newbie from tampa fl xenia take over

The rock work looks great. Maybe someone can chime in that has used oak before. I'm somewhat concerned that it will rot over time and cause issues with your water chemistry and also weaken your aquascaping. I'm not sure if it is an issue but it might be good to look into it. I hope it's ok.

 

compressed wood will rot out quick. oak wood will exspand to create a tight seal as long as its still wet. if i took out the dowels ans let them dry, the water will evaporate in a day or so thus leaving the salt content in the wood that will start the rotting process

 

Welcome to 3reef and nice set-up you have there.

 

I had xenia like that till I upgraded my lighting, skimmer and backed off on the feeding. Then it melted away and I couldn't be happier=)

 

Hello Earl and welcome ! Well, I am rather far from an expert – but I like to poke fun at those who consider themselves such.

Anywho, you have a nice set-up that you should be pleased with. 29 gallon in an apartment with aspirations of 200 gallons in your future home is a perfect place to be in my friend. Appears that you placed your rock on the sand – if so do not do this in your future 200 gallon, sand shifts and rocks fall.

Xenia thrives in nutrient rich water – I won’t say “dirty tank” but we might be saying that if you didn’t have the Xenia. Your tank looks good, so the Xenia is thriving on the excess nutrients that are in your tank. Absent of the Xenia I suspect you could be facing an algae bloom – just my opinion, so take it for what it is.

As Daniel mentioned, he upgraded his lights and added a skimmer and the Xenia backed off since he was pulling the excess nutrients from the water. Currently I think your Xenia colony is rather nicely placed and attractive – enjoy it. I look forward to seeing your 200 on this board in the near future !

 

What were your challenges regarding filtration?

 

thanks crimson
as for my filtration issue. my hob filter would only filter out big particules and not the smaller ones. so i had to upgrade my filter media with two trays dt water->pump->larger pore filter ->small pore filter media. i do have a protein skimmer. i hate adjusting it for the air bubbles. it airates and foams to the canister like its suppose to but the air bubbles that dont go to the chamber get flow into the dt.

 

tank updates

 

nice update!

I take it you added in the sump, is there any skimmer hooked up? how is water getting from the DT to the sump? I hope you cashed in some of that xenia . . . a lot of people hate the stuff on the boards, but my LFS cant get enough of mine and happily get me $5 / stalk all day. Also what is that sand sifting star doing in the rockwork?

~Will.

 

Great job!!!