WreckDiver
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Posts posted by WreckDiver
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+1 but no jewelers tool... need to get that one.but always treat with dips and always add new tank water to double the amount of original water. Rik you always have the best ideas.
+2 but no loupe either.
Float then 5 Mins in Revive
Rinse with tank SW
15 Mins in Lugols Dip
Rinse with tank SW
30 Min Interceptor Dip
Rinse with tank SW
Place in tank
If it is a Montipora then they get another dip in Levaminsole
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Aquarium One 200g IO boxes are $35 all day every day
Do you know how much their boxes of RC are. WIth my 273 gal system I go through almost a bucket a month and ordered 10 buckets from Drs F&S when they had it for 31.99 and only 18.00 shipping for all 10 but now am down to my last 4 buckets and looking to restock soon. It would be well worth the drive from Richmond for a bulk buy since all the LFS's down here are getting 49.99 - 59.99 per 160G Bucket and no one has the new 200G boxes.
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I do 1/3 of the plastic (to go) spoon & 2/3 gallon of RO water.
Cabrego, I don't mix it in a bucket or trash can of water. I mix it in a 2/3 gallon bottle by shaking it every time I have a chance. I then let it settle for over night, then dose it in the morning using an air line tube. Make sure don't the residue (undesolved pickling lime) in the bottom get into the tank. Although, I don't know what wiil happen but I just don't like it get in the tank.
I use a Deltec KM500 Stirrer and High Purity Kalkwasser from BRS (Bulk Reef Supply). While ther is not much difference between Mrs Wages and other Calcium Hydroxide products, I just do not like the yellow sludge left from Mrs Wages. With a good pure form of Calcium Hydroxide, there is no problem at all with getting the solids in the sump. They can actually be beneficial as they will raise the amount of calcium that is added. You do not want it to go straight into the display, but if it goes in the sump then it will mix before hitting the display. I have been dosing a milky kalk solution (flow from top off mixes up the kalk in the stirrer before ir drips instead of just the clear liquid) for over a year now with impressive growth and coral health.
Also the saturation level for Kalk in RODI is 2 tsp/gal.
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What kind of liverock did you use? Are they Marco Rocks?
No, but similar. It was Dried Puccani from my LFS. They had a couple pallets of it and I dug through it till I found the largest pieces that would allow me to aquascape how I wanted with three distinct pillar type structures with a lot of open spaces and caves.
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Such a huge difference in only a year's time. Doesn't even look like the same tank.
Yeah tell me about it, and most of that is growth. I have added quite a few frags recently but all of the colonies are the same ones from a year ago and have doubled or tripled in size. I have even sold two 8" acro colonies so I would have room for some nicer corals.
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No kidding. It took forever to finish that list of corals.
Here is a couple build picts and a link to my photo gallery with the Build picts and the pump room. I am planning on taking some newer picts here shortly, just have to borrow my friends camera again as I tried taking some the other day with my P&S Digital 8.1mp camera and compared to the DSLR picts they just suck, so I cant bear to upload them to my Gallery.
This is what the tank originally looked like when I bought it
After I reskinned and refinished the stand and canopy
After painting and adding the 4 way closed loop
Tank Plumbing and Closed Loop
Beginning of the Sump Room
Skimmer
First additions after cycling (August 2008)
and here it is almost 1 year later (July 2009)
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What are the currents/surge like on the windward side? What skill level would you recommend for divers heading to that side of the island?
I have a friend who just got back from Raja Ampat and Lembeh Strait last month. Holy cow... are the photos just simply breathtaking. Of course, she mocks me, b/c the first photo in her series is my favorite animal - H. magnifica, complete with clowns...
I'm not speaking to her right now...
For the windward side, I don't think Larry's Wild Side Diving will take anyone that does not have their Advanced Cert. It is not really bad once below the surface. but getting there and getting in and out of the 6 man zodiac in 3-4ft seas can be rough. Once you are down to about 30ft, it is pretty calm with just a little current, probably around 2 knot current at worst. Vis is nothing like the 100ft commonly seen on the leeward side though, I would say 20-30ft vis maybe 40 on a good day.
