Peaches' 365 AIO Challenge, DIY Reef

[ef4life]

Looking good, I like that diy ato. 

[Peaches]

12 minutes ago, ef4life said:

Looking good, I like that diy ato. 

Cheers. I've got a few other diy things to write up about soon. 

[devaji108]

2 hours ago, Peaches said:

It was only 10pm in NZ when I posted that last night. However it's now 4.45am and I'm up feeding our 5 week old baby. 

 

oh man that sounds like a ton of work. good  thing you have the lot of us to keep you company. 😄

 

so awesome you could do out an collect a CUC.  

[debbeach13]

I want to walk to the ocean and come home with a clean up crew. Will you be adding other things like macro's from your local tide pools?

[Peaches]

8 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I want to walk to the ocean and come home with a clean up crew. Will you be adding other things like macro's from your local tide pools?

I could do I suppose. I didn't think about that. Might have to go for another trip next week and see what I can find. Technically we're sub tropical here so I'm not sure how well the cuc will last at tropical temps but they put up with high temps at low tide in the summer so we'll see how we go

[Peaches]

A friend of mine gave his old Jebao WP10 to use for this tank. The only catch was it didn't come with the stock magnetic mount. 3D printing to the rescue again!

 

The white version below is rev2, whereas the 3D model is rev3. I've just received some black PETG filament in the mail so I'll be printing rev3 tonight with the curved edges and in black for extra stealthiness.

 

[devaji108]

heck yeah! that is great!

[SliceGolfer]

Ooooh Smexy!

[debbeach13]

Dam your good.

[This guy is extra salty]

Loving the DIY

glad to see someone utilizing a 3D printer

[Peaches]

On 3/9/2020 at 8:02 AM, debbeach13 said:

I want to walk to the ocean and come home with a clean up crew. Will you be adding other things like macro's from your local tide pools?

Well I took your advice and while I was walking the dog on the beach tonight I picked up an interesting looking macro that had just washed up on the beach. For now it's just floating around the tank but I guess I'll have to put some thought into where it's going to live long term

[Snow_Phoenix]

38 minutes ago, Peaches said:

Well I took your advice and while I was walking the dog on the beach tonight I picked up an interesting looking macro that had just washed up on the beach. For now it's just floating around the tank but I guess I'll have to put some thought into where it's going to live long term

Nice addition. Love the DIY stuff you have going on too - you're very talented. 🙂

 

Just out of curiosity, are marine fish and corals hard to come by in NZ? As in, are they very expensive and difficult to acquire over there?

[Peaches]

34 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Nice addition. Love the DIY stuff you have going on too - you're very talented. 🙂

 

Just out of curiosity, are marine fish and corals hard to come by in NZ? As in, are they very expensive and difficult to acquire over there?

Thanks. 

 

Availability and cost are both issues but not insurmountable. There are no shops in my city that sell marine equipment or livestock so I get everything online.

 

5 years ago when I had a tank I was one of 5-6 reef keepers in my city, I don't imagine that has changed, so frag swaps aren't a thing.

 

There are plenty of shops in the main cities though around 5hrs drive away. A percula clown is around $50-75 nzd, and a common zoa frag is around $30-40.

 

If you're interested in what we can get, this is our largest importer: Eastern Marine Aquariums NZ

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 minutes ago, Peaches said:

Thanks. 

 

Availability and cost are both issues but not insurmountable. There are no shops in my city that sell marine equipment or livestock so I get everything online.

 

5 years ago when I had a tank I was one of 5-6 reef keepers in my city, I don't imagine that has changed, so frag swaps aren't a thing.

 

There are plenty of shops in the main cities though around 5hrs drive away. A percula clown is around $50-75 nzd, and a common zoa frag is around $30-40.

 

If you're interested in what we can get, this is our largest importer: Eastern Marine Aquariums NZ

Thank you for answering my questions. Was planning on visiting NZ in the future and check out a marine store or two while I'm there. 🙂

 

Thanks for the link too! 👍

[Peaches]

23 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Thank you for answering my questions. Was planning on visiting NZ in the future and check out a marine store or two while I'm there. 🙂

 

Thanks for the link too! 👍

You'll have to come for a visit, although Taranaki is a I bit off the beaten track.

 

The best stores are definitely in Auckland or Christchurch.

 

I'm flying down to Christchurch in 6 weeks or so for a day to check them out and hopefully bring back a swag of frags. Weirdly the most earthquake prone city in the country seems to have the highest density of quality reef stores. 

[Rabb.D]

everything looks good looks like a good tank😀😀😀

[debbeach13]

That elegance and that is the same price I paid from Liveaquaria. 

[Peaches]

5 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

That elegance and that is the same price I paid from Liveaquaria. 

That's good to know we do get some good deals. 

 

I saw a rainbow acan frag with three heads sell on NZs version of ebay for $445 last week. Who has that much money for a frag! 

[Peaches]

Rev 3 of the 3D printed mount looks like a million bucks of you ask me. I almost prefer it to the stock mount as it's practically invisible looking through the display 

[debbeach13]

That looks great. I agree frags are so expensive now. I have been trying to get my tank back to it's former glory for over two years now due to 5 surgeries in 3 years. Prices keep going up so I may have to settle I have a lot more softies, a couple LPS, but can not replace all the zoa's. 

[Peaches]

New day, new scape. I wanted an area of bare sand which the last scape didn't have. I would still like more variation in height but I'm a bit limited by the rock I have available.

 

It's a hive of activity with this cuc. I wonder if I've got too many?

5x glass shrimp 

5x hermits 

3x misc snails 

 

I've got a yellow clown goby, finger leather and GSP frag coming on Saturday and I'm concerned all these hermits/shrimp are going to think the new additions are a snack? I don't have any qualms about doing a cull now as these guys didn't cost me a cent. The fish and corals however are a different story. What do you you guys think? 

 

 

[ef4life]

Might be a lot of clean up crew for a new tank, but I wouldn’t get rid of them either.

[debbeach13]

I have no idea if your clean up crew is considered reef safe or not. I guess you just have to watch them very close.

[devaji108]

maybe try and feed them and see what they like before the new corals get in? 

[Peaches]

On 3/14/2020 at 10:57 AM, devaji108 said:

maybe try and feed them and see what they like before the new corals get in? 

 

On 3/13/2020 at 12:46 PM, debbeach13 said:

I have no idea if your clean up crew is considered reef safe or not. I guess you just have to watch them very close.

 

My first fish and corals arrived yesterday morning and the two biggest hermits took to the GSP straight away so they have been removed from the tank. Everyone else seems to be behaving so far but I will keep an eye out.