Eric's 90 upgrade

[erichm20]

Not too much new going on withe the tank. I replaced the sediment and DI resin filters and have the intake now coming from the city water instead of well.

I added a purple tilefish and he is doing awesome! I waited two weeks before taking him from the store to be sure he was eating.

I thought I had a pic of it and I guess I deleted it. I would take one now but I'm down in the keys for a few days!






Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

Well the keys trip was awesome! Went snorkeling and saw schools of Atlantic blue tang and a huge 2 ft long puffer fish I wish I had a camera he was cool. We also went fishing but didn't have much luck offshore. I caught a few mangrove and lane snapper at the dock though.

I got a pic of the new purple tilefish.



I rescaled a little too and took out a rock covered in plain green palys. Here's a new fts



You can see where the rock used to be by the left side of the overflow, there are some of the palys growing up it. Speaking of nuisance palys- is there a safe way to get rid of them? They are taking over some of the much more colorful zoas. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

Well As I assumed the green palys have continued to spread like some pesky weed but there is hope! As I was nuking some aptasia with boiling lemon juice I decided to try it on a paly that is growing on top of a favia and it worked! Now, it still oozed so I don't want to do too many at a time but I am stoked to know I can do something. Other than that nothing too crazy to report with the tank- lost a couple acans and have some stn on a chalice but the rest of the coral is growing out nice!












Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[dpruter]

Your corals and tank look great!

 

[erichm20]

Thanks!


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[nanoreefz]

Looking really great Eric!!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

Thank you!


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Jaketit]

That's a lot of pallys.

 

[erichm20]

Yea you want some? So the lemon juice doesn't work as good as I originally thought. I did another "treatment" and this time they came back after a week... Or new ones replaced the dead ones... ?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

Well I have come to realize my six line wrasse has died. My favorite fish and was over 2 years in my tanks. He was so vain- would go up to the glass and move his head from side to side slowly I'm convinced checking himself out. But his feature trick was this flip move he would do- literally a backflip which after research I found was most likely a show of dominance. I filmed it once and even started a thread because I was worried he was dying. Sadly I can't seem to find the video since it was on an old phone of mine. Rip James Bond!!


On a positive I will def be attempting another mandarin, a challenge for me in the past no doubt be of the wrasse's insatiable appetite for pods. I would also like to get another reef safe wrasse but not sure if I should if I do get the mandarin for the reason stated above. Any suggestions?

Other than that the palys are striking hard and fast so I may try to get a fox face. I know he will eat the zoas as well (or nothing at all) but at this point I may just have to let them go for the sake of the tank. I know this is an irrational thought but man, at this rate I will only have green palys in a year.

The other thought I had is a complete tank re rock scape. This would allow me to remove or flip over lower rocks that only have palys, and just remove other rocks that have no coral on them because I have felt the tank too crowded for a long time.




Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

So I was just messing around with the tank and doing routine maintenance when I see a flash of movement in the sump. So I sit and just look for a few minutes just staring in the refugium section and don't see anything. I decide to drop a few pellets in and a couple seconds later out comes the wrasse from under a rock! He lives! I couldn't believe it I called the kids and wife over to see. Crazy, he must have gotten into the overflow and took the ride down the drain, past the skimmer and through the baffles and bam! Pod paradise haha. He actually looks a little fatter after being down there for a month but he gobbled the pellets up. He's still down there for now since I'll need to remove all the rocks, egg crate, and skimmer to get him but it won't be too difficult since it's only a 10 gallon area he's in.

I did pick up a diamond goby, royal gramma, and a green and orange meteor shower and a pink panther chalice for $5 each. I'll post picks soon.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Sniperhank]

Someone is having a good day. Great to hear you found the little guy.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[54seaweed]

when something goes missing the first place I look is the sump lol
glad you found him

 

[erichm20]

Thanks! I got a pic of him down there.




He was a pain to get out of there, kept swimming back through the baffles and he is FAST!

So I figured out what to do about the "paly problem "- upgrade! I found a sweet deal for a 150 here in town. I'm going to check it out on Saturday. I plan to use the old 75 as the sump.

I hope it's in good shape because the price is super cheap in fact I'm fairly certain I'll be able to sell the current setup for more.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Cichlid-dude]

Great idea! An upgrade is always a great thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

Well it's official, I now own a 240!! Beautiful solid teak stand and hood, with a plethora of extras: metal halide with cfl combo light plus another 4 ft cfl light which can both be sold with the 90 and 75. A sump that is at least 50 gallons, a very large skimmer, mag 12, several powerheads, a chiller, 5 stage rodi system, ato.... I just picked everything up so I still have to sort through it all.









Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Cichlid-dude]

Awesome man. Can't wait to see that beauty filled up and full of fish and corals!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Cichlid-dude]

What are the dimensions of this tank bud? 6footer?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

Yea 6' x 2' x 31" h. I'm thinking I might re seal it. The tank looks great, barely any scratches that I can see, but some of the corner seams look whiter than I would like.

I also am re doing all of the plumbing, and need to retrofit the hood for the led panels. Going to be a slow build for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[erichm20]

There is a lot of confusion and mixed opinions regarding flow and plumbing. I came across this great article from advanced aquarist which covers the actual physics and dynamics of plumbing and flow rate. The best part is there is an excel calculator to accurately determine what the flow rate will be after accounting for pump chosen, pipe size, length of pipe, fittings, etc...

Feature Article: An Engineering View Of Aquarium Systems Design: Pumps And Plumbing — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

In the boxes of extra stuff this tank came with, I found 3 250 MH balasts and a few housings with very large bulbs. I am thinking of possibly using the 2 led panels and 1 MH pendant, maybe with the leds on the side and halide in the middle.

I received call form the place I bought the tank from and they told me there is another box of stuff I missed, so we'll see what else there is.