The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 Got my ATO the other day in the mail. I went with an AT-200 (pretty much a rebranded AutoAqua). I also got a UNS 20T with a lid to serve as an ATO container. Probably the nicest ATO container I have ever had lol (✨it's the little things✨). I'll also be hooking up my Chihiros Doser probably this weekend and get everything squared away with cable wrap. 2 Quote Link to comment
schgr.cube Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 That's a sexy-looking ATO res! 1 Quote Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Thats one sweet looking ATO bucket! Look who's living the reefkeeping high life! Woot. 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 On 2/8/2024 at 11:49 AM, schgr.cube said: That's a sexy-looking ATO res! On 2/8/2024 at 2:44 PM, geekreef_05 said: Thats one sweet looking ATO bucket! Look who's living the reefkeeping high life! Woot. Oh, I feel like I'm in a new tax bracket lol! very boujee. 🎩 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Got everything on this tank plumbed and ready to go. I did take the Icecap skimmer off and might be replacing it with a VIV glass skimmer (a little better for my application in this instance), but I'm happy with how everything turned out so far. Really not sure about what fish to put in this, if any, I'm kind of digging just the shrimp for now, but any suggestions are welcome. Finally got a white cable wrap for the AI Blades Seachem products that I'll be dosing Everything squared away and ready to go 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Daniel92481 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Looks super clean with all the white details you have.😃 Any type of goby would be awesome in there. Neon gobies are cool. Even an aquacultured mandarin. Check out… shop.thebiotagroup.com 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 On 2/11/2024 at 7:27 AM, Daniel92481 said: Looks super clean with all the white details you have.😃 Any type of goby would be awesome in there. Neon gobies are cool. Even an aquacultured mandarin. Check out… shop.thebiotagroup.com Thanks, there will be a few more "details" coming soon haha. I thought about a shark nose goby or something of the sort, but I'm worried that it will get blended by my Nero 3. I have it running at 10% right now, but still. Maybe a small blue spotted jawfish, but I'd be pushing it with how big they get. Another option, I suppose, would be to move the fire shrimp to another tank I have running and go with a candy cane pistol shrimp and goby pair (but the fire shrimp looks so good in this tank haha). Ugh, the problems of a nano reefer lol! 1 Quote Link to comment
Daniel92481 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Awesome, yea some gobies are just so tiny lol. Those jawfish are really cool and will keep your sand bed super clean. I didn’t realize that they were such hard workers until I seen them in action at the LFS. I guess you have some options with the pistol shrimp/goby combo. That’s another great option that really is fascinating to see. I read somewhere that the shrimp is blind in most cases and the goby flicks him with his tail to signal danger. Nature is so crazy. Excited to see what you come up with!🤘🏼😎 Quote Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 On 2/10/2024 at 7:08 PM, The Rainy Day Aquarium said: Got everything on this tank plumbed and ready to go. I did take the Icecap skimmer off and might be replacing it with a VIV glass skimmer (a little better for my application in this instance), but I'm happy with how everything turned out so far. Really not sure about what fish to put in this, if any, I'm kind of digging just the shrimp for now, but any suggestions are welcome. Finally got a white cable wrap for the AI Blades Seachem products that I'll be dosing Everything squared away and ready to go Your dosing game is tight. I like it. Those dosing lines are so clean. Always a challenge to making things work and be orangized in a tight stand. Maybe you can tell us about the Seachem products. In particular the PLUS amd TRACE. Whats your experience with them and whats the plan for this reef? 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 On 2/19/2024 at 2:40 PM, Daniel92481 said: Awesome, yea some gobies are just so tiny lol. Those jawfish are really cool and will keep your sand bed super clean. I didn’t realize that they were such hard workers until I seen them in action at the LFS. I guess you have some options with the pistol shrimp/goby combo. That’s another great option that really is fascinating to see. I read somewhere that the shrimp is blind in most cases and the goby flicks him with his tail to signal danger. Nature is so crazy. Excited to see what you come up with!🤘🏼😎 I had a goby/pistol shrimp pair in my lifeguard 4.1 and they really stuck to each other. Really fun to watch! 