Latest updates

So far, so good on the ol’ hexagon… corals are looking very happy; growing nicely, and coloring up!

I think I’m going to bite the bullet and pull the sump out at some point on a free weekend to drill the side wall of the return chamber for an external pump inlet bulkhead! — little hobby grade submersible pumps just aren’t impressing me anymore…

Otherwise, I’m still procrastinating on ATS design, and making a polycarbonate lighting hood…

Though, I should be getting a used Kessil A160 at the end of this month… my thinking is using my existing A150, plus this new light; possibly leaving room for a third A160 within the lighting hood…

Additionally, I’ve been playing around with some UV accent lighting that really makes corals pop to the human eye, but completely washes out photos with blues… I’m undecided on wether or not these will be implemented in the long-run…

In any case, I’ve added my first LPS; a torch, and frogspawn… both look quite happy so far! — another round of soft corals is in quarantine as well; mushrooms, a tiny toadstool, and what I believe to be a yellow cabbage coral!

Here are the obligatory FTSs; under Kessil only, then Kessil plus UV:

Few shots today, and an old picture of Nemoo. Alkalinity is holding in mid 9s like I hoped for.
Phosphates and nitrates are staying low. Possibly dealing with a pest on acro but fingers crossed it's nothing. Set up my temperature controller! And everything is growing and happy!!


Anyone that has been reading my post knows that my LFS that I love is shutting down : ( however I have accumulated an extra Hanna alkalinity tester and I believe I have some Hanna low range phosphate test I accidentally bought. If anyone could use these and wants to message them I would do some trading on the alkalinity tester. There will be no reagent for the alkalinity tester unless someone wants to pay 45 and shipping or has a good trade more doing it for the fun of trading.

Got my new lid from Etsy. First lid didn’t fit right but he got it right the second go around! Really love it. Was also able to upgrade to the newer Fluval 4.0 that puts out way more light and has more customization options. Since these photos I’ve also moved my zoas and candy canes perm. to the rock.

Captains day 109 the Uv has been kicking butt with bacteria and dinoflagulattes, even with small cell amphidinium being sand loving. This is what we did.
•Sand cleaning into a 5 micron filter sock then return the water into the tank.
•Daily blasting of dinos off the rocks
•11w uv running 24 hours a day for 2 weeks
•constant dosing of nitrates and phos to keep them at 10ppm nitrate and 0.1ppm phos ( phos is consumed so quickly and all drop is noticible until it stabilises)
•skimmer places high to just skim minimally but heavily oxygenate stil (helps with bacterial blooms)
• added and orange lipped conch
• going to add an algae blenny again

Additives used are oceamo kh (from reef quest.co.uk)
Phosphate+
Nitrate+ and zero water changes from the last month.

Future changes will be at 10% when nutrients go above target levels
And trim the macro up as it’s growing wildly lol

Some updates

So far, so good! Everything is moving right along, and looking healthy!

The new blenny and goby had their expected squaring off, and appear to have agreed to disagree; now respecting each-other space nicely!

New coral additions are looking better than ever, and already showing signs of visible growth! — clearly I haven’t forgotten everything about reefkeeping!

Here’s few quick photos from tonight…

Some of these calls may have been posted already, but after the reset things are definitely moved around and relocated and reattached!

This is the latest reset after my tank collapse catastrophe. It never looks the same, no matter how hard you try after a few days of feeling got shot. I’m finally content with the way it looks and moving forward.

Automation Overhaul – Hydros Integration Complete

I’ve officially moved everything on this tank over to Hydros, and it’s been a game-changer—especially since I travel frequently for work. Automation was the only realistic way to keep this system stable and stress-free while I’m away.

I ended up finding a small stand that fit everything I needed, including enough space to mount a controller board (yes, I turned the stand into a Hydros command center ).

