IM ten gallons of tank breakdown and free critters.

[A Little Blue]

47 minutes ago, 1891Bro said:

Well I was at my lfs today. Went to pick up some tubing for the new ato (they didn’t have it so went to HD) so the thing is, they must have some kinda deal with Kessil. I’ve run into some of the company reps there before and all their tanks, the displays (I’ve got to get a video for y’all theyve got a whole room of multiple large displays half reef, half planted, all gorgeous for those of you not in the Bay Area I feel bad. Awesome lfs.) and the for sale tanks, even the FO non reef safe are lit up with kessil. Anyway, they’ve got two IM 10s on display over the kessil lights, one with the a80 and another with the 160. They look really nice. A bit bluer than I prefer but very clean and healthy stuff. I’m trying to talk myself out of it but, an a80 with a gooseneck is just a bit more than replacing my CC par38. It doesn’t need replaceing but you know how it is. Opinions? Should I? Should I go for the 160 instead? There’s a used one I can pick up local if I can talk the SO into letting me drop the coin. Anyone with these lights over a similar dimension tank feel free to chime in. 

I would go for 160 used. You never know, You might upgrade to something larger in the future. I own one for yeaaars and still love it. The only thing to consider is, a80 uses heat sinks to cool down the chip and 160 has a tinny fan that kicks in occasionally. You can barely hear it from few feet away but it is something that you might take into consideration. Shimmer is probably one of the best in the business. 

[1891Bro]

41 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

I would go for 160 used. You never know, You might upgrade to something larger in the future. I own one for yeaaars and still love it. The only thing to consider is, a80 uses heat sinks to cool down the chip and 160 has a tinny fan that kicks in occasionally. You can barely hear it from few feet away but it is something that you might take into consideration. Shimmer is probably one of the best in the business. 

As far as upgrading, I’m at my limit where I’m renting and I don’t plan on any moves till the work here dries up and when that happens I ain’t pissanting fish and such cross country back to book one. None of this makes sense if you’re not in my line of work so basically no upgrade coming. 

[A Little Blue]

18 minutes ago, 1891Bro said:

As far as upgrading, I’m at my limit where I’m renting and I don’t plan on any moves till the work here dries up and when that happens I ain’t pissanting fish and such cross country back to book one. None of this makes sense if you’re not in my line of work so basically no upgrade coming. 

I get the idea. Still, I would go for 160. I use a80 for my fuge. It might be enough for softies, LPS and few less demanding SPS corals if you decide to go that road. 

Low profile, fan-less design and price is a strong suite of a80. It also works with Kessil controller if you want more control over this light. 160 is simply moooor uber light for that particular tank. I guess you have a decision to make. Either way,  those are both capable lights.... unless, you are SPS junky. 

[1891Bro]

1 hour ago, A Little Blue said:

I get the idea. Still, I would go for 160. I use a80 for my fuge. It might be enough for softies, LPS and few less demanding SPS corals if you decide to go that road. 

Low profile, fan-less design and price is a strong suite of a80. It also works with Kessil controller if you want more control over this light. 160 is simply moooor uber light for that particular tank. I guess you have a decision to make. Either way,  those are both capable lights.... unless, you are SPS junky. 

Ha!  I’m a junky but neither of those grow beer!  Honestly if the wife won’t give a go ahead it’s just gonna stay as is. Was just looking for opinions. So thanks for yours. 

[1891Bro]

Heater crapped out. Tank is sitting steady at about 75F (#### you metric system) that was how I noticed it wasn’t working. Went to turn it up and nothing. Cranked that ####er up to 90, nothing. Replacement on the way. Lucky for the warm weather, the temp is low but stable as it’s tough to get below 75 inside without really trying. 

[A Little Blue]

22 minutes ago, 1891Bro said:

Heater crapped out. Tank is sitting steady at about 75F (#### you metric system) that was how I noticed it wasn’t working. Went to turn it up and nothing. Cranked that ####er up to 90, nothing. Replacement on the way. Lucky for the warm weather, the temp is low but stable as it’s tough to get below 75 inside without really trying. 

Could have been worst. Luckily, it didn’t get stock and cooked your tank. Been there years ago. Went up to 89 and made a really sad fish soup. That fu##up kept me away from reefing for quite some time. 

[1891Bro]

13 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Could have been worst. Luckily, it didn’t get stock and cooked your tank. Been there years ago. Went up to 89 and made a really sad fish soup. That fu##up kept me away from reefing for quite some time. 

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Better off than on. 

[1891Bro]

Well, nothing to really brag about. The nem did great for the better part of a year and then just shrank up into nothing. Didn’t melt or explode or go into a powerhead. I really don’t know why it went south. No changes minus the fish my kid and wife got me and the two coral frags. But here’s a yearish fts. 

My god! Where is the progress? I don’t know. I haven’t even started trying to look for it. 

[WV Reefer]

13 minutes ago, 1891Bro said:

Well, nothing to really brag about. The nem did great for the better part of a year and then just shrank up into nothing. Didn’t melt or explode or go into a powerhead. I really don’t know why it went south. No changes minus the fish my kid and wife got me and the two coral frags. But here’s a yearish fts. 

My god! Where is the progress? I don’t know. I haven’t even started trying to look for it. 

 

The fish look nice tho.   

[1891Bro]

2 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

 

The fish look nice tho.   

Yup.  Definitely not dead. 

[A Little Blue]

Nems don’t just disappear....

[1891Bro]

46 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Nems don’t just disappear....

