Upgrade/build thread: 20 gallon to 50 gallon

[Time]

nice salties! better than the tanks i see at the pet store.

[emanluke]

You just made my dream vacation of visiting a coral reef a little bit cheaper!

Beautiful tank, filled with wonderful colors! I love the new fire shrimp.

[harpua2002]

Thanks guys!
It's always a work in progress.

[Time]

I want salties!

[aquarist48]

Harpua you've done a fantastic job! Beautiful! (hate you lost he beautiful angel a few days ago
Ken

[MizRamzi]

[harpua2002]

It's been a long time since I last posted an update of the reef. Like I mentioned in another thread, I've had some personal issues going on lately and because of that we unfortunately lost some corals. We're steadily getting the tank back on track with frequent water changes, and recently re-aquascaped. So, here's a full tank shot, as well as pics of our beautiful new half black angel Loki, bicolor blenny Bartleby, and Wiggles the clownfish. Wiggles has grown and darkened up a lot in the past couple of months, which is exciting to see.

[harpua2002]

And here are a couple more, the left and right side of the tank.

[MizRamzi]

I'm so so sorry to see just how many corals you did lose I am sure you'll get em back and even better then before!

[harpua2002]

Thanks! We didn't really lose that many, just a couple of big ones (the monti caps) and a couple acans so I guess it's pretty noticeable in the FTS. On a brighter note, our zoas and palys are doing quite well and have spread a lot.

[MizRamzi]

What zoa's/palys do you have? Hehe~maybe we trade a little? JK~I couldn't afford the shipping cost anyways~your tank looks wonderful! What you got your eye on now, hmm?

[MissMTS]

Awesome tank Harpua! Your fish are beautiful

[harpua2002]

Originally Posted by MizRamzi

What zoa's/palys do you have? Hehe~maybe we trade a little? JK~I couldn't afford the shipping cost anyways~your tank looks wonderful! What you got your eye on now, hmm?

Eagle eyes, fire and ice, ring of fire, cat's eye, devil's armor are the named ones, and we also have some green palys, baby blue zoas, red zoas, and a few other kinds. I think I counted 13 different varieties the other day.

Originally Posted by MissMTS

Awesome tank Harpua! Your fish are beautiful

Thank you!

[Steve McKay]

What is this Harpua?

[harpua2002]

Tube anemone (not a true anemone). Cerianthus sp. That was taken right after we added it, and it looks a lot different now. It's inflated and sitting upright.

[Steve McKay]

I thought that was a possibility,I have been wanting to get one.I did some research on them and their not the fish eaters people claim,they have less of a sting than aiptasia. What do you feed your Tube Anemone.Or do you just let it filter feed the food you feed your coarals.

[Steve McKay]

I thought you were supposed to bury them about 4/5 of the way up.Am I wrong?

[harpua2002]

Yeah, I've tried to bury it several times but it's a lot harder to get the sand to stay around it than I thought it would be! After a few tries it was looking pretty stressed so I decided to leave it alone for a while, and I'll try to bury it again next water change.

So far it has been filter feeding but we're going to try to feed it some mysis.

[Steve McKay]

Let me know how it goes,once my tank matures I'll be looking for a red or blue one.Also I noticed you have a 6 bulb T5 HO fixture.I'm scraping my pc lighting,I'm getting the Tek 6x39 HO fixture.What bulbs would you recommend?Pc's won't cut it,I would like a monti too and would like to try a acropora later after the tank matures for about a year.

[harpua2002]

You may or may not have success with acros. I haven't had any luck with them and have tried a few different frags. The montis did well for me until I wasn't able to keep up on maintenance for a while.

[Steve McKay]

I saw your answer to my lighting thread thanks.I do hear their hard to keep,they need strong light and water flow.They also need good amount of calcium and carbonates.What kind of supplements do you use?

[harpua2002]

Well, I don't dose anything because the only test kit (other than the master kit) is for Calcium and the calcium level stays good with just water changes. I'm not going to dose anything I can't test for. The corals I have now are doing well so I'm just not going to change anything, lol.

[Steve McKay]

My 30 with crushed coral stayed around 420 with just water changes.I'm wondering what the 50 will do with sand.My first test was 400,alkalinity was 12 a little high for 400,pH was 8.3 so that was good.If the calcium stays above 400(450 would be better)the only thing I see worth adding might be iodine.

[MizRamzi]

What brand of salt are you two using? Do you test your replacement water before adding it to your tank~what readings do you get if you do? What would be the reason to dose with iodine? Sorry about all the questions here~just doing some comparisons on salt mixes~consistency wise. I use Reef Crystals and have had issues with keeping my calcium levels above 400~my Kh has been a steady 10~ph a steady 8.4~I'm not to concerned as I'm keeping no SPS/LPS~just curious is all.

[harpua2002]

For now, I'm using Red Sea because the company we ordered from sent us the wrong salt and didn't return phone calls or emails! I think our calcium tests somewhere around 400.

[Steve McKay]

I'm using IO Reef Crystals,I don't test my water source because I distill my own water,I know it's pure.As far as testing the mixed water before adding it to the tank,probably should I have just taken it for granted.Thanks for bringing that up I would like to know the test results,that way I could possibly see how my sand bed is affecting the calcium level.Some corals and I believe some inverts
need more iodine than what salt mixes contain.

[Steve McKay]

One to think about too,is to test it for copper.I think I have heard about some salt mixes containing small amounts of copper.

[Steve McKay]

Harpua you might want to do that,can't say that was the reason for your coral dying but you never know.

[harpua2002]

Oh, I know it was lack of maintenance. I had some personal issues going on where I was out of town and wasn't able to maintain the tank for a couple of months.