Sniperhank's UPGRADED 55 gal Build

[KeithFrancis]

Misunderstood me I think it's a brilliant idea! My Lfs told me to use an elastic,but I could never keep it from coming apart..will be putting a strainer in tonight

[Keithhjs]

Belated Happy Birthday to a fellow Aquarius!

[Sniperhank]

Thanks Keith. I really wish I could get a good shot of the new maxima. I just can't get the colors to come out and haven't had a chance to break out the DSLR. The fiancee will be gone for the whole weekend so hopefully I don't get too distracted by the time to myself to forget about wanting to do it. It is a beautiful clam and it has me paranoid/hyper vigilant as I don't want it to die off. It has good growth on the shell, where my derasa is also showing growth...but the small b/w maxima I just don't see the growth. These small clams boggle my mind, and it better not be on its way out. No signs other than that, just don't know if I'm missing the growth or what. I just want a massive b/w clam dang it. Oh if I could only be calm and collected when it comes to my clams...or when I notice something 'wrong' in general.
It brings up an interesting point though. With having enough in the water column to keep a coco worm alive for over a year, it is curious as to what a small clam is lacking in my system.

[Sniperhank]

Quick update on things, as I tend to get caught up in doing other things and forget to talk about them. The caulerpa overall has me nervous. I'm checking it several times a day afraid that it will go sexual and dump nutrients into my tank. In terms of piece of mind and this being relaxing has been ruined. Regretting this stuff and wishing I had some cheato or something else, though wasn't available or even offered. I'm sure things will be fine, but still nervous about it.

[dingusplease]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

So...what does ammonia turning blue mean...

... you have negative ammonia!


Lol just kidding, are you sure the ammo test tube was completely clean? Same thing happened to me once when there was a little bit of dried test solution (from a different test) left over after rinsing.

[dingusplease]

Lol I'm sorry I didn't realize this thread was so old I accidentally jumped to the first page :embarrassed:

[Sniperhank]

Originally Posted by dingusplease

... you have negative ammonia!


Lol just kidding, are you sure the ammo test tube was completely clean? Same thing happened to me once when there was a little bit of dried test solution (from a different test) left over after rinsing.

Bringing a real oldie back from the dead with that one. In this case, it was from an accidental overdose on the tank with ammonia. Either way, don't worry about bringing this relic back. It is a great examples of us all making mistakes. This thread is filled with them, and the tank is still in good order.

[kdpuffer]

I'd hook you up with some chaeto but I'm up in Canada, you would get a package of frozen food.

[Sniperhank]

I know right? With how the weather is here right now there isn't anything coming in, period. Pet stores have very light live stock because flights are being delayed and no one, atleast in their right mind, are ordering things that will just arrive dead. We'll see how things warm up and improve.

[Sniperhank]

Any thoughts on what brand of salt to use next? Reef crystals, kent, and Red Sea pro down.

[bribo12]

How about aquavitro salinity? I've always heard good things about it.

[Sniperhank]

Only heard bits and pieces about it. Maybe, if it's on dr foster and smith for a good price.

[bribo12]

It does seem quite expensive lol

[Sniperhank]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of expensive. If you could see how slapped together this system really is, you would be in awe lol.

Speaking of redneck reefing, thoughts on keeping cheato in along side with my caulerpa. I need to order some pods and R2G has a pods/cheato deal. I'd get what I want and some extra, but am overall unsure.

[kdpuffer]

I don't think there would be an issue with having both macros in there.

[Sniperhank]

Done, cheato and pods ordered. That in tandem with the padina and the red macro that grow in my display I would think things are squared away.

Also, passed up a rose urchin that I stumbled upon. Considered reef safe, but lets be honest urchins knock stuff over constantly. And this guy was really big. Last thing I need would be the whole birds nest colony coming down on half the tank. And when I get home, ironically, one of the birds nest frags is down in the hammer coral.

[Keithhjs]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Only heard bits and pieces about it. Maybe, if it's on dr foster and smith for a good price.

It's pricey but IMHO good. I run all my tanks on it. At home and the store. It's what I also sell premixed instead of filtered ocean water. Almost got the SW storage tank with recirculation pump finished. Only another day or so & the RODI storage tank has a full friend lol.

[Sniperhank]

I'll keep it in mind. Since the cyano just isn't going away, I'm having flashbacks to reading about this issue some have had with Red Sea salt. I find it hard to believe, but I'll find out I guess. Hope it isn't true because I really liked Red Sea pro.

[Sniperhank]

Ok, so in the middle of water changes when it dawns on me...I haven't been updating any photos of everything going on and I've been promising to do so! Turns out that ~3pm is the 'magic time' to just point and shoot pictures of my tank. Ignore some of the uncleaned glass, like I said we're in the middle of water changes.
Also, here was a nice quick read on protein skimming that popped up on facebook today. What is a Protein Skimmer and How Does It Work? - REEF2REEF
New Maxima




The mother bird's nest...the bottom shows you its original size...

[Sniperhank]

And full tank shot