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Teenyreef's IM40 Not-So-Teeny Tank - August FTS


teenyreef

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On 2/26/2019 at 2:17 AM, KISReef said:

Nice reef teeny. There's a lot going on in this reef.

 

You may need a bigger aquarium for growth of your corals. There doesn't seem to be much room for that at this point. Have you had any issues with stinging or warfare yet?

Lol, I've been wanting/needing to upgrade this tank for about a year now, but it's still probably a long way away.

 

I've had minor issues with warfare but since I don't have a lot of softies, most of it is between acros and montis. They tend to just meet on the border and go into a stalemate, with one or the other eventually creeping closer to the other. I deliberately placed most of the stinging corals in more isolated spots. For example, the mummy eye chalice started well over to the side from the other corals. But of course now everything has spread out so it's a lot closer than it used to be.

 

When I see a coral that's losing the war, I either scrape or cut back the winning party, or just remove the loser and put it in another tank. 

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On 2/25/2019 at 11:39 PM, vangvace said:

Sadly the packaging and included instructions haven't gotten better in a year. First impression is that I do like it more than the 9004 I had. I wish mine came with the cool red tubes though. 

I didn't realize they don't use the red tubes any more, that's too bad.

 

In hindsight, the lack of a manual really wasn't a big deal. It's pretty obvious what everything is for, but of course you don't know you're not missing anything important when you can't read the manual to begin with. I assume you found the manual online? I can post a copy if you need it.

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On 2/25/2019 at 1:24 AM, Tamberav said:

Pretty!! That was my goal too in the 25g and it is a hot mess in the sand bed atm, at least yours is tidy! Do you take all your zoas and attach them to small rocks or do they come that way?

 

On 2/25/2019 at 11:08 AM, JBM said:

 

Most zoas i get are already on some rubble. Rarely on a plug

Yes, mine are all on pieces of rubble. Most are big enough that the snails and the conch don't turn them over. I've tried just sticking plugs in the sand, but they always get flipped over sooner or later.

 

I have learned that the rocks need to be kept separated, though. If zoas or palys can make the jump from one to another, or from one spot on a rock to another, eventually the strongest variety will take over the whole rock. And inevitably that means the cheap, less attractive ones always win over the expensive pretty ones.

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On 2/25/2019 at 10:39 AM, DaveFason said:

John - EPIC. 

 

I know it is random but the dendro looks so fat and happy. 

 

AMAZING job. 

-D

Thanks, Dave! I love the fathead dendro. Someday I'd like to figure out how to frag it without breaking down the tank to remove the rock its on. Maybe I could use a diamond wheel on a Dremel. This one grew from one head I got from AquaSD on sale for $30 and now there are at least eight or ten heads.

On 2/24/2019 at 11:40 PM, Zuma said:

😱awesome!!

Thank you!

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A few pictures that I took a couple weeks ago...


Zoa garden (photobombing clowns included at no extra charge):

20190211-untitled-051.jpg

 

Close up of the Jason Fox Cry Babies palys. These are growing fast and have nice color, so I'm looking forward to making some frags soon.

JF Cry Babies

 

These next few frags are all on the new rock I installed in the front of the tank. This rock is a great example of how new rock will grow tons of algae for months while the phosphates leach out.

 

ORA Pearlberry. These are the best colors I've had for this coral out of the three tanks I've kept it in. It's relatively low in the tank, but right up front where it gets a lot of light reflected from the front glass, which seems to be just the right amount. In the 10g tank, it doesn't get enought light, and it's mostly green. In the 30g frag tank, they got a lot of light and were more light purple and white. But this one practically glows like a jewel 🙂

 

ORA Pearlberry

 

ORA Red Planet. This frag lost a lot of color after I got it, but it's getting red again now.

ORA Red Planet

 

WWC Christmas Mirabilis. I'm really happy about this one, it almost didn't survive the dip after I got it and lost all it's color.

WWC Christmas Mirabilis

 

Bubblebath Unicorn. I wasn't sure this one was going to survive the dip either, and, as an expensive/rare acro, I figured it was almost certainly going to die out of sheer spite. But it's starting to encrust now, even though the colors aren't wonderful yet. It's supposed to get tons of light to color up, so I may have to figure out how to move it higher, or just start another frag for the frag tank where I have more room under the brightest lighting. But for now I'm just happy to see it growing. Also, I have yet to get a picture of this frag that isn't blurry...I'll try harder next month.

