Mad Dawg's 14g nano
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Topic: Mad Dawg's 14g nano
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Subject: Mad Dawg's 14g nano
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 6:14pm
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Hello all. My name is Todd and I got a 14 gallon Oceanic BioCube for Christmas that I need to get started. I am planning on a mixed reef setup. I've got a lot of experience on the fresh side of things but don't really have much experience on the salty side. I've got a few questions to get me started. Where is the best place to buy cured live rock and live sand? I'm looking at either pacific or porous aquacultured live rock unless I should be looking for something else. I prefer the aquacultured for "earth" reasons. What is the best salt? What powerhead should I use? What heater should I use? Should I replace the stock Coralife compact fluorescent lighting? Thanks for any help and advice you can provide. I am excited to get involved with the reef community here. ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Replies:
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 6:30pm
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If you plan on keeping any SPS corals I would swap out the lighting for Metal Halides. Salt mix is mostly personal preference. I like Reef Crystals. Any good name brand heater that is rated for 15 gallons should suffice. For powerheads I don't think you'll find much better for the price than a koralia nano or #1. The best and cheapest place to find sand and rock is from other hobbyists. Usually you can get some for free. What grain of sand are you looking for? I have about 3-4 gallons of reef sand if you're interested. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 6:52pm
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Welcome Mad Dawg!
Nice to have you here.
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 10:51pm
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Thanks for the input, Steve. It looks like I'll be getting some sand and water from IFbettas, maybe some rock, too. I'll let you know if I need your sand. I have no idea what grain of sand to look for. What do you recommend? I don't want a silty sand that gets kicked up too easily, but obviously I need something that provides good filtration. Thanks Adam, I'm gonna try to attend that banquet next month. Sounds great! ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: January 27 2010 at 10:58pm
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Welcome Mad Dawg,
I have a 28 Gallon Nano and use a product called Vida Rock in place of live rock. It is a ceramic reef rock and is made right here in SLC. How many watts of CF lighting are in the stock hood? My Nano has 105 watts of CF lighting and I have been able to grow any type of SPS coral I have tried. To date I have Montipora, Millipora, Idaho Grape, Bird Nest, Green Slimer, Blue Tort and others as well as SPS some softies and leathers.
You're welcome to come check out my Nano if you would like to see the Vida Rock and how the CF Lighting works for me. If you want to retrofit the stock hood with better lighting check out Nanotuners or Nanocustoms on line. They have tons of Nano lighting upgrades. Take your time and research as much as you can before you purchase. Here are a couple pics of my tank with the Vida Rock both new and established.
 This pic shows the Vida Rock after it becomes encrusted with corals and coraline algae.
 ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 12:19am
I'd recommend getting your tickets soon. You have to buy them in advance, and not at the door. Money well worth spending.
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Mad Dawg wrote:Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 10:29am
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Thanks Burt. That tank is beautiful. I definitely would like the option of putting in SPS corals and maybe a clam. I'll need to do some more research first before I start throwing stuff in there. My current lighting is 24w actinic and 10,000K CF. Nanocustoms has an HQI light package for $360, but that would have to wait for a while. That Vida Rock is cool. Being a diver, I am definitely interested in saving natural reefs. My first choice is to get some used/recycled live rock from someone tearing their tank down, but I don't want to wait for months so I may go with Vida Rock or Utah rock. I also like the varied styles of the Vida Rock. How long did it take your Vida Rock to become encrusted with coraline algae? How long would it take to cycle my tank with live sand, live water and new rock? ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 6:11pm
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It took a good 4 months before I saw Coraline algae on the Vida Rock but it quickly took on the browns and greens as the tank cycled. It's difficult to say exactly how long it would take a tank to cycle using live sand and water. A lot depends on your bio load and if your adding any additional bacteria.
