Experienced Fw With Questions About Sw

[gregswimm]

That rock looks kind of boring, but that's pretty standard. Looks live of course, but probably not much interesting biodiviersity-wise. You probably won't see a lot of things like microbrittles, corals, etc. On the plus side though, it's probably a lot less likely to have stuff like mantis shrimp and angry crabs than really juicy pieces of aquacultured rock covered in gorgeous stuff. That's something to watch out for with gulf-cultured rock actually; Neogonodactylus mantis shrimp are really common in some of that stuff. There's a store near me that gets some really excellent quality gulf rock covered in sponges, Tunicates, and other inverts. But, back when I was building up my rock and looking at their stock regularly, I could often see a mantis shrimp or two squirreling around in the new batches when I watched long enough. I found the rock to be most certainly worth it for the biodiversity despite that issue, but because of the risk it's best to give really nice rocks a sort of QT/settling in period where you wait and see what all crawls out in case you need to fish something out of the tank or take a rock back to trade.

I was actually planning on using this rock as base rock ($3.00/lbs) and put some awesome tampa bay rock on top of it($5 lbs). I'm going to swing by another LFS on my way to class and take a look at their LR. Is it a good idea getting LR from multiple sources or should I stick with one type?

I know the LR at the LFS I went to today has had their LR tank going for a long time, and I don;t think they get a lot of LR turnover, but I haven't been looking regularly. I also saw some nice algaes on them, black brown and yellow. I know that the tampa bay LR comes straight from a Aqua culture area in the gulf (the owner has vids of him diving for rock :3).

Is there a market for mantis shrimp? I really don't want to keep one; they scare me lol. yikes

Also, wouldn't any sponges be ruined once they are pulled out of the water?

 

[Donya]

That's a pretty good price right there! Sounds like a good plan. And yes, there are plenty of mantis fans out there looking for mantis shrimp, even little Neogonodactylus species like those in the gulf rock. Unfortunately they can be really difficult to capture, so if you end up with a mantis rock it's easiest to just wait for it to duck back into its hole in the rock, remove the rock (with gloves/tongs), and take it back to the store explaining the issue. A good store should be happy to trade you for another piece and sell the mantis on to someone else.

Hitchhiker sponges are often pretty hardy. Many can survive quite a bit of air exposure, unlike a lot of other ornamental sponges.

EDIT: sorry, missed this...

Is it a good idea getting LR from multiple sources or should I stick with one type?

Either way is ok. Most people do it based on price and other factors like how many times you want to risk a mantis for drool-worthy gorgeous rocks. Probably the best critter bang per buck regardless of sources is a little bit of super-awesome rock with the majority being uninteresting rock.

 

[gregswimm]

Does it mater what type of live sand I go with or is it purely aesthetic?

I went by another LFS, had some decent LR but for $7.99 a lbs I think Ill pass. There is also hardly any light on it and about 1/4 of the tank size of the first store. But my god they have an EPIC selection of corals, and some face-sized anemones lol. hope this works

The LR:

I need to get rid of some spare L.ornatipinnis so I can start making this 29 salty >_<

 

[gregswimm]

well I ordered 40LBS of live sand. 20lbs of Caribbean live sand oolite and 20lbs of Caribbean live sand original. Hope this is deep enough for a DSB.

As far as salt goes I went with reef crystals over instant ocean.

 

[Aquascaper]

IMO 'live' sand is a waste of money as any substrate will become 'live' over time due to the bacteria population for the LR

One thing I found when looking for decent LR is to check if there is any copepods (small crustaceans)hanging around on it, that will give a good indication of how long the LR has been in situ. Obviously when buying LR form an LFS it's better to get stuff that has been cured for a longer time than freshly introduced stuff.

Always look for unusual shapes, arches/caves/flats, as this will make it easier to create some stunning reefs in your tank. If you 'need' a particular shape you can always make your own using concrete and rock salt as it will become 'live' given time in the tank.

