Ren's 40gal Breeder

Thanks, it's getting there that's for sure. I can't wait until it gets over the "new tank" phases. It's going to look awesome as things start to fill in with growth :)
 
So, I have been noticing a few things in my tank. The growth is out of this world.

I am about to change my lighting around a bit though. I am going to go with a new MH bulb in the setup. It currently has an Iwaski 15k bulb in there, while the Iwaski's are great .. I'm a little low on the cash flow. So, I'm going to get the XM 175w 10k bulb. With the change in the lighting, I am hoping to continue with the growth that I am currently getting from my lighting system. A friend of mine has some extra T5 bulbs, so I am going to play with some color coordination with the new bulb when it comes in. I am thinking some FUJI Purple, but not quite sure just yet. I toyed with getting an XM 175w 20k bulb, but thought the par would stint my growth which is not what I wanted to do. So, I am going to stick with 10k and get some kick butt supplemental lighting.

I am also experiencing an issue where my MP10 is setting. On the right side of my tank (which is where the MP10 is), I have a lot of cyano build up. However, nothing like that anywhere else in the tank. I am thinking that it is pulling in the water but it is "dumping" nutrients there and as a result, I have the cyano. I also feed in front of my MP10 as well, so that could be causing the issue. Not quite sure. Tomorrow, I will be doing a water change of 5-10 gallons and to also be vacuuming that junk out of my tank. I have also added a K3 to the tank, until I can get the funds for another MP10.

In the meantime, I have been doing a lot of reading on dosing vodka into my tank to help keep the Po4 and the NO3 under control. I would also like some coloration to improve on the corals. Even though, it has great color coordination now .. that doesn't mean I can't get more . I am excited about the prospects of this. Unfortunately, I'm unable to locate my PO4 test. So, with that being said ... I will be getting another one here soon. As I dose the vodka and start implementing it, I will be reporting my findings.

I lost the Midas Blenny. I don't know if he was sick from the store (although he ate), or what. I have nothing in my tank to pick on him. However, I have made some new additions to the tank. I got a red and green emerald crab about a week ago. They've been busy doing their job. I also got another clown fish. Some photos will be submitted tomorrow.
 
Looks very nice, and thanks for posting the other pics (sump). Now its waiting for the frags to grow. Mine is killing me everything is encrusting, but I want to see them start growing up. In time I guess. Well good luck and keep up the updates.

Jay-Roc
 
Here are the par readings for the MH. This is a brand new bulb that was changed out early of last week, I believe Tuesday, Jan. 5th, 2010. Now this is with an XM 175w 10k bulb.

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@washingtond wrote:
Why does the left hand side have a higher par? said:
I only have one MH in my tank. The socket on the bulb is on the right hand side of the setup. The light fixture is evenly spaced right in the middle of the tank and it lays side to side, instead of front to back ... because of the size of the reflector.
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Here are the corals that I got from the madfrags.com sale for the end of the year.

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Here is the list of the items that I received:

MF Original Rainbow Nasuta a.k.a. Limeade Frag 1"
MF Pretty In Pink Millepora Frags 1.5 to 2"
MF Tri Color Plana 1.5" to 2"
MF Kiwi Strawberry Millepora Frags 1" to 1.5"
ORA Red Planet Frags 1"

I believe he threw in some extra's because in one bag, I had a total of 3 corals instead of just the one. Everything on the frag rack is what I received from them!
 
As some of you may know, I have recently started vodka dosing. As a result, I have started another thread to keep it updated in the Reef Discussion forum. Here's the link to that thread: http://dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68301

I am loving how things are going in this system. Colors are starting to brighten up quite a bit. I am also getting some coraline algae growth on my glass and overflow. I can't wait for this stuff to start filling in!!!

Updated photos:

ORA Red Planet and Lemonade (will have to look up exact name)

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Blue Tip Tenius (two different views)

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Green Slimer (this use to be more of a yellow color, it's starting to color up nicely)
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Unknown SPS
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Red Monti Cap (straight on and top down)
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Pretty in Pink Mille
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Idaho Grape Monti
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Watermelon Milli (will need confirm name)
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Cesar, what's the name of this frag?
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Here's a top down photo, as best as I could get with the reflection of the lights along with the canopy on.
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Alright, so I thought I'd share a growth comparison on the apple berry monti.

December 5th

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December 20th

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Today - Feb. 28th (can't see a lot of color due to the Mh being off, but here ya go!

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Here are some of my new additions, when I can get my hands on a better camera .. I will definitely get some better photos! In the mean time!

Thanks to dixonallred .. here's a beautiful ORA Red Planet -

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Beautiful Clam that I got from Franks Tanks at Next Wave!

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As time goes, I'll get some new photos of the rest of the corals!
 
I have recently acquired some rock from Shaggy, so I used some of the rock that he gave me and redid my aqua-scape. Here is what it currently looks like, it will get better looking. I haven't finished placing all my frags where they need to go, so it is something i am already aware of, that there isn't much room for growth on the center rock.

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Rainbow Monti:
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War Coral:
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Orange Monti that is pink in my tank (thanks rpd)
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Tyree Lemonade Encrusted on a small piece of rock and Superman Monti:
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One of my rocks that will be dedicated to various zoa's:
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Lunar Eclipse' that I got from Bimmerzs (thanks man):
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My large red acan:
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I have also been fighting some dinoflagellates. So, I recently purchased a Dual Reactor from BFS. I also purchased the Rox 0.8 Activated Carbon and the Granular Ferric Oxide phosphate reducer. I have it all set up and hoping it will make a huge difference. As I will be going lights out for this weekend. Lights out will begin tonight and continue until Sunday when I get off of work. Then I will rinse and repeat. I have not done any water changes as that will just feed the dino's.

he package arrived and has been installed:

Unboxed:
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Put some RO into the sink and let it run through, so that way it is nice and clear! Dust free baby dust free!
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Carbon moving:
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GFO tumbling, although you can't really tell in the photo cause of the mesh in the center..
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Excuse the cluster ****, but it's the room I have to work with.. so here it is all hooked up.
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@washingtond wrote:
Looks like you are ready for the battle. Good luck. said:
Yea, that I am for sure. Now, only if my skimmer would stop going haywire, I could clean out some of this junk in the tank. I have it running, but with no collection cup on. The new rock and the skimmer are fighting at the moment, so I have put the skimmer in time out and told it that it's not allowed to collect junk. So, it appears that the rock has an upper hand on everything.

I am noticing a little bit of difference in the tank already with the carbon and GFO added. We'll see how things go.
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Here are some of the other items that are new to the tank, that I got some decent photos of.

Tubbs Blue Zoo's:
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Red Acan with Orange center:
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Gorgeous acan... purple with green strips, gold and pink strips... it is gorgeous with just the blues on:
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Same acan with the flash on:
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My Iron Man Zoa's

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God say.. today is the 7th day.. and let there be Zoa's!
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And more Zoa's and Deep Sea ones too:
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And I have no idea what it is.. but it is beautiful!
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I also ordered some two part from BRS this weekend, so I should expect to get that this week. I am hoping to get everything nice and set up to where it will drip into the tank at a set rate. I have a friend in the medical field, so I am going to see if she can get me the IV tubing/setup.
 
I have gotten the two part in (like 2 weeks ago). Damn, I'm slow on the updates. Anyways ... It was fun mixing them. However, two of the 1gal jugs that came for the solutions had small holes on the top of the jug that you wouldn't typically see.

Two-Part pre-mixed.

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