The build thread: 430gal. display
- Thread starter Ummfish
- Start date
At least the water looks mostly clear already. 
Hopefully since it was fairly thin cement work it shouldn't take too terribly long to cure. A heater in there might help speed up the process as well.
Is there a reason you don't have the water all the way to the top of the tank? Keeping it out of the overflow I'd guess?
Hopefully since it was fairly thin cement work it shouldn't take too terribly long to cure. A heater in there might help speed up the process as well.Is there a reason you don't have the water all the way to the top of the tank? Keeping it out of the overflow I'd guess?
So, I'm really impressed with the population growth on the copepods. Most of the tanks are now running with huge swarms of several species. There are so many now that it's getting fairly distracting trying to look into the tanks because of all of the movement on the glass. Here's a sample:
Of course, the reason that their population growth is so high is that they are the apex herbivore in many of the tanks and the hair algae is growing great guns. Given the boom, I'm also a bit leery of the eventual crash. But I'm enjoying it in the meantime.
I picked up a small colony (6) of royal grammas the other day. They are currently living with the papa Banggai and are serving as good dither fish for him, keeping him out in the water column much more. I'm really digging watching the group interactions. Here's a photo:
I also picked up a couple small juvenile orchid dottybacks. They hid behind a rock when I brought the camera out. They are living with the purple tangs right now. The dominant tang is kind of being a jerk to the other now, ever since the move. No visible damage, though.
Still waiting on the concrete to cycle. Sigh.
There's a big frag swap today, but I think I have to miss it. My lovely bride was up all night throwing up and feels horrible today, so I'm trying to do what I can for her and my daughter. There'll be more frags.
Of course, the reason that their population growth is so high is that they are the apex herbivore in many of the tanks and the hair algae is growing great guns. Given the boom, I'm also a bit leery of the eventual crash. But I'm enjoying it in the meantime.
I picked up a small colony (6) of royal grammas the other day. They are currently living with the papa Banggai and are serving as good dither fish for him, keeping him out in the water column much more. I'm really digging watching the group interactions. Here's a photo:
I also picked up a couple small juvenile orchid dottybacks. They hid behind a rock when I brought the camera out. They are living with the purple tangs right now. The dominant tang is kind of being a jerk to the other now, ever since the move. No visible damage, though.
Still waiting on the concrete to cycle. Sigh.
There's a big frag swap today, but I think I have to miss it. My lovely bride was up all night throwing up and feels horrible today, so I'm trying to do what I can for her and my daughter. There'll be more frags.
I'm _really_ going to have to keep up with maintenance in this tank. I finally got sick of looking at the dye that had crusted the glass so I went out and bought an algae scrubber and went to town. Whew! I only got half done (the easy side) and I'm worn out. That's a lot of glass. I'm really happy I went with glass though. I would have put a dozen scratches into acrylic already.
Well, I had a lot of copepods.... I just brought home a pair of black and white aquacultured ocellaris that I bought last week. They are misbarred but, other than that they look great. They immediately decided that it was the coolest tank ever because they could pick copepods off the glass. The last I looked they were whizzing around the tank like crazy clowns, fat as clams (so to speak).
Well, I had a lot of copepods.... I just brought home a pair of black and white aquacultured ocellaris that I bought last week. They are misbarred but, other than that they look great. They immediately decided that it was the coolest tank ever because they could pick copepods off the glass. The last I looked they were whizzing around the tank like crazy clowns, fat as clams (so to speak).
"It's not a bug. It's a feature."
Misbars (most of them) are likely from water quality or nutritional issues in the first few days after hatching. The misbars don't seem to really be a problem for the clowns later and are not genetic. ORA's clowns (picassos and whatnot) are a genetic thing, though.
I should be back later with an update. Off to dinner now....
Misbars (most of them) are likely from water quality or nutritional issues in the first few days after hatching. The misbars don't seem to really be a problem for the clowns later and are not genetic. ORA's clowns (picassos and whatnot) are a genetic thing, though.
I should be back later with an update. Off to dinner now....
Don't get me wrong, I like misbars. But don't kid yourself that they're expensive because they're rare. They're examples of operator error and some good marketing. But I like them and there seems to be no permanent damage, just something amiss in early WQ.
A weird day today. My kiddo walked into the room and said, "Papa, there are police in the yard." And there were--a Boulder PD K9 unit--guns drawn. Apparently, they chased someone to my house and couldn't quite find him. So, I was in lockdown this afternoon. Weird.
An update on the fishroom:
Finally got rid of the ugly stairs!
The barrel is plumbed into the system and running (and holding water ***shock***):
The barrel overflow:
The return to the barrel is the vertical PVC tube. Water flows down to the bottom and around the circle of the barrel up to a high overflow:
The butterfly tank. They are making some progress on the Aiptasia. Unfortunately, I think I must have two of the same sex as they are always putting on a weird display to each other. They try to compete to see who can get lower (so lay sideways on the bottom) and flap their pectoral fins wildly at each other. Weird.
