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Greg's Reefing Saga ( first frags in )


ReefGoat

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Airedale.Reef
1 hour ago, ReefGoat said:

We have babies. I’m not going to get too high on myself. It’s my luck that is most probably the easiest zoa on earth to reproduce. I’m happy though.

Growth is growth, and a solid, positive indicator! When I first started, I swear I was the only individual that could get GSP to grow lol. 

 

Great photos too - the pink zoa really stood out to me. Do you happen to know the name of it? 

 

1 hour ago, ReefGoat said:

just praying a hurricane doesn’t come and ruin everything 

Amen to that! Good luck this hurricane season! 

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ReefGoat

It’s more pink in my tank and my lighting but it’s TG Sakura from top shelf aquatics. Top shelf seems to be pulling more of a pinkish orange color from theirs along with a much darker skirt. 
 

it’s probably a mixture of my lighting and my particular parameters. 
 

im using an AI prime with the BRS AB+ setting. I think it’s at like 45% bout 12” off the water. 

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TheCoffeeReef

Nice with those Zoa's, hoping my partners jar Zoa's puff and multiply this way.

 

As for wall mounting, I'm currently trying to encourage some cyphastrea on mine, and I've got some clumps of Xenia growing on the wall in a controlled 🤣 patch.

 

The cyphastrea is definitely begining to grow out and spread, and it's a great shot of colour.

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ReefGoat

Messing around with some different shots. 
 

trying to get better at hopelessly taking photos of the tank. 

IMG_1386.jpeg

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ReefGoat

One thing I’m going to consciously determine to be better at when I build a bigger tank is proper coral placement for scaping purposes. 
 

really look into color matches/color wheel theories and making the tank just not look like I was drunk and hurried when placing coral, which sometimes I am. I’m going to utilize frag racks to get my plugs in the tank on the day I buy them or receive them in the mail. Then try and methodically place them and not be rushed to just get them all out of the sand on the day of purchase. 

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ReefGoat
7 minutes ago, Airedale.Reef said:

Ive always liked the deskmate! Here for the photos lol - very nice! 

I know it’s all “easy” corals and it’s still rather early in the game. But this round is definitely building my confidence for the bigger tank. I’m daily holding my breath though. Lol

 

if I can somehow find success in this little of water volume. I know for sure I can do it on 50 plus gallons. My ultimate goal is the STICKS

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ReefGoat

I’m pretty excited at how stable I’ve been able to keep the temperature in this tiny aquarium with the hydros and innovative marine Helios heater. Home AC  thermostat stays set 68 at night and 72 during day. 

IMG_1387.png

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ReefGoat

Coral order coming in Tuesday. 3 mo Euphyllia and an Acan.
 

Also have good news on my upcoming redemption build in the event that it happens if this goes well. 
 

Me and the wife have settled on the IM Sr80 pro. 
 

it’s a 80g AIO. If this is still going well around Christmas or the first of the year. I’m going to place the order. It’ll go right back in the same spot as the 22g was. Simple enough 

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Airedale.Reef
53 minutes ago, ReefGoat said:

Me and the wife have settled on the IM Sr80 pro

Nice choice - beautiful tank! So far so good with the current tank! 

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I can relate to so much in this thread.  I went back and read from the start....

 

My wife has been my hype girl and antagonist throughout the course of my hobby.  I have been through so many tanks since being married.  We had a 46 gal bow front for a few years until I got tired of it and it became an eyesore.  I eventually got back into it and built a custom 150 then a 180 and then down to 2 small bio cubes for my kids.  It has been a constant battle of love hate.  

 

I recently read that the average time span in this hobby is less than two years.  

 

When I decided to get back into the hobby last year, I settled on a nano AIO and have spent some decent money and time getting it set up.  With all of the automation, it seems far easier to neglect the tank for a few weeks.  But this time around, my kids are 18 and 20, my wife and I still work and I don't have too many hobbies.  I spend time tinkering, researching, learning as much as I can, and I love this little tank even one year after setup.  

 

I am currently set on maybe upgrading this year at some point to a waterbox 50.3 as I have a perfect spot for it.  I keep waiting to fall out of the hobby again so that seems to be my reluctance to jump back into a larger system.  

