Tharsis' first SW tank ~10 gallon~ new pics 6/21/11

Beautiful, a 15 long or 20 gallon tank will get you into standard length T5HO bulbs.

 

beautiful tank.

 

Alright so I will have to delay the tank upgrade and/or light upgrade for awhile.

I have added a few things since the last update. I got some xenia which is taking off in my tank. I absolutely love this stuff...very cool. I also added a firefish goby today. I realize that I am really pushing the limits right now but they have a very limited bioload and between all my rock and chaeto I think it should be fine. I really like this little guy, he is much more adventurous than i had anticipated. He has been hanging out in the front all day and is getting along great with the clowns. I am quite pleased with the new additions.

Here are some FTS from various angles:











And now for some random shots:







I took the back off of the tank so that it can be viewed from both sides, here is a pic through the other side of the cave. And i found where the emerald crab like to hide





I scared him out into the open:





So that is the state of things at the moment, everything seems very stable with no nitrate/phosphate/algae issues. I am going to monitor the levels and see what effect the firefish but I would be very surprised if he threw things out of whack.

 

Looks really good. That image from the back with the purple mushrooms and emerald is very nice.

 

thanks! yeah I really like the lighting in those pics.

 

oh yeah, I forgot to mention my battle with the flatworms.





I have been siphoning the gravel loaded with flatworms as well as trying to siphon them off of the rock. I seem to be making good progress, I think I will keep it up for another week or so and then hit them with flatworm exit.

I haven't seen any high up on my rock or on any of my corals so it does not seem to be totally out of control but I want to nip this in the bud quickly.

 

So I finally for myself a Ca and Alk test kits...and I think I probably should have gotten an Mg kit as well. I just tested my water and I have very high Ca levels and very low Alk levels.

Ca >500 ppm
Alk = 3 dkH
salinity = 1.025
pH = can't find my color chart
Mg = don't have a test kit yet

Through a very brief google search, it seems I should check the Mg levels?
I am getting alot of coralline growth so would this drive the alkalinity down?

I am using coralife saltmix and apparently there are a few threads out there that discuss abnormally low alkalinity for this mix, but no resolution was reached in any of the threads. I will test again after I mix a batch of water for my next water change.

I am using API test kits.

I will get the pH and Mg readings before starting to add alkalinity, and I realize it may be hard to draw conclusions from the info I have provided but any input would be appreciated, Thanks!

 

its been awhile since I posted some pics here. I have since moved from colorado to indiana and I brought the tank with me. The only casualty was my main colony of xenia, but it is doing fine on the other rocks that it spread to. The fish/shrimp/crab all did great as well.

I just had two large 3 gallon tupperwares filled with my tank water. One had the large pieces of rock and the fish/shrimp/crab and the other had the remaining rock and coral. I did a 50% water change the first night in the hotel and ran air pump and koralia in both tubs overnight.

I did another 50% water change when I got to the new house. I then mixed 10 gallons of new water for the tank. I did away with the crushed coral and added sand. Added all the rocks and coral then filled her up and added the livestock.

I am dealing with a bit of an algae problem right now, but nothing serious. I am just removing as much as I can and letting things take care of themselves.

I am so happy that it all worked out. PLUS I have found two absolutely fantastic LFS both within 10 minutes of my house. They have huge multiple frag tanks with soooo much selection. One store has $5, $7.5, and $10 frags and they look really good.

Anyways, here are some pics from before and after the move.

BEFORE











AFTER

current FTS - a little different scape then before




some of the new frags I bought





can see some of the algae I have, it is actualyl growing on my chaeto






the firsfish seems to have gotten his tail snipped off..I am guessing the emerald crab took a snap at him? He seems to be ok, but i feel bad for the little guy.






Hopefully the tank will stabilize again soon and the algae will go away. But like I said it really isn't really that bad.

All in all the move was a success!!

 

Nice looking tank!

 

^thanks! The 10 gallon is doing really well right now, i will post some pics soon. Everything is growing really well.

I just picked up a 20 long from petco today, and I will be transferring the contents of this 10 gallon tank into that one.

Pretty psyched! I think I may use the 10 gallon as a sump/refugium with a HOB overflow.

So I am going to get a skimmer for the 10 gallon. Will the coralife 65G super skimmer be ok in a 10 gallon sump?