jph's first reef tank (90g)

[jo&di]

Hi J.
I have a question and I really don't want to stupid BUT here goes anyway...
How did/do you get those mushrooms onto the LR? I have seen many of you guys with them in your tanks (on here) and it just facinates me. Actually it's not just the shrooms it's all the corals !! I know from just the few peices that my husband and I have bought ( mostly frags ) that everything looks "just bought" if that makes sence?
Everyones tanks that I have been looking at just look like everything has been there forever
Am I making sence or am I just rambling? Thanks
Beautiful tank BTW

[Sndwave80]

Nice pics! Sorry to hear about the loss of the Frogspawn.

[DarthOcellaris]

Hows the tank doing? Any updates for us?

[jph]

Originally Posted by DarthOcellaris

Hows the tank doing? Any updates for us?

funny that you should ask i was about to post something

the tank is doing pretty good, allthough, in an effort to get rid of some red hair algae, and doing multiple days of no light, i have lost a few things.

the acropora milleporo bleached for about 60% overnight. but the part that encrusted over the rock is still alive, and two snall tips are alive also.

in an attempt to reduce nutrient input, i decided to stop feeding for an extended period, then feed very little. not sure if this is related but i lost two fish in one day, and my clowns were looking sick. i put them in a small 5 gallon tank and they are looking good again after just three days.
so i'm guessing the dead fish were sick, and not malnurished.


there is only one thing that bothers me right now though, and that is that i might have gotten in way over my head. i did have some free time when i was starting up the tank, but right now, i have very little time to spend all the time on it that it needs. i'm barely getting my water changes dove ever week or two.


which has got me thinking. should i just get rid of the big 90 gallon setup. and settle for something that is simple and easy (like a 20 gallon bare bottom) where i can get away without a skimmer or CLS and just siphon out the dirt while doing a weekly waterchange.


i really like the simple setup of the small 5 gallon tank that i have in the living room right now. three pieces of liverock, three heads of candy cane, a blue mushroom rock, and two perculas.

a simple MJ400 for water movement, small heater to keep the temp steady (no more chiller) and a current PC light fixture to keep the corals happy and my eyes entertained.


oh, the dilemma... after spending a ton of money on that big tank...


J.

[jph]

well, the northern california storm took the power out for about 12 ours last friday.
by the time that power was restores the tank was sitting at 69F
it took another 12 hours to get the temperature back up to 78F

so far it looks like everything survived though.

i've been doing some thinking and planning over the weekend.
we need to remodel our living room and my office, move some things around, have a new hardwood floor installed etc...

and i'm toying with the plan of taking the 90G down, and retart a new *simple* setup. no more complicates CLS, no more sump with chiller and skimmer
mo more spaghetti stubing everywhere. no more DSB that keeps getting dropped everywhere by mr. goby also, no more acrylic that i fear of scratching.

i think that i'll start a plan in the new 2008 nano build off

if you're interested in buying some of the parts i have in or on the 90gallon tank, send me a pm. i'll be selling most of it (light fixture, skimmer, chiller, various pumps, tank itself, stand sump...)


J.

[DarthOcellaris]

Looking forward to the 'Less is more" approach

[jph]

here's the acropora millepora that i ticked off with my low light schedule for a week.
the vertical part bleached within 24 hours.

the end top two tips did survive, and the part that encusted over the rock survived too, and is growing again now, and starting to re-encrust over the dead part.

due to the dying tissue in the skeleton, it looks like there is some algae growing over it, but that shouln't last too long i hope.



and here are the two tips that i fragged off. world's smallest frags ?






J.

[tims]

any updates?

[crvz]

Originally Posted by jph

and here are the two tips that i fragged off. world's smallest frags ?

One time I got 6 polyps of a green birdsnest. But they are small indeed!

[jph]

Originally Posted by tims

any updates?

i'm letting the big tank do its thing. only mess with it for a water change every week or two and wipe the glass clean. the tomini tang is assumed dead, it had a bad case of ich, and i haven't seen it for a couple of days.

i stopped feeding, the diamond gobie seems to get enough food from the sandbed, his tummy doesn't deflate like it used to when the bed was new.

the blue assessor looks very healthy too, i'm guessing that it's eating pods.

the turbo snails that i let loose in the tank (see pests forum) are doing a great job at removing my annoying purple algae)

about a week ago, i decided to give my frilly mushrooms a "hand" and help them split, so i have something to stock the future tank with. so i took a razorblade to them (oh man, do they stink when you get them out of the water!). they seem to be healing nicely.

right now, i'm trying to figure out what i'm going to do with a new tank.
it will be smaller, it will be bare bottom, it will be simple.
at least that's my plan


i tested the small 5g nano, with the two clowns in it yesterday, even though i'm feeding heavy, and not skimming, doing a 1g water change every weekend, nitrates were as good as undetectable.


J.

[jph]

allright, this is waht the tank looks like today.

i had to "borrow" some liverock from this tank to put in the nano/quarantaine tank, so there are a few bare spots that make the plumbing pretty visible

i also moved the open brain more into a shaded area this weekend, as i think he was getting too much light, and was loosing some of it's very dark bloodred coloring. hopefully he likes this spot better.





and a little more up close on the central area.




and, just because it's fun...
this is what the birdsnest looked like when i first got it about 8 months ago.



J.

[Caball362]

Yo any updates Buddy ?

[jph]

Originally Posted by Caball362

Yo any updates Buddy ?

yeah, i'll be taking the tank down, and setting up a new 24g aquapod.
i kinda overdid this tank, and made it more complicated than it needed to be.
i guess that i knew what i was getting myself into, but it turned out that i did not


J.