20xL mixed rimless - SELLING?

[dontgetbit]

That watchman/six line shot is awesome. I just added a misbar clown last weekend and may go up to Dubeys and check out a watchman goby this weekend.

 

Maybe I can get in on the frag swap when you guys start trading.

[d9hp]

That watchman/six line shot is awesome. I just added a misbar clown last weekend and may go up to Dubeys and check out a watchman goby this weekend.

 

Maybe I can get in on the frag swap when you guys start trading.

 

Thanks man, I loved that shot too. Dubey's is a great little shop with amazing prices. Brad (the owner dude) is awesome and really knowledgeable. He's more interested in you bringing in frags of stuff he doesn't already have personally than selling you something that you don't want. I think that mentality goes a long way in this hobby. Just if he wasn't an hour away...

 

You can totally get in on the frag swap man. All the Raleigh locals will need to get together and anyone needing kenya or xenia can always stop over at my place for a free clipping.

 

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So the tank has been doing rather well and I'm seeing some growth from ALL my acros and SPS. I think that the tank is finally reaching a point where I am understanding its natural flow a bit better. The cyano battle is weaning so hopefully I won't have to do a blackout if I can continue doing the water changes etc. They have been doing the job recently and the corals seem to be responding happily to the new D-D H2Ocean.

 

My only qualm is that the surface of the water now has this gooey looking white residue. One half of the tank is crystal clear because I have a bit of surface agitation but the side WITH the AC70 running at full blast is caked with this white stuff. I'm worried I need to build some sort of surface skimming apparatus for the issue. I just splash it up and break it all down but then the tank looks like a winter paradise for about 30 minutes. Nothing seems to be upset by this stuff...anyone with similar issues?

 

Still having trouble spending $270 on a damn pump. That's really tough to swallow considering I don't even have over$400 in livestock. I do have to place an order with marinedepot.com for some more ESV 2-part (going to buy the gallon jugs) I know that many people have success with BRS but I am going to stick with this stuff because I just like it. Also, my magnesium is steadily climbing. I think it's around 1260 as of now. I'll check again tonight or tomorrow depending on time.

 

I had THOUGHT I was finished stocking but I think I'm going to want at least 5-10 more small SPS pieces for the center rock. It would take at least two years for it to grow all over like I'm wanting and I have to tear the tank down a year from now. Anyone in NC with some BRIGHT SPS including a red planet frag? I'll pay shipping if you've got something spectacular too.

 

Finished school for a few days and have some vacation coming up and should get another round of pictures going then.

 

Tundra --> keep cheering me on to buy the damn MP!

[swayd]

Wow, everything looks fantastic. I like the island scape, very interesting. Hows that AC70 working for you?

 

I kinda want to ditch the sump/fuge and go back to an AC70, less work!

[bangaiicard]

i love wrasses. plus, that coloration of electric blue dots on your watchmen looks SICK

[d9hp]

Wow, everything looks fantastic. I like the island scape, very interesting. Hows that AC70 working for you?

 

I kinda want to ditch the sump/fuge and go back to an AC70, less work!

 

Thanks swayd. I've had a few issues with it because I had to cut the intake back and a snail knocked off my strainer...otherwise it's been great. It's not running as a fuge though, just a surface agitator and a place to stick floss and carbon/GFO

 

 

i love wrasses. plus, that coloration of electric blue dots on your watchmen looks SICK

 

Thanks...the watchman is definitely my favorite fish.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Went over to a local's house to talk about some LED stuff and got to see his achilles tang. WOW. Beautiful fish.

 

Also, I didn't come home empty handed.

 

NEW ACQUISITIONS:

• RED PLANET
  
• Hawkins Enchinata
  
• Peach Digitata
  
• Bali Green Slimer
  
• Green Pocci
  
• Ice Tort
  

 

Pictures soon! The peach digi is so sick!

 

Also, I may be guilty of planning a 55g FOWLR to house a single baby undulate or niger trigger. Maybe.