I used the Hiatt System Right Now bacteria and added fish the first day and coral a week later starting with no live anything. Going the traditional route I would say 2 to 4 weeks using live sand and water, maybe less. Feel free to come by and check my tank and frags out any time. When your ready I'll give you a cup of sand from my system to help kick start yours if you like. ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Crazy Tarzan
Date Posted: January 28 2010 at 6:34pm
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I wouldn't worry about a heater unless you live in an unfinished basement, I have the 29gal version, with a nano koralia, and a mj1200 swap, plus lights I run around 78-80* during the winter. During the summer, even with ac on, I have to open the rear lid to get more ventilation and cooling. ------------- Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ? Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 1:12am
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Thanks for all the advice and info on getting started. It will surely be just the beginning of my questions as I continue with this project. Tarzan - Thanks for the head's up. I bought a heater but left it in the box while I watch the temperature. So far it's gone up to 77 and stayed there. We'll see what happens when I start turning the pc lights off at night. I got some rock from WhiteReef and some from a guy on KSL who was downsizing. Marine Aquatics gave me some water and I bought some CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand. IFbettas fell through for me too  This week's plans include a powerhead, snails, crabs and some coral frags. What types of frags would be best at this stage? Here's a picture of it as of tonight   ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: kody72
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 1:56am
| softies our a good starter plus there cheap |
Posted By: sanddune600
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 8:14am
depends on what kinds of corals you want to keep long term as what I would put in there but you can never go wrong with zoas and palys  ------------- Andy Jorgensen My number is four three 5 7 six four 8 0 three four |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 8:32am
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Hi Todd,
Softies and hearty LPS only. Stay away from the SPS until the tank matures. If you want I have several nice and inexpensive frags of Xenia, Clove Polyps, Zoos, Leathers and green polyps that would be great starter corals. If they do well you can start putting nicer pieces in there as well. When your ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 you can start adding some corals. ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Crazy Tarzan
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 11:26am
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I've got 2 frogspawns, a fluorescent yellow candy cane, some mushrooms and have just recently put in a couple little frags of sps--an unknown cat's paw that grew from a spec on the candy cane, and a small purple tip/polyp green acro. Both are showing signs of growing well--but that in part might be because it gets some natural sun all day (jury's still out on that). You might look into doing an DIY led system on it--it'll cost you a little more than a comparable Halide (pm me and I'll give you some links), but you can keep the original hood and heat issues are almost non-existant, plus the leds are good for up to 10 yrs or so (If I remember right) and you can adjust the intensity if you put controllers in. Also try swapping out the original return pump for a mj900, or even a 1200 (maybe too much for 14?).
------------- Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ? Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing |
Posted By: jonafriendj
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 11:29am
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I would recommend getting one of these too: http://www.aquacave.com/modular-pre-skimmerbr-for-6-gal-nano-cube-by-jbj-1951.html - http://www.aquacave.com/modular-pre-skimmerbr-for-6-gal-nano-cube-by-jbj-1951.html
Or making your own :) ------------- Pleasant Grove |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 4:59pm
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jonafriendj - The upper intake on my oceanic biocube is actually at the surface like the skimmer in your link. What are the benefits of that one over mine?
------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 5:13pm
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Looking good. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: sanddune600
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 6:28pm
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the thing that jonafriend mentioned helps with surface skimming the top lay of your tank water most waste floats in our tanks and this helps bring that waste to the area of filtration in your nano
------------- Andy Jorgensen My number is four three 5 7 six four 8 0 three four |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 12:27am
Thanks for all your help so far. Here's a current pic for your enjoyment!  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 8:37am
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Very nice Todd. ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 12 2010 at 2:39am
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Thanks Burt. I still got a long way to go. You all have been a lot of help. I just ordered Nanocustom's 3.24 lighting upgrade kit. I know, I know, it's not as cool or effective as LED or MH, but it's quite a bit cheaper ($80 vs $360). I'm not planning on SPS corals, but I found a few people who have grown them at the top of their tank with this setup. ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Ahanix
Date Posted: February 17 2010 at 12:25pm
| Todd, you should show some pictures of the media basket you made, i'm really interested in the build |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 1:05am
Here's a couple pics of my homemade media basket for those interested.
I've got two different grades of filter floss, then activated carbon
and then chemi-pure. There is a removable panel on one end. This is short
enough to allow the use of the factory water drip diverter thingy on
top.  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 7:54am
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Excellent work Todd,
You should do a DIY Build thread on that. I would put it in the Quick Reference thread so others could find it easily.
Burt ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Ahanix
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 10:20am
| That looks awesome! I like it a lot better than the media basket that is sold online. I'll have to get one running as soon as my tank gets cycled (currently just running some filter floss through it) |
Posted By: jonafriendj
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 5:43pm
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That is awesome! Good work!
