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Joe's IM 20: Got a couple clowns, call it a circus 🎪


Joevember

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4 hours ago, Fish_Wiz said:

Ahhhh don't tell me this was the same heater posted on CR for $30...... Darn it shoulda jumped on it.

Idk, it was the same guy who was selling the IM tanks (I bought his 20) and he had it listed as a 150w.

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After I got my Black Widow BTA attached to my rockwork, my flame RBTA decided to join it atop the rockwork. I don't know how it jumped the gap of sand between its rubble and the rock... but it did... So no acros are going to be going there anymore.

But now I don't have an ugly piece of rock on my sand, AND I have a lot of room for a nice LPS that can go on the sandbed. 

 

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I also have to reglue more frags that fell off. Thinking about using epoxy this time around.

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Good news in my life. Just git accepted into my #1 college, Northwestern, Go Wildcats! 😆 I'll be attending next fall to study biochemisty. I actually wrote one of my college essays on my reef tank, and how I would experiment on it.

But, their policy on pets is very strict and doesn't allow any. I have read some things about it, and some people said the policy doesn't apply to fish (or the residence halls don't care about fish). I'll get in contact with NU and see if I can make this into a dorm tank.

Last night I also got a cyphastrea that will encrust on the underside of my rock, since it is a low light coral. No pics though...

FTS

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If you want any close-ups on anything, LMK. I'd be happy to take some more pics of the tank.

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7 hours ago, Nelson said:

Congrats! Nice reef tank, very complete in such a short time. Keep up the good work

Thanks!

I broke down my old 65 gallon, so I had a lot to work with. It made the transition to a mature tank much easier. 

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Well my bubble coral got too large to clean the glass well enough, so I rotated it 90°. I have the clearence to get the algae scraper by now, but it demolished part of my purple trumpet in less than a day. Can see the skeleton of the trumpet, and tissue is dark around the sting. I reglued the trumpet a big higher. You can't really see anything at the angle I mounted it at, so no point in taking a pic.

 

Also, the cyphastrea!

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Got 3 more sexies! They're all over the BTA. The other one is a little shy with them, but I think he can open up more.

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Also picked up 2 frags while at the store. A jedi mind trick monti, and a red acan (can't describe it more because it's all closed up after the dip). Pics tomorrow!

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The new sexies are hosting my RFA, didn't think they could host it! 😄 

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Also, finishes customizing my opem APS stand. Bought it from DFS for $50, and made it into a cabinet for another $50. 

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Thinking about what to put on the sandbed and need some suggestions. My elegance isn't doing too hot, some sand was on its oral disc for over an hour after a WC, and it got an infection. Idk if it will live. So, I need something to fill the gap in the sand and (possibly) replace the elegance.

 

My ideas at the moment are: a different elegance (not indo this time), small zoa garden, small ricordia garden, plate coral, an acan colony, or another RFA. The right rock does cast a pretty large shadow on the sand, so it can't be a high light demand coral.

 

Pic of the area:15457600553671303396483256240095.thumb.jpg.e3e3f443eb31be37bce68908d7dc0816.jpg

 

And merry Christmas, I'll share what I got later... 🎅🏾

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Merry Christmas Joe! I like all of those suggestions you made for a coral to add to the sandbed. You can also consider adding a GSP rock on the sandbed as well. Just make sure it isn't near your other rock work so the GSP can spread beyond its island

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10 minutes ago, btmedic04 said:

Merry Christmas Joe! I like all of those suggestions you made for a coral to add to the sandbed. You can also consider adding a GSP rock on the sandbed as well. Just make sure it isn't near your other rock work so the GSP can spread beyond its island

I thought about trying to stick some to my back wall, but I didn't want a sea of green covering my tank 😂

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Merry Christmas fellow reefer! What about a goniopora or alveopora? Check out Wojtek's for these, he's def got some nice hardy ones although prices can be a bit steep. Shoot me a PM, I have a source for a full goni colony for fairly cheap if you're willing to take a chance and bring it back to life. 

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Here's what I got over the holiday season:20181225_232409.thumb.jpg.dae42375802c5fe58854f65680419450.jpg

The new pump was difficult to install because the stock tubing was too small, so I had to heat it up a heat gun to get it to fit.

