MetaJANKs Old School Polished Turd

[MetaTank]

4 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

Those view ports are cool. 

His is much cooler IMO, lol. For the loupe to work, the coral has to be really close to the glass. But I put the monti in a new spot last night to encourage my prized snail Snapper to move to the main rock on the right. 

 

Snapper was moved last night from the 7 gallon tank to the 2.5 pico to handle a little excess algae. I swear, that snail was the best 2 dollars I’ve ever spent in this hobby. I put it on a plug, an hour later the plug is shiny and clean, then he moved to the rock and has been working it like a boss since last night. 

[Wendy]

Remind me... What kind of snail is Snapper? Does it eat GHA???

 

What are the next couple corals that you are looking to add?

[MetaTank]

It’s an astrea snail I believe. I think it does eat GHA but don’t quote me on that... And as for the next corals,I’m not sure. I would like to see how some more challenging sps does in the tank, and I want some cyphastrea as well. But we shall see. I want to say I’m going to let the tank settle for a couple weeks, but that’s not realistic... 😆 

 

Patience is not my strongest virtue

[Wingy]

Those astrea snails are amazing.  I have one too and it is a eating machine.  

[kimdawg]

Hey Meta, your tank is really looking good.  I like all of the new coral additions.

[TatorTaco]

@MetaTank and @kimdawg, I don't understand the black magic of these Lumini Asta20s.  I saw that MetaTank changed out the lense from the stock 180 to the 60 degree.  Did you too? Mind sharing how close you have these lights to the water level and how many clicks up/down you run the remote?  I have no idea if I have my intensity too high or too low - I only know how to work an AI Prime - and I'm not great with that either.  😉

[MetaTank]

1 hour ago, TatorTaco said:

@MetaTank and @kimdawg, I don't understand the black magic of these Lumini Asta20s.  I saw that MetaTank changed out the lense from the stock 180 to the 60 degree.  Did you too? Mind sharing how close you have these lights to the water level and how many clicks up/down you run the remote?  I have no idea if I have my intensity too high or too low - I only know how to work an AI Prime - and I'm not great with that either.  😉

Channels 1 and 3 are the blue channels, I run them both around 90-100%. Then the white channel (2) I run like one or two clicks up from zero. Channel 4 I run like 3 clicks up from zero. 60 degree lens, and the light is probably 4-5 inches off the surface 

 

I also run 1.5w of additional blue leds in the form of three 0.5w leds

[kimdawg]

6 hours ago, TatorTaco said:

@MetaTank and @kimdawg, I don't understand the black magic of these Lumini Asta20s.  I saw that MetaTank changed out the lense from the stock 180 to the 60 degree.  Did you too? Mind sharing how close you have these lights to the water level and how many clicks up/down you run the remote?  I have no idea if I have my intensity too high or too low - I only know how to work an AI Prime - and I'm not great with that either.  😉

I run channel one(blue) on 7 out of 12, channel 2(white) on 2 clicks during the day,channel 3(looks purple)2 clicks during evening, and I don't use channel 4 at all.  I did change out the lense after MetaTank suggested it and it made a huge improvement in growth.

[MetaTank]

@This guy is extra salty sent me this awesome tank that “broke the rules” of the pico competition! 

 

 

Think I am turning it into an itsy bitsy pico frag tank. 

 

But its alive!

 

 

Thanks again brother! Appreciate it! I gotta run out and grab a couple things at the hardware store. Piece of acrylic to make a lid (one in the 2nd pic is slightly too small and too thin for a decent lid) and some “egg crate” light diffusing material to make a teeny tiny frag rack. 

 

The heater and pump should hide under the rack when I’m done, that way there is room for my ATO in the overflow chamber of this tank if I wanna install it. (Spoiler alert...I do want to install it)

[This guy is extra salty]

I’m glad there is enough room for an ato in that “surface skimmer” section 

 

looks good now it’s wet! Now where are the frags? 🤣

[MetaTank]

1 minute ago, This guy is extra salty said:

I’m glad there is enough room for an ato in that “surface skimmer” section 

 

looks good now it’s wet! Now where are the frags? 🤣

Yeah I put a beefy return pump in the skimmer box, and I think the ato will fit right over the top of it if I’m lucky.

