mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
yep. good idea.
tjm80's 75 gallon build thread
- Thread starter tjm80
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tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
My protein skimmer arrived today, but when I went to put it in the sump, I broke one of the baffles for the bubble trap. It was a 20 high, and I'd been wanting to redo my sump and get a 20 long instead. Perfect excuse!
Got the new sump put together, now just gotta wait until the silicone dries before the old one is replaced. But I went ahead and put the skimmer in the sump now to start breaking it in, surprisingly there are no microbubbles in my tank and it is already sucking brown goo out of the water. Pretty gross...
But as far as the first batch of DIY live rock? It crumbled like a cookie when I went to pull it out of the sand. I made another batch, and it's been drying since this afternoon.
On a side note, my brother in law is a plant manager at a concrete/cement company and I was asking him about the pH of the rock, and he said that I could put a cup to a cup and a half of orange juice in 5 gallons of water and it would help to lower the pH faster without making the cement weak. Anybody ever tried this?
One last question. My skunk cleaner shrimp molted, what should I do with the "shell"? Leave it for the CUC or remove it?
Got the new sump put together, now just gotta wait until the silicone dries before the old one is replaced. But I went ahead and put the skimmer in the sump now to start breaking it in, surprisingly there are no microbubbles in my tank and it is already sucking brown goo out of the water. Pretty gross...
But as far as the first batch of DIY live rock? It crumbled like a cookie when I went to pull it out of the sand. I made another batch, and it's been drying since this afternoon.
On a side note, my brother in law is a plant manager at a concrete/cement company and I was asking him about the pH of the rock, and he said that I could put a cup to a cup and a half of orange juice in 5 gallons of water and it would help to lower the pH faster without making the cement weak. Anybody ever tried this?
One last question. My skunk cleaner shrimp molted, what should I do with the "shell"? Leave it for the CUC or remove it?
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
what did you mix with the portland?
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
Crushed coral. But I went to my county co-op and bought a 50lb bag of crushed oyster shells to try out later. I may try mixing in a bit of sand for the next batch, if this crumbles.
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
i have heard the oyster shells are the popular choice. i guess they hold the rock together better. how fine are they crushed? i've never seen a bag of crushed oyster shells in person.
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
I haven't even opened the bag yet. Haha. I've been playing in the flower bed all day, and changing sumps.
I'll take a picture of it when I do my next batch. Last 2 have been drying for about 34 hours, may as well wait until tomorrow to take a look.
I'll take a picture of it when I do my next batch. Last 2 have been drying for about 34 hours, may as well wait until tomorrow to take a look.
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
The oyster shells definitely hold together better than the coral. The two on the left are oyster shells, and the two on the right were crushed coral. I ended up having to throw the bigger crushed coral rock away. It was still entirely too crumbly, and I don't want to risk it crumbling apart in the aquarium, with "uncured" faces freshly exposed.
Anyway, here are the pictures.
They are more porous than some of the live rock I've bought. When you pour water on them, it just trickles out from the bottom.
Anyway, here are the pictures.
They are more porous than some of the live rock I've bought. When you pour water on them, it just trickles out from the bottom.
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
so, they will have a lot of surface area, but not much in the way of anaerobic zones. i wonder if they will be as effective as ocean rock would.
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
Good point on the anerobic areas. Next batch I may do it in 2 steps. First step with either no salt, or table salt, and the outer portion I may use the rock salt for pores. I've been thinking about making some without any salt at all, just the portland cement, oyster shells, and water. Mixed to an oatmeal like consistency. That should leave me with a good amount of surface areas, as well as some anerobic areas, wouldn't you think?
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
It's been a while since my last update. And the tang police are going to get me!
Last week I got a yellow tang, but he's only about an inch and a half long, so I'm good to keep him for a while in my 75. My plan is to have a bigger tank by the time he outgrows this one.
I also got another yellow watchman goby, and a tiger pistol shrimp (the other one went MIA never to be seen again. About 99% sure the dog ate him when he made his leap of faith). Made sure the lid had no openings this time!
