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Greg's 16 gallon DIY special - Bubble gum millie and FTS


Koleswrath

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Koleswrath

I moved the caulastrea and duncan. I figure they'll be happier mounted on some rubble at the bottom once I start turning up the lights. I'm sure they'll appreciate not getting blasted by the nero's as well. 

 

FTSFeb1.thumb.jpg.97ef4002ea9ddc90112bffdd8f733cc2.jpg

 

I also played with the cords for the nero's. Below is what I settled on. Anyone have a better idea for their side mounted pump cords? I've always had my powerheads near the back wall so it was just up and over. 

 

pumpcord.jpg.f476548ef438de9cfee143f7521c7ead.jpg

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Staticmoves
1 hour ago, Koleswrath said:

I moved the caulastrea and duncan. I figure they'll be happier mounted on some rubble at the bottom once I start turning up the lights. I'm sure they'll appreciate not getting blasted by the nero's as well. 

 

FTSFeb1.thumb.jpg.97ef4002ea9ddc90112bffdd8f733cc2.jpg

 

I also played with the cords for the nero's. Below is what I settled on. Anyone have a better idea for their side mounted pump cords? I've always had my powerheads near the back wall so it was just up and over. 

 

pumpcord.jpg.f476548ef438de9cfee143f7521c7ead.jpg

I run my Nero line horizontal then up the corner out the back. 
but it’s a total personal preference thing.

We need to work on wireless electrical…….😎

tank looks great!

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Koleswrath
30 minutes ago, Staticmoves said:

I run my Nero line horizontal then up the corner out the back. 
but it’s a total personal preference thing.

We need to work on wireless electrical…….😎

tank looks great!

Ya, that might be a good option I haven’t tried. 
Oh man…wireless powerheads is a million dollar idea. Just need a coin battery that has 1000 amp hours. One day….

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Koleswrath

Week 1 in the books and all is good. Had a slight issue with setting up the ATO programming in the Reef Pi and almost tanked my salinity. 😬 Caught it before it got too out of hand.

 

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I made a 4 head dosing pump out of some scrap acrylic and $12 Kamoer pumps. Just need to wire up to the Robo tank and I’ll be ready to pick a dosing regimen. Right now Kalk is keeping up with demand so I’ve got time. 
 

IMG_1938.thumb.jpeg.025d4960050ce738c54b24a707b2fa63.jpegIMG_1940.thumb.jpeg.05720752cd236539a69c15692cf32e4e.jpeg

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Koleswrath

Week 2 down and all is good! I don't think I'll have any blooms from the additional dry rock added during the transfer. It's starting to get that darker mature color and there are pods swarming all over it. I'm having to keep a close eye on my NO3 and PO4 though - It's no longer holding steady and I'm having to dose every few days to keep it up. I've found that 1/2 scoop of Reef Roids will raise my PO4 by about .05 so I'm liking that. 

 

Finally tidied up the sump closet and got the ATO and Kalk dosing lines run in the raceways. Nice and clean.

sumpfinal.jpg.ffdbc9b379fd8c95ceedc74c3303828c.jpg

 

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  • Koleswrath changed the title to Greg's 16 gallon DIY upgrade - 2 weeks after livestock transfer and dry rock addition.
duganderson

Love this!.   VERY clean look.  Love the behind wall sump.  The way you mounted the light is really clean and classy (I'm going to borrow that idea on my current build).

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Koleswrath
18 hours ago, duganderson said:

Love this!.   VERY clean look.  Love the behind wall sump.  The way you mounted the light is really clean and classy (I'm going to borrow that idea on my current build).

Thanks! Borrow away!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Koleswrath

Came back from a 1 week trip for work and the tank did great!! This was the test I was waiting for.

Everything was stable and just needed a good cleaning. The Digitata in the back sprouted a bunch of growth tips after I broke off the single branch that wasn't doing much and the Birdsnest is growing like a weed.

Time for some new coral!!! Going to grab a Cali Tort this weekend. 

 

Also going to start on a polycarbonate and mesh lid. We want some fish that are notorious jumpers.

 

Dusted off the big Canon for this one. 

I'd like to shoot a FTS every couple of weeks at a minimum as I start to add coral. For the most part the equipment build is done and the journal will transition to a coral addition/growth progression format. 

Let's get'r started!

