Here's the little tank I've been slowly putting together over the past couple months. There's not in it right now, but this weekend I'm going to be adding some frags.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/002-3.jpg

It's my first attempt at a tank since my 30 gallon crash that happened 5 years ago. The power had gone out for a week because of a hurricane (we were in Florida at that time), and, well, things got really stinky after a while....:sick:

This is how I plan on stocking it.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/111111.jpg

nice job! what lighting do you have?

I have a Nova Extreme 36 watt T5 light. I'm thinking about adding one of those stunner led supplements too :)

None yet. I still haven't decided what kind, or if I really want any. I might make this an invert only tank.

where did you get your lights, i cant ever find small fixtures ex.12" 36 watt, because im planning a 3 gallon jbj build and would like to have a 12" fixture.

lights are found on the drsfostersmith.com website look or call and ask about the 12" coralife 36 watt aqualight fixture. they should have it for 50$

lights are found on the drsfostersmith.com website look or call and ask about the 12" coralife 36 watt aqualight fixture. they should have it for 50$
yeah i looked there and marinedepot.com and didn't find anything.I googled the fixture and it pulled up some links and it says discontinued as well as the current satellite 12".

What inverts are going in ?

What inverts are going in ?

I already have:

3 tiny hermits
5 cerith snail
5 nassarius snails

and will be getting:

Micro brittle stars
sexy shrimp
bumble bee shrimp
mini carpet anemone
1 feather duster

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get any fish. I want to just showcase unique inverts, since I'm going to have SPS.

That's a great list would a porcelin anemonie be too big for a mini carpet ?

That's a great list would a porcelin anemonie be too big for a mini carpet ?


I think mini carpets get to 4 inches across, so I'm not sure, but that's a great creature to add to my list.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/002-6.jpg

I added this beautiful ricodea yesterday.

Today I discovered some cyano and replaced my week old filter floss. I hope that will solve the problem. I haven't had algae in my tank since the first cycle.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/004-8.jpg

I found one of my snails covered in these strange things. I have no clue what they are!

Not sure what it is but I would try a fresh water dip to get rid of it.

looking great

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/004-9.jpg

Here's an updated tank shot. I redid the rockwork to make some more room for somemore LR in the back corner.

I plan on getting some yellow polyps this weekend :)

I did have a beautiful feather duster, but somehow my hermits got through it's tube, and decided it would make a great meal. Needless to say it didn't make it.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/003-7.jpg

lovely new yellow polyps!

ahhhh, get them out fast! they will take over!!

Na, if you like them it's cool, just keep them in check and isolate them well if you don't want them to take over. Your going to want a Ranco controller or a RKL to get your temperature under control. When you move in to SPS think about a good controller to keep things safer and happy.

Good luck, looks great so far
Jason

Are they hydroids?
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/004-8.jpg

I found one of my snails covered in these strange things. I have no clue what they are!

ahhhh, get them out fast! they will take over!!

Na, if you like them it's cool, just keep them in check and isolate them well if you don't want them to take over. Your going to want a Ranco controller or a RKL to get your temperature under control. When you move in to SPS think about a good controller to keep things safer and happy.

Good luck, looks great so far
Jason


The yellow polyps are on their own little island. i could easily move it farther from the rocks to keep them in check. I don't know what those controllers are, but I'll look into them, thanks :) getting things stable is a huge concern of mine before the sps get moved in, but I'm willing to try :)

2 quick questions. Will they stay contained on the island, or will they just randomly pop up in the tank? How far do they need to be away from the rest of the rocks?

Yellow polyps, like a lot of others, multiply by spreading onto adjacent areas, they just do it faster (if conditions are right) than most palys or zoos. If you're spending time looking at your little chunk of the reef, it shouldn't be any problem at all so long as you are willing to remove polyps that are growing where you don't want them to grow - they grow fast, but not faster than you! (I found it amazingly hard to get used to the idea of throwing away something for which I paid good money before they started to multiply!) Some people think of yellow polyps, like gsp, as nuisance - I like the look of them:

http://www.trinityepiscopalchurch.com/rich/fts750.jpg

that's such a pretty reef, with a very natural look. It's how I want my tank. A lot of softies and some sps thrown into the mix. I'm not going for a manicured tank, so I think I'll keep them and love them.

Siren's eye,

What Columbus Reef said is spot on! They will bumb up next to a rock and attach and climb it leaving babies everywhere.

A Reef Keeper has a temperature probe and PH probe (extra) and an comes with outlets that are programmable. What you would do is set your heater to a few degrees above what you normally keep it, say you want to keep it at 80. Set your heater for 82. Plug it into the Reef Keeper outlet and program it to come on at 80. The reef keeper will turn the heater on and off as needed. Heaters have been known to fail often so a controller will keep your investment much safer. On the flip side you can install a fan over the tank somewhere and have the controller turn the fan on if the temp gets too high.

The possibilities are almost endless. Controllers can control evaporation top off, lights, and various equipment. There are even cheaper modules that hook up to the internet so you can check on your tank online or on your cell phone.

Sounds like your on the road to a successful reef tank.

Don't forget to have your test kits, Mag, Cal, and Alk.

Happy Reefing
Jason

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/004-10.jpg

I added 1 more piece of dry rock to complete my aqua-scape. It took forever to find one the right size and shape. My ultimate goal is to grow a monti cap on it's side, and bird's nest on top. As for the yellow polyps, I moved them far away from my main rock structure, and towards the glass. I think it would be cool if they started to grow on it. I plan on adding some xenia to the other side, for the same effect.