------------- Pleasant Grove |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 19 2010 at 12:51am
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Thanks guys! Burt - I'll try to get to a DIY thread for that this weekend. Here's an updated pic of my project. The 3.24 PC lighting upgrade will happen sometime by the end of this weekend. Let's hope with the additional 50/50 bulb I get some more color. Some of my corals don't look quite as pretty as they were under the MH lighting.  First pic - with flash  Second pic - no flash  Darned clown fish keep moving! ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Ahanix
Date Posted: February 20 2010 at 1:05pm
| How's your Anemone holding up by the way? I was thinking about one, but I think i'll wait and just see if mine will host some Xenia or something (I might get two clowns and 1-2 jaws depending upon how daring I get) |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 21 2010 at 2:58am
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The anemone is doing great. So happy that it chose a place far from all my corals to settle down. My clowns haven't hosted in the RBTA yet. They seem to like the hammer and the star polyps near the top of the tank, but haven't really hosted in either of those either. I got the nanocustoms 3.24 PC lighting upgrade installed today. I like the look but it's not MH. Colors are a little more brilliant and the tank is brighter. I think I may try a small inexpensive SPS to see how it fares. I had to make a few adjustments to the kit/installation instructions to make it work properly, but overall a good kit. One of the new upgraded fans is not working and since heat hasn't been a problem in this tank I will reinstall the original fans tomorrow. I also put in a fish guard today. I didn't think there would be much room for a fish to jump into the filtration section, but someone on another forum said they had a goby get out with the same setup. I've also added some macroalgae; chaetomorpha, caulerpa mexicana, caulerpa prolifera, caulerpa racemosa and halimeda. It's all in the tank for now. I'll move some of it into the mini-fuge once I get a light for back there. I'll post pics of these mods in the next couple days. ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 3:24am
Nanocustoms 3.24 PC upgrade kit installed. Overall I like this kit. Well worth the money. My corals look a little more colorful and look a lot more healthy. Also visible are the new digital thermometer and my homemade fish saver. Current project: a condo for my yellow watchman goby. This is built out of 1" pvc and 3/4" fittings because I wanted the inside and outside diameters to be consistent. My glass thermometer decided to lay lead all over my sand so while the tank is in reorganization, I thought I'd build him a home where I can see him. The front door and back doors both face forward. I used aquarium sealant and sand to cover the entrances. I'd have made it more interesting but there's not a lot of real estate in my tank. Now to convince him to use it...  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: jwoo
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 10:11am
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Is that digital thermometer for the water temp or light temp? Just be careful either way as those things are know to be really inaccurate, If it's for the water I prefer a cheap glass therm, you can't get much more accurate and they are cheap. ------------- None at the moment Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: February 24 2010 at 5:45pm
The digital thermometer is for the water. I had a cheap glass one. It shattered and scattered glass shards and lead balls all over my tank.  That's why I splurged for the digital. That's good to know about the digital thermometers. I think I'll go buy a cheap metal one to check the accuracy of the digital one. Thanks for the suggestion.With a little encouragement my goby took up residence in his new digs. With any luck he'll take up permanent residence there.  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Studboyt
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 7:34pm
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Todd, I also hae a 14g and am wondering how difficult the lighting upgrade was to install. Thanks for the help. Aaron
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Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 8:45pm
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The yellow watchman goby has made a permanent home of my pvc creation. It's not as natural looking as if he built it himself, but at least he's out front now. He still hides any time anyone gets close to the tank but he's getting more comfortable every day. I've been adding a couple frags every week so my tank is looking quite interesting. The pic below really doesn't do it justice as the colors just don't show up well. I think I'm addicted. Is there a Reefer's Anonymous group nearby? I built and installed an air powered ATO today. It's pretty much this kit: http://www.aquahub.com/store/product26.html but modified slightly to use an air pump instead of a water pump like this: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38878. I really like the way this kit works. This will be really nice for when we go on vacation. @studboy - The lighting upgrade was a pretty easy mod. There were a few things I changed and/or added from the instructions because it didn't fit exactly right, but overall it's a very good kit. One of the fans with the kit was defective and nanotuners sent out a new one right away. Great customer service. Current pic:  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 9:00pm
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Looks good! ------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: Nick801
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 9:18pm
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Geez looks great =)
------------- http://www.reefinsanity.com" rel="nofollow - www.ReefInsanity.com http://www.facebook.com/ReefInsanity" rel="nofollow - www.Facebook.com/ReefInsanity 801-680-4676 |
Posted By: Ahanix
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 9:35pm
Man Todd, thats an awesome tank. I'm excited to see it on Wednesday 
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Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 10:00pm
Your tank is looking great Todd. Mine was up several months before I had close to that many frags in it.  ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: March 09 2010 at 12:57am
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Thanks guys! The past week has been fun. I got 4 lbs of Tampa Bay LR from WhiteReef. This rock is so full of life: crabs, sponges, tube worms, feather dusters, barnacles, shrimp, macroalgae, and more! I extracted the gorilla and rock crabs and disposed of them. The grass shrimp went into my tank and hasn't been seen since. The red mithrax crab went into my tank and has been hiding. I reworked the rockscape and now have a total of 11 lbs of lr. Now I need more frags to fill up all the new naked rock. The watchman goby is quite happy in his house and I'm seeing the first signs of coraline algae forming on the back wall. I also got the auto top-off installed and worked out the bugs.  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Ahanix
Date Posted: March 09 2010 at 11:36am
Looking good! Seems that your clowns haven't killed eachother yet either  They finally getting along?