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 @geekreef_05 Thank you, it took a full podcast episode of ReefBum to get it looking like that lol. Fusion 1 and 2 are obvious, Plus and Trace are there to push myself as a reefer. Usually feeding and water changes take care of trace elements, amino acids, vitamins etc. After the so called ugly stage, I want to lean towards fewer water changes and these two solutions will help to replenish the minor things in the water that get used up over time. A little goes a long way so I'll probably start with 1ml every week or so and adjust from there. I've dosed amino acids before and really liked the outcome, but I've never dealt with dosing trace elements so it will be a fun learning experience for me. Quote Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 How will you check levels on animo acids and trace elements? Over a few ICP tests? Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 Amino Acids I have never really tested for, I've always treated them as a coral food/supplement. I am just conservative with dosing (as per directions on the product and closely monitoring how corals are fairing); I've never had an issue with them in the past doing it this way. Knowing exact levels of trace elements like you said requires an ICP test or similar. Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Moved my 1 gallon pico to my desk so it gets more attention from me (i.e. maintenance). I'll be changing the rock work and sand before adding anything to it, but it should end up being a fun little tank to distract me from work. 3 Quote Link to comment
Daniel92481 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 On 2/24/2024 at 11:11 AM, The Rainy Day Aquarium said: I had a goby/pistol shrimp pair in my lifeguard 4.1 and they really stuck to each other. Really fun to watch! Nice! Yea, they’re a trip! Quote Link to comment
KC2020 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Awesome Pico you've got going there. I can't wait to see it grow out. You think 3 Blades will be enough ? 😃 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted February 27 Author Share Posted February 27 9 hours ago, KC2020 said: You think 3 Blades will be enough ? 😃 I sure hope so! 😅 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 New VIV skimmer and feeder. Quote Link to comment
coltnanoreef Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 i just bought that skimmer a week ago, lmk how you end up liking it 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 On 3/4/2024 at 8:25 PM, coltnanoreef said: i just bought that skimmer a week ago, lmk how you end up liking it It's a little tricky to get set up and working the way I wanted it to; what skimmer isn't finicky like that? It's been running a week now and I'm happy with how it's working. Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 Finished the stand I was working on. Overlooking the small flaws I think it turned out pretty well. Now I have to rework all of my ATO and Dosing lines, ugh! Once I get everything sorted I'll post a FTS Quote Link to comment
KC2020 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) On 3/10/2024 at 11:30 AM, The Rainy Day Aquarium said: Finished the stand I was working on. Overlooking the small flaws I think it turned out pretty well. Now I have to rework all of my ATO and Dosing lines, ugh! Once I get everything sorted I'll post a FTS The stand is a nice complement to the lines of the UNS tank! Edited March 12 by KC2020 typo 1 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Got some sticks today from @Cultivated Reef thanks for the awesome frags! I have a small list of corals to get still, but I’m very content with the coral placement and stocking. I need to pick up a few hermit crabs, and misc. things, but it’s coming along slowly. This weekend I’ll be cleaning all of the equipment and doing a small water change. 2 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 Things are a little up in the air right now. I'm temporarily using the icecap skimmer again as the drain line for the VIV skimmer is too short for the new stand (it's kind of an odd size hose so I need to order another, longer one). I've left the VIV skimmer in the tank to keep the wood airstone wet for now. As far as the new inhabitants go, I did have one Acropora almost completely dissolved on me the evening it was introduced to the tank, shame, but everything else is doing well. I picked up three, tiny blue legged hermit crabs from my LFS, and they are really making a dent in what's left of the green algae in the tank. I also got a small lime green hammer for a good price so I'm happy about that. I'm still on the hunt for a Yellow Fiji Leather. I found a few, but prices were way too high ($600? no thanks). *Sigh* the search continues. A fun little thing I noticed the other day when doing some tank maintenance; the backside of the overflow is starting to grow algae on it, also I've been throwing in some certain types of algae I find growing in the tank (not sure what type it is? it's like a finer type of chaeto?) anyways it has been growing and has turned into a nice, micro sized refugium area. I added a spare Chihiros light that I had and things are starting to take off. I'll try to find some time to make a mount for the light so it is more secure in the future. 2 Quote Link to comment
The Rainy Day Aquarium Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 The little refugium in action. Sorry for the noise, the IceCap skimmer is so loud. IMG_5418.MOV 1 Quote Link to comment
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