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2 Tanks 1 Stand *New FTS*


CD_Scapes

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51 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Looks good and sounds like you are back on track. Take care of your self first and your hobbies after that.

Definitely working on myself and it a way better place than I was a year ago and even a few months ago. Having a system and "normal" helps out a lot for sure.

55 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Welcome back buddy! Glad to see you're still around. Congrats on the new job!! Petco can definitely use more employees that are passionate about salt water, so they're lucky to have you. 

Thanks, my birthday is coming up and I've always wanted those KP Aquatics rocks so maybe this year for my birthday I will ask for them instead of having the dry rock I have right now. Only problem is all the WC I would have to do with the uncured live rock 

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Update regarding tank progress/planning 

 

I had an AI Prime 16HD that was for SW and brought it to the LFS for some store credit, and saw they had a wavelink powerhead the other day. I may end up getting one of those for the gorgs and just to have wave patterns...I love wave patterns. They also had a 3-stage or maybe 4-stage RO, but I found a 4-stage aquatic life one that is more compact (might help that it is 1/2 off on Chewy). Besides all that I keep going back and forth between KP live rock, KP coralline rock or just keeping the dry rock I have right now. It seems more rewarding watching the white rock get color, but also the KP rock is so pretty. 

 

The other thing is deciding if I'll be super stingy about a biotope or get corals to have corals. Maybe even do an all macroalgae tank at this point, I did order in a trio of white-spotted pygmy filefish at work and I want one so bad. I feel like my tank is too small for one though...decisions, decisions

 

Oh and I'm about to be an adult on probation (20 years old) so I'm kinda excited about that and may get the RODI as a present to myself...anyone else want to send me presents (Just kidding:flower:)

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Spent the whole day pretty much researching and figuring out what the image for the aquarium will be. Lots of inspiration form @inland_reef and his lagoon reef as well as @billygoatwith his biotope as well as @yoshii and @Tigahboy with their macroalgae tanks. All of these tanks have one thing in common, they all are nature reefs that focus on a combination of corals and macroalgae while still having masterfully placed with amazing scapes. These tanks don't focus on the fancy (overrated) named corals or having a disco party of a tank (blue=bad), most of these tanks even have freshwater planted tank lights on them. Also read some more lagoon/macro build threads as well as watches some videos about stocking again. Taking all of the cramming I did today I believe that I have my "dream team" of fish to stock my aquarium:

White-Spotted Pygmy Filefish (Rudaruis ercodes)

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I chose this mini filefish for a number of reasons, the first is the fact that they are ORA Captive-Bred. Captive-Bred is possibly the way of the future with all of the pressure on wild oceans/collection. Another reason is that they like to pick at rocks/sand (at least at work), so maybe a tiny bit of pest control or something like that. Lastly I have wanted this fish species for over a year and am happy I can have the chance to own one and even a captive-bred specimen at that. We have 3 right now at work and I might order 3 more just to have a larger selection. The next fish is one that has been in a few members tanks and it related to the Tailspot Blenny.

 

Pictus Blenny (Ecsenius pictus)

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This fish is a relative of the once popular (Pre-COVID) tail-spot blenny that it seems nearly everyone has had at one point, me included. This fish is rarer and more costly compared to the tail-spot blenny, but I feel it is worth it. The Pictus blenny has the same base purple color as the tail-spot, but has amazing white pinstripes and cool mini tiger stripes near the base of the tail. This genus of blennies are very nice with great personalities and even take care of some microalgal growths on the rocks, the other reason this fish was chosen. This fish has a "job" just like the filefish picks at rocks so does the Pictus blenny. The only downside is that this genus is not readily or even captive-bred at all to my knowledge. Rounding out the fish stocking is a pair of captive-bred gobies.

 

Sharknose Neon Goby (Elacatinus evelynae)

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Rounding out the fish stocking is a small fish that has very bright colors, and blue which isn't seen by many small saltwater fish besides the semi-evil damselfish. We get these in at work every so often. The plan is to get a pair of these small gobies, they also have a "job" in setting cleaning stations along reefs much like scarlet cleaner shrimp. These gobies are also readily captive-bred and some members on here have had them spawn in aquariums. They are a joy to have in aquariums and another fish that I have had before and loved. 

