# Jasert's 40 Breeder



## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Thought I would start on of these diaries to keep track of progess/growth in my new 40 gallon breeder reef.

Setup
40 gallon breeder, cpr bak pak skimmer, small aquafuge, maxijet 900 and 600. 4x65 watt pc's retrofitted into a diy canopy

Inhabitants
two clowns, yellow watchman goby, cleaner shrimp, turtle conch, various snails, scarlet hermits

Corals
two different frogspawn, various zoos and shrooms, green star polys, yellow polys, xenia

Soon to be integrating a 20L sump with Coralife super skimmer to replace the bak pak...waiting for my return pump to arrive.

here are some pics of the current setup.


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

looks nice


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## Guest (May 14, 2006)

Everything looks nice and healthy!


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

Dang man your 40 gl puts my mine to shame , but I only got about like 3 weks into my tank.

If mine turns out like yours ill be exstatic!

Good job man looks flawless.

So have you had your clowns take to any thing in your tank yet?

are they false clowns, ocelaris percs?

keep us posted!

good luck!


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thanks for the respones...they are percs i believe.

think I am going to pick up a plate coral this week and take it easy on purchasing stuff for the tank. Hopefully let stuff grow out and fill in the spots. Ill post a picture of anything new that I do happen to come across however, or if i remember post pics like every other week or something to track progress.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

looks awesome! 40g breeders have great dimensions. nice and deep but not too tall.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

I like this size a lot better than the 20 i was running...a lot more room. And also at lot easier to keep levels stable, which hopefully only gets better when the sump is added.

Quick update the return pump arrived today hopefully get all the plumbing and stuff done by the weekend. Also as the temp rises here so does the tanks temp...needed to pick up a desk fan today hopefully help with the temp. It was measured at 83.3 last night before bed with all lights on and was 79 this morning when I woke up. If the fan doesnt work I may have to drill some holes in the sides of the canopy to get even more air moving through there. We will see though.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

That is a fantastic size for a salt water tank. Very nice dimensions, gives some range, but yet at the same time isn't too big. I like it!

Any ideas for clean-up crew, etc?


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

everythings in there already...just moved everything out of the twenty and into this tank. I have a bunch of nassarius snails, a couple ceriths, five turbos i think, couple scarlet hermits and a turtle conch as far as a clean up crew goes.

Ive got the two clowns and a yellow watchman goby...thinking about a blenny or something later, not sure yet though.

Got all of the plumbing materials that I will need (hopefully) and should be that going shortly. Ill post some pics when I do.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

good luck man sounds like you got everything under control.

looking forward to some more pics.

Is youur tank drilled?

didn't look like it.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thanks, tank is not drilled I have a hob overflow that will be used to get water down to the sump...setting it all up as i type this. Ill get some new pics up later.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

are you planning to get any anemones, for your clowns?

What do you plan on doing to, or putting the off spring?


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

might add anenome later...this is my first sw tank and I am taking it relatively slow in order to get a hang of everything. We shall see.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

here are some pics of my newly setup sump/fuge...dont laugh.

I know they make clear silicon...bought what i thought was clear got started and didnt want to start.

I also know that I should have planned my stand better...lol..now I have some new work to cover up on that bad boy.

here you go.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

u should get another maxijet and run them on a wavemaker.. makes a big difference


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thanks jiggy maybe thats next...also have been thinking of replacing the maxis with a seio 620...and run that along with the flow from the returns ~400 or so gph...any input?


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

seios r good for continous flow.. maybe it can be directed at the rocks to blow detritus off.. but when it comes to flow for corals, random current is the best. the difference is like night and day. for sps, you get alot more polyp extension with random flow. it would look good in ur tank since u have alot of softies and u can see them sway back n forth with the current.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

any wave maker recomendations...i have some old eqiupment to sell that i could put the funds towards.


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## Guest (May 19, 2006)

Tunze!


