Yet another newbie

[dc2772]

Hi folks;

I've had my tank going for about two years now, and still consider myself to be a newbie at this great hobby. (I think I've finally gotten the algae under control. ;-)

The usual specs ...

55 gal tank, 260 W PC lighting (50% 10000K, 50% blue actinic)
AquaC Remora skimmer
Three MaxiJet 1200s for circulation
~70 lbs Fiji rock

The good guys:
- Gus the sailfin tang
- Shakes the maroon clownfish
- Ivan the engineer goby
- Moe and Larry, the green chromis (Curly has joined the choir invisible, possibly due to a vacation-time underfeeding of Ivan)
- Four bubbletip anemone, originally one (split three times)

I'm still learning ... thanks to all ....

 

[ReefLady]

Sounds like a nice little community you've got there... welcome!

 

[Gina]

:welcomera to RS! Happy to have you join the fun!
Got any pics?

 

[Rougiem]

:welcomera to RS! Great names for your fish! What is the bubble tipped anemonea's name?

Cheers!

 

[Reefreak]

Welcome to to RS sounds like a nice setup you have.

 

[Woodstock]

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary! Great fish names!

 

[Witfull]

hi there~

 

[dc2772]

:welcomera to RS! Great names for your fish! What is the bubble tipped anemonea's name?

Cheers!

My wife called it Annie (that was too goofy even for me). Then when it split, it was Annie and Antoine. After that, we gave up.

 

[dc2772]

:welcomera to RS! Happy to have you join the fun!
Got any pics?

The only pics I've put up on the Web are in Webshots ... don't know whether this is a static URL:

Not very good pics, I might post some better ones soon

 

[cheeks69]

Welcome to RS dc2772

 

[Sirena]

Hi there!
Welcome !
nice pictures ...how did you control your algae?
i had a friend that had bad problems with algae...

 

[dc2772]

Hi there!
Welcome !
nice pictures ...how did you control your algae?
i had a friend that had bad problems with algae...

Well, it took me about two years to get rid of the algae, so I'm not sure how well I controlled it. ;-) I'd try to suction it off the rocks and walls while doing my weekly water changes, but it would grow right back. It seemed to really start disappearing when I started dosing at night with kalkwasser, though it may have just been coincidence of timing ... greater men than I have said that algae is just a natural part of a new aquarium and will go away in its own time (check out the pics in "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" vol 1) as the tank stabilizes. "In reef aquariums, only bad things happen quickly" and all that.

I'm glad it's (mostly) gone, anyway. I was getting kinda tired of people looking at my tank and saying "yuck, don't you ever clean your aquarium?!?" ;-)

 

[Witfull]

funny thing,,,,a few decades ago when it was dead coral skeletons and FO tanks,,,,they sold 5-5-10 fertilizer to promote green algae growth!

 

[aqujoe247]

Nice to me you DC, I just purchased a similar set up, but with a Seaclone skimmer 150, which i'm hearing are inefficeint, and no pumps/powerheads. How much circulation do you have with those 1200 and how are set up? Thanks for the help.

 

[dc2772]

Nice to me you DC, I just purchased a similar set up, but with a Seaclone skimmer 150, which i'm hearing are inefficeint, and no pumps/powerheads. How much circulation do you have with those 1200 and how are set up? Thanks for the help.

Nice to meet everyone too.

The MaxiJet 1200s run at peak of 295 gal/hr, so not including my protein skimmer, I have 885 g/h. I have two hanging from the back rim, one at each corner, with the outlets directed slightly up to increase surface turbulence, and I have one sitting on the bottom back right corner, pointing about halfway up and towards the middle front of the tank.

The two at the top are visible, though one is slightly hidden by a live rock pile. They're not the best looking things in my tank, but as they get covered with coralline algae, they blend in more. Lately I've been thinking about whether I can make/buy something natural-looking to hide them, as it's tricky to stack live rock high enough in a tank that's only 12" wide. (I built a PVC framework to hold up the one pile that partially covers one MaxiJet, and wish I built another one.) I've also thought about replacing them with a closed-loop system using a SeaSwirl.

My one big regret is that I didn't get a drilled tank so that I could put in a sump, and hide equipment (heater, pH probe, protein skimmer). I don't think I'll ever get one of those overflow boxes for non-drilled tanks; I've heard too many horror stories about them flooding, though the manufacturer of the SlimLine boxes claim they won't flood. I'll probably just concentrate on doing a better job of hiding my equipment behind the live rock or whatever.