 

I feel like all of the fish that I plan to stock have a purpose as well as providing great movement, colors, and personalities. I also tired to get all ORA/captive-bred fish, but having seen the pictus blennies on Divers Den the past couple of weeks have made it hard not to pick one up. Coral wise is going to be softies like leathers, mushrooms, and GSP, gorgs and basic macroalgae like gracilaria and caulerpa prolifera. I also have three sprouted mangroves coming from ORA this week (hopefully)

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42 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

I like all the research you are doing and not just buying stuff to fill up the tank. I think this will result in a tank you love. 

The 1st two times I had SW it was a rush to get the tank I wanted and not letting nature and supply chains take its course. I have the mindset now of if I have the money and what I want is available then it was meant to be, if I don't have money and its not available or vise versa then it wasn't meant to be at that time and I can wait. I could be overstocking the tank with 4 fish, but I feel that softies and macros need extra nutrients and the first two fish are a bit rarer so I will get those 2 for sure and the sharknose/yellowline/neon gobies are super common on always on the vendor lists so I can get those whenever.

 

Now it's just hoping I get enough money for the RODI unit, 1/2 of rent and the Pictus Blenny on my birthday Friday fingerscrossed

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NoOneLikesADryTang

Not that I’m trying to talk you out of a RODI unit, but it might not be worth you getting one. How many gallons of water are you thinking you’ll go through in a week? Does your store sell rodi water?

 

Also, I think you’ve picked out some awesome fish for your tank!

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9 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Not that I’m trying to talk you out of a RODI unit, but it might not be worth you getting one. How many gallons of water are you thinking you’ll go through in a week? Does your store sell rodi water?

 

Also, I think you’ve picked out some awesome fish for your tank!

RODI unit is $60 store sells RODI for $1 a gallon, I have an ATO reservoir of 5 gallons and that needs to be filled every two weeks so thats $10 a month and ill need 2.5 gallons for WC so every week its $2.50 and some weeks its $7.50, total a month is $15 a month. RODI unit pays for itself in 3 months and I can use the RODI unit for my plants as well as Freshwater tank. I also really wouldn't have to but another unit for a long while. The other reason is I'm wanting to get a waterbox 20 cube at some point in the future and the month water cost will rise too $30 of RODI so it pays for its self in 2 months.

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NoOneLikesADryTang

Gotcha. I guess with that math, it makes more sense - all though, I'm guessing a $60 RODI unit is going to go through filters pretty quickly. 

 

$1/gallon seems really expensive for RODI. It's around .30-.35 cents per gallon here in Phoenix from the LFS. Before we got the bigger tank, we just went to the store every week and bought our water. It was kind of a hassle, but it was a good excuse to go to the fish store every week. 

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5 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Gotcha. I guess with that math, it makes more sense - all though, I'm guessing a $60 RODI unit is going to go through filters pretty quickly. 

 

$1/gallon seems really expensive for RODI. It's around .30-.35 cents per gallon here in Phoenix from the LFS. Before we got the bigger tank, we just went to the store every week and bought our water. It was kind of a hassle, but it was a good excuse to go to the fish store every week. 

Yeah, my LFS is a bit "off" also the RODI is the aquatic life one, its 1/2 off right now and its normally $110-$120

 

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I heard from a friend that DD is getting Pictus blennies tonight and while I doubt I will get one, I will check just to remember prices and see how many they get. I did get my Bulk Reef Supply order of a Sicce 0.5, Dr.Tims one and only as well as ammonia. I added 2.0ppm of ammonia and then dumped the whole 2oz of one and only as well as an 8 oz of biospira, lets see how fast the ammonia goes away. I still don't plan on adding anything until I put some macros in first though to be honest and then maybe a few snails, and maybe a fish after that. I give my time line about

2 weeks before the first fish gets added and then maybe a couple weeks after that the filefish will be added to the tank. 

 

Still need to also make a better looking lid, but thats more cosmetic and less about security as I have an eggcrate with mesh lid already made on stand by, and well I guess  that about does it for now. Waiting for the big 2-0 on Friday and to splurge a tiny bit on the reef

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So my cycle is being very weird at the moment:

Monday (added 2.0ppm NH$, one and only, and biospira) 9pm

NH4 2.0ppm

NO2 .25ppm

NO3 20ppm

 

Tuesday 9am

NH4 .25ppm

NO2 2.0ppm

NO310ppm

 

Wednesday 9pm

NH4 .25ppm

NO2 .50ppm

NO3 5-10ppm

 

Today (Thursday) 9am

NH4 0ppm

NO2 0ppm

NO3 5-10ppm

 

I wonder if the NO3 readings were faulty readings because it doesn't make sense to have NH4, N02, and NO3 all on the same day I added bacteria. Unless, they have NO2 and NO3 in the bottles of bacteria? This is the weirdest cycle I have ever had.