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

wish I knew how to build one, that looks cool.

what's that green stuff in the middle?

do u know of any diy plans I could loook at, to help me build one.

what do those different compartments act as, are they like filters or something?

if you could help me I think I'd build one for my 40 gallon next weekend.

did you just use reg aquarium sealent?

Is that just acting as a sump?

good job man!


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

http://melevsreef.com/

all the sump and refugium information that you could want.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

jasert39 said:


> http://melevsreef.com/
> 
> all the sump and refugium information that you could want.


thanks man I'm gonna check it out right now?

But does those different seperated parts or chambers actor anything else than th waterlevel?


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

jasert39 said:


> any wave maker recomendations...i have some old eqiupment to sell that i could put the funds towards.


u could use a red sea wavemaker with 3 maxijet 1200s..

me on the other hand.. i use 3 tunze stream 6200s with a 7095 controller. =)


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

great link jasert.

I'm gonna do a step by step diy sump fuge, and post it in my own topic, thanks to you that is!


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

First section (right) - The water enters this sections and my protien skimmer is place in there. Then the three baffles that separate the section are used to reduce the number to microbubbles that make it to the next section

Middle - Refugium area. Shallow sand botton with macroalgea (cheato and calpuera (sp?)).

Left section - return pump to main tank (mag 7)

Man, Trillion you would save your self some typing if you just did a search on some topics.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Jiggy - might be a dumb question but does the red sea wavemaker on have one plug that need to be put in an outlet? I mean do all of the powerhead plug into that and then it has a single outlet that supplies the power? Reason that I ask is it would be great to free up some outlets!


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

nice looking reef.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

i dont have one nor ever used one but this is the choice for most nano reefers..

http://www.aquatichouse.com/Pumps_files/wavemaster.asp

more info on it.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

when making sumps, it is nice to flip the tank on end, then use vhs tapes to make the baffles.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

good idea illino...first one gave it a try, learning from my mistakes. the baffles are angled although it does in the picture. the white silicon was certainly not applied as evenly as it could have been. A learning expeirence nonethelss...the next time i do one it will be better. I appreciate your input and i will certainly do something like that next time.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

i think for a first time diy sump you did a kick a$$ job. i am sure i would make quite the silicon mess making some baffles. keep us updated on how your system matures.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

will do genin..for the time being im trying to figure out why all my corals look terrible...zoas and shroom not opening, xenia all contracted...all parameters and good. Just bought a refractometer that should be here in a couple days, thinking maybe the dumb hydrometer my be fooling with me.

jiggy - just found a used red sea at a good price...ill find another maxijet and be in business...at least if my corals get better.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

illnino said:


> when making sumps, it is nice to flip the tank on end, then use vhs tapes to make the baffles.


I'm glad some one knew what you was talking about, cause I didn't.

hopefuly itl come to me when I'm atempting to assemble my sump.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

come on jasert up date you got one of the nicest tanks in the world, well nicest 40s any way.

u probably aint got nothing new but, have you had any new eye candy happen in your tank?


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

ive been having some issues with the tank since adding the sump...still trying to iron them out. I have lost the frogspawn and a couple zoos but the things that are still kicking are starting to turn around again. Half my zoos were open lastnight. Ill post some pics when the tank does look like crap.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

did you ever find the problem?


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

i believe that when I added all the new water and sand that my tank my have gone through another small cycle. Just my guess but whats left seems to be doing better. Its funny though. The fish look great, but what makes me think that it was another cycle is that I barely saw any pods for a while after setting up the sump. Now my tank and fuge is crawling with them again. Everyday the remaining zoos look better. Ill post some pics when its worth it. lol.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

u know u have to mix the water 24hrs prior to adding it.. and the water params should be the same as the tank water params


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

I feel ya, jasert I'm not gonna post any more pics of my tank til it looks like yours use to.

I hope ya tank starts doing better.

is jiggy right?

do you let your water mix 24 hrs before you add it?

