Come over to the dark side luke...

AndyL

AndyL

Large Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
908
1
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47
Calgary AB
#1
It was inevitable wasn't it? :)

The 2.5g nano kept me company through this summer/falls excitement. Get situated where I can setup more tanks - start getting a rack setup for the discus... And somehow SW tanks suddenly take priority :)

Got a 20g Trimless top, black siliconed & overflowed tank before xmas (used, damn good deal), Doesn't fit the rack plan due to the overflow. So Instead of going out to buy tanks for the rack yesterday as planned - instead I'm buying/ordering parts for the new reef :)

Here's the new setup - 20g overflowed; 10g sump, running a Mag2 (once I get it fixed - broke the cover xmas day trying to fix a drip - now using a QuietOne 1200 - which ain't so quiet) Ordered a 175w SE halide from aquaria.ca with a pair of ARC 14k bulbs. Patiently waiting on my order of won brothers heaters (10 titanium heaters) to supply heat - using an old hagen for now. Decided I would skim this tank - sorta :) Using a good old coralife Super skimmer (air driven in sump skimmer). I'm not a fan of skimming - but I figure I'll give it a try on this one.

Before you guys ask about flow - mag2's only 250gph - at 0 lift, i'm going up about 3'. Planned occupants of the tank are Hippocampus reidi that should explain the light flow. Sometime this week I'm going to be modifying the tank feed to something similar to the UGJ systems used by the Rift lake FW guys - so the flow gets a bit better distributed.

I've got 30lbs of Indonesian LR bought from the LPS - just waiting for it to finish curing before I bring it home. I have a feeling I'll be weeding it down to 20ish lbs - this is some LIGHT rock.

Now if only I knew where my H. reidi's were I'd be a happy man :)

Andy
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
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0
#4
Sounds like a plan. Any worries/issues/point to using MH on a seahorse tank? Are you going to try to grow any seagrasses or is it for cnidarians?
 

AndyL

AndyL

Large Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
908
1
0
47
Calgary AB
#5
Depends who you talk to - seems to be like discus - 2 camps, one is bare tank with only a sponge filter and minimal lighting... The other is full on reef. I'm going the full on reef method).

I'll see what I can find for seagrasses - unfortunately there aren't many available in canada - definitely some chaeto in the fuge though.

S.Reef: actually since CITES only the WC ones are hard to come by - plenty of Captive bred horses around.

Andy
 

A

aresgod

Superstar Fish
#6
Jan 14, 2004
1,987
2
0
mass
Visit site
#6
i have a place in florida that has great sea and shoal grass that they ship to me, i have shoal grass set up in a section of my 40 gallon i love the way it looks, you would have to order a bunch of it to fill a 20 gallon tank but it is great stuff, they might even ship to canada, let me know if you are interested in the site
 

AndyL

AndyL

Large Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
908
1
0
47
Calgary AB
#11
Pictures will come in time... Unfortunately lost (aka b**ch kept it) the digital camera when I left mcmurray. Was lookin at one of the cheap 'throwaway' digitals from logitech and others; maybe on payday. Tide me over until I can afford my Nikon 70 :)

I can get the LR anytime - it's paid for - but I figure it's to my advantage to let it cure in a 600g(? HUGE) tank with multiple skimmers and multiple batches of LR in various stages of curing (or totally cured).

Actually thinking about it... This 20g isn't costing me that much...
20g (almost free - future frags)
10g $0.99 (doorcrasher deal at a chain)
PVC & fittings - 35.00
Forgotten PVC ball valve - 6.50
Mag2 - 70.00 - Quietone 1200 (backup once mag is fixed) 50$
175w MH & 2 ARC 14k bulbs - 280 (including shipping)
Sugar aragonite - 15$
Baffles were free (I work with glass... OOOoops - another pane for the scrap pile (aka back of truck) :))
Silicone was 8$
30lbs of live rock - 240$
Coralife skimmer was about 15$
Air pump for above (free - had it)
Pair of replacement stones - 9$
Won Bros Ti 300w heater - 27$ (group buy)

Just debating what to do with the back of the tank now - want to cover up the overflow box. The previous owners method of a hunk of black acrylic ended up bowing and made it look less than nice... So that was removed... Not sure how I'm going to clean it up now.

Andy
 

AndyL

AndyL

Large Fish
#13
Oct 22, 2002
908
1
0
47
Calgary AB
#13
Not a big fan of skimming actually - I'm of the belief that many people overskim their tanks; which causes other problems (ie nutrient deficiencies). I'd rather change a few gallons a week than dose this that and the other daily.

I'm not planning to keep a heavy bioload in the tank - so I'm really not worried about having a super efficient skimmer either.

Brought home 15lbs of LR today to start getting things cycled. Man that indonesian rock is sweet - Full of LARGE holes, light as a feather (ok not quite) tons of color, macros covering one rock, big sponge on another...

Andy
 

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