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TJ's Bust'em Up Custom Reef - Big News!


TJ_Burton

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MockandRoll

Congrats on your newborn. My kids are 16 months apart. The next few months will be hard but obviously well worth it. Tank looks great. Do your clams suck up calcium like crazy?

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9 hours ago, TJ_Burton said:

Our son was born not even an hour ago at home! Yay!!!

 

:lol:

Congratulations! Now you have one of each, mission accomplished :)

 

Was he born at home on purpose, or did it just work out that way? Like you have time answer questions now...:lol:

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14 minutes ago, MockandRoll said:

Congrats on your newborn. My kids are 16 months apart. The next few months will be hard but obviously well worth it. Tank looks great. Do your clams suck up calcium like crazy?

 

Not as much as you might think! Montipora is worse for calcium uptake IME. :)

 

6 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Congratulations! Now you have one of each, mission accomplished :)

 

Was he born at home on purpose, or did it just work out that way? Like you have time answer questions now...:lol:

 

Haha yes. We planned for a home birth, and were lucky enough to have one! Great experience; much more comfortable than staying at the hospital. Also great to really get ton  know the person who is delivering the baby with you.

 

I got to play catch, cut the cord, inspect the placenta with them etc. I'm pretty hands on with medical stuff. Find it fascinating!

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17 hours ago, TJ_Burton said:

Our son was born not even an hour ago at home! Yay!!!

 

:lol:

omgomgomg Yayyyyy congratulations!!!

 

8 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Congratulations! I love babies! Even more than I love fishes and corals.

Me too.  That's why I work with them professionally!  Professional diaper changer, that's me! :lol:

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Thanks so much everyone!!!

 

Good news! Replacement pump/impeller for the K2-50 arrived, and also included a new venturi. 

 

Also, the Chemi-Pure Blue and Metasorb combo have been doing a great job removing the impurities caused by the rust. Acros are coloring back up and polyp extension across all corals has improved quite a bit.

 

Managed to get a water change done today as well while my mother-in-law was over watching our toddler.

 

20170731_124700.thumb.jpg.3f469456041c2b93d9996662c5912f7c.jpg

 

20170731_124707.thumb.jpg.c9813050f141e005c70f044ef6872865.jpg

 

20170731_124627.thumb.jpg.9b2b1ceb09d049cd9a2e53d8be500fe2.jpg

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Congrats on the new baby TJ!!!!!!!

 

Im playing catch up but im glad you were able to identify the rusting impeller. What did you notice specifically about your corals health that made you check into it?

 

Wow that revamped T5 Fixture is sick and the SPS are looking great.(incredible PE!)

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19 hours ago, Rehype said:

Congrats on the new baby TJ!!!!!!!

 

Im playing catch up but im glad you were able to identify the rusting impeller. What did you notice specifically about your corals health that made you check into it?

 

Wow that revamped T5 Fixture is sick and the SPS are looking great.(incredible PE!)

 

Thanks, Hype!

Well, lucky for me (sort of) I had a run in years ago with a rusting Coralife Turbo Twist that was causing issues in my 20 gallon SPS heavy reef. It was causing corals to be pastel or pale in color, browning, and oddly small and shrunken polyps. Zoas were tiny and compact, LPS were pale and shrunken, and SPS were very pale, did not grow well, and had little to no polyp extension.

This photo shows before and after. The 'after' photo is after I used Cuprisorb to remove the resulting heavy metals. I circled a few notable corals that show a large difference before and after. The zoas are almost unrecognizable!

 

597fd339ee112_BeforeandAfterCopperRemover.thumb.jpg.01b129fa149f5c9adcc044f88a00ff38.jpg

 

And yeah, the T5 really came out well! I am trying to decide what color to do my 6 bulb unit!

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Quick snap of the tank from last night. Just the two moonlight LEDs from the Aquaticlife 6 bulb T5HO.

