Hawkeye's AGA 120

[Hawkeye]

Wow. Looks like a sardine can got opened the way they're all packed up like that. Hard to tell that they're actually alive the way they get so jammed up!

Sorry to hear that momma didn't care for the babies. What a bummer.

This what they look like every morning - sorry for the fuzzy pic - phD camera and all and i was rushing out the door:

Anyways - in preparation of moving these clowns to the bc29 for grow-out and also because I want the 10g for the next batch, I've started prepping the bc29.

DJ Panel:

It was too long and I had to bend the metal on the side. I will probably mount this so that I can use the top shelf. The bottom shelf will likely hold a 5 gallon tank of top-off water and misc equipment.

Also arriving today was a cool custom-nano filter for the bc29:

Placing this in the second chamber immediately silenced the waterfall I had before.

Now I will set up the tunze osmolater to maintain the water level next.

 

[Hawkeye]

Only the CB ones watch Finding Nemo....swim down...appears yours have it upside down. ;D

"just keep swimming" ;D

I still can't get over how cute those lil guys are though!

George - they are super cute but that's a drawback too because as I get attached to them - the losses can seem numbing. So I try not to treat them as little puppies and just consider them a 'number'. Otherwise losing a hundred puppies will drive me insane....

Here are some top down pics when I didn't have the 10g tank filled up taken a week ago):

 

[JRWOHLER]

Thats a lot of clowns. Looks like some cool toys, the filter thing is just part of the surface skimmer with some different layers?

 

[Hawkeye]

Thats a lot of clowns. Looks like some cool toys, the filter thing is just part of the surface skimmer with some different layers?

yeah - its the "intank bc29 media basket". Filter floss on top, purigen/chemipure beneath. I guess I could add a bag of carbon too. It forces the water thru the basket to the bottom. Neat thing. The slot next to it is open for a refugium basket (with a 5w led light) or a saphire skimmer or tunze skimmer - which is what I'm trolling the web for now. No rush as the bc29 is a huge amt of volume for these small clowns. I will probably have to add filter floss to the slits/slots so that they do not accidentally get sucked into the back. 300gph may be too much for the little guys. I dunno.

 

[ReeferNets]

Hey Hawk,
I know someone who has some small GBTAS you should try and grab them put a bunch in, he sells them for like 2 - 5 bucks but there like an inch wide.

 

[Hawkeye]

sorry somehow i missed the above post. Thanks I'll take a look around.

 

[Hawkeye]

So i've been busy raising clowns:

But totally neglecting the main display....primarily because bryopsis is giving me fits. I've almost used up my entire gallon of tech m. I need more...sigh.

Anyways - while I was at manhattan aquariums I was again impulse buy'd into getting this:

i know i'm crazy because i had 3 clams before and they all bit it - i believe because i introduced a protozoan that pinched the mantel of all my clams. I left the tank clamless for a period of time and am trying again. Wish me luck - this maxima is over 4" in size -so it's far bigger than any i've had before.

 

[mnat]

Well with all the phyto and rotifers you have been growing, you will have plenty of food for that beautiful clam. From what I have been told the bigger ones are a bit easier to keep as they can synthesize most if not all of their food on their own. Good luck.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Yep that was what I was told too the larger the better chance of survival.

 

[NikkiT]

Good luck with him Phil, he has great color!
. . . and I have to say the baby clowns are SO cute.

 

[Hawkeye]

yeah i have started to dump the excess rotifers into the display. No phyto though since that is just the refrigerated stuff - would just go foul in the tank unless the rots ate it.

Anyways - my hopes are up again...as the clowns laid another batch.

 

[Hawkeye]

4 month old clownfish:

Slightly less than 3 month old clownfish:

Others have beautiful wrasses or the blue-spot jaw. I know mine is plain old yellow-head - but he's special to me! My favorite reason for having sand in my tank:

 

[JRWOHLER]

It is a beautiful fish Hawk. Best of all he hasn't shown to be a jumper.

 

[Hawkeye]

wish me luck - this maxima is over 4" in size -so it's far bigger than any i've had before.

Clearly not enough people wished me luck as this beauty bit it in a span of a month. I am not going to try this again until:
a) I actually get back into a water change schedule
b) i get T5 lighting

Clowns keep laying eggs. I am not longer attempting to raise them as I have a planned vacation (hello MACNA 2010) and won't be around to keep the fry fed multiple times in a day - and I'm not going to ask a sitter to do that.

