The Amazing 100

[Reddog170]

Here is a pic of my Little guy. He eats like a horse!!

[Reddog170]

He will pose for pics in the evenings. He really is fun to watch. I think he is a male, he has the tall spike like from he dorsel fin. Shaun

[Reddog170]

Hey I wanted to share how I cleaned up scratches from the outside of my tank. I used buffing pads desighned for those fake acrylic nails. They have several buffing surfaces starting with a course grit all the way to a super fine polishing grit. I had to get several of them but they are only about a buck each so compared to $50 each for a buffing kit it is pretty cheap. It does take time and a toll on your shoulders so you need to be prepared. I just wanted to share this, Shaun

[Reddog170]

Well afetr a TON of buffing and a lot of scaping I finaly got things the way I wanted. Well minus the corals and fish. My goby is doing great. My pepermint shrimp are missing in action and my serpent start has been moved to little johns biocube. I have aquired a large brittle star(think he ate my pepermint shrimp) and several corals. A friend was "cleaning up" his 240 gallon tank and gave me the stuff he trimmed out. Here is the list of everything he gave me: A toadstool leater, some little neon green thing that kinda looks like a mushroom or toadstool, dragon eyes, bout 100 of them, some GSP, two branches of candy cane one with six heads and the other with 39 heads, some birdnest, a bunch of rics, about 40 bam bams (that i what I was told they were called) and something called digitora? Looks like a whiteish green cap on the rock with a single post going strait up.
I tried to pay him for it all but he said that his tank was so crowded it had to come out. Hopefully I can get this computer to cooperate and let me post pics. Shaun

[Reddog170]

I NEED HEP!!! I have birds nest and this digitora and now need to worry about calcium. I have no idea how to add or remove calcium. The LFS says that there are some additives to add calcium I just do not know if I want to or should use them. I also have been told that I need to buffer some to help maintain stability. How in the world do I do this? I am once again finding myself fusterated. I asked about calcium before but no response. I really need some help cause the other alternitive is to listen to the LFS. What a spot to find yurself in. I do not think I will post any more pics, I do not think anyone looks at them, at least no one comments.
I am really sorry to ask but I do need help with this. I love my tank and everything in it. I do not want to harm anything in it because I did something wrong so PLEASE tell me what I need to do to get my calcium up, and where it needs to be. My last test showed it down from 450 a week ago to 360 tonight. And how is the right way to buffer? Does it really help? Shaun

[yungreefer2410]

first off get a nice quality calcium test kit. you want ca anywhere from what i understand in the 400-460 range. heinz is really good with these things you might want to drop him a pm.you can use many things to raise your ca. i'm not sure if any are better or not i use aquavitro when nessary. i have heard good things about kent marine ca. btw i enjoy your thread and like the pics you post.

[Reddog170]

Well my computer will not work well enough for me to send any PM's. I also can no longer start any new threads. Posting pics take about two hours per pic. I will try to get some more posted but no promisses. I cannot get a new computer right now, insurance went up so now I am paying almost $350 a month for health insurance, house insurance and property taxes are due so I will have to deal with this BEEEEEEEEEEEP computer.
Thank you, Shaun

[yungreefer2410]

ok thats cool i understand. i had to use the libraries computer for a while

[Reddog170]

Here is a pic (if it works) of my tank under the Atinics only. The cloud is micro bubbles that I have fixed and the cloth on the other end is around the mag float till I get one for acrylic. Let me know what you think, Shaun

[Reddog170]

I am going to start buffering with Kalkwasser. I have no idea how but keep being told I need to. I asked but did not get an answer as to what exactly it does so I will just go off of what my LFS told me. Wish me luck, Shaun

[Dentoid]

Nice aquascape!

Here is everything you ever wanted to know about Kalkwasser (Lime water).

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
What is Kalkwasser? and how do I apply it to my reef aquarium?

