bluebastion Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 Nice additions! The BSJF will look really cool in your tank. I recently lost a Flame Angel and had to replace it as well. I guess they are not as hardy as some people make them out to be. Sucks that yours died from being trapped? Thank you sir... Yep, the flame angel was buried alive... bad MP40... bad. I like the personality on this flame angel a bit more... however the color on the former was a deep red on most of its body. The current is the staple Orange-Red . As for the BSJ, this would be the 4th one I've ever owned, and I will not own a tank without one. I love these little guys and they are my all-time favorite fish. This is the sole reason I use the glass top for this tank. Link to comment
rbaby Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 YAY FINALLY! LIFE! <3 Vivid Aquariums, was just there yesterday Link to comment
bluebastion Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 YAY FINALLY! LIFE! <3 Vivid Aquariums, was just there yesterday Yeah, I know you talk about them all the time... I never knew that they shipped livestock until recently when searching for "Grade-A" corals in conjunction with BSJ's and Flame Angels.... They had two corals I wanted and both fish, so BAM.. bought em (Wednesday evening), got a call the next day and fish arrived Friday morning. I'm on the east coast and I got free overnight shipping for buying a certain amount. So far so good and I will buy from them again if they have stock I want. I was flip-flopping between them and Live Aquaria... what tipped the scale was that LA did not have the BSJ and they removed the Tahitian Flame Angels from being available. Tahitian's red coloring are supposed to be close to the Hawaiian Flames.. A few nit-picky things I didn't like about the order... I asked the guy who called if the corals were fresh cut and he replied with a "No." The Strawberry Shortcake seems established but mounted at a funny angle (almost perpendicular). The Red Planet looks very different from the Red Planets I'm accustomed to seeing... this is fully pink-red, even at the base... Most red planets I've seen pics of have a green base with red coralites and polyps. Lastly, I don't like the frag "tiles" they use... I'd rather have aragonite discs/pegs which IMO is easier to mount... and blend in better with the live rocks. Link to comment
rbaby Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I saw this SPS (of course, I am not well-acquainted with SPS) that I thought was REALLY pretty. I have to find it again, it was an online site...I made a mental note to send it to you to tell you to buy it so I can live vicariously through your SPS tank ... I would be surprised if my birdsnest does really well, I've always been a softies/LPS person, but these were always pretty to me . I'll PM you when I figure out where the heck I saw that SPS piece... Link to comment
bluebastion Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 I saw this SPS (of course, I am not well-acquainted with SPS) that I thought was REALLY pretty. I have to find it again, it was an online site...I made a mental note to send it to you to tell you to buy it so I can live vicariously through your SPS tank ... I would be surprised if my birdsnest does really well, I've always been a softies/LPS person, but these were always pretty to me . I'll PM you when I figure out where the heck I saw that SPS piece... Sounds good.. I promise I'll reply this time. Last time I had an excuse.. I was out of the country in the motherland. Link to comment
hawkingcolorado Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Sounds good.. I promise I'll reply this time. Last time I had an excuse.. I was out of the country in the motherland. What do you think you've spent on "everything"?, if you don't mind the question...Tim Link to comment
bluebastion Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 What do you think you've spent on "everything"?, if you don't mind the question...Tim At least 5k in just hardware. Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 I love Vivid. I go there often. Their selection is pretty darn good. I got a BSJ from them about a month ago and he didn't make it. They are holding another one for me. This will be my last fish. They are so beautiful in person. Pictures don't do them justice. Link to comment
kgoldy Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Hey man- Just stumbled on your youtube channel and the Genesis vids. Glad you posted them- I think it just convinced me what my Christmas present to myself is going to be this year. One question- Do you keep a pump circulating your fresh salt water? Or is it mixed and just allowed to stagnate? Keep a heater in there? Didn't notice if your garage was insulated or not... But could imagine some issues as the weather changes. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hey man- Just stumbled on your youtube channel and the Genesis vids. Glad you posted them- I think it just convinced me what my Christmas present to myself is going to be this year. One question- Do you keep a pump circulating your fresh salt water? Or is it mixed and just allowed to stagnate? Keep a heater in there? Didn't notice if your garage was insulated or not... But could imagine some issues as the weather changes. Hey kgoldy, I do use a circulation pump to keep the "fresh" saltwater mixed in the reservoir. I also keep a heater in there too. The garage is insulated in all but 1 exterior wall (go-figure). This will be the first winter I will be going through with my setup, however I live in SC and the coolest it gets is low 30's on average. I don't foresee an issue. On a side note: 1. Pearly Cadaver 2. Ultimate's rainbow acro 3. Red dragon 4. Bubblegum milli 5. Aussie echinatta 6. Reef Ready Grape juice 7.ORA Rose Milli 8 Palmers Blue 9. Hopscotch echinatta 10. ORA Pearlberry "My" SC = South Carolina (Wish I was in FL) Link to comment
