The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

use aptasia X it makes the guys implode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo3DZ...eature=related

Lemon juice, vinegar, kalkwasser, calcium chloride, and almost anything else kills Aiptasia easily. Majano are tough and resilient. Youtube showed someone with a filefish the he says wiped out all his Majano. I think I will try this.

[shilala]

I have to move my tank to Ohio soon. In the middle of the winter, yet. I had thought about giving all my rock and stock to the kid who has a fish store a few miles from home, but when I went by the other day I saw he's closed down.
I guess I'll just haul a bunch of buckets and do the best I can. I'm not looking forward to it at all.

[shilala]

I got my 90 gallon all set up here in the office, It looks great.
I got some fish, crabs and snails, they're all doing great. I tested my water the other night and it's perfect.
I checked Craigslist and found a guy with some live rock that looks nice. I'm going to go see him and see how it looks. He also has a top skimming protein skimmer I'd like to have, because one of mine finally gave up the ghost.

I miraculously found a brand new Vortex Diatom XL at a fish store the other day. Paid almost 200 bucks for it, but my last one kept me in business for 20 years. 10 bucks a year for crystal clear water ain't a bad deal.
Turns out the factory burned down awhile back, which is why I've had such a hard time finding one. I was surprised how little the design has changed over the years. I suppose if it ain't broke, ya don't fix it.

If I get some new rock, I'll give it time to settle in. After that, I'm going to get rid of my old starfish, Patrick, and start growing corals. Turns out he's the culprit that ate all my frags last time. I just need to find someone who's willing to take him, then get to gathering. I've found tons of guys here in the Cleveland area that keep reefs, and tons of frags are available. I just want to have the tank slap full of rock before I get started.

Haven't gotten back to salt yet, but the wife and I did get a (basic) 55 last month and set it up for freshwater. She wants discus. Either way, it's good to at least have a toe in the water again.

[shilala]

We've been waiting for our pink spotted watchman goby to come out of hiding.
He did that this morning, he's the featured guest at a hermit crab party.
It's kind of comical. He's a four inch long dead fish with three big crabs hanging on his head. Those three hermits are about the size of jack balls, I didn't even think those little blue legged hermits got that big.
I'm gonna let them party a little bit and then get him out of there. Apparently the eyeballs are the best part. Blech.

[BeerAdvocate]

Originally Posted by shilala

We've been waiting for our pink spotted watchman goby to come out of hiding.
He did that this morning, he's the featured guest at a hermit crab party.
It's kind of comical. He's a four inch long dead fish with three big crabs hanging on his head. Those three hermits are about the size of jack balls, I didn't even think those little blue legged hermits got that big.
I'm gonna let them party a little bit and then get him out of there. Apparently the eyeballs are the best part. Blech.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

I'll text you a video that Lisa just sent to the kids. pm me your number.

I haven't has time to do major cleaning in my tank, so the Xenia and Rhodactis are dividing all over, the weedy Majano anemones are spreading, the faces of the tank have little windows cleaned through so I can see in and the fish are doing just great. When I get home I will have to take a picture so people can see how bad these tanks can get.

[shilala]

Well, another 400 bucks down the tube.
I got 50 pounds of live rock that turned out to easily be 100, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Completely full of life. It's covered with mushrooms and other nummies. I also got a bunch of great big corals, hammer, frogspawn, and a big tongue coral, among them. I don't know the rest of the names, but I'll post pics and ask later.
I also got two hydor koralia 1400 gph powerheads (there's 100 bucks right there, I paid 40).
I also got a yellow eyed tang who didn't make it. Suited us fine because we didn't like him. I also got two five gallon buckets full of sand that I desperately needed. It's slap full of big worms, copepods, shrimp and stuff.
I also got a bucket of reef additves and food. A gallon jug of calcium a and b buffer, some reef crystals, some frozen food, garlic extract, lugol's solution, essential elements, iodide, purpleup, strontium and molybdenum, probuffer, liquid calcium, seaweed and some clips.
It appears I am now officially in the coral killing business.
I'll post some pics when I get the rock and corals and powerheads all situated. Everything is in the tank and doing great, I just need to move stuff and get stung some more. (I can't find my neoprene diving gloves, or I'd go ahead and put them on and save some bleeding and burning.)

Originally Posted by shilala

It appears I am now officially in the coral killing business.

Welcome back.
All my fishies are doing great but my tank is getting filled with the strongest, toughest inverts. This seems to be a fight between the hairy Rhodactis, the Majano anemones, and the Xenia. There is this one pineapple coral that nothing can get close to which is slowly growing out over it's surroundings. I'll have to get some pictures the next time I'm home and clean the glass enough.

[fissure]

Sounds like some great deals Scott

I'm officially out of the hobby and saving at least $100 on electric/food/salt per month. I miss it a little bit, but not much. Now if I could just get rid of my last setup. Anyone looking for a corner pentagon tank with stand and canopy/lights

Originally Posted by fissure

Sounds like some great deals Scott

I'm officially out of the hobby and saving at least $100 on electric/food/salt per month. I miss it a little bit, but not much. Now if I could just get rid of my last setup. Anyone looking for a corner pentagon tank with stand and canopy/lights

This.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by fissure

Sounds like some great deals Scott

I'm officially out of the hobby and saving at least $100 on electric/food/salt per month. I miss it a little bit, but not much. Now if I could just get rid of my last setup. Anyone looking for a corner pentagon tank with stand and canopy/lights

Here's a pisser, Steve...
I moved this 90 gallon God-forsaken money-pit here from PA because Lisa insisted. I mentioned the other day that I had had a gutful since this last year's disasters (tanks breaking, floods, general misery). 15 years of this stuff has left me out of interest. Turns out she insisted because she thought I loved it.
So, here I am. I can't let it look like hell because I'm not built that way. So I'm going to continue by learning how to kill corals, and spend money at a ridiculously rapid pace.
Here's the thing, though...
There's a large group/organization here in Cleveland that does frag swaps, etc. It's a good base for me to learn from, something I never had before. So I'm going to see about joining, becoming active, making some friends locally, etc. That might salvage this sport for me.
Today's csualty is my chocolate star Patrick. He's outta here. He's the reason I failed my last coral adventure. I had no idea he was a coral eater, but now I know, so he's on Craigslist.

[shilala]

Okay, I joined the reef club. So far, I've met 3 of the members, great guys.
I have procured a bunch of live rock I needed to fill out my tank, and I got a few corals.
I got a bunch of powerheads, just picked up another Koralia 1400 today. I have a wavemaker in the mail.
One of the reef club guys came over and gave me a checklist of stuff to unscrewup in my tank and I've done most. I didn't fix a sand pile because he had me clean my skimmers and I cleaned them so good that they just won't make goo very good. The water is getting bad enough, so I'm not gonna make a bad thing worse.
I stopped feeding for now till the skimmers re-break-in. They should come around in the next day or two, we'll see.
I'm really getting a grip on how to get reef water right and keep it right. These are things I needed to learn. Now if I can apply that knowledge on down to my equipment, I'll be in real good shape. That won't take long at all.
Oh, I'm going to a Frag Swap in Cleveland on Saturday. I should be able to get some cool stuff there, I'm excited about that.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by shilala

I stopped feeding for now till the skimmers re-break-in. They should come around in the next day or two, we'll see.

Scott, I was wondering about your skimmer. Do you have a way to keep your water level constant?
i.e. a top-off system? Sump? Most skimmers are pretty reactive to water level changes.
Not sure what your setup currently is, but some skimmers are pretty picky

[shilala]

Originally Posted by OLS

Scott, I was wondering about your skimmer. Do you have a way to keep your water level constant?
i.e. a top-off system? Sump? Most skimmers are pretty reactive to water level changes.
Not sure what your setup currently is, but some skimmers are pretty picky

Brad, I have two otb skimmers. Each are rated over the tank size.
I noticed that when they are new, the acrylic is so frictional that it severely retards the whirlpool. As soon as an algae film grows on it in a few days, they kick in. In a few weeks, they work like madmen.
I screwed up. I should have never cleaned both at once. One was practically brand new and didn't need cleaned, as far as I was concerned. They were chugging out the junk every time I fed.
I had a kid come in and help me out, and I got nervous. He had great ideas and was a HUGE help, but he thought stuff out like kids do. In an effort to do honor and respect to the favor he bestowed upon me, I did a couple things that I knew I shouldn't have done in haste.
The one thing I haven't done is disrupted my sandbed and thinned it out as he suggested. I'm not doing that until the skimmers are 100%, my diatom filter is hooked up and running, I have 20 gallons of replacement water ready, and I've removed all my corals down by the bottom.

Oh, I have an otb filter that makes a crazy racket when the water level drops a quarter inch. The tank is right here in our office. If I don't hear it, Lisa points it out. It gets topped off by old Dad every couple days.
My skimmers aren't real sensitive to water level, either, being over-the-backs.

Well said, Scott.

[md4958]

Can I get the expert opinions on this tank

Its listed locally on Craigslist for $500

Originally Posted by md4958

Can I get the expert opinions on this tank

Its listed locally on Craigslist for $500

I like it. I would probably go with only the coarse filter or you will be cleaning it too often. My little tank in the bathroom has been working for maybe 12 years with less gear than that one has.

[Wolfgang]

The RSM is an awesome system. I dont remember what these cost new but $500 seems a bit high. I paid $800 fro my 90 gallon system. I would recommend getting your eyes on it lok everything over make sure the glass/acrylic isnt scratched. One of the biggest things ive seen with these all in one nano tanks is leaking around the bottom seam. This is what mine did.