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Kyle's Reef - ~150g combined system


Kyl

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Sand has been getting brown, but no snot at all so far.

 

Bi-colour blenny is out of the tank and in QT along with a red elongate dottyback for the 65. Tailspot blenny is now exploring the tank, so tiny! He likes to sit in the red monticap frag that's recovered from the nudi plague, it's only 2 1/2" wide for size reference.

 

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At least the weekend is starting on the right foot. Received a box of reef crystals today and one of the bags was punctured and clumpy (absorbed moisture and whatever else). Let Amazon know and they refunded the entire thing and told me to just keep it all, so three bags for free. Can't beat that CS..

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

 

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So this came today, we'll see if it lives up to all the hype over at Reef2Reef. I'm hoping it helps with two things, the bubble algae that the emerald crab can't keep up with, and people are reporting this also helps with some types of dinos. So far the 20 is seeing only sand dusting every day, while the 10 is just as bad as pre-blackout. The more I'm reading, lack of pods in the 10 may be a big reason why they came back heavily and are running amok. We'll see..

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Hey thanks! Whatever is in that bottle, I've come home two days now on a full lighting schedule with pristine white sand and the 10g frag tank is heavily improved.

 

Not going to do a victory dance yet, in fact I'm going to dose again tonight (as per the product creator). If this stays on track I will call this a miracle in a bottle lol!

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Hey thanks! Whatever is in that bottle, I've come home two days now on a full lighting schedule with pristine white sand and the 10g frag tank is heavily improved.

 

Not going to do a victory dance yet, in fact I'm going to dose again tonight (as per the product creator). If this stays on track I will call this a miracle in a bottle lol!

It's done great things in my 40g, but almost nothing in my 10g. But my 10g tank has lots of problems right now and I don't think it's only about the algae in that tank.

 

I'm glad it's working for you!

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  • 2 weeks later...

New toys, fish and everything in-between.

 

The 20:

  • Dinos seem to have been beaten into submission, almost no bubble algae left either. At this point I think Vibrant is magic in a bottle!
  • SPS corals that survived the nudis are all recovered and growth is outstanding

    31892086616_cfe99ef606_o.jpg

  • Specs of coralline are appearing all over the glass, first time in over a year.
  • Found a sort of metallic-red mushroom that was growing under the iron-man mushroom, tiny but a nice 2-for-1 bonus
  • Have had a Hectors Goby and Sharknose Goby in the tank for a week and they're still looking good. Replacements for the Rainfords & Neon Cleaner. Hectors sleeps under my plate coral which has a bit of an arch on one side.

    Here's the Hector's house, the plate coral has a wierd bump growth for some reason but it's a perfect refuge for the guy.31089073424_b4a65bc83b_o.jpg

  • Added four more sexy shrimp and two porcelain crabs again. Female clown does not approve of the crabs getting near her anemone.

10:

  • Dinos are receding, GHA has taken off though on many pieces

    Pulled most of the GHA off today, was very fragile so I take that as a good sign too31089074044_9ec6595ab0_o.jpg

  • Anemone is still hanging in there, waiting for everything to settle out and then it's going into the 65
  • Some frags I thought lost are slowly showing tissue growth. Chalice frags, couple sticks of pink lemonade acro and the forestfire digiata

65:

  • Bicolour Blenny & Red Elongated Dottyback are in the tank after TTM and prazi/paraguard QT
  • Picked up a Yellow Coris Wrasse in the sales today to fulfil the yellow for the tank requirement. In TTM currently with a little tray of sand to sleep in.
  • Added the MP10wQD to the back wall that was too close, managed to slide the stand half an inch more from the wall. Much better tank flow variance coupled with the gyre
  • Refugium chaeto is growing decently, still trying to source some more pods locally though and I think the DIY ebay 10w led flood lamp isn't strong enough.
  • Santa brought a DOS, going to get it running 2-part next weekend and get the tank prepared for when the corals in the 10 are ready to move.
  • Still trying to finalize stocking goals, probably going to settle on 12 fish total.
QTY Name                      Binomial Name                Type

Current:
2 Lyretail Anthias            Pseudanthias squamipinnis    Anthias
2 Ocellaris Clownfish         Amphiprion ocellaris         Clownfish
1 Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse   Labroides dimidiatus         Wrasse
1 Bicolor Blenny              Ecsenius bicolor             Blenny
1 Red Elongated Dottyback     Pseudochromis elongatus      Dottyback

