Marine Journal - 159l

[adam98150]

I am hoping to create a reef tank, I currently have 20KG of fully mature live rock, as well as a broken 250W halide . . . damn Ebay! For temporary lighting I have a small 70W RX7 6500K halide. This is going to be a semi-aggressive tank with some unusual fish.

The dimensions are as follows - 36"L, 18"H, 15"D. I will have my images up later tonight, I won't forget.

My equipment and supplies include:

API Saltwater Master Test Kit
Instant Ocean Hydrometer
1x koralia 2
1x koralia 3
TetraTec EX 1200 External (Filter Floss/Sponge Pad)
Fluval Tronic 200W Heater
500ml SeaChem Prime Dechlorinator
Instant Ocean Sea Salt

My stock is as follows -

3x Halloween Hermits
Scarlet Hawkfish (Flame Hawk)

My future stock -

Fu Manchu Lionfish
Leaf Scorpion Fish (Taenianotus Triacanthus)
Possible angler (any suggestions?)
Golden Dwarf Moray

My parameters are as follows - almost perfect! (since 21st Oct)

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 PPM (Water change tonight!)
PH: 8.2

My Scarlet Hawk is arriving Tuesday hopefully, and I shall order more of my CUC the same week, which will consist of six Cerith Snails, five Turbo Snails, and possibly a Brittle Star. My tank has now been running for around three to four weeks, since the live rock was well established, I have made the decision to put in my first fish. The live rock came with several hitch hikers, turbo's, asterina star's, mushrooms ( I think) - and other odd bits and bobs.

I'm not using RO water by the way, don't all yell at me at once.

------------ Picture time!

You'll have to excuse the quality, these were taken on my phone, since the bloody camera was stolen. But the pictures are actually not too bad for a phone I think.

Heating the water, and checking the equipment.


My live rock, after transportation.


Re-arranged the rock work.


Mushroom?


Halloween hermit, amazing colour.




Just the T5's.




After removing the halide lamp, it fell apart in my hands . . . now that's what i call quality!


I'm re-arranging the rocks again shortly, since it looks appalling.

Just thought i'd add a picture of Jubb-Jubb for good measure.

 

[rabbut]

Can't wait for the pics

Good luck getting the Halide replaced BTW. Is it just the balast and lamp that went, or has the wiring and the holder also somehow got damaged in the bust? I've thought about what you were saying at work today, and if the balast is all thats gone and/or you still have the spare lamp, I know a good Ebay seller for replacement balasts if they aren't gonna refund those rediculous postage charges

All the best
Rabbut

 

[adam98150]

Hello,

It seems the lamp and ballast went, as my brother checked it over a few days ago - apparantly there's no power going to one side of the lamp holder. It turns out they won't refund the postage charges (£40+), what the hell! I don't really see the point in sending it back, as i would only receive half of what i originally paid. Several of the screw heads also fell off, yes fell off.

I don't want a replacement from those people, i'm thinking of just purchasing a standard fixture without the T5's - E40 screw fit. What do you think? If i replace the lamp with a 13,000K (slight blue tint).


Anyone have any idea on the ID of this?


The clear, tentacled type thing.

 

[kj23502]

I'm wondering if it's that aptasia stuff

Tough crap on that light man. Know how ya feel. I bought 2 lights off ebay and one came w/a broken end. They did refund for part of the cost of the lamp, though. I still was stuck on the shipping charges and the rest of the cost to replace it

Luckily all my other dealings on ebay have been great and uneventful (I've bought and sold a fair amount of stuff myself).



Kj

 

[adam98150]

Yeah, same here, most of my Ebay transactions have been smooth as silk, until i bought that lamp. Good call on the ID, it looks very similar. Just found this image on google when i typed in Aiptasia, thank you.

http/www.aiam.info/pic_04/antonio_guarre...%20diaphana.jpg

It sucks about the shipping charges, and they made you pay some of the money to replace it? Very bad Ebay seller.

 

[kj23502]

You're welcome on the ID.

The refund went through UPC since it was insured with them. UPC paid a % of the items worth since it was 2nd hand and wasn't brand new. I would've had to pay the difference to get a brand new one. However, I was able to fix it...well my hubby did...will little addittional cost. It came out ok. Just not the ideal situation where everything went the way we wanted it to go. I would've had to pay the difference in the refund and actual cost of a new one had we not been able to at least temporarily repair it. I trust my hubby in that it's not a fire hazard

btw, I like your pics too! Not to bad for phone pics at all



Kj

 

[rabbut]

If the balast is in the fitting, you could get just a new ballast to replace it, like the one below;

Electronic 250W Balast

I'd get your brother to re-wire the fitting for you wile at it, as there will have been a lot of current involved in the balast shearing screw heads, so it is possible that the cables are damaged internally somewhere. Why risk them blowing the replacement balast?

The same seller also does Rs7 and FC2 Halide lamps if you need that replacing also

A stand alone fitting is also possible. Again, that seller has all the bits you need... I've bought my fitting, balast and lamps from them, and they were a plesure to trade with.Quick responce to e-mails too. Postage could have been quicker, but what do you expect when they ship from China?

