•The ‘Box - October 2020 Featured Reef

[frahny]

@shaner014 Dope.... Unreal colors and contrast. Question on the PLS-50, did you find it hard to dial that in? I had mine over flow overnight back into the tank last night, I know teeny also has this issue occasionally as well. Just didn't know if you found that same thing with yours or if you did something to dial it in specifically.

[Matteo]

Awesome colors! Trying to get there myself and this is inspiration for sure. 

[Christopher Marks]

On 11/11/2019 at 4:15 PM, shaner014 said:

Here’s a couple more randoms. 

 

So beautiful!!!

 

It's awesome to see the zoanthids filling out so quickly, they're loving it!

 

I see the snails in there on the back wall and rock, do you keep any other types of 'clean up crew' invertebrates in your reef? It's so pristine! I imagine you're part of the clean up crew too? 😄 

[shaner014]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shaner014]

On 11/22/2019 at 3:06 PM, Christopher Marks said:

So beautiful!!!

 

It's awesome to see the zoanthids filling out so quickly, they're loving it!

 

I see the snails in there on the back wall and rock, do you keep any other types of 'clean up crew' invertebrates in your reef? It's so pristine! I imagine you're part of the clean up crew too? 😄 

 

Thank you sir! The zoos have certainly found a happy medium.

 

There are 4 snails, an emerald crab (who is soon to be pulled, because the bubble algae is gone thanks to him and vibrant) and most recently 4 Berghia nudis to clear up my Aiptasia, which they are doing wonderfully. There is a tailspot blenny in there too which may be grazing if there's any algae.

 

Surprisingly, I do very little maintenenace outside of glass scraping the 3 viewing panels. I don't think Coraline algae had good conditions to thrive initially and it hasn't really been introduced since, so I get NONE! which happens to work out well for my desired aesthetic. I touch the tank very little. I stopped running any carbon and only skim at the moment. I replace the filter floss every 6-8 days.  These pictures are a couple days off of my first water change in about 6-7 weeks. I test nothing and just observe and adjust accordingly. I don't recommend that approach at least at first, but as you know its totally doable once you have a few tanks under your belt. 

 

Cheers!

[Matteo]

Nice! 

 

I really like the yellows and oranges you got going on. I need more of that in my tank to balance my colors out. 

 

Awesome tank and coral selection. Your zoa growth is awesome! 

[justin81]

really nice tank, almost nice enough to make me want to get back in the hobby

 

[Matteo]

39 minutes ago, justin81 said:

really nice tank, almost nice enough to make me want to get back in the hobby

 

Do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It

[HiImSean]

What settings are you running on the Nanobox? The tank looks great

[teenyreef]

Beautiful! Those zoas look so happy 

[justin81]

On 12/26/2019 at 9:35 PM, justin81 said:

really nice tank, almost nice enough to make me want to get back in the hobby

 

 

On 12/26/2019 at 10:14 PM, Matteo said:

Do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It

 

Well you talked me into it.  Nuvo 20 inbound 

[shaner014]

Quick and dirty Cell phone shots. Zoas still growing. Lost the gold hammer. Restarting weekly water changes and heavier feeding and seeing what happens. 

 

 

 

 

[Matteo]

What happened to your hammer? 

 

My aussie Orange hammer has been closed up for a week which makes me nervous 😬

[Matteo]

8 minutes ago, shaner014 said:

Quick and dirty Cell phone shots. Zoas still growing. Lost the gold hammer. Restarting weekly water changes and heavier feeding and seeing what happens. 

 

 

 

 

Is that major clump Midas Zoas? 

[shaner014]

22 minutes ago, Matteo said:

Is that major clump Midas Zoas? 

 

Sold to me as scrambled eggs. 
 

23 minutes ago, Matteo said:

What happened to your hammer? 

 

My aussie Orange hammer has been closed up for a week which makes me nervous 😬

Hard to say.
 

I had only done 2 water changes in 3 months. Nitrates (the first test I’ve done since the cycle) was reading Zero yesterday, hence feeding heavier. Also there’s a rather large bristle worm

in the rock that might have gotten hungry? 
 

Hope yours pulls through! 

[shaner014]

On 11/18/2019 at 11:42 AM, frahny said:

@shaner014 Dope.... Unreal colors and contrast. Question on the PLS-50, did you find it hard to dial that in? I had mine over flow overnight back into the tank last night, I know teeny also has this issue occasionally as well. Just didn't know if you found that same thing with yours or if you did something to dial it in specifically.

Sorry I missed this. I actually run mine about an inch above the suggested water level with the bottom grate wide open. (The skimmer higher. Less water in the chamber.) Fills in about 2 weeks with my bio-load. A wet skim, darker than tea but not coffee. I haven’t adjusted it in about six months, and only clean the cup and wipe the upper body as far as I can reach in. 
 

My pumps are due for a good cleaning....

[Thetravelguy]

Absolutely unreal colors. Makes me want to look at more quality lighting 😱

[shaner014]

On 1/14/2020 at 6:27 PM, Thetravelguy said:

Absolutely unreal colors. Makes me want to look at more quality lighting 😱

@DaveFason is your guy! 

[shaner014]

 

Current state of affairs. Lost the Todds torch and gold hammer. Other euphy was slowly receding so I think it was starvation. My theory is dosing vibrant led to a very nutrient lean tank. Been feeding heavy and added a 5th fish. Nitrates are still real low best I can tell. But losses stopped and other euphy is slowly coming back. Need some test kits maybe.. bout time I suppose.  

 

Might get another torch, probably one or two more zoas for the arch on the right, then just keep on keeping on. 
 

Cheers reefers! 

[SliceGolfer]

Still like the look of this tank. It was my inspiration for entering the 365 build contest.
 

It’s possible the bacteria in Vibrant processed the N and P as a food source. The short period I used Vibrant, I dosed N and P to avoid bottoming out and running lean. I saw a drop in N more than P in those weeks.

[Rehype]

Holy crap Shaner! You knocked it out of the park with this one. Those colors and growth are amazing. Soon enough your entire "sandbed" will be made of zoas! Whats your feeding regimen and flow like?

[Christopher Marks]

Hey @shaner014, hope you and the reef and doing well this summer, we miss ya!

[Waterbox Aquariums]

WOW!  We'd love to see updates.  😍

[shaner014]

32 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Hey @shaner014, hope you and the reef and doing well this summer, we miss ya!

Thanks! I’m still lingering. Tank showing some signs of neglect! Oops.

On 4/4/2020 at 10:48 AM, Rehype said:

Holy crap Shaner! You knocked it out of the park with this one. Those colors and growth are amazing. Soon enough your entire "sandbed" will be made of zoas! Whats your feeding regimen and flow like?

 

Thanks! I’m feeding cubes of frozen mysis daily and dosing Aquavitro Fuel (a full capful) twice a week when I remember. 
 

 

 

Couple quick and ugly shots to show it’s still alive!

 

 

[Tamberav]

If those shots are ugly then CM should just remove my threads entirely lol