In QT:
1 Yellow Coris Wrasse         Halichoeres chrysus          Wrasse

Future:  
1 Purple Firefish             Nemateleotris decora         Dartfish
1 Sand-sifting Goby ??                                     Goby
1 Flame Angel                 Centropyge loriculus         Dwarf Angelfish
1 Green Mandarin              Synchiropus splendidus       Dragonet 
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Frag rack sort of in the way, but up she goes. Anemone is hiding as it does every late night, but here's a sort of 3/4 top down from the other day that shows it. So big I had to break off the pink lemonade acro that it was slowly killing and glue it to a frag plug. Probably going to mount it near the purple valdia once it starts to encrust the frag plug.

 

 

 

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Wish I could get better pictures out of this phone. Actinics on it is all a sort of blue-purple over-saturation, with them off it's too bright. Even at the lowest intensity setting on the Kessils (which is the FTS), it looks too bright. Teeny for example, your pictures always look spot on, so jealous!

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Hopefully this isn't too much of a de-rail, but it's primarily going to be on the other tank I have running. For the 20, everything is going good since the latest additions. The Hectors and Sharknose gobies are both eating and fitting in nicely, dinos seem to be completely beaten and I'm continuing to dose Vibrant once a week (magic in a bottle!). Something has munched on the ironman mushroom, but it's been relocated to the frag rack where hopefully it recovers being sheltered under the everg-rowing red plate monti.

 

Now for the never-ending aspect of this hobby; figuring out how to fix your past design mistakes.

 

I've been thinking over the months of having to switch filter socks in the 20Long sump of the 65, and how badly the design direction I ended up going is. The overflows currently drain into a simple acrylic 4" sock holder housed behind the skimmer in the first section of the sump. Though following the DIY sump guide on GMACreef and implementing most of the suggestions seemed like a good idea, I have to disconnect both drain pipes every time I want to change the filter sock out, to the point that I dread having to shut the pump off, unscrew both pipes from their unions and finally swap the sock.

 

 

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65sump by Kyl, on Flickr

 

 

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65sump1 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

 

It's too late to change the sump itself now or silicone in a better solution, but I've been thinking of making an acrylic insert that borrows from some of those pre-made sump features. Basically it will allow for fixed drain lines that won't need to be disconnected at all, with easy access to pull the sock out. It will be a tight fit, but I think this can all work in the 7-3/4" x 5" area I have available.

 

 

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sockholder by Kyl, on Flickr

 

 

 

Forgive the rough sketch, but this seems like this could work out perfectly. The intention is that water would fill the first cavity, flow over the sock holder and empty down the sock. If neglected and the sock plugs up, the top portion of the holder has a slot cut out so water can just flow over and out. I happen to have a couple extra 1-1/2" bulkheads and the acrylic will be easy to source, so I think it's worth an attempt at least. If anything does eventually get stuck in there or it becomes too dirty the drains can always be disconnected and the entire thing pulled out of the sump.

 

Always something to keep the mind working in this hobby, no matter how hard you try and get it right the first time.

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Definitely convinced this little container, or a version of it is the way to go now. Last night changed the sock again, and afterwards the bulkhead of the primary overflow drain started leaking. I can only attribute it to flex on the bulkhead gaskets seal from playing with the union over and over again to remove / replace the downspout, and it took over two hours and 10 gallons of water removed to finally fix.

 

Also on the list of things to change next time; use a threaded bulkhead on the exterior side of the tank so it can be removed, would have made things a hundred times easier..

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The tank I spent every precaution possible on (65 gallon), thought I was QT'n correctly with has amyloodiniosis (marine velvet).

 

Anthias both dying in the rock work, Bi-colour blenny dusted since looking clean yesterday. I have nothing to treat the fish with here tonight so I'll have to figure out a plan tomorrow, pick something up after work and set aside the evening to try and get the two clowns, the bi-colour, cleaner wrasse and red elongate dottyback out of the tank and into QT..

 

Another roller-coaster experience in this hobby..

 

On the plus side, dinos in the 10 are almost beaten into submission, and the 20 has had a slight dusting return, but is also receeding. All six sexy shrimp are making a sort of communal butt-wiggling hang out on top of the zoa rocks daily, probably my favorite invert to watch in the tank!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some DIY progress now that the emergencies are over. Lost both lyretails, blenny isn't looking so good but he's still actively eating and swimming so I hope he pulls through.