[JBM]

This tank is win.

[d9hp]

Thanks JBM. Been a little busy with work and getting ready for Christmas. Scratch off the enchinata from the list above. It was just a tiny frag and I crushed it accidentally when moving the tort into place. My big ass hands knocked over like half my SPS frags trying to mount everything. In the process I knocked down the bird of paradise frag, which was actually nice because I got to see like 15 new tips on the other side that are out of view normally. Should be really nice in a few more weeks.

 

My purple cap was showing some STN yesterday when I went by so I didn't dose the tank and I believe my issue stems from changing dosing locations. I started just dumping the alk and calcium (not at the same time) into the skimmer pump section instead of slowly adding it to the tank. I believe it was too much for them since that's the only thing looking off in the tank. A few water changes tomorrow and Sunday, Monday etc. should have things going again. Hopefully I don't lose too much tissue.

 

Fish are doing great. Sixline is eating everything I drop in the tank but the banggai will ONLY eat the frozen mysis. He only eats two-three times a week because of that but whatever, he's fat and happy and mean as can be.

 

Updates on the potential alk-burn etc. this weekend. Pictures too.

[d9hp]

Bad news first. Going to lose this whole cap most likely:

 

I am going to give it one more day to see if it stops getting worse before fragging it up but either way it won't look the same and that really was one of my favorite pieces, especially how good it looks where it was. Bummer.

 

Everything else looks fine though. All the fish are still kicking it and my nitrates are still <1ppm so I think having six fish won't be a huge issue for me since I stay on top of my water changes. The new salt is so awesome. Can't say enough. I really do believe that I am seeing better polyp extension and overall growth because of the salt alone.

 

The clam looks great and is really becoming one of my favorite parts of the tank. It's growing I assume because the white lip is getting larger and larger. The frogspawn is growing pretty consistently as well.

 

The corals I got from the local guy were all bleached from him changing bulbs but they all appear to be doing fine right. I have my LEDs dialed way way back for a few days to help them out some.

 

Here's a super nasty looking green slimer. The polyps are still fantastic. Any ID on the piece to the left of it? This guy had this in his sump and said it wouldn't die so I took it. He said it was ugly. Whatever.

 

My clowns:

 

Winston. I know I take too many pictures of him but he is the coolest. This was actually just meant to show the acros down low are encrusting on the rock, which shows how powerful these LEDs are....or simply how shallow my tank is?

 

And that's all. Bummed about the monti cap but at least everything else appears to be doing just fine.

 

Oh and just an update for those who are slightly interested....I'm going to pick up a 55g on Monday for my FOWLR. That will be a slower build but it's going to house a small trigger and a puffer. Merry Christmas.

[drakkor]

Great looking tank, i really enjoyed the read. I can't believe it's only a 20L, great choice in rock and coral. I bet one of the best parts of this one is looking back at all the $$ you saved

[J-Ranko]

[...]

Went over to a local's house to talk about some LED stuff and got to see his achilles tang. WOW. Beautiful fish.

 

Also, I didn't come home empty handed.

 

NEW ACQUISITIONS:

• RED PLANET
  
• Hawkins Enchinata
  
• Peach Digitata
  
• Bali Green Slimer
  
• Green Pocci
  
• Ice Tort
  

 

Pictures soon! The peach digi is so sick!

 

[...]

 

You got yourself some really great sps frags. I love my ice tort and red planet, and I've been eyeing a Hawkin's echinata at my LFS for a while now.

 

Sorry to hear about your purple cap--I saved a stag acro once from STN by fragging it several times. If you can save it, it should grow back into a nice shape pretty fast. Monti caps are among the fastest growing SPS, IME.

[gutterguy]

I thought you were finished stocking?

 

 

 

No ones ever finished!!

[JBM]

you should frag that monti cap stat

 

& if you happen to find yourself with an extra peice, send it to me.

