ryans.salty.crew Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 ^^^ October 21st 2023 Favorite picture. Picked up a Spotted Mandarin Goby and Exquisite Firefish Goby Tank - Fluval 13.5 Evo Light - Red Sea ReefLED 50 Light W/ 90 Mounting arm Dosing Pump - Red Sea ReefDose 4 Pump - Jabaeo DCS - 1200 DC / Sicce 1.0 as a backup PowerHead - VorTech MP10 ATO - Tunze w/ 2.5 Gal Reservoir Heater - Cobalt 75 Watt Switch Board - Technical/Pro (PS9U) Inside the tank: Ultra Trachy Green Hammer Candy Cane Red Zoa Colony (Flaming Azure) GSP Colony Dragon Soul Favia Livestock and CoC: 1 Exquisite Firefish Goby 1 Spotted Mandarin Goby 2 Turbo Snails 2 Nassarius snails 5 Hermit Crabs Bristol worms Pods added biweekly TIME LAPSE ^^^ April 22nd 2023 Moved tank from a gentlemen's house I met on Facebook Marketplace. Physically it was an easy move, mentally it might as well have been a 200g ^^^ April 22nd 2023 Completed move. Set up next to my gaming set up ^^^ April 23rd 2023 Bella, our 7 month old Pomeranian enjoying the view (Blue Light Safety first). The fish are out and swimming around, coral still adjusting ^^^ April 26th 2023 First picture of tank with 0 changes made. At this time I was housing a Gladiator Clown and a Timor Wrasse ^^^ July 13th 2023 Moved powerhead for better flow. The purple hammer broke off the rock so I traded it in for a Kenya tree and Cabbage Leather ^^^ September 17th 2023 Polyps were out on the Candy Cane ^^^ September 18th 2023 I sold my Gladiator Clown and Timor Wrasse (They deserved a bigger tank) Just enjoying the tank, I love Scolymia. ^^^ September 24th 2023 Setting up 40g IM stand (Not sure when the tank will be set up) ^^^ September 30th 2023 Picked up some extra frags for free to put into my tank and my friends tank 1 Quote Link to comment
DNR88 Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 That looks very matured already! And I wouldn't ask what's going on the telly.. 🤐 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 25 minutes ago, DNR88 said: That looks very matured already! And I wouldn't ask what's going on the telly.. 🤐 Thanks! The gentlemen that had it before me established it for 1 year. The tank is about 2 years old now. I have been meaning to create a tank forum for it but have been slacking. More pictures to come! 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted November 2, 2023 Author Share Posted November 2, 2023 I've been feeding a bit more frozen shrimp since acquiring the mandarin, making the back wall grow more hair algae. Going to give that a scrape and do a water change this weekend coming up which should take care of the hair algae. 2 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 Definitely found a market place score, with a few grown in corals! Nice post with all the "catch up photos" Cheers to the 40g. Off to a good start 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 On 11/2/2023 at 8:25 PM, Rhetoric said: Definitely found a market place score, with a few grown in corals! Nice post with all the "catch up photos" Cheers to the 40g. Off to a good start Here are some pictures the day I bought the tank. I ripped off all of the GSP on the sand bed and gave it to my LFS, only a small piece was left on the rock which formed into the whole front rock being covered in GSP the last year. I sadly realize at some point that GSP will likely take over the whole rockwork. My very hectic brain decided to keep the 40g in storage for now. I am now a proud owner of a 22g all glass tank to which this 13.5 is going to be put into. I am in the process of drilling the tank and having a big sump that will eventually be put onto my 40g. Kind of wild!! I can't wait to continue sharing and continue this build! I love the idea of NOT starting another tank, but instead keeping my current system and transferring it over to bigger and better systems as the corals grow. My favorite part is watching the colonies grow bigger and how they interact with each other. 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted December 18, 2023 Author Share Posted December 18, 2023 ^^^ 12/18/23 No blue light filter 1 Quote Link to comment
ml86743 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Looks great!! 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 12/30/23 Drilled the 22g for Eclipse S overflow box VERY impressed with Eclipse for sending me the overflow, hole guide, and drill bit HIGHLY RECOMMEND 2 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 On 1/2/2024 at 1:42 PM, ryans.salty.crew said: 12/30/23 Drilled the 22g for Eclipse S overflow box VERY impressed with Eclipse for sending me the overflow, hole guide, and drill bit HIGHLY RECOMMEND Small amount of chips on the inside of the hole. I believe the gasket will do its job! Yes, I did drill inside with a bunch of towels and a 5g bucket under the hole to catch the water (Girlfriend says that I owe her credit for helping spray) Quote Link to comment
