July NTOTM Helfrich's 18g ADA (Dial up beware! Lots of pics!)

Helfrichs Chic · 07/09/2007, 02:39 AM

Hey all thanks for voting for my tank last month! I was told to put a brief description of my tank with more pics. So here ya go!

Plumbing: (or lack there of lol)
-Tank is a ADA 18gallon. Dimensions are 24x14x16
-Lighting is a 70w Metal Halide Viper 14k bulb
-I have a rio 400 (just upgraded from a 180) that is attached to a sufrace skimmer to remove the "oil" from the surface
-1 Additional rio 180 for more flow
-No filtration or skimmer on this tank, BUT when I do a WC I throw on a small "Liberty" filter to clear up the water for a few hours.

Livestock:
-Approx a 2 inch sandbed, seeded with, Fiji, California, Florida, and aquacultured live sand.
-Approx 15 lbs of live fock, Fiji, Kalini, and Tonga, a couple peices of Marshal Island as well.
-A pair of ORA picasso True Perc. Clownfish ($170.00 for the pair... I know someone will ask lol)
-1 very tiny six line wrasse.
-1 Blue Linckia Starfish about 6inches
-4-8 Scarlet Hermits
-1 Hawaiian Blue Banded hermit
-Mics. snails, astrea, nass. and some un-id snails.
-Approx. 35 Florida Ricordeas
-TONS of diffrent Zoanthids
-1 Neon Fungia
-1 Blue maxima clam
-Several sps, tort,montis, etc.
-Some awesome Macro algae (see new one in pics below)

Upkeep:
-Once a month I do a full range of tests with all Salifert kits including: (some I do just for grins lol like copper and ammonia)
Ammonia
Nitrate
Nitrite
Phosphate
Copper
Silicates
Magnesium
Iodine
Strontium
Oxygen
and Salinity
(I think thats all of them)

I use Oceanic salt that spremixed from a LFS (yep im lazy)
and keep my SG. at 1.023, and only do a water change when testing shows it needs it. Sometimes this is 3 months between changes, but I wont go any longer due to the trace elements being used up. I also dose with Seachem Strontium Seachem Magnesium, and Lugols Iodine. I also just got some Coral Accel that I am going to try soon.

Well I think that covers it but here are some pics, and again THANKS!
I found the first week tank pics so I have to show those first!
THEN:

And NOW:

And some other pics: Enjoy.

Helfrichs Chic · 07/09/2007, 02:44 AM

And more:

Helfrichs Chic · 07/09/2007, 02:47 AM

And more yet:

LOVE this new macro!

Helfrichs Chic · 07/09/2007, 03:08 AM

And thats it for now! Let me know if you want to see something close up and I will snap a few more pics!

Slakker · 07/09/2007, 03:11 AM

I love your tank...it's gorgeous! Your clowns are absolutely stunning, not to mention the top notch aquascaping.

Brilliant...well done!

Eklikewhoa · 07/09/2007, 07:06 AM

Beautiful!

Eel-byte · 07/09/2007, 09:12 AM

Nice setup!

aznlmpulse · 07/09/2007, 09:23 AM

That's a great looking tank! It's always amazing to see beautiful tanks with minimal filtration. There are so many nano's out there that go overboard with skimmers, filters and sumps and never look this good.

Awesome!

nbaker · 07/09/2007, 12:39 PM

Wow thats one stunning setup, well done

danfrith · 07/09/2007, 01:24 PM

Beautiful tank. Can we get a few more close up's of the SPS. Also, I would watch that macro that you like, If thats what I think it is (Dictoyota, Spelling) then it will spread like crazy and be hard to get rid of. Awesome corals and good luck in the future.

ezcompany · 07/09/2007, 03:30 PM

congratulations

BlakDuc · 07/09/2007, 11:03 PM

Where is the best place in the US to get these ADA tanks? They are really nice! Yours is awesome also.

Cyclone123 · 07/09/2007, 11:11 PM

Very Nice!

