Lambogriffin's 29g AIO

[lambogriffin]

GSP fight! Was wondering how this would play out.. luckily there new, bright green, longer GSP is faster growing, and is growing over the original. 😁

[lambogriffin]

I've had the strangest luck, but I'll take it.. my rock flower anemone moved immediately out of spot I placed him in, which is pretty unusual, and my BTA hasn't moved from where I placed him, apparently unusual as well. My clowns immediately beat up the rock flower looking like they were trying to acclimate to it, and ignored the BTA.. for 2 weeks. But I left for the weekend, and when I got back, was observing my tank and one of my clowns casually bellied up into the BTA.. couldn't be more pleased 😁 got some video today as the lights were ramping down 😁

 

 

 

[lambogriffin]

Almost 4 months, and I finally got fed up with API test strips and not really knowing where my tank parameters are at 😂 I got the impression that my pH and KH were on the low side from the tests strips, (pH~7,KH-4 indicated) and I wasn't seeing any growth from Duncan's, the only LPS, so I started semi-blindly cautiously dosing kalk. After not seeing any change using strips(although Duncan's have 7 new heads now since I started dosing), had to make sure parameters weren't completely jacked up, so I picked up salifert reef test kit. Big relief seeing everything within or close enough to acceptable ranges. here's my first real check of water parameters.. and a FTS for good measure 😁

 

Sg- 1.026
Kh- 7.1
pH- 8.1
Ca- 480
Mg- 1470
NO3- <2

 

 

[lambogriffin]

4 months! Update on the chaeto in the back chamber.. I think there wasn't enough nutrients(nitrate at least) to support it. It grew well for a week or two.. then slowly melted.. I added additional plastic mesh in there and lights still run, just growing whatever algae will grow. I increased KH to 8.6ish since last post, which dropped my calcium to ~460.. so water is dialed in. The only thing not thriving/growing/multiplying is second fresh of Zoas. Frag looks healthy, but 0 new growth that I've noticed.. I've read they like higher nitrates, so I have been feeding less carefully and skipped a weekly 10% change.. weird that nitrates are so low, I'm not running any chemical filtration, very little mechanical filtration, just the half ass algae scrubber for export.

Anyway, 4 months and I picked up two more RFAs, to make a fence for GSP. These RFAs didn't run away when I put them in like the first one 😂

[lambogriffin]

Welp.. I tried to move this thing.. and then moved it back because it didn't look happy in the new spot.. then it got knocked over.. and put back.. and I severely regret ever moving it from where it was doing well.. I've never seen anything split but this looks way too messy for it to fix itself.. gruesome. Really hoping it isn't dying, one of my favorite corals.

[lambogriffin]

Update.. It split.. still not sure it will make it.. one piece is kind of a horse shoe shape.. other piece looks like it could heal pretty easily. 

[lambogriffin]

Lesson learned.. watching a Coral tear itself in half is ugly and stressful. Rhodactis split into 4 pieces.. 2 large pieces, and then the hanging bits detached and look like they will make their own frags.. every piece is attached to rock and healthy looking now

[Adwyth]

Great looking setup you have there. Gotta love the great price of free on the hydra!

[lambogriffin]

Pictures/Update.. rhodactis wasn't done splitting.. one half split again for a total of 5, which are all pretty well healed now. Removed cabbage Coral because of an unproven conspiracy theory that it was attacking the tank. Added an Acan frag/small colony. Xenia and GSP are taking over their areas as expected.. Duncan heads growing out. The original dominant clown kicked the smaller one out of the bubble tip, and they have been in it together since, however they are typically fighting or shaking at each other now, with the little one resorting to hiding frequently. pics from today:

[lambogriffin]

Lazy update.. have been lazy with tank care, getting it back in shape. Might remove the less dominant clown as my lfs said they will take it.. I don't think they will pair, and it is usually just forced into the corner or some hiding spot. I was going to get a conch today to keep the sand moving, but lfs was out, and I snagged a diamond goby.. another reason to reduce bioload by bringing the clown to lfs. Anywho. Picture. More to come.

[Christopher Marks]

Great progress so far @lambogriffin! That rhodactis split was really something to witness, thanks for capturing it! I'm surprised it continued to split again and again so quickly. The cabbage coral was a nice addition, but it frees up space for something better. More acans perhaps? 🙂 

 

Lots of mouths to feed in there now! What do you like to feed to the tank? 

[lambogriffin]

On 7/24/2020 at 4:32 PM, Christopher Marks said:

Great progress so far @lambogriffin! That rhodactis split was really something to witness, thanks for capturing it! I'm surprised it continued to split again and again so quickly. The cabbage coral was a nice addition, but it frees up space for something better. More acans perhaps? 🙂 

 

Lots of mouths to feed in there now! What do you like to feed to the tank? 

Thanks! Not feeding much until I get the tank back under control.. was feeding nls, frozen, and weekly reef roids

[lambogriffin]

Update. Goby went MIA within 12hrs. Don't think he would have been able to escape, so I'm guessing he wedged himself into the rocks somewhere, or maybe was weak and eaten by a nem.. I doubt it's hiding as there is no sign of sand being disturbed. Had some red cyano that was starting to take off, and I have been removing it and changing water more, and it's struggling now. Added some tiny blue leg crabs and a few more ceriths, and went back to chaeto in the 2nd chamber. Here's FTS from today, a few days past 8 months old.

