definitely automate my next tank as much as possible.

Wow, and I'm having a hard time with my pond tank :D.

Thanks for the info though, and keep up the good work .

Do you think it is ever possible to introduce jellyfish to your aquarium now that you're getting the hang of corals and anemone (I think that's what I see)?

In other news, I have named my formerly-black goldfish "Michael Jackson" - very fitting. Pics when I'm not lazy.

 

[Pander Bear]

I need an online resource for the purchase of some texas holy rock for my recently inherited African cichlid tank. Any advice?

 

[Kenickie]

lets not rear these fish?

 

[Pander Bear]

wat?

 

[junglejuice]

I need an online resource for the purchase of some texas holy rock for my recently inherited African cichlid tank. Any advice?

I'd look at aquarium stores locally because you are gonna get slaughtered on shipping. Tufa rock is a good choice, as is dry, dead live rock that is free of nasties. Actually a great place to look is craigslist.

:D

 

[junglejuice]

Do you think it is ever possible to introduce jellyfish to your aquarium now that you're getting the hang of corals and anemone (I think that's what I see)?

Jellyfish are almost impossible to maintain in captivity unless you have very specialized equipment and practically a PhD in marine biology. They need a type of flow in the tank that carries them around in a sort of rolling, soft motion. Think of a sphere that has water flowing constantly inside it. They also need a constant supply of food coupled with clean water, which is a difficult combo to maintain.

No jellyfish for me, but I did just buy a new aquarium which is going to serve as my grow-out tank for coral frags that I buy or cut from my colonies in my main reef.

It's a 33 gallon long, which is an odd shape but so cool. It's 4ft long, 1ft tall, and 1ft deep. 4 cubic feet in a row. Really long, shallow tank with a lot of possibilities. That's a 4x54w t5 fixture on it, so it will grow corals like crazy. Right now it's just cycling and settling in, and once the water tests out, I'll start adding to it and cutting frags.

I also custom-fabbed a refugium from an Aquaclear 110 filter I had lying around.

I'm really proud of that one. Took me a while but the design is perfect for my needs. Rather than the water just coming into the filter and going through a cartridge that has a screen and carbon, it holds like rock and live sand, as well as macro algae (Chaeto) which actually exports nutrients from the tank, keeping the water cleaner. The light is a power compact daylight bulb that I superglued to the side along with a ziptie reinforcement. The light keeps the algae growing, and I run it on a timer when the second stage of my lighting system comes on. Normally people run the light on a reverse schedule in order to prevent pH fluctuations, but since it's in my bedroom, I just run it on a daylight schedule.

Small marine plankton also breed in the refugium under and in the algae, occasionally getting spat out into the tank for a constantly replenishing supplemental food supply. The first chamber there has the sponge for trapping some debris, and the space under it can hold additional live rock or some sort of filter media like carbon or a phosphate sponge. Possibilities are endless.

I read a ton of DIY articles, and modified it to my own needs.
Can't wait to see how well it works!

:D

 

[junglejuice]

Here are some before/after growth shots to show from 2008-2010.
I've only recently gotten my setup to the necessary level so things are growing faster now.

Duncan coral
2008

2010

Acanthastrea Lordhowensis
2008

2010

War Favia
2008

2010

(...)

 

[junglejuice]

Continued...

Purple Chalice
2008

2010

Seriatopora Birdsnest
2008

2010 (It's grown like CRAZY)

I made the far right colony out of little broken fragments and its still growing. The second pic shows better detail of the left colony, which is the original one. The little things in the bin circled in black are little fragments I'm growing on plugs. In the first pic they have been moved to a rack up in the corner.

So there ya go!

They are gonna keep growing even faster now!

:D

 

[n3ophy7e]

I am so amazed by your coral jj

 

[junglejuice]

^Thank you!

I wish there were some other reef hobbyists on this board who would post too!

Here's a night shot of my tank

It's only lit by the refugium

I turn that light off before I go to sleep, but it sure looks cool, like a full moon.

:D

 

[junglejuice]

So I started my coral farm...

33g long 48"x12"x12"
4 x 54w t5 with led moonlights
Modified eggcrate panels with zipties.

Remember this guy?

He was getting too big for the tank so I fragged him into 9 pieces. I used a diamond cutting saw on my dremel and mounted them on plugs or tile using superglue and underwater putty. You can also see the orange lobophylia...I split two new frags off the older colonies.This pic isn't so great because it was right after I put them in, and my iphone doesnt like to take pictures in actinic light.

These are the crops

I have over 60 frags of birdnest in there that have all come from the main colony in the tank.

This tank will change over time, and ill have more pics, including some of that new pair of clownfish and their anemone.

:D