ECLS Reefer Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 53 minutes ago, Cannedfish said: Thanks man! It's a work in progress... It's actually not far off the size of your new tank (maybe different dimensions, it's a 60 something gallon from Reef Savy. The interesting thing about the scape is that the "pedestal," it's on is three columns so there is a ton of swimming room for the fish, and the overhangs are great for NPS... There are definitely some things I would do differently, notably have the top of the scape be about 3 inces lower (all the acros are basically growing out of the water, if he turns off the return pump the tips are out of the water), but I love the "bonsai" style scapes. I desperately need some reef scaping ideas for this upcoming addition of 50-60lbs of rock to the big tank. I’m a complete loss at arranging rocks in a beauteous manner 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 18 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said: I desperately need some reef scaping ideas for this upcoming addition of 50-60lbs of rock to the big tank. I’m a complete loss at arranging rocks in a beauteous manner start by reading @VeganBrian post/article below. There are more examples/discussions under same thread name on R2R as well. That should give you a good start. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 A few more pics from this weekend, because in the immortal words of Admiral Ackbar, “if you gots it, flaunts it...” WD torch. heard they’re hot right now... murder weapon of choice 5 2 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 46 minutes ago, Cannedfish said: A few more pics from this weekend, because in the immortal words of Admiral Ackbar, “if you gots it, flaunts it...” WD torch. heard they’re hot right now... murder weapon of choice That WD looks like it needs to put on a little more colors. Quote Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 2 hours ago, mitten_reef said: That WD looks like it needs to put on a little more colors. MOAR PAR !!!!!! 3 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 It’s the 13th again, so that means monthly update time!! So where do we start... well, the penicillin shot seems to be working, and the swelling is slowing going down... Errr, in tank news, it’s over all been a relatively quiet month. Like my karaoke skills, somewhere between my third and forth sake bomb, the tank seems to have, for the moment, found it’s relative rhythm. There is very little algae, the dinos are being held in check, the parameters are stable, and growth is okay. I say okay, because as many of us know... or a line many of us may or may not have used, growth is... relative. Adding a millimeter of entrustment to a freshly cut 1/3 inch acro frag is, all things considered, is pretty good, though it’s hardly noticeable. Same goes for small acro nubs that significantly increase their girth. It doesn’t look like much, but they may have add a significant amount of mass to their skeleton. Enough about that... In terms of live stock I haven’t added much. Really just Rasta Zoas, more black suns, and the rainbow trachy I’ve samelessly been flaunting. A few posts ago I posted my livestock pre-crash, here is the updated stocking list: Acros -Highlighter (UC maybe? Idk) -Bonsai -Blue echinata -Yellow indo Mille -ARC fireworks -JF fire dragon -Red Mille (CF Booger Sugar) -Vivid confetti -OG OT -RMF Diablo -JKR Rainbow -SCOP -WD -Wild Pikachu -WWC Afterparty -UC peep show -ASD Rainbow Mille montipora -ASD Grafted Cap -Setosa -RR CrazyT -Forest Fire Digi Other SPS -Birdsnest Zoas Vietnamese wild Sunny d’s Blue eyed blondies Utter chaos King Midas WWC twizzlers Rastas LPS 4x rainbow acans 3x green acans Walking dendro Indo trachy Orange psammy Orange lepto Acan echinata Ultron favia 3x assorted blastos Bounce blastos Meteor shower cyphastrea WWC Peppermint cyphastrea Softies WWC OG bounce GSP Orange mushroom NPS Bi colored suns Green tip black suns Black suns Fat head dendros 5x balanophyllia Inverts PPC Fire shrimp Randals pistol shrimp Austria snails Nararrius snails Cerith snails Porcelain crab Gulf oyster Scarlet hermits Blue leg hermits Fish -Tail-spot blenny -Red rooster pygmy waspfish -Tanaka’s pygmy possum wrasse ........ Progress pics: April FTS: Mat FTS: April FTS: Other notes and such... First, I’m planning to switch from ESV 2-part to Fauna Marin All-For-Reef, my dosing pumps despite constant calibration doesn’t seem to want to dose the alk and calc in equal amounts. It hasn’t been enough to cause any problems, in part because of water changes, but it will be one less thing to worry about, not to mention the good reviews the All-For-Reefs seems to have. Second, and not to make this a Fauna Marin love fest, but the FM LPS pellets are amazing. I’ve tried a bunch of different foods, from various types of frozen (Rod’s, PE Mysis, LRS), pellets, Reef Nutrition mysis, and Roids, the FM LPS pellets are the only thing that the trachy will eat, everything else is sloughed off. Lastly, I won eight dollars on a scratcher last week. 5 1 1 Quote Link to comment
