January nTOTM - Junkitu's Mushroom House

junkitu · 02/02/2007, 08:56 PM

Thanks to everyone for the great turnout this month and special thanks to Victoria for making it all happen. I feel very fortunate to have won against the stiff competiition from anguswu, 1cenine2005, duec22, and rockindacheeks. I am very excited that my little office softie tank was selected as the nTOTM for January.

WELCOME TO MUSHROOM HOUSE

Introduction:

Like many folks on this site, I've kept freshwater fish on and off for most of my life. I've always admired the beautiful colors of saltwater aquariums but thought they were too hard to keep. Last April a friend of mine at work helped changed my opinion. He had decided to upgrade his 80G reef tank and offered to give me some live rock from his old setup to help get me started. Needless to say I took the plunge and have enjoyed every moment of it.

Before starting, I tried to read everything that I could find on the internet about nano reefs and found many threads and pictures of beautiful tanks. Ironically, I came across 1cenine2005's tank thread 9 months ago and it inspired me to try to create a relatively moderate/low light tank with colorful soft corals and invertebrates. I started out with a ton of green mushrooms which came on the live rock and quickly added some striking color with a yellow fiji leather and some zoas. I was hooked. My tank became my obsession and Iâ€™ve been trying to continue to add more amazing color to it ever since.

A good friend of mine who has been keeping larger tanks for years likened nano reefing to keeping a bonsai tree. The placement and shape of every little aspect of the tree is critical to the overall aesthetic outcome. I totally agree. Iâ€™ve found that color, shape, texture, and placement are the raw materials for a beautiful nano tank and you have to be patient in selecting the right specimens and in putting them all together.

Thanks again and I hope you enjoy my tank.

Here is a slideshow that shows the progression of Mushroom House over the last nine months:
http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1170373984.pbw

Tank Parameters
Ph: 8.1
Temp: 78 - 81 degrees Farenheit
Ca: 450
S.G.: 1.026
Nitrates: 0
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0

Circulation:

I run a Maxi-Jet 900 on the return, a Mini-Jet 606 with a HydorFlo, and a Mini-Jet 404. These pumps combined with the powerheads on my chiller and skimmer result in approximately 20X circulation.

Controller:

A Premium Aquatics Lighthouse controller manages my chiller, skimmer, and the dawn to dusk cycle of my lights. It also monitors my Ph and temperature.

Filtration:

I have a Sapphire Aquatics skimmer that runs in the right rear chamber. It is designed to fit under the Aquapod's hood and works well. The controller runs the skimmer from 8pm to 8am every night. Live rock and live sand perform the only other filtration in my system.

Lighting and Photo Period:

1 x 40W Current USA Sunpod Dual Daylight (8am - 5pm)
1 x 40W Current USA Sunpod Dual Actinic (6am - 6pm)
2 Moonlights (always on)

Chiller:

Temperature control is an issue since my tank is at the office and HVAC system doesn't operate in the evenings or weekends. I've installed a Nanocustoms ICA chiller. The controller turns the chiller on when temps hit 81 degrees.

Feeding:

Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets (5 days/week)
Kent Marine Zoe (5 days/week)
Cyclopeeze (3 days/week)
DT's Phytoplankton (1 day/week)

Maintenance:

Kent Marine Nano 2-part additive (Monday, Thrusday)
20% water change (C-Pure seawater) once a week
Scrub and scrape algae once a week
Top off with RO/DI as needed

Hereâ€™s a shot of the color on the top shelf of my aquascape.

A closer look of the rics and coco worm on the right side.

Hereâ€™s my little zoa and paly garden.

junkitu · 02/02/2007, 08:59 PM

Livestock:

ORA B&W Clown
Red Firefish
Flame Angel
2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimps
Orange Lace Purple Feather Duster
Coco Worm
Assorted Clean Up Crew

My son calls this one Panda. Clownfish were always the saltwater fish that caught my eye the most and I had to have one when I started my nano.

The flame was an awesome addition to the tank. Heâ€™s been great so far with the coral and hasnâ€™t picked on anythingâ€¦yet.

The orange lace purple duster and coco worm are relatively new additions to the tank and I like the color as well as the motion that they add.

junkitu · 02/02/2007, 09:01 PM

Coral:
Yellow fiji leather
Creme colored finger leather with white polyps
Devil's hand with neon green polyps
Green polyped toadstool
4 varieties of florida ricordea (neon green, army green, orange and blue)
Tangerine and blue yuma
Green and gold yumas
Blue rhodactis mushrooms
Pink Hairy mushrooms
Mint rhodactis mushrooms
Red mushrooms
Green mushrooms
Blue mushrooms
Hambali pulsing xenias
Alien eye daisy polyps
Neon green candy canes
Purple rim short tentacled fungia plate
Red/green open brain
Assorted zoos and palys (OPE, Lemons, Blue Eye Devils, Armageddons, Tub's Blues, RPE, Dragon Eyes, Coco's Pinks, Purple Dreams, Watermelons, Terminators, Yellow Ultimates, Green Crossettes, Eagle Eyes)

Sarcophyton Elegans. This was one of my first corals and has become the signature of my tank.

