discretekarma

I am in the process of building my first frag tank. I have a 180 and will now have a 15 gallon frag tank attached to the same system. I am putting ball valves to shut the frag tank off from the rest of the system if I need to qt something in a pinch. I am lucky that my wife is pretty in to the hobby and will let me spend a reasonable amount of money on projects. The one thing she insists on though is since all of our setup is in our living room, she wants it to look neat, be safe, and not have any equipment showing or anything like that. It was a little difficult to convince her to let me set up a frag tank. She hates the egg crate shelves. I told her we'll need to get enough frags that you won't see the shelves. We really wanted to put two of the drilled out fake rock frag station that the filter guys sells. We were going to put one on the sand bed and then have some real live rock behind it with the second on top of the real live rock higher in the back. When we started we didn't realize they were $35 each and have $14 shipping each. I'm really looking for ideas to share with her that will look nicer than eggcrate but won't be $50 per row of frags. Can I drill live rock? Does anyone have a couple pieces of live rock they'd sell that would make good shelves and wouldn't cost as much? Tonight we had someone drill the tank for us. Thanks so much. Once I got it home I taped it off, painted it black to get a nice contrast, and started the plumbing. Really all I've done so far is the prework so that when RottLoverr comes by to help on Friday we can jump right in to this and installing the new lights. I really need ideas for this frag tank because I don't know how long it'll last with her if it's just a tank of sand or with frags in the sand bed and there's no way egg crate will touch that frag tank. Thanks for reading, Scott

The coral that I got had about 4 or 5 on them and the whole side that they were on was white. I'll take a icture of the coral. It's white on one half and green on the other.

Ok. I was a Tony's (Tgallo's) and saw his 120 had the black center brace cut and was replaced with a clear brace. That's why I was asking but I think I am just not going to mess with it.

Those are pain killers TO not frags.

I have a 180 that has an 18" glass brace in the center. If this is so big for a reason, it would be great to know. Otherwise, can this be cut and replaced with maybe a 4" brace? I think it'd really help the lighting. The middle 18"-24" stays pretty shaded. Thanks in advance.

blah blah blah...you shouldn't apologize. You bust in to everyones thread like that.

Welcome to the club.

I tried earlier to pull one off with tweezers and smooshed it so I may have spread a some there but I think the piece that smooshed, stuck to the tweezer. I just took some wire cutters to the coral and cut apart any sections that had any on there. I found about 4-5 majanos that were about 1" each. I'm glad I caught this early. I basically ended up cutting the coral in half and then cut off the majano's. The coral was nicer as a whole piece but I'd much rather have 2 pieces with no majano's. Thanks for the quick response.

No wonder I couldn't find what I was looking for. I was searching for Mojito Anemone and kept getting a subliminal urge to forget about the tank and go out drinking. Now I'm back on track. Thanks.

I got a coral from someone a few days ago and on the coral was a few very pretty small thing that almost looked like a cross between an anemone and a green flower. I don't have a picture and I can't find one online. Tonight someone told me that they will spread all over the tank if this is what I have. I came home and tried to pull a few off with tweezers but they wouldn't let go and I think I smooshed a few of them. Will smooshing them make them spread? Are these mojito anemone? Thanks

As you see in the picture above, my Arrow crab loves to eat them. Eat looks for them and eats them all the time.

This to topics may help. http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17561 http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17553

If so, I hope you've at least been to Texas. Nothing worse than a Cowboys fan who's never even been.

It does make sence. I will see if I like these bulbs during the 6 months you refered to. If I do I will figure out a way to make them last longer. Similar spectrum HQI bulbs or something else. Thanks.

