Flipside's 120g Reboot!

[Flipside]

Room's kinda been cleaned up a bit.

Hard to unsee this mess... I'm hoping to clean it up this weekend. I've got a lot going on though...

I plan on building over the top of this soon. Just some more space... Nothing too crazy.

Chaeto already getting bigger.

I broke the manifold on my calcium reactor. Already got one on order.

That's a 400w Radium in a Hamilton ran by a Galaxy. I have another in the garage if I need it. Which I will. Soon.

My goofy little tank. Got a Smart Micro ATO on it now. It's nothing special but it has grown in me.

Here's the manifold.

That's all I got for now. Lots of things going on this weekend, but I'm hoping to get some work in. You'll probably be seeing me post a lot of for sale items. My garage needs an enema.

Happy Easter, if I don't post between now and then.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I must've took 300000000000000000000000000000 shots tonight, and none of them look good to me. Sorry, but this is all I feel came out decent.
I guess photography is not like riding a bike.

No matter how much experience I think I have, this one is always super slow to grow!

Interesting thing about this Hawkins is that it broke off when I got it home from Tinman's house. The plug was encrusted nicely, so it just shot up! I have another Hawkins that I got from Ty (ATXacrofarmer/FarmerTy) and it's down lower. Ty gave me two pieces, and I glued them on a single plug. They are growing nicely, too. I've never had this kind of luck with any Hawkins in the past. I can't help but love they way they look and grow out.

I had to shoot this guy in the back of the tank (hence the poor lighting). He's doing great! Saved him at the local (big brand) pet store.

Just watching things grow out in there, now. I tried to get a good FTS, but it's a lot harder than it looks. My room is pretty small, and it's hard to get the good lens to cooperate. I'll get one soon.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

That sailfin is beautiful. That's a great shot!

 

[Flipside]

Thanks Lori!

 

[Flipside]

I wonder what's in these bags? Hmmm....

 

[Flipside]

Oh, my manifold for the calcium reactor came in today too! Hats off to MRC for the rapid turnaround!

I can smell the PVC cement. LOL

 

[Flipside]

Three more bags!

 

[Flipside]

Additions to the tank (60g side):

-RBTA
-Coral Beauty Angel
-Flame Angel
-Red Stripe Angel (Eibli)
-2 Black & White Ocellaris (almost adult)
-Green Mandarin

Everyone is doing fine but a little skittish right now. The RBTA footed down immediately, and I'm hoping it'll host the B&W's. Everyone's eaten too.

I'll try and get some pictures of them I'm the next few days.

 

[Flipside]

Well, the clowns made an appearance. Can kinda see the RBTA too...

 

[Flipside]

Added a older model Gyre to try out. Got it from a local reefer friend that didn't need it.

Color me impressed so far!

I think I'm going to experiment a bit with this for awhile. I know it's too soon to tell, but I'm liking the wide, gentle flow so far.

 

[Flipside]

So, for the past week or two I've been struggling with the MRC CR-2 that I own. I couldn't get the new manifold to seal properly to the volute of the MAG 2 pump. I've lost a lot of water walking that big, honkin' calcium reactor to the tub and back, just to reseal with teflon/plumbers tape! It's still leaking at the down pipe, right at the volute. Sick of it! I'm also pretty tired of manufacturers thinking that I don't know how to tape off threads for PVC. C'mon already! It shouldn't be this hard.

A thought occurred to me, as I was browsing the internet, searching for a newer model calcium reactor... I'll just put the whole thing in the sump! I think there's enough room, even with the chaeto. If that doesn't work (because, it is HUGE), I'll add a union to the PVC down pipe, and glue the screw on portion to the volute.

Hey, on a good note, the new manifold is holding up! ::grumble::

 

[d2mini]

When I'm ready for a new CaRx, i'm contacting Bill Wann! Those things look BOMB PROOF! Literally.

 

[revhtree]

Looks good man!

 

[Flipside]

When I'm ready for a new CaRx, i'm contacting Bill Wann! Those things look BOMB PROOF! Literally.

I'll have to check him out... Thanks

 

[Flipside]

Okay, so I finally got around to doing some quick editing on a video I uploaded, privately, on YouTube. This video is just an explanation on how things are doing since the "upgrade." In short, I'm very happy with the setup now. It's not a burden on my time anymore, which was the goal.



Some notables, if you don't have a little over 15 minutes to waste watching the video:

1. The gyre pump is better than any pump I've ever used. That is "totally" opinionated, but worth mentioning if you know me. I don't feel strongly about a lot of "things" in this hobby, but I feel pretty strongly about that statement. I plan on getting another one for the other side, and retiring the Tunze 6105 on the Sea Sweep.

2. The new fish are doing great! My Flame Angel is a bit of a bully toward the Coral Beauty, but nothing I didn't expect with these three semi-aggressive fish.

3. My calcium reactor is doing fine. I do still plan on modifying it, but I'll do that when the need to do maintenance arises.

4. I really like the Smart Micro ATO. My last Smart ATO rusted at the magnet. That should never happen. The "Micro" is designed not to do that. Thanks for making us your beta testers Smart! (sarcasm)

5. My corals are starting to show themselves! They looked even better last night (this video was taken on 4/19)! It is my opinion that cannibalism is their preference for cal/alk/trace supplementation. I chose 2-part to start the tank because it's easier to fine tune. My setup was definitely ready for a calcium reactor.

 

[d2mini]

Those SPS are looking great! ;Woot Nice job man.

That's a lotta par. I have like half that. lol

 

[Flipside]

It had to be done!

LOL! I'll try to get a video of them both going later.

I love my LFStore(s)! He actually called me to let me know it was in stock. [emoji16]

 

[Flipside]

One of my snowflakes is a bit confused...

Loo-gat-dat-growth! Boom!

 

[Bronc]

Loo-gat-dat-growth! Boom!

LOOKING AWESOME!!!