Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I just looked it up on the awful Tenecor website. It is a twelve gal. hexagon with a "Backpack" skimmer. No filter, really. I do an exchange of half the water with the big tank every month or so. It is underlit with 2x dual 9watt CFs. There are two ocillaris clowns in there. One is just a blur in the pic. The big one is called "Killer". It especially doesn't like rings.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

.5 ammonia
5 Nitrates
1 Nitrites
1.022 Salinity

in the cure tank. Got my live sand today. Gonna buy my RO tomarrow. Should I wait till its completly at 0 ammonia before i set up the display tank?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

IMO, yes. Let it fully cycle and you'll have less issues in the long run. Ammonia and nitrites should be 0. Also, if you are going to be keeping corals move the salinity to 1.025 I tried corals with the salinity in the low 20's and in the mid 20's. They seem much happier (growth and color) with the higher salinity. Also use a refractometer, or if you are using a swing arm or floating hydrometer get it calibrated from someone that has a refractometer.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Got it. Just ordered a refractometer today along with a bunch o other stuff from Dr. Foster smith today. The Guy at the LFS calibrated my swing arm hydrometer with his refractometer.

Its hard to look at this empty tank and not want to fill it up. but I figure the more patient I am and take the time to do it right, the better results ill end up with but man its hard...

Thanks for being patient with me and all my questions. Im pretty sure im buggin everybody, but hey more knowledge is a good thing! :D

michigan Reefers has been a treasure trove of info too.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

The black clowns are very cool. I will be adding a pair to my 90 after I get that Maroon out. Hes one mean MFER! Other than that If they are in fact breading you would have to ahve a major breeding rig to successfully raise them.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

You're not bugging anyone at all. Not by any means. :)
Thank YOU for allowing everyone to help. That's what this thread is for. :tu
I'm excited to see how everything goes. Keep us posted and keep the pictures coming!!!

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Hey Steve, when do we get some pics? :D
I should say thanks for costing me money. Now I have to get a refractometer and I don't even know what one is. :r
On my way to ebay right now...

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Here is a growth shot of my maroon clown over 5 months.

5 months ago
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...0/DSC_0347.jpg


NOW
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...DSC_0031-3.jpg

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I agree the corals will do much better with the higher salinity.

Flipside on high salinity is the impact to the fish.
Not many know that fish, although they live in salt water, have their system designed to filter out the salt water via their organs and their slime coat, in essence processing final water as non salt water or very limited salt water.
The higher the salinity, the tougher it is for them to combat parasites and diseases.
Also, parasites thrive on higher salinity so pests lik ick, flukes and other nasty ones will be tough to combat (folks - always use a hospital tank and quarantine and you minimize concerns).

I actually experimented on low salinity and while the corals didn't do well, the fish only system that was maintained at 1.12 for 12 months did quite well. In fact, they lived quite care free as they seemed less "stressed" for a better word. I now keep my fish only system pictured in this thread at 1.016-1.019 on average (when I remember to take a reading). Wouldn't do that for a reef system though.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

A few months ago I had a power failure which caused a crash due to high nitrates. I lost my shrimp and two fish. I did an emergency water change but the salinity ended up much lower because the indicator in my floating hygrometer had slipped, causing bad readings. The remaining fish recovered quickly. The coral got stressed but are doing all right now. I keep the tank at 1.023. You can check your hygrometer quickly using pure water = 1.000.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Short term power failures generally can be survived well via air stones.
Use many of them, not just one.
Oxygen, or better yet the lack thereof, is the biggest killer, not the chemistry.
In Florida, that is a regular occurrence for us.
I now have a generator that is dedicated to my tank and my tank only.