The new driver is soooo much more quiet. I didn't know how much of a difference it would make, but you can definitely hear it.

I can finally get the stubborn hard algae by the sand and corners with the new scraper. The scrubbers are cool, but I'll be using this more often.

Also, can't go wrong with some more chemipure. 😁

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Just picked up two corals from one of my favorite LFS's during a holiday sale. If you're ever in Chicago, check out Wojtek' reef! Check out one of the frag tanks they have:20181227_112402.thumb.jpg.3ccbc31343023086abda56ee455847bb.jpg20181227_112357.thumb.jpg.a6b235d62c01bd1522e3d9e04301ed67.jpg

Got a 5" elegance (new centerpiece) for only $35! 20181227_182458.thumb.jpg.fc82494584ebfb9f5c6bffcfa523ea03.jpg

Also picked up a purple and green torch, which doesn't look that great under my light spectrum.20181227_182509.thumb.jpg.d4ca107c3ac71f9d1c476564d9aaa305.jpg

Fragged a head off my neon torch to sell to a local reefer friend. Then I reglued my Auroral Afterglow torch onto the green torch's skeleton. Hopefully it will look good when they all fill out the tank.20181227_182514.thumb.jpg.a446a399d59e2925b0a1c720dc41390c.jpg

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The ric I got melted. I couldn't get it to stick to a rock after it decided to go free floating around the tank. Found it behind my lobo. 

I managed to get most of the goop out, but there was a small nutrient spike. Nothing looks bad from it except for the new jedi mind trick monti. Half of it rtn'd and it has some brown algae on it.

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Pretty much lost my green birdnest by now. It has been STN-ing for a couple weeks because it's getting constant contact with my bta. It was sacrifice my bta was willing to make.20190107_190708.thumb.jpg.53d70ed0e9edbf41035c7d4bf1b3f426.jpg

I also noticed that my stylo and pocillopora have also been losing polyps. Not sure if it's the bta or my sexies. The corals are both on an inch from the bta. Sexies have to go if it isn't from the bta...

 

Surprise stomatella! Very small.

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New tank addition yesterday. I picked up this pink micromussa lord. Has a few baby polyps showing up, and it has at least 12 big polyps on it. Also moved all my lords together on the sandbed to start a garden.

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Here are some cool pics of my tank inhabitants.

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Just saw one of my sexies munchin on my purple stylo, it has 4 bald spots now. I don't think any other sexies are eating it, so I'll cross my fingers and just remove the one. If anyone has any advice on feeding these little guys, please share it with me. 

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Also, I still think that my green birdnest was killed by my bta.

 

Here are some more top down shots, the torch one turned out very nice, but I can't get any good ones of the BTA with the light.

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9 hours ago, alpinestar said:

duncans on the last one? looks great!

Thanks! It is a duncan. It is coloring up nicely in this tank. Before it was a lot more brown, but I run the Ecotech SPS AB+ program, which I attribute to the new colors.

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Made up my mind, all the sexies are going. They don't want any of the food I try to give them, and I've seen them on my montis too much. 

I tried to take this pic as close to the one above as possible. You can clearly see there are many more polyps missing/closed up.

 

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40 minutes ago, Daniel91 said:

I really like your tank!

Can I ask how you converted the stand? Where you get the material?

 

- Daniel

Thanks! I got everything I needed from Menards. The list was: 1/8" hardboard, wooden moulding, black acrylic paint, some 1/2" plywood, and sliding door hinges (I don't remember the size).

Since the APS stand already has rails, you can cut the hardboard to fit, paint it, and then just glue the moulding to it. They slide in real easy. You do that to make two side panels.

The door was the hardest part. Do the same thing with the side panels, but don't cut it to fit the rails. You can slide the hinges into the rails. Cut 2 plywood blocks and glue them onto the door where the hinges would go into. Drill the holes to fit the hinges, and make sure you wait for the glue to dry, and give enough space for the drill so you don't drill past the moulding. After that, you can just align one, slide the other one into place, and you're done.

 

Lmk if you have any questions or need help.

I wish I made a DIY thread for this...

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