And We're Live! Buddys 75g Setup

[buddy08]

Pictures still in the making, will upload tomorrow evening.

Water parameters:
temp -80.7
ph-8.2
ammonia- 0
nitrates-0
nitrites-0
calc-480
alk -8dkh (143.2kh)

is my water suitable for SPS corals?

p.s. barney and big bird have become best friends.

 

[little_fish]

SPS corals are not going to do well in a system that new. I would stick with the softies and LPS until your tank is at least 8 months or a year old. They need really low nutrient systems, and newer tanks just dont have the filtration to create that.

 

[buddy08]

Got some new goodies! Will post pictures tomorrow. Contacted a local hobbyist and got a few frags from him.

List of new goodies:
Frogspawn :1 head
neon green candy cane: 4 heads
some sort of green sps:1 branch
green and red chalice frag
green star polyp frag
zoa frag: blue and yellow roughly 6 heads
zoa frag: orange and red/brown 8 heads
duncan frag: one head
I also found 2 small polyps on the candy cane stalk that i was unable to identify but i was able to pull it off and attach to a rock so hopefully when it opens back up i will be able to I.D. it.
Got 2 more frags off my green button polyp coral as well so we'll see where that goes.

Pictures coming as soon as the corals arent pissed.

On another note, i think my big sponge died. It looks like a flat gray balloon on the live rock. No idea what happened to it. woke up one day and it looked like that

 

[little_fish]

Yes, sponges can be very difficult to keep. Also if they are exposed to air it greatly decreases their chance of survival.

 

[buddy08]

do i need to remove that rock and scrape off the sponge if infact it is dead? The only time it was exposed to air was when i purchased it 2 months ago, but it doubled in size since then and then BAM, went from a fluffy soft yellow/cream sponge to a flattend tan/darkgrey color. The only thing i did was add reef code a and b to bump the alkalinity up but i used the proper amount recommended and have used this stuff for about a month or so.

 

[little_fish]

Well what happens is that they get air stuck in their little feeding pores so they slowly starve to death because they can no longer filter feed.

And yes, i would scrape it off, no point and letting it decay and increase your nitrates.

 

[buddy08]

hmm, could have been another factor, it was right below my return inlet and when the sump got low on water, the pump would sometimes suck airbubbles and throw them in the tank. That could have been the culprit. I will tackle that tomorrow, was hoping it would miraculously come back like the kenya tree :\

 

[little_fish]

If you pump is doing that just make your return section larger.

 

[buddy08]

I plan on making a larger sump in the future. My main problem with the water levels is not having an auto top off mainly due to me being in an apartment. I said i would update with some photos but instead i decided to film the tank instead :bounce:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbtPBHikhfk"]YouTube - New frags in 75g Reef[/ame]

had to zoom in for camera to focus on most of the frags. My big issue now is where to put them. Im also considering a frag rack to let them grow some before placing them because my snails have a tendency to topple the corals off the rocks.

 

[little_fish]

That is kinda the nature of snails - to make frags topple off the rocks. You can glue them down with super glue.

Also you can still do an auto top off, check these guys out: AutoTopoff.com

I just ordered mine yesterday. Ill let you know how it works.

 

[buddy08]

How does it work? all i see are pictures but no demo or description


edit: nvm found the FAQ section

 

[little_fish]

basically you plug the pump that is sitting in the top off reservoir into a little electrical box the float switches are connect to. when the level in the sump or tank drops, the float switches activate the electrical box which turns on the pump in the top off reservoir filling back the sump until the float switches are no long activated.

When mine gets here ill post some pictures.