I don't know about the params part though it seems to me that you would want the water that your adding params to be a little bit better than your current ones in your tank.

what do you think you did.

live and learn dude.

can't wait to see your tank when you get it under control


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

who r u to question me bro.. anyone who knows anything bout saltwater knows that u have to mix it at least 24hrs before unless u r filling a new tank.. i have a 55g drum that i hold my saltwater in for waterchanges, so its mixed awhile before i put it in the tank.. ur in no position to be giving anyone advice either dude.. ive seen other threads where u act like u know what ur talkin about..

by the same params, i mean, salinity, temp, and preferably ca and mg too..


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

i am glad to hear that all is getting better. i have heard of mini cycles in the tank before and did experience it once with freshwater. they suck!


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

Genin said:


> i am glad to hear that all is getting better. i have heard of mini cycles in the tank before and did experience it once with freshwater. they suck!


yeah that would suck.

im sure ill have one in mine sooner or later, but not to make you feel bad but my tanks are doing excellent right now


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Thanks for the comments guys.

Jiggy i did let the water mix and it was in line with what is in the tank...I think that the new bag of sand that was needed in the fuge maybe caused the cycle? Possible?

Its funny...clowns and cleaner shrimp look great. pods all over. Cheato growing in fuge...just the corals are what looks bad. Everything test fine. might have a bit (i mean a little bit, less than .25) but everything tests fine. I think that the corals that are left are adjusting back to normal. Keep coming with the ideas i appreciate your responses.

oh trillion glad to hear you tank is doing well.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

if it was livesand u added to ur fuge, and a good amount, it could have caused a small cycle because the bacteria havent adjusted to the bioload.. if its used livesand that u got from someone, it could have gotten stirred up and let waste that was trapped out into ur water


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

i added a 20lb bag or caribsea brand new from the store, and mixed it with the small amount of sand that I had in my hob fuge.

also...just picked up a free six line wrasse. Couldnt pass up the price.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

you sound like me jasert," couldn't pass up a good".

don't know how many times I've said that on here.

the only time its bit me in the ass is when I couldn't pass up the deal of the colt leather.
but I'm more than sure your warsse will be fine.

is it one of the ones that eats the parasites off the fish.

I need to get one of those


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

no thats a cleaner wrasse


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

jiggy said:


> no thats a cleaner wrasse


oh my bad that's right.

I knew that just for got, thanks jiigy, you have once again exposed my noob ness.

Hey jasert god luck with the new fish, did you put that in with the clowns?

I may get one if the 2 species are compatible


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thought i would add some pictures since things are getting back to normal. First a full tank shot as of today and the seconds pics are the maxijets that i attached to magnets in order to get rid of the crappy suction cups. I now have three maxi 900s and a 600 on a red sea wavemaker. (sorry for the blurry pics) enjoy.


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## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

thats a nice lookin setup. i have the same size tank. i think our setups are pretty close to the same except our skiimmers and lights. very nice though. i like how you have all that open sand. how did you mount the magnet to the maxijet?


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

really easy actually. I trimmed the mounting bracket for the suction cups so that it fits on the magnet (purchased at kensfish.com for like 5 bucks each) Glued it with super glue gel. let dry and slide the maxijet on there just like i was supposed to for the mounting bracket. Really easy. I think that I am also going to paint the powerheads black so that they dont stick out as much when looking at the tank, but wanted to make sure that the mounts and magnets where strong enough. btw they are plenty stong, i am using the medium meg-a-clean magnets that you can find on that site.


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## NickNick (Apr 18, 2006)

looks good


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thanks...just came across some new zoos to added the tank...get some color back in there. Should have them sunday ill post some pics after i get them.


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## eL^Mexican (Apr 18, 2006)

Nice tank, it looks like u got some great water flow. damn how do u keep ur sand so clean


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thanks mex, i think that flow as a lot to do with the clean looking sand. I have powerheads aiming at differnt directions that keep most things from settling. There are a couple areas where detritus tends to settle but that makes it really easy to handle during water changes.