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WreckDiver-how long have you had the Phils?mine is 1/3 the size of yours and is growing very slow..
I have had the Phils since approx June 2008. It has easily doubled if not close to tripled in size since I got it. Here is a poor picture of it back in July 2008 in my frag system. It was moved from there to the 180G when it was setup in August 2008 and has grown to what it is now.
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Believe it of not the camera and housing is just a Canon A630 with the Canon Underwater Housing for it rated to 130fsw. The whole outfit cost around 500.00 then I have a Sea and Sea digital strobe. Looking at getting a Canon D40, housing, macro lenses, and 2x 50W HID strobes, but that outfit will cost some major mullah. Camera and lenses will run around a grand, strobes are 1500.00, and the housing is right at 2500.00.
I do both Boat and Shore dives in Bonaire. I love going over to Klein Bonaire and diving off the beaten path. I also like going over to the windward side of the island and going out with Larry's Wild Side Diving. It pretty rough and hardcore with only a 6 man zodiac, but there are a lot more pelagics (Large Open Ocean Fish) on that side of the island. My favorite diving place so far has been Bonaire, but have a trip in the works for 2010 to go to Raja Amput, Phukett, and the Great Barrier Reef. Hope to have the new camera setup by then. Reefs are cool for diving but my passion is WreckDiving. I love going into the shipwrecks and exploring, just make sure you are certified for it before you try it as it can be VERY dangerous if not done correctly. One wrong move and you can silt yourself out and not know which way is up,down, in or out. I always run Wreck Reels when I penetrate a wreck so I can find my way out in these situations should they happen.
As for sand tigers, I find them to be the most gentle of any of the sharks. I have "petted" many of them on the wrecks and have NEVER seen any sort of agression from them. Bulls on the other hand, I have had two VERY close calls with. The last one was so close I thought I might get my leg bitten off. I had kicked the 9ft Bull Shark 3 times in the nose with my fins before he finally swam off and I got the H-E-double hockey sticks out of the area. I really do not like Bull Sharks. Grey Reefs and Lemons are OK but very skiddish and unpredictable, Tigers and GW I have only seen in the distance and that is just fine with me. I do hope to take a trip to South Africa and do some cage diving with the GW's though
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Those are from a couple of different wrecks but both are around 115 fsw. till rather shallow compared to some I have done. Deepest dive so far is 265 ft. Yeah those are sand tiger sharks. I love Sharks and diving with them. I have dove with Sand Tigers, Lemon, Grey Reef Sharks, Bulls on a couple of ocassions (very scary adreniline rush there, have to keep your eyes on them at all times), Seen a Tiger Shark while diving in the Bahamas in the distance (about 70ft away) and even Saw a Great White off NC about 4-5 years ago (that was a quickly aborted dive
)yeah there are a lot of Gorgonians on the wrecks off NC, but not a single coral of any kind. Lots of Volitan Lionfish though.
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Bonaire
WreckDiving in Morehead City, NC
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Ora Phils Granulosa, My little non purple Tyree Purple Monster (its started turning purple now that I have lowered it about half way down in the tank)
30,000 Leagues Lokani
Oregon Tort, Teal Gomezi, Pokerstar Monti, Rainbow Monti, Chesterfieldians, , Pink Stylo, Tricolor
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Here are a couple of my prize LPS corals
Lord Acans, Dragon Soul Prism Favia, Blue Eye Favia, Japanese Micromussa's, Micromussa Amakusensis, Tyree Alien Eye Watermelon Chalice, and Another Unamed Watermelon Chalice
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Submitter: WreckDiver
Location: 90G Reef Tank
Camera: Canon A630
Subject: Splendid Mandarin Hunting pods in the Zoanthid patch.
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Just added three new Granulosa's to the coral mix over the last couple of days. Will try to get a couple picts up tomorrow.
