CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Finally done with the fallow period. I lost the mystery wrasse during hypo treatment, mysteriously, no pun intended, He just stopped eating. Tried everything to coax him to eat and got him to take some nibbles here and there, but eventually he died while I was away for a weekend. I was really upset about it. He was having some fights with my damsel in qt so i put a divider in, but my guess is he injured his mouth somehow during a fight, and never recovered. He actually was winning most of the spouts I witnessed but I guess something must've happened. Not really sure though. So i reintroduced the damsel, clown and yellow assessor over the past weekend and picked up 4 fish in qt now. Also picked up some new corals since last update. Time to photo dump this B*tc#!!! Picked up this long polyp leather. I thought the tank needed a little more movement. This torch is kind of nondescript but has a subtle pink on the tips which I thought was unique a few new acros left side center sps rock right side Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Some pics of the new fish. Green mandarin eating frozen (confirmed at LFS before purchase) Helfrichi firefish Got a pair of red head solon's here is the male female in hiding Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Oh yeah, here is a new FTS. Also got an ok pic of the yellow assessor still doesnt do it justice. Also bought and assembled these cabinets to hide all the electric/ top off and for storage. IKEA. Still needs a little cleaning up Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 looks awesome! Thanks Mike! Link to comment
Maniu Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Looking good. Love the scape. How you like your new tank/sump ? Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Tanks looking good- keeping the sps happy? Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Tank itself is great! Sump does the job. If I had to do it over again I would get just the tank and stand, and have a custom sump done. This is only my second SW tank and first with a sump so I have learned a lot in the last 6 months. Also would've skipped the return pump and skimmer, and gotten something better. It was a great value though, for the money I think these SCA Tanks can't be beat. I read a lot of positive reviews of the SCA skimmers, but mine is not performing to the level I was hoping. Still going to attempt a few more things before I fully throw in the towel and upgrade. First I am going to raise the water level and see if it will produce some skimmate. Next option is a full cleaning and reset, those will be my last two attempts. Any other suggestions welcome. Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Tanks looking good- keeping the sps happy Thanks, SPS are doing well. I had one acro STN'ing that I had to frag, and a birdsnest that strangely RTN'd, and another birdsnest started to RTN, but has seemed to stop. I keep testing, there was a slow spike in alk, went up at 9.8 as opposed to 8.6 where I was keeping it. backed off on dosing and it has stabilized again. Calcium is always low around 350-380 no matter how much I dose. Will be testing phosphate today, but I am running GFO in my reactor and changing out bi-weekly, so I am doubtful that is the issue. Haven't tested nitrate, but everything else seems happy, so trying not to overreact, and make any drastic changes. Link to comment
markalot Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Nice to see some updates. Picture makes corals look a bit pale, maybe because of the lack of fish? Anyway looking forward to seeing the progress, especially since you are running the Razor. Link to comment
Maniu Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Looking for replacement for my IM16 as I don't want to wait and bite my lip in uncertainty. And wander if and when it is going to crack..... What would you change about your sump? Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Nice to see some updates. Picture makes corals look a bit pale, maybe because of the lack of fish? Anyway looking forward to seeing the progress, especially since you are running the Razor. Thanks, they are actually a little pale ATM, also I was too lazy to turn off flow so there is some color banding and I am not good at taking pics or editing them, usually I just sharpen and white balance. I am using aperture, and lightroom was much better, but my 30 day trial ended and didn't want to spend the money. Hoping to get things to color up. I believe it is not nutrient related but due to a slight alk spike. I had colors at their prime actually while the tank was fallow. I could use 1 of those 27 inchers you got (I PM'd You )!?! Your tank actually inspired me to get the 30" BML to supplement. Looking for replacement for my IM16 as I don't want to wait and bite my lip in uncertainty. And wander if and when it is going to crack..... What would you change about your sump? Well basically the whole thing. Mine was built wrong for starters(check first page). The overflow baffles are kind of low IMO. I know they set the height based on the skimmers they make, but it would be nice to just have more volume down there. Fuge area is long and narrow, not ideal for lighting properly (a lot of light spillover and algae in other chambers) and the baffle structures really makes the fuge kind of stagnant. These things aren't perfect, but like I said it gets the job done, and as a newbie to sumps it worked fine for me. I also have a reactor that won't fit in there so I would have liked one of the chambers other than the skimmer to be a few more inches wide. In retrospect, I would research and decide on the equipment and filtration I plan on using and build the sump around them. Link to comment