 

BC Bubblebath Unicorn

 

Jason Fox Side Tracked Goni. I like it 🙂

 

JF Sidetracked goni

 

Now, moving off the new rock...here's the acan garden.

20190211-untitled-044.jpg

 

Cali tort. You can see some coral warfare going on where the reverse superman monti is slowly winning over the acros. I knew it was a mistake to put an encrusting monti up top with the acros. But I did it anyway because I was impatient to have cool looking corals. Oh well...

 

20190211-untitled-042.jpg

 

 

Tyree Pinky the Bear. I'm not sure why, but I love this coral. Maybe it's just the name. But in real life, the pink is more striking than it is in the picture.

Tyree Pinky the Bear

 

WWC yellow tips. I'm still not seeing much of the "yellow tip" growth, but there is one if you look closely (hint, it's more green than yellow). Hopefully as it grows up higher, the additional light will help.

WWC Yellow Tips

 

In general, I think I still need just a bit more PAR on the corals, as some still aren't completely colored up, especially the ones that aren't directly under the LEDs. 

 

Although I love the compact form factor of the wide quad, and the addition of the two T-5 bulbs helps a lot with giving more even illumination, having all the LEDS close to the middle of the tank is a mixed blessing. The corals close to the middle get all the light they could want, but the ones on the sides don't. On the other hand, it's nice to put corals that want less light over on the sides and see them color up too.

 

But in general, I think I prefer the Nanobox hybrid I have over the 30g, which has two LED clusters, with four T5's. That provides more even illumination for the whole tank, which still giving areas of the tank less PAR.

 

If I were to redo this tank, I'd probably rescape it so that there is more rock up high in the middle. With the high point being more on the left, there's less room for high light-loving corals. Of course, the real fix is to do a tank upgrade 🙂

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44 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Thanks for asking! He's actually doing just fine. The dark spots are normal spots that clowns get when they are stung by the anemone (or, in this case, palys). They look worse than they really are due to some artifacts from the camera.

Good to hear he's doing well. You have an awesome reef btw, it's absolutely spectacular!

 

Looking forward to future updates and pictures. Continued success.

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16 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

A few pictures that I took a couple weeks ago...


Zoa garden (photobombing clowns included at no extra charge):

20190211-untitled-051.jpg

 

Close up of the Jason Fox Cry Babies palys. These are growing fast and have nice color, so I'm looking forward to making some frags soon.

JF Cry Babies

 

These next few frags are all on the new rock I installed in the front of the tank. This rock is a great example of how new rock will grow tons of algae for months while the phosphates leach out.

 

ORA Pearlberry. These are the best colors I've had for this coral out of the three tanks I've kept it in. It's relatively low in the tank, but right up front where it gets a lot of light reflected from the front glass, which seems to be just the right amount. In the 10g tank, it doesn't get enought light, and it's mostly green. In the 30g frag tank, they got a lot of light and were more light purple and white. But this one practically glows like a jewel 🙂

 

ORA Pearlberry

 

ORA Red Planet. This frag lost a lot of color after I got it, but it's getting red again now.

ORA Red Planet

 

WWC Christmas Mirabilis. I'm really happy about this one, it almost didn't survive the dip after I got it and lost all it's color.

WWC Christmas Mirabilis

 

Bubblebath Unicorn. I wasn't sure this one was going to survive the dip either, and, as an expensive/rare acro, I figured it was almost certainly going to die out of sheer spite. But it's starting to encrust now, even though the colors aren't wonderful yet. It's supposed to get tons of light to color up, so I may have to figure out how to move it higher, or just start another frag for the frag tank where I have more room under the brightest lighting. But for now I'm just happy to see it growing. Also, I have yet to get a picture of this frag that isn't blurry...I'll try harder next month.

 

BC Bubblebath Unicorn

 

Jason Fox Side Tracked Goni. I like it 🙂

 

JF Sidetracked goni

 

Now, moving off the new rock...here's the acan garden.

20190211-untitled-044.jpg

 

Cali tort. You can see some coral warfare going on where the reverse superman monti is slowly winning over the acros. I knew it was a mistake to put an encrusting monti up top with the acros. But I did it anyway because I was impatient to have cool looking corals. Oh well...

