Jump to content
ReefCleaners.org

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


teenyreef

Recommended Posts

So now that the damage has been done, I got motivated to fix the problem and kill off some of the mummy eye chalice. And while I was at it, I decided to do the major trim job I've been meaning to do on the larger sps colonies. 

I drained off enough water to expose the chalice to the air and applied a band of kalk paste to the edges of the chalice, which worked great. Of course it remains to be seen if the unaffected portions survive but even if I lose the chalice it had to be done.

While the corals were out of the water, I went to town with bone cutters and a portable Dremel with a diamond cutting wheel. The hardest part was dealing with the cali tort. It was encrusting and taking over the acro next to it, and most of the rest of it was solid, so I had to just cut pieces off with the Dremel. 

I ended up with lots of chunky frags of katropora and bird of paradise, and lots of other frags of cali tort, WD tenuis, a couple WWC yellow tip frags, and one piece each of the Jason Fox Icebreaker and the no-name pink acro. 

 

As part of the process, I did a 10g water change.

 

I only had a couple disasters/new misses: first when I spilled the cup of kalk paste all over everything, and then when I started the pumps back up, the return pump wouldn't start. It's been a while since I cleaned it and of course it chose this time to not start. Fortunately, after turning it off and back on again for a good five minutes, it started back up. I also worried about all the kalk paste causing a spike in alkalinity. I measured after the water change and alk was 9.0 which is high for this tank, but stupidly I hadn't checked in alk in a couple weeks so I have no idea what it was before I started the process. After more worrying, I put 6 ml of muriatic acid in the rear pump chamber to lower the alk a bit just in case. Hopefully I don't kill everything off with playing around with alk levels. I should know for sure by tomorrow.

 

Here's what it looked like top down after all the trimming was done and I put some water back in. There's lot's or junk in the water...

20190710-untitled-001.jpg

 

Closer view of the stuff that has been trimmed. You can really tell where I killed the outer edge of the chalice.

20190710-untitled-002.jpg

 

FTS right before turning the pumps on:

20190710-untitled-004.jpg

 

After fragging was complete and the water cleared up. I put the frags in this tank instead of the frag tank so they would be in the same water conditions they're used to. Plus the frag tank is full...

20190710-untitled-007.jpg

 

What it looks like after the frag party:

20190710-untitled-009.jpg

 

  • Like 5
  • Wow 7
Link to comment

That Mummy Eye does not play around. I've purposely contained mine on the glass floor. 

 

Tank looks awesome after all the work! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
2 hours ago, YHSublime said:

That Mummy Eye does not play around. I've purposely contained mine on the glass floor. 

 

Tank looks awesome after all the work! 

Good idea! I always knew it would be a problem eventually but I got a good two years before it got big enough to be a problem, so I'm not complaining.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

PS: before I went to bed the other night, I did an extra 10g water change just to try to reduce the effects of any alk swing. Everything is doing fine 24 hours later so either there wasn't a significant problem, or the extra water change helped. 😬

  • Like 7
Link to comment

The tank looks absolutely amazing!! I may have missed it somewhere but do you mind if I ask what the settings on your lights are? Also how high off of the water they are and what t-5 bulbs you are running? 

Link to comment
18 hours ago, Icedgxe said:

The tank looks absolutely amazing!! I may have missed it somewhere but do you mind if I ask what the settings on your lights are? Also how high off of the water they are and what t-5 bulbs you are running? 

Thanks! Royal blue/violet/cyan are at 100%, white at 20%, and lime at 30% at midday, and the light is about 6" from the water surface. I use ATI T5's, one coral plus and one blue plus. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
On 7/12/2019 at 1:44 AM, yoshii said:

Tank still looks amazing Teeny! It definitely was time for a trim!

Thanks, Yoshi!, hope you're doing well in Hawaii!  And yes, it was really overdue. I had no idea how bad it had gotten until I saw how much was underneath all the overgrown stuff. 

On 7/12/2019 at 4:32 AM, Sancho said:

SPS problems 🙄😂 As yoshi pointed out tank still looks amazing 👍🔥

I remember when all I wanted was to have overgrown sps problems 😂

Link to comment
3 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Thanks! Royal blue/violet/cyan are at 100%, white at 20%, and lime at 30% at midday, and the light is about 6" from the water surface. I use ATI T5's, one coral plus and one blue plus. 

Hmmmmm we basically have the same setup light wise...I use two actinic bulbs for pop...wondering if I should use a coral + I have in the closet because your color in that tank looks crisp!..but then I would have to turn my whites down on my nanobox or turn my blues up.... guess I have something to play with this afternoon 🤔

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
21 hours ago, Matteo said:

Hmmmmm we basically have the same setup light wise...I use two actinic bulbs for pop...wondering if I should use a coral + I have in the closet because your color in that tank looks crisp!..but then I would have to turn my whites down on my nanobox or turn my blues up.... guess I have something to play with this afternoon 🤔

 

 

Good luck! For pictures, I usually turn the T5's off and brighten up the whites on the LED's. Otherwise the camera's white balance gets all messed up. 

16 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

Looking good bud !!! Glad you were able to get things trimmed and stop the warfare !!! 

Thanks! 

Link to comment
mitten_reef
On 7/14/2019 at 12:59 PM, teenyreef said:

I remember when all I wanted was to have overgrown sps problems 😂

I'm still waiting for my overgrown sps problems to happen.  😂

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
4 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Good luck! For pictures, I usually turn the T5's off and brighten up the whites on the LED's. Otherwise the camera's white balance gets all messed up. 

Thanks! 

I went with a coral + in the rear for all the sps back there. Actinic in the front for zoa and LPS pop. Turned blues to 90% cyan 10% white/limes 12% uv 50%.

 

LOVING IT

  • Like 2
Link to comment
On 7/17/2019 at 11:48 PM, kabal2 said:

Wow great tank and great adventure, lots of great knowledge @teenyreef, just finished reading from page 1 to 109

Omg I hope you didn't die! Thanks!

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
On 7/18/2019 at 7:27 AM, Pjanssen said:

I hope you took notes, here is a test at the end of the quarter

Can you imagine if everyone had to take a test before they could keep a reef tank? 😬

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
3 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

My purple monti has just started showing signs of not being so purple. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

Is it getting darker or lighter? Mine get pale when nitrates are too low, and browner when they are generally stressed, due to changing water or light conditions.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

It's getting a little lighter. I'll have to test my nitrates i guess. Nothing has really changed chemistry or light wise.

When my nitrates are at zero, all the monticaps lose their color. The idaho grape get pale brown/light lavender, and the apple green ones turn almost a mustard yellow.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...