 

FTSFeb232024.thumb.jpg.afb0914e82694102c8e9af21c99de148.jpg

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Koleswrath

Gotta love Candycane's eh? This is a year of growth while going through dino's, bryopsis, rip cleans, tank transfers, etc. Didn't skip a beat. 

Feb 2023

candycane.thumb.jpg.652d6ce3cabd34774d18a103c347d5d4.jpg

 

Feb 2024

CandycaneFeb2024.thumb.jpg.aa2217a14ea1d70e67600dfd9656a97b.jpg

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  • Koleswrath changed the title to Greg's 16 gallon DIY upgrade - 1 month update
  • Koleswrath changed the title to Greg's 16 gallon DIY special - new coral and fish
Koleswrath

Dream fish right here!

 

Biota captive bred Mandarin. I think my son named her "Lenny" after a lawnmower blenny that was eaten by an anemone 11 years ago. He did not remember that event correctly. He was only 2 so I'll let it go.

MandarinFeb2024.thumb.jpg.08506a3a09e7916ffdef7560f534e5bf.jpg

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  • Koleswrath changed the title to Greg's 16 gallon DIY special - new lid
Koleswrath

Not a fan of lids. Made this one from polycarbonate and some kind of plastic mesh. 
I might try black bridal veil to see if it’s less of an eyesore.

IMG_2043.thumb.jpeg.05c44dc1f0eab3a37062adae1bfea7cd.jpeg

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banasophia
1 hour ago, Koleswrath said:

Not a fan of lids. Made this one from polycarbonate and some kind of plastic mesh. 
I might try black bridal veil to see if it’s less of an eyesore.

IMG_2043.thumb.jpeg.05c44dc1f0eab3a37062adae1bfea7cd.jpeg

Looks great to me!

On 2/25/2024 at 2:01 PM, Koleswrath said:

Dream fish right here!

 

Biota captive bred Mandarin. I think my son named her "Lenny" after a lawnmower blenny that was eaten by an anemone 11 years ago. He did not remember that event correctly. He was only 2 so I'll let it go.

MandarinFeb2024.thumb.jpg.08506a3a09e7916ffdef7560f534e5bf.jpg

Lenny is adorable!

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Koleswrath
1 hour ago, banasophia said:

Looks great to me!

Lenny is adorable!

Thanks, it's starting to grow on me. It must be the shock of going from a clean rimless look to a lid. 
Lenny is definitely our favorite fish along with the watchman goby we call grumpy that moves from cave to cave or shadow to shadow and never lets me get a good picture. 

 

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Koleswrath

Side view.

SideMarch2024.thumb.jpg.c56984acdbd42d9610b5ac24f5917a10.jpg

 

 

The new cleaner shrimp setting up his clownfish cleaning station. She's hesitant to let the shrimp touch her. It's amusing to watch.

SkunkMarch2024.thumb.jpg.df2c7d4190bff8bc644303c238545b05.jpg

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Koleswrath
1 hour ago, colormegone said:

Looks great to me....

Does the lid mess with your light output?

Thanks, it's ok I guess.

I imagine it reduces the light a little but probably not enough to require adjusting. The plastic mesh is quite a bit thinner that it looks. It's thread thin and spaced 1/4" apart.  

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banasophia
1 hour ago, Koleswrath said:

Finally got him!

Grumpy!

WatchmenMar2024.thumb.jpg.35f83997efd217386e39b57a14b59636.jpg

Nice photo!! So grumpy and cute! 

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Koleswrath

Happy Sunday!

Weekly full tank shot.

Week 5 after the transfer from the small tank. 

Since then we've added a few fish, a cleaner shrimp, an Acropora tortuosa and a little hammer. Everything is doing great! 

The Digi in the back is putting out 5 or so new branches so I'm happy with that. Can't wait to see this Acro take off.

 

FTSMarch3.thumb.jpg.a916683bda0fe71ba6528fabeb967521.jpg

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Koleswrath

I picked up a few polyps of tiny gorgeous little metallic yellow zoanthids more than a month ago and they haven't done much until I noticed three TINY new polyps last night. So happy that they're growing. I'll get a pic tonight.

Tank seems to be in a nice growth phase and isn't needing too much other than a bit of Nitrate every few days. I'd like to switch to Ammonia but I'll use up my NeoNitro first. 


Anyone have experience with dosing ammonium bicarbonate or ammonium chloride in place of Nitrate?

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  • Koleswrath changed the title to Greg's 16 gallon DIY special - Bubble gum millie and FTS

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