Something I learned that worked well prior to having the generator is the "manual" filtration method. You basically manually circulate water from the tank, via the filtration system. I would pull water from the wet dry sump and dump back it in the tank, causing water from the tank to flow back down to the wet dry, where the bacteria was, mainly to keep that bacteria from crashing. When power was restored, the tank would clear up within hours.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

The power went out in the middle of the night. It could have been the O2 levels but only the shrimp and two small fish died and the big tang was stunned but recovered quickly. The clowns and damsels were unaffected. I have a whole house generator but it needs to be manually switched over and started. Our power can be out for days here, too. I have bought an automatic backup generator but a major rewiring has to be done to hook it up. $$$

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

You can do it all for $10 each.
Buy yourself the battery operated air pumps that have a plug into the AC. You turn them on and as long as they sense power, they don't work. The second the power goes out, they turn on.
I keep them in my tank at all times.

Here is the info:
Penn-Plax
Silent-Air
B11

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I think they are cool also but he is the terrorist in my tank whenever I put my hands in there.


http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...o/DSC_0025.jpg[/quote]

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I used to have one too. Unfortunately When my small tank crashed I lost my mated pair. It was a black occy and a normal occy. RIP little guys.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...0/DSC_0367.jpg

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Just make sure the refractometer is calibrated also. Some calibrate with RO water (should read 0) or you can calibrate with NaCl solution that is 35%.

Pictures will come in due time. I miss my sps and am switching my 50 back to sps. I guess I should take pics of the way it is now:rolleyes:

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Wow!
Your pair looks just like mine.
My other one is a standard clown.

Here she is.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...o/DSC_0033.jpg

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I have an RO unit and a tester for the RO water, so that'd be good.
Yes, you should take pics. Now. :D

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Good info, thanks.:tu I've never heard of these. Either way, O2 or nitrates, these will help.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

The nitrates will go up as waste produces and no method to eliminate it (no power to run filtration) but in a reef, with live sand and rock, that should really help dramatically in buying you time as it is a self sustained system for the most part. Oxygen would be the biggest concern and something rapidly depleted, which causes death, which in turn then raises your amonia, then nitrites and nitrates. I have experimented and found that high nitrates won't affect your fish. They can tolerate that. However, will impact the corals. Amonia and Nitrites? Different all together and definitely will impact everything in the system, including the fish.

In the future, I genuinely would recommend you do constant water changes in between it that persists as a problem to reduce build up until the power returns.

In addition to the B-11 pumps, you can also put a siren/alarm that chimes when power goes out to wake you up.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Just returned from Tampa with a new critter.

First person to guess it gets a 5er.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Shark.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

lobster?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Cleaner shrimp?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I did a little browsing in this thread you you guys have some amazing tanks and fish. One of my dreams was to have a salt-water wall tank seperating two rooms.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

My neighbor, who I got most of my reef stuff from, built part of his house to hold a 3000 gallon tank separating two rooms. He sold the house before he ever built that so it was turned into an entertainment center. You would have needed scuba gear to clean it.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Nope Nope and Nope. It is a fish. Crustaceans wouldn't last a day with my eel.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

How about a hint.
Price range?
I am betting on a wrasse.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Cuda?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

That's always been a dream of mine, to have a huge reef tank. Either long separating rooms or the large column tanks that you can walk around. Go powerball!

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

purple tang

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I always think of Lethal Weapon II when I see a large tank.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

None right so far.

price range $49-$69 & not part of the Tang family.

My kole tang is being very territorial twards it though.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Flame Angel.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Pm me your addy please Carlos :-D you have WON!

Any ideas what to do about my kole tang being a bully or will they all get along once boundries are set?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Ammonia 0.5
Nitrites 5
Nitrates 20:(
pH 8.4
Salinity 1.021


Water change?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Those nitrates aren't super high. I know of people who have run reef tanks with nitrates in the 60's. While not ideal, it can be done. You'll get both sides on water changes during the cycle. I wouldn't, let the cycle fully complete. If nitrates jump into the 40's then do water changes. Also, if you are going to raise the salinity now is the time to do it. That way there won't be any corals in there if you are making swings.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

got ya, this is still the cure tank, was waiting on levels. I am raising the salinity right now.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Guys, I ordered a battery air pump and shopped refractometers.
I found this one at ebay and was going to pull the trigger, but there were lots to choose from.
The one I picked ships from Hong Kong, but I'm in no big hurry. It looked like the nicest of all of them I looked at.
Let me know what you think, will ya?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Hey there Scott. I have that Exact same refractometer in your link and it works awesome! I am sure you will be pleased with it.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

It looks cranky, what is his name? Al?

