YHSublime

I have just identified it as a "flower rock anemone." pics below Top left First week I had it:

So plans fell through on meeting a forum member today, and I was on my way to Pristine Aquariums anyways, ended up coming back with a nice little frag of Hammerhead Frogspawn. Put it in the tank and it appears to be doing well. I also noticed what appeared to be a bright red feather duster. Never seen that before in my tank, neat! So my rock anemone has been on the fritz. was happy at first, and then started moving its way up. I tried to keep it as close to the lights as possible, but in between last night and this morning, it fell off the back of my rock. I'm really starting to reconsider my aquascaping, When I build my 40, I'm going to put a lot of though into my pieces. When I grabbed for my biocube, I just was so excited I went for whatever rock I thought looked cool. The dude was grabbed onto the back of the tank, "neck" fully extended, flower almost closed. I don't know if I should have fiddled with nature or not, but I pried it off the back wall and brought it out front. I have a magnetic rack that I put in there and placed it on that, just to get it closer to the lights than the rock, and maybe get more flow, but I'm wondering what I should with it, put it in the sand bed and let it climb its way up the rock? my corals are a little scattered about, with no rhyme or reason, and I don't really have a place to put it on the rock without it falling down into it. I expect the advice I'll get (in hindsight) is I should have just let it be, but it's concerning when all my other corals are doing well, and I can't quite figure this one out. Advice?

So, took out my 40 and 29, tried it out with the fuge, and the lights, just to get a taste of what it will look like. The answer is: Awesome. At least once I get it setup and running. Pic of it with whites and blues, and then just blues. Btw, there are no other lights on in the room, except from my Biocube, which is only one the actinic on in the pics. Don't mind the 55 gallon freshwater in the back. That's where this 40 is going to go, maybe the Bio will become Quarantine tank. Very excited, had to share!

That fish is beautiful. Glad it was O.K. Yes, yes it is.

Also, I could use that thermometer and nano powerhead!

In in Arlington as well, can help in the AM, I'll PM you my number. I also have a few coolers, and a few 5 gallons with lids. I'll PM you my cell.

Was able to find the first one, not a bad getup if it works: http://www.amazon.com/Iwaki-WMD40RLXT-Water-Pump-American/dp/B001C1GPDW

I think this will probably be the case. I know that Petco is having their dollar per gallon until the 19th I believe? I figured why not DIY. I just need to figure out WHAT I'm doing first. Here is the protein skimmer I'm talking about, it probably stands about 2ft hight. Some pictures of the pumps I have, I might need new ones, these are fairly old, but I think they'll work fine: I have tried looking up Fasco motors, I presume they both work, they both came from another forum member on here, a little rusted, nothing a sanding and spray wont fix up alright.

Will do! want to get as much planned as possible! From my understanding, the "fuge" can be in the sump? I was worried about the 29 gallon being a little to high, or to big (any such thing?) I have a pile of rock sitting in a tub, circulating with a pump at the moment. That will go in, and I have some rock from my nano I'll put in there to help as well. The rock is beautiful, It's completely white, and is gorgeous. I'm slightly concerned with it matching up with other rock that will go into the tank. I think I'll be able to get it cycled fairly quick. Ato is a good idea, I shouldn't have left that out. I appreciate the helping hand, I might take you up on that when I do the stand, I've seen some really nice ideas out there that I would like to try, and would love the company! I'll be in touch as it comes together.

Pardon if this is not the right place to be posting this, but I felt like it belonged here. I am getting ready to create a 40 gallon breeder build over the next couple months, slowly but surely. I wanted to take full advantage of the Petco's $ per gallon sale, and I did. I should probably explain my size choice. I am in a pretty small apartment, and although I could move things around and put in a 120, or a 90, 40 just seemed to be the perfect size for me at the moment. That, and it's completely open on the top! I was planning on making a 29 gallon sump (is this to big? Would a 20 gallon be better?) I figured the bigger the sump, the better? I did a little research on sumps (seeing as I planned to build my own, maybe a bad idea?) and decided that I would need a space for a skimmer (to be determined), heater, several baffles, and maybe a small refugium. Is that realistic? I plan on building my own stand, so space underneath will be limited to the dimensions of a 40 gallon breeder 36x18. I plan on running two 36x3watt leds above the tank (18 cool white/18 royal blue.) This will be more than enough, and will provide for future builds as I learn and move up. I'm heading overseas for about a week and a half in March, and would like to have the tank cycling just before I leave, which will give me enough time to build, setup, and then sit back and relax without having to worry about the next time I can add something else! So I have my tank, I think I have my sump, and I have my lights. I have a protein skimmer, but it's quite large, I can post a picture up when i get home. I would like to do sand, and I would like to spend some time aquascaping (have seen some GREAT scapes, WAMAS member inspired) I have an RO/DI in the works What else am I missing? What else should I add? What would you add if you could go back and start from the beginning again?