Awesome photos too.

chkit · 07/09/2007, 11:35 PM

geez, i'm on a mission to make mine look as good.

melev · 07/10/2007, 04:03 AM

Love the colors, love the rics, love the zoas.... Sweet setup!

reefman13 · 07/10/2007, 07:27 AM

How do you like the Picasso's? I was thinking about getting a pair for my tank.

Pyrrhus · 07/10/2007, 09:05 AM

Kudos and huzzah!

GreyhoundTrish · 07/10/2007, 08:06 PM

Awesome. Your tank rocks!!!

mike1962 · 07/10/2007, 09:23 PM

Wow! Simply amazing! I hope that my tank will some day have some of the incredible beauty that yours offers to us all.

May I ask what camera and lens you took these shots with?

Helfrichs Chic · 07/11/2007, 01:24 AM

WOW thank you all. I LOVE my picassos.
Reefman. Unfortunatly I lost my male Picasso Phoenix about a week ago, but these clowns are AWESOME. Every night I put a glass rim on my tank to prevent jump outs, or crawling snails and unfortunatly I left a small slit open and sure enough he managed to get through it. I feel horrible, he was such a cool fish. Still in shock. Not that I can replace his personality but I do have ORA sending me another. RIP Phoenix, so bummed. I get really attached to my fish, heck I had someone offer me $1000.00 for my pair and I said nope, they are my babies.

GrandGixxer: you can get ADA tanks through some LFS now. Just ask your LFS. ADA was not originally US based, but now I think they have an ADA based out of TX. I love ADA! So nice to not see a big goop of silicone, and I mean really; isnt rimless just sexy!?!

They arent cheap thou. I want to say mine was about $120. Worth every penny imo.

Danfrith: I do have some red Dictoyota macro. Here is a pic:

Its VERY slow growing thou. The purple is something diffrent... at least im pretty sure. Maybe someone can ID it for me, i even have a signed macro poster by Borneman and its not on there

I did manage to find this place: http://www.pacificcoralfarm.com/prod...d=purplealgae1
but they just call it macro grrrr. It however grows VERY fast and I am sure I will be giving bits of it away once it starts growing out of control. Honestly its one of my favorite things in my tank LOL!

Well again thank you all for our comments and voting for my ntotm!!

Helfrichs Chic · 07/11/2007, 01:39 AM

Oh and some of the REALLY close ups were with my sisters cannon eos 20 I think its called but most were with my little cannon sd600 elph.

jhebi · 07/11/2007, 05:46 PM

where did you get those clowns? I want to buy, they are very pretty....

mwoneal · 07/11/2007, 06:53 PM

great zoa's! Nice job on the layout too.

chkit · 07/13/2007, 11:41 PM

helfrichâ€™s Chic doesn't have a helfrich in the tank?

Helfrichs Chic · 07/15/2007, 04:25 PM

LOL I totally would but open top + $200 fish that love to jump = me not happy.

Umm It looks like the July TOTM got shut down. I am sorry guys, I wasnt prepared to run it this month and in the process of trying to make everyone happy looks like it had too mny rule changes.

Sorry!

07/09/2007, 02:39 AM	#1
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	June NTOTM Helfrich's 18g ADA (Dial up beware! Lots of pics!) Hey all thanks for voting for my tank last month! I was told to put a brief description of my tank with more pics. So here ya go! Plumbing: (or lack there of lol) -Tank is a ADA 18gallon. Dimensions are 24x14x16 -Lighting is a 70w Metal Halide Viper 14k bulb -I have a rio 400 (just upgraded from a 180) that is attached to a sufrace skimmer to remove the "oil" from the surface -1 Additional rio 180 for more flow -No filtration or skimmer on this tank, BUT when I do a WC I throw on a small "Liberty" filter to clear up the water for a few hours. Livestock: -Approx a 2 inch sandbed, seeded with, Fiji, California, Florida, and aquacultured live sand. -Approx 15 lbs of live fock, Fiji, Kalini, and Tonga, a couple peices of Marshal Island as well. -A pair of ORA picasso True Perc. Clownfish ($170.00 for the pair... I know someone will ask lol) -1 very tiny six line wrasse. -1 Blue Linckia Starfish about 6inches -4-8 Scarlet Hermits -1 Hawaiian Blue Banded hermit -Mics. snails, astrea, nass. and some un-id snails. -Approx. 35 Florida Ricordeas -TONS of diffrent Zoanthids -1 Neon Fungia -1 Blue maxima clam -Several sps, tort,montis, etc. -Some awesome Macro algae (see new one in pics below) Upkeep: -Once a month I do a full range of tests with all Salifert kits including: (some I do just for grins lol like copper and ammonia) Ammonia Nitrate Nitrite Phosphate Copper Silicates Magnesium Iodine Strontium Oxygen and Salinity (I think thats all of them) I use Oceanic salt that spremixed from a LFS (yep im lazy) and keep my SG. at 1.023, and only do a water change when testing shows it needs it. Sometimes this is 3 months between changes, but I wont go any longer due to the trace elements being used up. I also dose with Seachem Strontium Seachem Magnesium, and Lugols Iodine. I also just got some Coral Accel that I am going to try soon. Well I think that covers it but here are some pics, and again THANKS! I found the first week tank pics so I have to show those first! THEN: And NOW: And some other pics: Enjoy. Last edited by Helfrichs Chic; 07/09/2007 at 03:13 AM.