HTH

 

[gregswimm]

Sweet, thanks for the info.

Not quite ready to get the LR yet. Would you put the LR in after the sand or the LR then the sand so animals cannot dig under it?

I'm still shopping for light. I'm most likely going with LED 'bulbs' or maybe make my own strip (not sure, I'm not very good with electricity).
Think these bulbs are any good for a 29g with softies?

http/www.ebay.com/itm/PAR38-E27-15W-15x1W-1350lumen-LED-Spotlight-Light-Lamp-White-6500K-85-265V-/261082991541?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item3cc9c24bb5#ht_1322wt_960

http/www.ebay.com/itm/PAR38-E27-12W-12x1W-1080lumen-LED-Spotlight-Light-Lamp-White-6500K-85-265V-/261082993709?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item3cc9c2542d#ht_1122wt_1037

http/www.ebay.com/itm/Reef-Aquarium-LED-Spot-Light-12W-Par-38-Coral-Lighting-White-Blue-or-W-B-Red-/150865380705?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item2320470561#ht_500wt_1288

http/www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Reef-LED-15W-10000K-White-Metal-Halide-alt-Par38-1-Bulb-per-ft-/271033257924?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1ad74fc4#ht_500wt_1288

http/www.ebay.com/itm/Par38-12W-12x1-Watt-Royal-Blue-Cool-White-High-Power-LED-Bulb-E27-AC110V-220V-/190717625020?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item2c67a802bc#ht_3390wt_1037

 

[Aquascaper]

LR usually goes in first and rests on top of egg crate/lighting grid to spread the weight on the bottom glass, avoid pressure points and help any uneven rocks sit better and thus stop them toppling over, the rest of the LR is then stacked on top of these 'bedrocks' to form your reef. If you want the sand in forst then a deep sand layer will do the same thing but if you have anything digging around underneath the rocks they could become unstable and topple over which is a real pain in the ***.

Some people fill in the gaps between the egg crate with sand, some don't....I personally didn't bother in my reef tank.

If you cannot get hold of egg crate then a polystyrene sheet can be used instead as i've done in my current tank but any cut edges need to be melted with a heat gun to avoid the polystyrene pellets from breaking off in the tank.

Here's a photo of my current tank just after I had put the rockwork in to give you an idea:

The other benefit of using egg crate/polystyrene is that you need less substrate for the tank.

As for LED lighting....i'll leave that for someone else to answer as this is new technology to me and i've never used them

HTH

 

[gregswimm]

I really like your tank!

These bulbs are kinda nuts, maybe too much light seeing as how I was considering getting several and mixing colors

These make my 400w MH look dim 0_0
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5S8Og3B5Js
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGD4qLp5w70

 

[Aquascaper]

Wow they are bright......but nothing beats the home heating capabilities of a 400w MH though

I guess they would be great over Nano's with soft corals due to the lack of heat output.

 

[gregswimm]

Well, I live in FL, heating isn't an issue in the winter.

I have a grow tube connected to ducting which at the end is an inline fan. It pulls air past the bulb and spits it out @ 98-105F. I can only imagine how hot it would get without ventilation.

I put a 2.5g bucket with a 1x1x1" piece of LR and a powerhead just for #105###s. At the end of the day the salinity has jumped to 0.023 to 1.027-1.028 0_0"

It also uses as much electricity as a large refrigerator.

 

[Aquascaper]

I had a 400w MH over my reef with T5's as well....that was enough to heat our whole flat!

It also got us raided by the police who thought we were growing cannabis due to the light pollution from the living room window

 

[gregswimm]

Ya, it is unpleasant to be in the same room as one of those. Too much heat and too much light.

 

[Aquascaper]

It's pretty much the reason why I haven't got a reef tank anymore.....the wife said no when we moved house

 

[gregswimm]

Well, I ordered some bulbs http/www.ebay.com/itm/261082991541?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 and http/www.ebay.com/itm/190717625020?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[Aquascaper]

I'll be interested to see them up and running