TeenyReef's 10g Fusion - ATO Disaster

[Pjanssen]

20 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Should we start taking bets @DaveFason? ?

Definitely-with a nanobox on the line!!!!

 

This tank continues to blow me away, holy moly! ?

Me too! I think teeny needs to take a trip out of the cold and come visit me down here in sunny South Florida. We could take a trip down to KPA, and VIP, and, and, and...

 

[teenyreef]

On 2/21/2018 at 8:39 AM, Pjanssen said:

 

That sounds great! I've never been south of Orlando so it would be super cool. Someday, maybe

[teenyreef]

On 2/20/2018 at 3:46 PM, Tamberav said:

I love the basslet! I actually asked my LFS to get one of these in from ORA for my IM10 too. Is yours captive bred?

Yes, he is! I got mine from liveaquaria, and theirs are ORA. He's a lot of fun to watch, always on the move. 

[teenyreef]

On 2/20/2018 at 3:42 PM, Cannedfish said:

I'm sure you have answered this before, but how do you like your Eshopps skimmer? What kinda funk is it pulling out? I currently have the Aqua Euro Nano II, however, despite my admittedly mediocre efforts, I can't seem to be able to tune it in so that I pull out anything darker than light green tea (and I looking for at minimum English Breakfast). Furthermore, I doubt it's because my water is too clean. Do you have any skimmer recommendations or advice?

 

Also ,per usual, your tank look 'better than a kick in the ass with a frozen boot," but in the immortal words of Bender Rodriguez:

 

 thanks!

I like the Eshopps much better than any other skimmer that fits in the back chamber, although it's not perfect. I'm not a fan of the sponge, which is mandatory to avoid microbubbles, and has to be cleaned every month or two. Or less often, in my case, if truth be told.

 

It's easy to adjust by moving it up and down, and I can get anything from super dark skimmate that accumulates for months, to weak tea that fill up in a couple days.

[teenyreef]

On 2/20/2018 at 1:46 PM, AvaS said:

Love the tank! What are some online coral shops you recommended? Really looking for nice colorful acans.. let me know ?

For acans I highly recommend @AquaSD. Also for all kinds of sps, especially acros and millepora. And, well, practically any kind of coral. They arrive looking exactly like the look in the pictures (i.e., amazing), and they're very reasonably priced . They have online sales every Saturday, and Ebay auctions every Friday. The Saturday sales are very dangerous, because once you pay for shipping, it's easy to add more corals cheap. Lots of corals! And they are a sponsor here on N-R now, so there's really nothing not to like. Helpful hint: order the acan pack. I did and I was blown away.

There are plenty of others that have great corals and are also sponsors. I've had great experiences with Holly at @Cultivated Reef, and Darwin at @Legendary Corals. They all have certain types of corals that are really high quality. And although I've never ordered from them, World Wide Corals has absolutely fantastic "name-brand" sps, some of the best money can buy.

On 2/20/2018 at 12:30 PM, Christopher Marks said:

Should we start taking bets @DaveFason? ?

 

This tank continues to blow me away, holy moly! ?

Thanks! And yes,, let's have a contest! 

[teenyreef]

I just got back from a trip out of town - the tank did fine but the florida ricordea that were supposed to arrive via priority 2nd day mail didn't show up. Rics are pretty tough so I'm not too worried, I just hope they make it tomorrow.

 

I narrowly avoided a tank disaster tonight! After I turned off the skimmer to empty the cup, I noticed that the temperature in the tank had jumped three degrees. And then I noticed that the return pump wasn't running. After thirty minutes of way-overdue cleaning, the pump is back in operation and things are getting back to normal. And now the back chambers are super clean since I siphoned out all the water and detritus while the pump was removed.

 

I'm glad I was here when it happened, and that I noticed the temperature change in the Apex display. If it had happened while I was out of town, I probably wouldn't figured out know what was going on. 

 

So remember, even though the pump is a pain to take out and clean, do it every six months to avoid problems like this! I knew better but was just plain lazy.

[AvaS]

Thanks so much for all the advice! 

[kimberbee]

On 2/22/2018 at 11:28 PM, teenyreef said:

So remember, even though the pump is a pain to take out and clean, do it every six months to avoid problems like this! I knew better but was just plain lazy.

My pumps always decide to "die" either right after I try to do a "quick" feeding (making my feeding time anything but quick) or after I've spent all night cleaning and I'm thisclose to being done (and then I'm NOT done)!! 