Absolutely great information. Money. I think you need to evaluate your lighting setup before moving on to a new one. a. What brand and spectrum bulbs do you have? Right now I have a set of 10k xm's that are a few (2) months old and a set of 10k venture bulbs that are about 4 months old. I am not sure how old the balasts are but they are rusty and the labels are peeling off. They look old. M58 ballast. b. Who's 180 were you looking at? What brand bulbs did they have? What spectrum? I've seen several 180's with 250's including mine. I've seen several 180's with 400's as well. Even my XM 10k's look dull. It may be my ballasts but either way I need to buy new ballasts. I'm buying Dschiflier's 400w ballasts, sockets, and reflector's for $200 and I ordered 10k xm 400w bulbs today. c. What ballast do you have? Old oxidizing m58's. d. What ballast did they have? Not sure. If you don't know the age of your bulbs they are garbage. If you got them used and the person you bought them from didn't know, they were garbage before you turned them on. The balasts and bulbs I have are JamesBuf's. He told me when I bought them that thebulbs needed to be replaced which they have and now I think it's time for the ballasts need to be replaced. I'm not trying to save money on the lights but get what I think looks good. I appreciate everyones concern that I'm waisting my money on 400 watt lights but it only a waste if I think I need them to grow corals. It's not a waste if that is the lighting I think looks good on my tank. You are the first person who has seemed to understand what I mean by this. 2x 24" t-5 with ab+ bulbs near the center of the tank may be all the pop you need. This is what I use. These are kinda the new "actinic whites" for me. Growing SPS is about 10% lighting, 80% water quality and movement and 10% luck. Clear water helps the light penetrate better. Good skimming, UV, Carbon, Ozone are some things that will keep the water clear. I have a skimmer that may not be the best out there but it seems to work well (ASM G3). I do not have UV so I will need to look in to that and am not sure about carbon or ozone (ORP?) Ca and Alk. Important that they are balance and in range of ca 350-450 and alk 7-14. Now that is a pretty big range if your on top of things, again stability is more important than a single number. I shoot for 400/10 since it is easy to remember. If you don't know these numbers the sticks don't have a chance. My calc is at 350 when I tested it tonight. I plan to test it at different times of the day and at the same time as well and keep a spreadsheet on Excel so I can track what my ranges are or when they rise and fall. I still need to get a Alk test kit. I tried today but the were out. No3 and Po4. Important they are balanced and in the range of 0.0 and 0.0 Coral will live outside this range but growth is totally retarded. No3 is 0. I need a Po4 test kit as well. Water movement. You should see the sand blowing around your tank. Many serious SPS keepers don't use sand. Many do. The successful ones either get used to the look of a controlled sandstorm or pull it all together. A 2" sandbed is doing nothing for water quality if it is stirred well. It might hurt you if not kept clean and moving. I have a mag 24 on a 3/4" sea swirl and 2 x 1200 GPH Koralias. The sand doesn't exactly stir around visibly but there is a good flow so far. Should I just keep adding power heads until I get to that point or is there a better plan? Light. You seem to actually have this one wired. It is more about what you want to see than what the coral needs. I can tell you though a 250w 10k xm bulb looks an awful lot like a 400w 10k xm bulb. There is a little greater intensity, but the differences you are describing you would never be able to tell by just looking with the naked eye. Find out what the person whos tank you liked was doing for lighting in detail and as much info as you can dig up on your ballast and you might be surprised how close to that look you can get with a whole lot less money. QUARANTINE: The single most expensive mistake I have ever made was not following this. All of the above information means squat when your big healthy fast growing sps corals all are eaten alive in a matter of days. Take a closer look at that space you have dedicated for a frag tank and consider your options well. This could be the most important decision you make. I am very limited in space for a frag tank so I am pretty excited that my wife agreed to put in a frag tank. I bought a 15 gallon for now and once the frag tank has been accepted, maybe I can then move in to a better frag tank but for now I am happy with a 15 gallon. I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for your time so far. I know it take time to look over someone tank setup and figure out what needs to be looked in to and then type it all up. All for a tank nobody has even seen. It really means a lot to me and my family so THANK YOU to everyone. Scott & family

I definitely think they are good.

