Buffy's 1st Ever SW Build - Reef Tank

[Buffy]

Small feather sisters?

Let me look that up and see if it looks like it.


Can't tell. I'll see if I can get a picture in a bit. Thanks

 

[jsmith]

Let me look that up and see if it looks like it.

Can't tell. I'll see if I can get a picture in a bit. Thanks

Haha sisters I ment dusters .. darn smart phone.

 

[Buffy]

Haha sisters I ment dusters .. darn smart phone.

I figured that out lol, but I can't find anything to match up.

 

[Buffy]

Ok I really want to get this rock done. But I don't know how much force fishies and burrows use? My force test ALWAYS knocks it down. Just watched a clown knock a coral off a shelf. One...I know I'm testing it too hard......Two.....need an example please, I don't know strong all these guys are.

Thanks

 

[jsmith]

Ok I really want to get this rock done. But I don't know how much force fishies and burrows use? My force test ALWAYS knocks it down. Just watched a clown knock a coral off a shelf. One...I know I'm testing it too hard......Two.....need an example please, I don't know strong all these guys are.

Thanks

Hun all I do.. is wiggle it.. if I can move it with a rush of water then it's to unstable...

 

[Grizz]

Thats all i do is the wiggle test if it rocks (hehe) then i keep turning it till it's stable.
Id just stack them and not worry untill i seen a tiny little building permit in the corner of the tank

 

[jsmith]

Yea don't beat yourself up if you like the placement of a certain rock but there is to much wiggle room use that rubble to prop it up..

 

[Buffy]

Thanks guys , still doing alot of wiggling. I'll get there. I may just be wiggling too hard LOL

Awe man I don't have a building permit. Wait does a mortgage count? LOL

 

[Buffy]

I've come to the conclusion that I can not use my Emperor 400 without a cover on my tank. There's water everywhere. I can't use the glass lids cause of the light.

I had planned on covering the tank with something eventually so fish wouldn't jump but I need to do something so the water quits jumping too. I don't want to have to redo when I get fish, but I want to make sure I don't block light either, umm or get electrocuted because the outlet is not far (my extension is GFCI but not the outlet).


Any ideas so I can still use the Emperor 400?

 

[huma-huma]

feather dusters

they will come and go..i personally like them

 

[Buffy]

feather dusters

they will come and go..i personally like them

Nope, not that. I'm going to look into hair algae or something. Haven't had any lights on but when I turned off the flow, I couldn't find the things, but I could see little fuzzy things sprouting up. I brushed one with my finger and it just stayed. Thought maybe it/they were debris, but they don't brush off with a finger anyway.

Do bristle fish bite or sting? Or star fish? I have at least two black bristle fish and one little star fish on the glass at water level.

 

[Mike-words]

Why can you use a glass top with your lights their t5s arnt they

 

[Buffy]

Why can you use a glass top with your lights their t5s arnt they

Yes, but I thought it didn't allow the light through completely and also blocked gas exchange.

 

[Grizz]

Is the E 400 splashing? raise the water level so the out flow of the filter sits just under water.
Dont stress the rock it cant fall to far if it does it wont crush any fish they get out of the way

 

[jsmith]

Nope, not that. I'm going to look into hair algae or something. Haven't had any lights on but when I turned off the flow, I couldn't find the things, but I could see little fuzzy things sprouting up. I brushed one with my finger and it just stayed. Thought maybe it/they were debris, but they don't brush off with a finger anyway.

Do bristle fish bite or sting? Or star fish? I have at least two black bristle fish and one little star fish on the glass at water level.

The bristle worms do.. I've read its alittle worse then a bee sting..

 

[Buffy]

@Grizz, yeah I forgot about water level. It is lower than should be cause I haven't topped off, was easier to work with rock. I put lid on that side while I work on other side. I went through ALL 82 pages of tank shots last night to get ideas. WOW most of those pictures are pretty old. Wish people would post recent ones.

@Jsmith - Well I didn't touch it that I could remember last night as I was just moving rock.

I think I decided to forget about caves and tunnels til I get better and this and decided that I'm going to just pile it in. I was trying to keep it away from the sides but I'm gonna use the sides too.

Oh and the growing stuff is starting to look more like a cluster of feather dusters. I finally was able to see the "root" and stuff. Looks like the one huma huma posted but alot smaller and real real dark in color, or should I say without color.

Besides I have a "few" more tanks that I'll get practice with eventually too.

 

[huma-huma]

i run glass tops on my 125 without any foul affects... granted it can trap heat and block light... but the light lost is a small fraction...not really even much i believe its somewhere between 5-10%. the only downside to my glass tops...i have to remove them when doing pwc's ( well 1 of 3 atleast) but thats not even a pain. i cant justify spending the kind of money on these fish that i do without having an assurance that they arent gonna go flying...

 

[Gregcoyote]

It won't keep water from splashing, but Smith and Foster makes a clear poly net material that passes light with almost zero loss and will catch most fish. $3 to cover the tank, you need to make a frame from something plastic to hold it.

 

[Buffy]

i run glass tops on my 125 without any foul affects... granted it can trap heat and block light... but the light lost is a small fraction...not really even much i believe its somewhere between 5-10%. the only downside to my glass tops...i have to remove them when doing pwc's ( well 1 of 3 atleast) but thats not even a pain. i cant justify spending the kind of money on these fish that i do without having an assurance that they arent gonna go flying...

The glass tops I have, had a removable plastic piece on the backside so that you can have hob's and such. So where there is not a hob or anything leaves room for fishie to jumpie still.

I'll figure something out, for now I'm using the glass since I don't have fish jumping.

@Gregcoyote - Thanks, I saw something someone made out of eggcrate and pvc leaving the center open here on the forums. I'm gonna try to find that again.

 

[Buffy]

Poly Filter

I bought some Poly Filter from the fabric store today.

1. Where should I put it? In the emperor 400 or Fluval 405 or both? And where in those does it go?

2. Rubble rock in emperor 400 where? Filter on one side and rock on the other or both on both sides.

3. Rubble rock in Fluval....which part? Do I leave filter that came with it?

I don't quite understand yet the materials used for filteration and I don't understand the order in which they go. I know there's a reason for the order but don't understand that either.

Any one care to elaborate on these? Thanks