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The Fire Swamp's 50g SCA Starfire Cube- 🔥🐊. Upgrade Coming Soon


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30 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Yeah i am pretty close to just doing a macro only display myself, getting really silly with prices and the frags are getting smaller 

Yep. I’ve still be able to find some pretty $30 frags and I haven’t minded them being small, but the price hikes this week make me have heart burn thinking about the future. I’d like to figure out some good growers/spreaders/plating corals or something that will spread out and get large, to fill in the tank over time. I guess that’s the most cost effective thing now, since I can’t afford a scoly or a lot of other stuff. I really refuse to pay so much for anything.

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30 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

at this point it's almost easier to trade with a fellow reefer..

If I haven’t burned my reputation to the ground with my messes early on. One could say I was borderline BillyBolognaSammich or FranFriuitCake for a while there. Maybe someday Jack will actually want to strike a deal on some of his stuff or others will have confidence I’m not gonna just kill whatever is sent to me.

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DSFIRSTSLTWATER
1 minute ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

Yep. I’ve still be able to find some pretty $30 frags and I haven’t minded them being small, but the price hikes this week make me have heart burn thinking about the future. I’d like to figure out some good growers/spreaders/plating corals or something that will spread out and get large, to fill in the tank over time. I guess that’s the most cost effective thing now, since I can’t afford a scoly or a lot of other stuff. I really refuse to pay so much for anything.

yeah my limit is like 40 50 a frag.

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21 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

If I haven’t burned my reputation to the ground with my messes early on. One could say I was borderline BillyBolognaSammich or FranFriuitCake for a while there. Maybe someday Jack will actually want to strike a deal on some of his stuff or others will have confidence I’m not gonna just kill whatever is sent to me.

I have a pile of frags waiting for you and VW...... I gave all the big ones to Sancho and Vivid ..... but I have a bunch of littles ..... which should be a lot cheaper to ship. 

SAY WHEN. 

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31 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Looking great!!  still keeping up with whatever methods you were doing to reduce algae, and bringing down N&P?  maybe don't have to be as aggressive as you used to, but I wouldn't let the foot off the gas completely on that front until you feel the tank got back to a good balance.   

I am only running a bag of carbon/phosguard now. About 3/4 cup carbon and 1 cup phosguard. I stir the sump and the tank with the turkey baster about every day. Feed about twice a day just to fatten up the coris wrasse more but I’ll be able to get back to once a day soon- he’s tearing up the food like a little yellow cow. 
 

Alk sits at around 9.5 and slowly will wax to 10, then back to 9.5 with a water change. Salinity is usually stable at 1.024 (except for occasional blips like the other day). Mag slowly dropping back to 1400 where I wanted it, calcium is almost always 450. Phosphates are hanging out now at .5-.8 with weekly phosguard changes. Nitrates stay at 25, almost always. The algae is disappearing and so are the zoas (sadly), so I feel like 25 is where the tank wants to be nutrient wise, since it’s mostly LPS. Only SPS are a couple monti frags. 
 

So yes things are much happier and smoother. I put a small 1inch wide, 12 inch long strip of filter floss on the new little grid I made to catch some of the nasty crap in there, changed daily. There’s still about 6 inches of free grid for free water flow, so shouldn’t see the problems with the interrupted flow and ato over working. 
 

That’s where we are! Did I miss anything?

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1 minute ago, jack1978 said:

I have a pile of frags waiting for you and VW...... I gave all the big ones to Sancho and Vivid ..... but I have a bunch of littles ..... which should be a lot cheaper to ship. 

SAY WHEN. 

how do you have frags if your tank isn't even running yet.....😵🤔

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7 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

how do you have frags if your tank isn't even running yet.....😵🤔

It’s running now- you must not have seen the last few UPDATES

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Got some fair pictures of different angles of the tank today, side and front full tank shots. I still have issues figuring out how to attenuate the amount of glare from the light, but at least you can see everything pretty clearly. Got a new bubble coral for what I felt was something of a steal, for its size. Moved the purple monti back to the front bottom because it’s been loosing color around the bottom for some reason. It’s already extending polyps higher and more

pronounced, being up front. So I guess that’s its happy place for now. Same with the sunrise monti near it. 
 

I’d been losing zoas- they just disappear, and I’m not sure why. But the ones I still have are actually growing new polyps and opening up to be more the size of palys. Maybe they really are palys and were sold under the wrong name. Who knows? They’re alive and pretty and that’s pretty much all I care. 
 

The tank is still working it’s way towards looking good and I’m so happy with it! 
 

 

 

 

 

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The SCA is gonna shape up to be colorful and full of life 😊😊 Thanks to @jack1978 have some new softies to look at which are bright and eye catching. Two neon green sinularia, two leathers, one giant toadstool, a small branching GSP and a big blue Kenya tree. They looked like they were already stretching out after a day in the tank so I expect them to get better and better! 
 

 

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9 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

The SCA is gonna shape up to be colorful and full of life 😊😊 Thanks to @jack1978 have some new softies to look at which are bright and eye catching. Two neon green sinularia, two leathers, one giant toadstool, a small branching GSP and a big blue Kenya tree. They looked like they were already stretching out after a day in the tank so I expect them to get better and better! 
 