 

Got the sump-sock holder done, now to wait a couple days for it to fully cure. $25 in acrylic and weldon4, another ~$20 in supplies and I think it ended up pretty well. Wish I had a router to do cut outs properly, but the hole saw sufficed.

 

 

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sockholder by Kyl, on Flickr

Rough sketch shown earlier

 

 

 

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sumpsockholder by Kyl, on Flickr

 

 

20 is doing great, to the point I'm ready to re-mount some of the montis that survived the nudibranchs last fall and bring the chalice frags back in. The birdsnest has by far been the fastest grower in the tank, looking at earlier pictures it's pretty remarkable how much progression there has been. Will get a new FTS going this weekend, but hopefully things continue improving as they have been.

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Sketchup, I both love and loathe you..

 

Space is a premium and I have stuff all over the place, things have needed to change for a while. There is a copper QT going in one place, chaeto so it doesn't die out tumbling in another 10 gallon, not to mention 5 gallon buckets against the wall mixing up fresh salt water. Thinking about things on Friday and there's barely anything in the closet being stored, so why not get some 2x4 and plywood DIY shelving in there and free up some room.

 

Going to keep the 20L going throughout copper QT then turn it into the final observation QT going forward. Smaller 10 gallons can sit on the second shelf and be turned into medicated tanks, and supplies / salt buckets stored on the very bottom. Now hopefully it won't be too difficult to get going..

 

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closetfinal by Kyl, on Flickr

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Anemone back from a couple days of hiding, now nice and extended. The female clown guards it relentlessly, as the porcelain crabs have found out..

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hosting2 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

Managed to catch the pompom out as well moments before lights out with heavy actinic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In hindsight there always seems to be something to have done differently with this hobby. A rather large update post covering MTS; it's been busy with all the tank work, RL work due to snow events and a demanding bengal.

 

Livestock

 

The Hectors goby has passed away :(, the tank just can't support a sand-sifter like that and he slowly wasted away getting skinnier and skinnier. Tried target feeding, sand seeding with PE calanus and more but it didn't interest him. The tailspot blenny continues to eati like a pig and is growing quite quickly, always out in front and probably the most active fish in the tank now. The sharknose goby is also doing well, he/she cryptically zooms along the glass when you get near the tank. Clowns are still being hosted, but have killed all the porcelain crabs that attempted to host the anemone as well.. Finally the pink-streaked wrasse continues to make his or her rounds picking pods off the glass, going crazy for brine shrimp and in general being a very neat fish to watch.

 

ORA is no longer producing Greenbanded gobies, so I probably have to give up on that goal as even across Canada I can't find anyone with them. I want to get one more small fish, something to bring a bit more colour to things. Possibly a yellow clown goby but I'd hate to see it nip my acros that are finally hitting their growth strides. A purple firefish is also possible, but given my history with FF the previous two have turned into crispies on the floor even with a lid on the tank..

 

 

 

Corals

 

I really think the tank is finally hitting stride, growth over the past number of weeks has been steadily increasing. This is especially true for the green birdsnest, the thing is larger than my fist now! I've had to increase alk/calcium dosing levels pretty much every week to try and keep up with the increase in demand.

 

The frags are also growing very well on the racks. I split the rainbow montipora up from the original piece, the rock rubble it was initially mounted on and the plug it got mounted on during the nudibranch outbreak. All three are already showing very quick encrusting growth over the past few weeks, hopefully it keeps up. The fresh red monticap frag is also already growing past the plug, and I'm happy to say the idaho grape monticap has fully encrusted over and down its plug so it has been officially saved from the nudi plague (after cutting 90% of it's dead skeleton off).

 

I keep saying it but hopefully things can get re-mounted in the next few days and the euphyllia also needs to be fragged. It should free up some valuable space, and then the chalices, flowerpot and forestfire digi can be brought back into the 20.

 

 

 

General

Vibrant has continued to be dosed normally weekly, and I'm happy to say that the dino problems in the 20 and 10 are gone, GHA in the 10 is almost completely receded and bubble algae in the 20 is nowhere to be seen. This stuff works, so glad I tried it.

