Blenwood's Reef - 1st attempts at focus stacking

[Joevember]

Any updates? Hope all is well.

[Cannedfish]

In the immortal and comically inspiring words of Russell Casse (a down on his luck crop duster and Vietnam Vet played by Randy Quaid in the seminal 1996 movie “Independence Day”): 

 

“Hello boys, I’m back!!!”

 

Back from where you might ask? Big game hunting? Writing a best seller? Learning the banjo? Prison? While I wish most of those were true (what are bestsellers?), unfortunately, that’s not the case. Rather, I wish this was a moment were I could next quote LL Cool J and say, “don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years...” Unfortunately I can’t convincingly tell a lies that don’t  involve exaggerations about my mythical pro-fooseball career to unsuspecting ladies at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel bar while traveling for “business.” The truth is... I’ve been in a bit of mourning. See shortly after my last post (in February), following, literally years of living on the edge,  the tank finally called my bluff and went full “shaved-head Brittany Spears” and had a complete and utter Fukushima level meltdown. While I’ll get into specifics and causes later, it was, honestly, a pretty sickening process to watch. In little over 48 hours I lost 30+ corals and years worth of Earth, Wind & Fire... errr.. blood,sweat, and tears (and Amex Points). While, most importantly, Blenwood (First of his Name, Eater of Algae, Emperor of the Barnacle) and Lorp survived, I used the meltdown to take a bit of break, re-aquascape and come back in a better place. 

 

So without further ado, here are some crappy macro pics!

[WV Reefer]

2 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

In the immortal and comically inspiring words of Russell Casse (a down on his luck crop duster and Vietnam Vet played by Randy Quaid in the seminal 1996 movie “Independence Day”): 

 

“Hello boys, I’m back!!!”

 

Back from where you might ask? Big game hunting? Writing a best seller? Learning the banjo? Prison? While I wish most of those were true (what are bestsellers?), unfortunately, that’s not the case. Rather, I wish this was a moment were I could next quote LL Cool J and say, “don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years...” Unfortunately I can’t convincingly tell a lies that don’t  involve exaggerations about my mythical pro-fooseball career to unsuspecting ladies at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel bar while traveling for “business.” The truth is... I’ve been in a bit of mourning. See shortly after my last post (in February), following, literally years of living on the edge,  the tank finally called my bluff and went full “shaved-head Brittany Spears” and had a complete and utter Fukushima level meltdown. While I’ll get into specifics and causes later, it was, honestly, a pretty sickening process to watch. In little over 48 hours I lost 30+ corals and years worth of Earth, Wind & Fire... errr.. blood,sweat, and tears (and Amex Points). While, most importantly, Blenwood (First of his Name, Eater of Algae, Emperor of the Barnacle) and Lorp survived, I used the meltdown to take a bit of break, re-aquascape and come back in a better place. 

 

So without further ado, here are some crappy macro pics!

 

Glad you’re back. 😊

[This guy is extra salty]

🥺

[SliceGolfer]

Wishing you the best moving forward 

[Lula_Mae]

Awww I'm sorry to hear about the crash!  It's hard to lose something you've poured so much time, money and effort into.  I'm glad B$ and Lorp survived though, and the gorgeous blasto looks like it's making a recovery!

 

Don't tell me the chickens resorted to guerilla tactics in an effort to resolve the strike!

[FISHnChix]

Well with the lack of update I figured either a tank crash or a relapse of some sorts... kinda wish it would have been a relapse.... any who sorry to here about the crash.. hope it comes back stronger than ever... fyi a year later and Im still waiting for the damn end to the chicken saga.. I mean your killing me .. just say they died old and happy .I hate cliff hangers...😋

[fishfreak0114]

I’m so sorry to hear about the crash, but thank goodness Lorp and Blenwood made it through!! 

[Justind823]

Bummer to hear about the crash! Really hard to watch that happen...

 

The curse of TOTM gets us all at some point 

 

Glad to see you're back in action though 👍

[spectra]

chicken shit in it

 

Welcome back and well it happens to all of us...............

[mitten_reef]

👍

[debbeach13]

 Sorry you went through this. I hope it continues to turn around for you. 

[Newstead]

I read this page and thought  noooooooooo ..... that tank was amazing! 

Here's to a strong Tiger Woods comeback!

 

[Reefkid88]

Glad to see you back man that is awesome. Take it slow and enjoy it !!! 

[tanacharison]

[DaveFason]

Glad to see you back on the forum. The tank is still a stunner. 

-D

[HookedOnAquariums]

I came back to check on this thread... and I see this.

The biggest travesty since the fall of vine. I wish you well and I hope our tanks can rebound together. Did the hidden frag tank make it?

[gone_PHiSHin]

im very curious, what caused the crash with this tank?  would you mind updating us OP?

[TheBig053]

Sorry to hear about that crash man. Been there done that. Small tanks can be a bitch.

[Tamberav]

Dang really sorry.

[YHSublime]

Sorry to hear, it’s a tightrope walk running an SPS nano! 

 

How about a “comeback” update, LL @Cannedfish?

[glutton4punishment]

Oh goodness.  I stumbled upon your beautiful build and got my hopes up that I had not made a mistake by coming back to what I know from experience is a extremely challenging hobby.  I just bought an IM 10g - water and rock coming tonight - after having a 180 that I sold 3 years ago.  I know that small reef tanks are unforgiving but the sheer work of a large tank is exhausting. lol    I second a comeback update.  The more you fail, the more you know.

[Seadragon]

On 5/6/2019 at 9:36 PM, Cannedfish said:

See shortly after my last post (in February), following, literally years of living on the edge,  the tank finally called my bluff and went full “shaved-head Brittany Spears” and had a complete and utter Fukushima level meltdown. While I’ll get into specifics and causes later, it was, honestly, a pretty sickening process to watch. In little over 48 hours I lost 30+ corals and years worth of Earth, Wind & Fire... errr.. blood,sweat, and tears (and Amex Points).

 

On 5/22/2019 at 12:17 PM, gone_PHiSHin said:

im very curious, what caused the crash with this tank?  would you mind updating us OP?

 

@Cannedfish When you get a chance, I'd love to hear about the specifics of what caused the crash.  One thing I love about these journals is that it helps future hobbyists understand what works and what went wrong.  Who knows, it may even save countless others hundreds or thousands of dollars to not repeat the same mistake.  Beautiful tank though, I'm a TSB lover too!

 

[teenyreef]

It's hard to sustain interest when a tank goes from being incredible to something less. It's even harder to maintain interest in social media when it happens 😟

Hope you are doing well @Cannedfish 

[mitten_reef]

It's 2020, you need to get back in here and update us with the tank status.

 

Oh, ....and the chickens need an update of their own! @Cannedfish