[Abzdot]

On 1/14/2020 at 4:22 AM, lambogriffin said:

Don't like the idea of an ATO using a pump, so I made a gravity feeding ATO. has worked well so far.. the only thing I was worried about was the reservoir volume, but there is very little evaporation in the Evo with the covers on.

 

Where did you get that from?

[lambogriffin]

10 minutes ago, Abzdot said:

Where did you get that from?

I made it, think I posted details in Evo owners thread. Materials were a water spray bottle from pet store (bottle just needs to be somewhat rigid), turkey baster tube from dollar store, airline tubing, and superglue.. has worked flawlessly, and even if it failed it would have very little impact.. I have to fill it daily now with a screen top, but when the tank had a hood it lasted for a week+. Takes about 1 minute to remove, refill, and replace. 

[lambogriffin]

I spy.. baby rock flower nem!

[lambogriffin]

picked up a tiger conch.. it is an absolute beast.. I thought it was just stirring the sand bed, but I watched it actually eat red cyano, and devour everything on lower rocks, and even caught it climbing the rocks.. went up over the highest part of rock work.. but mostly just plows around the surface of sand all day. Turbo snail has been very lethargic, and I keep losing trochus snails, but ceriths and other inverts are fine. My cleaner shrimp got the boot.. I tried to accommodate him because I love their personality, but after carefully keeping him busy while feeding the tank, I found him 24hrs later with a large chunk of food, freshly ripped from my RBTAs stomach. Too aggressive, can't risk him stressing the nem like that repeatedly, and if he is gonna rip it out of the nem's stomach after a day, not much I can do to prevent it. Feeding is now much easier, just fending off the greedy clowns. Current FTS:

[lambogriffin]

After some neglect, I think algae is officially under control. Red cyano no where to be seen.. All praise the might tiger conch. And water changes. With no cyano and  no thick algae on the rocks today, wanted to grab a couple pictures.. managed to get camera setting to capture near true color, which takes some fiddling, and honestly sometimes I just can't seem to get it right. Now I think I need a razor to do some glass scraping. 

[lambogriffin]

About 10 months.. RBTA is taking over.. stinging the crap outta my large RFA, hoping the RFA moves. A small RFA I had moved out of hiding and I was able to feed it (after months behind rocks found its way back to where I originally placed it). Everyone is getting fed now and looking happy, now that the the thieving cleaner shrimp is gone. 

[lambogriffin]

It's dangerous work, but someone's got to do it.. 😳😁  powerhead was completely covered.. that cerith is CuC MVP for the week.



 

[lambogriffin]

Happy birthday to this tank! One year! cleanup crew is dialed in with addition of emerald crab, blue legged hermits, and tiger conch.. all industrious workers. I brought one of the clowns back to my lfs because it was just getting beat up to much by the other and they never paired. (I go visit him, and he looks so much less stressed and more healthy in the store tank with his puffer buddy at least) The skunk cleaner is replaced with a fire shrimp that has way better manners. GSP and zoa's seem to be the only corals not really doing well. The zoa's are just slowly disappearing, and GSP seems to melt at one end as fast as it can spread at the other end, almost like it is just moving rather than spreading. Annnd here's the FTS at 1yr +6 days from getting it wet! 

[lambogriffin]

Fresh 2021 FTS at ~14months 😁 ...aaand a throwback FTS to when I first got this tank, 3 yrs ago.. Had to tear it down to move so this saltwater is a rebirth!

[lambogriffin]

Welp.. diy standard 29g peninsula AIO in the works! Entire Evo will be transferred! Think I have a good plan for the transfer, but obviously it's going to be stressful even if it goes smoothly. Here's my game plan-first time writing it out, but have been thinking about it a lot.

 

Transfer plan:

1. in intermediate container (Rubbermaid) set up heater and powerhead, about half full of water

2. Shut down Evo

3. Siphon water from Evo to fill remainder of intermediate container (about 1/3 of the water)

4. Drain another 1/3 of water to transfer to new tank later

5. Transfer live rock and all live stock to intermediate container

6. Stir up sand (1/2"-3/4") and drain remaining water in Evo

7. Remove Evo and install new tank

8. Set up new tank electrical components

9. Place new sand and Evo sand, and new dry rock in new tank, and transfer bio media from Evo

10. Fill new tank with Evo water and new water

11. Run new tank for a few hours

12. Shut down new tank, drain ~5-10 gallons

13. Transfer live rock and live stock to new tank

14. Replace drained water to max water level

15. Cross fingers.

 

Any thoughts?

 

AIO is cut and glued.. Will likely silicone the AIO into the tank tonight. 

 

Just for the record.. my work area was pristine before this project! Fishtank building bomb went off!

 

 

[lambogriffin]

It's about ready! 😱😁 Got the return nozzle today and made the lid. Got black eggcrate for a media rack, but ended up not using it, and decided to use it for the filter chamber cover. Going to run it with fresh water now and make sure no leaks and filter flow is sufficient.

[lambogriffin]

Water flow check:👍

New temp tank set up and cycling new dry rock, will be used for my Evo rock and stock during the transfer.

Additional bio media in Evo getting seeded.

Wasn't sure about mounting lights.. decided to make a hood which will be suspended and raise/lower on a counter weight system.. going to give it a shot because it would look clean and be very convenient, but it's gonna be a pain to set up

Pics 😬