{ RoT_Reef: {[ PicO_20G, NanoBox_Duo, KZ ]}} // New pics 12-16-2015

[defender.TX]

Did you move to N Austin?

 

We are in the Domain in corporate housing, closing on a place in N Austin later this month...then will be setting my IM 16 up. The Fluval 2G Spec is in rough shape but everything except a monticap made it.

 

Yep! I've been up here for about 6 weeks now. I finally got around to taking some updated pics of the tank, my growth has been phenomenal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also for anyone interested the PLS-50 Elite is a monster. The skim only looks "light" in this photo because the light from the NanoBox Duo is hitting it - when the lights are off or when I take the cup to empty it the skim is completely black like black coffee. It's the best performance I've had out of a nano skimmer yet!

 

[evanski]

Yep! I've been up here for about 6 weeks now. I finally got around to taking some updated pics of the tank, my growth has been phenomenal.

 

Awesome! We are staying in corporate housing at the domain....you near? Buy you a beer if you have time soon.

 

We are buying a house tomorrow!

[defender.TX]

Awesome! We are staying in corporate housing at the domain....you near? Buy you a beer if you have time soon.

 

We are buying a house tomorrow!

 

Cool man! I hope you guys like it. Honestly, Austin is not everything it's made out to be but that doesn't mean it's still not a very nice place to live and work. However, what is this "beer" stuff you talk about? Between three kids and working at a software startup I think I forgot what that is .

 

Also - check out the growth on this Stylophora (left was 08/03/2014, right was 10/14/2014):

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Awesome tank! Love that monti!

[defender.TX]

Awesome tank! Love that monti!

 

Thanks! I really love the Monti but am uncertain why it doesn't seem to have visible growth right now. Hopefully it's just encrusting the rock I glued the plug to and will start plating out soon.

[defender.TX]

So I'm thinking about new coral and trying to figure out what I want to finish off the tank. I have to choose wisely because I don't want to overfill the tank with frags - I want to choose corals I truly love and then let them grow into a natural looking reef. Here's some I was thinking about picking up on my next order:

 

ORA Joe the Coral

 

 

ORA Shortcake

 

 

Armor of God Palys

 

 

Eagle Eye Zoas

 

 

I think it would finish my tank out nicely. What do you all think? Any suggestions?

[defender.TX]

I had a pretty frustrating event happen yesterday. I turned off all pumps to pull out my media basket and put a new bag of chemi-pure blue in (the DT water level adjuster has to be removed to take out the media basket and the sump doesn't work so well with it removed so you have to turn off the return pump) and somehow the water level in the sump got high enough for my ATO line to siphon saltwater from the tank into my RO reservoir. About a gallon made it down before I realized what was going on.

 

It was enough to drop my salinity from 1.024 to 1.023 in about a minute and my corals seemed pretty pissed off for the rest of the day. I did a 5 gallon water change with fresh 1.024 mix but I'm still not quite back to 1.024 in the tank. I'm leaving the semi-salt RO solution in the ATO and monitoring daily until top offs get it back to 1.024 at which point out swap my RO jug out with pure 0 TDS RO water.

 

Just goes to show that you always have to be on your toes when you play the reef game.

[rocksmom]

Nice coral selections. Love joe the coral, just put a frag in my 5g!

[defender.TX]

Caulerpa Problems

 

I didn't think much of it when some grape caulerpa came in on an Acan frag. It never grew quickly in my tank and I always just pulled what I did see out and threw it away. That is, until I rescaped and discovered some in a crack between two rocks where I couldn't easily remove it.

 

 

I figured it wasn't too big of a deal and just pulled off pieces that I could get to. I decided it was a form of nutrient export and went about my way. Until, for unrelated reasons, I decided to put a bag of ChemiPure Blue in my sump. At that point the Caulerpa started to recede and turn white. In hindsight, it was probably being starved of nutrients and going sexual as a last ditch effort for survival. You can't see the white "grapes" in this photo but there are plenty of them.

 

About the same time I noticed one of my Acan colonies was having complete polyp recession. The polyps are actually down inside the skeletal structure which I never see on my Acans, they are usually puffy and have feeder tentacle response 24 hours a day. This colony is "down stream" from the Caulerpa. I researched a little about Caulerpa and read about Caulerpenyne, a toxin that can be released by Caulerpa:

 

Caulerpenyne, a toxin from the seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia, depresses afterhyperpolarization in invertebrate neurons

 

I believe at this point that my Caulerpa is releasing this toxin and waging a form of chemical warfare against that Acan colony. Later today I'm going to remove the rock it's on and scrub it all off, hoping for the best. We will see what happens.

[mpsti05]

Copied the way you mounted your nanobox! You ever put anything on top of the shelf?

[metrokat]

Also for anyone interested the PLS-50 Elite is a monster. The skim only looks "light" in this photo because the light from the NanoBox Duo is hitting it - when the lights are off or when I take the cup to empty it the skim is completely black like black coffee. It's the best performance I've had out of a nano skimmer yet!

in how much water is it sitting?