Bizarre note - a thermostat (cheapo glass one) unglued from the glass and was caught by my tunze magnet shattered the glass and the red stuff (who knows what gross stuff that was) got into the tank. All the metal beads were stuck on the magnet which I removed. Fish all seem fine but I ran some additional carbon just as a cya.

 

[Baxreefs]

Bummer about the calm Phil.

And what is it with thermometers!!! I had a digital one end up in the bottom of my SW mix barrel and reek havoc on my water!!! :-X !!!

 

[jimroth]

Bizarre note - a thermostat (cheapo glass one) unglued from the glass and was caught by my tunze magnet shattered the glass and the red stuff (who knows what gross stuff that was) got into the tank. All the metal beads were stuck on the magnet which I removed. Fish all seem fine but I ran some additional carbon just as a cya.

It's probably just a tiny bit of methyl alcohol, no worries, already gone!

 

[Hawkeye]

Thanks jim - i read your post a while back and gave me peace of mind.

Bax - i've given up on my leds. I just picked up the reef illuminations fixture from icecap. With the numebr of clams i've killed due to my lighting - i could have gotten a fixture long ago.

I was able to get the newer version of their fixture (the original was 4 T5s with 4 LED t5 bulbs). This new version has 6 t5 with 2 LEDs. So now that I cross over I need help with the bulb types.

I was asked a number of questions about my fixture via pm - I am going to post up my answers here:

Did it come with bulbs?
No

Were you able to buy bulbs that day?
No - unfortunately chris was sold out of most 48" bulbs on wed/thur.

Do the LEDs have one spectrum ie actinic or are they blue&actinic?
The leds are just simple 7w blue lights. I don't believe they are actinic or blue&actinic.

I plan on purchasing:
3 reefcrest bulbs
1 twilight
1 midwater
1 actinic.

Here's what icecaps says about the bulb types:
Reef Crest 10000K is designed for maximum growth of shallow water species. When operated with an IceCap ballast, it burns white much like the sun in the tropics.

Midwater 12,000K is a crisp white lamp with some subtle pink highlights when run on an IceCap ballast. The pink in the lamp helps bring out the reds and pinks in fishes, corals and coraline algae.

Deepwater 14,000K is a white lamp with a strong blue component when used in conjunction with an IceCap Ballast. It is great for fish-only applications as well as reef displays focused on deeper water corals.

Actintic has a 420nm peak and will appear a bright blue with an IceCap ballast. It is made to maximize coral flourescence and in general will really make livestock colors pop, when used along with white lamps. It can also be used for dawn/dusk applications.

Twilight is a rich royal blue lamp with a peak around 460 nm when used with an IceCap ballast. It is great for bringing our the best colors in fishes and corals as well as for simulating dawn/dusk effects.

 

[rodclement]

Hey Hawk who said delivery was free!? ;D You are now in debt my friend! ;D

Let's get that fixture warmed up and running so we can see the look!

Rod

 

[JRWOHLER]

Just IMHO...go 2 10K 2 12K and 2Actinic 2blue LED
or 2 10K Growth 1 12K 2 Actinic and 1 ATI Blue Plus...or twilight IC bulb.
ATI have great par for that spectrum.
10Ks are a bit white tiny yellowish...don't think you want three ...
Midwater bulb didn't do anything for me couldn't tell difference between that and 12K
With the ATI bulbs you won't lose par vs 12K...and very little vs 10K
The GE 6500 bulbs are not much more yellow and they have great par and growth...never used personally though and are generally cheaper.

Thanks for all the questions. Congrats on the new fixture.

 

[Hawkeye]

nice rod - thanks i am in your debt though probably more so to Ed for his help in getting that event set up in the first place.

Interesting link ricwilli posted up earlier:

http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/page/Lamps_and_lamp_combinations/

8 lamp Tek or Nova Extreme

Blue
Blue
Actinic White
Blue
GE Daylight
Aquablue
Blue
Blue
For a more blue look replace the Aquablue with a blue, less blue replace the blue in slot 4 with a Aquablue. You could also try the Actinic White in slot 2 which is one of the 4 dusk/dawn lamps, it adds a purple hue to the look.

Another combination people really like that is more of a 20K blue

Blue
Blue
Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Blue
Blue

8 lamp ATI

Aquablue
Blue
Actinic White
Blue
GE Daylight
Blue
Blue
Aquablue
For a more blue look replace a Aquablue with a blue, less blue replace a blue with a Aquablue