FSU1Dolfan's BioCube 29G
- AIO Build
- Thread starter fsu1dolfan
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Thanks Jiffy it was really bad for a little while. Honestly just not having a car was the worse part....but things are much much better now.
As for the tank, i think the plan is to grab my biggest rock and form a base that will be slightly buried under the new sand. From there i got the drvieway markers that i want to use to create either a bonzai looking tree. If that doesnt work, i will create an "L" shaped base with a few rocks and rods...then build it up. High in some areas and low in others while creating nice sized gaps and caves. I already bought a few drill bits and i have some multiple size zip ties if the rods are too big. In the end, the plan is to have the hammer isolated on the left side and the torch isolated on the right side. My brain coral will be given a nice space on the sand in the front of the tank. I will try to get most of the corals off on the sand but i figure after cleaning out a lot of rocks and raising it up...having a few chalices and rics on the sand will look good. Anyway i cant wait to see this come to fruition.
Also recent update on the tank. It turns out i have a chalice frag that looks like the temp spike was too much. Never was really a nice piece so i am not heartbroken...but sucks to lose anything. The other piece that was most effected was the Brain coral....the color was really off and it shrank in size. Yesterday it was looking much better...but will still take some time to bounce back 100%. As for my big chalice that was having issues a while back - after a water change, new carbon/GFO, and a good tank cleaning - the coloration is returning and seems to be very happy plus growing again.
jiffy
Well-Known Member
sounds good can't wait to see how you go about it. I just got back from NY, have to do a WC and clean up this new ridiculously long hair algae. my larger chunk Titan algae doesn't look good at all while a smaller chunk in front of it has taken off.. makes no sense to me lol.. I need a few more things for this tank but I have to wait till I start this new job before I can do anything.
OP
OP
WELL I took the plunge this weekend, pun intended cuz i was soaked after 11 hours of work. The first part was removing everything and separating the corals, fish and live rock. Then we shaved the live rock with a dremel to remove xenia, GSP, mushrooms and a few aiptasia....dremel rocks for this!! Then the vision was grab the 2 large pieces of branch rock and create a tree kind of. We used zip ties, super glue, putty, and small live rock to get a nice solid base. Drilled a few holes for frags and got rid of some excess rocks (although not as much i thought we would). It was a fun ride and everything went really smooth until we added sand and water and some rock....the cloudiness took forever to clear and my lockline was angled down in combo with a new return pump and was stirring sand even more. After we fixed that and added tons of filter pads everywhere we finally had a semi clouded tank to work with. By 10pm we were working full force again to get things back in the tank. All in all i am super happy with the results. Not exactly what i saw in my mind but a darn good modified version on the fly!! Here are a few pics i took before during and after. Remembering to take pics is a pain....i forgot to take a pic of the main live rock piece. Anyway hope you guys enjoy...i will be updating with new clear pics later.
Before!!
The Setup!!
Corals and Fish First!
The Clean Up!
Before!!
The Setup!!
Corals and Fish First!
The Clean Up!
OP
OP
Live Rock - After hair cut and others waiting in line. We didnt even need the Rods...go figure
Aftermath!!!
New Sand - Rinised 5 times and still cloud storm!!
Got A Snickers!!
Almost End Result - Just a little cloudy but i am digging it!!!
Side Shot
Can't wait to get home and see the progress. BTW the parameters werent too bad...little bit of temp and saltinty swings. But Nitrates were 0 and alk was 7. Im planning a full test tonight!!
Thanks for reading!!
Aftermath!!!
New Sand - Rinised 5 times and still cloud storm!!
Got A Snickers!!
Almost End Result - Just a little cloudy but i am digging it!!!
Side Shot
Can't wait to get home and see the progress. BTW the parameters werent too bad...little bit of temp and saltinty swings. But Nitrates were 0 and alk was 7. Im planning a full test tonight!!
Thanks for reading!!
Wow, what a difference!
OP
OP
Thanks everyone!! Yeah it was some work but it was exciting work knowing what was coming.
OP
OP
lol - Yeah i didnt even think of that...ill wait for a nice clear tank!
Yeah i got a couple small frags on tiles and one was accidentaly created last night LOL....i hooked up my brother in law for helping with all kinds of things that were fragging.
OP
OP
Right now i want to let them bounce back....one got a little white from the stress of the change plus it was a little stressed from the AC being out last week. I have two frags total and once they look heathly i could hook you up for $25. I will take pics of them so you can get an idea size wise but i gotta let them get heathly again. Where is FL are you? I also have some purple garf bonsai frags too.
jiffy
Well-Known Member
Lutz, and that would be a great price.
I saw this nice tiny branch at FAOIS for 50$.. lol everytime I go back there its still there, I won't pay a crazy amount for such a small frag. but healing time is good, my pockets need some healing time too. lol but I'm not sure how great it will do under my lights though, got a lil over 90w of LEDs...
I saw this nice tiny branch at FAOIS for 50$.. lol everytime I go back there its still there, I won't pay a crazy amount for such a small frag. but healing time is good, my pockets need some healing time too. lol but I'm not sure how great it will do under my lights though, got a lil over 90w of LEDs...
OP
OP
Thanks!!
I am waiting for a non cloudy day as well LOL. The tank looked better yesterday but shaving the live rock really added a lot of dust. Shots will definitely be coming soon...i hope lol. As for the Phins, honestly i cant expect much. They just dont do what is needed to get a star QB and i am not talking about Orton either. But at least we have some new pieces that might help. The O-line is coming together and the Dfense is looking like a top 5. I just wish we would have grabbed another stellar receiver for Henne. Who's knows they could surpise us!!
I agree i have seen some small pieces for bad prices...even the size i got was tiny for slightly higher price then i wanted to pay. But it has been a good grower. Not sure about your lights...you might wanna do some research and see how other reefers are fairing with a similiar setup. Also i have never shipped before so i will defintiely make sure the pieces are big and heathly before i try my hand at it....i know it isnt hard and at least it isnt going far. I'll keep you posted.
OP
OP
I cant stay long because work is going to get crazy but i had to stop by and share my LFS trip yesterday. So before the aquascape i have been planning for 3 new fish - Flasher Wrasse, Midas blenny, and possible a jawfish. Well i went to pick up a dragon soul i bought last week before my aquascape and they had a really nice looking wrasse. The colors were better than any i have ever seen at their place. Reddish on the face that fades to orange, blue dots on the tail, and dorsal fin has yellow and blue dots. The craziest part is his bottom half is all white...very cool looking guy!! Not sure if he is a McCoskers mix but i love him! BTW catching these guys flashing is insane LOL. Anyway here are some pics...doesnt do him justice but at least maybe someone can tell me what he is. Oh Yeah almost forgot the tank cleared up alot!! LOL BTW it is amazing how much coraline algae adds to a tank color wise.
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
OP
OP
Usually my parameters were 400ish for calcium, 8-9 Alk, .027 Salinity, nitrates/ammonia 0, Magnesium 1250-1300, Phosphates low, PH 8.3. MY light are a Radium 150W 20K. Honestly i have never had a problem getting coraline algae ever with PCs. My thought was that Calcium, Mag, and lights were the most important but i talked to some people with similiar setups couldnt grow it. One suggestion i heard was to get a few pieces from an exisiting tank covered in coraline...it will help seed your tank.
Similar threads
