St. Elmo to DT

St. Elmo made his way up to the DT on Monday. So far, he seems to enjoy it there. I have not gotten another fish for the QT yet, although not through lack of trying. On Monday, I visited two different LFSs, and on Tuesday I went to four others. None had anything that looked exciting/healthy enough for me to buy. I've become very picky after the disaster I had in March/April.

Once I find a new tank inhabitant, I will post some more pictures. Until then...

Latest Additions...

Two new additions to the tank this past week.... first, I ordered a coral frag pack (a package of several coral frags - or small cuttings). In this particular case, I ordered 10 frags of 7-10 polyps each of zoanthid corals (zoa's). Well, I got 11 frags, and none of them were below 12 polyps. I am very happy with my purchase. Below is a picture of the frags just hanging out before I have a chance to place them and glue the. If you're interested in where I ordered them from, check out http://www.altisreef.com

The second addition is my latest fish. It is a firefish, which is related to the dartfish or goby family. I've decided to name him St. Elmo. If you don't get that reference, you were born before 1960 or after 1985. Pics below...

The coral frags hanging out. The BBQ has left me no time to glue them in place.

My newest addition, St. Elmo - he's a firefish.

St. Elmo enjoying the QT before graduating up to the DT.

Adding a Sump

I have decided that I am going to add a sump to the tank. This sump will have to be custom-built to accomodate the unique dimensions of my stand. I have contacted several acrylic-workers, and have decided on one particular guy in Queens. I should hopefully have the sump in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I have ordered an overflow, a pump, a filter sock, and several specific piping materials. I will put everything together once all the pieces have arrived.

The sump will contain several compartments, each with its own specific purpose. First, the water will come down from the display tank (DT), and enter into the filter sock. This is just a means to keep the "gunk" to a minimum. From the fiter sock, the water will flow into the influent chamber, where I will move the protein skimmer and the heater. After the water is skimmed, it will flow under a weir into a chamber where I will have golf-ball sized pieces of live rock. This rubble-rock will serve as an additional bio-filter of sorts. From that section, the water will flow over a weir and into a bubble trap section. This will keep all of the bubbles from the skimmer out of the DT. From the bubble trap, the water will overflow into a refugium section. The refugium is a "refuge" for small critters like copepods to build up a colony without being eaten. In the refugium, I will have a remote deep sand bed (for increased denitrification) as well as macro-algae. The macro-algae will uptake nutrients, such as nitrates, from the water. From the refugium, the water will overflow into an effluent chamber, where I will have a pump to pump the water back up to the DT. In that chamber, I will also put my auto-topoff float switches. Additionally, I will have the suction end of my cannister filter. The cannister filter is basically going to act as a phos-ban reactor, where I will have GAC and GFO (see older posts about those) for additional water polishing. I will discharge the cannister filter contents back to the sump intake (like a mini-recycle section). This will allow the bubble trap to catch all of those pesky bubbles from the cannister filter.

One additional benefit of having a sump is that the system will contain a larger volume. I will be increasing the volume of the system by approximately 15 gallons. This means I can have more of a bioload for the same size tank - meaning more fish, corals, etc. For now, I still plan on maxing out at around 8 fish, but you never know what can happen in the future.

Once I get all of the supplies in, and start assembling, I will post some picture of the progress...

Three Down, Two To Go!

Yes, that's right! I caught another Larry (aka Mantis Shrimp). And this was the biggest one, and loudest one... my roommate is going to be happy not to hear as much clicking in the middle of the night... :) Here's a couple of pictures of Larry, the Eldest in the trap (they're a little fuzzy, but the best I could do):

Matt - 1, Larry #2 - 0

Yes, that's right, folks! Larry #2 is down! I saw him sneak into a rock while I was feeding the fish, and so I pulled the rock out, and put it into a bucket full of freshwater. It took him a while, but eventually he either got uncomfortable enough from the lack of salt, or cold enough because the bucket wasn't heated. Either way, he's out of the rock, and out of my tank! Only two more Larry's to go, and I'm mantis-free. Here's a picture to commemorate the occasion:

Unfortunately, Larry died in the process of getting him out. If I can get any of the others out alive, I will gladly donate them to the local public aquarium, as I did with Larry #1.

Better Shots

Well, I've been messing around with my new camera, and I was able to get better shots of Elizabeth II. Also, I think it is getting more comfortable in the new tank, because it is hiding less... I was even able to get a shot of it swimming around (as opposed to hiding). Anyway, here are the two best shots I've been able to get so far. I'm sure more will follow in the coming weeks.

New Camera... New Photos!

Well, my new camera finally came, and I was able to snap a few new shots... in this set, we document tank rearrangement, new corals, and new fish. So, without further ado, here are the new photos:

New Royal Gramma - we'll call it Elizabeth II. This is the best shot I could get, because it likes to hide in the PVC pipe.

My new mantis trap. So far, I've trapped 2 hermit crabs, 3 snails, and the starfish... but no mantis shrimp! These "Larrys" are getting annoying.

Top-Down shot of the flower/rock anemone.

Top-Down shot of the left side of the tank. From left to right are: flower/rock anemone, new orange monti cap coral, clownfish (Nemo), frogspawn coral.