 

20190211-untitled-042.jpg

 

 

Tyree Pinky the Bear. I'm not sure why, but I love this coral. Maybe it's just the name. But in real life, the pink is more striking than it is in the picture.

Tyree Pinky the Bear

 

WWC yellow tips. I'm still not seeing much of the "yellow tip" growth, but there is one if you look closely (hint, it's more green than yellow). Hopefully as it grows up higher, the additional light will help.

WWC Yellow Tips

 

In general, I think I still need just a bit more PAR on the corals, as some still aren't completely colored up, especially the ones that aren't directly under the LEDs. 

 

Although I love the compact form factor of the wide quad, and the addition of the two T-5 bulbs helps a lot with giving more even illumination, having all the LEDS close to the middle of the tank is a mixed blessing. The corals close to the middle get all the light they could want, but the ones on the sides don't. On the other hand, it's nice to put corals that want less light over on the sides and see them color up too.

 

But in general, I think I prefer the Nanobox hybrid I have over the 30g, which has two LED clusters, with four T5's. That provides more even illumination for the whole tank, which still giving areas of the tank less PAR.

 

If I were to redo this tank, I'd probably rescape it so that there is more rock up high in the middle. With the high point being more on the left, there's less room for high light-loving corals. Of course, the real fix is to do a tank upgrade 🙂

Your taste in corals is exquisite! I'm in awe! 

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34 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

 

Yes, mine are all on pieces of rubble. Most are big enough that the snails and the conch don't turn them over. I've tried just sticking plugs in the sand, but they always get flipped over sooner or later.

 

I have learned that the rocks need to be kept separated, though. If zoas or palys can make the jump from one to another, or from one spot on a rock to another, eventually the strongest variety will take over the whole rock. And inevitably that means the cheap, less attractive ones always win over the expensive pretty ones.

All of mine are on one rock right now which worries me a little but I figured maybe I could take that rock out and frag offenders back.

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9 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Close up of the Jason Fox Cry Babies palys. These are growing fast and have nice color, so I'm looking forward to making some frags soon.

Please let me know. I am interested in replenishing my zoa's had a major melt down the end of last year. So zoa and paly frags. Thanks

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20 hours ago, Tamberav said:

All of mine are on one rock right now which worries me a little but I figured maybe I could take that rock out and frag offenders back.

I've done that successfully. But then I got tired of it. I had to do it about once a month. 

12 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Please let me know. I am interested in replenishing my zoa's had a major melt down the end of last year. So zoa and paly frags. Thanks

I'll let you know!

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2 hours ago, YHSublime said:

Teeny, how about an update on the scrubber? 

Thanks for asking, I forgot to post about it. Over the last month, it's been declining for some reason. Instead of growing green slime with a little bit of macroalgae, it's growin red/brown slime with even less macroalgae. Here's a picture from last night:

 

I this is because I've been slacking on cleaning it out. I've only been scraping out the slime every two or three weeks lately, and the manual says when you have slime that you may have to clean it as often as every two or three days. I was thinking if I left it alone it might grow more algae, but no...plus I've been dosing PhosphateRX to get the phosphates levels down. I don't know if that is contributing, but there's plenty of algae growth in the display tank, so I think not.

 

I also notice after cleaning it last night that it's bobbing up and down as it fills up with air bubbles that escape after it goes up to the surface. So I need to clean it better and clear out all the air holes.

 

I'm going to go back to inserting the mesh plastic piece that reduces the lighting that they say to use when it's just getting started. I'm going to clean the air holes out, and then I'm going to clean the slime every three days. We'll see what happens.

 

In the meantime, I've gotten phosphates down to low levels and nitrates are around 1 thanks to water changes and improved stability.

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21 hours ago, HippieSquirrel said:

The ORA pearlberry is absolutely stunning.  I’ll be adding that to my wishlist 😅 don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before!  