 No ####ing shit, I didn’t say it did. Over the course of about three weeks it shrunk. You can see what it looked like in earlier photos. It just kept getting smaller and smaller. It was down to about the size of a dime and then I just just couldn’t find it. I don’t think David ####ing copperfield came in and whisked it away. It went south fast and I don’t have any explanation. 

[A Little Blue]

Lock of explanation doesn’t necessarily means Copperfield effect. Lol 

If it died or got shredded you would have noticed (you can’t miss that) 😎

You might try looking a little harder under the rocks and check for copper while you’re at it. Did this happened b4 or after your heater failure?

[1891Bro]

48 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Lock of explanation doesn’t necessarily means Copperfield effect. Lol 

If it died or got shredded you would have noticed (you can’t miss that) 😎

You might try looking a little harder under the rocks and check for copper while you’re at it. Did this happened b4 or after your heater failure?

Oh way before. Two + months or so. I’ve looked. It stayed put the whole time. I’ve got a stay at home wife who usually notices oddities in the tank and (eye roll) conviently texts me at work about them. Thing never moved. Just started getting smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller... you get the point. One day it just wasn’t there. 

 

Edit just checked. Still ain’t there. 

[A Little Blue]

45 minutes ago, 1891Bro said:

Oh way before. Two + months or so. I’ve looked. It stayed put the whole time. I’ve got a stay at home wife who usually notices oddities in the tank and (eye roll) conviently texts me at work about them. Thing never moved. Just started getting smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller... you get the point. One day it just wasn’t there. 

 

Edit just checked. Still ain’t there. 

That’s weird. If it melted, your tank should have gone through some visible signs of decayed crap. If it got shredded, you wouldn’t miss it if you tried. When they shrivel down to a size of a quarter and wedge itself down between rocks, it becomes a hunting game. If it is still alive, there might be a chance to save it. If it is not, you are lucky that it didn’t crush your tank. 

As a side note - due to your recent heater issues, you might look into inexpensive temperature controller. Fellow reefer recommended Ink Bird controller as a solution. In short, unimaginable peace of mind. 

[1891Bro]

29 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

That’s weird. If it melted, your tank should have gone through some visible signs of decayed crap. If it got shredded, you wouldn’t miss it if you tried. When they shrivel down to a size of a quarter and wedge itself down between rocks, it becomes a hunting game. If it is still alive, there might be a chance to save it. If it is not, you are lucky that it didn’t crush your tank. 

As a side note - due to your recent heater issues, you might look into inexpensive temperature controller. Fellow reefer recommended Ink Bird controller as a solution. In short, unimaginable peace of mind. 

Yeah it’s gone. It didn’t crush my tank. CRUSH! I don’t even use a powerhead so it’d have to brave the dry air to crawl into the back chamber for a pump blending. Whatever happened to it, it happened slowly with no ill effects to anything else. It’s no longer there, at all, not tucked into a ####ing crevice or anywhere else. ####er never moved or wandered once it got settled. I watched it just shrink till it was gone. And now it’s gone. I’ve come to terms with it. Now we can all rest easy.

I have been thinking about the inkbird. I even made a post about it about a week ago. Thanks. 

[A Little Blue]

Don’t sweat it. S##t happens. I love nems but hate to care for them and won’t put up with their destructive behavior. 

[1891Bro]

I don’t know or remember what thread I posted it in but, I said I’d take a photo of how low the water got in the display during a waterchange. Man, my memory and estimates are just pure dog shit. Anyway, I aim for 4 gallons a week but I try to take out a bit less than I have mixed just cause. This photo is how much water is left in the display after draining nearly four gallons. 

[A Little Blue]

Looks like 7g total in the display. 👀

My 30l has approximately 20g in the display (probably less). 

[1891Bro]

9 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Looks like 7g total in the display. 👀

My 30l has approximately 20g in the display (probably less). 

If you say so. IM should be charging more. If what’s left in there “looks” like seven gallons then I must have a 30L too. 

[A Little Blue]

Total, TOTAL ToTaL volume 🤕

[1891Bro]

10 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Total, TOTAL ToTaL volume 🤕

Have a drink bro. Have a few.  

[A Little Blue]

Just now, 1891Bro said:

Have a drink bro. Have a few.  

👍

[1891Bro]

Across a few different tanks I’ve had I’ve never had any success with zoas. The birthday frag that my wife a kids got me seems to be happy and actually has put out a few new polyps in the monthish it’s been in. The big polyp took a massive dump today. I tried my hand at macro photography, well my version of it. Kids toy magnifying glass and a cell phone but the images with and without the mag glass were no different. Someone send me a nice camera and photog skills for free and use it as a charitable donation for the 2018 returns (if those ####os in dc don’t rob that away too)....

Anyway, I’m gonna try to get a pic of the zoos and the micro as they are both seeming to grow. I complain too much, the wife and kids getting me the fish and the frag for my bday has renewed my motivation for this tank and it seems to be doing well. I keep thinking about getting more coral. I’ll edit with photos in a few minutes. 

 

Edit: You can only see one of the tiny new zoa polyps as the other is in the shade of the large one. If you really zoom in on the micro you’ll se the lil tiny feeders from the newer growth. Just so no one thinks I’m lying. 

Another edit. This photo really shows why I’ve been eyeing different lighting.  The par38 is really a nice light but here you can see the disco frozen. 

[Tamberav]

Grats on the growth! Maybe they should do all your reef shopping.

 

I was excited when my magician paly popped a new head as I had trouble keeping them in the past. Fingers crossed.