07/09/2007, 02:44 AM	#2
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	And more: __________________ The... I'm trying rics again chick! Me likey muratic acid Current Tank Info: 110 Starphire

07/09/2007, 02:47 AM	#3
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	And more yet: LOVE this new macro! __________________ The... I'm trying rics again chick! Me likey muratic acid Current Tank Info: 110 Starphire

07/09/2007, 03:08 AM	#4
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	And thats it for now! Let me know if you want to see something close up and I will snap a few more pics! __________________ The... I'm trying rics again chick! Me likey muratic acid Current Tank Info: 110 Starphire

07/09/2007, 03:11 AM	#5
Slakker Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southeastern Wisconsin Posts: 4,523	I love your tank...it's gorgeous! Your clowns are absolutely stunning, not to mention the top notch aquascaping. Brilliant...well done! __________________ -Tyler Oceanic 58RR display/20H sump/fuge thread...follow the red house. Current Tank Info: Oceanic 58g, 20H sump, AquaC EV-150, 175w Hamilton 14k + 2x39w T5HO Actinics

07/09/2007, 07:06 AM	#6
Eklikewhoa Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston,TX Posts: 1,436	Beautiful!

07/09/2007, 09:12 AM	#7
Eel-byte Premium Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Duluth, Mn Posts: 976	Nice setup!

07/09/2007, 09:23 AM	#8
aznlmpulse Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: New York Posts: 279	That's a great looking tank! It's always amazing to see beautiful tanks with minimal filtration. There are so many nano's out there that go overboard with skimmers, filters and sumps and never look this good. Awesome!

07/09/2007, 12:39 PM	#9
nbaker Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Lincs, UK Posts: 9	Wow thats one stunning setup, well done

07/09/2007, 01:24 PM	#10
danfrith Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: st. louis, missouri Posts: 1,377	Beautiful tank. Can we get a few more close up's of the SPS. Also, I would watch that macro that you like, If thats what I think it is (Dictoyota, Spelling) then it will spread like crazy and be hard to get rid of. Awesome corals and good luck in the future.

07/09/2007, 03:30 PM	#11
ezcompany Team RC Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 4,441	congratulations

07/09/2007, 11:03 PM	#12
BlakDuc Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 4,380	Where is the best place in the US to get these ADA tanks? They are really nice! Yours is awesome also. __________________ Joe Cude I don't exactly go out looking for trouble, it just always seems to end up finding me. Current Tank Info: 40 Breeder with 40 Breeder sump/refuge.

07/09/2007, 11:11 PM	#13
Cyclone123 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 56	Very Nice! Awesome photos too.

07/09/2007, 11:35 PM	#14
chkit Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FL Posts: 75	geez, i'm on a mission to make mine look as good.

07/10/2007, 04:03 AM	#15
melev Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,446	Love the colors, love the rics, love the zoas.... Sweet setup! __________________ Marc Today's avatar is of a section of my reef. (70/365) Current Tank Info: The 14 day 280g Starfire reef - 150g custom sump & Refugium, Euro-Reef 12-2 Protein Skimmer, Calcium Reactor, 900w MH & 320w VHO, Lumenbrights, and more...

