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Coral Vue Hydros

Orangutran

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On 12/24/2017 at 2:20 PM, markalot said:

Staghorn is a growth form. :)  Spats are probably related to millis and can be stunning, but expert keepers still have issues with them.  Make sure it has decent flow, keep everything steady, and if you aren't removing PO4 with GFO or similar then don't worry that much about it.   Steady as she goes an all.  :)

This coral has quickly become my favourite, the thick branches are just beautiful (even if its colour in my tank are drab), and I do hope it recovers. Thanks for the tips! I don't run GFO anymore, and am considering pulling out the marine pure (I went overboard with the exports). Keeping any nutrients in my tank is a challenge... maybe I should add some more fish! B)

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On 12/27/2017 at 12:30 PM, Orangutran said:

This coral has quickly become my favourite, the thick branches are just beautiful (even if its colour in my tank are drab), and I do hope it recovers. Thanks for the tips! I don't run GFO anymore, and am considering pulling out the marine pure (I went overboard with the exports). Keeping any nutrients in my tank is a challenge... maybe I should add some more fish! B)

Sorry about the stag, I hope it pulls through! Sounds to me like a definite case of not enough fish. ;)

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19 hours ago, Justind823 said:

Sorry about the stag, I hope it pulls through! Sounds to me like a definite case of not enough fish. ;)

Lol! I agree! The fish hunt begins. :) 

 

Last FTS for the year:

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This FTS was taken before I got the AI Primes (HD). Have to say that the colours look much better with the Prime, compared to the old Reefbreeders. Just something about it, that makes everything pop! 

 

Also wanna add that the AI Primes were super easy to set up. I know there are complaints about it being hard to connect to via wifi, but I got it connected in minutes. The auto schedule is easy enough to figure out, and pretty intuitive after 15 minutes of messing around with it. The shimmer is awesome too! Super happy with them, especially since I got them on sale. 

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Walked by a orthopaedic shoe store with my family on the weekend, and my daughter yells "Look daddy, you would love this!" and points to the shop window! My jaw dropped!  

 

MAKE SURE YOU PLAY THE VIDEO!

 

 

 

What's more impressive is that it's got live corals! And the tank looks pretty clean, not full of algae considering it was by the window! Too bad the store was not opened at the time...

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you know what, that's amazing. tunnel reef I hadn't seen one  of those. id seen tunnel normal tanks and tunnel sw fish, but not reef yet. even on tv ha

 

 nice nice

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On 1/23/2018 at 2:18 PM, brandon429 said:

you know what, that's amazing. tunnel reef I hadn't seen one  of those. id seen tunnel normal tanks and tunnel sw fish, but not reef yet. even on tv ha

 

 nice nice

 

Yeah, that "tunnel" spans the entire store front, maybe 10ft across!! And each column tank on the sides is probably 40" deep. I would like to applaud whoever maintains this. Now I just need to find an excuse to go back to that shoe store, without a couple of screaming kids (mine) in the background. Lol

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1 hour ago, Orangutran said:

 

Yeah, that "tunnel" spans the entire store front, maybe 10ft across!! And each column tank on the sides is probably 40" deep. I would like to applaud whoever maintains this. Now I just need to find an excuse to go back to that shoe store, without a couple of screaming kids (mine) in the background. Lol

Kids scream? :huh:

 

:lol:

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1 hour ago, Orangutran said:

:lol:

 

That's why I like my fish, they don't scream or talk back at me!

My clown bites me. That’s why I like my kids . They don’t do that, yet...lol

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Update Time:

 

- So I lost the spathulata staghorn and a millepora (both mini colonies) to STN. I found out afterwards that colonies (wild or maricultured) are extra hard to keep because they don't adapt well to tank life? And of course, I'm sure I messed up somewhere too, so I blame myself, and not the corals. 

 

- Also traded in 3 BTAs (that had split) to a LFS. Here they are in the bucket:

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I got $60 credit for all 3! I'm sure I could have sold them for more $ privately, but that's too much hassle. It's a win-win for me and the store, which sold them pretty much the next day!

 

- I got some frags and my first RFA! :D

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Lets hope the SPSes do not brown out too much...

 

- Here's some top down shots while I was doing a WC.

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Giant teal bird nest, grew this from a tiny frag. Almost getting too big my tank...

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This setosa grows like crazy! A quarter of it STNed when I had my dinos last summer, but it's recovered nicely! Also grown from a tiny nub!

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And since I'm on a roll, here are my mangroves. Really digging them, so I will be putting them in a bigger tupperware container with sand, and create a mini eco system in my sump! Speaking of which, I got a new sump container (40g stock tank)! My current one I don't trust, it's bowing a bit. I just need to take a day off from work to do the switch...

26154476668_572c26419a_c.jpg

 

Thanks for reading! Sorry it's a long update. :) 

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You need to remove the word 'struggling' from your thread title, LOL.  Seriously, your tank is looking terrific!  I love that birds nest.  Its much less pointy and more nubby than any I have seen.  The color is gorgeous.

