OPForest's 80 bow front

I couldn't leave well enough alone. The aquascaping wasn't doing it for me so I rearranged some and purchased 3 more pieces of dry rock. should be somewhere around 90-100 lbs now. Also purchased a check valve for the return line that I will be installing tomorrow. Oh one more thing I did was hook up my skimmer silencer. Used a flex coupling to the output, then an elbow and a few other fittings to bring the outlet down below the water surface.

Tested water and removed the shrimp tonight:

PH: 8.1
Ammonia: 0
NO2: .25
NO3: 10

The Nitrite fell from .5 yesterday to .25 today so it is definitely on its way.

 

Looking good, OP.

Just a couple of pointers:

1) You need to 'ghost feed' your tank; too long without food and the ammonia-metabolizing bacteria will starve. I usually just leave the shrimp in until ammonia and nitrite are zero.

2) Check valves are not reliable and only provide a false sense of security. Your safest option is to keep your return nozzle close to the surface and ensure that your sump can handle the back-drainage before an emergency occurs.

HTH

 

Update of the weekend. I have added the Tang to the DT after about 3 weeks in the QT. I wont do it that quick for future fish but as he was the first one, I felt OK with it. His color has changed drastically since I first received him. Also, I went to That Fish Place and bought 2 Cinnamon clowns who are in my QT now. They are very similar in size although one is slightly bigger and definitely the dominant. I am hoping they pair up without a problem. Oh and I got a Zoa frag that looked nice and had 2 different color zoas on it.

 

trying out some shots with my DSLR. I know its not to impressive but for me its exciting.

 

Cleanup crew from Reef Cleaners arrived yesterday and they are hard at work! Some of my snails keep trying to escape but so far no losses. The kids keep their eye on it while i'm gone to work and put them back.

Ive got a good amount of hair algae on my zoa frag but it looks like the hermits are working on it. I am looking to get a GFO reactor and an ATO as soon as I can.

 

Hey everyone. Just wanted to post an update on my tank.

My Cinnamon clown pair have been in the tank for a few days now and are looking healthy. They haven't really paired up much but they haven't killed each other and the female is growing quickly so I am just being patient. They don't fight although the female will give chase to the male every once and a while. Ironically the Tang and female clown seam to be good friends.



I got really tired of not being able to tune the Herbie overflow with my Lowes ball valve so I bought a SCH 40 gate valve and installed it yesterday. That was maybe the best thing I've done so far for the tank. No more sucking gurgling noise. It is just about completely silent and reinforces my choice to go with this style overflow.



I also installed a check valve in the return line. Ive tested it 2 times and although it does work, I don't know that I trust it explicitly. Because of this i tested how much water my sump will hold before it overflows. If i lose power and the check valve doesn't do its job ill end up with about 3 or 4 gallons of water on the floor. That's not as bad as I expected but could still make a mess if it were to sit for very long.



YEP I know i need some hose clamps on those barb fittings.

 

Update pics.

Red Goniporia from That Fish Place


Tubbs Blue Zoa, Utter Chaos Zoa and Gorilla Nipples Zoa from The Coral Reef in Stratford CT. There is another freebie frag in my QT that I don't have pics of. It had some algae on it which I am watching before I put it into the DT.




And an update of my Atomic Green Zoa. There was originally only one red polyp but another one is growing below it now. Not sure what kind it is.



And finally some updates on the fish. I have a Diamond watchman goby in my QT which I will post pics of once he isnt so shy.

 

That red polyp looks like a "whammin' watermelon" zoa.

 

I'll check that out. Thanks.