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Don't worry about the prize. Pass it on to a newb on my behalf. I had an unfair advantage once you gave me the price range and knew it wasn't a tang or a wrasse. I kept in mind you have a reef and that limits the fish vastly. If you would have said the $20-30 range, I would have gone with a Coral Beauty as I had already figured it to be an Angel.

There is a trick I always used that worked very well for my customers and for me when I acclimated fish and the other tank mates were aggressive towards it. Can you catch either of them?
If you can, get a plastic 1/2 gallon container at Walmart, with a lid, sort of like a juice container with a somewhat wide opening. Drill holes all over it to allow water flow. Stick the aggressor in there as he is the most acclimated and hardiest at this point. Place him behind a rock or around a rock so he can feel some comfort. Leave him there for a day or two. He will be the most docile pup ever when he gets out. That will have given the flame ample opportunity to get around the tank, find a home and let the tang see him and not be able to bully him.
In the future, if you can't catch the bully, place the new on in the container and place him against a rock for comfort. All others will come around the container and try to rough it up. In time (a day or so, or more if needed), they will get use to the new fish and leave it alone. You can then release with no problems.
Some may say this stresses the fish. I say it stresses them more to be roughed up and chased all over a new environment.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I would pay a bit more and go to Drs. Foster and Smith.
Any issues, quick return and shipment to you is quite fast.
You don't know what you are going to get from Hong Kong.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

BTW,
Trick to catching a fish in a reef.

Go to Home Depot and buy a large piece of plexiglass that is tall enough to stick outside of your tank for you to grasp onto it.
Get it wide enough to cover at least 1/3 of the tank going across the front.
Either clamp it to the side wall of the tank or hold it with your hands and try to stay away so the fish don't get scared.
You place it in front of the rocks, leaving ample room between it and the front panel of the tank, creating an area, with the reef closed off/partioned behind it.
Wait a bit for the tank to settle and all to get use to it.
Best to not have fed for a day but go ahead and feed them, letting the food concentrate and stay in that area created by the plexiglass.
Best to drop it right down the front corner of the tank.
They will go in there as they are dumb and hungry.
If a tang, even easier as you just clip some veggie onto the glass and they will go nuts for it.
When the one you want is in there, even if others are in there too, close off the part of the panel that is in the middle of the tank towards the front wall, creating a triangle housing your fish.
Grab a net with the other hand and scoop him out.
Works like a charm as long as they are hungry.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I doubt I will be able to catch either of them. On a good note. The Angel is poking in and out of rocks this morning. Looks happy and healthy. I have had this problem before with a kole tang and they are supposed to be the most peaceful (hah).

I will pass your winnings on to the troops. Thanks for playing. Next contest you cant play :-P

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Note what I just posted on catching them in a reef.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

So noted. From what I can tell The tang was just establishing its territory. They seem OK now but maybe its just the angel Is smaller and faster. Oh well. I should have pictures tonight. I gave them lights out early to calm everyone down.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I guess I'm used to seeing undetectable. These numbers look off the chart to me. Probably good, though, for a curing tank. I would freak out if I saw any nitrite or ammonia in my tanks.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Everything is going to be way off in that curing tank.
Evidence of that is the Amonia and Nitrites both showing significant numbers.
You should see Amonia spike, then go down as Nitrites spike, then go down as Nitrates build.
Once established, I always say to throw the kits away as they will just serve to drive you nuts.
I always told my customers to disregard readings after that and only concern themselves with Nitrates, which can be addressed via a good denitrator or best yet with regular water changes.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

What are "denitrators"? I use algae removal from the refugium, I think. Does the skimmer remove nitrates? I know they get metabolized into plants. I never have seen significant (or even barely detectable) levels in my tanks unless something bad happens.