YHSublime Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Nice get on the scratcher! 1 2 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 8 hours ago, Cannedfish said: Looks awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Starting to see noticeable growth 👍🙌 2 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Looks like you have two April FTS in there, must be the voodoo magic in the bayou thing that helps you stop time, but corals keep growing. 2 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 On 6/14/2020 at 12:11 AM, YHSublime said: Nice get on the scratcher! Right... it only cost me $20 too! #finances BTDubs... your tank is looking amazing! On 6/14/2020 at 4:30 AM, debbeach13 said: Looks awesome. Thanks! Only eight more months till it’s grown in... ...I can’t plan next week... what am I going to do about 8 months... 21 hours ago, mitten_reef said: Looks like you have two April FTS in there, must be the voodoo magic in the bayou thing that helps you stop time, but corals keep growing. Nope... not voodoo magic... that’s the Louisana edumacation system... we don’t actually believe in *cringe* June... we figure since it’s the start of hurricane season and because it’s hot... and because you’re not supposed to eat oysters in not-May and because “der ain’t no LSU footballs...” in the month before the month before August (whatever that is) we might as well skip it and move on to the last week in August... which is the only week we acknowledge during that also god forsaken month. Go Tigers! ....... photos!! Sun coral placement... nailed it... SC OP Highlighter Top down... 3 2 3 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 9 minutes ago, Cannedfish said: Ooooh I like this last one. Some familiar pieces starting to turn colors. 2 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Cannedfish said: Sun coral placement... nailed it... Now the sun does shine there! 2 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 PS, there's a BIG green crab camouflaging among your acros! 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 2 hours ago, mitten_reef said: PS, there's a BIG green crab camouflaging among your acros! Whoa there totally is 😳 I went back and played where’s Waldo to see and sure enough! 3 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 On 6/13/2020 at 9:05 PM, Cannedfish said: First, I’m planning to switch from ESV 2-part to Fauna Marin All-For-Reef, my dosing pumps despite constant calibration doesn’t seem to want to dose the alk and calc in equal amounts. It hasn’t been enough to cause any problems, in part because of water changes, but it will be one less thing to worry about, not to mention the good reviews the All-For-Reefs seems to have. First, trying to quote a small portion of your monthly update is near impossible on iPhone. second, I have read good things about all for reef on here. Its escaping on who are using this, as I’m sure a few threads I followed have used them with success. The idea of one single dose covers everything seems awesome. Did you see that you have to wait for the alk level testing? It takes a couple of days, supposedly for the alk to show the affect of dosage adjustment. Somebody said they just gonna dose based on calcium in their system, after having determined that the alk stayed stable and in-step with ca. Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 This red one over here - is that a forest fire digi? Do they grow easily? : What is this multi-colored one? A blasto? 🤔 : 1 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 On 6/16/2020 at 1:33 AM, Cannedfish said: Right... it only cost me $20 too! #finances BTDubs... your tank is looking amazing! Thanks! Only eight more months till it’s grown in... ...I can’t plan next week... what am I going to do about 8 months... Nope... not voodoo magic... that’s the Louisana edumacation system... we don’t actually believe in *cringe* June... we figure since it’s the start of hurricane season and because it’s hot... and because you’re not supposed to eat oysters in not-May and because “der ain’t no LSU footballs...” in the month before the month before August (whatever that is) we might as well skip it and move on to the last week in August... which is the only week we acknowledge during that also god forsaken month. Go Tigers! ....... photos!! Sun coral placement... nailed it... SC OP Highlighter Top down... How big is that monti? Looks like you ran out of space and dropped them over an already encrusted rock 1 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 On 6/15/2020 at 7:44 PM, mitten_reef said: Ooooh I like this last one. Some familiar pieces starting to turn colors. Haha, do any of those, by chance, look familiar? The Pink Floyd and the Fire Dragon are coloring (or colouring... if you're posh) up nicely, and the FD is encrusting at a pretty nice clip. The indo mille, has gone from "morning after taco and tequila night" to a blueish green color... I'm not super convinced how much more color I'll be able to pull out of out it... but will see, either way it seems to be happy. On 6/15/2020 at 8:46 PM, debbeach13 said: Now the sun does shine there! Why didn't I think of that joke! Damn it, that was a real missed opportunity right there. Really, kicking my self for that whiff. Well done! On 6/16/2020 at 7:30 AM, mitten_reef said: PS, there's a BIG green crab camouflaging among your acros! 