MTWiley Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Do you know what diameter the return line is? I'm ordering a Solana XL67 on Black Friday with the 11% discount and free shipping it's finally in a price range I could get approved by the wifey and I was thinking of/wanting to add a SCWD inline on the return. Also anything you'd do differently? Link to comment
bluebastion Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Do you know what diameter the return line is? I'm ordering a Solana XL67 on Black Friday with the 11% discount and free shipping it's finally in a price range I could get approved by the wifey and I was thinking of/wanting to add a SCWD inline on the return. Also anything you'd do differently? I have a very bad memory. Let me dig up the instructions and get back to you on the return size plumbing. I imagine no different than the 60's. Will you be starting a thread? (I hope so... a little lonely in the 67XL world) As far as doing things differently, PM me and I'll let you know. Currently dealing with an issue and would rather not post publicly at this time. Anyone else is free to ask the same (nothing personal... just bad taste in putting out there). Link to comment
bluebastion Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 MTWiley - Answer is 3/4". Here's a link the manual which I'm sure you'd like to get familiar with before the package arrives. http://current-usa.com/files/SolanaXLInstructions.pdf UPDATE: My new corals will be arriving tomorrow morning... I will update asap. Some really nice LE corals including the Red Dragon. I just hope they do alright in my tank. My issue that I didn't want to put out there earlier is that my last shipment from a different vendor did not turn out so hot... I tried to doctor up the brown corals (they arrived in that state) but half the order is pretty much dead. To leave on a good note, here are some pics showing some growth on my Hawkins and Red Planet... still doing well and looking good. I really hope the Red Planet gets a little green on the body. Right now it's pretty much white (not bleached, and the way it came in). Most pics I see of the Red Planet frags are green and red. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 Mini update... decided to get more flow on top of the MP40 and purchased a Koralia EVO 1050... Got it today and found a deal on a used MP40... oops. Link to comment
Asureef Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Mini update... decided to get more flow on top of the MP40 and purchased a Koralia EVO 1050... Got it today and found a deal on a used MP40... oops. Nice.... Where did you purchase those SPS? I want another echinata, but it won't be anytime soon. I have already gone through two frags. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 Nice.... Where did you purchase those SPS? I want another echinata, but it won't be anytime soon. I have already gone through two frags. Battlecorals.com http://www.battlecorals.com/Frag-packs_c7.htm Based on my first and only experience, this vendor is the best I've dealt with yet. Adam keeps in great communication with his buyers. I inquired about the frag pack he was offering and asked him to call me on a voice mail.. he called me in like less than 2 hours. I asked if I could change one frag to something different, and he was totally cool with it. He offered a few other frags and I picked one from what he offered. Adam reached out to me as soon as he printed a shipping label, sent the package, and after the shipment was delivered. I ordered on "black" Wednesday and requested (and paid extra) for Saturday shipping... which he happily obliged. Without hesitation check him out! Also, do you know what issues your Echinatas were having? I have two in this frag pack. Link to comment