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Nothing like a good old fishy "time out" to restore law and order!
Tracy
A little off topic, but how the heck did you catch the tang to put him in time out. I have a Powder Brown and a Blue Spotted Kole Tang (Striatus) that will beat any new fish whether it is a goby or a butterfly in to total submission and usually death. I need to get them out of the display for a while as I want to add a trio or Borbinius Anthias and an Achilles Tang and know they will kill them before they can get established in the tank. If I can get them out I planned on selling/trading the Powder Brown and the Kole can live in my 40 Breeder Water Change Sump.
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Thanks for all the kind words. It has definitely been a labor of love. This particular tank was setup in June 2008 and all corals transferred over in August 2008 from my 90G reef tank. I then did a flatworm exit treatment, 3 interceptor treatments, and a Levaminsole treatment to make sure there were no pests in the new tank. Once those were finished, I moved the Fish and Inverts over, That was in September 2008. During the last 4 months is has be all tweaking and tuning the Ca reactor, Kalkstirrer, skimmer, etc. Just finally got it all dialed in perfectly (had to be perfect due to a obsessive/compulsive addiction I have contracted since starting in this hobby
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180G Reef
40G inline water change tank
75G Sump/Refugium/DSB
25G Acrylic Propagation Tank
10G Sump
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Very nice looking tank. And some excellent photography too.
I smell TOTM...
These were the first pictures I have taken with a DSLR. Had always used a Canon A630 8.1MP Point and Shoot, but had a Friend staying with me for 3 weeks and he brought his Canon XSi and I fell in love with that thing. Looking at getting my own here very shortly, but I will also be getting a good Macro lens which will even make for some better pictures. DSLR and tripod are the only way to go to get good tank picts IMO.
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Very nice tank!
Do you have a top-down shot of your palmer's blue milli?
Not at the moment. I might try to get some TD shots shortly. Would have to borrow a friends TD viewing box as the flow in the tank (~12700gph) makes it impossible to do any without one.
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Here is a few picts of my 180G Mixed Reef tank. and the specs of the system.
Hardware
180G Tank
2x 1" Returns and 2x 1.5" Drains
4 way Closed Loop with Refflo Dart Pump
GenX 150 Return Pump
2 x Resun Controllable Powerheads (500 - 3000gph)
2 x Seio 1100 on Seio Controller
3x Radium 400 Metal Halide
4x 54W T5 Actinics (2x 420mn and 2x 460nm)
Mag 9.5 (for feeding UV and Chiller)
Gamma 40W UV
1/4 HP Current Eco Cooler Chiller
H&S 200 Ca Reactor
Deltec KM500 Kalkstirrer
Sanders 200mg Ozone Generator
Pinpoint Ozone and PH Controllers
LifeReef VS3 72" Skimmer w/Blueline 70 Feed pump and Mag 18 Recirc
Maristat Peristaltic Pump for Top Off and Kalkstirrer feed
Medical Dosing Pump for dripping Magnesium Supplementation
Kent Maxima Hi-S Deluxe RODI 75G/Day with 2x 37G Holding Vats
40G in-line water change tank
75G Sump/Refugium
160Lbs Pucanni Live Rock
120Lbs Reef Grade Aragonite Sand in Display
60Lbs Reef Grad Aragonite Sand in Refugium
Livestock