[yungreefer2410]

i love that aquascaping! i don't know much about kalk but i'm sure those links do

[Reddog170]

Thank You for the link. I just figured that my question was to broud to give a simple answer to. I am bad about askink questions that have WAY to many different answers to. Just so you know my LFS is not the type to steer you wrong. They know that keeping you on the right track you will keep coming back. Thank You both for the complements they are VERY MUCH apreciated. This is a bad time of year for me and I always get grumpy this time of year so I apreciate the complements even more right now.
The landscaping in there was very hard to get just right and now I have it layed out so that the corals have all different levels they can be at and still get any flow they want and any light they want and still be out where I can see and enjoy them without looking like a store display. Once again Thank You, Shaun

[Reddog170]

Well everything is doing well in my tank. I wish that I could figure out this new camera of my wifes so that I could get some good pics of the corals. I think I will trade off the couple hard corals I got for some soft. I like the soft corals because they move more in the flow and seam to give the tank a more alive feeling. I have seen some awesome hard tanks as well so dont get me wrong there. Sure wish I was as good as BigAl with corals, looks like he can save most anything. I may get there with experiance and learning. I hate this time of year because I just do not see what is so special about my birthday. My family always makes a big deal over it but I will just do the same thing I do every year, get up at 5:30 am go to work get home around 8:30 pm check my tank eat dinner watch the news jump online for a bit then off to bed. The most exciting part of the day is seeing what is happening in the tank. Like right now, after a mere week in my tank I noticed something new, I have two rics on an old clam shell and tonight I noticed a third one there, tiny yes but it was definetly a ric. Hope this means I am doing things right. I know that at times when things are going wrong a nem will split to try to save itself. I also counted the heads on the candy cane that I got and again after one week there are three more little heads growing there. I sure hope this is all good. The candy canes have there tenticles out mosty of the day, the frogspawn is bloomed out all day the GSP is usualy bloomed out all day my toadstool has theese neat polyps out most of the day. It all looks really cool to watch. Amd when I feed the tank it is neat because weird things happen. The serpent star seams to apear out of nowhere to grab some food, the manderin come clear to the top of the water to gobble up some and the corals seam to kinda move around like they are trying to get some as well. I do not spot feed anything, yet. I just use a turkey baster and shoot the food in, half on one end and the other half on the other end. Even my cheto in my refugium is getting fuller. I am noticing more pods as well, guess the manderin cant keep up with the growth. This has been a huge adventure and I cant wait to see what is next. My turbo snails like to play games with me, I found that I get a light covering of algae on the front pannel and they like to cruise across it, just once, just to leave the tracks to tell me it needs cleaned. I also have a Kenya tree that at the rate it is going may outgrow this tank as well, and I am not joking. I think it has almost doubled its size in two weeks. I also have little kenya trees all over the bottom of the tank now. Hope I can find enough people to give these frags to, I wont kill them. Overall I am having lots of fun with this and I am constantly learning. I may get fustrated from time to time and even get so iratated I have to go find something else to do but I would not give this up for anything. Well that is about it for me tonight, Shaun

[Reddog170]

Well folks, How am I doing? What doyou all think of my tank. I had or should say am having a little problem with my serpent star. He is knocking things down and just flat out reaking havoc. I have now had to redo the aqauscaping thanks ti him. He eats EVERYTHING. I may have to send him to the sump. I wanted to do something wih my kenya trees but noticed that one of them was gone, not knocked over or fallen into a crevious but gone. I have seen the star on that rock before but I did not think he would eat corals. My manderin will not go near him anymore. I have been feeding him krill and mysis shrimp. Do you think I need to give him more food? Maybe some added nutrients? I really do not know. Ohh well I am certian that I will get it figured out. I am so happy with my manderin. He is getting fuller in the middle. When I got him he was a little "pinched" in the belly but now he is nice and round. I have been trying to gather information on the Lavender tang. I am learning about there diet, general habits and average adult size. They seem to be a very mild mannered fish and a good grazer. Still am getting a little confused on its adult sizew though. One site says about 14 inches and another one says a max size of 8 inches. Does anyone have one that can tell me?
I was thinking about this the other day and remembered something I was told when I started out. I was told that you will learn to be very good in a lot of areas like, carpendry, electical, biology, plumbing, troubleshooting, chemist, ect. I thought this guy was just trying to scare me off. Guess what he was right. Between books, and I have read a bunch of books, and Reef Sanctuary I now have a good start to a succesfull tank. Thanks everyone, even those that just read along and dont post. Shaun