Stoops718's 12 Gallon Fluval Edge Nano Reef

[stooops718]

weekly water changes shouldnt deplete calcium levels if im not mistaking. so worrying about ur montis using up all the calcium should not be a concern. Nice tank man i like it is that ai led white? right

Thanks! It's an AI Nano Blue. In the pics it's at 100% White 100% Royal Blue and 100% UV Blue. iPhone takes horrible pics.

 

[JarviZ]

Hmm in that case, maybe I'll trade in a bunch of my leather finger frags for some monti frags. Hopefully LFS has some in already.

I had 3 nerites from reefcleaners and gave away two of the bigger ones 'cause they were leaving so much of their crap all over their tank. Do you siphon the waste out? My sand and glass seem pretty clean so far without those poop machines.

How's the ric doing? I got a ric last week from kissena aquariums and it was this beautiful neon orange but now its just neon green in my tank lol, stupid lighting differences.

how much was your lighting system?

 

[stooops718]

Hmm in that case, maybe I'll trade in a bunch of my leather finger frags for some monti frags. Hopefully LFS has some in already.

I had 3 nerites from reefcleaners and gave away two of the bigger ones 'cause they were leaving so much of their crap all over their tank. Do you siphon the waste out? My sand and glass seem pretty clean so far without those poop machines.

How's the ric doing? I got a ric last week from kissena aquariums and it was this beautiful neon orange but now its just neon green in my tank lol, stupid lighting differences.

how much was your lighting system?

I siphon my rocks not the sandbed. The Nassaurius snails do a good job stirring up the sandbed and the hermit crabs do a good job eating all the detritus off of it.

My ric doesn't look too good. I think it may be getting too much light, I moved it last night so we'll see how that goes.

I bought the light and controller used for $300 with shipping. The light is $300 brand new and the controller is $80 brand new, so I got a pretty good deal. It's still a lot of cash but the ease of use and controll options trumped over my laziness to DIY. LOL

 

[Ole Pukey]

Hey dude

Sorry, I didn't reply back, system won't allow me to cause I'm a noob.

Your tank is looking good. Are you running your lights at 100%?

 

[stooops718]

Hey dude

Sorry, I didn't reply back, system won't allow me to cause I'm a noob.

Your tank is looking good. Are you running your lights at 100%?

Thanks.

Nah. It peaks at 28% White/35% RB/35%UVB. I had it a 100% for the pic.

 

[JarviZ]

I'm gonna need to borrow your wrasse so I can get rid of my firefish... =P

 

[stooops718]

Mid Molt Massacre

My wife just called freaking out that everything was going crazy in the tank and sent me this video. I'm guessing a hermit crab got caught in mid molt or switching shells. Poor little guy. I'll quote my wife:

"I didn't know such cute fish could be so murderous.":Starwars:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cSgApE55adQ&feature=g-upl&context=G244beb8AUAAAAAAAAAA

 

[stooops718]

I'm gonna need to borrow your wrasse so I can get rid of my firefish... =P

LOL. I am actually in a pending trade of my wrasse for a leather coral frag. If I can catch the little bugger. Gonna make water bottle trap tonight.

 

[JarviZ]

hey man check out that leather I just put for sale! lol... i'll trade you for that killer wrasse lol...

the wrasse isn't easy to catch?... haha cool clowns, btw is your wife from bk =P

 

[stooops718]

hey man check out that leather I just put for sale! lol... i'll trade you for that killer wrasse lol...

the wrasse isn't easy to catch?... haha cool clowns, btw is your wife from bk =P

If the pending trade falls through it's yours. Yea apparently it's one of the hardest fish to catch. First off they dart supper fast and second they hide in the tiniest crevices of your rock work. I was told by several people I would need to remove all my rocks to get to the fish. That's not an option for my tank.

Wife's from the same town as me. Little Neck. Is "murderous" a BK thing. LOL

 

[JarviZ]

Aw long island was my second guess,she sounded more bk lol.

On second thought you can keep your wrasse. I just thought what happens if the wrasse doesn't get the firefish, then I'll just have an overstocked tank with two impossible to catch fish lol... You can still have the leather frags if you're interested

 

[stooops718]

Cool. Why you trying to get rid of your firefish? How much for the frags?

 

[JarviZ]

Five bucks for the frags... I have three of them.

I never see the fire fish and and he only comes out briefly for feeding then just darts right back to his hole. I think he's scared of the clown pair.

Its like having additional bioload for a fish that's not there. I want to switch him for a more active one.

 

[stooops718]

Had a scare last night. I thought my one clawed emerald crab bit the dust. Turned out to be molt from the newer crab, Lefty is still in there and has yet to molt. My peppermint shrimp, which my 4 year old daughter named "Candycane" molted the other day as well. I guess these are signs of a well kept tank. I also noticed an empty hermit crab shell. I'm thinking it's hiding out somewhere molting as well. My sick ricordea still doesn't seem too good but it's still there and still bright green. It's completely shriveled up but from what I've read there is still hope it'll revive. My branching monti is looking great, good polyp extension and it's starting to encrust. I've noticed some new bumps coming off of it, so it's starting to branch out too. My BTA has found a nice new spot and it's planted it's foot deep into the rock work so I'm assuming it's found a permanent home. One of my clowns has started to take interest into and I catch it nudging it's head in every once in a while. The BTA is a little small for him right now though. The first Zoa colony I ever got is starting to regain it's vibrant neon green color thanks to the new AI Nano light. I've been slowly raising the light's percentage and now it peaks at 50%. I tested out a bottle trap and succesfully caught my sixline, so he's outta there this weekend. Let's hear some replacement fish suggestions. My wife wants one that'll be out in the open more. So gobies are out. I was thinking of a Royal Gramma or a Damsel.