came home to find one in the sump again. Jumped down by the pump, and completely disappeared. I scraped high and low, around the tank, cleaned out all the chambers, nothing. I was vexed. I came back an hour later, and found it swimming by my pump. I even took the flooring out, must be a hiding spot in there somewhere. I think I'm going to start calling them "Houdini and his assistant." I did, however, in cleaning out my sump, determine that my bio balls are useless, and the sponge is just a nitrate haven. I did a water vacuum behind the chambers (20%), and now am only stocking filter floss.

The area isn't seen from tank view, I just got to thinking, i could attach it to the lid. This would keep it out of the way whenever I picked up the lid to do maintenance on the back.

I've never seen them do it, but it's happened enough times that it's a problem. Good thinking. I have a whopping amount of leftover egg crate from my floor plan.

Seriously, every 24 hours, I at least find one of them in there. I'm astonished as well. Thanks for the link! Wish they had the dimensions, I could just make one.

Past couple days I've woken up to one of my Clowns jumped into my sump. The areas in the picture, actually, I've found it in all 3 chambers: I've always been able to find it there, but has anybody had this problem? What is the solution? I was thinking about stretching some nylons over the area, but then I might just get a dead fish (out of water.) I've also noticed that they are semi aggressive with each other. Not all the time, but every now and then one will chase the other all over the tank. Insight or thoughts?

I'll be in touch when I get ready to start drilling on my 40 breeder! and my 29 gallon sump that I plan on building/using. Want to do a get together and do a drilling? I have both of mine waiting to go in a closet.

Thanks for that! I do enjoy the tank, quite a bit, I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can on my end. I wish I knew how to get those Zoas out again, that's driving me nuts! So my ReefMaster test kit has me measure the KH by adding a drop, shaking, adding a drop, shaking. The "correct" reading would be 9 or 10: 1 - 17.9 2 - 35.8 3 - 53.7 4 - 71.6 5 - 89.5 6 - 107.4 7 - 125.3 8 - 143.2 9 - 161.1 10 - 179 11 - 196.9 12 - 214.8 (Normal range is between 9-12) I just found this, so looks like I'm doing alright here.

Originally I had these numbers listed first below. I waited two water changes (twice in one week) and the numbers below are what I had from last night. I feel like my tank is looking great, but my Zoas haven't come out (only on day 1 they did) and I was told that my corals should be looking better than now. The mushroom is doing really well, but I think my anemone is going through some hard times, pretty reclusive past couple days. So here are my numbers and tank information 14 gallon Biocube, stock lights (probably about 12 gallons with everything in it.) I have two juvie clowns, and a peppermint shrimp. 5 hermits, 5 snails. The corals: Ricordeas (2) JPB Cobalt Shrooms (4) Liams Cloves (2" sq) Wavespring Neon Toadie Wavespring Neon Sinularia Green Star Polyps Rock Anemone Red Zoas I keep my lights on a timer, they both come on at 8am-turn off at 6:15pm. I sometimes keep my blues on and watch the tank for an hour or so a night. My saltwater is bought at a LFS, and I use Deer Park bottled water for top offs. I have done enough water changes over the past week and a half I have not had to top off. My tank is at 79F Salinity: 1.026 PH: 8.2 Ammonia: .25 No2: 0 No3: inbetween 10-80ppm Calcium: Is about 450ppm KH: 196.9 Phosphates: .25 (Sorry, last 3 were my first reads.) My reads last night: 79F Salinity: 1.026 PH: 8.0-8.2 Ammonia: 0ppm No2: 0ppm No3: 20 Ca2+: 360-380 KH: 161.1-179 Phosphates: 0-.25 I'm a little concerned, as I'm not sure exactly what my water should be like for corals. It looks like, and it has been mentioned, tthat my tank my have undergone a second cycle. My ammonia has leveled out to 0, but my No3 is still high, but I expect will balance to 0 after another water change. It was hard for me to tell if my Phosphates were 0 or .25, because of these color tests, but from what I also heard, that's a sign of using tap water. All my water comes from my LFS, and for top offs I'm using bottled Deer Park. I'm not sure how it should be looking, and what I should do to get it right, other than water changes. Also: Is there a piece of equipment that I can get all these reads from? Every time I test my water, I feel like a mad scientist, and it takes me about an hour to make sure I get everything correct, with my test tubes, and drops, and shaking and adding, <Sigh> Help? Some pics from last night:

