ltkenbo's 55 Gallon Reef Tank

[ltkenbo]

I don't have a calcium test kit yet but I do have the liquid reef stuff by brightwell aquatics which has calcium, strotium, magnesium etc. How much should I add to my 55?

 

[ltkenbo]

Ok so on ebay I found this guy runs a business called "midwestsaltwater", has a website too. Anyways, great prices on corals especially the ebay ones since they are auctions, and he combines shipping for a flat rate of $35 overnight, as many corals as you want, including ones from his website. Long store short, I won a hammer coral frag, and a zoanthid frag. Got the hammer coral for $10.50

Hammer Coral Acan Live Coral Chalice - eBay (item 280463893521 end time Feb-15-10 18:40:38 PST)

and the zoanthids for $15
Zoanthids Zoa Acan Live Coral Chalice 18 - eBay (item 280463904715 end time Feb-15-10 19:06:33 PST)

I am also considering buying another zoanthid frag from his website. It's awesome too, he won't ship unless you can receive so I will let him know once I find a good day for me to receive the package. I will post pics once I get them.

 

[Bifferwine]

Those do look like nice prices. Let us know what condition they arrive in! I've always been a little bit leery about ordering corals off of Ebay... But if you have a good experience with this guy, I'd try it.

 

[ltkenbo]

Alright so I got 2 new corals frags coming on tuesday, so here's the candy cane coral when I got it and now:

Stupid diatom bloom which I hope goes away soon:

 

[Bifferwine]

That candy can looks much happier now.

 

[ltkenbo]

Thanks for all the comments guys (**sarcasm**).

 

[ltkenbo]

So I got a couple more API test kits in the mail today allowing me to pretty much test for everything now. So here are my water parameters:

Specific Gravity: 1.0245
Temperature: 79.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
Copper: 0
pH: 8.4
Calcium: 460
Alkalinity: 6 dKH

What do you think? Isn't alkalinity supposed to be a little bit higher? I also cleaned out all my powerheads and overflow box and stuff so I am hoping to get rid of the diatom algae outbreak.

 

[reeffreak]

I'm still playing catchup.I wait for thread to be bumped to the top before commenting.Tell us how the corals are doing from the Ebay seller,awesome prices btw.Your candy cane looks much fuller now.Don't forget to get lots of snails for the diatoms.

Your akalinity is a bit low.I highly recommend you get also a magnesium test kit.All three-calcium,mag and akalinity work together.

 

[ltkenbo]

Thanks. Yeah that's what I thought too, cause on fosterandsmith aquatics it said the recommended level was more like 8-12. So maybe I'll order a magnesium test kit, but what will I be looking for with the magnesium test kit and what action will I take due to the results to raise my alkalinity?

I haven't got the corals yet, I was supposed to get them yesterday but I contacted the seller and the shipment got lost apparently some how, but he is sending them today fedex priority overnight and he gave me my tracking number and he told me since I didn't get the last one he's also sending me a frog spawn frag for free! :-)

 

[reeffreak]

Instead of me typing a long post,watch this video on the front page.

Bulk Reef Supply

 

[ltkenbo]

Alright so I got my corals in the mail, a branching hammer, some pinkish zoanthids, and a frogspawn (got for free). Here's some pics of the frogspawn and hammer, they both look great, I used epoxy putty and super glue to mount them, accidentally squashed the end of a small tentacle of the hammer when I was mounting it to the rock but hopefully it'll be fine, it was a really really tiny one. I'll post pics of the zoanthids later:

 

[parrotchute]

They look great, good luck with that putty!
The placement looks good, but if the tentacles don't start extending a little more, they might be in too much flow. Those are going to look great once they're expanded.

 

[d2mini]

Those look nice! They should grow nice and big.

 

[Bifferwine]

Great coloration! They really stand out in your tank.

I've had to move my hammer 3 times now. I can't seem to get it in a place where it's tentacles aren't being ripped off by the flow :( Keep an eye on yours and don't hesitate to move them if they seem like they're being blasted.

 

[ltkenbo]

Watch the video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8rt2ggM3tI]YouTube - Ltkenbo's 55 Gallon Reef Tank Update February 6, 2010[/ame]

I gotta warn you, it's pretty detailed lol.

 

[Ted]

Nice vid. I actually liked the fact that you where more in depth with the going on of your tank. I think once you redo the sump to incorporate a fuge you will be much happier with it.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hahaha, awesome video! Thanks ;)

 

[yote]

Thats a great video.
Great looking additions to.:D

 

[reeffreak]

You weren't lying about the details.Thanks for sharing!

Now clean up that salt creep in the sump.

 

[daugherty]

that is a nice looking hammer