SaltyTanks Posted September 24, 2020 Author Share Posted September 24, 2020 4 hours ago, mitten_reef said: Hey, found you on insta. Anyway, one of your recent posts mentioned switching from Red Sea to ATI. Was there significant difference in alk concentration between the two brands? Ot was it an easy swap? @mitten_reeffollowed back! Was dosing 8ml daily Red Sea Alk & now 4.5ml with ATI Essentials. I think that’s a pretty significant difference in concentration, right? 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 8 hours ago, SaltyTanks said: @mitten_reeffollowed back! Was dosing 8ml daily Red Sea Alk & now 4.5ml with ATI Essentials. I think that’s a pretty significant difference in concentration, right? yeah, that's probably about twice as strong, especially adjusted for your recent growth spurt. That's good to hear. From cost perspective, they're already cheaper, and to dose only half - that's super! I'm gonna go ahead and put ATI 2-part in my next online shopping cart....Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted September 24, 2020 Author Share Posted September 24, 2020 2 hours ago, mitten_reef said: yeah, that's probably about twice as strong, especially adjusted for your recent growth spurt. That's good to hear. From cost perspective, they're already cheaper, and to dose only half - that's super! I'm gonna go ahead and put ATI 2-part in my next online shopping cart....Thanks! Definitely lower cost and for sure has been more beneficial to my tank (and routine). I don’t think I was ever really able to dial-in Red Sea’s ratios properly & I believe with ATI taking the guess work out of it and less margin for error is what sparked my growth spurt. Hoping you see similar results with yours! 2 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 Forced to shuffle the lower scape given the new growth shadows. The single puck light source design has become a serious challenge. 8 2 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Looks terrific to me. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 10 hours ago, SaltyTanks said: Forced to shuffle the lower scape given the new growth shadows. The single puck light source design has become a serious challenge. I feel this... I used to fret about nutrient levels and trace elements and things like that, but in the long-term shading is the real enemy. I struggle with it as well. Tank looks mind-blowingly gorgeous though. Whatever you did to the 'scape is working! 4 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 4, 2020 Author Share Posted October 4, 2020 Haven’t glued the re-scaped zoa rock down yet. I like its new position, but I’m freaked out about putting my hands on this thing and glueing it down. Holding bristle worm infested zoa encrusted rocks is my least favorite thing about reef keeping. I may just avoid it and roll the dice for awhile - hoping it doesn’t topple over. 4 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Looks so nice in there. Nice mix of color. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 13 minutes ago, SaltyTanks said: Haven’t glued the re-scaped zoa rock down yet. I like its new position, but I’m freaked out about putting my hands on this thing and glueing it down. Holding bristle worm infested zoa encrusted rocks is my least favorite thing about reef keeping. I may just avoid it and roll the dice for awhile - hoping it doesn’t topple over. Can't blame you for that really, but as far as I can tell there isn't much in your system that would knock it over anyway. Do you have any disruptive tank inhabitants, like large hermits or brittle stars? If not, you could probably just leave the zoa rock where it is and not bother gluing it. Eventually the zoas and coralline algae will grow onto the neighboring rocks and "cement" themselves in place. Plus, just based on personal experience I can tell you that if you like the way it looks right now and you want to glue it into that position permanently, you will never be able to get it back to exactly the way it was after you pick it up. The more you like it right now, the less you will like it after you move it again. This happens to me every single time I move a rock and it is absolutely maddening. 😅 2 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 Detlef Schrempf is starting to venture out from under the Japanese toadstool and into the spotlight. He's a natural in front of the camera! Love this little crustacean. 4 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 1 minute ago, dling said: Sweet tank. Thank you, @dling! Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Some shots around the tank... My new phone home screen blue hornets under the blues the red rogue rhodactis and its bubbles of death! Not sure why I'm still letting this lethal shroom float around the tank since it seems its sole purpose is to attack my beloved raja rampage. A true miracle that this green stag has colored up And this favites' color still eludes me 7 Quote Link to comment
