Tank Journal Archive
That's why I was picking your brains the other night!! :D Didn't know whether it was better to invest in new lights for N3, or to get new lights for our fuges and steal the two 10w Zetlights... I have no idea! Talking to me about lighting is like asking me to put air in my tyres LOL
I want to both do what's best longterm for the nems, and somehow magic me up some lights LOL. (Maybe Les won't notice if the 2' Illumagic disappears to the garage :rofl )
Please feel free to either post on here or PM me some lighting suggestions. I think eventually the tank is going to lose the hood, so now or later is no big deal :cool:
I want to both do what's best longterm for the nems, and somehow magic me up some lights LOL. (Maybe Les won't notice if the 2' Illumagic disappears to the garage :rofl )
Please feel free to either post on here or PM me some lighting suggestions. I think eventually the tank is going to lose the hood, so now or later is no big deal :cool:
Alrighty. Time for an update!
So there was a fatality on Friday: NamNam decided to obliterate herself leaving behind nothing but a 4mm x 2mm piece of flesh and milky water
It was not what I was expecting first thing in the morning and I was absolutely devastated. I would assume that it was the powerhead, but (as you can see in the earlier pics) its intake is completely protected with course foam, so she must have managed to find another way in. That, or I have an elusive BTA eating water-monstor!
Given my previous experiences with a dying nem wiping out the entire tank, I quickly removed Nom and Nim and acclimated them to our AR 275. They've been in breeders nets for the last 4 days now and they're happy as pigs in mud! Great flow + LEDs = VERY happy Nim and Nom!! In fact, Nom has expanded out so much that she takes up the ENTIRE breeders net! And they've been greedily downing pieces of fish and leftovers of mysis each day, so I'm relieved to say that they're fine and appear to have suffered no ill effect from the experience. Thank GOD!!!
Nom's foot also looks to be fantastic!! (Though admittedly it's a little hard to tell when she has it smooshed up against the netting!)
So I turned my attention back to N3. I've done a 20lt water change on the Friday and Sunday (90lt tank with only 80lt in it) and the water was completely clear on Saturday morning. The two clowns have shown no signs of distress throughout and there's been no changes in the params. All in all, I think that I've dodged a bullet.
The powerhead in question has something about it though. It ATTRACTS nems. I understand that they can float around of an evening and get themselves sucked in, but over the years we have found the nems to slowly creep their way over to it and cuddle up between the powerhead and its suction caps/mounting. (Seriously - three individual nems have displayed this now and at very different times!) So there's got to be something odd about it. Needless to say, it's out and it ain't getting no Xmas card!
I'm wanting to get some good random flow in the tank based on the Doc's thoughts (and evidence!) that it's the "key" to keeping happy nems, but I'm on a budget and am wanting to stick with the Aqua One 620's filtration system at least for the next few months, so I'm not going to sump it and have PVC returns that I could attach a SCWD to.
So I was wondering about attaching a SCWD to a powerhead. We had a Tunze Nanostream 6015 spare so I've thrown that in (and the flow in there is pretty strong) but I don't know that it's random enough in the absence of any attachment. I guess it's something to have in the back of my mind, but @Dr. Schell explained to me that the Tunze I'm using won't be strong enough to power the 1" fitting, so perhaps I could look towards the smaller one in the future? (If someone has one they feel like loaning for experimental purposes, let me know :D ) But for now I'll just play with angles and see what I can come up with.
Oh, and FYI the powerhead is safely contained within a breeders net!! Try getting in there now you suicidal little demons!! (I do love them though ;) )
I'm planning to reintroduce the nems at the end of the week and at this time, I'll both be adding the Xenia that was originally destined for this tank (probably under another breeders net or the basket of a salad spinner ;) ) and upgrading the lighting thanks to @chimaera . I'm going to give the PAR38s a go (on loan) and if the nems are as happy as they are under our Illumagics, I'll be buying my own :) If not, then I'll put some serious thought into a more expensive option. In all, I think that these are sensible upgrades that can then be applied to other tanks in the future if I ever upgrade the entire setup, so no money wasted! (That's got to be a first for me lately!)
I've been having fun sketching out some ideas for an upgrade, but Les has reigned me in and reminded me that I have to have success on a small scale first before I proceed with my dream "3 teir, 4 foot" setup :rofl lol (No, we're not rich. Opposite in fact. I'm just suffering from financial retardation at the moment
lol)
I think that's about it for now though. I would have updated sooner, but I was so sad about Nam and I wanted to give @chimaera the news first :( He was incredibly understanding which I appreciated no end. But it DOES mean that I'm on the hunt for a green, orange-tipped BTA, so watch out any who stand between one and myself on the Crawl!! ;) he he he.
And as always, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, they're more than welcome!
B
So there was a fatality on Friday: NamNam decided to obliterate herself leaving behind nothing but a 4mm x 2mm piece of flesh and milky water
It was not what I was expecting first thing in the morning and I was absolutely devastated. I would assume that it was the powerhead, but (as you can see in the earlier pics) its intake is completely protected with course foam, so she must have managed to find another way in. That, or I have an elusive BTA eating water-monstor! Given my previous experiences with a dying nem wiping out the entire tank, I quickly removed Nom and Nim and acclimated them to our AR 275. They've been in breeders nets for the last 4 days now and they're happy as pigs in mud! Great flow + LEDs = VERY happy Nim and Nom!! In fact, Nom has expanded out so much that she takes up the ENTIRE breeders net! And they've been greedily downing pieces of fish and leftovers of mysis each day, so I'm relieved to say that they're fine and appear to have suffered no ill effect from the experience. Thank GOD!!!
Nom's foot also looks to be fantastic!! (Though admittedly it's a little hard to tell when she has it smooshed up against the netting!)
So I turned my attention back to N3. I've done a 20lt water change on the Friday and Sunday (90lt tank with only 80lt in it) and the water was completely clear on Saturday morning. The two clowns have shown no signs of distress throughout and there's been no changes in the params. All in all, I think that I've dodged a bullet.
The powerhead in question has something about it though. It ATTRACTS nems. I understand that they can float around of an evening and get themselves sucked in, but over the years we have found the nems to slowly creep their way over to it and cuddle up between the powerhead and its suction caps/mounting. (Seriously - three individual nems have displayed this now and at very different times!) So there's got to be something odd about it. Needless to say, it's out and it ain't getting no Xmas card!
I'm wanting to get some good random flow in the tank based on the Doc's thoughts (and evidence!) that it's the "key" to keeping happy nems, but I'm on a budget and am wanting to stick with the Aqua One 620's filtration system at least for the next few months, so I'm not going to sump it and have PVC returns that I could attach a SCWD to.
So I was wondering about attaching a SCWD to a powerhead. We had a Tunze Nanostream 6015 spare so I've thrown that in (and the flow in there is pretty strong) but I don't know that it's random enough in the absence of any attachment. I guess it's something to have in the back of my mind, but @Dr. Schell explained to me that the Tunze I'm using won't be strong enough to power the 1" fitting, so perhaps I could look towards the smaller one in the future? (If someone has one they feel like loaning for experimental purposes, let me know :D ) But for now I'll just play with angles and see what I can come up with.
Oh, and FYI the powerhead is safely contained within a breeders net!! Try getting in there now you suicidal little demons!! (I do love them though ;) )
I'm planning to reintroduce the nems at the end of the week and at this time, I'll both be adding the Xenia that was originally destined for this tank (probably under another breeders net or the basket of a salad spinner ;) ) and upgrading the lighting thanks to @chimaera . I'm going to give the PAR38s a go (on loan) and if the nems are as happy as they are under our Illumagics, I'll be buying my own :) If not, then I'll put some serious thought into a more expensive option. In all, I think that these are sensible upgrades that can then be applied to other tanks in the future if I ever upgrade the entire setup, so no money wasted! (That's got to be a first for me lately!)
I've been having fun sketching out some ideas for an upgrade, but Les has reigned me in and reminded me that I have to have success on a small scale first before I proceed with my dream "3 teir, 4 foot" setup :rofl lol (No, we're not rich. Opposite in fact. I'm just suffering from financial retardation at the moment
lol)I think that's about it for now though. I would have updated sooner, but I was so sad about Nam and I wanted to give @chimaera the news first :( He was incredibly understanding which I appreciated no end. But it DOES mean that I'm on the hunt for a green, orange-tipped BTA, so watch out any who stand between one and myself on the Crawl!! ;) he he he.
And as always, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, they're more than welcome!
B
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