 

Your photography is exceptional and the new setup looks amazing.  I am looking forward to following along your journey to an 80!!

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ReefGoat

Thank yall so much. 
 

reefin ain’t easy. But I’ve never been able to let it go lmao. I do have to say it’s been an expensive learning experience. But I finally do feel like I’ve learned a lot from all the tanks I’ve destroyed lmao. 

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TheCoffeeReef
7 hours ago, ReefGoat said:

Thank yall so much. 
 

reefin ain’t easy. But I’ve never been able to let it go lmao. I do have to say it’s been an expensive learning experience. But I finally do feel like I’ve learned a lot from all the tanks I’ve destroyed lmao. 

Maybe the single most humble appraisal of learning a hobby about environment management 😁

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ReefGoat
2 hours ago, Internet said:

Careful with those "Mohawk" zoas, they have taken over part of my tank lol. 

They are weird. They reach like crazy. I have my ai prime on 60%. I’ve been bumping it up 10% per week. I’m almost scared to keep going lmao 

 

 

ima need them to grow fast to fill my bigger tank lol

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Internet
2 hours ago, ReefGoat said:

They are weird. They reach like crazy. I have my ai prime on 60%. I’ve been bumping it up 10% per week. I’m almost scared to keep going lmao 

 

 

ima need them to grow fast to fill my bigger tank lol

They will! Mine are in pretty low light and reach to get above one another. 
 

This started as a free frag with 3 polyps 😄IMG_5057.thumb.jpeg.d3ebf73219090f0a7a4c50fcc317b295.jpeg

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colormegone

Sweet looking zoes and pics. I wish I could get some good pic's to show but I have given up with my phone...

 

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ReefGoat
2 hours ago, colormegone said:

Sweet looking zoes and pics. I wish I could get some good pic's to show but I have given up with my phone...

 

I’m going to help you out here. I will preface this with saying that I am not very good at taking pictures. But since you approve of the ones I have taken. I’ll tell you what I use. 
 

buy the Orphek lens kit. It’s very cheap for the quality you get. It even has a macro lens in it which is bad ass. 
 

once you take your pictures the phone camera wants to act a little funny even with the lens on. Sometimes I have to switch back and forth with video and photo and kind of move around a little bit. After a couple times switching back and forth and finding that right spot. You’ll see the colors you want to see and the blue wash out will go away. 
 

after you get the photos you approve of here’s where the magic happens. Go to the photos and go edit them. Literally the only thing you have to do is adjust the WARMTH and it’ll fix the remaining wash out of blue light. 

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ReefGoat

Well I couldn’t wait. I know I said I was going to wait.

 

all it took was a little supportive talk from my wife and getting put on 60 hours at week at work until the end of the year. Went ahead and ordered the tank, the power heads, RODI system/booster pump and a buddy a few towns over is holding two hydras for me that were used for 3 months. 
 

I don’t believe I’m breaking down the deskmate though. There’s really no reason to. I’m going to ride this wave as long as it survives. Letting the 80g mature is going to take a while and I think having the deskmate will help pass that time 
 

It looks like this is going down either way. Godspeed Greg 

IMG_1402.jpeg

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ReefGoat

I’m in absolutely no hurry to get it set up though. There’s still several things I need to get to have a proper setup. I still need a proper skimmer, a proper UV filter, water storage supplies and a couple quality of life things maintenance wise. 
 

I have pretty much everything else. I have heat, flow, lighting, dosing, ATO and control and testing. 
 

the fact that I wanted to have an AIO rather than a sumped system adds a small level of complexity to choosing equipment…. fortunately this tank has been around for a while and there’s an old Marine Depot series hanging around on YouTube dealing with what fits and all kind of stuff dealing with this exact tank. 

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wowza.... that was quick!!!!

 

Can't wait to see it up and running.  I have the cash flow for the 50.3 waterbox, I am just not sure that I want to get into the larger tank just yet.  I am envious as all heck.   I was thinking about the tank today and wondering if I would keep both set up if I jumped on a new tank.  

 

For now..... 24 gal nano because it's easy.  I will live vicariously through you and your setup for now!!!

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  • ReefGoat changed the title to Greg's Reefing Saga ( first frags in )

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