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ML's 14 IM Peninsula


ml86743

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Posted

First post WC with the ESV.  Love how it mixes quick and clean.

 

IMG_2564.thumb.jpeg.d9ffc1a39a31c6c4641107c18e50425e.jpeg

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Posted
1 hour ago, Airedale.Reef said:

Looking Good! Glad to hear the new salt mix is working out to your liking! 

Thanks!  Curious if I will see any differences in the corals, I’ve never switched salts on a tank before. 

Airedale.Reef
Posted

If you do see a difference hopefully it is for the better! Should your parameters remain the same, I can't imagine any decline in coral health. 

 

I see the pink streaked wrasse in latest photo. Awesome looking fish, and one I am highly considering! 

Posted
23 hours ago, Airedale.Reef said:

If you do see a difference hopefully it is for the better! Should your parameters remain the same, I can't imagine any decline in coral health. 

 

I see the pink streaked wrasse in latest photo. Awesome looking fish, and one I am highly considering! 

All the wrasse fun with 0 draw backs! Non aggressive, pretty to look at, and once established he's quite social.  

  • Like 1
Posted

My luck has run out with my peppermint shrimp…he had been abusing two of my acans.  I will now be spending Sunday trying to catch him 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Not much to update, the acans that were PO’ed looked way better today and I was able to feed them pretty well during my lunch break.  I didn’t have any luck catching the shrimp but I also haven’t noticed any more issue with him bothering the acans.  Could be coincidental considering he’s about to shed..but I also had a little bit of an alk swing which has ticked off LPS in the past.  This last water change I took some extra time to get things right and added some carbon and today most everything is looking good.  
 

here’s a pic of the top shelf.  TNT anacro and ROAB purple digi have been exploding as of late. 
 

looking like the upgrade will get wet somewhere between July 17-22:)IMG_2651.thumb.jpeg.ce6b88f4a28f331a5410ecdfb4faa561.jpeg

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Posted

Tank looks great! Do you find that your 14 is enough space for your wants/needs or do you wish you would have gone a little bigger considering you dropped from a 40g? Does your coral tend to have some lines where they war at each other?

Posted
3 hours ago, notwithit said:

Tank looks great! Do you find that your 14 is enough space for your wants/needs or do you wish you would have gone a little bigger considering you dropped from a 40g? Does your coral tend to have some lines where they war at each other?

100% wish I went bigger.  In the process of upgrading to a 22 long actually.  The way I scaped this tank left no room for a nice sandbed and working around the rocks has been a major PITA.  
 

The SPS have worked there way around each other for the most part, there’s some fussing of course..but nothing too serious.    Honestly, the sps in this tank have done extremely well which is surprising and my first real success keeping stonies.   Zoas have given me so much trouble and I still have no clue why..im really excited to get the other tank wet and give a few corals the space they deserve.  I have two alevopora that are begging for a display spot of their own.  There are two chalices and a pectinia that need a space too.  The 40 I had was sweet and I wish I knew then what I know now about reef keeping! 

 


 

 

Posted
3 hours ago, Airedale.Reef said:

Always stunning! 

Appreciate it!! It’s been a minute since I’ve posted it gonna go to your page!

 

 

 

wanted to add a couple more pics:) 

 

TnTIMG_2649.thumb.jpeg.fd7cd35701583fd47242137e52556fa6.jpeg

 

Watermelon Chalice and ROAB Digi (that digi is getting some really nice purple) 

IMG_2653.thumb.jpeg.6f5b56a5c1848987b53557563c2e05ad.jpegIMG_2652.thumb.jpeg.04511043003e9740483f17b44e25e8a2.jpeg

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  • 1 month later...
Posted

Um.  No progress on the upgrade.  I’ve been traveling so much for work I barely have time to keep the 14 in relatively good shape.  
 

most stuff is doing well, SPS are growing very well.   I keep breaking of some of the digi when I’m cleaning and what not..

 

Acans are completely smoked from the peppermint shrimp.  I’ve tried to catch him without dismantling the tank with no avail…

 

The doors for the new stand are still a work in progress.  We’ve got them glued and eventually we’re gonna get around to cutting them so they fit.  Then it’ll need to be repainted.  I did spray paint the plumbing black.