Iâ€™ve also added a variety of other leathers including Sarcophyton sp., Lobophytum sp., and Sinularia sp.

My tank truly is a house made of mushrooms. Hereâ€™s a pic of several varieties together: Actinodiscus sp., Rhodactis sp., and Ricordea Florida.

Rhodactis sp.

Actinodiscus sp.

Rhodactis sp.

Ricordea Yuma and Florida

Ricordea Yuma

junkitu · 02/02/2007, 09:05 PM

I also have a few LPS to offset the softies. Here are some neon green candycanes that I grew out from a 2 headed frag: Caulastrea sp.

Fungia Fujites

Trachyphillia sp.

One of the greatest sources of color variety in my tank are the zoas and palys: Protopalythoa sp., and Zoanthus sp.

Macro Shots:

As I mentioned above, texture as well as color are really important to a beautiful tank. Here are some macro shots highlighting what I mean. Xenia sp. (pulsing)

Actinodiscus sp.

Trachyphillia sp.

Special Thanks:
Behruz
Dan
www.AtlantisAquarium.net (Ming)
www.AquariumConceptsInc.com
Ultimate Aquarium (Mr. Bigs)
www.UltimateFrags.com (Rommel)
www.dolphinpetvillage.com

If you'd like to read more about my tank and see more pics please click here.

Illuminati · 02/02/2007, 09:56 PM

Great job!

danoreef · 02/02/2007, 09:57 PM

stunning!

junkitu · 02/02/2007, 11:15 PM

Thanks!

danoreef - say hi to Bradley Ave for me

ezcompany · 02/03/2007, 03:21 AM

my tank wasn't an inspiration?

awesome job, congratulations!

danoreef · 02/03/2007, 07:00 AM

thats funny are you from SI? If so, check out my web site its nothing much I just do it for fun.

http://www.statenislandimages.com/

louist · 02/03/2007, 07:52 AM

Congrats on winning the January nTOTM, and you shall also hold the title of being the first softie tank to win the nTOTM, so far

tinyreef · 02/03/2007, 10:23 AM

congratulations, junk! looks great!

i agree, very stiff competition. great win!

junkitu · 02/03/2007, 10:32 AM

Thank you all.

Quote:

Originally posted by ezcompany
my tank wasn't an inspiration?

awesome job, congratulations!

Only because I decided to go with a softie tank. Your advice has been invaluable to me EZ. Thank you. I've actually been thinking a lot about your tank as a model for my next project

Paladin · 02/03/2007, 01:35 PM

Great job junkitu!

quy_nquyen · 02/03/2007, 03:17 PM

umm what to say that hasnt already been said?

i WANT YOUR TANK!

Victoria · 02/03/2007, 09:00 PM

Very nice thread Junkitu! I love the colors. Like louist said great softie tank. Great win!!!!
Victoria

junkitu · 02/04/2007, 11:46 AM

Thanks everyone!

victoria and louist - thanks for posting. it means a lot to me to have both of you on this thread.

quy - lol. you can't have it!

hgbarwick · 02/04/2007, 01:02 PM

Very nice! Shows that a low tech reef can be ouutstanding! Kudos to you!

junkitu · 02/04/2007, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hgbarwick
Very nice! Shows that a low tech reef can be ouutstanding! Kudos to you!

Thanks but who you calling low tech?

hgbarwick · 02/04/2007, 04:06 PM

Worded that wrong, I mean power compact.

junkitu · 02/04/2007, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hgbarwick
Worded that wrong, I mean power compact.

lol. i was just teasing. thanks for the compliment!

ezcompany · 02/05/2007, 05:23 PM

when's the Feb one starting

tsmonrad · 02/05/2007, 06:30 PM

impressive and inspiring- I hope to get my 29 looking like that in 9 months....

Findland · 02/05/2007, 06:57 PM

WOW! I hope I can someday get a tank looking like that...

junkitu · 02/06/2007, 09:15 AM

Thanks tsmonrad and Findland! Good luck with your tanks.

EZ - I will post the call for entrants for this month's contest sometime this week. Stay tuned.

junkitu · 02/06/2007, 07:40 PM

I've posted the thread calling for February nTOTM contestants. Let's see those nanos and picos!

02/02/2007, 08:56 PM	#1
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	January nTOTM - Junkitu's Mushroom House Thanks to everyone for the great turnout this month and special thanks to Victoria for making it all happen. I feel very fortunate to have won against the stiff competiition from anguswu, 1cenine2005, duec22, and rockindacheeks. I am very excited that my little office softie tank was selected as the nTOTM for January. WELCOME TO MUSHROOM HOUSE Introduction: Like many folks on this site, I've kept freshwater fish on and off for most of my life. I've always admired the beautiful colors of saltwater aquariums but thought they were too hard to keep. Last April a friend of mine at work helped changed my opinion. He had decided to upgrade his 80G reef tank and offered to give me some live rock from his old setup to help get me started. Needless to say I took the plunge and have enjoyed every moment of it. Before starting, I tried to read everything that I could find on the internet about nano reefs and found many threads and pictures of beautiful tanks. Ironically, I came across 1cenine2005's tank thread 9 months ago and it inspired me to try to create a relatively moderate/low light tank with colorful soft corals and invertebrates. I started out with a ton of green mushrooms which came on the live rock and quickly added some striking color with a yellow fiji leather and some zoas. I was hooked. My tank became my obsession and Iâ€™ve been trying to continue to add more amazing color to it ever since. A good friend of mine who has been keeping larger tanks for years likened nano reefing to keeping a bonsai tree. The placement and shape of every little aspect of the tree is critical to the overall aesthetic outcome. I totally agree. Iâ€™ve found that color, shape, texture, and placement are the raw materials for a beautiful nano tank and you have to be patient in selecting the right specimens and in putting them all together. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy my tank. Here is a slideshow that shows the progression of Mushroom House over the last nine months: http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1170373984.pbw Tank Parameters Ph: 8.1 Temp: 78 - 81 degrees Farenheit Ca: 450 S.G.: 1.026 Nitrates: 0 Nitrites: 0 Ammonia: 0 Circulation: I run a Maxi-Jet 900 on the return, a Mini-Jet 606 with a HydorFlo, and a Mini-Jet 404. These pumps combined with the powerheads on my chiller and skimmer result in approximately 20X circulation. Controller: A Premium Aquatics Lighthouse controller manages my chiller, skimmer, and the dawn to dusk cycle of my lights. It also monitors my Ph and temperature. Filtration: I have a Sapphire Aquatics skimmer that runs in the right rear chamber. It is designed to fit under the Aquapod's hood and works well. The controller runs the skimmer from 8pm to 8am every night. Live rock and live sand perform the only other filtration in my system. Lighting and Photo Period: 1 x 40W Current USA Sunpod Dual Daylight (8am - 5pm) 1 x 40W Current USA Sunpod Dual Actinic (6am - 6pm) 2 Moonlights (always on) Chiller: Temperature control is an issue since my tank is at the office and HVAC system doesn't operate in the evenings or weekends. I've installed a Nanocustoms ICA chiller. The controller turns the chiller on when temps hit 81 degrees. Feeding: Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets (5 days/week) Kent Marine Zoe (5 days/week) Cyclopeeze (3 days/week) DT's Phytoplankton (1 day/week) Maintenance: Kent Marine Nano 2-part additive (Monday, Thrusday) 20% water change (C-Pure seawater) once a week Scrub and scrape algae once a week Top off with RO/DI as needed Hereâ€™s a shot of the color on the top shelf of my aquascape. A closer look of the rics and coco worm on the right side. Hereâ€™s my little zoa and paly garden. Last edited by junkitu; 02/02/2007 at 09:32 PM.

02/02/2007, 08:59 PM	#2
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	January nTOTM - Junkitu's Mushroom House Livestock: ORA B&W Clown Red Firefish Flame Angel 2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimps Orange Lace Purple Feather Duster Coco Worm Assorted Clean Up Crew My son calls this one Panda. Clownfish were always the saltwater fish that caught my eye the most and I had to have one when I started my nano. The flame was an awesome addition to the tank. Heâ€™s been great so far with the coral and hasnâ€™t picked on anythingâ€¦yet. The orange lace purple duster and coco worm are relatively new additions to the tank and I like the color as well as the motion that they add.

02/02/2007, 09:01 PM	#3
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	January nTOTM - Junkitu's Mushroom House Coral: Yellow fiji leather Creme colored finger leather with white polyps Devil's hand with neon green polyps Green polyped toadstool 4 varieties of florida ricordea (neon green, army green, orange and blue) Tangerine and blue yuma Green and gold yumas Blue rhodactis mushrooms Pink Hairy mushrooms Mint rhodactis mushrooms Red mushrooms Green mushrooms Blue mushrooms Hambali pulsing xenias Alien eye daisy polyps Neon green candy canes Purple rim short tentacled fungia plate Red/green open brain Assorted zoos and palys (OPE, Lemons, Blue Eye Devils, Armageddons, Tub's Blues, RPE, Dragon Eyes, Coco's Pinks, Purple Dreams, Watermelons, Terminators, Yellow Ultimates, Green Crossettes, Eagle Eyes) Sarcophyton Elegans. This was one of my first corals and has become the signature of my tank. Iâ€™ve also added a variety of other leathers including Sarcophyton sp., Lobophytum sp., and Sinularia sp. My tank truly is a house made of mushrooms. Hereâ€™s a pic of several varieties together: Actinodiscus sp., Rhodactis sp., and Ricordea Florida. Rhodactis sp. Actinodiscus sp. Rhodactis sp. Ricordea Yuma and Florida Ricordea Yuma