 

I have thought about moving to a 40 breeder for my sump and making a much bigger fuge.  The main thing that stops me (besides $) is if my hob overflow box breaks and pumps all that water up into our livingroom onto the carpet (which is only 1 year old).  Its never overflowed since I got it but it could happen. 

 

Those mangroves will be amazing in your sump.

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On 01/02/2018 at 6:32 PM, gsechen said:

those are some nice nems!  you could have sold them for a lot more but kudos to you for helping out the LFS.  Also nice setosa and birds nest colonies!

Thanks!! Yeah this is currently my fave LFS, the guy used to sell frags from his house, but now has a store (no fish though). He's doing me a favour by selling the nems for me more or less, so I hope he made a good profit! 

6 hours ago, vlangel said:

You need to remove the word 'struggling' from your thread title, LOL.  Seriously, your tank is looking terrific!  I love that birds nest.  Its much less pointy and more nubby than any I have seen.  The color is gorgeous.

 

I have thought about moving to a 40 breeder for my sump and making a much bigger fuge.  The main thing that stops me (besides $) is if my hob overflow box breaks and pumps all that water up into our livingroom onto the carpet (which is only 1 year old).  Its never overflowed since I got it but it could happen. 

 

Those mangroves will be amazing in your sump.

Thanks Dawn! Lol "struggling" to be like yours. ;) The birds nest gets really puffy when he's happy! Great coral! 

 

Because your sump is in the basement like mine... Have you considered something like this? Not sure if your table is large enough. 

https://www.amazon.com/Tuff-Stuff-Products-KMT101-40-Gallon/dp/B000OWGI4Q

 

My return pump is in a Tupperware (acts as a return chamber) that only holds ¾ gallon of water at most, so if you're worried about a flood, it's less than a gallon that may not even spill over your display! :)

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8 hours ago, Orangutran said:

Thanks!! Yeah this is currently my fave LFS, the guy used to sell frags from his house, but now has a store (no fish though). He's doing me a favour by selling the nems for me more or less, so I hope he made a good profit! 

Thanks Dawn! Lol "struggling" to be like yours. ;) The birds nest gets really puffy when he's happy! Great coral! 

 

Because your sump is in the basement like mine... Have you considered something like this? Not sure if your table is large enough. 

https://www.amazon.com/Tuff-Stuff-Products-KMT101-40-Gallon/dp/B000OWGI4Q

 

My return pump is in a Tupperware (acts as a return chamber) that only holds ¾ gallon of water at most, so if you're worried about a flood, it's less than a gallon that may not even spill over your display! :)

I could not open that link to view that sump.  I am pretty sure that I should not put a 40 gallon sump on my current desk.  It was never designed for that sort of weight.  I probably would be interested in a sump that could control how much water that could be pumped up to the display if water was not going down the drain for whatever reason.  Since mine is a diy I did not limit the return chamber as much as I should have.  I also do not have an auto top off atm so I do not want that chamber to run dry due to evaporation either.

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Indiana Reefin

Really nice setup! 

I just got a standard 29 gallon from a $1 per gallon sale. Man I love the dimensions of this tank. 

 

Your new corals look amazing!! 

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Wow, those colonies have gotten huge! Your birdsnest looks like the one I had in my 4g. I never could figure out if it was a birds nest or a stylo because it never got big enough to really tell. I don't think I've seen one as fully developed as yours is.

 

And I agree, with @vlangel, I don't think the word "struggling" really fits for your tank any more :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/3/2018 at 8:28 AM, vlangel said:

I could not open that link to view that sump.  I am pretty sure that I should not put a 40 gallon sump on my current desk.  It was never designed for that sort of weight.  I probably would be interested in a sump that could control how much water that could be pumped up to the display if water was not going down the drain for whatever reason.  Since mine is a diy I did not limit the return chamber as much as I should have.  I also do not have an auto top off atm so I do not want that chamber to run dry due to evaporation either.

Those are valid points. With the sump, it'll only be filled half way so maybe 20gallons of water weight? But yeah, you'll definitely need an ATO if the return chamber is as small as mine. But since you're not running an ATO, your larger return chamber is probably best!

 

On 2/3/2018 at 9:45 AM, Indiana Reefin said:

Really nice setup! 

I just got a standard 29 gallon from a $1 per gallon sale. Man I love the dimensions of this tank. 

 

Your new corals look amazing!! 

Thanks!! I agree about the dimensions! Good luck with yours, and get a build thread going! :) 

My new corals lost some colour unfortunately, my system is still unstable. Stupid dinos comes and goes. 

 

On 2/4/2018 at 4:07 PM, teenyreef said:

Wow, those colonies have gotten huge! Your birdsnest looks like the one I had in my 4g. I never could figure out if it was a birds nest or a stylo because it never got big enough to really tell. I don't think I've seen one as fully developed as yours is.