Asureef Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Battlecorals.com http://www.battlecorals.com/Frag-packs_c7.htm Based on my first and only experience, this vendor is the best I've dealt with yet. Adam keeps in great communication with his buyers. I inquired about the frag pack he was offering and asked him to call me on a voice mail.. he called me in like less than 2 hours. I asked if I could change one frag to something different, and he was totally cool with it. He offered a few other frags and I picked one from what he offered. Adam reached out to me as soon as he printed a shipping label, sent the package, and after the shipment was delivered. I ordered on "black" Wednesday and requested (and paid extra) for Saturday shipping... which he happily obliged. Without hesitation check him out! Also, do you know what issues your Echinatas were having? I have two in this frag pack. I received a nice sized piece from Vivid which was growing nicely, then I had a power outage and lost it the next day. A week later, I received a tyree echinata which starting to STN within 2weeks time. I managed to save a 1/2" chunk of it, not sure if it will make it. I've been battling dinoflagellates for the last 2-3 weeks and losing SPS right & left. It also wiped out a good portion of my CUC also. My ph have dropped dramatically since the start of cool weather. Which I think is the main cause of the outbreak. Hopefully, I can get this tank back in line soon. Link to comment
kgoldy Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Hey Blue- What are your thoughts on the Storm from Genesis? I'm hesitant to drop my Tunze Osomolator as my ATO- as it's been really consistent with adding kalkwasser in small doses frequently and not making my pH go nuts. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Hey Blue- What are your thoughts on the Storm from Genesis? I'm hesitant to drop my Tunze Osomolator as my ATO- as it's been really consistent with adding kalkwasser in small doses frequently and not making my pH go nuts. I've used the ATO kit from ATO.com or whatever that website is called (years ago) and JBJ ATO on my last tank... both used float valves. Not sure if the osmolator's optical "eye" functions much different from the float switch method. That being said the Storm obviously uses a float switch that has never been an issue for me (as long as it was protected by a critter guard). I see my salinity fluctuate on average about .3 per day. I do not currently have a ph monitor (eagerly awaiting a Vertex Cerebra to fill that need) so I can not tell you if my ph is significantly affected. If I could have the optics of the osmolator I would have gone that route. However, the Storm is made to work in conjunction with the Renew, so that when there is a water change in progress the Storm is temporarily disabled so that your ATO system (Storm) is not refilling missing salt water with freshwater. Hope that helps. *That's .3 mS per day BTW. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Emptying out the waste water reservoir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-6YNpc3nbo Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Very nice. Glad to see you went with a pump instead of lugging those can out to the street. What a PITA. That ORA red planet looks amazing. I wanted the shortcake, but now I think I want the red planet more Vivid is 30 minutes away so I'll go check them out soon. Also, very jealous of the BSJ. Oh, and when will we have an updated FTS? Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Very nice. Glad to see you went with a pump instead of lugging those can out to the street. What a PITA. That ORA red planet looks amazing. I wanted the shortcake, but now I think I want the red planet more Vivid is 30 minutes away so I'll go check them out soon. Also, very jealous of the BSJ. Oh, and when will we have an updated FTS? Haha when all the corals color up a bit. Out of the 16 or so frags I got from a certain sponsor here, only 2 are showing any hopes of coloring up at this time. I bought more frags from battlecorals.com and most are doing well... I've only lost 1 and 1 of the echinatas is stn'ing. I had an outbreak of some sort of issue and lost the BSJ .... only survivor was pink streaked wrasse. Not really sure what it was, but didn't start until the BSJ came into the tank. I'm waiting to restock again later. It's been quite a few weeks since I lost the fish... But will be restocking soon. I'm cursed when it comes to the BSJ, but I am determined to keep one. In other news, this tank has been topless for a few weeks now (losing the jumper made me rethink the top). I thought keeping the glass tops would really be a smart thing to do, but in the end it became more of a hassle with the condensation that kept collecting on the inside glass surface. I am now back to rimless. Up next.... 2nd MP40 arriving in the mail tomorrow. This one is used... let's hope I don't get juggalo'ed. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Major update/upgrade: Received my 2nd MP40wES that I scored used at only $300. This thing is pretty much like new... Made in April of this year, seller stated only used for a month. Talk about a deal! Also, I will say there IS NO substitution for 2 Vortechs on opposite sides of the tank. Water movement is crazy good. Only thing I don't like with my setup is there isn't a ton of surface agitation. (Can't raise any higher or I run the risk of running one dry if the power goes out and comes back on). I'm getting some colors back from some of the corals that were once brown... Can't wait to be able to take some good pics of them. Also, yellow tang and 3 chromis added as a side note. Tang is cleaning up some unwanted hair algae... Link to comment
bluebastion Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Forgot to add this: Link to comment
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