It's an old school classic 🙂

 

This is an old shot of it in my 10g with less light. Lots of green:

 

ORA Pearlberry

 

This is what the frags in the 30g looked like before I started dipping to kill the AEFW, where they had lots of light. They had very little green, not much purple, and a lot more white:

20190113-untitled-012.jpg

 

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HippieSquirrel
8 hours ago, teenyreef said:

It's an old school classic 🙂

 

This is an old shot of it in my 10g with less light. Lots of green:

 

ORA Pearlberry

 

This is what the frags in the 30g looked like before I started dipping to kill the AEFW, where they had lots of light. They had very little green, not much purple, and a lot more white:

20190113-untitled-012.jpg

 

It’s amazing the amount of variation in the same coral.  I haven’t really had the chance to dive into SPS yet so I’m still learning names of different acros... there’s so many!  I’m looking forward to tackling that with my new build.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/1/2019 at 6:13 AM, HippieSquirrel said:

It’s amazing the amount of variation in the same coral.  I haven’t really had the chance to dive into SPS yet so I’m still learning names of different acros... there’s so many!  I’m looking forward to tackling that with my new build.  

Good luck! Have you started a new build thread yet?

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I went on a trip for four days and when I came back, the heavy algae growth on the new SPS rock has suddenly started to die back. I don't know if it's because of the improved water conditions or because the rock just ran out of phosphates to leach, but I'm happy either way. Look at all that bare rock! 🙂

 

20190314-untitled-001.jpg

 

While I had the camera out, I took an update shot of the main sps rocks. The Walt Disney is growing fast but to my eye doesn't really look like a WD. But I'll admit not all the colors of the SPS on these rocks are quite right - still too much green on some of them. So maybe it needs more light. Or less light. Or maybe it's not a WD at all, since I got it from a local reefer. Sigh...at least the corals look nice anyway :biggrin:

20190314-untitled-004.jpg

 

Here's a closer view of the WD tenuis. I do have to say there's an amazing variety of colors shown in a Google image search of "Walt Disney Tenuis". Many are obviously shown in false colors based on the background colors in the pictures, and there are a few with similar colors to mine. So who knows...

20190314-untitled-004.jpg

 

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Its a WD. Don’t look for colors that you see online. Everything’s looking great, I wouldn’t chase that dragon. I’ll see if I can get an updated shot of mine, which also I “cant pull the same colors I see online” either, but not enough blues and editing on my part. 

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4 hours ago, YHSublime said:

Its a WD. Don’t look for colors that you see online. Everything’s looking great, I wouldn’t chase that dragon. I’ll see if I can get an updated shot of mine, which also I “cant pull the same colors I see online” either, but not enough blues and editing on my part. 

Thanks for the feedback! That's pretty much what I was thinking too. But I do know some of the corals I have in the tank don't have the same colors they did when I first got them, so it's not all just due to fake pictures. If all my other corals were at least as colorful as they were when I got them, I'd assume there wasn't anything else to do.

 

Your tank is looking great! We should do a frag swap some time - I drive up to Fairfax and Mclean all the time, as my company is headquartered up there.

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2 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Thanks for the feedback! That's pretty much what I was thinking too. But I do know some of the corals I have in the tank don't have the same colors they did when I first got them, so it's not all just due to fake pictures. If all my other corals were at least as colorful as they were when I got them, I'd assume there wasn't anything else to do.

 

Your tank is looking great! We should do a frag swap some time - I drive up to Fairfax and Mclean all the time, as my company is headquartered up there.

 

Thanks so much, so is yours though!

 

im a hop skip and a jump from both those areas, and I would be tickled to do a swap! 

 

We’re both gonna need a bigger boat. 

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4 hours ago, YHSublime said:

 

Thanks so much, so is yours though!

 

im a hop skip and a jump from both those areas, and I would be tickled to do a swap! 

 

We’re both gonna need a bigger boat. 

I'll let you know next time I'm going to be up your way 🙂

 

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March FTS! The algae continues to die off and there is a little bit of actual algae growing in the algae scrubber now. I haven't done anything different, just regular water changes and occasional PhosphateRX dosing. 

 

2019-03-17 IM40 FTS:

2019-03-18 IM40 FTS

 

Top down:

2019-03-18 IM40 Top Down

 

Zoa garden:

20190318-untitled-010.jpg

 

Monticaps with bonus cleaner shrimp:

20190318-untitled-012.jpg

 

Acan garden:

20190318-untitled-014.jpg

 

SPS:

20190318-untitled-023.jpg

 

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