burtbollinger's Red Sea Reefer 170 (converted to planted)

[WV Reefer]

7 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

Clearview Lid arrived.  I had not purchased because I was afraid netting would be done badly...they assured me it would be good.  very happy with the results.

 

 

 

The lid looks nice..... very slim. 

[debbeach13]

As always tank looks great. That lid also looks nice.

[burtbollinger]

Once a year it seems i have a favorite coral die due to getting blasted with intense white light from our skylight.  As seasons change to summer, the tank gets a full blast.  I've learned to block the light with poster board as summer begins but this year I was too late.  My favorite coral, my WWC pink boobies, caught a direct blast for a few days...daily. And that's all it took...STN.

 

Ended up tossing it last night.  RIP Pink Boobies.

 

oh well, sometimes you take a loss.  it was a good 2 year run and my first experience with chalices.

 

 

 

 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

7 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

Once a year it seems i have a favorite coral die due to getting blasted with intense white light from our skylight.  As seasons change to summer, the tank gets a full blast.  I've learned to block the light with poster board as summer begins but this year I was too late.  My favorite coral, my WWC pink boobies, caught a direct blast for a few days...daily. And that's all it took...STN.

 

Ended up tossing it last night.  RIP Pink Boobies.

 

oh well, sometimes you take a loss.  it was a good 2 year run and my first experience with chalices.

 

 

 

 

Oh no that sucks, sorry to hear. I never thought that could happen, but I guess it would get intensified from the glass maybe?

[burtbollinger]

 

 

update 2/15/20

 

all is well after a few hiccups.  

 

 

[debbeach13]

Hi nice video the tank looks great. Are you referring to the trouble with the sky light providing to much sun as the hiccup? Are you going to jury rig some sort of cover this year to provide shade? 

[burtbollinger]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

Hi nice video the tank looks great. Are you referring to the trouble with the sky light providing to much sun as the hiccup? Are you going to jury rig some sort of cover this year to provide shade? 

Had an unexpected death of a large centerpiece chalice for zero reason.  I THINK the brine solution that surrounds a certain reef egg food product burned it.  That coral was removed.  I also dealt with some very slow unexplained LPS recession.  I did an ICP test and my phosphate level was high.  Slowly fixed with water changes and GFO.  
 

the skylight issue was fixed by partially blocking off the light with a piece of white foamcore posterboard 

[debbeach13]

Sorry to hear about you losing the corals. Sometimes losses are a mystery. 

[Spencer7]

I was planning on buying a BM C5 ... have you found a quieter alternative?

A lot of people seem to consider it "dead silent" : https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bubble-magus-curve-5-loud.355317/

[burtbollinger]

On 4/30/2020 at 8:01 PM, Spencer7 said:

I was planning on buying a BM C5 ... have you found a quieter alternative?

A lot of people seem to consider it "dead silent" : https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bubble-magus-curve-5-loud.355317/

it's most certainly not dead silent. you can most certainly hear it with the cabinet door closed.

 If i had it to do over again, I'd have bought the Red Sea skimmer.  

[debbeach13]

Hi Burt just checking in. I hope you and your family are doing well. How is the tank doing these days?

[Spencer7]

^^^ ❤️ 

[burtbollinger]

Post the 4/20 FTOM, tank went downhill rapidly...STN of multiple LPS seemingly without reason.  Later discovered the culprit was an old boxcutter blade sitting on top of my reefer overflow pipe box under the sump.  the pipe had started to leak, and was slow dripping tainted water into the tank...

 

I also made the mistake of trying to add more Marine Pure to the tank....even tho I rinsed it, it caused a massive diatom bloom that stayed for months and killed off a few other corals.  I added some snails and did some water changes, and the diatoms magically disappeared literally overnight.  That was about a month ago.  Video below is from today, and is kinda the aftermath.  Lost a few torches and my precious space invader...not totally happy with the amount of green, but I cannot afford the cool torches I see that are out there, and i no longer trust aussie gold torches, and they are not something I'd purchase in the future.  3 years seems to be about the limit i can keep them.

 

Frankly, things got so bad post blade incident and knowing that the Reefer plumbing was leaking that i considered a shut down.  The leak kinda self sealed with salt creep and ive been careful not to touch the pipe.  i do have spare o-rings to swap out if it comes to it.  Didnt shut down knowing i probably cant afford to ever do this again, and I need to ride this tank out as long as possible.

 

recent lessons learned...no boxcutter blades, no adding more extra marinepure, dont get too cocky re: no water changes, spice up boring areas with clumps of ricordea, tanks can bounce back, don't give up easy.

 

 

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, burtbollinger said:

Post the 4/20 FTOM, tank went downhill rapidly...STN of multiple LPS seemingly without reason.  Later discovered the culprit was an old boxcutter blade sitting on top of my reefer overflow pipe box under the sump.  the pipe had started to leak, and was slow dripping tainted water into the tank...

