Ron

I would put the gate valve on the 1" as well.

I have my 70 gallon reef with a 1" main drain and 1.5" emergency drain.

I got LPS frags today, gold hammer, green and pink frogspawn and Duncan.

I cycled and cured my rock for the last month in bins. As you can see in the pic, used much less in the display than I have and I have another 4 pieces still in the bin.

Going bare bottom, I want to have less places any pyramid snails can hide.

Good morning Ron!

I've been following your new venture into salt water...just wondering what's happening these days...it's been great to watch the progression!

J

Thanks for following along.

Tank is salty and I got my first frags today. Here is a pic of the tank last night

Well I hooked up my second reactor. I went with NextReef as I don't trust TLF reactors not to leak. For the extra $40 per reactor, it was an easy decision to upgrade to these. They will look funny with the less than cup of media that will go in each.



Concept's got my skimmer in today so I rushed on over so I could get it home and give it a bath.



I guess next I will get my water to temp and add salt.

Thanks for sticking around.

Ron

Looks sharp.

Thanks.

Nice Ron!

Any coral plans?

Thanks. Not sure, have to look into them soon, any suggestions? I think because of the clams I am planning it will end up being a LN to ULN system.

Out of curiousity what clams are you planning on keeping? Crocea and maxima are harder to get into Canada now (or atleast much more expensive). Government is worried about them bringing Perkinsus into Canada. If you clam happens to contact it you're actually required by law to report it to CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency).

See:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/aquatic-animals/diseases/reportable/perkinsus-marinus/fact-sheet/eng/1362690064366/1362690181750

I will probably get a variety of crocea, squamosa but mostly maxima. I have a buddy with contacts in countries with agreements with Canada for export/import, CITES and CFIA approval should only be a waiting game.

That stand is so nice!!!

Thanks. Pretty standard stand with plywood that was sealed, painted and sealed again. Once I get everything running I'll get it skinned.

I loved the AI Sols LED lighting and my clams did very well under them.

Thanks for the suggestion. After seeing Dave's tank in his office at Concept Aquarium, the ATI hybrid is at the top of my list. I've heard commercially available plama lights should be out soon and I won't need lights for quite a while so I have some time to decide.

You are gonna be so broke

Gonna be.......already am, LOL.

This is the one of two things I've ever gotten for myself out of my bonuses so I don't feel too guilty but this set up has already cost more than my first car and I still need a controller, lights and livestock .

They are ~$10 USD but after shipping and other landed charges, paying Concept's price isn't very much more.

Mostly clams but I'll have a couple fish and some coral but I am undecided at the moment. I have a 55 gallon custom sump and I am still deciding on lighting. I am leaning towards an ATI hybrid but Dave got my curiousity going on plasma.

Ordered

Welcome to the salty side.

Where did you get your gate valves from?

Thanks. Got most of my plumbing online and shipped from the States.

Looks nice, I'm sure it will come together well. $$$ though!!

Thanks. It sure costs a lot more than FW, I wanted to build a 450 - 600 gallon Arowana tank but I didn't think I could afford it so I went this route....I think this SW tank will end up more expensive.

beautiful shrimp and pictures!

Silly question, but are you keeping them in their own tank?

Thanks. They are the only neo in the tank but there are a couple Amano and Vampire shrimp in there along with a couple Panda loaches.

They look pretty sweet Ron!

Any pics of your poison blue?

No pics of them but I'll see if they'll cooperate.

After looking a bit closer I think I see babies ( and berries ) in the second picture.

Both the females are berried in the pics, There are probably 4 berried females in the tank.

Very nice Ron. They are on my wish list.

Any babies yet?

All those were hatched here, I didn't really pay attention to the tank when I first got them but a couple clutches did hatch. They are producing now, evident by the 2 berried females in the pics. I won't have any available for quite a while but I can get them from Ebiken.

I guess people get bored with the "Cherry Shrimp" names pretty quick, eh?

No matter what they change the names to, they're still great looking shrimp! :thumbs:

They are cherry shrimp and they aren't.

They have much better red coverage than your average cherry shrimp but yet translucent unlike Painted Fire Reds. They say they actually have red flesh, if I see one die I may scoop it out and slice it open to see for myself. I don't think they are for everyone as some can't tell the difference and therefore cannot justify the extra cost.

Some pics I snapped of my Bloody Mary shrimp.

Yea I've had one for close to a year now. She hasn't cloned yet, unfortunately. I don't think I am keeping the water warm enough to get her to berry, but it's not exactly a bad thing to not have dozens of tiny crayfish haha.

They are very easy to care for in my experience. Mine mainly gets fed omega one algae wafers, but also plant trimmings, worms, etc- they aren't picky at all. Water is plain old hard Edmonton tap water, and the tank is bare bottom (I think I'm goi to throw in some gravel soon for her to dig around in) with a piece of PVC as a hide.

If it's bare bottom and she has nothing to hide in, she probably doesn't feel comfortable enough to berry. When mine berry, they either stay in breeding tubes or cram themselves under the driftwood. What temp are you keeping her? Heat isn't really needed, mine are at room temp 68°F to 72°F.

When she does berry, expect a lot of babies. My smallest batch was around 40 and my largest female is berried now and I bet there will be 150 - 200 babies.

turned my tank lights on yesterday morning and notice a layer of jelly like fuzzy stuff on the driftwood floating in my tank. Any ideas what this could be and if i should be concerned.

Its almost clear transparent, and a 1/2" thick layer, but is only on the drift wood?

New tank or new driftwood? I think it is a bacterial bloom and it'll usually sort itself out.

It was good to see you again and you must have looked like a hero, driving your daughter and her friends to Calgary for Boxing day shopping.

I may have some other stuff for you when you're ready as I may scale down the shrimp to concentrate on my new marine tank.

The e do they not have a heater

No, they do make some with heaters but the 2076 and 2078 models I have do not.

I like the ability to turn down the flow if needed. I usually oversize my filters so it's nice at feeding time not to have the food get blown all over the place. I have my 2078 Pro 3e on a 40 gallon tank and according to Eheim it's sufficient for up to an 185 gallon.

I called them this morning and they actually did reply yesterday but it was marked as spam by gmail. So non of my 6 were noted as affected. They said no Pro 3e filters were ever affected however they recommended that I send in 2 of my older heads (07 series) in to have the primer device replaced free of charge. I will probably send in the one that has been running for 5 or so years but the other I just starting using a year ago, I had it on the sitting on the shelf after I bought it second hand BNIB.