 

here’s some pics! Hope everyone is well! IMG_2729.thumb.jpeg.19cae2cac2e3e6c1c1f6f65622d66371.jpegIMG_2730.thumb.jpeg.233218584decb557cd586e9f7515f5a4.jpegIMG_2726.thumb.jpeg.805d49ebbadd0ae1e4ce9302f6d531fa.jpegIMG_2727.thumb.jpeg.ce1528fd4a7851ff35703c12ea763284.jpeg

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  • 1 month later...
Posted

Same ol dirty tank checking in here.  I finally have a home stretch to get this thing cleaned up, still no new info on the upgrade.  I have vermatid snails and asterinas everwhere, literally pest city.   Random algae is starting to pop up, I need a CUC refresh.   I’ll probably get some smaller snails and some hermits this weekend.  

 

i moved the Tropicana anacro and it seems to be doing way better in its current spot l, little less flow and light:)

 

SPS are overtaking the tank and things are overgrown I really need to get a trim in there.

 

Over the last few months I have been more hands off with this thing and pretty much just maintained 1g weekly WC’s and refilling reservoirs.  The apex has kept me in touch and for a first time user with this setup, it’s already paid its way in gold.

 

pics below.

 

top down shot and the Tropicana in its new location.  
 

IMG_2914.thumb.jpeg.518f84ecce5eb1aa39914bb740021e5e.jpegIMG_2913.thumb.jpeg.3a513e098552a2bcb4e0a176a505d94e.jpeg

  • Like 3
Posted

Nice pics! That watermelon chalice looks great.

Posted
5 minutes ago, notwithit said:

Nice pics! That watermelon chalice looks great.

Thanks! That things been a trooper! It’s growing nicely in that corner..I just really need to address the space and get my upgrade rolling..

  • Like 1
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Trying to get this thing cleaned up, little bit of hair algae and a bunch of ulva have popped up.   Little bit of bubble algae and still have cyano.

 

picked up some chemiclean,

not sure if I’ll use it yet.  
 

moved some rock work, got some frags off the floor and glued them down.  Removed a bunch of the red digi too.

 

There is too many corals that have spread over the rocks, I wanted to break some of the rock work apart but it’s not worth it.  
 

I adjusted the flow too.  IMG_3216.thumb.jpeg.e46062ccfd5be93db373bc625d759755.jpegIMG_3214.thumb.jpeg.006a7e850a30ed2dc4eb3629f2ca8b16.jpeg

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Posted
12 hours ago, Staticmoves said:

Kickin! 

Haha it’s a little dirt box but it grows corals! 

 

trying to get doors finished for the new build still…

Posted

looking forward to seeing the new build. Reading the old posts about the peppermint shrimp made me chuckle, I've had one for 2 years now, love him but he's occasionally a little asshole to the LPS. Like, doesn't eat them, just steals food from them or occasionally takes some kinda shrimpy rage out on them with a passing stab. 

 

They always bounce back.

 

Sexy shrimp are the only ones ive witnessed eat a coral, began trashing my stylo frag.

 

Tip if you do want to try catching the shrimp, they're pretty easy to food train by hand, and will get to know you and your hand- it's how i transported mine from one tank to another.

Posted
On 9/24/2024 at 2:49 AM, TheCoffeeReef said:

looking forward to seeing the new build. Reading the old posts about the peppermint shrimp made me chuckle, I've had one for 2 years now, love him but he's occasionally a little asshole to the LPS. Like, doesn't eat them, just steals food from them or occasionally takes some kinda shrimpy rage out on them with a passing stab. 

 

They always bounce back.

 

Sexy shrimp are the only ones ive witnessed eat a coral, began trashing my stylo frag.

 

Tip if you do want to try catching the shrimp, they're pretty easy to food train by hand, and will get to know you and your hand- it's how i transported mine from one tank to another.

I like that idea a lot, I pretty much exclusively fed the acans pellets and stuff and I think he picked up on that..he for sure tore them up, I actually got rid of their skeletons last week:( 

 

he hasn’t bothered anything else so he’s staying for now I guess..