[defender.TX]

Copied the way you mounted your nanobox! You ever put anything on top of the shelf?

 

No problem! My ideas are open source for the community . I use the top of the shelf for my supplements: blue bottles, food, and reef chili.

 

in how much water is it sitting?

 

The skimmer is sitting around the max operating depth at ~7.5 inches. The water level in the first chamber of the PicO 20G is the same level as the display, so I had to sit it down in the water unless I wanted the skimmer cup sitting 6 inches above the top of the tank. As I'm looking at it right now it's pushing a great foam head and the skim smells gross, so I know it's working. It's also really quiet!

[TeamIM24]

Love the zoas you are considering.

[defender.TX]

Love the zoas you are considering.

 

Me too, I just need to get the Caulerpa issue sorted out and I'll be ready to go.

[defender.TX]

Sunday means water changes . In addition, my wayward Acan colony is big and puffy today. I also ordered a Red Sea Reef Foundations Pro Ca/Alk/Mg Test Kit. I think it's about time to start dosing two part.

 

Coming Soon:

 

[defender.TX]

Water change done, all the Caulerpa is out! With some last minute help from my wife every last piece was scrubbed off the rock. I'm sure it will be back at some point, but I hope with my low nutrients and mass removal it will take a while to get back to the size it was.

[hwk7072]

Hey, let us know how you like that cad lights skimmer. I jus ordered one after a decent amount of research and back and forth. Tank is looking good!

[defender.TX]

Hey, let us know how you like that cad lights skimmer. I jus ordered one after a decent amount of research and back and forth. Tank is looking good!

 

I really like it. I've said before in the thread that it performs really great. It's the darkest skimmate I've had so far in a Nano Skimmer (although I only have this and the IM AquaGadget Desktop Skimmate to compare). It skims so well that I actually have to concentrate on feeding a lot or my tank will run too low nutrient and coral growth will stop. I'm dosing two drops of KZ Coral Vitalizer and BRS Reef Chili every single morning and the tank has undetectable Nitrate/Phosphate. For about an hour after I finish the morning feeding the skimmer will pull out some thick skim and then it's fairly unproductive for the rest of the day. At first, I thought it just wasn't working, but I've come to realize it's so efficient for my tank size that it "catches up" by pulling all the DOCs out of the water column fairly quickly after a feeding.

[D Z]

I really like it. I've said before in the thread that it performs really great. It's the darkest skimmate I've had so far in a Nano Skimmer (although I only have this and the IM AquaGadget Desktop Skimmate to compare). It skims so well that I actually have to concentrate on feeding a lot or my tank will run too low nutrient and coral growth will stop. I'm dosing two drops of KZ Coral Vitalizer and BRS Reef Chili every single morning and the tank has undetectable Nitrate/Phosphate. For about an hour after I finish the morning feeding the skimmer will pull out some thick skim and then it's fairly unproductive for the rest of the day. At first, I thought it just wasn't working, but I've come to realize it's so efficient for my tank size that it "catches up" by pulling all the DOCs out of the water column fairly quickly after a feeding.

Man I wish I can get mine to work this well. I have been trying to tune it, raise the water level, lower the water level....nothing seems to work. And I know there are DOCs in the water: Phosphates at 0.08 and Nitrate around 1-2ppm. What is your secrete?

[defender.TX]

Man I wish I can get mine to work this well. I have been trying to tune it, raise the water level, lower the water level....nothing seems to work. And I know there are DOCs in the water: Phosphates at 0.08 and Nitrate around 1-2ppm. What is your secrete?

 

Honestly, you have to set the bubble level a few millimeters above the bottom of the collection cup. I thought (given past experience with other skimmers) that this would produce a really wet skim, but on the contrary it produces a nice dark skim. If my bubble level is below the collection cup, down in the neck, it never skims anything at all.

 

I haven't updated the thread in a while because the tank really is on auto pilot right now: all corals are growing great, water changes happen every other weekend, and all parameters are in check. I absolutely love this Red Sea Coral Pro Salt mix as so far it's allowed me to keep my foundation parameters up with water changes alone. For example, my CA is around 500ppm - no need to dose yet.

 

I did just order a few frags: Joe the Coral and a 15+ polyp Eagle Eye Zoa colony. Can't wait for them to get here!

[defender.TX]

I took a few shots this morning of things I like. First up, I have a ton of these little brittle sea stars in my live rock. I assume they are harmless filter feeders.

 

 

Big puffy Acans:

 

 

Also I have a few of these ball anemones. So far the corals don't seem to mind them.

 

[defender.TX]

Unique Corals just shipped my new frags today. They should be here tomorrow morning before 10:30 AM. I'm super excited!

[defender.TX]

New frags!

 

Joe the Coral:

 

 

Eagle Eye Zoanthids (that are still very pissed from shipping):

 

[DaveFason]

Put the Acro up high. Cant wait to see it take off!

 

-Dave

[seanoli]

I love this build (it inspired my PicO purchase). I love the sleek look of the Duo with the system. Sweet acros, too.