biomekanic

Hi Gumby, Is that other Rena for sale, and does it have all the hoses, etc? Thanks

Doesn't have to be huge, just run. I'd like one for my 15g FW planted tank. The Amano substrate is great for growing plants, and until the bacteria have a chance to catch up, ammonia.

Hi folks! I'm saving up to get back into the active side of the hobby instead of the reading threads and being envious side There's 2 tanks I'd like to put together. This post is about the 2nd. I'm looking at doing a species set-up. An all Duncan tank with a pair of Orchid Dottybacks. Any advice on Duncan care would be appreciated, as well as sources. Almost all the Duncans I see look very similar, I'm guessing their clones from a small pool of brood stock. I'd like to have a couple different colors of Duncan in the set up, any chance of that? Hardware wise, I'm looking at a JBJ Nano cude, going with the LED lights and supplementing the current with 1 or 2 of the new Vortech 10s. To much light? To much flow? Heavy skim or lighter on the skimmming? I was considering using JBJs new refugium LED and converting the back into a 'fuge. Also removing the stock pump and replacing it with one of the new Tunze silence models. Advice as always is deeply appreciated.

Hi folks! I'm going to be planning out my next setup over the next couple of months, and thought I'd post what I'm planning/thinking about here. It's also where I'll be asking advice Where I am now: I have 2 nano tanks, a (tanks 1)15.5g and a (tank 2) 21g. The very tentative plan is... doing a DIY foamwall on the back of both, after they've been drilled for coast to coast overflows and have returns. The foamwall will have acrylic rods so I can have the LR suspended above the bottom, this is a maybe for tank 2 and a definate for tank 1. Hardware to follow, after I tell you My Plan. Both tanks are going to be "Floribbean" tanks. I'm a fan of our native species. I'll be ordering Live Rock and sand from Richard at tbsaltwater.com. I've ordered from him before, and I like his product. The Plan(TM for Tank 1 is to have either some yellow headed jawfish, dusky jawfish, or a pistol shrimp with fish. Tank 1's corals... most likely the shipment will have gorgonians. They'll be going into this tank. In addition, I would like to get some of the Carribbean proto and palythoas, including the grandis. Possibly some Ricordia as well. Under the "overhanging" rock, I may place some pieces of thin baserock so any of the burrowing fish can have roofs. The sand bed will likely be about 3" - the fish need somewhere to burrow. Tank 2: I was thinking about having a bonsaid mangrove. Or I might have this tank for the stony corals that come in with the shipment and just forgo the mangrove ( unless I can get them both in there... ). I've found a source for aquacultured Carribbean brain corals - Manicina areolata. For fish in this display, I was thinking of Barnacle blennies. I had one before, and he was a cute and very personable little bugger. The foam wall on back would therefore have a lot of holes for them to hide. Or, I might just get one of those fake barnacles from Petsmart/Co and mount that on the back. In additition, I was considering a small school chalk bass, 5 or 6. Plumbing: Well, first, before plumbing, I'll need a stand. I need to measure off my space and the tanks so I can get a nice, roomy stand. I want to put all the equipment in there, and have a nice sized sump/refugium as well. I'll post a pic of my preliminary design sometime Real Soon Now. The plan as it stands is to have the return feed SCWDa. The return from SCWDa will feed 2 SCWDs(b), one for each tank. The return lines from b go to the returns that are drilled into the back of the tanks. I was planning on using Y nozzels from Locline. I was thinking the pump would be about a 1200gph - the 2 SCWDs do reduce the pressure. There would of course be valves to control the flow as well. I might use some of the new Rio prop pumps as I have a Rio controller, to get more flow in tank 1. Lighting: I'll most likely bite the financial bullet and go with LED. While more expensive in the short run, the cost of MH bulbs and 2 tanks will save me money. Filtration: Here's where things get... interesting. Much of what I'm interested in keeping alive from the shipment are filter feeders. While I firmly believe skimmers serve a very useful function, for what I'm after, I don't want to much skimmed out of the water. I'm considering using an underpowered skimmer ( such as a Rio nano ) and supplementing it with ozone hooked up to a redox meter. Carbon would of course be run with this. Primary filtration would be a DIY algae turf scrubber. A popular way to build one is to use a small trashcan, the kind with a spring loaded hood. I have 2 64w 6500K LOA security lights, so lighting is taken care of. The filter would have it's own feed from the main drainage line. I've considered using a 5g bucket filled with base rock and seeded with LR as a refugium. I'm looking to maximize plankton production for all the filter feeders. Or, would a refugium filled with macroalgae serve that better? Thoughts/opinions? ( or both of them, nothing says I only have to do 1 ). Of course, all this requires me getting a full time job, but I have several prospects finally lined up. I would like to have all the hardware in place some time in July, and then make the order to Richard. I plan on letting the system sit fallow for at least 3 months, if no longer before adding any new planktivores. I want the pod population to have plenty of time to build up before opening up the buffet. As always, any thoughts/opinions are welcome.

Can you get a halogen in the right color? Home Depot might have some of those 27w Lights of American security lights left. They're 6500K.

Thanks for the offers/advice We found a nice one free on Craig's list. She's resting much more comfortably now.

Thanks for the offer We're looking for a recliner because she needs something she can lie back and sleep in and then till up so she can sit upright. She had pretty major abdomenal surgery ( they removed a 3lbs+ tumor, and had to do a full hysterectomy(sp?)), she's tried using our couch, but it's just not comfortable enough.

My girl friend is getting out of the hospital today or tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get a recliner for her to use for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, hers are in storage back in NJ, and it's a bit of a drive to get there and back before she comes home today or tomorrow.

20 breeder is as small as I'd go, 40 would be better and a75g best. Peacock can shatter glass - on a 10 gallon tank, because the glass is thin. This is very, very rare. That said, if you're worried, just put some starboard in the bottom and no worries. Anything over a 10g is safe. Coral sand and lots of rubble is good, they need the rubble for building materials. A good place for advice ( at the risk of pointing to another forum ) is Reef Central's mantis board. Dr. Roy Caldwell, who's been studing stomatopods for... geeze, I think about 30 years now? Is a forum frequenter. There's all kinds of advice on keeping them there. Do's as well as don'ts ( like don't use aeresol cleaners anywhere near the tank). I'd advise checking it out.

Well, one of the advantages of LEDs is bulb lifespan. How much is it going to cost to swap out that 70w bulb every 6 months?

I'm thinking LEDs for mine as well. There's a huge variety of them out there compared to when I was more active in the hobby 2 years ago.

How can brittle stars be a problem?

I never had the chance to meet or talk to him, but I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. The loss of one of us diminishes all of us.