Why are you so set on 400w lights? I saw a 180 and liked the way it looked much better then my 250s. I have a big reflector that goes the whole length of the canopy. It's all that will fit with the VHO's and the MH. I just like them and don't think it will hurt anything so I'm getting them. My wife likes them better too and that's important to me. It's not that I feel like I NEED 400's but I really LIKE them and the way they look in a 180. 2 x 250 just doesn't do it for me. It would be a waste to do anything to my tank if I don't like the way it looks. IMO. What kind of reflector are you using now and will it change if the watts change? The 400 watt bulbs come with individual reflectors so I am going to put those in the other reflectors. The big refletors will reflect the VHO actinic and the individual will reflect the MH's. Are you familiar with kalk and what it can or can't do or just what you hear? Just what I hear. Sand? 2" SB Skimmer? (high quality) ASM G3 What's your view on relationship of ALK level to Ca level? Not sure Just thoughts, You likely do not need the 400's and heat will be an issue if you do not have room for lumennarcs. if the reflectors are not great now, heat will become an issue. I'd rather find a way to deal with the heat (chiller or fans) so that I can get lighting that looks good to me in my tank. If you add a kalk reactor, you will have difficulty getting/maintaining your Ca level above 350-370 with just it. If you have decent ALK level, you can raise your Ca with calcium chloride, but too much of that and kalk may cause sand to bind together as one big blob. Research 2 part solutions and then use them light handed. Any suggestions on where to start? If you don't have a good skimmer, the lights may actually hurt you if the heat does not. Not sure I understand? How would lights hurt me if I don't have a good skimmer? Many find a higher ALk level combined with (even) a lower Ca level is just as desirable and certainly more so if the ALK is low and Ca is high. I need to get a Alk test kit if I can find somewhere that has one. I hate going there but I may have to see if Congressional has one since Aquarium 1 didn't and Jim at Tropical Fish World doesn't really stock much. Right now my Ca is 350. Is that not going to be good with heat generating devices? It looks like you said I should get that to 400. Will 2 part help me do this?? I'm sure it will be easier for you to give me advice once you get my Alk number.

This one is close to 18" when spread out. I haven't seen him in a while though. Maybe my arrow crab ate it. Here he is eating another one.

I just ordered 400 watt 10k XM bulbs from Premium Aquatics. They were $150 for both bulbs and 2 day shipping. Thanks for everyones help

Thanks for coming out as the person selling the light setups to me and thanks for doing this research for me. I feel very confident that you are a great person to buy from and that I am getting quality merchandise when I buy from you. If this was ebay, I'd give you an AAAAAAAAAAAA+++++++++++++++++Great seller++++++++++++++++AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I bought a Calc test kit today at Aquarium 1 but they were out of Alk tests so I'll have to wait on that one. As soon as I got home opened it up and tested my system. The results of the calc test was 350. If I understand correctly, it is supposed to be 400-450. Is this correct? What should I do? Kalk stirrer? Thanks, Scott

The ballasts are PFO 400 Watt Single HQI Metal Halide Ballast. Even though it says HQI it still has a SE bulb on the site with the bulb.

I had a Koralia burn up on me and even though me and the rep agreed that it was probably my fault, the agreed to send me a new Koralia 4 at no charge to me. I received the power head today and in the box was a Hydor Aqua Color. It's a blue LED light. It is submersible and seems pretty cool. It seems like a moon light but you can put it in or out of the water. How should I use this? http://www.aquaristikshop.com/e_Produktinf...-Color-blue.htm Also, can Koralias be used with a wavemaker? Thanks

I am getting 400 watt metal halides soon but I want to replace the bulbs once I get them. Does anyone know what bulbs would be good to get. I prefer a whiter 10k bulb in general and then I add blue in with my VHO Actinic. Is 400w XM good and I also heard about Ushio. Thanks.

Were you given that advice before or after your tank crashed? I'll test the Ca and Alk. I feel like a child who just lost my driving privileges.