New Lighting on my 30g Softie tank

[Michael_Lambert]

so for a couple of years i have been running 2x 15 watt Nos on my 30 gallon softie tank, Its an eclipes system so that is what came installed....


Well today i decided to add in two moe nos.. ( 15 watt each) to double the lighting.. as im housing some leahter frags in there as well...

So here we go..

this is the tank before, Running 1 15 watt Actinic and 1 15 watt 10k...

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/536/551New-Lights2-med.jpg

And now...

running 1 15 watt actinic 1 15 watt 10k and 2 15 watt 64ks.. ( all i had ) will be replaceing them with 10ks when i get some extra cash..

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/536/551New-Lights-med.jpg

here are some closer pictures of the tank :)

Starting with the new Koran angel ( who is not picking at a thig but the food i feed the tank )

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551Koran-Angel.jpg

Then one of my 3 Fighting Conches..

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551Fighting-Conch.jpg

Some baby blue Zoos

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551Bblue-Zoos.jpg

Some pail Greenish ones.

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551Pailgreen-Zoos-med.jpg

My Main mushroom colony in the tank..

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551shroom-Colony.jpg

Some more ..

http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551More-shrooms.jpg


My green recordia
http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551Green-Recodia.jpg


And then a blue stripped mushrooms :)
http://aquariacanada.com/PhotoPost/data/500/551Bluestripped-mushroom-med.jpg

[Rmip]

Mike,
I like the 1st pic, more blue. Nice softie tank. Cool............
Ray

[Michael_Lambert]

i agree.. I like blue too..

Just the new lighting unit i made for it.. i did not have cash for new bulbs.. So its running 2 homedepo specials.. they are listed as 64k.. but im going to be replacing them with 2 actincs.. or marine glows.. To bring back my Blueish look..

[Dman]

looks good
Dman
:spin:

[Red-Sea]

Well it's definitely brighter than before but I still like the color of the first pic better... :P

[Michael_Lambert]

allright guys,

I did not like the light color either, So i went and bought 2 new bulbs..

So now im running!!!

1 Phillips actinic, 1 marine Glow and 2 Powerglows..

[commie]

Mike,
You have 3 fighting conches in the 30G?
If so, you might want to take a couple out of there, as they will
run out of food real fast. The rule of thumb is 24 inches of sand space per conch. And the way your tank is filled with liverocks on the bottom, there is very little sand for the conches to eat.

Other than that, looking real good....

[Michael_Lambert]

yea.. i heard that, But they are tiny, about 1/4 of an inch.. and soon 2 will be going into my 100G..

[Mckitrick]

How do Fighting Conch's compare to Nassarius snails? I notice the eyes are mounted on the stalks.. That's kinda nifty but do they bury themselves all the time and come out when you feed the tank like Nassarius?
What do they eat? Algae or Detritus?

[ajx22]

Originally posted by Paul_BB_Guy
How do Fighting Conch's compare to Nassarius snails? I notice the eyes are mounted on the stalks.. That's kinda nifty but do they bury themselves all the time and come out when you feed the tank like Nassarius?
What do they eat? Algae or Detritus?

Bar-None - the best addition you can add to your tank for keeping a healthy DSB. Do a great job at aerating the sand bed, and stay 100% on the sand (or under it) - and bother NOTHING other then algae and detritus!!

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/userfiles/fighting-conch.gif

Fighting Conch - Strombus alatus


The Fighting Conch may grow to 4 inches and live for up to 15 years. Herbivore/Detritavore. The Fighting Conch unlike it's name is peaceful toward other tankmates. The name comes from it's foot spur, which it shoots out to move itself from predators. Reef-safe. Eats brown diatoms on surface of live sand beds. Will stir and clean upper layers of sand bed. One of the best reef tank detritivores, possibly better than cucumbers. Be careful with copper-based medication and extreme nitrate levels. Keep water quality high (SG 1.023 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F). The Fighting Conch comes from Florida and the Carribean.


Family Strombidae

-Kingdom Animalia
--Phylum Mollusca
---Class Gastropoda
----Order Mesogastropoda
-----Superfamily Strombacea
------Family Strombidae Rafinesque, 1815
-------Genus Lambis Röding, 1798 (9 living species)
--------Genus Strombus Linné, 1758 (55 living species)
---------Genus Terebellum Lamarck, 1799 (1 living species)
----------Genus Tibia Röding, 1798 (6 living species)
-----------Genus Varicospira Eames, 1952 (2 living species)

There are about 60,000 living species of molluscs with external shells, including about 40,000 living species of gastropods. Species numbers given above are derived from the Wagner and Abbott shell catalog (1978).