Trio of Green Chromis
Pair of Lyretail Anthias
Mated Pair of Banggai Cardinals
Mated Pair of Black Ocellaris Clowns
Powder Brown Tang
Sailfin Tang
Palani Tang
Firefish
Fuzzy Dwarf Lion Fish
Lemon Dansel
Cherub Angel
Black Cap Basslet
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Starry Blennine
Diamond Gobie
Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse
Invertebrates
Mated Pair Coral Banded Shrimp
12x Peppermint Shrinp
Globe Urchin
8x Emerald Crabs
Various Hermit Crabs
Various Snails
Corals
Palmers Blue Millipora
Original Oregon Tort
Tyree Sunset Montipora (From Copps)
Pokerstar Montipora (From Copps)
Original Superman Danae Montipora (From Copps)
Setosa Montipora
Oranji Montipora
Purple Haze Montipora
Alien Eye Watermelon Chalice
Chicago Watermelon Chalice
Baby Blue w/ Pink Eyes Chalice
Alien Eye Chalice
Purple Monster
Green Slimer Stag
Blue Tip Stag
Teal with Blue Tips Losetti
Cali Tort
ORA Roscoes
Blue Tenuis
ORA Chips Acro
ATL Grafted Simplex
30,000 Leagues Lokani
ORA Red Planet Table
ORA Phils Granulosa
Rainbow Poccillapora
Pink Poccillapora
ORA Green Stylophora
Tyree Rainbow Stylophora
Magenta Stylophora
Tubs Birdsnest
Pink Birdnest
Green Hycinthas Table
Pink w/ Blue Tip Hycinthas Table
Red Cytheria Table
Boston Bean, Purple, Orange, Pink, Blue, and ROAB Digitatas
Montipora Spumosa
Appleberry Pawenensis Montipora
True Suharsoni
Carolinana
Scripps Millipora
Pink Bubblegum Millipora
Teal Millipora
Blue Millipora
Neon Green Millipora
Neon Green Hydnophora
Yellow Horrida
Stylocenella Armata
Cyphastrea Japonica
Teal Gomezi
Baby Blue Acropora Exquisita
Flower Petal Montipora Capricornis
Acropora Speciosa
Richmond Tri-Color Valida
Micromussa Akamusis
Red Kiss Micromussa
Lord Howe Rainbow Acan
Lord Howe Purple and Green Acan
Lord Howe Red and Pink Acan
Lord Howe Red and White Acan
Lord Howe Red and Grey Acan
Red with Green Center Wells Brain (Trachyphilia)
Neon Green Candy Cane Coral
Green with Blue Polyps Turbinaria
Dragon Soul Favia
Reverse Prism Favia
Christmas Favia
Tonga Bullseye Mushroom
Rainbow Florida Ricordias
Rose Yuma Ricordia
Neon Green Hammer Coral
Orange Hammer Coral
Pink Tip Frogspawn Coral
Fiji Yellow Sarcophyton Leather
Long Polyp Toadstool Leather
Pink Finger Leather
Green Finger Leather
Laker Scroll Coral
Zoanthids and Palythoas
Purple Death
Nuclear Green
Whammin Watermelon
Rasta
Red People Eaters
Chameleon People Eaters
Aspens
Desert Foxes
Armor of God
Devils Armor
Orange Delights
Bam Bam Orange
Pink Panthers
Lord of the Rings
Cats Eyes
Candy Apple Pinks
Superman
Lunar Eclipse
Tubbs Blues
Armageddons
Radioactive Dragon Eyes
Dragon Eyes
Reverse Gorrilla Nipples
Blow Pop
Green Bay Packers
Several others not named or I have forgotten
Maintenance and Parameters
Salinity = 1.026
PH = 8.0 - 8.3
NH4 = 0
NO3 < 2
NO2 = 0
PO4 = .01
Mg = 1480 - 1550
DKh = 8.5 - 10
Ca = 400 - 450
Maintenance consists of a 35 gallon water change weekly
Addition of Prodibio BioDigest at water changes
Cleaning Skimmer cup every 3 days and emptying waste collector weekly
13 ml Daily dose of 80 proof Vodka
Feeding twice a day with mixture of various frozen foods (mysis, brine, clams, squid, algae, bloodworms, cyclopeze, Nutrimar Ova, Mega Marine, Mega Marine Angel, Garlic Guard and Zoecon)
Feed OysterFeast 2x a week
11 Drops of Lugols Iodide weekly
94 ml Mg daily through dosing pump
And finally the pictures
Identify this SPS
in General Discussion
+1 on the German Blue Polyp