Starting A Tank

[EDGRAY]

Tell me about it jesse i think that's my problem just like you said.... the bristle might be bodering my starbust so tomorrow (visit to all my LFS) im gona get some bristle worm tramps and also im thinking of braking apart that big piece of rock in frags...?? what do u think..

eddy :lol:

 

[reefman23]

Breaking up GSP wont hurt it at all. It may help you get to some of those bristles as well.

 

[EDGRAY]

yeah that sounds like an idea... but also i was refering on braking apart all that rock in frags just to have a different view but im still thinking about it ill give the wristle tramps a chance and then ill give my GSP 1 more week if he doesnt opens fully ill take him apart and see if i can get all the bristles i can and then i want to see if i can paste it to the back of my tank .... what glue should i use .. you know just to add it and then hold the coral against the back and then bualahhhh is pasted unlike crazy glue and others that i havent had luck using it ....

eddy. :cool1:

 

[Aquai]

Ok, so all is looking good, the "bristle worm" was bright red and orange and i also noticed some bristle stars (these aren't pests are they?)

Question about lights; How long should i have them on for? Reason i ask is because i have 32W of lighting ATM but when i have one of my 24W on for over say 3 hours it rises the temp abit so i was thinking of doing 3 hours of 24W blue and 8W red, 1 hour of no 24W but 8W red, 3 hours on of 24W white and 8W red, 1 hour off of 24W but 8W red reamin on, 3 hours on of 24W white and 8W red, 1 hour off of 24W but 8W red still on and then finally 3 hours of 24W blue which leaves about 7 hours of no lights (does this sound about right?)

 

[reefman23]

Auai,

The brittle stars are great little scavengers...leave them in there.

Generally, lighting is on a 12 hour cylce..12 hrs on, 12hrs off. What do you mean "red lighting"? I wouldnt play with the lighting that much... the temp will rise, but as long as it isnt fluctuating more than 2 or 3 degrees, you are fine.

Eddie,

Try the hypersalinity dip as mentioned in another recent post...this should get them out of the rock so they can be manually removed.

Jesse

 

[skipm]

Going back a bit, the yellow rose gobie is not a sand sifter but it is one of the shrimp gobies that pairs up well with a randalls pistol shrimp (alpheus randalli, this also stays small at just over an inch).
You also want to avoid red lighting, red light is what nuisance algaes use and they will use it to get a real good hold on your tank. You only want white light 6,700k-10,000k that is supplemented with actinic lighting. There is far less light in the red spectrum with these bulbs.

 

[Aquai]

Red enhancing light (it's an Aqua-Glo which is in the 18000K range - it's from my tropicals) i spose i could switch this for a marine glow...

12 hour cycle ey... Hmmm, i'm wondering if i could do 3 hours of 24W blue either side of 6 hours of 24W white, as the temperature seems to rise about 1 or 2 degrees... Temperature should be about 26/27c (79-80F) right?

The brittle stars won't grow big though will they?

In regard to the goby, would you say it's more advisable to get a sand-sifiting then or is this not a necessity...

And regarding the snails, did some seaerching today and my LFS said he would do a trade in policy with me for turbos (i.e. buy em small trade em in for small ones when they get too big) which seems fair enough...

 

[skipm]

You can have the blue by itself like you are describing but you should leave it on when the white bulbs are on too. If the temp. rises to 81 or 82 and doesn't get any higher that should be okay but you want to keep it as close to 80 degrees as possible. Would the addition of a small fan be a possible answer, the fan blowing acrossed the tank will help keep it cool but will also increase evaporation.
Where are you located? Are the lights you are using power compact fluorescents (PCs)?
The brittle stars I think you are referring to are usually called mini brittles and they only get up to about the size of a nickel when they are spread out, they are great scavengers and are not a nuisance in any way IME.

 

[Aquai]

Well apparently my sister left in on for 6 hours today and it didn't go above 81 so i will try again tomorrow... The lights are Interpet High Power T5 Compact Lights and i will have two of them in eventually but at the moment it's just the white one...

The one that's prefitted in the hood (without mods) is an 8W T5 light and the most marine i could get for that one would be the Marine-Glo model which i may do in the near future...

Fan, hmm, not easily although i am quite a handy man so probably could if absolutely necessary but it would make the hood look repulsive, atm it's all neat and tidy...

I'm in NW London in the UK, Nano isn't that big a thing over here compared to you guys i don't think?

 

[skipm]

I see your problem now, I thought the lights you have were PCs, there are not alot of bulb options in the smaller T-5s like you have (even here in the states). Is there room for a small computer fan or two in your current hood? If it can be modded to accept one or two you may be able to get the needed air circulation without sacrificeing the current clean lines of your hood.

 

[Aquai]

There are quite a few options over here for T5s actually - Moonlight blue, triplus, combos etc... But yes the problem is that they do get rather hot and im worried two on is gonna be a major strain . . . Erm, i could try i spose, but i don't think there's enough space anywhere, i'll get a photo of the hood in 5 mins... thanks for this help

 

[Aquai]

Photos, as promised.

 

[sadielynn]

what about possibly drilling some holes on the end for ventilation . And add a room fan to hit the hood as well :mrgreen:

 

[Aquai]

And more...

 

[sadielynn]

how bout a full tank shot :mrgreen:

 

[Aquai]

Hmm, how much would the fan cool it though? I could add ventilation holes as well but i don't want light escaping all around my room...

And one full tank shot as requested...

N.B. All photos taken with a Canon EOS 350D or i think it's known as a Canon Rebel XG (or something like that) in the States...

 

[skipm]

There doesn't appear to be alot of light escaping from the filter lid, maybe propping it open a bit will allow some of the heat to dissapate enough for you to run your lights together. I don't really see a way to add more lighting without completely gutting your hood and starting over. Is there a good LFS nearby that could recommend which bulbs to use that are available in your area?

 

[Aquai]

Yuh, these are the best available bulbs around here as they're compact and give off alot of power... Im adding the 24W blue next to the 24W white (above it in 2nd picture)... In all fairness there's actually probably already enough light in there but i want that bit more (there's 32W in there, which is 4W/gal)...

Erm, i'm more keen on adding ventilations shafts and maybe a fan going into one of these as a tactic than leaving the tank open tbh...

 

[skipm]

I was mainly suggesting that for immediate use to see if it would be enough to help. The blue and white bulbs should be enough to get some mushrooms, polyps, xenia, etc. growing in there. Keep us current on how things come along.

 

[sadielynn]

I dont know that you will have alot of light loss with vent holes the vent hole size that I was recommending would be 1/8 or smaller and perhaps vent the filter lid as an addtional ventilation
BTW thanks for the full shot very nice start might I suggest loosing the stick on thermometer and go for a digital or even a smaller stick on in the bottom corner (they are not the most accurate but they give a quick range ) :mrgreen: