The Puffer Forum

all my corals are frags, and all the next one i get will still be frags. my torch was 3 head. I feed reef chili and coral frenzy. i will get some mysis shrimp soon.

i hear vortechs make a lot of noise at 50% or more power. i am hoping to use a stronger pump, set the power to low, and avoid the noise issue. i might buy both mp 60 & mp40 to see if its works well for a 120g and return one of them after a trial run

Terrance wrote:all my corals are frags, and all the next one i get will still be frags. my torch was 3 head. I feed reef chili and coral frenzy. i will get some mysis shrimp soon.

i hear vortechs make a lot of noise at 50% or more power. i am hoping to use a stronger pump, set the power to low, and avoid the noise issue. i might buy both mp 60 & mp40 to see if its works well for a 120g and return one of them after a trial run

My MP40 at full power makes about the amount of noise as my PC idle . Though it took a few days for it to settle in nice and comfy. I have my aquarium in my office/workarea though so the noise is irrelevant to a point. I would note that the MP40 & MP60 are the same size. I doubt the MP60 is quieter at lower speeds, but it might. No idea how much more expensive the MP60 is. I bought my MP40 for £400 (hurray for swedish tax ). The MP10s are £200 here. I haven't seen the price of the MP60 but if the difference between MP10 <-> MP40 is anything to go by .

All MPs are noisy though in comparison to in-tank pumps.

You're probably just polluting the tank with the powdered foods. Stick with spot-feeding those LPS the mysis (I soak in vita-chem & Selcon), with the flow off.

I've been spot feeding the corals. The reviews for both is really good, even with a Google search on reef forums. I will cut back on the Reef Chili and Coral Frenzy if algae starts showing up, and go with mainly mysis. My diatoms is starting up.

Before the MP, I'll get a calcium reactor and fix my plumbing to get rid of microbubbles on the 120g.

Is your calcium low?

My numbers are Ca 400, Alk 10.4, Mag 1250 with the Red Sea kit. I would like the Ca to be at least 420 though.

I wouldn't bother buying/setting up a calcium reactor for 20 points. I just toss in Pedlow's pellets into the sump (easily found this time of year), every week.

the calcium reactor will be for the 120g upgrade and all other equipment going forward will be for the 120g.

i use kalkwasser in the ato, calcium & alk always stay the same as long as magnesium is above 1200.

Pufferpunk wrote:You're probably just polluting the tank with the powdered foods. Stick with spot-feeding those LPS the mysis (I soak in vita-chem & Selcon), with the flow off.

Have you ever heard or tried feeding chopped up raw shrimp instead of mysis?

Sure! Again, I soak in vitamins & Selcon.

Its been a while since I've updated.

2 weeks ago, I got a rose anemone for cheap. Rose is still moving around the tank, looking around for a good spot to sit and settle. People say wait at least 6 months, but I'd rather not skip the good deal. My tank is not the traditional fish + coral tank. I think the subtraction of fishes really improves my odds of this cloned anemone thriving in my tank.

A few weeks before the anemone purchase, I got my first zoa. Pics to come soon.

I went to a coral swap today and got a few new corals for free through a raffle. I got 3 mystery zoas and a 10 headed branching hammer. Unfortunately, the hammer was smashed into pieces after some stranger knocked the bag off a table. I will never let go of a prized coral.. lesson learned. I recovered whatever I could, but still very disappointed. That hammer was the only coral I wanted from the swap.

Anyways, the zoas that I picked up was closed when I bagged them, so I do not know the color variation. I'm excited about that part. Zoas are the only soft coral I will get. Everything else will be LPS (with motion ie moving tentacles).

Pics to come soon.

Rose Anemone:


The broken pieces of hammers:




New and newest zoa, the middle one is the oldest, and the two on the left/right sides are the new additions:



All the new mystery zoas look the same. Pictures don't really show their true colors. I could have gotten more frag zoas, but I panicked after the hammer broke into pieces.

Zoas look like fire & Ice. Glue those stems into crevices of your rocks.

Update: I sold all of my trumpets, all zoas, and hammers. The longer I'm reefing, the narrower my interests become. I'm liking motion corals - euphyllias like hammers, torch, and frogspawn. I sold the hammer coral because its the branching type. I'm looking at wall hammers. I also have a strong interest in bubble tip anemones. I tried to like SPS, but they do not seem lively IMO. My 120g is almost done with the plumbing - I will run a carbon reactor and an algae turf scrubber. I have dedicated a large area in the sump for a skimmer, which I will buy one after I sell the Reef Octopus BH2000 HOB skimmer. The 120g will be a bare bottom coral only tank. I will post a build thread once I'm done plumbing.

I am finally able to take pics with my camera, enjoy the pictures of 2 out of 3 corals (last is an rose anemone, and not technically a coral).