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There could be some nitrites and nitrates in the bottle, yes. But it's not a surprise to see them- you did add bacteria that produce those. I'd think the nitrate reading on the first day might be off since it's high and seems to have gone down.

 

That being said, looks like your tank might be cycled now. Try adding some ammonia. 

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26 minutes ago, Tired said:

There could be some nitrites and nitrates in the bottle, yes. But it's not a surprise to see them- you did add bacteria that produce those. I'd think the nitrate reading on the first day might be off since it's high and seems to have gone down.

 

That being said, looks like your tank might be cycled now. Try adding some ammonia. 

I will add maybe 1.0 ppm of ammonia, just did a re-scape to recreate more of the "shallow" reef rock looks and so I get more surface area for gorgs and halimeda:

FTS3.thumb.jpg.d0f7a0e199a31354d16d36d22e0c6092.jpg

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Order Update(s):

First off I decided to just go ahead and and get the RODI unit, it may end up being a tiny bit more than buying water or it may not. The main reason I got it is because my LFS has wacky hours and I usually work when from the time they are open to after they are closed. Having my own unit will give me piece of mind that I can have water at anytime I need it and not have to worry about going to the water or if I have time to do it on my off days. Hopefully it will come in the next week or so.

 

I did do a bit of livestock shopping today as well, hopefully not too much shopping though. It is mainly inverts. macro and a single fish so not a lot of bioload right away. The first order is from the great John of ReefCleaners, he is easily one of the best dealers when it comes to invertebrates as well as macroalgae. The re-scape is inspired more by the near shore/tidepool areas of the Florida keys and will feature more green/brown macroalgaes, zoas, a possible gorgonian or two as well as ricordeas. All these may not be found in the same area, but I feel it brings a nice representation of some of the dive videos I have seen. There also is a fish on order but I will keep that one a secret (it is related to a fish I mentioned before and FL native). Lets go over what livestock I have ordered now:  

Carpet Halimeda (Halimeda opuntia)

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The first thing ordered on the list is actually a "plant" from Florida, though it is not a true plant rather it is a marine protist. A cool thing about most macroalgae is the fact that they can all be a single cell, not a true  marine plant like sea grass or mangroves which contain a multitude of cells. The other unique thing about Halimeda species is that fact that they are mainly a calcium carbonate skeleton with chlorophyll in-between the skeleton and another outer layer, this provides another cool adaptation where the chlorophyll can be sucked into the joints at night to reduce the few species that predate on it.  Lastly Halimeda has two main growth forms; the rooted form that lives in sand and extends from a main "root ball" that can die off when spreading and the carpeting form which is the kind I ordered. Halimeda is a staple in all the dive videos I have watch and especially the carpeting variety.

 

Blue Leg Hermit Crab (Clibanarius tricolor)

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One of these most common hermit crabs that people put in aquariums and possibly the best hermit for a small tank has to be the Blue leg hermit crab. These crabs do not get super large maxing at around 1 inch or less. This is good for two main reasons, the first being they can get into smaller areas to clean and the second being that they are less likely to go after snails for their shells. Possibly the only other hermit I would recommend more would be the Scarlet hermit crab (Paguristes cadenati), these crabs are possibly the best as they are very calm and good cleaners. The reason I passed on them is they get about 1.5 inches and they can be a bit more sensitive and I might add one later one when the tank has matured a bit more.

 

Dwarf Cerith Snails (Cerithium sp.)

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This snail is easily the best snail to have in ANY aquarium, they are so helpful with diatoms and stirring up the sandbed. Their small size maxing to 0.75 inches that also makes them perfect for nano and pico tanks, the small size also means they do not need as much food as something like a turbo snail would need. They do not go on the rocks as much it seems, but I have seen them go on the glass a fair amount. A top 3 clean up crew member for nano/pico tanks for sure.

 

Florida Cerith (Cerithium sp.)

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This is another very good cerith snail species, a bit larger than the dwarf cerith that maxes at 2 inches or so. They also are very helpful with diatoms/stirring up sand beds, this species does not seem to go on the glass as much as the dwarf species and I assume it it due to their size. There is sometimes a third species available know as the Fly-speckled cerith which is a size in-between the Florida and Dwarf. That species has some of the most beautiful shell patterns of all the cerith species I have owned or seen. 