[d9hp]

Great looking tank, i really enjoyed the read. I can't believe it's only a 20L, great choice in rock and coral. I bet one of the best parts of this one is looking back at all the $$ you saved

 

Thanks! Not so sure about saving money haha! The initial setup cost was pretty high but I really enjoyed the build. I've done a good job keeping costs low when stocking by going through local reefers.

 

 

You got yourself some really great sps frags. I love my ice tort and red planet, and I've been eyeing a Hawkin's echinata at my LFS for a while now.

 

Sorry to hear about your purple cap--I saved a stag acro once from STN by fragging it several times. If you can save it, it should grow back into a nice shape pretty fast. Monti caps are among the fastest growing SPS, IME.

 

Thanks. The red planet is already starting to regain some of its red color. The purple cap actually stopped getting worse (as of yesterday). I wasn't home at all today so I'll have to check on it again tomorrow and hope things are going well.

 

I thought you were finished stocking?

 

 

 

No ones ever finished!!

 

 

you should frag that monti cap stat

 

& if you happen to find yourself with an extra peice, send it to me.

 

Haha it seems to have stopped getting worse but we'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

[d9hp]

Went over to check on the tank this afternoon and everything was looking great. The algae had been under control but after feeding before I left there's some more appearing. The skimmer cup was the nastiest it had ever been as well, so I am pretty sure I just overfed (know I did, actually).

 

I'll just go without feeding for a few days and knock out some water changes and see where things go. All the corals are starting to color up nicely and I may be purchasing some equipment in the coming days .

 

Unfortunately I will most likely NOT be doing the 55g FOWLR because I am determined to run a closed loop system and most of the tanks are tempered on all 5 panes. So now I'm looking out for a 75g. Sweeeeet.

[MedRed]

Nice... what equipment are you getting?

[d9hp]

Nice... what equipment are you getting?

 

Well I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on a MP10es for the tank when I decided that the money would be better spent investing in my FOWLR build. I've changed my mind on the tank from an AGA55 to a 75 now to a custom built (by me ) 80g rimless (48x24x16) that will eventually become a reef. So I'm going to do the bean animal overflow after hearing one and not believing it was actually moving ANY water.

 

It was just like this:

LOOK AT THAT FLOW!

 

Then I need to buy a massive pump (probably a Pan-World) for the closed loop that I plan on running through a squirt. My goal is to have this build done by July 4th...so that tells you the sort of budget I'm working with.

 

I am giving myself such a massive timeline because I want to purchase everything used that I can and but the stand and canopy will again be built by myself. It's a huge undertaking but I really think it will be a mean trigger tank until it eventually becomes my SPS only peninsula reef with two big islands.

 

If anyone wants to discuss this with me or offer some ideas I'd really really love to hear them.

 

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I haven't been neglecting my current tank though. It's still my pride and joy and the growth is notable. Like everyone said, I'm regretting the addition of all the softies because their growth rates are quite higher than everything else, with the exception of the xenia, which honestly has not grown a mm in at least a month. It's at an absolute stand still....like a few of my SPS haha. Nothing is dying and the purple cap has not shown any recession in days and the polyps are out and I think it's going to recover quite nicely.

 

The orange digitata hasn't had very good polyp extension since I knocked it off its perch but it's still one of my favorite pieces in the tank. I am still on the lookout for a nice frag of purple digitata, although that's going to be more difficult to find around here.

 

The green slimer and red planet are both regaining their color and everyone else seems to be happy, especially the fish. A few of my zoas are sprouting 3-6 new polyps per week depending on the colony size. I think I can understand why people like them so much! The clam is still doing fantastic on the sand bed and I've found a sweet spot dosing 10mL of my two part daily. That clam drinks it up. Parameters are quite stable as follows:

 

CA: 420

Alk: 9

Nitrate: ~1ppm (non zero, but barely using salifert test)

Mg: 1300!

