Mossjer's 65 gal build/help me thread

The conch is apparently pretty popular in the tank. He was covered with hermits and snails most of the night cleaning up his shell. He must have had some pretty good stuff on there. Here's a pic of him with and snail on his back and a hermit on the snails back.View attachment 520
 
I dug around and found one of my old Hydor powerheads out in the garage. I cleaned it up and put it in the tank. It's one that I was running on my nano so it doesn't really do much in this tank but I think I may go with 2 of the larger units and their wave controller. I'm afraid the 1350 gph units might be too much flow though. What are yours rated at Chris?I just watched the video on the 3rd gen.? I really like that.
 
Wow that is pretty good size! Does it crawl on the rocks and glass too or just stay in the sand?I have 2 sets (4 pumps) in my 60" long tank.2 x 3rd Gen Koralia 2450 (In the front of the tank)2 x 3rd Gen Koralia 1350 (In the back of the tank)Two pumps on at a time, for total of 3800 (One of each size at one time)So there are 2 plugs on the wave controller. I have a splitter on each (so now 4 plugs)?and I have a 2450 plugged into one and a 1350 in the other, on the same splitter. Each set is on opposite sides of the tank?with one in the front and one in the back. This creates a circular pattern (like a toilet bowl :p). When the controller switches automatically to the other set of pumps, it reverses the flow in the other direction.
 
He hasn't moved to the rocks or glass but he has cleaned up a large section of the sandbed.? And now he's buried himself for the last several hours. He must be full. I think they stick to the sand though.My tank is only 36" so I think the 2450 may be too big. I'm going to order up the 2 1350's with the controller and see what happens.
 
Nice! I might have to get me one or 2 of those. I was just worried about it knocking around corals.Oh yeah that should do you well.
 
Added a little to the scape last night. Getting to something I kind of like. Excuse the purple lights, they were ramping down for the evening.View attachment 544Also this guy is fascinating. Not long after this pic he buried himself and I haven't seen anything but his snout and an eyeball every once in a while. for the last two days.View attachment 545
 
Also I think I may have figured out what was going on with my skimmer. I have been feeding PEmisis every third day or so. I've read in several post how for some reason this makes the skimmer shut down pretty much for a few hours due to there being oils in it or something. I was trying to compensate for this by cranking up the skimmer. ?I fed PE tonight and watched what happened. The skimmer level within 5-6 min was down in the body. Weird. Something to keep in mind.?The pods I thought may have died when I added them definitely have not. seeing a ton of them on the glass constantly.I added the other cardinal back into the tank last night. He's just sitting in the corner acting like he's in timeout or something. ?I'm not sure that they know they are both back in the tank now. He's on the right. the other on the left. I feel bad for the little guy. I'm keeping a close eye on them.?
 
Salinity still a little low. I will top up with some salt water tonight.?Maybe a little ammonia, depends on the angle you look at. ?I'm not too worried about it. Everything else looks good.?View attachment 546Yes I know this is an API kit. I'm trying to decide which other one I should order. ?This is a brand new kit though. ?
 
So I thought I had decided on flow for the tank, now I'm torn. I just saw the Icecap 3k gyre with controller for around $150.00. ?Hmm... Do I really want that hanging in the tank? Seems like it may be an eyesore. ?The Hydors or Tunze would blend in better in the back. Any suggestions? Although I feel like I'm probably talking to myself at this point. LOL ?
 