 

[JarviZ]

sounds like your tanks doing great! you got any pics? =D

You're still just doing 3gallon water changes ?

I got a ricordea and a two monti frags not too long ago from kissena aquariums. That night with the lights out I saw sweeper (or feeder) tentacles coming out of one of the montis. Apparently one of them is a chalice plate type of coral.. not sure yet if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

My ricordea seems to be doing good. It opens up anywhere I place it and right now i have the plug on the sand a rock base. Where'd you place the ricordea? Can it be a flow/lighting issue?

Don't get damsel lol... I started off with an azure damsel and it was such a *****, so small and aggressive. LIke one of those mean snappy chihuahuas lol. Took me 3 weeks to catch mine and now I have a black clown instead who's all over the tank with the orange clown.

 

[stooops718]

sounds like your tanks doing great! you got any pics? =D

You're still just doing 3gallon water changes ?

I got a ricordea and a two monti frags not too long ago from kissena aquariums. That night with the lights out I saw sweeper (or feeder) tentacles coming out of one of the montis. Apparently one of them is a chalice plate type of coral.. not sure yet if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

My ricordea seems to be doing good. It opens up anywhere I place it and right now i have the plug on the sand a rock base. Where'd you place the ricordea? Can it be a flow/lighting issue?

Don't get damsel lol... I started off with an azure damsel and it was such a *****, so small and aggressive. LIke one of those mean snappy chihuahuas lol. Took me 3 weeks to catch mine and now I have a black clown instead who's all over the tank with the orange clown.

4.5 gallons every Sunday.

Chalice would be a good thing if your lights can handle it. Did you upgrade your yet?

I got the rics in my sandbed right now. Still not dead but still not 100%. It's in a lower flow area but I'm gonna move it around again during the water change.

I've heard things about damsels but I've read that the yellow tail ones are the least aggressive. Also, if it's small and the last fish you put in, the other fish should put it in it's place. I was thinking of getting a Chromi.

 

[stooops718]

*JUST ADDED*
Sorry for the iPhone pics

FTS 3/9/12

Close up 3/9/12

Purple Ribbon Gorgonian (large piece)

Purplish/Brown Briareum Gorgonian? 2"+ frag (bought from kidninja)

ORA Green Birds Nest 2"+ frag w/ Blue Xenia HH (bought from Macropora)

Mohawk Palys 4x heads (bought from Macropora)

Both Kidninja and Macropora have excellent corals and frags. I highly recommend them.

I got the Sixline out and now have the hard decision of my next fish.

 

[JarviZ]

nice pieces! the bird's nest looks hot under the blue lighting.

I replaced the stock lighting with ecoxotic LEDs. there's been some debate one whether there will be enough light for SPS, so I'm kind of still experimenting right now.

But Everything else is open and looking healthy. I need to give the monti and chalice a few more days, only had them for about a week, but so far so good.

I don't think I should get any more pieces for now, cause I have a hammer, frogspawn, and chalice, which send out sweepers, and I only have so much room to play with =/

I need to figure out how to take nice pics with a point and shoot =[

Get a helfrichi lol

 

[stooops718]

nice pieces! the bird's nest looks hot under the blue lighting.

I replaced the stock lighting with ecoxotic LEDs. there's been some debate one whether there will be enough light for SPS, so I'm kind of still experimenting right now.

But Everything else is open and looking healthy. I need to give the monti and chalice a few more days, only had them for about a week, but so far so good.

I don't think I should get any more pieces for now, cause I have a hammer, frogspawn, and chalice, which send out sweepers, and I only have so much room to play with =/

I need to figure out how to take nice pics with a point and shoot =[

Get a helfrichi lol

Thanks! Macropora has some great frags, I think he has some more Birds Nest if you're interested.

Which Ecoxotic's the strips or the panorama? Also depends on the height of your tank. Get the AI Nano. LOL.

Where did you pick up the Hammer? I've been looking and can't find a small frag anywhere. Just large expensive colonies. I wish I had more room already. I'm picking up a frag pack from another member tomorrow.

I still need to play with the settings on my camera as well.

I can't get myself to spend more than $30 on a fish. LOL.

 

[JarviZ]

I got one pro and one stunner... i'm actually planning on getting another stunner later today lol

I'll have to check out macro's frags, but only when I get more room. maybe i'll rid of my finger leather and red shrooms, might just give it away for free since my LFS is probably gonna low ball me anyways lol

hahaha same here about the fish. I didn't want to spend anything over 20 bucks at first since I didn't know if I could keep them alive, but they're all doing well. but i'm happy with the black clown so it was worth it.

I got the hammer from manhattan aquariums. I htink it was like 30 bucks or something and it was decent sized one, probably a little smaller than a tennis ball when fully open. You might get lucky at fishtown usa though. I got my frogspawn frag there for 15 bucks and it's my favorite piece right now. and it's already twice as big as when I got it back a few weeks ago.

i'll need to get this camera thing working lol