 

All else is going well. I was hoping I would have seen more growth as I'm approaching the 4 month mark but I did notice my first little speck of coraline algae growing on the float switch plastic. BIG NEWS #####ES!

 

Hopefully by April I'll feel like the tank is beginning to fill in.

 

Long post...too much coffee.

[MedRed]

lol. very nice. what are you planning for your fowlr?

[d9hp]

lol. very nice. what are you planning for your fowlr?

 

I went to the LFS to get some phyto feast for the tank after speaking with a local who uses it and says that it's "amazing" and they got a new shipment of fish in. I believe it helped me finalized my stocking plans for the 90. Bear in mind that it's got a huge footprint (4'x2') and I'm going to be running a skimmer for a 300+ gallon tank and probably a 40B for a sump.

 

These are all going to be small when I get them through the LFS

 

 

 

*just the male

 

Possibly one more fish. Maybe a small tang or a wrasse but that's most likely all of them.

 

Going to clean the tank some and try and get some pictures today. Nothing too exciting has happened though

[Squared]

That puffer is too awsome...if only they were invert safe...

[MedRed]

this is going to rock!

[d9hp]

That puffer is too awsome...if only they were invert safe...

 

Gosh I know. I absolutely love my reef but the past few weeks I have been overcome with a NEED to keep a trigger. When I was at the Monterey Bay aquarium they had a niger in their massive reef and I watched him for about 15 minutes. That's the moment I decided I was going to build my current tank. I saw that puffer a few weeks ago on live aquaria and then I saw the price tag and knew it was going to happen!

 

this is going to rock!

 

ISN'T IT THOUGH?! I am pumped. Unfortunately...it's going to be expensive and I have a long wait ahead of me while I search for cheap second hand goods.

 

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Just did a water change on the tank and I have a new method I thought I'd share to help acclimate the residents a bit. I still match salinity, pH, and temp and then double check. I used to turn all my pumps off but my two koralia powerheads now stay on for the duration as I don't remove enough water for them to run dry. I then start adding water until it comes up enough to where the pump for the skimmer won't run dry and then I plug that back in and slowly add the water back (using a pitcher to pour it onto a saucer I hold about 1" below the surface). I think it keeps 'pockets' of specific parameter water from forming, which I believe is the cause for BOTH cleaner shrimp deaths. I am going to get another cleaner shrimp in a few weeks and we'll see if I can keep one then.

 

Also, I previously mentioned I was tired of my softies: namely anthelia that was creeping up the surface skimmer box. I used my siphon hose to suck the tips into the tube and then used scissors to cut the base of each little polyp and scheeeewwwwwwuuuuuump they went into the bucket. No random pieces floating around that will eventually manifest into whole annoying colonies. PUMPED.

 

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Sorry for the long posts. Here's some visual updates...but first I need to introduce the director of water change safety, Kona:

 

Serious frogspawn growth as well as this zoa colony:

 

Darth:

 

The small zoas on the back surface box:

 

And finally another shot of the red planet frag regaining some color at the tips:

[Wilioli]

I never really look at fish and think "omg that fish looks amazing!" -- except for the puffer fish!! I'd get a big tank only for the sake of getting a puffer.... a dog faced puffer! Nasty looking creature -- so nasty its beautiful!

 

I like the water change method -- I think I'll do that when my salt runs out and i switch brands. By then im hoping for a more mature tank, and I don't want sudden changes to occur because of the brand switch.

[tundrashaul]

Those zoas are hot. Everything looks great man.

[Dolphins18]

DUDE! we both live in raleigh!! go pack:) how about that bowl game win:P

[d9hp]

DUDE! we both live in raleigh!! go pack:) how about that bowl game win:P

 

That game was so dope. I almost #### my pants after that one huge interception.

 

My roommates and I all graduated from NCSU so things were pretty wild during that game.

 

I can't wait for next season. Pasadena sounds fun!

 

Those zoas are hot. Everything looks great man.

 

Thanks man, if you ever come down or I'm ever up there you know you've got a few.