02/02/2007, 09:05 PM	#4
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	January nTOTM - Junkitu's Mushroom House I also have a few LPS to offset the softies. Here are some neon green candycanes that I grew out from a 2 headed frag: Caulastrea sp. Fungia Fujites Trachyphillia sp. One of the greatest sources of color variety in my tank are the zoas and palys: Protopalythoa sp., and Zoanthus sp. Macro Shots: As I mentioned above, texture as well as color are really important to a beautiful tank. Here are some macro shots highlighting what I mean. Xenia sp. (pulsing) Actinodiscus sp. Trachyphillia sp. Special Thanks: Behruz Dan www.AtlantisAquarium.net (Ming) www.AquariumConceptsInc.com Ultimate Aquarium (Mr. Bigs) www.UltimateFrags.com (Rommel) www.dolphinpetvillage.com If you'd like to read more about my tank and see more pics please click here.

02/02/2007, 09:56 PM	#5
Illuminati Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Des Plaines, IL Posts: 3,986	Great job! __________________ RC nTOTM creator Future nTOTM winner :) Current Tank Info: Biocube 16 LED

02/02/2007, 09:57 PM	#6
danoreef I love ReefCentral! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 703	stunning! __________________ Any Aquarium is good enough for me!

02/02/2007, 11:15 PM	#7
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	Thanks! danoreef - say hi to Bradley Ave for me

02/03/2007, 03:21 AM	#8
ezcompany Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 4,640	my tank wasn't an inspiration? awesome job, congratulations! __________________ Jin Have a nice day! Current Tank Info: IM40

02/03/2007, 07:00 AM	#9
danoreef I love ReefCentral! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 703	thats funny are you from SI? If so, check out my web site its nothing much I just do it for fun. http://www.statenislandimages.com/ __________________ Any Aquarium is good enough for me!

02/03/2007, 07:52 AM	#10
louist Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 761	Congrats on winning the January nTOTM, and you shall also hold the title of being the first softie tank to win the nTOTM, so far __________________ Louis Tsai- http://www.zengalleria.com http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20070149 - Louis' Pico Come Back (LED mixed reef) http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/totm/index.php - ReefKeeping 2007 April Tank of the Month

02/03/2007, 10:23 AM	#11
tinyreef Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Livingston, NJ Posts: 384	congratulations, junk! looks great! i agree, very stiff competition. great win!

02/03/2007, 01:35 PM	#13
Paladin Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: South Bay Area, CA Posts: 860	Great job junkitu!

02/03/2007, 03:17 PM	#14
quy_nquyen Moved On Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: California Posts: 86	umm what to say that hasnt already been said? i WANT YOUR TANK!

02/03/2007, 09:00 PM	#15
Victoria Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Camp Verde AZ Posts: 945	Very nice thread Junkitu! I love the colors. Like louist said great softie tank. Great win!!!! Victoria

02/04/2007, 11:46 AM	#16
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	Thanks everyone! victoria and louist - thanks for posting. it means a lot to me to have both of you on this thread. quy - lol. you can't have it!

02/04/2007, 01:02 PM	#17
hgbarwick Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Plant City, Florida Posts: 1,390	Very nice! Shows that a low tech reef can be ouutstanding! Kudos to you!

02/04/2007, 04:06 PM	#19
hgbarwick Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Plant City, Florida Posts: 1,390	Worded that wrong, I mean power compact.

02/05/2007, 05:23 PM	#21
ezcompany Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 4,640	when's the Feb one starting __________________ Jin Have a nice day! Current Tank Info: IM40

02/05/2007, 06:30 PM	#22
tsmonrad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 60	impressive and inspiring- I hope to get my 29 looking like that in 9 months....

02/05/2007, 06:57 PM	#23
Findland Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Nashville, Tennessee Posts: 5	WOW! I hope I can someday get a tank looking like that... __________________ Signatures are overrated. Current Tank Info: Nothing, hopefully soon to be 5 or 10 gallon reef

02/06/2007, 09:15 AM	#24
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	Thanks tsmonrad and Findland! Good luck with your tanks. EZ - I will post the call for entrants for this month's contest sometime this week. Stay tuned.

02/06/2007, 07:40 PM	#25
junkitu Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 216	I've posted the thread calling for February nTOTM contestants. Let's see those nanos and picos!