Purple tang:
The copepods think I'm really cool for growing so much algae:
A cool colony of tunicates have popped up on the bottom of this coral. They like the greenwater, too:
The computer:
A weird day today. My kiddo walked into the room and said, "Papa, there are police in the yard." And there were--a Boulder PD K9 unit--guns drawn. Apparently, they chased someone to my house and couldn't quite find him. So, I was in lockdown this afternoon. Weird.
An update on the fishroom:
Finally got rid of the ugly stairs!
The barrel is plumbed into the system and running (and holding water ***shock***):
The barrel overflow:
The return to the barrel is the vertical PVC tube. Water flows down to the bottom and around the circle of the barrel up to a high overflow:
The butterfly tank. They are making some progress on the Aiptasia. Unfortunately, I think I must have two of the same sex as they are always putting on a weird display to each other. They try to compete to see who can get lower (so lay sideways on the bottom) and flap their pectoral fins wildly at each other. Weird.
Purple tang:
The copepods think I'm really cool for growing so much algae:
A cool colony of tunicates have popped up on the bottom of this coral. They like the greenwater, too:
The computer:
I don't think they ever found the guy, but they were sure crawling all over the yards of the 4-5 houses around us. Pretty dog, though.
It reminds me of when I used to live in Dallas. We were in an okay neighborhood, but 3-4 blocks away was pretty sketchy, in the crack-house-gang-war sort of way. I worked a lot and missed most of the action, but the roommates sure saw a lot--including having the cops come to the front door to ask if we knew anything about the body in our backyard. I don't miss the weapon in every room days.
It reminds me of when I used to live in Dallas. We were in an okay neighborhood, but 3-4 blocks away was pretty sketchy, in the crack-house-gang-war sort of way. I worked a lot and missed most of the action, but the roommates sure saw a lot--including having the cops come to the front door to ask if we knew anything about the body in our backyard. I don't miss the weapon in every room days.
Yeah, that was in my younger, more edgy days.
You knew that _something_ was going to come along to eat all the nutrients from the shrimp I used to start the cycle.
I did put in a bottle of copepods from Reed's, but there was already another species starting when I put those in there. I wonder if there were some copepod cysts in the sand I used. There certainly was a strange species of hair algae in the sand, so it's not beyond my imagination that cysts would have got it, too.
You knew that _something_ was going to come along to eat all the nutrients from the shrimp I used to start the cycle.
I did put in a bottle of copepods from Reed's, but there was already another species starting when I put those in there. I wonder if there were some copepod cysts in the sand I used. There certainly was a strange species of hair algae in the sand, so it's not beyond my imagination that cysts would have got it, too.
Yes. To both.
Phyto "spores" (I don't know if that's the right word) are everywhere, carried in the winds. They just need someplace with the right requirements to get 'em going. I would assume that the phyto came in on my sand, along with whatever hair algae that grew out so quickly. I've never seen hair algae like this. It sends out crazy long strands (at least two feet long) and immediately sprang right out of the sandbed, so I know that's where that came from.
But, like everything else around this hobby: Wait it out, do what you can. I don't have enough filter feeders to control the microalgae yet, nor enough herbivores to eat the long stuff. Fortunately, conchs and hermits seem to love the long algae, so I have some of them working on it. I've also gotten what I have left of my DIBS snails working on it. I hope that they have a population explosion coming soon. I should have some more DIBS creatures coming next week. I added some gracillaria, ulva, and chaeto to try to out-compete the hair, but the copepods wiped out my ulva. And, I added a tomini tang to the frag tank tonight to try to keep the corals clear. The purples aren't too impressed with the hair algae, unfortunately.
So, wait it out. If I was smart, I would have waited to add livestock 'til this all died back. Now, feeding the fish is feeding the algae. Bummer.
On the other hand, I don't particularly care if algae grows in the basement, so long as it doesn't kill the corals in the frag tank. It's taking up nutrients, which is what those tanks down there are for. Otherwise, it's all zooplankton food.
Phyto "spores" (I don't know if that's the right word) are everywhere, carried in the winds. They just need someplace with the right requirements to get 'em going. I would assume that the phyto came in on my sand, along with whatever hair algae that grew out so quickly. I've never seen hair algae like this. It sends out crazy long strands (at least two feet long) and immediately sprang right out of the sandbed, so I know that's where that came from.
But, like everything else around this hobby: Wait it out, do what you can. I don't have enough filter feeders to control the microalgae yet, nor enough herbivores to eat the long stuff. Fortunately, conchs and hermits seem to love the long algae, so I have some of them working on it. I've also gotten what I have left of my DIBS snails working on it. I hope that they have a population explosion coming soon. I should have some more DIBS creatures coming next week. I added some gracillaria, ulva, and chaeto to try to out-compete the hair, but the copepods wiped out my ulva.
And, I added a tomini tang to the frag tank tonight to try to keep the corals clear. The purples aren't too impressed with the hair algae, unfortunately.So, wait it out. If I was smart, I would have waited to add livestock 'til this all died back. Now, feeding the fish is feeding the algae. Bummer.
On the other hand, I don't particularly care if algae grows in the basement, so long as it doesn't kill the corals in the frag tank. It's taking up nutrients, which is what those tanks down there are for. Otherwise, it's all zooplankton food.