Justind823 Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 NICE! Love me some 22G. Looking forward to how your scape and transfer turns out. I was a big fan of the Eclipse S when I used it, good choice there. What are you doing for a sump and stand? 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 On 1/2/2024 at 2:22 PM, Justind823 said: NICE! Love me some 22G. Looking forward to how your scape and transfer turns out. I was a big fan of the Eclipse S when I used it, good choice there. What are you doing for a sump and stand? Sump is yet to be determined, depends on what I can get my hands on. The plan is to take everything from my current 13.5g and transfer it to the 22g. I am looking at getting an oversized sump (20-25 gallons) for a 40g tank I have already bought and am setting up in the future. Once I purchase the sump I will build the stand according to the sumps dimensions. I am probably going to do wood but am also considering aluminum (would have to figure out doors if I went the aluminum route. Any suggestions on sumps? Quote Link to comment
Justind823 Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 2 minutes ago, ryans.salty.crew said: Sump is yet to be determined, depends on what I can get my hands on. The plan is to take everything from my current 13.5g and transfer it to the 22g. I am looking at getting an oversized sump for a 40g tank I have already bought and am setting up in the future. Looking for this sump to be around 20-25g. Once I purchase the sump I will build the stand, probably going to do wood but am also considering aluminum (would have to figure out doors if I went the alum. route. Any suggestions on sumps? I'm using the Trigger Systems 30. I think its around 20G or so? It's the only off the shelf sump I've bought since I've gone DIY with all other tanks . It's a very simple sump which is exactly what I was looking for, plus I bought it during a sale from BRS so it was a great price. No complaints! 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 26 minutes ago, Justind823 said: I'm using the Trigger Systems 30. I think its around 20G or so? It's the only off the shelf sump I've bought since I've gone DIY with all other tanks . It's a very simple sump which is exactly what I was looking for, plus I bought it during a sale from BRS so it was a great price. No complaints! I have found a Trigger System Emerald 26 on facebook for 200. I love the simplicity of trigger I just HATTTEEE filter socks. I'm a floss fan and if he has the "foam block plate" still that will allow me to use floss I believe, Correct? Quote Link to comment
Justind823 Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Ah yeah! Filter socks, I've never used them, I don't like them either. Mine came with eggcrate for the in between the baffles to rest the foam block on. So yeah you can for sure use filter floss on there instead. 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 SCORED!!! I picked up a Trigger Systems - Emerald Sump 26 from an awesome local reefer off Facebook! 2 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 ADVICE PLEASE - My current 13.5G is going to be transferred into this 22G tank with a 20G sump. My plan was to move all the sand, rock, and water in my current system, add a bit of sand to the 22G then fill it with brand new salt water. ALL IN ONE DAY. Do you think adding this much new water will start the cycle over again? Or should I just set this tank up and let it cycle before adding my current set up into it. I'm working with a 680sqft apt. I don't really have the space to set up another tank for a few weeks/months. PLUS the idea was to the new tank into the spot of my current tank. It's technically just a big water change. So I'd be fine right??? Any advice would help! Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 42 minutes ago, ryans.salty.crew said: ADVICE PLEASE I generally try to stay out of journals, but since you asked! 🙂 43 minutes ago, ryans.salty.crew said: My plan was to move all the sand, rock, and water in my current system, add a bit of sand to the 22G then fill it with brand new salt water. ALL IN ONE DAY. Do you think adding this much new water will start the cycle over again? Unless there's something wrong with the current tank, transfer everything, including the water. If possible, transfer all the rock and livestock without removing them from the water. (Ie put the rock/animal into a container along with tank water.) Exposing rock or animals to the air will at minimum cause unnecessary (avoidable) stress and can certainly put the kibosh on some dead rock that's still trying to become a reef. On 1/2/2024 at 4:32 PM, ryans.salty.crew said: I just HATTTEEE filter socks. I'm a floss fan One other thought/question... Wondering if you need mechanical filtration at all? That's more of a fish tank feature. In a reef tank, everything that floss or a typical sock would catch should be/could be coral food – it's literally counterproductive if you have corals in most cases. If you have detritus accumulating in places you don't want it, it's more ideal to consider that a flow problem rather than a filtering problem. Proper flow will return that detritus to the tank's food cycle. There are other reasons for avoiding mechanical filtration in a reef, but do you feel that your system will still need mechanical filtration anyway for some reason? 