Here’s what the system is handling now:

• Auto Top-Off (ATO) via Hydros
• Daily 2% Water Changes – that’s just 575ml each morning, perfect for a tank this size
• Dosing:
  • All-For-Reef
  • Plus-NP

Dosing Extras:

I’m using a Minnow pump to dose 5ml of live Phyto twice a day (morning & evening), and Phos-Feed right after lights out. One of the features I love most about the Minnows is that they can run in reverse—this lets me flush the lines after each dose to avoid clogs and buildup. Live Phyto is stored in a mini fridge with a magnetic stirrer running all day. Phos-Feed also has a magnetic stirrer, but it only kicks on around dosing time.

The Hydros app has been rock-solid so far, and I’ve got alerts set up just in case something goes sideways while I’m out of town.

Just a quick update.. I e replaced the tunzee skimmer for a bubble Magi’s QQ3 (fyi! the lids on these are garbage and let bubbles out) and the blenny is a jumper! (So next update there will be a lid!!)

Well, I’ve just been letting this tank stew while I was away on vacation, then back to work… I couldn’t really figure out what I was going to do for an aquascape until some of you kind folks chimed in on the subject in many regards!

The goal was going vertical due to the lack of square footage… But, that doesn't give me much flat rock to grow out coral on! So… why not have the vertical pillars spiral?

I landed on a triple helix shape; using heat bent acrylic rods and the fiberglass/CA glue method… foundation rocks were cut flat using my wet cut tile saw, holes drilled in rock with a combo of rotor hammer and conventional drill… it took the better part of 6.5 hours straight!

So, after much finessing; I got all three in… only one needed a little acrylic rod prop to effectively hold itself up and stable…

Here’s the end result of all that farting around! (Viewed rotating counter-clockwise, I have asked R2R about a 360 degree tank view option…)

Finally, I’m starting to feel satisfied with how my systems are coming together…

Also, the new additions are in; a lawnmower blenny, and diamond watchman goby! — my LFS ordered them in for me right around two months ago, and has been holding them in QT since!

The clowns definitely made me a bit nervous looking at the goby like this, but it ended up being mere curiosity!

I’ve also got a handful of lame beginner soft corals in there, just to make sure I still know what the heck I’m doing after all these years away… though, all are doing quite well so far! the more invasive ones have been isolated to free floating rocks, or the center tube to encrust (GSP)! — I’ll get more photos once they acclimate to new placement; stay tuned for that!

Started the tank this weekend and my first time with a sump based system is going well. One tiny leak fixed. Basement sump is humming along. Lifereef Sump and skimmer is fantastic. Custom Aquarium Tank looks fantastic. Can’t wait to add fish and coral.

I've been a bit of a lazy reefer lately and I have the Aiptasia to show for it. I was using F Aiptasia everytime some popped up. It just got a little overwhelming. Looking to get some Berghia Nudis ask asap.

Part 2

Few more pics taken last night with orange filter Part 1/2

**13 July Update**

Have added some additional inhabitants! Got a skunk cleaner shrimp, two nassarius snails (one unfortunately was DOA), and a neon blue cleaner goby. Super happy with the tank as it's starting to come together. I've been dealing with elevated phosphates from the die off on the live rock but it seems to be slowing down and the chaeto I put in as a fuge seems to be working in concert.

Also pics of the fuge light going on in the back. Didn't realize the Red Sea Max Nano back wall between the sump and DT was only partially opaque, but it worked out well when I got the tunze fuge light at the bottom pointed up and away. There isn't a whole lot of light spillage into the DT and there are no signs (thus far fingers crossed) of algae in the DT growing. The chaeto appears to already be growing around the back which is awesome to see. Admittedly I am just constantly geeking out about seeing the whole environment in my tanks grow and expand.

Been doing 5 gallon w/c every 3 days trying to get the phosphates down but the nitrates are sitting at 3ppm. Hope you enjoy the night time pics as much as my wife and I!

Few top down shots from tonight while the pumps were off...although its a challenge as my Vlamingi tang seems to get the zoomies when the water is calm!