I've heard if you bring tanks to meetings, they will drill them there for you. Don't know if that's true, or if you can wait that long, but throwing it out there.

This is important to remember. Lots of good information in there, and I certainly like firsthand how your lights work, and how your corals are thriving. This is what I'm doing now, just looking at tanks tanks tanks, and then finding out what kind of lighting everybody is running. I just looked up what the maxspect razor was. I like it. I like it a lot. It looks like $495 is the MSRP?

Wow, what a gorgeous tank. Glad to see everything finally coming together for you. Like everybody said, the rock work is awesome!

Great info, thanks! Great info as well, thanks for the links! To the point. Thanks! No, I think you're right. Tarentino this, and I'll find what I'm looking for. I for one feel that the LED's don't look that bad, but again, I don't know exactly what I'm looking for. Like mentioned by HappyFeet, i don't want my tank to look like somebody peed in it. That's great advice though, look at lighting that I like, and see what people are using to figure out what I want to do.

Thanks, WAMAS made it easy! Ricordeas JPB Cobalt Shrooms Liams Cloves Wavespring Neon Toadie Wavespring Neon Sinularia Green Star Polyps Rock Anemone Red Zoas and a recently added Purple Montipora Digitata So here are my numbers: Salinity: 1.026 PH: 8.2 Ammonia: .25 No2: 0 No3: inbetween 10-80ppm Calcium: Is about 450ppm KH: 196.9 Phosphates: .25 (maybe to .5) (Sorry, last 3 were my first reads.) How my numbers looking? Anything I need to change or do? Suggestions? Is there an easier way to get all these reads besides test tubes and shaking and mixing bottles? I don't feel like I need to make any huge changes, because everything looks good. Also, as promised, here are some pictures:

So the one thing I really am having trouble grasping is lighting for our tanks. From what I can gather, is the lighting is more essential for our corals. I've read a lot, but am having trouble understanding different bulbs, sizes, color spectrum, what's needed, and what's for looks. I'm building a 40 gallon breeder reef aquarium, and would be interested to hear recommendations for lights. I know that there are T5 lights, and I know that there are LED's now, and several other options. I know that there is a lot of opinions on what works the best. This thread isn't to start a discussion about what you think is best, but for explaining the difference between lighting and maybe just stating what has worked for you. I also have some questions as to "housing." I really like the way that the clamp lighting sticks to the sides of the tank and rounds over, like this. I am also interested in the AI Nanos, although a little bit expensive, they seem very versatile and tiny, and I wouldn't mind having a variety of uses for them should I want to change my mind. I am open to suggestions on what to do for my 40breeder, but also would like to understand why I make whatever choice I go with. I am currently interested in SPS, but would like to play with LPS as well as I grow my tank.

I know that base has a great shop to work on cars, if the woodshop is anything the same it's probably awesome. Do yourself a favor and measure and cut your own pieces. Not to slam home depot or Lowes, but I've never gotten an accurate cut from either establishment (this is also based on the presumption that you can find somebody who's even willing to cut.) You're going to want as accurate as possible with an aquarium stand. Do yourself a favor and save the headache, having to go back, maybe buying double what you need, and just overall unnecessary grief. I also have all the tools, even though I'm a little bit further away, you're welcome to borrow.