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## eL^Mexican (Apr 18, 2006)

Im in the process of get a SCWD hopefuly that works


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

i understand they work pretty good...need to keep it cleaned out though I think. Let me know how it works.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Well thought I would post in here quick and add a little update. What is left in the tank is doing great...finally. I have also decided to make this tank a zoanthid/mushroom dominated tank. I received 18 frags in the mail that I ordered in a "frag pack" from an online vender (not sure if i can post their site here but if you want to know shoot me a pm, i was very happy). Most of the frags are already open and they sent some cool colors in the pack.

here are some pics.

realized i needed to take a pic of how the tank looks now. here you go. btw i have thrown together a webstie documenting the growth in my tank from this point on....its in the sig. Let me know what you think or if a can add or get rid of something.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

Nice additions Jasert!


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## eL^Mexican (Apr 18, 2006)

all you need is a different background and that tank is nice


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

you dont like black?


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

i have a black background on my tank and i think it compliments both of our tanks alot!

to each its own

any way that thing with the power heads you did was really creative dude GOOD job.

tank looks to be coming along wonderfully, i love the caves!

do you have a 40 long or high, cause it looks like you got alot more room in your 40 than i got in mine!


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

forty gallon breeder...its like 36"18'16 or something like that.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

oh ok so you got a tall tank i know mine is the same deminsions as a 55 gallon just shorter, id rather have length than width cause i think they need swimming space...

but your tank is coming along great man, keep us updated!


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## eL^Mexican (Apr 18, 2006)

jasert39 said:


> you dont like black?


Everyone has there ways, but in my opinion black dosen't go with a reef.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Got a new camera (if someone is looking for a beginner digital camera check out the members classified section







) Snapped some picture of some zoas and full tanks. Still fooling around with the new camera but thought I would post anyway, Check em out.


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## eL^Mexican (Apr 18, 2006)

Pretty Cool, is it new pics or also new additions?


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

i got the zoos with the green and orange center and the ones in the last pic yesterday


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

nice jasert. you are going to a zoo of a tank! (get it, zoo of a tank.... zoanthids!) damn i'm funny.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

thanks genin...i saw your post about that store at bloomsburg. I didnt know you were from PA. I wish I could help I live down near the airport, pretty far ride for me. Do they have nice zoos there? Do you know how to ship or come down this way often...???


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

I don't know what zoo's they are going to have in stock there this week. I will let you know how their shipment looks when it comes in. I will ask them about shipping.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

well its been quite a stressful week, but all is well. We had a crazy storm roll through this area earlier in the week knocking our power out for just about 24 hours. Of course i dont have the battery powered air pump that I should have...i kept the water moving maually as best i could. Everything looks great in the tank now luckly no loses at all. Fish and corals are fine. Actually just got back with another couple frags of zoas. I post some new pics when they open back up.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

looks very nice!!!


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

yep it looks really good dude, was that some frog spawn I seen?

nice









never mind dude that aint no dog gone frog spawn, but I tell you what though that new camera is kick ass though, what kind is it maybe I can improve on my photo taking skills!


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Todays update, added to the website but thought I would post here anyway. Picked up a frag of eagle eyes today along with my first ricorida and a branch of tonga mushrooms. Here are some pictures of the corals along with a FTS from today.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

that's looking sharp jasert. i can't wait to see how all of your corals mature. i bet that rock is going to be filled up real nice.


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## CloneME (Feb 24, 2006)

Nice looking tank and fuge ya got there. 
E


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

yeah I think you out did your self jasert.

or should I say approaching the out doing your self stage.

looking good dude.

so when is your 40 breeder really gonna be a 40 BREEDER?

have you researched on rearing clowns? I bought the joyce wilkersons book, and it has taken me above and beyond rearing clowns, now all I need is the f*cking larvae









good luck.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

Well i big update i suppose if anyone is intrested...just sold my p's, getting a new tank and going all salt...will be moving my 40 downstairs into my basement wall...125 gallon reef ready tank, hopefully 55-75 gallon sump/fuge. Hopefully have it all transferred down in a month or so.


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