Looks nice, do you have all your rock just laying on each other or do you have them secured together? I know in my 14 gallon they are just stacked and not secured and always having to pick rock up and put them back on (will be securing them soon with some AquaFix).LOL..I went and picked up one of those guys the other day. He hasn't buried himself yet but is definitely moving around the tank.You feeding the frozen PE Mysis cubes? If so how are you thawing them?Yeah my cardinals didn't make it, just stopped eating, it stinks because I really like the cardinals but I think my damn damsels would pick on them when I wasn't watching. I might have to try again later but buy big ones and not tiny ones.I got some of those Ammonia alerts and stuck one in my sump on the big tank and have one in my frag/QT tank. I don't want to take chances :p You might do a water change if you still see any ammonia traces today. I still use an API kit, switching to Elos when they are done. Already have the new kits on standby :)I have been really considering the Gyre type powerheads. I like my Hydors but I only get one speed and I use 4 for randomness. So if I go to the gyre style I will need two. I don't want to go to the Icecap version because I would have to have 2 controllers. So if I do go to the gyre style, I would go the Maxspec route and only have a single controller for 2 powerheads. I think you could get away with only one, so you could go with either brand. Plus your overflow is in the middle in the back so you have plenty of room on the side to put one. My overflows are in the back corners so I only have limited space on the side to put the smaller maxspec versions. A lot of it comes down to personal preference for you and how it looks, as you really have all the options available. I am just waiting for some more reviews to come out on the new gyre models to make sure people like them.
 
The rocks aren't glued but I do wedge them in together so there's not much movement.And yes frozen, I thaw them in a cup of tank water. feed with a squirter to keep from putting too much of the fog that comes off of them in the tank.I don't think that cardinal is going to make it. He was up at the top of the tank again this morning. looking a little rough. I guess we will see when I get home tonight.You brought up a good point about the controller issue.? I bought the varios pump because I do plan on a Apex at some point.? May have to rethink again. LOL
 
OK cool, if they are wedged and locked you should be good. Some times my crabs/snails are a little destructive. Plus when securing coral frags if it isn't secure, you might accidentally knock over a structure...been there done that! :p I have rods and glue holding my rocks together in the big tank now lol.What might help with the frozen is I have one of those metal mesh tea strainers/infusers and I put my cubes in there and run under tap water till they are all broke up and it also kinda rinses the food. Then put in a little cup to feed with squirter. Got it from walmart and just use half of it. Might give it a shot and see if your skimmer chills out :)https://www.walmart.com/ip/House-Kitchen-Reusable-2-Dia-Mesh-Spice-Tea-Ball-Infuser-Strainer/47615508Well you will need at least one powerhead controller to plug into the APEX EB8 no matter what if you want any kind of pattern. You can plug a tone of powerheads into the single hydor controller, just only get on intensity :-/ ?With the icecap gyre you will have a controller for each powerhead you add. So if you need 2 powerheads you will have 2 controllers to plug in to the APEX. With the maxspec you can have 2 powerheads on the one controller and plug it into the APEX. How many powerheads do you think you will be using? I am guessing either 2 hydors or 1 gyre style correct?I have my VarioS pump setup now and using through the APEX. I have the controller it came with just turned on and connected the APEX VarSpd port. I am still playing and experimenting with it, but have a soft start after any feeding so it isn't splashing and loud when it comes on.?
 
Two hydors or one gyre is exactly what I am looking at.I will try the tea strainer thing also.Thanks for the info.
 
Well guess it comes down to cost and personal preference on the look you want at this point. You can get one of the Icecaps pretty cheap it looks like. But if you want to kind of hide pumps in the back might go the Hydor route. ?Decision..decisions.... :)
 
Isn't that half the problem with this hobby? Too many decisions to make. I guess that it is a good thing to have options though.
 
It's the same problem with any hobby.? You ask a question of 5 people, you will get 5 slightly different answers.
 
I used to strain my cubes before putting them in the tank until I saw some amazing SPS tanks that the owners would just dump it all in. ?I asked about it and they said that it all helped to feed other parts of the tank. ?I don't specifically feed my coral each day, but the rest of the frozen should leave some stuff in the water for it to feed on. ?I also read that pellet food has more nutrients than a cube! ?They say that most people worry too much about the cubes, but don't worry so much about the nutrient rich pellets.
 
My only complaint is that it seems to shut down the skimmer for a while. I'm going to try it again tonight and see what happens.
 
I wouldn't worry about that. ?As long as it recovers, it will pull out what it needs. ?Just make sure you are not over feeding. ?If a ton of food is still blasting around when your pumps come on, maybe do less than a full cube. ?I buy the giant frozen sheets and just cut off what I need to thaw out each time. ?Saves a lot of money!
 
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