 

as far as the upgrade goes..I may shelf the 22 long and just pick up another larger AIO for the time being.  I really need more space and there’s still a lot of kinks to work out with the 22.  I can’t afford the lighting I want for it right now so I’d almost rather just move everything over to like standard 20 water box or something.  
 

that poses another issue..my rocks have so much junk on them (bubble algae, hair algae, maybe a little bit of byropsis, cyano, vermatids).. if i were to set up something new i feel like i would start fresh with some real live rock from Tampa bay saltwater and go from there.  I’m not sure what I would do with  the corals that have encrusted, maybe spend some time and chisel them off but I’m really sick of all the pests haha.  
 

anyway, I did some more work yesterday and moved the scape around a little more.  I manually scraped all the bubble algae off  outside of the tank with the exception of one patch I had to do with the rock in the tank.  I also added my second mp10 to run some water down the back side to hopefully alleviate some of the cyano. 
my nutrient levels are pretty good. 5 NO3 and .03 PO4.  I’ve quit feeding any particle foods and suspended the reef NRG, hoping that would help.  So far nothing, I have a feeling the broth from the frozen food is to blame. I want to start rinsing it or switching to pellets for a little bit to see if it helps.  
 

the pic is from yesterday, a few of the corals were upset from all of the commotion.  The SPS are still crushing it as of late, I need to

make frags of the green anacro and the TnT grows every time I look at it! 
IMG_3307.thumb.jpeg.694d29470b830840328e66836f279a6a.jpeg

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Posted

Sps shelf from lunch today.  I’m glad I’ve taken some initiative over the past few WC’s..the tank has been more enjoyable to watchIMG_3314.thumb.jpeg.122995f6a0923c0f2ac148e6c3223b14.jpeg

  • Like 1
Posted

Weekly WC pics.  The TnT is popping!IMG_3460.thumb.jpeg.0d94c2ad1859eaa02c4b8be8de118c03.jpegIMG_3465.thumb.jpeg.4837275c5a99935b21b9d138eaf7cef2.jpegIMG_3462.thumb.jpeg.3ff29aafdd3783ac352f53941efa5e2d.jpeg

  • Like 2
TheCoffeeReef
Posted
5 hours ago, ml86743 said:

Weekly WC pics.  The TnT is popping!IMG_3460.thumb.jpeg.0d94c2ad1859eaa02c4b8be8de118c03.jpegIMG_3465.thumb.jpeg.4837275c5a99935b21b9d138eaf7cef2.jpegIMG_3462.thumb.jpeg.3ff29aafdd3783ac352f53941efa5e2d.jpeg

The difference the top down shot makes to your tanks layout 😎 Nice vibrant pop off for a Monday.

Posted
7 hours ago, TheCoffeeReef said:

The difference the top down shot makes to your tanks layout 😎 Nice vibrant pop off for a Monday.

lol the top down looks so much better than any other angle...

 

Pretty pleased with the progress thus far.  With the addition of the bumblebee snails I think the vermatid problem is getting slightly better.  I've knocked back most of the valonia - next WC will tackle the small patches of hair algae.  My red planaria problem has always been a boom/bust deal - as of late I have not seen as many.  I'm not sure what is happening, I heard bumble bee snails are opportunistic and will occasionally eat other species of worm..who knows. 

 

I used to be so scared of things like hard gritty manual removal of algae - getting in there with brushes and scrapers...moving things around, taking rocks out of the tank.  I have realized that this really isn't a valid fear.  Once a tank is legitimately established it becomes a needed maintenance to keep things looking nice in my opinion.  Yes, we are housing sensitive individuals in our tanks but I never gave them enough credit for their ability to adapt to your specific tank conditions and ultimately withstand the trials of reef keeping.  

 

This is the first tank I have ever successfully kept SPS and oddly enough I have done less than what i used to think was required.  Stability has been the key and to this day I still thank the apex system for most of it.  Having a "lifeline" and automated dosing routine has allowed most of the corals to thrive and less worry when away from the tank.

 

I have one more thought about tap water.  I used to be very weary of rinsing things (like when I clean the skimmer) in tap water and as of late I have done just that with no issue, no problems with excess algae (other than whats already in the tank).  

 

Just some Monday ramblings... I guess the point is I overcomplicated things when i first got in the hobby and now that I have been able to take a step back and use routine/consistent practices I've enjoyed this tank so much more and have seen the most positive results of my life.  

 

 

  • Like 2
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

New approach to the cyano: I haven't been testing my nutrients as much as I should have but this tank still EATS PO4.  Last few times I've tested have been 0 and nitrates are like 2-4.   I've started to dose a little neophos again to make up for whats missing.  It's crazy how much more vibrant the corals are and the PE is wild.  I am also going to suspend weekly WC's.  I think I'm going to start doing either biweekly or monthly.  

 

I also need to replace my RODI carbon block and sediment filter.  Top down from today:)

 

IMG_3650.thumb.jpg.7ac5a370f267255ee22f7aa8b823b125.jpg

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