23 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Whoa there totally is 😳 I went back and played where’s Waldo to see and sure enough! That's Dave. He's mostly a good boy, but I suspect in his constant fight against algae he really irritates the setosa and UC Peep Show Acros. The main problem with Dave (besides the fact he doesn't pay rent) is that he is starting to get pretty big, so we're going to have to keep an eye on him in case he starts to after more dangerous prey... aka Blenwood. 13 hours ago, mitten_reef said: second, I have read good things about all for reef on here. Its escaping on who are using this, as I’m sure a few threads I followed have used them with success. The idea of one single dose covers everything seems awesome. Did you see that you have to wait for the alk level testing? It takes a couple of days, supposedly for the alk to show the affect of dosage adjustment. Somebody said they just gonna dose based on calcium in their system, after having determined that the alk stayed stable and in-step with ca. Great reminder about the lag in alk testing. I'd had read that too, but had forgotten about it. Not looking forward to hopping back on the multiple daily testing train, but I feel like I'll have better piece of mind about the parameters when I finally dial the All-For-Reef in. This dosing pump issue, is making me rethink the Apex though... or at least a better dosing pump. 13 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: This red one over here - is that a forest fire digi? Do they grow easily? : Yup! It's a great grower, as well as, being pretty hardy. Also although it's not the most hyped SPS, it has really good colors and an interesting growth pattern. I highly recommend it! 13 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: What is this multi-colored one? A blasto? 🤔 : The multi-colored (blue, red, and gold) coral is actually a favia. Although, it was sold to me as a Jason Fox something or other, after conversing with more knowledgeable people than me (basically anyone who can read or successfully make mashed potatoes), it's probably the Ultron Favia (although I feel trade names for all but a few LPS and kinda silly (they color shift too readily...I'm looking at you acans)). I will say however, not being the biggest LPS "enthusiast," I really really like this coral. In fact, when I went the LFS I wasn't planning on buying it or ever buying it, but being the brightest thing in the frag tank, which contained a lot of heat, and I couldn't pass it up. In fact, the picture doesn't do the frag justice. Unfortunately, it has been placed (by some idiot who can't make mashed potatoes) just above a rather evil and bellicose echinata, and it's just a matter of time till there is war, in which the favia will likely lose (and will be completely nuked and/or have to be moved). 4 hours ago, Ratvan said: How big is that monti? Looks like you ran out of space and dropped them over an already encrusted rock The monti is about an inch and a half across. If, however, you don't believe in the imperial measurement system, it's about four horse teeth or 1/16 camel foot across, obviously depending on the barometric pressure and quality of the camel. Great observation about the placement! Besides always wanting a grafted cap, its placement is serving two purposes: 1) hopefully it will shade out and kill/slow down the cyphastrea it was placed over which is slowly taking over the tank, 2) as it grows larger it will create additional real estate upon which I can place more acros. I'm not above a lot of things, but gluing acros directly to a living monti is definitely not one of them. ....... If you've made it this far... here are some "photos" to go along with my lack of proofreading: Top-ish down (not taken with a gel filter): Sun Coral up close: Chubby Trachy (finally get a reliable feeding response out of it) 8 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 3 hours ago, Cannedfish said: The indo mille, has gone from "morning after taco and tequila night" to a blueish green color... I'm not super convinced how much more color I'll be able to pull out of out it... but will see, mine is currently sitting still at the solid deep pink (like CF sugar booger, but not as bright), with contrasting green-teal polyps. Idk what happened to all the glow-y-ness.... 🤷♂️ 3 hours ago, Cannedfish said: This dosing pump issue, is making me rethink the Apex though... or at least a better dosing pump. can't each head be programmed to run at different length of time to accommodate the difference? OR are you saying that the pump "slips" over time and doesn't repeat the dosage correctly, in this case slowly dosing less and less? Either way, that's bad, I guess. I have never re-measured my BRS 1.1 pump since my first time installing it. It's the only one, dosing alk 6 times a day - maybe i should check. might get an ecotech versa next. Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 8 minutes ago, mitten_reef said: can't each head be programmed to run at different length of time to accommodate the difference? OR are you saying that the pump "slips" over time and doesn't repeat the dosage correctly, in this case slowly dosing less and less? Either way, that's bad, I guess. I have never re-measured my BRS 1.1 pump since my first time installing it. It's the only one, dosing alk 6 times a day - maybe i should check. might get an ecotech versa next. Yeah, each head is programmed to dose a specific amount. In my case I have it set to dose a ml of each alk and calcium 6 times a day. However, despite calibrating the calcium head several times, the alk and calcium are being depleted from their respective dosing containers at vastly different rates. I don't know if there is something pinching the line or if the head is defective but its causing an imbalance. I may go through and tighten everything down one last time before switching. But either way, I feel like switching from two part to one part, is one less variable that can go wrong. While that might not be super important at the moment, I know in 6-8 month (assuming I don't screw something up), when the SPS has grown in and the tank is rolling and consuming huge amounts of alk and calcium, this will be important. Because if the crash taught me anything, at that point, with only about 8 gallons of actual water volume, the system is basically operating on a razor's edge of stability. 1 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 "...so anyways, long story short, they found me wandering around Lake Placid in the middle of January wearing only a bathrobe yelling "where is the hot tub..."" Oh hey, didn't see you there. No one asked, or frankly cares, but weekends in the Big Dirty are a lot less exciting these days. Basically, when I'm not sitting on the porch sipping "tea" and thinking how someone really should mow the grass around the '87 Buick in the front yard, I have been filling my time with the existential dread of changing dosing fluids in the tank. After weeks of putting it off, the time came and I finally "paid" the neighbor's kid to mow the lawn. Little did that jerk know that jellybeans aren't legal currency... stupid kids... Additionally, I also finally got up the gumption to switch dosing fluids and do some much needed maintenance on the tank. If this were a terrible '90's rom-com or pretty much any movie that comes on VH1 after 6pm, this is the part where I would insert a "rad" montage of me cleaning the tank to a "hip" '80's classic like Eye of the Tiger or Kenny Loggin's Danger Zone. Unfortunately, instead of the wonders of television you are stuck with poorly written and even less proofread "prose" and will have to accept my half-assed written description of the events. Alright, no one, including me, wants that... so I will bullet point what I did: Cleaned all the dosing lines Re-calibrated the dosing pump. Switched the dosing fluid from ESV B-Ionic 2-part to Tropic Marin (not Fauna Marin....) All-For-Reefs Tore out all my acan garden to kill the "small" colony of aptasia (I still can't tell if the berghia nudis are working on the main rock... much like all of my crushes in middle school, I getting a lot of mixed signals) Pulled up my zoa garden, remounted all the individual zoa strains to individual frag tiles and re organized them into a more coherent plan Did a big water change Additionally, last week while sitting on my front porch eating jelly beans and scheming on how to bamboozle the neighbor's kid into mowing my lawn for free, and after having a few too many "teas," I apparently got fed up with my protein skimmer and ordered a new one on the "interwebz." I know this because yesterday a new protein skimmer, that I don't remember ordering, arrived via the mailman. It's the IM Aqua-Gadget Bio-Skim protein skimmer, and while I haven't yet tested it out (it's sitting in a vinegar bath at the moment), it seems like everything I have been looking for in a nano skimmer over the last three years: bubble plate, needle wheel, adjustable, doesn't cost 800 jelly beans... But I will update everyone when I get it working, but I have high hopes. In the meantime, while I dial in the new fluid, I'm back to testing three times a day, and praying to the reef gods that I don't nuke my tank... .... Photos!! New Toy! Dave the Emerald Crab Blondies No Caption Needed. 4 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 tell me what sorcery you used to create such fantastic image. I'll be watching for the updates on all-for-reef. I might consider it for the new tank. send me some "tea"....😂 4 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 46 minutes ago, mitten_reef said: tell me what sorcery you used to create such fantastic image. I'll be watching for the updates on all-for-reef. I might consider it for the new tank. send me some "tea"....😂 No joke send me a whole freaking barrel of said tea. Does it make the current issues of the world go away, even for a little while?? 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Famous last words: “Dosing fluid swap going remarkably smoothly...” .... Mo’ fotos... Bonsai!! Zoom zoom! Bring back Jorts! Challah, Holla, or Holler @ ya boi. 4 3 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.