 

I also made the mistake of trying to add more Marine Pure to the tank....even tho I rinsed it, it caused a massive diatom bloom that stayed for months and killed off a few other corals.  I added some snails and did some water changes, and the diatoms magically disappeared literally overnight.  That was about a month ago.  Video below is from today, and is kinda the aftermath.  Lost a few torches and my precious space invader...not totally happy with the amount of green, but I cannot afford the cool torches I see that are out there, and i no longer trust aussie gold torches, and they are not something I'd purchase in the future.  3 years seems to be about the limit i can keep them.

 

Frankly, things got so bad post blade incident and knowing that the Reefer plumbing was leaking that i considered a shut down.  The leak kinda self sealed with salt creep and ive been careful not to touch the pipe.  i do have spare o-rings to swap out if it comes to it.  Didnt shut down knowing i probably cant afford to ever do this again, and I need to ride this tank out as long as possible.

 

recent lessons learned...no boxcutter blades, no adding more extra marinepure, dont get too cocky re: no water changes, spice up boring areas with clumps of ricordea, tanks can bounce back, don't give up easy.

 

 

Not the space invader! 😢

 

Sorry to hear about the troubles......tank still looks good though. 

[burtbollinger]

Shut down on 2/7/23.  Had a good six-year run.

 

The fatal mistake this time was due to Vibrant.  

 

Dosed Vibrant to kill bubble algae against my better judgement about 9 months ago.  It sent the tank into a tailspin that it never really recovered from, with different algae types, including dinos.  A few smaller LPS died, and the tank just was not bringing pleasure anymore.  The bigger issue really was burnout and the absurd prices of corals.  My LFS has corals marked up to 600 dollars...its gotten absurd.  Stuff I used to buy for a 75 dollars is now triple that.  It just didn't feel responsible for me to spend that kind of money.

 

Corals were all sold (while still alive and thriving and items traded towards so that I can convert the tank to high tech freshwater planted...I need a few years break from coral, and looking forward to hopping into something new.   I wish everyone here well, as this is one of the best resources of its type, for any hobby, anywhere.  setting up an account over at plantedtank.net under the same name...see you again sometime soon!

[debbeach13]

I was excited to see your name pop up. I have always been a fan of your tank. I am sorry to hear what happened. I hope your new venture goes well. Do stop by and say hello if you have time. 

[burtbollinger]

2 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I was excited to see your name pop up. I have always been a fan of your tank. I am sorry to hear what happened. I hope your new venture goes well. Do stop by and say hello if you have time. 

thank you.  FWIW, I went out while the tank was still very pretty and presentable.  It was just time to buy a new Vortech MP10 (maybe 2!), a new light (the Nanobox Duo had 60,000? hours on it) I needed a new box of salt, more aminos, reef roids....and probably another 500-800 dollars worth of corals to restore it to its former glory, all the while still fighting a small battle with dinos and apathy.

Advice I heard once was that once you are too lazy to clean the glass, then its time to shut it down...I pushed that to its extreme, and held out as long as I could.  In the end, it was a question of "Do I drop close to 1,200 fixing something I dont quite love, or try something new, while also getting back a good portion of expenses by flipping corals while they are still healthy?'

 

I chose the latter.

Should you care, I have a very clear goal in mind for planted...not thinking I get there soon, but someday, I hope to have something a LOT like this going on to replace what I shut down.  I'm using this single photo as a guide for what's next.  

Unless I get hit by a truck tho, I will be back reefing and back here at some point.  Hopefully by then, torches are cheap again.

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, burtbollinger said:

thank you.  FWIW, I went out while the tank was still very pretty and presentable.  It was just time to buy a new Vortech MP10 (maybe 2!), a new light (the Nanobox Duo had 60,000? hours on it) I needed a new box of salt, more aminos, reef roids....and probably another 500-800 dollars worth of corals to restore it to its former glory, all the while still fighting a small battle with dinos and apathy.

Advice I heard once was that once you are too lazy to clean the glass, then its time to shut it down...I pushed that to its extreme, and held out as long as I could.  In the end, it was a question of "Do I drop close to 1,200 fixing something I dont quite love, or try something new, while also getting back a good portion of expenses by flipping corals while they are still healthy?'

 

I chose the latter.

Should you care, I have a very clear goal in mind for planted...not thinking I get there soon, but someday, I hope to have something a LOT like this going on to replace what I shut down.  I'm using this single photo as a guide for what's next.  

Unless I get hit by a truck tho, I will be back reefing and back here at some point.  Hopefully by then, torches are cheap again.

Pop in from time to time and keep us updated in the FW thread on NR. 

[burtbollinger]

I didnt know such a thread existed. Will do!

[WV Reefer]

38 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

I didnt know such a thread existed. Will do!

 

[burtbollinger]

as mentioned a while back, switched to planted.  this is the converted reef tank, planted 120 days after planting.  

[burtbollinger]

 

[Lebowski_]

Looks great Burt.

 

We've got a reef and a planted tank in our household, and sometimes it's just nice to enjoy a great landscape. The reef is a lot more work day to day, while the planted tank is very low maintenance and peaceful. I can totally understand making a switch.