 

Gotta get the rack set up first. And thinking about some sorta biological filter media. I haven’t even tested the salinity yet, since I mixed the salt water in-tank last night...lol 

 

Frags will come...All in due time. I have a bunch in my 7 gallon that need a place they won’t be trampled and turned upside down by hermit crabs and bulldozing snails 😆 

[kimdawg]

I love that tank!  I wish mine had a cool background.  Can't wait to see it decked out as a frag tank.

[MetaTank]

I

58 minutes ago, kimdawg said:

I love that tank!  I wish mine had a cool background.  Can't wait to see it decked out as a frag tank.

I love it too, it totally matches the background on my contest pico too! Shipwreck theme. 

 

I have 2 pumps, the “return” pump sitting in the back chamber pumps 80gph, and the “under rack” pump is another 40gph. So about 120gph. This thing only holds about 2 gallons where the overflow sits. Maybe 8-12oz over 2 gallons. So the 120gph combined makes for 50x or more turnover per hour. 

 

I cut a lid lid for it to cut down on evaporation, and I fashioned a little frag rack out of some light diffusing “egg crate”

 

 

I cut cut some holes for the flow from the “under rack” pump to circulate better

 

 

And had had to cut a notch out for the power cords too

 

 

But all all in all it’s gonna be a sexy little TINY frag tank...lol. More for fun than function I’m guessing.

 

 

Thanks again @This guy is extra salty, I just tested the salinity at 1.021 so I had to mix up a solution of liquid salt and add a little to try to bring it up to 1.025, which is where I prefer to run. But soon as I fix that out, I’ll throw something in there for ya...lol

[Tigahboy]

You and @pricewayne still going to LAX tomorrow?  I may not be able to make it after all.  😑

[MetaTank]

Just now, Tigahboy said:

You and @pricewayne still going to LAX tomorrow?  I may not be able to make it after all.  😑

I am at some point, but no worries. I don’t think you’re gonna be missing anything too monumental. I’m basically going to see if I get SUPER lucky with my handful of raffle tickets. I don’t have high hopes tho, I’ve watched them give out literally hundreds of tickets to people who spend like 5k.

 

I’ll let you know if there was anything noteworthy, but I’ll probably stick around for a couple hours and then take off

[pricewayne]

1 hour ago, Tigahboy said:

You and @pricewayne still going to LAX tomorrow?  I may not be able to make it after all.  😑

 

1 hour ago, MetaTank said:

I am at some point, but no worries. I don’t think you’re gonna be missing anything too monumental. I’m basically going to see if I get SUPER lucky with my handful of raffle tickets. I don’t have high hopes tho, I’ve watched them give out literally hundreds of tickets to people who spend like 5k.

 

I’ll let you know if there was anything noteworthy, but I’ll probably stick around for a couple hours and then take off

Haven’t decided yet, lol. I don’t need anything there at the moment, but am interested to see if they’ll have any neat new frags. I can’t imagine filling out 100s of those raffle tickets. I was annoyed filling my name/phone# on the few that I have!

[MetaTank]

5 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

 

Haven’t decided yet, lol. I don’t need anything there at the moment, but am interested to see if they’ll have any neat new frags. I can’t imagine filling out 100s of those raffle tickets. I was annoyed filling my name/phone# on the few that I have!

I feel ya! I filled out 6 and that was enough for me...lol 

 

I don’t really need anything either, so I’m hoping they have something neat they have been Saving for the event

[pricewayne]

2 minutes ago, MetaTank said:

I feel ya! I filled out 6 and that was enough for me...lol 

 

I don’t really need anything either, so I’m hoping they have something neat they have been Saving for the event

What time are you thinking you’ll go? Do we know when they draw for the raffle?