Front view of left side of tank. I also moved the purple gorgonian to the sand bed. It seems to like it there better.

Top-down shot of new Purple Rimmed Green Monti Cap coral.

Front view of Purple Rimmed Green Monti Cap coral.

Top-Down view of Frogspawn coral.

Front view of frogspawn coral.

Top-down view of orange monti cap coral (2 frag pieces put together).

Front view of the orange monti cap corals.

And finally, a full tank shot (FTS). Things are really starting to fill in.

Lastly, I'm trying something new - I couldn't get a great shot of Elizabeth II, so I tried shooting some video of it. Let's see of this works:

New Arrival

Well, I finally got the quarantine tank in working condition, so I decided to go get my first new fish since the cleanup. After looking through my various options at the LFS, I decided to go with a Royal Gramma. I know that I have tried this fish once before, but it died within a few days, so I'm not counting it. :) For now, I can't take any pictures because I do not have the new camera yet. However, once I get the new camera all set up, I'll have to get snapping.

While I was at the LFS, I decided to have a conversation with my trusted advisor about the new sump project. It was determined that a standard tank does not exist within the parameters determined by my stand. The closest tank I could find was a 15H, which is approximately 15 gallons, but narrower and taller (the "H" stands for "high") than a normal 15 gal tank. However, there is a small space issue with that tank. So, now I am looking into getting a custom tank made. Once I can start getting price quotes, it'll determine whether I can reasonably afford to do this project.

For now, I have high hopes that this will work out. I have researched overflows, rubble rock, deep sand beds, and other equipment that will be required. I will keep you posted on how things go...

To Cover or Not to Cover... That is Today's Question...

I know I've been promising pics, but I recently ordered a new camera, and sold the old one. So for the next few days, I am camera-less. Once I get the new camera, I'll start to take pictures again. Then, you'll get to see all the progress. :)

Until then, the topic is covering the tank...

Well, I've been debating this topic in my head a lot, lately. Right now, I have the tank mostly covered. By that, I mean the covers don't go all the way to the back to allow for the various tubes, etc. to enter/exit the tank. To be honest, even with the tiniest space open in the back, I did already have one fish jump out (Pinnochio, the Longnose Hawkfish).

When I spoke to my trusted advisor at the LFS, he said that he could point out which fish are likely jumpers and which aren't (although it's never fool-proof). If I were to remove the cover, I would be limiting myself to fish that aren't jumpers (from an already limited list based on other tank parameters). I'm not 100% sure that I'm entirely OK with that.

By removing the covers, I can use the clips provided with the lights to elevate the lights up off the tank. This will help with protecting the lights from splashing, keeping heat from the lights out of the tank, and ease of access for my hands to do work in the tank. The heat loss is one of the big points here, because the summer is coming up and I'm not entirely sure how the tank is going to handle the heat that my house seems to generate in the summertime. Besides the lights being higher off the tank, the surface will be exposed. Considering the mixing that my powerheads provide, the water surface is rather turbulent. This will provide for rapid evaporation, and should keep the water temperature rather constant. It also means more refilling of my top-off reservoir, but I'm OK with that. :)

So, what do the rest of you think? Post comments here or on Facebook.

I'm Baaaaaaaack....

Hello again, world. I apologize for such a long hiatus. I'm sure many of you have been wondering how the aquarium has been going... well, it hasn't...

By that I mean, I have been studying for the hardest test I've ever had to take. It's called the Professional Engineering Exam, or PE for short. It's like the bar exam for engineers. In any case, I had been neglecting the tank a little bit while I was studying for the test. BUT, now that it's over, I'm back to proper husbandry. I promise I'll post pictures in the next few days. I just need to take some. :)

So, what have I been up to? Well, the disaster from about a month ago put a real shock on the system, so I decided to take a step back and figure out what the problem was. I'm still not sure... :) So, to play it safe, I tore down the QT, cleaned it thoroughly with vinegar, and reassembled. I put the filter's biowheel in the DT for a few days, and seeded the new QT water with some of the DT water that I was already taking out for a routine water change. I'm certain that there isn't enough biology in there yet, so I haven't gotten any new fish, but will soon begin that experiment again. More on that to come in the next few days/weeks...

I attended my first LIRA meeting. LIRA is the Long Island Reefkeeping Association. It's basically the Reef Club. It was an interesting crowd, and definitely not what I expected. However, I met a few nice people, and I picked up a few nice corals to add to the tank. They had an auction at the end of the meeting, and many corals were going for around $5. I got one of the $5 ones, as well as a few frags from other members. My assessment is that I probably won't attend every month, but if I'm in the market for something will try to obtain it from the group before paying retail prices for it. Again, I will have pictures soon... I promise...

Special thanks to my buddy Scottley for helping me test on one particularly stressful day during the testing ordeal. You da man!

And now, here's a preview of the blog posts to come in the next few weeks:

1. New Pictures... I promise...
2. A discussion of building my own sump with refugium... I think it's time
3. A discussion of my new fish (once I get them)
4. A discussion of my new corals (recently added and new to come)
5. A discussion of possible lighting additions
6. A debate over covered vs. uncovered tank... pros and cons of both sides.

I know it's a lot, but I have a month of inactivity to make up for! Until then....