Floris Reef Tank nano build-off project

[Sugar Magnolia]

I stopped by Floris Elementary today to drop off a rock full of zoos and shrooms to Dave, and I have to say, his set up is looking great! Very clean looking. The 96 watt PC retro sits perfectly inside the factory hood, with no excess heat, and his surge device is plumbed beautifully. Very quiet tank! The rockwork has some dead coral skeletons that will look fantastic with some encrusting corals. Lots of nooks and crannies to tuck frags into. All three fish came out to geet me.

Dave, outstanding job so far!

btw...I got $42 in credit for those two montis. $15 more than I anticipated. Woo!

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

Thanks for the donations! The pictures are posted now! It looks great and I'm sure the kids will be very excited in the morning when they see it. They saw it acclimating all day but didn't get to see it in the tank so it'll be neat for them to see everything opened up in the morning. By the way, send me your address and full name and I'll (eventually) get you a donation letter. Don't know if it's deductible, but it's worth a shot!

 

[Anonymous]

I hope your Firefish is found healthy. I would not be surprised if the Gramma dispatched it though.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Any updates Dave?

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

There are some new pics I added today. And an "oops" on my part.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mr. Lin,

Just my opinion but I think a test kit that can only measure ALK as low, med, or high is pretty useless. I like the Salifert kits but they are a little more difficult to use than Red Sea. They do give you a good idea of what your Alkalinity is though 8)

 

[davelin315]

I agree. The local store sells these and I saw the kit at PetSmart for $15 less so I picked it up. I didn't know that it would give me a reading of "high, medium, low" or I wouldn't have bought it. I used to use a calcium and Alk test that actually gave me a reading. I'm not happy with the kit either, but I figure if I get a decent calcium test then it'll make up for the lack of Alk readings...

By the way, it's still me. Floris Reef Tank is just what I use to post for the kids. If they do a google search for Floris, it'll come up with the posts!

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

Posted some more pictures today of the growth of the frags from Sugar Magnolia as well as a macro shot of a shroom and a picture of pods on the glass.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO the bugs are Harpacticoid Copepods.

The Monti looks fantastic!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Dave, I'm really pleased with the growth of those two little digi frags. They obviously like your tank. The parent colony grew like a weed, looks like those will too.

More goodies coming your way this week.

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

I added some magnification shots of a tiny crustacean I found in the tank. It came out of some rock that was in my daughter's tank, so I'm not sure of the origin. Take a peek and if you want, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy of the video clip.

 

[Anonymous]

The bug is a Cirolanid Isopod.

It would explain why your fish are missing if you have a lot of them.

They are generally nocturnal and hide in the sand or in holes in the rock.

 

[Anonymous]

My thoughts exactly Guy - isopod(s).... - And the nassarius / hermits would also do an excellent job on cleaning up the carcasses (evidence) as well, making the job of finding a corpse a bit challenging.


Also, Floris, I would be cautious about having the kids handle any of the tank inhabitants, especially zoanthids or any other polyps.. - I'd definitely make sure they're washing up really well afterwards, even if they're using gloves. - I'd also check their hands for cuts before and if they had any visible, not allow them to handle anything. -- Might be a little overcautious, but these are other peoples kids and (unfortunately) it is a litigious society.. :?


Excellent looking tank though!! - And I wanna pick your brain about that surge sometime... - Do you have links to information you studied before building it?

 

[davelin315]

I do a hand check before allowing them to stick them in the tank. Also, I do warn them that if they are generally allergic to anything, they should avoid putting their hands in.

I am curious about the isopod, however. The disappearances seemed to happen before they were in the tank. I don't know that they are in my school tank, as they seem to have hitched a ride with the small chunk of rock from my tank at home. I haven't seen any sign of them in this tank yet, and this one was found in the acclimation water (haven't put it into the tank yet). Also, how large (or small) do they need to be to do damage? It would seem that this one I found would have made an excellent meal for a royal gramma... Also, how exactly do they kill fish?

 

[Anonymous]

Heres an interesting read from the RDO Library:
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/clarke_shimek.html

It also mentions a bit about a student who came in contact with one....



Care to share a little about the surge? - I saw the pics and the video clips but have yet to figure out exactly how it operates from any of them.

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

I did in fact read the article after seeing a reference to it before. I will be very cautious now about allowing kids to stick in their hands. So much for having a tank with a lot of activity from fish! I hope it's not a cirulanid! In any case, they may or may not be present in my school tank, as I found this one after it came out of a rock that was being transferred. I know they're in my home tank, but not necessarily my school tank. If it is an isopod, I am not sure how I will deal with my clown in my home tank. I can leave the school tank empty for now, but I don't know what to do with the home tank...

Anyway, about the surge, if you look at my thread, there's a relatively long explanation of it on my build off thread (Floris Reef Tank). I looked at a couple of threads on surge devices (Carlson surge) but they were not necessarily that helpful in designing such a small surge. It was more or less trial and error. If you don't understand something on the surge explanation, let me know, and I can try and clear it up for you. I don't consider this to be my great invention, as it's based on other designs, but I do think it's a great addition to my tank and I've done it twice now, and I worked some kinks out of the second model that exist on the first. It's easily duplicated, and can probably be done on any eclipse hood or any tank that has above tank water containment.

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

Well, good news! Even though I was inclined to agree with your assessment based on the article you referenced, Dr. Ron said that it was a sphaeromatid isopod and is harmless. In the interests of diversifying the tank, I'm adding it to the tank today. Still on the hunt for the crab...

 

[Anonymous]

{great relief}

 

[Anonymous]

That is good news! - Well, except that the real culprit still needs to be uncovered. :?

Maybe a sick way of going about it, but maybe a trap baited with live fish might be a quick and easy way of finding out..??


Thanks for heads up on the location of the information on the surge too. - I'll head back and look more carefully.

 

[Floris Reef Tank]

Might be the way to go, but I don't have a trap that I can put a live fish in and not have it swim out (without skewering it) and I also don't have a live fish to use!