[748S911]

1 hour ago, Tigahboy said:

You and @pricewayne still going to LAX tomorrow?  I may not be able to make it after all.  😑

 

1 hour ago, MetaTank said:

I am at some point, but no worries. I don’t think you’re gonna be missing anything too monumental. I’m basically going to see if I get SUPER lucky with my handful of raffle tickets. I don’t have high hopes tho, I’ve watched them give out literally hundreds of tickets to people who spend like 5k.

 

I’ll let you know if there was anything noteworthy, but I’ll probably stick around for a couple hours and then take off

 

20 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

 

Haven’t decided yet, lol. I don’t need anything there at the moment, but am interested to see if they’ll have any neat new frags. I can’t imagine filling out 100s of those raffle tickets. I was annoyed filling my name/phone# on the few that I have!

 

 

Super jelly rn that I cant go either lol...

[748S911]

On 5/31/2019 at 8:53 PM, MetaTank said:

I

I love it too, it totally matches the background on my contest pico too! Shipwreck theme. 

 

I have 2 pumps, the “return” pump sitting in the back chamber pumps 80gph, and the “under rack” pump is another 40gph. So about 120gph. This thing only holds about 2 gallons where the overflow sits. Maybe 8-12oz over 2 gallons. So the 120gph combined makes for 50x or more turnover per hour. 

 

I cut a lid lid for it to cut down on evaporation, and I fashioned a little frag rack out of some light diffusing “egg crate”

 

 

I cut cut some holes for the flow from the “under rack” pump to circulate better

 

 

And had had to cut a notch out for the power cords too

 

 

But all all in all it’s gonna be a sexy little TINY frag tank...lol. More for fun than function I’m guessing.

 

 

Thanks again @This guy is extra salty, I just tested the salinity at 1.021 so I had to mix up a solution of liquid salt and add a little to try to bring it up to 1.025, which is where I prefer to run. But soon as I fix that out, I’ll throw something in there for ya...lol

This is gonna be a cool little frag station.

[MetaTank]

47 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

What time are you thinking you’ll go? Do we know when they draw for the raffle?

I think they start doing drawings at 12? But I’m not 100% on that

34 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

This is gonna be a cool little frag station.

Yeah, it already is! Just gotta get everything tuned in, and maybe add some blue to the spectrum on this light im using. Might wanna increase or change up the flow a little too, but for now I have a Birdsnest in it that seems to be happy enough 

[pricewayne]

14 minutes ago, MetaTank said:

I think they start doing drawings at 12? But I’m not 100% on that

Yeah, it already is! Just gotta get everything tuned in, and maybe add some blue to the spectrum on this light im using. Might wanna increase or change up the flow a little too, but for now I have a Birdsnest in it that seems to be happy enough 

I’ll prob decide tomorrow morning. I do want to check out the new plumbing they got in stock (looks like they have some fun colors). Should meet up if I make it!

[Tigahboy]

I like how everyone is so non-committal about this event.  So LA.  

[MetaTank]

27 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

I like how everyone is so non-committal about this event.  So LA.  

I feel ya! Lol

 

i mean if it was a frag swap, or an actual trade show I’d be all in, but it’s just an LFS tryin to make money. But I’m gonna give it the benefit of the doubt and check it out for a while. Gotta pick up my gf in Whittier at a funeral home in the morning before I head over. LOL

[Tigahboy]

Just now, MetaTank said:

I feel ya! Lol

 

i mean if it was a frag swap, or an actual trade show I’d be all in, but it’s just an LFS tryin to make money. But I’m gonna give it the benefit of the doubt and check it out for a while. Gotta pick up my gf in Whittier at a funeral home in the morning before I head over. LOL

But they are going to have Youtube/Instagram Reefing Celebs!

 

I saw that Harry's Marine Life is having a sale event tomorrow too (20-50% off; freebies for all).  I've never been, but everyone seems to be raving about them lately.