The Aptasias are generaly considered a pest. They can sting, apparently. True Peppermint Shrimp are know to eat them, and are reef safe. There is also manual ways of dealing with them, involing Hyperdermic needles, seringes and all manor of different fluids. Lemon juce and vinegar are reported to work. Joes Juce is a commercialy available product for their removal This link explains lemon juce injection for you

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tahneen]

Im liking the setup and the lizard but for the stock your going to be paying probly around 200$ for your dwarf moray and the scorpian fish I believe can kill you!

 

[adam98150]

You're welcome on the ID.

The refund went through UPC since it was insured with them. UPC paid a % of the items worth since it was 2nd hand and wasn't brand new. I would've had to pay the difference to get a brand new one. However, I was able to fix it...well my hubby did...will little addittional cost. It came out ok. Just not the ideal situation where everything went the way we wanted it to go. I would've had to pay the difference in the refund and actual cost of a new one had we not been able to at least temporarily repair it. I trust my hubby in that it's not a fire hazard

btw, I like your pics too! Not to bad for phone pics at all



Kj

Thank you, Kj.

I'm glad you managed to fix it.

The auto focus and the xeon flash seem to help a great deal.

If the balast is in the fitting, you could get just a new ballast to replace it, like the one below;

Electronic 250W Balast

I'd get your brother to re-wire the fitting for you wile at it, as there will have been a lot of current involved in the balast shearing screw heads, so it is possible that the cables are damaged internally somewhere. Why risk them blowing the replacement balast?

The same seller also does Rs7 and FC2 Halide lamps if you need that replacing also

A stand alone fitting is also possible. Again, that seller has all the bits you need... I've bought my fitting, balast and lamps from them, and they were a plesure to trade with.Quick responce to e-mails too. Postage could have been quicker, but what do you expect when they ship from China?

The Aptasias are generaly considered a pest. They can sting, apparently. True Peppermint Shrimp are know to eat them, and are reef safe. There is also manual ways of dealing with them, involing Hyperdermic needles, seringes and all manor of different fluids. Lemon juce and vinegar are reported to work. Joes Juce is a commercialy available product for their removal This link explains lemon juce injection for you

All the best
Rabbut

Thanks for the link Rabbut, but i think i'm still going to go with a standard fixture from someone in the UK. I can't imagine what would happen if the halide unit from China broke. I also don't want to fork out a ton of money to get this piece of crap fixed, when i can just buy a working one for the same price.

I found some info on Aiptasia's in the morning, the techniques used seem to be injecting boiling water, or removing the rock and blow torching it. I'll probably try the lemon juice idea most likely, seems slightly safer.

Im liking the setup and the lizard but for the stock your going to be paying probly around 200$ for your dwarf moray and the scorpian fish I believe can kill you!

Thanks for the comments.

I think the Scorpion Leaf Fish only has a mild sting, very similar to that of the Lionfish i would have thought. Yes, the Golden Dwarf Moray is expensive, but i'm now determined to purchase one.

More images to come shortly! And fish pics on tuesday.

Just found this on Youtube, a video of the Taenianotus Triacanthus i believe (?), it looks fantastic, very odd behaviour.

[URL="http/uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x1_r_uyIoik&...feature=related"]http/uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x1_r_uyIoik&...feature=related[/URL]

 

[shibby]

halloween hermits rock. and so does liverock....

coming a long nicely

 

[CageUK]

As far as the Aiptasia is concerned I could never get the boiling water or the lemon juice methods to work. I ended up getting some Joe's Juice. It does zap them straight away but from the experience I've had with two tank, they have both had further growths of Aips once they are 'infected'.

So I think unless you are lucky you won't get rid of them. Just keep them to a manageable level, or get some peppermints (although not with your fish choice of course).

 

[adam98150]

I suppose i'll just leave the Aiptasia for now, although it seems to have extended quite abit, i'll see what happens before i make a move.

Halloween hermits do indeed rock! Now i'm on the look for some electric blues.

 

[shibby]

use vinegar to blast it

 

[adam98150]

Thanks Shibby, I'll try a few of these methods before moving on to Joe's Juice.

I'm now eagerly anticipating my Scarlet Hawks arrival, it should be here before 1.00 PM.

EDIT: It has arrived, at approximately 9.30 AM. It's around 1.5 - 2" at the moment, bright red in colour, and black spectacles around the eyes. Although, I only glanced at it before placing it in the bucket for acclimatisation. How long do you think I should acclimatise it for? I was thinking around five hours? Maybe six?

I bought it from Tri-Mar, based in Cornwall. Fantastic service, very friendly staff, and the packing was possibly the best I've ever seen for livestock. Will be buying from them again!

Here's their site - [URL="http/www.tropicalfish.org.uk/"]http/www.tropicalfish.org.uk/[/URL]

 

[rabbut]

Aclimation time depends on in-comming salinity and that of your tank, along with nitrate and pH levels from both systems. If they are close I woud treat like normal tropicals; float and water swap with a cup for about 1 hour. If they are vastly different, drip aclimate from an airline @ 2 drops per second, untill 75% of the water in the bucket is from your tank and move across with a net. This will also depend on the ammount of water in the bag. Small ammount, and hour or two, lots, many hours. Watch the bucket temperature also. It will drop, and though most fish will tollerate a 4-5c difference IME anything more leads to temperature shock. Aclimation is very open to personal judgment calls. Personally, I make disecions like speed of aclimation on the fly according to differences in water quality, time of shipping and the general condition of the new livestock (Most of that is from freshwater experience as you probibly know, but I tend to use th efloat and cup method @ work )

All the best
Rabbu