caas1496 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 20 minutes ago, SaltyTanks said: Some shots around the tank... My new phone home screen blue hornets under the blues the red rogue rhodactis and its bubbles of death! Not sure why I'm still letting this lethal shroom float around the tank since it seems its sole purpose is to attack my beloved raja rampage. A true miracle that this green stag has colored up And this favites' color still eludes me Beautiful photos! What are you using to take the macro shots? 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 On 10/12/2020 at 10:21 AM, caas1496 said: Beautiful photos! What are you using to take the macro shots? Thanks @caas1496! The zoa & shroom pics are from a while back when I had rented a Sony FE 90mm macro lens. The others are recent @50mm cropped a bunch. I really really really want to own that macro lens. Though if I had that much cash to spend, can’t say I wouldn’t just go spend it on more reef stuff:) 2 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Here's some more pics from a while back with that 90mm macro lens rental. These are all taken hand-held with pumps on and ISO jacked up super high - not the best use of this lens. I miss this alveopora And I miss this full color on the blasto I've always enjoyed watching the birds nest reach for the surface I'm beginning to wonder if this toadstool is the cause of my coral color issues - chemical warfare? It's interesting to look back at the size of each utter chaos polyp - I think the disks have doubled in size since they were first introduced to this tank. I gotta go back further & find an earlier pic to show the before/after since it's somewhat unbelievable. Also, this lens is great for portraits. Here's Marlo, my daughter's kindergarten class pet that we took care of over last year's holiday. 5 3 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Feeling good about the ROY-G-BIV going on in this one 3 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 Reshape the scape! Still feeling like the scape needs some work, so back at it. And amazing how much impact cleaning the return pump had on flow & PO4. I'm guessing I was at maybe 25% flow for a long time until I cleaned it. PO4 dropped and corals coloring up substantially over the past few weeks since. 3 3 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 On 11/13/2020 at 8:21 AM, SaltyTanks said: Reshape the scape! Still feeling like the scape needs some work, so back at it. And amazing how much impact cleaning the return pump had on flow & PO4. I'm guessing I was at maybe 25% flow for a long time until I cleaned it. PO4 dropped and corals coloring up substantially over the past few weeks since. I liked the old arrangement quite a bit, but this new 'scape is really stunning! I think you've made excellent use of the space in this very tall tank, and the color combinations are amazing. If my IM40 looks half as good some day I will call myself a reefer. 😂 Looks like you've made some more space for yourself at the bottom right there too. Any plans to add something new in that area, or is it still a work in progress? 1 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Thanks so much @billygoat! Yes, you've got a great eye for the IM40 landscape:) I pushed the pillar back ~1.5" and chopped the purple stylo overhang, which gave me a primetime piece of real estate to shine up in the lower right corner. Since the corals have been coloring up, I've really been enjoying the blue hour in the evening wearing my orange coral shades - absurd florescence...underwater Trolls DJ style. What I really need in this space is a super vibrant blue. Would love to build up a zoa encrusted cradle for a maxima clam, but I'm broke as a joke right now (#allmymoneyWENTtocoral). So I think I'm going to give the neglected mycedium chalice (currently down in the shade on the floor behind the BEB zoa rock) a chance to return to its true blue glory in this spot. You can see here in its earlier days that it's got potential, and I'm optimistic that when I thrust it into the spotlight it will become a big star. Time will tell.... 4 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 My kids are telling me that it’s gettin’ to be that time of year. Can’t say I disagree. 3 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted November 27, 2020 Author Share Posted November 27, 2020 Wishing you all a happy weekend 3 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Who needs a fancy gyre when I’ve got this cool little return pump with premium suction cups dosin’ some flow 😅 3 3 Quote Link to comment
SaltyTanks Posted December 25, 2020 Author Share Posted December 25, 2020 Nassarius snail better get tucked in cuz Santa’s coming! 2 Quote Link to comment
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