Mr. Aqua 22 gallon (closed loop for flow)

[YHSublime]

Looking good

[tmc1313]

12 hours ago, YHSublime said:

Looking good

Thanks YHSublime! been a fan of your tank for a while now too!

[tmc1313]

 

[tmc1313]

I just wanted to add a little additional information to supplement the latest video. Anyone that has seen my thread can see I decided to get back to almost all SPS. I've tried doing a mixed reef, but I guess I'm not that good at it (especially in such a small space). I got rid of anything that had any type of sweepers that could sting. No matter what I tried I couldn't get it to work (placement, flow direction, urchins knocking GLUED frags off and then landing on my Scoly's, etc....), there was always some casualty. I also, keep a screened top on my tank at night after lights out. ONE night I forgot to put it on, my flame hawk went carpet surfing. I also lost my male black storm clown. All of a sudden the female (I'm assuming because she was the larger of the two) decided she no longer like him and harassed the crap out of him until he eventually stopped eating and died. So that's the full update, until next time. Thanks for looking!

[A.m.P]

The vid was a fantastic watch, thanks for sharing; sorry about the run of bad luck and unfortunate events.

[tmc1313]

20 hours ago, A.m.P said:

The vid was a fantastic watch, thanks for sharing; sorry about the run of bad luck and unfortunate events.

Thanks A.m.P., For all the bad, I would still say things are going pretty well for the most part. Not sure If I'll replace the flame hawk and black storm or not. Gives me an opportunity to maybe add something different. I'll have to shop around.

[mitten_reef]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:20 AM, tmc1313 said:

I just wanted to add a little additional information to supplement the latest video. Anyone that has seen my thread can see I decided to get back to almost all SPS. I've tried doing a mixed reef, but I guess I'm not that good at it (especially in such a small space). I got rid of anything that had any type of sweepers that could sting. No matter what I tried I couldn't get it to work (placement, flow direction, urchins knocking GLUED frags off and then landing on my Scoly's, etc....), there was always some casualty. I also, keep a screened top on my tank at night after lights out. ONE night I forgot to put it on, my flame hawk went carpet surfing. I also lost my male black storm clown. All of a sudden the female (I'm assuming because she was the larger of the two) decided she no longer like him and harassed the crap out of him until he eventually stopped eating and died. So that's the full update, until next time. Thanks for looking!

I knew you can't resist moving to an all, or mostly, SPS system. 

 

also, I just lost a fish too, why are they so dumb.....

[tmc1313]

On 5/12/2023 at 4:56 PM, mitten_reef said:

I knew you can't resist moving to an all, or mostly, SPS system. 

 

also, I just lost a fish too, why are they so dumb.....

Yeah, it was inevitable. I really gravitate more to sps, but that being said, if my reef keeping skills were better and I could maintain a mixed reef and keep everyone happy I would have. As far as suicidal fish, I keep an IM lid that sits on the top of my tank (not flush) and I only put it on at night. I've only lost fish when I've forgotten to put it on, so I know it works, I just sometimes forget and end up paying the price.

[BadCrab]

Apologies for bombing your thread with post Likes - this was such an awesome read.
I bookmarked it a while ago and had planned on just reading the first page this morning before my day got going but I ended up glued to the thread until the end.  You have an excellent eye for aesthetics and it was a pleasure to see the different iterations you've had in stocking choices.  I think my favorite was the mixed reef but I'm very partial to Scolymia.

Coral warfare in a small tank is a unique challenge.  Some of the more aggressive LPS would, over time, turn these nanos into species tanks.

I use the same tank (long, rimless, and shallow has always been my favorite tank style) but I'm currently doing it filter and sumpless.  I had tentatively planned on drilling for a xaqua inout but it's basically a low-profile bulkhead strainer and you had mentioned in an early post you tried that unsuccessfully - could you share your experience here?