 

The QT / storage closet stand conversion is almost finished, two coats of spar varnish are on the plywood to keep things water resistant. Toying with the idea of getting a second vertical storage container and changing the design into a SW mixing station, keeping the RODI water tank where it currently is in the other room. I really hate having to mix salt (4 gallons) over multiple buckets and wait a day while PH stabilizes / it fully mixes. It has led to water changes slacking on the 65, and in general is a hassle hauling buckets all over the place. Going with that new option, ~22 gallons of fresh heated SW could be on-hand and ready to be pumped directly into the nanos, run through 1/4 ro line to the 65 or just be available for a large emergency water change.

 

 

 

65 status

Got the sock holder finally installed in the 65, fits like a glove with about 3mm space between the glass baffle, and my skimmer is a perfect fit in the rest of that chamber. Now for the regrets; I should have made it an inch shorter and the water 'overflow' area larger. Right now the flow is too rapid from being constrained, so it flows into the sock but drops about an inch and creates noise.. I'm going to give it a couple days to slime up and if it's still noisy then I guess out will come the dremel to enlarge the overflow opening. I can't really do anything about dropping the sock level other than making another one, or somehow raising the chamber water level (possibly with an acrylic baffle extension on the bubble trap??) For right now I'm not hooking up the emergency drain into it just in case.

 

I also overlooked needing to secure it to the sump frame so will have to find a plastic C clamp. In the mean time a borrowed rimless mount clamp from one of my kessil arms is being used to keep the box steady against the glass.

 

Overall I'm very happy with how well it fit and is working despite the noise, especially for my first time making something with acrylic. I can now change socks in about 10 seconds and no more pipe disconnects, which should mean no more bulkhead leaks! :lol:

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sockbox1 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

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sockbox2 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

 

 

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Nice job on the sock holder!

 

There's a guy on Ebay that sells green banded gobies every once in a while, usually five for $20 plus the cost of overnight shipping. You basically have to sign up for notifications when he posts new stuff to his store so that you know when he gets them in. Here's a link to his store:

 

http://www.ebay.com/usr/caribbean_fish_collectors?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754

 

I only ordered from him once, the fish got overheated and died the first time, though, because he included a heat pack and the weather was warmer than expected. But he stood behind it and shipped a new set of fish at no charge right away, so I couldn't ask for better service.

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Thanks Teeny. I have a feeling that link would be a no-go since there's a border in the way. Sometimes.., okay pretty much all the time I envy the access you have with the US market to things like liveaquaria, the various coral vendors and BRS..

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Thanks Teeny. I have a feeling that link would be a no-go since there's a border in the way. Sometimes.., okay pretty much all the time I envy the access you have with the US market to things like liveaquaria, the various coral vendors and BRS..

Bummer, you're right, he only ships to USA :(

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Spent a few hours today fragging and securing some things permanently. Everything is very pissed off in the tank right now from all the chemical warfare from fragging going on, but I changed the carbon, did a water change and hope everyone is happy tomorrow. The anemone is hiding again, hoping it stays put.. This birdsnest is just growing all over the place so I may just take the whole colony out for the 65g and start over with some of it's frags. This would allow things to reset in the same spot and I can keep a better handle on it as it grows again.

 

Red monti grew in a curved shape while on the frag rack and it fits perfectly around the top of the left side rock. I have to think this coral knew where it was going to end up, there's no way the contour could have grown so closely to that rock by chance! It was also butted up against the glass and growing vertically, which is now the rear portion so the growth is completely getting light here.

 

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montimount by Kyl, on Flickr

 

I also fragged my first ever coral in this hobby, the mutant hammer euphyllia which started as two heads and had grown to 8. It was just too large for what I wanted in that area, so it's been reduced to four. The duncan is mounted about 3 inches away, hopefully that's far enough. My golden eye chalice frag was growing over the plug in the 10g, so it's got a nice cascading contour already started. The colour is still not back to normal after a peroxide dip (never do that again), but has been slowly recovering. The golden hammer has stayed this small over almost a year, so it's a nice fit on the bottom.

 

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euphylliahome by Kyl, on Flickr

 

I've lost one of my torch heads over the past couple of weeks, no idea why but It's never looked the same or extended as much as it did pre-dino problems. The two ironman mushrooms are just to the right of it, along with the purple tipped frogspawn which was also fragged in half.

 

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bottomright by Kyl, on Flickr

 

I still need to figure out where to mount the grape monticap, pink lemonade acro, rainbow monti and the toadstool, but at least there's some progress.

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