So this is where all my money goes....

Originally Posted by GinasReef

Good fishies! Beautiful video! Look at those dang acans!

lol - and the hydroids that love to live right next to them... if things would glue to them so I could put another acan frag on top of them id be 100% happier

Hey I have a couple of those dang things now! How can I get rid of them? Of course they are on a rock that all my other rocks are piled on! LOL. Grrrr!

Originally Posted by GinasReef

Hey I have a couple of those dang things now! How can I get rid of them? Of course they are on a rock that all my other rocks are piled on! LOL. Grrrr!

no idea - scraping them off seems to be the only thing that works - you have to scrape off every little bit, and not let it land anywhere else.....

Tank updates

I've added a few fish since the great fish death disaster.... we now have a scribbled rabbit, a powder brown tang, a "replacement" midas blenny, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, and a new baby red tail wrasse...

Ohh, and obviously, I've acquired some pyramid snails too along the way - lost 2 clams, but the 4 remaining clams seem to be going strong...

FTS -


And some closer-ups





This is probably the only pic I will ever get of the fire shrimp!! haha


Mommie and baby wrasse


Powder Brown

your tank always looks so goo. Wish mine out just once or twice.

Wow, well stocked and looks great.

haha thanks guys - if you cant tell, im battling a pink hair algae explosion... so, im back to weekly water changes (was lazy and only doing it monthly)

and ive been struggling with keeping my CA and MG up (alk seems to be fine).... so my new years resolution is to be dilligent about testing, water changes, etc to get the dang thing back to excellent!! A few of my SPS are brown as poo - and they really shouldnt be

bah, the tank looks great! I need to rethink adding some acans, yours look fantastic!

Stupid question: why are the clams in cups? Is that related to the pyraminellid snails?


I too think your tank looks good, what is that purple sps?

when did you get so many clams? I have clam envy!!!! i may need to go to QT this weekend.

Originally Posted by skywardview

when did you get so many clams? I have clam envy!!!! i may need to go to QT this weekend.

Ohhhh we should swing by QT on our way home Sunday

Thanks for the ride. I had a great time. I hope your corals made it home ok? I am surprised that there are no new pics ???? How is the sea fan???

Very, very nicely put together! Ummmm...just what was the address again? I believe that it is time for a tank inspection. No, No, of course you don't have to be home for it- go shopping....

So, spent some time on hardware upgrades yesterday wooohooo

First - swapped out my old 40CFM exhaust fans in my canopy for these 110 CFM models... the old fans ran continously for 2 years, but they are just starting to poop out......... can't blame them, thats a lot of work!!



My temp was spiking at 82 or so during the day over the past month (since things started warming up), so hopefully these will keep things under 80.... Aaron broke one of the fans (bad bad techguy) by wiring it up backwards, hehehe, so only running 2 of the 3 I had planned, but yesterday temp peaked at 80.... Today will be the true test

And I swapped out this annoying fisher-wise check valve off my return


for this giant awesome swing arm one!


the old check valve stopped "checking" after only 6 months, and I could never keep it clean enough after that for it to work..... and with my seaswirl, my siphon break had to be a couple inches in the tank - good thing I have an oversized sump!! But dang, it was annoying seeing the sump fill to the brim every time I turned the return off... This one only lets maybe a gallon or so drain back down - so far its working great!! Here's hoping for no leaks!!!

Originally Posted by skywardview

Thanks for the ride. I had a great time. I hope your corals made it home ok? I am surprised that there are no new pics ???? How is the sea fan???

You're welcome - things are doing well - lost a piece or two to RTN, but nothing major

Here's the loot that made it home...

Some zoas


Bright yellow eyed chalice (echino guess)


This millepora (had to steal it back from the dang urchin)


This spooky ghost looking chalice (oxypora maybe)


There's also an acan lord I forgot to take a pic of Great for free with ticket price loot tho!! Wooohoooo

Originally Posted by Lowtechgal

Very, very nicely put together! Ummmm...just what was the address again? I believe that it is time for a tank inspection. No, No, of course you don't have to be home for it- go shopping....

hehehe don't forget the secret code word to get past the guard dog or he will bite your toes!!!

I have 6 48" T-5 in my retro hood. I would like to add a dimmable 250 w MH. Can this be done?

There is absolutely no room as it is. It looks like you may have done this somehow. If I read right you say you have the MH to one side for the SPS and six T-5s for all.

I noted your hood design in earlier part of this thread. Nice balance between T5 and Mh.

What are you doing for backup power supply design?

Originally Posted by watchingoil

I have 6 48" T-5 in my retro hood. I would like to add a dimmable 250 w MH. Can this be done?

There is absolutely no room as it is. It looks like you may have done this somehow. If I read right you say you have the MH to one side for the SPS and six T-5s for all.

Yup - that's it Left the MH on the right hand side of the tank and I put all my high end SPS on that side of the tank to be sure they get the pack of the MH - I have a 400W on mine - go big or go home!!!

Originally Posted by watchingoil

I noted your hood design in earlier part of this thread. Nice balance between T5 and Mh.

What are you doing for backup power supply design?

Backup power supply??? Im confused - what do you mean??

I lost 98% of my specimens during a power outage do to strong storm activity. My municipal power lines are above ground. Now when the power goes out I have an automatic safety switch on the line to the powerhead which switches power supply from the 110v wall outlet to a 12v car battery. The mass die off from the storm was very sad as the livestock died in my hands. A bright spot was that my live rock went through a cycle after five days converting the smell from sewer to back bay estuary. My nitrates are +-zero now (w/5 asst damsels only) and phosphates .007 (8ppb.)
(4 tablespoons biopellets passive in sump.)

The trick is to have a small auto power inverter handy to plug in the sump return pump after the powerhead has been running while you were at work.

Your chances of power outage are greatly diminished if your municipal service is below ground.

Originally Posted by watchingoil

I lost 98% of my specimens during a power outage do to strong storm activity. My municipal power lines are above ground. Now when the power goes out I have an automatic safety switch on the line to the powerhead which switches power supply from the 110v wall outlet to a 12v car battery. The mass die off from the storm was very sad as the livestock died in my hands. A bright spot was that my live rock went through a cycle after five days converting the smell from sewer to back bay estuary. My nitrates are +-zero now (w/5 asst damsels only) and phosphates .007 (8ppb.)
(4 tablespoons biopellets passive in sump.)

The trick is to have a small auto power inverter handy to plug in the sump return pump after the powerhead has been running while you were at work.

Your chances of power outage are greatly diminished if your municipal service is below ground.

Yes - and I also use the old car battery/inverter trick.... so, when the power goes out I'm set. Power outages are no big deal when you are prepared for them!