 

[buddy08]

please do, Im losing a cm" a day in water level due to evaporation. could really come in handy

 

[buddy08]

Just thought i would share the jerry springer hermit crab episode that just went on in my tank. Imagine this:

One hermit crab is crawling over the rocks with a smaller hermit crab hitch hiking on its back, Another hermit crab is walking on the sand, and a fourth crab is sprinting for its life backwards. The first 3 hermit crabs (rock crawler, its lazy hitch hiking buddy, and their cousin on the floor) are picking up the pace and begin running in a mad sprint towards the hermit crab who is obviously running from something. Apparently the 4th crab that was running stopped for a smoke break and the other 3 caught up and began hassling and pinching this poor crab as it hid in its shell (and when i say 3, i mean 2 because one is still riding on the others back). By some miracle, the little crab that was being preyed upon escaped fleeing the scene backwards while the 2 crabs doing the preying started to fight. i assumed they were pissed at each other for letting the little crab get away. All the while this event was taking place, the hitch hiking crab remained on his pals shell, even during the sprinting, tumbling, and fighting.

Wish i had a camera to say the least, was rather funny narrating voices and the girlfriend was in tears. I thought id share, hopefully you could follow :D

 

[bwaller76]

If I may make a late interjection on the spaghetti worms... these guys are a good thing to have in your tank but they can multiply out of control very easily. I am just getting over a mass population explosion in which they harrassed my polyps into near death. May just need to watch the population and intervene if it gets out of control.

 

[buddy08]

good to know, i will def keep an eye out for them. Right now i have give or take 10 to 15 in my tank at most

 

[buddy08]

I have lots of insect looking creatures on my live rock at night, i can see them with a flash light with the tank lights off. they look like oversized fleas, or mosquito larva with antennaes. they range in size and brown color variants, some almost seem transparent. Are these Pods? I can see thousands of microscopic ones on the glass near the sand bed but much larger ones on the rocks at night. Also, my green start polyp frag isnt opening. The first night i got it, the polyps were open... Ever since then, the've been closed. theyre placed mid level in the aquarium about 6 inches below and inches away from a powerhead. any idea why they're pissed at me? or what are signs of them dying?

 

[little_fish]

they be pods!!!!!!!!! good guys!

And can you post a pic of the polyps? Plus what are your lights and water parameters?

 

[buddy08]

Awesome, thats food for mandarins right?

As for water parameters
temp : 79.9
ph: 8.2
ammonia: 0
nitrates:0
nitrites:0
phosphates: 0
dkh:9
calcium: 460
salinity: 1.025

everything else is opening up nicely and doing fine including my birds nest sps.
i also added a few more frags from another local hobbyist, I added some blue zoas, 1 red and green candy cane, 1 dark purple with a light green hue acro branch (which is also doing great), and 1 specimen that i thought was a coral and so did the guy i got it from....but i think it may be some sort of anemone. bad news, tanks still fairly new so it worries me if it is an anemone, and....worst of all, its moved! and i cant find it (which is the reason it lead me to believe its an anemone.) The best i can describe it, its about a quarter to half dollar in size. it has a bright green center with bright short purple tentacles or polyps along the outside, looks very similar to a duncan or an over sized paly coral. From what i've read, my water is in great condition; i'm just afraid of an anemone dying in my tank and losing everything. If i could find it to take a photo and i.d. it, i would...and even if need be remove it all together but its MIA and has been for a day now.

With my lighting, im running 4x 48" HO t5 bulbs. 2x 12k 454 actinics and 2x 10k aquasuns. all of them with reflectors and are 54 watts a piece. I did read that an icecap ballast will convert these to 85watts each so i am considering upgrading my vho ballast. I have no experience with these icecap ballast and am concerned that it may heat my tank even more; possibly opening the door for a needed chiller.

 

[little_fish]

Yes it is, but dont under estimate how fast a mandarine will blow through them and starve in a new tank. Wait at least 6 months before getting one.

And that sounds like a tube anemone

Does it look like this:

If it is, i would start looking for it. They are non-photosynethic and will require feedings. Try looking at night or in dark spots in the tank. They are also know to eat fish.

Try putting the zoa lower down in the tank. Not all of them like bright light and or they need to reacclimatized to your lighting.