16 gallon bow reef wall biotype - dialup beware

[masterswimmer]

Thanks fbb. It all just looks so insignificant at this time. My excitment hasn't peaked yet because of all the bare spots. The frags are just that, tiny frags and waiting for them to grow out is just so tiresome. I'm normally not impatient about my tanks, but my wife is asking me daily, "when are you going to put a fish in there already?". The last thing I want to do is put a venemous Fu Manchu in there while still having to spend so much time with my hands in there mounting corals and such. Venemous spines seem to move very quickly in a small 16 gallon tank!

I'll keep updating pix as I progress. Thanks again for your encouragement.

Russ

 

[Tonyscoots84]

The last thing I want to do is put a venemous Fu Manchu in there while still having to spend so much time with my hands in there

so ive heard. hehehe

Looking really good keep up the great work. fill her up with frags and then watch that work of art grow. thats always the best part. then u can have some frags for me. lolz. J/k well good luck post some more pics when your ready.

 

[masterswimmer]

so ive heard. hehehe

Looking really good keep up the great work. fill her up with frags and then watch that work of art grow. thats always the best part. then u can have some frags for me. lolz. J/k well good luck post some more pics when your ready.

Thanks Tony. I am trying to find frags of some more exotic corals. Being that it's such a small tank it shouldn't be all that difficult to find or expensive to do.

BTW, I'm pretty good with frag trades. So when they grow out, I will be more than anxious to hook others up. Life is too short to worry about little things like that.

Russ

 

[House of Laughter]

MS, nice and low on that purple rim cap - that's a great place so it doesn't take up light real estate as it grows out. Make sure you keep on top of it as it grows - it can be a quick grower. Enjoy, great to see the colors are holding true.

House

 

[jhale]

MS, nice and low on that purple rim cap - that's a great place so it doesn't take up light real estate as it grows out. Make sure you keep on top of it as it grows - it can be a quick grower. Enjoy, great to see the colors are holding true.

House

ha, that's an understatement. that cap grows so fast in four months you will not need your sand bed to cover the bottom. the cap will do that for you.

 

[DRZL]

MS,

I would suggest that you get branching rather than encrusting, plating corals as IMO they tank way too much real estate in a small tank, reason I dont have many in my 36G

in smaller tanks like ours, its better to have stuff grow up where there is space, then out and have it overtake areas where you couldve put a whole different type and color of coral.

JMO

tank looks great!

 

[lokitosweetlips]

hey russ your the man i love what you did i cant wait for you to do my tank like that.

 

[masterswimmer]

Jim, not sure if you were here when I added it to the tank ( I think you were ). I put it on the very bottom rock on the wall for just the reasons you recommended. Looking forward to being able to pass on some frags of your beautiful TR cap. Save the reefs!!

jahle, perfect. Then I get to give some away.

DRZL, good sound advice. I am only doing the encrusting/plating sps on the very bottom to avoid shadowing anything below it. The branching corals are all up high.

Thanks all,
Russ

 

[masterswimmer]

Growth pix

Been 22 days since I added a 'house cap' to my 'wall'. Just wanted to show a 22 day update. Sometimes it's difficult to see growth when you see something everday. It's minimal, but still less than a month.

December 30, 2005, the day I got it from house:

January 20, 2006...Notice no real sign of the frag plug it's mounted on:

Thanks Jim,

Russ

 

[nanoreefer22]

Russ,
It's looking good . Just wait til it picks up speed .
-Kris

 

[masterswimmer]

Russ,
It's looking good . Just wait til it picks up speed .
-Kris

Whatchu tawkin' 'bout Willis? It goes faster than this? :happysad:
This is fast enough for me. I'm not in a race......and......it's only 16 gallons. I don't have that much real estate to spare. :lol:

Russ

 

[herman]

Hey Russ - Very cool little tank - Very nice big tank! I love the rockwall. In nature there are plenty of rockwalls and the coral have no problems growing there either. My next beer, I am drinking to your tank man!! Keep the pix coming dude!!

 

[masterswimmer]

Thanks Herman. I appreciate the kind words, but would appreciate havin' one of them brewski's with ya even more!

Pix will be updated towards the end of the week. I've got three new 'specimens' being delivered Wednesday (I hope).

Russ

 

[suntzu]

Great job, Russ. Definitely keep us posted with pix. Now I want a nano that looks like yours. hahaha....

 

[FRY]

awesome tank good luck with it,on your mod the skimmer i whould put a 90 ell then the valve down that way there whould be less stress on the side of the cup

frank

 

[jhale]

Russ,
It's looking good . Just wait til it picks up speed .
-Kris

yep this cap grows exponentially. it's sneaky though. try going away for a few days, when you come back the cap will be touching the other side of the tank and will look at you with a "well what you going to now" face

you can frag it all you want, but it won't make a difference.

FEED ME, SEYMOUR! :p

 

[masterswimmer]

jh, that is just too funny. Don't tell Steven Spielberg or Steven King about this cap. We'll be seeing it in a MA-17 movie one day, :lol:

suntzu :thanks: . All rights to the design of this wall are unprotected :lol: feel free to use any/all of the design you want. However, if you do use this idea, you have to agree to come to me to unload some of houses cap! :joke:

FRY, thanks for the tip. It might be a concern I have to think about.


Equipment update:

I upgraded two components of the system. The 50w Stealth heater seemed to have to work too hard to maintain temp. Couldn't really get it to my desired temp. I switched to the 100w Stealth. It's doing the job just great.

I also wasn't happy with the flow. The SEIO 620 puts out a nice spread out flow, just wasn't enough. I upgraded to the SEIO 820. 33% more flow and it works much better now.

Russ

 

[jhale]

Russ,

speaking of swapping out equipment...
how difficult is it to get to the equipment? it looks like a tight space from the photos,
or is there more room than it seems?
once the tank starts to grow will maintenance be a problem?

 

[masterswimmer]

jh, the equipment is in there without a lot of room for dancing, but absolutely serviceable. That was obviously one of my prerequisites. There are only three pieces of electronics in the water, heater, powerhead & skimmer.

The only real issue is that I have to remove the skimmer each time I have to reach the powerhead or heater. Not a real big deal since it is a HOT skimmer and there really shouldn't be many reasons to have to get to the heater or PH.

As time goes on, I could possibly see a reason to run carbon. If I do, I will just add an aquaclear HOT to the left of the MH lights. At the moment, not necessary.

Russ

 

[Reefer420]

masterswimmer- can you hide the heater in your skimmer? I have mine hidden in my Remora- it works great unless I forget to turn my skimmer on!

btw- how is the 150w lighting on the 16g? I am thinking about upgrading from PCs- but I am worried that the MH will be too strong for my LPS- any heat issues? I am going to go w/ 20k b/c I do not want the light too intense.

Your tank looks great!