 

And I agree, with @vlangel, I don't think the word "struggling" really fits for your tank any more :D

You know, I literally just saw a picture on instagram from tidalgardens, and they labelled my "teal birds nest" as a stylo! So it may be a stylo? Do stylos have skinny branches? 

 

And it's still struggling in the sense that I haven't been able to completely eliminate the dinos. I will hook up the UV again, and maybe let it run permanently in the sump. Not the most effective, but I can't run it in the display--which is a flood waiting to happen!

 

Quick Update:

Finally got the hanna URL tester when my Salifert tester ran out. Don't believe how flawed the hanna tester is, because the unit has a 3min auto shut off in the middle of a test!! WTF! 

 

Params:

PO4 = .034

NO3 = 5

Alk = 6.7 (my dosing container was running dry when I checked last night. :( I'm trying to get it back above 8)

 

 

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  • 3 months later...
Orangutran

UPDATE:

 

I have not posted in awhile, and I haven't even been on N-R very much. Life and work got busy. :( 

 

This tank was doing good, defeated dinos by letting my tank run "dirty" for a couple of months. It was clean for maybe a couple of weeks, before cyano took over. Anyway, I was tired of the cyano (green variety) smothering my zoas, so I did something stupid by using chemiclean, which took out the cyano, but left the door open to allow dinos back in! This time, it's a different strain of dinos that's 10x uglier than previous, and really affecting my SPS. Here are some pics of the ugliness...

 

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Anyway, this time around (3rd outbreak), it's very disheartening, and I even considered tearing down! I'm going to use my previous techniques (run tank dirty with elevated nutrients, add biodiversity and possibly UV) in getting rid of it. Hopefully the dinos do not kill all my corals first--the birds nest is in bad shape!  I want to find the passion for reefing again, but we all know this hobby is a rollercoaster ride! Wish me luck! 

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Dang so sorry. I battled those a few years ago. I basically did repeated blackouts... Covering the tank with blankets and everything from 3 to 5 days at a time... Only briefly allowing ambient light to feed fish. Then I sucked out what I could between blackouts and ran it through a 100 micron sock to catch as much dino and replace the used water. I would then run the lights on a much loser setting for a few days to avoid shocking the coral and then repeat. I did eventually win but it took a toll on the corals. 

 

It got visibly weak from blackouts and manual removal further reduced it's numbers. 

 

 

Nothing more frustrating than dino. It's better off having cyano... Diatoms... Bubble algae... And bryprosis all at once. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Orangutran
On 5/16/2018 at 12:48 PM, Tamberav said:

Dang so sorry. I battled those a few years ago. I basically did repeated blackouts... Covering the tank with blankets and everything from 3 to 5 days at a time... Only briefly allowing ambient light to feed fish. Then I sucked out what I could between blackouts and ran it through a 100 micron sock to catch as much dino and replace the used water. I would then run the lights on a much loser setting for a few days to avoid shocking the coral and then repeat. I did eventually win but it took a toll on the corals. 

 

It got visibly weak from blackouts and manual removal further reduced it's numbers. 

 

 

Nothing more frustrating than dino. It's better off having cyano... Diatoms... Bubble algae... And bryprosis all at once. 

 

Thanks so much!!! I agree, all the other stuff is nothing compared to dinos! Good news is that I've got it on the run, with a 3 day blackout, along with high nutrients, new live rock and sand for new critters to compete against the dinos, and also running UV in my display (an 15w aqua UV unit for those wondering). Throwing everything at it! This weekend I will go in and manually remove what's left. I've learned that you can never really irradicate dinos, just suppress it by creating an environment that it can't thrive in.

 

Bad news is that I lost my big teal birds nest, it RTN'd in 2 days.. the thing was at least 7" across! 

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  • 1 month later...

There's always something new to discover in this hobby. Like, I found these tiny hard spiny balls (made out of calcium?) all over my tank. Can anyone identify for me?

 

Check out the neat patterns on it!

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And here it is zoomed out, stuck to a shell, for scale.

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I could not find it on the internet... 

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1 hour ago, markalot said:

Sorry about the dino comeback.  😞

 

No idea what that is.  Solid, hollow?  Living?

Dinos are gone for the moment. 🙂 Third bout, so I'm a pro at getting rid of them now. knock on wood! lol after the dinos, I have/had flatworms, bubble algae, bit of bryopsis, but nothing compares to dinos!

 

Those spheres, are living I think! They just appeared out of nowhere! And it's stuck down by one of those spines. I have not tried squishing one yet, so I'm not sure if they are hollow... The pattern on it is kinda pretty though! Quite the mystery they are... 🙂

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  • 1 month later...

About a month ago, I had my 4th dino outbreak. This time, it was a very toxic strain, cus it killed most my snails and crabs. My duncan got brown jelly, and my humongous setosa (8" across) RTN'ed in 4 days. 

 

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