Smaller place, bigger tank...my 200DD build
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- Thread starter EricB
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EricB
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It's been a while since updating this thread...life kinda showed up and the tank went on the back-burner. I was pretty close to selling it or just breaking it down but it would have been such a PITA to move it, plus I've been in the hobby long enough to know that I would regret it and wouldn't be able to go long without a tank.
I was fighting GHA and dino's for a while. I was using Algaefix by API and it was doing a number on the GHA without any adverse reaction on the rest of the tank. If I ever encounter GHA again, there's no question how I'll go about dealing with it. The dinos were another story. I tried H2O2 and a reduced lighting schedule with no results. They started choking-out the 20 sps frags I got. Around this time the anthias started dropping off one at a time in QT. I turned off the lights for a few weeks and contemplated a break from the hobby.
A couple weeks ago I decided to turn the lights back on and see what was going on in the tank. Surprisingly, even after 2-3 weeks of no lights, some of the SPS still had life to them. A few frags were a long-shot, but some were actually in pretty decent shape, considering. After a week or so of a normal lighting schedule the dino's had not returned so I figured it was time to make some progress. I did a water change and some other maintenance, placed the remaining frags in the rockwork and took the frag rack out of the tank.
Yesterday I picked up a flame angel, midas blenny, and firefish...they are in QT working their way to hypo now. I also picked up 4 sps frags and a zoa frag, and a brittle star. Since all of my macro died during the lights-out I also got a small ball of chaeto. It's nice to have the a renewed interest in the tank. I'm going to focus on getting inverts while these fish are in hypo. I'm thinkin the next round of fish will include a PBT, mandarin, and clown goby. While that round of fish is in hypo I want to upgrade the lighting on the BioCube QT, that way if something should happen to the DT that requires a lights-out period again, I can save the corals.
I was fighting GHA and dino's for a while. I was using Algaefix by API and it was doing a number on the GHA without any adverse reaction on the rest of the tank. If I ever encounter GHA again, there's no question how I'll go about dealing with it. The dinos were another story. I tried H2O2 and a reduced lighting schedule with no results. They started choking-out the 20 sps frags I got. Around this time the anthias started dropping off one at a time in QT. I turned off the lights for a few weeks and contemplated a break from the hobby.
A couple weeks ago I decided to turn the lights back on and see what was going on in the tank. Surprisingly, even after 2-3 weeks of no lights, some of the SPS still had life to them. A few frags were a long-shot, but some were actually in pretty decent shape, considering. After a week or so of a normal lighting schedule the dino's had not returned so I figured it was time to make some progress. I did a water change and some other maintenance, placed the remaining frags in the rockwork and took the frag rack out of the tank.
Yesterday I picked up a flame angel, midas blenny, and firefish...they are in QT working their way to hypo now. I also picked up 4 sps frags and a zoa frag, and a brittle star. Since all of my macro died during the lights-out I also got a small ball of chaeto. It's nice to have the a renewed interest in the tank. I'm going to focus on getting inverts while these fish are in hypo. I'm thinkin the next round of fish will include a PBT, mandarin, and clown goby. While that round of fish is in hypo I want to upgrade the lighting on the BioCube QT, that way if something should happen to the DT that requires a lights-out period again, I can save the corals.
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EricB
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Just ordered:
2 porcelain crabs
10 coralline encrusted margarita snails (would really like to see coralline growing in the tank)
10 peppermint shrimp
1 Mexican turbo snail
20 nassarius snails
4 cleaner shrimp
2 porcelain crabs
10 coralline encrusted margarita snails (would really like to see coralline growing in the tank)
10 peppermint shrimp
1 Mexican turbo snail
20 nassarius snails
4 cleaner shrimp
KoleTang
Valuable Member
Copy the "IMG" or "IMG Thumb" link on the right side.
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EricB
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I took those pictures pretty hastily because I've been having issues with Photobucket and didn't really expect to be able to upload them.
The invert order is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. I'm thinkin I might head out to one of my LFS's and pick up 5 more frags on Friday and bang-out some more maintenance over the weekend.
The invert order is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. I'm thinkin I might head out to one of my LFS's and pick up 5 more frags on Friday and bang-out some more maintenance over the weekend.
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EricB
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Currently in QT:
1- 5" Naso tang
1- 4" PBT
1- Flame angel
1-midas blenny
1-firefish
5-lyretail anthias
It's a heavy bioload for a hypo QT, but I do 5 gallon water changes on it every morning. There are still signs of ich, not surprisingly on the PBT, so the countdown hasn't started yet. I'm hoping hypo will be done in 5 weeks because I'm leaving for Bermuda.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to get the QD drivers for my VorTechs and use them in conjunction with the Gyre.
1- 5" Naso tang
1- 4" PBT
1- Flame angel
1-midas blenny
1-firefish
5-lyretail anthias
It's a heavy bioload for a hypo QT, but I do 5 gallon water changes on it every morning. There are still signs of ich, not surprisingly on the PBT, so the countdown hasn't started yet. I'm hoping hypo will be done in 5 weeks because I'm leaving for Bermuda.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to get the QD drivers for my VorTechs and use them in conjunction with the Gyre.
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EricB
Active Member
Wowza, I haven't updated this thread in a long time...
I nearly sold the tank. I battled long and hard against dino's on a daily basis for months and finally the tank is dino-free. I siphoned off the rocks every day, quit doing water changes, changed salts when I resumed water changes, raised the pH, black-out after black-out with increasing durations, etc.. I recently switched from using a Kati/Ani to a Water Saver RODI and changed my water storage containers...
...haven't seen any type of bloom since I made those changes. Yesterday I also added my two VorTech MP40wES to the system to supplement the flow from the Gyre. The tank is finally seeing progress for now.
I had a bunch of fish in QT, all of which died except the PBT that is STILL in there. I had a heater malfunction and the temp approached 100*F and really injured the fish...
...it's looking much better now and will see the DT in about two weeks.
For now, I'm going to let the DT rest and continue to do water changes. After the PBT goes into the DT I think I'll add a flame angel and midas blenny but I'm not going to make the mistake of adding too many fish to the QT again. I was doing daily 5g water changes and that got old, fast.
I nearly sold the tank. I battled long and hard against dino's on a daily basis for months and finally the tank is dino-free. I siphoned off the rocks every day, quit doing water changes, changed salts when I resumed water changes, raised the pH, black-out after black-out with increasing durations, etc.. I recently switched from using a Kati/Ani to a Water Saver RODI and changed my water storage containers...
...haven't seen any type of bloom since I made those changes. Yesterday I also added my two VorTech MP40wES to the system to supplement the flow from the Gyre. The tank is finally seeing progress for now.
I had a bunch of fish in QT, all of which died except the PBT that is STILL in there. I had a heater malfunction and the temp approached 100*F and really injured the fish...
...it's looking much better now and will see the DT in about two weeks.
For now, I'm going to let the DT rest and continue to do water changes. After the PBT goes into the DT I think I'll add a flame angel and midas blenny but I'm not going to make the mistake of adding too many fish to the QT again. I was doing daily 5g water changes and that got old, fast.
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EricB
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With the MP40's I reduced it to a little over 50%. Before I put the VorTechs back on it was around 75%. Any more than that and it gets a little too noisy for my system, which runs very quiet.
Bigfish93
Active Member
Great setup! Question for you...do you have any problems with your beananimal siphon when the pump is turned off and then back on? How deep does your siphon tube go into the water? I'm having some trouble with my setup starting once the pump as been turned off. Any similar issues? Thanks for the help!