Maniu Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Reason I asked is that sump will be essential part of the next tank setup and I am contemplating option of store bought and custom made. It just so happened that I found fellow reefer that lives locally who has the skills and know how on the subject. Space is not an issue so my guess would be to go as big as practically possible. Is that what you are trying to say....... Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 Reason I asked is that sump will be essential part of the next tank setup and I am contemplating option of store bought and custom made. It just so happened that I found fellow reefer that lives locally who has the skills and know how on the subject. Space is not an issue so my guess would be to go as big as practically possible. Is that what you are trying to say....... Yes. Leave yourself some extra space so you have some flexibility later if you want to add something. Also add some tees with valves when you do your plumbing. Thats a good friend to have. When are you planning on upgrading? Link to comment
Maniu Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Yes. Leave yourself some extra space so you have some flexibility later if you want to add something. Also add some tees with valves when you do your plumbing. Thats a good friend to have. When are you planning on upgrading? Probably next month or so I'll start putting things together. Tank, sump and plumbing. Light is already sort out. Probably gonna run both tanks side by side for a month or two and slowly make the transfer. Thanks for the tip Carl. Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Finally decided to put my reactor in the sump. Going to transfer the fish from qt and get the reactor online. Had to remove a baffle and reroute the return line a bit and it is a bit cramped. I will hopefully get it online at some point this week. I am really excited about it, won it at a swap and its rated for 75 to 450 gallons, and I called the people at reef toys. Also got my skimmer to start skimming again. Hopefully these things will help with the acro colors. Everything else in the tank has good growth and decent colors. Here is a pic of the sump right now. Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Been a while. Tank has had a couple of set backs. After having the tank fallow for 6 weeks, and waiting another 2 weeks for good measure, the fish wound up getting ich again. I lost my female solon and helfrichi firefish. My mandarin was eating frozen, but I went away for a week and he got emaciated and I wasn't able to get him back to health and he eventually died. My male Solon jumped behind the tank and died. My assessor went missing, and I wound up finding him the overflow months after I realized he was missing, to my surprise he was alive, lol. It was amazing. I picked up a few other fish (royal gramma, sapphire damsel and a six line). Six line was brutally attacking the assessor so I moved the assessor to the sump for now. Also during the busy summer the tank was neglected. I lost a few acropora and all my birds nests. Tank is in good shape now, here are some pics. Clown is hosting my leather which is nice to see. FTS Torch RBTA Left side in focus, the rest is blurry, lol I suck at taking pics, but I like the lighting Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Wow- that's a lot going on there. Sorry about your fish losses. Tank's looking really good otherwise - nice color on that RBTA Link to comment
JabaReef Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Love that torch! I have been looking for a medium sized golden for my tank for a long time locally with no luck Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 Wow- that's a lot going on there. Sorry about your fish losses. Tank's looking really good otherwise - nice color on that RBTA Thanks, The RBTA looks good color wise, but it used to have a little green in it, which I miss. Sorry to hear about the collarbone BTW, Good luck with the surgery. Love that torch! I have been looking for a medium sized golden for my tank for a long time locally with no luck Thanks. I see the golden ones fairly often around here in NY. I'm sure you can find one locally down there in FLA. Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Some new shots Candy cane My RBTA just split and actually looks like its getting some greed back in it Echinata is growing nicely. I keep breaking the tips off whenever I'm in the tank though. FTS This digitata just keeps encrusting. Hoping it starts to grow upwards soon. Bad pic of a tenius i picked up. Link to comment
lilmatty5dimes Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Tank looks great. Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Took some pics today. Tank is looking good. My anemone split a few weeks ago. Also picked up an anemone crab. Took all these with lights at peak white. Some side shots. I think I like the tank better from the side than the front. Moved my powerhead to the back and the skimmer down to the sump so I could view it from here. I just couldn't decide between these 3 so, here you go, lol. echinata growing and coloring up ok. This acro is growing nicely and decent color. Tenius still holding onto the green and blue for now. PE is also decent. We'll see how long I can hold it... FTS Torch. Started as one head. Now 2 splitting into 4. My leather is in the process of dropping babies. Got one onto a plug. One in the background and one about to drop. Looks like still 2 more to drop after that too. The mother colony looks like hell though. Clown sad she lost her host. Not as soft and fluffy anymore... Some pics during sunset. Mostly blue. Crab chasing away my sixline. I actually noticed my sixline nipping at the anemone fairly regularly right before it started to split. Not sure if that is what may have triggered it to split. Candy cane back to its former glory. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Great job! Tank is looking good! I am jealous of your enchinata - I dipped my new frag and it died a day later ?. Side shots are nice- keep the action coming ? Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Got my reactor back up and running after one of the pumps burnt out. Also got rid of my 6-line. Used a fish trap. Moved the assessor back up top. Going to get at least one new fish today. Ill post some pictures later. Also picked up some corals since the last update. Tank is doing pretty well. Link to comment
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