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 24 minutes ago, mcarroll said: I generally try to stay out of journals, but since you asked! 🙂 Unless there's something wrong with the current tank, transfer everything, including the water. If possible, transfer all the rock and livestock without removing them from the water. (Ie put the rock/animal into a container along with tank water.) Exposing rock or animals to the air will at minimum cause unnecessary (avoidable) stress and can certainly put the kibosh on some dead rock that's still trying to become a reef. One other thought/question... Wondering if you need mechanical filtration at all? That's more of a fish tank feature. In a reef tank, everything that floss or a typical sock would catch should be/could be coral food – it's literally counterproductive if you have corals in most cases. If you have detritus accumulating in places you don't want it, it's more ideal to consider that a flow problem rather than a filtering problem. Proper flow will return that detritus to the tank's food cycle. There are other reasons for avoiding mechanical filtration in a reef, but do you feel that your system will still need mechanical filtration anyway for some reason? You're the best! Thanks for the reply! The plan is to keep the rock with original tank water in a bucket off to the side while I empty the old tank into 5G buckets > take small amount of water at the bottom with sand and put old sand into new tank > add new sand and new water until happy with sand bed in new tank > add old water > add old rock then remaining old water > add new water until full. Obviously I will try to keep all water as close to 80 degrees as possible. I actually use filter floss because it helps catch any fish food before it goes into my refugium section so it cannot turn into unwanted detritus. I change it maybe once a week. I know there's been a disagreement on weather filtering is actually even useful anymore. This is just the way that I have always done it. We've come a long way with understanding reef tanks SO COOL! 1 Quote Link to comment
InAtTheDeepEnd Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I have nothing useful whatsoever to add except your red zoas look like flaming azures 2 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 MAG KILLER!!!!!!!! I'm still learning the importance of each dosing chemical. As of 2 weeks ago I stopped dosing magnesium because I noticed a decline in my ALK and CAL, after further research I learned that HIGH magnesium can force the system/corals to use more and more alk and cal. Because the decline in alk and cal were so slow, all the corals are doing fine, just noticed lack of growth and some retraction. I'm doing water changes once a week to help reduce Mag. Sadly, I learned the real importance of how my tank is doing after a frag meet up where I bought 3 frags of Montipora. 3-4 days later they now have loss of color. What a waste 😞 To end on a good note Firefish and Mandarin Goby have been swapped out for 2 much easier LONGFIN CLOWN FISH 😀. Quote Link to comment
InAtTheDeepEnd Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 longfins can be really prone to fin rot just fwiw and are quite sensitive to water quality .... I would love to see pics though designer clowns fascinate me Mandarins can be a pain to get eating right off the bat but otherwise neither are tricky fish IME 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 ^^^ 2/1/2024 Opinions and thoughts on moonlight cycle? Last night I got to thinking that the moonlight looks bright (full moon) and is keeping the corals half open. I have a RedSea50 light that runs a "3W moonlight cycle" Starts at 0% moonlight > ramps 1.25 hours to 10% moonlight > stays 10% moonlight for 30 min > ramps down 1.25 hour to 0% My own thoughts 1) Corals love stability and a constant 28 day moon cycle is a constant changing moon cycle 2) Maybe tone down the moonlight instead of 10% to 3% or 5% 3) The moonlight cycle isn't visibly hurting anything. Should I even change it? I get a beautiful couple nights of coral color pop once a month 1 Quote Link to comment
ryans.salty.crew Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 22G Peninsula stand built ✔️ Now to do the plumbing and electrical Quote Link to comment
Koleswrath Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Looks good! Did you apply any finish on that bad boy? A few coats of polyurethane makes for easy wiping when you drip. Quote Link to comment
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