07/10/2007, 07:27 AM	#16
reefman13 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: CT Posts: 4,311	How do you like the Picasso's? I was thinking about getting a pair for my tank. __________________ ~~Dave~~ ______________________________________________________________________ If you are looking to buy a car, drop me a PM, I'll help you get a nice deal...or if you just want to talk about reef stuff of course Current Tank Info: ~105g RR Starfire BB SPS~30L Mixed Nano~10g Zoa Nano

07/10/2007, 09:05 AM	#17
Pyrrhus Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Tempe, AZ Posts: 2,594	Kudos and huzzah! __________________ Severe Knowledge In Plumbing

07/10/2007, 08:06 PM	#18
GreyhoundTrish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 337	Awesome. Your tank rocks!!!

07/10/2007, 09:23 PM	#19
mike1962 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Albany, California Posts: 269	Wow! Simply amazing! I hope that my tank will some day have some of the incredible beauty that yours offers to us all. May I ask what camera and lens you took these shots with? __________________ Michael Current Tank Info: 28g JBJ HQI 150, Heading into Year 3!

07/11/2007, 01:24 AM	#20
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	WOW thank you all. I LOVE my picassos. Reefman. Unfortunatly I lost my male Picasso Phoenix about a week ago, but these clowns are AWESOME. Every night I put a glass rim on my tank to prevent jump outs, or crawling snails and unfortunatly I left a small slit open and sure enough he managed to get through it. I feel horrible, he was such a cool fish. Still in shock. Not that I can replace his personality but I do have ORA sending me another. RIP Phoenix, so bummed. I get really attached to my fish, heck I had someone offer me $1000.00 for my pair and I said nope, they are my babies. GrandGixxer: you can get ADA tanks through some LFS now. Just ask your LFS. ADA was not originally US based, but now I think they have an ADA based out of TX. I love ADA! So nice to not see a big goop of silicone, and I mean really; isnt rimless just sexy!?! They arent cheap thou. I want to say mine was about $120. Worth every penny imo. Danfrith: I do have some red Dictoyota macro. Here is a pic: Its VERY slow growing thou. The purple is something diffrent... at least im pretty sure. Maybe someone can ID it for me, i even have a signed macro poster by Borneman and its not on there I did manage to find this place: http://www.pacificcoralfarm.com/prod...d=purplealgae1 but they just call it macro grrrr. It however grows VERY fast and I am sure I will be giving bits of it away once it starts growing out of control. Honestly its one of my favorite things in my tank LOL! Well again thank you all for our comments and voting for my ntotm!! __________________ The... I'm trying rics again chick! Me likey muratic acid Current Tank Info: 110 Starphire

07/11/2007, 01:39 AM	#21
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	Oh and some of the REALLY close ups were with my sisters cannon eos 20 I think its called but most were with my little cannon sd600 elph. __________________ The... I'm trying rics again chick! Me likey muratic acid Current Tank Info: 110 Starphire

07/11/2007, 05:46 PM	#22
jhebi Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Torrance, Ca Posts: 245	where did you get those clowns? I want to buy, they are very pretty....

07/11/2007, 06:53 PM	#23
mwoneal Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Newnan, GA Posts: 92	great zoa's! Nice job on the layout too. __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 10G reef w/ 5.5G sump, 96W Coralife Aqualight, softies & LPS

07/13/2007, 11:41 PM	#24
chkit Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FL Posts: 75	helfrichâ€™s Chic doesn't have a helfrich in the tank?

07/15/2007, 04:25 PM	#25
Helfrichs Chic Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,944	LOL I totally would but open top + $200 fish that love to jump = me not happy. Umm It looks like the July TOTM got shut down. I am sorry guys, I wasnt prepared to run it this month and in the process of trying to make everyone happy looks like it had too mny rule changes. Sorry! __________________ The... I'm trying rics again chick! Me likey muratic acid Current Tank Info: 110 Starphire Last edited by Helfrichs Chic; 07/15/2007 at 04:39 PM.