 

 

[Rene]

Ugh. At least it happened when you were home. The inexplicable back chamber design on my tank used to let sand into the back chamber (until I fixed it), fouling the pump. I cleaned that thing on a weekly basis to prevent clogging and an annoying death rattle. 

[dferrari13]

On 2/23/2018 at 12:28 AM, teenyreef said:

I just got back from a trip out of town - the tank did fine but the florida ricordea that were supposed to arrive via priority 2nd day mail didn't show up. Rics are pretty tough so I'm not too worried, I just hope they make it tomorrow.

 

I narrowly avoided a tank disaster tonight! After I turned off the skimmer to empty the cup, I noticed that the temperature in the tank had jumped three degrees. And then I noticed that the return pump wasn't running. After thirty minutes of way-overdue cleaning, the pump is back in operation and things are getting back to normal. And now the back chambers are super clean since I siphoned out all the water and detritus while the pump was removed.

 

I'm glad I was here when it happened, and that I noticed the temperature change in the Apex display. If it had happened while I was out of town, I probably wouldn't figured out know what was going on. 

 

So remember, even though the pump is a pain to take out and clean, do it every six months to avoid problems like this! I knew better but was just plain lazy.

I totally agree

[dferrari13]

Hey teeny the tank is looking awesome!! ( I would expect nothing less) have you ever had a problem with your peppermint shrimp picking on the coral?

[teenyreef]

58 minutes ago, dferrari13 said:

Hey teeny the tank is looking awesome!! ( I would expect nothing less) have you ever had a problem with your peppermint shrimp picking on the coral?

They don't pick on the corals themselves, but they pick the food off when I feed the corals. I just put a little food in a spot away from the corals first, so they're distracted when I feed the corals. It doesn't work all the time but it helps.

 

Some day I'll pull the rocks out and return them to the lfs. I don't need them since they cleaned up all the aiptasia, but they're not easy to catch.

1 hour ago, Rene said:

Ugh. At least it happened when you were home. The inexplicable back chamber design on my tank used to let sand into the back chamber (until I fixed it), fouling the pump. I cleaned that thing on a weekly basis to prevent clogging and an annoying death rattle. 

Cleaning the pump on a weekly basis would probably be enough to drive some people from the hobby!

[teenyreef]

2 hours ago, kimberbee said:

My pumps always decide to "die" either right after I try to do a "quick" feeding (making my feeding time anything but quick) or after I've spent all night cleaning and I'm thisclose to being done (and then I'm NOT done)!! 

 

 

Yeah, it seems that's when things always go bad for me too 

[Ariesx]

Finally finished reading through your build Teeny and I want to thank you for all the information you've shared.  I've learned a lot from what you have shared with everyone and I hope to get my IM NUVO 10 going this week so I can begin my new journey into mixed reef tanks.

[teenyreef]

9 minutes ago, Ariesx said:

Finally finished reading through your build Teeny and I want to thank you for all the information you've shared.  I've learned a lot from what you have shared with everyone and I hope to get my IM NUVO 10 going this week so I can begin my new journey into mixed reef tanks.

That's awesome, and good luck! Have you started a build thread?

[Ariesx]

No I'm still waiting on some supplies to come in. I just leak tested it this weekend with some distilled water which it passed. Now once my siphon comes in ill drain it and let dry and once my dry rock gets in from reef cleaners I will start working on rock configuration ideas.  Hopefully the rock and sand will come this week then over the weekend I can go to the LFS get 1 piece of live rock to seed the dry rock and get saltwater to start it off.

[teenyreef]

7 minutes ago, Ariesx said:

No I'm still waiting on some supplies to come in. I just leak tested it this weekend with some distilled water which it passed. Now once my siphon comes in ill drain it and let dry and once my dry rock gets in from reef cleaners I will start working on rock configuration ideas.  Hopefully the rock and sand will come this week then over the weekend I can go to the LFS get 1 piece of live rock to seed the dry rock and get saltwater to start it off.

That's exciting!

[zamboni200000]

Hey Teenyreef.... Gorgeous tank.  A few weeks ago I started up an Evo 13.5 and wanted to ask you about your fish.  I noticed you have 3 fish including a puffer.  Many will say this is "too much."   Can i get your thoughts?  I have an algae blenny and small puffer in mine and want to make sure they will stay happy.  Thanks in advance for the advice and keep up the good work.  Tank looks amazing.

