Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
- Thread starter jahmic
- Start date
Thanks all, I'm definitely happy with the newest addition to the tank. 
I'm going to wait at least a month or so for things to settle in, then round off the stocking list with a pair of clowns. If my pod population isn't decimated by the 3 wrasses I may add a mandarin several months from now.
New lighting should be up within a week; I just need to figure out how I want to hang the fixture and I should be good to go. What I'd like to do is mount an arm to the wall behind the tank so that I can swing the fixture out of the way for maintenance...I'd rather not suspend it from the ceiling.
Yep, Cindy got it right (and also ordered it for me, lol). That red and silver wrasse is a red-lined wrasse (halichoeres biocellatus)...it does look pretty similar to the Xmas wrasse, but I think these guys stay a touch smaller and their adult coloration is a little different.
I'm going to wait at least a month or so for things to settle in, then round off the stocking list with a pair of clowns. If my pod population isn't decimated by the 3 wrasses I may add a mandarin several months from now. New lighting should be up within a week; I just need to figure out how I want to hang the fixture and I should be good to go. What I'd like to do is mount an arm to the wall behind the tank so that I can swing the fixture out of the way for maintenance...I'd rather not suspend it from the ceiling.
Yep, Cindy got it right (and also ordered it for me, lol). That red and silver wrasse is a red-lined wrasse (halichoeres biocellatus)...it does look pretty similar to the Xmas wrasse, but I think these guys stay a touch smaller and their adult coloration is a little different.
How about a video to hold you over til I get my new radion hung over the tank.
[video]http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid14.photobucket.com/albums/a333/rmitchell726/VID_20130721_153551_997_zpsa4356982.mp4[/video]
I'm looking to have the fixture hung on a rail attached to the wall that allows me to slide it horizontally so that I can move it toward the wall for maintenance. I have something on hand that might work...after some creative engineering and a trip to the hardware store....but for now getting the radion over the tank is on hold til I figure that out.
[video]http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid14.photobucket.com/albums/a333/rmitchell726/VID_20130721_153551_997_zpsa4356982.mp4[/video]
I'm looking to have the fixture hung on a rail attached to the wall that allows me to slide it horizontally so that I can move it toward the wall for maintenance. I have something on hand that might work...after some creative engineering and a trip to the hardware store....but for now getting the radion over the tank is on hold til I figure that out.
Thanks I'm pretty happy with it considering it only took a few hours to build. I had a generous reefer provide me with that 90 degree 3/4" square tubing and a large portion of the hanging kit. Wish I documented the process... but it was too short on the "hanging end" so I had to flip it over, retap the holes, and nest the short end inside some 1" tubing that is bolted to the wall.
I'd still like to place a bracket closer to the top for stability....the first toggle bolt that's holding it against the wall is about 6" down from the elbow. Just need to find a bracket that fits around the 1" square tubing.
I'm pretty happy with it considering it only took a few hours to build. I had a generous reefer provide me with that 90 degree 3/4" square tubing and a large portion of the hanging kit. Wish I documented the process... but it was too short on the "hanging end" so I had to flip it over, retap the holes, and nest the short end inside some 1" tubing that is bolted to the wall.I'd still like to place a bracket closer to the top for stability....the first toggle bolt that's holding it against the wall is about 6" down from the elbow. Just need to find a bracket that fits around the 1" square tubing.
Soooo...the perfect storm of events happened to cause a pretty intense cyano bloom in my tank. The rocks aren't exactly covered in it, and there were only 2 patches on the sandbed (directly below each mp10), but it was still ugly.
What happened?
1. Added more light by switching to the radion . I had them running at 40% and measured my PAR (more on that later), and seemed to be right where I wanted...100 at the sandbed and about 450 at the top of the tallest rock. Still though...significantly more light than those 2 T5s put out.
2. Not sure what happened....but to top it off my radion reset to the default program earlier this week. I think maybe I pressed a button on the light by mistake, but who knows. In any case...I left for work thinking they just weren't turning on...and when I got home I found that they hit the tank with 100% daylight for about 4 hrs...and that was just the peak. awesome. lol
3. The real issue...poor husbandry. I had been doing 5 gallon changes (5% water volume) biweekly. Well...then I started doing them weekly because I got a little lazy and didn't wanna drag out the large drum to do a 10 gal weekly change. I need to invest in a bucket somewhere between 5 and 55 gallons ASAP.
4. Poor husbandry. I did a water change last weekend and needed to clean the skimmer cup out. Unfortunately my back decided to act up and landed me in bed all weekend. Still managed to grit through a water change (thank goodness Martin plumbed in that valve!), but getting under the stand to get to the skimmer wasn't an option. By that point it had been 2.5 weeks since I cleaned the cup. Fast forward to today...and it's now 3.5 weeks since the cup has been cleaned. Clearly it wasn't working as efficiently...this is what I found after dumping the collection cup.
******* gross eh?
Vacuumed the spots on the sand bed and am going to do lights out for a few days, as that has killed it off in my other 2 tanks in the past. I should probably add a sand sifter as well...the nassarius snails help a little...but definitely not enough. The dwarf ceriths probably also help a little...bit they really don't turn over that top layer. Oh, and the larger ceriths...anybody ever have them survive more than a few months??? Looks like I'll be grabbing another tiger conch soon, as that made a HUGE difference in the past. I'll have a big post on changes I just made to my lighting schedule and some PAR readings here soon...just need to get ahead of this cyano bloom...new job, car issues, and back problems distracted me from the tank a little. Oh...and a streak of laziness...let's be honest
What happened?
1. Added more light by switching to the radion . I had them running at 40% and measured my PAR (more on that later), and seemed to be right where I wanted...100 at the sandbed and about 450 at the top of the tallest rock. Still though...significantly more light than those 2 T5s put out.
2. Not sure what happened....but to top it off my radion reset to the default program earlier this week. I think maybe I pressed a button on the light by mistake, but who knows. In any case...I left for work thinking they just weren't turning on...and when I got home I found that they hit the tank with 100% daylight for about 4 hrs...and that was just the peak. awesome. lol
3. The real issue...poor husbandry. I had been doing 5 gallon changes (5% water volume) biweekly. Well...then I started doing them weekly because I got a little lazy and didn't wanna drag out the large drum to do a 10 gal weekly change. I need to invest in a bucket somewhere between 5 and 55 gallons ASAP.
4. Poor husbandry. I did a water change last weekend and needed to clean the skimmer cup out. Unfortunately my back decided to act up and landed me in bed all weekend. Still managed to grit through a water change (thank goodness Martin plumbed in that valve!), but getting under the stand to get to the skimmer wasn't an option. By that point it had been 2.5 weeks since I cleaned the cup. Fast forward to today...and it's now 3.5 weeks since the cup has been cleaned. Clearly it wasn't working as efficiently...this is what I found after dumping the collection cup.
******* gross eh?
Vacuumed the spots on the sand bed and am going to do lights out for a few days, as that has killed it off in my other 2 tanks in the past. I should probably add a sand sifter as well...the nassarius snails help a little...but definitely not enough. The dwarf ceriths probably also help a little...bit they really don't turn over that top layer. Oh, and the larger ceriths...anybody ever have them survive more than a few months??? Looks like I'll be grabbing another tiger conch soon, as that made a HUGE difference in the past. I'll have a big post on changes I just made to my lighting schedule and some PAR readings here soon...just need to get ahead of this cyano bloom...new job, car issues, and back problems distracted me from the tank a little. Oh...and a streak of laziness...let's be honest