 

Marginella Snail (Prunum apicinum)

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This species of snail is a newer one for me that I used to have in my old mixed reef tank, these are sort of like a cross between a nassarius snail and a cowrie. They are super small carrion eaters that max at .5 inches! A truly pico snail for sure, that being said their small size really is not a cost effective snail in the short term. The cool thing about these snails is that they posses no larval stage so they can be bred in aquariums! This species for sure makes the list for my top 3 nano/pico clean up crew. 

 

Virgin Nerite Snail (Neritina virginea)

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Virgin nerites are by far the most show stopping snail out of all the snails available in the reefing hobby (yes even better than chestnut turbos) and the reason being that NO TWO SHELLS ARE ALIKE! How cool is that! Each snail has a shell almost unique as human fingerprints, and besides that they stay small maxing at from .25-1 inch depending on locality. Many people have tried nerites and two common things can happen; 1. the snail will leave the tank, mainly because of their natural habitat is more estuary/tide dependent or 2. they seem to last fine but die randomly, possibly due to being exposed from too high of salinity for long periods of time. The good news about these virgin nerites is that they are found in a fully saltwater (1.024-1.030) stock, so they are used to reef levels and they do not seem to venture too far out of the tank. This is the other species I would put in my top 3 nano/pico clean up crews if available. 

 

Green Porcelain Crab (Petrolisthes armatus)

green_porcelain9.jpg.0273062b0b39417dee09ad3b1a07fdd5.jpg

Lastly from my ReefCleaners order is my favorite reef invertebrate of all time and its the Green porcelain crab. These "crabs" are a filter feeding crab, much like the spotted anemone crab except for the fact that they do not host anemones in the wild (or very rarely). Instead these crabs hangout in the crevices/ledges and catch particles drifting through the ocean often in large groups. If you look closely you will see that they are not decapods (10 legs) like true crabs, that is because they are more related to squat lobsters as opposed to crabs! There is another species know as the Blue porcelain crab (Petrolisthes galathinus) that is a showy power blue/gray coloration with crazy striping/dotted patterns or darker blues or sometimes light reds.

 

Amphipods (Amphipoda sp.)

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The last thing that I will share today is a great clean up crew/live food source for your reef, amphipods. Amphipods are like many of you know related isopods and the other "pods" in the hobby. These pods are larger and better scavengers as opposed to copepods which focus more on phytoplankton or other microalgae. These pods can actually become pests in macroalgae tanks as they can eat more complex algae. The pack I got of these consist of 100 pods, the cool thing about the company I got them from is they also can have skeleton shrimp, copepods, isopods (good kind), and sometimes even baby crabs in the mix! 

 

The Fish

Now I will not say what fish it is yet until I know that it will make it and is eating, I will say that this fish is named after a large animal in Africa that is know for its enlarged nasal extension made of Keratin. Another hint is this species of fish likes to blend in with seaweed and can be found mimicking the swaying motion of the surrounding seaweed to help blend in. That is all I will say about the fish so far. 

 

The Future of the Tank

There are a few things that I want to put into this tank mainly more inverts/corals, not really wanting shrimp as they annoy me and corals too much. Fish-wise I think I am content with what I got, I may pick up a pair of neon gobies though it all depends on if the fish will not eat them. So here is the list of future ideas:

Green whip gorgonian

Ricordea

Florida zoas

Cluster feather dusters

Caulerpa prolifera

Blue porcelain crabs

Scarlet hermit (maybe)

Bigger tank (WB 25P)

    -Belted sandfish

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  • CD_Scapes changed the title to 2 Tanks 1 Stand *It's Alive*

Oh, you found a rhino blenny for sale? I love those! Used to have one in my old tank, until he had an incident with a waspfish (he darted against its spines after something startled them both) and died of it. 

 

You won't want to mix scarlet and blue leg hermits. Scarlets are easily bullied wimps, and blue legs are pretty aggressive. 

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1 hour ago, Tired said:

Oh, you found a rhino blenny for sale? I love those! Used to have one in my old tank, until he had an incident with a waspfish (he darted against its spines after something startled them both) and died of it. 

 

You won't want to mix scarlet and blue leg hermits. Scarlets are easily bullied wimps, and blue legs are pretty aggressive. 

You had one before? How was the care for it? It seems like its chill and eats kinda like a waspfish actually 

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I just gave it pretty generic sneaky-fish care, really. Frozen mysis once a day or so, make sure you know where it is during water changes so you don't put a hand on it, don't keep with anything its mouth would fit around. I never saw it picking at anything, and going off of that and mouth shape, I doubt they eat algae at all. I would hazard a guess that they're reef-safe, since their mouths are definitely shaped like the mouth on an ambush predator, and you never hear of waspfish and whatnot going after corals. They pretty much are a blenny's attempt at being a waspfish, I suppose. Cool fish. They do turn all sorts of weird, patchy colors at night, so don't worry when you see yours doing that, it's normal. Hope yours does well for you, and maybe gets more people to try one. I barely ever see them for sale, which is a shame. 