[teenyreef]

On 3/9/2018 at 10:21 AM, zamboni200000 said:

Hey Teenyreef.... Gorgeous tank.  A few weeks ago I started up an Evo 13.5 and wanted to ask you about your fish.  I noticed you have 3 fish including a puffer.  Many will say this is "too much."   Can i get your thoughts?  I have an algae blenny and small puffer in mine and want to make sure they will stay happy.  Thanks in advance for the advice and keep up the good work.  Tank looks amazing.

Thank you! The three fish I have in this tank do very well, and I've actually had more fish in the past (two green banded gobies and a pink streaked wrasse).

 

It all depends on the type of fish, the nutrient export capacity of the tank, and how high you're willing to let nitrates get. The more fish you add, the less room for error you have in controlling nutrients. With three fish, I run a skimmer, filter floss, and use NoPox. Plus carbon once a month. I have a fair amount of live rock that's very mature which helps a lot as well. But even so, my nitrates are usually at or above 10. So if I skip a water change, or the skimmer gets out of adjustment, or my NoPox doser runs out, nitrates will rise pretty quickly.

 

So it all comes down to how well you know your tank and how well you understand the functions of your nutrient export methods. That's why this is "too much fish" for a beginning reefer with an immature tank.  But so long as you check nitrates and phosphates regularly and have good nutrient export capabilities, you should be fine with an algae blenny and a small puffer.

[zamboni200000]

Absolutely, good answer and thanks for your advice.

[gone_PHiSHin]

teenyreef did you ever get the diffuser for this tank/the Mini Tide?  this post might be long-winded, and i'll probably ask Dave Fason too.  i know his settings for his tank/light combo, but i'm not sure the same translates for the IM10/Tide

 

i know i've asked you this at least once or twice before, but are you still running the same lighting schedule and intensity that you were months ago?  

 

even after having this light for over a year, i'm still not sure if i need more or less intensity, more or less peak duration, more or less white spectrum...i'm ALWAYS wondering if i should push the light a little more, or as Dave says, just leave it alone! 

 

a long time ago i certainly realized i was fading some of my corals by trying to up the whites.  the whites are very powerful on this light and i saw negative effects at the 30% range.  over time i have slowly backed away from that spectrum and used more blues, but now i'm thinking i may have made my corals lose some of there colors and 'pop' by cutting the whites down to the 19-20% area.

 

ive also always wondered if it is ideal to have a longer, medium intensity peak, or if i should have a shorter, higher intensity peak. 

 

have you learned anything new that you can share about this light over this tank?

[teenyreef]

@gone_PHiSHin, I've reduced the intensity overall, especially the whites, because I've lost a lot of the rainbow colors in the rainbow acans. So far the sps don't seem to be unhappy with the change. I agree that it's easy to overdo the whites. This light has the limes as well as the new mint LEDs, so "whites" isn't really the right term. Durations are the same as always, though.

 

I did get the diffuser, but I've just been too busy to put it on.

[DaveFason]

5 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

teenyreef did you ever get the diffuser for this tank/the Mini Tide?  this post might be long-winded, and i'll probably ask Dave Fason too.  i know his settings for his tank/light combo, but i'm not sure the same translates for the IM10/Tide

 

i know i've asked you this at least once or twice before, but are you still running the same lighting schedule and intensity that you were months ago?  

 

even after having this light for over a year, i'm still not sure if i need more or less intensity, more or less peak duration, more or less white spectrum...i'm ALWAYS wondering if i should push the light a little more, or as Dave says, just leave it alone! 

 

a long time ago i certainly realized i was fading some of my corals by trying to up the whites.  the whites are very powerful on this light and i saw negative effects at the 30% range.  over time i have slowly backed away from that spectrum and used more blues, but now i'm thinking i may have made my corals lose some of there colors and 'pop' by cutting the whites down to the 19-20% area.

 

ive also always wondered if it is ideal to have a longer, medium intensity peak, or if i should have a shorter, higher intensity peak. 

 

have you learned anything new that you can share about this light over this tank?

Use the presets yo.

[teenyreef]

I haven't posted any new pictures in a while! Here's an updated FTS and top down. I put a few new corals in to replace the PC rainbow and the forest fire digi that STN'd for no apparent reason last month. Now there's a blue stylo and a bubble montipora frag in their place. I also placed a red dragron acro at the top of the rocks - so far it seems to like it there.

 

2018-03-26 IM10 FTS:

 

2018-03-25 IM10 Top Down:

 

[teenyreef]

I just realized I completely forgot to post a picture of the new ricordea florida mushrooms I got. The orange one on the right is the old one, the blue/green and the rainbow one are the new ones:

 

 

I think I need at least one more in the garden, and then they just need to fill in.