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Posted By: ksmart
Date Posted: March 09 2010 at 12:59pm
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Looks very good! Like the aquascape. ------------- |
Posted By: Deluxe247
Date Posted: March 09 2010 at 2:59pm
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Ditto on the rocks. I like having at least a few right up next to the surface.
------------- 90G Mixed Reef |
Posted By: WhiteReef
Date Posted: March 09 2010 at 4:09pm
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Looking good. Let me know how the stuff does that you picked up from me. ------------- ---------------- Richard Former 47G Column Reef, Magna 20" x 18" x 31"H |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: March 09 2010 at 5:51pm
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Thanks for the input! @Ahanix- No, the clowns are not friends. The one still chases the other all over. The stick method works if I've got the stick in the tank, but otherwise he just does as he pleases. The less aggressive one has been hanging out by the rbta so maybe it's getting the urge to host. @WhiteReef- Everything is doing great! I had to break up the bigger rock to get it all to work. I love all the life on these rocks. How do I tell if a sponge is happy? The red mithrax is shy but I see it occasionally so I guess it's doing well. ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: WhiteReef
Date Posted: March 10 2010 at 8:54am
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I am not certain how to tell if a sponge is happy, but if they are not you will see them shrink in size and have algae or white spots on them. Great to hear things are going well with all of it. Now if I could just get a decent trap going so I can catch some of the nasties out of the tank. ------------- ---------------- Richard Former 47G Column Reef, Magna 20" x 18" x 31"H |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: March 10 2010 at 11:53am
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I built a trap out of a plastic bottle. I saw it on a post here somewhere. Took me 10 minutes. I didn't catch anything but I don't think there was anything left to catch.
------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: March 13 2010 at 12:45am
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So I now know a couple tell-tale signs of a happy sponge. First I noticed that the holes/vents opened up quite a bit. Then I noticed that it has started attaching itself to all the rocks it was touching. Thanks for the happy healthy sponge! You catch that mantis yet, Richard? ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: WhiteReef
Date Posted: March 13 2010 at 4:58pm
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Not yet. Great news on the sponge. I found a different trap that I think I might use instead. It is just hard the way my tank is setup to set a trap of any size.
------------- ---------------- Richard Former 47G Column Reef, Magna 20" x 18" x 31"H |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: May 18 2010 at 6:19pm
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It's been a while so I thought I'd post an update. I had a gloves-off battle with red slime for three weeks that ended up killing a couple corals and a few fish. I tried all the natural methods listed in the help forum to no avail. It looked like it was working but as soon as I resumed feeding and lighting it all came right back. Chemiclean is what finally cleaned it up and no red slime for over a week now. Wish I had used chemiclean first. Maybe I wouldn't have lost close to $100 in livestock. I think my brittle star may be eating fish. Anyone have problems with this? If I feed the brittle star chunks of shrimp, will he be satiated enough to leave the fish alone? Or do I need to get rid of him? flash:  no flash:  ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |
Posted By: Ahanix
Date Posted: May 18 2010 at 6:25pm
| Wow, that looks awesome! you must have a ton of flow going through your tank, no? did you ever have any luck growing SPS corals in the tank with your light upgrade? (trying to justify a purchase of a 50/50 or another 10k bulb instead of my actinic) |
Posted By: Mad Dawg
Date Posted: May 18 2010 at 8:14pm
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Thanks! I'm really happy with the rockscape and the flow. Did you notice the sexy shrimp? I love that guy! What's nice about having both nano powerheads pointed toward each other is that I get a lot of turbulent flow but it's not too strong. No, the SPS were just hanging on to life. Then the stress of the red slime treatment knocked them out for good. I'm still thinking about getting a strip of LEDs (http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21598). If I get those I will try another SPS frag up top. I also built a media basket for the first chamber. I have chaeto in one chamber and nothing in the other yet. ------------- Todd 14g nano mixed reef project |