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6 hours ago, Tired said:

I just gave it pretty generic sneaky-fish care, really. Frozen mysis once a day or so, make sure you know where it is during water changes so you don't put a hand on it, don't keep with anything its mouth would fit around. I never saw it picking at anything, and going off of that and mouth shape, I doubt they eat algae at all. I would hazard a guess that they're reef-safe, since their mouths are definitely shaped like the mouth on an ambush predator, and you never hear of waspfish and whatnot going after corals. They pretty much are a blenny's attempt at being a waspfish, I suppose. Cool fish. They do turn all sorts of weird, patchy colors at night, so don't worry when you see yours doing that, it's normal. Hope yours does well for you, and maybe gets more people to try one. I barely ever see them for sale, which is a shame. 

I am also assuming he should probably be the only blenny in the tank? Sounds exactly like what I had in mind for care, hopefully he shows up alive and well!

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Love the low profile aquascape! Looks super clean. It's going to be an ideal environment for gorgs. 👌

 

23 hours ago, Frozen_Reef said:

Virgin nerites are by far the most show stopping snail out of all the snails available in the reefing hobby (yes even better than chestnut turbos) and the reason being that NO TWO SHELLS ARE ALIKE! How cool is that! Each snail has a shell almost unique as human fingerprints, and besides that they stay small maxing at from .25-1 inch depending on locality. Many people have tried nerites and two common things can happen; 1. the snail will leave the tank, mainly because of their natural habitat is more estuary/tide dependent or 2. they seem to last fine but die randomly, possibly due to being exposed from too high of salinity for long periods of time. The good news about these virgin nerites is that they are found in a fully saltwater (1.024-1.030) stock, so they are used to reef levels and they do not seem to venture too far out of the tank. This is the other species I would put in my top 3 nano/pico clean up crews if available. 

I've had Virgin Nerites in my tank for more than 2 years and I can definitely attest to their hardiness and beauty. They're quite small but are fairly active and are worth keeping around just to spice things up imo.

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1 hour ago, billygoat said:

Love the low profile aquascape! Looks super clean. It's going to be an ideal environment for gorgs. 👌

 

I've had Virgin Nerites in my tank for more than 2 years and I can definitely attest to their hardiness and beauty. They're quite small but are fairly active and are worth keeping around just to spice things up imo.

Excited to get all the things in motion, in the back of my head I am thinking of a waterbox 25 peninsula but I'm content with what I have now. I got the image of what I want the tank to look like so thats all that matters. Really love the virgin nerites, John got them really late this year but I just had to get some for the tank. 

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I decided that I would get a baseline of parameters of the tank BEFORE I get any livestock so I know if things are out of wack:

11/7/20

NH4: 0ppm

NO2: 0ppm

NO3: 0ppm (dosed 6ml to get 5.0ppm)

PO4: .25ppm (dosed frozen food)

Ca: 360ppm

kH: 9/160ppm

pH: 8.2 

 

Dosing: 

Chaetogrow: 2ml

Iron: 1ml

NeoNitro: 6ml

 

The reason I decided to dose NO3 and PO4 is when I was observing the tank I noticed a few brown strands that looked like dinos, so as a precaution before I get more biodiversity I dosed to hopefully get on top of nutrients. The problem is dinos is due to NOT ENOUGH nutrients/biodiversity in the water and it is common when dry rock is used, ways to fix it are having low levels of NO3 and PO4 as well as increasing biodiversity/pods. I also chose to does NO3 and PO4 for the macroalgae, they live off of those elements as well as iron/alk. They use iron mainly in red macros and alk for cellular respiration believe it or not. Chaetogrow is a mix of trace elements formulated specifically for macroalgae, it is recommended to dose 2ml a day for 2 weeks on a 20 gallon so I will be doing 1ml for the first 2 weeks and will probably up the dosage to 2ml. Excited for all the stuff to arrive this week, also working on getting my R2R Secret Santa gifts then I can think about what will be the next thing for the tank...maybe some Chondria coerulescens or coralline from GulfEcosystem.

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  • CD_Scapes changed the title to 2 Tanks 1 Stand *New FTS*

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