[tmc1313]

22 hours ago, BadCrab said:

Apologies for bombing your thread with post Likes - this was such an awesome read.
I bookmarked it a while ago and had planned on just reading the first page this morning before my day got going but I ended up glued to the thread until the end.  You have an excellent eye for aesthetics and it was a pleasure to see the different iterations you've had in stocking choices.  I think my favorite was the mixed reef but I'm very partial to Scolymia.

Coral warfare in a small tank is a unique challenge.  Some of the more aggressive LPS would, over time, turn these nanos into species tanks.

I use the same tank (long, rimless, and shallow has always been my favorite tank style) but I'm currently doing it filter and sumpless.  I had tentatively planned on drilling for a xaqua inout but it's basically a low-profile bulkhead strainer and you had mentioned in an early post you tried that unsuccessfully - could you share your experience here?

Thanks for the kind words BadCrab, This tank has been a challenge for me at times trying to keep it a mixed reef, but I've never been one of those reefers that could just put anything in their tank and have it thrive. It always been trial and error. The Xaqua inout was good, but I had to modify it. The drain part of it was way too loud. I ended up putting a smaller diameter hose down the stock size drain (I forget what size the stock was). This cut down my flow, but also quieted it down substantially. For some reason, choking back the flow using a valve still wouldn't make it quiet. 

[tmc1313]

My ORA skyline granulosa, FINALLY! starting to show its potential. Had this for a while now and it stayed green for a long time, but over the past few months has really started to come into its own. Looks good from the side, but way better from top down.

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://i.postimg.cc/W11Vs7w1/20230605-201116.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://i.postimg.cc/NjCcFrd7/20230605_201042.jpg[/img][/url]

[mitten_reef]

12 hours ago, tmc1313 said:

My ORA skyline granulosa, FINALLY! starting to show its potential. Had this for a while now and it stayed green for a long time, but over the past few months has really started to come into its own. Looks good from the side, but way better from top down.

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://i.postimg.cc/W11Vs7w1/20230605-201116.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://i.postimg.cc/NjCcFrd7/20230605_201042.jpg[/img][/url]

that's nice.  granulosa seems to have been gaining some steam among the acro-heads.  btw, you can add photos directly to N-R now, no need for an external host. 

[tmc1313]

Thanks mitten_reef, I know that about posting and yet I still seem to forget.

 

[Lebowski_]

Fantastic!

[YHSublime]

Chicka chicka yeah!

[tmc1313]

I guess I can call this post throwback Wednesday. I was cleaning up some old photos and found these from my old biocube back in 2017. This was my work tank that did really well. Everyone at work loved this one. Lighting was the now defunct nanobox. I maintained it with water changes and nothing else. I would always find someone at my desk staring at it. I ended up selling the whole setup to someone local.

 

 

 

[ReefGoat]

On 6/6/2023 at 8:21 AM, tmc1313 said:

Thanks mitten_reef, I know that about posting and yet I still seem to forget.

 

Goals

[YHSublime]

That retro biocube tank looked mint. I had an old Fluval Edge 5 gallon I did something similar with at work, the simplest tanks are the best tanks! 

[tmc1313]

11 hours ago, YHSublime said:

That retro biocube tank looked mint. I had an old Fluval Edge 5 gallon I did something similar with at work, the simplest tanks are the best tanks! 

YHSublime, Yeah I agree! I used to think I needed every gadget imaginable, when in reality that's not the case, but some people do love that aspect of reefkeeping, just not for me. That's funny that you had done a Fluval Edge. I had tried for a while doing one to, but the 12 gallon. I think the "idea" was cool, but that tiny opening just ended up being a mess and not working out for me.

[tmc1313]

Loving the color contrast on this monti with the Teal polyps and orange base. If I had it in more light it would develop some yellow too. I'm thinking about it. I want to pull as much color out of it as I can.

 

[tmc1313]

And this pesky Gramma has decided to take up residence under the rock where my spiderman zoas were growing fantastic, but now keep getting buried by this pain in the *$#.