B1N4RY's 8 Gallon Reef Aquarium.

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Duromega.

ah ok!
so is the same kind of lighting, so you won't need to re-setup all over again?

Yup, that was the idea. I didn't want to go for another company. So I just shelled out the money for the top of the line model. Less work and more features in the long run.

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Wharris.

that hanging light was a good idea. and it looks sick.

Thank you. It came out a lot better than I had planned. :biggrinpa

 

[B1N4RY]

Tunze Osmolator Nano Automatic Freshwater Topoff.

One of the major factors that has been affecting this aquariums stability is that it evaporates more water than I expected. For the past few weeks it seems that my daily practices included topping of freshwater during the morning hours before work and topping of more freshwater during the evening hours after work. So one of my primary goals in keeping this aquarium is water parameter stability. So I just received my Tunze Osmolator Nano that I ordered from Premium Aquatics. I went back and fourth between my decision of ordering this unit or the regular Tunze Osmolator Universal since the latter has the primary optical sensor and a secondary float sensor. But from reading this unit only doses water for a maximum of 1.8 minutes, so combined with only filling the reservoir with a limited amount of water I figured everything would be fine.



Since this aquarium is located in my dinning room my primary concern is to keep the misses happy by not making it an eye soar of tubing and cables. But I'm still aiming to have the equipment as accessible as possible. So I'm using 3M Command Strips rated for 16 lbs. to mount equipment and cable housing guide to hide cables and tubes when possible.











For the Freshwater Reservoir I am utilizing one of the 2.2 gallon Nutri-Seawater containers. I am searching for a nice wicker basket as to place the container in but for now it remains a little eye soar. The water cable and power cable for the pump are housed within a 3M Cable Guide.







The float switch which activates the unit is located in the far right chamber as recommended by Tunze. It was installed with the magnets that were included with the unit. Also the output of the water house is being aimed at the center baffles were there is a good amount of flow to mix the freshwater into the saltwater and then it passes by the heater to bring the temperature to the right level.

 

[duromega]

we have something else in common, I like to see everything organized and clean!

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Duromega.

we have something else in common, I like to see everything organized and clean!

Great minds think alike, what can I say.

 

[B1N4RY]

Salifert Test Kits Galore & Brightwell Aquatics Supplements.

So everything until this point with water quality has just been guesswork. But I decided to do things right, so I placed another order with Premium Aquatics for a slew of quality Salifert Test Kits and Brightwell Aquatics Supplements. I had a great smile on my face this afternoon when the package arrived. It was like Christmas in August. Now I'm going to put together a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that I can track my aquariums water quality with on a weekly basis.

 

[duromega]

you're all set!

 

[B1N4RY]

Aptasia Solutions #2 The Peppermint Shrimp.

Well my Berghia Nudibrach plan hasn't seem to have any effect on the Aptasia in the aquarium. So I decided that may it needed a little help since I have seen a few more Apstasia sprout up in other location. So I purchase two peppermint shrimp to assist in the battle and within 2 days one of the Aptasia is gone and they are living in peaceful existence with my two Cleaner Shrimp.

 

[duromega]

nice to hear you took control of that aiptasia issue!!

 

[B1N4RY]

Possible Bristle Worm Infestation.

So I started out with an aquarium that was loaded with fish but I noticed a few started to die off for no apparent reason. All of my Green Chromis have disappeared. I snail gone and I am only left with 2 Purple Firefish, 1 Clownfish a two Zebra hermit Crabs, 1 Sand Sifting Cucumber and thankfully all 4 of my shrimp. Will I took a look at the tank in the evening and noticed these little guys... Bristle Worms. One that was exceeding 3 inches long. Top that with an algae bloom that made my beautiful rock look horrible I'm just left banging my head against a wall. I'm seriously thinking about boiling the rock in water for about 1 hour in order to kill everything and just start over.

 

[pkane11384]

Don't think it's the bristleworms that are killing your fish. They will mostly go after detritus. You may have other issues causing you to lose your fish

 

[davidsea]

What LED lamp are you using

 

[B1N4RY]

Kessil a360w Tune Blue Controllable LED Pendant.

After a few days of the United States Postal service giving me a minor heart attack from misplacing my delivery it has finally arrived. My new Kessil a360w Tuna Blue Controllable LED Pendant. I really liked the small design of the Kessil a150w Ocean Blue LED Pendant that I originally purchased but honestly could not get around how Blue the temperature of the color looked. So this light was the next obvious choice. Right from the beginning I was very impressed and just taken back by the size of the unit. Although compact for what it is. It literally dwarfs the Kessil a150w and I don't think its a bad thing.






The build quality is solid. The light itself has a good weight to it and the controls on the top of the unit function smoothly. I also was able to manage both the temperature and intensity of the light to exactly my preference and wow does it look amazing. My clam and xenia where immediately happy of the new spectrum. Now I just can't wait to order my controller so I can play around with the dimming and intensity capabilities on a schedule.

 

[B1N4RY]

Water Chemistry Parameters.

So I had both my Purple Firefish die this morning. So no more adding livestock until I get to the bottom of this. Here are the results of my Salifert test kits. I did however, do a 0.2 gallon water change this morning a few hours prior to testing so I will have to wait until Friday to test again. But I don't think the readings would have been far off.

Salinity Grade: 1.025 SG
Temperature: 78.0 Fahrenheit
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: 8.0 pH
Alkalinity: 11.18 dKH
Magnesium: 1485 ppm
Calcium: 400 ppm
Phosphate: 1 ppm

 

[duromega]

oh men!
sorry to hear that

 

[cmantis]

Wow great looking light. Isn't it crazy how these nano's can cost as much if not more than their big brothers!

Then I read about your fish, wow damn, really sorry to hear this.

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply Duromega.

oh men!
sorry to hear that

Thanks for the condolences.

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Cmantis.

Wow great looking light. Isn't it crazy how these nano's can cost as much if not more than their big brothers!

Then I read about your fish, wow damn, really sorry to hear this.

Well I guess the only constant in this hobby is that nothing is cheap. But thanks for the condolences.

 

[B1N4RY]

First Ever Full Blown Aquarium Disease.

So the last fish inhabitant of my aquarium is about to pass on and after taking a full battery of water parameter test and going with everyone's suggestions on what I thought was a Bristle Worm problem I think the following photographs below would most likely point to some type of water born disease except I'm not expert on marine disease so if you have any thoughts than please chime in. It doesn't seem to affect any of the inverts, clams or corals within the aquarium. Your assistance in advance is greatly appreciated.

 

[duromega]

did you start having all this issues after you got that live rock ?
right ?