Members of the Order Mesogastropoda usually have seven teeth positioned crosswise on the radula and a reproductive organ called a verge (Ruppert and Barnes 1994). The family Strombidae includes the true conchs, tibias and their allies. Most are extinct. Of the living strombids, most occur in the Indo-Pacific region. Only six species of strombids are found in the wider Caribbean region, and all of them are in the genus Strombus.

Strombids have long eye stalks, a long and narrow aperture, and a siphonal canal with an indentation near the anterior end called a stromboid notch (Hyman 1967, Abbott 1974). Unlike most snails, which glide slowly across the substrate on their foot, strombids have a characteristic leaping motion, using their pointed, sickle-shaped, horny operculum to propel themselves forward in a leaping motion (Parker 1922). They grow a flared lip upon reaching sexual maturity, and they lay eggs in long, gelatinous strands.

Strombus gigas Linné, 1758, is the most thoroughly studied strombid to date. It occurs in the tropical and sub tropical waters of the wider Caribbean region including Mexico, southern Florida, and the Bahamas, north to Bermuda. It lives in seagrass meadows and on sandy substrate feeding on detritus, macroalgae and epiphytes. Strombus gigas is commonly known as the queen conch (pronounced "konk"), pink conch, caracol reina, caracol rosa, caracol rosado, caracol de pala, cobo, botuto, guarura, and lambi. The nacre of its large shell (15-31 cm, 6-12 in in length) blushes a sunrise of pink, yellow, peach and cream colors. And its meat is delicious whether raw, cracked or frittered, in chowders, salads or conchburgers. Regretably, populations are greatly depleted throughout its range.

The following strombid species are included in titles in the strombid bibliography:

Lambis lambis
Lambis terebellum
Rimella
Strombus bituberculatus
Strombus bubonius
Strombus cf. bulla
Strombus canaliculatus
Strombus canarium
Strombus (Canarium) mutabilis ochroglottis
Strombus (Canarium) wilsoni
Strombus (Conomurex) decorus
Strombus (Conomurex) persicus
Strombus costatus
Strombus decorus
Strombus (Euprotomus) listeri
Strombus galeatus
Strombus gallus
Strombus gibberulus
Strombus gigas virrilli
Strombus goliath
Strombus gracilior
Strombus kleckhamae
Strombus kleckhamae boholensis
Strombus luhuanus
Strombus maculatus
Strombus plicatus sibbaldi
Strombus pugilis alatus
Strombus raninus
Strombus samba
Strombus terebellatus
Strombus tricornis
Strombus (Tricornis) oldi
Strombus vomer vomer
Tibia

MAKE SURE YOU ARE BUYING A TRUE 'FIGHTING CONCH' ~ Strombus alatus and NOT A 'QUEEN CONCH' ~ Strombus gigas!!! Fighting conches only grow to about 4" - where as the Queen Conch grows to 12" or more!!!

When adding a Fighting Conch to a tank - there are a few NEEDED requirements:

Deep Sand Bed - of proper grain size as larger crushed coral can damage the conchs foot
ESTABLISHED TANK - they ONLY eat micro-algae and detritus - and will starve if the tank does not have an sufficient supply
Only 1 (one) Fighting Conch per 12"-18" of OPEN sand bed. If you only have a small rim of open sandbed between the rock and the glass...then don't get one. They do not climb the rock-work - and therefore are stuck with the sand they can access...and WILL starve if they can't eat enough food (algae/detritus). I only had 4 (four) in my 220Gal (8' x 24") tank + one in my 40Gal refugium!!
Very sensitive to salinity - as are most inverts. When adding...use the drip method over at least 30-40 minutes to ensure they acclimate properly.
Try to only obtain Aquacultured/Tank Raised conchs - as wild caught ones do not do well in a captive environment

HTH...

[commie]

Mike,
Those conches eat ALOT even when they are tiny, and they can't climb over the rocks...So they are confined to the small patches of
sand you have in the front of the tank.
You might want to move them sooner than planned...
Or they will starve to death.
Mine was your size in a 48" tank, and he/she would move around the sandbed end to end constantly roaming for food. Takes him less than a minute to round the tank. Grew to 3 inches in less than 6 months.

Paul BB_Guy,
Those fighting conches will bury themselves in the sand. But will come out during the day and glaze on the sandbed. Like AJ, said, its by far the best at cleaning the sandbed.
Sometimes, they will disappear in the sandbed for a long time(from a few days to a few weeks), and will suddenly re-appear. And usually they will have grown while they were 'hiberating' in the sand.

[Mckitrick]

Very cool! I'm definitely going to get one of these for the 120 when it's established!

[VWfisher]

amazing stuff Mike! i love the blue stripped mushroom!

:D

[PlaYer]

I love eyes of these Fighting Conchs