a 10gal stomopod nano

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Large Fish
#41
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#41
lighting question

question:
I have two seperate lighting systems on the nano setup ive started, one with 20watts of fluorescent, the other with 30watts of 50/50 fluorescent lighting, what type of corals can i eventually grow in this? The box for the two 15watt 50/50's said that 10watts = about 50watts of incandescent, if thats the case i think i can grow some mushrooms and some gsps, but im unsure of what type of lighting i need for corals. Any advice would be great

thanks in advance

note:
camaro, thats a run-of-the mill dynaflow 10gal filter. No filter media, just some floss to help the bacteria colonize, it moves the water around well enough, but i might throw another one on
 

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Large Fish
#43
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#43
Day 3: chillin'

Well, I was able to quell my impatience today; I just let the tank sit. I added too much salt when I did the setup, so I did a water change and added some more FW to get it down to about 1.022-1.023 SG, I also added some pH buffer. Im gonna let the tank sit and settle 'till about Wednesday before i add any LR. I found a gorgeous piece at my LFS, hopefully no one will snatch it before i do. Ill get a hefty piece (maybe about 5lbs) of pacific LR, and a good looking piece of Branch LR.

On a side note Im getting excited about growing corals (my credit card isnt though), i realize im gonna need to let the tank set up for a few months before i can add any, but i did some research and I want to try a few of these corals:

Actinodiscus, Cladiella, Pachyclavularia, Palythoa, Protopalythoa, Sarcophyton, or/and zoanthus

Most of those are mushrooms or polyps, but they're suposed to be fairly easy to grow. Any advice or ideas would be great

on another side note:
i just got my radar detector today, we obviously had to go and check out how well worked (dont worry, nothing unsafe). Cruising down the highway we picked up a couple signals, both cops. On the side roads we mainly picked up signals from automatic doors, but its all good. This thing is sensitive as hell!

im excited :D (about the tank too)


ps:
I have 2 power compact fluorescent bulbs (15watts each, the 50/50 ones), could i keep anything as complicated as an anemone in my tank, or would i kill it? From what ive read i probably shouldnt, but if i can id like to try
 

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Large Fish
#48
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#48
Day 4...err...maybe not, Ive lost track........Step 4

OK, so here's the score (ill try to keep track as we go along)

reason and good fish-keeping side of my brain: 1

impatient and.....uh....impatient side of my brain: 1



I was gonna wait till wednesday to add some LR, but seeing that it was setup early sunday i figured itd be ok. I went out and bought about a pound of Branch LR (at freaking $8.99 a lb) and 4.5lbs of acopora (sp?) LR to add to my tank. I took some pictures and photo shopped (*cough* paint *cough*) what i would like to do once the LR i added settles in (so in a few weeks). It looks pretty good but i want to add some more LR and eventually some coral. The only problem is my LFS sells corals by the rock (frags?) rather than individual bodies (which would be easier to propagate, and fit into my tank). So ill have to either give some of the extra LR to my friend or rip the corals off the frag rock when i buy them in a few months.

anyways, here are some pics, tell me what you think (structural ideas welcome, i cant aquascape for crap)


here is some of the acopora or whatever and the branch LR:


this is a big pic, but you need to see it close up anyways. Is this a clam? and what is that tube thing?


some gooey stuff on the acopora, what is it?


I have no idea what these things are, all i know is that they look like red broccoli:


random closeup of the LR:


Here is the tank as is:


Here is what i want it to look like (unless someone gives me a better idea):



ps
the little thing with pellets in it is my ammonia source, ill be removing it soon enough
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#50
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
43
San Ramon, CA
#50
that is a little clam in pic 2, and probably a dead tube worm...or you would have seen his head

as far as what you are calling arcopora, i am asuming you know its dead, just the skeleton...lol

and the pellets might be better off replaced with a cocktail shrimp...decomposes faster, etc etc

looks good so far...he important part of patience comes now...
 

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Large Fish
#51
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#51
when can i add more LR?

ill get the shrimp soon


oh, about the acopora; common, give me some credit here, im not a total newb :p


new question:

fish supply sells a package of 5lbs of LS for $12, i currently have none in my tank, is it worth it to get some?
 

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1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#52
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
43
San Ramon, CA
#52
as far as the arcopora, i figured you knew...just wanted to make sure :)

you can add LR whenever you want...my opinion is that it is best to add it all at the begining pre-cycle...otherwise you can get mini cycles

personally, I wouldn't spend the money on LS unless you just want to...eventually, the LR will seed the sand...
 

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Large Fish
#53
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#53
update

Ok, ill prob go check out some fish stores around pasadina and maybe get some more LR. A few of my friends want me to get a clown, i was thinking a percula (sp?), but i dont know how it will fair with a mantis in the tank as well. I realize i dont need an anemone to host the clown, but what should i use if i was to get one? My lfs sells these little fake latex/plastic/rubber/something anemones that look fairly realistic, would that work?

camaro:
i was looking back at a few of the sites you recomended and one of them, exoticfish.com or something (jeffs place), sells small coral rocks for $20. Do you know how big "small" is? would $20 a pop for a few mushroom corals be worth us driving down there (about 25min) to pick them up? my lfs sells mushroom rocks and polyp rocks at about $34 ea.

or

should i just post in a few forums asking for some extra corals that people are getting rid of?

ill post some more pics if i change the tank in any way or add anything.

thanks everyone for your encouraging words; it helps me justify my smaller bank account :D
 

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Large Fish
#55
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#55
no, i know what you mean; i tried to cover it as best as i could, but the LR i got was massive and didnt leave too many options as far as aquascaping and position are concerned. When i go back to my lfs i plan to get lots of little peices of LR (maybe a decent sized peice of fiji) to cover it up and fill in some gaps. I would hate it if he found some obscure hole in the back that we could never see him in, hence the pvc pipe. Hopefully i can fool him into hiding in it even though its out in front.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#56
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
43
San Ramon, CA
#56
jeffs place is very cool...and worth a 25 minute drive. i used to take the 45 minute drive down there every other weekend or so...he has some spectacular deals. usually you can get 4 or 5 shrooms for $20 and maybe 15 zoos for $20, often times 3 or 4 heads of ricordia for $30...to be honest with you, i was a bit of a novice when i was in LA, but as I recall he had the best prices on some really good stuff...he has amailing list for his weekly ad and the prices always seem awesome...so if you shoot me an email i will forward the info to you (camaro79@ucla.edu)

as far as posting for freebees, it would be great...except you are the only southern californian I know of in the SW section here and it is kind of hard to ship stuff...i would be happy to do so if it wasn't such a pain in the arse and i wasn't more likely to kill the stuff than get it to you alive.

might try http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/ and look in the general classifieds section under southwest region...there are a lot of reefers down thar

hope that helps some

Kevin
 

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Large Fish
#60
Nov 8, 2004
129
0
0
southern CA
#60
what do you guys think about a percula clown?

Ill be heading down to my lfs today, gonna get some small peices of LR, some test kits (the ones i dont have, ie DkH) and a new heater. Well prob check out jeffs place too.


another chance to use the radar detector!*laughingc
 

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