 

Those look good for 1st day!  

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18 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

It will get there. 😊

It is getting there this time but it still makes me feel like it’s a ticking bomb after how it’s acted in the past. 

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So today decided to move the light program to the 23K settings, at 50% intensity on a one month acclimation program. With the zoas disappearing into nothingness I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve gotten the nutrients more tightly under control and they’re unhappy or if the light is too bright. So now it’s definitely darker, just more intense. I actually like this program because it’s bringing out the intense colors of the corals. 
 

Pictures show before and after switching from 20K at 90% to 23K at 50%. 

 

@jack1978 the Kenya tree is doing well in its seclusion zone. 
 

My sons black snowflake clown HATES me for some reason. When I get near the tank she zooms back and forth in front of me and acts super aggressive. She hasn’t bitten me since the Sebae nem died, but she definitely gets mad when I’m rearranging stuff in the tank. She’s such a rude snotty bizzotch-when you see blurry black and white that’s her posturing and photo bombing. 
 

 

 

 

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  • ECLS Reefer changed the title to The Fire Swamp's 50g SCA Starfire Cube- 🔥🐊
21 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

So today decided to move the light program to the 23K settings, at 50% intensity on a one month acclimation program. With the zoas disappearing into nothingness I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve gotten the nutrients more tightly under control and they’re unhappy or if the light is too bright. So now it’s definitely darker, just more intense. I actually like this program because it’s bringing out the intense colors of the corals. 
 

Pictures show before and after switching from 20K at 90% to 23K at 50%. 

 

@jack1978 the Kenya tree is doing well in its seclusion zone. 
 

My sons black snowflake clown HATES me for some reason. When I get near the tank she zooms back and forth in front of me and acts super aggressive. She hasn’t bitten me since the Sebae nem died, but she definitely gets mad when I’m rearranging stuff in the tank. She’s such a rude snotty bizzotch-when you see blurry black and white that’s her posturing and photo bombing. 
 

 

 

 

Tank is looking good!  We’re the zoos ever stretching?  
 

Maybe the black and white sees you as competition..... being that you’re about the same height?

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7 minutes ago, jack1978 said:

Tank is looking good!  We’re the zoos ever stretching?  
 

Maybe the black and white sees you as competition..... being that you’re about the same height?

I dont know what her problem is-- thank goodness she doesn't attack me when I'm reaching in the tank for a coral that's been knocked over. The hubs was looking at the tank the other day and saw how she tracks me around the glass and is so aggressive acting and said that fish really hates you.. She's a snot. 

 

The zoas DID stretch way out a while back. Probably during the same time period as the quasi crash.

 

 

*looking back, you can see the zoas were stretched out as far back as September/October. They aren't now, but the only ones left are the dragon eyes, the Chaos looking ones, some I don't have a fancy name for on the front of the center rock, and some palys, which have been getting smaller and smaller by the day. Afraid I'll loose the palys which makes me sad.

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41 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I dont know what her problem is-- thank goodness she doesn't attack me when I'm reaching in the tank for a coral that's been knocked over. The hubs was looking at the tank the other day and saw how she tracks me around the glass and is so aggressive acting and said that fish really hates you.. She's a snot. 

 

The zoas DID stretch way out a while back. Probably during the same time period as the quasi crash.

 

 

*looking back, you can see the zoas were stretched out as far back as September/October. They aren't now, but the only ones left are the dragon eyes, the Chaos looking ones, some I don't have a fancy name for on the front of the center rock, and some palys, which have been getting smaller and smaller by the day. Afraid I'll loose the palys which makes me sad.

If they’re stretching, they want more light. 

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2 minutes ago, jack1978 said:

If they’re stretching, they want more light. 

That was back when I had cranked the light back to the 15K wavelength. They stopped when I went to 20K. Maybe they’ll come back at 23K

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I know, I can’t help myself when the tank is looking good. Sorry for all the updates lately. 
 

 


 


 


Since the YWG was rejected by Altuve in such an obvious and harsh manner, he’s taken up residence in the sump, in his own chamber. He’s healed and he’s putting on weight, and I made him his own live rock cave in there. So it can’t be too bad a life right? 
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Shots from the SCA. There’s so many little coral frags, I’m actually having some difficulty figuring out where I want them to go. So, tomorrow when I get more glue we shall see where some of the stuff ends up. 
 

The sinularia, Kenya tree, leather sand toad stool sent by @jack1978 are all doing well, though I haven’t found the toad’s happy place yet I guess. I keep hoping it will get with the program.
 

 

 

 

 

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SCA looking good tonight. So glad it’s been acting more and more grown up lately; I have to travel two weeks back to back and work in between them soon and it’s good to know that it *should* be okay for that long without a lot of maintenance. 
 

 

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2 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I’m SOOOOO excited I finally got my gorgeous leopard and man is be beautiful!!!!!!! Now THIS is Astro!

 

 

F027B5AE-C45A-4AFC-84E6-8884508EC077.jpeg

Gorgeous fish, the markings look insane under lights. 

 

Shipped with sand in the bag? 

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  • ECLS Reefer changed the title to The Fire Swamp's 50g SCA Starfire Cube- 🔥🐊. Upgrade Coming Soon

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