 

Fotor_150185383104148.thumb.jpg.5a49cdc56a9bc529e7e9e793862b0b09.jpg

 

In other awesome news, my new 3 foot tank should be delivered in the coming weeks! I was completely on the fence about upgrading, but decided to pull the trigger and work with a tank that is slightly larger. Had the option of black or white, and naturally gravitated towards white. I do like black cabinets as well, but white is definitely easier to photograph and film in detail IME.

 

Pics to come when it arrives!

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mitten_reef

I see your RR nautispiral now :D - that's a nice plate!

 

Do you still use the Aqamai KPS in this tank?  and how many?

 

My RW-4 went out this week, and I'm debating between the KPS and possibly the CurrentUSA eFlux (I know, it is pretty much a jebao, but I like that one eFlux hub can run 3 pumps idea for future expandability).     

 

Will one KPS work OK for 30" long tank with minimal rock work (CADlights 34G)?  I can throw in a Koralia to supplement. I just don't want more than 2 pumps in this display. 

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9 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

I see your RR nautispiral now :D - that's a nice plate!

 

Do you still use the Aqamai KPS in this tank?  and how many?

 

My RW-4 went out this week, and I'm debating between the KPS and possibly the CurrentUSA eFlux (I know, it is pretty much a jebao, but I like that one eFlux hub can run 3 pumps idea for future expandability).     

 

Will one KPS work OK for 30" long tank with minimal rock work (CADlights 34G)?  I can throw in a Koralia to supplement. I just don't want more than 2 pumps in this display. 

 

I do! I have 2 of them on this tank along with an MP10. They do a great job and move a surprising amount of water for such tiny little pumps. Programmability is also fantastic and simple. Loads of flexibility for making the random flow that we typically look for.

 

The eFlux pumps are also great. More powerful if that is what you need, but at the cost of flexibility. Just not as many options for programming. Also a bit bulkier. The bonus comes from the loop system if you use their return pumps and lighting as well. Which I do on my 265. Great system for keeping things simple.

 

Currently owning both pumps, I can say I really dig them. I would however lean heavily towards the KPS pumps for a small reef.

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Just found out a local reefer has a few montipora I've been after including RR Red Roses, Pokerstar, and Blue Digi!

 

With everything on the upswing, methinks I'll pick them up and start gluing down some frags next week.

 

I'm thinking of doing a big monti collection in this tank to keep things simple while I'm off on Pat leave. Less to think about that way! I'll worry about more acros once things settle down a bit.

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11 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Wow!!!

Very nice.

 

Haha thanks :)

 

It's really just a work in progress. I'm always so indecisive with gluing down corals... :P

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Managed to break out the old test kits today. Haven't tested for a couple weeks.

 

Cal is hanging high at 480

Alk is stable at 7.7 as it has been for months.

Magnesium has dropped from 1480 to 1350 as hoped since my last adjustment on the auto doser.

 

And I am happy to say phosphates are hanging out at 0.04 which is thanks to my Chaeto Reactor (and strong skimming).

 

Sooo I think I'm due for a wrasse. Maybe possum, pink streak, 6 line, or 4 line. Mostly for maintaining pod and other little critter populations.

 

Beyond that, I put a deposit on some RR Red Roses and Ponape birdsnest! 

 

Now I just wait for the new tank and for some time to go get those frags.

 

:happydance:

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On 8/6/2017 at 0:09 PM, TJ_Burton said:

Managed to break out the old test kits today. Haven't tested for a couple weeks.

 

Cal is hanging high at 480

Alk is stable at 7.7 as it has been for months.

Magnesium has dropped from 1480 to 1350 as hoped since my last adjustment on the auto doser.

 

And I am happy to say phosphates are hanging out at 0.04 which is thanks to my Chaeto Reactor (and strong skimming).

 

Sooo I think I'm due for a wrasse. Maybe possum, pink streak, 6 line, or 4 line. Mostly for maintaining pod and other little critter populations.

 

Beyond that, I put a deposit on some RR Red Roses and Ponape birdsnest! 

 

Now I just wait for the new tank and for some time to go get those frags.

 

:happydance:

I vote possum or pink-streaked if you can find them, but those are my favorites lol.  And yeah, keeping it simple with a new baby is a good plan!

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