My tank is almost 3 months old. Do you think it's too soon to add my first sps? My water's pretty stable. The parameters are:

SG: 1.024
nitrates: 0
Nitrites: 0
PH 7.9

They've been the same since my cycle, and everything's growing great. My teal musroom has split 3 times, my green paly's got 2 new bud, and 2 of my yellow polyps have split twice in less than a week!

Those things on your snail look like Hydra (can you tell Im an old freshwater guy).

Rick

that tank looks bigger than just 5 gallons! I love pico reefs :) are you going to put any fish in there?

I got a six line wrasse to control flat worms, but I'm going to trade him for more corals or inverts.

If I set up a flual edge I would get a flaming prawn goby... dreams... lol. But, you should put some thing in there for some movement! :)

I love flaming prawn gobies. I wish I dared to spend tons of money on a fish. That would be the one. I might get a neon goby, but I'm not sure. I don't want bio-load issues since I want sps in the near future.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/006-4.jpg

Updated FTS!

My latest addition! A clown anemone shrimp. He loves to hang out on my xenia.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/005-5.jpg

here's a pic of him at his happiest.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/008-2.jpg

How big is the clown anemone? I would be scared the 6 line might think it's food.

sadly the 6 line went carpet surfing a few days ago.

Sorry to hear it , a piece of plexiglass or lexan will keep that from happening next time . It also cuts the evaporation way down.

On the spreading of polyps: I have had polyps that run out of rock or still have rock but feel too crowded, break away from the pack and float somewhere else to start a new colony.

... and the majanos do that too but ,that's more like a gift of the day when it makes them easy to pull out.

My xenia already did that. Promptly, I sucked the little bud up and properly disposed of it. No need to encourage that coral to spread, lol.

oO nice tank Oo what about adding a pygmy angelfish or a clown goby?

I MIGHT put a fish in the tank, but for right now I just want inverts. If I do get a fish it would be a neon goby, or maybe a clown goby.

Nice start!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/018-1.jpg

Here's an updated tank shot.

I just got a kryptonite candy cane from Rit today. It's my first coral with a fancy-pantsy name, lol. You can can kind of see it near the top of the far right rock. It's so fluorescent my cheap camera doesn't like it.

Not sure exactly what they are, but they appear to be some kind of filter feeder based on their morphology.

Not sure exactly what they are, but they appear to be some kind of filter feeder based on their morphology.

Ack! Sorry, this was in reference to what is on your snail in the first picture. I forgot to put in the quote tag. What do they look like now weeks later? Have they spread anywhere else, notice any negative effects?

Landon

They're still just on that one snail's shell, and haven't spread to anything else. I have noticed a huge increase in white worms "fishing" from the rocks.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/023.jpg

Updated FTS. Nothing much has changed, except I added a green bird's nest, and red skirted zoas.

Random photos!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/018-2.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/015-2.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/014.jpg
you guys were right about yellow polyps growing like weeds!
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/013-2.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/010-4.jpg

Lol the yellow polyps grow like 3 times as fast as everything else in my tank i will probably be fragging some off in a few more weeks myself

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/036.jpg

Here's an updated tank pic, as well as a stock list.

Inverts:
1 emerald crab
1 peppermint shrimp
6 blue legged hermit crabs
5 nassarius snails
3 cerith snails
3 stomatella snails
1 astrea snail

Corals:

Softies:
teal mushroom
purple mushroom
green palys
unknown green/brown palys
purple and pink zoas
blood rain zoas
gorilla nipples zoas (tee-hee!)
yellow polyps
blue clove polyps
orange ricordea
teal palys
eagle eye zoas

LPS:
Kryptonite candy cane
war coral favia

SPS:
Neon green bird's nest
orange monti cap
red digi
meteor shower

You don't realize you have so much in there till you write it all down . Your reef is looking nice.

thank you! I had no idea so much stuff was stuffed into this little box. The amazing thing is, I still feel like I need to add more. At least 2 more rics, and 3 more montis, lol. OH! and don't forget the fancy zoas I still need to get.

I thought it would be fun to grow some yellow polyps and purple clove polyps on the back wall, so yesterday I fragged off a piece of each, and propped them up against the glass.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/015-4.jpg

I finally got a somewhat nice picture of my faorite side.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/013-3.jpg

Those green palys started off as just one polyp 4 months ago.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/005-8.jpg

The favia in the middle was just 3 tiny little mouths when I first got it.
I love watching everything grow!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/021.jpg

Eugene says "hi". He's waving at you :)

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/005-9.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/008-7.jpg

Here are my two newest frags. Both were very generously donated to me by Gnasty since I lost my original meteor shower. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You're awesome!

Fun seeing how your tank has progressed. So what is your current lighting set up?

I have 36 watt T5s, and want to add an LED Stunner.

From this

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/003-9.jpg

To this!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/004-16.jpg

Wow...very nice. It's great to see the build threads and the before to after shots.

This

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/003-7.jpg

To this!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/010-7.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/011-3.jpg

I picked up a pretty whisker coral from Rit today. Don't tell my favia, but I think it's my new favorite!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk6/kelii36/017.jpg


As you can see, I made a ton of changes. I decided to remove the sand because I was constantly battling bubble and hair algae. Also, I changed the background to blue.

That's going to be a really nice nano system

Has the removal of the sand solved the algae problem?

it did! I haven't had a single bubble algae since the removal. There is still some hair algae on one rock, but it hasn't spread like it was.