Lastly, a royal gramma. This should be it for the fish. So my list of livestock is:
2 Clowns (still not sure if they're ocellaris or percula)
1 Kole tang
1 Yellow tang
1 Royal gramma
1 Yellow watchman goby
1 Tiger pistol shrimp
1 Skunk cleaner shrimp
Small colony of zoanthids
Everyone seems to be getting along pretty well, the baby yellow tang has been following the Kole around for a few days, and unless he tries to go into the Kole's "bedroom" there isn't any aggression shown at all. His "bedroom" is under a ledge of LR. He's constantly going under there and fanning sand out. Nobody told me that a kole tang was a burrowing fish! lol
Last week I got a yellow tang, but he's only about an inch and a half long, so I'm good to keep him for a while in my 75. My plan is to have a bigger tank by the time he outgrows this one.
I also got another yellow watchman goby, and a tiger pistol shrimp (the other one went MIA never to be seen again. About 99% sure the dog ate him when he made his leap of faith). Made sure the lid had no openings this time!
Lastly, a royal gramma. This should be it for the fish. So my list of livestock is:
2 Clowns (still not sure if they're ocellaris or percula)
1 Kole tang
1 Yellow tang
1 Royal gramma
1 Yellow watchman goby
1 Tiger pistol shrimp
1 Skunk cleaner shrimp
Small colony of zoanthids
Everyone seems to be getting along pretty well, the baby yellow tang has been following the Kole around for a few days, and unless he tries to go into the Kole's "bedroom" there isn't any aggression shown at all. His "bedroom" is under a ledge of LR. He's constantly going under there and fanning sand out. Nobody told me that a kole tang was a burrowing fish! lol
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
how about some pics?
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
I will get some pics as soon as possible. I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately, and returned to work today. I'll take some pics if I go home for lunch!
kurtyboh
Aquarium Advice Addict
How old are your clowns? Hopefully you'll be able to figure it out soon!
kurtyboh
kurtyboh
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
Not sure how old they are, but each is a little over an inch long. I'm pretty sure they are ocellaris.
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
Pictures, Finally!
You can barely see part of the pistol shrimp, but this is the shrimp and goby's home.
The yellow tang.
Royal Gramma - love the "scar" over their eyes.
Lastly, here are the zoas.
Those are my new additions... and here is a full shot of the tank! I also have a Koralia pump on the way, to help with circulation.
You can barely see part of the pistol shrimp, but this is the shrimp and goby's home.
The yellow tang.
Royal Gramma - love the "scar" over their eyes.
Lastly, here are the zoas.
Those are my new additions... and here is a full shot of the tank! I also have a Koralia pump on the way, to help with circulation.
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
So... spent the day with family yesterday and came home last night and saw white spots on the fins of the kole tang, yellow tang, and royal gramma. The clowns and the YWG don't appear to have any spots. All fish are behaving normal - no scratching, all are eating well, normal behavior. Well I got up today and checked on them, and they looked a lot better, thought maybe it was just sand or something, because it was mainly on the Kole.
I've been watching them all day, and no spots on the bodies at all, but just looked again, and the Kole has spots all over its body. They look kind of grayish, but I'm afraid it's ich. The only other tank I have available for a hospital tank is a 10 gallon, which is nowhere big enough to hold a YWG, 2 clowns, royal gramma, yellow and kole tangs.
I'll be going to PetSmart tomorrow I guess to get a better tank for the treatment. This sucks.
I've been watching them all day, and no spots on the bodies at all, but just looked again, and the Kole has spots all over its body. They look kind of grayish, but I'm afraid it's ich. The only other tank I have available for a hospital tank is a 10 gallon, which is nowhere big enough to hold a YWG, 2 clowns, royal gramma, yellow and kole tangs.
I'll be going to PetSmart tomorrow I guess to get a better tank for the treatment. This sucks.
tjm80
Aquarium Advice Freak
Does anyone know if I could move the corals to the 10 gallon, and do a hyposalinity treatment in the display tank?
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
the hypo treatment would probably kill the inverts.
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